10:00 AM (still)
We return from the Robo Rally
“world” to
find all the constructs on the floor have been frozen in place. The Walls of Force are still in effect, so we
use the ring again and play Backgammon against 17th Level
Fighter
Blots. We start on the bar and can’t
move until everyone is off.
Zora is hit for 30 + 7 Unholy, but then kills that Blot
Elion fights a Blot
Blot fighting continues until we win, yay.
4,000XP for each character.
“What!!!” exclaims the Land Squid. It immediately stops working on the flying rust monster. “What have you done? No, No, you cannot have done this!”
The plan is:
Beari casts Mass Haste
Ben casts Prayer
Beari casts Mass Teleport to “go around” all the Walls of Force, appear next to the Land Squid, and kill it.
We fight the Land Squid. Take SO much damage.
Ben is Lost In Time And Space (Maze). Beari is trapped in a Force Cage. Elion is grappled and being squeezed by Bigby’s Crushing Hand. Farryn is hit with a Horrid Wilting spell, saves, still takes over 100hp of damage. Beari casts Disintegrate to get rid of the Force Cage. Zora is hit by a Meteor Swarm for more than half damage.
But the Land Squid is suffering lots of damage also, so it runs away to hide behind a Mirror Image spell, leaving behind a bunch of Delayed Blast Fireball spells like a big baby.
Arden drags Beari away. Beari casts Magic Missile twice and destroys all the Mirror Images. Elion gets blown up by the fireballs and dies.
Land Squid casts Prismatic Wall along entire ledge and Evard’s Black Tentacles, then Teleports “behind” them to the factory floor. Farryn shoots at Land Squid, hits it. Zora picks up Arden, flies over Prismatic Wall and Tentacles, drops Arden directly onto Land Squid, and attacks for 16.
Beari casts Feather Fall on herself, casts useless Lightning Bolt on Land Squid, steps off ledge and begins to float down.
Land Squid moves Bigby’s Crushing Hand towards Farryn, casts Mordenkainen’s Sword at Zora, hits. Arden hits Land Squid and takes damage. Farryn shoots are Bigby’s Crushing Hand: hits, hits, hits, hits & kills; shoots at Land Squid: misses, hits.
Zora hits Land Squid and kills.
10,200XP.
LEVEL 19! YAY!
Ben returns when the Maze spell times out. We use a diamond to bring Elion back to life. Ben casts Mass Heal to fix everyone.
The spinning cube is made up of seven pieces, which we recognize are exactly the puzzle pieces we need to get out of the room at the top of the turnstile elevator. We take them. We search, cut up, examine, and analyze all things until we are ready to head out. Move through rooms X, W, V, U, T, S and R.
[For a review of the layout of rooms at the bottom of the elevator, click here.]
In room Q, we are again attacked by a Phase Retriever. Ben casts True Sight on Zora. Zora charges Phase Retriever, hits, and hits.
Phase Retriever moves, attacks Zora – she takes damage.
Arden and Elion toss out light stones to try to see Phase Retriever. Ben moves and casts Prayer for bonuses. Arden moves to try and flank. Zora attacks, criticals for 138, kills. Pick up the light stones, and take all the Phase Retriever’s juicy parts (8 Beholder Eyes).
There is another Phase Retriever, damn it! Zora sees it, charges it and kills it. More Beholder Eyes.
900XP
Let us leave this place with out light stones. Go to P with pit trap, cross safely. Pass through O and N.
M is problematic – Shredstorms and Shadesteel Barbarians – they’re still here cause we ran away from them. Beari dies immediately. Taking her body, the rest run out of the room. Ben heals all, raises Beari with another diamond. Arden hands out Rods, taken from the Land Squid’s tentacles, to people they’ll be most useful for.
Room L, cross pit, K, J, I, H, G, F, E – E’s far door is shut; Arden deals with door – D, C, B, A.
We reach the turnstile elevator. We see the symbols again, search and spot on the way up to make sure it is safe to pass. We reach the starting level and then: the Clay Golem which Beari had imprisoned in a Force Cage, on the way down, is out again. It attacks Beari to damage and wound. Elion tumbles behind it and hits. Clay Golem hits Beari again. Beari tumbles away. Ben casts Prayer. Zora uses Wand of Negation to end the Clay Golem’s animation – it stops. We push it off the platform. Ben casts Heal on Beari.
600XP.
We go the rest of the way up, still negating symbols as we come to them.
[To repeat a view of the room at the top of the elevator click: here.]
Insert the puzzle pieces. A ladder appears and we climb it up to the room with all the patterns and buttons. Now there are no keys, just a set of numbers on the South-facing door – the way we need to go to get out. We have to figure out this pattern to know which is the correct button. We decide on 1732 as the one button that doesn’t match any of the previous patterns. The door opens.
We follow a corridor and reach the outside with no further problems. Zora flies up to see if there are still giant skeletons circling around the mound. We start to fly away when the top of the mound erupts in a giant thistle plant about 1,000’ feet tall – yikes. Arden thinks its shape matches the layout of the upper level of the mound’s rooms and corridors.
At that size the Thistle can move faster than we can fly. It swats Arden with a leaf for 39, but before it can hurt anyone else Ben Summons an Elder Fire Elemental, which grabs the Thistle and burns it up.
1,200XP
Epilogue. It takes
about two weeks for youall to fly to the
coast and
then north to the city of Ginjieb.
Sell loot, buy new equipment and skills, level up.
