Deciding that the jungle is still interesting as there must be at least a dozen species of blood-sucking insects that haven’t feasted on the party yet, the group returns to the village they stayed in last time. The villagers are almost used to strange armored figures turning up at all hours, and they are happily hospitable. Some vague directions are issued – “About a month that way” or “About two months that way” and the group is off and running in search of plunderables.
The journey through the new landscape is largely uneventful as Naima helps feed the party by instructing them on the fine art of foraging.
The progress is slow, however but the scouting reports of the bird-Barada help guide the group to the desired locale. The locale is a large meteor crater, at the bottom of which a large city had been built. In the time since then, the jungle reclaimed 80% of the buildings, but enough maintenance has been done in the interim to reveal the presence of a few dozen snake-men and an even deeper depression which from the sky appears to be filled with treasure of all sorts. Treasures and hundreds of snake-woman statues – all identical.
Invisibly, cautiously, stealthily – the group approaches and sneaks past the ‘guards’ to descend into the cavernous chamber. Coins are scattered about, statuary is in evidence, baubles and bangles and all manner of whatnot is seen strewn about in an disorganized fashion. A trio of trap-triggering ghouls is created and sent out into the mounds of goods. One falls into a pit and the other two are annihilated by shrapnel from an exploding snake-woman statue.
Barada uses the Gem of Seeing that was purchased in Waterdeep to reveal that large swathes of the swag is fake. Also, there are multiple pits covered by illusions of mounds of glittering objects.
Out comes a scroll of Trap Detection (most everything is trapped) and the group begins to wend its way through the maze of hazards.
When they are about halfway to the middle of the chamber an echo of a voice suggests that they leave before they die. The group ponders the warning and ignores it. A few minutes later, the warning is repeated and Barada is the subject of a Hold Spell. Reza busts out his wand of trap detection and the group resumes.
Dalliance casts See Invisibility just for grins. It reveals an onrushing snake-woman who looks extremely perturbed. Dalliince prepares a Globe of Invulnerability and groups the group. The snake continues as Dalliance casts lightning bolt (tripled) and has a good portion of the spell turned back upon her. Hooray for the globe. The snake seems pissed now, so Dalliance uses a ring stored fireball spell to toast it some more. Finally the ever-present sound rings out ‘pewpewpewpewpew’ as the magic missiles slam into the onrushing creature and finally convince it to release it’s grip on life.
As might be imagined, the sounds of spellular combat alert the city at large to the fact that things are happening in the pit. Snakey forms begin to form up at the edges of the depression…how depressing.
Barada is still rigid and the wand is out of charges. But, twinkling in the light is a large emerald on a lovely red pillow. It is only about 100 feet as the crow flies, but a treacherous path through traps must be navigated. Traps that are unseen, and thus far more likely to inflict terrible damage. Dallaince engages her spell of Telekinesis and floats the gem into the party’s grasp.
Plunder in hand, the escape is next. While Naima unfurls large bat wings and flaps into the sky (distracting guards and attracting arrows), the rest of teh group heads for the sheerest wall they can find. With Gauntlets and Rope of Climbing and the cover of a few invisibility spells the group ascends a sheer cliff and vanishes from the area, There is pursuit, but it fails within a day and the group is now able to rest and recuperate in the jungles. Whither now? Well…what about the place that was ‘About a month that way’? Sure…why not.

Deciding after all that plundering that the bloodlust was not quite slaked, the party presses onwards. Seeking and finding more doors, the party opens the first to reveal a ‘mad scientist’ laboratory, now partially destroyed and decrepit. Items of interest? A couple of portions. Threat level? Yawn.

The next door reveals a converted chapel, now some sort of op-center for (it is assumed) the Emerald Cobra (mayherestinpieces). Strategy, organizational charts, names, etc all neatly chalked up. Items of interest? Nada. Threat level? Yawn. Biggest threat so far is death by boredom.

The final door in the series is barred from the party’s side. Once unbarred, it opens onto a large room filled with stagnant water and a submerged and glowing star-shape. Distracted by the strange light, most of the group is taken unawares at the approach of something…hideous. However, Barada retains enough of a grip on his wits to hustle the members out and has Reza bar the door in the nick of time as something slams against it. The door shudders, but the bar holds. No body seems eager to enter the room and tussle with the unknown, so Dalliance is once again called into action. Using Glassee, she fashions a portal into the room. A Projected Image allows her to begins casting spells targeting the beast. The beast is a strange amalgam of octopus, arachnid and amphibian, topped by a wicked recurving Narwhale horn. It attacks the image mercilessly. Zot! Boom!

Pewpewpewpewpew! says Dalliance. Pewpewpewpewpew! The beast slumps into the water. Emboldened, the party rushes into the room and begins wading towards the beast. The beast apparently regenerates rapidly and soon the party is forced to begin pummeling it into submission while they hack the horn off of its head. Horn is removed and the beast is ended. Item of interest? Weird frog thingy. Threat level?
Off the charts. Death by boredom is looking really good right about now.

Backtracking to the pyramid entrance, the party regains the jungle air. ‘Tis nighttime and soon the surviving lizardfolk are treated to the sight of adventurers flying through the treetops. A few hapless guards are dispatched by Dalliance on the wing – Pewpewpewpewpew!

Pewpewpewpewpew!

Backtracking through the maze of rooms and using the secret monkey workaround, the party is soon in the jungles and headed back towards the village that served as base camp. Upon arrival the villagers seem surprised at the group’s living state. Sheepish villagers confess that the lead they gave may not have been the ‘real’ Emerald Cobra. The group is intrigued, but needs to train several party members,

Using Dalliance’s Teleport without Error spells, the group is reassembled in Thudheim. Thad helps train Lubboch and Reza while Barada and Dalliance visit Waterdeep to seek out goods. Much is purchased and the ‘Frog Horn’ is donated to the Temple of Lathander in exchange for assistance in obtaining a Rod of Resurrection for the group.

Rested, recovered and recuperated, the group now ponders the next course of action, Desert or jungles?

Pausing to plunder the chamber of Dillerian horror, the group ventures into a hallway. At the first door encountered, voices re heard from within. When Reza busts through the door, he finds two abominably large snake-men waiting for him. The first instils in Reza a distinct fear of all things reptilian. This hampers the party’s plan of ‘let Reza beat them to death’. As Reza backpedals out the door he just entered, the snakemen follow. The first swings a curved scimitar to deadly effect and the second follows with a two handed sword composed of bones and imbued with an unearthly light. They exit into the hallway to do battle with the party. For starters, one turns the plucky hobbit into a garden snake. Reza is scared of that too and flees even further. Lubboch and Naima fling themselves into the gap in the front lines. The battle continues. The snakemen deal savage blows, convince Lubboch to drop to his knees to await beheading and instill in Barada the sense that none of this is really worth the hassle.

Eventually, the party manages to turn the corner and win free of the snakemen, felling the last one after it attempts to flee. Beaten, bloodied and feeling blue, the party decides that hiding is the best part of living. Up the Rope Trick and into an extra-dimensional space for a bit. Some brief R & R (rest and repair) and the group reemerges.
They poke about, find a set of downward sloping stairs and away they go. They emerge in a large room full of ruined statuary and fine tapestries and one large flying anaconda thing – with poison stinger.
The usual near-death experiences follow and soon it is vanquished.
Continuing their exploration – the group plunders two large bedrooms, one a filthy wreck, the other a finely furnished boudoir. While bouncing back and forth between the two chambers, the group decides to export some of the fine furnishings to Dalliance’s tower in Thudheim, so they steal nice chests and fill them fiull of gold and silver and gems and candlesticks and sheets and rugs – and teleport them back to Thudheim.

While so engaged, they are stumbled upon by a pissed-of looking northlander woman. Dalliance blasts her into oblivion. The looting continues. After deciding that the items wirht plundering have been taken, they move to the nicely appointed bedroom to rest and repair.
Just as they are dropping off to sleep, they are surprised by a muscular man (with hints of snakishness) who seems unhappy to find squatters in his bedroom. He expresses this by stabbing Reza in the kidney and running him through a few times with a sword. Reza says ‘ow’. Dalliance wakes up and decides that unless she helps, her beauty rest is going to be interrupted by moaning hurt people. She telekinesis the startled snakeman into the ceiling -smash- then lets him tumble to the floor – thud. As he struggles to his feet, the rest of the party attacks. Within a few moments, the disturbance is reduced to a large inert lump on the floor.

Some discussion follows about whether or not there will be more visitors. Dalliance is sure that the Emerald Cobra is the one lying dead on the floor and that it is unlikely that further folks will come disturb. The next two days are filled with plundering more goods and teleporting them back to the tower in Thudheim. Dalliance worries about the strain on her structure after an half-ton of gold is sent to live within her walls. The party waits to see whether one more door lies in their future…