The group pauses momentarily at the top of the slide to assess the situation. Beyond the bronze bars that block the passage is a black curtain that blocks the passage. Despite his better judgement, Barada stretches one of his arms through the bars and tries to twitch aside the curtain, receiving a savage slash for his troubles from the armored figure hiding behind the curtain. Make that two armored figures…’pewpewpew’ make that one armored figure, and a hack or two later – make that no armored figures (well, none that are still breathing anyway). Beyond the curtain, another curtain.

Undead are summoned to open the curtain, which reveals a second set of bars and a curtain behind them – and the hastily departing footsteps of whomever lies behind curtain. The group presses on, bending the bars and passing through into a ceremonial area of some sort, complete with braziers and creepy frescoes. At the far end is a curtain with the bronze statue of the sad man the group pummeled to death in the complex below. A detect magic reveals much magic in the area, but the group decides that it is probably bad juju to mess with it and continue the pursuit.

They arrive at a rope bridge that spans a vast chasm. When they are crossing it collapses, having been sabotaged. Reza narrowly escapes plummeting to his doom, and the rest of the group uses levitation and various means of flight to cross. A little while later, it is more of the same. Another bridge stretches over the blackness. This time the group is prepared. Barada scouts in bird form and detects an ambush being assembled. Invisible Dalliance levitates into the center of the area and lets fly with a fireball. As the grooup surges forward, the bridge collapses again – and again the group uses flight to cross the gap. A tussle breaks out in the hallway as Reza, Lubboch and Bud engage the enemy. A Hold Person and a Finger of Death later and Reza fights alone. Luckily for him, Dalliance pops up and lets fly with a Cone of Cold, just as reinforcements and poisonous snakes swarm the hallway. Some time later, Bud is free to move again and Lubboch (courtesy of the ring of regeneration) is drawing breath again, but is in no real condition to fight or travel.

Pressing onward, the group reaches some sort of sacrificial area that protrudes over a vast pit, and there is a handy greased slide to hurl victims into the depths. the group amuses itself with the idea of donning the Ring of Feather Falling and riding the slide for fun.
Hmmm. Perhaps later. First, they double back to see what lies in the other direction. Double doors, behind which Bud detects the unmistakable odor of wolverine. No one can come up with a good reason to poke a wolverine, so they turn back. At this time, Barada finds a secret door and it is then opened. The sight beyond blasts poor Barada’s mind into catatonia. A room with a statue of the sad man/death’s head, a pool of black fire and two massive pillars carved with a string of runic inscriptions. Dalliance retains sanity and turns Barada away. The group returns to the sacrificial area and decides that it is time to enter the mansion again. After a hour or so has passed, Barada is able to speak of his ordeal. He recounts a visitation by Thatanos, who promises Barada that he will be waiting for him…for all of them when they die, as payback for destroying his incarnation. Everyone thinks about that for a bit and plans are made to get chummier with the Lathanderites…maybe they can offer some form of salvation.
Wen the group reemerges – the complex is dark. All torches have been extinguished and the place is eerily silent.

Perfect exploring conditions and the group sets off with Reza in the lead, who promptly falls through a trapdoor and 60 feet into the river below. The Gauntlets of Swimming come in handy, and the group rapidly deploys ropes to raise Reza out of the water. As he is hoisted upwards, he catches a glimpse of the giant gnome coming down a path with a large net, presumably to catch and eat whatever has fallen into the river. No free lunches for the gnome, though, and the group presses onward – Reza at the rear again. Some quick exploration reveals two sets of double doors and a secret crawlspace. One set of doors leads to a charnel house – a vast repository of dead/undead and corpse crawling carrion crawlers. At the far end of the room a flame-spouting demon rises out of the floor, loosening stools all around until it is recalled that this is the statue seen weeks earlier. A few fireballs are lobbed about, but the group decides to put off the grand melee of undeath for a chance to investigate one of the other intriguing avenues of exploration…

Though the sights and sounds of the new landscape are intriguing and unknown indeed, in the end a little less unknown might not be _such_ a bad thing. And so the group resumes poling about on the vast underground lake, eventually retracing the steps that led them to the dock from which they initially departed. There, the barrels of fruitcake turpentine and the blueberry ink of forgetfulness are still in the casks – so it seems that there have been no visitors to this end of the lake.

Heartened, the group ascends the sinkhole, passes by the now decayed blob that was the beholder – takes care to pick their way through the cavern of moldy doom, traverses the dead zone and eventually return to the cavern of the minotaur king. The hyena-men are visibly disheartened at the sight of the returning group members. Perhaps they had hoped that the usurpers would perish in the vast beyond and never be seen again. Nonetheless – there they are, and respect is immediately shown to the conquerors.

The group moves back in for a few days, then goes off to lower the basket back to the forest level. they all climb in and winch themselves back up into the ‘sky’, eventually arriving at the complex with the room of liquid blackness and the scene of the battle with the sad bronze man. They ascend a shaft, sending Bud in bird form up first to scout. After some time, it is found that Bud has not returned and the group is alarmed. They ascend the shaft and find only curtains that lead into a long hallway, guarded by a leonine man with a gem in his chest and glowing orange eyes. An elephant is summoned courtesy of a mount spell and appears in the hallway. With an ear-piercing shriek, the lion man attacks – producing a ‘lightsaber’ and cleaving the elephant in twain. Alarmed, Dalliance machineguns Liono with a tripled Magic Missile spell. Once he lies dead in the hallway, the corridor is explored by Barada.

At the far end of the hall is a set of secret doors. When opened, they reveal the hindquarters of a sphinx!. Barada shuts the door and has a quick confab with the group. It seems unlikely that Bud encountered the sphinx, but there is no sign of the hobbit. It is suggested that there was some sort of magical disintegration, or he was eaten by the lion-man. In either case, the party faces a future with no Bud, and the last wish from Dalliance’s ring is used to restore the party from its Bud-less condition.

With Helm of Comprehend languages and a Tongues spell, communication with the Sphinx is established. The price for the toll is agreed upon, and then the price for a single question is set. The group learns that they have slain the bronze incarnation of Thatanos – the god of death and possibly a progenitor of Tharzidun. The group leaves the lair of the sphinx and proceeds into a large cavern through which runs a river, over which arches a bridge, upon which sits a pituitary giant gnome. The gnome is hungry and whiny. Food is summoned and the gnome begins to feast as the party crosses over the waters.

In the wall opposite the bridge is a set of ascending stairs, which become a slide after about 20 feet of upward travel. Undaunted, with Gauntlets and Rope of Climbing, the slippery slope is ascended. At the top of the once-stairs is a spear trap that almost shoots Bud’s hand off of his little arm. Desperate healing is undertaken and the group now occupies a landing. On one side is the slide downward to river level, on the other is a thick set of bronze bars that block the passage. A decision will be made…

After some debate and a double helping of paranoia (just about the right amount), the group decides to pull out all the stops and prepare for an all out assault, hoping that the element of surprise will allow them to win past the superior numbers and defensible position of the enemy. With a loaded Spell Matrix and wands at the ready, the party prepares. Bud, in bird form is stuffed into a backpack. All nonessential items are ditched. Potions are quaffed and spells readied. When the signal is given, the group charges onto the long arching bridge – and triggers an Alarm spell. Alarmed, the group races forward. Once just past the apex, Dalliance announces the party’s arrival with a Rod of Fury-ed Fireball. The triple blast detonates in the middle of the ambush site with some spectacular results. Once the first goes off, Dalliance uses her ring of Spell Storing to loose a second into the area. The second blast apparently detonates casks of oil (presumably there to roast the unwary) and turns the entryway into a raging inferno. An Ice Storm is used to cool things down (and batter anyone who might have lived through the attack), until it is safe to enter. Racing past the scene of the slaughter, the group swtchbacks down to lake level and notes the barge is gone.
Undaunted, the combo of Airy Water and the Magnificent Mansion lets the group enjoy a relaxing night underwater. When they emerge, there is no trace of pursuit, or of any survivors of the slaughter.
Dalliance uses spells of Material and Fabricate to construct a raft, which the group uses to flee the scene. Once poling along, Reza somehow convinces the party to abandon the known route to exit the area and to turn into the unknown.

After a day and a half of travel across the lake, a landing and doorway is spotted. The waterfall is louder and clearly immense. The group lands at the doorway and tries to gain entrance. Magical spells are used and a large glowing wheel appears to suck up the spell energy. The more spells are cast, the brighter is glows, the faster it rotates and the louder the shiming noise it makes. Finally, brute strength is tried in conjunction with the Wand of Opening, The portcullis is raised, and flaming oil showers onto the lifters. The door is opened, and Reza tumbles into a deep spiked pit. Once traversed, a room of statuary and magical doors is found. The magical trapped doors of transmutation lead to trapped hallways that seemingly lead nowhere. Turning to the rear wall, it is determined that it is a doorway and once again the Wand of Opening is used to gain entrance to a long, curving hallway that apparently runs alongside the vast chasm into which pours the now-deafening waterfall. The corridor ends in an amphitheater of sorts, complete with chairs and a stage. The group dallies for a minute to enjoy the sight of the bioluminescent falls, then turns to leave the area. As they trudge back to the raft, a discussion breaks out – to stay and seek additional unknowns, or to return to the less unknown….