Deciding against leaping through a portal to elsewhere, there is a bit of poking about left to accomplish. A door here, a ruined room there…an invisible frog-critter that removes the top of Malchor’s head after shrugging off the effects of a potent lightning bolt…another few days up the rope. After the mage’s second death in as many weeks, there is talk of teleporting out of the area, since Goldpiece’s loincloth has burst a strap and cannot be worn. He would like to fetch a different set of armor to continue the quest. When the mage tries, it is only through luck and sheer power that he avoids being disassociated and spread around the cosmos as a fine mist. Looks like teleporting isn’t going to work. Well…one could always return to the river and try escaping that way…or there is a very long trek ahead. Hmm. Since the party motto is “we never go back”, the decision is made to press on.
After returning to exploration there is discussion about returning to the room with the barrel donkeys, but the lure of unopened doors is strong, so more poking about ensues. This time out they find a drunken umber hulk in one room and a pair of the critters in another. Hulk attack, hulk die. The donkeys are revisited, but the stubby legs mean the humans will have to walk, Sucks to be you!
Before mounting the donkeys, maybe just a bit more exploration. Some more opening of doors and whatnot eventually leads them to a room with a trash compactor, which has a door that opens into a chamber with another of those ubiquitous gates, and the gate is flanked by two of the murderous frog-things that claimed Malchor’s life a few days back.
Rectal bricks are extruded, but the party rallies magnificently and Malchor disintegrates one, while the other is beaten into an inert state. Given that even more terrible terrors probably lurk on the lower levels, it is time to go low! The group prepares by releasing one of Malchor’s arcane eyeballs and scouts the long winding tunnel that delves ever deeper into the underworld. Armed with a bit of knowledge about the road ahead, the group abandons the prospect of donkey riding and hoofs it down the passage to a convenient spot before a brief bout of R&R – rope and relaxation. On the morrow, they investigate.
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