Hooray, the world is safe again. Now, which bear will we poke next?

Leaving the safety of the lava caves, the group sets out on a last-ditch effort to right the wrongs that need righting and not righting the wrongs that don’t need to be righted. Right? Onwards!
With the help of the jackal map they find the cleft in the rock face that houses the caves of the sentinel. ‘Is that all there is to it?’
asks Dalliance. ‘I don’t see what the big deal is’.

The group wanders through a maze of lethal traps and misses every single one. Providence? Divine guidance? Dumb luck? Take ‘yer pick, but alive is alive.
They arrive at a Wall of Disintegration and use the power of the ring to pass through it unscathed. The ring power also suppresses the hundreds of potentially lethal traps that dot the chamber. Finally, the bored group exits through a second wall of disintegration and emerges into a passageway. At the end of the passage is a room. The room is full of devils. It is a small room, so only three devils fill it nicely.

The monks are in the front of the new Reza-less party, and it ends up being a good thing too. His mind was weak and easily manipulated, but the monks are strong and resistant to all manner of devilish mind games. Sadly, Oryndel is somewhat less stout of mind and he strikes Bud’s head from his shoulders upon having his mind overpowered by one of the devilish foes. Disintegrates for everyone says Dalliance.
…dust in the wind…all they are is dust in the wind…and a Telekinesis for the weak of mind. With the demise of the last devil, Ory returns to a less homicidal state.

Whooo. Devils. Yeah, good thing these were minor devils says Barada.
You should see the ones that are stronger than these guys..and the group ransacks and loots and reads scraps of paper and eventually opes the secret door with the power of the ring. The door leads to a crypt.
The crypt is full of angst, so the group finds and opens the secret door and exits quickly. They exit into a hallway and around the corner are some stronger devils.

The battle is swift and vicious and the only things that die are the devils. The lone monk rejoices in his strong grasp on his psyche as he pummels the foe.
Dalliance rejoices for scrolls and rings of spell storing as she disintegrates them. Once again the ring is used to find and open a secret door that passes through a prismatic wall. After using the ring to scry the path that lies ahead, Dalliance says ‘Everyone into the bubble’! Into the bubble and through the wall to the huge cavern of lights they go. In the cavern of lights is a Balrog – a stronger than strong devil. He seems amenable to bribery, and with his ability to read minds, he strikes a hard, but fair bargain. He takes some stuff, and the party gets to continue to risk its life. Allrightythen.

Onward through the wall of blinding lights that masks a treacherous path bordered by prismatic wall spells. Everyone shrinks down real small and huddles closely around Dalliance…who promptly trips and falls off the path. Luckily, the chasm is deep enough that she does not die, but manages to levitate back to the path. The path winds and drops and there are a few more close calls, but eventually the party stands before a ‘steel’ door covered in runes. The ring is produced and it opens. Beyond is a rune covered trapezoid, topped with a rusty iron skull. The skull has a crown of spikes hammered into it and it looks nasty.

Dalliance grabs it, and the skull and ring fuse together. A wailing commences that seems to imply sudden and violent doom if the party is there to hear the crescendo. Solution! Throw the skull and ring into the lava chasm. Problem! The ring will not release it’s hold on Dalliance. It wants to be carried outside before it explodes. Screw that! Dalliance’s finger is hacked off and the artifacts are pitched into the lava chasm. Now, it is time to run.

Run they do, and no one falls off the path. Run and the Balrog holds true to his word and does not eat them as they flee. Run and the disintegration walls are down (what luck). Run and they are onto the lava fields with a really bad cramp and the desire to puke when there is a loud THRUMMING sound and the mountain explodes with a rain of fiery pyroclasts and noxious gases and burning burning lava. Barada is struck and killed -oops just kidding (thank you goddess!) – and they run to the high ground and wait out the eruptions.

They scheme a little and plot a bit and divvy and teleport and seek out new talent and think about how to risk it all next week. But, for now, they are saviors of the north again. Rary is pleased, the Harpers are ecstatic, Waterdeep is suitably impressed and the hobbits of Laughing Hollow couldn’t tell them apart.