We came, we saw, we left, we went back – but it was gone.

The opening doors herald the arrival of a Kua-Toa monk and a ring-wearing troll. The monk deals some wicked blows before being KO’d and the troll – although battering Bud Feaster near to death – swiftly follows suit. The party begins exploring – uncovering a storeroom, a bunch of bedchambers and a bathing pool. One remaining door leads to a room with a double locked door on the other side. The magics of Dalliance are brought to bear and the door is opened. Nil presses into the room and is assassinated. While his body slumps to the floor, the rest of the party dispatches the elf that slew him and is startled by the illusion of a mind flayer observing them. The rod of resurrection is used to restore the fallen one – welcome to death Mr. Nils – and the group presses on.
They search and descend a set of trapped stairs, finally arriving at an apparently well-stocked wizard’s lab. T’is all a sham, however – the books moldy, the spell components old or missing. A wave of paranoia descends upon the party and they make haste to leave the area, fearing some trap is afoot. They explore sections of corridor, using the fork to guide them. At one point, they return to the temple to discover the secret passage that leads to the lair of the ‘mind flayer’, but the occupant is long gone, as is whatever swag he may have had.
The group adventures further before asking the fork for guidance. The fork leads them to an observation point that overlooks the river and the Shadowdale castle. Hmmm. The group returns to the ‘Dale and plots some more. Eventually, the lure of distant lands is very alluring indeed. They use their contacts in the Shadowdale druid community to open a waygate to this distant land. The bard is given instructions on how to play the party back home on the return leg of the journey.

The druids chant, the air shimmers…the waygate opens and the party steps in…