With the Lady Lubboch as the least freaked out party member, the group continues onward. Lubbitch ponders a new name to reflect her increased estrogenocity as the group returns to the room of rugs and proceeds to plunder everything in sight. Beyond the rug weaver’s abode is a room of fine tapestries. These too are stolen…er…liberated. As Dalliance wraps everything into a ‘teleportable’ bundle, she reflects on the weaver’s story and comes to realize that Arley the weaver was working for Zagig, the Black Mage of Orlbar…of course, this was long before there was an Orlbar, but still…the group is poking about in the abode of a powerful and very evil mage. Oh well. More rooms are opened and investigated, until finally the decision is made to enter beyond the black curtain.

On the other side is a...

Dalliance trades her ‘orphaned’ spellbook for a Chime of Opening with 28 charges still within, and the group [Reza, Lubboch, Bud, Dalliance, Barada and Hobar] sets off on a journey to the edge of the vast desert. Along the way, Dalliance pays Lord Stumpy a visit and is warmly greeted with a lavish celebration. After some discussion and perusal of maps, they ask the Stumpmaster about the history of the area. Learning that it was a hilltop fortress of a warlord, the group discovers that the unopenable doors are located in the base of the hill.

The journey to the location is uneventful – as the scouting of Barada and Bud guarantees that there are no unwanted games of catch with the stone giants that inhabit the mountain region...

While in the hallway, it is decided that Bud should check out the secret crawlspace. When he wanders to the end of the passage, the unmistakable stench of Wolverine is smelt. Still without a reason to disturb a wolverine, it is decided to turn back. Perhaps the sad man/death face doors will hold more interest and less undead. The doors are triple locked, but Knock spells and the Wand of Opening is just the ting to open reluctant doors.

inside are chests and torches. They all radiate magic. Each chest is triple locked. After the expenditure of much magic and time, the chests are opened. Before the chests are opened, Barada has his strength reduced to 3 multiple times and the party is attacked by a bear. Bear is reduced to foodstuffs and the chests are opened...

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...

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...