Private Beach and Diving Pool

Reaching the top of the stairs, the group pauses at the edge of a large…’beach’ – a sloping section of pebble strewn cave floor that borders another swiftly moving river. Venturing onto the beach invites attack by a flight (squadron? gaggle?) of manticores who shoot tail spikes at everyone, but only manage to wound the mage.
As they swoop around after making yet another pass, the mage dispatches one with a fireball and the rest scatter. The party ventures along the beach and has to deploy the boats in order to get around a corner and land on another beach.. Darn handy, those folding boats.
Turns out, this beach is private as well, occupied by a bunch of angry trolls. Goldpiece unlimbers the flaming holy sword and smites them mightily, rending limb from limb. Soon enough, the beach party is over. The troll’s cave yields its treasures and the group is off again, heading towards an island of sorts, ringed by flaming torches that cast light upon the shimmering waters of a huge lake. First, one more stop on another beach – but this one seems uninteresting as several minutes pass and nothing comes to kill them. But look – across the lake – scorpions are crawling about!
Off they go in their boats and land on the scorpionless side where a bridge stretches across the lake to a rocky outcropping. The bridge is bridged and scorpions are killed and the cave is looted for anything worth looting. Oh yeah – where the hell are those pesky manitcores? Around one more corner – almost going full circle to the beach they started from – the group finds the manticore cave and slays them all. Plunder is taken and the group reverses course.
One of the party spots something floating way out on the lake, just at the edges of vision.
What would surely be a dangerous swim is made simple by the folding boats and within a few minutes the group is staring at a gilded ‘float’ that is attached to a chain that stretches into the black waters of the lake. The mage deploys a round of water breathing spells and the boats are folded as the group plunges into the frigid waters and follows the chain to a bronze watertight door. They twist the valve and reveal a long descent with a ladder attached to the wall of the shaft and a similar door at the bottom. Into the shaft, close the top door, swim one person down to the bottom and have them open the door. They don’t get ripped free by the weight of the falling water and eventually the group finds itself in a wet hallway made of rough hewn rock that slopes steadily upwards.
At the end of the passage – a small vault and within, a plain stone coffin, topped by a single slab of rock. Evil is detected by both of the paladins and the elf deploys the x-ray belt, but to no avail. A lengthy discussion culminates in attempting to slide the slab off the box while several party members prepare to batter the occupant with maces of disruption. Alas, the slab cannot be moved by force. More discussion ensues and a second plan is concocted. This plan is discarded in favor of the final plan: The mage will shrink the stone slab and hope it falls into the coffin, pinning – or at least hindering – the occupant.
The group arrays itself in the appropriate positions and the mage shrinks the stone, then does it again when once is not enough. The stone falls, revealing a hideous and well armored mummy, whom Sir Kingsly promptly smashes with the mace of disruption and blasts it out of existence. A bit anticlimactic, what?
Anyway – plunder! Now talk turns to escape. One plan after another is discussed and discarded as it seems clear that brute force will not open the upper door – with the weight of the lake upon it. Even if one could, then the lake would simply drain into the chamber below. Eventually, the group holds hands and uses the powers of the mage and cleric to planeshift to and from the astral plane – returning to the general area from whence they started – but they aren’t sure exactly where they are.
Some scouting reveals a village of trolls, the evening brings the sounds of an elephant sized bullfrog and there are signs of old building ruins in these foothills. The party is intent on returning to more familiar ground and the bird-shaped mage reports that it is likely that the great lake is to the east.
They bypass the frogs, trolls and ruins and put into the water and start off into a canyon over which passes a rope bridge. Off tot he side, an underground river exits from the foothills and joins the river upon which they are traveling.
Without much discussion, the party decides to head upstream, back into the mountains and within two days of solid travel they have found themselves once again in a giant underground cavern, through which flow several rivers and in the distance the dull roar of a waterfall may be heard.