Outside, the rats were quickly dispatched, and the party joined Alexandria and Jax in the map room. There were two more gear doors, and since they had the 'Z' key, they opened the eastern door. This led them into a corridor which in turn led to a large hall, lit with dancing lights that floated near the ceiling. This hall included a freshwater pool, but they found nothing of interest within. Continuing on to the west, they found a room that looked like a theater, and in fact it was as an illusion began to show a play of an old gnomish fairy tale. Soon realizing the illusory nature of the show, the party explored the theater and found a trap door on the stage. Arthur Morgan was the first to descend, and found himself under attack from a creature with very long arms and horrible fangs. The crawlspace beneath the stage was too low for anyone, even Erf, to stand up straight, and in these cramped quarters it was difficult to fight the creature. Fortunately, even as the creature began to strangle the elf, Alexandria descended and fired her crossbow, striking the creature with sure accuracy and causing it to loosen its grip on the elf. It was not long before the creature was dispatched, and the party found a chest of treasure, including a locked book and another key, this one with a 'J' rune on it.
Now with three keys in their possession, the party had more options; leaving the theater, they found a 'J' door which opened easily to their key. in here was an abandoned art gallery, and in a secret room near the entrance they found several valuable paintings which they carried with them. They returned to the large hallway, hoping to pass into an area they had been unable to reach earlier. On their way through the hall, however, they were ambushed by no fewer than four of the 'tall ones'. Battle-tested and hardened by their experiences, the party were able to overcome the ambushers, though not without some injuries of their own. Yaervan and Jax both suffered from stab wounds, though neither was yet unable to continue.
Heading east from the southern end of the hall, the party climbed a flight of stairs leading to an octagonal room on the map. At the top of the stairs, Yaervan spotted a hidden door, and determined that it could be opened by turning a torch sconce. However, he turned it the wrong way...and the landing at the top of the stairs flipped up, sending him tumbling down the stairs and back down to the hall. Bruised and battered, he tried again, and this time was successful in opening the door. Inside, they found the remains of an eight-foot long green worm with multiple tentacles and legs. Investigating the body, they found two small coffers had been hidden inside, containing some treasure. Finding little else of value, they continued on toward the octagonal room.
This room turned out to be a bathing chamber, with a steady bubbling of water pouring into a large basin. Hanging above the bath was a mass of webs and a webbed corpse hanging down. Investigating it, Jax peered into the water, only to be suddenly attacked by a huge spider that leapt, completely dry, out of the tub. Before he could react, the spider had bitten into him, and he felt the deadly poison coursing through his veins. His companions immediately went to his rescue, striking down the spider as swiftly as possible, but it was too late; the spider had done its work. In desperation, Ruphus prayed to Diulanna for succor, and force-fed some vile-tasting herbs to the paladin.
The herbs' effect was swift, and Jax soon coughed up both blood and mucus. Terribly weak and barely alive, the paladin survived only through the judicious application of one of their few remaining healing potions. Unable to do anything else and needing rest, the party brought Jax to the room with the illusory forest, where they camped out and gave Ruphus a chance to tend to the paladin's needs.
To be continued...
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