The party had started to accumulate a lot of treasure, and was being charged 100gp per week to store it in the trading bureau, where this covered the cost of 24×7 guards. The proprietor agreed to forego the 5% withdrawal penalty, given the expense.

Meanwhile, copper-pinching Frakus purchased an old warehouse just south of the tavern in Larm, vowing to hide his gold under the floorboards. He spent 1,500gp on the purchase and renovation, but he felt the purchase was worth it if he did not have to pay for someone else to store his riches.

After a few days of rest, the party returned to the dungeon on Arro’s Hill. As they approached, they saw several men descending the entry stairs at the top of the hill, one of them with a sack over his shoulder. By the time they arrived at the entrance however, the men were gone and the party was unable to locate their tracks.

The party decided to ignore the men for now, and headed to the stairs down to level two. The first room they explored was full of stone rubble, and had a vaulted ceiling. As they poked through the rubble, two rhagodessa dropped from the ceiling and attacked! Turmyr was killed in the ensuing melee, but Frakus gained a suit of +1 plate armor he found buried in the rubble.

The next room they explored was home to a cursed idol which put Frakas in a trance – all he could do was stand in front of it and feed gold into the idol’s mouth. It seemed to have an insatiable appetite for gold coins. Osan was able to drag Frakas clear of the room and with minimal loss of gold after a good whack on the head knocked him out.

Next was a room with a similar idol statue, but it was trapped and poor Omes had two arrows shot into to his chest before a large gem could be recovered from the idol’s forehead.

The party decided to try and revive Turmyr, but the healing pool on level one was no longer working. So they returned to town with the body.

My idea for the healing pool was that it was only ever supposed to heal lost hit points or cure disease, not resurrect characters, which is why it did not work on Turmyr. However, I was inconsistent with my rulings in that in session #35, Osan was killed by the Basilisk on level two and I allowed him to be resurrected. I don’t remember why I did allow that – perhaps I was feeling generous that day.

The party rested in Larm for two weeks while Arro studied the books and amulet of the spider cult. They then geared up and headed back to the dungeon on the hill, finding nothing but a burned tent atop it. There was no sign of Ogres, Gnolls, or any bodies.

They decided to explore the 2nd level, starting from where they had fought the Kamenni before. There they found the start of a mine and some living quarters, but all appeared abandoned. While they were searching the living quarters, Spot the basilisk returned, blocking their only exit.

Osan hatched a scheme to cover the basilisk with a blanket while the others attacked it, but it did not go as planned. The basilisk moved at the last second and Osan landed on the floor, a prime target for the basilisk. The others rushed out to attack, but poor Osan was killed in the battle. The basilisk was eventually defeated, and Arro harvested its eyes and blood. The party carried Osan’s body to the statue room, placing him in the pool and submerging him. He was brought back to life – with a cost of his health and agility (LL note: permanent loss of -1 CON and -1 DEX).

Once fully recovered, Osan and the party went back down to the crypt level, behind the Minotaur statue. There they used the teleport pad and ended up in a cave they did not recognize (LL note: teleported to an unknown part of level 2).

The cave was long and narrow, and appeared to have an exit at the west end. A large lizard was dozing near them, but seemed uninterested (LL note: good reaction roll). Omes spotted an iron spike in the cave wall to their north, and wiggled it free, causing gas to leak out with a loud hiss and a rotten egg smell. They quickly left the cavern, heading west and north through a set of double doors. Before closing the doors, Arro threw a lit torch in the cavern, and the party moved on.

The next room was finished and circular, and had a boarded-up well in the center. The party left it alone and continued on, heading east into a room with plush couches and a chandelier lit by diamonds which shone brightly. There was a red button on the wall to the east.

Arro cast a levitation spell and was able to grab 10 of the diamonds, which stayed lit even when removed from the chandelier. Meanwhile, the dungeon was rocked by a loud explosion – presumably the cave gas had reached the torch! The party decided to hole up on the couches for the night, resting and continuing in the morning.

The next morning, while examining the far end of the room, Omes fell in a 10 foot pit. Pressing the nearby red button afterwards exposed a secret door to the east. The party went through the door into a tunnel, which led to a chamber. It was occupied by a man who introduced himself as Xane, a lawful priest. The party was immediately suspicious, and their doubts were confirmed when the Xane tried to cast a spell, albeit unsuccessfully, as he was attacked by Osan and then killed in the ensuing melee.

A search of the chamber revealed an alcove, inside of which was a demonic idol that shocked Omes when he picked it up. There was also a tapestry of a green-hatted mage on the wall. In a nearby chest was a pair of leather gauntlets, which Arro used to pick up and then smash the idol, revealing a cache of gemstones. Frakus took the gems and the tapestry, thinking the latter might be worth something to a collector.

The party headed north and battled some giant carnivorous flies, then into a large room with six cages. Two cages were empty, but the other four contained a white ape, a wyvern, a black panther, and a giant black widow spider. The occupied cages were locked with colored locks and chains – red, green, blue, orange and violet.

They left the cages for now and continued north, encountering a gnome with a diamond-tipped whip and colored key chain on his belt, who fled north when they saw him. Giving chase and rounding a corner, the party saw a bare wall. Arro was able to disbelieve the illusion after water he poured on the floor leaked through the “wall”. Behind the fake wall was a door and quarters for the gnome. Once confronted, he was friendly, introduced himself as Tomas the Menagerie Keeper, and told the party how to get back to level one, so they could return to town.

Reaction rolls always play a big part in my games, it keeps them from being too combat-heavy, and worked out for the party in the case of the giant cave lizard. For NPCs like the menagerie keeper, I rely less on rolls and more on role play, although I sometimes use reaction rolls in those situations to suggest a course of action if something is uncertain or could have more than one outcome.