The next day dawns hot and cloudy. The wind is fitful. You ride on.
At midmorning, the wind suddenly starts to blow like a gale. You see a wall of sand and dust descending on you...in less than a moment you are engulfed. Your horses panic, gallop away helter-skelter, taking each of you with them...separating you from your companions...
The sandstorm blows for hours...with your panic-stricken horses fleeing before it. Finally, they collapse from exhaustion...leaving you stranded in the desert.
The storm starts to abate...the winds drop and the clouds of sand and dust settle. Visibility improves...and to your complete amazement you see your companions nearby...huddled in the sand. All of them but Malbar...there is no sign of him.
Nor is there any sign of the trail you were following. You are in the middle of a barren, dusty landscape.
You regroup and take stock of your situation. It is hot...but the overcast sky at least protects you from the sun. All of your equipment and supplies are intact...though you note with dismay that you only have about a day's worth of water left.
Looking about, you see some distance away a high sand dune...the only elevation in sight. Perhaps if you climbed it you would be able to get a better idea of where you are...
Lore swears to himself repeatly, but decides that climbing the dune will probably be is best course of action.
Finally, you all climb up the dune together. Reaching the top, you see a number of cut stone blocks rising out of the sand...and you realize that the dune covers the remains of a stone wall.
Looking down the other side of the dune, you see the remains of a ruined city.
The stone blocks of the city have toppled and cracked with the pasing of time. Sand covers most of the buildings...and they are mostly in a state of collapse.
In the centre of the city, though, is a step-pyramid. It has five steps, each 20' high...though the bottom tier is almost completely buried in the blowing sands. Atop the highest tier you see three 30' tall statues.
The leftmost statue is that of a man holding a balance in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other. The middle is of a winged child with two snakes entwined about its body. The child holds a wand in one hand and a handfull of something in the other. The last statue is of a beautiful woman, bolding a sheaf of wheat in one hand and a sword in the other.
On the side of the pyramid facing you is a ramp, with stairs leading to the top of it...
You head down into the city and have a look around. All of the buildings are in ruins...walls falling in...roofless, etc. etc. You find nothing of interest...and in particular no water.
You decide to climb the pyramid.
Going up the stairs, you feel hot and thirsty. The sun is breaking through the clouds. As you ascend the pyramid your view of the area improves steadily. In all directions is barren desert...broken here and there by dunes.
As you start to ascend the last flight of stairs leading up to the top of the pyramid, though, you note something of interest on the tier immediately below the top level. A dead hobgoblin lies on the stone...against the left hand side of the stairs.
You leave the stairs and go and take a look.
The hobgoblin lies in a partially opened doorway...a secret door leading into the interior of the pyramid. The door opens into the left side of the staircase. The body has a large crossbow bolt sunk deep into its chest. The hobgoblin has been dead for several weeks.
Lore removes the crossbow bolt from the hobgloblin and then examine the secret door for traps. He will be very weary of the door and will stand to one side of it while he tries to open the door with the crossbow bolt.
Darian unstrings his bow and draws his sword standing well away from Lore.
There are no traps visible from the outside.
Looking through the opening (the door is ajar)...you see a 30' long passage running east into the pyramid, under the stairs. After 20' it turns left (north). In a niche at the end of the hall, though, facing you, is a large crossbow, pointing at you. However, it is not loaded.
Lore opens the door all the way, and nothing happens.
You all peer into the passage. You see nothing else besides what was described above. In passing, though, you note that the floor inside is quite dusty...and you see several sets of footprints leading inwards and around the corner to the north...
Lore will wave the others to follow him and take a point position....following the footprints down the hallway. As usual, Lore will be very cautious and weary...looking for traps and listening for sounds.
Moving down the passage, you look north.
The passage continues for 20'...before ending at a door.
Lore checks the door for traps and sounds.
He finds none and hears nothing.
He will also check to make sure the the footprints led through the door.
They do.
Darian examines the walls for potential secret doors knowing about the reputations that such places as this have.
He finds none.
Finally, you pull the door open. Revealed beyond is a 40' square room (10' east, 20' west, 40' north). You are directly under the top level of the pyramid. The air in here smells old and musty. The dust on the floor has been disturbed, though no special details can be made out. Three huge bronze cylinders reach from the floor to the ceiling in the middle of the room. They are in a row, oriented east - west. In the centre of each cylinder, facing you at floor level, is a door. Each bronze door has a bronze handle that can be used to pull the door open.
Darian looks at Lore. "Well? I'm not touching anything. I'm leaving those grizzly details to you."
Lore grins back at Darian..."Ain't no fun if ya don't get yer self dirty in the process."
Darian grins back. "Depends on what you're doing."
Lore looks to see if he can tell if the footprints go to any particular door.
It is impossible to tell.
He then carefully examines each of the cylinders for traps and writings.
He finds no traps or writings...but does notice a patch of dried blood on the floor before the door on the middle cylinder.
Looking over to Darian, Lore points to the walls around the room saying in a whisper, "Darian, why don't you check out the walls of this room."
Darian smiles and begins to carefully check the walls. He's also keeping an eye out for traps.
He notices a small (~1") hole in the wall in the southeast corner of the room.
Tekrem, Polymer3 and Unwer have followed, sensing the caution Lore & Darion have. They will try to be in appropriate positions.
Unwer says, "If you need a volunteer to try one of the doors, I'm the one. Just let me know when you want me to try so you can ready yourselves".
As you move into the chamber, the door leading back outside starts to swing closed.
Lore looks to see if the "1" hole is lined up with the door where the blood spot is.
It isn't...quite. It is aimed at the diagonally opposite corner.
Darian ignores the closing of the door figuring that he couldn't get to it to stop it. "What do you think? Should we try the middle cylinder or another one?"
Lore holds up his hand, "Wait a sec Darian. I want to check something out." Lore examines the "1" hole further. "I'm worried that this '1' hole in the wall might be a hole for a arrow or something to shout out of."
The door closes.
As Lore inspects the hole, he feels a breeze or a flow of gas blowing out of it.
He coughs...
Unwer says "We might get gas or water or something coming through the hole".
We might have to make a fast decision on the doors. Unwer will be ready as well as Tekrem and Polymer3.
Darian mutters, "Uh oh, I think I should've chased that door. Come on, folks, we need to get out of here soon. So, let's choose a door. Lore, any particular one?"
Lore quickly moves away from the gas expelling 1" hole in the wall and to the cylinder with the blood spot by/on it. "I think we should open this one" says Lore, "Get ready everyone!" Lore wait for people to ready themselves and then moves to open the door in such as way as to make sure he is behind it as it opens.
Unwer gets there first, though, and pulls it open.
You see now that the cylinder is hollow. A ladder runs along the inside of the cylinder...both upwards and downwards. The cylinder forms part of a shaft...
The gas is burning your eyes, noses and lungs, now. Each of you take 1 hit point of damage.
Down the ladder you all go, with Lore leading the way. Unwer, the last to go, closes the door behind him.
The ladder only goes down for about 10', before the shaft wall opens up on either side of you. You are coming down through an opening in the centre of the ceiling of a chamber. The chamber measures 40' X 40' (door in east wall, 10' - 20' section as measured from the north; two doors in west wall, north and south ends respectively). The ladder continues down to the floor below...and to either side of you is another ladder, extending up into a shaft...making three ladders and three shafts in total.
At the botton of the ladders, though, are three beetles...each about 2' long. Each one has three glowing spots on its body...and they all look hungry.
"Lore, don't go down any further. Let me see if a sleep spell might put them out. Just hold onto my ankles so I don't fall."
Lore nods and does not move do the ladder any further.
Darian looks up to whomever is directly above him. "And if you would hold the top of my cloak, also?"
Once he is secured, he begins to cast his sleep spell on the beetles below.
A few seconds later there are three sleeping fire beetles lying on the floor.
Darian has a satisfied smile. "Finally, I get to cast one of my spells without being hit. Shall we kill the beetles?"
Lore nods, "Nice job Darian! Yes, I think we should kill the beetles."
Lore then climbs down from the ladder (careful not to land on any of the beetles below) and pulls out his short sword. With a wink and a nod to Darian, Lore plunges his short sword into the nearest beetle.
Darian climbs down after him and bows to Lore. "Thank you, sir, it was my pleasure." He draws his own sword and with a flourish, slices into another beetle.
Unwer says "Good going Darian, excellent choice of spell."
Unwer, Polymer3, and Tekrem will follow. Unwer will search the room for anything he can find.
While Darian and Lore kill beetles, the rest search the place. The room holds spare parts for some sort of machinery. Most of the parts are made of brass or bronze. There are also several large, sealed clay pots. Opening them, you see that they hold lubricating oil. Most of the oil has evaporated, but there is still some left in the bottom of each pot. There is also a small foundry here, consisting of a forge, an anvil, hammers and various miscellaneous tools.
As previously mentioned, there are three doors leading out of this room...one in the east wall and two in the west.
Darian examines the beetles attempting to ascertain what kind they are.
Each has three glowing glands...these continue to glow even after you have killed them...illuminating a 10' area about them.
Giant fire beetles, perhaps?
Lore will bend down and try to cut out the glowing glands of the beetles with his dagger...being very careful not to burn himself.
Darian watches Lore and says, "I don't think they generate heat. I think they're glow is caused by a chemical reaction that will cease to occur after a few days if removed from a live beetle."
In fact Lore manages to remove the glands without cooking himself...they are quite cool to the touch.
Tekrem has six torches and Polymer3 has a standard lantern.
Unwer listens at each of the doors to see if he can hear anything.
He hears nothing through any of them.
After cutting out the glands, Lore checks to see if they are still glowing and then carefully places them inside of a small pouch and then into his backpack.
"Lore, why don't you pick one?" says Darian. "Unwer, let Lore open the door since he has some thieving skill."
Before anyone opens any door, Lore will say, "hold on a minute" and then go over to examine each door for traps and sound. Lore will also examine the doors for signs of blood or usage.
None of the doors reveal any secrets.
He hears nothing through any of them.
Unwer will let Lore do his job.
Lore picks a door randomly and opens it, careful to stand to the side of the doorway as he does so.
He picks the door in the southwest corner of the room.
Opening it reveals a 10' wide passage running west...for 40'. After 30' it turns south.
Lore waves for everyone to follow and proceeds down the passageway carefully to the point where it turns south. There he peers down the passageway further to see if he can make anything out.
Looking around the corner you see that the passage runs south for 20'...turning east again after 10'. There is a door in the south wall facing you.
You move down to the door and look east.
The passage runs for 20' east...turning south again after 10'.
Lore listens at the door, but hears nothing. Nor does he notice any traps.
Lore opens the door...
Beyond is a flight of stairs...spiralling downwards to your left...
You stand at the top of the stairs for weeks, it seems...or is it just the relativistic effects of time dilation..?
For suddenly up the stairs comes roaring that same flying saucer...and in an instant you are drawn into it...
Who knows how long you are aboard it, now...being poked, prodded, and subjected to all sorts of bizarre experiments...
You have vague recollections of being put in a maze and then being expected to find your way out...of being put on a treadmill and told to run...of being taught to pull different coloured levers, some of which provided you with food, while others shocked you...
At last though, the terror ends...and you find yourselves standing in another dungeon passage. Before you are a pair of enormous bronze doors, engraved with the image of a smiling dwarf.
Before the door are a group of people...looking at you in surprise.
The flying saucer is behind you...humming away.
Suddenly, one of the party members - a halfling - is drawn into the UFO.
The saucer turns and goes roaring away back down the hallway.
And a new adventure begins for Lore and Darian...