Journey to the Center of the Earth

Erevel grabbed some healing from Ciprian and Ursina as Gavril checked the only door to the north.  No traps or locks were found so Erevel opened the door which led to a ten foot hallway.

Gavril again headed to check for traps.  The party was in a hurry to continue the battle before some of their spells wore off.  Erevel then opened the next door and found a the dark cavern.  The floor was awash in fetid water.  The catwalk was ten feet overhead.  A ladder led to the catwalk on the open side of the catwalk.

Derro hanging from the chains fired crossbow bolts at Erevel and reloaded by bringing the crossbow to their off hand.  They were repeating crossbows.

Gavril levitated into the cavern invisibly and headed to the tunnel that the party had followed earlier.  Erevel flew out into the chamber and killed one of the hanging Derro.  The body hit the water and was drawn to the pit where it fell over the edge. Ursina who had become invisible clambered up to the catwalk next to another Derro.  Armania took Paullus and Ciprian onto the catwalk with Dimensional Step.  She then began a summon monster while taking out a light rock illuminating at least part of the area.

Gavril stepped out and attacked two of the Derro, killing one.  The Derro all attacked at this point.  Five of them left on the catwalk and five hanging from the chains.  Four slightly different looking Derro fired crossbows at Erevel, Paullus, Ciprian and Armania.  They were apparently invisible as they popped into view standing in the rushing water.  The water seemed about two feet deep.

The roar of the water dropping into the pit overwhelmed any speech that the party could try.  Erevel continued her tour of the hanging Derro, Ursina killed a Derro with her Holy Book, Paullus fired arrows at a hanging Derro and Ciprian began Inspire Greatness on Erevel while breathing on one of the Derro rogues.  Two wasps appeared from Armania's call and they attacked two of the near Derro Rogues.  Gavril continued up the catwalk destroying enemies on his way.

Again the hanging Derro fired crossbows, while some of them threw roped clubs at the party.  One club knocked Ursina prone.  The rogues continued to fire at the party.  

The battle continued with Armania casting a fireball onto the northern end of the area.  The wasps didn't land a blow but continued to harass the Derro.  The party continued cutting down the Derro.  At one point Armania was knocked prone and pulled off the catwalk into the water.  She found herself being pulled toward the large pit but Dimension Stepped back to the catwalk.  Blasts of fire from Ciprian, arrows from Paullus and Ursina's longspear finally finished off all the Derro.  Ciprian saved one from being drug by the water to the pit.

Down the walls of the stinking chamber trickled rivulets of the dark, murky waters of Blackwood Swamp.  A ladder on the northern end of the catwalk descended 60 feet down the pit to a wide, slippery ledge.  Erevel flew down to the ledge and saw and saw a tunnel leading off toward the west.  The waterfall continued down past the ledge.

The rest of the party clambered down the ladder and followed Erevel into the tunnel.  The party followed the winding passage, up and down slopes and places where the tunnel narrowed so that the party had to squeeze through.  After about 15 minutes of exploring the crew decided to do an about face.  Following this path to wherever it led was probably not in their best interest.  Erevel spent the last minutes of her fly to explore deeper in the chasm.  The waterfall ended at an underground lake some one hundred feet below the ledge.  No further exploration was deemed necessary by the group.

After collecting all the goods from the subterranean chamber and the rest of the Infirmary the group prepared to leave.

DM's Notes:  The group earned 4534 XP for the night and now have 153,088 XP requiring 1,912 additional to reach 11th level.