We move to the flame symbol. The cover is warmer but not scalding. Opening it, warm, dry air comes out. The tunnel, as before, is dark and requiries crawling. The heat increases as I move forward. The hatch at the bottom is warmer still. I open the hatch. On the wall, opposite to to the tunnel, is a grate. The podium, as in the other rooms, is centered. Rod expands to look into the grate. Heat is considerable from it w/ an orange light at the far end, about 20 feet. Rod volunteers to go down the tunnel but Echo suggests sending a phantom. It reports a bright orange room surrounded by about 5' of lava. Easily enough, Echo commands the Phantom to retrieve the key. The key turns. The mural shifts.
The dashed lines. We open the cover. The air is refreshingly cool and pleasant. Moving down the tunnel, I move the the panel aside and look out. There is an archway at the other end. Past the archway is a web, about 20 feet long and ten feet across. On the far side is a cave like room filled w/ stalagtites and stalagmites. We send the phantom forward. Inhuman screams in the distance. The phantom returns, severely wounded. It had fought a giant cave spider and defeated it. We send the phantom back to retrieve the key then dismiss it. The key turns. The mural shifts.
The infinity symbol. Cool air and damp. The dais is octagonal instead of just round. A rope bridge on the far end. No railings. Echo, the most nimble of us, even for a human, crosses and ties a rope for the rest of us to cross safely. An ice elemental and the dias are the anchors. The far room is a huge octagon, two steps down is water. Hanging from the ceiling and covering much of the steps are vines, bluish-green in color. The party crosses over. There is some movement in the water, what it is we're not sure. The air is thicker than in the entrance room. Rod summons a Shadow Beast to search the waters. We send both the creatures in and they get attacked by multiple serpentine creatures. Rod and Echo recall their beasts. Several of the eels are floating dead on the surface but more are still there. Rod casts a portal into the pool, draining it into the cavern behind us. Several eels follow. The rest are left swimming in the few feet of water that remains. A lower portal drains the rest of the water and many more eels, the last flopping around in the few inches of remaining water. Echo sends the ice elemental in to send the rest of the eels into the portal and search for the key. We discover the key inside one of the large eels. A quick vivisection gets the key. The key turns. The mural shifts.
To be continued.
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