We had a quiet rest. Praying to Tymora, I was able to heal Tassar some more. While doing so, I heard Rosorc suggesting that we try to track down the orc mage! He told Theona that there would probably be lots of loot involved; he’s certainly learned how to get her attention!

With no idea where the orc mage was, however, we simply began opening doors and checking out the hallways. Randomly picking one, we headed down a sloping ramp. The first thing our searchers found was a hole - in the ceiling! Rosorc was certain it was a dwarven trap - lucky for us, already tripped. Sure enough, we passed the crushed remnants of a body on our way to the bottom of the slope.

A large stone cylinder explained the rest of the trap to the non-dwarves, and then movement down one of the hallways at the bottom caught our attention! Rosorc knew what the new creatures were right away; rust monsters, which quickly picked up the scent of our metal gear and rushed down the hall for a snack! Arrows were soon winging their way, and William began to cast spells. I used my sling, but didn’t do much at all to slow the things.

Theona managed to shoot one to death even as Rosorc stepped behind us and reloaded his crossbow - although Tassar insisted the move was simply to protect his spiked armor. I tried smacking the remaining thing with my wooden staff, also to no effect, but William finished it off for me. Poor William, however, had taken the brunt of the attack - losing his armor and shield in the process!

Guessing that there would be no more rust monsters from that direction, Tassar made off down the hall they’d come from. Before we got too far, both Theona and Areon noticed a secret door in the wall! They quickly had it open, and we turned down the new passage, ending in another door - also soon open. To our surprise, as we entered the new room, we heard a ‘click’ as William closed the secret door behind us! He heard about that, I fear, but it hadn’t occurred to any of us that he would take such a chance of locking us in!

We were quickly distracted by new trouble; the floor of the secret room began to move, and a huge earth elemental formed! Rosorc attacked, Theona stood screaming, Tassar charged. He was immediately kicked across the room! The thing then attacked so fast that it hit every fighter, hard, including Tassar, who didn’t get up. I don’t know what posessed me, but I dashed into the thick of battle, grabbed him, and ran for the dubious safety of the passage before the elemental could strike me, too. Tymora’s blessings were upon me! Meanwhile, Areon managed to push Theona into the hallway, too, and ran into the fight to get hammered by the thing.

Theona, seeing our friends in real trouble, leaned out of the doorway and shot the wand of enfeeblement at the elemental. It actually seemed to work! I healed Tassar back onto his feet even as the others attacked with renewed hope. The dwarf broke into song, the halfling flung his war fork through the battle (narrowly missing the elf), and the mage cast magic missiles into the crumbling mass. Theona gave it another shot, and Areon was able to hack big chunks out with his sword, as I healed Tassar enough to see him head back into the fray. Rosorc, unfortunately, took one blow too many; next thing I knew, I was dashing by the monster for the second time, relying on Tymora’s grace to do my duty. I dragged him to safety as Areon smashed the elemental to bits.

Tassar’s healing wand came in handy for the last time, as I did all I could to get my party back in decent shape. Tassar had a snack while I worked. Theona found a new hall, another trap (unsprung), marked it with chalk, then checked the door William had closed (thankfully, it opened after all), while the rest of us settled down for another rest. She searched the room while we slept, and Tassar graffitied the place with her chalk. I woke up with the power to heal Rosorc much more, and turned to Tassar, only to see him walk beyond the marked trap and set off another! He reached for a door handle and promptly fell through the floor!

I flipped out, insisting that someone trip the door again so we knew what had happened to him! It seemed a very long time before Theona had the door open and I could lie down and holler down what turned out to be a long chute in the floor - only to hear the sounds of fighting, then silence. I lowered my rope only to find that it didn’t reach far enough. Rosorc then carefully climbed down, bless him! He soon called for someone to drop another rope, which William did, and apparently that was just long enough; they both climbed back up the chute. Tassar had some new toys from his battle with three drow! He told me all about the battle, showed me his new black dagger and sword that’s taller than he is, and suddenly fell asleep from their poisoned arrows even as I healed his wounds. Knowing he’d be out for a while, and unable to help for that day, I picked him up and followed the others down the hall.

Theona had found yet another door, untrapped, through which we discovered the old armory (there were arrow slits across the way; we ducked below them as best we could, fearing more traps). A few weapons had survived the ages, and we collected them while she opened yet another secret door. This one led to the other side of the wall and the arrow slits, another hallway, and another secret door! That one opened to a room full of cobwebs, which Rosorc set to burning away, when we were, naturally, attacked by the inhabitants. The giant spiders were soon killed, despite the fact that Tassar wouldn’t wake up, and Rosorc was bitten several times and considerably weakened (not to mention accidentally shot by Theona, while William’s spells flew overhead!).

We have to rest, yet again. Rosorc is awake, but can hardly move, though he seems happy to just gaze lovingly on Theona. Theona, on the other hand, is looking a little claustrophobic from being underground so long. She hasn’t been the same since that earth elemental! I hate to let her down, but until Tassar wakes up and I can pray to restore Rosorc’s strength, we’re stuck. May the time pass quickly!