The Biscuits	Dollin - Druid 7th Level (PC) Gimar - Fighter 8th Level (PC) Little John - Fighter 6th Level (NPC) Nicola - Cleric 6th Level (PC) Wed - Mage 6th Level (NPC) Yodavan - Mage/Cleric 1st/3rd (PC)
Locale	Dwarven Mines
Date	9th day of Goodmonth, 585 CY (Common Year)
Time	evening?

Gimar and Wed put their heads together for a few hours, but could come up with no easy way to get through the stone that sealed the mine shaft.

Gimar	An earth elemental might work - but we'd have to go around. And that (indicating the wall) is solid rock.
Wed	I've gone over my spellbooks again. Wraithform is still the best option . . .
Gimar	. . . but for that we need a crack in an airtight vault door. If only I had a good rock drill.
Wed	I could create the illusion of one.
Dollin	Now an illusion that could fool a rock, that would be a trick.
Wed	I've heard of some wizards speaking with rocks.
Yodavan	(Carefully) I can talk to animals.
Nicola	Okay, maybe we should sleep on it.
Little John	The door?
Nicola	(Yawning) You know what I mean. New ideas in the morning and all that.

Wed strung a few alarm spells across the passageway - near enough to be heard, but hopefully far enough back to provide a good warning. Then the party slept, fairly confident that they were safe in their sealed mine shaft.

The Biscuits	Bar-Lgura (minor demon)
Locale	Dwarven Mines
Date	10th day of Goodmonth, 585 CY (Common Year)
Time	early morning

The broad shouldered creature loped down the corridor, thinking of food. In a way, this was hunting - he found the enemies, and the red ones gave him payment. If he could just find another large group to terrify, he would get a special bonus.

"Dwarves made this" he thought to himself. "They are just a little shorter than me. They don't scare easily, though - better to just put in an appearance and let their legends scare them. Now humans, those . . ."

Just then, the creature caught scent of a small fire. He thought "This wasn't the bad detail after all. (sniffing) Hmmm, a dwarf, and . . . humans!"

Spying the end of the corridor, the creature's coloration changed to a dull grey, matching the wall. In an eyeblink he teleported to stand beside the stone plug, in the midst of the party.

He began a low whisper, the beginnings of a gate.

The Biscuits	Dollin - Druid 7th Level (PC) Gimar - Fighter 8th Level (PC) Little John - Fighter 6th Level (NPC) Nicola - Cleric 6th Level (PC) Wed - Mage 6th Level (NPC) Yodavan - Mage/Cleric 1st/3rd (PC)
Locale	Dwarven Mines
Date	10th day of Goodmonth, 585 CY (Common Year)
Time	early morning

Dollin slept poorly. The druid was still uneasy about being underground. No roots would reach through this stone, and no gentle sussuration of the trees would reach his ears. Wait, he did hear a whispering of some sort . . .

Nicola was dreaming of a herself, a girl imprisoned. Her tormentors questioned her at seemingly random hours. But she knew a secret - there was a crack that they did not know about. And at the right time of the day, the almighty sun pierced her cell. Just as it was doing now . . .

Wed slept easily, remembering times when he copied the ancient texts. He truly loved this work, even though the spoken languages he scribed were long since lost. Sometimes he thought he could hear them in his mind, an ancient whispering . . .

Yodavan dreamed of his younger days. There had once been a youngster in his garden, what was his name, Ani or something like that. Taught him the ways of herbs, he did, but the youngster - a black thumb he had. A deep forboding came over the gnome . . .

In his dreams, McClane heard a voice. Hannah called to the steadfast warrior. "Awake, John!"

The party arose at once. As Wed uncovered a patch of light, the lurking demon was quickly unmasked. As one, the Biscuits called out, "Gimar, wake up!". The demon sprang high into the air, leaping forward and landing next to Little John.

 * [*] John Quarterstaff :16-|-3+4|:3: miss
 2 [1+1] Wed Magic Missile :7: 3d4+3=11 to Bar-Lgura
 4 [1+3] Bar-Lgura #1 claw :14-|2|:17: 1d6=1 to Little John
10 [6-2+6] Dollin Lightning Spear :18-|-3|:8: miss
10 [7+3] Bar-Lgura #1 claw :14-|2|:14: 1d6=3 to Little John
12 [9+3] Bar-Lgura #1 bite :14-|2|:6: miss
12 [9+3] Yodavan Bless :1: on Spear
15 [8+7] Nicola Mace :18-|-3+2|:17:  miss

The Bar-Lgura frowned at Little John - his fear effect wasn't working. From behind the stone plug, a resonant voice cursed. "You idiot, the gate is facing the wrong way." The demon that the party was battling turned a darker shade of red. As Gimar arose and grabbed his axe, there was a massive pounding noise from the stone plug. Suddenly, the Wed's light rock went out, leaving only the faint glow of Yodavan's blessed spear.

 * [*] John Quarterstaff :16-|-3+4-2|:18:  1d6+4=10
 1 [1] Gimar causes his axe to shed light.
 6 [3+3] Bar-Lgura #1 claw :14-|2|:18: 1d6=2
 7 [1+6] Dollin Continual Light :15:
 8 [7+1] Yodavan tosses spear to Dollin
 9 [8+1] Wed Magic Missile :2:  magic resistance
10 [7+3] Bar-Lgura #1 claw :14-|2|:16: 1d6=3
11 [4+7] Gimar Battleaxe :13-|-3+4|:11:  miss
13 [10+3] Bar-Lgura #1 bite :14-|2|:17: 2d6=12
15 [8+7] Nicola Mace :18-|-3+2|:19:  17 damage

The melee scene was now filled with light. Gimar tried to taunt the evil menace into coming after him. Dollin caught the blessed spear tossed by Yodavan and made to use it this round.

The majority of the stone plug then collapsed, showering all the combatants with dust and small debris. Standing on the other side of the opening was another of the gruesome demons.

First Demon	Oh, I feel dead.
New Demon	Anybody ever tell you you look dead?
Gimar	(Taunting) Come on, you puppies, feel the bite of my axe.

The newly arrived demon looked quizically at Gimar, who then began to lift off the ground and float toward the opening. Gimar swore and gripped his axe tighter. The new demon merely replied:

New Demon	Warrior, come out and play-i-ay.
Wed	(re-aiming his magic missiles) Hey, you drop our dwarf!

 * [*] John Quarterstaff :16-|-3+4|:17:  1d6+4=8, slaying demon
 4 [3+1] Wed Spellname :1: 5d4+5=11
 9 [2+7] Gimar Thrown Axe :13-|-3+3|:20: critical(17) 3*(1d6+7)=30
11 [10+1] Yodavan Magic Missile :10: d4+1=5
14 [10-2+6] Dollin Thrown Spear :18-|-3+2+1|:18: 1d6=5, slaying demon

Little John quickly finished the injured demon in the midst of the party. Gimar's thrown axe caught the new demon square in the face, while it's torso was riddled with magical missiles from the wizardly pair. Reeling, the evil creature was about to fall when Dollin hurled the blessed spear. It struck the demon's midsection and passed through, creating what seemed to be a small vortex. The demon was sucked through this gateway, collapsing as he went.

Nicola	Well that was interesting.
Dollin	Nice spear, Yodavan.
Little John	(Wiping ichor from his staff) Nice throw, Dollin.
Yodavan	(Holding up the retrieved spear) Hmmm, have this you must. Magical it is still.
Wed	(casting a quick spell) Holy book, so it is. Now that's a bless spell.
Gimar	We've been blessed in more ways than one - here's our way out of here.

Indeed, the arriving Bar-Lgura had punched through one side of the stone plug, revealing the early morning stars in the sky above.

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