After a long rest amongst the Minotaur bones you feel much refreshed. You climb up the narrow stairway back to the main passage and head further east to explore. You find yourself at a balcony overlooking the bottom of the grand staircase you discovered on the top level. A resonant mechanical rumbling emanates from a dark shaft opening up in the middle of this chamber's floor. Four cylindrical stone pedestals surround the shaft, each ten feet tall, five feet wide, and featuring a tiny slot in its side. Squatting atop each pedestal is a large four-armed gargoyle. From your vantage point on the balcony you note that each gargoyle is contained within a square made of metallic tiles embedded in the top of its pedestal. Starting with the northernmost pedestal and going clockwise, the tiles are copper, silver, gold, and platinum. You also notice a plaque attached to the wall beside you. From this chamber you see another passage heading to the west. A six-foot-tall green devil face is carved into the far end of this hallway, its mouth agape. You also see painted murals on the walls near the devil face but are too far to make out any detail. There is also a narrow passageway leading south from where you are, webs reaching across the passage. Trayzeal decides to check out the devil face. He quietly sneaks down the stairs and blends into the shadows as he crosses the room. He enters the hallway and sees that the painted murals on the walls show faceless humanoid figures doubled over in pain, clutching at their heads and ears. He doesn't like the look of this. He also sees another passage heading south to some ascending stairs. However he feels that he is leaving the group too far behind. "What have you found?", shouts Javelin, still on the balcony. Trayzeal calls back explaining what he has found, tells the group he is returning and then crosses over the room with the gargoyles. However he is not hidden this time, and the instant he puts his foot on the stairs, the gargoyles shout "CHEAPSKATE!" as one and launch in for an attack. 2 of the gargoyles pin down Trayzeal, while the other 2 fly up and perch on the balcony, all of them tearing and biting at their targets. Trayzeal casts darkness and manages to slip away from his two aggressors, but does not dare to leave the area of the darkness as even within a couple of seconds he has been wounded near to death. He stumbles through the darkness and finds his way to one of the pedestals. He works it out to be the silver one, so finds the triangular shape of a silver coin in his pocket, feels the pedestal till he finds the coin slot, and inserts the coin. Meanwhile one of the gargoyles has left the darkness and has also flown to the balcony. Javelin reveals the glory of his new robe of scintillation and they are all stunned. You all smash into the gargoyle blocking the stairway and it is shattered. You call to Trayzeal and he darts up the stairs and joins you. By now many of you are very badly wounded and you do not think that you have a chance to beat these foes. A strategic retreat is called and you make your way back down that narrow stairway to Unkh's tomb and to what you think is safety and the passage seems too narrow for the gargoyles to follow. The gargoyles recover. As one of them returns to the silver pedestal, the other two make their way to the narrow passageway. The first one reaches in with its stone claws and drags itself into the passage, scraping loudly against the walls and leaving claw holes as it pulls itself forward. Realising you are trapped you use all the attacks you can and defeat it as its claws reach out into the room and it pulls it's head into the open. With a massive strike, Javelin seperates the head from the body. The head falls into the pit and the body topples in after as the other gargoyle pushes it out of the way. The final gargoyle flies into the room, but you are able to defeat it. Despite the fact that you have been active for less than an hour, you decide that you need to take a rest and recover. You then return to the gargoyle room and see the final gargoyle sitting on it's pedestal. You decide that rather than re-enter that room, you will explore the narrow passage to the south first. Besh goes ahead followed by Grizz. Besh turns a corner and sees a mirror attached to a wall in a small room further to the east. Thinking this odd, he moves forward to examine and immediately gets sucked into the mirror. Grizz then turns the corner and sees that Besh has gone. He calls out and gets no answer. He spots the mirror but does not step forward to examine it. He explains the situation to you all and you realise that the plaque in the gargoyle room indicates that the mirror may have taken him, and has capacity for 12. Grizz, who is here to protect Besh, decides that action must be taken. He turns invisible and strides to the mirror. He lifts his weapon and smashes the mirror. There is an explosion as suddenly all the prisoners of the mirror are released and spill into the room and passageway. Besh is released but so are: A chultan man A minotaur A troll A drow Biff Longsteel, an adventurer that Besh and b'Urp met long ago on a plateau near Nanny Pu'Pu's hut. A giant four armed gargoyle A chultan champion A stirge Everyone takes a moment to look at each other and then suddenly the battle is on...
