Elaryan is sleeping deeply, wrapped in the furs of the Scintillians' guest chamber, when he is woken by Asteris. "Wake up, sleepyhead," the half-angel teases. "The Scintillians have prepared a breakfast tea for us." Asteris leads Elaryan to a large, well-furnished room, where neanderthal slaves in formal dress are serving tea in china teacups. Several Hinge-headed lounge on plush sofas, cups of tea in front of them, but they do not drink, as they have no mouths. Malak and Eovan are also there; like the Scintillians, Malak does not drink his tea, though he does converse telpathically with the hinge-headed across from him. Eovan is happy to see his old pal, Elaryan; he calls over a slave to pour the sorcerer a cup. The tea is hot, and very good. The companions wait and wait for Arthas, Lor, and Nor to arrive, but the others never show. Eventually, Gurmilius enters the lounge and explains that they left earlier, while Elaryan was still asleep. It's unclear exactly where they went, but they took a canoe, so it is possible that they have gone ahead to Portal Island. Elaryan and Eovan finish their tea, then all four remaining adventurers proceed down to the temple shore. Asteris can walk across the water, of course, so the other three are able to fit comfortably in a single canoe. Though Malak is the strongest of the three, he doesn't like to get wet, so he sits in the middle, and the other two paddle. It is a long row across the bay to Portal Island, but it passes without incident. On the island, the adventurers find the portal much as Burtelix described. A stone ring hangs on bronze chains from curved pillars, and a stone stairway allows access to the ring. However, the portal seems inactive; both Asteris and Malak fly through the ring, but nothing happens. Meanwhile, Elaryan and Eovan examine the pillars closely. On one, they find a square niche with three metal pins. Remembering the vision that Lor had, they decide that they must find the golden key to activate the portal. They begin their search on this very island. The island is mostly empty but the companions do find three graves in an alcove. They dig up all three: on contains the dessicate remains of a castus-man, another a crate of supplies (including a magic sword), and the third, a blue skeleton grasping a pouch of red pearls. The heroes try to use these items in various ways to activate the portal, but with no results. A preserved goblin head, found in the second grave, fits nicely in niche, but has no effect. Discouraged, the party decides to return across the bay, to the Island of the Moktar. Perhaps the lionfolk will have some insight into the location of the golden key. They begin to row across, but this time, they are ambushed by a fierce sea monster, a 12-headed hydra. The beast emerges from beneath the surface, destroying the party's canoe, grievously wounding Elaryan, and killing Eovan! Malak manages to get his arms around one of the beast's necks, and is prepared to ride it to the bottom of the bay, but Asteris convinces him that the hydra is unlikely to have the golden key, and so he releases the beast, and the party flies to safety. Once again they encounter Moktar sentries, but this time they resort to diplomacy rather than arrows. The sentries lead them to their chief, Gurrk, who sits upon a throne of skulls. After Asteis explains who she is, Gurrk is willing to cancel the blood vendetta that the Moktar have placed on the party's heads. The lionfolk, unfortunately, have no idea where to find the golden key that the companions seek. They were trapped in this dungeon fairly recently, and have spent most of that time warring with the local gillmen. Gurrk is however willing to have two of his warriors escort the adventurers to the edge of Moktar territory, so that they can infiltrate the gillmen lair. The party does not get very far into gillmen territory before they encounter gillmen sentries. The sentries are very nervous, as the Moktar have been preying upon them fiercely, and the heroes have after all come from that direction. The companions manage to negotiate a meeting with the gillman chief, Pyceen, a massive gillman with vaguely sahuagin features. Pyceen explains that the gillman do not know of any golden key, so the heroes retreat back into the Moktar area. Realizing that they could search this massive dungeon forever, the party flies back to the Scintillian temple, in case they have missed some clue to the key's location. Gurmilius repats the same story that Burtelix did earlier, but also adds that the great Scinitillian explorer, Nimirlan, might have more information. Nimirlan is currently on the upper levels of the dungeon, negotiating a truce with the necromantic midgets. The heroes decide to pursue this lead, but not before a full night's rest. They have adventured far this day, so they are tired... and they are still hopeful that their missing companions will rejoin them. Elaryan gains 6,734 XP. Malak gains 8,384 XP.