Lor regains consciousness to find himself locked in an iron cage, in the corner of a large cavern. Nor and Xhotl are is in a separate cages nearby, and an army of troglodytes surrounds them. The trogs seem to be preparing a huge bonfire for a feast. Shaking his head groggily, the halfling slowly recalls how he got into this situation. He and Arthas had woken before the other, more morally ambiguous, members of the party, and had a quiet conference on the portal island. While Arthas's bow had been quite insistent that they should try to stake Malak in his sleep, Arthas himself had suggested that they instead seek out the council of the Man From Below. As someone who had lived in the Under-Miami for centuries, he might have an idea about where to find the golden key, or how to cure Malak's vampirism without destroying him. And, as one of the few non-evil residents of the dungeon, he should have better counsel than the hinge-heads or the necromancers. Lor had been a little reluctant to leave his companions beind, but he reasoned than he and Arthas could be back before they even awoke. Finally agreeing, he had beast shaped Xhotl into a pteradon, and pulled Arthas across the bay in one of the party's canoes. After ferrying the party up the waterfall, Xhotl had returned to velociraptor form, and the small band had set out across the fungoid jungle towards the Man from Below's camp. But there had been an ambush, with dozens of troglodyte warriors appearing from the underbrush. Somehow Xhotl had not smelled them until it was too late, and befoe Lor could even cast a single spell, one had clubbed him over the head and everything had gone black. Which has brought him to his current predicament. Lor peeks around, sizing up the situation. Nor seems to still be out, or perhaps he is also feigning unconciousness. Xhotl is awake, and pacing her cage nervously. All of their possessions are missing, including the halfling's divine focus, which limits his options. Listening carefully, Lor determines that the troglodytes are speaking to each other in a foreign language, perhaps a more guttural form of the Under-Miami tongue, perhaps in a completely different language altogether. Diplomacy would be tricky in this situation, but maybe... Suddenly, a hidden trapdoor in the ceiling swings open, revealing Malak! He leaps to the cavern floor, 25 feet below, and lets out a mighty roar, swinging his flaming greatsword above his head. Then, strangely, he stops in mid-swing and stares off into space. Lor is not certain why his friend stopped, but he is glad to see him acting like the old Malak. And by the bright glow of the bonfire, he can see that Malak is no longer a vampire! Capitalizing on the distraction, he leaps into action, calling out to Nor to wake up and tp Xhotl to break free. Shortly thereafter, all three are free, with Nor using his erosion touch to free himself and Lor, and Xhotl using a well-placed headbutt to sunder the door of her cage. However, the day is not yet won; neither of the halflings is equipped, Malak keeps taking breaks from combat (Lor recognizes the effects of bestow curse ), and troglodytes are everywhere. The halflings are backed into a corner, and Malak is literally swarmed with enemies. Just as it seems that everything is lost, Elaryan appears in the ceiling hatchway with Asteris. The celestial flies down into the melee and rescues Malak, giving the elven sorcerer just enough room for some well-placed fireballs . Half the troglodytes retreat to gather reinforcements, which gives the party time to grab their missing equipment from some nearby chests and retreat themselves, back into the ceiling. Malak and Elaryan lead the halflings back to the Lazarus chamber, where they decide to rest for the night. Lor also reveals that the troglodytes' treasure contained a bag of diamond dust, so in the morning, he will also be able to cast restoration . Malak and Xhotl takes turns at watch, and the night passes without incident. Well, mostly without incident. Elaryan has a dream in which he is surrounded by chaura-ka chanting a strange nursery rhyme: Lamashtu loves silver, Aldinach favors bronze. Anghazan craves the blood of little girls. Pazuzu hoards sapphires, Sifkesh wants rubies, And Dagon of the Sea has only ... he elf wakes up before the rhyme can be finished, but the party quickly surmises that "Dagon's treasure" must be pearls. And, now that they think of it, they have found many pearls of various colors throughout the dungeon. Malak takes one of the blue pearls and places it in the skull compass's mouth. The skull devours the pearl, then begins to glow with a blue light. Its needle swings wildly, then locks in a particular direction. Unfortunately, that direction is back towards the lair of the troglodytes! Everyone who played gains 6,000 XP