While Mira is adjusting the levels of the floor in their branch, Vera notices a secret room revealed when the floor is at its lowest. She and Eck find nothing, but Thyrr is able to locate a hidden white gemstone which Beryn takes.

As they travel, Meneldin questions Luna about her arm. Luna explains that it was crushed by a stone monster. He also questions why she hasn't asked him to fix it. She says that she would owe him, but he says that she could work it off easily enough by coming back to work for him. Meanwhile, Modrod pesters Dorean about what her "deal" is. Dorean doesn't explain, and when they question Mira, she similarly does not answer, frustrating Modrod immensely. He makes a joke about Safala having taken Mira's tongue, which Dorean chuckles at, energizing Modrod. He also vagues about Motoko's crush on Hiroto.

Vera and Eck's group reaches a room with a gate and a lever, a door that is opening and closing automatically. There is also a window showing another chamber containing Dorean and Mira's group. That room is a large cylindrical room, a round platform in the middle, and a tunnel leading out from the top of the room. The door leading out is trashed. The door leading to the next area has been trashed, burned and bent and presumably dropped from its appropriate locatin at the top of the room. Luna and Ward's group is in a room that is flooding, the drain in the room has been stuck open and the door is similarly opening and closing. While the two groups with semi-functional doors can get through, Dorean and Mira's group has to figure out how to get to the top of the room without the puzzle functioning. Modrod casts Reverse Gravity, swiftly but violently getting everyone to the ceiling quickly. In Ward and Luna's room they find another secret compartment, finding a blue gem. Safala locates the matching red gem that had fallen up with them. Dorean finds a bag of money on a body in the room, which Safala takes. Mira recognizes the armor and weapon of the armored people traveling with Fulkan. Mira takes the sword to show Ward and Luna.

Alibi slips a green gem in metal fitting to Ward. Meneldin approaches him then, questioning him about why Ward is traveling with Luna and "Tim." He tries to recruit Ward, which he resists. He observes that "Tim" looks like he cares about stuff and scoffs. Armin approaches Vera and Eck to warn them that while Thyrr is perhaps not as loyal to Meneldin, Bazan is desperate and would follow Meneldin's orders to kill them without hesitation. For Armin's part, he owes the Stitch family a great debt, and so would defend them to the best of his ability if it came to it.

Luna and Ward's group reach a control room containing a single button. The room it looks into contains Vera and Eck's group, another cylinder with a floor that is a steel grate, beneath which is a fan slowly rotating. Three of the blades are broken. A passageway is near the top of the room. Dorean and Mira's room is below the fan, the three broken blades jammed into the floor as though they had been broken while the fan was at speed. The door to this room has been melted and blasted open once again. Mira locates and secret panel in the floor which contains a switch. When pressed, part of the wall pushes away and slides open to reveal another small alcove. Mira finds a yellow gem, which Safala takes. Eck and Vera locate a black gem, which is given to Beryn.

The puzzle non-existent, the groups move forward. Vera and Eck's group is on a raised platform five feet above the floor with shallow water with four platforms a short distance away. A large shut gate is on the west wall. Mira and Dorean's group is in a metal room with a lever in the middle. A statue of a minotaur stands on the north and south platforms. In Luna and Ward's room there are four platforms arranged in cardinal directions, upon which are dome covers with a lever beside them. In the center of the room below them is a large, immobile fan. A gate is above them in the ceiling. Vera also spots additional vents in the ceiling and below the water that might open. There is an automatic lock on the lever in Ward's room, and presumably applies to the other rooms. Dorean flips the switch in their room toward the blue statue. In Vera and Eck's room the platforms and water all rise 60 feet and something massive and scaley comes out of the gate and into the water. The fan begins spinning in Luna and Ward's room, creating effectively a zero-gravity situation. The domes all open and a metal rod rises from them; the levers unlock. The gate opens and a large winged lightning serpent emerges in the fan room. The minotaur statues come to life and also attack. Mid-fight, Ward pulls the lever, lowering the water in the water room, but electrifying the water minotaur and Dorean and allowing another lever to be switched. Once the enemies have been defeated, the party takes a short rest before moving on.

Returning

• Bazan - Goliath Barbarian
• "Beryn" Berynneth - Succubus
• Thyrr Bloodmuzzle - Gnoll archer
• Meneldin
• Modrod - Modrod
• Safala - Catfolk Rogue
• Talthis Vim
• Armin Desult - Vampire
• Bozja - Bazan's dog in a battleaxe
• Hiroto Karuto - Samurai
• Motoko Sukai - Attendant/Naginata wielder
• Fladict - Elven Archer
• Myrdra BelBreln - Dwarf
• Garton Rainshadow - Halfling
• Alibi

• White gem in metal setting (by Thyrr, taken by Beryn)
• Blue gem in metal setting (by Safala)
• Red gem in metal setting (by Meneldin)
• 16 gp and a ring (by Dorean, taken by Safala)
• SMF Shortsword (by Mira)
• Green gem in metal setting (from Alibi to Ward)
• Yellow gem in metal setting (by Mira, taken by Safala)
• Black gem in metal setting (by Eck, taken by Beryn)