Having agreed with Vallacor's sentient spellbook to take it back to the surface world, the party wrapped Elida in her bedroll, placed her in the bag of holding and prepared to return to the surface. When they returned to the room just south of the stairs to the Outer Vaults, the encountered the paladins Kalerecent and Severa. Both were badly injured and explained that they were the only survivors of their band, the rest of whom had been slain by a terrible spirit of winter to the east. Although the paladins wanted to rest before moving back to the surface, the Company was insistent that they were leaving now.

This is when the "paladins" revealed their true nature. "Kalerecent" suddenly whirled and stabbed Nereida through the side, leaving her bleeding and unconscious on the floor. "Severa" likewise cast a confusion spell on the Company, managing to confuse both Bonzimir and Aulus. The two then changed shape, with "Kalerecent" becoming a Delver, huge beast from the stygian underworld that oozed acid and flowed through rock, while "Severa" became a weird, spider-like creature armed with wands, scrolls and rings. It was at this point that the Company realized that they faced Li and Saarachk, the Pactlord assassins whose plans they had read about in the Black Manor.

While others attacked Li, Bonzimir in his confusion stabbed Laelia, injuring her badly. A general melee broke out. Marcus used his clarity power to free Bonzimir from the confusion spell, whereupon Aulus began to babble and run in circles. Laelia retreated to heal, while Demetrios threw a haste spell. Saarachk cast another confusion spell, which caused Bonzimir to run at top (hasted!) speed down the hall and into the Conflagration. There, the active spells on Bonzimir exploded, badly injuring him but freeing him from the confusion. Marcus cured Aulus and the two of them began to beat back Li with the aid of a fiery stone fall from Demetrios.

Injured, Li forewent his attacks to parry and block, giving Saarachk time to cast more spells. Demetrios overcame a phantasmal killer spell and blasted Li with a scorching ray. Having had enough, Li polymorphed into a pixie. Saarachk stepped forward and cast invisibility on the diminutive creature and faced off with the Company as the invisible pixie fled to points unknown. Still unharmed and confident in his magical protections (including displacement), Saarachk unloaded on the Company with a scroll of cone of cold, devastating both Nereida and Laelia (who survived thanks to timely Reflex saves). Even as hard as he was to hit, however, Saarachk was no match for the Company, who cornered him and knocked him unconscious after only a few more seconds. Marcus dispatched the arachnid horror contemptuously.

The Company then used all of its remaining healing reserves and fled the Inner Vaults, suffering once again as they passed through the zone of forbiddance. When they returned to the Outer Vaults, they found that the plug had been lowered into position, blocking their exit. After much time spent looking for a way around the 500-ton block of stone, the Company became convinced that there was no secret way around the plug. However, Demetrios remembered the Water Room in the upper Outer Vaults, where the now-broken glass tube led down to the lower Outer Vaults, beyond the plug. The Company returned to the Water Room and rappelled down the tube, disgusted by the festering corpse of the fiendish octopus. In the Room of Many Stairs they met Geristonomos, busy about some unknown mission, and learned that he had been the one to lower the plug into place. They explained the importance of being able to travel between the Inner and Outer Vaults and convinced Geristonomos that the "bad people" he had met would cause more harm if the Company were not able to get in and stop them. He agreed to leave it up.

Returning to the surface, the Company learned that the paladins still had not returned from the Banewarrens. They then spent several days preparing to return. Nereida raised Elida from the dead after Laelia and Marcus negotiated the purchase of sufficient diamond dust for the process. She later identified the items the Company had looted from Vallacor and Saarachk, including a device (the portable portal) which would open a gateway to the Quaan.

Demetrios studied Vallacor's spellbook and negotiated a deal with Flavia whereby she would purchase it from him after he had learned from it what he wished.. Bonzimir picked up the leather armor that had been ensorcelled for him. Marcus and Laelia shopped at Marcian's Oddities (sighing over a spear of spell-storing, a spear of disruption and gauntlets of ogre power. They were disappointed to find that the only adamantium weapons Marcian possessed were nine arrowheads. Nereida and Elida brought the skeletal jailor's shrieking sword and Saarachk's evil iron horn to the Great Cathedral, asking the Great Church to destroy or quarantine them.

Demetrios visited Professor Herminius at the Academy and was pleased to find his brother Basil there. Basil reported that he and the city guard had at last managed to hunt down and kill the Thought Stalker. Demetrios paid Herminius for his past labors and asked the old sage to research where in the city adamantium weapons might be found. Herminius agreed to look into it, but reminded Demetrios that the Mace of Marius, which the Company had briefly possessed, was made of solid adamantium. Demetrios asked Basil to use his new-found connections with the city guard to discover what happened to the Mace.

and here the story paused...

1) Where is Li?

2) Where are the paladins?

3) Has the Company seen the last of the Pactlords, at least for awhile?

4) Where is the Mace of Marius?

5) Are there any other adamantium weapons in the city, and will the Company be able to beg, borrow or steal them?

6) Will Vallacor be back? When?

7) Does the secret door lead to the Vault of the Sleeping King and the Sword of Truth?

8) Where do all those unexplored doors lead?

Tune in next time!