Into the Volcano
Zombres and Diogenes are alive! Yay! But not exactly adventure-ready. So looks like we're in Arben's capable-but-prone-to-bizarre-decisionmaking hands? He calls up C-Town and asks for some help with this hoard-search. Can arrives in the Danger Cart, which then bears the convalescents back Bosporus-ward (and the remaining non-Horsrick dragon culter, just to keep him from mucking up the works). Horsrick, having been wang-crowned into submission (OR IS HE?!?!), leads the way further into the volcano, past the smoky room where the hydra lives and out onto a wide ledge, in a huge cavern where something glows red in the distance.
Then H. is all, "Oh, wait here, guys, I have to go calm the hydra," which is a euphemism for SOMETHING, right? Anyway, I follow silently, and when he starts to cast a spell, I whack 'im with the sunsword to prevent the magicks, and holler to the rest of the party that DUDE IS BETRAYING US! His being in danger, though, causes the hydra to attack, and mathematically challenging combat ensues. Horsrick erects a wall of fire cutting himself off from the DG/hydra fray, but Kolya (protected from fire) just charges through it to whomp him to a negative. After finally getting the better of the hydra by fleeing into a corridor it can't fit into and then fireballing it to death, we once again restrain Hosrick (Gershom later quests him to bring the corpse of his dragon god to Zmura in the Taramul Kalalalt, so we're unlikely to encounter him again. Good riddance).
Back on the ledge, we see a pool of molten stone (technically magma and NOT lava, since it is below the earth's surface. This geology fact brought to you by pedantry) . . . every now and then, little eyes appear in the liquid, and we hear mocking laughter. Arben tries to lyre up a bridge across it, but apparently it hasn't been long enough since he used that power, so instead he plays his pipes of luring, and various fire monsters (some smoky, some firey, some gooey, one winged) emerge from the depths. And are dealt with like that--a good fumble causes the large winged one to fireball all the others and sink back into the flame.
Kolya hops on his pony while I borrow Arben's ring of flight; with me carrying Gershom, we ride super fast/ fly over the magma to the other side, where there is indeed plenty o' dragon treasure--and the charred bones of the peasants ensorceled into hauling said hoard across the magma. (Horsrick & co. are dicks.) Besides coinage, there's a bronze bowl, a suit of chain mail, and five potions (one opaque & red, two opaque & yellow, two blue & translucent). Can gathers up the loot into a cloak and then reduces it so we can carry it out. Wending our way back to the surface, we head back to C-Town somewhat richer. Next stop, the oracle?
