Megagriffinin' Continued; On to Dragon Mountain!

We return to the episode already in progress: the Danger Gang, standing outside a cave chock full o' megagriffins--or at least, once chock full? How many remain is mysterious, but they're determined to disable as many as possible to snag that sweet, sweet, Nartish treasure. Meantime, though, a little healing courtesy of moondog Aralez. Which means licking.

Then, while Zombres burns some horseflesh, hoping the scent will lure more piateks within clobberin' range, Aralez's worst fears come to fruition when a golden clockwork spider busts out of his torso! GAH! It's summarily dispatched, but obviously its host is a bit banged up, what with the gaping hole in important body parts: so the DG returns the healing favor, though minus the tongue action.

Finally, via a complicated system of double blade barriers, summoned banderlogs, and Slow, Z. neutralizes enough griffins to run in and grab some booty: one chest full of platinum pieces (destined for the oracle), one containing three whetstones, and one holding a shortsword with what looks like the symbol for Aquarius carved on the pommel. Back safely in C-Town, Arben determines that one whetstone, when held, increases the bearer's charisma by +3 for 2d$ turns; and another can be dropped into food or drink to purify it. The third merits a shrug . . . but odds are it's something nice? Maybe?

Anyway, off to Drachenfels and Phase II of Operation Kill Nasty Monsters for Money. They're greeted by a terrified peasant woman lashed to a stake: "Spare me, priests of Horsrick!" she cries. Once assured of the non-priesthood of the party--and freed, of course--she explains that recently the Old Ways have been returning to the area, which entails the feeding of local ladies to dragons. Not cool, guys!

Marcella, hiding in shadows, flies into a picturesque cavern of Ruskinite sublimity: mists, smoke, volcanic rock . . . just inside the entrance is a small stone altar, decorated with candles and carved with a serpentine pattern. Further in, a vast smoking cavern, with vents in the floor that prove (once the rest of the party has entered) to be holes to a lower layer concealing a pesky hydra. This leads to an exhausting round of whack-a-head--killing as many as possible whilst Arben shoots fireballs down below to cauterize the stumps. It's finally beaten down to three heads, but the party is in not-great shape. Just like they should be for fighting a dragon and its cult!