The party heads up the center cavern and soon finds it filling up with steam and a sulfurous smell.  As you pass the area where the gelatinous cube had lain in wait, you see that the floor of the center hall has opened up, and water is pouring in like a river into the gap left open there.  Water is flowing quickly from somewhere.

The gap is about ten feet across, so it probably could be jumped, but of course you would have the difficulty of the current pulling you into the gap.

"I suggest we go on one of the side passages," Floradine says.  "Preferably the one on the left, which seems to be higher ground."  He looks to the others for confirmation before heading back to the whirlpool room and up to that cave.

"Good idea" Shae says, turning to follow the Paladin, "Let's move quickly though."

The party moves back to the lake cavern.  The ledge leading around to the north entrance to the bowl shaped room is up high, and you begin climbing.

The cave entrance is narrow, about three feet wide.  You notice that it has no floor.  It is simply two walls with an apparent rift between them leading down into darkness below and coming together about eight feet above you.  The walls are rough with many jagged edges, so you should be able to straddle one leg on each wall and push yourselves along by putting pressure on each wall.

Unfortunately, you have no more rope.

Behind you, the rumbling of the erupting volcano continues, echoing deafeningly through the twisted corridors.  It is now only a matter of time.

Rathyl spreads his wings as far as he can and then stares down into the darkness and over to his destination.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:25, Tue 14 Oct 2003.

"Well, looks like we don't have much choice," Floradine says before trying to straddle the walls.  "Not sure what we can do for more safety."

Rathyl spreads his wings, noticing they give him only 6 inches to a foot of space to work with.  It is dark and the curve of the cave makes it impossible to see the full 600 feet to its exit in the bowl room.  It could actually get wider or more narrow or change dramatically.  You can only see about 20 feet forward at a time.

As Rathyl decides what to do, the party lines up:  Floradine, Shae, Shanjalae, Garanon, Joseph, and Fire, each preparing to climb across.

[Note to players:  let me know if you have any different ways you want to scale across the 600 feet.]

Shae looks at the width of the cavern, her brow furrowed in apprehension, then clutching Shanjalae tight to her, she proceeds cautiously forward.

Garanon watches the others carefully.  He does not seem to be too concerned himself with crossing, since he is an expert in that area.  He also keeps within hand's reach of Shanjalae.  "Your father was a good friend of mine," he says to the young elf.  "He trusted me when no one else would."  He looks back concerned at Shae.  "Princess," he says, "are you okay with only one hand?"

Fire follows along.

The mask of apprehension falls from the druid's face when Garanon speaks to her replaced first with a look of surprise at show of his concern, followed closely by annoyance at being called princess.

"My name is Shae, and I'm doing just fine." she says stubbornly, "The fact that Kallad trusted you means very little Garanon. I don't think he knew you as well as he thought." The distrust in her golden eyes is palpable, "I'll have you stay away from my sister, I won't have you playing any of your games with her. Understand!"

She pointedly pauses mid climb, keeping a careful hand upon Shanjalae, "Now move ahead and leave us be."

[As I think my description may have been vague, this is what the characters are trying to do:

There is a chasm falling to an unknown depth below.  There is no floor.  The walls are made of jagged rock and flucuate between about 2 and a half to three and a half feet apart.  Therefore, the characters must splay their feet outwards and inch along by putting alternatively pressure on one foot and then the next while the chasm drops out straight below.

There is no climbing up or down required, though at points you will need to climb down a few feet or up a few feet to avoid points where the passage is too wide (for example, three and a half feet is probably too wide for most).

The narrow passage curves bow-like for about 600 feet or more until reconnecting with the bowl-shaped room.  Therefore, visibility is limited to about twenty feet of the curvature in front of you (although you have a spectacular view of the abyss dropping out below.]

Rathyl leaps out and up with wings extended.

Realising that her sister does not have the length of stride to be able to navigate the gap in the floor, Shae crouches down so that she can climb on to her back.

“Hold tight,” she says adjusting the young elf’s hand around her neck so that she doesn’t get choked.

Looking down at the one handed half elf and her sister, Floradine shakes his head.  "Better let me do it," he says.  "I've got more strength, I'm taller...and besides, I've got better riding shoulders."  He winks at Shae and takes Shanjalae from her, not accepting 'no' for an answer.

Shae is indeed reluctant to let go of here sister and looks ready to take a piece out of the Paladin. However, with his wink, she smiles and nods seeing wisdom in his words and helps Shanjalae onto his back.

With the party ready to go, you prepare to start forward.

Almost immediately, a hissing and bubbling sound behind you makes you turn.  The waterfall over the swirling lake, which had been so strong, has been reduced, and large amounts of steam begin accumulating in the huge cavern. A glow catches your eyes as lava then begins pouring out of the ceiling and into the swirling pool.  The hiss and release of steam is so loud it is deafening.

Unable to chat further, the party moves forward, straddling with feet splayed and moving along at a painfully slow rate.

...everyone seems to be handling the crossing well.  Occasionally, Rathyl will flex his wings to give him slight lift.  Garanon seems to have no troubles.  Shae almost falls once with the lack of a hand to catch herself and help propel her, but she catches herself with her shoulder.  Floradine is surprisingly well balanced.  Joseph, although ill at ease as a ranger in the cramped quarters, does not encounter difficulties.  Fire, out of place and time, can only look at his strange new companions quizzically and then back at the burning fires, but he finds solid footholds and encounters no problems.

Perhaps a hundred feet into the crossing, you see something below you.  It is a glow--an all too understandable glow.  Lava is climbing up the shaft from deep below.  Time is running out.

But something else is moving from below, a dark amorphous mass climbing ahead of the lava.  It is strange and otherworldly for a moment.

Then, at the last moment, you realize what it is.  Rats, thousands of them, swarm up, covering your bodies and clawing for an exit.  Frantic, they are biting, scratching and crawling their way over you.

You may not have much time to respond, but you also must brace against them or form some plan to avoid being pulled from your positions and into the lava awaiting below.

Floradine grits his teeth and digs into his position as best he can.

The rats run past and over you with a chittering sound...and everyone manages to hold their positions.  You continue to cross.  Rathyl manages to glide and move farther ahead of the rest.

...Although the passageway slightly narrows and then widens, you find a way to cross, but the lava below gives you a constant reminder of the dangers.

As you step out onto the platform into the bowl-shaped room, the rising lava is probably less than thirty feet below you.  The heat is almost unbearable.

The water in the bowl shaped room is now much  more manageable.  You realize you could have waited fifteen minutes and just walked across.  The floor is wet and a light one inch deep flow of water comes like a stream from the cave beyond.  You remember hiking through thirty minutes of rough and rocky terrain in the lava tube between the ice slide entrance to the volcano and the bowl shaped room.  Now that a water is flowing through, it will be even more dangerous.

Nevertheless, as you can tell from the rising lava behind you, there is little choice.

Floradine says, "I think we need to throw caution to the wind and just try to get through this as fast as possible to avoid the lava flow."  He makes sure that Shanjalae is still securely holding in to his back before he continues.

"Then, let's not hesitate," Shae responds to Floradine and she urges him forward. "Let's go!"

Rathyl gives a high pitch trill and bounds up the path ahead.

Garanon looks nervously back toward the rising lava.  "Yes, let's get going," he says, taking the lead ahead of Floradine.