Late in the day on Wodensday the 7th of the month of Sept in the Year 1495, the adventurers had recovered from their ordeal somewhat.  They used healing spells to heal up and strengthened themselves with rest and food.  They had barricaded themselves in the cave formerly occupied by the troglodytes (location "A" on the map above).  They gathered up their things and moved on through the second cave (location B) --- former location of the crude troglodyte brewery.  They rounded the corner to the south and came upon some stairs leading up (C.).  Malus the dwarf thought the stairs were a good omen.  Trygvie scratched his initials on the cave wall.

The adventures felt a very slight draft of fresh air and thought access to the surface could be near.  Cave C. was empty; even after a total search.

They couldn't see past the enteranc e of a black cave (cave  E on the above map).  Trygvie thought it was some sort of unusual magic rather than a temporary spell effect.  He also thought that there was something a little odd about the blackness but exactly what he could not say.  The dwarf volunteered to go in.  Kane tied a rope around the dwarf's waist but as soon as the tip of his toe touched the blackness, he shrieked in horror and went quivering against the cave wall, refusing to enter the cave  again.  Everyone but Philgo and Trygvie failed to be able to conquer the mysterious fear effect -- Philgo succeeded due to his faith and strength of will and Trgvie did not fail because he failed to even  try.

Philgo waded into the inky blackness, went in blind about 15 feet and hit a wall. He started feeling his way to the right and stepped upon some old bones.  Feeling around, he found an old backpack.  He dragged it back out to his comrades; they discovered the backpack contained some potion bottles and some scrolls.  Kane encouraged Philgo to return into the darkness and try to find more plunder but the stout Philgo's courage failed the second time; he cold not bring himself to enter the darkness again.

They proceeded to the north where they found passages ending in steep cliffs (locations F).  Kane threw a torch down; they could see that the cliff dropped off about 50 feet.  A small store of stone tipped javelins was found at each cliff.  Playfully, Kane the Monk suggested that Mace throw javelins at him so he could test his missile blocking and evading abilities but Kane proved such a lousy shot that Kane evaded the missiles easily.

They proceeded back to the main axis east-west tunnel and turned south into an empty and dark cavern with many stalactites and stalacmites adorning the floor and roof (cavern G).   They went further north, passing a branch that led off to the east, and found another one of the cliffs (f2).  This was more of a crumbled slope than a sheer face and looked easier to climb than the other two.  Rather than descending, they retraced their steps and took the east passage.

The east passage turned south to an hourglass shaped cave with a dancing flame in the middle of the room and a large stone door at the south end of the cave cave g).  The flame appeared to be a large column of natural fire -- evidentally flammable gas seeped out of the floor at this point.  As they attempted to file past, a gout of flame shot out of the fire and burned the dwarf  ranger.  Malus the dwarf howled with pain and shouted that he saw a tiny figure hiding in the fire.  The party attacked the figure in the fire en masse and sustained more  damage as blasts of fire shot from the fire.  Finally the attacks ceased.  With the tip of his weapon, Malus dragged a tiny figure that looked like a small reptillian humanoid with bat wings from the fire.  To be certain that this little creature would not attack again, they beheaded the tiny corpse.

Malus and Mace grasped the iron ring and pulled as hard as they could.  Slowly the door creaked partially open; Malus could see a furnished room lit by torches with an old man in a robe, a fighter type with sword and shield and two axe armed half orcs standing around the table (room i).   "Who are you people?" demanded the old man.

"Uhhh," stammered Mace.  "We're the uh... cousin of what's his name."  Mace was obviously not prepared to bluff his way out.

"Get them!" shouted the old man in the robe as the Monk Kane tumbled into the room.  The half orcs began raining missiles on the party as they advanced into the room.  Mace pushed the door wider open so his companions could get a clear shot at the occupants of the room.  Trygvie's sleep spell knocked the old man unconscious as Kane leapt on top of the table and tried to fell the old man with a single blow.  The fighter standing next to the old man awoke him; the old man snatched a wand from his pocket and cast a magical web spell across most of the party.  Although they were entangled in the spell, Kane had been right on the edge of it; he reached out of the clinging strands and struck the old man so resoundingly in the face that the old one fell back onto the floor unconscious and started bleeding to death; his face a mask of blood.

The fighter-type who had been standing next to the old man began to drag the old man's body from the center of the room towards the east wall.  As the rest of the players struggled to free themselves, Malus attacked the half orc webbed up next to him.  The fighter type opened a secret door in the wall and dragged his unconscious master through it as Philgo set the webs aflame (burning his comrades a bit in the process).

Trygvie ran down the hall to the west in order to avoid the burning webs and hoping to head his enemies off at the pass.  The hall was too dark to see and he returned to the cavern with the fire to light a torch.

Meanwhile, after having dealt with the half orcs and freeing themselves from the web, Kane and the rest were trying to open the secret door.  Trygvie assisted them and a few moments later they had the door open.  Here they found a narrow passage with 2 empty potion bottles lying of the floor.  They began a pursuit down the narrow passage but ran into some billowing greenish stinking vapors.  Some of the party made it through by holding their breath and running through (actually, they rolled well on their fortitude saves).  Malus was doubled over vomitting.  Trygvie elected not to pass through the vapors.

Mace and Kane charged into a larger cavern where six goblins, the human fighter and the mage were assembled along with a single hobgoblin and a wolf.  Kane began to attempt to tumble through the mess of goblins.  Suddenly a fireball exploded in their midst.  Mace was badly damaged and Philgo the Priest was burned to death; the rest of the party managed to remain unscathed.  Kane managed to tumble beyond the circle of flame.  All of the goblins and the wolf were killed instantly.

Having miscalculated the effect of his fireball (he had hoped to kill Mace and Kane with it in addition to the hapless Philgo), the mage was helpless and soon cut down.  His comrade, the lightly armored fighter, fled under a raised portcullis and up a hallway that sloped up to the surface, lighting the tip of his sword with a light spell to guide the way.  Kane managed to catch up with him and delay him long enogh for Mace to cut him down just as the man was attemting to swallow a potion.

The party found a few keys in the pockets of the mage as well as the wand he had used to cast the web spell.  The human had some thick leather armor made out of some unusual looking hide and a very light sheild made of a lightweight dark colored wood.  The human was also wearing a black pearl pin and a silver medallion engraved with an eye set within a flaming triangle.  They rested up, regained some spells and searched the place, unlocking some chests in the other room (cave i) with the keys they had found.  A brief inventory of what they found in these locations is below.

Booty list:
food, clothing, bottles of wine, a keg of ale
8 flasks of lamp oil
12 torches
2000 gps
silver medallion engraved with an eye upon a flaming triangle
a small ivory casket containing 6 silver rings engraved with the same sign as the silver medallion
2 heal potions
web wand
1 suit unusual hide armor (does not detect magic)
Darkwood shield +1 magic
Bastard sword +1
a spellbook
a scroll (flaming sphere, bull's stregnth, melph's acid arrow, all L3)
Cloth sack containing a candle, a long loop of fine copper chain that will make a circle 15 feet in diameter and a scroll explaining it's use.  One is instructed to stand in a circle made by the chain and light the candle; before the candle finished burning, you will find yourself in another location.  Unfortunately, it does not mention what that other location is...

The adventure ends here.