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Ankh and her companions finally arrived at their destination via a mountain path. What they happened upon was a circular clearing with a large, hollow tower in the center with a gate on each side. Without words, Damian walked up to the gate facing them in an attempt to pick the lock. Issadore, meanwhile, was busy staring up at the top of the gate, but was brought to attention by a hissing sound and Damien jerking his hands back.

"What is he doing?" asked Issadore to Ankh.

"Attempting to pick the lock."

"What is a lock?" Before Ankh could answer, the gate swung toward them, and she saw the needle jutting out of the lock, understanding that this was what Damien had hissed about.

"A lock is designed to keep people out," replied Ankh.

"Why would you do that?"

"Generally, it's to keep others from getting at what you value, or to have privacy." With that, Ankh began walking toward the entrance and into the room after Damien.

"Okay," said Issadore and followed after. Damien, having been the first one into the room, saw and inspected a stone shaped like a waxing gibbous moon embedded in the floor, a lever tilted to his right.

"I don't know what this lever does, but there are no obvious traps." After looking from Ankh to Issadore, he continued. "There's only one way to find out," and he pulled the lever. With a loud KA-CHUNK, the floor dropped out from them and began lowering rapidly. Issadore, having not gone past the gate, looked on as the platform did this, and jumped down before it had sunk too far.

"Glad you could join us," Ankh said to the other Kitarian, who merely nodded and began to examine the lever Damien had pulled. Damien was watching the walls as they sunk into the ground, attempting to determine how far they were dropping.

Before any action could be taken, Issadore took hold of the lever and flipped it the other way, which made the lift reverse its direction.

"So, now what?" Issadore asked after they arrived back in the twenty square foot room of the tower, to which Damien responded.

"I didn't get a chance to see what was down there before you pulled the lever again."

"Sorry," Issadore apologized as he reached for the lever. "You wanna go back down?"

"Yes. We need what's down there," Ankh interjected.

"Okay," and Issadore pulled the lever once more.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. If you're interested, this lift goes down 1,400 feet." Ankh nodded and remained silent.

After the platform reached the bottom, the three disembarked and took in their surroundings. It was a large open cavern that seemed as though it would never end, shrouded in a fog and glowing faint blue. A dirt path laid before them on the ground and the only sound that could be heard was dripping water from some unfathomable source. The source of the blue glow was revealed to be bio-luminescent fungi and moss which draped and cascaded the walls, and filled every nook and cranny.

As they walked, a roar filled the cavern, and even though it was very distant, still it shook the earth and was palpable in their chests. Issadore adopted a fighting stance in the traditional Kitarian martial art style, whereas Ankh simply continued walking. Soon enough, the trio came across a clearing, in the center right of which a wooden table had been flipped upside-down, and on the opposite end was a stone building. Issadore faded back into the shadows with his sword drawn, but still headed in the direction of the house.

"Well, the lights are on, should we see if anyone's home?" Damien had overtaken Ankh and was at the door before she was. Finding no traps or locks, the Yuan-Ti decided to walk right into the house. There was a table on the left wall, a small chest of drawers at the back wall, a door to the right of that. In the other room, the upper right corner roof had caved in. "Is there anybody home?" The snake man asked aloud before he found a skeleton partially buried by rubble on the bed, its head hanging off the foot of the stone bed. One bony hand clutched a diary to the cloth covering what was once a chest, and a necklace was draped around its neck. Taking the book and necklace, Damien began to search the rest of the house, looking for something to loot.

"You know, I'm only here for one thing . . ." Ankh harangued the snake.

"Hey, hey, hey. I can plunder on our way through," to which Ankh rolled her eyes before scanning the room. Damien, having found and opened a chest, pulled out an ebony katana and examined it. Seeming satisfied with his find, he opened another drawer, and finding twelve gold pieces and several gems slipped them into his pouch.

After leaving the building, Ankh noticed a shadow crouched down a few paces before her to her left, and further off is a larger humanoid shadow moving to her right quickly. Reaching into her bag of holding, she pulled out her great axe and got ready for whatever may happen. Enthralled by his new sword, Damien noticed nothing at all until Ankh put her hand on his shoulder. About fifteen feet in front of them was a humanoid figure in armor walking away from the group. Issadore, having stayed hidden, decided to throw his voice far ahead, making similar noises as the humanoid before them, who stopped immediately and turned from side to side in an attempt to locate the source of the noise.