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The four dark misshapen beasts start to come forwards.

From behind the party where Jarek and Darius face, a beast comes about the corner and moves forwards. This is the most substantial looking of all the creatures here and has more form and detail to it. It says nothing but it's long neck curls and droops and the large, fanged mouth at the end drips liquid fire onto the floor as the wings beat slowly.

Suddenly finding themselves flanked, the party wastes no time in going into action, Jiriki and Balin heading directly for the large, fire-dripping, winged beast as Darius begins a dash past them to the other group of foes. Jarek drops back a step to engage with his bow and Dalrylshana brings out her ice wand found in the Moon Gardens.

Morin has already disappeared from view as Suva calls upon St Cuthbert to banish these darklings and Kin weaves a spell just behind him.

But it is the winged beast that strikes first - its head draws back and then jerks forward, the wide jaws distending and an eruption of liquid flame, like hot lava, hurtling and spattering through the corridor. Darius is not quite out of range but manages at least to shield Jax, already burned almost to death once. Jarek and Balin take the main brunt of the attack, though - Jarek dodges some but the dwarf runs straight into the flaming barrage.

He is barely fazed, such is his desire for battle.

The four small dark figures advance but Kin has finished his incantation and they walk directly into......a blast of tiny poppy seeds, which skitter off the walls. If shock was registered on their faces, it’s impossible to say and they are similarly unaffected by Suva's divine powers, although all four paused momentarily.

Darius meets two as they advance, and his keen blade makes his accuracy bring better results - both beasts he strikes flail under his attack but make no sound. Darius' shield and armour are enough to fend off their blows. The other two head towards Suva but they are fortunately slow moving.

The larger creature has advanced no distance, however. Instead, arms form and reform from it's globular mass and then something zaps like ebony lightning from it and strikes Suva. The cleric reels, stumbling backwards towards Kin but recovering as smoke rises from his chainmail.

Meanwhile in the corridor, Jarek has released two magical arrows already - the first judders into its target but the second goes wildly astray and Jarek almost loses his bow altogether.

By now, Jiriki and Balin are toe to toe with the winged beast and about to engage.

Dalrylshana, wand still outstretched and pointing at the winged fiend, is stock still like a statue, however.

Darius continues to battle his two foes, striking both even as they flail at him, unable to get past his stout defence.

Kin looks aghast at the outcome of a major spell but draws his sword without pause and enters the fray, attacking the two shades that approach Suva but acting perhaps too hastily as he loses concentration and almost drops his weapon. The cleric draws his mace and enchants it, then places it on the floor to enable further magic use.

Behind the large beast, Morin appears from the mist. A nasty grin crosses his face as he attacks the larger creature, plunging his silver dagger into its body. The beast has so little actual form that it's impossible to see a weak spot but the dagger has an effect, nonetheless, and the beast heaves upwards, letting out a screech that chills to the bone.

Jarek moves quickly, dodging past the winged beast as it strikes out at him, hoping to flank it and pepper it with arrows as Jiriki and Balin take care of the frontal assault.

Jiriki administers a protective spell to himself and the dwarf but Balin barely notices as he strikes at the creature with his sword, Millefang, slashing the dark hide. The beast retaliates with fury, seemingly now ignoring Jarek and venting its mute rage on the two warriors, pounding at their armoured bodies with fierce talons.

Suva's divine powers show themselves in a beam of light which bursts from his hands and strikes one of the shades near Kin; for a moment there is only an outline and then it is silently destroyed, tatters of its being floating to the floor and then disappearing. Kin strikes at the other shade but misses again; it does not. Darius' two opponents have fallen now and the warrior steps towards Kin to aid him as Morin strikes the large beast again. It continues to writhe in pain and seems unable to focus even as it lashes at the rogue causing it so much harm with a mere dagger. But then it is a silver dagger and if this Mogradjinn is the result of some kind of lycanthropy affecting a dragon…..

At the other end of the battle, Jarek's close-range arrows hit home hard and protrude from the beast's back; suddenly it reacts leaping into the air and turning simultaneously. It's wings beat furiously and although it clearly cannot stay aloft, they afford it an enhanced and surprisingly agile leap. It lands hard as the two warriors turn to continue battle but they are met by the gaping maw and a blazing attack engulfs the corridor with red, dripping flame.

All three comrades are staggered and Jarek's bow catches fire along its entire length; he drops it, draws his sword and moves to flank the beast again even as Jiriki, burned and furious, curdles the air with curses as his steel hacks at the beast. Balin follows suit and it's the creature's turn to stagger now.

As blows rain down on it, it tries to leap again but is too weak. Still it tears and smashes at its enemies and tries to muster another flaming attack. Jarek stabs at its back, avoiding the beating wings, as Balin, ignoring his own dreadful wounds, slashes at its stomach.

And then, with a mighty cry, blood running down his angry face, Jiriki strikes the head, just as the jaws widen and the air warms, cleaving it open with a huge gout of blood and the creature collapses, dead.

Its body quivers once and then glows momentarily before the glow seems to be sucked away into Jiriki's sword.

The shade attacking Kin seems to have latched on to him and he battles but cannot escape its clutches; Darius hacks pieces from it as the room is suddenly filled with bright light that sears through the mist. It's coming from a dagger in Suva's hand, a dagger abruptly let loose at the large beast as the cleric strides past Darius and Kin. It flies wide of its target but the beast embattled with Morin flinches at the bright light and then, unexpectedly, as Morin, covered in spatterings of a black ichor, strikes it once more and it suddenly screams and then collapses in on itself, settling like oil until only a residue remains on the floor.

A voice fades from the room. "We will repair. We are bound. You will die.........."

Silently, frozen, Dalrylshana looks on.

The party check their wounded and healing is administered quickly – no easy way to help Dalrylshana is evident. She is paralysed but has a good pulse and the annoyance in her eyes suggest that she is conscious.

Morin, meanwhile, heads off to check the door on the south wall here and discovers a corridor running south, as had been indicated on the mapping scroll, just as Jiriki has a moment of inspiration and slips his ring of freedom of movement on to her finger. Dalrylshana is released and puts her wand away.

As Dalrylshana recovers both her movement and her mood, concerned about her wand, Suva impatiently uses his brightly glowing dagger as a source of light and steps a few feet into the revealed corridor past the battered door which Morin has opened. Meanwhile, Jiriki eyes up the dragon-like beast’s head as a possible new trophy…

The mist seems to have settled a little and fades quickly within the corridor; Suva's approach is all that is needed to see the corridor's end, where a door stands.

It's a door whose style is recognised immediately as it is almost identical to the door by the river and beyond the Moon Gardens.

However, the main difference with this door is that there are two recesses for placing dice. And also two sets of dice to the side of the door – one set identical to the river door, one set identical to the other.

Dalrylshana, meanwhile, contemplates her wand in one hand as she brings the Illuminatus along with the other; it reveals nothing else out of the ordinary.

After some banter, Morin and Suva simultaneously place the triangle and "3" blocks into the recesses, then the cleric steps aside to give the rogue room and he duly slides the door open.

Behind the door is a corridor, akin to those seen before – but perhaps more unusual in that there has been no down or up slope. From the way the corridor being viewed maps out, it can't possibly extend north as far as it does. But there it is, a barriered corridor.

A plan is quickly mooted as the door is finally understood with the third one seen – as the oracle had said, “Three doors so similar, this last will part the mist”.

Darius takes the Hawker Bag and five of the group head off to the other two doors - there is a moment's pause as Jiriki stands over the body of the defeated dragonesque beast and with one deft stroke of his greatsword, removes its head. Hacking off a portion of rope, he threads it through mouth and neck aperture and fastens the bloody trophy over his shoulder.

And then it is time to move on, leaving Suva to his quiet prayers, Morin to his own contemplation's and Dalrylshana to her beautification.

Jiriki, Darius and Balin head to the ‘moon door’ seeing something vaguely on the way and feeling the air is now much colder there. Jarek and Kin head through the verdant green gardens and take the boat trip to the door that awaits there.

After a half hour or so, all three doors are attended without mishap and it turns out that with all three doors opened, the "5 minute timer" does not seem to apply. Triangle and 3 are the selected dice and are placed in their respective niches; when the doors are opened, the corridor is no longer barred by the strange barriers but reveals instead a room of some type at its end.

Within it, from everybody's perspective, there would seem to be two walls, set at a diagonal to the corridor and as Morin tests by shouting, it is discovered that communication can be accomplished without recourse to the Hawker bags.

Morin and Jarek find no traps in their respective corridors and then Morin also finds the room beyond to be safe. More than safe, it's preternaturally clean and stark, the floor a bright, white and blue-veined marble, invisible sources of light brightening the area.