Solid stone cracks and tumbles over the edge of a widening pit at the hub of a swirling, frothing moat. A towering vortex of glowing orange gas whirls upward and out the shaft in the cavern ceiling. Hunks of rock fall smashing among frenzied combatants. Demons emerge roaring and cackling from another emergent abyssal portal, and close in on the embattled Duergar soldiers. Those very-same Duergar bellow in fury at the hated Dwarf, Mishok, who desperately hangs onto his paralyzed Elf companion, as the rushing waters threaten to pull them over the edge and into the horrifying hellscape below. They exhort their ogre companion, Thud, to seize Mishok. “Thud! Get that damned dwarf! He sabotaged the spell! This is his fault! Get him!” Davros tries to confuse the stupid creature, yelling “Hey! Those guys are the dwarves! Look at them! Those are the bad guys! Get them!” Thud, dim though he is, does not fall for Davros’ ruse. He wades into the rushing waters and tries to seize the struggling dwarf – to no avail! The slippery dwarf squirms out of the bulky arms of the ogre, quickly grabs at the metal supports of the spiral staircase, and begins to climb.

The looming presence of the ogre thrashing in the water seems to be exactly what Cycek requires to jolt him out of his paralysis. He abruptly regains the use of his limbs, just as his companion Sartan reaches out and pulls him away from the brink of the pit. The two cling to the metal framework as water churns around them. Thud turns his attention toward them.

Davros finds himself confronted by a small squadron of Duergar. The Duergar in turn find themselves menaced by Cackler demons who rush forth to attack. Davros takes his foes’ momentary distraction as an opportunity to help Cycek. He leaps onto the wall of the moat and attacks the ogre, stabbing into his bulk with his rapier. The wound has little effect on the massive creature, so Davros sheathes his blade and scrambles up the metal structure and out of the fray.

All four of the companions now look down at the fray from their perch atop the staircase. The entire structure shakes and all of its occupants struggle to stay upright. The clamor of cracking stones, shouting Duergar, and cackling demons is nearly deafening. But Wendella’s voice rises above the din. “I have to resume the incantation. Goerth corrupted the ritual! He interjected words that altered the spell. I need to try and fix it!” She picks up the fallen spell book, raises the golden skull, and commences her arcane chanting. A sudden blow to the spiral staircase sends them all reeling. Thud, still in the moat, has grabbed the metal structure and begun shaking it violently. The underlying stone begins to give way. The metal uprights buckle and bend, and several of the party are thrown to their knees. Davros and Cycek see the immediate need to remove the ogre from the battlefield. They rain down arrows from above, ultimately delivering a lethal blow. The muscular creature utters a guttural cry, goes limps and falls to the slimy, stone floor of the moat with a wet slap. The remaining current slowly pushes his inert, bleeding form over the lip of the pit and into oblivion. 

The companions’ relief is short-lived. Their attention is soon given to the sound of boots on the metal stairway. Five of the Duergar are hustling up as quickly as they can, with malice in their eyes. Rocks are falling all around them and the platform is tilting inexorably toward the brink. A horrific winged head flies out of the billowing cloud of orange fumes and dives at Sartan. Its fanged teeth snap on empty air as Sartan deftly ducks aside. Cycek whips out his sword and chops the fiend into two pieces. But he has had enough. Realizing that this platform is soon to collapse, he takes off running along the catwalk toward the opposite staircase. Davros follows. But Mishok is knocked down by a blow from falling rocks, and Sartan comes under attack by the first Duergar who has gained the top of the staircase. Davros, seeing the dire situation returns to the failing platform to help his companions to safety. Two Duergar are slain in the melee. Sartan grabs Wendella by the hand saying, “Forget the spell! We need to get out of here!” She is in no position to argue. She replies, “I think its too late anyway. Whatever was begun… whatever process was started… there’s no stopping it now. I just don’t know how it will turn out, for good or ill. It could go either way. We just have to hope and pray.”  The companions leave the platform just as it snaps off the end of the catwalk and crashes down into the yawning pit, taking the remaining Duergar with it. They feel a great swell of relief and a moment of hope. Their eyes detect a flicker of green light among the flashes of angry orange illuminating the cavern. They glance downward and see a tall, silver-clad figure stride forth from a glowing green portal. This mighty warrior dashes into the fray, hewing down demons with a long two-handed sword. It could only be Eve! She moves closer to the center of chaos, and is soon lost in the haze of orange arcane energy and the dust of collapsing stone.

The companions continue fleeing the expanding pit. Cycek, far outpacing the rest, has descended to the cavern floor and has begun investigating the now drying river that winds its way from the moat. A slimy stone riverbed now has a bare trickle of water running indolently over slippery stone and deposits of mud and slime. It disappears through a hole in the wall. Peering into the hole, Cycek sees a slick, wet cavern that soon twists out of sight. The rest of the party debate which way to go – up to Xodar’s room or down to the cavern floor. They elect to go down. They meet up with Cycek and they make the dangerous decision to run back toward the collapsing pit, and the hopeful safety of the still-glowing green portal.

Crossing the riverbed on a plank bridge, they see movement in an adjacent drying pond. There are shapes writhing in a deposit of thick mud left behind as the water drains away. They pause long enough to consider investigating, but then realize that this distraction could prove to be grave error. They turn their backs to leave at the moment a large clot of mud is flung toward them. It lands with a splat behind their retreating steps. Sartan says, “We don’t have time to deal with any damn mud monsters, or some kind of magical mud elemental, or whatever. Let’s get out of here!” They near the welcoming green light, and Eve steps back into view, silhouetted by orange smoke and dust. Several bodies lie around her feet. She walks toward the adventurers with a slight limp, and she clutches at her side, but as she arrives alongside the portal, she gathers herself upright, smiles and gestures as if inviting guests into the front door to her home.

They all rush into the orb and experience that same sense of weightlessness they did before. They float for a few moments within a formless grey space, before falling again toward a coalescence of warm green. They tumble gently out onto a green lawn. They have been here before. Their hearts surge with relief and an immediate sense of well-being. There before them is Adara. The heretofore stoic deva is almost exuberant. “You did it! It worked! The portals have closed! The gate to the abyss has collapsed into itself and is sealed! The spell was corrupted, but it was you! Your participation that held it together. It was your faith.” And nodding at Mishok, she adds, “And perhaps assistance of the great deity, Divoc, who of course supported the good work of his faithful cleric. But it was your willingness to trust in a young woman who had given you no reason to trust her. Your willingness to put yourselves in harm’s way for the greater good. Your ability to put aside your doubts, fears, and innate mortal selfishness has turned the tide and perhaps saved your world from torment at the hands of demonic hordes! There is still work to do. The creatures that have already found their way into your world will still be there, and will need to be dealt with. But for now, there should be no further demonic incursions, at least not from this source. You are truly heroes! Now, be at rest. You have earned a moment of peace and healing. Alas, it must be a brief rest, for the world continues on, and you still have an obligation to bring this young woman home. Once you have recovered, I will use the orb to open one more gateway, and will try my best to place it as near as I can to your destination.”

Sartan asks the deva several questions. She appears slightly amused, despite the somewhat flippant nature of the queries, and she replies kindly. He asks if she could give them the glowing orb they had pitched into the portal earlier. She declines, saying that it is far too powerful of an item, and they will safeguard it here in Celestia. She instead offers Sartan a magical torch. It will glow on command without requiring a source of flame, producing illumination like that of a traditional torch. He also inquires about the nature of the blessed water she had provided during their previous visit. She replies that it carries healing properties from which they will benefit upon drinking it. Finally, he inquires about the properties of the arm band that he wears. Adara senses that there is a curse upon it. The evil it bears cannot stay in Celestia, and as such, he cannot leave it behind. She recommends that he destroy it upon reaching the material world, and furthermore asserts that the responsible course of action is to ensure that it does not fall into the hands of some other unwitting soul.

With that, she bids them rest, but suggests that they think well upon where they would like to re-enter the material world. She will need to send them on their way soon.