Two ghouls, released from their cell by the clockwork spiders, make their move toward any living thing they can hope to get their claws into. Ekso, injured and disengaging from combat with a parting magic missile strike at Sartan, Cycek, and Mishok, moves toward one of the approaching ghouls. A thick mist suddenly envelopes the wizard and ghoul, obscuring both from view. Ekso emerges beyond the baffled ghoul, and then hustles out of the room and down the corridor.
Sartan helps himself to the scimitar and shortbow held by the hypnotized goblin, Longdick McGee. Mishok frees himself using the keys which his commandeered spider has lifted from Ekso. He slides them across to Sartan’s cell, who releases himself and then in turn slides them down to Cycek. Sartan releases Longdick from his hypnosis and advises that he run for it – which he does.
Cycek opens the gate to Coriander’s cell and cuts her free from the magical webs, using the dagger she had used to stab Ekso. He gathers up the tangled webs and lunges for the nearest ghoul. He slaps an armload of webbing over the ghoul’s head, and then stabs it in the side with the dagger. It flails at the webs, tangling its claws, enabling Cycek to deliver another vicious cut to its neck. Coriander casts a mage armor spell on Cycek, enhancing his protection from harm. She then sends a frost ray into the face of the ghoul. It immediately goes rigid and drops.
Across the room, Davros and the goblin, Greaseball, are engaged with the second ghoul. Davros climbs into the rigging to gain advantage over the ghoul, and puts a couple of arrows in the creature. Greaseball, attacking with his scimitar, fares less well and falls before the ghoul’s furious claws. Davros then, having returned to the ground, fells the beast with another arrow, and takes the scimitar from the fallen goblin. He also captures and deactivates a spider.
Sartan releases Mishok from his bonds and the two cross to the west side of the room. Mishok manages to grab another spider along the way, leaving only four of the mechanical arachnids to handle the work of calibrating the web of wires and spheres so carefully arranged in this room. Sartan complicates their job by hacking one of the cables and then strumming all the ones within reach as he moves through the room. This distracts the spiders from attacking, as they turn their attention to damage control.
Mishok and Coriander investigate the workbench and discover their gear and weapons are piled up there, having been rifled through. Coriander tosses a bow and a quiver of arrows to Cycek who prepares to pursue Ekso. Sartan, seeing movement on the western stairway, goes up the stairs to investigate. He realizes that the bugbear captain, Eve Viscerator, just barely clinging to life, is struggling to open the gate at the tops of the stairs. He takes a shot with a goblin bow, and misses pathetically. Sartan then heads up the stairs, close to the bugbear, only to have a gate fall from above behind him, trapping him in a small space with the wretched creature. A greenish glass hemisphere is set in an iron ring in the center of the wrought iron gate at the top of the stairs. A wicked little face looks out from it and in a thin, whiny voice, acknowledges Sartan as a stranger, and suggests a game of riddles. As punishment for an incorrect answer, Sartan is torched with a flame shooting out of a nozzle in the wall. Cycek offers another solution. He conjures a goodberry, and throws it up to Sartan. Sartan gives it to Eve to revive her, in an attempt to gain an ally. It seems to work. As an authorized individual, she reaches for the handle and opens the gate. The two emerge into a lobby-like room.
Across the gem lab, Longdick McGee has fled up the opposite stairway. Davros pursues him. He opens the gate and steps into a lit room decorated like a lobby. There are comfortable chairs and end tables, a rug on the floor. He catches sight of the goblin headed up a passageway, and he stealthily follows. After a couple of turns, he sees that Longdick has entered a larger room, from whence he hears the harsh voices of at least three creatures speaking. Having seen enough, he returns to the gate, only to find it locked. He calls down to his team to let him in. Mishok, climbs the stairs and lets Davros back into, but the commotion seems to have drawn attention. As the pair reach the bottom of the stairs, they hear rough shouts coming from the room Davros had just left.
As the session ends, Sartan and Eve are in the “lobby” at the top of the west stairs, with a gate locked behind them, and an evil face leering at them from a glass globe welded into the door. Cycek and Coriander are standing guard at the foot of the west stairs. Mishok and Davros are at the foot of the east stairs, as unidentified voices approach from above. The remaining spiders scurry around, trying to adjust an array that is quite out of whack. Ekso is nowhere to be seen.