A summary of what happened during the game sessions:

December 7, 2001 - Session 20

The group puzzled over how to open the archway. Jack found three spots for leaves in the carving, but no place where leaves could be removed. They approached the statues with the ironsilver compass out, and began to search. Sana sang a wordless song that she said would help them search, and lo and behold Jack found a leaf on three of the four statues, cunningly hidden in their design. Taking great care, he placed them in the right spots, and the wall faded from sight, and from touch.

The group cautiously entered, and down a wide hallway there was an opening to the right, one to the left directly across from it, and the passage continued on into the darkness ahead, looking to head down. They found a barracks on the right. There were a few trunks located at the foot of some of the bunkbeds, containing old work clothes. There were obviously different races here before, as the beds and clothes were sized for dwarves, elves, and humans. Searching for secret passages revealed none.

They then turned their attention to the room on the left. It appeared to be a mess hall/common room. A few moments of searching the walls discovered a secret door in the back corner of the room. This lead to a large smithy that had not been in service for some years. Careful investigation and recollection revealed that it must have been an ironsilver forge - a place where the magical metal alloy was created. There was a very large fire pit along the back wall of the room, though the fire was out, the chimney appeared to head out to the top of the mountain, which was too far to be seen unaided.

They continued on, exploring the entrance leading down into mine. There were some dilapated huts to the side of the mine entrance that contained mining tools. Part of the mine wall and ceiling had collapsed on one of the huts, and a brief search in the area revealed the skeletal hand of a dwarf underneath the collapsed portion, and on his finger was a ring that radiated magic.

Deeper investigation of the mine found holes in the mine's floor - shafts that led to lower levels of mine. They also found a different hole - this one had a metal apparatus, like a winch and pulley but with no rope or any device upon it. There was a button on one of the beams that came to the floor. Rylan pushed the button, and felt a strange draining, so he stopped, pulling his finger away.

They continued to search the first floor of the mine, and found some tunnels partially flooded. Deciding to continue downward, Rylan cast a spell and, clinging to the side of the shaft with the device over it, climbed down to the next level. While he was looking around, Sana decided to push the button. She felt the same draining sensation, but kept on pushing. Eventually, the draining feeling stopped, and a flat disk about 10 feet by 10 feet came up the shaft with a slight hum. A number of people got on, and after a moment, the platform descended to second floor. They exited, and the button was pushed at the top again, and once more there was no further draining. The last of the group went down, and exited at 2nd floor.

They explored the second level, which was very similar to the first, but with more tunnels flooded, some deeper than others. At one of the flooded tunnels, they heard a sound from within the darkness, and stopped to investigate.

No quote of the evening was recorded.