We headed back into catacombs and decided to continue from where we left off. We also discovered that the Brazier “trap” was easily disabled by closing the northern most door at the first landing.

We decided to test how the Mural worked, so Rylene shot a bolt at it from a safe distance. The bolt merely bounced off the wall. Goolag was requested to fetch the arrow in case another monster appeared, and on his way back after fetching the arrow that’s exactly what happened. We had to fight yet another Ochre Jelly. We were able to make faster work of this one now that we knew what to expect. Once we defeated it, we quickly headed west and into a room with an eastern hall and a northern door.

There were alcoves in the room that we started to search, but we were interrupted by some Magma Claws. They were a tricky foe that we managed to beat, even after being surprised by some Gnomes. Once the battle was over, we were able to finish our search and discovered some magical Bracers of Mighty Striking that we agreed would be put to best use with Raiann. An inscription on the wall read, “Hail Von Urstadts! Ascend with Glory!”

From the room with the alcoves we headed north. and followed the passage down some stairs to the west where we met with our first true success on this journey. We found a captive alive and relatively well. Sertanian gave us some basic information:

The captives have been moved around seeming randomly. He was originally with some others, but got separated. He’s unsure of how long he’s been in the catacombs, or where he is. He last saw Mirtala and Kartenix, but is unsure of their current condition. Kartenix was saying how he planned to try and escape.

We headed back to the room with the Alcoves, then headed east down the hall. We came upon a room that was covered in what appeared to be giant webs. The room was guarded by 3 Endercaps. This encounter was a trial, the terrain put us at a huge disadvantage, and we were also disheartened by finding Kartenix dead in the corner. We can only hope that his young son fares better than he has.