The battle is furious, and a Fireball spell from Theranion destroys the ring of nightshade fungi in the center of the room. The nightshades are momentarily distracted, turning their attention suddenly to save what they can from the flames. Their efforts are in vain, and the group finally gets the advantage in the battle. Nataya wastes no time in tossing the bodies into the fire, her disgust with the creatures growing by the hour.

In one of the passages leading out of the cavern stands a thick wall of thorn bushes, and several shapes seem to be moving somewhere on the other side. As the group carefully draws close to investigate, several needles fly from the bushes at the party. Theranion lets loose a fire spell on the bushes, and the group quickly retreats as the smoke fills the tunnel.

While Zendril waits for the smoke to clear, the rest of the group decides to explore one of the other tunnels for a few minutes. The tunnel they head down has several 10' drop-offs along its length. The drop-offs look as though a river once flowed over them. After a few hundred feet, they come to a swift-moving underground river, which judging by its course, probably empties into the Tesh River. There are the remains of a natural stone bridge here, though the middle section has long since collapsed into the river.

The river is too deep and too swift to swim across, and the gap in the bridge is too wide to jump or vault across. With few other options, the group turns back the way they came. They get no more that a few dozen feet before they see Zendril scrambling toward them from the direction of the cavern in a panic. They soon realize the cause of his frantic running when a half dozen hook horrors chasing come into view behind him.

Zendril doesn't stop running until he is well past the rest of the group, and Theranion uses his Wand of Fire to soften up the creatures before they reach the group. Even then, the creatures tear into the group, and the group finds itself in need of healing and rest before they can continue. Once rested, they head back to the tunnel that originally had the wall of thorns.

Zendril uses his stealth skills to explore the tunnel ahead, just in case any more dangers await. He comes to a wooden door, and a dog on the other side immediately starts growling and barking. Roc hears the noise from further down the tunnel, and confuses the muffled sound as that of another hook horror. He gives his dogs the command to attack, and charges down the hallway with his two war dogs in the lead.

Zendril hears Roc's dogs coming up behind him fast, and knowing their berserker tendencies, frantically scales the wall to get out of their reach. The dogs charge up, and while one starts scratching madly at the door and the ground under it, the other jumps and tries to get a bite in on Zendril before joining the other at the door. Once Roc gets to the door, he calls off his dogs, and a nervous Zendril carefully climbs down (he swears to this day those dogs are out to get him).

Once the rest of the group arrives, they open the door, and find a ravenous guard dog on the other side. It's not much of a fight, as the dog has been tormented by the nightshades and has gone without food for days. It charges blindly at whatever is closest until it is finally struck down.

Beyond the dog is a small entranceway of sorts, with a door leading into a larger room. The group carefully opens the door and looks in. The next room is a dusty old crypt, most likely one of the original mausoleums below the town cemetery. Inside the crypt is a group of skeletons, standing guard at an archway on the other side of the room. With determination, Nataya steps into the room and brandishes her holy symbol just as the skeletons attack. A second later, her holy symbol flashes, and half the skeletons are shattered into dust.

The remaining skeletons are dispatched quickly, and the party approaches the archway on the other side of the room. A horrible mix of smells and inhuman sounds seem to come from the hallways beyond. Considering both living and dead creatures have thus far guarded the place, the group silently enters, uncertain as to what they will find...