[Notes for the run of July 29, 1999.] Pat went back and filled in some description of the river trip. As soon as we left the large flat area where everything grows, the ash cloud went away. After that the river goes along a narrow plain with mountains on either side. Every twenty miles there's a tower or other such controlling building on the river. Lions is the last place one can reach by barge; after that the feeder streams are too small. Paris rejoins the party, having been to the library, where she found the librarian and the local padre playing checkers outside. She asked for tales of the Lions or other local information, and was directed to an old book. The book was one of three that were here when the Duke of Lions conquered the place and made it part of Tara. Only this one is still in the library; the other two were sent about a month ago to the librarian in Dungeon (to the north), because Dungeon was under attack by strange barbarians and the books were considered perhaps relevant to what the barbarians were after. One was a description of a strange land. The other was a book of bad recipes, which Paris conjectures might've been magical spells or the like. The book that's still here tells of those who were here when the Duke of Lions came. The people who had been here divided themselves into East Men and Know Men. The book is by the Know Men and tells how they came to this valley. Paris skimmed the book, looking for lions, and found a drawing of the lion-shaped mountains, but with the larger one on the right rather than on the left, as they are seen from the city. On the page, the rather convoluted text says: "pause at the paws, the stone was holde with ryddles." Then, "And the inside colors home were bright as, brighter still, and the flowers inside, and the dogs and lions in the blink of an eye came, and our fortitude she did applaud. Among the flowers, Iravian was, we buried, after the dogs. Left we saddened, and the sky cried. After tears we follow, into hole safe and warm, and down after tears we follow. Mark of five on walls left, back way found if home ever return. Leave hole sky happy when, valley next arrive. Met first Eastman day next." Mia thinks the mark of five might refer to the five rainbow gods, but we remind her there are seven. Mia blushes. It being midday on Sixthday, we stay in Lions for Seventhday and then set out with Claude as our guide. This time we're sure to bring along some rope. Claude gets us past the cliff that stymied us before. On the second day out we find a streambed, which to our unskilled eyes strikes us as being unusually wide. Looking around, Rhori finds some tracks that lead him to a cave. We probably would've missed the cave if not for the tracks. The tracks are bear tracks, large prints overlaid on some smaller ones. Rhori volunteers to investigate the cave if someone can provide him with light. He doesn't want an open flame, and doesn't really want another person (like a mage with a light spell), so he takes a lantern in, plus a branch from a berry bush. He eventually comes to a large cavern, where he finds a large bear ready to charge. He tries growling a pacifying growl at it, but whatever effect he is trying to invoke it doesn't work. A cub pokes his head around mama's legs and growls at him. Mama bear walks up; Rhori holds his ground, and the bear takes a swipe at him but misses. Rhori tries twice more, as the party listening outside hears lots of growling back and forth. Finally he manages to get the effect to work well enough to establish some sort of mental communication or control. He tries to convince the bear that he's not a threat. He manages to calm it enough that it merely watches him carefully as he picks up the lantern again, drops the berry branch, and backs cautiously out. Rhori comes out and confirms that there are bears inside. He thinks the cave goes on past the bear. We try to think how to subdue the bear, or get it to leave the cave, or something, to let us go by. Brillig suggests just killing it, but Rhori won't hear of it. Claire says her new tunnelling spell won't work through the surrounding rock (it only works in dirt), nor can it be used to dig a pit to make a trap. Rhori goes back in, telling us to get away from the cave since he's going to try to chase them out. The bear seems to tolerate him more this time, and the cub is enjoying the berries. The cub comes over to play with Rhori a bit, while the mother watches carefully. With the cub chewing playfully on his arm, he backs out of the cave, the mother following. The cub switches to mauling his leg. Anton offers to shoot it but Rhori hastily says no. After a while the cub is distracted by a butterfly and chases after it, the mother (and Rhori) in pursuit. Rhori eventually lets the mother pass him, then comes back to join us. We notice that his ranger badge is glowing slightly. We thank Claude and let him go on his way, as we prepare to enter the cave. We ask him to check up on our horses occasionally when he's in town, in case we have not yet returned. Anton manages to screw up his courage to enter the cave, and creates a magical light. We go in and soon spot a mark of five scratches in the wall. We form up with Paris and Rhori in front, Calais and Claire second, Anton and Brillig next, and Mia last. The passage eventually opens up into a large chamber in which the light reflects off colorful things in the distance. Several passages lead off, and we see no marks of five, but there's a place that's blocked by fallen dirt. Claire offers to tunnel through there to check it out, taking Rhori with her. We see the dirt part for her and close in behind her. Anton shudders at the very thought. The two of them come out in a corridor full of water. Rhori doesn't catch on quickly enough and takes a lungful. Claire brings them back, and a large hunk of water accompanies them back as well. (Good thing the tunnel closes behind her, so only the immediately surrounding water comes back.) Paris lays hands on Rhori while Mia prepares her water-breathing spell. Claire asks Anton if he's going to have trouble using the tunnel. He says no way he's going in there. Brillig considers whether he can knock him out, but decides he can't do it without seriously hurting him. Claire, Mia, and Paris tunnel back to the water. Mia finds five scratch marks. They leave Paris there and go back to ferry the others through. Anton takes one card to start alleviating his claustrophobia, but it'll take more to finish that job. Still, he manages to run through the tunnel. We continue up the water-filled tunnel; the path rises until it is above the water. We come out at a lake between two large carved lions, under open sky. Rhori's badge is glowing more brightly. We examine the lions but they appear to be solid. Rhori suggests looking under the water. Mia, Calais, Paris, and Rhori go in. It looks like the area's been submerged for quite a while; i.e. no trees, etc. But they find nothing. We think maybe we need to follow the lake back a ways, but first we spend an uneventful night between the lions. In the morning, we pick up the discussion of the strange text in the book, and in particular ponder the reference to "ryddles". Mia mentions the classic riddle of the sphinx, and recalls it aloud: "What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three in the evening? A man." There's a grinding noise, and a hole appears in the rock. Calais pipes up, "Thirty white horses on a red hill. Now they stamp, now they champ, now they stand still." Nothing happens. He adds the answer, "Teeth." The hole opens wider. Anton tries, "What have I got in my pocket?" The hole closes a bit. (Brillig had mentioned that one earlier, but the hole hadn't started to open yet so it hadn't done anything.) Brillig makes up a riddle, "What goes uphill easier than it goes downhill? An ox-cart." That works. Anton tries again with "What can go up a chimney down but can't go down a chimney up? A lady's sunscreen." (We presumably don't know what an umbrella is, but this variant seems to work.) It also appears that each person can only contribute one riddle to the process, though we can suggest riddles for others to speak. We continue to think up riddles until the hole has completely opened. Rhori starts to push forward, but Mia suggests waiting until she can cast a spell. Rhori thinks he sees light at the far end, and flowers. Mia casts Bless (extra PD and ED on everyone). Anton goes invisible. Claire turns on her armor. (Mia's was already on.) We move down the corridor. We come to an area with lilies and roses, and a table in the middle with a book on it. Two dogs materialise in front of the party; they are large -- easily waist high -- but very thin and bony, with glowing red eyes. They open their mouths and breathe fire, in a conical explosion (less damage toward the rear). Rhori (who is now speed 4) smacks one in the head, but at the end of segment three two more appear behind the party and breathe. Apparently they were hidden somehow and we passed by (or through) them. (Brillig's sensitivity didn't quite pick them up.) Anton falls over, unconscious, stunned, and badly hurt. His light goes out, and he becomes visible. Calais crowds forward and does a mighty blow with his spear (though not as mighty as Rhori's). Paris was stunned by the first dogs and so does nothing. Brillig steps up to one and stabs it; Claire magic-missiles the same one. The last one fades away. Teleporting hellhounds; lovely. Mia preps a spell for suppressing fire magic, though she's not sure if the fire breath is magical. Segment six, Rhori smacks Calais's target, again in the head. Rhori's first victim is twitching its paws, as though chasing a hell-rabbit in its dreams. Paris smacks it in the twitching paw. Brillig tries to smack his again, but misses. It disappears; Mia can see that it walked into the wall. So maybe they don't actually teleport; they "merely" go desolid. We finish off the two wounded ones, and pause to heal Anton, who has regained consciousness. Brillig suggests we leave the corridor first since the dogs hid in the walls, but we can't move out of the corridor without entering the flowers and perhaps thereby bringing on the lions. So we stay in the corridor. Partway through Paris's healing spell, a hound reappears. (Segment 7 dex 0.) Brillig hits it with a rock, and Mia tries to suppress its fire. She casts a potent spell but the fire is too strong so she fails to suppress it, and the rock hits but also fails to stop it. It breathes and Anton is nearly knocked unconscious again, and is into negative BODY. Paris is also hurt, but not stunned this time, so steps up and whacks it. It's not impressed. Calais runs back up the corridor and smacks it a good one. Brillig then runs up and smacks it an even better one, slightly damaging his spear. They proceed to finish it off. Mia does two quick heals on Anton. The last dog does not reappear. Rhori moves slowly out into the room, alert for lions. Nothing appears. The room is about 7" wide and 12" deep, and 50 feet high. There is no obvious source for the light, but there aren't any shadows to speak of; it's as if all of the stone is emitting light. Rhori reports there's another opening on the far side of the room. Anton for some reason thinks the anticipated attack by lions might come from the air (perhaps because we've already encountered obstacles of earth, water, and fire), and warns people to look up. Still nothing. Rhori reaches the book and picks it up. His emblem is glowing quite brightly. Claire notes that the bodies of the hellhounds have faded, leaving just the outlines. She identifies the residue as sulfur, so she scoops some up for possible use as a magical component. In doing so she also discovers three cards in each hound. The cards are black (oops?), but that turns out to be just soot. We turn them over and they are silver. Presumably Calais ends up with them.