The party decides to follow Gundren’s map to Wave Echo Cave. On entering a large cavern they immediately notice two things; firstly, that they can hear the rhythmic thunder of pounding waves despite being nowhere near the sea, and secondly that there is an encampment here. Amongst the three bedrolls and pile of supplies lies the body of a dwarf; with a heavy heart Hadron recognises it as that of his cousin, Tharden. But maybe Nundro is still alive somewhere.
The northeastern section of the cavern has collapsed, forming a ten-foot-wide, twenty-foot-deep pit which Shade explores, using a rope that has been tied nearby. A rough-hewn tunnel heads northwest and east but Shade can hear animal sounds to the east so the group decide to take the other route.
This leads to a maze of low, partially-worked mine tunnels. Heading mostly north they come to a medium cavern with a dark, still pool, with a fishy smell and a shore of broken shells. A pebble with a light spell on is thrown in but the pool looks less interesting than the stairs heading up to the east so that’s the way they go.
Across a corridor heading north is a door. Shade listens at this and hears grunting and breathing coming from the other side, so once everyone is prepared Fallan throws the door open. Behind it is some sort of barracks-room, on the opposite side of which is another door that has been barricaded, but you don’t have time to investigate this as the occupants of the barracks – five bugbears – would like to talk to you about where the fuck you think you’re going.
The fight is joined as Enderman bathes the bugbears in a fan of flames, but in retaliation one hits Balrag with a very heavy blow. Fallan kicks the brazier onto one then strikes another with his axe, who tries to flee towards the barricade but is brought down by an awesome strike from Hadron’s Guiding Bolt. Fallan’s axe takes down a couple more before Hadron finishes off the last one with his magic axe, Hew.
Finding little of value in the room apart from a few coins and a potion of Vitality the group decide to take down the barricade and proceed through that door. Ignoring some stairs down to the south, they enter a large chamber that must have been an important part of Wave Echo Cave’s original operations; it is dominated by a blast furnace and mechanical bellows once powered by a waterwheel, which sits in a now-dry 10-foot wide channel cut into the floor. The furnace is cold and dark, but heaps of coal are piled nearby, along with carts full of unrefined ore.
More than a dozen withered dwarf and orc corpses are scattered around the room, still wearing the remnants of their armour. Floating above them is a skull engulfed in green flame. Not liking it one bit, Enderman hits it with a magic missile.
The thing retaliates by firing multiple rays of flame. The group withdraws to the corridor but this proves disastrous as the skull sends a fireball their way, catching them all in a tight space and causing much damage, enough to knock Hadron unconscious. In a rage Fallan rushes into the chamber to engage the thing in melee, while the others hang back and attempt to treat their wounds without a cleric. However things go from bad to worse: not only is Fallan unable to hit the skull because it flies out of his reach, but several of the dwarven corpses stand up and move to attack him while the skull hits him with a magic missile.
Unable to strike the skull Fallan leaps across the trench to fight a zombie, but discovers that at such a distance from the light source he is unable to see. As he tries to leap back again he stumbles and falls into the channel, but is still able to hit one of the undead.
In the meantime Hadron has been restored to consciousness with healing potions and once he has his surroundings he brings out his holy symbol and calls upon the power of Marthammor Duin, forcing all but two of the zombies to flee. The flameskull has taken several hits by this time and also retreats, with Fallan striking it a blow as it goes.
The flameskull and the bulk of the zombies flee north along the trench and Fallan in his rage runs after them, his exhausted, injured and somewhat exasperated companions following not far behind. The channel opens onto the east side of another cavern, this one split by a wide rift. A stream pours out of the west wall then tumbles down into the rift before flowing out again to the north; several ropes are secured to iron stakes along the western edge, leading down to the chasm floor.
The cavern is not empty. The fleeing zombies have fallen into the chasm, destroying one, but the remaining three are trying to climb the opposite cliff. In addition, two bugbears are on the chasm floor with another at the top on the far side accompanied by a drow; the flameskull is also on the far side of the rift.
The bugbears throw javelins and try to follow the drow in retreat, the two in the chasm scrambling up the ropes to do so, but one of them is caught and killed before he can get away. Fallan manages to climb one of the ropes and physically grapples the flameskull, but the two remaining bugbears return and force him to let it go in order to defend himself against them. However as the skull flies out over the chasm Fallan dives on it and brngs it crashing down onto a zombie, finally crushing it and extinguishing its green flame.
Though spectacular, unfortunately this manoeuvre leaves Balrag alone on the western side facing two bugbears and the drow. They take him down and he begins to bleed out. Leaving Enderman on the east side, everyone else tries to get to Balrag in time to save him. When Shade kills the last bugbear the drow flees and Fallan heads off in pursuit, but then Enderman is attacked by an ochre jelly which had crept up on him unseen. He tries to climb down the cliff but is still attacked, forcing him to levitate out of its range to stay safe.
Giving up on the drow Fallan comes back and hurls his axe at the jelly, but this only splits it in two. However Enderman and Shade are able to finish off these, avoiding the use of slashing weapons.
Sadly, poor Balrag is no more. Broken in morale and body, the group retreats to the bellows room but their troubles are not over: the two zombies who fled east have returned. One of these is dispatched quickly but the other just will not go down, until eventually a combined strategy from Enderman and Hadron destroys it.
The survivors retreat to camp to lick their wounds.