19 Hammer 1371

Dear Master Zorthaster,

We made it past the magic door and on to the next challenge. The room beyond was lit by enchanted torches. It was a big empty room with four central pillars. It was decorated, at the far end, by a wall that held a large central mirror that ran from the floor to the ceiling. Flanking the big mirror were a pair of bas relief skeletons on either side.

Looking into the mirror revealed an image of a pile of coins in the center of the room, between the pillars. We investigated carefully, wary of unpleasant magical affects from the mirror. Eventually, we decided that the mirror must be a magical gate to a room beyond. Over the top of the mirror was inscribed a word that, when all the "I"s were removed, said "Transport Us." The skeletons had no eyes. We took that as a clue. I thought that perhaps we needed to be in the space defined by the pillars to be transported to the room beyond. Instead, it was simpler than that. To get to the room, one had to stand before the mirror, say "Transport Us" and step through while the word above was glowing.

Unfortunately, we had other business to attend to before we could deal with the treasure room. Primula, who must have either been bored by the pace of our investigation of the mirror, or overcome by curiosity, went over to a skeleton carving and poked it. As soon as she did, two of the skeletons detached from the wall and attacked. These two (and perhaps the others), were made of painted wood. I had a Burning Hands spell prepared and thought I would be able to put it to good use against these wooden constructs. I would have had the thing but the quarters were too close. The construct was pinned in the corner but my friends would have likely been caught in the edges of the flames as they hit the wall and flared outward.

Looking back on the battle in my mind's eye I can see a couple of ways that I could have sheeted the flames across the construct and reduced the possibility that my friends would have been hurt. I didn't have time to think then though. I crashed the spell instead of putting my friends at risk. Since then I have been agonizing over my decision. Did I do the right thing? The rest of the gang hacked the constructs into kindling, but I feel as though I let my friends down by not being more prepared. During the battle they were calling on me to do something to turn the tide of the battle. I found that I was only half prepared to help. Half prepared was as good as nothing. I have to do more. I think I have to do a lot more training in how to use my spells in battlefield situations. I see my friends sparring and practicing different moves and trying new moves. I need to start doing that. It does not seem enough anymore to just know the magic. Now if I can just find the time.

As I said, my friends took care of the constructs without my help. We then moved on to claim the treasure. The treasure had a different idea. We got into the room beyond to find that the pile of gold was enchanted to create a "coin dragon". It formed itself out of the pile of treasure and attacked almost as soon as we were in the room. Ciercie and I were standing in front of the thing when it reared back to hit us with its breath weapon. The attack was a cone of coins fired at great speed. We dodged out of the way of the worst of it. Ciercie avoided the shower completely. I got injured but stayed alive through it. I took cover and assessed the situation. While I was doing that, I downed a healing potion. The coin dragon seemed invulnerable by my friends' weapons. I had no spells left that would do any good in combat so I stayed under cover, studying the construct. I don't know how long my friends would have fought the enchanted coins, but as soon as Oskar fell to the construct's attack, I was ready to leave. It was clear that we could not defeat this thing without other resources. I ran for the mirror, hoping that the activation phrase worked both ways. On my run for the mirror I grabbed a hold of Oskar's hand and dragged him toward safety.

We made it though the gate and I immediately dumped my last healing potion into the paladin. The rest of the gang joined us shortly and we licked our wounds. Shane tumbled out of the mirror battered and bloody and said simply "Master Wu says when fists don't work, use your feet."

It was time for some planning. We guessed that magical weapons would be needed to cause any serious damage to the creature. I was also pretty certain that Magic Missiles would have an impact on this thing. We spent a comfortable night in the first mirror room after a bit of healing.

In the morning I loaded up on Magic Missile spells and Rays of Frost. Primula cast blessings on a few weapons so they might have an effect on the coin dragon. I loaned my staff to the cause. When we were ready, we leapt through the gate and attacked. Prepared with spells and weapons that could actually hurt the dragon, we were able to make short work of the enchanted pile of coins and claim the treasure as our own.

The treasure consisted of 2000 thumbs, 550 falcons, 300 lions, 16 small gems, a scimitar, two masterwork daggers, and a masterwork long sword decorated with a ruby eyed dragon pommel. There was a scroll that included Shield, Mage Armor, and Magic Missile. There were two books. One was blank. The other was a spell book containing Alarm, Endure Elements, Expeditious Retreat, Mage Armor, Mount, Obscuring Mist, and Ray of Enfeeblement.

Interesting finds all. I wonder though if maybe there is more to these books than we have discovered so far. Master Wands has been thinking of these books for a while and thought they were worth going after. The spells are intriguing, but I wonder about the blank book. I am hoping to look at the book a little more tonight. We do not have a lot of time to sit around now though. We have an appointment with Sgt. Potulous at Master Wu's compound in about a day and a half. Perhaps I'll have time to do a little scroll preparation on a leisurely boat trip over the next ride. I will let you know.

Til next,

Cedar