The party stumbled upon a pair of cloaked women whispering at an altar. The women shushed them.

After a tense few seconds, the party attacked what turned out to be medusae. They narrowly avoided petrifaction. Sender tossed a fireball, which slew the medusae and revealed that the altar contained something of interest: embedded in the stone and mortar of the sacrificial altar, there lay a far older slab of stone, which bore a faint incised inscription. They did a field translation, then hammered at the table until they could carve out the slab. The stela fit snugly in Sender’s haversack.

Once they’d destroyed the sacrificial altar, they realized that the grate beneath it was the cover for a passage, not just a drain. A ladder led down into a pit of giant snakes! Combat ensued, making good use of flying, a summoned fire elemental, and ranged attacks. One snake got away, and Edane led the chase. She lept to grab its tail, only to find herself in a constrictive hold. A somewhat-redundant combination of freedom of movement and grease helped her escape, while the rest of the party made short work of the snake.

Chasing the snake led them into a cavern where an (invisible) figure stood. Sender had the foresight to cast see invisibility, and he arrived just as the man finished a summoning spell. A large earth elemental climbed out of the summoning sigil, ready for mayhem.

The sound of rushing water echoes through the caverns from some point nearby.