We entered a tent behind the booth, and were told that it was an extra-dimensional space, and that we would return to the entrance hall upon leaving it. When we left we exited via door #15, which I considered somewhat illogical, as it carried the depiction of the lava landscape. Once we left we could not reenter through that door. The rest of the group were waiting for us in the hall.

Following our disastrous entrance into the pyramid we had a small meeting of tactics before opening any other doors.

After splashing a bit of water on the door with the waterscape (door #2), we were able to open it.

There was a rather small room with a pool of water and a slim stretch of sandy beach. When entering the water we found it was only 2½ʹ deep. Finding no clues or keys we proceeded to one of the doors with a desert motive. After tossing a bit of sand from the beach upon them we were able to open (door #10) and (door #14), but (door #12) stayed locked.

When we had entered the first desert room, a gargantuan scorpion rose from the sand, and attacked us. It immediately grabbed Balder (Thor) and started squeezing him. Behind the scorpion there was two statues in the corners at the end. They appeared to be casting spells upon the scorpion.

Groggo fired spells at the statues while the warriors attacked the scorpion. But the spells had no effect on the statues, and the scorpion proved to be too heavily armored. Simba protected Balder (Thor) with a shield other spell, transferring half of Balder´s wounds to himself. While still squeezing Balder (Thor) it grabbed Jaxe in it´s other claw. It quickly regrets this move when it receives acid damage from Jaxe´s yuan-ti form. It drops Jaxe and grabs Løvering. Finally we succeed in striking through it´s armor, when Jaxe hits with an impressive combo (6 attacks within 6 seconds, 4 of which hits).

The scorpion now changes tactics. It drops Balder (Thor) and Løvering by it´s sides and grabs them again, which seems to inflict more damage than simply squeezing them.

Løvering succumbs to his wounds and loose consciousness. The scorpion kept squeezing him, but miraculously drops him before he expires. Unfortunately he was dropped beside the scorpion, so I could not reach him.

While casting preparative spells, Tin informed us, that the statues have cast greater mage armor, shield, protection from elements (acid), and heal on the scorpion. He also tried to make us move aside so he could attack, and changed to his bear form. Groggo pulled back to allow the passage of Tin, but Simba, and I were still in his way. After trying to reach Løvering, I was a bit to close to the scorpion, and had moved very carefully in order to avoid giving it an opening. Even though Balder (Thor) occasionally hit the damn thing while grappling with it, we needed something else to defeat it. Finally Simba and I withdrew, thus making room for Tin the bear. Having had plenty of time to prepare Tin was fully “buffed”, and immediately inflicted impressive damage upon the scorpion, which was shortly afterwards defeated. Løvering was still alive, and was healed using our newly purchased wand of healing. There´s nothing in the room except sand and, the now inert, statues.

The sand from this room does not open the door to room # 12.

We now try the room behind door # 14, which looked much like he room with the scorpion. There where no scorpion in this room. Instead there was a small group of very large undead warriors. Jaxe greeted them in Persian, and their leader responded. They did not attack, but neither would they allow us to search the room. We decided not to attack them (yet).

We opened door #5, and found a rather small ice-covered room. Jaxe and Simba entered the room and took some ice back out with them.

We now try to open the remaining doors in order to review our options. The doors #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #10, and # 14 can be opened (even if you do not throw the corresponding element upon them). The doors #9, #11, #12, #13, #15, and #17 can not be opened.

The next door we tried were the necropolis (Door #7). The room was covered in shadow, but it was possible to discern that the walls, ceiling, and floor were made of bones. Some of the bones were old and yellowed, and some were new with fresh meat clinging to them. Simba, who possess the ability to see in the dark told us, that there was an undead dragon at the far end of the room.

We charged towards it, but those of us, that didn´t fly sank knee-deep into loosely packed bones. Inside the room there was a terrible stench of death and decay causing most of us to gag and vomit uncontrollably. Only Tin where able to resist the nausea, and was of cause immune due to his undead condition. The nausea was debilitating, and even Løvering had to pull out. Luckily Simba, Tin, and Tin´s dire tiger cub, were able to defeat the dragon. Jaxe tried to reenter the room in order to search it but was defeated by the stench. Tin tried to search, and caught sight of a bone key where the dragon had been. Frantically they tried to recover it, but it stayed hidden in the bones covering the floor.

Next we tried the door with the forested landscape (door #4). After walking a bit in the forest inside, we found the magician from Fantasia Magneto. We explained our delay, but he told us, that it did not matter. He told us the solution to his riddle. It was not the word “røvskæg” as we believed.

He had merely directed us towards himself, as the door leading to him where at the end of the beard of the mosaic in the hall. We asked if he knew how to lift the curse laid upon his king and queen. He explained, that it would probably be necessary to kill them to lift the curse.

A few other inhabitants of Fantasia where also present in his magical forest. Kent the centaur and Sati the satyr had been trapped here by accident. It seemed Magneto had summoned them without knowing, that he would not be able to send them back. Time actually passed in this realm, thus making it possible for us to refresh our spells, but we would not be able to return to this forest once we left. They also had a forge, so Løvering and Kent forged the platinium armor of a vassal of Bahamut. As this took 17 days, I had plenty of time to remove any ill effects lingering on the members of our group. Simba took pity on Sati, who had left all his treasures in Fantasia. Simba gave him a magical dagger (+1) as consolation.

When we left, we returned to the room of the zombie dragon. We used spells to bolster Jaxe´s ability to resist the stench in the room, but he was still overcome by it, when he entered. I had memorized locate object spells, and tried to enter the room in order to use one, but I was also defeated by the stench. When I explained my plan, Tin observed, that I would probably be able to retrieve the bone key, while overcome by nausea, if I cast the spell before entering the room.

Tin drew the bone key, and carefully described it in detail. As I cast the spell, there were no response, but when I entered the room, I received a clear signal. Supported by Simba, I managed to stagger my way to the key, and pick it up.

The key fitted both key holes in door #9 and door #11, but it could not be turned.

We opened door #7 and found a small stretch of land before a small pool of lava. The temperature quickly became unbearable, and forced us to leave the room.

We now tried to reenter the bazar, and found that it was quite possible. We traded the bone key for another wich didn´t fit in door #9, but only in door #11.

Behind door #11, which carried a picture of a tent, we found a small Bedouin camp. We were well received, and after the traditional Arabian greetings we were invited to share their meal. According to Arabian tradition that meant, that we were now protected by the laws of hospitality.

They were very friendly and willingly exchanged tales with us. They told us, that the curse had been laid down by the sorcerer Al Jafar (renowned from the legend of Alladin): The Bedouins believed there to be three ways of leaving the pyramid. Firstly to lift the curse, secondly through the aristocrat (probably the count) and thirdly by way of the spirit (considering the legend of Alladin, this possibly meant a Genie).

They also told us about a rhyme tey had encountered:

Øje for øje, tand for tand

den ene til lava, den anden til vand,

de fleste til sand

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,

one for lava, one for water,

most for sand

The Bedouins had encountered another clue. Something with “Ikke passere” (which means “not

pass” was supposed to be the password to one of the doors. In line with the theory of the old legends serving as inspiration for the curse, we had several suggestions to what the actual phrase could be. I.e. “Thou shalt not pass” quote Gandalf the Grey or “None shall pass” quote The Black Knight.

Lastly the Bedouins had come across something that sounded like directions:

“Bag døren, over sandet, forbi kløerne, gennem skakten, gennem gas og metal opfyldes dit ønske.”

”Behind the door, cross the sand, past the claws, through the shaft, through gas and metal, your wish is fulfilled.”After spending a pleasant time by the Bedouin fire, we returned to the great hall of the pharaoh.

We tried searching for a shaft in the room where we had defeated the scorpion (past the claws). But even though it had appeared from beneath the sand there were no shaft of any kind.

None the wiser we tried negotiating with the undeads in the desert behind door # 14 again. They still demanded magical items to exchange information and to let us search the room for a shaft or a key. Being desperate, this time we complied. We found nothing in their desert room, but they did give us one very valuable piece of information. The elemental rooms did not become activated before you closed the door behind you.

We returned to the bazar and bought five scrolls of resist energy (cold), before entering the room of ice. We had to squeeze together to fit into the room and close the door behind us.

When we did so, we found ourselves on a glacial plain. Several large ice formations reached up to the ceiling. The walls were still there, but the door had disappeared. The slippery surface made it difficult to move, but without a line of retreat, we had no time for caution. The resist energy spells would only protect us for half an hour. Thus we moved forward in all directions to cover as much ground as possible. Shortly after however a misty wind reduced visibility to 15ʹ.

We tried to regroup into a tighter formation. Simba and Tin still had visual contact, and tried to direct the rest of us towards them, but the slippery surface made it a slow process.

Coming around an ice formation Jaxe found himself face to face with an ice demon, and ran of in the opposite direction, where he met it again. He yelled for help and we tried to respond as quickly as we could. Groggo is first on the scene, but surprisingly the ice demon resisted his fire spells.

But now I could hear  the warriors were getting visual contact, and preparing for battle, and in spite of the slippery surface, I hurried towards the sound.

A magical ward prevented us from getting close to the pyramid. A ghost appeared and asked us the same riddle, that was once presented to us by the hermit in Fantasia.

An old and blind elven queen arrives at her palace.

She orders the kitchen to prepare and serve a drow for her.

When she takes the first bite, she dies.

What happened.

The ghost would answer all our questions with yes or no. After asking many questions we arrived at the conclusion, that her death was related to the fact, that she ate drow. She was not poisoned. The first bite did not get stuck in her throat. She did not die from old age. She was not deadly wounded, when she arrived at her palace. She did not become undead. She was not killed though there were those, who wanted her dead.

She did not leave the palace alone, but she returned alone. She did not leave with an army or to engage in a war, but she ended up in a war against a drowen army.

She was brought home.

Her blindness is related to her death. She was not blind when she left. She became blind due to an accident. It was a drow, that blinded her and it happened during the war.

Ahe left with her husband the king, and he was killed by drows.

We do not know who she left with apart from the king or who brought her back.

We asked several more questions until Jaxe had an epiphany. He explained, that the queen thought she had eaten drow before, when her husband were killed. As she tasted drow now, she realized that it had not been drow the first time. She died from the shock of realizing, that she had eaten her husband instead of his murderer the first time.

Jaxe´s interpretation proved accurate, and we were able to approach the pyramid. Only to be stopped by a new riddle on the grand double doors.

Der er ikke en hage ved den dør, der leder til mig

og dog vil et andet ord for sjov lede jer til mig,

da døren er for enden.

(Not translated, as the solution makes no sense in english)

We all thought we knew the solution to that one which was; røvskæg.

Before we entered, we saw a silhouette flying towards us. As it approached it revealed itself as a man with rainbow wings. We readied our weapons, but he made it clear, that he came with peace. His name was Groggo and he was a servant of the quatls from Horrigan´s Pyramid.

He had been ordered to assist us in our worthy quest. He was somewhat surprised, that we did not consider the recommendation of the quatls very valuable. Personally I consider them dangerous fanatical tyrants, that very evil though they themselves of cause think they´re good. But torturing an innocent man by killing him every day is evil in my book no matter what various detection spells indicate. Naturally Løvering agreed with this, since he was the victim.

It did not help that Groggo referred to Londar, as his mentor.

Of cause Groggo did not know, that Londar kidnapped nobles for ransom, and traded parts of the lands under his protection to a shady character in order to finance his studies.

Even though we had no respect for his mentor or his masters, we agreed, that Groggo himself seemed a decent fellow.

Entering the pyramid we were almost immediately beset by a myriad of undeads, backed by what appeared to be a huge blue dragon. Løvering and Simba charged leaving the rest of us by the door, that had closed shut behind us. The dragon was a very good illusion, that kept fooling Løvering through most of the combat, thus robbing us of his assistance. Those of us left at the door were hard pressed, as we lacked the protection of the knights. Luckily Groggo was there.

An impressive series of fireballs proved effective against the undeads. Still Balder (Thor) and I were very hard pressed, and I would undoubtedly have died if Simba had not protected me with a shield other spell..

After defeating the undeads, we surveyed the great hall. There was a gigantic mosaic depicting a pharao ́s death mask inlaid in the floor. Apart from the grand double doors in the opposite end, there were 16 side doors. Each of these doors carried one of 12 pictures.

*Illustration is not accurate. The hall is much wider, and the mosaic is much larger

An Arabian bazar, a cave, a lava-landscape, an ice-landscape, a forest-landscape, a waterscape, a desert-landscape, a tent, a sarkophagos, a castle,and a necropolis. Some pictures were on more than one door. Several of these doors where locked, and some had key-holes.

Entering the door with the castle (door #6), we were welcomed into a luxurious study by a servant in livery.

Both he and his master sitting behind his desk had some caracteristica, marking them as vampires to our experienced eyes. Also the master seemed to keep a succubus in a cage.

The master greeted us politely and presented himself as count Strahd von Zarovich. He claimed that we may be able to help each other. He was somewhat insulted as Løvering started to cast a spell, but did not prevent him in doing so. As Løvering discovered that master and servant were evil he prepared to attack. To begin with we were able to calm him down. Løvering now proceeded to question the count in a way akin to an interrogation. The count understandably took offense, but never the less tried to answer the questions posed. Apparantly the answers were not to the satisfaction of Løvering. While I was distracted by a more pleasant conversation with the servant, Løvering chose to attack. With an apologetic shrug, I had to enter the fray on his side as did the rest of the group. I was in an un-advantageous position, and chose to enclose myself in a wall of stone, and was thus unable to follow the beginning of the fight. After casting a few protective spells I removed my wall, and entered the fight. My main contributions were protecting Løvering from negative energy attacks with a Death Ward and preventing teleportation with a forbiddance.

We succeeded in defeating the vampires, though the servant escaped with a statue, that he obviously considered important. The succubus trapped herself in her cage (she entered it before the forbiddance, and couldn´t leave it after the forbiddance). To be honest we probably wouldn´t have been able to defeat the count, if he hadn´t been so overconfident. He did not really fight in earnest until he realized that a forbiddance in place.

Afterwards however the forbiddance proved a major hindrance to us. As we had crossed a dimensional portal, when going through the door, we could not leave. I proceeded to dispel my spell with a break enchantment. It felt as if the attempt would fail, but I was not overly concerned, as I believed, I could just try again after midnight, when my spells would be renewed. Suddenly it came to me that time did not pass in this dimension. Thus we could not sleep and regain spells. If this break enchantment did not work, we would be trapped forever. By a kind twist of fate, the spell succeeded, and we were free to leave.

We now realized that it was not just in the count´s dimension, that time did not pass. It was true for the pyramid as well.

We now entered a door with the symbol of a cave (door #8). Remembering the legend of Alladin, Simba said the famous words “open Sesame”, and the door opened. Inside was a tiered room. First tier was water, second tier was lava, third tier was ice, and on top was a plinth with a lamp, not unlike the one from the legend of Alladin.

We decided, that we would need protection against the various elements to reach the lamp, and continued towards the door with the Arabic bazar (door #16). Again Simba proved to have great intuition.

He spoke the word for friend in Persian, and the door opened. Inside was a bazar where you could buy anything at fair prizes. The only thing that was expensive was rest. Sleeping was very costly.

We decided, that now was the time to equip ourselves, and pooled our resources.

There was of cause some resistance to giving up our personal belongings. The brewer brothers especially seemed to keep having more that previously claimed. I too held back a bit, and was indeed the last to admit, what I had in personal funds. At one booth you could exchange a key to a different key provided the vendor also received a magical item. She told us that she had never traded with the same customer twice. This led us to believe, that we would not be able to return to the market, once we left.