The Levellers set out into the catacombs in search of the missing druid Seltern Obranch, despite Tunwéya‘s reservations about saving the life of even a single halfling after what happened. They found him barely 50 yards from the front line of the safe zone, having succumbed to the bite of a hellhound and bled to death, probably after the party’s arrival.

The adventurers pushed on, following the trail of the druid’s blood, until a hellhound was sighted. Hinnerk lead the charge until, rounding the corner, he realised that the beast wasn’t alone but had brought a friend, and he quickly ran back to the group. The hellhounds rounded the corner, slowed only slightly by blasts of Leofric‘s magic and Lulu’s sparkly trumpteting, and unleashed a new trick: fire breath!

Fortunately the party had stacked up in the tight corridor in an almost-optimal way, with those in fireproof armour (Leofric and Hinnerk) at the front to suffer the worst of the flames. Well, almost: they’d actually put Reya ahead of them in order to make the most of the paladin’s aura of protection, but this unfortunately left Reya beating out her flaming clothes while simultaneously using her healing powers to ease her suffering.

One hellhound defeated and the other having turned tail and run, the Levellers returned to the safe zone and berated the lack of long-term thinking that this “hide beneath the citadel and hope” plan represented, as well as their inability to keep track of their civilians during a retreat. The injured members of the party licked their wounds and accepted a prayer lead by Pherria Jynx.

The relatively-uninjured Leofric wandered amongst the civilians to get a feel for their take on the situation and met Gerinthorm, a Dwarven lawyer and a fan of Pherria’s passionate sermons. Meanwhile Zurito Matt, one of the two Hellriders for whom Tunwéya’s hypotheses failed to explain, came to Tunwéya with books liberated from the Hall of Scholars and spoke to him awhile about their plight.

The party resolved to leave this place and set out for the Grand Cemetery in search of the Helm of Torm’s Sight.