Aye, as we press on toward them flickerin’ lights, we stumble upon a chamber with a side door, while the corridor stretches forward into the dark. Neither the Captain nor Shredder know the best way ahead, but there be tracks leadin’ down the main tunnel. Before I can so much as grunt, them reckless young’uns decide they’ll be openin’ doors. I stay a few paces behind ‘em, hand on me axe, ready for whatever fool mess they bring upon us.

Roundin’ a corner, they fling open another door, revealin’ a great chamber with a sunken pit in the center. Across the way, another door taunts us deeper into this cursed place. Dreafus steps in, just as Shadowstep, that mischievous runt, tries to shove Icarus into the hole—but the fool missed his mark and tumbled in himself! I shake me head, toss him a rope, and he climbs back up, swearin’ he was swimmin’ down there. Bah! Dreafus chucks an apple in, and sure enough, there’s a splash. Some trickery’s at play—Gerhard an’ Istrum mutter somethin’ about invisible water, sayin’ it’s some ancient magic lost to time.

We move on, and the next chamber holds a raised platform with massive stone slabs balanced atop it, glowin’ with the same strange runes that now mark Shadowstep’s arm. A ten-foot gap separates us from the platform. Dreafus clears it easy, but then Shadowstep, that mad little bastard, comes up with the idea o’ havin’ me an’ Gerhard fling him across with a rope. We humor ‘im—only for him to go flailin’ down into the void again. I sigh, pull out me rope, and haul ‘im back up—Moradin give me patience.

Istrum squints at the platform, realizin’ the void’s just another blasted illusion, like the water. Shadowstep climbs back out lookin’ like a floatin’ head till he hauls the rest o’ himself up. The top o’ the platform’s got a dip, like somethin’ is meant to sit there—some kind o’ idol, maybe. Shredder recalls old tales about stone gates scattered across the island, five in total, their purpose long forgotten. Said there used to be texts about ‘em in the wizard’s tower at the abandoned city—but that place is little more than rubble now.

We press on, and the tunnel soon meets back up with the main passage. The flickerin’ light grows closer, and at last, we reach the source—a hatch above us. Shadowstep scurries up first, then hollers down that there’s free ale. I shove past the others, climbin’ up fast, only to find the barrels split open, the whole tavern ransacked. Tricksy bastard got me hopes up.

Just as we’re about to turn back, an old man appears before Shadowstep. Suddenly, the tavern is whole again, filled with folk laughin’ an’ drinkin’. I ain’t fallin’ for another trick—unless there’s ale involved. Istrum tosses me a tankard, an’ by Moradin’s beard, the drink is real!

The old one’s name is Morros, some human, lookin’ like he’s seen a few centuries pass. Dreafus, the fool, goes and spills every damn detail o’ our business to ‘im. Turns out, the tunnel we were followin’ leads straight to the cells beneath the abandoned city. There’s another tavern on the way too. A strange place, this. I glance out the window an’ see we’re at the edge of some forest, in a tavern called The Elway Gate.

We ask Morros ‘bout them gate stones and runes, an’ he tells us the same damn thing—there were texts in the wizard’s tower, but time’s turned ‘em to dust. He warns us that time don’t pass right on this island, and we ought to be wary o’ the plants. Aye, plants, o’ all things.

Before leavin’, Morros eyes me waterskin, noticin’ it’s a bit worse for wear. He hands me one o’ his own, tellin’ me to treat it well an’ it’ll serve me in kind. Curious old bastard.

We move on through the tunnels, reachin’ the next hatch—but this one opens into darkness. The tavern above is empty, vines crawlin’ through the cracks. The sign outside reads ‘The Tavern on the Wall.’ Istrum an’ I bar the door, then start checkin’ the stores. Praise the forge—there’s ale! A fine brew, too.

Lookin’ through the window, the sun’s settin’ over the plains, the abandoned city ahead. Out on the plains, great scaly beasts lumber ‘bout—‘dinosaurs,’ the others call ‘em. Giant lizards with hides tough as steel.

Then I hear it—Dreafus tellin’ Icarus to drink more o’ that blasted potion, wantin’ to tie the fool outside to keep watch. I swear, I’m travelin’ with a pack o’ madmen.

The night passes without much trouble—‘cept for that damn floatin’ fool screamin’ outside.