With the umber hulk in retreat for now and the distant sounds of the air cult in panicked disarray, the party is free to contemplate the very, very hot flame stone plucked from statue Moradin’s lantern. Meega attempts to persuade Theren to not attempt to persuade Lefty to pick up and handle the stone. Meega fails, and Theren succeeds.
Lefty picks the stone out of the cast iron pot. Her paw erupts in searing hot pain and she drops the stone back into the pot. Haerelben examines her paw, but it is physically undamaged.
The party continues exploring the abandoned Besilmer market. Bromsby and Meega cautiously listen at doors before opening to a crumbled Besilmer haberdashery and a crumbled Besilmer pottery barn. Theren yanks open tall, stone double doors, kicking out the spike set by cultists to keep in the ghouls.
Theren plugs a ghoul with a couple of bolts. Bromsby shatters it with a ray of frost. Lefty punches the next ghoul in line. Haerelben gets between a pair of ghouls and turns the undead. Sehanine’s disdain for the undead leaves one undead, but crumples the other. An array of tall crypts obscures the fact that the undead turning has destroyed eight unseen ghouls surrounding the party.
Meega dashes up in time to watch Theren, Bromsby, and Lefty take out the surviving ghoul. The party fans out to gather up any remaining ghouls. Only three more are found and are quickly exterminated, especially the unfortunate ghoul found by Meega, irritated at missing so much of the action. Meega critically double chops the ghoul into an unrecognizable re-dead torso heap.
A search of the crypts is made for anything that might help the fight against elemental evil. Theren decides that 27 figurines, masks, and keepsakes [50 gp each] would help, if but indirectly. No one disputes it.
A short rest is made while Meega repairs Theren’s heavy crossbow. Again.
With fresh minds, the party gathers to brainstorm the fire stone. Meega holds the bright stone aloft with her smith’s tongs for Bromsby and Haerelben to examine. Theren convinces Lefty that pain is an excellent teacher. Lefty grasps the burning stone and this time holds on to it despite the pain. She learns that the pain goes away.
Lefty bursts into flame. Bromsby and Meega freak out while sociopaths Theren and Haerelben look on. Lefty insists she is no longer in pain despite the flames. Theren calmly conjectures that all her pain nerves have burnt away. Haerelben touches Lefty’s nose to see if she has a fever and recoils in burning pain. Lefty relaxes her grasp of the stone and the flames extinguish leaving her quite well.
Exploration of the market resumes. Lefty pokes into a room and is attracted to a black leather duster hanging on the wall. The duster envelopes Lefty’s head when she advances for a closer look. A moaning attack paralyzes Meega and Theren. The cloaker’s tail whips at Lefty.
Haerelben slips around Meega who is blocking the doorway. There are three leather cloaks flying around the room while one engorges on Lefty. Haerelben casts confusion which has no effect except upon Lefty’s assailant who stops attacking but remains attached to suffocating Lefty. Bromsby, Theren, and Meega take out the other three cloakers quickly. Too quickly. Bromsby pulls the confused cloaker off of Lefty and the party goes weapons-free on it. Meega knocks it to the floor and Lefty ignites, killing the prone cloaker with a fiery punch.