The Lake of Fire

The Lake of Fire (#16/31; #228/365)

"This is an enormous cavern, radiating intense heat and glowing red light from a lake of boiling lava, that almost covers the entire cavern-floor. Here and there a rocky islets rising from the lava, connected by rock platforms like stepping stones. The lava is occasionally roiled from below, as if, impossibly, there was something living in there, and the rocks appear to be home to a stinking horde of ragged baboons, screeching and howling at your intrusion. At the end of the cavern, on the far shore of the lava lake, you see a tunnel onwards."

Contents: To get to the next entrance the Heroes will have to cross the lava lake via the series of stepping stones from shore to shore via the small rocky islets. Each set of stepping stones requires a Test for Skill to navigate; success means they have reached the next islet or shore. Failure means they have become stuck and must Test their Skill again; success and they move onwards, failure means the have now fallen into the lava!

Making things worse, the colony of 3-18 BABOONS on each islet will hurl rocks at whoever is attempting to cross the stepping stones and attack them as soon as they make landfall. Defeating at least half of the Baboons will cause the rest to retreat to the far side of the islet, screeching in outrage.

There is little of interest on most of the islets, other than bones and refuse. However, the final islet is home to the GREAT BABOON and 3-18 of his family group. Stashed in a dark hollow on the rockier side of the islet is a sack containing 17GP, a Bloodstone (25GP), and a clay gourd of Shroomshine Grog.

If a fight begins, roll a die every Attack Round. On a roll of 1, a LAVA BEAST erupts from the lava and attacks whichever opponent is closest to the lava's edge, whether Hero or Baboon. At the bottom of the lake (which will take some serious magical ingenuity to achieve, given there is around ten metres of boiling lava to navigate), is a magical portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire; anyone entering this to travel to that plane immediately summons the portal's guardian, a FIRE ELEMENTAL, which will attack whoever has entered the portal.

Anyone unfortunate enough to fall into the lava suffers 2-12 STAMINA per Attack Round and is immediately attacked by 1-3 LAVA BEASTS.

Stats:

3-18 BABOONS per islet, SKILL 6 STAMINA 6, Rock or Large Bite

BABOON CHIEF, SKILL 8 STAMINA 7, Rock or Large Bite

LAVA BEAST, SKILL 8 STAMINA 8, Large Claw, Light Armour, +1 to Damage Roll. Opponents must reduce their SKILL by 1 due to the steam and heat the creature generates. Anyone hitting the Lava Beast with a regular weapon must roll a die, on an odd number their weapon is destroyed.

FIRE ELEMENTAL, SKILL 14 STAMINA 18, Large Claw, Light Armour, +2 to Damage Roll. Only harmed by magical weapons. Two successful strikes on the Elemental will destroy any weapon!