The Lighthouse

As the party approached the lighthouse, day was beginning to transition to early evening. The sun was slowly setting and they could make out the shadows of flames inside the lighthouse. Robert described it as a fountain of fire that originated under the lighthouse and peaked at the top, illuminating the coast and nearby countryside. Since the problems began, the light has been inconsistent at best. There was a set of double doors centered on the wall that is facing the road. The lighthouse has 4 equal sides, 60 feet across. There were several large trees that could be used to hitch the horses to.

Entering the building, the party saw what was probably a wondrous site when it was working. Centered in the room, occupying a 10 x 10 space was a plume of fire. 5 feet off each corner was another feeder that was not firing. Next to each of the non-firing feeders was an outcropping of volcanic rock.

Fanning out, the party began to investigate the inside of the building. A staircase hugged the wall all the way around, culminating at a balcony that looked down on the main room. Alexander was the first to notice the danger inside when he spotted a Magma Strider hiding behind the large center plume. Once that happened, the 4 pieces of volcanic rock came to life as Magma Claws. Finally, 2 magma crawlers that were hiding upstairs came to the balcony and began to throw balls of magma at the party.

Despite having fanned out and being out of position, the party quickly made some inroads against the creatures. As usual, the combination of melee and ranged worked will for the party with Mara's bow inflicting damage and Alexander and Ekeraath working together to provide flanking. Kuppies' new found melee combat style worked well, particularly when he phase stepped up to the balcony to engage the magma hurlers. Ekeraath used his new pinning ability to greatly hinder the Strider.

The truly challenging part of combat came when one of the 4 feeder vents would randomly light every turn. This caused the party to have to be very cautious of where and how it engaged the creatures.

With all the monsters destroyed, the party progressed upstairs and found a control panel. There were 5 pieces that had to be arranged into a square. After several minutes, they were able to solve the puzzle and reactivate the beacon.

Once the pieces were all placed in the correct places, the intensity of the center plume increased and the 4 feeders added to it, focusing the fire into an area in the center of the room. There is substantial heat, but nothing that can’t be tolerated. The resulting flame illuminates the countryside for miles.

Realizing this could call unwanted attention, the party wisely camped outside the lighthouse and kept vigilant watch.