Alvra guides his lizard over to the ladder and investigates the mechanism. It seems to move up and down, not horizontal, but there’s one lying next to it. The Fighter directs the wooden structure to the other side of the Abyss, creating a bridge for his siblings. With the help of Phaedra’s grapple hook and rope, they make a safety line to get down the slope and soon all four Drow are reunited on the east side. Lilith checks out the bugbear corpses and finds very powerful bows, as well as beautiful morningstars and chainshirts. She gives the collection to Alvra to carry them home.

Yes, my sketching abilities are superb. What? Oh, let’s call them unique then 😉

When the sisters climb down the ladder, they are being shot at. Phaedra gets hit and tumbles down the ladder – right on top of the ettercap’s fat belly. The creature is as dead as a doornail, lying with its feet in the air on a sort of platform. When the Scout surveys her surroundings, she spots the archers – two bugbears – standing on the wooden structure, which is about ten feet wide. She takes out her spiked chain and readies.

Jharrath fires his wand of magic missiles at one of the bears, and the beast returns the favor with an arrow. Taken aback, the Wizard drops the wand, which falls down the ladder and lands on the platform next to Phaedra. He scolds the bugbear with every Drow curse he can think of and gets back up to cast Mage Armor on himself. Lilith climbs as far down as she can, while Alvra steers his mount down the west side of the abyss. Then the air around Phaedra shimmers, and five more Drow appear next to her, looking very similar to the Scout, right down to the spiked chain.

Of course the bugbear can’t withstand such an excellent challenge. It drops its bow and charges full ahead with its longsword. One image fades out of existence. The other beast joins in and smashes another mirror image to pieces with its morningstar, then another. Alvra hurls a javelin at the creature but misses, and his second attack barely misses his Scout sister. He orders his lizard to attack, but it doesn’t do any damage. The Scout shows him how it’s done and kills one of the bugbears.

Just when Lilith steps onto the wooden structure, the Wizard attempts to descend in double speed. He fails to hold on to the ladder and drops down. The Cleric steps aside just in time. Now both her brother and his wand are lying at her feet. She activates her flail and… goes for the remaining bug bear. Her flail’s special ability sets the beast on fire. Phaedra finishes it off with a mighty swing of her weapon. 

The platform is empty for now. Phaedra hands Alvra the excellent looking longsword of the bugbear, while Jharrath picks up his wand. The Cleric uses her healing powers on both Drow brothers. She still might need them.