OK, then, I'll just rip THEM to pieces.

From underneath it could be seen that the elemental was following a spiral path through the glass; the resonance of one construct lasted until the elemental reached the next one in the chain so the sound didn’t cease; when it reached the end of the spiral, the elemental increased its speed and raced back to the centre and began again. The gap where a piece had fallen out was on the outer arm of the spiral.

From, a safe distance, Adriana summoned an Arcane Eye to explore the landscape. She was able to see that each glass structure was attached to the step above with huge wooden beams set into the sides of a vertical shaft in the rock. Further up the shaft a wooden plug blocked exit or entrance. The site of the missing glass piece showed a large chunk of rock had fallen out too, exposing the wooden plug. The magical eye went past the foot think wooden blocker and into a dark passageway, faintly illuminated with by cracks of light from the shaft and the distant glow of fire light a few hundred yards away. Speeding off down the tunnel, the eye found the light was shining down from a room above and illuminating railway tracks along the floor. The room up proved to be a huge workshop for creating glass objects of a massive size; all the tools and apparatus were designed for people twice the height of most party members. The doors exiting the room were each at least 15, maybe 20, feet high. Before the spell ran out, Adriana checked out the passageway and found a dead end a full 1,000 feet from the beginning. Half a dozen pitch black alcoves or passageways could be inferred ijn the darkness along its length.

Carefully the gnomes steered the balloon into the gap left by the fallen class object, keeping note of the position of the elemental so that they didn’t obstruct its path.

After fruitless attempts to open the plug, such as blasting it with Boreal Wind from the loaned staff, the party turned to the gnomes and asked them to assist which they agreed to do as technical challenges were their speciality.

Using a Tongues spell, Princess proceeded to conduct a conversation with the elemental to try and determine what was going on. Although the summoned creature was bound to forever travel the glass spiral, it was not constrained against holding a conversation. Admittedly the flow of the communication was fractured as Princess had to wait for the speeding elemental to come close enough to the balloon again although the monk's insightful suggestion of "moving the balloon to intercept the elemental" meant this only took about a minute each time so progress was being made. For example, Fire Giants summoned the elemental and also broke the glass block away from the step. Also, Princess found the elemental to be in a perpetual rage and, if unbound, would blast any creatures around to pieces. After hearing this, Princess placated the creature and tempered its hostility down to plain indifference – to her, at least.

The adventurers withdraw the balloon to a safe distance so that they were not being deafened by the mournful sound and also use a water cascade from a crack in the step above to generate more fuel for tomorrow’s manoeuvres.

The next day, with the gnomes managing to erect their Gnomish Ad Hoc Lever Operated Incremental Lid Raising Frame on top of the balloon’s structure, the party were ready to try and break into the complex above. Three adventurers climbed into the frame to add their strength to the lifting process, some more carefully than others as proud Benedict – blundering around in his heavy armour – almost fell to his death (managing to leap onto the top of the balloon below him instead). The monk replaced the paladin and soon the 1.5 tonne wooden plug was being eased up on one side enough to allow the hobbit to squeeze through. Then ropes and hooks could be used to assist and soon half the party were in the tunnel.

Off in the far distance tiny flames could be seen leaping and bounding towards the adventurers.

[[Bright idea - 100 xp for the Monk]]

The end is in sight

With the worst behind them, the party soon found the going easier as the threads - and so the spiders - started to thin out. Conversely, the moaning sound was becoming ever stronger as the miles went past.

Far below could be seen the geography of Escona. Although there were clouds scattered over the land, there was enough for Wegrecks (Gnomish head of transportation) to navigate the balloon towards a point over the ruin of Zumcan. The party soon realised that such a location seemed to be occupied by a bright, reflective structure attached to the step above their heads.

The mournful wailing had by now risen to the level of a roar and it was very hard for the balloon's passengers to maintain any level of concentration. In the distance a cloud appeared to be racing around the construction in a cycle that seemed to match the peaks and troughs of the noise. Every few moments a jarring gap would appear in the roaring sound.

Closer inspection revealed that their destination seemed to be composed of many huge hollow glass objects suspended from the Step above and the cloud - an air elemental, possibly - was causing the air to resonate as it passed through each of them.

One flew under the spider's nest

As time went by, the spider threads became thicker, some as wide as a hobbit's finger. The number of spiders was becoming irritating too, and a swarm had to be beaten back through mystical dragon effects (dragon breath and dragon shaman aura). As the gnomes cried out in pain when the spiders bit them, the spiders themselves burst into flames.

In the distance, a dark mass turned out to be a web-bound - and desiccated - dead Ghost Wind that had been successfully ambushed. The shaman set fire to it as they approached and watched it tumble away to the step below as the suspending thread burnt away.

A further distance on, a colossal spider swung onto the balloon and attempted to bite the occupants. Magical spells, such as Searing Light and Magic Missile, rained in but the mighty hacks of Benedict's sword finished off the vermin which fell to join the long-gone Ghost Wind.

Left collapsed in one of the living quarters was Squick, poison oozing from its wounds. Princess soon cast divine magic to reverse some of the damage to its body and Squick was soon moving again.

[[Spider swarm - 5 xp each]]
[[Colossal monstrous spider - 900 xp each]]

An assassin's tale

The carriage dropped Brogo off in the large town of Cheed. The place seemed pretty standard - several thousand people living within the walls, central square with town hall, large temple (to Kord) behind it in the distance. Prosperous enough to provide a dishonest income.

The hobbit booked a room at the Riverside Inn (although no river ran through the town) overlooking the town square at 10 silver a night, twice the price of the Unseen Servant on the other side of the town hall.

A fruitless couple of days and nights were sent trying to find leads to any criminal guilds in the town. Either Brogo was talking to the wrong people or he wasn't buying enough drinks. Even observing from the rooftops didn't reveal any secrets.

Turning to the movers and shakers of the town, the hobbit attended a few public committee meetings at the town hall to get an idea of what was happening in the world of politics. Of note was a vote on the application from the Church of Hextor to establish a chapel in the town; most councillors, including Mayoress Hat, were adamant that such a group should never darken the gates of Cheed. Brogo took note of the person defending the proposal as someone he may want to get to know.

Later, he followed the councillor home and watched from outside the railings. Inside the house, he could make out two men discussing some issues, one the councillor and the other someone he had not seen before (although there were many in the town Brogo had yet to encounter).

The short rogue watched the house all the next day and followed the second man when he left to take lunch at a restaurant on the main square. Brogo staged an accident to get to engage the second man in conversation, thinking to gain some information. Unfortunately, the offered glass of wine was drugged and an hour later the hobbit came too in a town hall cell.

Brogo picked the lock with his secret picks and surveyed the jail before locking himself back in and calling the guard. The jailor was glad to get rid of the 'drunk' and sent the hobbit on his way.

Bristling with rage, the rogue planned revenge. After dark and using his mirror gateway, he teleported to the windowsill of the room where the two men had been seen chatting. Using the improved view, he teleported into the room. In side was darkness and the sound of a man sleeping. Brogo was almost caught out by the carpet of caltrops protecting the occupant of the bed. These were hard to locate in the dark so the rogue retreated, leaving a hastily scribbled note on the table - "A little warning ... that wasn't a nice thing to do."