The dying screams of the half-orc paladin, Ront, seemed to echo in the explorers' ears for an eternity. Weaker souls might have turned back, but the remaining heroes knew that retreat would bring no answers to the mystery of the Lost City of Giustenal, nor would it reveal any further truths regarding the Crimson Prophecy.

So onward they went, though perhaps a bit less boldly than before. Indeed, tragedy nearly struck a second time when Anaxachorus, his sanity weakened by the horrible scene of moments before, crowded so closely behind Godefroi as the aasimar crossed the unsteady rope bridge that he nearly sent his friend to the same fate as poor Ront! Only the inhuman strength of Godefroi's muscle-grafted right arm prevented a fall into the roiling lava below.

Once the entire group had safely crossed the river of lava, they could make out the ancient ruins of a settlement filling the far third of the great cavern. But before they could approach, they heard a voice call a warning from the shadows. Stepping forward was a lightly armored dragonblood hunter, one hand outstretched in greeting while the other clutched a longbow. The adventurers recognized him as one of the dragonbloods they had seen in the encampment on the surface and lowered their weapons.

Introducing himself as Meraxous, the dragonblood explained that many days earlier, he and the rest of the dragonbloods on the surface had heard a powerful mental summons, drawing them beneath the palace and down the long shaft under the Lost City. The procession of dragonbloods passed through caves and tunnels, going ever deeper as they went. Somehow, though, Meraxous found his own curiosity overwhelming the clarion call and split off from the main group.

Now he spent his days exploring the side tunnels and caverns, learning more about what else lay beneath the Lost City of Giustenal. Currently, he was investigating a separate settlement of reptilian humanoids dwelling right here in the blistering lava cave--the settlement that the other explorers had been about to blunder right into.

Thanks to the dragonblood's warning, the heroes managed to establish peaceful contact with the subterranean dwellers. As they interacted with these strangers, the adventurers realized that they were undoubtedly dragonbloods, but separated so long from the rest of the race that they had degenerated physically, mentally, and culturally to near savagery. They learned that the degenerate dragonblood community had existed for many centuries without any contact from the surface world, but virtually no history had been passed down from that ancient time.

Leaving the lava cave behind, the heroes once again picked up the trail of the missing dragonblood settlement, now with new friend Meraxous in tow. After hundreds of yards through solid rock, the tunnel (nd the trail) ended at a great pair of stone gates. Standing before the gates was a 12-foot-tall humanoid creature that seemed to be constructed of thousands of bone shards wired together with great precision. Despite their attempt to parley, the heroes were attacked by the skeletal construction. Unprepared for a fight, and with their best weapon-blows dealing little damage to the guardian, the heroes fell back to safety. Thankfully, the skeletal guard did not pursue.

The next day, with a better plain of attack, the heroes managed to defeat the construct and pass through the gates. If any of them thought that their journey had already given them the most amazing sights it had to offer, what lay before them dispelled such notions.

Beyond the gates lay a truly enormous cavern, at least a half-mile wide and twice as long. Despite lying hundreds, perhaps thousands of feet below the surface, bright light fully illuminated the cavern as if the sun hung overhead. Collections of pristine buildings lay clustered here and there, along with green fields and a brisk river of clear blue water that neatly bisected the cavern's length.

And there, walking toward the explorers, was a group of dragonbloods, waving cordially and beckoning the heroes forward. The adventurers exchanged confused looks--though they could sense no threat, this wasn't exactly what they had expected to discover.

As the dragonbloods stepped up to the heroes, one of them extended a hand in greeting to Anaxachorus. "We wondered how long it might take for the next group of settlers to arrive. See you brought friends--no problem, there's plenty of room for all, as you can see."

"But...where are we?" the dragonblood sorcerer stammered.

The other dragonblood smiled. "Officially we're calling it New Giustenal, but allow me to be the first to welcome you...to paradise."