Our heroes from the Cloak of Azure Gems clan acquired an out-of-work tomb guard in the town of Djáin (hex 4407) to serve as a local guide. After a pleasant and diverting (but not too expensive) stay at the local Green Kirtle clanhouse, they traveled to the nearby (Bednálljan?) ruins known as the Circle of Columns. They were slightly delayed by an encounter with a ferocious Zrné in the Olúel Forest on the way.

Entering the underworld beneath the Circle of Columns, they encountered a maze connecting a series of rooms which appeared to exhibit minor (though potentially dangerous) manifestations of the power of flame. There was a room of flickering yellow/red light, a room with red-hot walls and floor, and a room of 'dryness'. Each of these rooms posed a mild hazard, and required care to avoid its worst effects.

The walls were decorated with writing in a language they could not identify (it was Ancient N'lüssa, not Bednálljan), interspersed with a recurring circular symbol (possibly the symbol of the Pariah God known as the One Other?). There was also a mysterious recurring female figure with (spikey? flaming?) hair.

Early on, they encountered a small pack of carnivorous wolf-like Hyahyú'u which they dispatched easily. Later, while the party was divided during their attempted crossing of the Hot Room, the sorcerer Bálar and the priestess Ssúri (along with all of the party's bearer slaves) were set upon by 3 Gíriku.

Bálar nearly killed one Gíriku telekinetically, and Ssúri kept them somewhat at bay with her 'web' spells, but they were badly outmatched. Young warrior Lumétl and 'the singing swordsman' Surundáno had to cross back to rescue them, both losing their footgear and burning their feet in the process.

They barely managed to avoid a Total Party Kill, and returned to the surface to tend their wounds.