"Lesser Globe of Invulnerability. Quickened Burning Disarm," she adds, of the electric sword.

Shareesh grits his teeth and holds on to the burning blade, turning it on Jojo. He swings it so fast it can hardly be seen blurring through the air, but Jojo dodges every strike and returns the favor with his own attacks. He hits once, twice, three times, and Shareesh crumples.

And Garrus fills the third rakshasa with arrows, and he falls.

"Wow that was easier than that last fight," he says happily. "I loved that."

"If I'd known it would be that fast I would have made different tactical choices."

"Better to be overprepared than underprepared, I'd say."

"Deekin detecting illusion magic," Deekin says, "hang on."

Deekin casts Dispel, revealing... a sizable mound of humanoid bones in the corner, gnawed clean by feline teeth. "Ooh. Deekin will search for loot."

"Best part." Belmarniss mends her pants where the cone of cold froze and shattered the fabric.

Garrus, investigating the rakshasa themselves, comes up with a Ring of Spell Storing, a Ring of Wizardry, and an Amulet of Proof against Detection. He hefts the double-bladed sword for a moment, then hisses and drops it. "That's either Unholy or Axiomatic," he says, shaking his hand out, "and I think either means it might be worth it to carry around long enough to get it to a dealer. Thoughts?"

"Stuff it in Deekin's bag?" she asks, taking off her ring of protection to investigate the ring of spell storing's contents.

It contains a casting of Vampiric Shadow Shield.

"We could wrap it in cloth so it doesn't puncture the interior, yeah."

Deekin, from the bone pile, comes up with a Sustaining Spoon, a Decanter of Endless Water, and a slightly battered tome which turns out to be a spellbook. "Ooh. Deekin think Belmarniss want to look at this, maybe?"

"Ooh yes I do."

The spellbook contains: spells! Its previous owner seems to have been an abjurer, with a habit of doodling on the pages. Stoneskin has little diamonds, Black Tentacles a small octopus, Baleful Polymorph a puppy.

Cute. She will transcribe these when they camp.

"Who wants the Spell Storing? It's full right now. And anybody want the Protection?"

Jojo takes the ring of spell storing, while Deekin takes the ring of protection.

Garrus is squinting at a spot on the wall; he pushes on it and it pops out, revealing a secret compartment containing a silver coffer. “Garrus wins again!”

He opens the coffer and beholds the contents. “Wow. That is a lot of diamonds.”

"Ooooh." Belmarniss puts on the Ring of Wizardry and does a little dance that only appears to include her arms from the elbows down about it.

And, searching the bones, Deekin finds the final puzzle chain. “Huzzah! And heroes continued to next layer of sinister dungeon!”

"Should we check the south end? There must be something there if the rakshasa didn't just go and get their doodad themselves, though I guess if they wanted to avoid it maybe we do too."

"We can, if it seems wise. My objection to letting a portal to the surface stand open in Undermountain remains, and we can't really trust the rakshasa that it could be closed. Is there another reason to go south?"

"Oh, yeah, I don't want to open a portal, I'm just kinda curious what was keeping them from doing it."

"...I will admit to some curiosity myself, but I do not know if that is reason enough to investigate a potential danger rather than continuing with our quest."

"That's legit. Maybe if I end a day with my ring spell free I'll scry it sometime."

They head back to the pool and the pedestals. Deekin winches the four chains into place, and the pool suddenly swirls with colors.

The colors keep coming in the same pattern: red, green, yellow, green, blue, yellow, repeat.

"Halaster really good at wasting people's time, maybe not so good at making hard puzzles," Deekin mutters, pulling on the chains in sequence.

"At least it's not the one with the three posts and the discs," Garrus says. "I hate that one."

"Think we'll get sliding blocks?"