Bo-Jing, Beatriss, Nar-Nuteng and their followers and companions returned to the Valley of the Five Fires by way of the Bolad fire camp. The fire-watchers asked to see the yeti cave and see for themselves that the yeti were in fact dead. The party agreed to this request. In addition to yeti corpses, they also encountered a group of warriors inside the cave. Although evidence suggested they were members of the Nergui horde, they denied this, claiming instead that they were wanderers looking for a place to camp. Beatriss order the unknown warriors to leave the cave and they did, muttering curses under their breath. The party didn't tarry long in the cave, casually the many runes and symbols before escorting the fire-watchers back to their camp.
It was a two-day trip back to the Crystal Cave. Along the way, they developed their plan for taking the coin. Ryu explained that with assistance of some honey-scented dried poppy pods, he would be able to enter the dream world or ethereal plane and take the coin. Also on the way to the crystal cave, they encountered Gan Yul. He explained to them that Gansukh had sent groups of warriors into the Valley to look for them. Rather than argue, Gan Yul had silently resolved that in forcing him to break an oath, Gan Sukh had broken his allegiance to the Nergui Horde. And thus he was free to enter the Valley and would join Bo-Jing's squad again. "If you'll have me. Otherwise, I will seek the coins for myself." Bo-Jing grateful accepted Gan Yul as his noken.
The party reached the cave and by use of potions brewed for them in Banua, Beatriss and Ryu were able to enter the cave. Ryu entered the dream world and smashed the statue in order to claim the coin. It was pure gold but reflected a green tint. Ryu delivered the coin to Bo-Jing whom, apprising the new powers conveyed to him by the coin, immediately began to equivocate over the arrangement he had made with Ganbaatar. "He just wants it because he's power hungry." Ryu shook his head slowly and stared at ground.
The party made their way north, toward Banua, but with no stated purpose. As they approached the Bolad fire, they decided to visit the yeti cave once more. This time, Bo-Jing used the last gaseous form potion to slip through the crack in the wall and discovered a hidden chamber, carved with of the entire valley. A cave was precisely delineated at the southern end, marked with a series of symbols:
Rather than return to Banua, the party decided to venture to the south end of the valley and find the cave identified on the map. Concealed by magic, the entrances, a total of four straight tunnels, would have been impossible to find without the map and the drawing of the cave. They walked into a tunnel that led to a hall covered with gleaming white stones. Three columns of stone warriors filled the hall. As Beatriss and Bo-Jing stepped into the hall, two of the statues cave to life. The two brave warriors warned their companions to stay out of the hall, for fear of causing additional statues to come to life.
The stone warriors were 20-feet tall and wielded stone swords. Bo-Jing used his sword to break the statues sword and then level it. Beatriss meanwhile, stayed low and smashed the statues legs. The two of them moved to the back of the hall. There was a bas-relief statue of an even larger warrior with a fox sleeping under his legs.
Bo-Jing and Beatriss puzzled over what to do about this problem. They invited Ryu into the hall, assisting him in destroying the statue that came to life and attacked the monk as soon as he crossed the threshold. And then they asked him to ingest one of the honey poppy pods. He did, and when he entered the dream world, he saw that he could see there was a hidden room beyond the fox, but we couldn't enter it. As he explained it to to Bo-Jing and Beatriss, the fox had stood up and continued to block his path.
While debating what to do next, Nar Nuteng, from the tunnels outside the hall, raised the alarm. "Skeletons! We're being attacked by skeletons!"
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