Indeed-a few more straightforward chambers follow

Stepping into the place, the inside was about what I expected, given the front. Continuing the whole mishmash of clockpunk and steampunk, the entire place was made entirely metals. Most of them the copper and bronze colors marred by verdigris in places, but apparent veins of darker, more grey ones can be seen besides, with the walls occasionally bare of plating to reveal random machinery, and pipes seeming to wind between floor and ceiling. The Ranger of a deer that had come along was very visibly uneasy as she stepped inside-cut off from anything resembling nature. Her hooves weren't exactly faring well on the flooring, either.

Now, the fact the entrance was a couple puzzles made me think this would be one of those irritating puzzle dungeons-Water Temple, Sky Keep, Turtle Rock ,that sort of thing. However, I was unpleasantly surprised to be wrong. After the initial chamber, it seemed to be heavier on the traps-mostly of the 'occurring at regular intervals, wait until the right time to pass' variety. Spinning fast enough, the distinction between a large gear and a buzz saw is insignificant, and a cloud of scalding steam works just as well as one of flame. Arguably better, because the fireproof scales of the reptilian companion were only partially effective at blunting that, to her displeasure.

While most of us had little difficulty with this-the goblin duelist and Arete passed through with a fluid grace, and the dragon and I could use our strong bodies to manage some violent bursts of speed when needed. However, the last two were having a bit of a mobility problem. The harpy would have made simple work of this if she could fly-but she couldn't, the constricted halls less then her considerably wingspan, forcing her to amble around on her talons. While they were perfectly serviceable for walking, her top-heavy body made it a bit awkward to do so with speed. And the hooved one was far more used to dirt and roots than this terrain, and any sudden movement on her part could see her skidding. Ironically, both of them had the dexterity that should have left me in the dust, but were the ones struggling.

Eventually, this issue was solved, at least for now, by hauling them like sacks of potatoes, after an application of healing spells from when they'd been badly hurt by a steam-spewing pipe venting. Fortunately, they were both on the lighter side, so me and the dragon could both grab one easily enough. A couple more winding hallways of dealing with this, and we finally chance upon the thing some of us were to look for the whole time: the first treasure chest of the dungeon.