Arrow slits opened onto a roofed enclosure, allowing defenders to shoot out while remaining difficult to see. Vesper Farheel heard movement but saw no one and thought the party had triggered a trap; Wyn continued to hear sounds behind the wall. Rin cast Winter’s Clutch into the enclosure, and arrows and a caster’s Floating Flames struck at the party. Vesper blamed Rin for activating traps, though Sira Antkeep identified the sound of chanting. Wyn found a locked door, as Isaac kicked it open a revealing a kitchen. Its cauldron and savory smell drew Rin onward. She and Wyn opened a storeroom containing labeled bottles, unusual bracers, and an unidentified rune stone; the party recognized some bottles as Elixirs of Life, and Rin kept one. A sound of something opening and closing came from outside.
Isaac opened another door and struck an archer. Wyn attacked the archer with a spell, and Adam’andiel Ironbane knocked him unconscious with his shield. More shots and floating fire followed the party through the corridors. Rin cast again into the arrow-slit room, then later used Driving Rain to obscure it. Isaac found a hidden door beside the locked one; Vesper eventually unlocked that door after Sira’s attempt to kick it had jammed it tighter. Through the hidden entrance, Rin attacked the defenders. Wyn killed a caster, Adam’andiel Ironbane killed a defender with a shield slam despite Sira asking for a nonlethal blow, and Rin froze the final defender after confirming she intended to kill him. The fight ended, but the party still lacked the prison passcode and had found no prisoners on the first floor. They discovered weapons, contraband, and confiscated goods in the guardhouse, as well as a spellbook and thieves’ kit for Wyn.
The group remembered that prisoners were held on the upper floors and a torture chamber occupied the basement. They chose to investigate the basement first. Vesper disguised herself as a guard, then scouted the damp, blood-scented chamber, where two torturers held Father Kindness and Ozney. The party returned upstairs and used Vesper’s Shared Invisibility to approach. Wyn’s attack on the female torturer ended the invisibility and began the fight. Vesper bolstered the group and the prisoners, while Rin attacked from the doorway. Adam’andiel Ironbane intercepted a blow aimed at Wyn, then killed the male torturer with a punch; Isaac knocked the female torturer unconscious without killing her. The party freed Father Kindness and Ozney with keys taken from the torturer. Ozney said no one had escaped the raid on their base, and believed the party were the only Hellbreakers to have escaped. She also described a short, mutton-chopped man who had apologized after being tortured until he broke. Vesper armed the prisoners, and Sira bandaged them.
On the next floor, Vesper heard crying and angry voices behind one locked door; the torturer’s keys did not fit the locks there. Wyn picked a door open to a workroom, and later used Knock to open a cell containing about a dozen people accused of being Hellbreakers. Sira persuaded them to join the Hellbreakers and leave to spread the word. Isaac broke into another cell, and prisoners rushed out, taking Lifebloom from Vesper, Dream Crusher from Wyn, and Adam’andiel Ironbane’s shield. The crowd injured Adam’andiel Ironbane and Isaac. Wyn recovered Dream Crusher; Adam’andiel Ironbane braced the passage with a backup shield, stopping most of the crowd long enough for Sira to persuade them to leave in a more orderly fashion. They agreed to join the Hellbreakers and went ahead to wait outside. None of the party’s specific rescue targets had yet been found, and the third floor remained unchecked.
The party paused for ten minutes before continuing. Sira failed to heal Isaac or Wyn during the rest. A jailer and two guards arrived and attacked from the hallway. Adam’andiel Ironbane intercepted a warhammer blow aimed at Wyn, while Rin and Sira attacked the guards and jailer. Vesper strengthened and protected Wyn. Rin killed two opponents with an area attack; Wyn and the others fought the survivor, and Wyn killed him after Vesper told him he was not chosen. The party remained on the second floor, with the third floor and the missing rescue targets still ahead; the prison passcode and the unidentified rune also remained unexplained.