What is Below

Heading back to Castle Drakenhoff. We have to know what is down that hole and why it glows red. My mind is not focused. Ive spend much time and gold researching this castle and its history to the region. It seems to be the center of great evil from the past. Kelemvore guided me to Seraphina for a reason. Ive found some basic information. Someone named Inquisitor Voss seems to be delving into Hemalurgic Rituals. Voss appears to be part of something called the Council. This is what they seemed to be preparing for with Seraphina's body. I now have 3 sets of these pitons or spikes. They seemed to want to transplant her wings on someone else. Maybe Voss. Information seems to suggest he is attempting to garner some great power. This ritual requires special spikes which are embedded into a victim. These spikes are adorned with dark symbols and the languages describing the process are foreign to me and others. It appears to be an ancient evil text. The process appears to be quite....... messy. * A cold shiver runs up Renaldine's spine at the thought *
 
Castle Drakenhoff eerily matches the description of a fortress from the Terris mountains in "pre-ascension"(?) days... before a sort of God-Emperor came to power in a land to the west. Scadriel/Final Empire? This is either a proper name, or a translation of a title?..... the problem is that the Terris mountains are far to the northwest, and not mere days from Urithiru? I believe more answers lie in that direction.
 
So many questions unanswered. My mind has been so focused on this info, I completely forgot that we needed someone skilled in lock picking and/or trap discovery/removal. This last trip netted little. We did cross some Lupilisks. They seemed to be living in the depths of Drakenhoff for quite sometime. Whomever was in control of this fortress, used denizens from lower planes to guard the prisoners. We defeated them fairly easily with little resources used. Unfortunately, we could not investigate each room without our lock picker. This frustrated me greatly. My Fault! FOCUS RENALDINE! Peoples lives are at stake.
 
We decide to descend into the glowing hole. Halfway down, we see what is causing the glow. A creature of fire or lava. Seems to be elemental in nature, stomping all around. Our party seems to be a fire based attack, which, logically, would not seem to affect this creature, if not heal it outright. As a group, we decide that our compliment is not proper for this engagement. Whom ever returns here, should not only have a lock picker, but someone who has fire resistance and the ability to use cold based attacks. There was a large chest on an island in a lake of lava. Maybe this will be enough to entice such travelers.