Embla pulls on the stone and the chain begins to ride out of the hole above her, clanking as it comes. The other stone rises, until it reaches a point about five feet above the floor. The one that was higher stops at a foot above the floor.All around is an enormous grating, clanging sound. Then a deep, hollow bang, loud enough to hurt your ears, seems to shake the air. This comes from below, from under the water. And then ...
The water begins to pour out of the pool, flooding out of unseen shafts in the floor of the cavern. The level falls quickly enough that anyone in the pool would be caught and pulled down, probably to their death. You see the giant frog's body sluice away with the water, sucked like a wet sponge, disappearing.
Then, the water is gone. A steady streaming of water follows, quickly diminishing, and then there is just the sound of dripping water. This, compared to the sound that came before, seems almost deafeningly quiet.
The pool is empty.
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Well, I spy with my scandinavian eye a door at the drained basin, to the right side of our present position.
Here’s my take on things: I would definitely assume that whatever's down here can't have failed to notice this ruckus. Now we either rush in or wait them out.
In any event we would be well served by assuming preemptive battle positions among the rock formations, perhaps even hiding if possible. Then one of us can go and open the door, to get a peek inside.
Seeing as my status as "body with most Hp" hasn't changed, I thought of stepping directly to the breach, but on second take my spells will go to waste if I'm engaged.
Alexis: I move to 0307, facing the door and propping the maul against the rock, strapping my shield (AP back to 4).
I now ask:
1. How much protection and concealment do the rocks afford (I believe I asked this before, but since the status is changed and they're now exposed, doesn't hurt to ask).
2. Taking the path along the basin's far side from the door, what can I discern of it?
Other than this, I'll await the team's judging of the situation.
[OOC: just so you know, I'll be gone for 6-7 hours, as I work monday-thursday mornings and early afternoons. I'll ask that the others please say what they'll do and I'll pick this up later]
Engelhart, you can hide behind the rocks, but there is about a foot of sludge and muck on the floor that you'll slog through to get there.
I leave my bow and arrows on the dryer part of the floor and go to the door and inspect it closely.
I follow Lothar, battleaxe in hand.
To catch up.
The door is covered in muck. Engelhart cannot discern much from a distance, but Lothar can see that the lower half of the door is mired in gunk and slime. The door appears to be fashioned of driftwood, but it has been underwater for a very, very long time and in extremely soft to the touch. Lothar gets the impression that the layers of wood making the door could be peeled off with a dagger, like layers of wet skin.
Hmm. I listen at the door.
Mostly, you can hear the water around you still draining away. There are black holes in the floor to your left and right, narrow slits that no one could fit through, not even a child halfling, and these are still streaming out a small amount of water.
What you don't hear is anyone coming. Or any regular sounds like tramping feet or closing doors or the sound of horns or cries. Except for the water, you can't hear anything through the door.
Though of course, the door right now is mostly made of water.
I vote we break it down. Engelhart, care to do the honors?
Well, if it can be opened discreetly, so much the better. I'm all bludgeony over here, though, so I can't help with any daggers.
Well then, I use my axe to smash in the door.
(But, of course, if it proves a nuisance, it's as good as gone.)
And your axe, Embla, sinks into the door and sticks there.
The door ... I will repeat ... is made of water. It doesn't tear apart the boards of the door, it goes through them without much resistance and then is held by the suction of the waterlogged material around the axe blade.
That was silly. I wiggle the blade back and forth to free it.
O...kay. I thought you were being metaphoric there, Alexis.
Still got your staff on ya, Lothar? We need to do some probing before taking a plunge of faith.
I also take the initiative to ask for some rope as well as help to fasten it about my waist.
Once again, it skipped your comment Embla. I don't know what's going on. Embla says,
"That was silly. I wiggle the blade back and forth to free it."
It comes, but only after hard effort.
I'll wait and see what Engelhart has in mind.
I can probe with my maul in the meantime... little taps, how does the matter react?
"Made of water", "made of mud", what exactly is the viscosity of this thing?
Anything that catches the eye in the door's frame? An obvious lock or latch?
The floor is filled with muck, but the door is not "made of mud." It is wood suffused with water to the point that it ceases to respond like wood door, and more like a heavy, thick cellulose-membrane.
The frame seems to be the stone of the cavern. There definitely isn't a lock or a latch. There's a very, very rusted iron handle, which would have been cast iron.
Ah, I stand duly enlightened. It makes perfect sense now, I just wasn't really visualizing the effect the passing of ages would have had on submerged wood.
Ok, so, the way I see it, Embla and Pandred's heavy axe blades might plausibly carve the door into slices, with vertical blows struck from an orthogonal direction, parallel with the cave wall? (I could be talking nonsense.)
(Or we could just get our grubby mits on the all-too-obvious handle and pull for the win, but I'm stepping back if I see anyone doing that. :>)
My thought was that the maul with a larger surface area would make a more effective dent in the door than a narrow blade. The handle is equally likely to pull out of the door completely our disintegrate in our hands..
It would be hard to aim the axe. The maul would just bounce off. I had made the answer clear; peel it. Take off layers until you make the door thin enough to push it through.
Lothar is right about the handle.
Hrrm. Anyone got a dagger?
On a whim, Embla (with the ring we got from the frogling) thinks about the door collapsing outward.
Nope, no such luck.
[Was a good day yesterday, all. Keep it up. I'll get back from work and we'll make a little more progress]
I've got a dagger. Bergthora and Fjall have daggers, too. I set to peeling the door apart, and if there is room enough for more than one person to work, I ask Bergthora and Fjall to assist.
While the group is hard at work on the door and until I can step in with my maul as battering ram, I'll try to determine where the great frog's carcass may have egressed the basin, not that it has me worrying, but just to keep on the safe side.
Behind the door you'll see a black passageway, just large enough for a large man. Your lantern highlights the outline of where the passage ends, about ten feet away. Then you can see a stone path, but no walls or ceiling.
I probe the passage with my spear, stopping my spear around a foot from the edge of the lamplight.
I get right behind Embla, stashing the maul, drawing and loading the sling.
How wide is this path? Is it a bridge of any sort?
The floor seems completely solid, Embla. There's no reason to doubt it.
Your perception, Engelhart, is that it may be a bridge. From your position, it is difficult to be absolutely sure from the doorway.
I... ahm.. check for traps.
For want of a better term, that is, not really sure how to put it, you see; it's just that it feels like the barrow entry, all over again.
If all looks dust-settled and harmless, let us proceed and make short work of what's left of this spongy door and make headway.
I'll read that as incrementally examining the surroundings.
Not being a thief, with a sage ability for this thing, you have no certainty that there are no traps. However, that said ...
You don't see any dust at all. The stones and floor are damp to the touch. Except for the dank stench of the muck that was at the bottom of the pool, there is an unexpected bit of freshness in the air. You get a sense for something, and ask Embla to pull back the light, and you can definitely see that there is a natural light in the space beyond the short tunnel. You might, possibly, though it may be a trick of your mind, be hearing some sort of bird.
Can we see how far the bridge extends?
A capillary surface vent of some sort... ok, I'm satisfied.
I slam my maul into the deadwood until the bastard gives.
You're still not sure its a bridge. However, the passage past the tunnel extends past your light; all is dim and hazy after about 35 feet.
Engelhart, if you hit it with your maul, your maul will simply make a maul-sized hole and get stuck.
I'll wait it out. Was under the impression the door had been weakened enough, sorry.
We can just assume, once you've stripped the wood for awhile, you can just take the door apart with your hands.
Assume the way is clear.
Will do, hammer and shield in front, in I come!
Javelin out, I follow Engelhart.
I follow Embla, shield on my arm.
The next post is up.
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