In Game Thread

[Recklessfireball]

Thundrigore frowns and cocks his head to one side. "Do you hear that? It sounds like something digging..."

[angelicdoctor]

Pardon me, gentlemen. Allow Serenity and I to have a look. With this, Cirdan and his familiar make their way through the group in order to scout ahead. Cirdan deftly makes his way to the corner and peers around it to see what might be responsible for the noise up ahead.

[Bhart]

Cirdan: You peer around the corner. Less than 15 feet away you can see the beginning of an old and worn staircase which is clogged with stone blocks and other rubble. Scurrying over and around the debris you can see at least half a dozen rats.

[angelicdoctor]

Making his way back to the group, the elf reports in a calm almost nonchalant tone, It appears, gentlemen, that our path ahead is blocked by stone and rodents. Our crayfish host must find this all quite humorous.

[Dogma]

"Maybe the little bugger meant through here," Leomar says, gesturing a towards the door shaped stone block. "Someone give me a hand scraping the rest of this mud off."

[Bhart]

"Maybe the little bugger meant through here," Leomar says, gesturing a towards the door shaped stone block. "Someone give me a hand scraping the rest of this mud off."

What are you using to remove the stucco?

[max_vale]

Xam, arrow nocked; walks a slow circle in the hall, keeping an alert eye and ear out for any signs of approaching danger....

[Dogma]

"Maybe the little bugger meant through here," Leomar says, gesturing a towards the door shaped stone block. "Someone give me a hand scraping the rest of this mud off."

What are you using to remove the stucco?

Nothing yet. I'm hoping someone else has something useful in their packs. If nobody has anything better, he'll use his dagger to scrape it off.

[Bhart]

"Maybe the little bugger meant through here," Leomar says, gesturing a towards the door shaped stone block. "Someone give me a hand scraping the rest of this mud off."

What are you using to remove the stucco?

Nothing yet. I'm hoping someone else has something useful in their packs. If nobody has anything better, he'll use his dagger to scrape it off.

Leomar: Everyone stares at you in silence, so you take that as a no and start to remove the soggy stucco with your dagger alone. It's slow going but you manage to clear an area where you'd expect to see a handle or lock and find nothing. It appears to be just a large stone block in a doorway. At the base of the block you notice that the floor under it is carved with channels so that the block is only resting on 6 thin stone rails. The channels are only about an inch deep, enough to fit a pry bar or something similar under the block. Some of the wet stucco has gotten on your hands and you notice they are starting to itch.

Everyone else: As you all wait for the thief to remove stucco from the stone block, you notice movement at the west end of the hall. At the edge of your lantern light a few rats appear, each sniffing the air in your direction. They seem to be curious about the visitors in their lair. Before Leomar finishes his task you notice that the number of rats at the edge of your light has doubled. One exceptionally large one creeps forward a few steps and takes another sniff.

[Dogma]

Leomar knew from experience that when something started to itch, it didn't bode well. At least it's not burning yet, he think to himself.

"I need to get this stuff off my hands", he says as he moves to the rear of the group. "Try not to get that mud from the walls on you...I think there might be something poisonous in it."

He quickly takes off his back pack and rummages for his waterskin. I think this will do the trick...

Leomar will move back towards the room with the giant crawdad until he is at the back of the group. He'll then try to use he wine from his water-skin to wash the stucco from his hands.

[Bhart]

Leomar knew from experience that when something started to itch, it didn't bode well. At least it's not burning yet, he think to himself.

"I need to get this stuff off my hands", he says as he moves to the rear of the group. "Try not to get that mud from the walls on you...I think there might be something poisonous in it."

He quickly takes off his back pack and rummages for his waterskin. I think this will do the trick...

Leomar will move back towards the room with the giant crawdad until he is at the back of the group. He'll then try to use he wine from his water-skin to wash the stucco from his hands.

The wine washes away the white muddy residue with ease and soothes the mild burning you were beginning to feel. Your skin is red and irritated but you manage to get it off before any real damage was done. About 3/4 of your wine is left after washing.

[onlyme]

Sterling will call out to the leader of the rats...

Rodent,

Do you know how to exit this dungeon? If so, squeak twice, and then lead the way.

He is doing this more to keep them from attacking than really wanting to follow them...

[Slighted]

Rollo takes a step toward the rats, glowing sword leading the way in a "shooing" motion.

[Bhart]

At Rollo's shooing the small rats scamper away into the darkness squeaking in fright. The large rat just stares with his beady eyes as if studying the fighter and paladin. His whiskers twitch as sniffs at you one last time before turning and slowly sauntering into the shadows. He pauses one last time to look back before disappearing around the corner.

[Recklessfireball]

"So, now the question is- how do we move the damn block? I'm not averse to bending my back to the task, but if there were some hidden catch or secret lever to trip, I'd be happier," says the big mage, eyeing the door with distaste.

[Bhart]

"So, now the question is- how do we move the damn block? I'm not averse to bending my back to the task, but if there were some hidden catch or secret lever to trip, I'd be happier," says the big mage, eyeing the door with distaste.

Indeed, after Leomar's careful and mildly uncomfortable search, it is obvious that there are no secret levers, locks, or latches to be found. The stucco mud that coats the south wall and the block is apparently acidic. Leomar had it on his hands less than a minute and it started burning him. He managed to uncover only the seems and a few fist sized patches where he expected hinges or locks to be. The floor under the block has several channels carved into it that run perpendicular to the face of the door. The channels do not extend into the hallway.

[onlyme]

Can we get a description of the stairway area?

Sterling is a bit skeptical of the giant block, as the sound of water and the sight of mildew generally means more danger than less. He walks closer to the stairway rubble and looks around.

[Recklessfireball]

[quote]Can we get a description of the stairway area?[/quote]
Technically, Cirdan is the only one who has seen it- and he didn't implicitly state that there was a staircase...

Making his way back to the group, the elf reports in a calm almost nonchalant tone, It appears, gentlemen, that our path ahead is blocked by stone and rodents. Our crayfish host must find this all quite humorous.

Edit: Eh, disregard- somehow I missed this bit...

He walks closer to the stairway rubble and looks around.

[Dogma]

"I think we'll need to bend our backs to it. Didn't find any catches or hinges. Looks like it slides along those marks on the ground." says Leomar, shaking wine from his hands. "Trouble is we'll need to either find a way to remove all that mud from the block or figure a way to push against it without touching it. Something in that mud was causing my hands to feel like they were burning."

[Bhart]

Can we get a description of the stairway area?

Sterling is a bit skeptical of the giant block, as the sound of water and the sight of mildew generally means more danger than less. He walks closer to the stairway rubble and looks around.

Without a light source you can see nothing around the corner. You hear the scurrying and squeaks of dozens of rats in the darkness ahead. The floor is wet here and drops of water drip from the ceiling. The musty smell of mold is strong and in the dim light you can see patches of it growing on the walls.