Muni, the raven flies in like a streaking arrow nearly crashing in his haste to land. -gotta big problem headed this way, boss." It squawks as it touches down on the rubble. "Bad guys. Lots. More than you. Armed and armored."
Ragnar's heavy brows knit together and his lip curls in anger. "We have left tracks all over this place. They will find us. How much time do we have?
The raven ruffles. Um...
"Welll...I'm not real good with time, but they ain't movin' fast. Lots of 'em. Bad idea to fight if you don't like dyin." Says the bird. "I'd say you've probably got until, um, whzit called when the big light is at the top of the sky?"
"Noon." The big man fills in.
The bird twitches it's head. Yeah, that.
Ragnar looks up, then towards the rest of the group. "No more than five or six hours."
Ragnar nods to the stunning sarcosan and hefts a sizable chunk of rubble, muscles bulging. A few moments later the other Dorn, Eyvindr, hustles toward the group. He says nothing, simply nods at his brother, sheds his heavy furs and gets to work. He is leaner than his younger brother, and works like a man possessed, still fresh and energetic long after everyone else is sweating and slowing. He doesn't even seem to be breathing hard.
The bird takes tot he air again, disappearing for a time, only to come back periodically to update the group on the progress of the shadow's forces. The wolves drift along the edges of the party's vision, keeping guard while they work.
Ilona:
When you attempt to lock eyes with the gaunt-faced, grizzled Dorn, you find that your stunning appearance does not have its usual impact. He seems unperturbed by your presence. His eyes suggest that there is something... different about him. You can't see into his soul as you might into that of the others.
"I still don't see anything, but if there is anything here we'd better get it open".
"I still don't see anything, but if there is anything here we'd better get it open".
"I hope this is really a door, and not just some loose flagstone." Zafina pants as she plops down onto the ground near Solvistania's feet and leans her head back against the wall, though she keeps her eyes open, and seems to be watching untireable Dorn.
As she rest, her hand finds its way to the handle of her cedeku.
Perception
Having located the trapdoor outline, Gilian follows them with her finger and check the nearby ground and walls for any numb or cavity that could be an opening mechanism
Perception
"I thin I have found something," she adds after a few moments. Her finger presses on a small stone set in the wall at knee height.
A quiet humming is heard beneath the floor and moments later a large section of the stone sinks beneath the level of the foundations and slides under the remaining part of the floor. The light shines on the beginning of a staircase, just wide enough for two people to descend walking shoulder to shoulder.
As Chops laces up the front of his padded shirt, he replies to Solvistania, "I can see in the dark, and I can keep quiet if need be. I suppose I should take a quick look around. Solvistania, are you coming with me?" Chops checks his gear for rattling buckles, not finding any, lightly steps through the door, descending just until he can utilize his darkvision to see further down the stairs.
Ilona leans over to Solvistania.
"Just a though but from the looks of him I'm pretty sure big boy over there can see in the dark too, and he looks in way better condition to take a hit from anything waiting down there," she mutters nodding towards Chops.
At that moment Chops speaks up.
"Well that works!"
Solvistania replies to the flippant remark in a faint whisper,
"Children, you are needed." Ragnar says as he shrugs back into his heavy canvas coat and settles the massive bear-head on his shoulder. The raven lands on it. "I'll come too. Hugi hates being underground."
The faintly glowing lights that had disappeared into the woods before come drifting back. One streaking, the others dancing, one dawdling. The rapidly moving one dashes immediately down the stairs, casting torch-like shadows across the stone. The others swirl around Ragnar and Eyvindr.
"We will not be hindered by a lack of light." he says, hefting his ancient pike. "My brother and I can take lead."
Chops stealthily descends through the passage. The stairway is long and Chops needs several minutes to reach the bottom. A tunnel stretches in front of him, but unlike any other tunnel he has ever seen. Wider than the staircase, the tunnel is decorated with some kind of abstract mosaic on the floor and frescoes on the walls. The left-side wall is painted with frescoes showing snow-covered mountain tops somewhere and huge ravens flying above them. The right-side wall shows a lush forest. This is just a beginning of the tunnel, though. Chops can not see it's ending from the bottom of the stairs.
"Can anyone find the way to cose the trap from the inside and maybe lock it ?" asks Gilian from the surface. "Maybe we could hide the mechanism upstairs as well, before going."
Eyvindr looks in wonder as the trap door that had been invisible to his eyes opens. "Hmmm... what kind of knowledge or magic does one require to create such wondrous doors? I don't like this..."
Not waiting for the others to comment, the older Dorn quickly wraps himself once again in his bear hide, shoulders his pack, and then prepares to follow Ragnar down the stairs with bastard sword held firmly in both hands. He seems a little bit uneasy by the presence of the flickering lights summoned by Ragnar, but does his best not to show it. "Is there sign of another mechanism at the bottom?" grumbles the gaunt-faced warrior. "I would hate for my life to end like a mole in an underground warren, which may be the case if we shut the door without first ensuring that we have a way of getting out... Such a fate would be dishonourable..."
"I can throw the mechanism from inside but the track covering's not really my thing."
"I might be able to do something about that," replies Eyvindr, turning to face Ilona and then the surrounding rubble just as he was about to descend the stairs. He sets about scattering debris in such a way that the floor is completely covered with an uneven layer of stones. "Concealing the door when it slides back into places is going to be next to impossible, but if most of us could not see it even when it was cleared, then let's hope that orcs and their masters are equally blind," he mumbles.
Ragnar finishes his decent meeting Chops at the bottom of the stairs and leans on his ancient spear, the only concession he is willing to make to the weariness that grips him. The four ghost-lights spread out casting flickering, overlapping shadows through the gloom. The bird on his shoulder looks around at the ancient fresco and stretches it's neck. "Nice to see a place with it's priorities straight."
Ragnar scans the artwork seeking signs or images familiar to him.