The odd mechanism is quiescent: the whining noise is coming from within the room where the LCDR is trapped.
No, Dr. Hanmer, forensics would not be all that useful, but that somewhat rusty axe that you have just glimpsed in the room's corner might do some good.
LCDR, as you stalk around the room, looking for something with which to attack the door, it seems to you that there are eddies of cold air, churning around your feet, puffing the black sand into the air.
Henry looks around, trying to find where the cold air is coming from!
It is a utter mystery; there are no visible inlets, and yet the air is being lashed into a fury, tiny dust devils are forming all around you.
Henry starts to feel a bit scared and pounds on the door!
No, Dr. Hanmer, forensics would not be all that useful, but that somewhat rusty axe that you have just glimpsed in the room's corner might do some good.
Well, cousin, do you feel like chopping some wood like we used to do at Uncle Lloyd's? Perhaps we can bash our way out.
"Well, I imagine there isn't much else we can try. The mechanism is strange and peculiar but well outside of my elements of knowledge."
Yes. Athletics (Difficulty 3). Each 'whack' of the axe will do 1d6 damage.
You'll need to do 5 points of damage to create enough a gap that the LCDR can squeeze through.
Edward takes a whack at the door, knowing full well his first swing will be his best.
There is a meaty thunk, as Carter buries the axe-head in the decaying wood of the door.
"Sirs? Can you hear me? Something is happening in here and I fear it is not benign!" Henry calls through any hole in the door.
Did Edward do enough damage to the door to be able to:
A) hear the LCDR?
B) actually pry the door open?
There's a cold wind whistling through the cracks of the door, as if LCDR Readington-Smythe is trapped in there with an arctic blizzard.
There is a wiry strength left in the middle-aged author's arms, as he smashes the door into kindling, and LCDR Readington-Smythe stumbles out; be-grimed in black dust, looking like a Newcastle coal miner.
Henry nods in appreciation at the older man. "Thank you, sir! Something wicked is building in there and I do not intend to greet it, sir!"
Those who have points in Sense Trouble, can make a test (Difficulty 3).
"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes," Edward says in a low voice.
There is a chilling moan, and the icy wind from the room that LCDR Readington-Smythe just escaped becomes a shrieking gale.
By interposing yourselves between Dr. Hanmer, who is holding your improvised torch, and the door, you manage to the shelter the puny flame of your torch, and keep it from being snuffed out.
The blast of arctic air subsides, though there's still an inexplicable flow of cold air from the room with the well.
"S-s-s-sirs? W-w-what was that?" Henry shivers violently.
So the door slamming shut,and the eerie wind, seem to defy rational explanation: everyone make a Stability Test (Difficulty 4) please.
"Let's keep our wits about us, Lieutenant-Commander. Old buildings such as this have all manner of drafts. The mansion could be acting as a chimney for a series of caves or other natural causes. We must keep a stiff upper lip. The fate of the British Empire may hang in the balance."
Edward stops talking and grinds his teeth. What in the name of all that is Holy made me say that last part?
Mr. Carter, you feel your nerves fraying; this hellish underworld is like some pit of seething nightmare.
Henry nods and pulls himself straight up. "For Crown and Country, sir!" He sighs and checks the next door...
Edward asks his cousin if he's comfortable holding the torch in the rear. If so, then Edward follows the LCDR to the next door.
Seems we have a choice, sir. There appear to be doors on either side of this corridor.
Quite right Mr. Carter. There's a door on the right, and then a little further down the corridor, a door on each side of the hall.
There's a creeping tide of fine black sand, being blown by the persistent draft across the floor; as if it is flowing like a liquid stream, an inky black spill, underneath the opposite door.
"Be careful where you step, Lieutenant-Commander. The black sand could well be toxic or acidic. I've never seen the likes, even during the time I spent in the catacombs of the Holy Land. I suggest the opposite door. What do you think, gentlemen?"
Emrys readies himself with the torch to follow behind the gentlemen. "This is by far the most intriguing, and I say intriguing with some reservations, place I have ever seen."
Henry nods and steps away from the black sand, not eager to see what properties it holds. He steps to the opposite door and tries to open it.
.
LCDR Readington-Smythe steps up to the door, finds it unlocked, and pushes it slowly open.
Edward draws his pistol.
In the dim light of the guttering torch held aloft by Dr. Hanmer, LCDR Readington-Smythe sees faint lines, in rough arcs and bent angles, chalked across the rough stone of the floor.
Tendrils of black sands are already worming across the outermost lines.
Henry frowns. "Sirs, is it bad when something breaks strange lines inscribed upon the floor in flourid detail?"
"Gentleman, this place becomes odder by the minute. Lieutenant-commander, can you determine if the lines form some sort of pattern or shape? Emrys bobs his head side to side to determine if he can make any sense of the lines.
Edward pulls his flask from his coat pocket and splashes some liquor onto the black sand.
"Let's see how this mess reacts," he says. "Cousin, if you would be so kind as to use your torch to ignite that hideous dirt I would most appreciate it. I have a hunch this may be the poison that the Hun is trying to put in the water supply... or another clue as to the Water Horse... In any event, I suggest we see whether it burns."
Peering into the room you see a tall, angular shape, draped in a dingy cloth. There is a table and trunk again the left-hand wall. There is a bit of electronic equipment, a radio transmitter?, on the table.
Finally, Edward thinks, Something I can relate to! I wonder if my radio work from 1918 will allow me to make heads or tails of that contraption?
Cousin, would you be so kind as to ignite this liquor? Let us see whether the sand is flammable.
Dr. Hanmer : "Cousin, before we ignite this mysterious stuff, perhaps we should be certain first that we have a clear path to the the outside."
.
The doctor looks about to see if he can discern an exit route in case things don't go accordingly.
Is Dr. Hanmer able to ignite the liquor-soaked sand?
After verifying that there is a sand-free path to the stairs, and the sane world you have seem to have left behind, Dr. Hanmer bends down to the uneven stones of the floor; sputtering torch in hand.
Does the sand ignite?