"Nev, check the bottom of the ladder. There might be a trapddor, maybe an illusion hiding that the ladder continues further down."
"There doesn't seem to be any exits down here!", Janosz barks into the mist. "I'll search the walls down here; those of you climbing down, check the walls next to the ladder."
Janosz moves around the walls, looking for some sort of exit. He finds nothing like that. However, even in the acidic murk, his eyes are keen. The masonry is fairly rough, and the damage isn't immediately apparent at first glance, but in one section the wall seems to have been damaged. Between two slabs, at about eye height, there seems to be a hole, like someone hammered in a chisel or some other sort of spike. Looking up, there is another perhaps five feet above that. At a quick calculation, Janosz reckons he's standing opposite the ladder, lost in the fog over on the other side of the pit.
"Hmmm..." Janosz thoughtfully scratches his head. "Someone's been putting in pitons to help them climb up on this side. Which probably means that the exit is a bit up on this wall, but below the fog level; otherwise it would be visible from the lip of the pit."
"HEY NEV! I think I found something!"
Nevharath goes over to where Frogshanks stands and inspects the wall as well.
"Ah, so you have. Keen eye. You want me to fly up there?"
As soon as he understands there is no apparent exit Ezreal calls out, "Xativa, we have to get out of the fog until they can find a way through. Back to the ladder!"
And the two of them climb up just enough to pull out of the fog cloud.
It's faint, but it's just about visible - the outline of a secret door in the wall about fifteen feet above floor level.
"Good job, Nev. Let's get Gil or Gelb down here to check the door and then open it. And be careful when you fly over to get them - don't get hit by the same spell I did.""
After some hemming and hawing, Gelb reluctantly heads down the ladder quickly before climbing the pitons to check the secret door.
His haste causes him to miss a piton and slowly fall into the pit. Cursing at his ill luck, he gets up to carefully try again.
Once he has pointed the door out to Gelb, Nevharath maintains his distance from the door, having learned his lesson from the door this morning.
The door looks fine to Gelb.
Gil comes to the base of the wall under where the others have found something.
"What have you found?"
"Secret door." Janosz points up the wall. "See the piton marks here? Climb up about 15 feet. Gelb's checking it for traps; we'd like you to take a look too."
"I doubt there is room for both of us."
She casts Fly and joins Gelb at the door.
Gil notices the trap sensor that Gelb had missed.
"Mmm... look here, alongside this edge. That's bound to be a problem. Think you can disable it?"
"No wonder I didn't see it," Gelb complains. "I need more light."
If, and when the changeling gets light, Gelb proceeds to work.
"All done," Gelb says with some satisfaction before turning to Gil.
"Now then cousin, its your turn to figure out how to open the door."
"Ah, sure. Fair enough." She conjures up some light on the tip of one of her picks and holds it while he works.
I think he's rushed disabling it after he didn't see it. I'm going to have to take another look.
"Just a moment. I think I spotted something else in close here."
She gets in close to the sensor and makes her attempt to disable it.
"Give me some room, boys. I don't want someone else to get hurt if I do this wrong." Once they have backed away or indicated that they don't plan to, she will attempt to open the door.
I think he's rushed disabling it after he didn't see it.
As Gelb artlessly digs at the door, blades emerge from narrow slots to slash at the team. They then slide back into the cracks, ready to strike again.
After this unfortunate demonstration, Gil is able to disarm the trap and open the door. Beyond is another corridor, though this one is free of mist - though filling rapidly from the pit.
Ezreal continues clinging to the ladder like a spider. He grumbles to Rodergo, "This is damned uncomfortable. I wish they'd hurry up down there."
"There. It's open, but the mist is flowing in. I will get the others." She flies to the bottom the pitons to report to Janosz and Nev, then flies around the base of the pit and then up the ladder looking for the rest of the party and report same. "Pitons driven into the stone on the far side with a secret door at the top. Devilishly clever with a devilish trap. It hit Gelb pretty hard. I'm not sure how it missed me - it was a near thing."
Janosz climbs back up to the now-open door and steps into the corridor. "Hey, Gil! Can we close the door? That way, we'll keep the mist out!"
Nevharath also heads through the door, and looks for a way to close it once all the adventurers are through the portal.
The group fly or scramble into the door and Nevharath closes it behind them. A few whisps of the acrid fog linger but in insiffucuant concentration to do any harm. The corridor stretches off into the dark.
Whispering, "Well-spotted, gentlemen. Do you see any sign of anyone passing this way recently? Gelb, are you going to need some patching up after that trap?"
"This was a tricky one; I'm pretty chuffed we found the secret door. I'll take point. Gelb or Gil, if you'll come with me? Rod, get some light going for the rest of you." Janosz pads silently into the gloom.
"Go, Gelb, unless your wounds prevent it. We both know you are much quieter than I am."
Nevharath takes in his surroundings, and wonders as to what purpose this tunnel was built for.
The adventurers move on cautiously. A few tens of feet along, they find strange metal objects glinting in their lights. Four large blades, each about six feet long, emerge from the stone, one each in the ceiling, the floor and the two walls on either side. They start straight and then curve until their ends all point in the same way - in the direction away from the group, and not quite meeting in the middle. They form a sort of barrier, though it doesn't look especially difficult to wriggle between them and carry on.
"Oh, look, a sculpture."
"I fully expect those to move if someone attempts to move past. Let Gelb and I have a look."
She casts light on two or three items or Gelb's person if he prefers so they hopefully have plenty of light. She backs away so he can make a preliminary examination and expects him to do likewise for her.
Gelb grudgingly gives thanks to the light(s) before checking the blades.
So far as both Gil and Gelb can tell, these are immobile blades mortared into the stone.
"Maybe they are simply intended to prevent someone from retreating. What lies ahead, I wonder."
She looks at the blades to see how difficult it would be to weaken or remove the blades so that they would not prevent a retreat.
"Can you see any magic on the blades, wizard?" Gelb asks.
"My guess would be that there is something a bit further up the corridor that flings you back onto the blades. Unpleasant."
At Gelb's prompting, Ezreal focuses on the blades expanding his senses to examine the auras ahead.
Ezreal detects no magical emanations from the blades.