"Then let me collect my other allies." He will stand and shake Whisp's hand.
Ellara chuckled slightly - still in her male form - and stepped outside the room. She was ready to leave as soon as the others were. Helping the Princess was, after all, their number-one priority... and she didn't want to waste any more time than necessary.
As you exit through the portal, a lurching sensation gives you the distinct feeling of being pulled sideways and down. As you emerge once again into a dim chamber with a low light provided by glowing crystals embedded in the walls.
About twenty feet ahead a pair of intricate doors stand, forced open at some point. The panels of the door are cracked and warped, but the remnants of intricate wood working can be seen. A long corridor stretches behind them, intermittently lit by the same strange crystals.
Behind you a thin rip in the air ripples faintly. Approaching makes the ripple widen and stabilizes when you approach
Ellara's body shifted as they moved, and in a brief spot otherwise out of view, her form became that of a younger man in impeccable clothing. No need to be easily traceable, after all. "Let's go." 'He' said, advancing towards the doors and carefully watching for trouble.
Julie walks slightly behind Ellara, letting her take the lead as Dei Vult took a moment to enhance Kraken's Maw, the blade glowing ominously as it was fed more power.
And was obviously paying no attention to her surroundings while doing this.
Lady Karnelia nervously looks around as she followed quietly, tightly clutching the front folds of her cloak to her chest.
Little Sister stayed out of sight in incorporeal form, silently scouting nearby for any hidden foes.
Kiyomi steps forward, prepared for anything.
Beyond the entrance a corridor runs, ten feet wide to accommodate the great doors, and runs a length of thirty feet. Although the only obvious exit out is a smaller pair of doors at the far end, these obviously in better condition, Karnelia spots something off about the wall on the right about 15 feet down the passage.
"Remind me what is it we're looking for, again?" Lady Karnelia asks, cursing herself for letting her nerves distract her from the goal.
"... wait. I mean, please, hold on. I think I see something. Look at that wall over there, near the column. Something looks strange."
Julie picks up a pebble and tosses it at the wall Karnelia mentioned to see if the wall is illusory.
Kiyomi holds herself to be prepared for anything. As she waits, she recites the description they had, "A cold box, two feet long by one foot wide and half a foot tall. The lid will bear the inscription 'To my house, am I bound.' "
Ellara cracked her knuckles and smiled. "If getting in seems like a problem, leave it to me." she said. She was very proud of being able to get practically anywhere she needed to be, and this was certainly no exception.
Julie's pebble bounces off very real stone. A knife's width of a gap has formed on one edge of what appears to be a secret door of some kind. No light shines from beyond it, but there is an obvious void, suggesting it is more than a simple panel that has slipped due to time.
"Does anyone fancy some heavy lifting? I believe we're going to need to move that panel aside."
Dreading the manual labor, Lady Karnelia pulls some gloves out of her pockets. It wouldn't do to come home with ruined nails.
Ellara eyed the others for a moment, then glanced up at the ceiling and raised an eyebrow. "Stand back, please." she said - and a moment later, her body swelled as she increased in size. Getting Large was probably the best way to do this without growing beyond the confines of the tunnel, and she steadily began pushing against the panel with the enhanced strength of her bigger form.
Kiyomi is will watch, ready to deal with whatever is on the other side.
Although it required a great deal of effort, Ellara managed to force the door open against it's mechanism with a screech of gears and rending metal. The passage beyond stretched into the darkness, although those with Darkvision up to 60ft can see the vague hint of a wall at the far end.
Ellara's body shrunk back to its normal size once the door was opened, and she nodded in satisfaction. Her eyes flickered a moment later as she adjusted them to the darkness. "Seems safe enough." she said, carefully advancing forward and pausing every now and then to sniff at the air.
Kiyomi takes a glowing crystal from her bag and puts it in hand. She holds it in her hand, mostly covered except for a small beam.
"So it seems, but if this was easy, I don't imagine we would be the ones sent to do it. They clearly seem to want the touch of experts." Julie kept her blade in hand, but at the same time was not to careful about keeping her guard up.
Lady Karnelia nods as Ellara motions for the party to advance, keeping a vigilant eye on the passage as she leads her ghostly charge by the hand.
Once again, Karnelia spot something unusual. At various points along the rough wall are small brass discs, tarnished now to a point where they blend into the stone. A quick examination reveals them to infact be peepholes. Four of them line the length of the corridor.
Meekly motioning for everyone to stop, Lady Karnelia silently points out the peepholes, and for the group to carefully avoid passing in front of them by ducking beneath their height.
Ellara's body silently shrunk as she moved near the peepholes, creeping past them with all the advantages of being tiny before returning to her normal size down at the far end of the corridor.
Julie nearly gives out a irritated 'tsk' at the idea, before ducking.
Kiyomi nods to the wisdom of this and will move to avoid them.
The door at the far end of the corridor is in better condition than it's mate further down, but the dust of decades suggests no one else has used it for some time. A simple brass handle extends out, waiting to be pulled.
"So, I don't suppose that any of us have experience as a burglar?" she whispers.
"I usually found other ways to get what I wanted. But, I have trained in the monastic way of opening doors. It is not particularly stealthy, but few expect it."
"I have experience in... not being seen." Lady Karnelia mumbles hesitantly.
Turning to incorporeal form, Little Sister creeps forward silently, and reaches through the wall in search of hidden mechanisms.
Ellara patiently waited for the search to be completed. If need be, she could simply meld her way through the stone and open up the door from the other side, but hey - if it was easier to do it without shapeshifting and go through the front, she was all for that. Despite her nature, Ellara didn't think her magic was the solution to every single problem. Just most of them.
(It, er, mostly came from having the viewpoint of being whatever she needed to be. For her, changing herself to overcome problems was entirely normal, so it was her default response.)
The door doesn't appear to be trapped, but simply a well made and hidden secret entrance. Without the gap the other end contained, this one would be much harder to locate.
"This is taking too long. We're on a time limit." Julie shoulders past Ellara roughly and attempts to open the door and walk through.
Kiyomi will follow, watchful for any danger.
Ellara shrugged slightly, heading in behind the others and using her currently-quite-keen nose to remain on-guard for any danger that might be lurking beyond. She also massaged her throat a bit, just in case she needed to spew energy at someone.
The room beyond the door appears to be some kind of study. Book shelves line three of the four walls, although they are mostly bereft of any books. Only a handful of tattered tomes remain on the shelves. A large desk, it's chair knocked over, dominates the middle of the room. Dust and cobwebs hang thick in the air.
Kiyomi will begin searching the room to find any clues or hidden items.
Lady Karnelia and her companion join in the search.
"Oh, this is so exciting! One can only wonder how long this place has been untouched!"
"Uh, yes, quite." Julie does not seem quite as enthusiastic.
Ellara sniffed carefully, moving around the room and searching for any sign of enemies while the others checked the items and physical structure. Teamwork was the best way to get things done efficiently, right?