"I believe I can call on my arcane reserves to attempt it one last time for the day. If everyone is up for it, I would be glad to attempt it. And if we do find something, we need not necessary act on it now; we can allow ourselves time to recover if needed."
"Good, because I am going to need a bath after that last fight."
Kiley shivers as the memory of that thing's tongue refused to go away.
"Sure Molasbar, let's see if you can find anything else. If you don't, I'd say we should move onto one of those doors. We can rest if those of you who cast spells need it."
Molasbar will stand in the room between 15 and 30, at the secret door that leads to 15. He'll use his ring to cast Detect Secret Doors again, moving down the short passage to 15, a circle in 15, then onward down the zigzag passage to 37. That looks like a long walk for anyone concentrating, so I imagine the spell will expire before he gets through all of that.
We did clear out 31, right?
Molasbar detects a secret door in the south section of the former bandit lair, and disappears down the zig-zag tunnel while the rest of the group inspect it. It seems that this was another entrance to the bandits' den, perhaps the main entrance; it appears to connect up with a tunnel you had seen the very edge of previously. Molasbar detects nothing of interest all the way down the winding tunnel, except for the single door that they had almost accidentally stumbled upon days ago.
As the last sensation of heightened awareness fades from Molasbar with the expiration of the spell, the half-orc lets out a sigh.
"Well, that's it for now. I can rest tonight and recover the same spells and do it again in the morning."
He looks thoughtful for a moment then says "I do have one spell left, a simple favorite of mine that shoots out a fan of flames about that far" he says, indicating a gap between him and a wall that is fifteen feet. "We could go to that room that has the strange slime in it and see if a blast of fire might start to clear it."
"I am still hearty and hale and eager to cleanse more of this region if the tunnels ahead not have been explored. I will yield to the consensus of the group should you feel it necessary to wait until Molasbar's arcane faculties have replenished however." Doon says, fingering the hilt of his longsword.
"Hmm, I still have some power left in me, but resting soon would be wise."
Molasbar leads the intrepid adventurers down south and west from where they are back down the tunnels of Rappan Athuk and through the room with the mysterious skeletons still wrapped in their bedrolls. Remembering the previously discovered secret door, he pushes it open and looks up at the roof. The green slime that appears to be seeping through the roof is still present, with occasional small droplets splattering down onto the floor. On the far side of the room is a door, as yet unexplored.
The half-orc turns his eyes upwards and begins to chant as he summons forth an all-too familiar spell of searing flames. The ooze on the ceiling catches alight almost immediately, and the chain reaction turns the lot of it into grey ashes in a couple of seconds. Once all the fuel is consumed, all that's left is a burn mark on the ceiling.
"Let's take a quick look around the ensure nothing valuable survived the slime, and then try the door."
"We are left with checking what is beyond that door I guess" - Zeltor pipes in, then falling into silence as he scours the room, and the door itself.
Kiley slides up to the door after Zeltor gives it the once over, and listens.
Doon-Kahn follows the others back through the unfamiliar tunnels, taking mental note of the layout as best he can should he become separated from the others. He peers at the slime, watching as it burns and then peers around the room for anything that sticks out to his dwarven senses; there have certainly been many secret doors in the other rooms they have passed through after all.
When such a search fails to turn up anything he joins the others near the doors, standing to one side and a short way back, hand on the hilt of his blade.
Kiley hears nothing beyond the door, and Doon-Kahn notices nothing of any particular note, but Zeltor is surprised (or, perhaps, not so) to find a hidden sliding stone panel in the north wall. Kiley has a peek down the right-hand door, and it seems to connect to a hallway with an apparent dead end... suspicious indeed.
Zeltor's secret room, however, is much more interesting than that. Three gilded treasure chests fitted with large and intricate locks sit along the far wall. Could this be your ticket to wealth and fortune...?
"Ninivic friend, I believe you are the only one that stands any chance of defusing these traps..." - the monk offers after providing a brief explanation of what he has found.
"I do not believe I can be of any aid, but should you require it please inform me. Otherwise, I'll be waiting in the other room." Doon informs the ratfolk with a grin, shuffling out of the treasure room, putting a good distance between himself and the door.
Kiley waits by the door. She's a little nervous after her fight with the ghoul, but curiosity won't let go.
Ninivic chuckles as Doon-Kahn retreats from the room and Kiley heads for the door. "Not just the Commander has it out for me, eh? Very well, let's see what we've got here." Joining Zeltor, the ratfolk hunches over the leftmost chest, giving it a good look all around and of course paying particular attention to the area around the lock itself.
"Mmmmm...something poisonous for sure on this first one. Ajax, mind giving me a little nudge in the right direction on this one. Not sure I've encountered the like before." getting out his tools, Ninivic sets to work on the trap, trying to see what he's dealing with and how to best disarm it. "Right here I think..." He inserts a pick into a small slot and presses firmly.
"Oops, that wasn't it." Bracing himself for something horrible about the happen, Ninivic breathes a deep sigh when he realizes he pressed the reset and not the release that surely would have injected him with some deadly venom. Kneading his hands together he remarks, "Ok, that was close. Let me try this again." He works at the mechanism again, this time convinced that a small silver-lined hole must be the safety. "Let's have that luck again Ajax. Think I almost killed myself there."
This time feeling a satisfying 'click' that doesn't seem to set anything off, he sets to the lock itself.
"Bugger these good locks. You all sure we haven't found any keys?" He continues working the lock until it cracks and opens the chest.
"Find me a hammer and I'll be the key."
She says as a grin splits her face.
Doon-Kahn, while you are standing outside of the secret room, you feel something incredibly cold drip down from the ceiling and land on your arm. The cold is replaced almost instantly by a burning sensation as the droplet of green slime bores into your flesh and starts to morph the surrounding tissue into similar ooze.
Ninivic eventually manages to get inside the first chest. At least he is rewarded for his efforts, for sitting within is 220 golden coins, covered with a little bit of dust; they probably haven't moved in quite some time.
Ninivic moves on to the next chest, but whirls when he hears something happening outside the room. "Hey, everything all right out there? This next one might be messy if I get interrupted and I'm particularly fond of the way my limbs are currently arranged!"
Knowledge Dungeoneering
"Oh no! I burned away the slime that was on the ceiling, but there must be more. Much more! That is why the ceiling sags slightly. We MUST hurry!"
"If we have to hurry, I'm not screwing around with them here! Drag them out or just grab this one with the gold and we can try again if that ceiling holds up!" Ninivic retreats into the room with the skeletons in the bedrolls.
Doon-Kahn lets out a bellow of surprise as he feels the slime splash his skin, quickly shucking off his pack and grabbing the first thing to hand to scrape it off, ending up with a file from his weapon crafting kit. He tosses the file aside as the slime continues to work on the metal file.
Peering up at the ceiling he can only nod in agreement to Molasbur's assessment, shuffling out of the slime room into the treasure room to see how far the reservoir extends.
"Well, let's get out of here then."
Kiley goes into the room to grab the opened chest.
"It only seems to be the ceiling in that room that is unstable... the adjacent chambers should remain safe." Doon-Kahn gives his expert opinion, peering through the door into the slime room. He waits for an opportunity to jog through it without suffering further injury, joining Ninivic in the other room.
So, to clarify, you're just grabbing the one that you've opened, not the other two?
"Come on friends, lets take a chance here! You know we will be coming back for whatever is inside those chests - lets take care of it right away, we have dealt with the slime before so we can do it again!" - Zeltor puts forth his argument.
"All get in here. Ninivic, ignore the slime outside and focus on the ticking chest, defuse it if necessary and lets be done with it"
"Be at ease Ninivic. If there is a trap and it causes injury then I will provide healing."