The door opens to reveal a corridor, wide enough for three or four to walk abreast (and at least two people to fight side-by-side), and inward-sloping walls that meet a ceiling well over even Macawi's head. The corridor is dim, with only a few gaps in walls or ceiling letting in the daylight outside - near these gaps, however, crude sconces, clearly not part of the original structure, hold torches. These torches do not appear to have been used in some time, though.
The light of the various wayfinders is more than enough to offset the gloom nearby, however, and there is no sign of a nearby threat. The corridor does not turn or branch for some distance; about 30 yards along, however, it reaches a T-intersection, forcing you to decide whether to turn right or left. Both corridors seem to go about 40 feet before angling to the east once more, and there are closed doors visible along the walls in both directions.
Hmm. The exterior of the structure did not suggest the interior layout. Not quite what I was expecting. Note the sconces. Their disuse further supports the Ulfen's statement that his and his confederates' ocular senses were enhanced.
At the intersection, she looks both ways and ponders. This is but a perfunctory assessment, but the layout seems to indicate a symmetrical design.
Mala hurries into the doorway, but once past the threshhold she slows considerably, her eyes scanning walls and floor as she walks. Her little crossbow is once again in her hands, and her fingers tap softly but nervously upon it as she walks. "If it is symetrical, I wonder if the design is purposeful. Like a symbol or something..." she muses softly to herself.
As she reaches the intersection she reaches up to trace a symbol near the right turn with one finger. She then makes the right turn without much pause. One way is as good as another.
You turn right and begin making your way along the red-grey corridor. Up ahead, two doors, one on either side of the hallway, flank a larger-than-usual hole in the ceiling, through which the bright blue sky over the Isle of Kortos can be seen.
Perception
Mala slows as she spots the doors, looking more carefully about.
As you slowly make your way up the passage, Mala, Sparky and Sylvalia all notice the same thing: just in front of the two doors, a set of three very fine wires have been strung across the hallway, one about 6 inches above the floor, one about two feet above the floor and the third at about four feet. The wires are the same red-grey as the walls and floor, and fade into the background exceptionally well.
Asim does not seem to notice them, though and is about to blunder into them...
Hold! She'll say frantically. She'll also back away several paces, likely bumping into Macawi behind her.
Asim! Garrick! Desist!
Mala, too, will try to hold everyone back, though she's far too small to do it effectively. If she needs to she'll grab articles of clothing or gear to pull/push in order to get the job done.
Assuming that everyone stops shy, she will walk carefully forward and take a closer look at the trap in order to discern what it was meant to do and how best to disarm it.
Shooing everyone else back with a wave of her tiny hands, she'll pull a worn set of tools from her belt and get to work.
Macawi does not spot the wires, but he can't miss the elf's sudden change of direction. He stops, spreads his arms wide, and brings his shield around in front of her, effectively shielding her from nearly all directions.
"What? What does pretty shaman see?"
Once he realizes that the threat is not an imminent attack, he releases the mage, "Sorry, Macawi thought shaman was attacked." He smiles with his gleaming white teeth, not embarassed in the least.
Seeing the smaller woman starting to work with her tools, he's visibly indecisive. He knows he has no patience or training to help with what she's doing, but his instinct is to move up there to shield her from whatever she's trying to dismantle.
He ends up remaining behind the others, fidgeting and watching over his shoulder for other surprises.
Mala is quickly able to determine that the wires are connected to something on top of the ceiling, and are designed to pull whatever it is through the hole and onto or into whoever disturbed the wires. Without getting up there she can't see exactly what it might be, but they are definitely tripwires.
It also occurs to her as she starts to work that there's no ready way for someone to bypass this trap - while careful wriggling, particularly for someone as small as she is, could get through it, there's simply no way humans like the Redblades would be able to easily move down this corridor.
Asim will stop before going into the wires. He'll take a step back and point his gun at the hole where the trip wires lead in case anyone or anything is up there.
Mala considers for a moment before turning back to look at her companions. "It looks like these wires trip something above to come down through the hole. I can try to disarm it, or I can mark it and we can just sneak past. Which would you prefer? Obviously if I try to disarm it and... well... misjudge something, it could fall now. But on the upside we'd all see it coming.
Macawi looks at the wires doubtfully. "Macawi not very sneaky."
Yeah, but if you try to disarm it, you will be right under whatever it drops if you cant do it right. I'm not a bad shot with a crossbow. We could always stand back and have me try to shoot the wire.
Perhaps the most expedient course of action wouldst be to simply explore the left corridor. We can deduce the Redblades are likely not beyond the wires. Obviously, our mandate will require us to return and remove the danger this trap poses, but we need not do so immediately.
"Can you disable this? If the Redblades haven't been this way then there may be some interesting stuff to loot... er, investigate."
Perhaps the most expedient course of action wouldst be to simply explore the left corridor. We can deduce the Redblades are likely not beyond the wires. Obviously, our mandate will require us to return and remove the danger this trap poses, but we need not do so immediately.
I agree. This trap could be useful in protecting us from this direction while we search the other route for the bandits.
Mala looks at Garrik quizzically. "Well I'm not going to stand under the hole while I disarm it. That would just be silly." She takes in everyone's response, her eyes flitting from person to person. "Well I could try to sneak through and see if there is anything interesting on the other side... Or I can just mark it so we don't forget and we can look the other way for now." She shrugs, but she can't hide the fact that the former sounds much better to her.
Macawi shakes his head negatively and takes a half-step toward the other hallway.
Yeah, let's go down the other hallway. If you squeeze through these wires and get into some trouble, I might not be able to get in there and protect you.
One possible course of action would be to prematurely set off the trap by a remote device. I have a cantrip that may be able to pluck at the wires, or maneuver a grappling hook to them. Thus, we could engage the trap some distance away.
One possible course of action would be to prematurely set off the trap by a remote device. I have a cantrip that may be able to pluck at the wires, or maneuver a grappling hook to them. Thus, we could engage the trap some distance away.
That is a sound plan, but we should take care of that later. The Redblades are probably aware of our presence, and the longer we spend here worrying about this, the more time they have to prepare...
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Me too.
You quickly return to the intersection and begin heading up along the other path. The corridor is straight for about 40 feet and then angles to the right at about 45 degrees. Near the turn there are three doors, one on the right and two on the left. All three are closed. The doors do not have handles or visible keyholes, and there is no sign of hinges on this side either.
Approaching cautiously, Mala will take a look at the doors to see if she spots anything obvious, then begin a more detailed search of each door.
Mala's search turns up nothing particularly interesting beyond the fact that the doors are on cleverly-designed runners, and are intended to slide sideways into the walls rather than swing on hinges.
Asim opens the door on the right, peering in with gun drawn.
Mala crouches down to peer through the door at a point lower down, or perhaps through Asim's legs. Like a child trying to get a peek at a shelf of toys.
Intriguing bit of architecture. If we pass these by, it will be imperative to maintain close attention to our rear guard.
Asim opens the door to reveal a long, fairly narrow room, about 10 feet wide but close to 60 feet long, running back to the south. The room's original purpose is not clear, but these days it would seem to have been converted to a barracks of some kind. Rough cots - about a dozen in all - are spaced every few feet along the opposite wall, and a few items that looks like personal gear are scattered about.
Macawi leans into the new room to peer around.
He points out, "Blood and sword cuts. Someone fight here, not so long ago."
Eh, I don't see any bodies or blood, so it couldn't have been too recent. If you all wanna search through this stuff, be my guest. I'll stand guard at the door.
No bodies, Garrick, but Macawi is correct. A confrontation did occur in this place within the past year. Much sooner, likely, as Venture-Captain Shevala had stated the last purge of the Redoubt occurred seven months ago. We either uncovered a site where the previous Pathfinder expedition encountered a threat, or this was the location of some bandit dispute in the months since.
Take heed, for places like this attract scavenging creatures of instinct. Be on thy guard.