A short examination reveals that it is a circular maze.
The walls, floor, and ceiling of this curving corridor are sheathed in rusty plates of iron that have been bolted in place. Scorch marks mar this armor plating at periodic intervals, and the gnawed fragments of blackened bones are scattered here and there. Row after row of tiny runes have been etched into each iron plate.
a thin spot between the planes at the center of the maze. The entire thing is known as a rift siphon.
Another DC20 Knowledge(Arcana) (or an educated guess) reveals that the rift siphon is currently focussed on hell.
Tauriell examines the iron plates.
"Here is something for you to find out for Abomentolor the lucky pig." Tauriell says in a smug tone.
"This place keeps getting stranger and stranger." Jimmy chuckles as he follows Tauriell
Gwenhwyfar comes into the room too. "Hey that is not nice of you to call Abomentolor pig..." her jaw drops as she sees all these plates and runes.
"What is that?"
Abomentolor comes in and looks at the plates. "How should I know what that means. They didn't care to write it in a language that I understand."
"That is what I mean. Improving your knowledge still only leads to mediocre results."
"This is a rift syphon." she says pointing with her arms around "It creates some thin point between our plane and one you can choose. In this case hell. I don't know what kind of energy they wanted from hell. But it also drags lesser devils through from time to time as bycatch."
"So this thing spits out new devils?" Gwenhwyfar asks.
"From time to time. Is someone interested in deactivating that? Or shall we come around every now and then for some devil killing?" Tauriell asks.
"Or are here any great minds with the ability to change that for the better. Who is up to the task of connecting this thing to the plane of positive energy to create an endless flow of healing?" Tauriell expresses her delusion of grandeur.
"Wouldn't that be dangerous? What if you do it wrong?" Gwenhwyfar asks anxiously.
"What should happen? Either we destroy it wile trying or we end up on the wrong plane. How many planes do you know? How many of them would be dangerous?" Tauriell asks back.
"Call me a stick in the mud but I'd say destroy it. I'm no big fan of ending up here with some other outsiders we don't know how to deal with." Abomentolor says.
"You're a stick in the mud." Tauriell replies according to his wish.
"Then tell me oh great lucky pig in the mud. How do you plan to do that?" Tauriell teases Abomentolor.
"Do you think there's a plane with sparkling unicorns and rainbows?" Niamh asks nobody specific. "Maybe if I play the violin..." Niamh mumbles and jumps and dances through that labyrint while playing her violin.
As Niamh finally aligns her magical music with the resonances of the walls everything starts to vibrate. The sound of the violin becomes unbearably loud and the runes start to glow in a bright white that hurts in the eyes.
Niamh stops playing and holds her ears.
The sound ceases slowly and the runes stop glowing. But nothing seems to have changed after that is back to normal.
Niamh looks disappointed. "And I really though something would happen now." She says angry and a bit frustrated. "Where are the unicorns?"
"I don't recognize what plane you set it to now. Ask the pig in the mud with the knowledge improving magic item." Tauriell says.
Abomentolor tries to check in a discreet way and as he doesn't recognize it too he tries shake the insult off saying "I'm sticking in the mud here. I'm not interested in your games." and sticks out his tongue at Tauriell.
"And is that safe now?" Gwenhwyfar asks.
"I would still say we destroy it." Abomentolor says.
"And how would we do that?" Gwenhwyfar asks.
"Let us just wreck it. I'm pretty sure that would work."
"At least if someone with strong arms tries that. Abomentolor says looking at Jimmy.
"We can send Carl and Ernard to demolish that later. How about we check the rest of the level." Tauriell suggests and searches her way through the maze.
The maze has one other exit into a room. But in this room a stout iron portcullis blocks the passage to the west. Its winch stands to the side of the other side of the gate. A skeleton, still in the scorched half-plate armor it wore in life, is slumped over the winch.
Tauriell sighs. She walks back and tells the others "I found another one of these portcullis. With the opening mechanism on the other side."
"I'd say from former experiences that we can simply walk around to reach the other side." She then walks back to the crossing of the hallways and turns to the left. And then chooses the left door.
The room is empty. There is another door. A bronze plaque, green with corrosion and inscribed with spiky runes, hangs at the door to the southeast. The door is locked.
The plaque is inscribed in Thassilonian
The door itself is locked
"Anything interesting?" Jimmy asks as he follows her
"It reads 'Don't leave the cages open.' This will be either really boring because everything in the cages is crumbled to dust or it will be rather interesting because the cages are crumbled and it's inhabitants roam free now." Tauriell explains while working on the lock.
"Want to go in first?" Tauriell asks holding open the door.
Stone tables line the sides of this room. Atop them are battered iron cages of various sizes, many of which hold the skeletal remains of various occupants. A number of these have been forcibly wrenched open and lie in ruins.
Three creatures live in this room. Composed of half-formed body parts, this creatures stand on two monstrous legs. A mouth full of jagged teeth dominates the creatures' bulbous heads. Their veins pulse just beneath transparent flesh.
"What is that? Can I burn it?" Abomentolor asks.
"I don't know. How about trying it out?" Tauriell replies
"Eeep. Why don't we ever find fluffy bunnies or someting. Always these creepy things." Gwenhwyfar complains.
The creepy thing comes out of the room and tries to bite Jimmy.
Tauriell steps behind the creature into flanking position and stabs it.
Gwenhwyfar comes to Jimmy's rescue. "Leave Jimmy alone you disgusting thing."
"Thank you Gwen." Jimmy says as he attempts to disembowel the monstrosity
The monstrosity becomes even more hideous as Jimmy turns it's insides out.
Abomentolor is happy that the door is less crowded now and moves inside the room and readies a casting of burning hands for when both of the remaining uglies are within reach. "Come to daddy. No need to stay out in the cold."
The first one approaches Abomentolor and tries to bite him.
And with some success too.
As the second one comes into reach Abomentolor sets them aflame.
But both evade most of the flames and the second one attacks too.
Tauriell moves inside the room in flanking position with Abomentolor to send one of the beasts to eternal rest.
One more beast down.
Jimmy steps in to skewer the last
Abomentolor prepares to burn the beast some more with his elemental ray as Jimmy stabs it to death. "Hey. You stole my kill!" Abomentolor complains.
"Sorry." Jimmy grins back
"You can keep your feigned pity to yourself." Abomentolor grumbles actually angry mostly at himself for being too slow.
"I shall leave the next room entirely to you then to make up for it."
"Let's see if the room is worth it." Abomentolor replies and opens the door.