Val flips the turtle onto it's back.
"My, I do have a hankering for turtle soup. But would this one taste like dog?"
Your pretty sure from what Kara previously said that these "patrols" are not as often as you would like, probably once every few weeks at best more likely once every month or so. It occurs to you that you might want to get through these doors before they close for another few weeks.
Val flips the turtle onto it's back.
"My, I do have a hankering for turtle soup. But would this one taste like dog?"
Kara puts her bow back into her quiver, and picks up her longsword, sheathing the weapon back into its home at her hip.
"Those doors wont stay open for long, grab what you can, and lets get inside, I'm fairly sure those doors will only open from the inside."
Kara commands Thropan to "Heel" and moves pourposefully through the large doors, grabbing any weapons she can from the dead and dying gnolls.
You notice each one of the gnolls is wearing beautifully crafted studded leather armor, carry well-crafted dire flails, and fine cloaks. You look around the room beyond the doors. You are in a corridor that is 20 ft across. West of you is a smaller corridor that's only 10 ft across. South of you is a short corridor that ends at a set of double doors. East of you the corridor spills out into a room so immense that your light merely reveals a fraction of its size you can hear the sounds of water and see the edge of immense fountain some 100 ft away. A strange greenish light illuminates the fountain. You can see the outline of a chalice at the top of the fountain. You seem to think the light is emanating from chalice.
"Okay, let's get in there and find an out-of-the-way place to interrogate this beast. And let's hurry -- he'll only be a turtle for about a minute longer. I'd recommend trying the small corridor."
Kjell wordlessly grabs the turtle-ized gnoll under one arm and strides forward into the depths of the castle, Neifelbjorn on his heels.
Kjell and McGoon
When you get to the end of the short 25 ft corridor across from you is a wall the hallway continues north and then after about 20 ft the corridor turns northeast and due to the darkness in corridors you can't see anything after the corridor goes another 5 ft northeast. Opposite this corridor is a short 10 ft corridor that quickly goes around another corner heading east that you can't see down from your angle.
Kara loots whatever she can from the Gnolls, and puts it all in a pile in the middle of the floor.
"Okay, looks like they had some pretty decent gear, if anyone wants anything, then grab it now, if not, I'm thinking we can put it in our packs until we need it."
After diviying up the loot, Kara puts her respective share into her Havasack and joins Kjell and Neifelbjorn in the west corridor, paying close attention behind her, a little worried about whatever lives in or near the chalice fountain.
1d20 + 16
Before you turn away from the chalice fountain you notice that the green luminescence changes to a deep indigo. Dunleary the fountain gives off a faint illusion aura.
McGoon snaps: "Don't just stand there a-gawkin', you layabouts! We need to find somewhere quiet where we can interrogate this beast -- somewhere better than the front hall, at any rate!"
Val and Jon with his horse follow behind the party through the door, as they step through the doors the doors close behind them.
"Um, Whirlpool, the light over there is changing colour, i think that leaving the interrigation until we have secured the are would be a good idea."
With that said, kara makes use of her tracking skills and tries to work out what sort of creatures roam the halls here.
"Well I'd really like t' not have an armful of angry gnoll in a minute. I like 'em a little less furry and little more willing, haha! Better find someplace to drop this one before McGoon's hex wears off."
"Unless you can secure the area in the next 30 seconds, we better deal with this beastie first. Maybe we can knock 'im out? A few good clunks on the head ought to do it."
"Thought you'd never ask! Haha!"
Kjell raps the gnoll-turtle on the head with the pommel of his greataxe a couple of times until it falls unconscious, waits a few seconds for the hex to wear off, then ties the gnoll across Neifelbjorn's back.
"Good to go!"
Kara looks over the floor in front of the now closed door and near the opening to the immense hall to the east. You notice mostly gnoll tracks and several humanoid looking tracks most don't seem too recent except for the tracks that have lately been left by the now dead gnolls. Kjell on the other had bashes the poor turtle into submission the turtle stops its squirming after 30 or so seconds but seems to still be alive despite the rough treatment. Kara and Dunleary notice that the fountain chalice changes again this time to a warm crimson hue about a minute after turning indigo.
McGoon taps his foot impatiently. "Kara, either do something with the damned fountain, or let's find somewhere quiet to talk to this gnoll!" he snaps in irritation, pointing to the northern side corridor. "Or by Shelyn's fat arse we'll be up to our balls in gnolls in no time, I'll warrant!"
Neifelbjorn cranes his head over his broad shoulders and snaps at the gnoll tied across his back. "You just stay quiet and I won't bite your head off."
The turtle-gnoll is completely unconscious but Niefelbjorn's "encouragement" for silence is good measure as the gnoll seems to stay quiet. McGoon looks north and south both seem quiet and very dark. If there was a pin that could drop in some part of the dungeon your sure you would hear it. Some would say it is deathly silent.....
Kara shrugs her shoulders and steps into the corridor and looks left and right and eventually decides on the north corridor.
"I say we head on this way, the open area over there is glowing, yes, but there is nothing I can really do, to be honest, I was merely remarking on the the fact that it is there, just incase anyone else wanted to do anything with it."
Kara commands Thropan to "Heel" and "Defend" and awaits the rest of the adventuring party to head along with her, or to cast their own votes on direction.
Kara heads down the passage to the north ten feet after turning due north, this ten-foot-wide stone passage ends abruptly in a stone wall of decidedly different manufacture than the side walls and floor. Two arcane symbols, about the size of a human head, mark the wall at eye level. A hammer and chisel lie upon the floor in front of the wall, immediately below a fist-sized hole knocked into its center. Beyond the hole lies absolute darkness.
"Kara, do you see any footprints -- recent or not? I doubt this is a regularly travelled thoroughfare."
"Hmmm ... interesting."
Never one to leave a gaping hole unprodded (ha, let's see the censor filter catch that!) Valorius takes a crowbar from his pack and uses it to probe the hole.
"Ah, footprints, sorry, I was distracted by those symbols."
Kara starts looking for footprints and if she finds any, she tries to identify them.
Val begins to prod the whole (;p) and doesn't notice anything unusual. Dunleary casts Detect Magic thinking something magical must on the other side of the wall and is quite surprised when the its not the door he sees 10 ft way through the hole that glows but the wall that he is peaking thru. The wall itself seems to radiate strong conjuration magic.
"Ah, footprints, sorry, I was distracted by those symbols."
Kara starts looking for footprints and if she finds any, she tries to identify them.
you don't see any footprints at all. you would be surprised if anyone has been up this passage in the last two decades for as much dust and dirt that is on the ground. the only thing that is out of the ordinary is the symbols on the wall.
Startled by the glowing of the wall, the fighter takes a step backwards.
"Whoa, Dunleary lass, what does this mean?"
"Hm. Looks private enough. Do you think we can nip in there for a private talk with this gnome? Kjell, maybe you can transport us?"
Spellcraft check (to identify the magical effect):
After looking over the wall with the strange marking on it you are pretty sure this is a wall of stone, McGoon. You would guess it has been here for at least a decade or more considering how much dust and dirt there is on it. Something about the symbols on this wall are familiar.
untrained Know: Arcana
untrained Know: Arcana 1d20+1
One of the two symbols your sure is some sort of personal sigil your not sure whose but it does seem somewhat familiar. The other one seems to be a symbol warning of danger.
"I can get us in there, assuming that teleport ward from earlier isn't across this whole blasted place, but are we sure it's a good idea?" Kjell squints at the 'danger' symbol doubtfully.
"Seeing what happened last time, Kjell, I probably wouldn't chance it. What do the symbols mean, Kjell?"
Kara reaches down and pats Thropan on the head, calming him.
"Seeing what happened last time, Kjell....
"So if it's a magic wall, can't you magicians dispel it? That's one of the things you do, right?"
"No, if that's a wall of stone as Whirlpool says, it's not something that can be dispelled by anything but brute force."
Kjell appears to be thinking hard for several long seconds, then nods to himself as if something were decided. "Well, there's no abjuration aura around this area like there was with the outer doors, and if we can't teleport out of here, it's better to know that now than when we really need to get out of a bad situation fast. I'm gonna try to dimension door myself to the other side of this wall. I can take four other people with me -- or two and Jon's horse." He looks around at the rest of the group. "Who's coming in the first jump? I can't promise you all won't get headaches if that teleport ward affects this area as well. I've got a hard head, so it doesn't bother me, haha!"