Tender, acting on his previous statement and the plan to thoroughly examine this level before descending, passes both stairwells to go down the hall to the right from where they entered the barrow.
The hallway ends at a room that is, at rough guess, thirty feet by twenty. The entranceway is in the center of the wall and another door, a towering stone door heavily carved with spiraling runes spinning into infinity, is directly across from the entrance. Above that door is a panel carved with the image of an enormous wolf being crushed by a giant snake. On either side of the door is a hammered bronze brazier.
Tender recognized the ancient construction style: the door is capped by a massive lintel so that over time the door will sink and seal the door. This one appears to be ancient and thoroughly sealed. It would take weeks or months to excavate so that the doors could open and the excavation itself would probably cause the ceiling in this room to collapse.
The floor of the room is covered by what appears to be thousands of thin, translucent strips of vellum. To your horror, you realize the crackling dried strips are the discarded skins of an untold number of serpents.