OOC:
This room has always been difficult to understand, even in person. It seemed so simple when I drew it, but every player I've tried to describe it to has had problems. Since I don't mean for it to be confusing, mysterious, or puzzling, here is an explanation:
Essentially, you have a room, one wall of which is actually bars. On the other side of the bars is a hallway with a door at each end. In the center of the hallway is a portcullis, which can only be raised/lowered from inside the room. The implication is that guards in the room must raise the portcullis to allow anybody to traverse the hallway. If somebody were inside the Keep trying to leave without authorization, they would be balked by the locked door and guards protecting the mechanism to raise the portcullis. If somebody found the secret door and was trying to break into the Keep, their path would also be blocked by the portcullis. Either way, the bars allow the guards to fire missiles, poke spears, and throw oil on anybody in the hallway, should it become necessary, as well as take and examine items and papers for inspection before allowing them in/out.