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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carlo-One" data-source="post: 8060343" data-attributes="member: 7015827">The dwarf shook his fist at the top of the ladder as he descended it, still grumbling as he stepped onto the ground. Despite some calming words from Dermot and Shanni about the usefulness of his efforts, Darrow refused to let it go. Talking animatedly, more to himself than to the others, he said he would shoot it with a crossbow, since he couldn’t miss the grate with a quarrel.Darrow went over to his pack and angrily pulled it open, spilling a mess kit while grabbing and loading his crossbow. He then walked over to the ladder, aimed the crossbow up the shaft and fired, yelling defiance at the grate. Without bothering to wait for the results, the dwarf loaded up another quarrel and again took aim as the first one, which had been shot true up the shaft, bounced off the ice-covered grate and fell back down. The second shot was not as steady, however, and glanced off the bottom of the shaft.Dermot, seconded by Shanni, gently suggested they should be getting back to the rope. The petite rogue also pointed out that Darrow was just wasting bolts. Grumbling to himself, the dwarf pulled on his armor, gathered up his gear, and followed his two companions towards where they had first entered the cavern, vowing that the grate would not defeat him. As they walked, Shanni remarked that there was no gold so far, but Dermot reminded her that they still had one door to go on that level.Once back in the old prison chamber, Shanni called up the shaft for Helrud. The dwarf made sure the rope was braced properly as the three made their way up to the surface, where he eagerly inquired about gold, jewels and other treasure, only to be disappointed. Shanni mentioned the unopened door, which Helrud enthusiastically declared must lead to a dragon hoard. Darrow gave him an abbreviated summary of what they had found so far in the Hidden Peak cavern. Dermot then indicated they should go try to find the grate entrance on the surface. Helrud volunteered to stay put, in case Rahnee or Aerikoth returned.After getting his bearings, Dermot led Darrow and Shanni back to the site of the grate, which was covered with several inches of solid ice. After examining it, the ranger said that having walked the roads of wintertime, he had learned how to deal with ice, and pulled out a bottle from his pack. Darrow confirmed it was alchemist’s fire and mentioned he had used it once to collapse a tunnel by burning the supports. Shanni watched, fascinated, as Dermot used his small hatchet on the ice, attempting to cut grooves in it for the liquid to follow. The thick ice meant that he only managed to scrape some of the surface, however. Darrow volunteered to assist and after making a bit of headway with the hatchet, decided to take out his waraxe and bash the grate. The weapon made more of a dent, but also rebounded dangerously, prompting Dermot to tell the dwarf to ease up. Muttering in dwarven under his breath, Darrow complied, backing away.Dermot then poured some liquor from his hip flask onto the grate, followed by smashing the bottle of alchemist’s fire on top of it. An unnatural-looking flame burst from the top of the grate, beginning to melt the ice. Darrow started chopping off branches from a nearby small tree to use as kindling, with Dermot’s encouragement, as the ranger joined in with his hatchet. Shanni also contributed by gathering some loose branches on the ground. The wood, however, failed to catch fire, being immediately soaked by icy meltwater.As the chemical flame grew smaller, Darrow took his axe to the tree, which resisted his blows for a short time, then fell. The dwarf dragged it back to the grate, but by that point the fire had gone out, having melted all of the ice off the grate. The grate was still stuck, so they tried various ways to lift it. Darrow attempted to use the tree as a lever, but it was far too large to fit in a grate hole. Dermot worked at its seams with a knife, attempting to pick out any remaining ice. Shanni suggested running a rope through the grate and then pulling it up. Dermot thought for a moment, then took a small branch from Darrow to tie on the end of the rope, to use it as an anchor. The ranger attempted to shove the branch and rope lengthwise through the grate, as Shanni watched. Dermot failed, but Shanni’s more nimble fingers eventually succeeded, turning the branch horizontal after getting it through.Dermot threw the free end of the rope over a nearby wall, to provide leverage, then joined Darrow in giving it a strong pull. The dwarf, clearly motivated to finally defeat the stubborn grate, heaved with his full strength. The grate groaned and screeched as Darrow slowly manhandled it up, while Shanni wedged a branch under it at Dermot’s suggestion. Suddenly, it popped open and Darrow let out a stream of triumphant cursing in dwarven.</blockquote>

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