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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carlo-One" data-source="post: 8061137" data-attributes="member: 7015827">The HoardAfter placing the tree over the grate to ensure it could not close again, an act which Darrow especially appreciated, Shanni eagerly ran over to Helrud to inform him of their success. Upon her return, Darrow and Dermot pointed out the rungs set in the side of the rock shaft under the grate, which they assumed was the same one they had climbed from below, using the ladder. Darrow expressed his curiosity about the door with the nearby pressure plates, but agreed with Dermot that they should not get in over their heads without Rahnee and Aerikoth. Shanni pointed out that they now could run back to the ladder and escape the cavern much more easily.As Darrow started climbing down the rungs, he observed that the meltwater had made them slippery, which would be a problem when iced over. Just as Shanni was mentioning that they should set the rope up, in case the ladder below them fell, Darrow uttered an oath and slipped off the rung he was holding, starting to fall down the shaft. The dwarf flailed his arms, attempting to grab a rung, but caromed off the side of the shaft as his companions rushed over to the entrance and yelled at him to take care. They then saw him suddenly reach out and seize the last visible rung. Huffing and agitated, the dwarf said it was just like he planned it.Dermot knelt down to tie a rope around the top rung as Shanni, with the relief evident in her voice, asked if Darrow was hurt. He indicated he was fine, although could barely see anything in the shaft. The dwarf then prodded the top of the ladder below him with a foot, to make sure it was stable. Dermot finished tying off the rope and threw its free end down to Darrow, who missed catching it and had it smack him in the head, which forced Shanni to suppress a giggle.After the dwarf had secured the rope around his waist, he easily climbed down the ladder to the dark cavern below, tugging the rope twice to signal success. Dermot managed to relight his torch and tossed it down the shaft, following it himself shortly afterwards. Shanni, left alone for a little while, seemed nervous as she called down to ask if she could descend as well. Darrow gave the rope another two tugs and the petite rogue quickly entered the shaft, putting her hands on the still-slick rungs. Her grip failed her, however, and she squealed as she slipped and started falling straight down the shaft. Like Darrow, she managed to grab the last rung before reaching the ladder, letting out another squeal and a shriek of pain at the impact.With the encouragement of her companions, Shanni managed to slow her panicked breathing and transferred herself to the ladder. Visibly shaking, she made her way down to the cavern floor. Although she had wrenched her shoulder a little, she was still game for Darrow’s suggestion of going to have a look at the remaining sealed door. As they approached the northwestern end of the cavern where the door was located, they were unexpectedly attacked by a pair of the same stone-grey creatures previously encountered on that level. Shanni ran off as Darrow and Dermot handled them in melee. Dermot got a bit of a scratch, as he put it, but was otherwise all right. Shanni observed that they at least now had something to put on the two pressure plates in the area near the door, if they needed a weight on them.With some experimentation from Darrow and Dermot, they determined that each of them standing on a pressure plate caused a grinding sound to be heard off to the east. Shanni confirmed it was coming from behind the sealed door, which itself however remained jammed shut. Darrow tried to drag a corpse of one of the creatures over, but it was too heavy for the dwarf. He came to the conclusion that he would have to knock down the door to see what was behind it. Dermot and Shanni both pointed out that they might need to shut it again, but Darrow gave his axe a few good swings at the lock anyway. Shanni came over to see if he had managed to loosen it any. She was able to peer through the keyhole and told the others that there was a closed portcullis about twenty feet past the door, on a downslope.Darrow took this as a sign that he needed to get back to bashing the door. A good number of swings later, it finally buckled around the lock and opened, to the satisfaction of the panting dwarf. Darrow then went back to join Dermot at the pressure plates, while Shanni made her way down the slope to the portcullis. After a few abortive tries, Darrow and Dermot managed to properly balance on the plates and raise the portcullis long enough for Shanni to use the parts from one of her spike traps to jam the metal gate’s mechanism open. The way was now open to the next level down.</blockquote>

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