Immersive Ink

From what Dopey can surmise, we have here a 50ft wide room that is divided by a dog-leg shaped internal wall. The top of the wall makes for a catwalk, as well as a broader ledge. Yes, Dopey beleives he could clamber up onto the ledge in order to investigate further... although scrambling up onto the ledge in plate armor may not be exactly "stealthy". The voices he hears are coming fom the other side of the wall...

From where Leudigar stands (with Dopey standing on his face and shoulders) it is amply apparent that someone aught to check the right angle turn 20ft to his left...

Zem waits as the hobbit is hoisted up, he moves forward and looks down the left passage. With his axe he points, "slowly, quietly, softly" he whispers to the others.

Dopey decides to risk the climb.

He spends a minute re-oiling the joints of his armor and wraps his cloak about him, in a somewhat feeble attempt to stifle any noise; then clambers up onto the ledge, (planting a hairy hobbet foot right on the unfortunate ranger's head).

On the ledge, Dopey keeps himself to the center of the 10' width of the wall, and moves slowly along the length of the dog leg to its far end. Only then down he chance a glance down onto either side of the wall.

Once Dopey is up on the ledge, Leudiger moves down the right passage and checks the dead end. If really a dead end, he examines it for hidden or secret doors.

At the rear watch, Fried spies Kianna the Elf Sister/Fighter/Medium and Faengol the Elf medium approaching. Their added capabilities will not go amiss, and the presence of the two Elves will steady his nerves a tad...

Meanwhile, Dopey scrambles down from the ledge, with Leudigar's help, then insist upon giving the creakiest parts of his armored carapace an oiling while the tracker awaits his pleasure, and Zem creeps 20ft down the left-hand passage and peers around the corner to see another 20ft deep, 5ft wide passage that leads to a rusty iron door that is set into the wall about 6in above the ground. Squinting, and scratching his chin, he can see clear air above the 8ft wall that the portal is built into, but... Zem has a suspicion that the whole of the wall itself ain't proper; not dwarf proper at any rate...

At last, Dopey seems satisfied that his armor is lubricated enough, and allows Leudigar to boost him up onto the wall once more. Satisfied in this, the tracker strides to the dark end of the narrow passage, and gives the walls thereabouts a thorough pushing and prodding and a generally critical a eye. He spots nothing untoward in the half-dark.

Meanwhile, up top, Dopey edges along the top of the wall in the shadows, cursing every scrape and creak of his armor that must surely raise the attention of those beyond. He can hear them clearly now, whispering and muttering in the guttural goblin-speak with some urgency... there must be a few of them, he realises, as he nears the very lip of the wall that he might peer over...

"BHJJERRRKK!" goes up a harsh cry from the other side of the wall.

Dungeon Exploration Turn 6.
1st Move:
Kianna and Faengol almost catch up to Fried.
Dopey climbs down to oil his armor while Leudigar waits.
Zem investigates the left-hand passage, and the iron door.

2nd Move:
Kianna and Faengol join Fried.
Leudigar help Dopey up, then searches the right-hand passage; d6 → ?
Dopey climbs back up, then crawls along the top.
The ref dices for Dopey's attempted espionage: d6 → 4, had he removed his plate armor that would have been well, as it is in full plate armor it goes ill!

"That not right, and if it's not right it's trap" Zem remembers his lessons well and stays still at the corner ready to move one way or another.

Dopey retreats to the center of the partition wall and scrambles back towards the party.

"It's a trap," babbles the hobbet exitedly, "I'm sure I don't know how, but those devils can shoot right through the wall!"

He turns, with drawn blade, and prepares to defend the top of the wall.

Leudigar prepares his Page's crossbow, figuring he has a good chance of getting a round off at any goblins coming at them.

He moves back to the partition and creeps around the left corner, providing backup to Zem.

Dopey hardly has time to squeak his warning before there comes an ominous THUNK! from across the wall; and then! In an enormous clatter the wall falls into the floor in two foot drops: Thukka, thukka, thukka, THUNK, battering Dopey like a rag doll at each step, and pushing out a great cloud of dust in the process. In three seconds flat the wall has vanished entirely, hitting the floor level with an almighty DHOOOOM!

"BYARK!" comes a cry from across the room, and a line of waiting hobgoblins emerge from the clearing dust to loose missiles from their crossbows...

Dopey is splayed on his stomach in the center of the room, like a bug on a shield.

The players new something was afoot, but not exactly what. The decides they could legitimately be surprised; Zem less so.

So... does the hobgoblin ruse surprise the players? d6 → 5 so yes!
But Zem the dwarf knew something was afoot with that wall, so the ref decides the enemy will have to doubly surprise him: d6 → 6 and they do!

So the players are surprised in all noise and dust. Oh dear...