Immersive Ink

Once the little guy(s) determine the doorway is safe, Dieter does indeed enter the room. He only pauses to light a torch (which he holds in his shield hand, along with the shield strap) and then proceeds cautiously down the stairs (avoiding the trapped one).

Desmond replies, "Don't know. I was just in the process of pushing the door open when the other creature yanked the door open. I didn't get a look at anything in the room aside from a two-headed halfling staring right back at me..."

Desmond descends the stairs, avoiding (and reminding the person behind him to do the same) the trapped step.

Olaf moves forward as the line moves. He keeps a close eye on the rear and sides. There was a slime creature here before and there's talk of evil doubles, not to mention werewolves and more. Plenty to keep a watch for!

Demond/Mondes and Dieter lead the way down the secret stair, avoiding the trapped step--and edging around the (closed) trapdoor lid at the bottom of the stair. At this point, they are more-or-less directly above the Abysmal Pit.

However, with the trapdoor closed there is no access to the pit from here, and so they proceed directly ahead down a short passage toward the reliquary door. Before they get there they can already see that the vault door is open.

The company file down the passage toward the underground vault and immediately see that the ivory illumination that lit this place previous has been extinguished. As soon as they are near enough to light the way with lantern and torch, it is apparent that the reliquary has been sacked and vandalised since the company were last here.

However, there is nobody here but they players.

What now?

"Did no one close the door when we left it before?" Desmond asks, incredulously.

He moves to the entrance and looks around to see if it is possible to close and open the door from the inside of the Reliquery.

The "door" to the reliquary is more a solid iron wall that--last time you were here--required an Enigma of Thuul as a kind of key; the using of the key caused the heavy iron door to mechanically rise into the ceiling space.

This time around, the door is already opened; retracted into the ceiling cavity. It isn't evident who could have raised it, but who ever it was most probably used an Enigma of Thuul (or else, thinks Ulric to himself, a cunning sorcery against locks).

Is this room defensible? Dieter scans the place looking for weaknesses. Assuming it is:

"We could rest here," he says. "And if you have any miraculous way to find the Gustave, you can use it."

waysoftheearth wrote:The "door" to the reliquary is more a solid iron wall that--last time you were here--required an Enigma of Thuul as a kind of key; the using of the key caused the heavy iron door to mechanically rise into the ceiling space.

This time around, the door is already opened; retracted into the ceiling cavity. It isn't evident who could have raised it, but who ever it was most probably used an Enigma of Thuul (or else, thinks Ulric to himself, a cunning sorcery against locks).

| Understood. I was looking to see if there was any way of lowering it back into place from the inside, so... a lever or a place to insert the Enigma of Thuul, lowering the iron wall so the party might safely rest behind it. |

The room of with the three naves looks perfectly defensible.
Even with the door open, a couple of stout fighters could hold the narrow choke point against many. However, with the door shut it would be virtually impenetrable.

Desmond/Mondes pokes about just inside the room but doesn't see a lever, or any kind mechanism for closing the door...

Dorgan will look for a clear spot to sit down and he'll rest his weary bones.