Immersive Ink

doctorx wrote:
Josiane will continue to keep watch in the room above until the door or whatever it may be is opened.

mushgnome wrote:
Highbough inspects the edges of the "door" and its frame. He is looking for scratch marks created by the rusty metal door grinding against the surrounding stone frame. He figures this would give some clue which direction the door opens.

"Be careful;" he cautions. "Whatever is behind this door will be at least as dangerous as what we've seen before..."

waysoftheearth wrote:mushgnome wrote:
Highbough inspects the edges of the "door" and its frame. He is looking for scratch marks created by the rusty metal door grinding against the surrounding stone frame. He figures this would give some clue which direction the door opens.

"Be careful;" he cautions. "Whatever is behind this door will be at least as dangerous as what we've seen before..."

"Well, open it already!" Olaf mutters from the back of the pack.

Rufus, Ulric, and Invisible Highbough crowd up against the seemingly impassible iron bulkhead.

It is a sheer, iron slab riveted round its edge, and showing slight sighs of oxidation, but none whatever of any weakness. At about a Man's shoulder height there is a hemispherical protrusion, also apparently of solid iron, in the center of which appears to be a small, shuttered aperture. The aperture is closed.

All are convinced the whole of it is an extremely stout portal, that likely opens by being drawn up or down rather than swinging on hinges. A solid portcullis, if such a thing could be imagined....

Desmond stares at the door with the others and finally says, "Well... try pushing that ball in the center? Or does it look like sommit can be put in a recess in the orb, maybe? Like a key or a gem?"

Dorgan will look to see if there's a gap above or below the door, if indeed it is like a portcullis.

Wherever there's a gap, Dorgan will attempt to lift/push it to see if it moves up or down.

If it doesn't move, can Dorgan tell if it's because it's too heavy or because it's locked?

Dorgan moves through the crowd in the corridor, bumps into Invisible Highbough (beg yer pardon), and examines the iron door for himself. He can't reach the top of it, but pressing his face up to the door and squinting upward he reckons there might be a fractional gap between the face of the door and the rock of the ceiling.

Getting down to hands and knees in front of the door, he finds no such gap at the bottom. It looks rightly as though the massive thing has plonked down onto the rock. In fact, the great weight of it looks to have chipped and cracked the stone in a few places...

"I could use my magic to heat up the door," is the helpful suggestion of Highbough.

Dorgan will have a quick look at the aperture, and will attempt to open the shutter and see what's behind it.

sully wrote:Dorgan will have a quick look at the aperture, and will attempt to open the shutter and see what's behind it.

The shutter is hinged, like a tiny door. Pushing his finger into it causes the little shutter to swing inward, revealing a narrow opening about 2in tall and not more than a half inch wide. Withdrawing his finger, the shutter presses itself shut again. Dorgan divines it to be a masterfully made key hole.