(Nothing to be sorry about. :-)
Don't know what Tanea will do instead right now, but she will 100 % not walk through that portal. The placement is all wrong and I agree with her on that ... or she with me? Doesn't matter.
More importantly: Did you look up what Tanea means? Did you just happen to know? Or is it some really freaky coincidence? o.O)

(Very curious events in Turn 11, Tanea and I will have to contemplate that more. And wait for my chat question to be answered. Not to mention see what others do.)

(@BenKii: It's ok for BenKii -the ... other one :-)- to walk through that portal. Tanea may not need to walk through it to join up with all of you again later -if you survive that portal-/or find her way out of here without you -if she survives what she will do next-.)

*Somewhere in the middle of the space-time continuum, eagerly awaiting to see where the portal leads*

( The fact that Doc doesn't want to reveal the portal's destination immediately is a bit worrying.. did we f**k up? O_o' )

(Everyone who went through that should be more worried about Rufus. He will cast Ring of Swords, when there is a threat on the other side. Which prabably means, everyone too close or not close enough to him will get cut to ribbons. ;-D )

(And everyone who wants to walk through should probably do it now. Could be the portal will close after Doc revealed where it lead to or after Rufus has cast Silence. And we don't know what's behind the big door at the end of the tunnel.)

(Well, whatever it is, things will be getting very interesting soon!)

( A little insight into how Captain Benkii, my character, thought processes. To him, hearing Tanea is going by herself back to the central chamber against eight rats who may or may not be hostile towards her is a suicide mission. He cares deeply for the halfling and doesn't want to see her get hurt so he opted to protect her realizing that the massive party going into the portal is more than capable of saving Roosevelt. )

( The decision to me was similar to the one in Mass Effect where the main character had to decide between saving Ashley or Kaiden. In that game however the one you didn't save dies, in this game he makes the best decision based on the chances of survival for both. )

( So to answer your question, Captain BenKii will be sticking with Tanea until her mission with the rats is complete. )

(I was expecting it might be something like that. But don't blame me, if all you are left with is the door at the end of the tunnel and you get your behind roasted or something. ;-)
I will post actions tomorrow, I think. I have a basic idea how I'd like to proceed, but I need to think a little more. Sometimes I decide and _then_ come up with something else. So far, sticking with the original actions has led to interesting/good results though, so I'm not complaining.)

( Lol please not like this. XD
I hope the others will be fine, but luckly Loradan joined them only after various minutes. Plus he has magic protection :P )

( Ok, I'll wait to see what actions you take before taking my turn. Currently Captain BenKii has the mountain painting and Tanea has the meadow painting from fish. We could have the two paintings up against each other while walking back to the chamber to prevent anything from escaping that one painting.)

(Edit: I just realized Roy was the one that has the painting and he hasn't given it to you yet. My bad. )

Did everyone decide what to do in this turn? Let's not skip another day doing nothing, please.

( Do you know something that we don't? O_o'
Btw in theory I said "prepare to enter the portal" and not "entered", because I wanted to wait a turn. But I'll go with what Doc wrote.)

(I have no idea where you will end up and what you will face. But I don't believe it will be where Roosevelt is. And I suspect it will involve some kind of big fight, seeing _where_ that portal was found. -Wall right next to a powerful Hag.- Edit: Hmm ... Maybe the twist is, that it's another way out?)

(I do have an _extremely_ vague idea about that wolf figurine. But ... that's probably nonsense, seeing how I couldn't find anything about wolfs in regards to dungeons and dragons that would fit my idea. It just took me by surprise, that it's a wolf of all things it could have been _and_ comes in a pair with that bead necklace Loradan gave to Tanea. Although ... It's not clear, if it's actually a pair or just two separate things that happened to end up together. I'm extremely excited to see where all of this will lead.)

(I will post my action/s shortly, I think. It always takes me a while to sort my thoughts and actions and write it down.)
(Edit: I really should doublecheck spelling and stuff before posting. :-/ )

Tanea, Halfling Shaman (female)
To my surprise, Roy doesn't say "No" right away, when I ask him for the painting, which causes me to smile brightly at him ... only for him to suggest shortly after to use one of the rats to test how the painting works, which ... surprises me once more, the smile dying on my face. I really don't know what to make of him.
And Silent, who had summoned two ghastly looking creatures and ordered one to attack BenKii ... points out I wouldn't be happy about that and makes a different suggestion for the test. Leaving me puzzled about his motivations too.
Already thoroughly confused, I watch the "Test" Roy performs. The stone he lays onto the painting's surface just ... sits there ... on the painting, like it is a table or any other ordinary surface place. Then he tries to push his hand through and it actually looks like ... something? ... is pushing back against it? What does that mean?! Is it one way only - out in this case? What would that be good for? To have an out but no back in? Or is that the whole point of it? To be some kind of trap for whatever lives in that scenery? I recall BenKii saying the rats may have lived here all their lifes. I haven't encountered any water here so far, so their claws wouldn't have left prints leading into the painting. They (obviously) would have to have gotten wet and muddy while in "the painting" and left tracks when they came back out. But that would mean, there is a way in. Just not for everyone/everyhing? And if the rats actually live in there, _they_ might still be able to return? ... Unless it's a trap. Then ... Suddenly ... No! I ... that can't ... ... Maybe I _am _ going insane?
Silent's attempt to gain knowledge about that mysterious red brick shakes me out of my slight shock and futile musings about ... that. But the red brick doesn't want to reveal it's secrets ... to him, as Loradan manages to dispel it (a storage space we get to know) and take whatever it hides. Well, one of these things turns out to be a bead necklace with a wooden figurine of a Halfling attached to it, because that's what he pushes into my hand as he passes to walk over to the right room and step through that cursed blue portal, like Rufus, Peloquin, Siegfried and Gilius did before him. Don't they see that the placement is all wrong?! Apparantly not. I didn't even get the chance to grant them the protection of my only usefull spell in that regard. That's how eager they were. But now I see bones scattered across the floor of the right room, much like that grotesque picture in my head from earlier. Suddenly there is another picture: The image shows 8 giant rats gnawing on the remains of three Orcs. I blink and swirl my head around towards the main chamber. There is ... nothing. Didn't the Ice Elemental walk down towards that chamber? I frown; even more so when I realize, that the coldness in my bones is gone. Didn't that Ice Elemental stand right in front of the right room when I got that other picture? I look to the right room again. Yes. The bones. The portal ... there must have been that red slab of wall? But ... "Tanea! Can you use your Ice Elemental to somehow extinguish the flames?" Gilius' voice echos in my memory. ... My ... Ice Elemental? Gilius ... He left, I can't ask him.
And ... if those picture weren't me going insane, but real ... then ... that ... But what about the rats? The picture of them gnawing on Orcs comes back up. Rats are omnivorous. They eat what they can get. In fact, there probably isn't much they won't eat. I shudder, just a little. I would be an easy snack for them, seeing how they are as big as me. Do they live here? Do they live in the painting? If they don't live in the painting, could they go and live there? Or would it be a bad idea - for them or those already living there? I don't know. What do I do now? I want to get them home ... but is it their home? I'm deeply confused ... about a lot of things.

Tanea, Halfling Shaman (female)
--------------------
58 - FlockeSchnee - Tanea - Halfling Shaman
1. Tanea inspects the necklace. EDIT: And the attached figurine in case that wasn't clear for some reason.
2. Then, if she can't find anything harmful about it, she will put it on and wait a few minutes. If everything still seems "normal", she will keep wearing it (at least for the time being).
3. Tanea tries to look further up the tunnel. (How far is it? Can she see the door? How big is it? Anything else of note?)
4. Chat sent.
5. Tanea waits to see what Roy will do with/about the "Trees and Grass" painting and she will cast "Protection From Elements" on anyone still here who will leave through the portal.
--------------------
No changes from starting equipment (Staff, 2x Heal potion).
5 spells cast (of 12): 1x Calm Animals (on Turn 2, already expired), 1x Heal (on Siegfried),
2x Protection from Elements (on Roy Jenks - Turn 8; on Siegfried - Turn 9),
1x Summon Ice Elemental on Turn 5 (ends end of Turn 9/beginning of Turn 10)
SINCE TURN 10:
19 spell casts available, none used; otherwise no change from before;
Ice Elemental vanished Turn 11; Recasting only for Turn 15 or later

Haha, this just made me remember Guenhwyvar from Drizzt! Maybe the statue is similar? Doc did state you could summon creatures from items too, when mentioning the summoning rules. It might be a figurine of wondrous power.

[68 - Peloquin - Dwarven Thief]

It was my first time stepping through a portal. Being a Dwarven Thief, I feel my strongest when lurking within darkness and shadows. But stepping into the portal, I was jolted by a sudden blast of bright light. It felt as if the sun had flooded my skull and lightening had set my blood on fire. I felt vulnerable and disoriented, but kept such fears buried deep inside my gut. I thightened my grip around my Light Hammer and made certain I was still wearing my Ring Of Free Movement. Was I floating in a sea of nothingness? I could sense Rufus's presence near me, and possibly the presence of others too, but I could not see anything for the moment. I felt like my journey through the portal was taking a lifetime, like I was travelling very, very, very slowly... but as the destination soon revealed itself, it became quite clear that the feeling of standing still inside a portal is nothing but an illusion.

++++++++++++++++++++++++
High constitution. Leather armour.
1 x cure poison potion. 1 x heal potion.
Lockpicks. Trap disarm kit. Rope.
Ring of free movement - this ring means traps and spells to ensnare me will not work.
Shortbow and quiver of enchanted arrows (paralyze).
Lucky dagger. Light hammer.