I would like to examine the door and pick the lock.

OOC: Kemuel pulls an arrow out of his ear.. lol sorry about that!

"Exile, are you sure? Perhaps with the combined strength of the four of us we could outwit the beast? As a Knight I am able to wreak extra damage against Dragons. However if you have something in mind, lets give it a shot!"

There is no door here, to be precise. It is an open doorway, made narrow because the wall extends both from the north and the south (see map).

On the wall to your left (see map) there is a large purple lever that you may pull, if you choose.

The sound of gears and metal scraping upon metal continues to echo throughout this passage to your east.

Beginning round 15:

Rohan - move 4 or act
Exile - move 4 or act
Kemuel - move 3 or act
Arkades - move 2 or act

(Again, if you want to walk through someone else's square, that's OK. Map updated.)

Move right 4

You advance 3 spaces east before you come to a screeching halt.

To your east, the entire floor is covered in thousands of sharp metal spikes, several feet long.

The corpses of the bandits who fled from the battle earlier lie before you, impaled on the spikes.

They are too numerous to bypass or move between. If you wish to continue moving through this hallway, you must find another way.

Fifteen feet above your head, there is a bar that moves along the ceiling. It slides on a track, going back and forth from the point where you are standing to the end of the hallway and around the corner.

Theoretically, if you could jump up and grab onto the bar, it would take you all the way down the hallway and around the corner. If there are no spikes at the end of the hallway, you could then jump off the bar, having been ferried across safely.

Being a spy, you have improved climbing skills, so you might be able to climb along the wall and jump off of it, grabbing onto the metal bar and taking it for a ride over the spikes.

However, that does not solve all of your problems. For you are but one of a party of four, and no one else in the group has your climbing skills. Surely, there must be another way for them to get across. But how?

The dragon has entered the southern room. It issues a primal scream that rattles the very bricks of the dungeon walls. It's breath is poisonous gas, and it is beginning to fill the room.

If you wish to survive, you must either find a way across the spikes quickly, or charge the mighty dragon and defeat it before it can kill you with its talons and poisonous breath, then take the passage up north.

Remaining turns for round 15:
Exile - move 4 or act
Kemuel - move 3 or act
Arkades - move 2 or act

MAP UPDATED

Remaining turns for round 15:
Exile - move 4 or act
Kemuel - move 3 or act
Arkades - move 2 or act

"I almost pity these poor Bandits. What an end to have met. However, time is against us and we must act!"

Kemuel moves to the lever and pulls it.

You pull the lever with a mighty heave. The walls on either side of the door begin to close in on each other. They are heavily fortified. If everyone joins you in the hallway, you should be able to keep the dragon out.

The walls will slam the doorway shut by the end of this round. Arkades and Exile still have time to enter the hallway with you.

On the other hand, if you choose to head back into the room to your west, you may do so by pulling the lever back up.

Remaining turns for round 15:
Exile - move 4 or act
Arkades - move 2 or act

It has been over 24 hours, so I have used the remaining turns.

Exile and Arkades have retreated behind the sliding wall.

The dragon is locked out for now.

Now, you are faced with a tough prospect: figure out how to get over the spikes, or you can turn back, pull the lever to open the sliding wall and take the longer route (including facing down the mighty dragon.)

Round 16 turns:
Arkades - move 3 or act
Exile - move 3 or act
Kemuel - move 2 or act
Rohan - move 2 or act

OOC: Map updated.

You may discuss amongst yourselves, if you wish. That doesn't count as an action.

OOC: I do apologize for my absence. I hadn't realized I hadn't posted in the last 24 hours and was planning to check this before I went to bed.

The cleric wheezed a bit, hands on knees, before straightening and holding up a hand to gain the party's attention. "My sons, I cannot call upon the Light for healing at the moment. I fear any attempts to face the dragon without the Light's aid are doomed to failure. Might we find a way to pass through this devilish mechanism?" He pondered a moment, hand on his chin. "If there is one thing I have learned from my years in libraries, it is that all dungeons and catacombs must be built. If there is a trap, then there is a way that the builders used to avoid their own trap. Does anyone know how to search for hidden mechanisms or passages?"

No need to. Can't expect everyone to be around everyday. (Except me, I guess... I'm on the net half of the day because of my oddball job so I come here for a break every now and again.) =) OOC: OOC: A wise decision, but Rohan has already used his enhanced senses to scour the room. You know everything you need already, though it may require some careful thought.

I will not make it a habit of giving away too many hints, but I will say this: there are at least two ways to get the party across, but you may have to experiment and/or read through the events that have transpired throughout the quest.

OOC: Aye, and I'm pretty sure I've figured out at least one of them, but I'm trying to stay in character and a middle-aged cleric on his first adventure is not likely to be the one to figure out an ancient death trap ;D

The cleric studied the spiky abyss thoughtfully. "As I see it, we have a possible solution. Our brother Rohan may be able to take the rope and attach it to the handle there. I doubt the mechanism will hold all our weight at once, but with the rope attached to the handle, we may be able to scale up to the handle. If there is no way to send the handle back when Rohan arrives, the rope may also enable us to draw the handle back." He sighed, leaning heavily on his cane. "I don't relish the idea, but unless we're going to take on a dragon, I feel it's our only option."

He glances at the spikes and then the undead beside him, before watching the tunnel from where they came. He could still feel the mighty beast that awaited them, "Do what we need too. I shall be the last one to go across. Be Strong my friends."