Chapter 7: Luck, or Hard Work?

[jstater]

I'll stay about 10 feet behind Shybolt so he can scout a bit.

[Sir Bedivere]

"Right. Off into the wild beyond, then. Lead on, Master Shybolt."

[Solomoriah]

As Shybolt rounded the corner, he saw that the corridor opened out a ways ahead, and then ended in a wall; in the center, he saw a pair of heavy metal-bound doors with a massive bar across them. The corridor was thick with dust and cobwebs, and the door was likewise shrouded.

[Hywaywolf]

Shybolt will pass on what he sees to the others, then from where he stands at the last corner he will look at the webs to see if anything is moving on or behind them or if there is anything held in the webs. He'll check the floor for dessicated carcasses or anything else that might show something is living and hunting in the webs. He'll check the walls for anything like arrow slots or bolt holes that might give away the presence of a trap. He'll also inspect the ceiling to see if there is any movement, discoloration, glimmer, wetness, glowing eyes or any other sign that something bad waits to drop on his head. He'll also listen closely while doing this and if he doesn't hear or see anything, he'll wave the others up to his position and whisper,

"Looks pretty unused. There must be a reason that all the other passages had frequent use but this one remains untouched. Hold on to the end of this rope in case I fall in a pit. Watch my back closely while I investigate."

He'll then tie the end of his rope around his waist, be sure that someone had a type grip, and then slowly move forward, holding the torch up and forward and probing the floor in front of me with my short sword. If I make it to the door without dying, I will stop and listen and watch every inch of space around me.

[jstater]

Grumm will prop his weapon against the wall and take the rope with both hands.

[Nekron99]

Brother Arven seeing Grumms preparations to hold onto a rampaging dragon rolls his eyes and chuckles. "Grumm, really, Shybolt only weighs like fifty pounds. He could fall into a pit and would still float to the bottom like a feather." Regardless Brother Arven steps so his back is touching Grumm's so that at a moments notice he can assist. He faces the passage the group has just come from and watches for any signs of pursuit.

[Sir Bedivere]

Timorel steps aside so as not to become an elf sandwich between Arven and Grumm. He has both spell and sword ready.

[Solomoriah]

Mmm... elf sandwich...

Shybolt advanced carefully, inspecting the passageway carefully as he went. He saw no signs of danger, no spiders larger than a pinhead nor any traps of any sort. Upon reaching the doors, he listened carefully while simultaneously inspecting the area.

Beneath the shroud of cobwebs he saw what might be writing, rudely graven into the wood of the door as by a dagger or swordpoint. He could not make out the characters through the dust and spiderwebs, however; he wondered if it were safe to brush them aside.

[Hywaywolf]

shybolt looks back to make sure the party is watching him, and then moves to the far right of the door and away from the wall and uses his sword to move the cobwebs gently away from the words.

[Solomoriah]

The writing exposed by Shybolt's sword was in a runic script unknown to him. Timorel thought it looked a little like ancient lizard-man, but he couldn't actually read any of it.