A quick search of the warehouse reveals two possible exits other than the front door. At the rear of the the building hidden by crates Vithrain discovers the wood of the wall has rotten near through from what looks like long ago flood damage. It might be possible to break through and into the street on the other side though it is anyone's guess how quickly you can do so.

The alternative is a small trapdoor Chadda stumbles at the bottom of the pit, hidden under the filthy matted straw. Opening it up reveals a dark, damp tunnel with the  unmistakable aroma of a city sewer. It doesn't take a genuius to realise that this is probably the way the games runners dispose of anyone unfortunate enough to meet their end in the pit.

Time is rapidly catching up with you; in a couple of moments the decision will likely be out of your hands...

"I have the ring of the Minotaur: do we need anything else, here? Shall we go?"
Now you can see that Chadda is clutching her side, that is blood stained.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:47, Mon 19 Aug 2013.

07:56, Today: Mannath rolled 4 using 2d6. Luck 11

Instinctively grabbing the coin purse and axe from his downed opponent, Mannath looked around at his companions. "Time to go people!"

While waiting for a decision he hefted his new axe and took a swing at the rotten wall, trying to make a hole big enough to get through.

In reply to Mannath (msg # 185):

"Sounds good to me!" Vithrain replies

In an instant, Tarrian appears at Mannath's side with another axe.  She chops and hacks furiously at the rotten wall, splintering timbers with each blow.

19:19, Today: Tarrian rolled 6 using 2d6. Test vs skill (target 8).

Vithrain drops back in to the ring and calls to his brother. Then he moves over to the trapdoor and gives it an experimental tug, hoping it will lift up.

The young elf archer moves over to his brother's side and pulling out an arrow notches it and aims for the main door " brother can you get it open?" He quickly asked his older sibling " if the others don't break through soon then we may need it opened to escape through"
This message was last edited by the player at 10:59, Sun 01 Sept 2013.

The Handmaiden puts her hand over Elstarir's outstretched arm.
"No, let's not get carried away. Guards are just doing their duty.
Let's put our effort in getting out of here in time, not in starting a fight with them. We fought to defend ourselves from thugs here, so that's fine, but if we'll kill Guards we'll righteously bring on us a death sentence.
Don't make stupid things."

The elf looked back at the maiden " I understand but the first head round the door will be shot at...... Fear not I will not hit it just make it think twice about coming through too quickly" he replied with a smile on his face
This message was last edited by the player at 12:16, Sun 01 Sept 2013.

"Use your head: we are here in a mission for Lady Carolina: if they catch us, we have some good reason on our side, but if we shoot at them or harm them, we'll get immediately on the wrong side of the law.
We want to get out of here quickly more out of discretion than anything else..."

"Damn it woman "said the elf slinging his bow over his back and racing towards the main doors grabbing a plank of broken wood and jamming it into the hooks on the back of the door. It might not hold for long but if he wasn't able to shoot at them then he needed to give his brother time to open the trap door and make his escape.

Mr GM - Do I need to do anything special to open the trapdoor? feel free to narrate success or failure for this:

Vithrain will give the trapdoor a tug to see if it opens.

Joined by Tarrian, Mannath laid into the wall, swinging his new found axe hard at the rotten planks. He struck as hard as he could. In between blows he puffed, "I reckon we make a big enough hole to squeeze through, then scoot down the trapdoor. Hopefully the guards will buy the bluff and we can escape."

17:15, Today: Mannath rolled 7 using 2d6. Test v skill 7.

The rotten section of wall gives way beneath the brawn of Tarrian and Mannath, the barbarian and thief making a surprisingly effective team in the way they wield their axes. Beyond the shattered timbers can be seen a narrow alleyway and the dirt encrusted wall of the neighbouring building.  It seems a tight squeeze but chances are you could all espcape without too much difficulty as all of you are slenderer than your most likely pursuers.

Meanwhile Vithrain opens the trapdoor with little difficulty.  Below is a drop of perhaps three meters into the fetid waters of the city sewer system. Again the space looks tight but you should be able to make it.  It is very dark down there; little trouble for the keen eyed Elf brothers but the humans in the party will have to trust to their other senses or light a torch quickly.

From the street outside the door you can now hear the sound of many heavy footfalls and coarse shouting along with the clatter of weapons. Whoever is coming is coming very soon.

---

OOC: You have approx one round to act before the strangers arrive.

"OK, let's go!"
The Handmaiden recovers her knoves, cleans them and is ready to go.

"Go, go, go!"  Tarrian urges, racing back from the hole she and Mannath have smashed into the far wall.  "Everyone through the trapdoor!  Now!"

She runs past the hole in the floor, defending the exit route with her axe until the others are through.

Right now the axe held no value to Mannath, so he tossed it through the opening they had made. He then turned and headed quickly for the trapdoor and lowered himself down to ground level in the stinking passageway below. He wrinkled his nose at the smell, but had experienced worse in his young life.

Once they were all down he tapped Elstarir in the shoulder, indicating that the Elf should lead the way. They would light torches later, but for now would have to trust the fey's natural talents.

Vithrain holds open the trapdoor for the others. Tarrian stands guard while the others drop down into the god-awful sewer. While the others get inside Vithrain carefully gathers up some of the filth and gore covered straw from the floor around the trapdoor and piles it up ready.

Once the others are down he calls over to Tarrian, "Your turn Tarrian, come on. I'll be right behind you making sure no one falls behind!".

Once Tarrian drops down into the sewer, Vithrain will carefully enter, pulling the trapdoor down mostly closed, he then takes his handful of cruddy straw and throws it into the air above the door before letting the trapdoor close behind him. The straw will come back down and randomly cover the hatch, hopefully making it less obvious that they went that way.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 11:46, Fri 06 Sept 2013.

Elstarir runs back from the main door that he'd jammed shut and slid gracefully across the last foot or so and dropped into the hole.

Once down he moved forward with his bow out and arrow notched, using his elf sight to see the tunnel ahead. When all were down and he knew his brother was safely behind them he started to lead the way into the darkness

Mannath, Chadda and Elstarir drop down into a dark, cramped stone tunnel.  Immediately your senses are hit by the cold and the stench: the frigid water comes up to your waists and the smell hits your nostrils like a warhammer to the face. The Elf and the Handmaiden are particularly badly hit, the thief being luckier perhaps in this regard. In the dirty streets of the northern cities Mannath has often experienced smells nearly this bad and is only mildly naueseated.

Mercifully the darkness makes it impossible to see what is floating in the grimy water. The tunnel leads off both north and south with the faintest flicker of a breeze coming from the south.

Above them there seems to be some confusion as Tarrian makes for the hole in the wall rather than the sewers leaving Vithrain with a very quick choice to make: follow the barbarian warrioress or take his chances down the trapdoor...

*whispers* "South?"

Vithrain waits for Tarrian, but for some reason she starts to move toward the hole in the wall!

"Tarrion! now is NOT the time to be a hero! Hero's end up dead or dying - get yourself down this hole now! We need you with us!"

To the hole Vithrain says, "Slight problem with Tarrian. Give us a moment."

"Brother don't be a fool leave her be she can take care of herself. No close the hatch before we are alldone for" with that the young elf archer gave his older brother a look that said don't push it and then turned and started moving south

Mannath suddenly realised that his old friend hasn't joined them in the tunnel. He half turned, preparing to go back up. But then decided against it. She was a big girl and could look after herself, and he was presently knee-deep in gods-knew what foul smelling muck in the dark. Maybe she was the smart one...

He turned back to Elstarir and spoke quietly. "She'll be fine. Come on, lets get out of here before they work out we came this way."

Once they were far enough away from the tunnel entrance he planned to light a torch to help him navigate. For now he didn't care which way they went, as long as they kept moving.

After they moved off a little and he felt safe to talk the young elf turned to the others " I suggest I go first with my brother at the rear. We have elf sight and can see in the dark. I warn against lighting a torch I understand from stories told me as a child that the waste of humans in confined space such as this lets off a gas that not only smell bad but can explode if lit...." He looked at the humans in the party slightly embarrassed but happy they couldn't see his face.