Riza follows after Minmorc, once down in the room she will move to the left side of the room and cover the others as they progress through the area

The tracks that Minmorc finds in the southern chamber are more like a churned trail about 2 to 3 feet wide across the surface of the grey ash slope. It looks like there are either:

• two separate trails to and from the eastern chamber with one of those trails extending further into the western chamber and back; or
• one trail that runs from the western chamber to the southern then the eastern, back to the southern then the eastern again, then back through the southern to the western chamber again.

Minmorc can't tell what it was or which way it was travelling.

Riza moves across to the southwest edge of the eastern chamber and can see those tracks winding down into and circling round inside that eastern chamber but can't see any sign of life in there at the moment.

Dregz and Oopses follow Minmorc down the slope into the southern chamber (Oopses in the inimitable style that obviously earned him his name!) while Jurz and Rog lead the rest of Team Arda-Nuff forward in their wake.

Dregz barely glances at the tracks, preferring to start off on a proper footing by relying on divine inspiration.  Wordlessly he holds up the precious Magic Stick (aka The Black Rod) to see in which direction it is pulling him.

The black rod points back the way Dregz has come, though it does angle downward a bit.

Jurz allows Rog to follow Minmorc and Riza into the sheltered area.

Bulldozer slides down the slops in a wave of ash and dust that wipes out some of the tracks that he had not yet noticed.  He makes a circuit of the large southern room sniffing the air hoping to detect the scent of anything that lives (or once lived) down here.  He slings his goose-hook on his back and draws his white-tipped flail, preferring its weight, magic and divine blessing in this oppressive place.

Moffdust slithers halfway down the slope and rolls up her blanket. She shakes the dust out of her cloak, dislodging Cat. The bat flies off wherever it will, its small squeaks fading as it leaves the south room. "I doesnt likes it here. Looks like humies made dis places." She notices where Dregz stick is pointing. "Does dat means wes has to digs?" she asks dubiously. She looks at Bully sniffing around in the corners. He likes to dig holes, but he'd probably get buried alive if he tried to dig in this dust.

She takes out a fistful of wands to hold in her left hand but casts Detect Magic and focuses her attention towards the south end of the room where Minmorc is.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:17, Sun 01 May 2016.

"Must be buried deep," Dregz replies despondently to Moffa's question. The little goblin shakes the Magic Stick but seemingly gets the same result as he tries again.

"Unless ... dis place was buried by der ash-sand ?  Mebbee der next bit we want is in der basement ?"  He peers upwards, but the bad weather outside is showing no sign of letting up, if ever it does.  "Gotta be worth a look-see."

Moffdust's spell initially indicates that yes, there is definitely magic down at the southern end of the southern chamber but she soon realises it is only what Minmorc, Bulldust and other members of the team have brought in with them. There is no sign of any other magical auras in the southern chamber.

There are two doors in the southern wall of the southern chamber, one in the eastern wall of the eastern chamber and one in the western wall of the western chamber but nothing leading directly to the north where the black rod is pointing, because the northern end of the building is completely buried in ash. If the team wants to explore other areas they will need to decide which way they want to go.

It should be noted that the ash is only loose and soft for the first few inches below the surface. Below that it is packed hard enough to walk on.

Minmorc will conclude his search of the room by giving the altar a good kick. Setting his gaze on the eastern door in the southern chamber Minmorc will take a couple of seconds to properly prepare for some dungeon delving. Careful not to disturb his rider Minmorc will stow his spear carefull and will withdraw the Axe wife. Focusing his small well of magical power Minmorc will softly pray to Nuffle for first a blessing upon the the party then for additional divine favor for himself. Axe in hand and cat on shoulder he will then move over to the door and try to open it.

The southeast door that Minmorc tackles is designed to open inward into this chamber. It is held in place by a sturdy bar on the inside, which Minmorc can easily remove. The door seems stuck but Minmorc pulls on it with great determination and finally it swings open to reveal a solid wall of densely packed grey ash behind the door, completely blocking that exit.

Bulldust goes into the western chamber and tries the door there on the left.

When Bulldust enters the western chamber he notices some fairly obvious tracks leading down toward the door at the far western end of that chamber. The broader churned up tracks that circle through all three chambers wipe out those other tracks for most of their length.

The western door is free of the grey ash and Bully is able to pull it open easily. It leads to a small landing at the top of a set of stairs that leads down into darkness towards the south. There is also another door on the western side of the landing.

OOC: Main Game Map updated

Minmorc will head west and attempt to open the Western door in the Sothern chamber.

In reply to Minmorc (msg # 31):

" I thinks this is a castle, a underground castle" shaking, where to to fear, excitement or cold it's hard to tell.

Jurz is happy to wait, somewhere between the various explorers, ready to come to their aid if  required.

The southwest door that Minmorc tackles is exactly like the southeast one he already opened. It is designed to open inward into this chamber and is held in place by a sturdy bar on the inside, which Minmorc can easily remove. The door seems stuck but Minmorc manages to pull it open to reveal a solid wall of densely packed grey ash behind the door, completely blocking that exit too.

Minmorc will take his axe and attack the dustness. If nothing happens he will head over to Bully and "playfully" nudge him towards the stairs.

In reply to Minmorc (msg # 35):

Arlein ees minmorc's grin and raises him a evacuating leap, moving to the otherside of room then preening as the dustcloud is convoked.

The ash is looser near the top of the doorway and Minmorc can easily poke his axe through to see daylight (it is only about 5:30pm at present, so it is still light outside) just above the top of the doorway. The ash would be about 6 feet deep outside this doorway. His axe can fairly easily chop through the lower levels of ash too but it is like digging through packed earth and does indeed raise a thick dustcloud around him too.

Riza moves back to the main room and, seeing Minmorc raising a dust cloud, keeps moving over to bulldust. "Found anything other than ash bulldust?"

Dregz considers the various surveys being undertaken before making his pronouncement.

"Dis way !" the little goblin calls out, trailing after Riza to make his way over to Bully at the Western door beyond which lie the stairs.  "Dis is der way to der next bit of der Magic Stick !"

Dregz and Bully are able to see that the stairs lead downward about 10 feet with an opening on the eastern side at the bottom of the stairs.

When Bulldust hears Minmorc coming up behind him he playfully steps aside, at the last moment, to let Minmorc precede him down the stairs.  He replies to Riza "Nuffing down dere so far cept stairs, an da occasional orc."  He stays on the landing to sniff the air, trying to catch the 'scent' of whatever made the tracks.

Rog and Jruz prowl over to stand behind the others.