"I think we should search for the belt on this level before venturing down.  And I would like to find Ishpemo's rooms.  Mentally backtracking, he lists the side passages they'd passed and recounts what they'd learned of them.

"The passage to the west leads down to a door into the dark tower.  The giants said they weren't allowed to go that way.  We need not go down there yet.

To the west of the pool I walked a dead-end passage.  There may be a hidden door there.  We could test that.

East of the pool was a wide passage.  We should look there first.

And from the Giants room a narrow passage went north. The Giants said Helleyes men brought their meals from there.  We should search there last."

He looks around to hear what the others want to add.  If they agree, he'll lead off towards the wide eastern passage.

"Sounds like a good enough plan to me," Brindle agrees readily with Tesseryn's suggestion.

"Don't worry, we're looking for your mate Vastavaar, too," he reassures Haltashaar. "Since we don't know where he is, this is as good as any place to start looking for him."

Wrukaog takes back the jewelled sword with a very toothy smile and handles the two-handed weapon with something akin to genuine affection before sliding it back into its scabbard on his back.

"Hope we find something soon that needs killing," he mutters.

While Aurion searches fruitlessly for secret doors in the cell block, the rest of you reach agreement on the path you will follow next, electing first, as Tesseryn suggests to test yourselves against the temptations of the wide passageway that lies east of the pool (Haltashaar agreeing with Brindle that it's as good a place as any to look for his missing friend).

The Elf has more success with the water serpent as he once more holds up the mayor's ring, waiting until you have all gained the passage way before following suit.

The passage proves not at all elusive, revealing its secrets in the light of Aurion's glowing pebble, as those to the fore stop at the edge of a deep pit while those behind manage to avoid accidentally pushing them into it.

The pit edge where you stand is about twenty feet from the blank wall that marks the end of the wide corridor, covers its full fifteen foot width, and is about sixty feet above its base.  In the north east corner of the pit at the limits of your light's reach, you espy a narrow stair leading down even further into the depths.

OOC: Map of the proceedings updated ...

"That's odd, isn't it? Why would anyone build such a deep pit with a staircase leading out the bottom, unless it is a trap of some kind? I wonder whether it is really what it looks like?" Brindle muses.

He takes a ball of string and an empty flask from his backpack, ties the flask on the end of the string as a weight and lowers it down into the pit to test its depth.

"A deep pit so near a pool... it does look dangerous Brindle." He casts Detect Magic to look for clues.

Tesseryn casts Daylight on Brindle's flask and peers into the pit looking for secret pipes connecting the pit and pool.

The pit is flooded with a bright shining light as Tesseryn's casting envelops the flask that Brindle cautiously lowers, but shows naught but bare walls of solid-seeming stone ... while the vessel itself settles predictably on the floor, confirming the sixty feet depth that you had estimated.

Aurion, however, learns something new as his spell of detection reveals a moderately strong conjuration covering the lower ten feet or so of the entire north wall, which the Elf is certain relates to a teleportation effect of some kind.

"There is a magical effect at the bottom of the north wall." Aurion says, looking into the pit. "A teleportation perhaps. But I can't say whether it may teleport us out or someone else in. I'm not ready to risk such an unknown, not until we've explored the simpler options on this level."

He walks back to the doorway on the northwest side of the pool, keeping the water monster at bay with the serpent ring while others follow if they so choose, then enters the dead-end passage and starts searching for secret doors. He does his best to maintain concentration of Detect Magic as he searches, interested in the dark stone section of the wall.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:49, Sun 28 June 2020.

Tesseryn stares bleakly into the pit a while longer, then looks quizzically at the his companions.  "Anyone want to go down on a rope?  I can help Wrukaog hold this end."  If there are no takers, he will follow Aurion to the dead end passage and help with searching there.

The halfling shrugs.  "Reckon the pair of you should be able to bear my weight," he agrees, deadpan. "Bend your knees when you lift."

Turning to grin at Brindle, Cogwitz ties one end of the proffered rope around his ample belly and nods to Tesseryn to lower him down.

Cogwitz's prediction proves true and Tesseryn and Wrukaog manage to lower him down into the pit with little difficulty.  As the Halfling stamps his feet the stone floor below proves solid.

Carefully avoiding the North wall, and with the rope still wrapped tight around him, Cogwitz slowly descends the stairs ...

... only to return, rather quickly, shivering noticeably.

---

Meantime, Aurion makes good use of the Mayor's ring to once more pacify the water creature.  The Elf detects no magical auras as he makes his way down the passageway, and his search for secret doors proves equally fruitless until he reaches the very end where his way is blocked by a wall of stone and his fingers alight on a projection of stone that moves beneath his touch.

The stone grinds noisily as it swings aside to reveal another temple to Set, very similar to the one on the level above with awful mosaics lining the walls, a black marble floor with gold tracery, and a black-stone statue of the god, some twenty feet tall standing prominently against the east wall.  The statue is flanked by burning braziers and behind it is the same cold black stone that is the outer wall of the Dark Tower.  This temple lacks the wooden pews but instead has a blood-stained altar, complete with the corpse of what was assumedly the latest sacrificial victim to meet his end thereupon.

An opening at the western end of the room provides a glimpse of a similarly decorated room beyond.

OOC: Map of the proceedings updated ...

"C-c-c-co.. it's freezing down there!" Cogwitz complains, teeth chattering.

"Empty room, about the same size as this one, with one door leading out.  Didn't try to open it with more swords at my back or preferably in front of me."

"Bravely done, Cogwitz."  Tesseryn compliments the halfling, truely impressed.  "I don't feel the cold as much as some, so perhaps I should investigate, now that I know I shan't be teleported into the court of Haffrung Helleyes.  Wrukaog, would you please assist with the rope?"  If the orc agrees, Tesseryn will descend and investigate the cold room.

"That's more like it." Aurion mutters to himself as he stands in the doorway. He takes a few moments to study the aura of the room using Detect Magic, and to memorise a few distinguishing featured of the corpse. Then he closes the door and returns to the others.

He will relate all he has learned and describe the body as tactfully as possible, aware that it may be Vastavaar that he is describing. "I can show you?" he offers.

"Yeah, alright," Wrukaog agrees, "but if youse find a fight, I want in too!"

"I will come with you," Brindle offers.

"I can check for magic down there and if we need to get back up again quickly I can help with that too."

Having carefully studied the temple with more than just his normal Elvish vision, Aurion returns.  His attempts to allay the fears of the ex-prisoners serve only to alarm them, but it soon transpires that the poor victim upon the altar slab is not their missing companion if only by dint of lack of height.  Nobody seems keen to go and look for themselves. 

With Cogwitz hauled back up, Wrukaog lowers down Tesseryn and Brindle, and the pair cautiously head off down the stairs.  It's dark indeed down there, but the Halfling holds on tight to the ex-Paladin's belt and moves when he does the stairs descend perhaps fifteen feet or so to what Tesseryn describes as a small room, perhaps fifteen by twenty feet, side to side with a door in the north wall and, as Cogwitz had warned, unnaturally cold if entirely bare. 

Brindle casts his spell of detection, not needing light for such.

Before casting his spell to search for magic, Brindle asked Tesseryn if it was safe to create some light so Brindle could see too. If Tesseryn agreed then Brindle used his flint and steel to light a candle first.

After casting his Detect Magic spell he reported, "There is a moderately strong magic aura over the whole room. That's what is making the room so cold."

Then he went to the door and began to search it for any sign of traps or any sound from the other side.

The light doesn't make the room seem any warmer, nor does it reveal any further useful details.

Brindle finds no traps upon the door ... but after pressing his ear against the wood for some time he hears the sound of footsteps, as if of metal shod boots upon stone outside, growing louder then receding then repeating after a short while.

Brindle reports what he heard in a whisper but his teeth are chattering so badly it takes a while to make himself understood.

"Metal shod boots. Approaching, retreating, over and over. A guard perhaps? So cold here. So cold."

He backs slowly away from the door.

"Go back up if you need to, Brindle." Tesseryn advises distractedly.  He tries the door, opening it fully if unlocked, otherwise knocking loudly.

"Oh good, someone else's friend then." Aurion gazes impassively into the pit, waiting for the explorers to return or the screams to start...

"Yeah," Cogwitz shakes his head in sadness at Aurion's words. "Poor fellow - could have been anyone one of us that fell foul of these fiends."

"Best if nobody wanders off.." the halfling stares down worriedly into the pit.

Down below, Brindle informs Tesseryn of what he has heard, though the Halfling is shivering with the cold.  Though not without some sympathy for his companion's suffering, the ex-Paladin elects to open the door, Brindle's light revealing shadowy corridors running north and west.

The sounds of metal shod boots (or though rather unlikely, perhaps the hooves of horses) clattering on the stone flags, somewhere out of sight from both directions.