In the Halls of the Mad Mage (D&D; Undermountain)

[Rogue 9]

Etvar sees many different messages in the graffiti, mostly consisting of declarations that so-and-so was here. A few longer phrases stand out, though:

[In Common]
"Hesod - Went to check out strange music only Jayce can hear. Have a few drinks until we get back."

"It's been two days. Leave a message if you have returned. - Hesod."

"It's been two weeks. I can wait no longer. I'll search for you myself. None of our friends would come with me. If you are not with me when you read this, then I am dead. Avenge my death on those who abandoned us in our time of need. - Hesod."

[In Goblin]

"Many swords come here. Do not stay."

[In Common again]

"Here waits a secret door, but you will not find it or you won't be able to open it, and then you'll rot here in this pit. Ha ha."

"Beware the she-wolf and her night hounds. They killed Sarth."

"You came here unbidden, now you'll die in this midden."

"Tymora, remember me."

[Dwarven]

"Durembar Ironshanks was here and killed more orcs than he could count." A message in flowing Elven script ss written directly beneath Durembar's message, but Etvar doe not understand the language.

[Common]

"Beware the eastern passages. The Metal Mage has made them his home, and he is not to be trifled with."

There are many more messages scrawled upon the walls in languages Etvar does not understand.

[Jason_Firewalker]

"Alright, I will take point. That way if a beasty comes our way my hammer will surely splat him!" With a big grin, the dwarf pat the head of his giant hammer and looked down the passageway.

[B4UTRUST]

"Hmmm," was all Etvar said under his breath as he moved around the room, reading the graffeti scattered about.
"Grothar was here... Orten Ironblood triumped this day... You'd think these guys would at least say something interest..."

He paused, reading a bit of one but then the language changed to something he couldn't understand.
"Durembar Ironshanks was here and killed more orcs than he could count. I can't make out the rest of it... Looks pretty fancy though. Anyone know this one?"

He continued reading.
"Beware the she-wolf and her night-hounds... Beware the eastern passages. The Metal Mage has made them his home and he is not to be trifled with. Note to self, don't trifle with the Metal Mage..."

As he walked around more he read moe then he understood.
"Anyone know a guy named Hesod? He's in here somewhere looking for a friend."

Reading one in particular he chuckled and shook his head.
"Hells, maybe it is that easy...Here waits a secret door, but you will not find it or you won't be able to open it, and then you'll rot here in this pit. Ha ha."

Etvar began to search the area round the writing.

[Rogue 9]

While searching around the wall near the writing, Etvar found a seam at the junction between wall and floor, seeming to indicate a door. More interesting was the trail of dried slime leading across the floor and right up to the wall, disappearing through the hairline crack.

[B4UTRUST]

"Huh," Etvar questioned to himself as he examined the wall. Noticing something on the floor he bent down and pulled out his dagger, carefully scraping at it. It was dried and readily scraped off.
"Hey guys...found something over here. Looks like there's something behind this wall maybe."

He wiped his dagger clean before sheathing it again and trying to figure out how to open the door. He started trying to knock on the section of wall, trying to hear if any part of it was thinner then the rest or hollow or if it was lucky, activated a switch of some sort.

[rhoenix]

With his right hand still hovering near the handle of his greatsword, Kergan began a few slow, sweeping motions with his left. Suddenly, the emanations of the eldritch became obvious as he looked around the room.

Walking closer to where Etvar had trouble with the flowing script, Kergan felt relieved to see that it was in Elven, and began to study the script.

As he was reading, he spoke somewhat distractedly. "No, Etvar should take lead. As tempted as I might be to leap to the fore, he will be able to notice things others of us might miss, to our detriment."

[Comrade Tortoise]

Elias also walked up to the elven script. Probably not much of real interest, but there was the possibility for a warning.

he then looked over to Etvar

"Hold a second, tell me if you see anything out of the ordinary. Might warn us if there is a slime, ooze or jelly, they frequent old dark places like this, and all too often people forget to look up and end up being...dissolved... To say nothing of other things"

[LadyTevar]

Rauri smiled as she disembarked from the basket, loosening her ax and adjusting her buckler. "Good ta see th' sunrods working as promised," she said, noting she could see for a good thirty feet with no problem, and twice that distance was dimly illuminated, like summer twilight. "Further'n a torch's light, or I miss my guess. We may be able ta make do wit' only one atta time, I'm thinkin'." To her, two seemed wasteful when the sunrod's light was this good.

She paused by the elven speech under the carved dwarven. She couldn't read the dwarven, so was grateful for the translation. She had a feeling it was going to be something demeaning to the dwarf's claim of 'more orcs than he could count'.

When they found the secret door, it amused her more. "We've a grand hallway ta walk outta here, and ye all go lookin' fer a hidden door," she said in a teasing voice, glancing down said hallway to make sure it was clear. "Seems we're a pack o' nosy-nellies, nosin' in corners fer th' hidden, ignorin' th' open." She wasn't that displeased by the idea. In battle, the easy open way was often the trap. "When ye've opened it, I'll go first, if yer all willin' ta follow."

[General Havoc]

Eralis stepped off the lift, such as it was, and onto the sand of the underground passage. As the others drew their weapons and readied themselves for the trials to come, he did not move, standing stock still wiht his eyes closed, only the faintest whisper at his lips indicating that he was reciting a prayer to Tyr.

"Oh my God, who dwelith within the Celestial planes: Grant unto me, your unworthy servant, your blessings, as I seek to tread the path you have set before me. Light my way with your unending brilliance, and guide me in the dark places I must walk. Grant me the wisdom to perceive your will, and the strength and fortitude to carry it forward. Wield me, as the hand wields the sword, that I may strike down the enemies of the righteous and the just, and cleanse myself in your glory."

Eralis did not open his eyes as he reached over and gripped the hilt of his sword, drawing it slowly from its sheath and bringing the flat of the blade up to his forehead. He kissed the flat of the blade, then lowered it again, and brought the holy symbol around his neck to his lips, kissing it as well. Only then did he open his eyes, his voice dropping into a lower register.

"... amen."

There was enough light to see by, so he stowed his torches, leaving his offhand free, save for the shield slung from it, and approached the hidden door and the writings upon it. As he browsed the inscriptions he could interpret, he frowned.

"One does not hide a portal and then write of its existence on the wall that hides it," he said. "It is clear that we were meant to find this 'secret entrance'. Before we go stampeding down it, we should ask ourselves why we were meant to find it, and by whom."

He did not go so far as to state that they should not take this secret exit. After all, the person who meant for them to find it could well have been Tyr...

[Rogue 9]

There is definitely a secret door in the wall, but Etvar can find no mechanism for opening it.

Kergan notes that the Elven script below the dwarf's boast reads "That means eleven."

[Etvar and Kergan, make Listen checks.]

[rhoenix]

Listen check:

[B4UTRUST]

"Shhh," Etvar whispered as he continued his testing of the wall.

[Rogue 9]

Etvar hears what sounds like hurried whispers from the far side of the door. The phrasing sounds like the Goblin language to him, but he can't make out what is being said.

[B4UTRUST]

Etvar frowned in concentration.
"Someone's on the other side of this wall. Sounds like Goblin...can't really understand what they're saying but someone's there..."

[Comrade Tortoise]

Elias cut his voice down near a wisper

"I speak Goblin, I might be able to manage, if I can hear them through the wall"

Elias went over and put his ear near the crack in the wall

listen

[Jason_Firewalker]

"Argh. Just open it already." The dwarf looked like he was about to start yelling at his party members to move out of the way so he could kick the door down. "Aye, I be just about to bash that door in with me hammer and let Moradin decide who lives and who dies on the other side."

[B4UTRUST]

Etvar rolled his eyes and looked at Elias, speaking to him softly in goblin as well.
"Really? You speak it too? So you can understand why I might have been able to recognize it as goblin? I can't understand because the wall is muffling their voices, not because I don't speak the tongue."

[LadyTevar]

"So... the goblins are behind a door we can't get open?" Rauri clarified, pulling her axe out just in case the goblins knew how to get it open from their side. "Leave it, I say. There's another tunnel out, we can go that way, but be keepin' an eye on this in case they come through."

Somehow, she figured her opinion would fall on deaf ears, but she had to try suggesting a -reasonable- course of action before they do something stupid.

[Rogue 9]

The goblin voices cut off suddenly, leaving only silence. Further searching for a means to open the door from this side proved fruitless.

[LadyTevar]

"Well... tha's a bad sign," Rauri said when the goblins stopped talking. "Shall we be seein' if this tunnel leads round that way? Two wrongs may not make a right, but three lefts do..."

[rhoenix]

Kergan's eyes narrowed as the sounds of conversation behind the door ceased. Nodding to Rauri's comment, he looked to Etver. "Etver, mind taking lead? I've a feeling we'll be meeting some new friends soon."

[B4UTRUST]

Etvar shrugged. Might as well try one last thing just to check. If there were goblins behind the wall it might work. Of course it might not. But there was always the possibility that the species of goblin behind it wasn't to bright.

He knocked on the stone wall in a manner that was vaugly though not completely, similar to that of one that happened to originate as a seven note couplet on a far away world in another time in which the use was to request ones hair be cut and facial scruff removed. Then in goblin he spoke loudly following the knock.
"Hey, open up the door! You know we can't open the door out here like this!"

[rhoenix]

Kergan almost burst out laughing at Etver's idea, but quickly caught his reaction before he made any noise. Managing to keep a straight face, he yelled in a gravelly voice speaking Goblin. "Nah, let them lazy bastards starve, we're the ones who caught this delicious dinner! Let them keep the door shut!"

[Comrade Tortoise]

Elias chuckled inwardly as he got back behind the sword slingers ready to blast the goblins should they be stupid enough to open the door

[LadyTevar]

"if this works...." Rauri whispered, slipping into a martial stance. "... I'll be chargin' thru so they canna close it."