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Thus you bravely head down the shaft into darkness. You find the iron rungs protruding fairly easy to grip, but it becomes necessary to extinguish the torch you had lit as both hands and feet are neeeded to make the descent.

After 100' of descent at a steep angle you finally reach the bottom of the shaft. There is an old hemp rope tied off to one of the bottom-most rungs. Climbing down the knotted rope you find yourselves in a dark room. The air is noticeably colder and damper down here.

Someone strikes flint to steel and a torch is alit. You get a look around in the blazing torchlight and now find yourselves in a 40' E/W X 25' N/S rectangular room. The room appears empty except for a pool-like area in the NW corner of dried blood. A broken spear also litters the floor.

The only obvious exits are the rope/shaft heading up and an open doorway in the middle of the eastern wall. Over the doorway is a archway with a gothic interweaving pattern.

What are your next actions?

"Be careful before approaching the blood. There probably is a trap!" says Zavenorrin before approaching very gently the pool, stopping at a short distance and looking for anything unusual.

Turin, cleric of Sif

Turin investigates the pattern above the door. He tries to see if it's runes or some sort of ward.

Leon examines both the archway and the area around the blood for traps.

Leon snoops around, but can't find any traps present in either area (rolls behind DM screen)

You all have a look around you new surroundings. The dried blood appears quite old. You would surmise that someone or something was murdered here a long time ago but the body was either removed or consumed(?). You are not sure if the broken spear is related, but it appears of shoddy make and no real value.

The patterned archway does not appear arcane in nature to Turin, but the design is of an era long begone.

You get a look out past the archway to the east. You see an open 5' wide grey stone crudely worked passageway that extends 5' to the east and then an intersection is present - where you could continue to the east or go north, or south.

What are your actions?

Turin, curate of sif

I say we head to the north hall, friends.

{also please let me know a marching order - single file in 5' corridors - and who is torch bearer}

"Agreed, let's go north. It's as good as any a direction." says Zavenorrin, still uncertain of what the pool of blood could have come from. He takes a torch and marches in second position, behind someone who will have both hands free.

Immalor, Elf

"The North sounds as good a way as any! I will lead the way friends, some of you are injured. We should keep an eye out for ancient traps in this place."

Immalor moves cautiously with magic falchion in hand, paying careful attention to the floors and walls for anything unusual.