[IC] Into the Darkness

"Might as well." Mart replies to Magnus. "What do you think, Hastali?"
Mart takes a step back before anyone opens the casket.

Hastali approaches the cqsket with extreme caution and opens it with the utmost care. Ready to jump back as soon as he sees something strange happening.

Mart peeks into the casket and gives an impressed whistle. "Not a bad start, that." He's mostly interested in the potions "It's no scepter, but perhaps I can figure out what kind of potions those are."
He patiently waits before taking the items. Magnus is the expedition leader and he doesn't want to step on any toes.

Hastali lets out a crude exclamation of satisfaction in the Hittish language.
Then he suggests dividing the coins into three parts. As for the rest, he suggests that he and Mart divide the other items fairly randomly, since they might always come in handy, but mainly to spread out the weight. Specifically, he says he’ll take the garlic necklace (in Hittish tradition, vampire stories are among the scariest) and a potion.
Of course, he lets Mart analyze the potions before taking one.Then Hastali takes another look around, and if nothing particularly strange turns up, his suggestion would be to start cautiously inspecting the wooden door to try to figure out what’s hiding on the other side.

Mart is able to identify the vials as health potions, which may be quaffed to heal bodily injuries less severe than mortal wounds or permanent scars.

"Spreading out the weight sounds like a good idea," Magnus remarks. "No good hauling a fat pack around if you wind up tripping over your own shadow under the weight." He examines the room, content to let the other two work out how to split the treasure. Best to ensure nothing surprises them while their focus is on the box, after all.

The room for its part seems otherwise unremarkable. He leans against the wall, causing a loose brick to shift ever so slightly. The quiet rumble of stone sliding aside might or might not be audible behind the discussion around the treasure discovery.

---

"Looks to be two healing draughts." Mart tells the other two. "Not as potent as leeches but good to have when you're in need of quick recovery." He hands one back to Hastali. Then he looks at the holy symbol. "Not sure which god this symbol portrays exactly. Though I suppose it never hurts to have the blessing of a god with you." He pockets it and brings his attention back to the room where Hastali is inspecting the wooden door.

Hastali watches the hatch open.
Now deciding where to go will be complicated.
Hastali's methodical nature would lead him to continue exploring the entire upper level to "complete" it.
He shares this thought with his other two companions. But he says he's absolutely willing to proceed toward the hatch if the others offer good reasons.

"I can't shake the feeling that it might be a trap." Mart tells Hastali. "Then again, it could prove to be a shortcut of some kind." He too considers the options. "Let's at least check what's behind this wooden door before we rule out the other path."

Mart walks over and tries to see if the door will open easily. If it needs more strength, he's probably not the one to handle it.

Mart looks at the bones, visible in the distance. "I suppose my leeches wont do them any good anymore." He quips to lighten the mood then his face crinkles when the rat smell hits him. "The smell is quite foul here."

"What do you say, Hastali?" He asks his companion. "This way, or the hatch?" He's happy to leave the decision up to him.

Hastali's annoyance has substantially increased with this latest discovery of the non-linearity of the route.
He's realizing that exploring dungeons isn't like working with metals and mechanisms.
"I honestly can't find a good reason to continue one way or the other!"
"I suggest we continue through this door for now, simply because it's the official route."
"Mart, since you're mapping our route, also mark the secret trapdoor."
Then he tells the others that he'll go first. He suggests they form up again: himself, Mart, and Magnus (the other "beaten king") at the back, bringing up the rear.Hastali takes the lead and begins to head down the stairs with great caution. Checking for hidden cables or pressure mechanisms underneath the steps and, of course, checking the ceiling as well.

Mart nods in agreement. "Sounds logical." He again lights the way with the torch from his middle position.

Magnus is keeping a wary eye on the mysterious trap door he accidentally opened, but it's evident he doesn't trust it. "A look around the known paths first seems more sensible than running the place like a labyrinth from the old tales," he notes.

Lining up as Hastali suggested, the party ventures down the stairs past the door Mart just opened. It is, perhaps unsurprisingly, quiet save for the slap and scraping of their leather soles against the wrought stone under their feet. The stairwell takes them slightly past the pile of bones at the bottom. They appear to be human; other partial skeletons litter the chamber besides, tangled with knots of old spider webbing.

The chamber is wide, somewhat resembling the previous chamber with the text inlaid across the floor. This one, however, has no such text carved into the floor and its original purpose is, at first glance, unclear. An initial assessment of the chamber will reveal two immediate details: there is another heavy wooden door set in the wall straight across from the stairwell, and a second set in the wall to the right.

The first door is notable for being the evident site of a recent scuffle, with a familiar-looking giant spider laying curled up not four feet away from it. A flamberge style dagger protrudes from between its mandibles; the beast is quite apparently dead.

The dust in front of the other door is, by comparison, relatively undisturbed.

Magnus trails down the stairs behind the other two, peering into the gloom past the torchlight. Upon catching sight of the tableau near the far door, he exclaims: "What in the abrogated city of dust did THAT?"

Mart is at first more interested in the bones than anything else. "Why are all these bones here? Did these people get trapped down here?" He inspects them more closely as they move past. When he notices the torch sputtering, he takes another from his backpack to light it.Only after that he notices the scene in the chamber. "Oh my!" He exclaims. "Well it looks like those spiders can indeed be killed." He leaves the inspection of the scene to the others. "Magnus, do you have any idea how deep this tomb goes? At this rate we could be here for days."

Before choosing which path to take, Hastali waits for the results of Mart's inspection and the answer to the question put to Magnus. In the meantime, however, he moves to examine the spider's body and the door in front of it, looking for clues as to who might have passed that way.