[color=red]"Shush! I'm not the one who got stuck in a ruddy hole!" she says with a smile.
Then, after Viscaria slides through the hole, she looks at Amos. If he doesn't go first, she will, with an admonition not to look and taking great care not to let anything peek out from beneath her robes as she crawls/slides headfirst through.
Trying vainly to save some measure of dignity Terrence suggests, "I bet it's a trap, if you don't say the command word, it shrinks on you."
"He doesn't wear a loincloth? That has got to chaff," comments the faerie-raised and free spirited Verditus, moments before she leaps headfirst down the chute/tunnel/hole-thing.
A few seconds later, Viscaria and Terrance find themselves standing in a room that would look identical to the room they just left, if you replaced all the barrels with a single, pristine-looking ancient pile of bedding straw and a gorgeously crafted chamber pot. The open door is also different, consisting of a series of metal bars instead of oak panels. There is an dim, even light coming from no apparent source.
Terrance finds the room somehow comforting. Viscaria (and the other wizards when they enter) finds the room inexplicably claustrophobic.
Cygna wanders over to the door, looking through and examining the metal bars (taking care not to touch anything yet). [color=red]"Is anyone else reminded of a dungeon?"
"I was right, it IS a trap."
[color=red]"If it were a trap, would the door be open?"
Cygna pokes her head through the open door and takes a quick look around.
"Then why do I feel as if I won an argument, or just so right?"
Through the door is a long, wide corridor made of white marble, exquisitely crafted, and delicately engraved. Prison doors are evenly spaced along both sides. The place looks ancient, untouched, yet there is no dust.
Viscaria is getting very antsy just looking around. Between her fidgeting and Terrance's prattle, Cygna can't hear anything from the corridor -- though she feels oddly detached from her usual hot-headedness.
Terrance, meanwhile, feels very safe and reassured.
Cygna opens her mouth to speak, then closes it again and merely shakes her head with a smirk.
[color=red]"Doors all down the corridor, both sides," Cygna says over her shoulder. Then, almost as an afterthought, [color=red]"And I wonder if Cersei's maid is still around...I seem to be down one and hers has been doing an absolutely wicked job down here.
"Oh, and do you two mind relaxing some? It's making it hard for me to concentrate over here."
When she finally gets them to hush, Cygna can faintly hear a sound coming from the left, down the hallway.
The steely sound of Terrence drawing his sword is heard to anyone near him as he pulls his sword as quietly and quickly as he can and proceeds down the hallway. As he passes Cygna he faces her and puts his fingers to his lips. His mood has shifted noticeably from playful to deadly serious. "Something doesn't sound right," he whispers.
Cygna stands in the doorway, watching Terrence creep down the hallway, waiting for him to give the all-clear...or to try to do something if need be.
She will try to concentrate on the sound, to see if she can identify it, and will beware of anything else going on as best she can.
Awareness check: Per 0 + Awareness 2 + roll of 7 = 9 (10 if it's sight).
Cygna hears the sound of labored breathing, coming from the direction which Terrance is heading.
Terrance carefully walks checks the first dozen cells, finding them all more or less the same - empty save for ancient, perfectly preserved beds of straw, with ornate chamber pots. Some have manacles on the wall. The corridor leads to a doorway, beyond which is some kind of interrogation chamber.
Inside, a blonde, unnaturally beautiful woman is torturing a demon. She stops when Terrance comes near the door, though he was sure he hadn't made a sound.
"Well, well. You're hardly who I was expecting. Did the sorceress send you?"
Terrence holds up his hand on the other side of the door, where the lovely woman can't see, indicating that Cygna should stop, doubting that she actually will. He attempts to avoid the question by throwing a question back at her offhandedly,"And who were you expecting, lovely lady? I'll go fetch them for you."
Cygna has yet to leave the first doorway (unless Terrence turned a corner, which I don't think he has), but is standing there watching him closely, waiting for him to give either the "all clear" or "get the bleepedybleep out now!" She knows he wouldn't have become a shield grog if he weren't good at his job, and tries to trust his judgment in situations like this.
"I was expecting the one who interrupts my work."
"How might I be of service? Did you want me to get the one who interruptes your work? I'd be happy to if you could tell me where I might find him. And whatever are you doing to that thing right there?"
Amos comes up behind Cygna and Viscaria and whispers, "I can't see what's going on but I hear murmering - did he step in something?"
If Terrence can make out the whisper from Amos to Cygna, he'll nod, never taking his eye off the lady torturing the demon, all while maintaining a calm welcoming demeanor.
Awareness roll to pickup whisper.
Per (1) +Awareness (3) + Die (9)=13
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3125040/
Terrance hears Amos and responds as written. Viscaria, Cygna and Amos hear Terrance talking into an open doorway, which glows with a flickering light when he pauses in his speech.
"You do not belong here. Go."
The toad demon on the exquisitely carved torture rack begins to excitedly sniff the air.