Chapter 3: Level 2 dungeon

"What if we used the immovable rod like a pulley? Suspend it over the top of the coffin. Drive in a couple of pitons to attach the rope, run the rope over the rod, and pull from the hallway?"

"Hmmm... maybe we should prepare for what WILL HAPPEN if the room will behave in the same way after opening the coffin's lid? Maybe we could block the stone block from lowering somehow or prevent wine flowing in through the gorgogyles mouths and eyes?"

With does words Zean checks the stone block hanged at the entrance - for any lowering mechanism that could be blocked or broken, and then goes to gorgogyles' faces and checks them(every 4!). In particular he checks if their eyes, nostrils or mouths could be somehow closed - maybe simply by pressing them in specific way?

Zean find gorgogyles' faces to be just what they seem to be: stone. No matter how hard he try, nothing changes as he touch any part.

Discussing with Zean and Throgin who previously opened the lid Tinkara suggest to use the magic rod and ropes to rise the lid.
Vatoris with his engineering skills suggest that to rise so heavy lid one would need a wheel and at least 4 ropes and proper tools to grab the 4 corners he don't have idea hot to address the lack of grappling hooks and wheel though

The next idea Tinkara has - she remembers it was enough time for people closer to the doors to leave the room while block were descending. And she have seen Ixion using dimension doors spell in earlier encounters. So this could work: one person rise lid closer to exit, while Ixion hold it at the other end. When trap is triggered the person closer to exit run away, but Ixion teleports out.

Throgin believes though that with his Barbaian agility he may manage to get out of the the room from the further distance...

Ixion meanwhile note that he could teleport one person with him, so it's 100% safe plan.

"Go for it, guys. If the wine weirds come out when the door opens, I'll be ready to blast them."

After a discussion everybody agree to follow the risky plan (as back up Ixion could dimension door both ways to get Throgin out, but it appears to not be necessary, barbarian demonstrate real fast acceleration and is out of the room with a crouching at the end.

Once the entrance is sealed you have to patiently wait. After an hour entrance opens and wine pours down the grand stairways and you can't see the creatures (you remember they were invisible in the wine).

After you get into the tomb you follow the crawl way still wet of wine to find it opens into another room.

"Being squishy, I'd prefer not to lead. However, I'm glad to cast light on something for whoever is leading, assuming of course that they don't rely on darkvision."

Zean wanted so much to check what really the wine monsters were guarding, so he went first. He had Light cast on his Eye of the Storm as usual.

Zean is first to make it into the room. The air here reeks of sulfur and brimstone. On the floor of this chamber, a pentagram traced in salt surrounds an ornate sarcophagus, its lid covered with figurines of prancing frog-like humanoids. Behind the pentagram a single skeleton notice your entrance and runs to the further wall, probably afraid of the light

"A skeleton! Running away?!?" - Zean tries to warn his friends and inform them, what he sees, and then immediately run after the skeleton - but he runs explicitly around the bad symbol, without entering its outline - to see what it is going to do. If it is really afraid of a light or it is running to trigger something (like leaver). If so - he will try to prevent it from doing so.

"The plaque said, 'The dead abhor sunlight', after all. It also said, 'Only a jewel can tame the frog'. I haven't seen any jewels."

I would like to check the coffin in the main room that we opened, in case there's a jewel in there.

Throgin stays with Zean, not going to let him go anywhere alone. Not this time.

Following the mirror of Zean he growls as he runs.

Ixion also makes it into the room, Tinkara and Vatoris are next, but meanwhile Zean and Throgin approach skeleton from both sides. They both notice that his humanoid skull is unnatural: it extends into a carved perfect square shape.
Skeleton pause for a moment looking at both persons approaching from sides and moves straight toward the pentagram, drawing his sword, he actually start running.

Initiative