[IC] SOLO - Portho's Adventure

[Portho Nihilbuck]

Portho cautiously moves up to the illusory wall in the south-east corner and pauses to Listen before he steps through and peeks around the corner to look north.

[from roll20 - Portho Nihilbuck: rolling d20+6 Listen (6)+6 = 12; rolling d20-1 Spot (8)-1= 7]

[DM Surranó]

Portho can see the space extend some twenty feet to the North and then forking East and West. He spots something that looks like the usual stone door in the Northeast corner, facing North and a familiar gargoyle relief just west of that door.
(map updated)

[Portho Nihilbuck]

Portho will cautiously move up to the corner (T44) and lean out, peering first West then East around the corner.

If there is no immediate danger visible he will move up and examing the Gargoyle relief (Take 20 on Search) and then the stone door (also Take 20).

[DM Surranó]

The passage spans west and east, indeed, and before ending there are doors and reliefs in either direction, for a total of three seemingly identical doors and reliefs.

The westmost door seems to be slid half open and as far as Portho can tell without moving much closer it's actually a set of two sliding doors; average people can snake through the opening in single file.
The gargoyle relief near that door seems to have something poking out of its mouth which is shut, contrary to the other two which have their mouths wide open, similar to the one the gnome saw at the room with the cocoons, upstairs.

[Portho Nihilbuck]

Well there is no ignoring an open door.

Portho moves to the west-most gargoyle face and tries to determine what it is stuck in it's mouth. [Search Take 20]

[DM Surranó]

It is a tiny rod and a miniature gargoyle head at its end, made of dull black metal. Adamantine maybe? Like a lollipop swallowed improperly, with the candy part outside the mouth. It looks as if it would be... the stem and bow of a key, except that it's set into the relief's mouth so tightly there's no way a key's bit would fit.

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[Portho Nihilbuck]

Portho doesn't have any way he can think of to get the key free of the gargoyle's mouth, so decides to slip through the open doors silently.

[DM Surranó]

Beyond the door Portho enters the largest hall he's seen so far in this dwarven dungeon, with several passages. The hall spans about 20 feet to the east by 120 feet to the north. Right where Portho stands is a passage to the west that seems to lead to a smaller chamber; some heaps of unknown composition visible on the floor there. There are two passages around the halving line of the large hall; one to the west and one to the east; and finally another passage at the north end, leading east.
There's also a heap of something in the northwest corner of the hall.
(map updated)

[Portho Nihilbuck]

Portho moves cautiously into the left-hand (western) passage and goes into the smaller chamber. He will cautuously poke through the nearest pile of detritus. He suspects they are rotting piles of what might have been furniture, but wants to be sure.

[DM Surranó]

They prove to be harmless heaps of garbage, or refuse. However, it's not furniture; more like fertile brown earth covered with seemingly ordinary moss.