SAGGAR
Saggar presses himself against a wall not in line with the south door, squatting with axes ready in his hands

MAXIMILLION
"What my staff is missing. I am beginning to hate unnaturally dark places. This darkness may shield another gate or teleporting device."

ALOF
Seeing that Legildur is struggling I give him a hand with the rope.

LEGILDUR
Legildur's mind races at the thought of a heavily armored Elf landing in a septic tank (very untidy) and then mentally kicks himself for not leaving a guard on the door.
He regains his balance and heaves mightily on the rope in an attempt to retrieve both it and Max's staff.
"Kinson, you, Silvan and Saggar see who is knocking at the door and shut them up. Give me a hand here, Biladoc and Mareena." he says as he strains on the rope.

TIMOR
Timor, busy being contemplative against one of the walls, is disturbed by the loud croak - whose point of origin he isn't sure of since he wasn't paying attention earlier...
"Gee Voriax, when you are hungry, your stomach sure does make a growl!"
When Voriax stares blankly at Timor, the brown eyed priest slowly comes to realize that the noise was not someone's stomach growling for food, but rather something else. He gives a deep glare over to the toilet, wondering if perhaps something was down there making noise, but soon realizes (by Saggar's actions) that the noise is in fact coming from the other side of the south door. Making haste, the priest tightens his grip on the metallic staff and backs away from the southern door eagerly. (something - I'm assuming a toad - sure does want to get in here to use the bathroom... ;)

LEGILDUR
OOC:
Either that, or a wind dragon clearing its throat.....

SILVAN
Hearing the sound, Silvan spins and draws his sword, taking up position near the door. Re thinking, he sheaths it again, strings his bow, looking around while doing so.
"Kinson, come here! I will stand back from where the door opens, shafts at the ready. Pull it partially open so I can see, but be prepared to shut it immediately! Legildur, your strength may be necessary as well."
Nocking the first arrow, he glances at Legildur with a wry grin.
"No disrespect intended, noble leader!" He then closes his eyes, and concentrates on the door . . . and what may lie behind it!
OOC:
Silvan will attempt to identify, first, if evil lurks behind the door (and silently berates himself for not doing so at the orc door), then draw the bow. When the door is opened, he will pause long enough to identify the creature on the other side, as well as possible without endangering the others. At the first sign of hostility, or at a sure identification of a hostile creature, he will loose two arrows (if possible).

KINSON
Kinson waits for Saggar and Silvan to join him then heads for the door. Has the sound changed or stopped any?

MAXIMILLION
Max hearing frogs, "Well, if that's frogs I am hearing, I happen to have an excellent recipe for cooking frogs, just hope they are not poisonous. Now, how do I get that staff back?"
Max takes about 10 coppers and throws them down the whole concentrating on whether or not he hears them land.

DM
You heard no noise when the coin was dropped.
The sound is still there. Some croaking outside the south door.
Voriax moves with Mareena towards the center of the room where Timor is. Biladoc goes and lends Legildur a hand as well. The three of them tug but them make no progress.

TIMOR
Timor watches the entire scene with wide-eyed anticipation (wondering what (if anything) will come up from the toilet, and what will be on the other side of that door). Though it may not be all that hot down here (Charles: correct me if that fact is wrong), a bead or two of sweat begin to trickle down from the priest's brow. His hands tense their grip on the metallic staff more and more as a way of relieving some of the anxiety, anyone paying attention will notice his knuckles turning white from his tight grip..

DM
In fact it is cool and very humid.

SAGGAR
Saggar stands ready before the door, axes drawn, eyes focused on the door.
"I suggest we focus on one event at a time, perhaps the toilet can wait until we dispatch what is behind this door?"

TIMOR
OOC:
I think we are remaining focused on the toilet because Legildur is holding the rope - there is a strong tug on the rope that keeps him from pulling it all the way out, and if he lets go, then there maybe a chance that Max's staff is gone forever (remember, the staff was tied to the rope). that would be why we continue to keep our attention distracted between the two rather than just on the door.

LEGILDUR
Legildur sighs in agreement with the dwarf and Silvan. He attempts to secure the rope quickly to the seat in order to prevent the rope sliding any further into the hole (we can deal with this later). With that accomplished, Legildur regathers his shield and draws Vinguard whilst moving towards Kinson and Saggar by the door.
"No offense taken my Lord." says Legildur as he passes by the elven prince with the nocked arrow.

DM
As you try to secure the rope by wrapping it around the seat there is another great tug that almost has the three of you topple in. You are unable to secure the rope because the tension (pulling) coming from the other side. Unless you give me a better idea or more details on how you are going to do this?

SAGGAR
"Very well, I shall focus on this door and insure our rear is well as you deal with the toilet, perhaps drop something heavy in to beat whatever is down there off the rope" Saggar speaks as he continues to focus on the door.

KINSON
Poised, about to open the door, Kinson pauses.
"If whatever is on the other side of the door could come through, it would have done so already. You are right Saggar, we should focus on one event at a time but perhaps we are doing them in the wrong order. I feel it is my fault that Max's staff is stuck down a toilet, and I should be making an effort to get it back."
Kinson leaves the door closed and walks back to the toilet to help the others pull on the rope. On the way, he looks for something sturdy to tie the end of the rope to, a stone protrusion, does the door look sturdy enough, is there anything is the vicinity?

DM
The large toilet or perhaps a door in the other room.

LEGILDUR
Legildur sees the knight coming to assist while he and the others strain at the rope.
"Now this is what I call fishing!! Alof, try and lock that door (where the croaking came from) while we deal with this. Silvan, might as well give us a hand when Alof gets the door locked - you too Mareena."
Once Kinson (and any others) arrive to assist Legildur, Max and Biladoc, they try to pull the rope clear of the privy. If they fail with all the help available (assuming Saggar and Alof join them once the door is locked) then Legildur will get one of the party to take the slack end and secure it around the privy (which obviously can't go down the hole) whilst they hold the tension on the rope. Then gently releasing it to test the hold.

DM
Mareena rushes over and begins to examine the door that Silvan and Saggar stand at:
"I shall lock the door for you Legildur." She pulls out her picks and begins to work on the lock. Soon she smiles. '"The door is locked!"
Meanwhile Kinson goes to help tug on the rope.

LEGILDUR
Saggar's idea is good, thinks Legildur to himself, but maybe some feed for whatever this thing is will distract it from the staff and rope.
"Voriax, Timor!" he calls to the idle spellcasters as he strains at the rope with the others. "Grab on orc carcass from the next room and throw it down the toilet. Quickly now!" he adds as another tug on the rope nearly unbalances him.
While this is happening, Legildur will direct someone to secure the slack end of the rope to the toilet seat, being the most convenient of the large immovable objects in the immediate vicinity. The seat is also larger than the hole it sits over.

SILVAN
OOC:
BTW, Charles, did Silvan sense any evil? BIC:
Silvan, quiet this through this whole exchange, suddenly takes a deep breath, blinks his eyes, and returns his attention to those around him. Announcing his finding of what lay behind the door (or lack of same), Silvan smiles at Mareena's quick thinking, then proceeds to return arrow to quiver, while making his way across to the... expedition.
The elven prince then carefully set his bow out of the way, upright against a nearby wall (still strung), and finds a place to add his grip and strength to the rope.
"Okay everybody, 1 - 2 - 3 - PULL!"

DM
Silvan now grips the rope as well. It seems that the rope starts to come upwards slowly. But there is something very heavy on the other end.
OOC:
ya got a big un. :-)

SILVAN
In between pulls, Silvan gathers enough breath to relate:
"I sensed no evil behind the door, but even a mindless creature could be the death of us all." After another pull, he continues: "Just to make you feel better!"

KINSON
Kinson takes the free end of the rope and ties it securely around the toilet; then he joins the rest of the rope pullers and helps haul up our catch.
Between pulls he manages to say:
"Perhaps those of us not helping to pull on the rope could be ready to defend from whatever is on the other end -- in case it's not happy about being in a toilet."

LEGILDUR
OOC:
I don't like Charles' suggestion that we have got a big un. So, we have Legildur, Kinson, Silvan, Biladoc and Alof on the rope while Timor, Mareena (who just locked the door), Maximillion and Voriax available.
BIC:
Legildur laughs at Silvan's 'optimistic' thoughts. After Kinson secures the rope and joins the tug-o-war, Legildur turns to him and says:
"Maybe whatever it is happy in the toilet, and will be unhappy about being pulled out!
Kinson, I suggest that you stand ready to clobber whatever this thing is when we bring it up (we were making progress without you on the rope). Mareena, you stand behind it." he adds he continues to pull to Silvan's cadence.

DM
Suddenly whatever it is on the other end of the rope lets go. With a loud pop the staff comes flying up attached to the rope. It is quite dirty by the way.
Everyone puling on the rope stumbles backwards and falls on there rears. The croaking sound can still be heard outside the door. Mareena begins to chuckle at the sight of all the warriors on the ground.

KINSON
OOC:
And just as I was about to let go of the rope again... Good timing Charles. :-)
BIC:
His face a bit red, Kinson picks himself up off the floor. He sends a questioning look at Mareena, then her chuckles become contagious and he starts to laugh himself. He grabs Max's staff.
"Let me clean this off for you Max," walks back into the orc room, tears off a large piece of cloth from one of the bolts, and gives Max's staff a thorough cleaning. Handing the staff back to Max he says:
"I'm sorry my friend, it is a beautiful staff. I hope it isn't damaged. Shall we tackle what's behind door number two now?" He points at the locked door.

MAXIMILLION
Max quickly dries the staff and hugs it.
"Sorry, it is all that I have left of my master. Well it's time for something to croak!"
OOC:
Please DM, do not harm my character for that one. %^)

LEGILDUR
Legildur sighs under his breath that he didn't lose Max's staff given its importance to the mage.

KINSON
Kinson examines the staff while cleaning it, are there discernible marks on it? Here's a nasty question: What does the stuff he's wiping off the staff smell and look like? Is it just common mud, or the more offensive kind (defecation)? Is there anything unusual stuck to the staff?

DM
One end of the staff does seem loose.

LEGILDUR
Loose? thinks Legildur. How can one end of a staff be 'loose' unless it was designed to separate? Maybe Max should look a little more closely at his master's staff.

KINSON
Kinson hands the staff to Max.
"Take a look at this end, it seems loose to me," he says pointing to the loose end.

TIMOR
Timor, both relieved at the return of the mage's staff and amused by the fallen mighty warriors, smiles in retrospect at all that has occurred and despite it all, life goes on...all part of the teachings of Elanna of course.
Timor, noting that the elfish warrior's words are sound, moves into position at the very back (even back behind max and Voriax simply because the priest has learned that it is best to stay out of the way of such tactile instances.)

LEGILDUR
Legildur rests on the ground for the moment, recovering from the exertion of holding the rope, smiling kindly at Mareena.
"Aye, it must be a sight to behold."
As he picks himself up off the ground, he says to Kinson:
"Be sure to check the staff for damage. It might give us an indication of what the beast was." (He doesn't really think so, but at least we might be able to tell if it was using its hands and/or teeth). Legildur is privately very glad that the staff is returned. He was beginning to dread what we were about to drag up on the rope.
"Yes, the door..... Mareena, please be so kind as to undo your handiwork now?" he says indicating the lock.
As she moves to do this, Legildur collects his shield and draws Vinguard as Silvan regathers his bow. He positions himself in front of Silvan (between him and the door) and indicates that Kinson and Saggar should be either side of the door along with Biladoc and Alof. Timor, Max and Voriax should stay behind Silvan. With everyone in position, Legildur nods for Mareena to open the door and step aside.

KINSON
Just before the door was opened: Kinson looks around at the party noting everyone is in position. He sees Timor at the very back and says:
"That's the way Timor, guard our backs from whatever is crawling out of the toilet..." He smiles mischievously, then turns his attention to the door.

DM
Mareena moves to the door as everyone takes positions. She quickly unlocks it with her picks.
"Here you go." She says with a smile. She opens the door to reveal the hallway beyond and there HUGE toads.

KINSON
Not realizing just how good Mareena's skills were, Kinson draws his sword quickly as the door swings open. He sees the three HUGE toads.
"Hey Max, I hope that recipe you have for frogs legs includes a beer batter sauce, I have a sudden craving to taste of the fermented grain." Kinson advances on the toads, chanting:
"Bud... Weise... Errr... Better watch out for lizards too, I've heard frogs and lizards travel in groups."
OOC:
Sorry, I couldn't resist!) :-)

DM
At Kinson's words the toads stir croaking loudly and flicking there tongues about.
Sorry I could not resist. ;-)

SAGGAR
Saggar stands, axes ready, and kicks a dead orc out the door towards the toads.

LEGILDUR
Legildur sees the huge toads and quickly gestures to Silvan "Hold your fire! Kinson, close the door, quickly!!"
Assuming this is all achieved without problem:
"This place is full of surprises." says Legildur as he shakes his head in amazement. "If they leave us alone then we'd best avoid them where possible. It may be a long time until we find our way out of here. Silvan, are they evil?"

KINSON
OOC:
All I stated was that Kinson started walking forward. When his leader yells "close the door," he would probably slam the door. As for leaving them alone? The way Kinson views the world is: giant man eating toads are monsters (possibly edible ones), and monsters are weapons fodder -- evil or not. But he always listens to authority.
BIC:
Upon hearing the order from the party leader, Kinson slams the door shut. And probably gets a dead orc kicked in his back by Saggar, who wasn't expecting the Knight to leap forward and close the door.

DM
One of the toads snaps up the orc before the door closes.
Silvan shakes his head. "I detected no evil from them." The door was easily closed before any combat was achieved.
Mareena shutters. "Did you so the warts on them?"

SAGGAR
Saggar smiles:
"Let us feed them the rest of these orcs, that should sate their hunger"

LEGILDUR
Legildur shudders slightly at the sight of the huge toad gobbling the orc carcass whole. The noise and smell being less than appealing. He relaxes slightly once Kinson closes the door to the corridor.
"Aye, that is a good idea Saggar. What about luring the toads in here with the orc bodies and then closing the doors on them? That way we remove the possibility that we will encounter them again in the corridors at another time.
If we are finished here, we may as well move on."
If the party agrees to trapping the toads, Legildur will quickly organize for the privy door to be closed and a trail of orc bodies to be left leading into the larger orc room to the east (one body in the doorway between the two rooms and the other 3 bodies located at the north end of the room where they can be seen by the toads).
Legildur, Silvan, Timor, Alof and Voriax will then exit the small room through the north door with Voriax and Alof standing at the T-intersection to the north of the east door of the larger orc room to relay messages. Legildur, Silvan and Timor will stand immediately outside the closed north door in the elbow of the corridor.
Kinson, Saggar, Mareena, Biladoc and Max will move back through the larger orc room and exit the east door and wait in the n/s corridor. If the toads are successfully lured into the room, then Kinson (looking through the slightly open east door) can then call to Voriax and Alof waiting at the T-intersection 40' away who can then call to Legildur, Silvan and Timor at the corridor elbow some 50' away. Alof can then rush/sneak in and close the west door to the larger orc room and lock it closed while Kinson closes the east door and either Mareena or Biladoc lock it.
The party will then reform at Legildur's position and then continue exploring the circular room to the west.

SAGGAR
Saggar looks about and thinks:
"Good plan my friend, that would work and remove the toads without slaying the dumb animals" he smiles moving to the hall.

KINSON
Kinson listen carefully to Legildur's plan, nodding his head.
"Very well, we can try it." Kinson heads through the orc room back into the hallway. He will make a signal when the toads have entered the orc room. Then close the door.

BILADOC
I listen to the plan to trap the toads. I say to Legildur:
"Well, this plan sounds a lot better than your previous one. Since those animals probably don't eat fabrics, they'll be guarding those crates we found there, until we can come back to take them."
I continue, looking at Saggar:
"And your plan of giving them something to eat while they're there is a good idea, too. They'll not only clean those bodies and prevent any foul smell from rotting corpses, they'll also be fed and grow fatter."
I approach Max:
"Can't wait to try that recipe of yours. Imagine, by the size of those things, we'll have enough food for three, perhaps four days. And we can use some of that cheese to spice them up. Hum... frog au gratin..."
I stop talking, close my eyes and lick my lips, anticipating the feast. I open them again suddenly and say to Legildur:
"Just remembered: the wheels of cheese. If we let them in the room, those beasts will eat them up. Don't you want to take them out and store them here, after we've trapped the toads?"
I look anxious at Legildur, hoping he says yes.
OOC:
Hum, toads... just as well. If it were *frogs*, maybe Kermit would have objected... ;-)

MAXIMILLION
Max first looks at the end of the loose staff to see what is wrong with it. Does it feel weak or slightly broken, or does it unscrew.
"So you want to trap the toads and then have me cook them. Well where can we cook them. I need a fire. I can either bowl them in a pot with a few spices or roast the over an open flame. I wish I had all the ingredients for that honey glaze."

TIMOR
Not being the most combatively-minded individual, Timor doesn't totally understand all the mechanics or details of Legildur's plan, but, seeing how savvy the elvish warrior has been, Timor will go along with it and play the role ask of him to the best of his ability.

LEGILDUR
Legildur frowns at Biladoc's back-handed compliment and thinks about how a moving feast would be more likely to attract and trap the toads.
"Yes, grab the cheese. Maybe we could trap the toads in the smaller room so as to leave the larger room free? But if we stand around talking about it too much they will have moved on." (can we still hear the croaking?)

DM
The croaking can still be heard.

BILADOC
When I see Legildur frowning, I start moving to the larger room, to help Kinson with the bodies of the orcs. Before I enter, I stop and think for a little while. I turn to Legildur and say:
"Don't you think the toads will be better in the large room? This smaller one as two exits and we can go from one hall to the other much faster through it. Also, if something chases us, we can enter it, block the door, exit through the other and block it too, giving us more time to get away."
I hesitate a little, but it's stronger then me. I add, with a mischievous smile:
"But I think I shouldn't have said this. Brave and courageous as you are, now you probably are more determined than ever to keep the toads in this small room. But please, for us, the not so valiant, consider this option."
I enter the large room and start preparing to move the cheese wheels into the small one and into the north hall.

LEGILDUR
Legildur winks at Biladoc:
"Aye, for the less 'valiant' of us the larger room may be preferred."
He then moves to prepare for the plan (assuming the toads are still there.)

KINSON
Kinson grabs the edibles from the large orc room and relocates them to the location specified by Biladoc.
"Has everyone taken what they want from the large orc room? Did someone take the potions?"

DM
The plan is executed after the wheels of cheese and food stuff is brought into the smaller room. Everything goes as planned and soon there are three very large toads in the large room feasting on the orc bodies there in. They croak in delight as they begin to eat the orcs.

TIMOR
With a sigh of relief that it is all over Timor looks around, wondering where to next...

KINSON
Kinson also quickly moves to rejoin the group on the other side of the orc room (Via the hallways around the room).
"Are we ready to move on, to the round room?"

LEGILDUR
Legildur sighs with the successful execution of the plan.
"Imagine the next poor visitors to this place that open that door!" he says as the party regroups outside the door in the elbow of the corridor (east of the round area).
"Have we finished with this room?" he asks as gestures with Vinguard to the south door. If the answer is yes, then we'll move westwards towards the round area - usual marching order (two abreast).

Biladoc Alof
Kinson Legildur
Saggar Voriax
Max Timor
Silvan Mareena

ALOF
I go to the front of the party and start making my way towards the round room awaiting Legildur's approval.

LEGILDUR
Legildur dips his helmeted head in support of Alof's move, indicating that he and Biladoc continue forward.

TIMOR
Just before leaving with the group, Timor goes to the door to the room in which the Toads are closed in. (is the ground stone or dirt? If it is dirt: Timor uses his staff to draw the word "Studos - Toads" and then an arrow pointing to the door on the loose dirt. He will then say to the others:
"No doubt such large toads are creations of Studos himself, and we should be kind to give warning to any other travelers down here..."
And should anyone ask him about "Studos", Timor will respond, "Studos is a name I recall from my days studying at the temple. He is a patron of frozen waste lands and toads themselves.." his voice trails off as he thinks of things about Studos that he doesn't want to share with the others...
Timor moves along with the others, fairly content that they are making some (albeit minimum) progress to getting out of this place. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he begins a tune...
The ants were marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah,
The ants were marching two by two hurrah, hurrah,
The ants were marching two by two,
The little one stopped to buckle his shoe
And they all went marching down... into the ground
To get out of the rain...bum bum bum."

He stops himself when he realizes he was humming out loud - there are other verses to the song, but that verse felt mighty relevant...
He follows along, every so often readjusting his pack so as to keep her shoulders from getting too soar and to keep from getting rashes from the rubbing leather against his now sweaty skin.
With his mind still focuses on studies at the temple, he recalls legends of other powerful patrons (note, he hasn't referred to anyone but Elanna as a 'god' or 'deity')..and, in various connections, he begins thinking of ways that this tunnel system could be the product of any one of them (or their followers)..
"Just a moment folks... perhaps I am not as used to this much activity as the rest of you... I need to rest for about five minutes.."
If they allow him to stop for a moment, Timor will take a swig from his water skin (making the thing only a fourth full by now). After only three minutes, the priest ready to continue, he only needed a breather.
He follows onward, as he knows not of a way out, he is at the mercy of these folks who have a better chance of finding the exit than he does.

BILADOC
I take out a couple of daggers, and move to the front of the party, alongside with Alof. After a few steps, I turn to identify the origin of a voice talking about ants and going into the ground.
I sigh and shake my head, as I see Timor singing absent mindedly. I say in a low voice:
"I should have guessed... Hey, do you mind?"
I put my finger to my lips and give him a piercing stare, before resuming the exploration of the hall.
OOC:
(Take 1d4+1 of damage) ;-)

DM
Going west down the hall leads to a round chamber. The chamber is forty feet in diameter. (That is across) The chamber is round, its walls curving smoothly to form a hemisphere high overhead. The center of the room contains a circular hole: 20' in diameter shaft or pit without parapet or railings. The air is cold but still: no breeze comes from the depths. Another passage enters the room from the west, directly across from the one you entered. On the other side of the pit you see something fluid, a moving lump of a buttery brown hue that thrusts blobs of itself forward, and flows after them, towards you. It moves silently, its edges briefly turning purple as they expand and reach to grip. They grip and pull, and the things flows on, nearer.

----------------
The party members look at each other, look at the lump, sigh and prepare to face another strange dweller of this maze. See what happens in the next chapter.