Caelyn waits for the couple to step outside after Pepper commands them to leave. When they do Caelyn will step inside and look at the medusa head. Not touching anything yet before everyone is inside the lift. 

Once all are inside she looks back to them Ready?

Unless objections are made she starts to see if there is anything to press on the medusa head or tilt the head even. 

Perception for checking the medusa head for buttons/levers 11

The lovers, shocked and annoyed but frightened of the imposing fighter, quickly scurry out of the lift. They look back over their shoulders before leaving the building, only to see Pepper's glaring face staring back at them. 

Caelyn examines the medusa head carving and sees that it covers the seams of a secret panel. A tool or weapon can be used to pry open the panel, behind which are several wires connecting the lift car to a small Eberron dragonshard. Each wire is connected to an individual pin-sized hole in the dragonshard. 

If you have proficiency in Arcana:

Ashe frowns. "Hm, dragonshards were never my area of expertise. Anyone got any idea how to hotwire this thing? Kira?"

As the folks clear out of the elevator, and Caelyn starts pulling off the panel of the medusa head, Pernach bursts out. "I keep hearing how you fleshier people are about your offspring, but Alden being willing to throw the lives of many of my kind away to maybe save his child is appalling. And worse, he doesn't seem concerned about it the wrongness of it, just that it works. Worse, with him being of one of the Houses, he'll likely never be called to account for it."

They pace about as the words spew forth; some of the runes and gems on their form coruscating wildly, and they finally rock to a stop. "I intend to take this out on the half-ogre and his minions."

Pepper smiles. “I intend to let you go first, big guy, but I’m always right behind you.” She gives him a pat on the back. 

"I guess that's how it goes... Galifar was the only thing keeping the dragonmarked houses in line. Thanks to the Last War, their pockets have been filled with gold and they have no oversight. Now they do whatever's good for their bottom line, even if it means they must resort to horrible things. It's despicable."

Ashe determines that the dragonshard and wires control the movement of the lift. DC 13 Investigation or Arcana: 

Investigation: 25

"Looks like there's an unattached wire," Kira points out. "And an empty hole."

To Pernach, she remarks, "No objections here. Parents are highly overrated, in my experience."

While Caelyn checks the head of the medusa she steps back to let the others try and get past the secret panel. 

Hearing Pernach and Kira speak poorly of the House she ponders a moment, unsure if she should say anything but does so anyway. Its easy to judge Alden Orien, but you are eager to take it out on others you do not know. Fully willing to take their lives.

She looks to her dagger on the side of her upper tigh, her fingers brushing over the hilt.

So perhaps we are not so different after all. Who knows what parents would sacrifice for their childeren. Thinking of her own past she falls silent a moment. 

Snapping out of it she returns to the issue at hand and looks to Kira as she said she found the loose wire. Well done. Lets see if we can get Caden back and end this situation. 

(Assuming you're going to stick the loose wire into the open pinhole...) 

When Kira attaches the loose wire to the dragonshard, it causes the lift to descend into the ruins of Old Sharn. The lift seems to descend forever into the belly of Sharn. Several minutes pass and the lift rattles and shakes, as if passing into some place it was not meant to go. This rumbling builds to a violent peak then the lift stops, and its doors open.

By the lift’s interior light, you can see into a vast, unlit cavern strewn with broken stonework from ancient buildings as far as you can see in every direction. The air is stale, filled with dust and the scent of decay. These are the ruins of the cities atop which Sharn is built. Ahead of you yawns a fifty-foot-diameter, ten-foot-deep pit that seems to have been intentionally dug. The cavern is irregular in shape and hundreds of feet in diameter. Its uneven ceiling ranges in height from 15 to 30 feet. Due to the rubble, the ground around the pit counts as difficult terrain.

You hear the soft sobs of a young child coming from a wooden shed on the far side of the pit.

Pepper steps out warily, cussing softly under her breath. "Eyes open, people. Caelyn with me, Cyril with Ashe, Kira with Pernach," she pairs off people who can see in the dark with people who cannot. "No torches unless we have to. Cyril, Ashe, see if you can find a way to that shed, be careful and quiet. We'll cover you." She unlimbers her long bow so it is at the ready, but does not draw an arrow as yet. "Pernach, Kira, you're on specials," by which she means magic and behemoths, respectively, should something like that show up, because nobody else is really equipped for either.

This... um, leadership is definitely Pepper's style, but you know from experience she welcomes good ideas, she's just... forthright. 

DM rolls:

 Four Daask bugbears guard this area, hidden in the dark pit. When you arrive they leap out to attack! (They will get one surprise round. Roll initiative and I will write the first attack after my Bible study group meeting =)

Surprise round: The bugbears move forward and throw their javelins at the group, surprising them with their stealth!

Yellow --> Caelyn Attack: 12 Damage: 14
Red --> Pepper Attack: 17 Damage: 16
Blue --> Cyril Attack: 7 Damage: 17
Green --> Ashe Attack: 15 Damage: 9

Initiative: Red(21); Green(21); Yellow(20); Blue(11); Party ??

Tactical Map

Cyril Init: 17

Pepper's initiative: 5

Ashe initiative: 19

Initiative: Red(21); Green(21); Yellow(20); Ashe(19); Cyril(17); Blue(11); Pepper(5)

Kira - Pernach - Caelyn 

(Caelyn initiative 19)

Kira initiative: 6

Initiative: Kira(22); Red(21); Green(21); Yellow(20); Ashe(19); Caelyn(19); Cyril(17); Blue(11); Pepper(5); Pernach(?)

Kira - you're up!