Not entirely convinced, but lacking a better plan, the Sorcerer listened intently with arms crossed, the scars on his forearms showing.

"Weirds shouldn't be more challenging than the undead we've faced before... but Elementals do tend to work well as summoned creatures." — the tomb raider explorer paused for a beat to think, this being closer to his area of expertise — "Whatever they are, if you are right and this is a trap, we should worry about making noise more so than anything. None of us have any idea how big this place is, so if alarm bells are sounded, we risk being overrun."

Pausing for a beat, to ensure everyone was in agreement, the Sorcerer allowed the Paladin and female Warrior to take the helm, adding in at the end: "If things go sideways, try to keep an eye out for anything that doesn't charge you."

The creatures....do nothing. They come up a little from the bottom when they sense movement, but they do not attack. Looking in, you can see that two of the creatures look slightly different than the other, although it's hard to tell since they're all pretty watery. 

two of the creatures twist around the other like watery sharks in the water.

The other creature flows through the water, almost appearing to look up at you as you pass.

The door to the south remains closed and padlocked, the door to the west is at the top of a few stairs, and a hallway extends off the east wall, ignoring for the moment the large gaping hole in the north.

Khessa slowly approaches the closed door, since that was the initial intended destination. After all, there is someone in the party who has already demonstrated aptitude in persuading closed doors to be opened...

Once near the door, the blonde arcane warrior sends her cloak to the other members of the party, having it carried by the faithful Mage Hand. If Tristan, once he arrives, also wants to give up the cloak, the hand will also deliver the cloak upon its return.

Tristan:

Tristan is also fine having his cloak sent back along the line.  He is hopeful that their disguise has satisfied the water elemental's directives.

The watery creatures remain in the depths of the pool (which you can now estimate to be about 25 ft deep). Nothing but the pitter patter of little rain drops falling onto the surface of the pool.

Naero 

Cat-ero gallops around the edge of the pool as if chasing a mouse. Whether it be lack of hostility or the clever ruse the water creatures fail to attack. Confidence boosted, puss puss moves up the eastern hallway, stopping when it opens out into whatever room is at the other end. He casually rubs against the wall as if marking his scent, secretly taking in the room, before returning to Tristan, Khessa and whomever else may have made the journey past the basin. In a squeaky version of his voice he relays what he saw.

Perception 10

Morgan calmly retrieved Khessa's cloak from her spectral hand with his a Mage Hand of his own, and distributed it, alongside the other two cloaks, between himself and the two other members of the party who had stayed behind — and hadn't transformed into a cat.

Trusting his senses — but above all else keeping a close eye on movement the pool, and any changes in the elementals' behaviours — Morgan calmly peeled off to sneakily inspect the hole in the wall to the north.

Mechanics & Dice:
Stealth check — to avoid Morgan being seen by whatever's on the other side of that wall — 23
Using Tides of Chaos for the advantage. If the stealth roll wasn't required, let me know and I'll give that resource back.

Perception check — for whatever's on the other side — 25

Larry watches the group scatter and cringes.  He takes one of the cloaks and proceeds clockwise to where Khessa is examining a door.  "Why are they unable to focus on a single course?  Awareness of the environment is a must, of course, but it takes time to build the confidence and trust as a team to scatter like this while still supporting each other."  As he reaches her, he asks quietly "So, what have you found?  How can I help?"

---------------

Perception: 19

(No stealth roll required, go ahead and take it back.)

Still nothing from the water. The frisky lil kitty stops when it runs afoul of the door at the end of the hallway, which are historically hard to open with tiny cat paws.

Morgan sees that the hole in the wall leads into a large open room, but can't tell much aside from that. It appears to be empty, however.

The padlock is still resolutely clinging to the door.

Tristan:

Refraining from calling KJ over until they get a door open and clear path, Tristan asks, “Are we planning to go east first?”

Khessa smiles at Larry: "I found a door that is padlocked... so it should be the most interesting to explore... Do you think you can unlock it?"

The blonde arcane warrior replies to Tristan: "My female curiosity would be more piqued by this door to the south closed and padlocked... If someone" she winks at Larry "by chance manages to open it, then I'd rather start here... But if we can't get through for now, sure, why not? As a second choice, going east is fine".

"Won't know if I can open it for sure until I try.  I'm used to searching in a clear pattern, though.  Either North or East seem the most appropriate immediate choices to me, and since North looks to loop back to where we began, I'm more interested in East.  If everyone else wants to start with the locked door, though . . .."  He looks to the gathered companions for a preference.

If there's either a hard tie or a preference for the East, he'll attempt to open that door.

If there's a preference for the South door, he will move around, inspect the door and attachments and then if it seems safe he will attempt to unlock the padlock.

Investigation: 23

Sleight of Hand: 19

"Between a locked door and an open path," Khessa sighs "my interest will always be captured first by the less easy way... But no problem, for now it seems like we are perfectly capable of handling the 'threats' that are down here, so East is fine too".

"Scouts go ahead, I guess?" the blonde arcane warrior asks, assuming that the party wants to persevere in the strategy that has so far paid off.

"Personally I think we could benefit from checking the North passage. It appears unobstructed, but I prefer ensuring there isn't anything unexpected to my back." Ozus shrugs slightly. "I'll leave it to the group though"

(No reason we can't have both)

While everyone debates the merits of the different points of the compass, Larry sees the South door looks untrapped, and within seconds the padlock is in his palm.

The South door is no longer locked, the East door remains an enigma, the Northern passage is gaining support, and the Western door sits forlornly forgotten.

Where do you go?

Naero 

Cat-ero slinks his way towards Larry. "Purrfect job" he compliments his sneaky companion on once again making locks completely obsolete. "Shall we have a quiet look through here?" He nudges the now unsecured door with his whiskered nose.

"And who am I not to please a curious cat?" Khessa smiles at the transformed elf, and from afar (so as not to betray the scouts with her total lack of stealth) she uses her Mage Hand to open the door a little, so that Naero (or anyone feeling sneaky enough) can explore.

Watching the now feline form of the druid slink away, Ozus lets out a bemused chuckle, before strolling towards the northern passage. He give the others a wave, not bothering to turn around, his pace unhurried. "While we decide how to move forward, I'm going to at least check our backs. I'll give a shout if I need to, I won't be far."

He wanders far enough into the passage to at least confirm whether it leads back to the first room, keeping a lazy eye out for traps as he goes.

Ozus wanders far enough to see not the first chamber they were in, but sees a hole in the eastern wall that geographically would match the hole that was in the wall of that chamber. This is a much larger room, roots protrude through cracks in the ceiling here. A stone stairway in the southeast corner has collapsed, and the nearby walls to crumble and create the passageway Ozus is currently in. Three doors in the north wall are shut, and the middle door bears a new padlock. To the west, stairs lead to a small balcony that overlooks the room from five feet above, with just enough room for a door painted with an eye.

When Khessa's hand opens up the door, anyone that can see inside the small room can see an uncomfortable amount of water leaks down the walls of this cell and pools on the floor near a rusty drain. A dejected looking gnome sits on a sodden mattress in one corner, raising his head towards the door as it opens.