The Wiz remains locked under water, his arm tangled in the crank of the hatch. The fish swims away and he watches it go because The Wiz has DARK VISION. 

 In these peaceful moments before he is rescued, The Wiz thoughtfully reminisces about the circle of life. How strange it is to be the pinnacle of elven evolution and even he will feed the less evolved creatures eventually. He eats them today, they eat him tomorrow when he is finally laid to rest. Be it a lowly dragon or some other creature, one day even he must return to the earth and sustain others. Is this a circle or is it some kind of polygon, because he certainly has eaten far more living creatures than he will be able to feed. Should he take up veganism to make up for the flesh he has consumed? He is a little young still to be preoccupied with trying to balance the book of karma. All deeply important questions that should be carefully considered by a much wiser The Wiz.

But now his held breath is starting to run out, so that is the much more important question: how long can a wizard hold his breath?

OOC: You can hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to your CON score. Non-official.

I think the rule is 1 minute plus a number of minutes equal to your CON bonus but that's BS.

OOC: You know, you could try to turn the wheel to get free.

The Wiz would never think of something so simple. His mind is a complex lattice of problem solving mechanisms. He is solving the glaring problems of the entire universe. A crank needing to be turned is literally beneath the ability of his enormous mind! 

Nevertheless, The Wiz struggles and in his panic at the realization that his friends are just standing up there watching him drown, thus denying the world the great paradise he has yet to deliver to the world, he wrenches his arm with all his might, accidentally turning the crank on the hatch. 

OOC: Athletics 13 if needed. 

The Wiz an instant sense of relief as he turned the wheel and had his arm freed!

Then he felt a sense of panic..nono not panic. The Wiz does not panic.

But he did get a feeling of wonder as he was immediately sucked downward toward a grate that was funneling the water downward! Water, slime, bits of unknown matter all collided with or slid by The Wiz and he was pressed upon the grate.

-------

The rest of the party notices that the water level is dropping at a noticeable rate.

Alexia just keeps on looking, totally indifferent. If he's an adventurer of good quality, he'll be able to hold his breath until the water drains.

You eventually see that the pit was about 30 feet long and spiked on the bottom except for the 5 foot section The Wiz is lying on. 

Alexia and Grey would swear they hear singing coming from beyond the hatch which The Wiz just unlocked.

The Wiz clears the water from his lungs. *Cough-cough* "Hey guys. Found the bottom. I *COUGH* I think I swallowed some of that water." The Wiz turns over and picks himself up off the grate. "Are we warming to the idea of using our familiars first yet?" he says with a pleading desperation.

Ember arrows over and lands on The Wiz's shoulder.   "You had us worried there for a moment."

Cure Wounds (touch):  16 pts

 ( and given a moment later -- a little prestidigitation to dry and clean up his clothing is in order. )

The Wiz tosses his freshly prestigititated hair this way and that in a shimmering golden wave. Satisfied, he smiles and grabs Ember's hand between The Wiz's index finger and thumb, shaking eagerly and gratefully. "Thank you, friend. My hair routine costs almost as much as my spellbook does. As I always say, 'kill me if you must, but leave the hair alone'".

The Wiz spares a moment to consider how weird the owner of this place is to line the entire floor in spikes, then inspects the grate. Is it a normal grate? Does it have hinges to allow it to open or must it be cut? Is the space between the bars large enough for a familiar? Does the water pool somewhere beyond that he can see? On a scale of Rosie O'Donnell to Taylor Swift, what is the quality of that singing?

OOC: Dirty 20 for the Investigation of the grate, 17 for Perception of the singing.

Grey is also interested in the singing first, then the grate.

Perception: 26

The words are unclear but the tune seems male,  jaunty ,and uplifting.

The hatch looks like you can open it now that it has been unlocked.

The Wiz opens the hatch. "In the familiars go!" he says, left eye twitching slightly. 

Do you guys even have familiars?

OOC: The Wiz does, but he hasn't used his because Ember has theirs. >_>

LOL

((  OOC:  Technically, they are wild shape / wild fire manifestations... and they don't function like familiars.  So I can't use them as remote eyes and ears. Now, if Ember wild shapes himself into a spider, he could go check things out but.. unless someone has 'speaks with animals (or insects?)   Ember could not communicate until he changed back. <<  unless he went full "Charolette's Web and wrote words into webbing >??? ))

OOC: I saw that you had Find Familiar and just assumed they were familiars haha. My bad. Druids were a class I have never looked at until Wysp made them seem cool in my game. I am… unFamiliar. :p

There are a set of iron rungs set into the wall of the soaked shaft which is about 20 feet deep. There is additional grate at the bottom to redirect water.

There is a short passage leading to a room from which you can see warm light, greenery of some sort, a short table, and a pair of large black boots propped on a divan. The rest of the figure cannot be seen as it is around the corner of the room. You can smell...chocolate and...something else.

The singing is in Elvish and has a melancholy tone of family and responsibility.