Having recovered from his nausea, Dennis joined Yuno in the search for whatever switch the ghouls had pressed. 

[Help action, granting Yuno advantage on the search.]

Advantage on Perception from Help action: 15

The switch seems to be more of a button: a brick in the wall that gives slightly when pushed.

Once all the ghoul's have gone away, Yuno will take out her rope and grappling hook. She will then try to throw the weighted hook at the switch to trigger it. Basically, the hook will provide the necessary force and mass while the rope will be used to pull the hook back should Yuno miss so that she can keep trying until she hits.

Hit: 18

It works! The ghouls turn in surprise as the door is drawn back into place. After waiting a while you let the door down again and find that all the ghouls have left, dismayed at the loss of a meal.

"Hmmm. Interesting that those brainless husks could track us, and more worrisome, that they were able to bypass the pit Dennis discovered. I suggest that we keep our guard up." Embry looks around cautiously.

Beyond the drawbridge door, the corridor you are following ends in an intersection. You hear the sound of flowing water from the passage heading east, and to the west you smell salt water mixed with the odor animal feces.

OoC: I'm resolving this encounter now to keep you going at the same pace as the other group. A fight with the ghouls would slow things down.

"Alright, west smells like shit and I hear water to the east... Let's go west. No one wants to go toward the smell which makes the route away from it more likely to be a trap."

“Your logic makes sense,” Alexandria comments, her face twisting in disgust due to the stench that assaulted her nostrils. “As much as I hate the thought of getting that stink on me, it’ll probably be the easier route.”

"Maybe it's the wizard's septic tank and east is actually a good way to go?" Dennis suggested, hoping to not have to deal with more foul-smelling things. "I really don't want to end up dealing with whatever is making that smell."

"I suspect the smelly path to be the most dangerous. Salt water seems strange to encounter. However our goal is likely to be that way. Why make it easy to get when it could be hard?"

Rowan sighs, "Was it too much to expect a spotless maze or hidden fortress? Of course it was. Why have it clean when you can make it more miserable for anyone who comes?"

Yuno nods and says, "So, what you're saying is: The east path is the wrong way to go while the west path probably has something dangerous." She then shrugs and says, "Well, if the west path has some beast I can slay, then it wouldn't be so bad."

Dennis nodded along with Rowan as he spoke. "Exactly! If we run into more enemies and traps, then we must be going the right way, right?"

Following the Western corridor, you step through an archway into the base of a massive, inverted ziggurat. You peer down into it, taking a moment to comprehend the geometry. The tier below you is a salt water aquarium, filled with starving Dire Crayfish that eye you hungrily. Below is a dry level housing a number of Giant Scorpions, followed by another aquarium containing carnivorous Sea Lions. Three Manticores nest at the bottom, amid beds of hay and uncleaned excrement. On one end of their enclosure is a barred door, and on the other is a heavy safe.

From the looks of things, the terraced aquariums and enclosures are each 10 ft across. The glass cannot easily be broken, or else the creatures inside would have escaped. Reference the spoiler for a picture.

The disembodied voice of Keraptis the Wizard rings out through the room.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! So, you've made it this far. I'm afraid that reclaiming Blackrazor will not be as easy as hopping pits and outsmarting ghouls. I'll be interested to see how you get to the bottom of this. HA! HA! Get the joke? .... You lot are no fun."

"I have an idea, but we need to break the glass to make it work. Can you all help? I'd prefer to stick to ranged attacks. We need to start with the top layer, and then break the second. The idea is to connect both water sources," Dennis said, quickly analyzing the terrace structure. "After we do all that, Yuno. You're going to get the first crack at those three manticores down there, so get ready. Attack on my signal." Having said this, he pointed at the first side of the aquarium. "Freeze."

Ray of Frost at first aquarium wall: 28 Damage: 6 cold

"I'm all for killing manticores but if I'm going to take on three of them, I need to take a breather."

(I could use a short rest for 5 mins to recover HP as well as get Action Surge back.)

“You’re not gonna be taking them all alone, maybe tanking them.” Alexandria grins. “Good plan, Dennis, need any help with ice magic? I got you.” She winks waiting for his day to cast her own ray of frost.

"Gee thanks! I feel really reassured right now." Yuno remarks with heavy sarcasm.

OoC: I've never actually had to use the rules for breaking objects before, but here goes nothing. The glass has an AC of 13. You will need to deal 27 damage to break a large enough section to flood the second tier. The glass is vulnerable to cold damage.

Dennis' ray hits the glass at a poor angle and reflects off without dong damage. The manticores take note of your presence and perk up, readying an array of spines at the end of their tails as if to shoot. Interestingly enough, they make no attempt to fly and seem to have trouble just raising their wings.

Seeing this, Yuno thinks, "I wonder what's wrong with the manticores. Could there be some unseen force pushing down on them?"

Yuno steps back so that the Manticores can't aim at her and then she tosses another copper piece across the whole tiered pit. She throws it in a big arc and watches the coin's flight pattern carefully.

"Fire away," Dennis replied. "If there's something keeping them down, it won't be for long. Freeze."

Ray of Frost: 14 Damage: 9 cold

[I keep getting so close...]