Pizazz's Ravenloft and Beyond

"Two might not fit." (The wizard was smart enough to make entrance 1 person only. ((5x5ft)) ) patiently explained Lionel. "And we risk to appear in the wrong place if the words are said incorrectly, without any means to return or even warn those remaining here." He still looked at others. "Should we try this? I admit, to me, Meepo's skeleton bag seems like a better idea at the moment."

Ulthan continues to look uneasy "hrmpfh ulthan no go hole utazo no go hole hrmpfh"

"Meepo have hole..." Meepo says, holding it up. "Mordekai carry and rest of us inside?"

     Ketch bangs an armored fist against the door.  It is much like a knock, but more violent.  “If we won’t all use home, might as well try knocking” Ketch says, some annoyance in his voice.  He knocks again, even harder.  
     In truth he’s kind of testing the strength of this door as well as seeing if anyone answers.  He’s also paying more attention to the surroundings than the door.  He’s curious how curious any neighbors and passer by may be about loud banging in the alley…  

Nobody seems to notice his 'loud knocking'.  The door seems pretty solid. But....Ketch is pretty solid too. He figures if he 'knocks' hard enough the door might come down.

(Athletics check if you'd like to try. With advantage if anyone 'helps him knock hard'.) 

With Ulthan refusing the only way of transportation (and Lionel personally too being not the big fan of the idea) the paladin would join the act of vandalism.

((Lionel is helping))

     Seeing as how none of us actually have a crowbar (Ketch know, cause he asked. (I know, cause I checked!)) Ketch will reach into Meepo's Hole up to his elbow and feel around in there until he finds ... a crowbar.  ((Ok, I could have taken that way wrong... But I will be classy.))  "We're outfitting the skellies better than ourselves," Ketch grumbles, despite the fact that he was the offender in this case.  

     Using the crowbar, and with Lionel's help, Ketch will attempt to force open the door... Athletics: 21

     Assuming he pops the door open, Ketch will go to thrust the crowbar deep into Meepo's Hole once more but think better of it and instead stick it with his own gear...  

When Meepo's lays his hole open for the world to see....it's against one wall and six feet in diameter.  Which is quite a large hole!  With it open, you can easily see inside, the light from the Sigil sky shining inside. Twenty skeletons stare out impassively. A ladder lays on the floor of the round room. Ketch walks in, since it's 10 feet deep...and picks one of the backpacks on the ground...and pulls out a crowbar. 

Then he walks back out. Meepo's folds his hole back up once more.

Ketch jams the crowbar into the door frame roughly and pulls hard at an angle. There's a crack as the frame splinters around the bolt and the door swings open.  Ketch glances around the dead end alley, but no one is around. 

Inside is indeed a 5x5 closet. It's dusty and unused. A shovel and a broom hang on one wall, a bucket full of dried out sponges sits on the ground, pushed to one side. The walls appear to be plaster. Small cracks here or there and the corners have small holes where rodents may have burrowed through. 

Ketch shrugs, and, after the genie prompts him one more time, touches the back wall and says, "Ugalthyenkmoore szzilliar."  The back wall shimmers and seems to vanish, revealing a continuation of the closet, but into the walls, floor and ceiling of the hallway beyond are rough hewn from rock. Barnacles and patches of seaweed cling to the walls, moist and glistening. The smell of tangy salt ocean air floods to your noses and you can hear the rush of waves and the see the bright light of a sunny sky bouncing down the hallway from beyond. 

The genie mutters, "Think this thing stays open for about five minutes. Same password to get back." 

"Fascinating.  Well, I guess there's no need for a cover story any more - once we continue through here, I think we can anticipate a hostile reception.  We should definitely check for traps."

     “So we sally forth into…” Ketch says with gusto before faltering. “Umm, where is this taking us?  A different plane or just into a home or… ?”

     But as there is a time limit, and an obviously broken door, Ketch does not tarry but rather asks his questions as striding forward.

Meepo, now figuring the skeletons can be out, orders them to walk out of the hole and then folds it up. He whistles as he climbs onto one of their backs, then nods, ready to move forward.

As Meepo clambers up onto one of the skeletons, he's reminded about how cool it is to be big and tall all proper. He's also reminded how bony and uncomfortable these things are. A saddle type device is definitely next on his list. 

Ketch leads, stepping into the passage which promptly descends into six inches of sea water. He steps into the salty brine cautiously and moves forward to where this small off shoot meets the main cave, meeting it like a T junction. To their right, the cave opens to reveal the ocean. You're clearly not in Kansas Sigil anymore. A spire of coral rises from the water just off the coast. Its base at sea level is ten feet across, and it tapers to a point forty feet above the water. Through the clear, gentle waves, you can see that it extends down into a vast coral reef. Waves wash in from the sea, splashing across the shallow water of the caves floor and across your legs as the floor of the main cave seems to sink further into the water. To your right the cave delves deeper into the stone. The cave has a twelve-foot-high ceiling and rough, natural walls. The clear water that flows into the cave is four feet deep. A nook in the northeast corner contains two skeletons, picked clean by the sea life. The cave’s back wall is flat, with a large opening in the southeast corner.

Lionel still was not sure that armed skeletons is the best way to convince someone of their good will, but did not argue. He stepped into the hall not without curiosity - the life on the crossroads of all planes begun to grow on him.

"Is this another plane?" echoed he Ketch's question. "Do you recognize the place, Gazre-Azam? Where we are to go to find your master?" Hopefully, the genie remembered enough to be their guide here.

Meepo, hunched on a skeleton's armored shoulders, is holding the book open so the Genie can be present. The genie looks about, "Oh yes, this is certainly another plane. Though...wether it exists on the prime material, or some elemental plane..who can say? Regardless, this is his workshop. He was a water genasai so had an affinity to this location. Obviously, further into the cave that way. Though, if you prefer not to swim, there is a secret passage in the left side of the back wall over there that skips the pool room."

Pool room. Right. Lionel had nothing against swimming in general - pretty much enjoyed it - but would prefer to be able to breath too, as in "breath air". And right now was beginning to think they came slightly unprepared - if the place happen to be, say, on the plane of water, he personally was not ready to breath water instead.

The paladin looked at the back wall, trying to figure out the "secret passage".

Perception: 8

"hrmpfh what trap warn hrmpfh" Ulthan asks when book is open. He then nods reasonably enthusiastically at not going swimming looking at the cat and the skeletons. He will check over the bones to see if wounds cut deep enough to show on bone (trying to figure out if weapon or tooth or crush). Mention of salty brine takes question away whether drinkable or not as well.

The genie looks at the grunting large man and doesn't bother to reply.  Meanwhile, Ulthan's cat has clambered up his back (which looked rather painful for Ulthan), and is crouched on his shoulder, out of the 4 feet deep water that fills the main cave.  He heads over to inspect the two dead bodies.  (Ulthan : Roll Medicine)

The blond haired armored warrior strides through the chest deep water. Luckily it is clear and you can see roughly where you're walking. When you reach the back wall you see what looks like roughly hewn steps under the water leading to a section of wall with a door. It's somewhat concealed behind a layer of seaweed, but you find a hole behind seaweed with a pull handle. Pulling it and the stone door opens. You see a dry passage perhaps fifteen feet long that ends in another door. 

Once anyone is done checking out the dead bodies Meepo has several of his skeletons grab them, and, once they are in the dry tunnel further ahead, he has them stuff them into the portable hole. He is clearly happy to find more skeletons to add to his collection. Staying on his seat atop the scale male sholder of his skeleton, he nods to the book. "Meepo friends doing good." he tells the book-thing. "What past door?" he asks, nodding to the door at the end of the dry passage.

     “How about sending some of your friends ahead?  You have spares now,” Ketch suggests, a bit amused by the entire affair.  Even if his toes are starting to prune.

     “And check around the bodies?  Perhaps stuff they were carrying didn’t drift too far away…”

"That's better." Lionel stepped inside the dry (now quite wet) passage and walked to the door. He was about to simply open it - after all, so far they did not come across any trap - but Ketch reminded about caution. "Would send one of your skeletons in?" That was one of those time, when Lionel truly appreciated Meepo's questionable choice of magic specialization.