"Well, there's a sight ye'll not be seein' evry day, me frens," Merric says, not a touch of panic in his voice.  "I'm thinkin' we should be goin."

Initiative: 28

ooc: Wow...a 13...I cannot recall the last time he got so low.  Fast enough, though.

Waving the key at the spiders, he says, "Toodles, me leggy horrors." And sends the party to the stairs.

OOC: Do the spiders in the forcewall come with us?  Would using the key be his entire action?

In case it's needed, Kale initiative: 24
Bear Initiative: 11

Kale backs away from the spiders, making a face while bringing up his crossbow in preparation to fire.  He waits, however, to see if Merric will send the party out of the room before the spiders can attack, before he does anything.  (OOC: which I think already happened, but just in case.)

Al-Ashari Initiative: 22

Wow, I wish I made attack rolls like this. [Tooltip Not Found] (lvl4) for each spider - 9

(If its still needed) Whitegaze initiative: 15

you find yourself back out on the stairs once more.

"That was... not good."  Lia says as she leans against the wall.  "Is there anything we need in these rooms, or can we call that good enough for checking them?" 

"Random and pointless, as expected," nodded Al-Ashari, "we can as well go. I wander, though, how did Cecilia got from here to Asylum, and where did she go after that, if not back here".

"Since we are here anyway - how does one move along that Stairs? What do we need to do to get to the Asylum entrance? Think about it?"

Whitegaze will again move to one edge of the party to stand ready, "I'm not really sure how to travel along in here. I didn't actually go anywhere last time. Do we want to return to the asylum, or try and find somewhere else? This dungeon sounds like a better and better option."

"Kale?"  It is obvious to Merric, if no one else, that Kale is their leader, if anyone is.

"I'd rather go almost anywhere else than the Asylum.  But let's give these stairs a test first.  If they can take you anywhere you imagine, then why not bring us directly to our quarry?  So..."

Kale closes his eyes, and visualizes Cecilia in his mind as she appeared in her portrait.  "Well, mighty staircase.  Can you take us to Cecilia?" he asks, taking a step forward.

Merric follows suit.  Praps if more'n one of us is doing this thing, it'll go faster 'n easier. He closes his eyes and thinks of Cecilia, how she was in her portrait.  "OK, staircase, we're wantin' to find the lass, Cecilia by name."

Al-Ashari waits for the result of that little experiment.

Whitegaze carefully allows his mind to go blank so as not to disturb things.

Nothing changes.  You get the idea these stairs need to be walked to get anywhere and that there is probably specific locations you can access along the way.

Do you wish to go up or down?

"If we want to find a dungeon, I'd guess downwards is the path we should travel," Kale tells the others.

Merric nods and moves into the lead, heading down.

Perception 19

It seemed like the only thing to do (aside from the sane one - returning to the tavern, using that stairs), so, Al-Ashari followed.

While they're walking, Kale will investigate the stairs for any sign of either Cecilia's or the stair- monster's passing: 

30

Meanwhile, the bear, much more practical, simply looks for the stairmonster, readying itself to attack it should a hostile entity appear.

Bear perception: 21

You head down the stairs...

After a flight of stairs you come to another door.  This is not one of the doors of the tavern...  You simply need to open this one and it is unlocked and untrapped.

Then Al-Ashari reveals her impatience by opening that do with the Magic Hand (from the distance). I take it the bear is still in front?

Merric pauses at the door, listening for anything...and then the door opens.

Perception 13