Beneath the Knees of Lord Urdurel

After cutting a crawl-space sized shape through the bottom of the talking, cold-iron door, Fortu carefully examines the blade of his new 'Hand-and-a-half' sword. Frowning heavily, he’s simultaneously amazed and relieved to see that it’s retained its perfect edge, despite literally just having been used to, back-and-forth, saw through a thick chunk of metal.

Beckoning the idle Doberman over, the two extraordinarily strong men work together to shove the solid metal block, showing Lord Urdurel’s lower legs, out of the way. The taller Fortu pushing the top of the block and the squat Doberman, lying on his back and using his feet to push the bottom. Despite their lack of purchase, the heavy metal section is slowly driven backward until it's fully clear of the three-foot depth of the metal door.

The slender Arowe, after already dismissing the powerless ghost, is the first to wiggle through, as his sharp, Elven eyes are the best suited for spotting any unwanted surprises lurking in the darkness beyond the cold-iron door. As expected, he finds himself in a small hallway leading to another flight of stone steps. What is surprising, is that there's plenty of light for his Elven eyes to see by. Beetles, centipedes and spiders skitter out of the way, but he senses something else though. Something in the background that he can't quite put his finger on, until lanky Henshaw clambers through and up beside him.

"What's that hummin' noise?"

Back on the other side of the, now compromised, cold-iron door, Doberman stands guard whilst Fortu ushers everyone else through. He's suspicious of the shadowy ghost, even though it's already returned to its hunched over sobbing within its glass case. He also shares Rifkin’s concern about the slime creature pursuing them up the tower, although there's no sign of it yet.

Not prepared to wait for the others to crawl, one-at-a-time, through the door-gap, the fair-haired Arowe rushes up the curved, stone stairway, as the subtle humming noise coming from above gets progressively louder. Glancing back at Henshaw, who's still close on his heels, the tall Elf steels himself and presses on. There's no time here for hesitation, for surely this is what he'd always dreamt of back in Glendorn? A dark and mysterious tower? A chance for heroic adventure? The opportunity to pit his speed, strength and skills against anyone or anything that dare bar his path?!

Back down at the metal door, once everyone else is safely through, Fortu wrestles, pushes and squeezes the podgy Doberman through the slightly too narrow gap, and then wriggles through himself. Arowe and Henshaw have already rushed on ahead but Liga Bur, Rifkin and Barbella are there, waiting to help push the heavy metal block back into the formally solid door. Despite Fortu’s supernaturally sharp sword, the cuts are jagged and there will be slight gaps. It’ll no longer be a perfect fit but its weight alone will hold it in place. When repositioned, only something as small as a mouse would be able to find its way through. Just as his teammates start to push together and the gap starts to narrow, Liga Bur stops and stares intently back at Padrik's glass cabinet. He's missing something...

Rifkin is the first (after Arowe and Henshaw) to notice the subtle humming sound coming from the top of the stairs. After craning his head for a moment, he quietly voices his observation.

"F-sharp with infinite sustain."