OOC: Okay, back from vacation and travels just in time for another holiday and short vacation. But I at least wanted to advance this a little further before Monday. I will probably post again tomorrow.
The lead gnome says, "We have skills in the caves. Location, direction, find food or water. Simple skills. We live in caves long time. But we never come here. The sacred scrolls forbid it. Evil and the dragon lurk within." He says this last with some trepidation, but resigned to the need at hand.
Tahldar begins searching.
Shae enters the western room (#3). The stone door takes effort, but finally pushes inward, revealing a 20 foot by 20 foot room with more skeletal remains with tattered leather clothes. The skeletons appear to be both gnome and human. There was once a fountain here in the northwestern part of the room, but now it appears to be a pool of stagnant water covered with a layer of moss.
Tahldar is pushing at stones and one pushes in easily, acting as a button. With a heave, the wall starts to move, revealing a secret room beyond (#4).
The gnomes give an almost comical utterance in unison of "ahhhh" when the secret door is discovered.
The 10 foot by 10 foot room beyond the secret door is dark and covered in cobwebs. There are several items of interest here.
First, there is an urn about 3 feet high, made of bronze. It is unadorned but is filled with some sort of unfamiliar coins, also apparently of bronze or brass, and with a simple engraving of a symbol on each side, a symbol you are not familiar with.
Second, there is a large wooden chest of ancient design. Its wood has begun to rot, and its metal bandings are covered with rust, but it is still intact and closed, with an unfamiliar locking mechanism on the front.
And third, there is a very ornamental box. It is about 18 inches to a side, made of a golden or brass material. It is also closed.