Attack the Darkness

The area inside might be quite large, so going in alone and blindly might be a bad idea.  Tessa thinks.  Then again, dropping a bomb in might just anger whoever made it, rather than do any real damage to them.  If it's high level magic, as Surallel has said, then who is to say one bomb would be enough to do the job?  Is there any way to try and make contact peacefully?

Ravna snorts, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest. I'm not dropping anything down there! An explosion might damage any artifacts connected to these ruins! She gestures to Rothgar. After you, good sir. 

The rope ladder is seems to be bolted into the ancient stone. Rothgar checks it, and it seems reasonably secure. He tosses the bundle into the dark pit, and it unfurls silently in the void. For a few moments, Rothgar holds the top of the ladder in his hands, gently enough that if the end is disturbed, he would feel it. With no reaction on the ladder, Rothgar steels himself, he adjusts his ioun torch in its orbit, hoping the magic trinket will be of use below. Rothgar descends the ladder, disappearing below the fog. An eerie silence seems to fall over the tent when Rothgar disappears. The gentle clanking of his armor, even the absence of the large human's breathing is noticeably absent.

Below. As soon as Rothgar dips below the fog, he feels like his breath is sapped from his chest, as he is nearly overcome with the disgusting stench he has ever experienced. It takes him a moment to recover. As he does so, he thinks he can identify the smell. Death. Decomposing bodies, with undertones from other bodily fluids. The smell is oppressive. Once Rothgar regains his senses, he looks around. The ladder decends into an alcove in a long hallway. There are broken stones and debris in the alcove, likely from the broken staircase that once occupied the space. There are signs that a great deal of debris was removed. There is no light that Rothgar can see, apart from his torch. Dimly, Rothgar can make out three passagages. One extending north, what appears to be a dead end to the east, and a longer passage leading west, which ends in a turn. There are designs or murals on the walls down here as well. They seem better preserved, but do not look nearly as elaborate as the mural above. While the stench of corpses seems to fill the hallway, there are no corpses in sight. From the short dead end in the east, there does appear to be a trail of blood leading past the alcove, and down the western hall. The trail is smeared and dried, as if something was drug through it, days ago.

All Players please respond. The battlemap is up to date. it is revealed up to the end of Rothgar's dim light (40 ft).

The foul, oppressive stench hits Surallel like a punch in the gut. At the bottom he takes a moment to recover. After doing so, he surveys the hall. His vision is better than Rothgar's, but without moving down the hall, he cannot see further down either hallway.