Round 3

As Merrin crouches low to examine the moss-lined floor, her eyes scan the stones with a practiced intensity. She discovers a shallow depression, its edges etched with a faint rune that would trigger a hidden spike trap if disturbed. The pressure plate's mechanism is now known to include a secondary spike pit beneath the gate. Jeane's violet light dances across the gate entrance, washing over every surface as she weaves a spell of detection around herself.

With her eyes closed, Jeane intones softly, "Detect Magic," and the air shimmers around the trap mechanism as her spell activates. Runes flare into brief visibility, pulsing with dark energy along the plate's edges and deeper in the stone beneath it. Halie takes her position near Merrin, her hands moving through sacred gestures as she begins the incantation for Protection from Evil. The words come easily, a steady rhythm against the creeping dread of this place.

Merrin carefully traces the outline of the hidden depression with her fingertips, trying to determine its exact dimensions and whether it's part of the pressure plate mechanism. A faint tingle of magic pricks against her skin as she follows the groove in the stone. Varrika moves closer, offering Merrin a sturdy wooden wedge from her pack. "Here. Might help pry that pressure plate up enough to disable it," she says quietly, glancing at the gate's rune-covered surface warily.

Seraphine kneels beside Merrin, studying the revealed pressure plate and secondary spike pit with intense focus. She pulls a small, ornate compass from her robes, one of her own enchantments, and holds it over the trap mechanism. The compass spins rapidly before settling on a single point - the center of the gate itself. Seraphine nods, noting the location of a powder keg-like arrangement within the center. With a deep breath, Merrin carefully pries the pressure plate up, avoiding the spike pit's deadly trigger.