Into the castle!

[Jenara]

"What is it?" Eloise asks, looking behind her, covering their rear in much the same way she would covering a street.

[NoTrammeling]

Matthias stops his fruitless inspection of the Stony Barn to see what the girls have found by the door. He hangs back a few feet, though clearly keen to inspect the barred entryway for himself he seems torn about actually approaching the problem and the proximity of the others.

[Ismaels-Legacy]

"Should such need arise, I don't think we should necessarily flee into the barn with only one entrance!" Saul chuckles to himself briefly before the jest reminds him of a traumatic incident from the Holy Land. His eyes cloud and he suddenly falls quiet, withdrawing into himself.

Should anyone be nearby, they can hear him mutter to himself, "Lord forgive me for my sins..."

[Stik]

Christopher looks at Saul askance, then says "Apamea?" Then he looks at the others. "I do not expect a need to leave quickly. But there is no harm in making arrangements now, in case that need should arise.

"Let us brace the outer doors and the portcullis, so they cannot be easily closed. We can use the wood and rope from the granary swings."

[pixie chic]

"I'm not really sure," Thelma admits to Eloise as she tries to figure it out.

[Jenara]

"Well...." Moving close to the gate Eloise feels the bar Thelma had her hand on. "Does this move? Or spin around? Like the lock on the old stable?"

[pixie chic]

Thelma lets Eloise move in and adjust the bars if they move, "Let's find out."

[Jenara]

"Arent they grumpy?" Eloise says with a grin, "Silly men."

[Breila]

The bar the girls inspect does indeed look like it's a hinge. The point now is to find out which part of the portcullis is the gate, and the closing mechanism.

Looking from a few feet away, like Matthias does, doesn't reveal anything.

When the girls use their fingers to inspect the riveted horizontal bands that keep the vertical bars together, they notice that about three feet from the greasy bar that seems to be a hinge, the rivets are just on the front surface of the band. In the back, there are sliding bolts that close the man-door in the portcullis, not visible from the outside.

STR checks to pull back the three sliding bolts from anyone who attempts to pull them back, please. They are not greased, but a little rusted.

How does Christopher plan to get the swings down? They hang from sturdy iron hooks in the ceiling beam of the barn which is about 8 feet high. Also, they are heavy. (6 by 6 feet of massive wooden board, plus the six-inch-high frame. Think of a kingsize bed made of massive wood.)

When Christopher goes back to the entry gate to check the portcullis, he sees it is already blocked by wooden wedges placed in the guiding rails. Anyone attempting to remove them (at a height of more than 7 feet) would need a ladder or a very disciplined horse. The outer doors hang open from gravity, you would need at least three people to close them (one to hold each part closed while the third places the beam on its hooks). The inner doors are currently leaning to the walls of the gate.The wall beside them is smooth.

(Just to make sure we're all on the same page: Eloise, Thelma, Matthias and Dale are in the inner gate tower, working on the portcullis, Christopher is checking out the outer gate tower, and Saul is standing in the courtyart, having a flashback?)

[Ismaels-Legacy]

At Christopher's askance, Saul replies with barely a whisper, "Aye". As Christopher starts to wander the grain barn and gate, Saul follows, looking for a way to wedge the gates open (Just in case there ARE seven people hiding in the keep!). "Are there any small pieces of wood that we could use as wedges rather than remove the grain bins?" He asks of Christopher.

[pixie chic]

Thelma leans back and calls out to the men, "Care to try your hand at opening this door?" She explains the latch mechanism's details to them, "It would appear that there are three rusted latches that need to be pulled."

Scooting out, she makes room for one of them.

[Kafen]

Dale waits until she is out of the way and moves to look at the piece she is talking about. Reaching in, he attempts to move the piece.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4196391/
1d20 → [2] = (2)

[Breila]

Dale manages to slide back the latches, and, sure enough, a part of the portcullis now turns on the hinge formed by a bar. A person can pass through without problems, they have to mind their step because the lowest band joining the bars is not part of the door (it's about 10 inches from the ground). Apollo, however, would have to squeeze through. This door is not made for horses.

Ahead of the group is now the inner door of the gate tower, presumably opening to the upper courtyard. it is made of massive boards that look like they were simply the trunks of small trees, and iron nails protude from them in regular intervals. Light shines through small gaps around the edges and down the middle.

[Jenara]

"I don't like this... " Eloise says as she spies the nails, "Don't these places have holes to hurt people?"

[pixie chic]

"Possibly," Thelma says in a calming voice, "we need to move on, quickly." She stands up and moves through the hatchway, "Need some muscle in here, guys."

Inspecting the door, she looks at the edges and lock to see if there are any traps.