<blockquote><div><cite>Sashi wrote:</cite>"You know what's on the other side of that door? Why do all the exits get sealed 'cept that one?."</div></blockquote><br/>"It's the<span style="font-style: italic">hypogeum,</span>" Ciro says. "I dunno what goes on in there, but they take a lot of slaves in there... and nobody ever comes back."<br/><br/>"I think they keep the<span style="font-style: italic">monsters</span>in there" he adds fearfully.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Unlocking the hypogeum door is a simple matter of finding the right keys on Sashi's ring (two large, red-banded brass keys). Once both locks are opened, the metal door swings forward, as if inviting Sashi and Ciro to enter...<br/><br/>The doorway opens onto a ring-shaped catwalk overlooking a massive, multistoried circular chamber: the Hypogeum, cacophonous heart of the Sogluyem arena. A network of stairs and walkways crisscrosses the space below, weaving among stacks of cages containing every sort of creature imaginable. Bullywugs and the occasional gladiator hurry through the walkways, most either carrying supplies or prodding slaves along. None of them seem to have noticed Sashi and Ciro yet.<br/><br/>What really catches the eye, though, is a square platform forty feet across in the center of the room, held aloft by the innumerable ropes and pulleys that dangle from the rafters above. As Sashi enters, two people- a tan-skinned redheaded woman and a hunched whitehaired man clutching a scythe- face one another at opposite ends of  the platform. A bullywug attendant pulls a series of levers, and two sections of floor split from the main platform, each carrying one of the individuals toward an opening in the ceiling.<br/><br/>The platform is accessible by a staircase, but from where Sashi can't tell- the stairs disappear into the maze of cages below.<br/><br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Sashi: make a DC 15 Intelligence or Survival check to reach a destination without getting lost.</div></div></div>