Ever thoughtful and deliberate, Kaghad was happy to let the others' precede his own descent.  No dwarf favored heights, and the crack in the ground appeared less inviting than most, but the blacksmith consoled himself by affirming that without his aid, this party of younglings wouldn't make it past the first spike trap.  

One by one the other adventurers descended.  First went the most diminutive member of the party, displaying clearly a courage that defied her size.  Next went the magician who, after a comment that Kaghad interpreted as both joking and snarky, proved herself a kindred spirit to the dwarf by declaring her dislike of heights.  Kaghad watched, leaning upon his hammer, as she disappeared into the grasping darkness.  Jon followed her only after lighting his torch with a set of flint and steel in his gauntlet, which, though certainly a neat trick for more mundane craftsmen, failed to impress the master dwarf.  With three members of the squad down, and no gut-wrenching screams issued forth, Kaghad decided that his turn to make the climb had arrived.

Though small, he was stocky, heavily geared, and not very agile, so the trip down for him turned out to be the longest.  By and by, however, his boots touched solid ground again.  "Noice," he remarked to Jon, gesturing to the man's torch.  The trace of a ghastly pong assaulted his nostrils, causing him to wrinkle his nose in distaste.  Why must subterranean places always exhibit some sort of stink?  Did they always need dwarves to make it habitable?  Still, Kaghad felt closer to the earth in his natural habitat, and he swept his gaze around the staircase and door.  Without hesitation, he strolled over to it, inspecting its mechanism for locks with rheumy eyes.