Fieri Angharad's dedicated searching eventually paid off. Sure enough, there was a sizable hole in the building's foundation. Though it was too high off the ground to simply walk into, the stonemasonry below it was rough and uneven-- perfect for climbing. Using her hands to propel her upwards and her muscular tail as a muscular anchor, Fieri gradually slithered up to and through the precipice without any trouble. With one mighty lunge, Fieri heaved herself into the tower's innards... and landed heavily on a moldering stone staircase. There [i]were[/i] no innards, save for a single winding staircase.

Fieri grunted with equal measures frustration and pain. No lobby meant [i]no easy place to set up shop![/i] She'd be forced to crawl into the moldy musty underbelly of this damned dungeon! Worse yet, she'd have to use the [i]stairs[/i]! Accidentally slamming the base of her tail on every step, Fieri slowly and achingly began making her way down the stone stairway.

Just as Fieri was starting to ponder about the depth of this seemingly-endless staircase, she heard a soft [i]click[/i]. A trap had been sprung! The stone steps slowly began to angle themselves downward and rescind, leaving only a slippery, wet, stony ramp! This surprising change of events, while potentially disastrous for a [i]biped[/i], served only to make the snake-bodied Fieri's job easier. Her tail muscles easily gripped the imperfections in the stone steps, and all downward progress was handily halted. With no steps to bruise her tail on, Fieri quietly praised the designers of the Mad King's dungeon for their diligent concern for handicapped intruders.

At the base of the stairs was a quite inconvenient gap. Presumably, bipedal intruders would have found themselves sliding unstoppably to whatever lied below. Fieri, however, managed to stop herself in time. Coiling her tail and springing it forward, Fieri leaped over the gap and made it to the floor beyond with a meaty [b]thud[/b]. Suffering only a few tail bruises and a wet underbelly, Fieri surged with confidence. She continued on into the depths of the dungeon, in search of plunder and marketing opportunities.