Seeing Kyara shake her head after listening at the door, Hieronymus was a bit frustrated. Life was supposed to be easy, right?

He saw two options - try and force the door or go down one of the side passages. Since the door opened out it might not even be locked or latched. Maybe. Perhaps they could push lightly enough on it that the stress wouldn't be noticable on the other side if it didn't move.

Heironymus whispered quietly. "Kyara. Shall we try to push lightly on the door? Go through if it opens with the want out and in the eyes of whoever is speaking on the other side. Or go back to the tunnels. I'd like to at least try the door. You?"

Kyara withdrew from where she was listening near the floor. And moves over to Hieronymus.

"two males, is about I could catch" she said after she moved very close to Hieronymus leaning close to whisper in his ear.

"Do we move on or go through the door?"

*Since it seems the decision is beign given to Heironymus I will assume they will act. I will put Heironymus in front for this action because he is in armor and I don't want to put another persons character in front when the action hasn't been 100% confirmed.*

"Two men ... "

In the low light Heironymus looked as his companion. "Lets try the door," he whispered quietly. "The path seems to be leading us here and there may be only two. I will push very lightly to see if it will open - if it does we will throw it open. If we meet resistance, we will stop - hopefully before alerting anyone on the other side that we even made the attempt."

As he moved up to the door, Heironymus also asked for the wand back. "I have some decent armor - why don't I go first? I can shine the wand into the room as we enter. It will let us know what is there and may blind whoever is in the room. Even if they have light, starig right into the wand may make it hard for them to see much of us."

With that Heironymus takes the wand in one hand, with his mace held ready in the other and prepares to push lightly on the door. He assumes Kyara is right behind him and ready to assist.

Relax . . . relax . . . deep breath . . . gently push . . .

The door moves only a slight bit (not enough to actually see into the room). You could easily assume that the door has some sort of bar on the other side. Because you pushed so lightly you didn't hit the bar loud enough to alert anyone. The voices from behind the door even actually get louder as they burst into laughter at some joke or another.

You even manage to hear a slight bit of the conversation before they quiet the tones to a more normal level again.

"It'll be interesting... stupid prisoners... when he let's them loose... hell will follow..."

(You can attempt to break in the door, play on some deception, or something else if you wish to go past the door. If not, you have a plethora of passages to choose from... and each will actually lead you somewhere, so you won't be wandering the tunnels forever. )

After hearing a bit of the conversation on the other side of the door, Heironymus lightly allows the door to fall back to its natural resting place. He looked closely towards Kyara.

"Prisoners? I don't like the sound of that. But it does mean that our quarry is likely to be here."

Looking back down the tunnel they had come down, he added, "I don't think we want to try and force the door. I, for one, am unlikely to be strong enough. Nor do I have a spell likely to be of assistance. Let us go back to the side passages and hope we can circle around somehow. I don't care which one we take as I have no reason to favor one over the other. To make a choice, I would pick the first tunnel we come to and take it. But I am open to suggestions. What do you wish to do?"

(For clarification - Heironymus would go back up the tunnel the way they came and take the first tunnel they come to. I need to go back and reread the earlier posts and create a bit of a map. For now, if two tunnels branch off at the same time, take the one going left. Left as we currently walk, it would have been right when we came in.)

As you turn to head back the way you came the door behind you opens and the loud laughter of the two men spills into the passageway. After a second the one at the door looks out into the hallway momentarily blinded by the light of the wand. The other is slowly standing and reaching for the sword at his belt.

(declare your actions and then I will roll initiative as necessary).

*Edited for your reading pleasure

And so the decision about opening the door was made for them . . .

Hieronymus attempts to keep the wand aimed into the eyes of the guy coming through the door. Tempted to use his sound burst spell, Heironymus resisted the urge because of the possibility of sounding the alarm. Instead, with his mace already in hand, he moved up to swing at the man standing in the doorway.

If it does not significantly interfere with his ability to swing his mace, he will still keep the wand aimed at the eyes of his opponent. He will also be looking for evidence that these are, in fact, enemies. However, the talk of prisoners makes him confident that he knows a target when he sees one.

With her bow in hand and an arrow notched Kyara shot the man in the door. he was lite by the wand with light behind him as well

With amazing dexterity and reflexes Kyara spins and goes to her knees sending an arrow streaking towards the first of the guards. A thud and a gratifying grunt signals a hit as the arrow drives deep into his shoulder (Dealing 6 hp damage).

Coming in immediately on the tail of the arrow, a blinding light and a rather heavy blunt object strikes the guard squarely, before he could even manage to pull his blade from the scabbard (critcally striking for 16 points of damage). The guard's face collapses beneath the weight of the blow and he crumbles to the ground in a heap.

The remaining guard blinks several times, clearing the white dots from his vision caused by the sudden light. After a moment a grin spreads on his face. Slowly he pulls his longsword from its sheath and takes a step backward, further down the passageway the door was previously blocking off. With his off hand he waves you forward. "Come to your death human." While his eyes take note of the skilled archer, he seems to be focused mostly on the light-wielding Heironymus standing before him, as he steps to place the cleric firmly between himself and the deadly archer.

(The second guard is 15' from Heironymus, 25' from Kyara. The cleric is currently blocking most of the door, giving the second guard cover from any additonal arrows (which gives him an AC bonus, and a chance of the arrow hitting Heironymus should you miss)).

Kyara notches another arrow and them moves five feet moves diagonally. She draw her bow to the furthest draw point for maximum effect, and targets the second guard her eyes focused. Kyara holds her breath so that her body was as still as possible Only then did she releases the slender shaft so it speeds forward towards it mark.

Heironymus feels his mace connect with a satisfying thud on the guard and watches as he falls to the ground. He really didn't like killing, but a bit of adventuring had the effect of making him get accustomed to the uncomfortable act.

In order to clear sight lines for his friend and ally, Heironymus stepped forward at an angle into the room. He slid to the side (LEFT side)of the entryway as he entered allowing Kyara room to shoot. He did not immediately charge his opponent (leaving 12-15 feet between them, I assume)as he was more than willing to let a swordsman stand his distance and be taken down with the bow if he was willing to stand there and present a target.

(Three things worth noting beyond this basic act:
1. Since the room was already well lit I would assume there is no reason to keep the wand lit or out. Thus another charge would not be used in this case and if his opponent remains at a distance and he gets a chance, Heironymus will tuck the wand away. He could also just drop it if his opponent charges and it seems foolish to take time dealing with the wand.
2. There has been no discription of the room into which Heironymus is stepping. However, since it is well lit and the characters eyes are already accustomed to the light he should have no trouble seeing into the room. Since his opponent is 15 feet away and backing up, Heironymus will not leap recklessly into the room. He wants to move fairly quickly to clear sight lines, but will make sure he knows what he is stepping into and look for other guards as he enters the room.
3. I guess I am assuming there is a room on the other side of the door, not just a tunnel. Also, what is the light source on that side of the door?)

Kyara's arrow soars quickly through the air, soaring inches from Heironymus' arm as he moves aside. The arrowhead embeds itself firmly in the arm chest of the second guard (hit for 4 hp damage).

Seemingly unfazed, his smile widens as he backs further down the tunnel behind him. The shadows seem to gather around him, blocking out the light with impenetrable darkness.

(the darkness spreads almost instantly from the tunnel, covering everything except a 5' area around Heironymus in blackness.)

As the darkness spread out from the tunnel, Heironymus strained his ears to hear. Keeping the wand lit, he backed into the doorway, blocking it.

As he moved back he spoke to his partner. "Kyara, stay behind me. If I block the door he can't get past without being seen. Keep your bow ready and your ears open."

With that Heironymus stood blocking the door. He strained his ears to hear any movement his opponent might make. He knew his opponent was already injured and hoped that might cause him some problems. He held his mace at the ready. He had seen a sword. If the guard intended to use it he would have to move into the light where Heironymus could swing back. If missiles started to fly Heironymus would be forced to back out of the doorway and off to one side.

For a short moment you think you hear a slight shuffle, but then it is gone (Listen check 12). The moments pass slowly in an eternity of darkness.

(minutes pass, which you are able to perform some action if you wish.)

Suddenly the darkness is lifted, and the light of the wand illuminates the room again. The dead guard lays at the feet of Heironymus, and there i no sign of the other.

As the darkness receded, Heironymus looked carefully around the guard room and muttered, "So much for surprise."

After nudging the corpse with his toe to make sure it was dead, he bent down to quickly examine it. He was looking for valuables, whether that be coins or information. Were these the same people that attacked the wagons?

And, of course, they had to decide what to do now. As he searched the body, he spoke to Kyara. "What now? Follow the guard who will probably be expecting us? There may even be a trail of blood. Nice shot. Or take a different route hoping to regain surprise? I think these two were here to guard something. So I'd say go forward and follow the guard down that hallway. But I'm open to ideas if you have any."