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By KERRY BURNS
The Portland Examiner

PORTLAND OREGON - In an impromptu press conference Saturday, scientists announced the discovery of a secret chamber inside the recently uncovered ruins of an ancient castle.

"First the castle, and now this!" exclaimed Randolph Wiggams, project manager for the dig. "We can't wait to see what we might find next."

The chamber was hidden behind a series of thin stone veneers lining one of the walls of a passage leading from the dungeons to the "Portal Room." One of the crewmembers made the discovery when they accidentally knocked their shovel handle on the first layer of stone, cracked it, and heard a strange "hissing sound."

Carl Simpson, who made the discovery, explained: "There appeared to be some kind of compressed gas behind the stone veneer that smelled like sulfur-we all noticed it immediately, of course. We opened the crack to peer behind the layer and discovered another layer decorated with all kinds of strange markings that none of us had ever seen before."

The crew opened the first layer, then opened the second layer to find a third, more highly decorated layer.

Simpson continued, "when we found the third layer we saw some markings that looked similar to Latin and appeared to be a warning not to open the chamber. We photographed the markings and then promptly opened the last layer of veneer…we couldn't wait to see what was considered so bad that it had a warning on the entrance."

The third layer was also slightly pressurized and when they cracked the last seal another blast of air issued from it smelling of, what one person described as "wet mud and decay."

Their flashlights revealed a chamber intact, as it was when the seal was first placed over the doorway. There was furniture including tables, chairs, and shelves lined with books, pottery, several cauldrons, metallic "machines," rope, artifacts, old tapestries, small storage rooms along one wall, a large fireplace, and a circular staircase leading up to a balcony overlooking the room, and down to another sealed doorway below the chamber.

"We haven't removed anything yet. We want to get some specialists in here who can explain some strange contraptions we found before we proceed," said Wiggams when asked about their plans. "Some of our crew complained of headaches after working in the chamber, and we don't want to take any chances, so we're also going to conduct some tests."

The chamber is an important discovery because it may hold answers to the castle's origin and purpose in some of its books.

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