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I suppose maybe I will have to look into some rudimentary drawing program. I'm not sure how else to describe this, but the general acceptance that one could fit a ladder down this hole means that I'm not describing it well enough. Let's try again:
There lies before you an approximately three-foot by three-foot square on the floor. In it, there is a steep slope that goes from even with the floor at the edge nearest you to several feet deep at the far edge. At that far edge, there is vertical shaft of unknown dimension. That shaft is not accessible from directly above (it is well-below the level of the floor in this room), hence the earlier description of it as "covered" which is sort of accurate.
To go down the shaft, one would have to go down the steep slope and then down the shaft.
Oh, and the slope is covered in mossy slime or something.