I remember being better at these...

[Diemos]

But I'm stuck at the second gate in lvl 1!

I spent the brass key to open the first locked door (I also tried smashing through the door to save the key (no luck)), and am standing at the loose rock near the locked portculis with no idea what to do...

I've swung at it, fired fire at it, thrown rocks, right clicked, left clicked, hell I even took a run at it! I've gone back inch by inch over the few hallways I've been allowed to see, but still could have missed something, of course...

I'm sure that once I get past this gate I'll be fine... Help!

[BigRob154]

Just take your time and look in every niche. Maybe another character has the key already?

[Stardog]

Stuck here too. For level 1 I'm expecting that rock to be loose and to bash through it...

[Malken]

You have to click on a brick on the wall that is next to where it says 'loose rock', not on the message itself

[skrir]

The message "Loose rock" is supposed to be a translation of the runes on the wall. It doesn't mean that that is a loose rock.

[Painted Lady]

But I'm stuck at the second gate in lvl 1!

I spent the brass key to open the first locked door (I also tried smashing through the door to save the key (no luck)), and am standing at the loose rock near the locked portculis with no idea what to do...

I've swung at it, fired fire at it, thrown rocks, right clicked, left clicked, hell I even took a run at it! I've gone back inch by inch over the few hallways I've been allowed to see, but still could have missed something, of course...

I'm sure that once I get past this gate I'll be fine... Help!

I'm having the exact same problem! I can't figure out how to pry the loose rocks out of the wall. What now?

[Diemos]

First off, let me say thank you for the gentle replies! I was able to find the solution thanks to your prompts and still had the "satisfaction" of having found it myself... (I gotta take it where I can get it... )

For other having this issue, let me try my hand at nudging:

The remark about the sign not being necessarily ON the object is important.

As for my nudge,

SpoilerShow

perhaps the runes might be more loosely translated to read "Broken" or "Cracked" rock rather than loose?

[Painted Lady]

Thanks so much!

[Mychaelh]

Hehe, I instantly found the brick to click but missed that I can also click on the Runes to get a translation.
(but got suspicious, when I found the same inscription for 2 different times...)