Gilren picks the stone up and puts it in a pouch. Lighting a torch she looks around more. If the group wants to rest she will guard the entrance.

Seeing Gilren light the torch, Bingling apologizes.

"I am sorry. I did not think..."

"I suggest we move on only after our friend Tamarkorda is recovered... he does seem to be on the mend..."

"I am here" Tamarkoda says "I have spent much force of will though. I would not be much help were we to go down the route to bad swirl. That most like will take us out of the world we know. What we will face there  I can not tell."

In reply to Henetha Hofaktsdottir (msg # 314):

This is my belief, yes.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:03, Thu 15 Aug 2019.

Saberak peers into the darkness ahead and speaks in a low voice.

"Waiting will probably not make our chances better. We should go as soon as we can."

"I agree with Saberak."

If the group consensus is to press on, where would you like to go?  There were two other tunnels, one of which both shamans have said has an unknown danger.

Things to consider:  You have found the object of the silver path set forth before Sanuzi.  The dark spiritual vortex is currently contained by the fetishes and totems that mark this land as taboo.  You have the remains of the young woman blessed by Ernalda.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 323):

Bingling looks at the woman's remains.

"You do not eat your dead, and if you did then I may be the only one who could eat metal. There is unbound chaos in this land. Should we return her remains to the priestesses of Ernalda?  Or does leaving her here help the Mother of Earth sanctify and hold at bay some of the chaos? Tell me, and I am your servant for the nonce."

In reply to Bingling Hyxloriz (msg # 324):

I think we should return the remains, yes.

Oligur stands guard with Gilren.

After resting, the group reascends the spiral tunnel.  With you is the blessed body of the girl and the large fragment of True Stone.

Going first down the left passage, the one more frequently traveled, you come upon the lair of the creatures that confronted you when you first entered the cave.  Dirty blankets and cloth litter the floor, along with bones of animals and humans.  While there are some baubles scattered around the room, it would take a good deal of time to search the room.  The air in this room feels heavy and oppressive, as if no breeze ever moved through this room.

Moving off to the right passage, the one where the sinister presence is located, you begin to move down the cold, dark tunnel.  As you go, you notice shattered rock on the floor, and you can see on the walls where once stood plaques.  Looking at the rocks, you can see that they were carvings.[Private to Henetha Hofaktsdottir: Looking at the pieces, you can tell that they told stories of Ernalda.  This location was used by the family matron as a sacred site for Ernalda.  It is no longer sacred to Ernalda.]

As you continue, you begin to get the scent of rot and decay.  As with the right tunnel, the air becomes still, stale, and oppression.  The tunnel slopes down to the right.  The tunnel becomes wider, and you see something that may have once been a small altar of stone, now smashed.  The tunnel continues.

<pause for a moment to see if anyone wants to do anything.  Currently, you are about 40 meters down the tunnel.  The center tunnel was much longer than this one.>
[Private to Sanuzi Asar-Girru; Tamarkorda: Even without Spirit Sight up, you can tell that the barrier between the mundane world and spirit world is incredibly thin, and getting thinner the further you go.]

Leading the way with her torch in her left hand and her spear in her right hand. Gilren carefully scans the area for threats. Casting a detect silver.

In reply to Gilren Starseeker (msg # 328):

Being nervous about the safety of his assumed charges, Bingling will attempt to cast Strength.

"This was once a sacred site for Ernalda. No more, though."

"Argan Argar was one of the husbands of the Mother of Earth. tell me if we should do anything."

"No, I think we should continue."

In reply to Bingling Hyxloriz (msg # 331):

Bingling then looks abashedly at his compatriots.

"You are my friends and my charges. I am sorry that I became enraged earlier. i do sometimes eat my enemies, but you are friends and I won't eat you unless you have a very good reason and ask me to eat you."

In reply to Bingling Hyxloriz (msg # 333):

Er, thank you Bingling. You have proven yourself a good friend and comrade. I think I speak for most of us here when I say we would prefer to not be consumed.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 327):

My friends, all of you, thank you for your support in this venture. You must all know that we are in a very strange and terrible place; a place where the world we know and the world that it hides are very close.

Sanuzi struggles to articulate the worries he feels, yet he continues...

We must fortify ourselves to remember who we are here, and what we are doing. We cannot be distracted by the fears and illusions that may beset us, or we will all be lost. My master has been preparing herself for this very task, and she has far greater power over and knowledge of these dangers... yet still, she is not here. If we go further, we must be clever and cautious. We must gird ourselves as heroes. Keep fast this idea, and perhaps we will prevail.

Sanuzi seems wearied by his own words. Still, he continues...

Perhaps these items we have found can help us to survive this confrontation. I feel that here we will engage a being of great power both here, in our reality, and in the reality beyond, which we will all come to know more fully after death. Has anyone any thoughts on these artifacts? Should we explore their potential before we go further? I worry that we walk a thin line between success and failure here.

In reply to Sanuzi Asar-Girru (msg # 335):

"I have no insight about these things," says Oligur. "I have seen one such stone before, in the pommel of the blade of my lord, Fazzur Wideread.
How this might aid us in the trials to come, I know not. "

Slightly puzzled by the meanings behind Sanuzi's words, Bingling nods and hoists his ornate mace.

"I am Bingling. Onward."

Gilren leads the way into tunnel.  As you proceed, the air becomes stagnant and cold.  The further in you get, the fouler the air becomes.  [Private to Gilren Starseeker; Oligur Jaffez; Tamarkorda: The smell makes you nauseous, a distracting feeling that lowers your skills by -10%. ][Private to Henetha Hofaktsdottir: The smell at first makes you nauseous, but then you begin vomiting up whatever is in your stomach.  The queasy feeling remains with you, reducing your skills by -10%.]  Henetha begins to vomit, looking a little unsteady on her feet.

Continuing onward, you start to notice the forms of your companions wavering.
[Private to Bingling Hyxloriz: Gilren, Oligur, sanuzi, and Tamarkorda all seem indistinct, almost transparent.]
[Private to Saberak: Gilren, Oligur, sanuzi, and Tamarkorda all seem indistinct, almost transparent.]
[Private to Henetha Hofaktsdottir: Gilren, Oligur, sanuzi, and Tamarkorda all seem indistinct, almost transparent.]
[Private to Gilren Starseeker: Bingling, Henetha, and Saberak appear indistinct, almost transparent.  Your focus in Air and Death becomes even more present in your being; you are loosing yourself to the Runes of Air and Death.  For the rest of this scene, work as if you had a regular success at invoking both runes.]
[Private to Oligur Jaffez: Bingling, Henetha, and Saberak appear indistinct, almost transparent.  Your focus in the Moon Rune becomes even more present in your being; you are loosing yourself to the Moon Rune.  For the rest of this scene, work as if you had a critical success at invoking the Moon Rune.]
[Private to Sanuzi Asar-Girru: Bingling, Henetha, and Saberak appear indistinct, almost transparent.  In addition, Gilren seems to become more a spirit of air, marked strongly with death; Oligur seems to become more like a spirit of moonlight, a Lune the lunars call it; while Tamarkorda seems to be dividing into spirits of air and fire.]
[Private to Tamarkorda: Bingling, Henetha, and Saberak appear indistinct, almost transparent.  You are loosing yourself, your identity, to the runes of Fire, Air, Fertility, and Harmony.  You feel as if you are being pulled apart by these affinities.  You know that harmony will be critical in what you face.  You need to do something or loose yourself to the primal affinities of the Spirit World.]

In the light of Gilren's torch, you can see that the tunnel opens up.  You can hear slurping and gurgling sounds from the cave ahead, then the baying of some tormented animal.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 338):

Sanuzi couches his spear, hides himself as much as he can behind his shield, and proceeds with the others.

Oligur stands a little taller than usual with a serene expression. He chants a prayer in New Pelorian.

[Private to Narrator, Saberak: "Thank you, Oh Benevolent Goddess, for your grace and blessing as we seek to reconcile the world to you. Give us strength and wisdom to show that We are all us. We are all us."]

And in Tradetalk-

"Take courage, my friends, my heart tells me the day will be ours and this evil will be brought to an end."


Oligur proceeds into the chamber, kopis ready and held both more loosely and more naturally than before, as if it is an extension of himself.