"Look at these, maybe we can come back and take some of these with us, so much Nether energy, maybe we can use it to operate the facility. And some to power a few tools." Zelpuz says still looking at the crystals.

Yuu examines the crystals more closely, running through a few simple ad hoc experiments.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:13, Sat 31 Dec 2022.

As Yuu and Zelpuz examine the crystals they perform a couple of minor cantrips to verify these are indeed nether crystals. The response from them affirms their mystical nature, much to the surprise and delight of the explorers. A cave full of such crystals would be worth a princely sum indeed.

Vanyra keeps an eye out for trouble with her weapon and shield at the ready.  She cautiously peers down a passage.

Vanyra spies another passage to her left, leading up and away from the glowing cavern. Peering down it she see the same glowing nether crystals lining the walls, floor and ceiling but they gradually die off about a third of the way down. The cavern continues down on their left for some ways with the glow lending a convenient light to see by.

"Looks like we found the reason for these caves, nether crystal mining!" Zelpuz says to the others advancing down the corridor.

"There are more down this way," adds Vanyra.

"Yeah, there's no pattern to these things, or anything. Nether crystals usually have to be made... so for these to grow like this....."

The young mage looks excited, dumbfounded, and anxious all rolled into a single expression.

After analyzing a few of the imbedded samples, he taps on one specimen, making a few careful, experimental attempts to dislodge it.

The crystals are firmly embedded in the stone, or perhaps grew out of it. One could likely dislodge them with careful application of the correct tools. Forceful extraction would likely damage the crystals, which given their unknown formation process, seems unwise at this point.

"Well, either they were mined, or formed by the vibrating nether energy or a similar one  in the next cave. Let's get back here with more tools after we report back and examined the rest of the cave." Zelpuz says, moving away from the crystals and exploring the next tunnel.

As the team carefully pushes deeper into what is now apparently a surprisingly large vein of nether crystals. Thankfully in such a solid and stable state the nether energies contained within are dormant, quite unlike the nether cloud they encountered earlier. Whatever the cause this cave network has an unnatural amount of nether energy, which could explain the original interest by the Zhen Halan explorers centuries past.

Yuu reluctantly pulls himself away, unconsciously patting down his pockets where, no doubt, a bunch of sensory and testing gizmos are squirrelled away. "Yeah..." he says distractedly, his brain pondering quanderies and possibilities.

"I wonder if they are natural, or grew naturally from something unnatural..?"

He clears his head with a shake, and looks to his companions as the team move further into the tunnels. "There is so much here..." he says in bewilderment, trying to keep himself focused on task of simply moving forward.

Vanyra continues moving ahead into the crystal-lined caverns.

This message was deleted by the player at 19:06, Tue 10 Jan 2023.

As Zelpuz moves down a narrow passage away from the crystal-strewn cavern he makes a startling discovery; at the far end the crystals suddenly stop and reveal what appears to be a room in the proper sense. Straight walls distinct from the stone leading up to it are visible above a large mound of rubble strewn about the transition area.

Vanyra walks into the room and looks around.  "Are those doors?" she asks to her companions.

After carefully traversing a pile of stone and cerametal rubble the trio finds themselves in a aged-worn but otherwise well constructed room. The walls, floor, and ceiling are formed of some sort of cerametal, they believe, though covered with decades, if not centuries, of growth. Doors mark portals leading from the room on opposite sides. There are also cabinets or other pieces of "furniture" placed against the wall.

If they were to hazard a guess this structure should be located under the ridge that connects the meadow where the original base camp was to the elevator. It is a quite the distance from that other underground complex.

"This place is crazy... So? What do you want do?" Vanyra asks.  We have a big cave system with oddities everywhere and now we may have found what we were looking for - part of whatever this place is."

"Good question, well, this is what we were looking for, I would say we look around a bit more before we return. Do we still have radio contact to report back?"

"I lost radio contact a little ways back." Yuu reports, stepping up to a door and giving it a good look over.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:44, Thu 02 Feb 2023.

"OK, no problem, we can just choose to do what we like. I say let's go on at least a bit to see what else is here or how far it goes."

Yuu moves up to the door seeming to exit the left side of the room. Examining it he finds it to be a well crafted door with a combination manual and electronic locking mechanism, though given the lack of power he assumes the electronic component is inactive. With a little elbow-grease they should be able to open it.

Yuu steps back from the door and raises his hands. Gesticulating a set pattern practiced at nauseum from his days as school, he speaks an incantation which turns a 3 inch diameter piece of door material into dust. The dust drops away, encouraged by Yuu's waving hand, and his eye peaks in.

To a combination of relief and disappointment Yuu discovers that beyond the door lies a short hallway. The hall seems to be constructed in very much the same manner as the room though lacks any visible piping, control boards, or cabinets.