Rolf waits patiently as Bromdaeg works.  Minutes pass and slowly it becomes clear no threat is imminent so Rolf relaxes a bit and settles in to relax.  He is still on alert for danger, but less worried that Harpies are on their way.  Whatever they might be.  In any event they don't sound pleasant and likely ill tempered so better safe than sorry.

Speaking of ill temperment, the mage looks over at Broskow disapprovingly as he begins to berate Bromdaeg for taking so much time doing his work.  "We've marched for so long, I for one don't mind the pause.  Especially if he finds something." he says casually.

Bromdaeg declares nothing of note is to be found so they move on to the next chamber.  But they are presented with a chasm and a rickety looking rope bridge.  He looks over at his own bridge contraption in his sack and wonders if all the effort to both create it and get it here have all been for naught.

Rolf gets down to one knee to get a closer look at the strung bridge and is dubious as to how safe it will be to use it.  As he makes his inspection he is surprised when Darran starts to try to use it to cross over to the other side.  Before he can protest Darran starts to cross and falls!

Amazingly, he lands mostly on his feet and doesn't seem too worse for wear.  But Rolf knows he has to be hurt, despite whatever he says.  He surveys the landscape and ponders what to do.

Seeing Bromdaeg start to descend, Rolf decides to hold off on trying to follow.

Calling out to his captain he says, "Darran, me and Broskow can try to pull you up if you are unable to get back up here and you're game to try.  Might be better though if you can wait and Bromdaeg returns up here to help."

"Or I can try to use my magic to get you back up, but I'll have to use it get myself down and back up too.  I'll be toast afterwards and likely unable to heal you if you need it.  And I suspect you do."

OOC:  How far is the drop below?

Bromdaeg lowers himself downward, some twenty or so feet to the bottom of the gorge as the other two look on from over the lip of the pit.

"No, I'm fine."  Darran responds to Rolf's offer of magical assistance as the Dwarf slides down the rope.  "I landed a little off on my arm, but nothing's broken..."

Rolf looks down on their leader, who grips one forearm with his other hand, though he is already flexing it forward, testing his muscles and joints.

"If you want to want to be a help, see if you can set in a few pitons to get that bridge of yours stretched across."  Darran looks back up, his eyes on the wooden plank, now with a large center section that is rotated some thirty degrees off center making the trap much more obvious.  "It seems that won't be of any use to us."

Over the next few hours, Rolf sets in the pitons and unrolls the rope bridge, Darran climbs back up and though Rolf first insists on looking at Darran's injury, the other simply waves off the attempt, assuring the mage that it is nothing.  Despite his concern, Rolf concedes and the two of them strategize about how best to bridge the gap to the other side.  In the long run, Rolf has to levitate his way across and set in the next two spikes before coming back across to get the end of the bridge.

Even then, it proves nearly impossible to tie the thing off while simultaneously holding the bridge taught, and Rolf resorts to magic once again to keep the two ropes pulled back tight as he ties off each end on the spikes.

Once the whole thing is secure, Rolf allows himself to do the maiden voyage, primarily to be the one responsible for testing his own craftsmanship, though the added bonus of his levitation spell to catch himself if things do go astray also plays in his mind.  All in all the project proves to be a success, both holding his weight and staying tight enough to minimize the sway as he moves across.  Rolf looks for places to tie off his overhead guide rope and though there are many places at the opening of the room where a spike may be nailed to the wall, the other side of the pit is simply open space with not a single anchor apart from the floor.

All the while, Bromdaeg taps merrily away below with his pick, pulling away small bits of stone and dirt into the small creek running underfoot.

The way forward secured, the three humans make their way across, Darran and Rolf each leading the way to opposite walls.  The room is much larger than any other of the caves and seems to be broken up into a few different areas of space.

Towards the right side of the room, the cave floor slopes upward to a sort of platform like area where lies a putrid nest of straw splattered with a brown, dried blood.

The far area of the room is covered with large skins, four of them in total which are each easily the size of a man spread eagled.

To the left side of the room seems to be the most interesting and out of place area, for there is a pair of small pieces of wooden furniture, a single man desk and chair with a waist-high bookshelf beside it, though both the desk and the shelf seemed to have been cleared of their previous contents.

"When the others brought back some of the contents of this place, Brashear sent back over a squad to clear it of whatever else was around.  I think they took everything that was of any monetary or intelligence value."  Broskow says as he walks up behind the other two men.

Indeed, at first glance it seems that everything has been stripped from the small cave.

OOC:  The chasm is about 20 feet down and about 20 feet across, just barely narrow enough for your bridge to stretch across.  While the back and forth role play of getting your bridge to a working state may have been an interesting trail and error, I opted to just assume that you wouldn't try anything egregiously stupid and fast forwarded through a possible (and successful) scenario.  I promise to slow down a little in the future when there the particulars of the outcome may matter more.  The one thing that you did learn is that it's a difficult task as a single man.

Darran seems mostly fully functioning with his arm and despite your efforts to heal him, he has waved you off for now, at least until the group sets down for the night.  If you wish to heal him once everything slows down, feel free to roll against the appropriate spell.

If you want to look farther into any of the particular areas of the room, please let me know which you want to look into, and roll Per-5 for each you look at.  Finally, give me one more roll at HT-2.

Rolf nods in agreement to Darran's suggestion and begins to work on using his own bridge in lieu of the existing, poorly maintained one.  He firstly hammers in two pitons next the existing bridge and using his levitation spell, crosses to the other side to hammer in two more.  Clammy sweat clings to his brow despite the coolness of the caves and his hands hurt a little from the pounding.  But he remains undaunted and keeps working, though he keeps looking over his shoulder, wary of any interloper that might sneak up on him from the inky depths beyond.  But in short order he is finished and ready to string his contraption from one side to the other.

Using his flying magic the mage crosses back to grab the bridge, now tied off by Darran on the near side, and unroll it to the far side.  However Rolf hits a snag as he tries to tie off the bridge and do so tightly.  He knows if there is even a tiny bit of slack in the lines his bridge would be no better than the one they have now.  Sighing, he resorts to using his telekinetic spell to pull on the rope to keep it taught as he ties it off.  He does this for both sides.

Satisfied with his work, he gingerly crosses over to prove to himself and the others his bridge works and is safe.  With a smile he says enthusiastically to Darran "It's good to go!" before returning to the other side.

Leaving Bromdaeg below to finish his mining work, he joins Darran and Broskow in the room beyond.  Rolf wanders around the room and pokes his head in and over every nook to see if there is anything that might have been left behind by whomever had the temerity to bring a desk and chair to the caves.

OOC:  Advancing the scene is fine.  It was pretty clear what needed to be done.

Rolf takes full advantage of the down time, searching every bit of the cavern methodically, starting with the small desk and writing area.  The desk top and small shelf are empty and Rolf pulls out a single drawer in the desk to find it the same.  Still, Rolf feels the bottom for any hint of a secret compartment and does the same along the underside of the desktop and along the back.  Finally he searches the small shelves for anything that might have been missed and the close area of the cave walls that might be hiding something.

Finding nothing, Rolf moves on to the small sleeping furs, thin and soft leather with light brown hairs, it looks like each pelt is about the size of a human torso, though many are stitched together for each of the three furs.  They seem well worn with a thin layer of dust blanketed over them.  Rolf looks around the area, and under each of the furs, though here too, there seems little beyond the obvious.

Finally, Rolf goes to the nest, where caked blood has dried on straw bits and dust and dirt are stacked like so much sawdust at a lumberyard.  The stench is palpable, though manageable and Rolf pushes through the foul smell to take a bit of a closer look.  Tepidly first, Rolf kicks around some of the grass with his foot, though a bit of odd motion draws his attention.  He reaches down with a hand to move aside some of the grass but he snatches it back almost instantly, the pile of grass squeak!ing and his finger throbbing in pain!

"I wouldn't bother if I were you."  Darran says as he steps up behind Rolf, his face wrinkling from the smell.  "Harpies are disgusting creatures, and they don't collect much of anything other than the foulest bits of their prey to keep in their nests.  There won't be anything up here to find worth your time."

Where was that comment five seconds ago?  Rolf thinks as he brings his finger back up to look at, the right index, which is bleeding, but slowly.  Despite it's negligible size, Rolf knew well enough to dress the thing quickly, lest the wound fester.

"At least we can use the furniture for some proper firewood for the night."  Darran adds as Rolf heads back towards his kit.

---

"Ham nah sure ats worth are tame ta stay here."  Bromdaeg, finished with a second day of digging, staggers into camp with the others with a handful of the dark, gritty stone that makes up the walls and floor of the caves.

"Es the stone..."  Bromdaeg continues as Darran looks up from his meal, rubbing the course, crushed rock between his fingers.  "Is jest pressed dirt, not proper rock where yew con find veins of ore.  Ah worry we could spend wicks er months... As easy enough ta dig through... an find nothing fer the trouble."

Darran sits back against the wall, thinking the matter over for a moment.  "Let's give it some time.  A week say.  While I trust your judgement that there's a slim chance we'll find anything here, we're a lot less likely to find anything just laying on the surface.  We may as well be as sure as we are able that the place is spent before we move on."

Bromdaeg nods his agreement before rubbing his hands clean and sitting down for his own dinner.

---

Eight more days had been spent searching the caves - Bromdaeg looking exhaustively at the bottom of the narrow chasm, which he continued to believe was the best chance of finding a vein, while Darran and Rolf at turns helped, assisting down in the crevice or hacking away at odd bits of stone in the upper room.  Though in the end, just as Bromdaeg had predicted, there was little more than sedimentary rock to be picked through.

So the group pushed out again, still using the small set of caves as a semi-permanent camp to explore the surrounding area as it was sheltered and consistently cool, not to mention that it had a spring of fresh water welling up within.

On the sixth day of their exploring, now searching just northeast of their caves, Bromdaeg's eyes light up for the first time on their trip.

"Seethe ah?"  The dwarf points towards a large grey stone set into the earth which is speckled with darker bits.  "Granite.  Nah eh sure sign of was below, bet he means da earth's bin more churned up an there's a chance we cud fine summat."

Bromdaeg hacks the stone with his pick, knocking off a large hunk which he quickly inspects.  "Les see if we can ah fine eh rock face here."

It is some hours later when the group crests a particularly rocky hill, Rolf hanging back just slightly, appreciating the whipping wind which is coursing over the hilltop on this hot and cloudy but rainless day.

"Well ya look ah tha..."  Bromdaeg's voice drops off from up ahead.  Hurrying to catch up, Rolf does not have any question as to what Bromdaeg is referring to.

The hillsides of southern Megalos have seemed very familiar up to this point, all gently rolling up and down in a consistent motion, though here and there a higher hillside will predominate over the area.  However, never yet have they seen a valley that drops off like this one.   just a few dozen feet over the hilltop, the earth seems to peel away, dropping precipitously for over a hundred feet.

On the far hillside, Rolf can see the dry grass and earth peel away for the whole face, leaving only a rocky dirt that stretches downward.  At the bottom, lying mostly in shadow, a small pond or lake of brown water seems entirely calm.

However, what draws Rolf's attention is a small opening on the far wall of the valley, a cave mouth of some significant size.

"Had say that sour best bet..."  Bromdaeg finishes the statement, his head panning the valley from end to end.

OOC:  It is 1400 the 30th of September, 2005.  The heat of high summer has partially broken, and it's down now to about 87 degrees F, or just under 30 C.  Darran has paid you your second monthly income of $600 which has been added to your character sheet.  The feature ahead is curious to say the least.  The walls of the valley are steep, though not sheer and there are none of the plains grasses growing on them.  Honestly it looks like valley walls have been torn up by a rock-slide that has left them bare.  You are standing on the southern rim, with the cave setting on the north wall.  You are slightly fatigued from the march and are down 3 fatigue.  Let me know if you have any questions or if I missed anything, it's late and I'm tired.

Rolf digs around the room, and finding nothing sits at the desk in disappointment as his initial excitement at the place ebbs.  His finger throbs from where he was bit by the unseen rodent, but other than that the danger has been negligible.  Taking a small bandage he covers the tiny wound and thinks about what he should be doing next.

Over the following week Rolf does his best to maintain a well ordered camp, including taking care of their mule Samina.  In addition he helps Bromdaeg as best he can without getting in the way.  He knows little about mining, but he can dig at least and lends his hands and back to the effort.  As they work he continues to get to know the dwarf better and finds his company the most agreeable of the group.  He finds Darran to be a fine companion, but he is a bit standoff-ish and formal.  Which may be for the best seeing as he is his boss.  Broskow he avoids as much as possible as he just can't seem to leave them all be without disagreeing or complaining about something.

At last it was decided to leave and search the surrounding area for more caves, and hopefully an area that isn't just "pressed dirt" as Bromdaeg said the Harpy mine was made of.  The idea of searching above ground fills Rolf with dread.  Even though his hands ache from the shoveling, at least he was able to stay in the mine's coolness.  The oppressive heat they have been experiencing of late is far worse in his opinion.

Luckily in the time spent digging fruitlessly in the caves, the weather's heat has waned, even if just a little.  And they have their camp at the caves to return to at the end of each day which will certainly help too.

Six days they carefully search the surrounding area in the vicinity of the caves.  Rolf stays in the shade as much as possible and wonders that after two full weeks of searching if they'll ever find anything.  Still, he's being paid for his work and the longer it takes the more he makes so it's not all bad.

Rolf perks up as Bromdaeg spots a large grey stone.  "This does look promising." he says in reply to Bromdaeg as he hacks a bit of the rock off.  Taking his place he follows as they search in concentric circles for a rock face as the dwarf puts it that Rolf takes for maybe a valley or sheer cliff wall.  Which would make sense as perhaps a vein of ore might be found without serious amounts of digging.

Climbing another hilltop Bromdaeg calls out to come look, and there down below Rolf spots what must be another cave at the bottom of a rock hewn valley, one hundred feet below.

"Lets find the best way down." he suggests as he looks over the rim for the area with the most foot and hand holds, or even better a path.

OOC:  Assuming we don't find a way down that the mule can handle climbing down, I'll look for a shady place to tie her off.  Else we'll take her down with us.  Either way I will help scope out the easiest way down to the cave.

Stepping up close to the edge, Rolf sees some thirty feet below what looks like an outcropping, almost a path that rings its way around the edge of the valley walls some thirty feet below.  Rolf can tell it's flat, or at least nearly so, due to the large amounts of smaller rocks and rubble that have seemed to consolidate there in a fairly consistent ring which circles towards the northeast and seems to stay mostly level as the hillside lowers.  Below him, the path seems to disappear under the edge of the hill, leaving visible only the valley wall far below.

"Over there seems best."  Darran says, pointing to the saddle between the two hillsides.  It is a fairly good mirror of Rolf's assessment, it seems the place with the least gap between the top of the hills and the narrow path below.

It is a short and easy trek, and before long, Bromdaeg is hammering a pair of spikes into the hill, some five feet away from the edge.  The first one he uses to attach Samina on a rope, tying a thirty foot rope to her lead to give her enough room to wander for grass.  The second one of the spikes he attaches another rope, this one he slings over the edge, letting it unfurl until it hits the path, ten or so feet below.

"There's new way ta know eff tha stone below wool hold Muir weight."  Bromdaeg begins, hooking a rope over his head and putting his mining pack over his shoulder.  "Sew ah say we yous the rope as long as we're able.  Lass thin we need as to cause a slide."  Bromdaeg tugs on the rope and after it seems to meet his satisfaction, he turns back to the others.

Darran nods, putting his own large pack down well away from the face of the valley.

"Since we have the daylight we may as well start looking.  We'll leave Samina here with the heavy equipment, she should be able to fend for herself against the wildlife and this isn't much the part of the country for horse thieves.  Bring your weapons and whatever else you need, but we'll be camping back here for the night."

His cheeks swelling up like apples in a rare dwarven smile, Bromdaeg grabs both hands onto the rope and gets down on one knee as he throws his other leg over the cliff face, beginning his descent.

OOC:  You guys found a reasonable place to descend, and it seems like there is a ledge below that is navigable, that will at least get you closer to the cave on the other side.  Bromdaeg has spiked a sixty foot rope at the top of the face and is starting to climb down to the ledge.  It doesn't seem to be an overly-taxing descent, though there is quite a bit of loose dirt.  Please let me know what you want to take down into the valley.  Once you do that either roll vs. hiking or climbing+5 (minus encumbrance) to lower yourself down onto the ledge.  Also do me a favor and roll vs. Perception-6.  As for magical light, you don't have enough ropes to give to everyone (in addition to the two that are currently in use), but I'm happy to just say that you've found an item for each person that they've agreed to let you cast continual light on since we've been moving through game time so swiftly.

Rolf nods seeing Darran point out a place to begin their descent, the same area he spotted as well.  "Yes, it does look to be the best place." the mage says he follows the man's lead.

Rolf looks the ledge over dubiously.  It's not the most sheer of cliff faces, but a pretty far way to fall if one were to take a misstep.

He sizes up his gear and thinks about whether he should fly down or take his luck with Bromdaeg's rope.  But if there's one thing Dorn pressed upon him, is to not rely on magic and only use it if there is no other choice.

"Seeing how will be camping up here, I'll leave the bulk of my things with Samina." he says as drops his backpack.

"I do have some rope we can use to tie off what we want to bring and lower it down.  And then let Bromdaeg untie it and leave our things below.  Then at least for me as I'm no where near as good a climber as our miner, use my rope as a safety line in case I slip trying to climb down."

OOC:  I want to take the exact equipment I had previously with me in the other mine.  But I want to tie off most of it with my own rope and lower it down by hand.  Then see if Bromdaeg will untie it once he's down at the bottom.  I am suggesting Broskow and Darran do the same.

Then using my rope again, tie it to my chest and climb down using Bromdaeg's rope.  I will ask Darran and Broskow to hold my safe line in case I slip and fall.  I have split my equipment up such that the climb down below I will be unencumbered.  Once I'm below, untie myself and let either Darran or Broskow use the rope for a safety line as well.  (If possible I will offer my rope as a safe line to Bromdaeg on his initial climb down if he wants it.)

I will cast my own light spell on a section of my shield.

Darran nods at Rolf's suggestion.  "Great idea.  That bridge proved useful enough in the harpy cave, It would seem foolish not to bring it now.  Here, I'll lower you pack down once you've made your way down."  Darran grabs Rolf's pack, and though he wrinkles a brow as he takes the second, smaller bag with the bridge he doesn't say anything more but ties of one of them on a length of rope as Rolf gets ready to descend downward.

The climb itself proves relatively easy for the slope has just enough angle to keep grip on his feet and the rope proves a constant hand hold.  Though once or twice a handful of hard dirt cascades on below, Rolf makes the descent with little ado and gets ready to receive his things.  His pack drops first and Rolf grabs the leather, untying the strap and throwing it onto his back as Darran pulls the rope back up to the top and lowers the rope again with the bag with the bridge and the buckler shield tied onto it.

It's a pause of several moment as Rolf dons the rest of his equipment.  A few steps farther down on the path, Bromdaeg has put a spike into the earth, fixing the long rope down.  Bromdaeg looks up, noticing Rolf with his excess of equipment and motions for the mage to hand over the small bag with the bridge again.

"Yew can nah carry ole a da."  Bromdaeg says, grabbing a hand on the smaller bag.  "If en da sides gave weigh yell be looky ta slow yer self en if ta get a rope barn."

Distracted by a noise up higher, Rolf looks up and sees Broskow finally making his way over the edge, followed by Darran who comes only a few moments after.

"All right then?"  Darran says as he hits the bottom, and Bromdaeg turns, starting a tentative foot along the small shelf.

"Kip a hand on ta rope."  Bromdaeg calls behind him, though indeed both of his hands are empty as he starts his way down.

The going is slow, with Bromdaeg only taking tentative and minute steps, holding onto the rope with both hands for much of the time, though at points he puts a hand up against the valley wall.  After twenty or so feet, Bromdaeg stops and inspects something ahead of him, it is only when the dwarf moves just past and kneels to hammer in another spike that Rolf recognizes a small opening in the wall of the valley just above the ledge.  It is a near perfect circle no more than two to three feet in height, too small for even Bromdaeg to crouch in.

"Ere swan dew nere!"  Bromdaeg calls up the line once his spike his set and he tests the rope.  "A cave, neigh big, bet he seems a waste ta nah even lick!"

OOC:  In case it isn't clear, the first rope that Bromdaeg let down is long, probably at least 100 feet.  It's been spiked at the top of the valley and just below that at the ledge and Bromdaeg is paying it out as he goes, apparently putting in another spike every 20 feet or so.  Though no one is wearing climbing gear, it gives you a sort of guide line to hold on to in case you slip, or more disastrously, in case the ledge collapses in a rock slide.  The cave just ahead of you is about two and a half feet in diameter and is a near perfect circle with the bottom just at the top of the small ledge.  It's small enough that there's no way to move around but crawling, but big enough that you aren't worried about anyone getting stuck.  Bromdaeg is suggesting that you guys (or at least one of you) go in to take a look.

Sorting out their gear and how to best utilize their ropes, Rolf starts to climb down.  With the dwarves efforts, the climb down is fairly easy.  With gladness it occurs to Rolf that their little group is starting to come together.  Things are running smoothly and even Broskow has stopped complaining.  Now if only their luck will turn maybe they will finally find some ore.

Moving carefully the mage takes step after step, keeping his hands on Bromdaeg's guideline.  He stops when Bromdaeg motions toward a small, but passable cave opening.  Rolf pauses and inspects the small hole and it seems safe enough, at least to his eyes.  "Sure.  I'll take a look." he says without hesitation.

"Can I borrow your light rope?  I don't want to take my shield as it might not fit." he says in Bromdaeg and Darran's direction.

OOC:  I thought it was a straight climb down.  Regardless I will climb down the small cave to take a look.  I will take only my leathers, sword and a light rope.  I'll leave my cape and everything else behind so I don't snag on anything.

Taking off his pack and laying it to rest against the rock wall with his shield and cloak, Rolf crouches down and maneuvers around the light rope such that it shines most of its light in a forward direction.  Once everything is set, he starts moving his way forward slowly on hands and knees, keeping his head up and looking out for any dangers or bits of ore that may be ahead.

The small tunnel opens up somewhat after a few feet of crawling, and though he can't exactly stand, Rolf takes the opportunity to get off his knees, leaning his back against the side of the tunnel as he tries to get as good a view as he can of his surrounds.

There seems to be little of interest as far as Rolf can tell.  There is nothing on the floor of the cave and the walls seem to be a consistent mix of stone and dirt, though in all honesty, Rolf wouldn't be sure exactly what he was looking for anyway.

An extra bit of shadow catches Rolf's eye on the far side of the cavern, and Rolf moves the rope and the rope to compensate, though the shadow remains stubbornly in exactly the same location.  Moving forward, Rolf realizes that the shadow is actually a rather large crack, some six inches wide that goes most of the way from floor to ceiling.  Shining the light as best he can through the opening, Rolf can only tell that the cavity goes on for some distance.

"Ham cam en in!"  Bromdaeg calls from the tunnel opening, and Rolf can hear the movements of the dwarf and the glow of his light entering from twenty or so feet behind.

OOC:  The crack running up and down the wall isn't big enough for any of you to slip through, though it seems that it goes for some depth as you can't make out how far back it goes (due to the angle of the light).  The tunnel closes up a bit again to 2-3 feet and continues on for at least another twenty feet or so, where it seems to open up again into a larger "room".  Roll vs. Perception.

Rolf gets down and begins to crawl down the narrow tunnel.  Thankfully well lit by his magical light.  Immediately the coolness of passage combined with not being in direct sunlight hits him with a wave of relief.  That and the air's slight stale dampness which reminds him of most cellars.

After a mere few feet the tunnel opens up almost enough for the mage to stand.  He creeps slowly forward, eyeing something dark just at the edge of his light.  Moving closer it is apparent there has been some shift in the earths plates that has caused a large crack to form in the stone.

"Surely this might reveal some ore."

Hearing Bromdaeg announce his arrival Rolf says "Come in.  Seems safe enough.  And there is a large crack you should see."

OOC: Rolf made his perception roll.

Rolf leans closer to the crack in the wall, pressing the rope as close as he is able, though it is difficult to make anything out within the cavity beyond.  It is when he shifts his weight though, that he notices a sticky, transparent grey-black film that seems to be coating the wall in places around the crack - large patches, some that are two or three feet wide.  Rolf touches the thin coat of slime, finding it incredibly sticky and pulling his hand free of the ick proves to be more more of a challenge than Rolf was expecting.

Bromdaeg comes up quickly behind Rolf, moving into position to get his own view of the area.  Like Rolf, he puts a few fingers on the stone, feeling the open area of the gash.

"Eh my jest then."  Bromdaeg answers Rolf's comment, pulling out his pick and shooing Rolf back a few feet.  A single swing cleaves a large sheaf of reddish brown dirt that falls to the tunnel floor, and a second breaks through the tunnel wall, widening the crack into a foot or foot and a half hole.  Bromdaeg shines his light through the wider opening, which shows now a wider tunnel, just big enough to walk through hunched over, sloping slowly downward.

OOC:  The opening now is still probably a little too small for anyone to get through, but it's apparent that Bromdaeg can open it up with another few whacks of his pick.  Roll vs. Naturalist.

"What is that?" Rolf says as he spots a dark film in spots along the crack.  Tentatively touching the substance, he finds it incredibly sticky.  It takes some effort to free himself from its grip.

"Is it some kind of leftovers from a spider?  But it doesn't seem like spider silk." he says to Bromdaeg.  "I'm not fond of spiders." he adds with little enthusiasm.

"Is it some kind of natural pitch?" he says to the dwarf who he thinks might know more of such matters.

"We should try to burn a small sample and see what happens."

OOC: Rolf wants to take small piece of the slime and try to set it alight.  Also, he will give it a whiff to see if it has any particular odor.  He missed his naturalist roll by 3.

Edit: I realized I left my tinder box in camp above.  If any other party member has one one them I'll ask to borrow it, else I'll just hang on to the sample for later.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:21, Mon 29 July 2019.

Bromdaeg shifts his view, looking at the splotch of ichor that Rolf has pointed out.

"He's nah silk."  Bromdaeg says, turning his head slightly to the side to try and get a better look.  "Ha doe no we can nah make it but there's new way es natural...  what manor beast left it there es beyond me."

Intrigued, Rolf tries to take some of the sludge along with him to test later... though how to remove it from the wall is not readily apparent.  In the end, he manages to scrape a bit off the wall with the edge of his falchion, which is then removed to the skin of his belt pouch, where it seems to stick just as happily as it does to everything else.

"Es a why deer tunnel gone farther down."  Bromdaeg calls back to the others, lifting his pick again for another swing.  "Had say we all go.  No telling hew far e goes."

With little else left to look at in the small room, Rolf decides to move along, shining his light into the small opening leading on while Bromdaeg clears out the bits of clay and stone still barring the way at the crack.

Again, the smaller tunnel opens up into a slightly larger "room", allowing for Rolf to get back onto his feet, though his form is so crouched that his bottom is resting on his heels.  Shining the rope light to hit as much of the enclosed space as he can, Rolf notices a few small discolored bits of grey and chalky white scattered on the floor, though there seems to be little here of interest.

Behind him, Rolf can hear the miner dwarf hacking away again at the wall of the tunnel, opening up the larger tunnel going onward.

OOC:  Compressed spider silk is a pretty good way to describe the stuff, though it seems more like a gelatinous liquid than a mesh of fine solids.  You aren't sure what made it, though Bromdaeg seems to be pretty convinced it's not natural.  Sorry if I'm not doing a great job describing the geography, but there was a bit longer in the natural tunnel that you could look at and I figured you would do that if you were waiting on the dwarf anyway.

Rolf wrestles with the sticky goo as he tries to transfer it off the wall, to his falchion and then to his belt pouch.  If he weren't intrigued by what the substance could be he wouldn't have bothered.

With little else to do as Bromdaeg opens up the main entrance, Rolf busies himself shimmying through to the next room.  For once he finds it an advantage being on the smaller, slimmer side as he's able to make his way through the crack without too much trouble.

The next room is tiny though and there isn't much to see besides grey and white spots, which he inspects carefully.

OOC: I think I have the gist of the tunnel layout.  I will inspect the grey and white spots, and if there is nothing else to do, I will exit to allow others to poke around.

Rolf steps forward, looking down to the floor at the small bits of discoloration and finds that they are actually larger pieces, covered in dirt and clay that mimic the cavern floor.  Picking one of the larger ones up with his hand, Rolf turns it over, as he examines it, a bone certainly, long and slender and about the length of his hand from fingertip to wrist.  The other seem various smaller sizes, most of them broken and unrecognizable.  While he is no archaeologist, Rolf knows enough to say with certainty that these are not from a human, or anything near that big.

Pulling his hand across one of the pieces, Rolf notes a sharp edge and brings the piece up closer to inspect.  This one seems to be not bone at all, but rather an arrow or spear head.  It is iron likely... or a a heavily corroded steel judging by the tinge of red that softens the grey metal.

OOC:  a Roll vs. Naturalist won't identify the animal bones (you'd need archaeology or something similar) but it will tell you that it was likely a smaller animal, probably something cat sized or possibly a little larger.  You can also say with fair certainty that it hasn't been alive for quite a while.

The mage bends down to get a closer look at the discolorations on the cavern floor and he finds a small treasure of different sized animal bones.  Surely something was killed and eaten here, but it was long ago as any trace of the original animals hide is long gone.

However there is some piece of a weapon lodged amongst the bones that interests Rolf the most.

Picking it up he returns to Bromdaeg.  "Found a pile of old animal bones and this too." he says as he hands the metal to the Dwarf.  "Looks like some part of a weapon that was used to kill the creature." he says confidently.  "Though the bones and whatever weapon it may be are very old.  So whatever creature that used it is probably long gone."

"What do you think master Bromdaeg?  Is it worked metal like I think?"

OOC:  I will wait for Bromdaeg to finish his work here, and help him as I can.

Picking up the rusted bit of blade, Rolf crawls back into the small room with Bromdaeg only to find it filled now with Darran as well as Broskow, the latter of the two looking surly and aggravated.

Walking over to the dwarf, Rolf displays the bit of metal once the dwarf puts down his pick, trying to get an assessment or at least agreement with his own conclusions.

"As a spear tap."  The dwarf says, turning the bit over in his hands.  "Peg ire own new doubt.  New tell an how lang es been set en there, weren't mooch ta begin with."  The dwarf tosses the tip aside, clawing the last little bit of the open wall away, leaving an opening large enough for all of them to get through.

"I agree with Bromdaeg."  Darran begins and again Rolf recognizes a grimace on Broskow's features.  Darran, however, seems not to notice.  "We'll keep searching down this tunnel to see if there's any ore in plain sight and to make sure there's nothing nefarious that may sneak up on us later.  Marching order is Bromdaeg, the Lieutenant, Rolf and then myself - which should give us ample capability to deal with a threat from ahead or behind.  Take it slow, and only take what you need...  There's no sense in bulking yourself up if these tunnels close in again."

Rolf nods at the direction and takes his place in line after Bromdaeg and after some complaining, Broskow, start their way down the larger tunnel.  It is not steep by any means, though it gradually grades downward in a gently curving arc that seems to parallel the edge of the hill.

Rolf notes some of the same, thin, black film on the ceiling of the tunnel, though the additional examples don't seem to shed any light on the mystery...

Some thirty or forty feet on, the sidewall of the tunnel opens to the right, revealing a larger room, some twenty feet wide and nearly ten feet tall.  Bromdeag shines the light within, though he seems to lose interest in the area before he even steps within it, instead he keeps moving onward.

"Why don't you two give it a look?"  Darran says to Rolf, peering within the room.  "Just in case.  You guys can follow us down if there's nothing."

OOC:  Roll vs. Per-5.

Rolf shrugs as Bromdaeg's tosses the spearhead aside.  To the mage it shows someone was here, be it human or otherwise, and there always could be more.  So for that at least he thinks finding it was useful.

More worrisome though is the strange sticky substance that something tracked in here.  It seems somewhat fresh to Rolf and whatever made it would seem climbing walls is not a problem.

Rolf leaves his sack and rope bridge at the main trail head and takes his place in their marching order.  Warily he looks around and sees more signs of the grey/black goo the creature has left behind and hopes they aren't walking into a trap.

"Sure, I'll give the room a once over." Rolf replies to Darren as they chance upon a fairly large room off to one side of the tunnel.  Setting down his backpack he starts to search.

OOC: Rolf missed his per-5 check with a roll of 15.

Walking into the wider space, Rolf shines his light across the room, looking for any trace of mineral that might prove profitable for the expedition.  This room too, seems mostly empty but for chalky white bits that are splattered across the floor.

Bones, these ones somewhat larger than the ones in the last cave, though none of them seem to be very whole and most are ground down and soft on their edges, many unrecognizable even as bones without the rest of them there to prove the case.  The thick layer of dust or dirt on the floor makes things harder to determine...  Rolf reaches down, finding one of the bits about half the size of his fist which seems in tact.  He turns it over in his hand, finding that even this piece seems to be rubbed down on the edges.

Holding on to the bone for a moment, Rolf turns his attention to the rest of the room - the walls a mash of browns and greys with streaks of darker red.  The floor seems more earthen than stone, a hard packed floor with a layer of loose earth on top that shifts with each step.

Rolf turns, finding Broskow standing just inside the room with arms crossed, unmoving, his gaze fixed on a spot on the floor just ahead of him.

"Nevermind."  Darrans voice echoes from outside.  "The tunnel's collapsed just ahead.  Bromdaeg didn't think it was worth digging through, in case something else gives way.  I think we're headed back up.  You find anything here?"


The bone you found on the floor.  You can attempt a roll vs. Biology, or several other science based skills (which no one other than a specialist would have) that all default to IQ-6 to identify it.  Let me know if there is anything else you want to do in this room.

Rolf pokes around the room with such focus that he doesn't notice Broskow not participating.  Bones and earth crunch beneath his feet as he searches.  Many, many bones litter the floor.

"I have found a lot of bones." Rolf shouts back to Darran as his boss sets to rejoin him.

Speaking mostly to himself he says, "Obviously some creature made this place it's lair.  But I wonder why the bones are smoothed over?  One would think this would happen if they were exposed to rushing water over a long period of time.  But that's not the case here.  I wonder if the creature exuded some type of acid?"

Picking up one fist sized bone, he rolls it over in his hand.  "A vertebrae from some creatures spine maybe?  Seems pretty big for vertebrae though."

OOC:  Once Darran and Bromdaeg return, Rolf will suggest we dig a little in this cave.  The dirt is loose and he wonders if something might be buried here.

Even as Rolf says the bone is a vertebrae, he knows he is right...  Probably of a larger animal, like a human or humanoid.  The decayed edges bother him though, as there doesn't seem to be any natural reason for the bones to have eroded in that way.

In a moment, both Bromdaeg and Darran step into the room, and the others give it a thorough look over as well, with Bromdaeg setting his pick in a few places and Darran scouring over the ground.

"Well look at this."  Darran picks up something from the dirt, a round, black disc about as large around as a knife hilt.  He looks at it for a moment before tossing it to Rolf.

A coin of some sort...  Rolf turns the thing over and sees the profile and crown of some king, though he does not recognize the make, nor can he see any writing on it to recognize it's worth.  Scratching the edge however pulls off the thin layer of tarnish, revealing the thick silver beneath.

Rolf looks back over at Darran and realizes that the man has found a small handful of other coins.

"He's dwarven."  Bromdaeg says in his thick accent from just behind Rolf.  "Ha dun new any villages this fir south though.  Ha dun see any signs av veins nor any thin under foot."

Darran calls off the search of the small room, taking the others back up to the top instead where they walk back out onto the small ledge and again begin descending slowly around the edge of the steep valley.

The small ledge winds downward for another forty or fifty feet before the ledge stops abruptly, ending with another larger cave that this time is large enough to walk through only slightly hunching.  The view over the edge continues on sixty feet or more down to the murky brown waters below but a stone's throw away there seems to be another short outcropping on the opposite valley wall, where two more caves can be seen on the opposite valley wall.

OOC:  From where you are standing, there is a cave in the wall behind you, and two more that are visible on the far side of the valley.  There doesn't appear to be any easy way over to them other than climbing sixty feet down, swimming a narrow channel of the lake, and then climbing most of that distance back up.  You guys are still using Bromdaeg's rope, though it ends just about at the end of the ledge.

"I wonder what happened to the owner of those coins.  Seems he met a grisly end." Rolf says, stating the obvious as he looks over Darran's find.  "Hopefully we won't encounter whatever made this it's lair." he adds as he packs up to return.

Ready to leave he tosses aside the vertebrae, yet he can't shake the uneasy feeling down his own spine at the sight of the smoothed over bones.  At some point he thinks a strange and very dangerous creature was here, with abilities the like he's never seen.

Once back outside he follows the groups lead and steps carefully along the ledge.  Quickly they find the ledge ends with a new larger cave mouth in front of them, and two more across the valley.

"Let's check it out." he says referring to the new cave as he volunteers to enter first.  "We can make our way to those two across the way later."

OOC:  Rolf will enter the new cave, crossbow in hand.  He'll drop off his excess gear once inside.

Rolf ducks into the new cave behind him, this one wide and spacious, with three feet or so of open space above his head in another circular opening like the others.  Thankful for no longer having to crouch, Rolf places his bags on the floor and raises his crossbow to chest height, casting a wide shadow across the various walls of the cave.

This new cave, for it's wider space, does not seem to go back very far.  It's only perhaps forty feet back or so where the back wall of the cave stops... or perhaps the tunnel turns, it is difficult to tell with the rough wall edges and the varied shadows.  There are a few outsets in the walls as well some twenty feet on, and Rolf steps forward to give the areas a closer look.

Only two steps on, Rolf knows that something has gone horribly wrong.

His foot slides forward at first, like a minor slope that Rolf had not anticipated, but the sliding does not stop, and soon Rolf realizes that there is no support there whatsoever.  The cave floor cracks beneath him, the earth spidering outward from his footfall and collapsing.  For the briefest of moments, Rolf is falling, his mind panicking... until by instinct alone he gathers the mana around him.

And then the world is gone - obliterated in an instant as Rolf wills his body through space.  In another moment Rolf can see again and he can hear again too, the crashing and sliding of earth and splashing of water, though it takes Rolf a moment for his mind to catch up to what his senses are telling him.

Just a step ahead, now there is a gaping hole five feet across.  Below the ground, only four or five feet down, are disturbed, muddy brown waters which reveal nothing even an inch under the surface...

"Are ye awl rye?"  Bromdaeg's concerned voice shouts from just behind Rolf, a hand grabbing at his elbow.

OOC:  Nice work on the blink roll.  You've lost two fatigue from the effort but avoided falling into the pit trap.  There is enough space to get through on the other side of the wall if you want to keep going.  The cave is about 10 feet wide, and goes about 40 feet back, with a pair of insets on either side of the tunnel about half way down.  Let me know what you want to do.

Rolf enters the new cave and relishes the relief from the unrelenting sun.  He sets his sack down and wipes his brow as his eyes adjust to the change in light.

Readying his crossbow he looks the cave over and sees no immediate threat.  The cave goes back a bit and he can't tell if there is more to it from where he stands and the light available to him.

Deciding to get a better look he starts to move further in when his foot shifts under him.  Almost immediately he starts to fall!

Salire he shouts instinctively as the ground beneath him falls away.  Pulling mana to him he is instantly transported backwards to the mouth of the cave.  Dizzy he steadies himself and surveys the danger in front of him.

"I'm okay." he replies to Bromdaeg as he turns his way.  The dwarf now standing near him.  "Almost took a tumble.  The cave gave way under my feet."

"Not sure if it was a natural or a man made trap." he adds as he carefully takes a look at the bottom of the newly made pit.  "But by judging the water underneath I'm thinking it was natural.  Maybe we should search it?  There's no telling how deep it goes, but there might be a vein of ore exposed by the water."

"In any event maybe you should take the lead master Dwarf.  I'm thinking your eyes will spot such things better than mine.  But we should move slow and be careful.  There's no telling if there's more pits like this laying in wait."

OOC:  I want to explore more, but want I Bromdaeg by my side.  I will move slow and make Traps checks as often as I can.  If Bromdaeg wants to search the pit I will help.   Maybe with a rope tied around myself.