The tunnel continues south for another six miles before coming to another fork: The tunnel the party has been following continues south and another tunnel branches off to the west.

Lucien eyes the side tunnel. "I suppose we'll keep to the main tunnel?" His familiar takes off from his shoulder and starts flying down the tunnel to the west. "Surely this tunnel must go somewhere."

She crouched at the fork and looked at her friends, ”Does anyone have any ball bearings?”

Lucien pulls out a cloth sack from one of his many pockets, extracts three ball bearings from the sack, and hands them to Alisandra.

Alisandra nodded, ”Thank you. I’m playing a hunch here.” She took a ball bearing and put one at the south entrance and one at the west. Whichever one rolled faster would be the tunnel with the greatest declining angle. She cast light on the south bound ball and let it go. If it rolls she will let it go the distance her light will maintain, then cast light on the west bound ball and let it go too.

Lathan watches Alisandra send the ball bearings rolling and wonders what she is up to.

The southbound ball bearing rolls slightly faster than the westbound one.

She caught both and handed them back to Lucien. ”The Southern passage slopes downward at a slightly greater angle. I believe we should head in that direction.” She shrugged, ”It’s like walking, sharper decline helps you walk faster.”

Lucien takes the ball bearings, places them back in the bag, and secrets the bag back into a pocket. He eyes Alisandra curiously, unsure whether shes being serious, but says only: "Works for me. It seems like the main passage one way or another. My familiar will let us know if there is anything of interest along the western tunnel."

The party continues south for about two more miles before the tunnel suddenly ends. It appears that whoever or whatever dug this tunnel simply stopped digging at this point.

Alisandra stopped at the dead end. She looked around. It made no sense. She picked up a rock and hacked it at the wall of rock in front of her. ”I don’t understand. I thought they were digging up.”

Lathan shrugs and leans against one of the walls of the tunnel. He pulls out a piece of dried meat from his pack, takes a bite, then washes it down with a swig of water.

"Back to the last fork then?"

Lucien also eyes the dead end of the tunnel dubiously. "It's always possible that whatever operation was digging this tunnel was interrupted before it was finished. Still, it can't hurt to take a closer look. Give me a moment." He begins inspecting the end of the tunnel for cracks or other signs of a hidden door.

Lucien Nailo rolled 7 using 1d20+3.  Investigation.

Before he can finish, Lucien's familiar returns. "The other tunnel also turns south. My familiar did not reach the end if we want to explore in that direction."

Alisandra nodded, ”Indeed, I feel as though I have failed you all. Please lead on.”

Rissa picked up a rock, and threw it at the wall at the back of the tunnel.

There is no sign of a hidden door or passageway at the end of the tunnel.

Rissa's rock bounces off the wall and falls to the ground.

Alisandra’s mood is dour and she walked along with the others. She feels like a failure.

Rissa gave Alisandra a gently pat on the back.

"Chin up, I proposed back tracking!  Your plan was good, we are just in a maze.
We will keep going until we find what we are looking for."

Lucien is also silent as the group walks, though his is the silence of deep thought.

The party turns around and heads north through the tunnel for about two miles until they reach the last fork, where they can either turn west or continue to retrace their steps to the north.

Lucien peers down the western tunnel. "No stone unturned I say."

"We've been plenty cautious, let's go."

Rissa urged, though from the rear she had little control over the party's speed.

Lathan nods and proceeds to lead the party down the western tunnel.

"It seems we've covered quite a distance so far," he muses as they walk. "I imagine we'll want to find a place to rest before too long."

"It's easy to lose track of time in these tunnels." Lucien observes.

Alisandra followed closely but silently. She was unhappy with her own failure.