Skraa & Andrew

Deciding it's worth a shot to try and get some more info from the birds circling overhead, Andrew wanders off away from the others a fair bit and sits down on the rocks, on a high spot if one is available, leaving them to thier climbing discussion. Relaxing his breathing and his posture he fishes something out of his pack and holds it up in the air. Focusing his attention on the sky Andrew takes a deep breath and then lets out a series of sharp cries that make the hair stand up on the backs of the others necks. Waiting patiently and calling out some more if necessary Andrew tries to lure one of the raptors down from the skies overhead with promises of food and reassurances that all is safe.

After several tries and several hair-raising screeches, a young male perigrine falcon stoops on the scrap of meat held in Andrew's hand. The Druid tosses the bait into the air just as the bird is close, thankful that his prior experience with these birds had caused him to wear the heavy leather protective glove. The bird snatches the meat from mid-air and swoops to land on a nearby tree branch. He's safely high up and out of reach, and he bends to tear at the meat held in his claw. In between bites, he eyes Andrew curiously and cautiously with bright yellow eyes.

Grinning like a child with a honey stick Andrew calmly awaits the falcon as he eats the scrap. Awed anew, as he is each time, at the creature's beauty and grace Andrew can't help but stare. Staying where he is seated and "Speaking" in a lower tone that doesn't quite grate the nerves so much Andrew "talks" with the bird in small bursts. Offering up his gloved hand, and another scrap, Andrew tries to coax the bird to him. Realizing this is a slow process, but also sensing that nothing major is going to happen in the near future with the others, Andrew takes his time. "Talking" to the bird about whatever seems appropriate(ie. weather, hunting etc) trying to establish a rapport.

If he's successful(gets the bird to trust him enough to land on his hand). Andrew will continue to feed the bird small scraps and gradually put across his request. Firmly entrenching the idea that the bird's safety comes first.

Skraa is hungry.  He's tempted and doubly tempted by the scraps of food that Andrew offers. This is so much easier than hunting, he thinks.

It takes a while -- almost an hour -- but Andrew is patient.  The falcon swoops with awsome speed at the food he is offered, snatching it with strong claws.  Eventually he is willing to sit on Andrew's gloved hand and tear at the scraps of meat.  This is a heavy bird, and Andrew finds it necessary to brace his arm on his knee.  Skraa is about 20 inches from beak to claw.  Altho the heavy glove protects Andrew's hand and arm from the sharp talons, he can sill feel the very strong grip of the peregrine's claws.

He tells Andrew that he is unmated [they mate for life] but *VERY* interested in finding his mate.  Does Andrew know of any females?  Perhaps Andrew could call one for him?

How many men are in the caves?  Skraa doesn't know.  More than one or two.  Many, perhaps.  He never goes inside the caves, since it is too dangerous -- no room to fly.  Skraa offers that they are just ordinary, stupid 2-leg men.

How big is the hole down below? Which hole?  There are more than one or two.  There are many and many again holes in the cliff down near the water.  And Skraa does not know how big any of them are.  Too dangerous to go inside.  And there is no reason to go in.  No prey in there that can be seen.  And Skraa does not need a nest until he first finds a mate.

Has Skraa told Andrew yet how important it is that Skraa find a mate?  He looks for a mate every day.  It is more than one or two moons since he left his parents' nest... many moons, actually.  Not many and many... just many.  And in all that time he has not yet found his mate.  This is something he must do soon.

He looks on with great interest as Andrew brings scrap after scrap of meat from his backpack.  Does Andrew have many food inside that place?  Is there also swimming food inside there?  Is there food that is still alive?  This food that Andrew gives is good, but it is cold and dead.  Food that is caught alive is warm and much better.  Andrew must try to eat better food.  Skraa is a very good hunter, and would be a good provider for a mate and fledglings. 

Explaining to the bird regretfully that Skraa is the only falcon he knows right now, Andrew promises to try and call him a female a little later. Barely suppressing a smile at the falcons eagerness and apparent anxiety about mating Andrew again explains that he understands and he'll see what he can do.

[SKRAA] Big boat?  He turns his head and looks out to the sea.  Oh, you call that "boat" in your talk?  It is just wood that is big enough for many men to stand on.  They were putting many and many and many again and again smaller pieces of wood into the small floating wood thing -- "small boat" I guess you call it.  I never will understand why men want to move so much wood from here to there.  The --- "big boat" thing --- came this sunrise and has done nothing until the land came up from the sea again.  Then they took all those smaller pieces of wood and put them on the wet land.

Men are such strange creatures.  They have no sense at all.  The other ones went in the hole in the cliff there more than one moon ago and have not come out.  And this is the second time that the big-boat-thing has come and done this thing of moving many and many again and again small pieces of wood..

He watches while Andrew calls to the sky for a female.  NO !!  He leaps into the air, then swoops back to snatch Andrew's bait.  He flies up some distance overhead and calls shrilly down at Andrew: You will NOT take a female, if there is one.  She will be MINE.  You will not take any that comes.  He dives at a frightening speed at Andrew, claws outstretched in attack mode, screaming shrilly -- and Andrew dives to the earth.  At the last moment, he veers off to fly higher.  Then he circles above, clearly interposing himself between Andrew's "temptation" and any female falcon that might come.

Skraa swoops lower and then dives on the piece of meat Andrew is holding out. The rate of speed he can generate in a dive from just 30 ft is awesome. [OOC: Modern science has clocked perigrines at 100 mph in a full dive] He's just a blur. He dives, grabs the meat, circles Andrew and is suddenly stationary on Andrew's gloved hand.

Skraa thought you might know of a female. You cannot call one for yourself. Besides there are no females in this aerie. At least none that are unmated. You should know this, if you speak to my kind. Perhaps you know of a female in other parts. Skraa has not started to look elsewhere, because there are too many places to look. How can one know where to look first? What if she is not in the places where Skraa would look, but she is in one of the places where Skraa does not look? Then Skraa would be in the wrong place.

He turns his head this way and that, fixing his piercing gaze on Andrew repeatedly. You are smarter than the other men, since you know how to speak properly. Do you also know of these things ? He bends his head and rips another mouthful of meat from Andrew's peace offering.

Skraa is the first that I have spoken to in this area. No I don't know where to find any unmated females but I'd be glad to keep you company while you look. Part of the challenge is the looking but you certainly won't find a mate if you don't travel at all. My human friends and I have to help another that is in the caves. That is why we are here. After that if you like you can travel with me and we can try to find you a mate.

While most of this is going on, Quill makes sure that someone is watching the sea and the ships.

Climbing Down

Andrew takes a moment from his conversation with Skraa to translate to the others:  Basically this bird has not been into the caves, and so does not know what is there.  As to counting occupants, the bird seems to know "one", "two", "many", or "many and many again".  There are "many" occupants.

To Veneron, it sounds like "many" could be three or 50.  Who could even guess what "many squared" might be.  Oh well.

He'd been tying several sets of the ropes together, to make a 100ft length.  There are 4 hemp ropes of 50' each and 2 silk ropes.  He and Sandros agreee that they should rig the descent (and hopefully the ASCENT) with the hemp ropes, and carry the silk ropes down into the caves, in case they're needed there.  Tieing a bag of pitons to his belt, and running the a leather thong around his wrist to hold the hammer, he takes two coils of 50ft hemp rope over his shoulder.  "Just in case," he thinks.  He strips off his elven chain and ties it to his backpack leaving it on the ground.  He decides that the J2 hole is wider, thus admitting more light than the H4 hole, so that's the one he wants to go down.

Avon stopped listening to the constant talking of his party members. Lazy he lies on his back in the grass, looking at the sky. From the corner of his mouth sticks a long piece of grass. He is not in a hurry to get down any dark hole. If the others want to go first it's fine with him. "Hey, that cloud looks like a golden ring. And that one could be a treasure chest." He points in the air, to seemingly formless clouds.

There are no good places to tie the rope, so Tavarak, Avon and Daggda are going to act as anchors.  Near the J2 chimney, Sandros and Veneron put on the clawed climbing gloves and strap the cleats on their boots.  Sandros straps his sword to his back and suggests that maybe he should go first, arguing that he'd have a better chance of surviving if he had to without the rope -- that is HIS backup plan.  He tosses the free end of the 100 ft length down into the hold, and he begins to descend.

Once he's about 10 ft down, Ven grabs the rope and follows, pausing to drive two pitons near the very top, and threading one of the free hemp ropes to it.  He knows that they wouldnt want to have to use a rope with a knot it in with the pitons.  The knot would only jam in the hole in the piton.  Leaving the free 100 ft rope to take Sandros' weight, Ven places most of his weight on the rope attached to the pitons.  And he begins to descend.

As he goes down, he sets pitons as needed. The rock is fractured and fissured ... there are easy hand holds.  Both Sandros and Veneron think this is going to be a fairly easy climb.  At about half way, Ven drives in two pitons and threads the second 50' coil of rope thru these.  And down he goes again. 

[Daggda] Straining from the weight of Veneron, the dwarf hisses, "What do you see? Gods, I thought you were a scrawny human..." As Avon starts pointing to the sky, Daggda looks up too. "Ah yes, I see it," the acolyte chuckles good-naturedly. Freeing one hand from the rope to point at the sky, Daggda tries to do Avon one better. "There. Two monkeys kissing, you see?" As the rope slips a few inches in Daggda's hand, the dwarf quickly secures the rope again with both hands, hoping that Veneron has not been scared by the sudden jolt. "Sorry..." Daggda mumbles, and somewhat nervously waits for the three-tug signal to recover the slender human.

It occurs to Sandros that he might as well be following a white rabbit down this hole.  Who knows what they'll find at the bottom.  But there isnt too much time for idle thoughts.  Veneron is working on setting the pitons, and so is descending more slowly than the the theif.  Sandy pauses to look up, and see's Myr's face peering over the edge of the opening framed against the blue sky.  She waves at them.

Sandros is going down the free rope pretty quickly.  In only about 15 minutes, he's about 80 ft down, while Ven is still much higher up, setting spikes.  As the walls of the chimney recede from Sandros he realizes he's close to the bottom, and looks down.

When the two spelunkers make their descent, Myr goes over to peer into the hole after them for a bit, and then just backs up out of the way, hoping like hells nobody sees them

The chimney widens into a cavern of sorts.  It is about 20 ft high, roughly oval 25 yd x 10 yd.  The central portion is covered with water entering thru a small opening to the east (ocean side).  The opening is about 4 ft above the waterline and some light comes in  from there.  The opening overhead, at ground level, is quite small from this distance.

Sandros reaches the end of his rope, dangling some 10 ft above the water and wet sand.  He calls up softly to catch Ven's attention, to let him know he's going to try something.  Slowly, using his acrobatic experience, he gets the rope to swing back and forth.  When he judges it right, he jumps from the rope and lands in the soft, wet sand (instead of the water).  The rope dangles over  the middle of the pool, some 10 ft up.  "Hmmm," muses Sandros looking at the rope.  "Wonder how I'm going to get back up." 

Ven climbs down some 20 minutes later, a trail of pitons in the walls, and the end of his 2nd rope (the one he attatched to pitons about half way down the chimney) dangling just over the level of the water.

During the wait, Sandros has looked around the cavern, and noticed that it leads off inland, a small pool of water on the floor where the sand ends and the ground rises a little and becomes solid rock.  The opening of the path inland is low, about 3 ft high and narrow, about 2 ft wide.  Looking at the walls of the cavern, he sees an obvious high water mark on the walls.  At high tide, clearly, the entire cavern is covered in water, about 2ft deep at the walls.

Sandros, done giving the place a look over, turns back to see Ven hanging at the bottom of the rope. He laughs softly, and says, "See if you can't toss me the end of your rope, there...and I'll pull you over here far enough that you can drop off. I think we might go explore a bit down here, see if we can find a way into the caves somehow."

"Okay," Ven grunts as he begins trying to toss the end of the rope to Sandros' waiting hands. After a few misses, Sandros finally makes the catch and Ven traverses the rest of the way. As Ven looks for a way to secure the end of the rope, he jokes, "Your mule told me that you had better hands than that, Sandy. I guess he was wrong."

He pulls it over and Ven climbs down onto the sand. It's about at waist height. There doesnt seem to be anything to tie it to. Reluctantly, they let it go. It dangles at about water level in the middle of the cavern -- about 5 ft from the wall, and some 4 ft from the water edge.

Up on the surface, Myr & Quill -- who had been taking turns watching down the chimney hole -- alert the others. "They're down. And out of sight."

Sandros and Veneron head inland, splashing thru the shallow pool at the entrance to a low, narrow tunnel. Ven, the more slender and shorter, crawls ahead a few paces, around a bend. He immediately backs out. "No good, Sandros," he says. "It's as black as a witch's heart. Neither of us has dark vision -- and the torches are still topside. I might try a spell --- but I hate to waste it on this."

Ven thinks for a moment. "Perhaps now would be a good time for our brave and valiant companion Avon to join us. He can see in here. I think I'd better climb back out, though. Calling up the chimney might echo who knows where." Ven returns to where the rope is hanging over the water and frowns. "That doesn't look like it'll be too fun." He wades in and heads toward the rope, gasping uncomfortably as the water reaches his crotch. When he reaches the rope, he pulls himself up and then begins climbing back out.

There are two ropes hanging over the water, one is 10 ft above water level -- the other end of which is held by Tav & Daggda. Ven wades out, and finds that the bottom gets real deep real fast. *GLUB* He doesnt even have time to gasp as the water reaches his armpits before he grabs at the rope, pulls himself out, and begins to climb.

Half an hour later, he reaches the top, and begins to explain what is going on down below. He's mostly dry by the time he gets to the top, but he's beginning to feel the strain of the vertical climbing in his arms and shoulders. He looks at the sun and says: "Well, it's about 1pm . Dead low tide. And the water will start to come back in soon. We have a small window to either explore down there with Avon and get back, or for all of us to go down. I dont think we'd be in any trouble even if the water comes in and there's no where to go... it was only 2 ft deep at the high water mark... and besides, the rock floor in the tunnel was dry -- not sand -- so I dont think the water gets that high."

Avon has a hard time trying hide his contempt. First he offers to go down the cliff and no one needs him. Who needs a thief to go sneak around dark places, that’s the obvious terrain for a wizard. And now that the boys are unable to find anything he can do the dirty work after all. Just goes to show that the life of a thief isn’t easy.

“Listen, it’s now low tide. I hate being caught in a dark cave without an exit with a rising tide. You better be sure of yourself.” Not really waiting for an answer he starts undoing himself of his clothes which reveals an elven chainmail. Once he has taken the chain of he starts hiding it, together with his backpack, under some bushes. He takes his magic candle, firesticks and a sword and heads down the hole. Just before disappearing he squeals at the big bird and with a big smile plunges into the darkness.

Myr issues a two-fingered, yet subdued, wolf whistle as Avon disrobes, grinning playfully at him. She moves to the hole to peer down after Avon as he starts down the hole, and then she steps back, chewing on her finger. She now looks rather nervous about going down the hole now that it has come down to the possibility of her actually doing it. Standing, she looks around at those remaining topside thus far. "Erhm... is everyone else going down?"

Tavarak, having put down the rope since there was nothing on the other end, goes over and reassures Myr. "Don't worry. We'll all probably be going down there, soon enough. I guess there's no point in waiting up here until midnight and then having to go down yet another cliff in the dark. If we go down this hole (J2) worst that can happen is we wait down there... or have to climb out slightly wet. On the other hand, there may be great stuff at the end of the tunnel Ven talked about. ... So I'm for having everybody go down now. Anybody else ?"

Ven raises his hands over his head, fingers intertwined and stretches the muscles in his shoulders and arms, then arches his back to loosen the creeping knots there. "Well, I'm all for going down the hole again. But," he groans as he pulls on a particularly tight muscle in his back, "I surely hope I won't have to be climbing back up too many more times. Unless, of course, I can talk Daggda into letting me riding piggy back on his sturdy frame as he pulls us both up. I might even be able to conjure up a frosty mug of something or other as reward. What do you, Daggda?"

"Well, I'm getting tired of looking down that hole, I might as well take a look myself," says Quill. "Besides, with the new blade we won't have to worry about torches getting wet." She prepares herself for climbing by stretching a bit and tightening any and all equipment. (If she can't take a lot of equipment, she'll at least take the sword.)

[Daggda] "I think nothing would be better than a frosty mug of ale. But if you're asking what I think about the dark hole, I have a couple of ideas. We don't need to announce our presence with torches or magic fireworks or any of that nonsense; I can see in the dark. I agree, though, we should all go now, or never."

Daggda looks around at the others, echoing the popular sentiment. "Here's my idea: Secure one rope up here at the top. If everyone bundles all of their heavy armor like Avon has already done, the last person going down can use the other rope to lower their goods after us. After all, it would be stupid to leave our belongings up here to be stolen and worse yet, announce our presence." The dwarf pauses.

"And Ven, if we do this right, I won't have to drag your gangly carcass back up this chimney." Daggda winks at him. Daggda starts taking off the weighty chainmail, warhammer, pick and boots and wraps the whole bundle in the dwarf's two-tone cloak. A bit more modest (and unchafed) than Avon, taking off the chainmail reveals dun-colored breeches and a dark red blouse. "I like my boots dry, thank you very much," the dwarf mumbles quietly. "Well, let's get started, then..."

[OOC: Anybody remember the scene from Star Wars where they go into the cave and it turns out to be the belly of some huge beast?  I was tempted.. but.... ]

One after another the members of the group tie themselves to the end of the free rope and get lowered to the bottom.  The first down is Daggda -- the dwarf's eagerness to get back into cave-land is obvious.  It takes a few minutes of dangling-dwarf 10 ft in the air for Sandros to work out a plan, using the longer rope and then it goes fairly smoothly, if slowly.

It takes about 10 minutes each, and Ven and Avon agree to anchor the ropes at the end.  They can climb down the easiest with need of being "lowered".

Daggda, Quill, Andrew, Myridian, Tavarak all join Sandros.  The water is rising slowly but has only come up an inch or two.  Finally Avon and Ven lower down the parcels of backpacks, weapons and armor.  While everyone is getting him/herself re-equipped, Ven & Avon climb down the rope. 

By the time the two are at the bottom, it's about 2pm.

Everyone is eager to head off into the tunnel at the end of the cavern, and Daggda, Quill and Avon bump into each other -- each preparing to take the lead.

At almost the same instant, all three begin to talk.

Daggda: "We dont NEED any light, I tell you.  I can see in the dark, just as you elves can."
Avon: "This candle will give light that only WE can see."
Quill: "So you see, we dont need any torches, I can just order my sword to give off light."

[OOC from DM:   Note: about the various comments regarding light sources, or dark vision.

1. No one can see in the dark.  You can only see heat sources in the dark.  An empty tunnel would be all the same color -- or very close shades of gray.
2. The candle gives off light that can be seen by anyone touching it.  The rest of the party and any baddies would not see the light at all -- completely dark.
3. The sword can give off as much light as required in this range: Very Dim (just a pale outline of the sword) to 1 full torch's light.  It can be seen like any normal light source.  It is not hot, will not burn anything.  If the sword is dropped, the light goes out, otherwise it will stay lit as long as the bearer desires. ]

"Well," Ven says as his three companions simultaneously push to the front, "whoever goes first, I suggest that I go second. If we encounter anything while things are pretty narrow, the leader can get in some attacks and I might be able to get a spell by. This way, we might be able to get two attacks instead of just one. If I'm in the middle, I won't be able to cast. I think Myr should be second to the last for the same reason, in case somehthing tries to come at us from behind. Or, Myr," he says, turning to the comely mage, "if you want to go second, I can go second to last. It doesn't matter to me. Hopefully it won't be an issue."

"Oh! Good heavens no! I don't want to be second! Second to last sounds much better, thanks," Myr pipes up immediately, wringing the water out of the tail of her robe.

Avon is pleasantly surprised by the fact that some one other than himself wants to take lead. Without hezitation he will let Quill and Dagda figure out who of them goes to take the front. Avon will happily drop back towards the end of the group (prefering the last position).

"I'll go first. Thank you, Veneron, for backing me up. But about that candle, Avon," Daggda says, looking sheepishly into the dark tunnel, "lend that to me, will you? You say it doesn't give off any actual light, so it should be safe. I promise I won't get any blood or anything on it."

Assuming Avon lends Daggda the candle, Daggda waits patiently. The acolyte of Moradin looks over the group. "Aren't we a valiant bunch, my shield-brothers and shield-sisters. So the order is this: myself, Veneron, Quill, Andrew, Tavarak, and Myridian, with Sandros and Avon bringing up the rear. Myridian, Sandros is skilled with sword and we need someone like that to cover our rear along with Avon, so I hope third to last is acceptible. Is this order acceptible?" the dwarf asks, waiting for any response before heading into the tunnel.

Avon's eyes light up, his face turns grim and dark. As if bitten by a snake he pulls his hand holding the candle to his chest. "You wanted point, you got point. But not with my candle!" Holding the candle he now dissapears towards the end of the group, mumbling to himself. He is very upset. First he volunteers to go down the hole, why he voluntered he still doesn't know, but they didn't need him. Then he volunteers to take point because he has his candle. But no, others had to go in front because they were better suited. Sure. And now suddenly they want his candle. Pretty soon they will take his harp to. No way! See, never trust others. "You are in this alone" he tells himself, "remember that. Always remember that."

Daggda shrugs and digs a regular candle from a backpack. It takes a few minutes to light, but eventually the light it sheds shows a narrow passageway leading off under the mountain. "At last," thinks the dwarf, "back underground!"  The dwarf, with candle in one hand and pick in the other, stoops down only a little to squeeze into the hole, but most of the others have to crawl.

The tunnel slopes up at first -- at least Daggda notices this -- and is of natural formation, not man-made.  It twists and turns, heading generally East (inland).  After about 10 minutes the roof rises enough to let everyone stand, Daggda stops to make sure that everyone is ok, and is promptly bumped into by Veneron.  The dwarf turns and looks behind.  Being the only one who can actually see, the Acolyte waves at the adventurers strung out behind and gets a brief wave in reply -- most of them can at least see the warmth of her arm waving, but Sandros and Veneron are truly stumbling along in complete darkness. 

It takes some getting-used-to: only those up front can see properly, and Quill and Daggda arrange a code word --"trouble"-- as a signal for Quill to turn on her sword-light to full power, so that everyone can see more clearly.

"Listen," whispers the dwarf, "none of you can really see the rocks at all, so watch your footing.  If there's anything likely to hit you in the head, I'll just let you know.  Ven, you better put your hand on my shoulder...I wouldn't want you to walk into my back if I stop at the edge of some bottomless pit, OK?"

"Oh... one other thing... This cave is naturally made, BUT it has had traffic before.  In the little bits of dust here and there on the floor is an occasional boot print.  Noise carries a long way in these tunnels, so lets be as quiet as we can.  ummm.. Who's wearing the armor that is clanking?"

"That would be me," sighs Myridian.  "This thing is built for a husky hobgoblin, and I'm a curvey half-elf... I'll do what I can, but..."  She grabs the excess folds of chain to stop it rattling as much as she can.

"Onward, then." says Daggda.

In J4, the Daggda takes the left fork in the tunnels, which turns out to be a dead end, and there is much shuffling and backing up before everyone is reorganized to go right.

After about 40 minutes, the group is in J5 and Ven grips Daggda's shoulder hard.  He reaches over her shoulder and points to a flickering light against the roof of the tunnel.  Daggda had not noticed it, since it is much dimmer than the light of the candle.  There is a small crack in the rock wall, near the roof, on the south side of the tunnel.  It is about 7 ft above the floor.  After a quick parley, in very quiet whispers, Sandros comes forward and climbs up the wall until he can twist his head and press his eye to the crack.  He sees a small portion of a large cavern, illuminated by torch light.  It is empty, and he sees neither ceiling nor floor.  The torch light seems to be coming from the East (top of the map) He turns his head and presses his ear to the small crack.  He hears two voices, or the echos of voices -- but cannot make out the words.

Another *very* hushed discussion ensues.  Finally deciding that there might be a secret door here, Daggda examines the wall by candle-light.  Finding nothing, the dwarf passes the andle to others, who might have better success.  After a half hour of searching by different people, they conclude that there is no way that they can find to get into that cavern. 

With everyone reminding each other to be as quiet as possible, they move on again toward the east.

The walls get close together, then widen.  The roof drops to only 2 ft for a long stretch in J6, as the tunnel twists back on itself and everyone is on his/her belly for what seems to be an interminable crawl.  At long last, about 2.5 hrs into the expedition, Daggda turns and says quietly, "I think this is the end.  We might as well have some light, Quill.  We're in an irregular cavern [OOC: in J8 on the map] with no exits.  Either we missed something or it's a dead end.  The footprints in the dust might have just been someone using this as a secret hideout -- or else we need to find what we missed."

Quill illuminates Dragon's Claw, and everyone blinks at the change -- 2.5 hours in the dark is a long, long time if you're not asleep.  As people look around to catch their breath, Avon notices that it is long past lunch time.  "Well, if we're going to take a break, let's have some food."  So saying , he sits against the wall, and looks around, starts to eat.

To a whispered chorus of "Good idea !"  the others follow his lead.  They sit around the cavern looking at the walls by sword-light, chewing on iron rations and gulping water.  Someone notices the steady, far-away pulse of surf sounds echoing thru the tunnel, and they conclude that the tide has come in.  It is about 3:30pm.

Daggda volunteers an answer to what everyone is thinking: "I cant see how the tide will come in this far.  We're about 8-10 ft above that high water mark we saw back at the entrance.... and that dust we've been crawling thru is very dry."

The walls, floor and roof of the cavern are normal and irregular.  But Daggda notices that the SW corner of the cavern is almost exactly square.  And NOTHING in nature is exactly square.  Over on that side, too, the floor and roof are both unnaturally level.

"Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to make that corner look natural -- to any but a dwarven eye, that is," notes the dwarf.  "If there's a way onward, it will be over there."