"Then we'll have to be careful, and moreso as we proceed.... Shall we go?"
Lead the way
Deeper in. We've got to get to the other side.
The group continues south, slogging through the guano on the floor, moving slowly to avoid falling down.
The find another cave heading off to the south, and after traveling about 60 or so feet down it, they come to a junction. Three more caves shoot off, one to the west, one south, and one east. Nothing can be seen to the east and south but more cave. However, to the west, there are flashes and shimmers with a purple hue, but exactly what it is making the flashing shimmers is shrouded in dim light.
There appears to be some large rocks reflecting the light of the torch, but as purple light rather than the sickly yellow the torch normally puts out.
herp
Gah
Paul points toward the light, "It looks like rocks reflecting a torch except it's purple instead of yellow. I think we should check it out."
If you're sure. lead us in.
"Seems like a reasonable plan. At least it's different. "
Walking down the small cave corridor, the group finds itself in a chamber filled with crystalline growths. Water drips from the ceiling onto the crystals, apparently providing the necessary minerals for growth. Each of the liquids seems to be stained a different color, perhaps originating in a different part of the mountain.
There is a 15 foot drop off at the mouth of the chamber, and on the floor of the chamber is where the crystals are growing from. There are some crystals on the ceiling too, but they are much smaller than the ones below. It's the smaller ceiling crystals that caused the flashes the group saw earlier, the larger crystals are hidden by the drop off.
The yellow crystals are Topaz crystals, although they are the largest you have ever seen. The larger ones are the size of a human thigh.
The purple crystals are jadeite, the rarer of the two types of Jade. The crystals are probably about 300 lbs of purple jade.
The white crystals are common quartz crystals, but they are the larger of the three batches, taking up a third of the small cavern. The largest crystal, in the center, is nearly as big as Luna. The crystals have thin silvery filaments inside, some form of metal contamination.
"Oooh aren't they pretty?"
Luna examines the three unknown stones closer to see if she can get an idea of what they might be worth.
yellow meh
purple meh
white aha
Paul points at the crystals, "The yellow are topaz and the white common quartz, though with some silvery metal contamination in them. They are both bigger than any I have ever seen. I'm not sure what the purple is."
I'm not geologist, but aren't topaz and quartz made by two completely different geological processes? And when you say metal contamination, are you saying the crystal growths are pulling from a vein of ore?
Luna will take a large chunk of the jadeite... as much as she can put in her haversack... if some of it needs to be jettisoned later, she'll deal with that then.
"This is purple jadeite, it's quite valuable back home... I'm taking a guess that it has similar relative values to the other two here, and taking some. Besides, it's pretty."
Whoa Luna. We should check it for magic first, who knows what will happen if it is?
Cast detect magic
No magic detected. So, it should be safe to pilfer.
"This looks like a good resource, but I don't know if we can really take much of it along right now. I am curious to see what the metal deposit in the quartz is though. " and he will use an adamantine pick to break apart some of the quartz to see what is inside.
Does this passage continue or do we have to double back?
After quickly checking the other 2 tunnels, the group comes to the conclusion that the area is a dead end, as each tunnel ends in an empty (other than bat guano) chamber.
I'm a bit confused, is there a way to keep going or not?
Yes, ready to backtrack.
The air grows thick with moisture as the group goes down the cave, and the roar grows until they can barely hear themselves think. As the move forward, the air itself becomes thick with water droplets, and they see they've come to a massive underground waterfall. To the left, thousands of gallons of water pound down every second, sending up a spray of water. The water has cut a channel through the rock floor of the cave, leading to a 30 ft drop to the surface of the water. The ground is slick and wet on either side of the crevice.
To the right, a small pool of water whirls rapidly in a whirpool, the massive amounts of water falling from the waterfall disappearing just as rapidly as it goes down some unseen outlet. The water in the crevice appears to be racing past, white with foam, probably 30 or 40 miles per hour.
Two old water soaked logs stretch over the crevice, spiked into the floor by heavy rusty spikes on either side.
Luna examines the logs... and ponders crossing with a rope tied around her waist just in case...
Luna ties a rope around her waist and hands the end to one of the boys... then she (hopefully) nimbly works her way across the logs...
Once across, she holds the rope taut so others may cross more easily...
"I'll hold this end tight and then use some magic to get over as I don't know that I'll make it otherwise."
That's the reason I brought these. Sterling searches his pack and pulls out a hammer and piton. He nails the spike into the stone, and ties the rope to it. This way we don't have to do the same risky maneuvers over and over.
Sterling does the same thing on the over side, so the group has a permanent handdold for the bridge. It does beg the question...how recently was this cave capped? a wood bridge in this environement won't last long. And unless there is a forest growing down here, the logs must have come from outside.
Using the ropes and Pitons, the DC to cross is Reflex 15, or Acrobatics 10. The Acrobatics check can be made untrained.
"Thank you Sterling. I don't think I could have crossed without magic otherwise." Paul then crosses over.
Harry will take 10 to cross. Acrobatics is +4.
The group successfully navigates the chasm, and once on the other side, the damp explorers continue on. A hundred feet or so beyond the cave forks again, one branch going west, the other continuing south.
To the west, there are a series of terraces, each dropping down about a foot to a foot and a half, until the cave continues on 20 feet lower than the cave the group is in now.
To the south, the cave continues on at the same height.
"I don't know that going deeper is a good idea. How about south?"
Path of least resistance? asks Sterling rhetorically. I like it.
"Works for me."
"Agreed... let's do it!"
We head south.
As the group continues down the tunnel, it begins to open up, and lighten up as well. Lichen on the wall glows a soft blue white. Other life forms begin to become common, as the southern tunnel slopes down.
At first, it's mostly insects. Cockroaches the size of people's thumbs, then larger, the size of a palm. Two foot long centipedes scuttling under mushrooms the size of footballs, then later beach balls.
Small lizards begin to get spotted as well, as well as more bats. Also winged lizards with four legs and two wings, almost like small dragons.
The single cave becomes series of caverns.
After what seems like hours, the group is getting tired, having lost track of time as they wander the caverns.
"I'm getting rather bushed. Think it's safe to camp down here? "
Luna helps guide the others, somehow sensing their path as they move so as not to get lost. "I'm fine, but i don't mind resting either... refreshing spells and all. Perhaps we should take turns keeping watch while camping... This over here looks like a good spot."
"Yeah, definitely think watches are a good idea. Don't want to get eaten by some huge bat while I sleep. "