You walk all the way to the hills, first followed by Duma, and then following him when the jackal totem leaves Misimba. It will probably dawn soon, since it's summer.
You eventually get to a small forest of sparse oaks and then stop next to a lonely, short hill. An almost circular hole, the size of a tall human, penetrates down into its depths.
This tunnel, not very steep, has walls made of the same dirt of the hill's surface, and become stone a few spans ahead. There are no signs of anything living here, but the tracks lead inside, and Duma gets a few steps in and sniffs around.
"Is this were they... took Azad?" asks Octavia.
"I can't see in the dark, give me a moment."
Ognos then gets out a torch and his flint and steel.
"Pity I can't see in the dark or have light magic."
"But needs be as needs must."
Reaching out to Duma, Misimba wipes his hands over the lion's eyes, and once he is complete, Duma's eyes glow with a redish hue.
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Lucius waits patiently for the rest to make their preparations. "I sugggest Brother Michel that you lead us in with Misimba and Duma to support you. Ognos, Gul and I will support you with magic if need be. You my children," He says, turning to Octavia and her husband, "Enter if you must but be quiet and wary!
Misimba nods and readies the odd staff he has with him. He pats Duma on the shoulder, then lets the Lion lead him into the dark hole with Brother Michel.
Ognos follows, bearing his torch, so he can see.
Michel nods to Lucius and replies, "Agreed." before marching I'm beside Misimba and retrieving his Three-section staff from beneath his robes. He will depend on Ognos' Torch for light.
As you go deeper into the ground, the cave becomes broader and broader, without any bifurcations. The echo made by the sounds of your walking gets louder and you start to see stalactites hanging from the roof, wich is now barely reached by the light of the torch.
A few feet before a turn in the tunnel, you hear a distant sound, like if something had hit the rock, and then hurried steps, deepened and repeated by the walls of the cave.
"Oh, God! What was that?" Abel talks for the first time since you got in the tunnel and gets closer to Octavia.
There is someone down here with you.
"I don't know what that was."
Ognos whispers
Using his enhanced darkvision, Duma scans the cave where the noises were heard.
Duma walks ahead, but stops before the light of the torch stops iluminating him. He bends his legs warily, looking down.
Ognos moves forward warily
When Ognos moves ahead, to the side of Duma, he understands why he stopped: The floor of the tunnel is gone, and instead there is a fall of about twenty feet, leading to a big staircase made of stone. Lying on one of the steps, there is a humanoid figure covered in black robes, and surrounded by a reddish stain, probably blood, next to a rope.
It is impossible to see anything else in the room down but a portion of the stairs from the possition you are in.
The cave continues indefinitely ahead, but to continue that way you'll have to pass the ten feet gap.
"All I can see is the floor is missing."
"Can anyone else see anything?"
Michel looks down into the dark pit, whistles, and asks, "Wonder what happened here? I think we should take a better look."
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"Be careful." Lucius advises after a short look down into the pit. "There's a body at the bottom. Purple skin, white hair. It looks like they fell and the impact killed them. We need to make sure any rope is secure before we go down."
Turning to Abel and Octavia he asks "Did the woman you spoke ho have anything off about her? White hair? Could this be her?"
"A body?... the Cadı had hoary hair, but her skin was just warty and wrinkled, not... purple." says Abel. Octavia nods, supporting what he said. She then walks warily towards the border, and looks, afraid, at the body, touching the smooth wall leading down to the stairs.
"How are we supposed to keep going? Where could have they taken Azad?"
Misimba ties a rope around a small ledge, and goes all the way down with ease, resting his tiny feet against the smooth wall, obviously carved by the people who built the stairs. The place is very dark, barely illuminated by the torch Ognos holds twenty feet above you. The corpse lies at his side, and it is indeed purple-skinned, like nothing you have seen before.
"It keeps going downwards. Come on...lets see where this leads. Duma stay..guard!"
While waiting, Misimba examines the body on the stairs.
"I guess I can't help by standing up here!"
Ognos takes his time going carefully down using the rope. And keeping his torch with him.
The body, which indeed appears dead, looks like a young male elf, thin and with pointy ears, except, obviously, for the oddly colors of the skin and hair. Once you're closer, you also notice the eyes, still wide open with fright, have no pupils, they are pitch white.
This creature's neck is broken, and most of his wounds seem to be from the fall, but his right leg is torn apart, in a different way. Great chunks of flesh are gone, and you can see part of the bloodied bone. It looks like someone or something bestial was feeding on him.
With the torch down, you can vaguely see an arch far upstairs, but it still doesn't brightens the depths.
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"There is an arch at the bottom of the stairs. It leads further down - I can't see what's down there though."
Lucius examines the body carefully. His trained eyes examine the body and draws some unpleasant conclusions. "This elf died from the fall, but something has been eating him. Look at the leg here - something with nasty teeth and a taste for mans flesh. We must be wary."
The body, apart from the clothes and the rope, possesses only a dagger and a bag with two red apples.
"Certainly not a kind of elf I've heard of!"
Ognos will cast Detect Magic and see if there's anything magical on the body.
You put your hands together and say the magic words, and the mysterious magic that runs into you awakens a new sense. You feel the magic in the air, like a constant shiver. You perceive a small pulse in this aura, like a wave. It is very weak, almost unperceptible, and it doesn't come from the body, but from Lucius' wrists, where he wears two translucent sleeves over his clothes.
Ognos glances at Lucius for a moment.
"Nothing magical on this body, far as I can tell."
Misimba shakes his head, but keeps his eyes on the deeper gloom at the bottom of the stairs.
"Light is what we need, and plenty of it. Without Duma, I am blind in this darkness. Should I light some torches, or does the church has some incantation to create more light?"
"I too need a torch to see down here."
"All I have for weapons are two daggers."
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"I had some torches, but I left them with Alfonso. I had not anticipated having to venture underground. None-the-less I have good night vision. I can lead if we wish to continue now or we could retreat and return with more light sources." Lucius' voice is clinical, he is simply stating the options, without a preference or seemingly much concern for the possibility of a child dying ahead of them.
"What do you say friends?"
After following the group down, Michel stows his weapon and lights one of his own torches.
"It is indeed a rare ability to see in this dark." Michel adds.
Pointing to the stairs, he continues, "Shall we?"
Octavia goes carefully down the rope, and, almost shyly, extends her hand to Lucius, looking at the dagger. Abel seems to hesitate, but then looks back to the purring Duma and decides to follow her wife.
"I... I'm not sure I can use one, but I can try." she says.
Michel continues forward cautiously while white-knuckling his staff. He grunts, "Stay close to me, Ognos. Need the light. Those two, he motions to the couple, "should stay out of the way if trouble starts. "
Ognos lifts his torch enough for Michael to see.
And motions the couple to keep in back.