Everyone, please make a DC 15 Perception check!
Piotr peers ahead into the cave.
Corb looks ahead, too.
Aristu follows the others deeper into the caverns, keeping an eye behind him as the others look forward.
Alister squints into the darkness, then conjures his balls of light to speed forward and illuminate the place.
Mikhail is distracted by some feature of the cave, but everyone else hears the sound of many people running towards you from the west!
Whaddya do?
Corb follows, chuckling softly to himself when Piotr almost falls flat into a puddle.
"Look out! someones coming!" Alister casts a spell and suddenly there are images of him weaving in and out around him.
Suddenly a horde of people in long ceremonial robes come bursting out of the darkness of the west, panic-stricken and with horror on their faces. They take no notice of you and in fact some of them run right through you! But they bring with them a wave of gut-watering terror!
As the spirits rush him, Alister freaks out.
Piotr stays where he is, allowing the crowd to rush past and around him.
Galen keeps sword drawn and shield raised.
"Ahhhhhh!," cries Piotr.
Mikhail follows after them to try and keep them safe while they are under the effects of the strange figment mob.
Aristu quickly collects whatever Alister and Piotr may have dropped (Piotr's wand? Alister's sword?) then moves to follow them.
"Galen, lets fall back and stick together until this spell wears off."
Alister, Piotr and Corb flee back to the portal and through it, yelling in terror! There, they find dozens of will-o'-wisps hovering perhaps a hundred yards beyond the portal. Aristu, Mikhail and Galen soon follow them.
After several long moments, the terror fades and you watch the sun crawl up the southern sky, doing little to burn off the mists.
Alister looks up with his panic finally fading and finds a more terrifying sight, dozens of will o'wisps. "Careful! We're in deep s%%% now." He looks at the others. "I think we should go back in. These Wisps could kill us all."
"Agreed," replies Piotr. "My apologies, I simply could not withstand the fear caused by that apparition."
Piotr looks down the hill towards the wisps, wondering at the connection between the creatures and this portal.
"We cannot go back to the boat, not with that many wisps between us and the boat," states Piotr.
"Did someone pick up the wand that I dropped? I think that we have no choice but to try to solve the mystery of whatever is inside. Do you think that we will meet that crowd again?"
Aristu hands the dropped items back to Piotr and Alister while keeping an eye on the wisps.
"Yes, let's go back in before any of those head this way. If we explore in a different direction, maybe we can avoid that phantom mob."
You head back through the portal.
The cavern within is just as you left it. No shadowy crowd awaits you.
Piotr peers around, trying to make sense of this strange place.
"I am pretty certain that the portal is stronger now. I hope that doesn't mean that it will soon be strong enough for something else, perhaps an extraplanar being, to use it," states Piotr after a moment of consideration.
"That does seem ominous. Let's go find out why." Mikhail heads into the portal and returns to where they were before.
The group heads into the large spherical room.
Returning to the large room, you once again see the deep well at the center of the bowl-like depression. Several exits leave the room.
"Should we investigate the well? Or the other exits?," asks Piotr.
"I am going to circle around to look at the well from another direction and, maybe, see soemthing of the other exits."
"We should clear the area before we deal with the well. It may take all of our attention which would be difficult if more swarms or undead rear their heads." Mikhail moves to look out one of the other exits.
Piotr and Mikhail ease their way to the exits, their flickering torches revealing mysterious passages beckoning them forward!
"We should not separate. Should we first investigate the northern exist over there?," asks Piotr as he waves vaguely in that direction.
"This one seems to head towards the area we were in before. I think we should continue there."
"You think the spirits that accosted us have passed?" Alister glances down the corridor. "Mikhail, perhaps you should go first and scout it out."
"I do not think those were spirits. It was some kind of magical trap. It might have reset. I am not sure. I will start down the path and let you know if the noise comes once more." Mikhail then moves down the tunnel to see what lies beyond.
Aristu follows Alister towards the southwestern exit. While they wait for Mikhail to scout, he riffles through his scrolls and withdraws a scroll of Dispel Magic.
"If Mikhail is right, and it is some sort of magical effect, I may be able to negate it."
"But it didn't feel like a spell, it felt like something from beyond the grave."
"Beyond the grave?" Alister pauses for a moment. "It was a haunt. Something caused by a traumatic event. It's is sometimes tied to a ghost, but doesn't have to be."
"I think we should avoid that area for now. Let's try the corridor to the north."