"Well at least we've got a wide bridge ahead of us. And about forty feet ahead of us we also got us a cave. Let's go check it out." With that, the dwarf leads the way.
Alicia scowls and follows the dwarf, annoyed she can't see in the dark as well as he can.
"Blast this place is big. I still cannot see the other side." Glancing around a moment, "Keep yer eyes peeled, there's never nothin' good about an empty cavern. It's just too... empty."
Having crossed the bridge, keeping away from the edges, Marikel doesn't pause but enters the cave. He keeps the solid wall to his right and his shield ready in his left hand.
Marikel strides forward unhesitatingly, preferring the danger of an unseen enemy to that of a fall. The light from his sword illuminates several standing boulders but nothing imminently threatening. The ceiling is about fifteen feet high.
Alicia slips into the shadows and starts skulking around at the edges of Marikel's light, scouting.
Alicia is just about to slip between the wall and the stone when she spies it -- a network of dusty webbing between the two surfaces, barely visible in the dim light. If this is anything like the spiderweb in the Burned Church, it's bound to be sticky.
Alicia scowls and stage-whispers, "There's some awfully big spiderwebs here. Probably equally-big spiders about, too."
"Great. Spiders. I hate spiders. Oh well. Sounds like ta me that me bird's about to get him some fresh lunch. Let's just keep goin' until they jump out at us. Maybe they're smart spiders and they don't want ta get themselves killed," he surmises, shrugging. He then leads on, keeping an eye out for the annoying vermin.
Marikel moves up not far from Alicia pressing his glowing sword against the darkness.
"Best we locate them now. We don't want them behind us if we have to retreat in a hurry."
He looks up at the ceiling carefully.
Nodding, "Fair enough." Dorn copies the cleric and looks up and all around along the ceiling.
Mahath remembers children being taunted to brave the caves in his youth. He grimaces at the thought of what they might have encountered.
"The webs may be abandoned, but I agree it is best to be sure. Some webbing is susceptible to fire which I could ignite, but I am reluctant to do so. If there are active spiders here, there might be live victims entangled therein." In his mind, Mahath can't help but picture himself as a hapless preteen ensnared down here, waiting to be devoured.
He looks to Marikel. His look tells the priest that if he asks, Mahath will try to ignite the webs at his order, despite his misgivings.
Marikel's light illuminates the northern alcove of the cavern. Apart from the webbing Alicia discovered between the standing boulder and the western wall, this area appears to be clear of hazards.
Alicia frowns and looks around, then slips further into the shadows and away from Marikel's light.
Narrowing his eyes in study of the spiderwebs, "Ya know, I'm thinkin' there aren't any of the vermin left. These webs here are covered in dust. Which obviously means they ain't been touched for quite some time. So with that, I'll move on ahead. But feel free to keep an eye out for the creepy crawlies just in case." And with that, Dorn continues on ahead.
Marikel looks to Mahath respectfully, then back to Dorn.
"Very well. No spiders here. Lead on."
Alicia moves up fearlessly to the edge of her vision. After a moment of discussion, Dorn follows.
"Well we got us a bridge ahead that's over a ravine. Barrin' anythin' jumpin' out at us, I'm guessin' we head toward it? Unless you lot got another way you prefer."
"There's certainly plenty of space down here," Marikel scowls.
"Are we going in the right direction? Sawyer told us to head south and not take the side tunnels."
"Ya know, I hadn't thought about that, lad." he says, shrugging, as he places his weapon up. He then looks over the edge in an attempt to discern how high they are from the floor. "I can get down there safely if ya think we need ta know what's down there. Unless we actually are goin' the wrong way and need ta turn back. For the life of me I can't remember if this was the south tunnel we took or not," he says, stroking his beard in thought.
"Okay, maybe we should turn back. Because below us is covered in spiderwebs. And when I say covered... I mean completely."
"A torch should take care of that," Marikel advises, turning away.
"But maybe on the way out. We have work to do."
He eagerly leads the way back to the south passage.
Nodding, "Sounds good ta me. I hate spiders." The dwarf then turns and heads back as well.
Ali snickers behind Marikel's back. Secretly grateful not to be fighting giant spiders or spider swarms again, she dutifully follows after him.
"Well reasoned, Marikel. If the webs are that old, then it is improbable that the path we seek goes that way. We are trying to follow more recent footsteps. We can return this way if we exhaust other options."
The dwarf and the priest lead the party in retracing their steps out of the cavern. Advancing toward the south, it soon becomes clear that this pathway is also a bridge over the lake in the cavern below, though the bridge this way is wider than the side paths and has a solid wall at its western side.
"We got a tunnel goin' southwest," he says, motioning in said direction.
Marikel peers carefully into the depths. "The town will never be without water in a siege."
He turns back to Dorn. "I guess we check it out a ways, just to make sure. But then we keep heading south. We may not have much time."
As the group continues across the bridge, it becomes clear that the southwest passage is the only option, as it veers around a rock wall directly to the south and begins to slope steeply downward.
Alicia hustles to move ahead of the rest of the party, keeping to the shadows as she takes on her scouting role again.
Alicia slips ahead of the others to take the lead down the passage. Staying in the aura of dim light moving forward with Marikel, she can see that the passageway opens up into a more open area after about seventy feet. The southern side of the stone underfoot continues to slope downward.
"Looks like not only is our path slopin' south, it also climbs toward the north. This ought ta be interestin'."
Marikel pauses for barely a second to glance upward, before leading the party down and South.
"Whoa! Hold up there, lot. At the end of this cave here is a skeleton the size of a giant... or a might bigger." Looking over at Marikel, "What do ya think, lad? You know more about this undead business than meself. Think it's simply the bones of a giant or some nasty undead-come-alive-and-kill-us trap that's been set for any unwanted visitors?"
Marikel halts immediately and peers into the darkness.
"Skeletons, hey?" Marikel mutters a prayer and takes a few steps forward.
"Iomedae will show me if it bears the taint of magic."
You detect no magic auras in the mouth of the cave, though you are not sure from outside how deep it might go.
"No magic. Back me up."
Refreshing the light on his sword, Marikel advances towards the end of the cave.
Alicia sneaks forward, paralleling Marikel in the shadows.
"You got it, lad. Be ready for anythin'," he tells the others as he follows behind the healer.
Marikel leads the way into the chamber. The light emitted by his sword illuminates a monstrous skeleton -- almost human-like, save for the size and a certain thickness to the bone. Armor still hangs loosely from the oversized scapulae, and giant-sized weaponry leans against the stone near the skeletal hand. On the other side of the cave is another skeleton in a similar pose, and at the edge of the light's reach, another skeletal hand is visible; they seem to line either side of the cavern. However, there is no immediate sign of movement.
Alicia slips past Marikel into the dim light in the vanguard of the party.
Suppressing a shudder at the sight of the giant skeletons, Alicia stays in the center of the hallway as the party advances. "Creepy things," she mutters.
Mahath follows along, not far behind Marikel. He strains his vision, searching for any symbols or inscriptions that might illuminate what they've found. He'll also pause and use his minor magics to search for any latent auras.
"Giants' tomb," Marikel whispers. The sight fills him with awe and he wonders if his parents saw such places upon their missions for the church. No wonder they kept going. But still, eventually they didn't return. He grips his sword and shield and walks further in, staying near the centre of the hallway and alert for any danger.