Alek straightens his shoulders and strides back out among the skeletons. As before, they seem to turn their eyeless sockets to register his passing, but they make no move toward him. When he reaches the far side of the Vault, he gives the party a strained nod across the room and then disappears behind the wall, headed back toward the vaultway and the outside.
Des watches Alek leave, chewing thoughtfully on the side of their thumb. "He's not your friend, then? I thought he was your friend. Where to now? Do we go into the tunnel? Do you think there's more skeletons in the tunnel?"
The goblin rearranges the Hellknight symbol carefully, making sure it is as visible as it can be.
"Yes--onward," Darla replies to the goblin, uncertain of how to designate Alek.
Gellius closes the door behind them to avoid the unnerving gaze of the waiting skeletons, then leads the way into the tunnel. Almost immediately, it starts to turn back on itself as it slopes steadily but not precipitately downward; after a while, however, both the slope and the direction stabilize, and it extends ahead straight and smooth, with no apparent end in sight. The width and height are both constant and ample to walk single-file with no feeling of claustrophobia for the taller members of the party.