Alice what did you mean by THEM? Did you have something against undead in your ship?

Alice raises an eyebrow
Oh? It's rare for anyone to listen to me, let alone ask me something. It's a long story, if you want, I'll tell you when we have idle time. But it's not gonna help you sleep more soundly.
To keep it reasonably short - no, unfortunately, or rather fortunately there was nothing like this on the ship. They would have died in the crash. So it doesn't concern us here but with the ship, my masters also captured 3 very odd 'individuals'. Once human but cybernetically modified by the Men of Iron beyond recognition, clad in Living Metal. However, their main feature was their utter lack of connection to what I think you call the weave of magic. Or other planes. Not only this, they would completely blot out magic in their vicinity simply by existing. You could call them anti-sorcerers, or living anti-magic fields. Soulless if you want. Weapons created by the Men of Iron specifically against magic users and denizens of other planes like demons. Even an archdemon like the Winged Creature found their mere presence terrifying.
They were originally supposed to accompany me as servants and guards but the chaps turned out to be a bit - difficult. Not the most humorous fellas and we can't reliably control them yet. So we left them at home when I had to GTFO to hide from my countless fans that want to experiment on me or enslave me for their sinister plans. Too bad, mage-killers would have been handy here. They're still somewhat human, can't shapeshift and aren't nearly as tough as me in my Living Metal form, but against the unexpectedly abundant magical beings in this world they would have been hilariously effective! On the other hand, they're really bad news. If the Men of Iron manage to mass-produce those things, it's pretty much curtains for other races. So far magic was the only thing that could overpower them and their advanced technology...

Alice leaves it at that, but if you ask nicely, she will tell you more lore about herself and the universe in general when there is idle time.

The small room at the bottom has three ancient crates and two oddly shaped metallic busts on the walls reminiscent of a goat and a pony, revered animals often used by dwarves in mines.[/i]

Oh nice! They remind me of our mules...
Sandra and Sophia I almost forgot their names!

Alice makes sure there's no imminent threat to the North
Ashley, let the Bigglesworths guard the passage North while we explore the room!

We should explore this first! Alice poke them with your pole! If the room is safe we will store our belongings here!

Alright stay clear of a potential line of fire!
Alice takes out her 10ft pole and extends a 10ft pseudopod. With 20ft reach, she prods the busts and crates as well as the floor around them from a safe distance.

We're at roughly >25% chance of nuclear war over the next year and it's only growing.

We need this, and the best places of ground zero aren't Europe or Russia and I'd even go so far as to say even China at this time, I know, even I surprise myself, no, we need to stop the hoard. China isn't going to overpopulate the world.

"The United Nations projects that Africa's share of the world population will grow from 18% in 2023 to 38% by 2100."

Ashley grouses, "Anyway, why didn't we just take the elevator? It's locked you know. Is it some kind of self-flagellation thing?"

Yulya smirks
You heard Sir Mormesk! Our sins are grave and we need to atone. Besides true strength comes from hard work not taking shortcuts...
But seriously if we had taken the elevator whoever is down here could have taken the stairs and evade or even ambush us or destroy our loot. I do not like to have the enemy behind or above us. And we need to explore everything in order to clear this mine and it is better to take the stairs down than up. We (you) will get the elevator after we cleared this level.

The small room at the bottom has three ancient crates and two oddly shaped metallic busts on the walls reminiscent of a goat and a pony, revered animals often used by dwarves in mines.

Yulya casts LIGHT on a small rock. She tosses it into the middle of the room and searches the area for traps.
We should explore this first! Alice poke them with your pole! If the room is safe we will store our belongings here!

lmao russia said today it would back a chinese invasion of taiwan. russia will never be your ally. if you believe that youre delirious. ill say it again even if i have to repeat my self a thousand times. you know nothing about russia. just like you know nothing about the world outside of the usa
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/russia-opposes-taiwan-independence-any-form-fm-lavrov-says-2025-12-28/
https://defence-blog.com/russia-signals-support-for-china-if-taiwan-war-breaks-out/

[Time: Thursday, Spring 27, 09:00, 10C Calm][Earlier typos were perpetuated, it is in fact Thursday, moon: 46% waning][The Blades have been honed, everyone is rested, a new day has begun. Subtract 1 ration for everyone but Ashley to cover the travel and breakfast.]

Everyone packs up and it's time to head off again.

Ashley grouses, "Leave the ears alone! Anyway, why didn't we just take the elevator? It's locked you know. Is it some kind of self-flagellation thing?"

As Ashley Panther, Ashley could make the trek back, transform again and bring the elevator down in about 5-6 hours.

[Time: Thursday, Spring 27, 12:00, 10C Calm]

Several hours later, you reach the bottom of the stairs. This level is oddly in better shape than the previous one, but the shoring is ancient, perhaps untouched in centuries, there is no evidence of any being, living or dead, the air is stale from old wood but a very slight stream of fresh air is still circulating up the stairs. It is ever so slightly warmer down here, leading to the natural convection.

There are no glowstone lanterns here, only the occasional conventional lantern, dark for centuries but functional, still intact from the days this mine level was still active. The shaft you ascended was likely made to chase ores and connected to the next level for convenience. Otherwise the area is pitch dark and beyond anyone's sight aside from Ashley's Blindsight and Truesight. Whatever light you were using to descend the steps is lighting up the area around you. The small room at the bottom has three ancient crates and two oddly shaped metallic busts on the walls reminiscent of a goat and a pony, revered animals often used by dwarves in mines.