The entrance dust has many types of footprints, animals and humanoids alike. You can see dozens of humanoids wearing boots, wolves, and large Troll prints. [There are many creatures that seem to spawn out of nothing in caves and abandoned mines, as if growing from the rocks themselves, some theorize the mana that has infused the very Earth itself when the mana circuits were first opened thousands of years ago also opened portals to other planes, others just believe caves are a natural habitat for animals in general and the monsters merely follow nature. Whether these creatures are attracted to the invisible rifts of energy, spawned spontaneously, or simply wandered in is a matter of conjecture.]
Learning this, Alice stops abruptly.Wait, wait wait!
Are you saying monsters can materialize out of thin air here? I thought only the werewofl could summon them? I've heard about regions where the barrier to what you call the Negative Plane was so thin that demonic entities could flood over, but those are usually quickly turned into hell on Earth. This place looks fairly normal. Otherwise the Rockseekers wouldn't think about mining here.
Crudely scratched into the wall just at the entrance is a giant spider outline similar in form to what was seen in the goblin den but not nearly as elegant or well done.
Alice's eyes narrow. She decides to deface it as soon as this mine is cleared. Right now that would create too much noise.From the entrance you can see that the mine is impressively immaculate, other than dust, they've kept it clean.
Alice nods approvingly.Yep, definitely humans.
There are three passageways, North, South and East, and what initially looks like oil lanterns are lit instead with everglow stone; this light orange, dim, but everlasting light keeps the mine indefinitely lit in most areas. The very slightly hissing stone let's off a musty, burnt dirt-like odor that most find offensive but the dwaves call 'the smell of home'.
Alice pats Cat on the back.Not my thing either but I'm glad I don't have your nose!
The temperature is easily 15C warmer inside the cave, a welcome relief to the bitter cold outside, owed to the natural thermal capacity of the earth and the fact that colder temperatures haven't had time to fully saturate the mountain.
Alice takes off Alric's cloak and packs it upAh yes, that feels better in here. Not good, but at least better!
She runs her hand over the stone walls.Crystalline rock, there's probably even hot springs somewhere down here. It should get warmer the deeper we go.
As your eyes acclimate to the dim light you notice the body of a goblin, this one has had his skull crushed and his weapons broken beyond repair nearby. Upon inspection of the body, it is dressed in filthy rags, further revealing that it is not a Cragmaw goblin, if anything it looks a yellower shade and its ears are uniquely different, perhaps a subspecies, it looks to be no more than a week since it's death but the naturally sterile cave in conjunction with the weather outside has mostly preserved it. What this fellow is doing here or who killed it, if not the bandits, is a mystery.[/i]
Alice closely inspects the ears like a phrenologist determining the ethnicity of a savage.Yes, definitely outside the range of goblin ears I have seen so far. This must also go in my collection, but fresh ones!
The walls you can immediately see are carved with simple reliefs showing dwarf and gnome miners at work, these carvings are quite well done, some have been defaced, others are smeared with a substance that is foul and smells as such, perhaps by the goblin before his demise. The lanterns and the carvings of miners otherwise give a sense of welcoming, and were likely meant for that purpose to welcome newcomers and make the place feel more at home.
Alice tilts her head, trying to get an overview of the reliefs. Dwarves are strange people but you gotta admire their industriousness and dedication. Goblins on the other hand...
After closer inspection, there's a well hidden barrel near the entrance that could be used to store supplies, it currently has two child-sized mining helmets, likely meant for halflings who the dwarfs historically hire as miners, and two similarly sized mining overalls, a touch material that is otherwise no better than what you have, again, only Alice could potentially squeeze into them.
Alice looks at the equipment and then at the expectant gazes of the others.I doubt any of those bandits would take a halfling miner for granted in the current situation. Ah well, before I ruin my wofl cloak I'll give it a try I guess...
Alice morphs out of her clothes and into the mining overall and dons the helmetKind of useful I can always adapt to cloth sizes!
Venturing deeper into the mine, Alice keeps her bow ready with a poisoned arrow should anything appear from behind
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