Stone Men In Water Street

[Brian]

You manage to kick your way over to the opening, and get inside.  The ground is slippery, like slick clay, or soft stone.  The air inside this tunnel is much warmer than in the elevator shaft.

But it's really dark.  Victor comes down next, climbing one-handed, and bearing a lantern.  As he approaches, you can make out more of your surroundings.

This level of the mine is like the first -- there's even a rail for mine-carts here.  Rust free, which is strange, since the ground you're standing on does actually appear to be slick clay.  Lanterns hang along the corridor walls that have pretty much collapsed on themselves from disuse.  Victor aproaches, grunts, and climbs into the tunnel with you.

Looking back down (carefully) into the shaft, you can see a sudden layer of very thick fog.  It seems darker than normal fog should be, you think.  Perhaps it's the dimness of the flickering lantern light.

[Bjorn]

Not risking even mental communication, Bjorn touches Victor lightly on the shoulder and points down at the fog.

[Brian]

Victor frowns at it, but shrugs, as if to say he doesn't know what's going on.

[Bjorn]

After Nathan joins them, Bjorn leads the way down the current tunnel -- but not too far ahead, given that Victor sees much better than he does.

[Brian]

You proceed for a while, and then Victor slows down, frowning.  You don't notice anything immediately, except for the dimming off your lanters.  The corridor also doesn't really seem to do much except very vaguely curve to the left.

He comes to a halt, turns around, and motions you and Nathan backwards.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn moves backwards at Victor's command, Shinmyouken ready and staring futilely into the darkness.  Risking what there was to risk, he asks, What's up?

[Brian]

You should not proceed any further; the air here is dead.  It has sat too long, unmoving, Victor informs you.

This seems at odds with the breeze in the mineshaft, but you do feel a bit dizzy, and now that you think about it, there's something different to the smell than just the pervasive, damp clay odor.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn grunts.  I was worried about that.  Can you stand the air, or should we go back to the main shaft?

[Brian]

I don't need to breathe, he informs you with a bit of humor.  But I suspect that we will find little here.  Nothing living, at any rate.

[Bjorn]

Yes, Bjorn writes with dark humour, That's one of my worries.

All right.  We'll head back to the shaft and try the lower level, then.

[Brian]

You return to the darkened shaft, your rope tucked (where Nathan left it) through a support beam for easy reaching without leaning over the mysterious maw of dark fog.

Victor looks at you, then the fog, and shrugs as if to ask, "Now what?"

[Bjorn]

Bjorn looks down, and sighs.  Well.  I hate to say it, but I can't think of anything but go down into it.  Unless someone thinks that they're a better candidate than me, I'll do it.

He tests the rope, consideringly.  Slightly different procedure this time, though.  Let's tie the rope around my waist.  If I scream, pull me up.  Please.

[Brian]

Yes, with your superior dark-vision and breath-holding abilities.  Victor pauses, as if considering something, but grudgingly adds, I probably could pull you up faster than you could pull me.  We could also volunteer our second lantern, before we go so far.

[Bjorn]

If you want to go first, be my guest.  I just don't want to volunteer anyone else for this.

Bjorn grimaces, staring down into the fog.  We only have two lanterns.  I'm not really keen on risking one of them at this point -- since, as you point out, you're the only one who can see in the dark.

Blinking, Bjorn starts patting at his pockets.  Wait a second.  I think I grabbed a pack of matches.  We can start by tossing a lit match down there.  Unlikely it will tell us much -- but at the least, it should let us know if the air is any good.

[Brian]

A match is quickly lit, and tossed into the fog.  It's extinguished before it goes beyond the lantern's radius of light.