2. The First Delve

"They may be used to humans if they frequent the upper floors," Fenwick watches them cower against the walls, and adds. "Or work for them?"

Cave
The bucket-carrying kobolds (who studiously ignore Ricard’s greeting) wait until the party are sufficiently far south in the cave before scurrying towards the eastern exit and on towards the crossroads. The contents of their buckets remain a mystery for now.

You head towards the south-westerly section of the cave to get a better look at the two other exits.

The one to the south leads directly into a smaller cave in which water drips from the ceiling. In the middle of this cave there is a stone well from which a whistling noise is emanating. There’s also a further exit heading west. (I’ll provide full mapping information if you decide to enter this cave; this is just what you can see from outside it).

The tunnel leading west from the main cave (which is still of natural stone rather than man-made construction) extends west for 20’ before arriving at a corner section and turning to the north.

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Day 2, 8:30 am
Bea, Thief 1: 3/3
Fenwick, Elf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 5/6
Tiberious, Magic-User 1: 5/5

Link to Gabbro's mega-maps ...

Swan pauses a moment there and looks to the other. Appears she is looking to see what the other think.

"Don't ask me, I'm conflicted-- my initial thought was we should keep going west until we hit the den because that's the way the first sign pointed. But... the finished tunnels would have been made by the prisoners, right? Would that make them more likely to have valuables or less? I guess I now suggest we go south? The kobolds must have been using that well."

Kobolds just gain up and kill people. Useless and multiply like flies. Swan shows how much she dislikes Kobolds. She adds in her thoughts for why she is heading the way she is, "Less stonework would be more the trail to dragon's den and hopefully lost treasure." As always, her mind is on getting more coins.

"The well is the first sign of a possible way to go further down, and the only clue we have about any treasure so far talked about being two levels down." Gabbro points out. "I'm inclined to look at the well just to see if there's a way down..."

Swan replies back, Well the well looks like it might be a mess. And really doesn't look like treasure. She is still pausing to hear from everyone.

"Yeah. Good point Gabbro. The better stuff that hasn't been picked through will be deeper down, so if we could use the well as a short cut that'd be smart." She glances toward the unfinished path to the west. "I'll be honest, I didn't think the sign was pointing to a real dragon's den, but the fact its pointing outside of the tunnels the prisoners dug is weird. If there is a dragon here...I'm not sure I'm ready to fight it."

She smiles at Bea. "Unless you maybe want to sneak by it and steal us some of its treasure?"

Ricard unspools his rope,

"We may as well lower one of the elves down the well so we don't miss anything. We can decide wether to follow it or not once we know if it goes anywhere."

"Fine. I will stand guard at the doorway here in case something comes up on us."

Tiberious eases up to the lip of the stone well and peers over. If anyone is willing to give up a torch, we can toss it down and get a sense for how deep it is he says, staying back from the edge in case something jumps out.

... and see if there's anything down there he thinks to himself.

"I fancy my chances against a dragon. A sleeping dragon, that is. If we could find one like that, I’d take the bet!" she says, puffy out her chest!

"Which elf will it be then? Or are you hoping for a professional to take a look at this thing?" she says, preparing to climb, if no one else will!

Whistling Well
The bottom of the well is just within the range of the elves’ infravision, which suggests that it is around 60’ deep. There’s no visible water at the bottom; rather it looks like there is an outstretched tarpaulin.

The whistling noise is created by an airflow rising from the depths through the body of the well. It’s not particularly strong (it wouldn’t blow a torch out for example), but it’s noticeable.

The other exit from the well cave heads west for 10’ before opening into a larger cavern that is lit with a phosphorescent glow from its moss-covered walls.

Mapping information: natural cavern, approximately 20’ x 20’. You have entered through the western section of the northern wall. There’s no real transition between this cave and the larger one you’ve just traversed - they will sit next to each other on the map, with only a relatively thin wall of rock between them. The well is in the centre of the cave. The other exit from the well room is in the southern section of the western wall. It heads west for 10’ before opening out into the glowing cavern.

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Day 2, 8:40 am
Bea, Thief 1: 3/3
Fenwick, Elf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 5/6
Tiberious, Magic-User 1: 5/5

Link to Gabbro's mega-maps ...

Fenwick glances down at her plate mail. "Umm, I could try if you want but I'm probably not our best climber, and it'll take me a while to get out of all this."

She brightens up at Bea's offer. "Yeah, leaving it for a professional might be for the best. Weird thing is, I don't see any water. There's a... tarp down there? Maybe we weren't the first ones to think of using it as a shortcut and that's to catch jumpers? I'd want someone to climb down and check it first though. What do you make of it Gabbro?"

Swan watches on and keeping an eye out for problems. She doesn't offer any insight or suggestions. She does edge herself to the edge of the well so she can see down the way to the mushroom room as well as the way we came in.

Bea slips the knife out of her belt, intending to carry it down with her to cut through the tarp, if needs be. She starts to unload the rest of her gear.

"I’ll go down and see what I see. If the coast is clear and it’s dark on the other side, I’ll come back for a light. Just keep it lit until I get to that tarp!" she says, putting the knife in her mouth, and preparing to use a rope to climb down.

Whistling Well
So, three details Bea and her fellow Hellions should consider as she prepares to descend the well …

1. How are you going to secure the rope at the top of the well?
2. The elves estimate that the well is 60’ deep. Bea’s rope is only 50’ long (and will have even less usable length once is it secured). How will she navigate the final stages of the descent?
3. It is pitch-black down there. Bea will be able to see absolutely nothing without a light source.

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Day 2, 8:40 am
Bea, Thief 1: 3/3
Fenwick, Elf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 5/6
Tiberious, Magic-User 1: 5/5

Link to Gabbro's mega-maps ...

Yes, that's fine, either approach works.
If there was lit space beneath the tarp, you would be able to see some sign of it around the edges. There's definitely no light down there!

Swan has an additional 50' of rope that she is fine to part with.