Deeper Underdark

As you continue to move Yoci seems to become both more concerned and more excited. She is excited about the chance to get home, but also concerned because now things can get really dangerous from competing patrols.

Having left the weird creatures behind, you notice that the passages start having more branches and more intersections, and sometimes those intersections are large enough to almost be considered a cavern, rather than just a larger space in a passage. At first Yoci checks her holy symbol as some of the intersections, but you notice she checks with it less and less. Finally, in one large intersection, she approaches one wall and points to a mark on it. Tapping the mark she says, "This is a mark from the Duergar. I am not sure what it means, but they use it to leave simple messages to following patrols. In all the cases where my trainers showed me examples, they seemed to try and keep them subtle or not obvious. This one is the opposite. It is blatantly obvious."You continue on and eventually find yourself approaching a larger intersection area. It isn't a proper cavern, as it isn't a large open area. Rather, it is a bunch of overlapping areas that tie together and separate randomly. As you look through this area, Yoci takes out her holy symbol to double-check, but before she can, you hear the sound of what sounds like a small group coming from a path perpendicular to your intended path. (So, if you entered on the south-ish side and were heading to the north-ish side, the noise is coming from the east-ish direction. Obviously, there is no real compass direction down here, but this is used purely for illustrative purposes.) You hear voices coming from them and by Yoci's reaction, you can assume they are duergar. You can't make out what they are saying, but you only hear two of them. You probably have a turn or two before they get relative close to where you are, unless they make a direct turn to the side.