The Descent 2

JP with Voah, Alexis, Tarmen, Winteroak and Gonyaul:

Tarmen wasn’t sure if he liked the sound of water. It probably had something to do with the cave in and he didn’t want to be flooded deeper in.

Not seeing any trinkets or other artifacts, he kept to the wall and continued.

Alexis followed behind Tarmen, sparing the wall they followed as well as the floor some looks. She was searching for hints what this chamber had served for once upon a time, but she was also wary of treacherous terrain.

Gonyaul looked up from the archway and realized they were moving on. Best not to get too far behind. Tarmen’s pace was about efficiency and effectiveness, giving only brief pockets of opportunity to enjoy using his senses in the environment. The tactile feel of the old marked and crumbling stones alone was worth taking the time to feel.

He wished the others knew sign language so they could be talking. Not that he minded silence, he was used to it. But there were things he would spot that he wanted to just share because they were intriguing. Now was the time to be quiet, aware and alert though.

He caught up and was the last of the group to hug the wall as they proceeded onward into the unknown.

As Tarmen reached halfway into the room, glued to the right wall and neither of them could work out where the tapping noise was coming from. Just out of the reach of their torches they saw something glow a few feet ahead of Tarmen in the right wall and a faint glow coming from up ahead.

Strange runes glowed in the right wall and north wall.

Tarmen halted at the sight of runes. He didn’t like it.

“Arbiter. Can you tell what they are?”

Alexis stopped for a moment and retrieved her notebook, quietly sketching the runes down while waiting for Voah’s assessment.

Trailing, closely behind her confidants, The Arbiter gazed in curiosity at the runes.

“…ajantii…” she whispered ‘amazing’. The runes were reminiscent of something.

“The script looks familiar. Ancient. Possibly Mizaran. But, I’m not certain.”

Tarmen followed Alexis in writing them down, quickly sketching a map of where they were as well. Would help in case of getting lost.

“Can you tell if we’ll die if we get close?”

She got closer and examined from a distance.

As they all looked at the runes in the wall near Tarmen and made sketches, they noticed that it wasn’t the runes that were glowing but a faint luminescent mould that seemed to cling to the carved channels, like a wisp of dust.

Gonyaul paused with the rest of the group. He was a bit disappointed he was in the back. He would have to wait his turn to get close enough to do anything more than just admire the unusual sight.

Getting closer, Tarmen scraped a bit of the mold off. He was intrigued as to why it only grew there, but figured that was something for later.

“Now that we know to properly fear mold, let’s keep goin’.”

“Seems quite deliberate, only being on those runes.”

Alexis mused as she put her book back and rejoined Tarmen.

Voah trailed her fingers along the runes in the stone. It was a wonder… and a lasting mark of ancient work. What did it mean?

Finally he got a turn. Gonyaul came along side of Voah. He whispered at the markings. “You look like you were painted by fireflies.”

She smiled. That sounded lovely. She made the sign for 'thank you' in Vauxian sign language.

With one hand around the hilt of her Holy Sword, she touched the glowing mold to see if it was magikal.

Nothing happened. Interesting. She dumped a splash from her waterskin on her hands and rinsed the mold off.

The runes in the north wall were very similar to the ones on the east wall. As they walked into the room they noticed another passageway in the northwest corner of the room as they moved on towards it.