Happily, signs Mun. I do wonder if someone should poke open that door before we all line up before it however. Though we were fortunate last time we entered one, memories of our near misses to date still linger in my dreams from night to night. 

While the bat uses his blindsight to look into the room, yistril cast mage hand then blade ward  the hand moves twds the door and waves ppl back 

and waits tonopen door based on what the bat senses 

Xarkris prepares himself for any danger that might leap out once the door opens, and Yistral aligns his senses with his familiar, which is looking through the crack in the door. The bat’s own mental image formed by the clicks of its echolocation appearing in his mind, and it seems incredibly curious. He sees the form of a staircase, but the interior walls of the building seem to be absent from the lack of vibrations bouncing back to meet the bat’s ears. It must be some kind of sound dampening coming from the gloom of the Shadow Knot; you hope further investigation could confirm this.

Looking to explore further, Yistral tentatively opens the door with his mage hand, and you all peer inside the windmill. The interior aligns with what Yistral managed to see with his bat’s blindsight; a simple stone staircase, extending both up and down, and the walls enclosing it are  entirely pitch black walls. Daewen squints. Usually her umbral sight is enough to pierce parts of the unnatural darkness generated by the Knots, enough to discern the grain of planks or stone bricks, but these shadowy walls appear to be as dark and textureless as the midnight void. The magical darkness here must be far stronger than that formed by previous knots. The accelerated generation of monsters could imply a particularly powerful Knot too, as it usually takes a month or two to twist a creature’s form, but eyewitness reports have been seeing monsters appear every few weeks.

Mun gives a silver coin to the cart-driver and gives the names of her companions and herself. Should the worst happen, or they not be heard from within the week, she would have a message sent to her order of her likely demise and this dark knot.

Daewen peers into the darkness of the windmill's interior, a silent, focused intensity on her face.  The darkness isn't just an absence of light; it feels like an absence of everything, a textureless void that swallows even her enhanced Umbral Sight.  A brief flicker of surprise crosses her face, a rare breach of her usual stoicism.  She is in her element, but this element has been twisted and amplified into something far more dangerous than anything she's faced before.  This isn't just darkness—it's oblivion.

She turns to watch Mun give instructions to the cart driver, a grim act of finality that speaks volumes.  Daewen’s eyes meet the sorcerer’s for a moment, and she offers a silent, understanding nod.  There are no words needed for this kind of preparation.

She looks back to the dark stairwell.  The challenge has been upped, but so has her resolve.  Her hand tightens on her rapier, and she takes a deep breath, preparing to step into the void.  She pulls out her slate once more and scribbles a new message, holding it up for the others to see before she moves into position.

Worse than expected.  My lead is best.

She then steps inside, tentatively crossing the threshold...

OOC: I was going to say "and then she quickly turns around and yells out BOOO!" but then I remembered she's a mute...  hahaha

Mun pays a silver coin to the driver, who solemnly tips his hat as he glances to the doorway. Even he, a simple man from the country, can tell that it’s something more than what you’ve encountered before, perhaps from the look of apprehensive curiosity on your faces given the level of darkness inside, a silent void of oblivion, or the grave seriousness of Mun’s words telling him to report to her order if they don’t return within a week. He nods, gives a quick word of farewell and good luck, then slowly turns the cart around, trundling back up the forgotten lane until you are well and truly left alone. 

Then, Daewen is the first to move into the building. She steps over the threshold onto the first stone step, into the cool air of the stairwell, and finds nothing bad happens, but no answers present themselves either. The stairs extend up and down with no sign of a ground floor, and you have a flash of doubt as you realise that ‘Don’t windmills usually contain an actual mill inside, not just steps?’ You wave the thought aside; no good getting paranoid over silly details like the architecture of this place, all you need to do is just find the Knot, like you always have done, and get this quest over and done with. 

Daewen glances back at her companions, her hand rising to gesture upwards before she begins to climb up the stairs.  Her movements are silent and deliberate, a practiced motion of a seasoned hunter.  She ascends the pitch-black steps, her boots making no sound on the stone.  The void-like darkness ahead of her still defies her Umbral Sight, but her other senses are on high alert.  Her ears strain for any hint of movement or sound, and her hand-held hand crossbow is raised, ready to fire at the first sign of a threat.

She moves like a specter in the gloom, her presence a silent, tense anticipation of what lies at the top of the stairs.