An idea pops into zack head as Aimon described the properties of it. "You see better in the dark now you say." He rubs his chin. "Hm. You know, our friend Trill has been having trouble seeing. Its well enough I can use my lights, but that may attract unwanted visitors. How would you feel about maybe approaching Trill  and asking if she feels comfortable using it so that she can see without giving away our position? If you feel possessive of it, then maybe let her borrow it for a time so that she can see. Fully up to you though." He finishes with a shrug and takes a drink of water. It felt like the logical thing to do. Zack's ice blue eyes looks over at the others sleeping. He really didn't want to see any of them die, and despised the thought of what may have to happen to Topsy. Despite all of that, he was doing he best to take care of their total welfare. He offers a drink of his water to his surface cousin, and breaks some bread to share. 

"The thought has crossed my mind," Aimon says to Zack, accepting the water as he talks. "My hesitation right now is whether or not this black hunk of rock is actually cursed or not. It's definitely something dark."

He stands and stretches.

"If I'm not insane by morning, I'll talk to her about it."

Surveying the shadowy world around them, he continues "though versus Mr Big Bad Demon earlier our problem wasn't not being able to see in the dark. It was having no where near enough light."

The night is rather uneventful. The eerie darkness is, for the most part, silent. During Trill's watch, Trill hears movement from above the resting party. Looking up, you can faintly see the outlines of a few massive creatures moving along the wall with a dry slithering noise. They pass by without noticing or caring about that he party. After Caelynn finishes her watch, Jimjar takes over. In the "morning," Jimjar awakens everyone and says, " Move out." Caelynn and Zach once again find enough food for the party throughout the day.

After a few hours of hiking through this cavern, you finally reach the end of it. The wall ahead of you has a narrow passage cutting across it. It looks like the wall has split, and there is just enough room to squeeze through. Around midday, when you just pop out of the tight gash in wall, another earthquake strikes. This one is much more powerful than the first one you felt. The intense shaking causes most of the group to fall over, and small hits of stone and dust fall from the ceiling. The shaking is punctuated by a thunderous crashing noise that echoes loudly. Once the earth settles down, the party moves on through the tunnel. It h as widened now to about 10 feet across. The stone has gradually changed in texture until it is now rough and pockmarked with tiny holes.

After the tremors stop and they come to the widened tunnel, Aimon looks around.

"That's normal, right? Nothing to worry about here, yes?" He runs his hands over the rough, pockmarked stone."Holes in rocks make them stronger, right?"

Looking around for reassurance he keeps smiling.

As they move on, Aimon walks next to Trill for a little while, and as they walk he takes out the black gem and shows it to her.

"This might let you see a bit better in the dark. A little like how elves and dwarves do naturally. It's not the same as seeing with a torch, more like you see differences in the shadows and dark. At least enough not to smash your face into a wall."

He goes to offer it to her.

"There's a darkness to it, but I don't seem to be suffering any from carrying it all day or sleeping near it last night. I do feel connected to it but I'm going to guess it's not too choosy and you two will get along just fine."

He moves his hand over the smooth surface one more time.

"Take it."

Trill chirps a greeting at Aimon as he moves up next to her as they trudge through the dark.

She cocks her head at him in interest as he describes the effect of the stone. Her shiny eyes inspect the gem, and she nods as she decides to take him up on the offer, patting him on the hand in thanks as he places it in her little avian hands.

"There is hope yet, we just have to seize it.", she says in Zack's voice.

After taking a small break for lunch, you continue on. The air in the tunnel gradually grows warmer and warmer as the stone around you slowly transitions into black basalt. You eventually come to where the tunnel stops at a steep drop off. It angles downward at about 90 degree angle. Peering over the edge, you can see the floor below illuminated by a river of magma almost 100 feet down. The air is stifling hot and sulfurous. 

@Trill

Aimon sees the magma below and jumps back from the edge.

"I have a feeling we may no longer be on the main route to Darklake," he keeps moving back from the drop off. "I suggest not panicking, but running like crazy in the opposite direction from the hot stuff."

While backing away, Aimon looks around for passageways, nooks, ledges, doorways that they may have missed.

(Perception 11 )

"Jimjar, is this normal?" Caelynn asks the gnome. "Are you sure we're heading the right direction?"

(To clarify, you can see solid ground below. At the edge of what you are permitted to see, you can see magma.)

Jimjar says, "I know the direction we need to go, but I don't know specific tunnels. No one does."

 " I suggest we the a rope of and climb down below. It would save us time rather than backtracking. It's only a little lava," Eldeth adds. She pulls out 100 feet of rope and begins to look for something to the the end off.

 "We must be near a volcanic vent to the surface," Sarith says. He peers over the edge and adds, "With rope, it shouldn't be too hard to get down there."

Trill is amazed by the magic eyes that Aimon gave her, and is still grateful to the occasional dancing light Zack sends her way, but relieved she is no longer stumbling in the dark. 

She'll peer over the edge as well.

((In case her longer darkvision reveals anything.))

Looking at Eldeth with a cocked head Zack asks "The vents lead up to the surface? Could we use one to get up or are they too small? Closing one off so that it no longer vents heat could be possible." He taps his chin knowing that it probably wasn't possible, but worth a thought. 

After listening to to the response he accepts whatever Eldeth says as final and walks over to Trill, and on second thought, he turns to all of his new companions. "May I have everyone's attention please? I would like to discuss strategy and our strengths and weaknesses real quick. I bring this up because" He faces and addresses Trill as he continues "That item can conjure a globe of darkness. Now it just so happens that I have the ability to see through any magical darkness." He smiles with his hands out "I'd rather you know because this is an advantage that we can all use to our benefit. You see, with a signal, Trill can summon forth one of these globes upon the enemy and myself, giving me the advantage and making it easier for anyone who needs to flee as any who would try to attack you as you leave, would obviously have trouble hitting what they cannot see. Also, we could surround the globe and attack any who try to exit. We just have to be careful not to fall victim to our own strategy, which would be amazing for a duel, but may hinder anyone who needs to see to cast any magics. I just wanted to bring this up so that we can be ready when the time comes to use it. If or when that shadow beast comes again, let me face it. I believe it will have a harder time with me being able to see through its little shadow farts." Zack ends with a chuckle and changes his body language to acknowledge being ready to accept responses "Any questions or anything to add?"

Trill vocalizes a real ripper that ends in a strangled squeak when Zack mentions farts.

Aimon takes out a few of the pitons he has left and hammers them home for Eldeth to use as additional anchors for her rope.

While he works he occasionally looks over his shoulder to listen to what Zack is saying.

"A fair plan cousin," then turning to Trill. "You may want to keep a few pebbles in your pocket. From what I learned from my short bonding with that dark stone, the darkness within can be affixed to an object. Stick a bit of inky dark to a pebble and toss it at the feet of our enemies and there is Zack's instant cover."

Peeking over the edge, he hammers the pitons in a little deeper.

"I am not equipped to stand toe to toe with any big beast we may encounter but I am quick on my feet. I can dance in and feint and parry with the best and the skip back out safely. And despite what I may have shown earlier, I am good at being quiet, sticking to the shadows, and casing, um, I mean scouting."

With another look at the rope and a glance at the magma below. "And a fair climber."

And then he bursts out laughing at Trill's mimicry of a fart.

"Well put dear, Trill. Well put."

"I do my best work when I'm able to stay at a distance. I'm familiar with the terrain down here and skilled at tracking creatures in it. And I'm decent at scouting, though I suspect Afamrail is better than I am. In regards to your plan with the magical darkness, as long as I see the creature you intend to trap, I can cast a spell that allows me to track its movement even when it is hidden from me. This would allow me to fire into the orb and maintain my accuracy."

Caelynn spends a moment looking over the edge of the chasm.

"While I agree that backtracking would cost us a lot of time and don't forsee any problems climbing down, we're still left with the issue of actually crossing the river."

"Stick a bit of inky dark to a pebble." Trill repeats, and finds a few pebbles to slip in a pocket for that purpose.

Trill listens to the others describe their capabilities.

"I am quick on my feet. I'm able to stay at a distance. I can cast a spell."

She holds up rapier and hand crossbow in a practiced manner, and gestures while chirping out the sounds of a knife being drawn, and a dagger appears in her hand, vanishing after a moment as she flourishes.

Aimon pulls on the rope that he and Eldeth have attached. Pulls again harder. It seems to hold.

"Well, who would like the honor of going into the abyss first? As we have no idea which tunnel to take, it seems perfectly sane that we're choosing the one with lava running through it."

He pulls out a cloth from his pack and ties it over the lower part of his face, hoping it will limit some of the sulfurous air they will be breathing in.

"If there are no volunteers, I'm happy to give it a go and find somewhere to anchor the bottom end of the rope. Wouldn't do to have someone swing out over the magma and fall in."

Make an Athletics Check to scale the rope.

Aimon looks at the others, gives them a slight bow, a sweep of his hand, and a laugh. Then he grabs the rope and begins the climb down the steep incline.

(Athletics: 7 )

3

You easily descend the rope down into the chamber below. Ten feet from the bottom, your hands slip and you plummet the rest of the distance. You land on your back. You take no damage, but the wind is knocked out of you for a moment. You sit up and look around while you try to inhale. The chamber you are in appears to be a large tube of some kind. The ends extend far past your sight. Parallel to the walls and in the middle of the tube is a river of magma that illuminates the glassy walls. The slow-moving magma bubbles and hisses as gas escapes from it. The air is stifling hot, and the combination of gaze and hear stings your eyes. Even being almost 50 feet from the river makes you start to sweat. On the other side of the river about 30 feet to the left, there are several small humanoid that appear to be made of magma. They are playing in the magma like humans play with water. As you fall, one them looks up and gives a friendly wave.

Aimon picks himself up off the ground, his pride wounded but body intact.

He returns the wave to the lava creatures playing in the magma, and bows his head slightly.

”I’m sorry for dropping in like this. I hope I’m not intruding. But,” he points down the tunnel, “is this the way to Darklake?”