With every step forward there is a great leap back. At the moment that particular adage rang with a particularly searing truth. They had bled and yet there were no closer to their goal, they had not even set foot in the wretched cave. It would seem the capricious Lady of Chaos was testing them.

"Agreed," a gravely dwarven bass bellowed. "We best be getting on. I doubt they'll wait on us to arrive before they start their little celebration. And, for Galen's sake, I don't want to be late."

With that the dour dwarf stalked toward the entrance of the tomb. In a moment of wonder, Lun found herself agreeing with a dwarf. A rare smile curved the priestess's lips as she glided toward certain doom. Her steps took her to Jarenion, and seeing the hurting mage Lun lay a smooth hand on his chest.

A soft wordless sound left her lips and seemed to swirl around the pair of elves echoing with the promise of the unknown. Cool, tingling vibrations flowed from the priestess into Jarenion to fade bruises and close cuts.

"It is just a simple healing," Lun spoke in a matter of fact tone. "There will be plenty of opportunity for death this day. Come my brother, let us face this darkness side by side."

((OOC: Cure Light on Jarenion. I know FIn is wounded, but thought I saw it mentioned that she's healing herself.))

Finarsil absorbed the sights and sounds of their surroundings, making mental notes of each of her companions and the damage done to both themselves and their adversaries.

It was important to the High Elf Bard that she commit to memory and hide in her heart every moment that she could possibly absorb, in hopes of putting these images and sounds and smells into poetic song and verse to celebrate their victories among the future masses who would most assuredly assemble to hear of their exploits.

Such poems and songs would convey encouragement in the bleakest of circumstances so that the hearers would find hope in the positives when faced with impending death from the negatives.

Laying her right hand upon her head and her left hand upon her chest, she began invoking a 'Tune of Heal' upon herself, as she continued to absorb into her memories the sights and sounds of her companions renewing their determination to locate Galen and the Triplets and bring them home 'Safe!'

The mouth of the cave is set in the stone as the mouth of a demon. It is at least 20 feet wide and about 30 feet tall at the highest point. There is no signs of movement in or out of the cave and the entranceway shows signs of plant growth as if unattended for years.

However .....

As you approach the entrance, you can see only darkness, even those with vision suited for the dark cannot see anything within. It is like a curtain of blackness drawn across the mouth. It is also very cold within. as anyone who gets within 10 feet of the entrance can feel the temperature within the cave is frigid. It comes out like waves of coldness as warmth does from a fire.

But there is something more. The smell. There is a smell that comes from the mouth like decaying rodent feces and decomposing vegetation. It stinks badly.

OOC: Finarsil remembers that in the songs and stories of the Tomb of Horror the cave entrance lead to a large cavern with three entrances to the tome, only one was the actual way in, the other death traps. The cavern itself was guards by a Basilisk and a Behir - but both were slain before the party entered.

The group pressed on to the mouth of the cave, when a frigid blanket of darkness fell over them. The sensation brought the hair to a standing pose on the back of Arien's neck; it had been several years since he had ever been sightless within the green armor, no matter how dark the night might be.

The knight held Liun'naur aloft, seeking comfort in the flames against the unnatural cold.

"What lies ahead?" he wondered aloud. "Can we pierce this darkness, or must we trudge directly into whatever trap lies in our path?"

The knight held Liun'naur aloft, seeking comfort in the flames against the unnatural cold.

"What lies ahead?" he wondered aloud. "Can we pierce this darkness, or must we trudge directly into whatever trap lies in our path?"
As the Heal Spell coursed throughout her body, restoring the Half Elf Bard's vitality to full strength, a flood of old songs and poetic tunes caressed her consciousness, as Finarsil drew near to Arien and spoke aloud for all to hear:

"According to My Remembrance of the Old Songs and Stories
Regarding the Tomb of Horror and the Valiant Glories
Of the Testimonies of the Brave
Who Ventured into the Entrance of the Cave
Tell that it Led to a Large Cavern
The Size of an Inviting Tavern
With Three Entrances to the Tomb
Two of Which Lead to an Untimely Doom
I Do Not Recall Reading or Seeing any Maps
But Two of Them Lead to Horrific Death Traps
Those Who Told the Stories with Great Reflections
All were Not Certain of the Proper Directions
Songs of a Basilisk and a Bahir as Ferocious and Formidable Guards
Reveal the Two Guardians were Slain in This Cavern as Sung by the Bards!"
Finarsil begins playing an ominous tune on her Flute, as she gracefully dances, while studying the features of each of her companions, awaiting their collective response.

((OOC: Finarsil realizes that perhaps even worse guardians now occupy the cavern, but she leaves it up to one or more of her companions to state the obvious!))

Jarenion had allowed a brief albeit subtle grin of satisfaction as his fireball exploded against the cavern ceiling, incinerating the exposed tentacles and sending the creature to which they'd been attached into a writhing agony,

"Hrmph," Kadrin rumbled humorously, "You wizards get all the toys, hmmm?"

,The mage peered at the dwarf from beneath the brim of his hat and allowed his grin to become a bit less subtle. "And you dwarves get none of the leeches," he had begun to jest in return. The joke was cut short, however, as any light of humor waned from the General's eyes when they tracked back to the cavern ceiling.

"Run," Kadrin urged him, then repeated the word louder for the benefit of the rest, "RUN!!!" Jarenion didn't even bother to follow the dwarf's gaze before heeding his words. Instead, he simply ran, following in the wake of those ahead of him as the cavern's roof came down behind. He may have also muttered a curse and something about one bad thing coming from one good but, between the crack, crash and clatter of the falling stone and the sounds of their out hearts and lungs pounding in their chests, it wasn't likely that either was heard outside of the mage's head.

Having made their escape, now, Jarenion and the rest of his companions turned to cast a glance back at the destruction they'd wrought and, then, around to see what damage had been done to them, Several of them were gravely wounded, yet, but given that the leeches that had been feeding on Maximus had begun to smoke and die off when exposed to the noon-day sun, the mage held on to some hope that,

Wait, Jarenion scowled, lifted the brim of his hat a bit, and blinked up at the sky, Noon? How far have we come? He absently chewed on his lip, his purple eyes flitting here and there as he contemplated the possibilities and ramifications of all of this as the rest tended themselves and each other. It was only when he felt Lun's hand on his chest and the tingling thrum of the healing that touch imparted that he was drawn back from his reverie.

,"best be getting on," he heard Kadrin say, "I doubt they'll wait on us to arrive before they start their little celebration. And, for Galen's sake, I don't want to be late."

Jarenion blinked and, with a grateful smile, fixed the Priestess in his sight; "Diola lle, arwenamin."

"It is just a simple healing," Lun said, matter-of-factly. "There will be plenty of opportunity for death this day. Come my brother, let us face this darkness side by side."

He nodded at this, touched her lightly on the arm, and then they turned to join the party as they approached the demon's maw that was the cave mouth. When his eyes failed to pierce the darkness that filled the opening, he scowled, when the unnatural chill from the depths of the cave beyond wafted past him, he barely managed to contain a shiver, and when the stench of the demon's breath reached his nose, his mouth clamped tight and his features twisted in aversion to the horrible odor.

"What lies ahead?" Arien queried, his flaming sword held aloft. "Can we pierce this darkness, or must we trudge directly into whatever trap lies in our path?"

Finarsil responded lyrically to the knight's wondering, providing and overture to the revelatory poem with an ominous tune on her flute.

He contemplated her words for a moment and, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin as he moved closer to Arien and the bard, nodded fractionally and said; "The Raven offers one sort of illumination, Sir Thedell, and I may be able to offer another."

((OOC: Assuming that, since night-/low-light vision doesn't seem effectual, this is some sort of magical darkness, Given that assumption, I'm hoping that Jarenion might be surely be able to find a small rock or pebble or something at his feet, cast a Continual Light spell on the thing, and toss it into the cave mouth. The idea, here, being that the glowing rock will at least give us a glance at what lies beyond before we just step right in, And that's as far as I'm willing to go, just yet, further actions or edits to these pending the outcome, I suppose.))

Kadrin, listening for any bit of wisdom from Fin's lore of this dark place, waited for the others to gather around and make their assessments of the entrance.

The knight spoke Kadrin's own thoughts... It would be a damned task, indeed, should they have to stumble around in this accursed darkness.
Once again, the elf mage brought his magicks to bear light on their present circumstances. "Thanks," he nodded, letting the light strengthen his resolve along with his sight. "Let's hope it is strong enough to pierce this dark hole."

OOC: Kadrin's ready to move in.

The Continual light spell entered the gloom of darkness and seems to be sucked up. You wait a moment, thinking this will fail when the light spell causes the darkness to not disappear so much as visibly recede backwards down the cave about 40 feet.

Revealed in the acquiescence of the shade is the cave entrance is packed full of stone statues - wall to wall, side by side, row on row of stone statues. They are warriors, mages, clerics and rogues by garb and the workmanship is incredible - very lifelike. No two are the same as far as you can see but they do all share one common characteristic - the look of complete fear and despair upon their faces, as if each was facing the worst doom imaginable.

Other than that, the cave has a dirt floor, it still smells and it is still very cold within.

Sparrow looked into the space the darkness surrendered and did not like what she saw. The area was filed with statues, very lifelike statues. It didn't take a genius to put together the statues and the bards tale of basilisks guarding the entrance. "Anyone have an ideas on how to fight something we can't look at?"

Finarsil quickly assessed the situation and decided to put her Ye' Cind Flute into its Compartment of Holding inside her Bracer of Ye' Cind on her right wrist.

Then she withdrew Dark Reaver (her +3/+6 vs Undead Long Sword with the Blade that Glows Blue when within 60 feet of Undead).

Humming an Old High Elven 'Boldness of the Bard' Tune to bolster her own courage, she strode with purpose towards the mouth of the Cavern for a closer look at the array of lifelike statues of stone that were illuminated by the Continual Light spell that Jerenion had cast into the darkness of the Cave's foreboding Maw.

The chill of the cold within the ominous cavern reached out to dissuade the High Elf Bard from daring to enter the mouth of the cave, but Galen and the Triplets were somewhere beyond those statues!

"Dark Reaver will reveal any nearby Undead, but I must do something about this uncanny cold chill that seeks to grip my body and my soul with its evil mockery!" Finarsil thought as she held her Long Sword aloft with her left hand.

Finarsil took a few steps closer towards the entrance of the cave, stopping suddenly; not because she was afraid to cross over the threshold with or without her fellow companions, but rather to employ another spell upon herself to hopefully combat the coldness of the interior!

"May Any Yonder Cold Based Creatures Yield
To the Flames of My Conjured Fire Shield!"
She waited a few moments for the Fire Shield spell to take its full effect, then without looking back to see if anyone would follow her inside, the High Elf Bard strode forward for a closer look at the Stone Statues, praying under her breath that Ye' Cind would reveal more about their true nature from any ancient lore that would come to her remembrance, while protecting the High Elf Bard from her own rashness and boldness!

((OOC: Finarsil has cast Fire Shield upon herself (the special powers of the Fire Shield are as follows: the flames are warm to the touch and any cold-based attacks are saved against with a +2 bonus; plus either half normal damage or no damage is sustained) while she holds Dark Reaver aloft and ahead of her, keeping a watchful eye for the telltale Blue Glow to warn her of any approaching Undead that may be lurking in the shadows!))

Sparrow asked aloud, "Anyone have any ideas on how to fight something we can't look at?"

Maximus steps forward, "Well, it is time for me to earn my pay," he says and moves towards the cave. He gives a brief nod to Sparrow, to ask for the ranger to cover him as best she can.

He sees the Bard move forward behind him with her sword aloft. He appreciated the back up and smiled at the cleric but asked, "Stay behind me a ways as I am going to try to go into the cave a ways and then report back."

Maximus moved towards the statues, slowly, eyes and hands scanning the area before and around him to make sure there were no traps ready to spring. There were prints in the dirt - lots of them. Big feet with claw like toes - looked like giant rats - but really big giant rats if there were such a thing.

The statues have been placed here, much like the scarecrow human on the bridge. The positioning is too straight, too aligned for this to be a party caught by a basilisk. The statues seem to have been here for awhile. There is dirt in cervices of the armour and sand accumulated on the hats or helms, but not 75 years worth. If Maximus were to guess, he'd think these were old statues recently moved here and dusted off.

The big rogue looks to the darkness and decided to try something, He withdrew Hoth and looked to the darkness. The sword was enchanted with a light only the wielder could see, so he wanted to know if it could pierce the darkness. Peered into the abyss before him with sword unsheathed and could see further, although not as far as he could normally (30 feet).

Maximus walked back to report his findings to the group and to volunteer to go deep into the deep dark blackness.

Kadrin nodded at Maximus' report. "Good work, friend. The fiend is looking to play with our minds. Let's move in a bit further and see if Sparrow might have some insight in those tracks you found. Then we need to push forward, Behirs and Basilisks be damned."

Finarsil held her position as Maximus examined the area. She remained there when he returned to the group to report his findings; before volunteering to press further into the darkness.

Kadrin nodded at Maximus' report. "Good work, friend. The fiend is looking to play with our minds. Let's move in a bit further and see if Sparrow might have some insight in those tracks you found. Then we need to push forward, Behirs and Basilisks be damned."
The High Elf Bard had pressed in closer to the stone statues, still holding Dark Reaver ahead of her. There was no trace of a Dark Blue Glow from its blade.

Then in the company of the others she pressed forward, saying:

"Dark Reaver is not yet detecting any Undead presence in this vicinity!"
((OOC: Finarsil boldly moves forward, keeping pace behind Maximus, ever vigilant for a tell-tale Blue Glow emanating from the blade of Dark Reaver, ready to sound the alarm if any presence of Undead are within 60 feet. She is still encased with the Fire Shield as she gets acclimated to the cold interior of the cavern!))

With golden eyes the elven priestess stared into the black depths of the cave. None of their efforts thus far had illuminated their way, despite delving with wit and magic alike. They were faced with the unknown, perhaps even the unfathomable. She found herself filled with a calm resolute. To face the unknown was to behold mystery, and that was a sacred charge.

Stepping forward Lun began to chant softly, her words lilting, unintelligible, beyond meaning. She drew forth ancient magic from the mysteries letting the divine unknown guide her awareness and find what lay hidden in the dark.

(OOC: Casts Detect Evil)

Hearing that all was safe, or as safe as could be expected given their current location, Sparrow moved forward to have a look at the tracks. Taking care to inspect them carefully, she wracked her brain for any semblance to others she had seen before.