Hieronymus sat patiently with his back to the wall in the darkness, eyes and ears listening carefully for any sign of distress from either above or beyond in the darkness. He didn't like breaking up the group, such things rarely seemed to work out well. Still, who was he to say the elf couldn't sneak down the tunnel? As a human, his eyes were almost certainly the worst in the group.

"Heironymus!" He heard a whisper in the dark. (I assume)

Even though he had been sitting waiting for just such a call it he almost jumped. Since his friend was obviously nearby he responded quietly. He quickly followed the elf back to the surface.

Kyara wanders blindly into the darkness, slowly inching along the moist walls of the tunnel out to 100 paces. She notices only small curves in the tunnel, indicating that it isn't completely straight, but nothing that would indicate an actual turn or crossroads. The dead air in the tunnels also make navigating in the dark difficult. So she returns, not much better off than when she left.

Though Heironymus was expecting her return shortly, his name whispered in the dark as it was, made him jump with a start.

As Kyara and Heironymus start back up the slope the see the dwarf already in the cave, looking thoughtfully down the slope.

Heironymus quietly encouraged Kyara to move quickly up the path and out of the cave towards the waiting Dwarf. He kept a lookout behind him as he moved upthe path, never completely turning his back to the opening.

When they reached the top of the hill, he turned around and looked down. As he did, he quietly commented to his friends, "There is something in there. I'm not sure what it is, but something spoke to me in the dark. And I am quite sure I wasn't just hearing things. Ut came just before you returned Kyara. Did you hear anything? See anything?"

Only a moment after the three of you gather at the entrance of the cave you hear an echo from within the depths. A second later it repeats itself, this time you can make it out.

A woman's shriek pierces the air for the third time, echoing for several moments before fading back into the oblivion of silence that seems to shroud the cave.

The high pitched obviously female's scream echoed in the cave made it very difficult for Kyara to gain an idea of whether it was Jocelyn's voice, not that she would ignore whoever the female was.

"Who has a source of light?" she asks Hieronymus and Virif. Or, Virif, if you will lead us in the dark that would avoid the chance of warning whoever is in there.

"Let us move on as quickly as possible, but warily," Kyara added perhaps unnecessarily.

Heironymus had barely finished describing the voices in the cave when a scream came rolling out of the cavern. Before he could react, Kyara was already pushing the group to head back into the cave. Heironymus certainly agreed with that idea.

Having already pulled his wand of light out he held it up and offered its light to the group. "The dwarf could lead, but I don't know what good I could do with no light. I can see nothing. And something was talking to me right at the entrance. And I'm not at all sure it was friendly."

Turning to the dwarf he added, "I'll go blind if you suggest it, but it makes me very uncomfortable. Plus, what if something does happen? I'd be forced to use the wand then. Would the sudden appearance of light blind us? Our enemies? Or both? I don't know."

*Edited to further the action - feel free to have Kyara disagree*

After a moments hesitation, Heironymus plunged onward. "Look, I don't want to be a leader, but soemone screamed in there, and I'd bet I know which young lady it was. There is no time and I, at least, need a good light source. So I'm for going in with the wand lit. I can take lead with the light if you want."

*Assuming they move towards the cave again (With no dwarf?)*

As they moved back down the path towards the darkness, Heironymus added quietly, "And something is speaking just inside the entrance. Keep your eyes and ears open right away."

Heironymus leads the way down into the darkness, guided by the soft blue light of his wand's glowing tip. After a few moments of stunned silence at the sudden decision, Kyara heads into the tunnels after him, moving silent as a whisper.

The tunnel curves several times, sloping ever so slightly downward as your journey continues.

"Welcome..." a voice whispers in the dark, just beyond the light of the wand. "Welcome..." comes another whisper from the direction have have come. The whispers continue and more are added until the din becomes nothing more than the sound of heavy breathing in the darkness.

Then, as suddenly as it began, there is silence... absolute silence.

Up ahead you can see that the passage splits off. To the right it turns sharply decending steeper than your current path. This tunnel also continues before you, curving around a corner 10 feet further on.

The silence is shattered by another piercing shriek. The sound echoes through the tunnels at a volume that almost brings your hands reflexively to your ears before echoing back into silence. Whatever that sound was, it did not seem friendly. In fact, there can be no certainty that it even came from mortal vocal chords... but there is enough doubt to make it possible.

" Siliwen insists rather strongly, "You could move ahead of us Virik, I have never known a Dwarf that would fear moving into a tunnel or cave. It seems very strange to me. We can follow with the light so that it will not be in your eye. So you take the lead."

Once into the cave (However, it works out.) When we come to the cross tunnel Kyara moves up to Hieronymus and whispers, "I do not like how steep that tunnel is to that goes of to the side. It could get steeper and plunging down suddenly.
I suggest keeping straight on and taking the curve to the right. Let me go ahead. and take a listen at both places, You need to stand still so I can do that."

Heironymus tries to give his companion room to work, but stays fairly close as she carries the light source. Since the investigation makes it clear, well sort of clear in a solid rock sort of way, that the straight ahead path is the well travelled one, it seems clear to the cleric that the way ahead goes that direction.

When his companion expresses a desire to avoid the side route he quickly agrees. "Yes," he whispers. "Lets go straight. That scream was awful. We need to keep moving."

With that Heironymus prepares to continue moving forward. His mace is out and at the ready.

(I am assuming we could not tell exactly where the scream came from? If we could Heironymus would certainly want to go in that direction.)

(The scream echoed through the complex, so no you couldn't pinpoint a direction.)

The tunnel twists several times as it delves deeper beneath the surface of the world. Several side tunnels branch off at random intervals, but the tracks invariable tell that this main passage is leading to something. Several times during your journey you hear the whisper of footsteps across the course rock and dirt, but searching for their source has been all but impossible, leading to no success.

(At this point you have passed 3 tunnels on your left and 2 on your right. The furthest back is about 400' (left), the closest is 30' back (right). If you chose to go back through one of these tunnels you can, just let me know which one you choose.)

At the edge of your light a door comes into view. It is a solid oak door with forged bands of iron crossing it. There seems to be a small opening in the door at about eye level, though something is blocking it at the moment. You see no door handle, lock or other operating mechanism on the door at all. The passage also splits off, leading both right and left (90 degree turns). At this point the tracks have become inconclusive. Each tunnel is heavily traveled, causing a flurry of dirt and marks to be scattered across the entirety of the intersection. As you briefly inspect the area the whispers return. You see motion at the edge of the light, but when you turn to focus, it disappears as if it had never been there.

Kyara oasue and waited for Hieronymus to move up to her. "We have something in this hall, I begin to believe it is not a person but ghosts. That makes sense especially when the voice indicated that it was glad we were here."

"Now we have a decision to make whether to examine the rooms we fine to prevent enemies to be left behind us though hopefully not raising an alarm if their is someone in there unfriendly to us. I can't imagine there are any such here except the females we heard or Jocelyn. Otherwise our choice i to move one and reach deeper into this place before being detected."

Ignoring the voices, Heironymus whispers quietly, "I agree Kyara, we need to make a descission. But the goal is to find the girl. Straight on has been the path. And now we find our way blocked by a door. Lets look at what we have here and then figure out what to do. Keep an eye out will you - and watch the peep hole in the door. See if we are being spied on."

Heironymus moves towards the door doing his best rogue impression. He doesn't want to pound on the door or make noise that anyone on the other side would be able to hear. His goal is to try and see if there is a way to determine:
1. If it can be opened in any way
2. Which way it opens
3. Any traps
4. Any keyholes
5. Can he see through the peep hole
6. Are there any secret doors in the area
7. Any traps
8. Any traps

You are no rogue, but you don't see any obvious trip wires, pressure plates or other such triggers you've heard about on the door or the surrounding area. Judging by the lack of hinges, it would seem that the door opens into the room beyond.

(Search check: 18 (I assumed Kyara was aiding in this))
You find no secret doors or hidden catches
that might open the door.

(Listen check: 15)
As Heironymus' searches around the door he hears a bit of something on the other side. It is a pair of male voices talking. It is difficult to hear what they are saying through the thick door, but you identify at least two distinct voices.

Kyara moves up to the door of soft feet. stepping carefully to minimize noise. She leans down to listen under the floor with her ear near the floor trying to hear the voices more clearly.

(Listen Check: 9)
The door is too well fitted to the opening on this side. You cannot hear any more details than Heironymus did previously.