faderift | the cave is filling, fills

The descent is dark once they go past the official level of the Deep Roads, save for the flicker of lanterns. It begins to lighten as they go deeper, the torches glinting readily off red lyrium. The veins crawl across the walls, the statues. There are no statues of Paragons here - there are statues like altars, statues like gods. There is history here, history that no dwarf alive remembers.

This is the Primeval Thaig, now Bartrand's Folly. Merrill's hands worry together before she draws her staff from her back, pointing toward some of the tunnels. There is smuggler activity here; none of them seem to be present, but there are carts with red lyrium in them and pickaxes left behind, waiting for their wielders to return.

The red lyrium whispers. In the dark, something whispers back. There are stones scattered about, not yet touched by the lyrium; one careless step and someone could fall into a hazardous spot, a pit in the thaig or directly into the red lyrium.

There are whispers, and then there is a rumble. They are not alone.

Inessa's not sure what she dislikes more, not being able to see or having the only light sources perfectly highlight the vile substance that is red lyrium throughout the area. She grips her staff and follows her mabari, who is taking point but also exhibiting a healthy dose of caution and going nowhere near those red crystals. He'll even whine and nudge someone away if he notices them getting too close, protective over all his two-legged buddies.

Peering around at the famous Primeval Thaig, Inessa frowns as she notes the carts and pickaxes. She slowly approaches to have a better look, though halts abruptly upon feeling that rumble. Straightening, the young Warden frowns and scans the area. "...what was that?"

The whispers are enough to have Six on her guard; she has learned from personal experience that whispers can bode well or ill, and she does not think the word of a God is speaking to them here. Some of the people she is with are familiar, at least, which eases some of the tension in her shoulders, but she's still on edge. There's no familiarity here, there's nothing she recognises, and she left Two behind for fear of what the Deep Roads might do to him.

Moving forward, she lifts her hand and lets it rest on the pommel of her greatsword, eyes narrowing a little, her height making her feel a touch on edge in the tightness of the Roads.

"Nothing friendly, I imagine."

Being here, remembering being trapped for so long, has Anders joining the on-edge brigade. The glow of the red lyrium is more than a little unsettling pairing with the whispers so he sends out a wisp, letting it flit around and hopefully help them see a little more of the solution.

"Surely only welcoming things are down here," he says dryly. "This has always been such a warm, friendly place."

Then, after a short beat, he glances over at Six. "I'd go ahead and draw that, honestly. Anyone here, anything here, won't be glad to see us unless it's hungry."

Jester, who is munching on a flaky cinnamony bear claw, looks down mid-bite toward the remainder of the pastry. Shit. If there's hungry things down here, they might want her food. She hastily crams the rest of the bear claw in her mouth and chews, flicking crumbs from her fingers onto the floor of the cave.

"They better not try eating us," she whispers, from around her mouthful. "I did not come all the way down here to a creepy glowing tunnel of creepy red rocks to be eaten, man. Hey, should we be trying to be sneaky? Because I can totally help with that, unless it's too late and they already know we're down here."

Although he's always preferred open air to being underground, Kain had grown accustomed to this being a necessary part of his life as a Warden. He's used to repressing his feelings as much as he possibly can in order to do the tasks ahead of him. But the presence of the red lyrium has him just as uneasy as the others. This is also the first assignment he's been allowed out on after a month's recovery from the whole Tevinter ordeal. He's determined to hold it together here.

"From that sound, I'd guess 'too late'... we'd better be on guard." Sword in hand, Kain listens carefully, trying also to just sense what's out there.

Dolores, who brings up the rear of the party, is duly on guard but seems overall unconcerned by the sight of the Red Lyrium. She notes it, in a distant sort of way, and then looks on, focusing on the carts, on the signs of smuggling and other people. There are tracks that lead in and out of the darkness, but with the red light it's hard to say if they're new or not.

Personally, Dolores is more bothered by the idea of an ambush, of rough men with weapons leaping around poorly lit corners and picking them off, than she is of some hungry animal. It's not an opinion worth voicing, however, as everyone is already on guard. Instead, she stays quiet and carefully watches the rear of the group.

The good news, at least, is that everyone is right to be suspicious. The bad news, unfortunately, is that the things in the dark are, in fact, hungry.

Merrill yelps as a rock near her foot begins to move. A slab of stone reaches out, grabbing at the crumbs Jester has discarded. The body of a rock wraith emerges out of the darkness, attached to the stone slab - it appears to be its arm, in fact. There is a red glow now as the wraith lifts itself; the glow of red lyrium that had been dulled before.

There's more rumbling. More stones move, seeming to detach from the walls or pick up off the ground. Each and every one is a rock wraith, and each and every one has the red glow of red lyrium coming from it. Some of them even move from behind the ancient pillars and statues where they had clearly been eating, drawn in by the promise of new food.

"Not good-" The words barely get out of Merrill's mouth before the rock wraiths advance, swinging stone limbs at the party. Those on the outskirts - Merrill, Garahel, Six, and Dolores - are right in the way, and without quick reactions, may end up being knocked down to the cave floor.

Automatically recoiling, Inessa is about to cast Barrier on herself and those nearby when the advancing rock wraiths change her mind. Drawing in an anxious hiss of breath they close in on the four, she directs her Barrier spell to them instead. Hopefully between all the mages in the group, there will be enough of that protection to go around.

Garahel, as protective as ever even when it's not Inessa's life immediately at stake, moves to shield Merrill as best he can manage. The blow knocks him down, but the barrier seems to absorb the blow. Other than getting the wind knocked out of his lungs, the mabari is still in fighting shape. He snarls and darts back to his original position, determined to draw attention away from those who need it.

Six's immediate reaction is to move forward and stand between the mages and the wraiths, drawing her blade and lifting up. She's tall and thick, heavy with the weight of her size and her armour. Her greatsword is large enough that it almost drags along the top of the ceiling as she draws it, her attention on the beasts in front of them.

Lifting her head, he angles her sword to try and parry the blows, to push herself as a means of shielding the others.

"Move back!"

"Oh, shit--"

Jester almost can't blame the rock monsters. Even the crumbs of the bear claw were probably pretty tasty. She would totally come to life to eat them, if she was just a rock.

But there's no time for that. She's at a safe enough distance from the monsters, for now, with a little contingent of the party in between her and then. Not good, yeah, for sure. Jester clutches at her holy symbol, the little path and door, and with a burst, her spiritual weapon appears: the giant floating lollipop. It glides smoothly forward, beside Six, and swings down to smack one of the rock monsters on the head, like a deadly candied croquet mallet.

Oh, great. Rock wraiths are just the company they needed on this little venture. He'd almost rather take darkspawn, but that's mainly because that's the enemy he knows best. That and they don't sort of... feed off of the lyrium, like these awful things. At least he'll get good satisfaction out of killing them.

Kain, of course, has his two-handed sword ready, also moving forward to join Six in the front line, such as it is. They've got a decent balance here of mages and warriors, and even... whatever that is that Jester is using... So all in all, they ought to be able to handle this. Well. Provided they aren't completely overwhelmed here.

He activates his Ring of Pain, planning on the fact that they'll definitely counter sooner or later, and then starts stabbing forward with a strong, steady blow at the first wraith to cross his path. Maker, does it feel good to be back out in real combat again.

Merrill gasps as Garahel leaps in front of her (good dog, you are getting so many treats later), even as stone leaps up around her. It covers her limbs, her torso; it's armor of stone, steady as long as Merrill doesn't move. She follows it with a Crushing Prison to try and stop one of the many wraiths advancing, leaving it frozen in place as it tries to strike Six.

The wraiths don't seem to know what to make of Jester's weapon - is it food? Can they eat it? They can certainly eat the rest of them, though; one follows Garahel, stone claws reaching out to try and grab the faster dog. The others invest themselves in the front line fighters, snarling as they're hit and wildly swinging back. They're strong, but they're single-minded; tactics aren't their strong suit, and they're easily distracted by those in the way instead of the squishier people in the back.

There are tunnels leading from Bartrand's Folly in many directions. The smugglers have clearly been using them; lanterns are at the entrances to each, and a few carts linger, waiting to be filled. One tunnel will lead them back home - but can they truly let the tunnels remain open? Do they have the power to collapse them all? What about the history here? And can the Inquisition devote resources to guarding a tunnel if they leave it open?

Merrill sits on an empty crate, rubbing her head. She's tired, has used a lot of energy in the fight against the rock wraiths, but there's work to be done.

"I don't... I mean, none of us are dwarves. We can't just seal this away from an entire race of people." There's a note of challenge in her voice, daring someone to disagree with her.

Inessa sighs, rubbing her temple. There are no good solutions to this issue, at least none that immediately come to mind. Whatever they do, there will be risk or loss...or both. But they were assigned this task, and she didn't come here to shirk her duty.

Her gaze shifting back to Merrill, her expression isn't unsympathetic though she's hesitant to completely agree. "It holds a great deal of significance, to be sure. On the other hand, it also contains a great deal of the most toxic substance in Thedas. Will Inquisition forces be enough to prevent others from taking advantage of that?"

"Could we... sort of, kind of seal it up?"

This isn't Jester's area of expertise. If it comes down to it, she has only a few areas of expertise. And some people might pray for wisdom, but this isn't the kind of thing that the Traveler is wise about. Jester is going to have to figure this one out for herself. They all will.

"Like--we could just put some really big rocks over the front of it, but make sure that we could move them later. And then we could ask some dwarves, and say, hey you guys, there's a pretty cool cave down there, lots of caves, but they're really really dangerous, maybe, so if you have guys to spare to watch them, we will move the rocks for you, but we don't have guys to give you... And then they can tell us what they want to do. Because Merrill is right, if it's important to dwarves, we should let them choose. Or ask some of them and see what they say. Like a survey, I guess,"

"I could move some rocks."

Six turns her head, looking around, taking things in. It would not be impossible for her to grip some of the larger rocks and move them into place; it might take a little while, but it seems as though they might have something like time to content them for now. She's carried and moved heavy things before and it seems like a more sensible solution than cutting off knowledge and history from an entire race of people.

"And then I can move them after, if that is what we wish. It is dangerous to leave the path open for anyone, but if their people can learn more without the risk to their lives..."

It should be attempted, at least.

"A few rocks won't stop someone foolish or curious enough to want to explore... shall we leave a friendly sign to inform them to beware of red lyrium?" The last part is said dryly, as the whole matter definitely unsettles him. "If we only had some way to destroy all of that lyrium..."

But they don't. That much is true. Kain sighs, knowing that the others are right. He has enough respect for the dwarves himself that he also wouldn't feel comfortable just permanently cutting it off or perhaps destroying the tunnels themselves, were such a thing even possible. The latter idea has crossed his mind a couple of times, though he keeps that to himself. He's just deeply concerned about the danger lurking within. Red lyrium frightens him like few other things could.

"I would be able to aid in moving rocks, though I wonder... will this truly be enough?"

Dolores is not given to arguing with the group, it's not in her nature to disagree with guests. She does give them a strange look as they debate, however, and finally works up the nerve to say something. Her descent from the milder opinions is clear in her tone.

"Yall want to board it up and call it done?" Dolores asks sounding a bit aghast. "This place is poisonous and full of monsters, a few rocks leaned to isn't going to stop anyone or anything from coming through here."

She crosses her arms and shakes her head.

"We can't stop them from reopening it, not if they have a mind to, but the least we can do is cut off the paths to and from this awful place. Collapse the way behind us, if not the whole thing."

He exhales, looking at the place. "This should be sealed off... but it is not the only source of red lyrium, and what if collapsing it causes other things to collapse as well? I'm no expert on the stability of caves. We could bring it down on top of us."

There's more to think about than just closing it off, even if it makes sense to close the place off somehow. "If we seal it, they'll find another way in. We need to make a headache for the smugglers without potentially killing us, so maybe rocks stacked along with destroying all of their tools that we find?"

"We'll have to block some of the tunnels, for sure, but- I mean, I don't know how to safely collapse sections of the Deep Roads. Anders is right; I don't want to accidentally trap us here."

But Anders isn't the only person who's right, and Merrill sighs, rubbing the back of her head.

"We should ask the dwarves - probably send something to Orzammar, since they'd probably care the most. Granted, then there's the risk of someone grabbing something they shouldn't, and I don't know that there's a way in here that they could get to without going to the surface." As an aside, for the Rifters, she adds, "Orzammar dwarves aren't allowed back if they see the sun, usually."

But that takes time; time they don't necessarily have. "I mean, the way in that we took- that's close enough to Kirkwall that there could be Inquisition forces watching it. And we'll definitely need to destroy the smuggling tools."

The debate -both outer and inner- has Inessa frowning and pacing, as her mabari peers at every person speaking in turn. She wishes Christine was here to weigh on this, considering it touches on the red lyrium project, but as assistant leader her own voice will have to do for now. A report can always be made later, once they decide.

"As much as I'm in favor of a collapse, that's probably best done by those who know how to safely manage such things afterward. No one here seems to be an expert on that, so perhaps we should focus on other means. I have no wish to bury any of us." In death, sacrifice...but many of the others here aren't Grey Wardens, and that should be a last resort, not a first.

"Is that where we should start, then? Destroying the smuggling tools, then moving the rocks? We can't just wait for Orzammar to decide what to do, but that will buy us some time and we have more than enough mages to help energize them."

"I want to take the tools." Jester is already swinging her pink haversack around and tugging at the top to open it. "Some of them, anyways. If we steal the tools, they won't be able to use them either, right? And we'll have smuggler's tools."

The rocks they're talking about moving are pretty big, and Jester sizes them up. "I can help move rocks, too. I am like, really really strong. Who will we send to Orzammer? Some diplomat or something? Or can we go, since we were here?"

It is so weird and sad to think of someone not being able to ever see the sun. Even Jester got to see the sun, when she was little, and she was basically raised in one room. It would be nice to help them, maybe. If they want help and can't send anyone here themselves.

"Take them or destroy them, it makes little difference as long as those tools don't remain here." Kain isn't too concerned about the fate of those tools, overall, and really wouldn't they be better off being put to some use? It's really just the lyrium that has him uneasy. Which is why he's part of the red lyrium team as well, oddly... but he does like opportunities to destroy it. That's his main motivation, anyway.

Kain eyes the rocks and looks over at the others. "There seem to be enough of us capable of moving the rocks, then. We could probably finish the task in a timely manner. As for contacting the dwarves... I would suggest bringing along someone in diplomacy, or at least someone who has a good connection to them." Negotiations and such are far from his strong suit, although he would certainly go if it was required.

"Unless the tools are tainted," Merrill points out, with an apologetic glance at Jester. She doesn't want her friend to fall prey to the red lyrium. She sighs again, rubbing a hand through her hair.

"Orzammar would have the knowledge to seal the tunnels more permanently. We can seal what we can - Anders and Inessa and I might be able to put up some magical barriers, too." She thinks. Maybe. "Enough to, at the very least, make it very difficult for someone else to get in here. If I have to guard the way that we took in until we hear something from Orzammar, then fine."

But she will not be responsible for another people losing their culture, their history.

[ something else you want to do here? camping scene? archaeology? finding a smuggler and punching them? here's the spot ]

the cave is filling, fills

rock wraiths;

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