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Findalsip resumes making notes as Linar makes for the thing he is looking for. "Looks like solid dwarven craftsmanship. More obvious than gnomish but still good work. It feels much better here than where we were for the past few weeks. One could possibly get flung up in the sky, as it is called. Doesn't look like a very substantial roof."

[Ah, that was actually on the other side of the city. But the secret door inside is here]

Linar moves closer to the collapse...
Massive stones, cleanly carved and only lightly damaged from the fall, block the passage completely. Though some lay spilled out from the main collapse, it is almost as if they were designed to fall in an almost impenetrable wall of earth and granite. A small column of stone to one side is crushed, far too thin to have held up the tremendous weights above unless it was absolutely perfectly positioned...

He soon finds the area on the wall where the secret door had been, and recalls the trigger for opening it lay in the turning of a particular stone on the opposite side of the hallway.

Saying little the drow leads onwards..

Again Nocturno will be the last one to leave this room.

Seeing that Nocturno is on the move Findalsip moves to where the Drow is.

Linar moves to one side of the hall, inspecting the wall closely. He reaches out to one of the stone blocks that appears ever-so-slightly tilted. Miraculously it turns as he twists, despite appearing firmly mortared in place. On the opposite side of the hall a secret door opens silently to reveal a narrow curved passageway leading downward.

The passage is narrow and short, enough for one dwarf wide and ceiling low enough to require the elves to stoop. Bullock should be able to fit through, though barely, and will have to crawl sideways to do so...

On the wall within the passage is a carving, a mountain outline with a many faceted gem in the center. Fin recognizes it as the symbol of the Dwarven god Dumathoin: the Dwarven god of Death, Knowledge, and secrets. He is believed by the Dwarves to be responsible for hiding gems and precious metals in the earth.

Linar leads on... The walls here prove quite different from those of the passage. Rather than granite-shored limestone, this area seems to be carved from the very living rock entirely; though it is a pale grey rock that is not limestone. At regular intervals there are precisely laid out carvings of Dwarven runes. Some 50 yards on from the entrance, the passage turns again to the right; this time at a clean square corner angle. At the bend there is a series of shelves neatly worked into the stone with a wrought-metal door like a cabinet. After the turn, the passage becomes a long stairway leading deeper into the earth and beyond the range of infravision...

Linar continues onwards, silently heading towards the forgotten city..

Bull

Well it looks like we found our path. Everyone be ready. Could be anything down here.

He take mental note of what spells he has memorized and proceeds to follow.

"Aye Bull, many anythings call these caverns home. Many of which aren't very happy to see other anythings crawling around. Best be careful down here as they will use your size against you." Findalsip changes tack and brings up the rear.

"Ah come to guide your cousin? Of if needed I can still do that. You look to be much more comfortable down here than I." Nocturno will say to Findalslip as he heads to the back.

"I believe I am most likely the most comfortable in this environ, including Linar. I have been very out of sorts among the 'sky' and trees. And finding good solid rock! How does one feel so easy with so much 'nature' covering the living stone? I must commune with Calladuran when we have a chance to rest. Most disturbing. I am happy to guide my esteemed cousin and watch our backs. Another set of eye and ears back here is useful."

"It's funny I feel the same buy opposite. The openness, the breeze, the rustle of the leaves. Being compacted below these tons of stone and soil are so foreign to me. Let's hope he isn't leading us into an ambush of his kin." The High Elf can't help but still be a bit suspicious of the Drow, even after their group has been bonded by combat.

Linar leads on down the dark Dwarven stairwell. Here and there along the way triangular alcoves can be found; always with a right-angle corner on the downhill side and the lesser angle uphill. The asymetrical spaces are rather featureless, with the exception of small shelves that stand bare.

The stairway continues on another 50 yards or so before completing in an apparent dead-end. There is, however, a familiar symbol painstakingly carved in the wall to one side; the outline of a Mountain with a many-faceted gem in the center. [Linar recognizes the trigger]

Linar operates the trigger.

"I would say that his kin would grant us a swift death but that would only be under the influence of some really good mushrooms. The female drow are more unhinged than a shattered dwarven door. However, I get the feeling Linar is not like his kin here. Were he like them when I first encountered the party I would most likely be dead as would all of the rest of us."