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The team search the cave for anything else that may present a threat to them, but found nothing. Upon searching, they found a pile of dried leaves and sticks neatly stacked in the back in a large bundle.

"I guess someone organized plant matter here. Now can we go to sleep?"

Kaleth watched as his companions went on to discuss plants and wines. Very useful information. In any case, the warrior took some of the sticks and wood from the pile and piled it on top of a few small logs. Kaleth looked outside for a moment, the storm still raging. Deciding not to waste any more time, he spoke to his allies.

"Alright. Alyssa, could you start the campfire? Could the rest of you help me set up the camp?" Kaleth asked as he knelt down towards his bag on the ground. At least the cave would mean that setting up tents wouldn't be necessary. He took out some food wrapped in linen, namely, the alligator from before. They could probably reheat it in the campfire, and one thing was for sure: Kaleth sure was hungry after being forced to live off a crust of stale bread.

"Okay. Campfire." Kneeling by the logs, I cast what has got to be the tiniest fire spell ever. I am not kidding. It must have been the size of my palm, and that's being generous. Well, wood was very flammable, so if there was too much fire, we would all die. And besides, I was so tired that it was a relief I didn't fall face-first into the campfire.

((Don't you DARE get any ideas. I've lived through monster after monster; I'm not losing it all to a campfire.))

((Eh, I'm sure yckud is a fair admin who doesn't kill off players for no good reason(RNG and affliction-plot-forwarding notwithstanding). I'd say you're fine.))

As Alyssa got to work on the campfire, Kaleth started to unfurl the bedrolls. The guards hadn't tampered with their equipment, and their food stocks were still safe. It was good that the supplies had an extra bedroll, otherwise one would have to sleep on the pile. In any case, when each sleeping spot was laid out for everyone, Kaleth got to cooking some of the salted alligator meat from before. He said a short prayer for their safety before eating.

After some time had passed, the topic of who's going to stay on watch came up. Kaleth felt around his face, still visibly injured, but would otherwise be fine. He looked to his companions before speaking up.

"I suppose I'll take first watch then." Kaleth said, still slightly cautious about his new companions.

"And I am NOT watching. I've barely slept at all for the past few days."

The fire lights the cave in a flickering glow. The walls inside much of the back is rather smooth, as if the hands of something had put effort to do so. The warmth fills them more than they expected. Despite their blood still rushing through them somewhat due to the battle, they were more chilled than they realized. The group gathered around the fire. Garwend absent mindedly gazed at the flat walls, and noticed they were not quite as smooth as they appeared. He looked at them closer and noticed there were carvings on them.

((When you guys are ready, here is what they look like.))

((Since Riyguy seems a little absent at the moment, I'll take the liberty of advancing the storyline.))

With some semblance of a watch order in place, Kaleth took a seat on the ground directly opposite to the cave's entrance. Everyone was about to fall asleep when Kaleth noticed Garwend looking at the walls intently. He shrugged it off as exhaustion, but something told him that the walls could hold something of importance.

"What is it, Garwend?" Kaleth asked his new companion with curiosity.

The Thragon took a step forward, taking a place beside his companion. He examined the walls and found that there was something about them. After a few moments, Kaleth realized that there were carvings on the walls. The afflicted weren't known to communicate, so these must have been inscribed by the dwarves. Suddenly, Kaleth realized that the stone's carvings resembled the wall's inscriptions. He took out the stone, as it pulsed with pale green energy and did a comparison and found that certain symbols were similar, if not identical.

Kaleth then inspected the other symbols, namely the one with a long-haired woman. She was surrounded by various other symbols, but there were three that he could discern on the spot. There was a bandage, and a finger pressed to lips. Perhaps this was where the dwarves treated injured folk whilst silent? Kaleth couldn't really know for sure.

"What could it all mean..." the Thragon said absentmindedly.

After a few uncomfortable moments, the noble dozed off. The cave ground was cold and hard. The bedroll didn't help, either. In his slumber, he was fairly still and undisturbed. (So far.)

((Summary: Alyssa has a nightmare featuring her best friend and a pastry.))

"Can we discuss it in the morning?" I said, already half asleep. Within minutes, I was in a deep slumber.

The next thing I knew, I was back home, in front of the bakery, face to face with the girl who had died five years earlier. But it wasn't in the afflicted form I'd last seen her in. No, the girl standing in front of me was as beautiful as she had always been, but something about her wasn't right. Maybe it was her cold glare, or the lack of the bright smile she always wore. "Colleen?" I said in disbelief. "No. It can't be. You're dead. I watched them kill you."

"Do I look dead to you?" She sneered. "I'm alive, but soon you won't be."

"What are you talking about?"

She pulled out a pastry just like the ones we'd always sold. "Pastries. The one thing you were good at. I was better than you at everything, except baking. I'd come to the bakery on weekends and try to help you and your mom, but my baked goods wre always misshapen and badly made. Next to yours, which were beautifully made, I was a joke in the kitchen. Well, you know what? You're going to die to the one thing you loved. A pastry-only poisoned." She brought it closer and closer to my mouth. But just when I was about to take a fatal bite, I woke up in the dead of night drenched in a cold sweat.

Just a nightmare. I told myself. It's not real. She's dead, and she'll never come back.

The stone glows brightly.

I was still reminding myself that it had been a dream when a bright glow illuminated the area. I shielded my eyes. Where was that coming from?

Alyssa replied disdainfully towards Kaleth's rhetorical question. Understandable, he thought. She was tired, after all. Several minutes of cross-examination passed, resulting in a fruitless endeavor. He still could not comprehend the meaning of the symbols on the walls, and on the stone. Suddenly, the stone's light seemed to increase in intensity.

"What the..." Kaleth muttered as the stone grew brighter and brighter. With each passing second, the green light seemed to intensify. It almost pained him to look at it. Almost. He examined the carvings, and while they looked to be pretty much unaffected, the stone seemed to light up. Kaleth wondered what it could possibly mean.

Kaleth turned around to see his ally, namely Alyssa, stir from her slumber. She must be shielding her eyes from the glow.

"Apologies, Alyssa." Kaleth said as he slipped the stone into his pocket, causing the light to dim slightly.

The stone continued to glow brightly for several minutes. A large noise then a wisp of air blew through the cave as something outside left the ground. Just as the creature flew away, the stone's glow faded, but never completely.

((Looking back a few pages, I believe nobody has examined the piece of paper in the skull's mouth. I could have Kaleth do it, but if someone would like to do so, that'd be great.))

The stone remained bright for several minutes. In that time, Kaleth was examining the wall closer. While he couldn't find anything of too much interest, or at least, none that he could discern, he at least knew that the stone was tied to the wall somehow. If his theory was true, then the stone was likely related to the writings on the book he read earlier.

An expression of surprise and confusion could be seen across his face as he put together the pieces of the puzzle.

Kaleth quickly knelt down and reached for the old tome he had found in the cavern. A quick scan of its passages confirmed his suspicions. This was not the first time the stone had done something like this. The book's words explained that the stone glowed a crimson light, much different from the green light he was familiar with. The dwarves were unable to decipher its meaning, and when they got close to finally uncovering its secrets, one of their allies became afflicted, and struck down the wizard who was about to reveal it to them.

It almost seemed like fate did not want them to discover the stone's secrets. The Thragon let loose a quiet, mirthless chuckle.

"I suppose history does repeat itself." Kaleth said to himself quietly as he brought the stone closer to his face.

"But what secrets do you hold..."

Suddenly, a loud noise drew away his attention. He quickly swapped the stone to his off-hand before drawing his blade. As Kaleth rushed outside to investigate, a gust of wind seemed to enter the cave. "Did something just fly away?" he asked himself as he looked outside. The Thragon looked upward, but he could not see the figure in the stormy night sky. He remained outside for a few moments before returning to his post inside the cave.

Kaleth kept his sword drawn as he examined the stone in further detail. The light seemed to be much paler now.

The team soon fall asleep despite the increasing amount of rain and thunder. In the morning, the wind still stays rather strong but the rain is a light drizzle. ((Lancaster makes a full recovery.))

((We can proceed to Marshtowers, or we could train and spar for a bit to increase weapon mastery.))

Kaleth awoke from his short rest, still slumped against the wall of the cavern in front the the cave's entrance. The stone in his hand still glowed, albeit very faintly. He took a moment to recompose himself before getting up and preparing breakfast. There was still a bit of the alligator left from before, as well as some rat meat. As Alyssa was still asleep, Kaleth started to light a fire the old-fashioned way, using the small, dying embers of the fire to make a new one. With a bit of difficulty, the task was eventually finished, and the Thragon began cooking the meat on the rack.

((Let me know when you guys are ready to leave.))

It had been a restless night for me, and as such, I wasn't exactly eager to get up. But I had to. "Well, the rain stopped." I commented. "Mostly."