We finally entered the cave, the torch has been a considerable boon to our ability to see in this pitch black place.

We should have plenty of supplies saved up to make it through this place and have gotten stronger while outside.

I even managed to receive Yourick’s blessing due to my faithful prayers. I cast a spell of his domain unto Hawl in prep for what was to come.

Perhaps attracted to the torchlight a kobold ambushed us from the darkness. Fortunately none of us were particularly harmed that much, It was incredibly sturdy and took a number of hits from Hawl and was finished off by Yu.

In doing so, Yu did accidentally trip and I reacted with an attack of my own towards her thinking it was another kobold. I only scratched her lightly when I realized.

To make sure future travelers have an easier time making it down this way, we must carefully deal with these kobolds.

Sorry about that Svetlana. I’m a bit squeamish in the dark. I’m thankful I missed. I have tried searching for some food and water in here, since I don’t know how long it’ll be before we find an exit. I haven’t managed to find any water yet but I managed to gather some mushrooms that I’m 90% sure aren’t poisonous to help tide us over.

No worries dearie, make sure to stay nearby to the torch-light if you are scared, it extends a decent distance but the darkness still grows at the seams of the area we can operate in.

I’m glad you are able to find any food here to begin with. I’ll assist you when I’m not fighting to spot if anything you gather is poisonous.

I learned quite a bit about the differences since they were a common and much less strange material in comparison to some of the other things that what was used in rituals.

You ever even heard of mountaintop morning dew formed upon a sleeping bear’s fur? Honestly how does that specific ingredient have magical properties? I didn’t go and gather these materials myself but my, there were some strange things in storage.

I decided to went down ahead to see if there was anything dangerous or enemies, to scout so to speak but to my surprise, it was just a long hall of nothing but walls. “ HEY GIRLS? DON’T BOTHER COMING DOWN THERE’S NOTHING HERE!” I just shouted and took some time to rest myself. It may have been empty but it was a bit long so after the fights i felt winded.

I also took some time to stretch, these kobolds may be short and not very strong they are still more resilient that mere squirrels, rabbits and other foxes. I juste hope there’s no traps because I don’t know how we could spot them. Or a more dangerous ennemi, although I think we could make it with the three of us.

I wander in my thoughts a little bit more and finally get up, best not to keep them waiting too much.

Up the stairs we found some more Kobolds and there appears to be a hole in the floor at the end of this corridor. There’s one little Kobold in the way.

I drew my dagger and tried to strike the creature, but my slashed glanced harmlessly across it’s scales. It clawed at me in response as I got too close. I managed to land one good blow.

Ahhh, that hurt!

I recoil back and try to back away from the creature, clutching my wounds.

In this newest room I found a Puddle of Magical Water at 8;9. I’m gonna go and check it out.

The past 5 days we have spent much of our time hunting these kobolds, they feel never-ending. My old ritual dagger is getting quite damaged, it wasn’t designed for this. I pray that Yourick allows it to last through the upcoming battles.

I was hoping we could make this cave safer for future travelers but we will likely not be able to search every nook and cranny of this cave to find out where they are crawling out of.

It’s also a good thing Yu found a source of water, that should allow us to be able to last a bit longer here. I hope that soon we’ll be able to see the light of the sun again.

In the water there was a veritable bounty of fish of all kinds I was able to spear out of the water, there was even an octopus. I cooked up that octopus and tried my best to make some takoyaki, I didn’t have all the spices needed so I tried to supplement them with strips of smoked salmon. I don’t think they’re half bad but any feedback is appreciated. Oh, and here is some of that smoked salmon left over, and a little bit of blackberry jam, they go quite well together surprisingly. This should hold you both over for maybe 3 days. I hope you like it!

Many thanks Yu, you always seem to find such a miraculous variety of delicious food. Do you have experience with spear fishing on Duna?

Also, Octopus are exclusively saltwater creatures are they not? That magical puddle is very strange, I hope eating the fish from it, and drinking its water is safe. Hell, I wonder if there are dangerous creatures living inside of it? It’s a good thing we’re finally on our way out of this room now and had no issues concerning that puddle.

Hopefully the amount of Kobolds we’ve dealt with so far will help the next travelers have a safer time making their way through these caves.

I haven’t specifically spearfished before, but back on Duna I was trained in many different facets. My father wanted me to be a knight and I spent 2 weeks in training before my instructor sent me home on grounds of “Abhorrent Incompetence”. Which my father wasn’t exactly proud of, but from those few weeks I do have a little experience with a spear.

Also, ponds do not easily gain fish in general, so I believe that the fish I found were put there, or their ancestors were put there, by whomever built those stairs we have been using. That’s why there was such a variety of fish and aquatic animals in there, at least that’s my theory. Also, I had some grilled cod from there yesterday and I feel fine so the other fish should be good to eat.

With the Kobolds largely wiped out I’m going to head for the stairs we found leading downwards.

How disappointing, the floor below has no exit either. I really hope there is actually an exit at the end of this cavern. Otherwise we might be in trouble.

Hawl was relatively beat up after the prior floor so I’ve given him a life potion I brought along. Glad I bought that in preparation for this exploration. Maybe we can find a place to rest and recover?

Yu your theory of the fish being placed there sounds reasonable, hopefully some options for food and water were placed on this floor as well, or any remaining large floors like that previous one.

Also, knight training? It must have been rough. A phrase I’ve heard of comes to mind: “a fish being tested on its ability to climb a tree”. Your prior instructor seems like a rude fellow unbefitting of knighthood. Not that I could possibly know how knights conduct themselves.

It was tough, they don’t let just anyone be a knight, but I definitely wasn’t up to snuff. Based on the several hours I just spent fighting a single Kobold. I think his assessment of my fighting skills was correct. To lie would be unbefitting of a knight. I’d like to get better at this, but it seems it is not my forte. I never got the the stage of using a bow in that training, perhaps I can hope that my proficiency with stringed instruments translates to the strings of a bow, maybe then I may be of more use in a fight.

We have entered yet another corridor through this cave, that prior floor had a relatively small amount of kobolds at least, but they were quite skilled and have left me with some significant injuries. I only brought the one life potion that I gave Hawl, maybe I needed to prepare more?

My body’s frail constitution, I spoke of before, likely made the strikes of those kobolds hit mighty harder than it likely would have others. It’s good that you’re interested in improving upon you’re weaknesses, Yu. It’s unfortunate that my weaknesses will likely be a permanent one, that I could never improve upon no matter how I try.

For now I will rely on you two to deal with the upcoming kobolds, I need to rest and recover from my injuries for maybe a few days. Also, thank you Yu for another package of food and water. I would love to hear more about your lives on Mylen, you’ve lead such different lives than I have. Although maybe it’s best to have such pleasant chats after we’ve left this cavern and gotten settled properly.

These last few passageways have been near empty, with not a single kobold in sight. We should remain cautious as this area might be dangerous if the kobolds have been avoiding this section of the cavern.

We should prepare carefully with the time we are given now. I will be praying to Yourick and hoping to receive his blessing.

I wouldn’t be so sure that your body’s frailty will stay. It is possible to train yourself up. It is said that Yourick gifted the dwarves with the knowledge of fermentation. And we had such a taste for it that our bodies learned to deal with it better than other races. When we are able to make some alcohol later you can work on getting used to its effects and increase your constitution like the dwarves of yore.

Also, you might like to have a bit more hope. Don’t be all doom and gloom as much as it suits your aesthetic. I’ve noticed that there were a lot of funny smelling rocks in the rooms with a lot of Kobolds and not so many in these empty rooms. Perhaps to Kobolds, those smelly rocks are like an oasis that they gather around. Perhaps they simply aren’t here because there isn’t the food they need. But they don’t have the same requirements to live as us. It’s just like Thallasstra Beckonsphere said in War for Adnu: The Final Fight, “We cannot judge the needs of our opponents from the needs of our own. They are too different from us to draws that comparison.”

I loved the realism in that book. Sounds like exactly the kind of thing a commander of an army would say don’t you think?