Waking up from our night's rest in a clearing by the road, I hear something on the wind, and from the subtle glance my way, it seems Sarah does as well. Birds fly from the canopy above us, squawking as if to alert others of a coming danger. Bears, elk, and smaller creatures can be heard scattering about, heading westward. A low rumble hits us a moment later and the earth quakes beneath our feet. The horses get startled but remain near camp, loyal to us after the training missions and our time spent caring for them. After a few seconds, we heard a series of loud cracks as the ground splits and opens up in a series of long, jagged lines, and some trees getting slightly uprooted. Ferrik looks to me and nods his head toward the northern tree line, having also heard the sound of stone breaking and metal bending and then hitting the ground. I nod, getting to my feet as he does and we make our way there as the others stay back, trying to pack things to get on the road as soon as possible. I look back and whistle, getting Vic's attention, who jogs our way and soon falls in step with us.

Getting to the tree line where we can see more clearly where the sound came from, Ferrik quickly points out a fissure in the ground leading away from us. We follow it, meandering around downed trees and raised terrain as a result of the quake. Suddenly I see the glint of metal in the early morning sunlight, and I step ahead quickly, soon finding a large metal door torn from its hinges. Where it had been there is now a stairway down into a small antechamber. Seeing a torch on the wall, I remove it, then pick up a stone and strike it against the metal hinges on the entryway, providing torchlight. With some additional light, I can make out a set of doors as I walk down the stairs and peek into the room. Ferrik walks past, snatching the torch from my hand and lighting another torch, this one with a blue Elven rune on the wall beneath it. As it lights, so too do the other torches throughout the facility which I can now see clearly into the next room as Vic opens the door to our right. I hear the grinding of gears and a click, prompting me to grab Vic's, shoulder pulling him back as a bolt flies out of the wall the left wall, and embeds itself in the right.

"Watch yourself in here," I say loud enough for both of them, "we have no idea what surprises we might find."

"Good instincts, Cullen," Ferrik adds, "we should really be careful in a place so old."

As he says this, I feel a tingling across my spine and the hair on my neck stands up.

"Does anyone else feel that," I ask, "that feeling like something just passed through you?"

"I did," Ferrik responds as Vic shakes his head, "and it seemed to emanate from the door behind us."

"Well, if Vic didn't notice and you're senses are more attuned to it," I muse, "it must be arcane in nature. Just magic enough for me to feel it, but definitely more arcane."

Ferrik nods, seeming to concur with my thought process, which I'm glad for, given he's trained more in arcana than either of us. I give Vic a curt look and slowly shake my head before closing the door to the room he'd been in a moment ago as I'd prefer he not wander off. Our warlock leads the way into the next room, where I can feel the magical aura growing stronger to the point that it seems Vic might actually be noticing it. I see him looking around more warily and rubbing his neck trying to keep the hairs matted down. We wander further in through a door to our left and into a chamber roughly four-and-a-half meters squared. Across from the entrance to the room, there's a partly broken chest that must have been damaged during the quake as some decently sized stone roof tiles seem to have fallen from the ceiling directly onto the trunk. A pale blue light emanates from the cracks in the chest, though the lock looks firmly attached.

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"Is that what's giving me this sinking feeling," Vic says, breaking the silence, "or is that from the venison last night?"

"I'm pretty sure it's whatever's in here," Ferrik says calmly, not taking his eyes from the eerie light.

"Good," Vic replies sarcastically, "because for a moment I was ready to question your cooking skills. This weird magic shit makes me feel so much better."

"Both of you shut up," I say, my gaze also fixed, "Vic can you pick the lock so we can get an idea of what we're dealing with?"

The thief made no response but shuffled past me, knelt down, and took a few tools from a pouch on his belt. It took a few moments for him to get to a spot where he could safely pause and test the lock. The first attempt wasn't successful so he tried once more, taking more time. The air was thick with anxiety as I paced and our Half-Orc companion stood tense. After a minute or so of Vic tampering with the lock, I heard the click of the lock and the slow creak as he opened the chest. Before either of us could get to him in case something happened, the glowing stopped and Vic slumped down into a seated position. I got to him and peered over his shoulder, somewhat bemused. There was no obvious artifact, large arcane jewel, or anything terribly obvious that should have been illuminating the inside of the chest. Instead, there was a rather plain-looking tome, its pages aged and somewhat weathered but in good condition. I reached to pick it up, but Ferrik slapped my hand away.

"We don't know anything about it," he scolded me, "or even this catacomb for that matter. I say we close the lid and bring it with us, but do not touch it directly."

"Fair assessment," I reply, somewhat restrained, "it's probably best to get this to someone who can identify this and give us a proper history of this place at the same time."

"So what, now?" Vic asked. "What do we do about this place? I don't think we have the time to look around properly."

"No, we don't." I snap back, taking in the situation fully, "We're behind schedule already. Let's just get this back to Kaland. Hopefully the book and wherever we've stumbled on become some other group's problem."

I get two nods of agreement as Vic closes the lid and locks it, allowing Ferrick to carry it back. It takes us slightly longer to get back than I recalled, as we now had cargo in tow. As we get back, everything's already packed and ready to go. Reddan and Sarah clearly had a few questions, especially about why we'd returned with a chest we refused to open. The Changeling Bard decided he would sit in the back and quiz Vic and Ferrik on our miniature escapade. Given his morning energy, I was quite happy to instead sit up front with Sarah and mentally regroup like the rest of the forest seemed to be doing right now. After they clambered in and stowed the chest securely, I climbed into the shotgun seat again and made ready for our return to Kaland.