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They come across another corridor on the left again but the light once more fails to reveal anything of interest. “If we fail to find a way out up ahead,” James tells them as he indicates the passage they’ve been following, “then we’ll come back and try the passages we passed by.”

“Good idea,” Jiron says as he continues down the corridor.

James can’t help but think that if this was an adventure he was running, the players would never have passed up anything which might’ve held possible treasures. But this is real life and he just wants to get out of here. The last time they’d been in a similar situation, Miko had almost been killed by a trap set to guard a handful of crystals. That’s the last thing they need right now.

They pass another passage and again, nothing could be seen when they shine the light from the orb down it. Thirty more feet and the left side of the passage opens up to a room, twenty feet wide by forty feet long. Several rotting tables sit within the room, the chairs which once sat around them now all but disintegrated.

Pausing a moment to investigate, James has Jiron bring the light over to one of the tables and he takes a good look at it. He reaches out his hand to touch it, and when he touches it, a section of the table breaks off, falling to the floor where it crumbles apart. “Rotted,” he tells the others. “Looks like termites or some other sort of insect’s been feeding off this for centuries, or used to. There’s no sign of them now.”

“This place must have been here for a very long time,” offers Jiron.

“I would think so too,” agrees James. “I would also think that it has remained unknown to the locals, otherwise it would be used by smugglers and thieves if by no others.”

“Any idea yet who used to be here?” he asks.

“Not yet, no,” replies James.

“I don’t like the feel of this place,” announces Aleya from where she stands at the edge of the light.

Glancing at her, James nods and says, “I feel that way too.” Then to Jiron he adds, “We better get moving.”

Nodding, Jiron moves out and they return back to the corridor and continue down to the left. Just after they leave the long room with the tables, the corridor opens again on a room of similar dimensions. This time, the length of the room is ahead of them rather than to the right.

Two small niches on either side of the room hold busts of men. Upon closer examination, it’s hard to tell from what nationality they belonged. At the far end of the room, they find another winding stairway leading up.

Getting a nod from James, Jiron moves to the stairs and begins climbing. Just after the first turn, they come across a human skeleton lying spread-eagle on the steps. The clothes that the man had once worn have long since disintegrated into rags.

Stepping carefully, Jiron moves past the dead man and then pauses when a light blossoms to life behind him. Looking back, he sees James with another orb bending over and poking through the dead man’s garments with a knife. After just a moment, he stands up and shakes his head, indicating he didn’t find anything.

Jiron turns back to the stairs and resumes the climb up. At the top, they find another room similar to the one below, only this one doesn’t have niches with busts of men. Several worn tapestries hang along the sides of the room, the scene depicted by one can still be somewhat made out.

Most of the scene has long since faded away, all that is discernable are two men, kneeling before the figure of a third. The two men are dressed in rags and shackled, what the man whom they’re kneeling before is wearing or looks like is distorted by the tapestry’s poor condition.

Jiron looks to James who shrugs. “Weird,” he says as he indicates for Jiron to continue.

The only way out of the room is a single corridor running to the left at the far end. They don’t go very far down before they come across a cave-in. Partially buried under the rubble, they discover two more human skeletons. The corridor is completely blocked by the cave-in.

“Poor guys,” they hear Aleya say when she sees them.

“I wonder what happened