Eirvit wrote:

“A ship at anchor is precisely my guess, friend Kondor. There have been legends among my people of such things for some time. These flying phenomena  most often are seen, among the aurora, in Night such as we have begun now. My guess is that those... ‘people’ that danced about this recent fire are up there now, in their... ‘ship’.”

“The beast men have a flying ship?! Madness, but if true then how do we fight them? They can get to us from above, and will see our trail here. We have to disguise our trail, then hide in the cave and ambush them when they return. Perhaps we’ll find something in there of use, maybe some way to take control of the ship itself. I know of no kimmerian whose ship-born raids attacked cities inland and by air! The cursed sanctuary might be linked to this, perhaps the light in the sky is from them, or they were taken up by some fiendish master. What say you?”

Ooc: if we agreed, we can hide our tracks, hide in the cave, then fight the beast men and take the ship!

Try as he might Gundrabu cannot discern whether the hole of missing starmap is 10 feet in front of his eyes or 10 light-years away.

There are no prints left behind on the rock face.

There are prints from Kondor and Gundrabu leading from the path into the circle but quickly get lost among the many prints there.

 

Ok, Kondor climbs back down the rockface and back out to the trail.

What does Gundrabu do while Kondor cleans the trail?
 

Once finished, Kondor returns to the cave mouth. He motions Gundrabu to follow and then continues to explore the cavern.

The circle of absent stars remains, unwavering and silent over the fire circle.
A beat, and then Kondor enters the cave again:

The wispy smoke within is sulphuric , its origin undetected, and the stone is dry. The cave opening is about 10 feet high at the mouth, but the lamp shows the ceiling drops considerably a few feet inside. Both of you will need to lower your heads within.  The cave seems naturally formed although you can see the work of hands and tools along certain seams.

The cave entrance is a circular cavity about 15 diameter 10 feet high and the mouth lowered to around 5 feet high in the rear  where it bends to the right and downward going farther inside the hill.

Above on the dome is the mural of iridescent powder depicting a dancing circle of creatures around a fire and underneath a slender silver disk.


 

Gundrabu follows quietly after Kondor, ready to respond if called for for assistance.

Iron Ranger wrote:

[Sounds like Gundrabu hangs back nervously 10ft or so?]

Kondor leads them toward the back of the cave where the ceiling is low and requires bending over. The lantern shines further around the bend to the right, there is a gentle slope as the tunnel descends to another wider opening ahead 30 ft. 

The air is more pungent with the aroma of burnt saps and wood. The cave is noticably warmer back here, the inviting heat pouring from the space beyond, but completely silent.

Kondor scouts ahead to the room, silent as the hunt. He looks for other tunnels, such as the one that leads to the other cave opening. He is trying not to get complacent about the beast men, assume that they are all vanished and be exposed to ambush by even one hiding behind.

The tunnel narrows, a fairly tight fit for laden wanderers. Kondors notices no other tunnels or rooms, only the one ahead. His lantern light floods the 15 foot diameter cavity.

The floor slants away about a full foot lower on the other side and is somewhat covered with scattered leaves and needles from the woods outside, heaviest in a matted mound at the lower, far side. Several branches protrude from the mound on its right side and a hide backpack hangs from it.

The soothing heat emanates from the mound, a welcome relief from the brutal constant cold.

Gundrabu very carefully and gingerly takes down the hide backpack.

[Basically, he hopes to avoid springing a trap, though if it uses pressure from the pack on the stick, he’s probably screwed.]