"Well Mr Urthgar why didn't you volunteer this ability a lot earlier than you did!' a slightly exasperated but smiling Horace addressed the Big Beorning. He then turned to Elenugeth, "Could I have Sally and the snacks back now? As thanks to Mr Urthgar and his prodigious magic talents, which are akin to the great Gandalf himself!, I don't have to climb anymore!"

The mouse and food were handed over to the small Halfling.

Urthgar offered a rare smile to the hobbit. "I fear that your comparison is unfounded in reality, but thank you my brave friend"

The animist addressed the others not yet across. "Can everyone move through the rock as fast as possible, the effort of maintaining its unusual consistency is taking its toll!"

"If no one has any objection, I’ll do my job and scout forward a little and see what the lay of the land is?" Horace continued.

Merlothrien stepped through the liquefied rock. "Well that was something rather remarkable if I do say so myself"

Facing the Hobbit he said "go ahead master hobbit I feel I need not tell you to be careful and keep your mind window open please just to be sure"

"Now then" he said "Urthgar once we have all the party through, may I take a closer look at the gem to see what I'm able to glean from it? I'll take good care of it I promise"

Feral nodded at Horace’s suggestion.

"I will not be far behind you little one. If you run into trouble just yell." A faint gleam crossed Feral’s eyes as he replied to the Halfling. With that Feral positioned himself at the front of the group, falchions at the ready.

Tawl took a deep breath, and grimacing, plunged through the rock wall as quickly as he could.

"That was a fine swim if I do say so meself!" said Hammrin with excitement, "I'd pay dearly to do that in a vein of Mithril!"
Hammrin imagined what it would be like for a moment, then watched through each party members mind window as they too swam through the rock, smiling each time they did.

Hammrin began inspecting the broken ward until Horace and Feral volunteered to scout ahead. "Aye we should be movin on carefully now," warned Hammrin. Seeing that there would probably not be any need to guard the flank of the party for a while, Hammrin followed after the scouts. He stayed back far enough so that Horace would not hear his clumsy footsteps. Going a little slower than Horace and Feral, he gleaned any information that the walls would allow as he passed through the corridor.

Urthgar grinned, he was seeming to come out of himself a little. “Well then, we shall have to see if we can find some of your precious Mithril then, although I will not waste the power until I am certain our goal is attained.” Chuckling, he turned and ruffled Karl's hackles, much to the large hounds obvious chagrin!!

Horace moved ahead, quietly and carefully. He was slow moving as he studied the floor, walls and ceiling ahead of him. The rest of the party, Feral at its head, waited for him to get far enough ahead so that any noise they made would not jeopardize Horace’s stealthy approach.

The passage bent to the left in a gentle curve. After around 500 feet the white marble hallway widened outwards again to reveal another ward room much the same as the one that had just been vacated by the party. Elenugeth, who had been guarding the party’s rear, moved up to the join the hobbit in searching the room for any secret exits. They found none so Horace continued on through the room. Again, the passageway took a slightly curved course until, 500 feet further on, another ward room emerged from the darkness. This room was searched too but nothing was found there either.

As the air grew staler and heavier the party trudged on, passing wards as they went. The general course of the passageway described a huge circle, seeded with wards. Finally the regular monotony was broken about 300 odd feet past a ward room. The passageway led on as normal but there was a branch off on the left that headed down. Horace and Elenugeth spent some time checking the junction but it looked safe to them. Again the hobbit crept ahead, searching as he went.

The corridor kept going down and down. The group followed a discrete distance behind as the scout descended. After 3500 feet, a faint pin prick of green light could be seen ahead. Horace slinked away another 500 feet before he could make out shapes in the light. It wasn’t until he was 300 feet away from them that he could identify a group of stationary figures. His mind window revealed 12 humanoids, some dwarven but mostly humans. They were all naked but armed with bone clubs. They wore the same slack jawed expresssions as Ox and all had their hearts missing.

Behind them, about 100 feet away where the ground leveled out, was a crossroads, the walls were covered in green fungi that was the source of the green light.