Fourth Adventure 04.1: Zeiss, Ashakel, Hanuel, Z, and Caladrius at the Mine

It is currently roughly 11 PM at night, a clear and cloudless night. The stars are twinkling brightly in the sky, but the moon as not yet risen. The mine is, as you ask Snarg prior to leaving, about a two hour walk at casual pace south, southeast.

"Let's head out then."

Zeiss took his horse with him but kept a moderate pace.

Hanuel hopped on Dara and followed after Zeiss, keeping a watchful eye open since others likely couldn't see as well in the dark.

As you trundle along slowly the moon slowly arcs into the sky, lighting the edges of the oasis as they slowly fade the further out you get, regressing into red and rocky terrain. Hanuel manages to spot the mine first, not built into a hill or mountain it looks from this distance to be more like a hole in the ground, and there are thin cart rails coming up out of it and trailing out several feet before terminating.

Zeiss stopped his horse and got back on the ground.

"...I could probably scout and give the signal to Hanuel when it is good to follow me. Unless you have a better plan Z?"

Z stares at the mine for a minute. "Go ahead. Best be cautious, if our friend is hiding there he won't be friendly, and he's had plenty of time to prepare."

"Okay then."

Zeiss crouched and started to approach the mine, carefully.

Spoiler:

"Here Zeiss. Take this." Hanuel hands Zeiss a mask. "It's got 12 charges of Scan 2. No use taking risks with any traps they may have set."

Before he could take a step, Hanuel gave him a mask. Not his style but if it could help him...

"Thank you..."

He resumed his approach.

Zeiss:
On approach to the mine you realize it is in fact dug at an acute angle into the ground. There are still some rails leftover from when it was active, but you find no traps nor other threats immediately. You do however hear some noises coming from further within.
Based on the style and design of the mine you imagine this was a gold mine at one point, and based on its railing style it was probably a fairly small one all things considered.

There were some noises. He could not identify what kind. Zeiss signalled to the others that they could come.

Ashakel slowly approached Zeiss, being as quiet as he could. The palm of his hand was resting on the handle of his sword.

"Lets head in. Slowly." Hanuel whispered, before training their eyes and ears on the entrance to the mine.

Zeiss gave a sign to his colleagues to stop where he was. He would continue to scout ahead.

"I'll tell you when to come in" whispered Zeiss.

Spoiler:

Zeiss:
As you shift further in the sound becomes slightly more distinct, like the sound of something rough scraping against something else. Not metallic nor ore-sounding though.

After several seconds the troll nods at Hanuel. "Let's follow him, he's going to get into trouble."

Zeiss stopped and listened. He then turned around to signal to the others to come and warn them of the sound. Requesting that they stay silent, he whispered :

"I'll go check what makes that noise. If I'm not back in less than two minutes, you continue forward."

He then walked towards the noise.

Zeiss:
As you get closer to the noise you start to realize it sounds close due to a reverberation effect. In actual fact you are not certain which tunnel it is coming from, and there are three options. The sounds are going fairly rhythmically, and you hear a few gasped breaths as well. It is likely whoever is doing whatever will be done soon.

Ashakel turned to Z. "Do you have any idea what could this sound be?"

Z, very quietly, whispers "Yeah. It sounds like someone hauling explosives out of or into something."

Whispering, Ashakel nods to the party. "Let's get in, eh? They might be creating a diversion by blowing up the mine!"

It was unlikely that there was another exit than the one Zeiss was at. He didn't know what that sound was, but he preferred to wait for this person to come out by himself. So he went back to rejoin the others.

"There is someone doing something in there. We should ambush him when he comes out."

"Z said they might be hauling explosives! Shouldn't we stop them?"

"If Z is right, and it is explosives, it might not be safe to wait too long." Hanuel loaded one of their crossbows with a signal bolt, and hooked it back onto their belt.

"Explosives...?"

This was bad. It seemed like that person was almost finished with his task. If they went back inside...

"I don't think we have time. He sounded like he was almost finished with his work. And the tunnel branch out in three different ways. There is too much risk and no lives are at risk. Let's ambush him."

Zeiss prepared his rapier.

"But we must capture him alive."