"Is there anything else there...? Are they any hidden niches or levers...?"
"Not from the looks of things, no... It just stops... Obviously unfinished, but it opens up a lot of questions... Who do you think did this...?"
I kept the HoN Co. idea to myself to avoid an unnecessary panic, and began to head upstairs. Regardless of whether anyone still lived and worked here or not, there had to be some evidence back in the mass of books above us that indicated what this person was doing! Even if it meant sitting there decoding each one using the pig-pen cipher and then enrolling AMPHIS to work with us...
"Where do we start though? There are hundreds of hand-written books back there? How do we know which ones we are the ones that contain the information we need...?"
"We don't... If we can find a system that this person used to store them, then maybe we can have a decent guess at where to begin... We'll definitely need to get AMPHIS down here though... He can help to translate the Latin, and hopefully work out the system used..."
Reaching the entrance to the hidden passage, I was a little dazzled by the bright lights, a little worried by the idea that whoever had lived here had returned! No-one was there though, and I settled down in the chair in the corner... It was then that I realised something that should have struck a chord with me instantly! There was a book atop the table, laid open on a page half-filled with pig-pen cipher symbols... Leaning forward, I examined the book, and realised that this must be the most recent work... A small bottle of ink close to it was exposed, and tipping it to one side, the ink within moved to settle horizontally... Odd... It hadn't dried... That meant that someone must still be around close by... I pointed this out to UOPETA and THEROS, and they approached the table.
"He's right you know. If this place had been abandoned then the ink would have dried out by now... Someone still takes residence here, we need to be careful..."
It was now that I decided to voice my suspicions about HoN Co. maybe finding us, and trying to find a way into our base from beneath us, but UOPETA dismissed it immediately.
"Completely impossible. The passage that has been started goes in the wrong direction, and heads down. We're way deeper than our base, so they would need to build a passage going up. No, wherever that passage is meant to lead, the person has still to get to it..."
"Well we should be careful then... They could return at any time! What should we do for now?"
"For now... We head back to base and inform the others. We fill them in about what we've found, and try and bring AMPHIS with us so he can translate the Latin. There's little else we can do for now apart from that to be honest."
UOPETA flicked the lever behind the bookshelf, beside the table, and the screeching of wood against stone indicated the closing of the hidden passage. We headed towards the entrance, remembering to close the door behind us. As we headed out, we walked past something that confused us further, and amazed us! Right outside the entrance, hidden in a small niche, was a small deposit of diamond! It had been extracted more or less entirely, but had been left in the niche... As we didn't have any tools with us, we had to improvise, but with a bit of budging, kicking and scraping, and a few bruises and scrapes later, we managed to free the diamond from where it was stuck. Carefully and cautiously, and between the three of us, we managed to carry it back up the stairs past the lava flow, and back up to the main shaft. We took a small rest, before continuing, eventually deciding it would be better to leave it with the rest of the iron ore in storage. We then made our way down towards the base, to inform the others about what we had found.
----
We've discussed our findings, at great length, and with varying attitudes and opinions as to the next step. The majority of us believe that this could be linked to the book that we have found, but the rest are cautious about progressing further. We suggested that there could still be people living there, based on the still-liquid ink. The tool marks on the walls were worn and weathered, but there was still a good chance that someone still lived and worked there...
"What about the passage? You said it led to a dead end... Do you know where it was meant to lead?"
"Not yet, but we've found a book that we're hoping that AMPHIS can translate. We also think a lot of the information contained there might help us, but we'd need AMPHIS again to decode, translate and order the books there. They all seem to be hand-written, using the pig-pen cipher and most likely translated into Latin."
"Well, it's up to AMPHIS, but we do need to get to the bottom of this. The point that Syeonyx raised about it being linked to HoN Co. still can't be quashed. We have little to go on, and to assume they're not linked could be a mistake. At this early stage, this could be the work of anyone. Just be careful; if it's an open tunnel structure, there could be Creepers or worse around there. Take your blowpipes with you. AMPHIS, are you comfortable going with them?"
"Yes, definitely! I'm as intrigued as everyone else to get to the bottom of this. Especially finding out where the passage is meant to lead to. Maybe there is a plan of action written in the books there."
"It's very likely; there are hundreds of books there, so there's bound to be some clue at least as to this person's intentions."
"That's settled then. Your four will go back to the shelter and uncover what you can. You three try to aid AMPHIS in any way possible, but try to mine some more iron as well."
"Well, there are two additional points of more minor significance, but the chamber that the shelter is close to contains mass deposits of iron! Not only that, but we found diamond as well, already partially extracted, which suggested someone intended to make use of it. Although, despite the unfinished tunnel, there were no tools around, nor where there any chests or containers where they could be kept..."
"Excellent! Anything you can extract that is of use to us is a bonus. As for the tools, they may have been taken by the person who lives there, which could mean they be close by. Just be careful."
Me, AMPHIS, THEROS and UOPETA all stood up and headed towards the rest area. Taking some food and drink with us in a bag, we set off out of the base towards the cliff mine. We couldn't determine how long we were going to be down there, but with it being late afternoon already, it was a waste of time to keep going back and forth between the shelter and the base. For extra protection I decided to take my bow and quiver... Just in case...
Syeonyx signing off
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