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[howandwhy99]

Pellets flew out of the darkness ahead. The party was under attack! Darius pointed forward and said that seven barkers had returned with slings. Half the group loosed bowshots into the darkness ahead. None were heard to strike. Darius lit one of his arrows off of Dalin's torch and fired at the barkers intending to give the rest a clear view of the targets. WHOOSH! The arrow missed the small figure and ignited the bat guano instead. A pylon of red flame seared over the seven figures difficult to see because of night blindness. Barks, yips, and yelps came from the figures aflame.

The fire began to grow larger burning out its fuel as it went. It was estimated the small figures were 120' distant. Darius, Dalin, and Ben ran forward firing while Kayla, Dram, and Mirel hung back firing missiles and pellets of their own. As the circle grew wider the barkers tried to retreat from it. They began howling now even louder than before. Fearful Brother Ben yelled for a retreat to steer clear of the flame. Darius, Dram, and Dalin kept rushing closing to within 30 feet. Spooked by the flames and woken by the howls a seemingly infinite number of bats descended all at once filling nearly every empty space.

All were lost within a flurry of bats for a couple of minutes as vision was obscured. The circle of fired advanced further outward forming a ring with black charred ground within its center. Members of the party continued to use what weapons they had at hand to swing back at the bats surrounding them. When they began to thin out the group could be seen again scattered about the room. Many had retreated while others had jumped through the flame wall. The barkers were nowhere to be seen. It was presumed they had headed up the central exit tunnel were they seemed to have attacked from. The flame circle slowly burned itself out as those who were outside of it backed into the boulder alcoves near the far entrance wall. The party checked each other over for damage and discarded what equipment was destroyed by the flame.

After regrouping, the band headed into the tubular cave. It was about 10' in diameter and had strangely smooth sides. Even the footprints of the barkers were difficult to follow, but Darius did his best. Continuing at great length Darius noticed the cave gently sloping upward. He said it was due to his dwarven upbringing in the great mountains to the East. They were even further East than the forest surrounding the Keep and Outposts. After about 1/4 mile of walking, light was spotted ahead. It was daylight.

The sight that greeted them upon exiting the cave was a kind one. The cave opened out of the side of the very top of a high hill. The top of this hill was covered in grey-black, slate-like rock which kept most of the trees from growing on it. Surrounding the group on all sides was slow rolling hills blanketed with a forest of trees as far as the eye could see. No sun was in sight, but the ambient light shining through white pillowy clouds in the sky above lit up the land. Fresh air once again filled the band's lungs. Checking for tracks Darius had to admit that somehow he had lost the barkers. Older tracks could be spotted leading out about 15', but after that point the rock precluded any further searching. Darius suspected that some of the smaller crevasses in the cave near its start could have been of adequate size to fit the barkers, if they had tried to hide from the group. Ben made a mental note to be on guard during their return trip.

Darius took a quick look at the tunnel exit as Dalin, Dram and Mirel looked for tall trees to climb to find their bearings and possibly the outpost. Darius noted that the cave had narrowed to only 7' in diameter and the fact it seemed to have been formed by rushing water. The wisewoman Kayla remarked that it might have been formed from a geyser. Being such a high hill so strangely formed with grey-black slate at the top was suspicious enough. Not to mention having a cave entrance being at the top of such a hill. Seeing as the surrounding trees were missing the leaves off of one side it was possible the tunnel had launched water recently. They noticed the rock was wet upon the top of the hill and believed the geyser theory was correct. "No wonder no one had found this particular entrance into Quesquaton," Ben thought. Out in the middle of the wilderness even rangers would likely have no desire to climb into such a place. Lost in thought he did not notice the small groups of bats flying back into the cave mouth.