As Alton steps back off the ledge and begins descending, grasping the rope tightly, he works to fit himself between the two walls hoping to stem the gap with his body to make the descent easier yet he unbalances himself and he feels the rope slip in his hands for a moment
(1). With a surge of strength he halts himself, and hangs precariously for a moment. With a deep breath he continues his descent, this time he manages to easily stem his way down the remaining length of the rope
(2) and finds that as he reaches the end of the rope, the wall drops off behind him into a taller cavern
(3). Dangling for a moment, he hangs from the end of the rope and drops with a resounding thud as his boots hit the stone floor
(4). Standing alone in his small blot of light, Alton calls up, "I'm fine, although it is a bit dark down here."
Hearing that he made it alright, Jerran pokes his head over the edge, grins and pulls up the rope. Hoping to add to the length of the rope, he succeeds in adding another five feet or so to it, but with a testing tug by Bubbles the whole section he labored over unravels and he even manages to tear his own cloak into two
(5). With a beleaguered grumble, he attempts to rework his shoddy knots, but again he just can't manage to secure one piece to the next
(6). Finally, despite his fingers raw with the work, Jerran gets them all secured into one long piece, adding another ten feet to the rope with makeshift material
(7). "See! No problem," he says with a forced grin. Bubbles, unconvinced gives a rough yank on the makeshift rope but with a surprise the knots only seem to tighten and it seems for once Jerran did it right.
Meanwhile, down the bottom, Alton waits in his small sphere of light from the lantern, raising it to examine the cavern. What he sees catches him off guard, it seems that the stone has been worked, or at least partially. The cavern he is in seems to be more of a passageway, the chimney wall which had dropped off seems to have been carved away by tools, probably to widen it. To his left is a cave-in, apparently the wall gave way and flooded the tunnel with rock and debris, but to his right the tunnel continues into the darkness.
Dropping the end of the rope back over the edge, it snakes down till the tip of it dangles a few mere inches from the stone floor thirty feet below. Looking up, Alton gives it a sharp tug to again insure it's security, and waits for the next person to come clambering down. The rope swings a bit, and Alton can make out Eddie nimbly descending down the chimney and then the last few feet down the rope, until he stands next to Alton, a brief smile on his face
(8)
Bubbles look at those remaining up top, Kiylea, Ringly, Jerran and herself, who will go next?