"I knew this was a bad idea. Should've told the man to forget about that keepsake and get over it." Here she was, who knows how deep underground, crawling about in twisting tunnels and passages in the darkness. It all started back on the plains, when she was travelling with a caravan across the typical trade routes. They made a stop nearby the mountains and some of the men were feeling a bit adventurous, hiking up past the marked trails into the woodlands. Two of them found the remains of some ruins built into the face of the rock. The cliff overhang had sheltered them from the elements and the carved structures bore little signs of erosion. Thinking they'd strike it rich, the men found their way into the Umbral Depths. Soon enough they ran into the local wildlife, and hightailed back to the surface. Unfortunately one of them dropped something as they escaped, and it just so happened to be an old neckerchief tied to an engraved metal pin. It wasn't even silver or some rare type of metal–just a piece of brass and iron.

On any other trip the thought of bothering to find it wouldn't have crossed her mind, but the man was stubborn and insisted on going back for it. He said it was some kind of good luck charm or somewhat. The only way to convince him to stay put in the wagon was by convincing him that she'd go get it for him herself. Without any other way to fake it, she ended up going down the ruined passage for real, and slipped on the way down. When she was back on solid ground she found it was a one-way tunnel; the hole she had fallen down was far too high to climb back up even with a rope and grappling hook. That left her with the only choice but to find an alternative way up out of these caves. Shiloh liked nature, she had even grown up in a cave in the side of a mountain. But what she didn't like were underground tunnels when she had no knowledge of the nearest exit.

The caverns were dark and damp, and the air smelled stale. She really hoped there weren't any noxious fumes or toxic vapors where she was, or else she might never see the light of day ever again. At one point she had used her tinderbox to light her torch, but once she saw how narrow some of the ledges were she had to put it out and rely on her senses instead. If something were to jump out at her she would need both hands to defend or grab onto the nearest handhold for safety. With her shirt pulled up over her nose, she tapped the ground ahead with her broad sword to hear if it was stable. The only good thing about these enclosed tunnels was the enhanced amplification of the tiniest sounds, which informed her of her surroundings. In the distance she saw something glowing, but she wasn't exactly eager to approach it. Who knew what could be lurking in the darkness?

Synthesis didn't even know she was lost. She had entered the caves some hour ago and had been crawling around carelessly ever since. She had used the simple spell of Parvpora's Sight to allow her to see in the dark and also been very carefull to take the wider passage if she ever got the choice. Because of this, she had yet to become claustophobic or afraid.
She was here having heard a large party of men traveling in the other direction boast about their finds in a very easy section of the Umbral Depths. From what she could gather, they they gone in there in pairs to explore and each come out with as much glittering treasure as they could fit in their bags. Indeed their bags had looked bulging to the young girl and Synthesis' imagination had run wild with dreams of never having to beg again. What's more, in an effort to impress each other, they had claimed the tunnels were "safe enough for a child" and "so easy they had been able to navigate it with only their sense of direction". None of them dared to admit to the harships they had faced in the darkness for fear they would turn out to be the only one. In other word, it had been all lies, unbenownst to the naive evesdropper.
As such, it wan't until the spellwork on her eyes began to unravel that she found herself becoming worried. She had been moving for quite some time and come across nothing of any interest and she hadn't exactly been keeping track of the way she came. She made her way to the edge of the passageway she had been traversing and puller her staff from where she had been holding it with her folded wings and untied her bag from her hip. She opened it up and pulled out some things.
First she took a swig of water from her canteen before opening up her Druid Spellbook. She flicked through the pages until she chanced upon a picture of a ball of flames. She had been planning to learn this spell sooner rather than later, anyway. With the remainder of her enhanced sight, Synthesis read and reread how to conjure and control fire in a safe, useful and sustainable way. As soon as her vision faded to black, she focused of practicing the spell from memory, until she could maintain a small orb of flickering red light anywhere within a metre of her person. Moving or changing it's strength required attention, but for the most part she was pleased to find herself able to think about other things whilst maintaining it. That must have taken another hour and the new light Synthesis had mastered cast shadows that made her skin prickle and her mind buzz with discomforting thoughts. She decided to close her eyes for a few moments rest. After everything, she reckoned she had earned it. The ball still flickered a little above her crown, lulling her even further with the noise of a cozy hearth.

There was a flicker of light in the midst of the darkness. Shiloh knew better than to approach without caution. She had heard of creatures which used parts of their bodies as a lure for those that sought warmth and light, but she wasn't close enough to try tossing a stone in it's direction. Besides, those kinds of beasts would be able to tell the difference between a falling rock and a potential meal. It was hard to gauge distance in the dark, so she clicked her tongue a few times and listened to the reverberations of the echo. Closing her eyes she activated her aura sight. The path she was on would continue up ten meters ahead until it reached a rock wall. It would then turn, and twist perpendicular, then pass by something further away. Shiloh didn't know what exactly was over there, but it was alive and on the ground. She would need to draw closer to determine it's shape.

Shuffling across the passageway, she stopped when she could see the source of the light. It was an orb of light, clearly magical in origin. Below it was a humanoid figure. Standing up, she drew her sword while her black and silver shield rested on her back. Was that one of the 'drow' she had heard of that stalked these chambers? She couldn't be sure, but whatever it was–it was no dwarf. The faint light cast by the light orb revealed stalactites above and a cluster of bats a few meters away. Good thing she had put out her torch. Bats only swooped when disturbed, though they were the least of her concerns. Using her broadsword she scraped it against the cavern wall in a rhythmic pattern and awaited the person's reaction. She didn't want to risk calling out to a potential enemy.

Suddenly, a loud scraping sound of metal on stone jerked Synthesis from her uneasy doze. It was far too precise a noise not to have been made a living thing and her eyes flicked open in fright. She scrambled to stand, picking up her staff as she did so, and only narrowly missed a direct blow to her head by a stalactite.
Above her, the ball of flame rose to match her movement. She was confused by it for a moment and then took a few moments to regain control of it. She commanded it to sweep a wide arc around her in a scanning motion - much wider than she had been able to manage before she dozed off - and then halted it when she caught sight of another figure crouching at a turning just down the tunnel.
Synthesis could do little but stare. It was a young, lithesome woman who held a glinting sword out from her body as she scratched it across the stone wall. Her eyes were precise and calculating, and the young Druid felt very much like she was being judged; sized up a if she were prey.
She became aware that her bag and things were still scattered around her on the floor and she slowly crouched again, never taking her eyes off the other as she began feeling for her things and placing them in her bag one by one.
"Who are you?" She asked, all thoughts of etiquette gone from her mind.

Shiloh stiffened when the alerted figure made the sphere of light sweep the area. Thankfully instead of feeling her flesh petrify it only cast shadows. She then answered in reply. "That should be my question. The fact you asked who I was instead of launching an attack tells me you're not one of those drow. What's someone like you doing so far below the surface?" So this girl was a spellcaster. She held her defensive stance as they watched each other's movements. Slowly, she put her weapon away. "You might want to be careful with that thing, there's bats a few meters behind you hanging from the ceiling. They're unnaturally large, and I don't know if they're the blood-drinking or insect-eating variety."

With the light from the orb of flame, Shiloh was able to get a better picture of the caverns they were in. The walls were rippled as opposed to jagged, so it must have been carved by water at some point. There were no large holes in the walls that hinted to nests of creatures or vermin, and very little in terms of plant life. There was moss and lichen on the stones and the occasional clump of fungi but that was it. From the echo of their voices she'd say the cave ceiling was less than seven feet where the girl was standing, and around twenty in places where the ground was low. The narrow passage she had been walking upon was edged with stalagmites growing from below, forming a sort of natural railing. It was a good thing she didn't fall. But the most important thing was there were no cobwebs or sounds of hissing. The air was breathable here, so they might not be deep enough to hit pockets of noxious gases. Maybe this girl knew how to leave, as she had come from another direction. Still no sign of that man's keepsake, as expected. 

Synthesis felt much more relaxed as soon as the other female put away her sword. She dared to look down long enough to pull her bag closed and attach it via its strings to a strip of material around her waste which he wore for just that purpose. She didn't mind the query about her identity but wasn't in a hurry to answer either, seeing as her own question had been evaded so obviously. She had asked first, she thought childishly.
She lowered her light until it hovered just above the stone ground, peering over her sholder to confirm that there were infact many bats dangling covertly from the ceiling. She couldn't be sure, but she could have sworn she saw a wing shift to cover one of their beady little eyes. It made her heart accelerate a little faster. They certainly were large and as far as she knew there were precious few insects down here. That left only one other possible food source for them.
"My name is Synthesis." She relented, "I'm down here to explore. Now, who are you? What are you doing down here?"

When asked of her identity again, Shiloh sighed in annoyance as she pulled her shirt over her nose and mouth again. "Someone on a fool's errand, that's who. The man can forget getting his neckerchief-pin back, I'm getting out of here." She then remembered that the girl probably meant she wanted to know her name, and continued. "Name's Shiloh. I came with a caravan and one of the men lost something when they went spelunking. I told him I'd get it back for him, but now I've gotten myself into this fine mess. Should've just knocked him out and left him tied up in the wagon instead of trying to pretend I'd help him." She rubbed her shoulder, feeling a bit of bruising there. Nothing too serious thanks to her leather armor, but she had fallen down quite a distance.

"Since I can't backtrack from where I came, I'll be on my way to find the nearest exit. I'm missing daylight already." Keeping an eye on the bats, she trudged towards Synthesis and planned to go past her up the pathway. As she came up she crouched low, and took care not to disturb or draw the attention of the creatures. It was sort of like moving like a tortoise, with her shield protecting her back. It was over her knapsack so should anything grab at her she wouldn't be yanked back. That was how the man had lost the pin in the first place. When she was close enough she saw the caster's eyes were red, and felt her alertness spike briefly. Her expression, poker-face like usual did not betray her thoughts, but her eyes did flash for a moment as the mental alarm was triggered. To Synthesis her movements might seem odd in keeping so close to the ground, especially considering she wasn't short. 

Shiloh's speach was brief, informative, practical and completely cold. Synthesis watched as Shiloh made to move past her immediately after she'd finished, feeling distinctly like she had been dismissed. The other sounded and acted disinterested but also came across as tense and guarded, her body language silently warning "keep your distance". Despite all the signs, however, Synthesis allowed Shiloh past and then turned to follow, her fireball trailing behind her like a neglected pet. She was beginning to feel that there was no treasure down here and at least this way she'd have company while they made their way to the surface. She concluded it would be at least an hour on the way back because that was how long she'd spend walking downwards through the intricate web of tunnels.
"Maybe I can help you find whatever your looking for?" she suggested," Some trinket of a friend of yours? It'll be at least an hour to get out of here and and with two pairs of eyes, we'll be twice as likely to find it on the way out."
Synthesis tactically ommited the fact that she had no more of an idea where she was than Shiloh because she was still in denial. She didn't want to face that reality yet, which was probably for the best because otherwise she might panic. Also, she wanted to sound confident in front of this stranger, like she knew what she was doing. Synthesis always liked to get on people's good side. She liked to help people - no doubt about it - but she also liked it when people helped her, which was probably the more common occurence given her soft nature and low skill level.

"Forget about the trinket, it's not something worth risking your life over. I only said I'd do the man a favor to keep him from getting himself killed, only to end up in the exact situation I was trying to avoid. Right now getting out alive's my first priority, and even more so since I don't know the lay of the area." Shiloh appreciated the girl's offer to help, even if she didn't sound like it. But she had no desire to look for a piece of cloth and metal that held more sentimental value than anything else. Stopping, Shiloh wiped her hands on her shirt and licked her index finger, then held it up to test the direction of any air currents around. "Where's the airflow? There has to be a place for it to ventilate somewhere…" she muttered to herself, grumbling.

While she was checking for the slightest sign of a breeze, her mind was already thinking of various ways to mark where she had been should some of the tunnels loop back on themselves. She needed something that wouldn't be easily removed but recognizable if she saw it again. Animals often used glands to produce substances and mark their territory by scent, but that was completely useless for a human. Fires would die out after burning up the fuel, she had no chalk or paint to use, and making marks in the walls was easier said than done. A sword was nowhere near as effective of a tool on rock as a pickax, and she had no interest in ruining her weapons. Making sounds of frustration, she frowned as she racked her brain for a better solution. Deciding to go out on a limb, she asked Synthesis a question which she didn't expect to receive a definite answer. 

"So Synthesis, do you remember how you came down here? There's no guarantee that we won't run into anything on the way back, but at least there's an exit to the surface."

Synthesis didn't like the way Shiloh spoke of their situation as if they were actually in danger. In response she could feel fear wriggling in her gut like a worm that had just woken and begun to feed on her morale. Yet her mind was still working hard to rationalize in any way it could that things weren't that bad. It was just caves; a little dark but otherwise harmless.
"Well," she replied with suprising calm in her voice, "I always took the larger tunnel on my way down so we should never end up anywhere narrow." As if in responce to her words, a large passage to the right came into view. It was also slightly inclined. "That way looks about right." She directed her little fireball to whizz up to it with a flick of her wrist. She couldn't quite make it reach yet but it got her point across nonetheless. She felt extreamly proud of the small acomplishment, thinking that it was the sort of thing a true mage would do casually.
"How long have you been down here?" She asked, "I've been down here about two hours." She gave a small, empty laugh. It wasn't really funny but she wanted to try and keep things light.