Jannis

"Thi... this should be… the spot..." Wheezed Jannis as his eyes chanced upon cave’s opening. The Canid Beastkin was no stranger to arduous hikes, he spent his early years transporting research documents between the Brightharbor Academy and neighboring cities, but his current tenure with the Hom Guild has afforded him a respectfully sedentary lifestyle. Dabbing off sweat from his brow and jowls, Jannis set his pack down at the cave entrance for a well-deserved breather before setting forth into the unknown.

"Oh, it's just a short walk from the southern trade road!" Jannis muttered between swigs from his canteen, "I am going to have words with Salus after this."

Jannis was making his way south to the frontier duchy of Vermis when an academy familiar delivered a letter from said colleague. The contents of the letter described a cave system recently opening to the surface, south of Llynbrith, leading to a previously undiscovered Scriptsmith ruin. The written directions to the cave entrance were, in a word, terrible, and ultimately wasted an hour of daylight needed to make sure he could safely return to the Eastgate Waystation before nightfall. After confirming, and marking, his location on a few personal maps of Llynbrith, Jannis pulled out a brush and a jar filled with a clear liquid. He marked the cave entrance with a glyph before brushing one of his rings. The glyph and ring briefly flashed a dull amber in unison, and Jannis began his descent.

The stone lining the pathway had no signs of erosion, confirming Jannis' theory that this cave system wasn’t preexisting within the surrounding environment. The gradual elevation change was a welcomed surprise as the light dimmed further in, and Jannis struck up a torch once he felt the ground below him level out. What greeted him was not a cave as much as it was a series of gaps between rocks. The still air informed him there shouldn't be any other openings as he squeezed past a particularly tight opening, making sure to mark it with the same glyph as the entrance. After a claustrophobic shuffle through a numerous additional gaps, Jannis noticed an opening in the rocky wall exposing a pitch-black void. Sticking the head of the torch through the opening revealed his prize. He pulled the torch back and propped it against nearby stone before taking his backpack and pushing it through the hole. The pack landed with a soft, echoed thud before Jannis maneuvered into the large chamber.

After only a few steps Jannis found himself in the presence of an ancient Scriptsmith settlement. Panning his torch across the wall he just passed through, he confirmed the cuneiform carved on the top and bottom matched rubbings taken from earlier sites uncovered in centuries past. This was a momentous occasion, all known settlements this close to the surface have either been fully discovered, ransacked and destroyed by looters, or dangerously close to encroaching rotweave. This was also the first time Jannis ever had the privilege of setting foot within a settlement. He wasted no time pulling out thinned vellum sheets and a charcoal rubbing clay to copy as much detail as possible for this initial visit. Jannis was thankful the Scriptsmiths were a people who also valued light, as he placed his torch in a metal sconce affixed to the wall.

Taking a step back, Jannis took in the sight with his own eyes. Along with the cuneiform, icons of various Scriptsmith citizens lined the wall as a timeless display of daily life. Through these images, Jannis felt they lived no differently than the myriads of groups today.

'It's enough to make one cry' 

Jannis instinctively wiped away what he thought was a tear on his upper jaw. Gazing up to an actively dripping stalactite, Jannis surmised he must be under Llynbrith, or at least near the coastline for water to seep through. As Jannis moved back toward the entrance, he could feel the dullest rumble opposite him, further into the settlement. Without warning, the rumbling transformed from a feeling to a whole-body experience as the entrance chamber roared from stone sliding on itself and jostling every loose object in random directions. Reaching the climax, the stalactite offered an answer to Jannis previous theory by crashing down and bringing a deluge of water upon him.

"Oof!" He cried out, as something solid, but not stone, landed down upon him. The water ceased immediately after this object came through, and in the light of the single torch Jannis found himself looking down upon a small individual.

"Are you alright, young master?" Jannis called out as he wringed out his damp cloak "That was a mighty fall you took!"

The stranger coughed and wheezed as they brought themselves up to stare back at Jannis. A stout figure stood confidently in front of him, facial hair belying his Braeling kinship.

"Aye, I'm fine, I think." the stranger remarked, checking themselves for injuries, "Though I'm certainly no one’s master."

"My apologies, just a common courtesy for anyone I'm not familiar with." Jannis responded in kind, "If I may ask, were you on the lake right before...?"

Jannis pointed up sheepishly, he didn't want to make any offense to a potential companion.

"I was," the Braeling looked at Jannis with suspicion, "why do you ask? Better yet, who are you?"

"You're right, I was getting ahead of myself!" Jannis straightened himself and extended a white-furred hand, "Ahem! My name is Jannis Pyrene, archaeologist for the Hom Guild."

The Braeling paused for a moment before cautiously taking the hand

"Gwyn..." 

The pause told Jannis all he needed to know.

"Nice to make your acquaintance, Gwyn." he said, giving a single firm shake before letting go, "I understand this is all very strange. If you'd like, the entrance I took to get in here is just over yonder, I would be more than happy to get you out of here... oh bother..."

Jannis turned and pointed toward the opening to find it filled top-to-bottom with rubble. He rushed over to check for any loose stones that could be pulled out to reopen the path, but the few pieces he could clear out just revealed more rock behind them.

"Was that the only way out?" Gwyn asked.

"The only way out I'm currently aware of," Janus replied "Unless you can get that hole the ceiling to open back up?"

"Huh, good one." Gwyn couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the Canid's retort. "Well, my day can't get any worse, where do you suppose we go next?"

"Well, if this is anything like the other settlements I've read about..." Jannis walked toward the center of the chamber and pointed to a blank slab opposite the cave system, "That should take us to the antechamber!"