Marek Thorn halts the line in the narrowing passage and snaps the recruits into a defensive weave. Two take the rear, two shade the side gaps, and two stay close to the Hooded Survivor. The dark ahead breathes cold stone and wet mineral air.
The Hooded Survivor
The walls shift here. If we spread out, it will split us.
Green Recruit One and Green Recruit Five crouch by the rear, scanning back toward the open chamber. Green Recruit Four and Green Recruit Six angle their bodies toward the side walls, listening. Green Recruit Two and Green Recruit Three hold tight near the Hooded Survivor, shields and shoulders close.
Marek Thorn studies the southern door and its iron fittings, searching for a keyhole, seam, or hidden latch.
The door is plain stone, but a narrow key slot waits in the frame beside the seam. Below it, fresh scuffs mark repeated use. The passage beyond remains dark, yet a second rhythm of footsteps seems to answer the dungeon's groan from farther in.
Green Recruit Six
Someone else is in here. Not just the dungeon.
The Green line tightens. Ahead lies the way deeper into the Dungeon of Colors, and whatever waits beyond the door is already moving.
“The southern door is locked, so the Green Paladin orders the team to retreat through the north door—the same door and passage they used to enter this chamber. They backtrack carefully toward the previous area, keeping their defensive formation intact. Two recruits lead, the Hooded Survivor remains in the protected center, the others cover the flanks, and two recruits guard the rear. The Green Paladin watches for traps, tracks, signs of pursuit, and any overlooked side route or clue along the passage they previously traveled.”
SUCCESS (Great Survival, rolled -1)
Marek Thorn gives the retreat in a low hand signal, and the wedge turns without breaking. The two front recruits backpedal first, shields angled, while the center stays tight around the Hooded Survivor.
Bootsteps whisper over old dust and cold stone. Marek checks the seams, the floor edges, and the wall joints as they pass the same stretch of passage they crossed before.
A hairline crack in the wall catches his eye, then widens into a narrow side slit where the stone has shifted on a hidden track.
Green Recruit Six
There. It moves when the walls breathe.
The passage gives a slow groan, and the slit opens into a tight branch tunnel, just wide enough for one person at a time. Cold air spills out with a faint mineral sting.
Marek keeps the formation intact, but the new branch now divides the route ahead from the safer way back. The Green line must choose whether to stay packed or send someone to test the opening.
✓ Quest Accepted
Return through the North Door
“[GB Team — Cave Entrance, Dungeon of Colors] The GB Paladin and 10 GB CR 0 fighters emerge through a portal at the Cave Entrance of the Dungeon of Colors. Their equipment bears Bulldog Red as the dominant color, with Arch Black borders and Chapel Bell White GB insignia on shields, banners, and tabards. The GB Paladin halts the group just inside the cave. Two fighters guard the portal, two inspect the cave floor and nearby passages for tracks, traps, markings, and signs of recent travel, and the remaining six form a protected main column around the Paladin. GB does not yet know about the Green Team, Alton Cross’s death, the destroyed Red force, or the Green Team’s northward retreat. Begin with a cautious inspection of the cave entrance before the GB Team chooses a route deeper into the dungeon.”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled -1)
The branch tunnel breathes colder than the main passage. Marek’s quick scan catches boot-scuffs in the dust, a shallow scrape at the threshold, and no fresh trap cords. The cave floor answers plainly, but the effort costs him a sting of grit in one eye.
Green Recruit Six
Fresh passage. Recent, too.
Beyond the slit, the corridor splits into two dark veins, one slanting deeper, one curving back toward the chamber they left. The wedge tightens at the sight, and the rear guard braces as the old stone groans again.
Marek Thorn
The dust is disturbed from both directions.
The Hooded Survivor
We are being split on purpose, or the dungeon is doing it for us.
A faint clatter rolls from the left-hand branch, small and metallic, then dies. The sound draws every face toward it, while the safer route back waits behind them like an answered question.
Green Recruit Two
Orders, Paladin?