All turning to the mountain, the more dignified Dragonborn, Caswell Nemmonis, said to the group, “Shall we?” No one responded vocally, but there was consensus amongst the group.  

So they began the climb up Mount Hotenow to find a way inside. Taking it slow, each one doing it alone, as none were well-acquainted with each other yet. They were careful to put their feet in steady footholds while avoiding stray clumps of magma occasionally spurting from the mountain; it needed silent concentration.

Almost 180 metres up, they reached a decently-sized landing at the mouth of a cave, which looked to turn into a tunnel into the mountain. Caswell was the only one not to take a rest after the climb. Instead, he took a torch out of his backpack and carefully lit it from a fresh patch of fiery lava. Walking to the cave entrance, he held the light out in front of him. A pickaxe handle and a couple of broken lanterns were scattered just inside. Caswell spoke to others without turning around, “It’s an old mining tunnel, let’s not break for long. There are more goblins in these mines than hairs in the Mad Wizard Halaster’s beard.”

“Who?”, asked Kaley Zahici, the kind-eyed human, as they picked themselves up off a rock. 

“Halaster,” Caswell replied. “A wizard with more power than sense.”

Kaley shrugged. “And apparently more beard than goblins in these mines.”

Caswell turned slightly, the torchlight catching the edge of his reddish scales. “A wizard who carved a dungeon so vast it swallowed armies.” He faced the tunnel again. “A man who has gone mad with magic. Trust me, you should hope you never meet him.”

“Yeah, well, the man has never met me,” retorted Sylwester Olzana, the ruggedly decisive one, who had stood up and walked up to the cave tunnel entrance. Then, mimicking Caswell’s tone, he gestured toward the tunnel, “Shall we?”

Caswell looked unimpressed at being mocked, much less by a human, but spoke no more. Instead, he simply looked around at the other two who were also getting up and coming over. 

So just as Caswell had advised, the group didn’t break for long and they entered the darkness of the old mining tunnel. Using Caswell’s torch to lead the way, following in single file, no one was able to see a sneaky goblin sticking to the outer tunnel walls as they passed. 

Coincidentally, they did hear a strange noise that was not from a goblin, but something coming from a small cavern to the left. 

The question was whether this motley crew wanted to investigate… or keep walking.