Subeden day 34, the stone mouth incident

I was surveying the wind directions and rates over the lands that suround the main camp when I was drawn closer to the cavern wall by an unusual disturbance in the general southbound airflow. There I was perplexed by the unstable and turbulant flow coming from a man sized opening in the rock. It was not continuous. Rather ondulating, taking air in and out in an perturbed yet rythmic cycle, a breathing motion. Despite my curiosity for the phenomenon I did not attempt to scale the short distance to the opening but noted my finding for a later inspection.

A while later, in the midst of a conversation about the ideal placement for our recently aquired wind power generators there was a brief mention of the now called Stone mouth. We agreed that Evan would investigate it further in the next work day. He was surprisingly reluctant about this little adventure and maybe if I hadn’t been so focused on the new power systems at that time I would have proposed my help. Although I’m not sure this would have lessened the repercussions of a trip back to this unsettling place.

We’re now long into day 36’s morning by surface dweller’s standards and Evan had been gone for a considerable amount of time. When I saw his heavy silhouette emerging over a hill nearby I could immediately tell something was off. Rushing closer to him I realized he didn’t seem aware of my very noisy presence. Like an entranced ghost he kept going towards Camp and there I stood in confusion.

I was able to lie him down but no words would come out of him. In fact when I brought some water to his lips I realized his jaw was firmly shut and his entire face was frozen in a tense state of dread.

While I waited powerless for his return amongst the living, I could only conjecture on the reason of his shock. This was not an easy task and many things in the depths can freeze a man’s blood to the point of no return. It could have been, I guessed, a Hollow. This would explain both his prolonged abscence and the distorted airflow. A deep dive in a Hollow like this can certainly be terrifying, especially the very first time.

Now I can only wait and hope that life would infuse his miserable shadow again. Hopefully before she arrives. I will refrain from visiting the stone mouth again. Not until I get a full report from Evan.