Víðarr had requested she lead the pack in exploring the crypt he intended they expand into, and though she wasn't sure she herself would've chosen this land as a prospective home, she trusted his judgment entirely. More than almost anyone else's, that was certain. That was why she was not just compliant but eager to lead a group to explore this place, to be completely certain this place was suitable for them to expand into - well, not just suitable, but safe. Truth be told closed-off spaces weren't her favorite, though she supposed this crypt, that seemed to lead deep beneath the mountains they called home, had tactical advantages too. Protection from the elements, no doubt plentiful dens, which was especially important given the litter that was just due to be born... she pursed her lips as they drew closer to the crypt's entrance, thoughtful as she came to a gradual halt. Maybe if they were exploring somewhere a little more predictable, spreading out completely might be a good idea, but in such tight quarters and with the unpredictability of the crypt, she thought sticking together might be best. Unless the crypt went in multiple directions, but even then she thought sticking together would be wise. Looking back to the wolves that were accompanying her, she spoke to them. "We should stick together for now. If we do separate, I'd like us to stay in pairs," she explained. "Keep an eye on the..." Kiela fumbled for a moment, struggling to find the word. Though her grasp of the native tongue was quite strong now occasionally she found herself at a loss for specific terms. "The walls and ceiling of the crypt. The rock, if it appears to be stable or not. Anywhere that looks like the walls might be crumbling, we should stay away from. Look for loose rocks on the ground if you can't see the walls well. We'll go together until the halls branch off - if they do - and then we can split up." Glancing from one wolf to the other to see their reactions, to see if anyone had anything to add or questions to ask, before she'd begin the journey into the crypt.

Lumine should not have been the first choice in attending the party for expansion into the crypts. The only reason she was even allowed to go was because she was going with a group of trusted wolves from the pack. Her father had said that as long as she stayed near Kiela, she would be okay and had only resolved to even saying yes after Lumine had pestered him for hours. It had been his fault really. Shouldn't have been discussing pack matters with mother in the den and within her ear shot. While her other siblings may not have been interested in listening, Lumine was. She had sat there, ears attentive, eyes never leaving her parents as they conversated about expanding into the crypts. Both had tried to tell her no, but those puppy eyes were... hard to say no to. As they approached the crypt, Lumine felt a shiver run down her spine. The entry to said crypt was honestly terrifying for a puppy. Dark, looming, full of cobwebs. Though it were summer, a cold draft whooshed up from below. The feeling of damp and musty pressure against her face had her nose wrinkling and her legs shaking slightly. She even went as far as to step a little closer to Kiela as they made their way further down into the crypt. She listened to the way their nails clicked against the slick stone. How their whiskers quivered in the darkness. It was dim, barely lit by some candles and torches brought in from others. Rats and even some snakes and lizards scurried along the walls where they couldn't be seen. She could hear them though. Their nails scratching, scales slithering, very creepy noises that had her second guessing her decision. It was Kiela's voice that had her courage returning. Both ears perk up as she turns her chin to look at the older woman. Oh thank goodness for sticking together! Lumine couldn't imagine traversing these twisting and confusing hallways alone. Her attention then turns up to the ceiling as Kiela mentions that some of the stone might become loose and fall. A dangerous predicament that surely her father should know about. "Is there a way we can fix the ceilings that want to fall?" Lumine asks, her voice small and quiet in the echoing hallway they stand in. It's not a pertinent question, but her puppy curiosity and fear beg for an answer. LUMINE TRYGG

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Róta thought she wouldn't need to say that she did not want to be entrusted with the kids after her own heartbreaking failure, yet here she was, with her brothers' children descending into a dangerous cramped space. At least, she wasn't expected to lead the expedition and babysit.

Nodding to show her understanding for Kiela's direction, she reached back a foot to kick the similar coloured child that ran into the back of her heels when she stopped. It was a miracle the kid had shut up when they came underground, but if his ears turned off with his mouth then he was going to run into trouble. No doubt in her mind.

"speech"

Green eyes were trained on the flame like tip of his Aunt's tail as the walls began to rise up around them and choke out the noise and the air of the outside world. It was eerie to the point it felt like trespassing to even think of setting foot here. Lumine was closer to the front of the group, and while he might have wanted to lunge and snap at her back, he knew if he did, Róta wouldn't hesitate to kick his ass from one end of the crypt to the other. She didn't treat the kids any differently to the way she treated the grown ups. But he loved the surly woman in the way that only small kids could. She looked like him, and had a cool donkey that let him climb on it's back. He was so caught up in his own little world that he almost missed Kiela's words, his Aunt kicking him soundly in the ribs to bring him back to earth. He darted forward to stand beneath her torso, his head poking out from between her front legs, waving tail whacking her knees. "There're a lot of rocks in here..." But she said they would go together. Maybe they could see what they were looking out for, and then it wouldn't be as confusing, but his Aunt seemed to know what was up.

If Kiela was being honest, her ideal scouting party wouldn't have included children, but they'd been allowed to join and she wasn't about to deny them. Maybe this place just had a slightly creepy aura to it - it felt like this place had once belonged to creatures long departed from this world. Though she had a tendency to be somewhat superstitious, she was finding herself less so as she got older, and she tried not to get too in her head about this place. Hard not to, though, given their immediate surroundings. Every sound they made echoed strangely off the walls, bouncing right back at them, the echoes only growing more ominous as they drew deeper into the crypt. Lumine's question, asked from right beside her, earned a thoughtful little hum from Kiela. Her thoughts were briefly interrupted by the chattering of a few rodents up ahead, scurrying between some small cracks in the stone floor beside them. "Maybe," she mused aloud. "I think it'd take a lot of work though. Probably not worth it. If we end up laying claim to this place, I think it'd be best if we marked off the unsafe passages and focused on the more stable ones." There seemed to be more than enough room here for the pack to expand into. It'd be a good shelter for the entire pack during harsh weather, a good place for whelping and to house the sick and elderly if necessary. "Here," she instructed them as they neared the end of a hallway that split into two different directions. She was grateful that Róta was keeping the pups in line while she led the group. Maybe splitting off wasn't such a great idea - it'd be difficult for them each to tend to one pup alone, and if something happened... well, no need to worry about that. "We'll stay together. This way looks promising." The walls here, and the ceiling, seemed quite stable - at least as far as she could see. Kiela led them to the right, following a long narrow corridor that opened up at the end to a large room. In the center of the room stood a large, rectangular tomb with what looked like a heavy lid, surely unable to be moved by any of them. It wasn't anything she recognized and she doubted anyone else would either. Though this place had a strange aura, it seemed quite usable, boasting a wide open space with walls that looked stable. Again she heard the sound of rodents hurrying away as they entered the room. It seemed the wolves weren't the only ones who'd taken a notice to this particular room.

With two children to wrangle, Róta was happy to do her best to keep the kids in line. With Steig planted firmly between her front legs, at least she knew he wasn't going to do anything he shouldn't without her having the opportunity to grab a hold of his tail. She tried to position herself in such a way as to keep the kids separated, if only for Lumine's sake, while still getting the task done that needed doing.

Kiela's idea of marking off unsafe passages made the most sense to her as well. This wouldn't be where they spent most of their time after all, it would be storage, and a safe space for the vulnerable to retreat to in times of need.

The path that Kiela led them down opened up into a room with a large flat stone in the middle. Not recognising it for what it was, Róta jumped up, her deep snuffles of the surface disturbing dust and setting her to sneezing. The place had a creepy air, and she noticed Steig chasing rats from the corner of her eye. "Whatever this was, I'm sure the Seiðkonur will find a use for it." She shrugged, then jumped down. It didn't seem like there was much more to see along this path... or was there?

"speech"

Steig was young, but he wasn't a dummy, he knew his aunt was trying to stop him from pouncing on his sister, so he rolled his eyes and dropped back, strolling along casually at the back of the party, trying to avoid the scurrying sounds that surrounded them. When they came into a room with a big rock in the middle of it, he considered joining his aunt on it's top, but the small scurrying dark shapes caught his attention instead.

He almost had the thing when it darted into an arch shape low to the wall. They were all over the thing, and while perhaps an older or wiser wolf might have just let the rodent go, Steig hadn't liked it's beady black eyes or the look they gave him, so he dove into the opening, kicking out brittle bones with a crashing sound as he made his way into the opening.

He'd expected to find a wall at the back to corner the rat against, what he found instead was another room, with a caved in door leading to it, and he supposed now he knew what Kiela meant about rocks on the ground being dangerous. Stopping only long enough to see that the only way into the space was through the holes that were full of bones, he forgot about the rat, and went back the way he had come.

“There's a room on the other side,” He spoke a little breathlessly by the time he made it back to the adults of the party, cobwebs and even a shiny black spider caught up in the fur between his ears. “Can't get in there any other way though, lots of rocks on the floor and where the door should be.” That, and you'd have to wiggle on your belly to get in there the other way. He wouldn't have made it past the bones if he had been any larger.

“Speech”

Her eyes are on her surroundings as much as her ears are on Kiela's words. Lumine wanted to believe that the place wasn't terrifyingly creepy. She wasn't sure if it was the uncertainty radiating from Kiela and Rota or the scratching and tapping of rats all around them that made her belly flip flop. How many rats were down here? It was difficult to see in the dim light of the hallways and through the dust that was kicked up from their paws, it was hard for her not to sneeze the whole time. Shaking out the itch from her nose, she listening to Kiela's advice. The older woman has a point and though Lumine doesn't necessarily understand why it wouldn't be worth it, she's not there to argue. Stopping when Kiela stopped, casting only a brief look back at her brother, she looks back at the split hallway. Two choices, but which one was correct? They both seemed equally creepy and full of cobwebs. There even was a damp, musty smell coming from them, but she didn't know what that meant either. There was a lot to learn from both Kiela and Rota. Following close on Kiela's heels as she moved down the right path, Lumine couldn't deny the eerie feeling she was beginning to feel. To her though, as a pup, it really just felt like an upset stomach and her head feeling woozy as if she were starting to get tired. When the path opens up to a large circular room before them, her jaw drops slightly and a little ooo sounds comes out. Her attention is drawn to the stone thing in the middle that auntie Rota has hopped up on to investigate further. Hurrying her steps to go toward the unnamed tomb, she places her front paws on it to also snuffle at its side. She sneezes loudly as Steig calls from the back of the room. Getting down to peer around the corner, Lumine looks through the dim lighting to see Steig walking back over. "You sure we couldn't get through?" She asks, her tail swishing a few times as she looks to Kiela and Rota for advice. LUMINE TRYGG

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Perhaps as time went on, they could discuss ways of trying to stabilize the sections of the crypt that looked dangerous. It wasn't a high priority though, but something to keep in mind, especially with the children running around - and the constant potential for more litters in the future. It wasn't like children were always good at following directions, and ensuring their safety was of high importance. She watched as Róta leapt up onto the tomb. She had no idea what it might be for either, but it seemed sturdy and stable. Surely someone could find some use for it, even if they could not manage to move the heavy stone that lay on top of it. "Mmm," Kiela murmured quiet agreement, acknowledgment of the other woman's words. Steig was chasing rats in the corner, though after a moment his movements showed something interesting - the corner seemed to open to another room, and he explained as much when he scampered back to the group, face covered in filth. She leaned forward to swipe away at the spider as it made to skitter down his snout, sending it scrambling away into the darkness. It sounded dangerous to check out, but not knowing what might be on the other side seemed just as unnerving, especially if they were going to expand their territory this direction. Knowing what they were getting into was important. Moving toward the corner, Kiela noses around the pile of rubble, pushing a few larger stones out of the way with some effort. Steig was right; there was no accessing that room without one of the pups sneaking through. "As long as Róta thinks it's alright, I want the two of you to go in there," she instructed them, glancing over at Róta to see if she approved or not. This entrance at least didn't seem like it was prone to caving in immediately, but the same couldn't be said for whatever might be found on the other side. "Just take a quick look around. Don't go in very far. Come right back out and tell us what you've seen." Maybe it was a little bit risky, but it was what they'd have to do. It wasn't like the children of Heiðinn were a coddled bunch. Kiela hoped they could follow her instructions.

When Kiela asked him to go back through he shrugged. It wasn't like he had just been in there and he dove for the opening before waiting for Róta's permission. The second time was easier with the bones removed from the little tunnel and he shook the dust from his fur on the other side. He cautiously walked closer to the collapse over what had once been a doorway on the other side. There was no way through this way, and otherwise it was a dead end room. A small trickle of dust fell down like an hourglass and he wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. Waiting on his sister to scout it out too, he made his way back to the tunnel. “There's a little waterfall of dust and no way through.” He called back to the adults, waiting to make sure his sister got back to the other side first.

“Speech”

Róta probably would have made it through the hole if she was a little slimmer, as it was, all she could do was stand by the gap in wall the kids disappeared into and wait. She could hear bones clattering against the stones, claws scratching on the stone floor and she craned her head to try and get a look through one of the other voids in the mausoleum wall. The scent of decay didn't register, though there was a whiff of something in the air, a scent Róta couldn't quite place. Whatever remains were in there were well past the point of desiccation, and they weren't from any animal she was familiar with.

Steig finally wandered back to the wall and she dropped her head to listen, the thought of sand falling through a crack in the ceiling had her worried, "Hurry up back through here then..." They would have to find a way to block off these bone filled holes, although it looked like once upon a time someone did, if the small piles of rotting timber along the wall were any indication.

"speech"

Lumine is quick to follow Steig through the opening. On the other side, after she's wiped the cobwebs from her face, she sees that there's no other openings or doorways. The one that had used to exist was now crushed and crumbled from falling stone. Just as Steig saw it, Lumine noticed it too. A large crack spreading across the ceiling and where it opened the most, a trickle of dust and sand fell down to the floor. Along the edges of the room, skeletons of small rodents in varying phases of decay could be seen with what little light they had. Getting a really creepy feeling from this, Lumine shivers. It isn't until Rota is calling to her that she turns and scrambles back through the entrance after Steig. "Definitely something we should close up," Lumine says in a shaky voice as she wanders back over to Kiela. Looking up at the large woman, she smiles. "This was fun, but I'm not sure why papa really wants us down in here," Lumine's head cants to the side, her brow furrowing for a moment. "We can leave now, right?" It's obvious she's a little shaken by the adventure, but not so deterred that she wouldn't come back. LUMINE TRYGG

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