Greetings all-

I've studied Lundar's and Mac-arena's maps again, and have come to the
conclusion that the caverns explored by Olie and me last night are indeed a
new (or at least previously unannounced) discovery! What's more, these
caverns lead to the unexplored areas of Devils Island *inside* the Voolkon's
fortress!

While exploring the north shore of the lake, Olie (no clan affiliation yet)
spotted a difficult path in sector E2 of Lundar's Di map

Though I'm a full PF, I was only able to glimpse the path for a few seconds at
a time (like my experiences with Wisher's Gate). Olie was able to open it for
us, leading into a small dirt-floored cave. The cave didn't seem to fit the
description or location of Lundar's "wet cave," so we decided to explore.

Navigation through these caverns is limited to an extensive network of dirt
trails and PF paths. Only *single-file* movement is possible, and venturing off
or beyond the visible trails may lead to *serious* injury from bumps, scrapes,
etc., as we both soon learned. Fortunately, there were few critters inside, the
worst being Deadly Adders, so we didn't have to make any hasty retreats.

My lengthy visionstone, available on this shelf, details most of our travels
within the cave, which we named "McBolie Caverns," pending review by our
fellow exiles. We wandered for a few (IC) hours, discovering several PF
paths, including one to the explore north shore of the lake, 2 intra-cavern
paths, and 1 or 2 we were unable to reach (PF difficulty is unknown, since we
are both full PF's, and able to see all of them- though there was one that Olie
could see but not fit through). Finally, we stumbled upon a PF path which led
to an unfamiliar beach- grey volcanic sand with some minor green grass. The
path was 2-way, which I confirmed. We figured we had reached the
previously unexplored E3 sector of Lundar's map and headed south to
explore.

We began to see indications that we may have reached the inside of the
Voolcon's "fort" on DI: familiar rock formations we had seen from the other
side, fire vermine/rats, a deadly wasp, etc. The Fire Walker confirmed our
suspicion...

Olie's Atkus training being more advanced than my own, he made a valiant,
though unsuccessful, effort to eliminate this threat. I was forced to quickly
attach my chain and make a dash for the exit paths which had been
previously spotted from outside the walls of the fort. Within 1 or 2 sn'ells, we
spotted the Voolkons.

Alas, but we were unable to stay and attempt to communicate with these
mysterious creatures. It is important to note that the Voolcons *made no
attempt* to attack or obstruct us- and it is almost as well that my trusty axe
was not equipped, helping avoid any... accidental injuries. Finally another
race that doesn't instinctively try to kill us!

Spotting an exit path, I dove through to the relative safety beyond the wall.
We headed to the south coast to get Olie healed, and to complete what may
have been the first successful North-South transit of Devils Island!

I will be returning to DI as soon as I can to sketch the hidden entrance to
McBolie Caverns (unfortunately I turned my visionstone on too late) and
hopefully map the trail leading to the western shore of the lake. With a bit of
fighter/healer backup, we may be able to eliminate the fire walker(s) and
other threats, and begin the task of communicating with our new neighbors
to the west. The thrill of discovery has yet to wear off... ];)

-McBain of the Dwarven Militia