it can be hard to tell where the mouth is. once in a while, it can be found, after searching through the dark woods. trail unfound, it happens suddenly, and the wise take the opportunity to descend, leaving the common area. it can be rare to find such a hole to explore, for a distance far from the safety of civilization. upon penetrating the mouth, the depth is unknown, and the world lies near behind. heart beating as the senses rearrange, the unknown becomes more familiar, as the village is left behind. cool and even biting to the bone, the new environs clutch the wanderer. it is then, when such a depth is reached, that the way home becomes lost in the darkness, and a true exploration of the underworld can be undertaken. for no sense of rescued comfort will set the wanderer free.

some do use a tether, of silver or hemp, and find their way back to the world, merely diverted from the stream temporarily, pulled back in. those whose cord has been torn, severed, misplaced, forgotten or disregarded, come to find in the dark cavern that which exists only in the dangerous unknown – the Unknown, in and of itself.

-Unknown author