As the ants devolve into a crisp and blackened pile of death, I just barely hear the sound of whispers from around the corner. I attempt to catch the attention of my House, and together, we venture further into the cave. Carsen's night eyes and bravery allow us to maneuver around in relative discretion…until he throws a rock into a pit, and awakens a terrible beast. The maester mentions these creatures, Rock Creepers, don't like light, and I suggest we leave a lantern at the opening of it's lair, and try to avoid them as we continue searching the cave system. Nothing will get in the way of me and my gold. After the lantern is lit, the Creepers do not follow us.

That is, until we find ourselves trapped at a dead end of the cave with a Creeper between us and our escape. I frantically attempt to make another torch, and while I'm doing so, hear a blood curdling screech. I turn around to see that Jardon has landed a crushing blow to the beast. With overwhelming relief, I feel certain this must be the last time we will come across these horrible monsters.

After finding a hopeful parchment, giving us some sort of direction, a solemn understanding washes over us, that we must head back towards the location of our first encounter. House Jasper creeps around the corner of the cave, and hears thud….thud….thud…we are utterly surround by Rock Creepers. I lunge at the one closest to me, and am quickly surrounded by the chaos of combat. As I feel a searing pain from my attacker, Dolins annihilates ones of the monsters, and Jardon brings down the other. I stab at it the beast in front of me again, and this time, it swings its ugly head at me. It's hellish eyes pierce unleash my deepest fears, and snarling teeth and rancid breath force me to back away, fearing another attack that I may not be able to survive. I brace myself when another bone chilling shriek vibrates through the air and the third Creeper collapses.

Injured and exhausted we finally make our way to a crevasse at the back of the cave, where Tess had promised to gather the goods from the vault. Pitifully, she looks back at us, and suggests that because of her injuries, she's unable to maneuver into the vault. I did NOT come this far to walk away without gold. Furrowing my brow,  guided by only sheer will and greed, I squeeze into the crevasse, unknowing what may be on the other side. I emerge into a sea of glittering gold, and hold back tears of joy, gathering every gold dragon I can carry, and rush to bring back the goods to my House and get out of this horrid place.

Once out of the cave, we count up the loot and discover we have just escaped with 1600 gold dragons. After some arguing with Tess about whether she earned her share, Ser Darron reminds me that we don't want to leave with any enemies, and it's a small price to pay for safe passage off the island. I resentfully watch her walk away with 100 gold dragons, but am quickly comforted by the heavy weight of 200 pieces in my own pockets. I can only fathom how this wealth could change my path…