| The base of the cratercomprised three separate shafts which yawned beneath |
| their feet. |
| According to the original parchment of Arne Saknussemm, in the last days of the |
| month of June, the |
| shadow of Scataris would fall upon the opening they were to enter. |
| They knew, from the documentation of |
| Professor Lindebrook, that the central shaft was the one that he had taken, |
| but to their astonishment, as |
| the shadow fell, it cast itself over the westerly entrance. |
| Nature had declared for them a different route. |
| Following a gallery of lava which had created a natural descending staircase, |
| their anticipiation heightened |
| at the realisation that they had now embarked upon an entirely new journey. |
| b. THE GALLERY |
| On reaching the end of the shaft, they enterd a narrow tunnel, its calcareous |
| rock walls dating back to |
| the evolution of plant and animal life. |
| Ever-descending, they continued through arch after arch, gallery after gallery, |
| their lights constantly |
| reflecting off variegated white and red veined marble indelibly stamped with |
| impressions of primitive life. |
| As their descent continued, they discovered threads of copper and manganese, |
| whilst displayed within |
| the rock walls, beautiful verdant tints coloured traces of platinum and gold. |
| This, the burried treasure of Mother Earth. |
| c. THE AVENUE OF PRISMED LIGHT |
| For what seemed an eternity, the labyrinth wove a sinuous and winding path, |
| its spiral descent finally |
| reaching an end as the gallery opened up to become a vast mineral forest |
| majestically illuminated by |
| phosphorescent light. |
| Stalagmites and stalagcites served as prisms from which rainbow-coloured beams |
| flew in every direction, |
| simultaneously lighting a pathway through this newly — discovered, subterranean, |
| mineralogical kingdom. |
| It led to an almost perfectly formed, descending terrestrial staircase. |