(Brief, and awful, collab.)

Theodore didn't consider the geomancy as a viable option. Too much time and effort with no way of guaranteeing success. For all he knew, this would invite even more trouble. 

"No. Not gettin' any younger. Right then. So who's down the hole first?" 

Theodore glances at Gavlan and saw the grin right away. Foolhardy fellow was thinking of something crazy and it was bound to get them all killed. Usually he would advise against such tactics or plans but with the very real threat of getting lost in the mines, it was only reasonable to have crazy match out crazy. 

"If my ears don't decieve me, I think I hear the sounds of squishy bodies down below." Gavlan peered over the edge of the drop that lead deep, down into the mines, clutching his axe with all the intent of jumping down. A dangerous smile was creeping across his bearded face, and the others could tell they weren't going to be able to talk him out of his insane plan fast enough. Tying a rope around his belly, Gavlan turned around and looked at the others.

"Right, so I'm going down there... Who wants to hold onto the end of this thing?" Holding up the rope, he awaited the confirming clutch of someone else's grip on the rope to solidify his plan. 

Theo shrugged and took the rope. Wrapping the rope around his forearm and taking hold with the other hand he braced for what was the come. A quick thumbs up and the plan was in motion. "Now or never, I suppose." Theo tried to put on a reassuring expression but abandoned the sentiment.

Gavlan could tell that no one agreed with his plan, but nobody was coming up with any solutions, so he thought he might as well have a bit of fun, while he's here. Sidling up to the edge, he faced the others, who, in the dim light, would've only been able to see two sparkling, and bloodthirsty eyes peering back at them. Lucky for them they knew it was Gavlan, for it would've been quite the freightning prospect. Theo holding onto the rope, muscles rippling, for Gavlan was not a light dwarf by any means, he began his descent downward into the dankness. Grappling the side of the facing, Gavlan bounded back and forth, while being lowered down by Theo. Gavlan was nearing the bottom, or so he tried to make out, when there came a sickening noise from above him. A snapping noise. A rope snapping noise. With barely a cry leaving his lips, he plummeted down the rest of the way.

Theo felt the rope grinding on the stones of the overhang and realized a moment before it snapped that something was wrong. The sound of straining twine caught his ear and sent him in a rush of movement, throwing himself bodily to the ground to grab the savered end of the rope before it was completely lost. A groan of pain escaped him as the full weight of the swinging Gavlan fell onto his singular arm, thankfully it was not dislocated. 
The rope swayed and his grip loosened.

"The ropes breaking! Brace yourself!"

With a heave, Theo grasped on for a moment more before swinging Gavlan out and letting go. If luck was on their side, the crazy dwarf would land on something soft and punchable. Theo was quick to roll off the side and pray to his earth mother there was something soft below for him aswell. Into the darkness he plummeted until the body of a shadow husk raeched up at the falling form of the dwarf Theodore, crushed bodily underneath his bulk in a clamor of steel and flesh. 
Detangling himself from the fresh corpse Theo could see now what they faced. Shades they were called, demons that possessed a very loose corporeal form entirely made of shadowy silk. Either a finely crafted blade or a tingle of magic was needed to do lasting damage. 

"Gavlan!" Theo called into the swarming mass of Shadows, white luminescent eyes shone back from every corner of the room as the hundreds of these creatures stirred at the presence of potential food. The collective swarm poured out of every crack and tunnel, some even flocked from where the two dwarves had fallen. Nearly every inch of this tunnel belonged to the hideous things.

"Swing boy! Swing!" Theo drew Ender from its sheath on his hip and slashed at the nearest apparation, satisfaction and a trickling feeling of dread as he forced the blade to cleave through the creatures chest. These were not shades any longer. They possessed true solid bodies. "oh, swing your axe, Gavlan, and sign of the earth afore we should die." Theo took up a haunting hum, the tune of a dwarven war song where a legion of the bearded folk bravely marched to certain death at the hands of the sea.

Gavlan felt like the heavens had opened up and presented him with the greatest finale they could muster; hordes of enemies and no hope in sight. Gavlan was quick to his feet, and even faster to begin cutting his enemies down before him with hellish glee. Swinging his weapon he cleaved through two demons, ending them instantly. "Hahaha! I haven't had this many on me since the Great Goblin Wars!" Before his enemies could even react to their presence fully, Theo and Gavlan had already taken down fifteen of their number. That was a very small portion of the thousands of demons that lurked in the caves, but that did not trouble Gavlan one bit. If his enemies had any notion of what a good song was, they would've been repulsed at Gavlan's battle song, but, as was such, they swarmed with the same ferocity. As if Gavlan had already sensed the presence of demons from behind, he quickly swung around with his axe and took down one, mid jump, cutting its face in two. His inner furnace blazing with immense heat, he gripped his battle axe with all his might and lost all his senses. He became a whirlwind of death. Nothing could stop him, now. 

Barely any time had passed, and Gavlan and Theodore had a pile of demon corpses between them; however, the demon's replenishable numbers were more than able to make up for the efficiency of their killers. "Hah, you little bastards aren't so tough, even when you've got numbers on your side!" Gavlan laughed heartily as he booted a crawling demon in the face, smashing its skull inwards with a horrifying crunch, which then sent it flying into another demons path. 

Looking down into the hole the dwarves he fallen into, Marco was a bit worried for a moment but that was before he saw the two dwarves in combat with a large number of creatures at the bottom. He rolled his eyes at them and shouted down "Well you two have fun, I'm going to go find the way through" with that he turned around to face the rest of the party that hadn't fallen into some sort of abyss and gestured to a different path "Onward then?"