Every step deeper, every room posing new challenges. The air was sticky and stagnant down here, and Andrej could barely hold back his disgust. No breeze to break it, no friendly wind to carry away the damp. It seeped into his bones, his muscles, leaving him aching in ways he didn't know were possible. The ache is deep, nearly soul deep, at this point. He'd pretend that ache wasn't mirroring the one in his chest, thoughts of his younger sister still hanging thickly in his head. Every step a little more sore than the last. Heart sore. Heart sick. He shouldn't be dwelling like this, but here he is.

Passages so narrow they'd trigger a lesser man's claustrophobia, Andrej slides carefully down them. Pressed into the walls at either side, barely wide enough to accommodate the bulky Courser. No rest for the wicked, and he'd be the most wicked of them all. The dungeon made him this way. It's the dungeon's fault. He will blame the dungeon and only the dungeon, nothing else along the way had turned him into a monster so relentless. Carefully pathing through the corridor, fixated on a bioluminescent glow at the end of the hall. A light at the end of the tunnel.

The room that opens off this particular path is massive, the biggest he's seen in his adventures beneath. Breathtaking, if by size alone. Air around him still musty and stagnant, but at the center, a massive tree. How had it grown here, especially to its size? Foxfire clung to fallen branches, scattered around the stony floor. The greenish glow is caught between enchanting and sinister, but then, so is Andrej. More at home here than he's been since leaving home on his quest, he takes a moment to rest. Leaning heavily against the cool, damp wall, and allowing himself to breathe fully and deeply. Grabbing an apple from his pack and giving it a satisfying crunch, the man takes stock of his situation.

As he eats, Andrej studies the tree. He's baffled that anything of this size is able to grow down here. It was relatively healthy looking, but how, without proper sunlight? There's something else strangely striking about the plant. The branches. They're... they're moving. Swaying, as if buffeted by the breeze, but the air is stagnant down here. Finishing his apple, still savoring the last bite, Andrej edges closer to the tree. Above his head, the stark fingers of the tree seem to grasp, reaching out, moving with the imaginary wind. The branches are a vast network, and a strange unease creeps through his system.

Ignoring the twisting in his gut, Andrej moves closer still. The tree seems to yearn for something. Roots like claws dig into the floor, gripping and grasping. Trying to find purchase, in an environment that wasn't made for them. Shit, maybe he's got more in common with the tree than anything else down here. While he can't rest here for too long, Andrej is compelled to leave the tree an offering. Rummaging in his pack for a moment, he pulls another juicy green apple and sets it where the roots begin to make way to the trunk. A fine offering indeed.