You aren't going to be able to outrun them if they have horses so you take the only option you got and jump.  You are scared out of your mind but you successfully grapple the hanging branch and the two riders can do nothing but glare down at you and growl.  The tricky part is getting down from here.  You have never really been afraid of heights but you are REALLY high up.  The nearest ledge is almost halfway down the canyon and the rockface isn't easily climbable.  Still, you don't have much of a choice so you try anyway.

 
You make it most of the way down until one of the groves you were holding onto comes out and you fall.  Thankfully, you land on the ledge and you were already most of the way there so aside from knocking the wind out of you and hurting like hell you are pretty much alright.  Its possible you might have a broken rib but you have no way of knowing and it isn't precluding you from going on even if it is broken.  After taking time to recover a bit and catch your breath, you look around a bit and find a clear way to climb down to the bottom of the canyon and downward you go.  Fortunately, you make it to the bottom of the canyon without further incident.

 

You have now reached the bottom of the canyon and you know the entrance to the Craxil's chasm must be around here somewhere, but it is a massive canyon to explore.  You spent almost 7 hours down there until you come across three bizarre looking doors.  One is red and bears the emblem of a bear.  The next is green and bears the emblem of a spider.  The last is blue and bears the emblem of a wolf.  This whole ritual gets even more bizarre when you notice a rabbit approach and stand beside the red door as if to beckon you in that way.  A squirrel approaches the green
door and stands atop the frame as if to endorse that one, and an owl flies down to a rock near the blue door.  Its times like these you wish you were a druid so you could better understand what the hell these critters are trying to tell you.  Still, you have a decision to make and your instincts (whatever they are worth) are telling you that you only get one shot at this.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
~Hint:  Depending upon the path you took to get here, you may or may not have seen one or both of the creatures on the correct door already.  If not, you are just going to have to guess.~

You enter The Blue Door With Wolf Emblem, Endorsed By The Owl

After careful consideration, you trust the owl and enter the door with the wolf emblem.  The door shuts and locks behind you and you see no choice but to move forward.  An eery glow beckons you forward down a passageway that is leading you deeper and deeper underground.  You can't tell if that is a good thing or a bad thing but you follow it anyway.  When you reach the bottom you see a large room decorated to look like the antechamber of a church.  You aren't sure what to make of all this, but you feel like you must be getting close to the Craxil now.

 

The next chamber is substantially different than the one you just entered from.  Instead of being all decorated and kept, you see half eaten farm animals in a pen and three large lizardfolk guarding a doorway.  They bear polearms and plate mail and you don't think you would be able to take even one of them in combat.  The blue door has shut behind you and you don't really see any reliable means of setting a trap.  You have dealt with these types of situations before though.  You just have to keep your cool and figure a way to deal with this.

 
For one, you could start a fire in the antichamber to distract the lizardfolk from the door, then slink in.  The antichamber is big, but a fire large enough to attract their attention might also illuminate most of the room, making it hard for you to operate unseen.  Another possibility is their food source.  You surmise the half eaten farm animals are what they've been feeding on during their meal breaks.  You could try using some of the poison Brandolf gave you on some of the meat of the freshest looking animal and wait until they feed again.  Of course, there is no telling how long you will have to wait for them to feed again.  Your call adventurer.

You start A Fire To Distract The Lizard Folk

You don't have any tinder left after that incident with the cactii, but you do have some flint.  You look around the large antichamber-like room for anything wooden and you find a few things that look like they might be combustable.  You set about lighting them with the flint, then quickly cast them in the direction of a large wooden table in the center of the room and run to the corner just before the room with the lizardfolk.  As you had hoped, two of the lizard folk eventually come out and because you are hiding in their blindspot, they don't see you.  The creatures rush over to quell the fire as best they can but there is a problem.

 
Only two of the lizardfolk emerged to deal with this threat.  The third one still stands guard at the door.  Lizardfolk are known for their fierce dedication to their duty and unfortunately it seems they are also smarter than the majority of your adversaries as well.  After quelling the fire the two begin searching the room, leaving no stone unturned so-to-speak.  They must suspect that it was caused by someone.  You move around from one dark hiding spot to another, hoping to evade their search until they retire back to the door but you step down on the charred remains of the table and an audible crunch is heard.  

 

To your credit, you kept them searching for a long time due to your skill at evasion but given that you just removed any and all doubt about your presence, it was only a matter of time before they found you.

 
THE END