The sound of clicks and scrapes echoed in the deep; metal tools and axes chipping away into oblivion. Cold and damp was the air, forcing the miners into sporadic coughing fits, their lungs worn raw from rock dust. The darkness was everywhere, the only light source being dim lanterns that hung every twenty or so metres along the tunnel's length. It was not enough to see full detail, but provided satisfactory illumination for an eye used to spending the daylight hours underground to make o...