Keep walking, slow down a bit so the rest of the group won't lag behind too much.
Milno turned his head back and noticed some people were lagging behind.
"So, anything else worth noting now?"
(Just to let everyone know, you're not gonna get that really big time and distance advancement that I usually do at the end of every post till this thing with the smashed containers is resolved one way or another, even if it means just ignoring them. Because it wouldn't really make sense to have this examination and conversation stretched out over hours.)
You slow down a bit to keep in step with the rest of the group, becoming a bit nervous as you do so.
((If I recall correctly, I hadn't taken many, if any, samples after the first run back to the shuttle.))
So, Doc? What's in there?
(you don't have as many as I thought, but you still have a couple. Well, one less now.)
"Ah!"
Travis falls back in surprise
"Uh guys...something's out there. Either it's a lot of things that don't move or there's something following us. It looks like a dome. Either way, should I investigate further Milno?"
You backpedal, almost running into the rest of the team, and point your glowstick at the darkness, stammering out your report of whatever it is out there.
"Roger that. Going to do a test."
Travis walks 10 meters farther down the path, obscuring the glowstick, then immediately turns right and flashes the dark again.
You walk a bit farther down the path, hand closed around the glowstick, before thrusting the light back out into the darkness. No sign of anything. Hmm.
It looks like the container burst out in all directions at once, and I did not find a thing inside the sand. You are probably right, the amount of sand itself might be increasing - another container is more full of it than I thought, though it hasn't broken yet.
Take that second container and open it, while holding upright (so that its contents won't spill unless they go through the opening in its top). Read the label on it.
Keep moving.
A dome? Like, a habitation dome used on some of our worlds? I think you might want to check it, it actually could be an unmapped building. The 'roses', again?.. No, more like the 'cypresses'.
You dig the container out while Simus holds the bag. You roll it carefully in your hand till you can see the label. "Tower". You have Simus hold the jar itself so you can unscrew the top. You remove the lid, flinching a bit as it comes off. Nothing happens.
"We should have enough lights to examine that dome thing on the way back. Assuming it doesn't move. But really, let's leave the graveyard."
Hobble, hobble.
And try once more to figure out the secret of the obelisks.
[intuition:4]
Hmm. Well the first strange thing is there aren't any of the obelisks in the way of this path you're on. They all seem to be off to the side, and equally so, like there's some sort of invisible line where they all stop. And now that you're looking for it, there are similar "paths" branching off every now and again into the darkness, spaces with nothing in them extending in a straight line. And finally, the spacing between the obelisks and spires vary, but none of them are very close, most being several meters apart at least.