Around them, wives emerged barefoot, carrying what they had learned mattered now: bowls of spring water mixed with cave‑water, dream‑ribbons glinting with new patterns, petals, jars of dew shaken from moss amid the spiral altar, freshly carved runestones, dream‑gems, watchers‑figures, torches bundled together. Children tumbled behind, their fingers stained with chalk‑glyphs, clutching polished seed shards harvested from the cave heart.