Sleepy at long last enters the cave and examines the Captured.
The Cave of the Ancients is a specific tunnel deep beneath Shivetya's fortress at the heart of the glittering plain which is imbued with special, ancient sorcery. Inside this cave, people can be locked in stasis, alive but unconscious and frozen in time. But being in this state is risky: if a person in stasis is moved without taking appropriate sorcery precautions, they are immediately killed, as this disrupts the protection spells which manifest as frosty webs.
Soulcatcher and her accomplice Willow Swan interred the Captured in this cave at the end of She Is the Darkness. Reaching the Captured to liberate them was Sleepy's primary goal throughout Water Sleeps.
The ancients[]
Untold centuries before the events of the contemporary Annals, numerous mysterious men (the "ancients") were placed in the cave, where they slowly became fully encrusted with magic ice. The identities of these men and the reasons they were stored in the cave are never revealed. However, everyone who visits the Cave of the Ancients in the modern Annals makes a careful effort to avoid disturbing the stasis of the ancients.
Soulcatcher traps the Captured[]
- Main article: Captured
Soulcatcher took advantage of the cave to freeze many of her enemies, including her hated sister Lady, Lady's husband Croaker, and several other veterans, allies, and prisoners of the Black Company. After disabling her victims in Shivetya's throne room at the end of She Is the Darkness, she placed them in the cave with the help of Willow Swan (whom she seduced with her family's love me sorcery). Soulcatcher took great care not to touch the frozen ancients in the cave while installing her enemies.
They remained there for 15 years, with most being unconscious except for Murgen, who contacted his wife in the homeworld with a psychic connection. They would come to be identified as "the Captured" by Sleepy, who dedicated her life to rescuing them. One of the Captured was even a fellow member of the Ten Who Were Taken, the Howler.
Tragic awakening of Mather[]
Somehow, the stasis sorcery attached to Cordy Mather failed, and he was awakened at some point during the 15 years. Confused, panicking, and unaware of the dangers, he attempted to awaken seven nearby men: Wheezer, Candles, Longinus, a pair of Shadar soldiers, and a pair of Nyueng Bao Path of the Sword bodyguards. But as he did so without the requisite sorcerous precautions, those he touched all died. He then attempted to crawl down a small side passage, but was killed by the poisoned pin of a mechanical booby trap placed there by ancient Stranglers. His body was discovered years later by Sleepy's rescue expedition at the end of Water Sleeps.
Sleepy rescues the Captured[]
Later, when Sleepy and her band finally freed the Captured at the end of Water Sleeps, she took care not to disturb the mysterious frozen ancients. The elderly Company wizard One-Eye spearheaded the effort to safely awaken the first five Captured: Croaker, Lady, Murgen, the Prahbrindrah Drah, and Thai Dei. The Company left the area but returned throughout the following 4 years to rescue the rest of the other Captured, bringing them to the Abode of Ravens in Hsien.
Later visits to the Cave[]
The Howler, a major enemy of the Company during the Shadowmaster wars, was left in the cave until Soldiers Live. Observers believed that his eyes actually tracked those who entered the Cave, despite his stasis. Company ally Blade, who was in charge of affairs at Shivetya's fortress, did not quite agree with Sleepy's decision to leave the Howler preserved there. Blade resisted the temptation to kick the ancient wizard, which would kill him instantly. The Howler was later safely moved out from the cave while still unconscious, to be reawakened by Tobo at Gharhawnes during the Protectorate war.
Later, the Company deposited its own prisoners in the ice cave for preservation. After the Battle of the Middle Ground, Gromovol (a hated Voroshk captive who had been spared execution) and the dying Soulcatcher were interred there. Later, the deceased Daughter of Night was stored there, too, in the hope that she could perhaps one day be restored to life.