The Guild [RP Thread]

[TheSequelReturns]

~ Dust End - Mine Operations Office ~
- Noon -

They had their assignments. Yenn, with a backup in Windrush, would lead the main group into the mine. Grace and Tikaani would investigate the man who had stumbled out of the mine two days prior, to see if he knew anything about what might have happened. And anyone left would help prepare the surface site for the arrival of what was potentially an entire dig crew, twenty-something strong.

"If there are no objections, then we'll depart immediately." Yenn said. She was fully prepared to answer any objections as well. She'd worked at this mine for so long and been a part of so much of its day to day operations that she was practically Thaddeus' second in command in all but title.

"Please, do whatever you can to find out what happened down there." Thaddeus looked worried. It had been a while since Yenn had seen him like this. The last time was when he had sunk a small fortune into a new dig shaft only to hit bedrock and turn up empty handed. A chance discovery of a silver vein had saved the his coffers then. Would luck be on his side this time?

A small bag of supplies was handed out to anyone who wanted them. It wasn't much. A candle, some matches, a flask of water, and some dried fruit. But it would help. The trip by foot to the new dig site was several miles through cramped, sometimes sloped tunnels. Once that was done, Yenn led the group down into the main shaft of the mine.


- Dust End Mine -

The main entrance into the mine was a huge opening more than twenty feet tall at the middle. It sat in the side of the stark, granite stone of the mountain like a giant mouth waiting to swallow them whole. Nine separate railways ran side by side through the mouth of the cave, most going to the processing center or a storage area for the carts. A few ran off towards the junk piles. Each had more than enough room between them for a group of miners to walk double-file.

Less than a few meters inside, the tunnel started to change drastically. Huge columns of stone sprang up here and there to support the roof. Some of them blocked the foot paths and had walkways or tunnels for the railways carved through them. In other places, more of the wooden scaffolding was set up to aid in bracing the stone ceiling which seemed to press in closer and closer with every step the group took into the mines. In only a few minutes of travel, the once wide and open cave had narrowed to a mere ten feet high and the wide expanse had begun to close in tighter as the mine shafts branched off and their rails went with them.

Yenn led the group towards a shaft close to the eastern side of the entrance cavern. The light seemed to die only a few steps in and Yenn held up a hand. She mumbled a few familiar words and a small wisp of blue light appeared above her palm. She eased her hand forward, like she were giving a gentle push, and the wisp began to slowly drift down the tunnel at a pace that was easy to keep up with.

It was a ghost light. Any novice caster could probably conjure one without any trouble, though getting it to float away on its own was a neat trick that took a more practiced hand. Plus, using this would help conserve candles, though those in the back of the line might still need a light of their own. The tunnels were dark. And not dark like the night or like a shadowy alleyway. This was total darkness. Not even a hint of light could penetrate the mountain of stone above them and there was a limit to how far the light would shine through the cavern entrance. That limit happened to be the second turn down the new tunnel.

They moved on guided by Yenn's ghost light deeper and deeper into the mine. A few times, Yenn had to recall the light as it tried to drift off down the wrong path. The path kept branching every so often. Sometimes the path ended in a fork with two clear directions. Other times it opened up into a larger room with several paths leading out. A few times, they would pass a small dark tunnel set into the side of the rock so subtly, you'd almost miss it if you weren't looking. Every time the light shone down one of those tunnels, it faded into the darkness before revealing anything but empty tunnel.

"We're almost to the new dig." Yenn said. She took a drink from her flask. The group was now several miles into the side of the mountain, and a unknown distance beneath the surface. "It's just around the next bend."

Yenn didn't mention the uneasy feeling she'd had for a while now. The uncanny sensation that something was watching them from those dark side tunnels, from the cracks in the ceiling where the water slowly dripped, from the space just ahead or behind them right past the spot where the light vanished. She chalked that up to her nerves and pushed onward.

The group rounded the next corner and came face to face with the new dig. It was a large, open space, much like any of the others they had passed on the way down. Tools, supplies, and other signs of the workers lay scattered about, but none of them were anywhere to be seen. Most concerning though, were the chunks of rock that lay scattered around the entrance of the dig site. Some were clustered around the entrance, as if they had been piled there before but since moved, with the rest in haphazard piles off to either side.

"What in the world..." Yenn walked over and ran a finger across the rock. "There's hardly any dust. This was done recently. But, if the cave in is clear, where are the miners?" There hadn't been any sign of the rescue team on the way down either. Yenn bit her lip as worry started to set in.

A few quiet moments passed as the group looked across the room.

"Are you real?" a quiet voice called from somewhere in the darkness.

Yenn waved her hand and her ghost light shot across the room towards the sound, but the light revealed nothing. "Are you one of the miners?"

"...Yenn?" Something shifted in a crevice in the rock. At first, Yenn wasn't quiet sure waht she was seeing. Until the blurry shape continued to move and resolved itself into the skeletal, dust covered figure of a geist. A geist she knew.

"Parmos?" Yenn's curiosity quickly melted into concern. "Is that you? Are you okay?"

"Don't come any closer." he said. The geist called Parmos stopped short of exiting the crevice, wagering only to stick his hand and head free of the rock. "You shouldn't have come here. They won't let you leave. They won't let any of us leave."

"The others are alive then?" Yenn said, her eyes scanning the room constantly. Parmos' only response was to turn and look deeper into the mine.

Beyond the edges of the light, in the dark shadows at the back of the room, the tunnels were as silent as death.

---

~ Dust End - Healer's Apothecary ~

Like the rest of Dust End, the local Apothecary was in a building that had not at all been originally built for that purpose. What had started as a trading stand had gone through several brief lifetimes before winding up as the residence of the one and only local healer, an elderly human woman named Krista, but who most of the town folks referred to affectionately as "Gran". Supposedly, she learned her craft from the sprites and practiced healing the way the fairy folk had for ages. That is to say, with herbs, plants, spells, and a bit of alchemy.

Her Apothecary reflected this. The place was overgrown from head to two with more plants that you could count. Flowers of all shades and sizes, herbs and vines and grasses and shrubs, all were present. Spread about in the midst of the plants were the remains of a water pump that somehow still functioned, a few totems and rune stones and other mama-infused trinkets, and a single sign that read "Aid" in both the common tongue as well as a few older scripts.

As Grace, Serra, and Tikaani entered the clinic, they were greeting by the strong scent of fresh bread, the subtle bubbling of a kettle not yet ready to boil, and a kindly old voice that called out to them, "Welcome welcome. Take a seat and I'll be right with you." The only place to sit was a small bench against the wall.

The healer emerged from another room a few moments later with a plate of still-steaming biscuits and honey. "You're just in time for biscuits." Krista said as she sat the food down on a small side table. "What can I do for you?" she said, leaning in to get a better look at the three of them.

 

[Kamotz]

Estvalm -> Dust End

Darigaaz felt cramped throughout the wagon ride. And the trip felt unbearably long. He'd made the flight himself within a few hours several times before, but he had the sense that doing so again would only cause issues with the group as a whole. So he stuffed down his growing irritation and relented to traveling the way he had when he thought his flightlessness was permanent and instead took the time to familiarize himself with the other members of their rescue party.

Valm had seen an influx of new Guild members over the past several months, and Darigaaz had little opportunity to learn the faces of them all. Grace was, of course, not one of those new additions. He'd never interacted with her much, but he'd heard of her well enough -- she was hard working and skilled for someone so young. The isolated geist, however (Darigaaz believed he'd heard the name Layla), was a mystery. The other geist, Thilfey, was a bit more well-known to those around Estvalm, as was Teltel and his "granddaughter" Tia. Then,of course, there was Bjorne, who had recently become a fixture around the Guild Hall.

The grey-blue tengu, however, was a new arrival, and Darigaaz couldn't recall seeing him before around the Guild Hall. He seethed silently like a flame sitting on a barrel of black powder, just waiting for any excuse to explode. Darigaaz appreciated his serious demeanor, but that kind of pent-up rage was a familiar sight. He'd seen it in the mirror plenty of times.

Darigaaz didn't recognize the undine that was accompanying them either, but Windrush was a different story. He'd learned all about the flightless winged drake upon arriving in Estvalm. There was enough pent-up anger and resentment in that dark-scaled drake to power the entire Guild for the twenty years if they could only harness it. He was always more cautious around Windrush; the resentment of losing one's flight was potent, and one Darigaaz knew all too well. But he often wondered just how much Windrush resented him for the ability to control his flightlessness and overcome his fall. He got the sense that Windrush didn't give two sh*ts about him one way or another, but would be outright hostile if Darigaaz ever tried to broach the subject.

There was the strange biomancer, Friede, and her obsession with the draconic. He couldn't help but feel her eyes on him whenever they were in the same room, though he never caught her. Tikaani was young, even for a human, and Darigaaz seriously questioned the wisdom of including him on this mission.

That left Lance and Serra - the duo had established themselves recently in the Estvalm Guild, but Serra was certainly more well known. She was direct, with a hunger for living that Darigaaz found rather rare. But it was Lance that left him most uneasy. He'd never seen the man work, but he carried himself with absolute certainty -- nothing forced or manufactured -- and in a room full of titans and drakes that was rare for a human.

As the night wore on and dawn broke, Darigaaz found himself beginning to recognize the landmarks leading up to Dust End, though again they looked quite different from the ground and half-obscured by trees. As the sun rose, Darigaaz took off from the wagon for a brief hunting trip to help ration their supplies. He widened his search, always keeping the wagons and trail in sight, but found little game worth hunting. He settled for a drink from a nearby stream before returning to the wagons and hovering gently overhead to stretch his wings.

It was nearly noon when Dust End finally came into view and Darigaaz set down from his cruising. They were quickly ushered to the mine operations office and briefed on the situation before dividing up. A local Guild member working in the mine, Yenn, was assigned to guide them deeper to the new dig site.

"I'll head to see our survivor as well," said Serra with a shrug. "I'm sure there's something we can learn there."

"You just don't want to go down into the mine," Lance teased her.

"Your grasp of the obvious is astounding," Serra deadpanned, before following Grace and Tikaani towards the local healer.

"Well then," said Lance, turning to the rest of the group. "Who else wants to go down into the abyss?"

And Darigaaz got the strange sensation that this was something Lance wasn't entirely unfamiliar with.

==\=/==

Dust End Mine

Lance hated the feeling of the walls and the earth rising up all around him, and a pang of agitation with Serra for co-opting a spot with the healer team rang through him. He didn't belong there, in the dirt and mud of a mineshaft. He belonged out there in the night where the moon was full and bright and red.

This was unfamiliar territory -- uncertain territory -- but Lance closed his eyes and let the familiar darkness surround him. He breathed in the dust and the heat and imagined it was the air of a sweltering summer night. The sulfur of a swampy lair rather than the leaking sulfur deposit underground.

And with each inhale his senses pricked, and a familiar tang began to fill his nose. Iron and metallic. A thick organic flavor amidst the chemical dust of the mine. Most dogs wouldn't have even noticed, there was too much else going on in the air. But for Lance, with years of sagomancy, it could be nothing else.

Blood. Just a hint of it, but growing thicker with each step until they reached a new section of the mine and a strange figure emerged from the darkness.

"Don't come any closer." he said. The geist called Parmos stopped short of exiting the crevice, wagering only to stick his hand and head free of the rock. "You shouldn't have come here. They won't let you leave. They won't let any of us leave."

Fun.

 

[TheCharredDragon]

Tematia "Tia" Hycinthius
Fairy Pixie - Wood Rank
Dust End - Mine Operations Office -> Dust End Mine

Once again, Tia was on translator duty as Gramps and Bjorn decided on the assignments. Though in the case of the titan, she actually didn't have to translate too much since he understood most of Grandpa's sign language. Once it was decided, there was little objections to them, or at least voiced objections. For all she knew, some wanted different assignments but didn't say anything.

She didn't get why if that was the case. Grandpa was probably the most reasonable being she's ever met and Bjorne was just as nice from what she could tell. She had played with his kids a few times whenever she hung around Grandpa and he was at the orphanage.

Either way, Grace, Tikaani and Serra left for the healer, Grace's friends stayed behind to not only help the mine staff still left and keep an eye on their caravan, but to also to as backup should something go wrong. And with that, an being handed a small pack by said staff with some mining essentials like candles, they went into the mine.

Being underground in a mine certainly was an interesting experience. And by interesting, she meant it didn't feel any different to her to, say, being inside a building at dark. Okay, that wasn't exactly a good comparison, and she hadn't worked in a mine at all, but it really didn't seem so bad. Just a bit cramped and stuff, that was all.


Grandpa, of course, was perfectly comfortable with it, moving with an elegance he had, but never seemed to notice, only when it was dark, or very close to it. It was the movements of a being in their best element, like they were a mere extension of it. His eyes constantly scanned their surroundings, his ears were perked up to listen for noise and he had a hand on his lyre but playing anything, ready to do so when the need arose.

The rest of them, however, used lights one way or another. And Tia would admit she felt a pang of jealousy when their guide, Yenn, conjured a wisp of fire to lead the way. It was one of the simplest spells in existence, and yet she couldn't do it. Not even a spark. But there was no way that was going to be outdone, especially with Grandpa here, so she decided to focus her senses like he has, mainly her hearing but also her smell, to navigate.

She concentrated on everyone's steps and breathing, she noticed the staleness of the air, not quite boxed forever but not exactly fresh either, and she saw that, on occasion, the fire that Yenn brought out would drift away and had to be recalled.

Well, maybe not being able to do it wasn't so bad after all if a simple ball of fire would do that constantly.

However, even with her mind on alert...it was still a while before they reached where the collapse supposedly happened, Tia knowing Grandpa was in his "Guild member" mode and thus not really open for small talk. And she says "supposedly" about the collapse because when they got there...

"I thought you guys said it collapsed," she couldn't help but say.

It was a large open space and not only were rocks and tools scattered about, the entrance almost seemed like it was supposed to be blocked off on purpose. To her at least. She wasn't exactly an expert in mine construction and rock piling.

To further add to the confusion, there was a geist that popped out, one that Yenn knew as Parmos. Of course, she asked if he was okay but all he said was,

"Don't come any closer. You shouldn't have come here. They won't let you leave. They won't let any of us leave."

"The others are alive then?" Yenn said in response before looking around the room to find them.

Grandpa, however, tensed, and followed the gaze of the other geist. Tia looked to where it was and it seemed it was a tunnel that lead deeper into the mine. The pixie gulped. Something was wrong, especially if her grandpa was tensed like that, almost like a beast deciding between fight or flight. But she couldn't place what was the problem.

So she asked, voice low, "Grandpa? What's wrong?"

"There's nothing," he signed.

"Nothing...?"

"Listen."

And she did and yet there was... Tia felt her wings seize up. ...nothing.

If there was something here, then why was there no sound?

. . .

Grace Clemens
Human - Silver Rank
Dust End - Healer's Apothecary

Grace couldn't help but smile at all the familiar houses, streets, and rocks they passed as she led Tikaani and Serra to the Healer's Apothecary. Not to her surprise, on their way Grace paused as some of the residents recognized her.

"Grace! Welcome back!"

"How you doin', Grace?"

"Grace! I knew you'd be comin' back! You're here cause of the mine, right?"

Those were some of the questions but she made sure to be succinct and honest, along the lines of "Yes and I'm busy", and that was enough for each and every one. So even if it was slightly delayed, they reached the little place that was overgrown with plant life, her smile getting more fond as she stepped inside.

Everything was how she remembered whenever she tagged along with her mother, the smell of bread, the sound of boiling water and the sight of the healer, Krista, otherwise known as Gran, greeting them with biscuits as she came out from another room.

"Hi Gran," she said to her fellow healer. "Have you forgotten of me already?"

The kindly aged woman looked to her in surprise. "Grace?"

"The one and only." Grace, though knowing it wasn't proper decorum, couldn't stop herself from going up to the elder healer and giving her a hug. "How are you faring?"

Thankfully, after the initial surprise, she returned her spontaneous hug and said, "I should have known you would return." She continued after they let go. "I assume you heard of what happened in the mine?"

Grace's grin turned somber but still remained. "Indeed," she said. She wondered if should ask about her parents and decided to do so. "Are Mother and Father...?"

Gran frowned and sympathy was in her eyes. "Yes. They left with the rescue team to assist them. Nobody has heard from them or the team since they went into the mine."

Grace nearly cursed but kept it in her head upon a brief glance at Tikaani. She took a deep breath and straightened her goggles. Well, she knew where her parents were now, but she and her Guild members had a job to do. She would place her trust to the rest of the party in the mines.

"Very well. I thank you for telling me," she said. "But that is not what my companions and I are here for."

Recognition flashed in the Gran's eyes. "Ah, you are here for the miner in my care?"

"Yes. We came to see if we can gain any information from him, a little as it might be," she said. Then she added, "If he is well enough to see to visitors, of course."

She wouldn't go to a patient without a healer's permission. After all, their health was under their care so she would wait to get approval for any questioning.

. . .

OOC: I hope that was fine @TheSequelReturns I figured that Grace would be well known and that she and Gran would know each other thanks to her mother and Grace herself being a healer.

 

[Solsabre]

Windrush The Windless (Drake)
Rank: Stone
Estvalm→ Dust End

Windrush took the back end of one wagon for himself, letting his legs hang off the edge and stare out into the night. He held a small canteen in his claws, taking only small swigs periodically to stretch out its contents. The red and black drake didn’t care if anyone knew he was drinking while technically on duty, but they weren’t going to be to the Mine until tomorrow and he was determined to get some sleep on this rattling, light-forsaken wagon.

He didn’t bother to keep his wings folded tight to back, the useless things were only good for keeping people from crowding him. Windrush shifted sideways to slouch against the wagon’s walls, but still facing away from the other party members present.

Night went and morning came. Windrush dozed through most of the morning, by shading his face with a wing. Midmorning, Windrush’s eyes flickered open when the sun’s rays hit him at the right angle. The drake straightened up with a wince, his right shoulder stiff with protest. He took another drink from his half empty canteen.

A shadow flew over the rabbling wagon. Windrush peered out from underneath his black-scaled wings and immediately seethed with disdain. So, the rumors he had heard about a lowborn drake magically sprouting wings were true. He’d heard the tale a time or two passed around in the tavern, but he always left before he learned a name. Nor did he wish too. He avoided the other drakes within the Guild, preferring to hole up in his room for days, unless he was out on a quest.

Windrush couldn’t help but bristle at being covered in the constant shadow of a flighted drake hovering above the wagons. He had been once been The Sun’s Shadow, soaring above the heads of wingless drakes. Not the other way around. A slight pang of jealously broke to the surface. The former champion chugged back the rest of his canteen, banishing further thought as a haze numbed the feeling.

A hour later, the guild party arrived at Dust End.

Bjorne Kjarr (Titan)
Decorated Platium - Emerald

Deep within the Mountain

They journeyed through the mountain in near silence. Only the occasional hush word between guild members escape the group. Bjorne had chosen to bring up the rear, allowing Bebetel to stay at the head of the group. The forest titan kept alert for any danger that might try to sneak up on them. The runes on his body glowed slightly, silencing his movements and enhancing his senses. Periodically, his eyes would drift to Timber for any sign of danger.

Traveling underground was vastly different to his experiences in dense forests. For one, his moments were greatly restricted compared to the rest of the party and he could only move forwards or backwards. His battle axe remained secured to his back underneath his grizzly bear cloak. Bjorne would not be able to wield it in these tunnels. If it came to a fight, he would have to rely on his brute strength or the use of his hatchets.

The party had traveled for what seemed like miles and left like an eternity since they left the surface. Bjorne had lost all sense of direction, which was a rarity for the titan. Suddenly, the narrow tunnel opened up into a large chamber that appeared to be tidied up. Nothing like the collapsed tunnel, they had been expecting.

Yenn spoke up, remarking on the odd state of the tunnel, when they hear the voice.

“Are you real?” Bjorne’s night vision allowed him to quickly pick out the figure that spoke, carefully crammed into a stone wall crevice. Yenn replied back, discovering it was a miner named Parmos that she knew.

"Don't come any closer." he said. The geist called Parmos stopped short of exiting the crevice, wagering only to stick his hand and head free of the rock. "You shouldn't have come here. They won't let you leave. They won't let any of us leave."

"The others are alive then?" Their sprite guide, Yenn, asked as she scanned the large open chamber for other survivors. Parmos didn’t reply, rather the disheveled geist glanced further down the shaft.

Bjorne straightened up now that he had more head clearance. “Parmos, what happened? Who is keeping you here?” The forest titan cautiously made his way to the front of the group, since they now had more room to manuvuer. The deathly silence was unsettling, not unlike his brief jaunt into The Anciet’s Haunt. Like they were being watched by a deadly predator waiting to pounce on unsuspecting prey.

Timber growled softly at Bjorne’s side. The large dire wolf’s fur stood on end the entire length of the canine’s back as he stared directly into the darkness of the mine shaft. They needed answers now, while they still had the chance to learn something of what they might be facing.

Parmos recoiled back into the crevice at the sound of Bjorne’s voice. “It’s too late now.” he said, apparently to himself. “They know. They know.”

The geist’s eyes were glued to the dark shadows at the back of the room, though they darted from spot to spot in his panic. “Listen for the clicking. Like nails tapping the stone. Always the clicking before they take. Always the clicking stops while they watch. Listen. Decide who to leave and who goes.”

Parmos pulled himself back into the crevice, ignoring Yenn’s protests. “I was safe, but now they know. I was quiet, but they hear me now.” he paused. “Maybe they will take one of you instead and leave me alone. All alone, until I fade away.”

This is not good. Parmos sounded half mad and some might count his madness to oxygen deprivation or other dangerous fumes known to linger in deep tunnels. But Bjorne was not willing to take that chance. He’d been to too many dark and dangerous places throughout Caelocia to risk it.

The titan held out an arm as a gesture to the rest of the party to hold their position. He held his breath while the geist rambled on, listening for clicks in the darkess. Timber’s ears twitched occasionally, shifting in direction, as if honing in on something in the darkness that none of the others could yet make out. “Tighten up into a circle. Backs to one another.” Bjorne said quietly and concisely.

However, not everyone had the same idea.

“Bargh! Enough of this!” An impatient Windrush snarled out loudly. “Let’s just burn the infestation out already. It works on the goblin’s hordes often plaguing these tunnels.” The black and red drake raised a clawed hand in the faint ghostlight towards the darkness.

Bjorne moved to stop the highborn. This wasn’t the work of goblins or any other creature that he was familiar with. But the titan had been too far away from Windrush to stop him in time.

Windrush uttered a single word of power. “Brisingr!” A fiery orb burst to life within the palm of the highborn’s scale hand, illuminating the whole chamber and further into the dark tunnels.

 

[storymasterb]

Aali Tahir
Dust End Mine

The darkness swallowed them up, held at bay only by the ghost light that Yenn conjured for them. Aali considered igniting the khopesh he held at the ready to serve as a torch, but decided against it. The ghost light was light enough and he didn't want to blind those behind him. Friede walked just ahead of him, to his surprise, he'd thought she would go with Grace but perhaps whatever skills she possessed were more useful down here. Layla walked ahead of the human woman, moving with a practised grace. It was hard to discern with the whole group walking, but he was sure her feet made no sound as she advanced. Her head slowly scanned the view ahead, occasionally glancing down a side tunnel as they passed it by. He found himself looking too, though nothing ever stood out except darkness.

His quest might have taken him up and down the realm, but he hadn't ventured underground often. He hadn't had cause to, and it simply hadn't agreed with him the few times he had. He supposed it was ingrained into him to feel at ease with open sky overhead, the better to retreat into the heavens, and a rock ceiling just above him made him feel like he was in a cage. His wings were useless down here. Only his blade could serve him if danger loomed. By contrast, Layla seemed more at home here than she had in the inn at Estvalm. That only stoked the flame of his suspicions, but he had to shove that matter aside.

The darkness stirred unwelcome memories. Malika's pyramid, and the catacombs beneath where her assassins were stored. Breaching into the darkness alongside his comrades only to find death around every corner. Bloody fighting for each corridor, being picked off one-by-one by assassins who were like ghosts. Advancing only to be struck from behind by lurking geists. The thought made him glance to the rear of the group, where Bjorne and his wolf shielded that vulnerability. But all those side passages that burrowed through the rock, and the darkness ahead. The thought ate at him and he forced it down with difficulty. He tightened his grip on his blade, continuing to scan the shadows for the merest glimpse of movement.

---

Friede Brandritter
Dust End Mine

They came into a larger chamber, Yenn's ghost light enough for Friede to take it in. She could tell immediately that something was off by how Yenn moved forward and examined the rock. She felt Aali behind her as the tengu moved up to get a better look, his khopesh at the ready. She didn't blame him. The whole way down she'd felt the eerie sense that something was out there in the dark. She'd stared into every side tunnel they passed, expecting at any moment to find eyes gazing out of the shadows, but there was never anything.

At least, not that she could see.

Once or twice she'd considered speaking up and asking Layla, after all, the geist seemed strangely at ease down here. But the atmosphere had choked her voice each time. The claustrophobic surroundings, the oppressive darkness, the eerie silence, it all combined to unnerve her. Being sandwiched between two guild members she barely knew hadn't helped, though Bjorne's presence at the rear of the group had at least given her one direction she wasn't worried about. She cast her eyes around the room, taking it in. Tools lay discarded here, there and everywhere. Whatever had happened here, it had happened suddenly. The workers hadn't had time to gather up and fight off an assailant, it seemed.

Her sanguine eyes turned to the entrance ahead. Who had cleared the cave-in? The rescue team? But they were as absent as the workers.

She jumped as a voice came from the darkness.

“Are you real?”

In front of Friede, Layla's head snapped toward the sound, and at her side Aali tensed. They saw the geist emerge from the darkness, illuminated by the ghost light, concealed within a crevice. Hiding.

From what?

"Don't come any closer. You shouldn't have come here. They won't let you leave. They won't let any of us leave."

A shiver ran down Friede's spine and her fingers clenched like talons. Her gaze wandered back to the overwhelming darkness that lay ahead. Did she see eyes gleaming or was she just imagining it?

"The others are alive then?" Yenn asked, but Parmos seemed fixated on the same darkness that Friede stared into. Aali took a cautious step forwards beside her, his free hand resting on the hilt of his second blade. Friede just as cautiously stepped to the side, giving him room to draw his blade while she watched and strained to listen. Only crushing silence met her ears.

Bjorne moved past her and mutually she and Aali turned to cover the rear approach, the tengu drawing his second blade. Their gazes met and she was surprised to see him looking unnerved. She supposed being trapped underground could only stir a primal sort of fear and unease in him that this situation probably wasn't helping. He glanced back and she followed his gaze with a brief glance to see it resting on Layla. The geist looked at the pair of them for a moment, but it was clear that she was scanning the approaches with a trained eye. Somehow she still seemed icy calm.

Friede envied her.

Parmos recoiled back into the crevice at the sound of Bjorne’s voice. “It’s too late now.” he said, apparently to himself. “They know. They know.”

The geist’s eyes were glued to the dark shadows at the back of the room, though they darted from spot to spot in his panic. “Listen for the clicking. Like nails tapping the stone. Always the clicking before they take. Always the clicking stops while they watch. Listen. Decide who to leave and who goes.”

Parmos pulled himself back into the crevice, ignoring Yenn’s protests. “I was safe, but now they know. I was quiet, but they hear me now.” he paused. “Maybe they will take one of you instead and leave me alone. All alone, until I fade away.”

Friede stared into the darkness beyond their fragile-seeming circle of light, the geist's words echoing from more than the cave. She felt her breathing quicken, the fear rising, but she forced herself to keep her gaze fixed on the dark. Magic crept across her forearms, whispered words passing her lips, and her fingers knitted into talons, skin weaving into scales. Aali looked visibly surprised at her transformation, but she couldn't offer him a word of reassurance. Her attention was too fixated between watching the rear approach, listening for clicking, and maintaining control over her transformation.

“Tighten up into a circle. Backs to one another.” Bjorne said quietly and concisely. His voice made her jump a little regardless, but she and Aali immediately began to retreat, taking careful backward steps.

---

Layla
Dust End Mine

It was almost like being home, she'd thought on the descent. She had been in her element, wrapped in darkness and tunnels just like the pyramid. She remembered when she'd hunted her brothers and sisters through those tunnels and been hunted in turn, using every tool at her disposal to either catch her quarry or thwart her pursuer. To fail to catch or to be caught was punished. So were the tyrant's blades honed.

She moved with natural grace across the rock, the floor cold like ice against her bare feet. But she was silent where others clicked and thumped with every blundering step. She was sure that her eyes saw further into the dark than any of the others. She could almost have done this without the ghost light, and she found herself glad that none of the others saw fit to light a torch and blind her.

The whole descent she'd looked for clues, anything to hint at what awaited them. But the only thing had been that pervasive sense.

Something was watching them from the dark, beyond the reach of even her eyes. She was almost certain. Once or twice she was sure she'd seen something move, but nothing more, no sound, no follow-up. And as much as part of her wanted to ask if Friede or another had seen it too, she didn't trust their eyes to see as far as hers in the darkness. Her few glances at Aali made her think the tengu was out of his element, something that might have given her some satisfaction if not for the fact that his current vulnerability might be the difference between life and death.

And then they found a chamber that had clearly been cleared, and a geist whose maddened ramblings only confirmed her grim suspicions.

Friede and Aali moved to cover the rear as Bjorne came over to question Parmos further, so Layla studied the shadows. Tools lay discarded across the room. Whatever nightmare lurked out of sight, it had struck quickly. Too quickly for the workers to gather up and stand together. She tried to pick out footprints, anything to indicate a pattern of movement, but whoever had cleared the cave-in had obliterated any trace that would give her some idea of how the enemy moved and attacked. Her ears strained for the sound of clicking, but there was only the sound of footsteps where the group members moved and then silence beyond that. Always the clicking stops while they watch, Parmos had said.

She stared into the void, again feeling like something was but an inch beyond her sight. She glanced back to see if perhaps something was now behind them, she'd felt the sense of being watched enough before that she couldn't discount that option, but all she saw in that direction was the novel sight of Friede's arms transformed with a wyvern's scales and wicked talons.

Even before Bjorne suggested to gather up, Layla was already moving towards the titan, keeping her gaze fixed on the tunnel ahead. Friede and Aali too moved carefully backward, the tengu's weapons drawn. The three were side-by-side, almost joining the circle, when Windrush spoke.

“Bargh! Enough of this!” An impatient Windrush snarled out loudly. “Let’s just burn the infestation out already. It works on the goblin hordes often plaguing these tunnels.” The black and red drake raised a clawed hand in the faint ghostlight towards the darkness.

Layla's head snapped sharply towards him and she saw Bjorne moving, but she could tell that both of them were too far away to stop the drake. He spoke a magic word and flames erupted into being above his palm, drowning the dim radiance of Tenn's ghost light. The geist had to bow her head downward, the sudden light too sharp a contrast with the dark she knew so well. At her side, Aali bristled, and a glance at him yielded a surprising similarity. The tengu glared at the drake with clear irritation and frustration.

"Light spare us this foolishness," the tengu muttered, his glare turning to what had previously been darkness before Windrush had chosen to light it up like the inn at Estvalm. Layla tried to look too, her eyes adjusting to the sudden brilliance. She couldn't yet pick out anything in the tunnel ahead, but if whatever Parmos was so terrified of hadn't known they were there previously, this surely had drawn their attention. On Aali's other side, Friede took another step back, blood-red eyes reflecting Windrush's idiotic firelight as her claws came up, one arm crossing over her breast like a shield of scales, the other drawn back to lash at any attacker. Though Layla could tell she was likely the most afraid of their small trio, the human seemed resolved to fight rather than run. Aali stood his ground as she expected, khopeshes raised.

"Put that out before you do more harm," the geist hissed at Windrush, keeping her eyes fixed on the tunnel. She was adjusting, more details coming into focus, but she still couldn't spot any enemy lurking ahead.

Still no clicking.

 

[TheSequelReturns]

~ Dust End - Healer's Apothecary ~

"Yes. We came to see if we can gain any information from him, a little as it might be," she said. Then she added, "If he is well enough to see to visitors, of course."

"Well, about that." Gran rubbed the back of neck. "I suppose you should see him for yourself. Follow me dears."

Gran led them through the pleasantly cluttered space towards a doorway near the back. This doorway led to a hallway with a few side rooms each of which had curtains of white fabric instead of doors. It was into the third and last of these rooms that Gran led the group. She pushed the curtain aside with a well-practiced motion and ducked into the room.

The patient room was clean and clutter free with the only furnishings being a single side table with a vase of flowers and the bed upon which the miner lay. A window sat half open behind the flowers, wafting a cool breeze and the scent of roses through the room.

"In all my years of serving this town, I have never seen a case quite like this." Gran said.

The miner was a human man, about middle age, with a scruffy beard and the pale complexion of someone who works underground most days. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow, but there. He almost looked like he was sleeping though he did not stir at all. Near his neck was a large patch of purple. Gran pulled the collar of his shirt back to show the injury. It was a huge patch of purple and black that stretched from his neck down across his shoulder and down further where his shirt still covered. A clean looking bandage was present at the base of his neck covering a large welt of some kind were the discoloration was particularly bad.

"My first guess was an insect bite. Maybe a giant spider. They are rare in the mines, but its not unheard of." she shook her head slowly. "But there's no poison in his system that I can detect. No paralysis or necrosis or changes in the blood thickness." She ran her hand across his bruise. "The color you see here is not an infection or bruise or degeneration. It's his own skin, transformed by whatever creature gave him that bite on his neck. Its cold to the touch and it seems to sap his strength. Its actually diminished slightly, since he arrived, but when he does wake its always with a fresh batch of delirium. And the way it reacts to my healing magics..." she sighed.

"The last time I tried to cast a spell to mend his wound it sucked up the mana I directed to it and the coloration grew two inches in all directions."

Gran turned back to the group and nodded apologetically. "You are welcome to stay and see if he wakes up again. Though I don't know what you may get out of him."

For any of the mana sensitive guild members in the room, the miner's wound felt like a cold spot. Almost a vacancy in the natural mana flows.

-+-+-+-

~ Dust End Mine - New Dig Site ~

Yenn was still trying to figure out what in the world Parmos was going on about when one of the drakes in their group shouted a word of power and the whole cavern lit up like a hearth at sunset. Yenn's night vision was ruined. Hours of walking and letting her eyes adjust to the dim gloom of the tunnels ruined by a stupid drake's impatience and lack of foresight. Typical.

"Put that out before you do more harm," a geist hissed at Windrush.

"Too late now. It'd take minutes for our eyes to adjust back to the darkness." Yenn said. "Geists excluded."

There was still no sound of clicking, not yet. But the fire had illuminated the whole of the chamber and revealed something at the back end. This was a new dig site. It was supposed to be the end of the tunnel until the miners pressed further into the rock. But there at the back of the chamber, revealed by the firelight, was a new opening. It was bigger than a normal tunnel and looked less like it had been dug out and more like the wall had collapsed towards the new space beyond. When the miners had been digging out this room, had they busted into a chamber that already existed down here? That shouldn't be possible. They were deep under the mountain, miles into the mountain range. Nothing should be down here but bedrock and minerals.

Yenn snapped her finger and pointed and her ghost light zipped off into the new space beyond the gap. She had expected it to illuminate rock walls and debris. The aftermath of a cave in. Instead, the ghost light entered the dark space and revealed nothing. It's light wasn't strong enough to reach the ends of the space beyond. How big was it?

The miners, or whatever took them, had to be in that space. And yet Yenn's chest tightened at the thought of venturing deeper into the unknown darkness. If she did, would she ever see the light of day again? Still, they couldn't sit down here forever and wait for something to strike. They had to do something.

"Be ready, just in case." Yenn said. "I'm going to light it up."

The sprite pointed towards the ghost light and spoke a quick string of arcane words and the tiny light burst into newfound radiance like a miniature sun. When she looked upon the space in new light, Yenn almost didn't believe her eyes. The wall at the far end of the new space was not raw stone. It was crafted stone work. Half pillars and sharp angled lines carved into the polished, flat walls. The miners hadn't found a empty space. They had found a hallway.

In the stunned silence that followed, a single tiny sound echoed from the tunnels behind the group. The tunnel they had taken to get here.

It sounded like a single nail, slowly clicking against the stone.

 

[Monster Guy]

Tikaani Aput
Dust End
Lots of recapping happening here

Tikaani was excited to go on adventure, but the journey to get to the mines was rough and bumpy. It was hard to get sleep on that cart. Both from the excitement of the adventure ahead, and the difficulty actually trying to get comfortable on a cart full of people that was bumping up and down. When they finally arrived at the mines, it was already the peak of the afternoon sun.

Tikaani was exhausted when he arrived. He kept his yawns to minimum. He knew good and well that yawning in front of all these people would look bad. He sat there in silence, as the situation was explained to them. Every so often almost nodding off as the situation was explained to them. He tried not to look bored, but he wasn’t used to functioning on this little sleep. That was the life a guild member he supposed. They all were at least given something to eat during all this.

Teltel had tasked Grace and himself to check on an injured miner. The woman from the bar also went along with them. Tikaani tagged along while holding back a yawn.

When they arrived at the Apothecary, it seemed that Grace and the Healer, apparently known as Gran, knew each other. They had a chat, and Tikaani stood there with a smile and waved hello while the two of them caught up. Then she led the group to where the injured miner was. The unconscious man had a purple and black patch on his neck that seemed to go down his body. Gran didn’t seem to know what was wrong with him. It apparently drained his strength, and the man was delirious when he woke up. Gran had tried to heal him, but according to her, it just made it worse. “Damn it.” Tikaani muttered to himself. His first solution was to try some of his healing magic, but that wouldn’t do this man any good...

Tikaani went closer and observed the patch of purple on the miner’s skin. He then turned to his other two companions. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s weird. It’s like no Mana flows around it... Would any of you more experienced Gulders know what’s up?” Not really knowing what else to do, Tikaani rubbed the back of his head, and laughed nervously.

 

[TheCharredDragon]

Grace Clemens
Human - Silver Rank
Dust End - Healer's Apothecary

As soon as Grace finished her sentence, Gran's demeanor shifted to one of slight hesitation, and that worried her as she followed the elder healer to a familiar space in the back. But Tikaani was here and she didn't want to worry the boy unnecessarily, so she kept a neutral front even as Gran pulled back the curtain before one of the patient beds to reveal the patient...and it was only experience that prevented her from shuddering.

Oh the miner himself actually didn't look that bad. He wasn't old nor particularly young, and looked as one would expect of a male human miner: bearded from not having a reason to look pretty in front of others and pale from not being under the as often as most. His breathing was shallow but his expression showed no hint of distress, nor did the rest of his body. And the "injury" itself, after Gran pulled down the collar of his shirt, looked almost like a very nasty and very large bruise, stretching from the neck, across his shoulders and beyond where his shirt covered his body.

No, something went off in her head...that the wound was hollow.

She didn't like the feeling, nor understood why she felt that, so for now she pushed it aside as she listened to Gran tell her diagnosis.

"My first guess was an insect bite. Maybe a giant spider. They are rare in the mines, but its not unheard of," she said as she shook her head slowly. "But there's no poison in his system that I can detect. No paralysis or necrosis or changes in the blood thickness."

She ran her hand across his bruise before she continued.

"The color you see here is not an infection or bruise or degeneration. It's his own skin, transformed by whatever creature gave him that bite on his neck. It's cold to the touch and it seems to sap his strength. It's actually diminished slightly, since he arrived, but when he does wake it's always with a fresh batch of delirium. And the way it reacts to my healing magics..." she sighed, sounding tired to Grace.

"The last time I tried to cast a spell to mend his wound it sucked up the mana I directed to it and the coloration grew two inches in all directions."

Gran turned back to the group and nodded apologetically. "You are welcome to stay and see if he wakes up again. Though I don't know what you may get out of him."

A wound that stole what was used to heal? Well, it seemed her worries were well founded after all.

Tikaani was quick to utter a curse and go up to the patient to examine him. But he finished it just as swiftly before he said to her and their other Guild companion, with a hint if nervousness, “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s weird. It’s like no Mana flows around it... Would any of you more experienced Guilders know what’s up?”

Again, that dread returned as the boy uttered those words.

"No mana...?" she muttered as she went up to the man as well and softly place a hand on his injury.

And indeed, it was like it was just...gone at the wound, like a trail that had abruptly ended with no hint of where to go. Grace didn't like that at all.

She lifted her hand as she said, "It seems we will have little intel to gleam from this than I thought." She turned to Tika. "Your suggestion has merit. Perhaps we should ask one of our more longer lived members if they have some knowledge of this, or even a clue."

Though if she, a healer of ten years and experience with both sicknesses of various races and injuries from just as many monsters, and Gran, a healer of many more seasons and experiences, couldn't identify it, she doubted the geists, titans and more of their group could. Except perhaps Bjorne but even that was a small hope.

She turned back to Gran and said, "Well it seems our business will be more brief than I thought, Gran. We will take our leave." Before they would go however, she wished to ask. "Though if you do not mind, I have a question before we do."

"Go on."

"I realize it is during delirium, but were you able to make out anything he said when he was conscious?"

Anything was better than nothing if it meant even a sliver of truth on what attacked him.

. . .

Bebeltel "Teltel" Hycinthius
Geist Elemental - Platinum Rank Decorated
Dust End Mine - New Dig Site

Teltel strained his hearing to see if he could pick up any sort of clicking long before its source was near, but as Parmos the geist kept talking, Bjorne said, “Tighten up into a circle. Backs to one another.”

And the first response to that was Windrush saying, “Bargh! Enough of this! Let’s just burn the infestation out already. It works on the goblin’s hordes often plaguing these tunnels.”

Teltel's eyes widened as the crippled highborn began to spellcast. The geist moved to stop him, but it was short and simple word and before anyone could react, light filled the cavern.

As well as the groans from his granddaughter.

"What the hell drake?!" she said, rubbing her eyes in a vain attempt to adjust them. "Maybe you don't gey blind with sudden brightness but not everyone here is! Ugh..."

Layla told Windrush to put it out but Yenn was quick to point out the uselessness of such an action, which he was in agreement with. Besides, at the very least they could now see the entire chamber properly and indeed the new, brighter light did reveal a new detail to the place, yet another tunnel leading deeper, except...it looked less like it was tunneled thtough and more like it collapsed while they dug in that direction.

Teltel's brow furrowed. That made no sense. That would mean that there would've been space to collapse to and there couldn't have been any this deep.

But as Yenn directed her wisp to it, finding it wasn't enough to illuminate anything, and made it stronger to do so, that impossibility turned to reality.

It was a hallway, the walls flat, polished and angled lines as expected of excellent tiled stonework, but with hints of age and ruin from the half pillars literring across it. And Teltel could only stare at this plain yet incredible marvel. They had found a mysterious hallway deep underground, unknown to anyone as far as they knew. It was like an explorer's dream come true, making such a discovery in such a remote place. But that dream could soon become nightmare because...

tink

...they heard it.

He tapped Tia's tense shoulder, signing,

"Relax. Get ready."

And then he took out his lyre, ready to retaliate should something strike him or to defend should it instead attack the others, as he glanced at their surroundings and hoping that he wouldn't need to tell Bjorne to direct the others should he have the time to, he was better equipped with dealing with enemies at range than he was after all but they still needed to be coordinated.

 

[Solsabre]

Bjorne Kjarr
Titan - Decorated Platinum - Emerald
Deep within Dust End

Bjorne’s eyes picked out the subtle details of the carved out walls and pillars craftsmanship in the newly lit up space. The forest titan may not have followed in the Kjarr tradition of masonry, but he was familiar with the techniques and skills required for that sort of work.

However, he didn’t have time to fully appreciate the discovery.

The moment his enhanced hearing picked up on the first scrapping of nails coming from the tunnel behind them, Bjorne hurried to the new opening to listen. No sound from the way ahead of them. He placed a beefy hand on the wall next to the entrance, whispering a word of power. A rune on the back of his hand glowed. He carefully felt along the wall, searching and feeling for any vibrations with the increased sensitivity of his hand. Nothing. For now.

The fur-covered titan turned around to jog through the group, keeping his footsteps magically muffled, back to the way they came. He felt along the wall again. There. Vibrations confirmed that something was coming and not potential audible hallucinations if the air was poor down here. However, the entire party was reacting in a similar way to the mysterious clicks, so it further ruled out his brief thought of a hallucination.

“We’ll hold our ground here and see what sort of creatures we’re dealing with. Drakes in front with me,” Bjorne called out immediately, backing up to rejoin the group. He didn’t take his eyes off the dark tunnel, hefting his battle axe with both arms. “I want wood ranks to remain close to Bebeltel in the center at all times. Layla and- Bjorne searched his memory for the human’s name- Donovan guard the entrance behind us, I don’t want these things sneaking up on us. Everyone else spread out and fill in the gaps between Darigaaz, Windrush, and myself.”

The forest titan tilted his head back, signaling silently to Timber to help Layla and Donovan. Timber lunged to the back of the group, ears perked up alert. The slow ominous clicks were getting closer. Louder.

Bjorne tightened the grip on his battle axe. The quill-like hairs on the back on his neck raised on end. Any moment now. “Windrush,” Bjorne glanced over at the dark scaled drake, still maintaining the fireball in a clawed hand. “We’ll try your suggestion. Use your fire magic as soon as this thing clears the entryway.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” the flightless drake snarled in reply, but much of his fury was directed at whatever was about to come through the tunnel. The highborn brought the pulsing fireball in front of him, inhaling deeply to transform the fireball into a powerful stream of flame.

 

[TheSequelReturns]

~ Dust End Mine - New Dig Site ~

The group had gathered around each other, reading their weapons and stealing their nerves to face whatever came slinking out of the darkness.

For a long moment, the only sound from the cave ahead was a single *tink*, repeated every few seconds like a metronome. Then another click joined it. And another. Another started up from behind, in the tunnel at the far end of the room. More and more of the sounds joined together in an unholy chorus. And then, all at once, they stopped.

There was a single moment of silence as the room held its breath in trembling anticipation.

And then, the flood. A responding cascade of *tinks* from both tunnels began, growing louder and louder as whatever was making it grew closer. Yenn realized what the sound was only moments before the first shadow broke the tunnel. It was the sound of chitin clicking against the stone.

The first creature slithered out from the darkness in a river of shadow. It moved across the ceiling in a wild zig-zag motion and its skin, or rather, its carapace was so dark and oily that only the glinting edges of it could be made out in the firelight. The creature was at least three feet long, maybe four, and the sound of its many legs clicking on the stone was almost disorienting.

Four more emerged from the cave behind it. And another two cave from the hallway in the tunnel near the back wall. Most of the scurrying along the ceiling while a few skittered across the floor or walls.

One of them let out a short, piercing shriek as it lunged down from the ceiling towards one of their group. As it dove towards its target, they got a split second view of the things face, its many eyes glassy and pale and its sharp, wickedly curved mandible opened wide to bite.


-+-+-+-


~ Dust End - Healer's Apothecary ~

"I realize it is during delirium, but were you able to make out anything he said when he was conscious?" Grace asked.

Gran frowned and looked down at the miner. “He was rambling on about clicking and... “ she tapped her head for a moment, “Something about shadows I think. It was hard to get anything out of him that made much sense. It’s obvious that something foul got a hold of him down in the mines but-”

The miner began to writhe in pain down on the bed. His head was locked back on the pillow and his arms clawed at the wound on his shoulder. He was reacting as though he was in pain, though he didn’t seem to be fully conscious.

“He’s having another fit.” Gran said as she quickly went about grabbing the already prepared salve from a nearby shelf. “Can you two help hold him down? He won’t be too much of a fuss.”

As Gran began to apply her salve to the miner’s wound, he began to calm down. He was still moaning, but nothing coherent and his eyes were still closed.

If anyone mana-sensitive had tried to scope out his wound again, they may have detected a tugging, as if the wound was sipping bits of mana away from the miner. But to where was the mana going?