The map unfurls - RPLOG
Participants
Date
1/11/477
Log
A blustery late morning by the Eastbank quarry - while it is getting close to time for noon mass, it is probably the least of things on anyone's mind as the entrances to a number of dig sites are crowded with appropriately grubby miners. Some of the poor beings are simply milling about off to the side, while others don gear and head off into the darkness, looking more determined than hopeful.
Roll-calls are taken, a prayer or two is said, and names which are found missing go on another list for the rescue parties to seek out later. While the worst of the tremors have subsided, there is still the worry that more might come out of the blue, and everyone's whereabouts are taken down meticulously.
Fenris saunters casually down the quarry path beside his lumbering Mole golem. "Here to help!" the liger says, patting the hard metal flank of his golem, "If there is anyone still down there, we can get them out." He gives his gear a quick check, adjusting the long, dark coat he wears. It is open a bit, revealing the ridiculous heart emblazoned on his chest and belly.
It was a little earlier than she'd have preferred, but all the same Cassidy makes her way towards the quarry with Natska at her side. She was dressed up in her usual black longcoat and slacks, and stifling a yawn. She reaches up to adjust her red bowtie before glancing up at her companion. "Well. We did need something to stretch our muscles and perhaps test magic on, didn't we? This is as good as anything! Though I'm not sure why the earth is being all rumbly."
Natska nod her head, quietly patting Cassidy's arm as she looks over the quarry site with a solemn expression. "Yes. I am sure there are people that need help, though." She raises a hand to wave at Fenris and begins moving towards the liger, keeping an eye out for someone in charge. "Where can we assist?"
"It happens sometimes," someone in the crowd says, although one isn't quite sure who it came from. "The earth shaking up a bit - well, it's a risk with the job, aye?"
Indeed, the miners seem fairly used to this - the additional help from the Freeswords is being quickly and efficiently put into action, small groups being assigned and sent out with the help of a small-clanned, bespectacled mole who appears to be in charge of the rescue operations and mop-up.
"You, you and you," he says, jabbing a finger at Fenris, Natska and Cassidy in turn after sending the previous group off. "The surveyors from shaft thirty-four haven't been seen since the alarm was sounded, and our hands are full. Please go down and check on them, all right? Follow the signs and get them back here, if they're still alive, and if they're not...well, bring back their bodies for their families, okay? There're three of them, so that should be good for one of each of you."
Fenris nods, suddenly all business. "Yes Sir," he says, "We will find them." He leads his golem over to join Natska and Cassidy, then heads off toward the mine, senses and earth magic on high alert.
Cassidy tips her hat and nods. "It'll be done." She lets Fenris take the lead, folding her hands behind her back as she trots off behind the liger. "Think there's some big angry monster thrashing about under the ground or something? Or maybe it's just the ground itself! I'm no scholar when it comes to the planet, but it is very curious."
Natska nods her head at the assignment, falling in behind Fenris. "I don't know, love," she says quietly. "These quarries are certainly plauged by their share of monsters, but it could be anything."
The trip down into the mines is largely uneventful. True to their nature, the exploratory digs are carefully numbered, with crude but legible signs denoting the paths to each dig. Most of the caverns are naturally solid, but the miners have seen fit to shore a few up with stout beams.
Still, as everyone progresses further down beneath the surface - and into the portions under the Silvervein Range dominated by mould and mushroom, there's nary little sign of any true damage. The fungi appear to be doing a good job of holding things together, having grown on most open surfaces and turning the air heavy with an earthy smell, and the place is largely undisturbed from the recent spate of tremors.
It's not much longer that the group arrives at dig site 34, as denoted by the wooden board propped up by a large mushroom half the size of a being. Indeed, there's a hole in the ground and no sign of the dig team that is supposed to be here, but is there a pinprick of light barely visible at the bottom of the pit?
"Hello?" Fenris calls, "Are you there? Are you alright?" The liger can't believe that there could be such a selective cave in down here where everything else seems untouched. He looks at Natska and Cassidy with a shrug. "What do you think?" he asks as he kneels at the edge of the pit sending out a tremor of earth magic to try to scope the depth of the pit.
Cassidy leans forward to peer into the pit, frowning. "I'm not sure! It's worth a look, at least. Would you like me to go down first? I'm small and light, and I fly, too! I'm also quiet. If there's trouble down there, I can scout it or flee fast enough. And if it's clear, I'll signal you down?"
"It doesn't look too deep," Natska says, agreeing with a small nod. "Be careful, Cass. I will be at your side in a moment if you need me." The jaguar crouches at the side of the pit, then reaches into an inside pocket of her jacket, fishing out a large, glowing, marble sized gem and coaxing its light a little brighter.
The climb down isn't too difficult for Natska, considering the hand and footholds cut into the side of the pit. Unpleasantly damp to the touch, perhaps, but still sturdy and well-able to bear her weight. The jaguar's light reveals small exposed veins of ore on the way down, but it's not until she reaches the bottom that the source of the light they saw earlier is revealed: a crack in the side of the pit that must have opened due to the recent tremors, glowing with a faint, greenish light and about just the right size for a being to squeeze through, albeit with some difficulty. Someone's tried to hastily expand the crack by chipping away at the edges, and the tools involved in that effort lie propped up against the damp pit wall. Whoever left these here clearly intended to come back for them.
Strange, though...sound here appears to be slightly muted, the air having gained a cottony aspect to it, heavier somehow.
Fenris makes his way carefully down into the pit, smiling at Cassidy's offer. "I should be alright," he says as he reaches the bottom and examines the crevice. "I think I could widen this a little more," he says, running a hand along the crack, "But it looks like I will have to leave Holy Mole behind here. There is no way he will make it down the ladder." The liger puts his hand to the rock wall and goes into the fugue state necessary for mathemagic and tries to widen the gap just a little to ease entry. "Our lost team must be up ahead," he says.
Cassidy starts to make her way into the pit before Fenris gets ahead of her, brow raising. "If you insist!" She shrugs and follows down after him, taking second. As soon as she reaches the bottom, she turns and moves off again, towards the light.
Natska reaches the bottom of the pit after the others, waiting for Fenris to do his thing; once he declares the passage safe enough, she follows along behind the other two with her own light held up.
Fenris successfully widens the gap just enough for everyone to pass through easily, rock giving way beneath his will to crumble and join the pile of debris that the tremors dislodged. As everyone steps beyond the crack and into the light, the reason for such difficulty becomes clear
Fenris successfully widens the gap just enough for everyone to pass through easily, rock giving way beneath his will to crumble and join the pile of debris that the tremors dislodged. As everyone steps beyond the crack and into the light, the reason for such difficulty becomes clear; crude rock gives way to the smooth brickwork of a small chamber about the size of a bedroom. The air is musty and bathed in a faint green glow that emanates from seemingly nowhere, allowing everyone to look about even without their lights. There is a stairway on the far end leading up - or rather, was, but it has long since collapsed upon itself, tons of rock rendering it quite impassable.
What is more interesting, though, is a tablet lying on its side on the far end of this long-abandoned chamber, having fallen off its plinth. The top half holds a picture of some sort, while hieroglyphs have been carved into the bottom. It's about this tablet that the missing surveyor team is clustered, looking appropriately contemplative - one of them, a clever-clanned jackrabbit, notices Fenris and gives him a smile and friendly wave before saying something, but the words are strangely lost in the heavy air and only reach the group as a stream of muffled noise.
Fenris buries his hands in the pockets of his long coat and saunters toward the researchers. "Sorry," he says, "Couldn't make that out." What sort of strange magic was at work here? "Everyone topside is awfully worried about you three," he says as he comes close to see what has the surveyors so excited, "What is this?"
Cassidy raises her brow behind her mask as they step into the room. She sniffs at the air and makes a little face, casting her eyes around the chamber. She peers at the tablet, first, for a moment before looking towards the other being. After pondering for a moment, she begins to work her illusions to make words in the air, spelling out a simple 'We can't hear you.'
Natska tilts her head to the side, frowning, unable to hear what anyone is saying; she starts to say as much, and notices how muffled her own voice is. Displeased, the jaguar begins going through some of the basic Air equations, trying to find just what is wrong with the room.
At the sight of Cassidy's wording, another of the miners, a rather pained-looking tulip - clever-clanned this time - gently nudges his colleague to one side and begins signing to Cassidy. <I'm sorry. Arthur here just got a little caught up in the excitement of the discovery. There's something strange going on here, but it doesn't seem to be harmful - aside from our words being snatched away, that is. I'm Felix - and who are you?>
As for Natska, her air magic turns up little in the way of leads. Whatever is wrong with the place, it's not mathemagic, but at least it explains why the miners haven't figured out an alarm was sounded.
Fenris examines the fallen tablet. <A remarkable find,> the liger signs, <There have been a number of cave ins. We were sent to find your party since you did not come up on your own.> He squats down before the stone and looks over the etchings, a perfect, bright green ? appearing on his left cheek. <What is this?> He signs.
Cassidy bobs her head as one of them signs. Rather than sign back, she uses her floating letters again for ease of conversation with the others. 'I am Cassidy. This is Fenris and Natska. Whatever this is, it is very odd. Though we not be able to stay long and risk another cave in or tremor, lest we be trapped.'
Natska perks her ears, even though there is nothing to hear. She watches the three surveyors for a moment, then smiles, taps Cassidy on the shoulder, and motions back the way they came with her thumb - a gentle reminder of the task at hand. Still, it seems she has a little time to kill as Fenris and Cassidy gather information, so she begins looking around the room.
<Cave ins? I know there were a few tremors, but they weren't important. Things were holding up here pretty well, and someone would have sounded the bells if - oh.> There's a momentary flash of realisation. <Of course we wouldn't have been able to hear it. Not with this place being what it is. It spooked us at first, but you get used to it after a few minutes.>
<As for this, I have no idea what it is. It looks like writing of some sort and a picture, but it's like nothing I've ever seen before.>
Natska's investigations reveal that there's not much else to the place - no loose flagstones or concealed nastiness lurking about in the chamber. There are a couple of low stone bowls to either side of the plinth where the toppled tablet once stood, a faint whiff of some aromatic substance to them, but there's little residue left after all this time.
Fenris purses his lips as he studies the slab. "This right here," he says, pointing to a certain set of symbols, "It makes me think of the Shralestan coastline." The liger pulls a new soul gem from a pocket and discreetly swaps out his current configuration. It would be easier to study the slab this way.
<This is a map!> Fenris signs excitedly, <The coastline has changed a little, but look! That is the Jade coast, and here is Aerie Rock!> The liger grins and commits the thing to memory. <I think I could find this place if things have not changed too much since the tablet was made.> he signs with a grin.
Cassidy raises her brow at Fenris' signs before giving a soundless hum. "Shralesta, huh..." She murmurs out of habit before looking up at Natska and shrugging, conjuring up a few words for her, too. 'What? Weren't we just supposed to find them?'
Natska nods her head at Cass. Her circle around the room takes her near Fenris and she stops to look at the tablet, frowns, and then moves back over towards Cass. She steps up next to the fennec and leans her head against Cass' to make the hearing easier. "There is a rescue operation that needs to know they are alive," she murmurs.
<I'm sorry. If those up top are looking for us, then we shouldn't keep them waiting and worrying. This tablet here looks movable, if heavy - it's not that much larger than you or me and should fit the way we came in. Could you help us with it while we head on out? They must be worried sick.>
Fenris nods, opting to wait until they are out to let everyone know that he has a golem waiting that can certainly carry the heavy stone. The liger takes a position on one corner and waits for the others to heave the huge tablet. Perhaps he could come back here for more exploring another time. And meanwhile, there was this great new discovery to explore!
Cassidy nods her agreement to Natska before looking back over the other group, then at the tablet. She wasn't much of one for heavy lifting, but she does slink on over to at least try to help out!
Natska smiles. She looks over the group and then takes a spot next to Cassidy to help haul the tablet out. Once they have reached the initial pit, she takes a deep breath of the lighter air and slowly lets it out. "Intersting. Very interesting! But what does the tablet say, Fenris?"
