Fantasy DUNGEON DELVER: Secrets of Caedia — Expedition #1, The Crystal Cavern Expedition

[Elenion Aura]

DUNGEON DELVER

Secrets of Caedia

A Voice in the Dark

"My Chosen... Listen to the sounds of the stones. They sing for thee...

Descend... Descend... Descend..."

• XXXXXX1

• 「 #1 」
  THE CRYSTAL CAVERNS

  The Crystal Caverns were discovered long ago by Delvers. A cave system filled with luminous crystals which pulse with arcane energy, found to be immensely useful raw materials for crafting. Used in many critical areas that keep the city of Closter operating at high efficiency, the supply chain of crystals is of utmost importance.
  
  Luckily, the cave system is considered by most to be relatively low-risk (in terms of the frequency and threat of attack by monsters). Still, the miners must always descend with a squad of Delvers for their own protection. The world beneath Caedia is nothing if not unpredictable...
  
  
  

「 #1 」

OST 1 — MAIN THEME

 

[Elenion Aura]

Expedition #1

RAPHAEL

VAMPIRE ROGUE

The Barracks Armory, Closter

He paced up and down the length of a wall of brick and mortar, lined with arms and armors of every make and fashion, tip-toeing carefully around the slants of waning daylight painting the floor that streamed through the open arches in the stone. He paused, sparing a glance at a tapestry-adorned wall, emblazoned with the rearing lion of the royal house of Vere. He tutted... Then continued on his way to nowhere.

The wooden floorboards groaned beneath the black heel of his boot. Watching the hours tick by by the length of shadows cast in the courtyard below, he wondered why the gods had chosen to punish him so. His mind tumbled down the stairs of dismay. "Bloody hells..." He forced the words out through clenched fangs, sighing for the effect of it. For the invisible audience who would no doubt empathize with his plight...

For he had been given the most dreadful of charges... The most wretched of fates.

Babysitting.

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[RaiAthar]

Expedition #1

Jasha Taniyn

HUMAN ROGUE

The Barracks Armory, Closter

"Curses..." Jasha whispered to himself before he delicately set aside the covers and slipped off the mattress quiet as a church mouse. The Gods, if they existed, would have cursed his luck once again, for no creaks were heard from the old wooden bed-frame as he made his departure from the embrace of a petite, black-haired and olive-skin half-elf tavern wench. For a moment, he thought if he should feel guilty when he overlooked her sleeping form, perceiving a tender smile recede from her beautiful heart-shaped face. "...You'll get over it," he uttered underneath his breath.

Casually yet carefully, Jasha donned his clothing --black leather shorts and all. The boots, however, had never come off. As per usual, the buckles on his vest were not fastened, showing off his immaculate physique, a physique that did not come without an intense physical training regimen and the discipline to not stray from it. Of course, Anway's Whip was at his side. A rolled up piece of parchment was held firmly in his one hand. The parchment, a writ from the powers that be as he was now a sanctioned Delver, albeit with no experience whatsoever but that would be changing very soon.

He hadn't been in Closter for many a moon. If anything, he was looking forward to further re-acquaint himself with the finer folk of this rotten city.

Before shutting the door to the room behind him, Jasha did not look back; he rarely looked back. Then he was gone.

...​

"Read it an' weep, boys," Jasha teased as he unfurled the parchment, handing the writ over to one of the many gaurds --a guard that appeared to hold station-- at the entrance to Closter's barracks. The guard informed Jasha that the paperwork checked out then promptly had another grunt escort him to the armoury. Rather than making small-talk with the guard, he paid careful attention to the inner workings of the barracks, looking for easy-outs if the need were to arise. He noted that not much had changed in the place from when he was here last...seven years ago...in a holding cell. It wasn't an experience he enjoyed recalling. He quickly brushed those old memories aside to some long forgotten corner of his mind, somewhere where they wouldn't re-surface again, hopefully.

When Jasha arrived at an entrance to the armoury, a rather large room, he found that he was not alone --a tall, dark-haired and pale skinned man was pacing within.

"Hey! Sunshine!" Jasha called out before sauntering over to the man, extending his right hand to offer a firm shake.

A brazen smile graced his visage. "I'm Jasha, we'll be working together."

Interactions: Elenion Aura

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[The One Eyed Bandit]

Expedition #1

BEGONIA SCHULTZ

HUMAN FIGHTER

The Barracks Armory, Closter

A racket filled the armory halls, an incessant jostling of glass clanking against metal and metal scraping against glass. A few jars of preserves, a pair of water bladders, tools to produce fire, ammo, a few lengths of rope, and then the few lucky charms that her former subordinates had forced onto her, too. It was quite the list when Begonia laid it all down in her head, but she still felt as if she were packing a bit too light.

A day's outing was about all that she was expecting given the posting, and expeditions like these hardly ever tended to turn too sour, but... Something in her gut was still telling her that she aught to be coming better prepared. It was just beginners nerves, she told herself. It'd been years since a beginner at anything, after all.

"Miners, huh?" She spoke to herself, eyes trained upon a messily jotted on scrap of parchment. Begonia was familiar enough with this whole process, though she'd never been on this side of it. After the initial mining process was done with and the Delvers went home all of the materials procured still had to be processed and sorted, and it hardly rare for precious metals and gems to go missing during that process. She'd had to run down more than one overly ambitious miner during her time in the guard.

She hoped they'd been fired. Not because she was particularly offended by their crimes, but because it would've been way too awkward if she had to spend the next day escorting someone she'd spear tackled before.

Begonia approached the armory, rapping upon the door frame twice. Her eyes first fell upon a dark, sullen-looking shape of a man, and then another much cheerier-sounding soul, though no less clad in black. She smiled to herself before she spoke. Black leather and black robes. Only two heads present and they were already only one sermon and some candlesticks short of a cult gathering. Maybe she'd gotten the wrong room. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"This the spot for the mining gig? Bit more sparse than I was expecting..." She had been trying to arrive on the earlier side, but she'd thought that the parade of teasing she'd had to endure from her ex-colleagues on the way here had rendered those efforts moot. Maybe it had. Maybe it was just going to be her and dark and darker over there.

"It's Begonia." She introduced herself as she approached the men. "Or Schultz, if you wanna keep it formal. First dive here, so bear with me. Not really familiar with all of the uh... Formalities. Code of conduct. All that hat."

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[Haze-]

Expedition #1

MORRWYN

DRAGON SLAYER

The Barracks Armory, Closter

The sun came up over the zenith.

Bloated, amber-smeared clouds signaled the passing of a new day. The morning bore its blinding warmth, yet he was still used to the bite of the heat, not the enfolding kiss of the light. The shadow in the room stirred, leaned into a corner, both sets of limbs criss-crossed on each other, bleary bloodshot eyes cracked open to meet the glint, turning a head to it.

The prince grumbled.

“Fuck’s sake…” — It was damn over-bearing. He bit a breath, leather and black-clad armor strung to a symphony of horrid squeaking and ear-stinging groans as he pushed off the wall. Casting a weary eye to the ashen crown that adorned the night-stand; the spear tall by its side, poking the roof.

It was that day, today. He was sure of it. Try as he may to seem a mess of grumbling, begrudging curses, Morrwyn couldn’t help but feel a fizzing of excitement at the chest.

That crown, a mist of misshapen, misbegotten memories— the memories of someone else, of the body he now felt he inhabited— a new beginning. Or maybe, just the beginning in of itself. Maybe, he never started at all.

The past was only as real as the dragonwings that flapped and soared in his head, it only dredged in the recesses of his mind. Faded, flickered— like it were all a figment of his childish imagination, like he’d been born a man spat out the womb by the waves just a couple days prior. but the present…oh, that was at his hands.

It was the only thing that was real, had any tangible weight. Now wasn’t the time to be holding onto shadows he couldn’t even fully remember.

After all, today was the day he earned his keep. Today was the day he would find the flames that burned in the bellows his mind, be they real or not. They’d given him a warm welcome, even a room to stay in, warm food waiting on his return. It was time he repaid these people’s hospitality in kind.

If the dungeon is where they wanted him, then that is where they would see him.

Thus, he took his crown.

. . .​

The door leading to the barracks creaked open behind the trio, and what followed were a steady set of thudding steps, weighty— sounded like the floorboards would give under them. Morrwyn loomed, tall and hunched over them as to not scrape the roof with the horns of his crown, an unhurried leisure as he slowly made his way to them. Hard to tell from under the black crown whether he was looking at them or not, even harder to fully make out an expression.

Even if he didn’t look like it, he was scanning each of them with intent. A man in scandalous clothing, a hedonist, he assumed. Another, more wraith looking than man, clearly disinterested. Then the woman, as unassuming as most of the guards he’d seen on his way in.

'Bloody circus show…' — He cracked a scoff, flashed a smile. No mind readers, hopefully.

“Greetings, friends!” — He straightened, hands behind his back, red cape billowing as he tipped his crown to a dignified bow, rigid like a true toy soldier. Not with jest or mockery, his mouth was stretched to a thin line. He was dead serious — “Lady Begonia. Sire Raphael. Sire Jasha.” — He started, mentally scratching through the names he heard from behind the door.

Hand to his chest, spear at the ready by his side —

“Me name’s Morrwyn. Morrwyn Drakethorn. Proud shield of—! Summat’. To me understandin’, at least. Can’t bloody recollect the memory no more…not since I washed up o‘er these lands. Folks these parts ‘ave gotten ‘round to shortening me to ‘Mor’— for whatever reason— reckon y’ could do the same if y’ so please. A’ don’t particularly mind at all.”

“I’ll be accompanying youse lot to the depths of those mines. Be nice on me, aye? It’s me first day on the job.” — He chuckled, leaning down a bit to be eye-to-crown level with them — “Been given a briefing by them folks o’ the guild, but do y’ reckon there’s owt else I need a’ learn before we begin? Wouldn’t wanna be caught with me spear down…”

Interactions: Elenion Aura RaiAthar The One Eyed Bandit

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[Elenion Aura]

Expedition #1

RAPHAEL

VAMPIRE ROGUE

The Barracks Armory, Closter

His eyes fell upon the outstretched hand. They traced an invisible line up his less-than-adequately-clothed torso until they found a face grinning dumbly back at them. "Indeed," he said, as his hands remained firmly clasped behind his back. That familiar word was once more rattling around inside his brain.

Babysitting.

Mercifully, the moment of awkward silence was cut short by the sounds of an encroaching clangor from the hall. Turning toward the entrance, Raphael took the distraction as an opportunity to distance himself from the whip-wielding gigolo, sidling away as the latest in what was sure to be a long, long line of the absolute worst people he'd ever encountered in his life, introduced herself.

Luckily he wasn't afforded the time necessary to unpack just what exactly it was that this Begonia had brought with her today, for his new vantage had given him a perfect line of sight to the latest arrival—was he part-giant?!—rounding out this trio of misfits.

Is it just me, or are the recently Called all a bunch of fucking weirdos?

"... Right," he said, after a pause to steel himself. "There's a few more we're waiting on—"he prayed to all the gods and some of the devils too that they wouldn't show up"—We'll give them a bit, then head down."

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[Carolyn]

Expedition #1

RIGIDIS

POOR MAGICIAN

The Barracks Armory, Closter

There is a certain perception that magic is separate from ‘normal’ existence. An incorrect conclusion. In fact, magic is rooted in the very nature of life—it exists only because of the world’s sympathy. That is, everything is connected in some way to each other as stitches in a quilt. A wizard is someone imbued with the inquisitive mind to uncover these connections and, through the learned medium of the cosmos, shape them in positive or negative ways. But even they could not escape normality and its social whims and economic needs.

Take as an exhibit Rigidis. A black woman of some twenty years and more. See with her eyes, in the darker shade of cinnabar, a letter of eviction. Her reaction was an open mouth. Next to her was a portly man and his company of thugs.

“You can’t do this to me,” she said, half cursing, half pleading. “Five years we’ve known each other, Silas, and you treat me like a stranger now. After all the things I’ve done for you.”

The landlord shrugged his shoulders. “It’s more what you haven’t done. If I remember correctly, unpaid rents make you a squatter in this city, Rigidis, and liable to get the boot for someone more productive.”

“I’m better than any soot-stained brat and tanner you can find. Look, I’ll make good with time.” She produced a parchment with one hand on top and the other on the bottom. “Got a job with the delvers. One mission will be enough.”

“For me, maybe, but how about the others?” He chuckled. “I didn’t get these boys because I thought you’d get handsy. Course, they’re always be ready to put down trouble. Will you make it?”

Rigidis didn’t.

Her account after was a scarlet robe, a well-worn spell book, a dusty hat, and other minor trinkets of her trade stuffed in the makeshift pockets of her clothes.

---

Her new floor was the street and the sky her roof. The narrow confines, hawkers, and passerbyers shamed her though they did not know it. Those in the upper floors of the lean houses threw their trash down and she weaved to avoid it.

It took forty minutes of this suspense to reach her destination. The brick and mortar of the barrack were so stark in contrast to the wooden frames she was used to. By the very feel of the cobblestone beneath her feet, it was a richer district, and the pain of her soles were the first snub.

Had she hired a coach or paid more attention in flight class, Rigidis could have avoided the awkward state of being late. Four others—two men, two women—were already there. There was not enough energy to spare in judging their appearances. She herself was clad in a dull scarlet save the highlights of her beaten gold hair.

“Rigidis Sammonicus,” she said, feeling the funnel-like shape of her hat gave away her profession. “A pleasure.”

Interactions: Elenion Aura , RaiAthar , The One Eyed Bandit , Haze- .

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[Elenion Aura]

Expedition #1

RAPHAEL

VAMPIRE ROGUE

Caedia

When all the novice Delvers were present and accounted for, Raphael led them to Caedia by way of the winding halls of the Barracks. They'd descended 'The Snakes only know' how many stairs to get there, leaving the warmth and light of the day behind. The castle gave way to a tomb, which gave way to a catacomb, which gave way to a cave, with only the barest visible touches of mortal interference. The walls were slick with groundwater, and lined with wrought iron sconces that housed flickering, azure crystals, the only source of light this far underground...

The endless stairs opened into a vast, circular underground chamber. The earthen ceiling stretched so high overhead that the deadlights from the crystal sconces failed to reach it, or were swallowed by it. The room before them was abuzz with activity. Robed figures hastened this way and that, attending to various arcano-mechanical consoles, intricate glyphs, and other magical apparatus that lined the perimeter of the vaulted space.

The center of the room was dominated by a perfectly circular pool. The still waters reflected the inky blackness of the artificial sky overhead. That was Caedia.

For some, it was probably their first time seeing it. That pit. That dark lake. Womb of horrors.

For Raphael, it was Tuesday.

"Are we good to go?" He asked the robe who'd clogged over to greet them.

"We are," said the faceless man, his expression hidden in the fold of his cloak. Waving a skeletal hand, he beckoned the party to approach the mirror-lake's edge. Raphael did so without hesitation. He stepped forward. Once. Twice. The obsidian beneath his feet held fast. Turning to look over his shoulder, he signalled—not quite rudely—for those who had gathered to join him on the platform.

"Expedition to Level 2. Departing in 3, 2..."—Raphael thought about this next part, how he, even after all this time, never quite got used to the sensation—"1. May your Road be Kind." The robed man might've said something else, but Raphael didn't hear him. Couldn't hear him. Couldn't hear anything. The world had gone topsy-turvy.

Beneath his feet, an amethyst flower blossomed. The surface bowed beneath their weight. A shard of panic worked its way into his skull. What if, this time, somehow, they got it wrong?

The flower spiraled, and he spiraled with it, becoming unspooled. Together, they descended into an inverted world...

Interactions: Carolyn RaiAthar The One Eyed Bandit Haze- angel doe Kovacs

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[Elenion Aura]

Expedition #1

RAPHAEL

VAMPIRE ROGUE

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

Raphael's eyes opened. He was standing in a cave somewhere. Light was glinting off the rocks and there were men with pickaxes and carts ferrying that same luminous stone from one end of the quarry to another.

Ah, another happy journey, he thought as his stomach unwound itself from around his heart.

"Did everyone have fun?" He looked from right to left at the gathering of freshers arrayed behind him. Tried not to appear too amused by their expressions...

Interactions: Carolyn RaiAthar The One Eyed Bandit Haze- angel doe Kovacs

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[Haze-]

Expedition #1

MORRWYN

DRAGON SLAYER

THE CRYSTAL CAVERNS, DUNGEONS UNDER CAEDIA

Kind was one way to describe the “road”.

Were you a masochist that is.

After a seemingly harmless, overly dramatic, countdown, came a long, heavy silence. Whatever it was the robed man had casted on them, it started taking bits and pieces of him. First the eyes, snaking down the limbs, stripping him naked of his very being.

Everything down the neck felt like it had left him. It didn’t take long for him to leave, too.

Threads of conscious unweaved, re-knitted, then did a cross and a re-cross over one another. Bobbing. Beating. Frantic. Synapses drooling, smeared across the screenings of his mind like a buffed blur of breath. Red, bloody, breath— his damn brain felt like it was melting into his eyes. His peanut-brained self could only come to process it as that. A pure, hellish drawl of dragon fire blowtorching his head wide open, turning his mind into mush. Painlessly, somehow. Yet the lack of pain, and the expectancy of it, was the one thing that made the experience all the more unbearable.

When he opened his eyes the ceiling was at his feet, the ground at his sides, and he was knocked down ass-first on a cart full of sharp crystals. Whole body numb and slumped like a puppet with no strings, chuckling at nothing funny in particular. Either to mask the shame of being tumbled over so badly, or out of sheer lunacy.

The prince wheezed, shakingly breathing into his following words, cackling still — “Quite the manner a’ magicks y’ lot ‘ave.” — Morrwyn reached out with shaky hands, pulling himself out of the mining cart, coughing out another chuckle — “Horrifying!” — The prince exclaimed, as if that were a good adjective to tack onto anything.

He stumbled onto his feet, hunched over, pale braids whipping around as he took a moment to try and shake away the daze from his skull. Forcefully, of course — “That’s sure ta’ wakes ya’ the bloody hell up, innit…?” — Morrwyn scoffed, banging a fist against his head. Still, trying to force the dizziness of the ‘trip’ out of him.

Huffing, puffing (and oddly pumped up), the prince looked around with a big stupid grin on his face. Head snapping at the glint of the gemstones, ears perking up at the clink of the pickaxes far off, he raised his spear overhead, the glaive-head catching flame under his grasp. A makeshift torch was a lowly use for royal arms, but hell if he cared — “These the miners we’re supposed to be lookin’ after, yeah?”

He had a scowl on him, as if he were squinting his eyes to get a better look under that crown.

Interactions: Elenion Aura RaiAthar The One Eyed Bandit angel doe Kovacs

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[The One Eyed Bandit]

Expedition #1

BEGONIA SCHULTZ

HUMAN FIGHTER

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

"That there's a word for it..." Begonia, hunched over and propped up against a pillar but otherwise still standing, grumbled out through her teeth. She remembered this part, though over the years she'd managed to convince herself that she'd just been being dramatic about it in her youth.

Unfortunately, she hadn't been. Her stomach squirmed and pulled at itself with all of the veracity as it had in her distant memories, as if not-quite all of her body had survived the mystical jaunt down from the surface. She'd felt worse, in all honesty. The hangovers she'd woken to after long nights spent drinking with her squad had been enough to put a donkey on its ass, but at least that had been a predictable ailment. What hung on her shoulders now was something more foreign. A violation of the senses, not present in the world above.

She figured she'd just have to get used to it.

"Seems like it..." Begonia nodded to the towering prince, and then took a seat atop one of the less spiky-looking clusters of crystals. She laid her bag neatly beside her, and then took a swig from one of the water skins tucked away within.

"So, what's the protocol for all this, then? Sit and watch? Patrol? Reckon it'd be best to pair off if it's the latter, yeah? Best we not make ourselves easy pickings for whatever's lurkin' out there, roaming around all individual and all."

Begonia felt a little awkward addressing the group like this. She was no less a rookie than any of them, but if her years in the guard had taught her anything, it was that someone needed to get the ball rolling at times like these.

"Oh, actually-" Begonia's countenance brightened a mote as she pulled her bag up onto her lap. She'd been meaning to, well, preserve her preserves, but what time was there like the present? She eagerly scooped out a small collection of jarred fruits from her bag, the colours within ranging from yellow to red to green, and laid them out in front of her. Delvers were folks of as many stripes as there were stars in the sky but, she figured, they all at least had common that they needed to eat, right?

"Any ya'll hungry? Figure we'll have our hands full later, so I reckon there's some wisdom in getting a sugar kick now, yeah?" And, to boot, what better way was there to forge some fast bonds than to share a meal? "S'just some pickled fruits, but uh, beats an empty gut, yeah? 'Specially after that stomach turner gettin' down here..."

Interactions: Elenion Aura RaiAthar Haze- Carolyn angel doe Kovacs

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[Kovacs]

Expedition #1

VI'JUDAKAR

THE ROGUE DJINN

THE CRYSTAL CAVERNS, DUNGEONS UNDER CAEDIA

"Gentlemen," called out the djinn, a third arm slipping from the confines of his cloak and waving, "am I too late for the Delving expedition?"

The two guards who stood sentinel at the front entrance to the armory exchanged wary looks. As Dakar neared, his cloak flapping in the wind, their gazes darted from one limb to the next, drinking in the strange slits of black against purple skin and the piercing, honeyed eyes that never seemed to blink. One guard, his voice gruff, finally spoke.

"What in Caeldia are you supposed to be?"

Dakar's lips, locked into a smile, twitched; in the distant echoes of a past suppressed deep in his mind, Tower tourists, faces aglow with a mix of shock and wonder, would crowd around him, eager to see their first real djinn. If they were lucky, a seasoned traveler would take the time to approach them, a tip worth ten pieces of silver on their tongue. "Never trust the purple ones," they'd mutter, pulling the tourists away from Dakar's grasp. It was a memory buried alongside Dorian, the naive fool who'd spilled the details of this lucrative expedition over a shared flask, a simple carriage ride offered to a brave, bare-foot djinn and a promise to repay that bravery against the bandits with a slice of his earnings from his very first Delving expedition.

Internally, Dakar winced at the thought. Trusting another so easily was an amateur mistake. But, in a twisted way, he had done the lad a favor. Sure, he had manipulated Dorian's memory to make him believe the djinn had saved him from Mila and her elven band, but the boy’s naivety was painfully obvious. Such wide-eyed innocence and lack of discretion would have surely led Dorian to a short and disastrous career in Delving.

Yes, thought the djinn, killing that Human was a mercy! When the young Delver had refused to part with his contract, Dakar saw no other choice. The murder was not just a crime but a calculated decision. In Dakar’s eyes, it was a passing of the torch, a transfer of opportunity to someone better suited for the brutal path ahead, one that only someone with his cunning and resilience could truly appreciate...

"A Delver, at your service," Dakar replied, his voice dripping with mock confidence. "Newly minted, in fact."

The guards didn't move. The tension stretched like a bowstring, threatening to snap. Dakar reached into a hidden pocket within his cloak and produced a rolled parchment. The official seal of the Caeldian Council gleamed in the sunlight. It was Dorian's contract.

Upon opening the seal, the guards scrutinized the contract, faces unnecessarily grim. Minutes stretched into an eternity. Dakar's gaze remained fixed, unblinking upon their faces, ready at a moment's notice to reveal his third eye. Finally and rather thankfully, one of the guards grunted, followed by a single, hesitant nod. The other guard stepped aside, the heavy oak door groaning as it creaked open.

Dakar sauntered through the entrance, his steps light despite the leaden weight in his gut. The gamble had paid off.

For now.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•​

The winding halls of the Barracks felt like the digestive tract of a particularly grumpy giant. Dakar followed the gaggle of new Delvers, their faces etched with a mixture of nervous excitement and something suspiciously close to green. Thankfully, there hadn't been enough time for any probing into unusual anatomy – a less-than-enthused Vampire leader and tardiness tended to have that effect.

Before he knew it, the tunnel they'd been in opened into a vast, circular chamber unlike anything Dakar had ever seen. In the center of the chamber stood a perfectly circular pool of water. Its still surface reflected the endless blackness overhead, an inky mirror that seemed to go on forever. Raphael approached the pool with the practiced ease of an average worker boarding the train. He disappeared in a flash of shimmering light, and one by one, the other Delvers followed.

This, Dakar realized with a sudden cold twinge of dread, was not detailed anywhere in the contract. A few hesitant steps back were swallowed by a giant one forward, and then the world tilted beneath his feet. The light vanished, returning in a blinding flash; suffocating, squirming sensation of falling, bottomless was the abyss stretching beneath him. A primal scream, choked back by his gritted teeth, tore from his throat. His four arms flailed uselessly as the platform dissolved beneath him. Some core part of him felt it was reliving the moment he'd been ripped from his world, thrown off the very tip of the Tower, and deposited, dizzy and terrified, in the wet, sea-choked sands of Caeldia. That memory, and the crippling fear of heights it had birthed, clawed at that organ few were inclined to believe he even possessed.

Agony.

That was the first thing Dakar registered upon regaining consciousness. A throbbing pain radiated from his left arm, trapped in a vice of jagged crystals. Panic clawed at his throat, the memory of the descent fresh in his mind. He was alive!

Alive and sprawled across a bed of glistening blue crystals, their sharp edges digging into his back. Gritting his teeth, two unencumbered arms hauled with all their might, pulling the fourth trapped limb free from the crystalline grip. Pain and hisses lanced through him, but he ignored it, straightening to spy the armor-clad figure of Morrwyn Drakethorn, easily twice his height.

Unlike Dakar, however, Morrwyn wasn't registering any pain. In fact, he was giggling like a milkmaid and a madman combined, the high-pitched, almost hysterical sound grating against Dakar's already throbbing skull.

With a sigh that condensed into a puff of white mist in the frigid cavern air, Dakar braced himself. Within moments by Drakethorn's side, he shoved against the shoulder of the big man, his four arms straining against the dragon prince's considerable bulk. "Move, you lump of---" hissed Dakar as the effort proved steadily herculean. Thankfully, Morrwyn's drugged stupor seemed to dull his reflexes. Dakar's shove tilted Morrwyn enough for him to snatch his bandana free.

As the giant finally stumbled to his feet, Dakar wiped his face with the back of his hand, the rough fabric a welcome comfort against the damp chill. His other two hands rose and ran through his mop of wild charcoal hair, flattening the fall-mussed strands in an attempt to calm down. Jackals be damned, this Delving business was already proving to be more trouble than the contract was worth...

His stomach churned at the smell of food. Dakar didn't spare Begonia a glance as he lumbered towards her, his four arms reaching out like eager tentacles. He snagged two jars from her makeshift display, oversized purplish hands dwarfing the delicate glass containers. With practiced efficiency, he popped one open and peered inside. He wrinkled his nose, a look of disgust flickering across his multiple eyes, flickering like a lamp.

"Pickled plums?" he muttered, his voice hoarse and rough. Twisting the lid shut, he tossed the jar with a practiced flick, sending it clattering harmlessly against the cavern wall. The second jar received a sniff test as well, eliciting a long, drawling, enthusiastic nod of approval.

"Now these," he said, holding up a jar of plump, crimson berries, "these look like they might be worth the stomach ache." He popped the lid and inhaled deeply. "Preserved these yourself, did you?"

Dakar popped a berry into his mouth, savoring the burst of sweetness that exploded on his tongue. "Better not give one to the big one over there," he advised, voice laced with conspiratorial amusement. "He might throw it all up, and frankly, the smell down here, what with the miners and all, doesn't need the assist."


INTERACTIONS.
Elenion Aura RaiAthar Haze- Carolyn angel doe

 

[Carolyn]

Expedition #1

RIGIDIS

POOR MAGICIAN

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

The cascade of stairs that reached down was a metaphor Rigidis disliked. Despite the building’s respite from the ire of the sun, there was a yearning for the lost light that grew dimmer with every minute. She had time to reflect on the choices that led her there. They dwelled in the recesses of regret. Regret which turned to anger. Anger which turned to defiance. The worst vice of the intransigent.

Rigidis matched the pace of her inky host—surface pain and winces be damned. She could guess through his insipid reactions how bothersome they were to him. Emotions all too familiar to the wizard. So she set out to prove him wrong.

There wasn’t a peep when the concentrated burst of manic energy that lined Caedia hit her. She had read of the portal and possessed an inkling of its secrets. But it only gave the glyphs a maddening quality when Rigidis failed to comprehend them. Still her composure held when the gateway’s forbidding servants and their sinister instruments beckoned the group over.

Ever since the discovery of Caedia, scholars had been faced with a paradox: if the traveler is decomposed in this reality to be transported to another, do they remain the same? While the mind, body, and soul may resemble their counterparts in Closter, are we sure that the bloom of the amethyst flower did not alter the structure in some way, especially in the company of others?

Rigidis concluded that those anoraks needed a taste of her current condition. She was on her hands and knees vomiting right on the shoes of Raphael.

Interactions: Elenion Aura , RaiAthar , The One Eyed Bandit , Haze- .

Code by Serobliss

 

[angel doe]

Expedition #1

OPHELIA

ELVEN DRUID

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

That was hardly a 'kind road'. That was horrible.

At least she managed to keep her footing.

Ophelia's stomach churned uncomfortably, but she maintained a composed expression and turned to glare at their expedition leader, "Oh, yes, it was the most enjoyable experience of my entire life." Sarcasm dripped from her words, but she had a feeling Raphael didn't care much for how they felt and decided not to linger on it.

Instead, her attention was stolen by the woman, Begonia, offering food and approached curiously, examining what she had to offer. Ophelia reached for one of the snacks, only for it to be snatched by a large purple hand. Startled, she took a step back and glared as the man sniffed it and promptly tossed it away.

"How impolite," She 'tsked' softly and retrieved the discarded jar, brushing it off and returning it to the woman, "That is sweet of you to offer." Ophelia managed a small smile before deftly plucking the jar of berries from the purple man's grasp, gracefully twirling around, and taking a seat beside Begonia.

"I was a bit late arriving so I have yet to properly introduce myself to everyone, but if I recall correctly your name is Begonia?" She was one of the few people Ophelia remembered hearing the name of before they were whisked away. Popping a berry into her mouth, she hummed contentedly at the sweet taste, "Thank you for sharing- These are delightful."

Ophelia would have struck up more of a conversation, but the sound of vomiting sent a chill up her spine, and her silver gaze found one of their group members on her hands and knees. She recoiled violently at the mere sight of it.

This woman had gotten sick all over the shoes of their expedition leader, too.

She shivered uncomfortably, very obviously disgusted by the display, "Right, uh..." Ophelia looked at Begonia again, nose scrunching up as the smell hit her nostrils. Clearing her throat, she closed the container of berries and placed it next to the other jars, "I fear I may have lost my appetite after that, but the gesture was kind nonetheless."

Interactions: Elenion Aura The One Eyed Bandit Kovacs RaiAthar Carolyn

Code by Serobliss

 

[RaiAthar]

Expedition #1

Jasha Taniyn

HUMAN ROGUE

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

Unphased –the word that best described Jasha’s state of mind and body after the jaunt into Caedia. The descent through the caves, now THAT had him more than a little shaken –and he did well to hide it, he hoped— but the jaunt itself, the feeling of having one’s body folding impossibly through space and time, un-forming then re-forming, that was not at all a foreign sensation to Jasha.

With a coy smile on his face, he looked over his compatriots, one by one, hoping none were worse for the wear, because after all, he needed these people to get what he wanted.

For a moment, he assumed Morrwyn was laying dead on that mine-cart chalk full of jagged crystals. He had breathed a sigh of relief when the giant of a man started to chuckle. “I’m glad you’re still with us, Morrwyn.”

Ms. Shultz appeared to hold her own…and was already acting like she was leading the expedition… A vein in Jasha’s temple twitched momentarily. He couldn’t have cared less if she remembered him or not. Better for him if she didn’t. But what an ironic twist of fate, he thought, that the old hag was no longer a guard; she was a delver of all things, working with rogues like himself. He momentarily made eye contact with the lady, nodded his head respectfully before turning his attention elsewhere…

It seemed to Jasha that there was another cut from the same cloth…the blue-skinned four-armed man…already stirring up trouble; making a Gods-damned scene. He had to admit that it was bloody entertaining. This one had some real potential as an ally…or at the very least, a fall-guy.

Except for when she deftly plucked the berries away from Dakar, Jasha's eyes did not linger any longer than they needed to on the elf lady who was currently sitting next to Ms. Shultz.

It was now or never. He decided to approach Raphael a second time, this time with his gaze cast down in an apologetic fashion, “Sir, I miss-spoke earlier. If possible, I’d like to start over…and bloody hells, that reeks,” Jasha looked down to where Rigidis was. “Hey, you good, sister? Do you need a hand?” The even measured cadence of his voice betrayed nothing but kindness and a genuine sense of concern.

Interactions: Elenion Aura The One Eyed Bandit Haze- Kovacs angel doe Carolyn

Code by Serobliss

 

[Elenion Aura]

Expedition #1

RAPHAEL

VAMPIRE ROGUE

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

A pale hand snatched the fledgling wizard by her nape and wrenched her head back, exposing the soft, supple flesh of the neck. He fell upon her, bared fangs twinkling like twin motes of starlight amidst an oncoming wall of night.

He sunk his teeth in. Felt her body spasm as he drunk deep of her life’s blood. Eyes rolling over white. What bliss..!

“Bloody hells, that reeks.” The sound of the unfamiliar voice invading his subconscious wrenched him back to the waking world. Blinking away the last vestiges of a most pleasant nightdream. Everything remained as it was. The girl was still prone at his feet, divesting her stomach of its remaining contents onto his boots. What a shame. One day, perhaps. He soothed himself with the notion. One day. But not this day.

There was only so much grace that the Delving Association and the Crown, or the Guilds for that matter, would be willing to dole out for a supposedly reformed creature of the night. Draining dry their latest clutch of recruits during their very first foray into the Dungeons was probably a bridge too far. Probably.

"What?" Raphael looked the man in the eye and snapped the word in a tone that brokered no response. Neither did he wait for one. Twirling on his heel, he trudged into the mine proper, shaking spew from his boots as he went. Spurning once more poor Jasha his second attempt at camaraderie.

"Excellent idea," he called over his shoulder toward the former guardswoman. "Not the food. Pairing off," he twisted 'round without breaking his stride as he rattled off their assignments. "You, and you," he said, pointing to Begonia and Ophelia.

"You two." Morrwyn and Dakar. "And... The two of you." He lowered his gaze to Jasha and the prostrated body of Rigidis, flecks of whose favor he still carried in the creases of his black leather soles.

"There are three paths. Two wrap back around, one leads toward the other end of the system. I care not who goes where." He would find the foreman and see about how quickly they could be out of this hovel. The sooner, the better, if his poor, wrinkled nose was anything to go by.

He turned back one final time, smiling as if recalling a pleasant memory. "Oh, and..." His lip curled wickedly, "Watch out for Cave Crawlers."

Interactions: Carolyn RaiAthar The One Eyed Bandit Haze- angel doe Kovacs

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[Haze-]

Expedition #1

MORRWYN

DRAGON SLAYER

THE CRYSTAL CAVERNS, DUNGEONS UNDER CAEDIA

The prince braced himself on one of the crystal’s, hooked an elbow around it, flashing a grimace and snickering at the still shaky, sweaty half-reflection he could see staring back at him on the gloaming-blue surface of it; buffed and fogged on his breath, blurring and waving on the torchlight beaming down onto it.

The expression on the man’s face looked foreign, wasn’t fixed in any sort of way he’d recognize just off of looking at any mirror.

The man was excited, like a squire at the stables— gawking starry-eyed at the real soldiers. He remembers it, faintly. Like a play of shadows plaging his mind every night. The petty brawling. The loud sing-song. The hollering of faceless, thirsty men clattering empty mugs on the table, looking for refills. The celebratory clamor before the hunt, the thrill, the expectation weighty on the night’s air.

There he was, a used-to-be squire, recalling what being excited was like. Remembering the weight of the spear he carried. He’d been stranded on foreign land with only a vague regard for distant memories, a nameless spear that had yet to see any use.

Something about being at those damp caverns had him with a wide, disgustingly ear to ear smile on his face. He had been told— warned, rather— that delving came with its dangers. That a situation could turn on its ass at any moment, that anything could jump out at him. Morrwyn was just hoping they hadn’t lied straight to his face. Otherwise, the whole song and dance of this expedition would end up a waste of time.

He was certain he’d catch at least a phantom memory of who he used to be in the heat of battle. Everything would come flowing back when he danced with his spear, he was sure of it.

“Hm?” — His head snapped up sharply at the sound of glass rolling against the cave floor, out of his musings, suddenly remembering where he was, what he was doing. His brows perked up over the crown as he watched Dakar pick through the jars. Like a wild dog punching fangs on the bones of a dead man, brushing off the cracked remains when there wasn’t enough marrow to chew through.

In this case, not enough berries, it seemed.

The prince glanced back with a grin at the djinn as he accused him of having a weak stomach, brushing off the comment with a dismissive swat of the hand.

“I’ll ‘ave ya’ know—” He started, immediately cutting himself off with a sympathetic hiss at the sound of Rigidis releasing her whole stomach down on Raphael’s boot. Morrwyn’s face froze to a grimace, head craning between the guardswoman and the djinn, switching weary glances under that crown.

A sigh, tongue clucking as his shoulders rose, sauntering over to Dakar and Begonia — “Gave the poor lass some ideas, ain’t ye?” — He patted him on one of the four shoulders as he passed him by, shifting footing to squeeze between him and the pickled plums dealer, snatching two jar from her hands.

“Ey up! On y’ feet now. Happens to the best of us, mate…” — A slight note of concern, overshadowed by the clear-cut disregard for the bile he was damn near squatting on. Almost too casual, understanding. The prospect of comradery hadn’t left him yet, not even worlds apart.

Morrwyn loomed beside the woman, hand hovering just behind her back as he picked and prodded at the prospect of patting it, weighing whether or not he’d get his hand slapped away. He at least had that level of tact.

Instead, clawed gauntlets craned down in front of Rigidis, holding the lid of a glass jar up to her face.

Pickled plums. Fresh, he assumed. He set them right beside her across the bile — “Here. ’Ave some when you recover, aye? Lady Begonia’s…pickleds? That what she called ‘em? I dunno, but ‘ave a good rest up ‘fore you get going. Fill up what y’ lost.”

After that was said and done, the prince pushed up. Looked down at their expedition leader as he busied himself hissing out orders, rather begrudgingly. Not that Morrwyn would’ve picked up on that fact.

“Reyt t’ work then! A‘ve got a damn good feeling about this path here mi’sen.” — A fist raised up, banging dull on his black chestplate before he turned that hand to point at the winding tunnel behind him. A true soldier, not missing a single beat — “Ought t’ take a proper gander at it ‘fore any miners run up on those ‘cave crawlers’, whatever they are…”

The prince spun around, slowly— with awful long steps— ambling over to the dim entrance of the tunnel. Spear jumping on his shoulder, as if inviting Dakar to follow. Or trying to reel him in, maybe — “C’mon, then. Promise I’ll keep me mouth shut and ‘ave me lug ‘ole open instead…maybe.”

Interactions: Kovacs The One Eyed Bandit Carolyn Elenion Aura RaiAthar angel doe

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[Carolyn]

Expedition #1

RIGIDIS

POOR MAGICIAN

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

Never mistake a wizard's sympathy for mercy. They take the same absurdity of men and combine it with more creative outlets for their malice. They have torn out hearts with a touch of the wind and let the very earth consume flesh to name but a few black deeds. Yet Rigidis had it worse than any of those victims of analogy. Even the poorest of them had the sweet release from pain afterwards. For her it went on and on. As tongues wagged nearby (her ears were ringing), she thought about memories and how the group would recall this moment either in scorn or pity about the girl who threw up on her first outing.

What excuse could she come up with to explain it away? One too many beers last night? Or was it the compounded stress of losing her home? Or that her guts simply couldn't handle the portal? Such answers would only dig her down further.

Rigidis wiped her mouth with the back of her hand when she regained control of her body. The motion both cleaned her lips and kept any foolish remarks inside. She felt the metallic touch of her faux-gold piercing as the bile was flicked away. The engraving read: 'this too shall pass.'

Her mental bubble only snapped when Morrwyn's jar met her cheeks. “My thanks, sir. I’ll be better for it,” she said, vanishing the item inside her long sleeves. Her accent was that of the clerical sort in Closter. Nasally with a staccato-like rhythm. People who expressed themselves better with letters than words.

It occurred to Rigidis that she had soiled the shoes of someone. Looking up, she met the biting eyes of the vampire. She wished through the confines of her squinting eyes that she didn’t do that. Bolting away from the shade and coincidentally onto the chest of the immodest rogue, Jasha, Rigidis said, “Sorry about that. Won’t happen again. And paths, yes, best get to it. The sooner, the better.”

Interactions: Elenion Aura , RaiAthar , The One Eyed Bandit , Haze- .

Code by Serobliss

 

[RaiAthar]

Expedition #1

Jasha Taniyn

HUMAN ROGUE

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

"You're a true gentleman, Sire Morwynn," Jasha teased playfully when the large, imposing man left Rigidis with Ms. Shultz's jars of preserves...despite the jars not being his to offer. Then he took a cursory glance over at Ms. Shultz, trying to suppress a grin but only half succeeding, just to see the look on her face.

The time for pleasantries seemed to be over, so having heard little or nothing about cave-crawlers, Jasha thought it would be a great idea to ask the very miners who worked here of such things and other dangers of note that lurked within these crystal caverns. It only made sense...yet Jasha found himself stopping short after one step too many in the wrong direction. He raised both hands up in a placative gesture upon meeting Raphael's disapproving glare. The pasty-faced elf appeared to be saying in no uncertain terms --they (the miners) have a job to do. Do yours.

So this was a test, Jasha surmised, of their personal skill and their abililty to work as a group or in pairs presently, relying entirely on each other. Jasha shrugged his arms, then stepped back next to Rigidis.

"So much for that bright idea...now try to listen carefully. What you just went through, everyone on the Gods-green earth has the displeasure to experience at least once in their lifetime --once if they're lucky-- however, it's not those moments in and of themselves that define us, sister, it's how we carry ourselves afterwards. Anyways, you missed a spot," he pointed to a speck of vomit still clinging to the young lady's lip. Instinctually, he solfty, perhaps affectionately cleared the vomit away from her lip with his outstreched finger; wiped the reffuse off onto his black leather shorts.

He smiled endearingly at Rigidis, "Now we're ready to go. Lets mosey," then he turned away from her to walk down the middle path.

Interactions: Elenion Aura The One Eyed Bandit Haze- Carolyn

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[The One Eyed Bandit]

Expedition #1

BEGONIA SCHULTZ

HUMAN FIGHTER

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

"Yeah, Cuz, it's a uh... A hobby of mine. Thanks. You guys take all you need, yeah?" Just the slightest measure off guard, Begonia was taken by the other Delvers enthusiasm for her pickled sweets. It was ironic, she knew, given her former profession, but flattery was not often something one needed to shield oneself against during a tenure with the city watch. She could remember them clearly- or more like not clearly at all, after a decade it just all sort of melded together- just how all of the dirty glances and spools of spittle cast her way had looked. As a watchman, her job hadn't been to bring smiles to people's faces, it'd been to protect those tender expressions instead.

Even now as a Delver, an adventurer professionale, that still wasn't her job. Frankly, she was still a bit fuzzy on what the job description of a Delver even was, aside from the obvious connotations of the title. Either which way, whatever was her past and present job description, she thought this nice, the cheery rapport her temporary companions shared. It reminded her of the barracks.

So too did the vomit.

The smell hit her not long after the noise, but it took her a moment to notice either. It was only once the other Delvers were upon the poor woman that the well-worn neurological pathways within her mind that were associated with pathetic, wet vomiting lit up. It wasn't like she wasn't paying attention. This much, tragically, was normal for her. Expected. A part of her daily routine. Really, genuinely, she couldn't even remember a single night she'd spent on watch where she hadn't watched one or one dozen drunkards emptying their guts onto the street. She'd learned to tune it out.

Jasha and Morrwyn, to their credit, had been much quicker on the uptake than she, plundering her preserves and making an offering of them to the throw-up woman. It bothered her hardly. That had, in the beginning, been the whole reason she'd made an offer of the things anyway. What hit her more than the vomit and act of petty theft both, was the rather striking elven woman who'd seated herself at her flank, scrunched up nose and all.

Against the rough and tumble, the robes and leather, the competition and vomit of the other Delvers, she certainly stood out, possessed with that elven grace as she was. She reminded her, for a moment, of those above it all noblemen she'd occasionally be delegated to watch over, but she quickly banished that thought. They were quite literally below it all at the moment, after all, not to mention the fact that no silver spoon fed nobleman or woman would've had any inclination to go plunging into the depths of Caedia like this.

To cut a long story short, the woman had class, something that Begonia herself sorely lacked.

"Hey, don't worry about it. That's the charm of preserves, isn't it? They're uh- Preserved, yeah." Begonia responded, fumbling slightly and after a bit too long. "I still got a couple on me. Peaches... And I think some apples, too."

She spoke a bit more competently now, reassembling her dazzled senses as she set her mind to the task at hand. A patrol. How ironic was that? That she, after finally tiring of spending her nights wandering up and down the city streets above, would find her first duty to do the very same as her first task within the world below. It wasn't so bad, though. At least here the sights were beautiful, all glimmering crystals of every colour of the rainbow, and not the aforementioned vomiting drunks.

"Looks like you and I are making a pair, eh? How about we work up an appetite and you can take your pick of whichever fruit strikes your fancy? Once your stomach settles, I mean." Begonia flung her bag back over her shoulder as she got back to her feet, and left those of her preserves that had already been dined upon where they were. They could round back to them, and whoever made it back first could make a feast of them, should it strike their fancy.

"What do ya think? Left or right?" Begonia hardly minded much either way. A patrol route was a patrol route, and making decisions was a duty that she was determined to leave behind alongside her title of Captain. Suggestions, however, such as the hand she offered to aid the elven woman in getting to her feet, were another thing entirely.

"Either way, how about we pop off before we're left with the short stick? Bad luck to be last out the gate."

Interactions: Elenion Aura RaiAthar Haze- Carolyn angel doe Kovacs

Code by Serobliss

 

[angel doe]

Expedition #1

OPHELIA

ELVEN DRUID

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

"Right. Preserves. The whole point is that the food is preserved." Ophelia echoed, tilting her head thoughtfully. At the mention of peaches, however, her attention snapped to Begonia and her eyes widened, "Peaches? Really?" A smile that reached Ophelia's eyes graced her lips, "I love peaches. Would it be selfish of me to ask you not to share them with anyone else?"

Ophelia's cheeks flushed a soft pink and she clamped her mouth shut, pausing for a moment to consider what she wanted to do next, "Sorry, disregard my request. That would be selfish of me."

Thankfully, Begonia's voice interrupted the awkward silence that had followed.

"Looks like you and I are making a pair, eh?"

"So it would seem," Ophelia replied, taking the hand Begonia offered and pulling herself to her feet, "Thank you." She hummed while brushing some dust from her clothes with her free hand and quickly double-checked she had all of her belongings.

"Left or right... Hm," She tapped a finger to her chin, squinting at their choices, "Right." Ophelia started to point left, but swiftly realized her mistake and changed direction. She really hoped Begonia hadn't seen that.

It was only when Ophelia started in the direction she pointed she noticed her hand still holding the other woman's, "Ah. I am so sorry, Begonia," Finally letting go, she cleared her throat nervously, "Let's get going."

Interactions: The One Eyed Bandit

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[Kovacs]

Expedition #1

VI'JUDAKAR

THE ROGUE DJINN

THE CRYSTAL CAVERNS, DUNGEONS UNDER CAEDIA

Ophelia's swift rescue of the poor jar and its pickled plum contents went unnoticed by Dakar, whose attention was wholly absorbed by the berries soon to be in his belly. Lost in momentary darkness savoring its sweetness, he hadn't felt foreign fingers graze his own until it was too late; jar plucked like a feather, Dakar stared at his empty hand as a startled chicken might in the grasp of its sentimental farmer, right before its neck was laid out for slaughter. When he looked up, a renewed slyness brushed over his face, the ghost of a grin on his lips. She's good.

Maybe too good. His stomach grumbled its dissatisfaction, dragging along with it his smile. The impolite serial pickpocket pickpocketed from his pickled cherries. Try and say that fifty times.

An annoyed click of his tongue and narrowing eyes glinted with cold contempt as they pierced Ophelia's retreating form. Dakar crossed his upper arms, a third hand idly pointing in her direction – a gesture both playful and vaguely threatening – as she joined Begonia's side. "Got some nerve, don't you, you little thief?" Despite being spoken under his breath, it was loud enough still to carry across cavernous air. The irony wasn't lost on him of course; a notorious bandit accusing another of thievery. But it was an irony only he could appreciate as Dakar the Blue Bandit, not Dakar the Delver with a dead man's contract.

Rigidis, greeting their Vampire leader's boots with the contents from her own stomach, couldn't have made a worse impression in her competency as a first-time Delver. The sight elicited a low, guttural chuckle and leering whistle from the djinn that could send shivers down the nearest spines. Unlike the amusement he'd shown for Ophelia's thievery though, this was pure, unadulterated disgust.

Feeling the thuds of the giant princeling coming up from behind, Dakar turned halfway to face him, only to be stopped in his tracks by what felt like a bear's paw parting away river reeds. "Save your pity, Drakethorn," Dakar replied, desert accent thick with nonchalance as he allowed Morrwyn his leeway. "Save it for when we go back up again. The vampire won't be so merciful a second time."

For once, his advice was sound, but there was no telling if Morrwyn had heard it, as it trailed behind the big man and his two new pickled jars toward said poor woman. Dakar rolled his eyes - all four of them - and turned to see his precious jar of cherries left on the floor by Ophelia. The theft was half-hearted, yet she wasn't entirely innocent of wrongdoing; a third of the supply had vanished. One of his lower arms scooped up the remainder, cradling it mournfully.

Dakar mirrored his new expedition partner's raised fist with a gesture of his own, lower and upper fists striking against their respective palms. It was a touch theatrical, yet beneath the performance lay a sliver of genuine glee. Morrwyn instilled in him a sense of assurance—that regardless of the type of crawler they might face ahead, Drakethorn would have his back. Whether or not Dakar would return the favor remained to be seen and, if his past was any indication, not likely to be heard.

"As long as it isn't bile spewing from that gaping maw of yours," Dakar replied, stretching his upper arms languidly. Somewhat ironically, a yawning echo from his own gaping mouth traversed down their designated tunnel, culminating in a lazy grin. "You'll hear no complaints from me, Drakethorn. It might even be better if one of us had a ballad to sing. Our voices combined are bound to scare off the crawlers, and hells, half the miners too, hm?"

INTERACTIONS.
Elenion Aura Haze- Carolyn angel doe The One Eyed Bandit

 

[Elenion Aura]

Expedition #1

RAPHAEL

VAMPIRE ROGUE

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

The farther he walked in his squelching, ruined boots, the sourer his mood became. The more he thought about turning right around, calling the whole expedition off, and committing acts of incredible violence. Luckily for everyone, he needn't walk all that far.

The sound of his approach, if not the smell, had miners lowering their pick-axes and laying down their push-carts. He pressed on, paying them little heed. Unless they were green, they had ought to be well accustomed to the presence of Delvers in their midst by now.

"Carry on, gents," he said, because of course he did. Because he couldn't help himself. To their credit, the miners did not respond as he trodded briskly past them, hoping beyond hope that all in his charge were busy meeting horrible, ugly fates down in those caverns...

It didn't take long before the Crystal Caverns had unfolded before each of them, each in their chosen path, in all its labyrinthine glory. The air itself was cool, carrying the scent of mineral-rich stones. The cave floors were packed tight, crunching ever so softly underfoot.

The caverns themselves were bathed in a the otherworldly glow of the crystals that grew from them. Amethyst, sapphire, emerald, each caught the smallest mote of light, refracting it and magnifying it into a kaleidoscope of color that danced across the earthen walls in shimmering waves.

From somewhere, not far from any of them, the sound of a trickle of water echoed through the chamber, harmonizing with the low hum that seemed to emanate from the very crystals themselves, singing their ancient, silent song.

The three chosen paths were empty, save for the pair of Delvers each that were now patrolling them.

Interactions: Carolyn RaiAthar The One Eyed Bandit Haze- angel doe Kovacs

Code by Serobliss

 

[Carolyn]

Expedition #1

RIGIDIS

POOR MAGICIAN

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

Her reactions were physical. The distortion of her eyes toward Jasha foremost as a fearful squint was made into a riotous glare: the bloom of her twin rubies hot like coal. While he could not feel them, they seemed to emanate a heat that drove into her flushed cheeks, into the bile-coated mouth, parting as his finger moved across to dagger-sharp canines. Pity and disdain were loathsome synonyms to her.

“While your kindness is noted, do reserve it for those that have asked first,” said Rigidis. It was the same cadence of a slur issued at conferences with a veneer of decorum. But an all-out attack was mitigated on the behalf of his previous concern. Her tempest dissipated on that cliff alone—no longer a manifest danger and instead a squally threat.

She departed with her nimble legs without further arguments. The journey ahead was treacherous enough. Her shadow caressed eon-aged, amorphous crystals in the cavern. Their use as an ingredient for the arcane was well-researched. Admittedly, it was a field outside of Rigidis’ purview, which relied less on otherworldly minerals. Covetous palms still picked a few choice ones.

The drafty air caused her to fall deeper into her robe. The lower half of her face was concealed, muffling warm breaths she exhaled. Since incantations required a healthy throat, she was also testing it with bits of verse uttered by Caedia’s fateful. Maybe there was an earnest prayer in there too since the light that shimmered in strange reflections could reveal crawlers or worse.

Interactions: Elenion Aura , RaiAthar , The One Eyed Bandit , Haze- .

Code by Serobliss

 

[RaiAthar]

Expedition #1

Jasha Taniyn

HUMAN ROGUE

The Crystal Caverns, Dungeons Under Caedia

"Why is it always a cave?" Jasha mumbled softly under his breath. The inhalations and exhalations of his breaths were long and drawn out, not loud but audible. A thin coat of perspiration on his exposed skin glistened via light from luminescent crystals that dotted the interior of this labyrinth. The smile on his visage was of the forced variety but not meant to appear as such. Every-so-often, a hand reflexively moved to his neck and sternum, pulling down at a non-existent collar. Through amber orbs, the tunnel seemed to have a life of its own, constricting and expanding in sync with the beating of his heart wherever the space became too narrow for his liking. Still, he willed himself to move forward, and perhaps all too slow for the likes of some. Any caution for cave-crawlers was thrown to the wind, however, as cave-crawlers or any other cavern creatures were the least of his concerns at this juncture.

After stepping out of a narrow passageway and into a modestly sized cavern, Jasha slumped down onto his arse with his back against a section of wall that was relatively clear of crystals. His knees were up; left arm over-top knees; and chin resting on arm. The whip at his side was gripped firmly in his right hand. "Yeah..." he looked up at Rigidis, still holding on to a smile despite his circumstance, "the air's definitely thinner down here. Just give me a minute or two. Actually, one-point-four-three-five-nine minutes would be ideal." A light-hearted chuckle escaped his lips, "...I've spent a lot of time with enfants. Washing up poopy and pukey kids sort of comes naturally to me, so do yourself a favour and try not to take what happened earlier the wrong way."

Interactions: Elenion Aura Carolyn

Code by Serobliss