(Areya) Gathering Materials I

[Rickter]

Glade 18th, 121st AoS

The heavy sound of metal as it padded against stone echoed from the walls of the caverns as they walked onward, as the pair that walked further within reached First Deep of the Warrens. It had been a while since he'd dared to venture down here again, since after what had happened last time, and while he didn't really seek out reasons to take a venture down very often... Well needless to say, someone was in need of something to do back at the palace. Rickter never quite owned many materials in regards to dragonshards and magical items, and while Telion never practiced her Scrivening as often, she still needed certain supplies to be able to use them for later. Plus it just helped to restock in general, and since it was easier to save on cash by coming down here...

Needless to say his beloved wouldn't have it, at least enough to let him go alone anyways. So with a bit of discussion between the three of them, Hannah volunteered to accompany Rickter; since Telion found that her magic started to seem off lately. Thus the black wolf marched onward with his travel pack hung from the shoulder, a few comfort things such as food and water brought along, as well as the pickaxe and aether net used to help mine dragonshards. "I'm starting to wonder if that armor was such a good idea." Hannah remarked casually as she straightened the flaps of her jacket, her left hand rested on the grip of her pistol as she strut alongside him. While her attire was simple by design, the fact she only wore her leather jacket over her blouse and leather pants humored Rickter.

Sure she looked good, as she normally did, but it wasn't anywhere near protective as actual armor. Not like the sort Rickter had purchased a few days ago, more or less to replace the old stuff at least. The black wolf chuffed down to her with half-raised eyebrows, a partially amused look spent on her before he shrugged his shoulders at her. Half-plated armor might've been a bit heavier than chainmail, but at least Rickter was still able to move around with full functionality. The idea of going in here with a set of fully plated armor is what he didn't wish to entertain, having remembered that he lost his chainmail coat and gloves somewhere within the Warrens last time. Back then though he wasn't aware of what he was doing, only fighting to protect the ones he cared about in the face of great adversity.

And though that danger nearly took from him one of the few people he loved, Rickter's new regimen with training over the seasons would make sure such wouldn't happen again. Besides there was nothing to worry about, right? They were just down here to gather some dragonshards, and return home so that later Telion could show more Scrivening to him later. "It's a bit larger than I anticipated, but it still fits just fine for armor." He murmured as he looked down at the leather cuirass plated with half sheets of metal, a couple light knocks made against it with the knuckles of his gauntlet as they walked. "So long as I can keep what limited mobility I have, it'll serve its purpose if the occasion should arise."

"That's fair." Hannah remarked with her eyes averted ahead of them, the subtle widen of her gaze indicative that she hadn't been down here before. "Wow, and to think this place gave me nightmares as a girl."

"Wait, so you know what the Warrens are then?" He noted with a tilt of his head as they walked past a fallen pillar reminiscent of the Buried Empire, Hannah curled a grin but didn't quite bother to look his way.

"Quite well. Never had to come here before honestly, the stories always kept me away mostly. Now that we are here though, what type of shards are we in the market for?" The brunette inquired as they slowed to a pause, the halt in their steps created a silence that lingered as Rickter looked ahead momentarily.

"Aetherite is what she said we'd need most, though since we're down here, I reckon we could look for a couple other types as well."

"Definitely bound to be some Terrasyte we can scrounge up down here. I know a guy who likes to uses them for clay." Rickter gave Hannah an odd look for a second, and she merely shrugged one shoulder to him before she gave another response. "Guy's an artiste what can I say."

"As practical as their uses can be, I'd like to think we can do better with Terrasyte than just clay. Also, keep an eye out for any water holes, wouldn't mind looking into Aqualyth shards as well."

"Why not just run for the Second Deep then?" She teased with a tilt of her head, the wolf quickly shook his head for an answer though.

"We're traveling light here, a run into the next level is too risky for my standards. Best to make do with whatever we find here." He remarked as his eyes fell upon a place within the Warrens, beyond the remnants of a rampart that had crumbled throughout the area.

"Fair enough," Hannah agreed as she started to trot along before him, "let's not waste anymore time then. The sooner we get this done, the quicker we can get back to the palace hm?" To that the wolf agreed with, and gave her a firm nod as he too started to march onward. There looked to be an impressive field of stalagmite pillars that rose high, just past the ramparts, which looked to be a good starting place as any to poke around for some dragonshards.

"Common" "Synskrit"
"Rickter" "Hannah"

[Reviewer]

Thread Title

Time Stamp

Areya's eyelids flitted upward a half inch as she heard the sounds of people talking coming. She was, yet again, on guard duty down here. Thankfully, she was on patrol instead of simply guarding a tunnel entrance. Her compatriots were across the way, napping from what she could tell, leaning against each other's head. Soon, a man and a woman walked past them all, seemingly paying them no mind at all, as they were deeply enraptured in their own conversation.

Fuckin' freebies.

"Wow, and to think this place gave me nightmares as a girl."

Areya found her blood boiling at this errant and no-thoughts-given comment. It was so... careless. To come down here and act as if it wasn't the most dangerous place in the all the lands. Areya had seen the bodies carried out of here, Dead Legionnaire and Sky Guard and adventurer alike. To be so naïve and foolish was just... deadly. She may have been young and dumb before she was sentenced to come down here, but at least she had never thought this place was anything less than what it was. Hell.

And she'd not even been to the lowest depths that were so much worse. Very few came back from those excursions. The woman teased about the second deep, and Areya found her rage growing even more. But maybe there was truth to her confident words. Maybe they were strong enough to go to the Second Deep, though the man seemed more sensible. Areya slipped off her wall, moving forward as the pair disappeared down a tunnel, following the sound of the man's armor clinking.

She decided to try and stalk them for as far as she was able. It wouldn't be too difficult. She'd grown quite accustomed to moving stealthily down here, it was necessary for her survival thus far. And between their constant talking and the clinking of his armor, she'd be able to find them from a fair distance away. Maybe if she were lucky, they'd be killed and she could take their supplies. It wouldn't be the first time, and if she had her way, it wouldn't be the last.

She moved through the darkness, eyelids half down to reduce reflections should the pair look back, as she focused on hearing them and minding her step. Slow, cautious footsteps, that rolled heel to foot so as to better muffle any noise. She stayed close to the walls, and kept a fair distance, following her ears, keeping her breathing slow and shallow. She was "technically" doing part of her job, patrolling the Warrens. They never specified how to best do this. Although if monsters showed up, she might need to get involved.

Maybe.

[Rickter]

Gathering Materials I

Glade 18th, 121st AoS

As the pair walked their way toward the ruins nearby Rickter's head remained lowered a slight angle, his blue eyes wandered frequently to their sides and their flanks, only to make sure that nothing would sneak up on them so easily. Down here he knew to utilize his every sense of perception wherever possible, as they were a crucial part in navigating the Warrens unscathed.

Right off the bat he could trace several scents that hung heavily within the earthen musk of the caverns they treaded, the immediate smells his nose picked up on being a combination of decay and aether. "I'm picking up on possible bogeys in the area, we might want to proceed with caution through here." He warned his comrade as she slowed her pace to gaze up to him, wary of the twitches made around his nose as Rickter's eyes pondered in a few different directions. It was hard to gauge where exactly they all came from, with next to no wind down here it made it impossible to determine an exact position.

But there were things down here.

If Hannah didn't look nervous about being here before, she sure as hell started to now, having taken her gun out from the holster so that she could hold it firmly in one hand. She kept the weapon pointed up though as she held it in just the one hand, as she carefully approached the massive breach in the ruined rampart they had marched to earlier. "All clear, unless that little nose of yours is picking something else up?"

A bit of gravel and stone shifted somewhere in the area just outside of their proximity, and the wolf's head jerked immediately in the direction he had noticed. The rogue next to him looked over and raised her eyebrows, quick to follow his line of sight only to find that nothing was visible in the surrounding area. "What is it?" He thought he could trace... leather? There was another musk different from the Warren's own natural smell, an odor almost as strong as onions but not quite like it. Could another person be nearby? His eyebrows furrowed for a moment.

"Not sure. We're not alone here though," Almost as soon as he said that a few warbled howls filled the space beyond the rampart, which gave them both cause to peer right beyond the breach into the inner reaches of the ruins beyond, "and we might have a path to clear before we get there..."

"Great, and here I hoped for a lovely stroll through the Warrens." Hannah remarked with hardly any enthusiasm, which led Rickter to grin slightly as he looked to her next.

"Unfortunately it's never that easy, and depending on how you look at it, this probably qualifies as a regular stroll regardless." Hannah looked to him even more seriously than before now, her head turned away to the breach once more as she damn near scowled from his response.

"I fucking hate these caves." And so the truth came out, and with it a light chuckle from the wolf. Rickter didn't hesitate to take the lead for her though, a mindful step made with his feet since he wore heavier gear than normal. He didn't doubt that there would be at least several entities to deal with, but he hoped that from the cry that they'd heard earlier, it was just a small number of Shinaegri that lingered within the ruins. As he took point to cross the threshold into the ramparts interior, the wolf carefully climbed along some of the piled rubble, cautious to try and ease himself down as loose stone shifted beneath his weight. He didn't realize just how fucking heavier he was until now, as he felt a good chunk of gravel ready to budge beneath his toes, just before he pressed the tip of his boot down in his next step. "Are you good?"

"Yeah..." Rickter quickly nodded as he readjusted his foothold, a few more rocks tumbling down into the ruined interior of the rampart they gradually entered. It was hard for Rickter to believe that a wall this massive existed within the Warrens, and he could only wonder how the Buried Empire down here ever got its name. "Just through here," he gestured to the otherside of the massive hole, where the remnants of some ancient courtyard lingered beyond, "and there's our obstacle." As he reached the opening Rickter hid behind the wall for cover, Hannah still about halfway down the pile of rock herself before she looked over to him. With a sigh she simply stepped forward as though she were about to walk on air, her form quickly vanishing before she reappeared against the wall next to Rickter. Beyond there looked to be about five to seven Shamblers walking about, the malformed creatures all fixated on scouring the yard for their next meal. From what Rickter could trace they had found something not too long ago, whether that was an unlucky cave diver or some other creature though remained to be seen.

"Okay..." He started as his eyes lingered on the Shinaegri for a moment, before he turned to look at Hannah directly from where they hid. "It's a small group, nothing we can't handle. I would ask though that you try to avoid making too much noise, lest we invite more of them to come to where we are." Hannah looked up to him with raised eyebrows, clearly unhappy with the fact she was asked to refrain from shooting anything. But Rickter had a point here... Loud noises such as gunfire could draw unwanted attention, and given the last time he'd been down here, Rickter would've liked to leave this place with little more than what they came for. "You've got Kinetics no? Use it. Or just leave them to me, I can try to dispatch the lot of them quickly."

"Whatever you say, Wolfman." Hannah regarded with her usual candor, Rickter would've probably smirked if he weren't in his current mindset right now. Thus with a nod to her he turned to face the breach once more, his right hand waved up and down once before a flick of the wrist caused his weapon to materialize. A bastard sword where the crossguard and pommel both possessed the head of a wolf, while the blade itself looked to be a darker grey compared to normal steel. Howling Fang. Just the mere presence of the hilt in his hand felt more natural now, as he raised the blade to rest it atop his right shoulder while he assessed all of his target's locations. Two to the left, two to the right, and three gathered near the crumbled entrance of whatever fortress this place used to be.... With a steady gaze, he breathed in and out quietly, his figure hunched forward as he prepared to charge in for battle. He knew where to start at least... How things panned out from there, well, that depended on the transition of his first gambit to say the least.

As the only visible runes were around his neck the Reaving and Kinetics started to glow over his skin, the wolf focused on the two toward his left as he bent his knees and went in for the charge.

"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."

"Common" "Synskrit"
"Rickter" "Hannah"

"Every side attacks you, when you don't take sides."

---

Party Hub Rickter Hannah

Combat Hub

Rickter
Battle Style

-Rickter balances light and heavy combos

Action Queue

► Show Spoiler

Targets: Shambler A & B

> Ricker enters combat!

Hannah

Action Queue

► Show Spoiler

Targets: Shambler A & B

> Hannah enters combat!

[Reviewer]

Thread Title

Time Stamp

Areya kept her distance, as she padded slowly while hugging against the wall. The stone was more solid here, less likely for her to kick shards and give away her position. She took a wider route, ducking in behind more ruins, slowly, now able to see them from a distance. She saw the woman investigating a rampart, gun drawn. In her focus on the woman who was beginning to show her nervousness, even from this distance, Areya's food errantly slipped on some gravel. She froze, watching, waiting, body tensed and ready to react.

They had detected her, but couldn't pinpoint it it seemed. Areya couldn't believe how careless she'd been, likely caught up in the carelessness, or hubris, of these two. They weren't even whispering, their voices bouncing off the walls easily enough for even her to hear from her hidden vantage. And she wasn't as adapt at hearing as many other things that lived down here.

Then she heard the sounds of Shins. Several of them. More conversation ensued, and at least the woman seemed to be taking things more seriously now. She watched the Rathori stumble in his footing as they began scaling the rampart, and eventually watched them slip inside to go deal with the Shins. Areya began to crawl out from her hiding now that the pair were done talking.

Her ears twitched as she heard that familiar shuffle, coming from another direction. She looked out from her hiding spot, and silently cursed. Two more Shins were approaching, on an obvious beeline for where the two topsiders had just gone. They were about to get pinched, unknowingly. Areya was silent, watching as they shambled across the ruins, her mind racing.

Let them die. If you get involved, you could die.

Areya moved, to leave this area, creep her way back to her post. She slipped out over the old stones, pausing at the crumbled entryway she'd used. Then she took a deep breath, her hand reached down, plucking out a tomahawk, as she reached down grabbing a large rock. She began a quicker, crouching dash along the edges of the rampart, putting her on an intercept course of the other two Shins. When she was somewhat close enough, she hurled her rock as hard as she could muster, launching it high over their heads. It crashed loudly among other stones behind the Shins, who let out a series of sharp hisses that would certainly be heard by the two topsiders. The Shins both began shuffling toward where the rock had fallen and Areya dashed after them.

Stupid. Stupid. You're so fucking stupid.

Areya's approach wasn't noticed until the last moment, her tomahawk already chopping down toward the first Shin, catching it deep in the shoulder. Her momentum carried her body forward into it, crashing the three of them together in a heap. This wasn't her first fight with Shins and the Dead Legion trained in tactics specifically to deal with them, considering they were incredibly common down here. Their strength was their numbers and ability to attack. But their coordination was so incredibly poor.

While the group was on the ground, Areya used her topside advantage to get to her feet first. She slammed her tomahawk down, severing, mostly, through the ankle of the Shin she'd already injured. She jerked on her weapon but it didn't loosen. Shit. She loosened her grip on the axe, since it had already done what she sought to do. She got to her feet, scrambling backwards. The injured Shin was unable to find footing, tentacles flailing about, looking for something to grab to help pull it up. The Shin beneath it was trying to get out from under, and was whipping the injured Shin with its own tentacles.

Areya circled a wide arc, drawing her second tomahawk, placing herself off to the opposite side from her last attack. She darted forward again, her next strike looking to cleave through the "head" of the uninjured Shin. A tentacle snapped out, hitting her in the lead leg, sending her tumbling, as her balance had been forward leaning. She hit the ground hard, the air knocked from her chest. The tentacle snaked around her neck and began to both squeeze and drag her across the ground.

Areya's free hand reached up, looking for the tip of the tentacle as her world grew blurry from lack of breath. She didn't find the tip, but instead the length of it that extended outward to the Shin. Using that touch as a point of reference, she blindly chopped until the tentacle was severed. But it kept its grip tight. Areya dropped her axe, dropping to her knees to be a smaller target, as her hands worked quickly to unwrap the undead appendage from her throat. She threw it down, grabbing her tomahawk again, and rising to one foot as another tentacle snapped outward.

Areya knocked it aside with her free arm, and advanced forward in a vicious lunge off her planted food. She swung the axe in a wide arc. She had been aiming for the head but had overshot the mark as the axe arced down toward the large Maw. It sank inside, as the maw snapped shut on her arm. Pain shot through her mind in white hot arcs. She let go of the axe, yanking on her arm, skin scraping off on the teeth her arm was wedged between. She had been lucky, it didn't seem that her arm was pierced, just slashed and scrapped. She yanked it out, falling in a heap on the first, injured Shin. She reached over with her good arm, adrenaline pumping heavy now as she yanked the axe out, planting it firmly in the Shin's head.

And with that, both Shins were dead, again, and Areya was struggling to suck wind as she laid there for a moment. She closed her eyes, getting control of her breathing, trying to fight through the burning pain in her arm. Then she opened her eyes, crouching over the Shins, pried open the mouth, and retrieved her axe once more. She belted it, and quickly began making her way over to the ramparts, no longer bothering to be stealthy, racing up the stones, unsure what she might find up there.

[Rickter]

Gathering Materials I

Glade 18th, 121st AoS

As he charged in for the first pair of Shinaegri, Rickter brought his sword over from his shoulder into a leftward arc, his other hand clutched open as he created a swirling ball of water between his fingers. The two shamblers he closed in on noticed his presence midway, from the clicks of steel against the stone floor as he pressed his charge on them. The others stirred from the sudden action that developed, which granted Hannah her moment to step in and join the fray. As Rickter closed in on the two shamblers that were ready to assail him, he threw his right arm out first into a crossover swing that cut through the curled appendages of the wriggly monster's claw, the tendrils of flesh severed from the body fell to the rocky gravel moments afterward, as the creature he cut pulled it's arm back in alarm. Right as the other came charging at him, Rickter's front was left wide open for the attack... save for the aetheric water still clutched in his left hand.

As Hannah moved a few feet closer toward the other group of two, she glanced to see Rickter create a crescent shape out of water, as the substance sliced clean through the skull of the creature. The shambler teetered back from the force of the blast, the halves of its head splitting apart down toward the maw of it's torso as it crashed into the ground. The rogue's turn was next now that the small horde had been stirred, having put her pistol back within it's holster before she brought her wrists together. With a brush of her hands over one another and a flourish, she generated a pulse that shot out from her palms and toward the first of her two opponents The kinetic blast pierced right through the forehead of the shambler she aimed toward, as the other quickly turned to face her with an excited shriek. Hannah's eyebrows rose at the horrifically malformed creature, before she shrugged to it and said "well let's play, bitch."

Immediately the creature charged toward her with arms lashing out, both of it's maws opened as if it intended to swallow her whole. The brunette kept her wrists over one another, this time twisting them inward toward her, before gesturing with a point of her index fingers to generate a lift. The shambler reached about a foot from Hannah before it suddenly flung into the air, another light shrill made as it ascended ever higher than the ramparts themselves. The rogue's smirk widened before she released the pose of her arms, her hands dropping down to her hips as she watched the creature dramatically fall back down toward it's own death. With an accomplished grin she turned to see how her wolf had been doing, and much to her surprise he didn't look as invested in the battle as he should've been. For after he'd crushed the second Shambler with a might blow, his attention shifted to something beyond the rampart. "Rickter!" She called out to him with her fingers pressed close together to generate a compression field, causing the lower limbs of the three Shins closing in on him to snap.

As the group of shamblers fell forward from their sudden crippled infliction, the wolf's attention shifted from beyond the ramparts they came from, back toward the last of the horde they were working on slaying. He had heard something... And it caused his senses to trigger just then, only his body didn't feel the inclination to move on it's own this time. Probably because he was already focused on an earlier task, or perhaps the variables were still within the unknown to determine such action. Regardless the moment he saw that Hannah crippled them, he wasted no time in going in for the kill where it was available. With the hilt of his weapon taken in both hands he pressed forward, and lunged into a jump to where he brought the blade of Howling Fang down. The sword sliced right through flesh and bone with a sickening yet clean crunch heard from the impact, as Hannah flourished her hands around and outward once more, wrists crossed, as she generated another push of kinetic force to blast the top half of the furthest one from Rickter apart.

With that leaving one more Rickter's landing ended with heavily bent knees, before he held the blade within his left hand and pulled it around into a rotation. With a counter-clockwise spin he quickly dismembered the last shambler from the left waistline to the right shoulder. The sword then brought up and exchanged into his right hand before he rotated the hilt between his fingers a few times. As the gore from Hannah's blast and halves Rickter bisected landed to the ground in near unison, the pair looked to one another with alarmed eyes as the rush finally settled. Rickter had been painted in droplets of a brownish red, while the rogue herself raised an eyebrow to him and crossed her arms with a grin. "Now you owe me one."

"Oh, that's cute." Rickter satirically remarked as he flourished his blade downward, the edges of Howling Fang the first to dissipate, before the aether of the weapon dissolved toward the hilt and back into his hand.

"Well I did probably just save your life." She teased before giving him a more stern look. "The fuck happened Rickter?"

The wolf averted his eyes for a moment toward the bloody mess in front of them, before they gradually moved back toward the rampart's breach they'd came out of. "Could'a swore..." His eyes narrowed as he scrunched his nose, the tickling sensation of musk he'd noticed before masked heavily by the odor of rot now. Hannah's eyes followed his up to the top of the ramparts, before she saw what his eyes soon fell upon, a figure of someone standing atop of the ramparts as they watched from there. Rickter quickly shifted in wariness over who or what this could potentially be, while Hannah didn't hesitate to draw her gun back out once more. "Who's up there?" He called out just little louder, still wary of being too noisy in the event more could be lingering around.

Hannah looked about ready to step up there and find out for herself, personally.

"Common" "Synskrit"
"Rickter" "Hannah"

"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."

"Every side attacks you, when you don't take sides."

---

Party Hub Rickter Hannah

Combat Hub

Rickter
Battle Style

-Rickter balances light and heavy combos

Action Queue

► Show Spoiler

Targets: Shambler A & B

Ricker > Sliding Dash on Shambler A; Crippled Limb!
Ricker > Element: Water on Shambler B
Shambler B is dismembered!
Ricker > Beat Down on Shambler A
Shambler A is defeated!

Detection notices a battle outside the zone!

Ricker > Blitz on Shambler C
Shambler C is split in half!
Ricker > Fullmoon Slash on Shambler D
Shambler D is dismembered!

The Battle recedes!

Hannah

Action Queue

► Show Spoiler

Targets: Shambler F & G

Hannah > Kinetics: Push on Shambler G
Shambler G had it's mind blown!
Hannah > Kinetics: Lift on Shambler F
Shambler F splattered onto the floor!
Hannah > Kinetics: Compression on Shambler C, D, & E
Hannah > Kinetics: Push on Shambler E
Shambler E is obliterated by sheer force.

The Battle recedes!

[Reviewer]

Thread Title

Time Stamp

Areya crested the rise and saw the two she'd been following. Her eyes quickly scanned the area, seeing the scattered bodies of the defeated Shins lying about. She saw the mouthy woman closer, the man further off. He had given off the air of being in charge earlier, and Areya still felt it now. The legionnaire belted her weapon, striding over purposefully to the man, ignoring the woman altogether.

Once she was close enough, she spoke in a harsh whisper, baring her Legionnaire bracers, "You two need to be quieter and pay better attention. I've been on your back since you came walked right past me without even noticing. Your talking let me follow you through the entire expanse, and drew in more Shins that would've ambushed your backs here."

Despite it being a bare whisper, the harshness and anger in Areya's voice was unmistakable. Many of the morons that came down here might not know it, but her job as Legionnaire was to protect the city and the people, regardless of whether she wanted to or not. And idiots that came down here really made it difficult to do that.

A near silent hissing, "What do you need from down here, so we can get it and get back out?"

The air felt still and stagnant now, and Areya was turning this way and that, trying to hear anything. It was terribly silent. That was always bad too. Silent drew curious beings too. Areya pulled her shirt off, wrapping up her bloodied arm and knotting it. Standing there in her chest wraps and trousers, whispering, "We shouldn't stay here."

She silently stepped away from the man, slowly pulling her tomahawk, keeping it from scraping on the leather strap. As she moved away from the man, he'd be able to see the scars all over her upper back and shoulders, scars that might show just how many times she'd been in combat with these Shins. Long, whip like scars from the slashes, small, circular puckers from the barbed suckers spoke of a small part of what life down here might have been like for her.

[Rickter]

Both the wolf and his rogue friend stood where they were with weapons holstered, Rickter's sword still rested over the right shoulder as he watched the stranger approach. She made quick and even quiet work of getting over the tattered remains of the rampart, her walk across the old courtyard filled with a catered balance of caution and confidence. Rickter could see from the attire that she wore in their approach, mainly the collar attached around her neck as the rest of her attire consisted of armor. She didn't look hurt initially but somewhere on her was the scent of iron, although, Rickter could also trace the stench of the creatures she'd fought off moments before arriving on her also.

Hannah rested her gun back into her holster and brought her arms into a fold, a look of admiration in her eyes when they laid upon the dark-skinned elf. A Dratori Legionnaire. Had she followed them all the way out here? She quickly lashed out in a quieted tone when she drew close enough, chastising them for not using quieter tones in their earlier advances to this place. The wolf quickly looked to the woman with raised eyebrows, as if perhaps he'd were utterly confused at the moment, while the brunette that stood beside him couldn't help but smile cheekily toward the Legionnaire. "Oh my, what a rare and beautiful flower she is." Hannah then mused to Rickter in a near hushed tone, having leaned in closer to him to emphasize her intent on it being quieter. The wolf could only lower his eyes down to her, his expression unchanging as she looked near ready to chuckle before eyeing the soldier once more.

"While it's understandable that you're concerned on our behalf, we're not so impractical that we don't know to keep a low profile." He regarded with a bit of a furrow to his eyebrows, adopting a bit more of a stern expression as the blade on his shoulder shimmered. Momentarily the blade dissolved into particles of teal, as he rested his arm back down so that his hands rested at his waist. "Honestly, I didn't even suspect us of being so noisy. Not until we came face to face with this small group..." While they weren't being so haphazard in their trip over here, they weren't overly focused on keeping their presence minimized. Then again, his nerves weren't like the rest of those that ventured down here. Where many found terror in facing the monstrosities here, the wolf only knew a resounding numbness to that fear.

Yet in it there was total clarity of his surroundings, even now, he could smell that there were more somewhere off in the distance. Toward their southwestern flank beyond the crumbled fort they stood near, that was all he could determine from the wave of filth that permeated the air. They weren't relatively close but that could change, hell, if this fight drug out any longer than it was possible it might've. When the Dratori soldier inquired as to what they needed from down here, the wolf's eyes perked a bit as Hannah's smirk widened. Was she offering to help? "I understand it's your duty to patrol this route, so I don't intend to trouble you with our lives if that's what this is about. My comrade and I are down here to mine Aetherite for materials." He expressed with observant eyes while the soldier removed her shirt, so that she could dress the wound on her bloodied arm with a whisper.

"On that, we can agree." Hannah remarked quietly as she brought a hand up to her cheek. "I've got a means of getting us out of here quickly. Fast exits are always a specialty of mine." She hinted with a tilt of her head as Rickter's eyes narrowed, his gaze lined on the scars that visibly marred her body. So then she'd seen hell, many times over it would seem. No wonder she seemed strongly intent on her duties then, she was as hardened as she was determined to say the least.

"We're not too far from a deposit nearby," He included as his nose pointed toward a runoff from the outer edges of the crumbled rampart, his nostrils slightly tingling as he traced very faint impressions of aether in the air."Once we head further down, it's just a few checks within the crags." He figured as he reached for the mining pickaxe that hung from his waist, his hand wrapped around it yet never lifting the tool from his belt as he stared ahead.

"Common" "Synskrit"
"Rickter" "Hannah"

[Reviewer]

Thread Title

Time Stamp

Areya listened to the man speak, quickly discerning him as both the leader, whether officially or not, and as the more serious one. Her face was pointedly facing him, ignoring the woman entirely. She could see in his seriousness that there was some offense taken, but not in an emotional fashion, but rather as a professional. He had been taking it seriously, and she could see that, now. Still, this place was dangerous even for the skilled and careful, and Areya was more than used to dealing with the amateurs down here.

No need to beat on a dead horse.

Miners, it seemed. Or more likely, the adventurer type on a mining expedition. And it seemed that the woman, quite intent on not being serious at all, was a means of escape. Areya didn't bother to question how, it mattered not to her. This was her home for the foreseeable future after all.

A deposit was nearby. So this wasn't his first jaunt here for such things. That was good. He knew where he was going, and what he was looking for. That was better. "I'll take rear guard." She fell into following his direction, nodding at him without needing to say more. He was clearly the leading type and she wasn't going to put things into potential chaos, and thus danger, by bucking a natural order. She moved off, over to the side, a wall to her back, tomahawk in one hand, the other free, watching the way she'd come in, waiting for him to head out to his deposit.

Rear guard was the most individually dangerous position in a traveling formation, with foreguard being the most dangerous for the group. If the foreguard failed to discern dangers, they risked the lives of everyone. If rear guard failed, they were first to go, and it created a domino effect of death and disappearances. It's why she chose it. It forced her to trust herself more than others, despite having to put some in him. She intended to keep close, better to have their sounds and scents intermingled into a mobile bubble rather than spread out. Perhaps they'd appear large enough to scare off most of the opportunists.

Still, Shins were bold for they almost always had numbers on their side.

[Rickter]

The legionnaire took a moment to assess the both of them after Rickter's initial response, likely not expecting the pair to be so compliant with her in a place such as this. Normally those from guilds such as the Slayer's Keep had that attitude about them, that they could handle themselves and all their bases were usually covered. Down here though that didn't matter, the Warrens felt alive in a variety of ways, and even after preparation there would always be something unexpected crossing your path. Luckily where they were headed wasn't much further within, and they now had a third to back them up from the looks of it.

With the offer of her watch at the rear the wolf's lips contorted into a mix of apprehension and submission, before he finally nodded to her with regard since she served in part of the Dead Legion. This was technically her territory he had come stomping on, therefore, he wasn't going to fuss over the addition of another. Hannah of course perked up with her shoulders and strut along, giving Rickter a smile as she passed along by him. Thus the wolf indifferently sighed through his nostrils before taking the position once more, and leading the group further down into a ravine that stretched beneath the ruins of the fort.

"Careful as you step down, terrain's steep around here." He warned as he finally reached a point where the next step down left the previous ledge nearly at knee height. Hannah happened to gave off a grunt with every other drop made onto the next steppe, with a sharp puff through her nose and lips as she followed Rickter down into the deeper trench of the ravine. Above them the chasm they entered started to enclose into a cavernous tunnel, the walls and ledges around them littered with spots of light=blue glass with a glimmering radiance surrounding them. Aetherite shards.

This was a vein that often found travelers mining them, so Rickter never really bothered checking down here often. When the vein of dragonshards that he hoped to spot came into view, there was a slight relaxation in his shoulders now that they had reached the destination. "I take it some of these will do for our trip?" The rogue then inquired as Rickter strolled forward, approaching the vein as clusters of Aetherite spiked out from the wall in front of them.

"Yup." He briefly remarked as he stopped to drop all the gear he had brought along, a little relieved to have all that extra weight off his shoulders now that they'd arrived. "Gonna see how much we can bring home from this, and then we can get out of here a moment after." He really wished one could carry around tools as Reaver did with their weaponry, it gave him consideration to entertain the idea one day, when he might ponder the sort of projects he could make himself one day. Yet while he wasn't much of a crafter right now, he was happy to help his loved ones with their ventures, plus the additional surplus of dragonshards available was always helpful to have.

Thus with the aetheric net placed over the vein he'd stood over, Rickter made sure every inch of the base was wrapped by the netted rope, before he removed the pickaxe from his belt and held it with both hands. "You're welcome to come back with us when this is all said and done," The rogue remarked to the Dratori that followed them down into the chasm they'd ventured within, "unless you prefer moseying your way back up there."

Rickter hadn't the opportunity to hear the rest of their unfolding conversation, as his back was turned to the two ladies and his arms were elevated upward. With the head of the pickaxe swung downward, the wolf slammed it hard into the center of the vein to crack apart the glass as much as he could. A loud clang reverberated on the walls as the sound of chipping glass accompanied it, with Rickter taking a deep breath in before he raised the pickaxe for another round against the clusters. With his eyes mindfully observing the shards after each strike, he made sure to wait and see that they didn't react after the point of impact. The last thing he wanted was for one to combust even if they were safely netted.

He kept at it for a solid ten minutes before his arms grew heavy, and the last swing of the pickaxe broke away yet another more Aetherite from the stone wall. "You done there big guy?" Hannah checked as she came around from his side to inspect the work he did, her eyes widening by the small haul of dragonshards he'd gotten. "Looks enough to stir some trouble for me."

"Aye." He agreed with a satisfied exhale, the pickaxe rested down against the wall as he bent down to collect the net off the dragonshard vein. "Telion oughta have a field day with this amount." He figured as Hannah knelt down to help cautiously gather the shards into the net, the pair working together to bundle and tie that same net into a sort of rucksack of shards. "Alright. Now we can head back."

"Good," Hannah remarked with a mindful glance to their third comrade, "I was just getting over this place anyways." To that the wolf chuffed with a rise onto his feet, with a thought to make sure they had everything together once more, before they made their return trip to the entrance of the Warrens.

"Common" "Synskrit"
"Rickter" "Hannah"

[Paragon]

R E W A R D S

Name: Rickter
XP: 10 XP. Can be used for magic.
Requested Lore:
Leadership: Bear In Mind The Type of Excursions You Lead
Detection: Using Your Senses To Determine When Threats Are Nearby
Tactics: Taking The Initiative On Your Enemies
Kinetics: Sliding Dash
One-Handed: Blades: Beat Down
Stealth: Learning To Minimize Noise In High Risk Areas
Stealth: Keep Your Voices Low To Minimize Presence
Detection: Following Your Nose To Trace Aether
Strength: Mining From An Node of Aetherite


Note(s): +4 Average Quality Aetherite Dragonshards. Rickter looks mighty fine swinging that big...pickaxe. >.>