In Negav

Samiel smiled on hearing Breida's response. "Actions speak louder than words... er... eyes, indeed. I'm glad I managed to find a Terra Elf. I probably wouldn't want to try this otherwise."

He then turned to Nagi. "So, you really want to join in on this? Well, since skevols are no issue for you, after breakfast why don't you go and buy the supplies. Just don't get arrested."

"Works for me. I do have a suit of full plate armor and a backpack with a hooded lantern, among other things. I think I'm gonna buy a better kit for that job, since I think saved enough money at the bank, and I could use something more versatile. One thing, though, my..." Sean brought his hand over his mouth and cleared his throat. "My master told me that compass don't work in Felarya for whatever reason. So I doubt a compass would be helpful."

Sean turned to Nagi and frowned a little as he talked about trusting him.

"Talk is cheap. Show that you're worth trusting instead."

"Well, I might be more hesitant to give out my trust, but I'm glad I have his," Breida said. "And he is right, we shouldn't begin this trip being suspicious of each other. Anyway, I meant a compass for drawing, not a directional compass. Though if we could find one that works, some sort of enchanted compass, that would be a big help. One last thing, something to use as markers to make a trail back to the surface may be useful." Breida said. She finished off the eggs that the servants had brought her. Setting aside her fork, she stood from the table. "Not bad, though I still prefer turtle eggs more. Anyway, I'm going shopping for the supplies we need. Where and when do we meet for the start of the expedition?"

"Let's meet at the far south end of the Lower Market." responded Samiel. "From there I'll show the way down. As for time... I'd say a couple of hours." He reached into his jacket and felt the piece of paper there. "That should be enough time. I don't figure this will take much time at all - we'll be back up in time to get the cash and spend it on a nice dinner."

Sean set his plate aside, now that he was done with the bagel. He looked back at Samiel.

"I have two more things I need to ask. First, how long do you expect this expedition to be? Second, who are those Investigators you mentioned earlier today?"

((Alright I'll join soon. Just... waiting for the chance to join, but here is my character's bio.

Spoiler:

Not really sure about the police force bit, but I'll just let it roll.))

Samiel looked Sean up and down slowly.

"Like I just said, we should be done by evening today."

Maybe this Sean was just as stupid as Nagi - or had the same hatred of listening. He groaned inwardly. Well... at least this Breida looked level headed.

"And the Investigators are the law of the Magiocrats. The Magiocrats rule the city. The Negav Police are mostly chumps, but the Investigators are serious business. Our friend Nagi hear had a little... conflict with them last night when he decided that he would start trashing random bars. While one of their operatives was nearby. And then ran away from them. I hope that they've forgotten about him, but they can be rather... vindictive as far as those who they feel have directly tried to insult them."

(I assumed Samiel talked about time as in "let's meet up in a few hours.")

Hue looked at the clock which suspended itself above his desk before looking back at the files which lay scattered across its surface. His head was still filled with questions as to why the Kenshas were interested in Nagi, indeed after what happened over twelve years ago he was surprised they still operated with so much freedom within the ISD.

"Sargent?"

Hue raised his head to see a fellow officer from Sixth Platoon standing at in the doorway to his office, he sighed heavily before answering.

"Yes constable what is it?" he replied in a tried tone.

"Sir." He paused as if he was unsure what to say. "It appears those friends of yours from the Neko's Tail have reappeared and this time there are more of them; they are currently within the Archmage Cafe."

"And?" Hue asked, knowing this was no longer his concern.

"Well... er I thought we, er you were going..." The constable's voice trailed off as Hue climbed out of his seat.

"We and I aren't going to do anything, the Kenshas have taken it upon thmselves to relieve us of this." The constable looked uneasy when he heard Hue mention the Seventh Platoon. Hue then sat back down, he just needed a stretch, he looked down at Nagi's file again and then back to the officer infront of him. "Dismissed."

"Sir." The constable replied before walking out the door.

Hue thought for a momment, before repeating what the constable had told him. "Those friends of yours from the Neko's Tail. He must meen that Nagi is back with Samiel... Why? Oh Samiel you daft vampire."

Sean scowled at Samiel's tone. It was as if he took him for a stereotypical big, dumb warrior. The way the elf said that it would take a few hours sounded like they would meet in a few hours. This lack of patience was like he stood on his high horses. He should be grateful that he took time off his day to join his little expedition. Sean then took a breath; he couldn't let this minor screw-up to get to him. The last thing he needed was to get on the bad side of the law, especially the vindictive type.

"Sorry, my mistake." He then turned to Breida, the more sympathetic of the two elves. "Since I've come to Negav fairly recently, I haven't explored much of yet. Can you guide me to that Lower Market after I'm done buying the proper equipment?"

"Alright then. Far south end of the lower market in two hours." Breida said, taking a small watch out of one of the pockets of her tunic. After noting the time, she popped it closed and returned it, and pulled her hood back up over her head. "I'm fairly new myself in Negav, but I know where to find the lower Markets. I'll be shopping in the elves' district. We met just outside there, I'll meet you there. Thank you Samiel for the breakfast. If you ever go to Beyr, I can return the favor." With that she picked up her belongings and left the cafe.

Walking briskly, she made her way through the streets and buildings, until she came once again to the elves' district. She didn't care for the constant use of plants in their decor, but she always trusted elven goods more than human or neko made ones. And she knew a few shopkeepers that would accept Beyr coinage as well. Coming to one of those shops, a small place for outfitting adventurers with the needed gear, she entered. After exchanging a few pleasantries with the shopkeeper, she started browsing through the goods.

A fairly tall woman walked into the same shop Breida was currently in and bowed her head in respect for the shopkeeper before browsing through the various wares. Slowly she picked out a few items like a lantern, some rope, and a pair of climbing claws. Humming a strange tune, she continued her shopping, unaware of the terra elf picking out some similar items. The spiked head fins twitched a bit after she picked out a fairly large cap.

"Hm, this will be good for come time exploring that rumored underground place. Wonder if I should perhaps pick out something more suitable to wear... Armor or some form of thick leather that is fire resistant..." she said to herself, not worried about who was to hear her.

Nagi nodded, having finished off all his food in near record time. "Don't worry about me. C.V.'s gotten me out of more than one run-in with them. That bar in question belonged to someone who owed me quite a bit of money. The contract he signed eliminates all legal action taken against me should I damage him, his property, or his business. It's all here in black and white," he said, holding up a rather large contract. "C.V. set this thing up based around Negav's law, so it's a completely legal contract." He smiled a bit to himself. "I'll get everything I can get that we'll need. Here's my part of the meal," he said, handing Samiel about 1.3 times as much money as he owed. If it's too much, you can keep the change. I never really needed money, so I haven't taken the time to get the hang of your number system." He walked out and seemed to almost vanish into the crowd instantly.

After a few minutes, he was back at the Shooting Star Bar and Inn. "Hey C.V., I need you to finish clearing up my problem, if you don't mind."
"Oh, it's no trouble," C.V. said.
"Ok. I'm going to gather up some stuff. I'm going underground for a while."
"All right." C.V. noticed a reasonably large rip in the bottom of Nagi's shirt. "Hey, you've got a rip."
"Huh?" Nagi looked down at it. "Damn it. I'll have to fix it later..."
"You mean that's the last non-damaged shirt you've got?" C.V. asked.
"No...Though I really hate my back-up outfit."
"Well, I doubt you would want to wear that much longer."
"True...Fine, I'll change before going out. Make sure you get my problem fixed soon."
"I got it. I got it."

Nagi walked up the stairs and into a larger room than the normal sized ones. He walked up to the closet and changed into what could best be described as a custom tailored shrine maiden's outfit designed for a guy with red shoulders. With a noticeable air of a really foul mood, Nagi walked out of the bar with his sword hidden somewhere on his person, a bow on his back with a large set of arrows, and a large bag of supplies. He headed towards the lower market, keeping a profile so low it was a mile underground.

Brieda paused in her own browsing of the available journals and cartography goods as she heard someone else mention 'rumored underground place'. As she looked up, her eyes fell on the tall individual nearby, standing head and shoulders higher than her and possessing fiery colored skin with violet hair and eyes. Not to mention the spiky fins she had in place of ears and a prominent tail. Breida had been a daywalker for years, but had never seen an individual like this being before. And apparently, this being was going underground herself. An interesting coincidence, perhaps a fortunate one.

"You'll want something warm for the underground. And something that resists water too, water can pool in many places," Breida said, glancing over at the tall woman's current choice in armor. She tapped one of the hardened leather suits that had been treated to make it weather resistant and durable. "See if they have one of these in your size. Now, I heard you mention exploring underground, is that right? Have you ever gone underground before? You should know it's best to go in a group. The underground can be just as dangerous as the surface."

As she talked, she picked herself out a good journal book, a few pens and a drawing compass, a supply of waybread and a few canteens, rope, pitons, and hooks, a curious magical item consisting of two carved stones that always pointed toward the other when suspended, a large haversack for hauling their finds back, and a few other items. She figured she could use them as a makeshift directional compass, if she left one at the entrance to the underground tunnels. This was going to cost her most of her money she had on hand, but she expected that Samiel would reimburse her for some of it. And if this expedition paid off, she'd make many times her investment easily.

The head fins flickered a couple before the woman looked down at Breida with a curious look. Her slitted eyes stared back at the elf with a somewhat alien look before they shifted to what was in the girl's hands. Smiling, the woman stated, "Yes I plan on exploring the underground. If it is cold there then warm cloths would only weigh me down. My body produces heat at a higher elevation than most beings. What I would wear would be something that covers my legs and upper body. Like a leather piece that won't burn or catch flame when I use my innate abilities." Picking up a piece of leather armor that was close to her size, she smiled, the tip of her tail twitched in excitement.

"IF you are thinking of rumored place underground that I am planning to visit, then maybe our thoughts and goals are of the same. I am Nina Xi Lin, a shaolin monk and a flame salamander. It is a honor to meet you," Nina said as she turned to Breida and bowed low to her, showing her form of greeting. Smiling once more she produced a fairly good sized bag from her robe and offered it to the terra elf. "If you are in need of money, then perhaps I can pay for both goods we may purchase this day?"

Sean took a small bag with a gem encrusted on it out of his pocket, then put the money for the breakfast on the table. He then left the Archmage Café and walked down the busy streets back to the abandoned temple he resided in. He explained the expedition to explore some uncharted regions of Negav's underground, which he refered to "the expedition he got himself into" to Kai and Seles. The two older residents didn't object, and in fact, encourage their young pupil's expedition. It would give him experience to work among perfect strangers, which he will inadvertedly do in the future. Sean picked his backpack with all of his adventuring gear, then took a look at his armor. Manually putting it now would take time, not to mention, he'd tire out very soon. He slung his backpack over his shoulders, then headed for the Adventurer's Guild in the Lower Tier.

Sean then walked to the gear shop in the guild and browsed for a particular versatile piece of equipment. He then set his eye on the aptly called Adventurer's Kit. Only problem: he already had a few items on himself that was part of the kit. So he and the store clerk did a little bit of item shuffling. He traded his old backpack for one with multiple pockets, hooks to attach a few items such as his lantern, padded straps along the chest and waist to distribute weight more evenly, and an overall sturdier design. He then traded his water bottle for a plastic canteen, and bought two more flasks to store lantern oil. Sean put his existing equipment on his new backpack, then bought the remaining items to complete the kit: a bedroll, flint and steel to light fire, 50 ft of hempen rope, and came with about ten days worth of ration. After filling his canteen with water, the young man paid the total bill of one Faldong Gem, slung the bag over his back, then headed toward Pietro's Potion Shop.

A smile crept over the young man's face. Even though he was carrying so much junk on him, it was as light as a feather to him now. He entered Pietro's shop and refilled his vials. The usual three healing potions and one mana potion like normal, but then he looked at his vials, then decided to fill a fourth one with healing potion. He then filled the rest with basic remedies one might need if exploring outside. He couldn't be too careful. After paying the bill, he left the store and headed back to the gate where he met Breida and Samiel this morning.

"Likewise. I'm Breida, daywalker of the Terra elf city of Beyr." Breida said, though she turned down the offered pouch of money. "You are very generous to someone you have only just met. Thanks, but no thanks. I can afford this on my own. But anyway, I don't know which underground places you are planning to visit, but I'm heading back beneath the surface myself in..." She stopped a moment to check her pocket watch again. "About an hour. We're going to be hunting for artifacts and information to sell to the Archeological Society. I hear they pay well for all manner of trinkets."

"If that is what you are going for, perhaps we should go together." Breida suggested after a moment. "Someone who could create light and heat would be useful to the other surface dwellers. Tell me, how would you be able to handle yourself underground? Aside from the fire, what skills do you have that you can use? Any experience?"

Samiel walked back towards his place to pick up a few things, heading down from the higher tier. He rolled a cigarette slowly, lighting it and letting a strange silver string of smoke rise from whatever herb was in it.

He frowned. He was thinking about Nagi. Thinking about that was not making him happy. Problem is, he did need help. More so... Nagi had butted in and learned too much. Better that he came along with him than trying to start his own looting group. Still if things got... complex...

He shrugged, making his way across the Middle Tier. He checked a beaten map, then headed towards a certain stand that sold exotic fruits.

"Hey, Horasmus" he said, walking towards the neko.

Seeing Breida decline the offered money, Nina simply slipped the pouch into her the top of her robes, the head fins twitching slightly. She looked over the elf before stating, "Hm, I plan on collecting artifacts of the sorts you mentioned. If you desire for me to join then I shall join you and your friends in the journey to the underground." Lifting her tail in between her and the elf, her eyes slowly turned a deep shade of violet as the tail slowly glowed, making the air slowly heat up before the glow began to fade from the tail. "I can use my own body as a weapon, plus I am a shaolin monk, I can fight if need be with either a bow staff or some other form of weapon."

She walked over to the shop counter and placed the items she had, producing a smaller bag from her robes and placed it down next to the stuff she was purchasing. Looking over her shoulder, she simply stated, "Where are you and your friends meeting to go on this endeavor of a trip may I ask? As for skills, I know things as combat, writing poems, weaving, and some mystic powers."

After browsing one of the shelves, Horamus finally picked up a spell book, happily making his way back to the table where he had set his belongings. Once he sat down, he opened up the book, grabbing a smaller blank book from his small stack of what belonged to him, opening it up and flipping through it until he reached a blank page, plucking a medium sized feather from one of the pages. He reached into his vest pocket to grab something, but paused, noticing that what he was expecting wasn't there.

"Ugh, don't tell me I forgot my ink bottle again..." the neko groaned to himself, putting the feather back into his book and closing it before he got up to put the spell book back where he had found it. He didn't like using pens when he was writing down spells since he thought it made the writing look rather tacky along with the press marks they left in their wake, and he wasn't about to start now. After putting the spell book away, he took what books he owned and left, making his way back to his stand in the marketplace to pick up the small bottle that he left behind.

Once he reached his stand, he unlocked the door and walked inside, pulling out a key and put it in the keyhole of a small hidden compartment in the side of his stand, opening the small door and reaching inside to grab the ink bottle that he forgot. Once he had what he need, he closed it up and locked it, standing up just as he heard a familiar voice greet him. He turned around and smiled when he saw who it was, happily greeting him with, "Oh, hello Samiel! It's good to see you again! What brings you around here?"

Samiel nodded in greetings.

"Hey, how's it going? You look a little tense. Been fighting gangsters and criminals?" he joked, not realized how accurate that jib was.

"Anyways... me and some of my associates are doing a little... spelunking in a bit." he said. "I'm sure you've heard the latest craze about old stuff buried under Negav, and the Archaeological Society shelling out hefty sums for it. Well, we're going to go grab some."

He frowned slightly. "The problem is... and I didn't tell anyone else this, or they wouldn't have agreed to it... I can barely tell a rusty toaster oven from a priceless relic of the Court of Micolon. I figure someone as well read as you might now a thing or two more about... well... everything. If you want, I'll give you a cut if you come with us and help point out the really valuable stuff. Trust me, moneywise, it'll be worth it."

Nagi walked between stores, hunting for whatever it was he was wanting to take with him. He had been keeping a low profile as he did all his shopping, and by this point, it was somewhere around 7 miles underground. He finished up his shopping and headed for Horamus's shop, hoping to catch him in so he could get some of his fruit. He exited the underground and walked right up to his stand. As luck would have it, it was open. Nagi calmly walked up to it and noticed both Samiel and Horamus were there and that they were talking. As he walked up, he brushed a section of his rather long spiked down hair to the side and spoke to them. "Hello. I would like to purchase some of your wares. What do you recommed?" he asked in a polite tone that barely resembled his normal voice.

Geeran had awoken after the best sleep he had in weeks. It was roughly mid morning, and Geeran had enjoyed sleeping in, something one could not do outside of Negav's walls, and Geeran was starting to wonder if he had spent too much time out there...

Shrugging that thought off, Geeran quickly got his morning routine out of the way, having a quick bath brushing his teeth, shaving and dressing. He went downstairs and saw that Malaci had not awoken yet, Geeran smiled as he knew the old Wizard had once again stayed up all night with his research. Geeran decided to head out to eat, and perhaps check the work logs to see if anyone was hiring a predator hunter or a travel escort or a courier.

The jobs available for hunters are usually paid for by a city official, and involves clearing dangerous creatures from an area, or to hunt down specific individuals, sometimes these jobs came from other settlements, but often the jobs are restricted to the areas surrounding negav and it's interests. Escorting travelers was more rare and less dangerous to a digree, very few ever actually leave the city for any reason, and those that do so are either good enough to not require an escort, or are dead within a few days of leaving the city walls. Those who hire escorts have their chances improved of successfully making it to their destination, but the odds are still pretty bad. A couriers job was far easier, delivering cargo to other settlements is common practice, and is far less risky than delivering the cargo in person. Couriers are more successful than escorts due to the fact that they only have to worry about the cargo and not other people.

Seeing no jobs of actual interest, Geeran made his way back towards the middle tier to get something to eat.

Going past Horamus's fruit shop, Geeran stopped to smell the exotic scent of otherwrldly fruits, and Geran also was aware of the Neko's fondness of litterature, especially the magical kind, he decided to stop by and get some fruit and ask about any good spell books that Malaci would like... despite the fact that Malaci's own collection of magical tomes was second to none - outside of the Magiocrat's library, and some books in his posession even they did not have or know about. Which led some to beleive Malaci had access to the Fairy Library, a rumor even Geran didn' know was true or not...

Geeran was about to knock, when he noticed the "CLOSED" sign, and he grumbled a little, before he could hear... Voices? familiar ones too... from the back....

Geeran wound around the back of the shop, and the sound of the voices got louder, he recognised the voice of Samiel, the Vampire who ran on him yesterday!

Thats when he caught the last few parts of Samiel's talking.

Spoiler:

Then he noticed another person, one that irked Geeran to no end. That vagabond Nagi walk up to Samiel and Horamus. Apparently shopping.

Spoiler:

he said, and Geeran thought the renegade was here for the same reason he was.

"Good, a fighter. Those skills will serve you well in the underground. Don't know about the writing poems and weaving, but I'm curious about the mystic powers." Breida said, getting a pouch from her belt and pouring a handful of coins into one hand. She began counting out the payment she needed to provide to the shopkeeper for all the goods she was purchasing. "Anyway, I'll see to it that you get an even share of the payoff if you come with. You look like you could haul up a sizeable amount of relics from the lower levels. We'll be meeting at the far south end of the lower market. But before I go there I'll be meeting another of our number outside of the gates of the elvish district. You're welcome to come with me, or just meet us at the lower market. If so, see you there Nina." Breida finished up her transaction and bid the shopkeeper farewell. Leaving the store, she walked out for the path out of the elven district.

It didn't take her long to spot Sean as she left through the gates. She noticed that he decided to forgo the armor he mentioned. Probably a smart move, if any climbing was required, heavy armor would make it all but impossible. Breida strode up to Sean, laden with his own backpack of supplies. "Good to see you. You ready for this journey?" Breida asked as she came up to him. "I've found someone else who is interested in coming with us. A big Shaolin monk. She claimed to be some sort of flame Salamander. Not sure what she is, but I've not seen her species before. Seemed nice and skilled enough though. Said to be a good fighter too. Her name is Nina ...Come to think of it, I never did get your name."

Horamus laughed at Samiel's joke as he rubbed the back of his neck, the irony of it amusing him considering what had just happened, figuring that he'd just talk about it later. He listened to the vampire as he talked about his underground expedition and how he needed someone to help identifying artifacts from junk. The neko smiled, saying, "Sure, I'd be happy to help! I've got a few spell books at home that might come in handy. Would there be anything that I'd need to bring alo-?"

He paused when he saw Nagi come inside, sighing as he had apparently not noticed the 'Closed' sign that he had put up. Then again, the door was slightly ajar, and he didn't mean any harm, so he smiled politely back at him as he said, "Well, only thing I really have here is exotic fruit. If that's what you're looking for, let me get my fruit from out of sto-"

The neko stopped once again, noticing a shadow looming outside of his home. A small glance of fear crossed his eyes for a moment before cautiously approaching the door and opening it, his entire demeanor changing when he saw who it was. "Geeran, hello! Come inside, I was just getting some of my fruit out for this gentleman here." he said happily as he ushered him inside before closing the door, unlocking the storage room and going inside as he said, "If you'll give me just a moment, I'll be right with you!"