In Negav

Thane shrugged inwardly. "I assumed as much. Unlike them, I prefer to avoid unnecessary death. Deaths wouldn't be good for that bar either and they do serve good beer." He said plainly, "but I guess this has stretched my welcome a little too far."

Thane stopped speaking as the officer turned his attention to his communications device. he knew that it wasn't really any of his business, but he was looking for some sort of job. He overheard the words "bounty" and "bounty hunter." This could be a chance for him to earn a little on the side.
He waited until the officer had finished then spoke; "Officer, I couldn't help overhearing something about bounty hunters.' Are you looking to employ one?"

Hue handed Neia back her papers, he didn't really need to see them considering both the ISD and ERD had her on file, however it was a nice change to see someone in the Lower Tier actually being fully cooperative, however Hue knew with Neia it was more of case she was scared out of her scales.

"Right, everything is in order, I think it is best we start moving now." Hue ordered as he signaled with his hand for two of his men to take point.

"Sir where are we heading?" the lead constable asked.

"Adventurer's Guild I assume?" Hue answered as he looked at the still shaking Neia, before turning his attention to Thane, noticing the newcomer had picked up on his conversation with Inspector Madicat.

"You know it is very immpolite to ease drop on a private conversation." Hue stared at Thane as his eyes narrowed beneath his heavy brow, "but then again we make it an art form." the Sargent continued, "To answer your question my superiors within the ISD placed a bounty on an individual known as Nagi, you're more than welcome to take up the task of bringing him in, not sure what we're offering but it could be worth your while."

Hue paused for a second, why was he discussing such infromation with a man he just met? Yet, by his own words half of Negav know about this already. 'I really am getting tired' Hue tought to himself before proceeding with his conversation. "You may want to act fast, last I checked a contact of mine who would be more than willing to do the deed was actually with Nagi at the time the message would have been sent out."

As the group descended down into the underground, the neko followed behind, staying silent as they descended further underground and looking into this travel bag and slipping a few of the potions he had packed into his pocket. Once they reached the warning sign, Horamus slipped the goggles over his eyes, looking around for a moment to see if the night-eye concoction he had spread on the lens was working.

As he looked around, he noticed that Nagi had not returned, apparently not wanting to get the group into trouble for any shenanigans he had caused. He sighed to himself, wondering if he'd be alright as he looked to Samiel and the rest of the group, wondering when they would move into the blackness.

Breida didn't say much as Nagi took off. It did speak well of him, if he didn't want to endanger the group with the investigators. Then again, he could have just heard her and Sean's doubts about traveling with him, and decided to avoid a possible altercation. Either way, the investigators should be troubling them. She just kept walking with the group, until they came to the simple, ancient warning sign, with the remains of a rusted, wrecked grate. And beyond that, darkness, if only because of her goggles. It might have been intimidating or unsettling to other races, but to Breida, the pitch black had a comforting, nostalgic feel to it. It almost seemed welcoming.

Sighing happily, she took the hood of her head again, and this time, she pulled off her dark goggles as well. She smiled as she stuffed them into one of her pouches. Her eyes appeared as simple black orbs, due to the huge size of the pupils evolved to take in as much light as possible in the dim recesses. The pitch black passage beyond, was no longer hidden in darkness. To Breida's cave adapted vision, it seemed plain as day. Bright even from the dim lights behind them and the various instruments of light held by the group.

"By the gods, it feels good to take those off!" Breida said, rubbing where the goggles had been in contact with her skin. "Anyway, It's nice of you to take the lead Sean, but I think I should go first. I'm an passable fighter myself, and there are many dangers underground that one can't slice into submission with swords or rapiers. Can you see them coming like I can with that lantern of yours?"

"Go ahead. You're familiar the underground better, so you're the better scout."

The human unholstered his handgun.

"The lantern doesn't light as far away as a flashlight, but it at least give me peripheral vision. So I'll be fine so long as I can see around me."

As Nagi walked through the now much more stable looking passages, he came to his one of his favorite spots. It looked vaguely like an ancient temple, with a small stream of water running next to him which created a rather large pool. The stream came from and flowed into solid rock, so his best guess as to why this happened was the it was flowing from another world and then into either that one or another. He had heard of another area area in Felarya that was like that. He made a mental note to go there sometime, and leaned against a strong, stable wall and relaxed, still paying attention to his surroundings.

Nina simply chuckled before patting Breida on the shoulder and stated, "You are like cave dwellers, able to see in the dark. Here it is like day to you yes?" She smiled, her eyes softly glowing a light purple. "I will stay by your side if you wish, my kind, we live in dark, hollow grounds, et we live in places with brimstone and fire."

The woman looked down the path they came from before looking ahead. While Breida could see everything clearly, Nina's view things in a different light. Different hues and rock types she could see, as well as heat source. While light from the lanterns added details to everything, they also blurred things out by casting more hues of color on the walls. Holding out her lantern to Horamus. "Here, you need it more than I," she said with a warm smile.

Samiel was glad he had Breida. She would make this much simpler.

He was a little annoyed he had lost track of Nagi, but maybe that would be better in the long run. Best to keep focused on the prize you knew you could get then to go chasing difficult bounties. At this rate it was likely someone else would take him out.

Easily seeing in the pitch black, he checked his crude map. It was by no means complete, but did cover the main passages.

He looked on ahead. "Okay..." he said. "According to this report, the chamber with all the loot is right... about... here."

He saw what looked to be a rotting wooden board, pulling it away and peering in.

"That's odd." he commented. There was indeed a chamber here and a sturdily built one at that. The perfect place to protect valuables. But there was nothing else here. He turned on a dim flashlight, looking around. The room was empty... but then he noticed on the other side there was a hole in the wall, going to a passage leading down. Far down that tunnel, there was a soft, eerie glow.

"Well, crap." he said, spitting on the ground. "Looks like... someone or..... something got here first. But what the hell would be living down this deep?"

A sudden rumbling could be heard in the distance of the caves at that point. the dust and sandlike granites of rock shook slightly.

But the rumblings soon faded, and the ground became still once more.

Sean quickly looked around as the caves shook in the distance, then quickly turned to the ceiling to make sure no fissure began to appear. He sighed in relief and wiped his headband by reflex. But what cause this miniature earthquake? He approached the entrance to the tunnel Samiel just discovered.

"No clue, but if that thing keeps making earthquakes, we'll have to abandon this expedition, lest anyone here wanna be buried alive."

The young man stood not too far away from Breida, just enough so that the light of his lantern was dim and didn't blind her. He readied his pistol, but didn't point forward. Only a fool with no experience with gun safety would keep pointing his firearm toward what is ahead.

"I prefer the lanterns anyway. Flashlights can be blinding to me. The lanterns, while bright, are merely uncomfortable, not harmful or debilitating," Breida said as she walked on. As they came to the loot chamber, she looked around. The place was sturdy, alright. Built to stand the test of time, but it was a crude structure in comparison to the diggings and carvings of the Terra elves. Still, she was disappointed to find that the place was empty, but not too surprised.

"Don't fool yourself Samiel," Breida said. "There's just as much life underground as there is on the surface. Dridders, Banshees, and Glowers infest the larger tunnels. My kind builds cities in the caverns, and there's a race of individuals who bear blunt noses and claws for digging as well. There is a good deal of animal, plant, and fungal life as well, in areas that bear water." She stepped forward and looked at the hole, and the passage beyond. "This is not Terra elf digging. Or at least made to not look like Terra elf digging. There is something down in the depths, but I can't make it out," Breida added, peering in the tunnel. She tried to tell how recently it was dug by checking the wear on the edges of the wall. As well as looking for more hints as to whom dug it.

As the rumbling occurred, Breida glanced up as well, but the roof still looked stable. "No, this chamber is sturdy, if crude. It won't cave in on us. I'm more worried about the passages leading back to the surface..." Breida said after the rumbling stopped.

A few seconds before the miniature earthquake, Nagi snapped back to full focus. He placed his right hand flat against the wall, using the patterns and delays of the shockwaves hitting his hand as a crude means of locating the source of it. He quickly determined that this was not a natural earthquake. Deciding to reduce his own already slim chances of being caught, he closed his left hand, putting out the blue flame. He pulled down his metal band and pulled up the screen. It created no light, but was still perfectly visable to him. To him, the area around him was still fully visable. He perpared to make a break for a deeper chamber should it start back up or anyone show up.

Samiel paused, scowling. He made a decision.

"Alright, let's just see what's further down this way." he said firmly.

He led the way down the passage, heading towards the strange glowing light. The walls of this tunnel looked very crudely dug.

He stepped on something spongey under foot. He looked down. It was a mushroom - there were quite a few of them here and they were glowing dully. He looked ahead. Stretching ahead were were more - a long, dark cavern filled with them.

"This is... odd..." he murmured. He looked down. There looked to be footprints... or, at least, what he thought were footprints - really strangely shaped ones. Strange echoes came from further afield. Samiel looked down as he stepped on something that wasn't a mushroom. He bent down and picked up a small metal object. A brooch with an impressive diamond in, ringed by an intricate webbing design. They were on the trail of the treasure and something else..."

Nina came up next to Samiel, her eyes glowing softly as she looked at him. "I guess then we are the source of the treasure the being that took it. I may just be guessing, but i think the being or beast might be one that has a diet that consists mainly of treasure, though not sure," she said, drawing a sword that was too big to be a dagger, yet too small to be a short sword. "If it is any comfort, Shall I send a heatwave down the tunnel?"

She back over her shoulder to look at the other before looking ahead and muttered something and her sword began to glow with a dim violet hue. Her tail twitched as did her head fins, hearing the strange echos from further ahead.

"No! Don't do that Nina," Breida said sharply. "Sudden heat can cause stone to crack. These ones have already been stressed by that rumbling. Don't tempt fate, lest we weaken the stone above our heads further. Besides, doing so could damage the treasure itself if whatever that is does indeed have it. And burning fungus smells none to good either. It could alert predators to our presence." She moved on, following Samiel down the natural cavern tunnel. She paused a moment, and stooped to pluck a small tan mushroom with a rough golden colored band around its top from the ground.

"Tasieh. Or Crown Cap in the Negav tongue. It's farm raised at Beyr as a seasoning. Good to know we have a food supply here. Chances are there's water nearby too." Breida said, pocketing the mushroom. "Probably why whatever dug that tunnel started from this area. Best be on your guard, you are in the wilds now." She came to the footprints that Samiel had found, and began tracking them, stopping briefly every now and then to note some sign or another. An overturned stone, a bruised mushroom, an indent in the ground.

Sean pondered on Breida's words. Which element could he rely on if they encountered any large threat in these tunnels? He could not use Fire, and chances are Ice wasn't going to prove any more beneficial to the wall structure than sudden heat. Earth would spell doom on them all, Nature would wreck the already the damaged stones, and there wasn't enough water at his disposal to rely on against a large threat. His most viable options were Wind, Light, and Dark. Lightning could be possible, but at the same time, it probably could damage the walls if he misfired. Dark would probably be the most effective Element to use in those tunnels. He continued to look straight ahead as Breida noted every nook and cranny she could use as a landmark. Even he wasn't THAT meticulous about his normal chores. He had to give her props for her dedication and diligence.

"A treasure eating beast?" said Samiel is disbelief. Somehow he doubted one of those actually existed. He hoped one of those did not exist. He checked his watch. Hopefully the treasure was not too far away - he still wanted to keep his schedule of being out in time for dinner.

"Well... let's go a little further. I don't want to turn back yet." he said. He tossed the brooch over to Horasmus. "Any value to that?" he asked.

They continued, until Samiel saw movement up ahead and motioned for everyone to halt. Up ahead two large mushrooms, each at least ten feet tall were glowing and... walking?

Suddenly they approached and the group was faced with two ten foot tall mushroom-men, each with two pairs of gangly arms. They didn't speak, but various patterns of light played over their bodies. They looked at Samiel and the others in bemusement, not saying a word.

"Uh.... what are these supposed to be?" he whispered. "Think they're dangerous?"

As Horamus looked down the black hallway, he paused when he saw Nina offer him her lantern. He accepted graciously, giving her a "Thank you very much, miss!" as he took it from her. After all, even with the nighteye goggles he wore, he couldn't see as well in the dark as the terra elf could, and he was grateful for her assistance.

Once they made their way down, Horamus remained silent in the back, letting the others in the group lead since he was extremely inexperienced when it came to adventure, and thought it best that he not get in their way. He was a bit concerned when he felt the small tremors throughout the cave, worried that a predator was going to appear and start devouring them. No one else seemed too worried about it, however, so the neko didn't seem to worried about it.

He caught the brooch in the air when Samiel tossed it to him, looking over it as he held it close to his face. "Hm..must say, the diamond in here alone's rather valuable...this particular metal's rather rare, and the design's extremely intricate...I'd say it's about nine hundred skevols, give or ta-" He stopped when Samiel halted the group, looking ahead to see what was ahead. His eyes widened when the giant mushroom people approached them, slighty intimidated by their gigantic height. When the vampire whispered for confirmation as to what these creatures were, the neko hesitantly came up beside him, his tail swaying nervously as he whispered, "If...I'm not mistaken, those appear to be fungoids...but they usually live out in the Mycoria forests, miles away from Negav. I think these particular ones either migrated, or they're a sub-species..."

The rumbling started again, followed by the rappid sound of stomping - or large scaled metal skittering, and soon, a faint humming noise could be heard over the skittering.

The, the ground behind the Fungoids began to rumble and bow upward and outward, followed by a penetrating by 4 large faintly glowing orange blades!

“Yes, I was on the way to the Adventures guild, I need to check the guild job board. Well and turn in some maps I have been working on.” Clearly Neia was calming down. Her composure was becoming less submissive, she started to straighten up her clothing her confidence asserting itself.
Neia smiles pleasantly “I would be happy for an escort though, to be honest not having to worry about being attacked again, would be nice.” As she said this she subtly looked back at the alleyway she came out of. “This may be the city but you never know what might come out of the wood work.”
Neia then turned and started down the street, her snake tail fluidly carrying her down the road.

Sean suddenly aimed his gun ahead of him as the earthquake suddenly intensified. He jumped back as soon the orange blades suddenly jutted out of the ground. The human grit his teeth; if he had to bond with an Elemental Essence, he had to do it right now. Sean closed his eyes and focused on the Dark Essence. His armor, which was inexplicable purple colored, suddenly changed color to black. His facial markings also turned to black, along with the hilt of his sword, his shield, and the sides of his gun grip. A few beads of sweat rolled down to his headband as waited for whatever was coming to rear its ugly head.

Nina raised her sword upon seeing the blades, her own was now dully glowing. Seeing that she wouldn't be to her fire abilities she would have to rely on her swordsmanship and martial arts. "I believe the cause of the tremors has found or we found it... Let's hope it is as friendly as the fungi-beings," she muttered taking a step back in caution in case what was producing the orange blades decided to attack.

Nagi placed his hands against the wall as the rumbling restarted. He determined that it was a good distance away but decided to move in deeper anyway. He carefully headed into a deeper chamber, watching the rock to make sure it wouldn't collapse. He entered a large, stable chamber and half relaxed again.

The pair of fungoids flashed like a lightshow at each other and then, as fast as their awkward bodies could carry them, scuttled away from the disturbance, running to hide.

"What the hell is this?" said Samiel at the orange blades. "Anyone smarter than me got an idea?"

Once the claw blades had broken all the way through, the rest of the mechanical creature emerged, resembling a large, but not gigantic Scorpion.

The metal creature emerged facing away from the group as it's large tail swooped over the creatures head, pointing a large barrel from it's "stinger" down the corridor.

The claws color dimmed to a cobalt black color and stopped humming.

A voice suddenly came from the creatures amplifier, not deafening, in fact it was only loud enough to make it seem like the pilot was standing among the group, but the words where razor sharp in their intent.

"Ok, thats far enough. You lot certainly are not prepared to leave the Eye's protection zone, and thats exacly where you'll be in a few dozen more meters." it was the voice of Geeran Holden.

"I'll say this once, turn around. Go back... You go too much further on a wild tangent with no route, little means of fighting and no supplies, and you'll either end up dead or lost forever within the hour..." Geeran's voice was sharp, and piercing, this was Geeran of the wild, not the same as one would expect to see in Negav.