The Clockwork Mansion

On paper, it was a rough yet serviceable colony, with  one hundred and twenty hardy souls, starting to smooth out and improve the odd structure of honeycombed tunnels out on the far end of nowhere, connected to the outside world only by a flickering orange teleporter, and a small plugged ash-wood portal to the desolate surface.

In reality, as you arrive at the mine, you discover an overlarge hole, dank and musty, and built like a child's ant farm expanded to a colossal scale. The "hardy souls" are quarrelsome, frightened, and generally smelly, milling around and consuming the supplies sent to provision the new settlement. At least that's in good order. You have enough food and water to last for about 6 months, if rationed normally. And the council sent 800 "illuminators", about a quarter of which are unpacked, casting the largest chamber, which has a plethora of small tents scattered about, in a soft green light.

Perhaps coming here was a mistake, but here you are, and the potential for profit is still there. The tent in the center, guarded by a pair of burly looking half-demons, has a small stack of the yellow crystals that is the reason the council claimed this space.

Better get to work though, if you want to keep your opportunity.

Why can't everyone else just go through life blindfolded like us? Jio thought as he looked through a corner. Its presence blurred his vision, but he could tell there was at least one person still passing through the portal. Once that last newly-made employee had passed through, Jio waited only ten seconds, an agonizingly long time, before he dashed through the flickering orange light.

---

"I set my tent up here first!"

"I've been here for longer!"

"Who gives a shit about your seniority? It's only been for at most a day!"

"A day more is still a day longer than you've been here!"

The childish spat between two of the miners started to escalate. First it was a shoving match. As more people came around to watch, it grew to a fist-fight. Cheers and jeers arose as the two traded blows, when someone threw a pair of knives into the middle of the circle. It was only a matter of luck that a more recent employee came through the portal then, smacking face-first into the stone statue of a feline. It was made of granite, rendered in exquisite detail, and had a simple red blindfold tied over its eyes. Standing at about six-foot-three, it was a wonder nobody else had noticed it set up there. "God damn it, you idiots!" A foreman shouted, seeing the stunned employee by the teleporter. "You, in the ring, yes, you, get that statue out of here!" The miner sulked off to grab the work of stone while the other started to snicker. "And you! You've just earned yourself an extra mining shift! Get down to the shafts!" Deflated, the other miner pushed his way through the now-dispersing crowd, grumbling.

---

Jio unfroze gratefully as the storeroom door closed behind the miner that had brought him there. "What is wrong with all of these Outsiders?" He asked of the empty space. Is the Valley of Stone the only sane place in this world? He continued silently. Peering through the door, he pushed it open as soon as there was nobody about, dashing off to try and find a current map of the tunnels.

Baseel's was not impressed with what he saw while walking into the room from the portal chamber.  It was a sandy stone ant-hill.  Tunnels, barely tall enough to support the demon's height.  He waited at the portal for his tenure and personal supplies to be brought in.  Having somewhere to sleep would be a top priority, shortly followed by putting some discipline into practice.  The seeming lack of progress was disheartening.  There was no real system set up and the need to get this entire catacomb of tunnels and rooms put into a working underground fortress were pressing.  Things needed to get done to make it a self-sustaining base.

The sleeveless green tunic he wore was accented by silver cuffs at the shoulders.  Flowing green pants, loose fitting and comfortable covered his legs.  His feet were bare, as were his well muscled arms.  He wore rune-inscribed bracelets around both wrists.  His long hair tied with silver rings into their stylistic cords.  His massive horns, combine with the savage looking axe resting in his belt made the demon look every bit like the lord of war he was.

As he entered, he immediately started to make mental notes of things that would be needed.  Flowing water will be needed for drinking, cleaning, and sewage removal.  Guard posts need to be built, and a proper guard-force needs to be assembled and trained.  These ex-adventurers will make excellent captains for a future military force, but, for now, they are the army.  His thoughts grew a bit more in-depth as the first, and most important member of his staff.  At least, in the young demon's opinion, came through, shortly followed by the rest of his entourage.  He waited for the fiery vixen to come to his side before continuing. At least i won't be alone.   I choose the appropriate company for this type of operation... someone who will keep me in-check... while making sure i don't get too serious...

He waited for the fiery furred vixen to set up beside him.  "I'm going to find a place to set up my camp... we'll need to be an example for how things should be done, methinks."

"-your- camp?  no no no... -Our- camp"
Her voice was soft, a soothing soprano, and in harsh contrast to the expectation of a creature bearing her short horns and large, leathery wings.  

"Fine, our camp.  We'll need everything setup.  Tents, beds, supplies, get ourselves settled in, then start taking care of the real business.  I'm going to need you now more than ever.  I'm glad you agreed to come... i have a feeling we're going to be the ones who have to whip this group into shape.  If that lot in the portal room is anything to go by, anyways."

He waited just long enough to ensure his entourage was following, before the demon set off to find a large, empty section to position himself and team.  Somewhere comfortable... As soon as he finished, there were many tasks that would need to be addressed.  However, 1 thing at a time.

It was too cold here.

Too cold, his joints were starting to ache with the dreadful lack of warmth.  For once, he was grateful for his medicine, served with warm green tea, for his blood pressure.  Two in the morning, two in the evening.  The leaves would be in short supply for a while, so he couldn't ask for a third cup until they had a crop.  Thank goodness for his foresight in bringing seeds along.  The elderly old cat sat atop a carriage, drawn by a mundane horse.  The carriage, laden with odds and ends, furniture and supplies, everything an old man and his doting son would need to live with a small bit of comfort.  The horse was well trained, with a bit of magical help, that Barbarus need not guide her much, aside from tricky turns and around hazards.

The view wasn't too great either.  Hmm, some plants could fix that.  This place was intended to be a mine, true, and a fortress, also true, but that did not mean it had to be ugly.  Especially if the Council ever ordered an inspection.  Being functional but not pleasing could reflect badly.  Hmm, would magical maple or pine be better for the decor?  Once he'd summoned some water, willows could grow in abundance, but that was not for a while yet.

In addition to the supply of water, he would likely need to ward the grounds against bad luck, perhaps lay the beginnings of magical borders to repel invaders.  The workers about to go on shift would also need to be blessed for luck, and a productive day.  So much to do.  And Belize still needed to find space for a medical tent, or house if the mongoose boy would let Barbarus make one for him out of the readily available rock.  Speaking of houses, he needed to find the space for his too.

The shaman scouted the land as they passed out of the immediate portal area, looking for anywhere he could set up the water summoning.  He'd probably need to go deeper underground, or make a small lakebed himself.  Perhaps there would be a dry one nearby he could resurrect.

The old man atop the cart would wave to people as he passed by, saying hello and good morning, even if they did not say it back.  He would need to appear as the good guy if he was to gain these people's trust, and as Belize's father his reputation would reflect on Belize.  That simply would not do if he made a bad name for himself.  The mongoose was inside the cart proper, either securing his medical equipment or sleeping due to the early rise, Barbarus couldn't remember.  He was searching about for open space close to where people had set up their tents, so he and Belize could be on hand if things appeared troublesome.  Barbarus fingered his long staff at the thought.  Already fights were breaking out, and he wasn't quite so young that he could control an entire mining operation by himself, even if he stopped trying to be nice about it.

Oh well, what would be would be.

[[Edited due to a slight misunderstanding.  Sorry.]]

*clank*
*clank*
*clank*
Along a dirt road already rather far off from anywhere important walked a curious creature - something resembling a giant lobster with only five legs, but on the other hand, a dozen or so prehensile tentacles around where one would guess its mouth to be.
If the one was foolish enough to come closer, he would see a strange ,furry spider-like standing on the creature's back, and hear it's dry, squeaky voice.
           - Look, i tell you, those crystals are gonna be *the* thing in the future! And with all the fuss and whatnot, suckers'll wanna buy stuff.. lots of it. And that's where we come in and do what? Profit!
           - Shugle? If it'sh sho wondeglful, how come thegle aglenth loadsh of folksh coming in? Sheemsh pglethy desheglted to me... and at the old place we had 'egulagl cushtomegls!
           - Sheesh... a poor adventurer and a dozen or so undead aren't a clientelle worthy of mention... Come on! At your age you should have an umber hulk or two already! I almost..
           - You almosht got killed when attacking me... anothegl bglilliant plan i shupposhe...
           - It was a small, insignificant flaw! How the hell was i supposed to know you will sense my mind  as soon as touch...

As it went, both the crustacean and the pseudo-arachnid reached the cave entrance, which was, as of present guarded by two important looking demons... well, important looking to those who weren't nearly the same height, and longer than they were tall.

 - Sheemsh we agle thegle... Dglag out the documentsh , Amit, and let me shpeak to them.
 - Why? I can handle it better.. i am trained in Neogi diplo...
 - Becaushe the lasht time you did sho, i had to paglalyshe the cushtomegl aftegl you ashked him whethegl he ish able to glead, and whethegl the tglanshaction wash  pglopegly authoglished by his ownegl and he became aggleshive...
 - But...  It's standard protocol! Besides, he even had a leash!
 - Tglue, and he did shign the documentsh with thglee cgloshes.. . i guesh you can tgly.. but if bad shtuff happensh, you'll be walking neksht to me.
 - Allright i guess...
The neogi looked with mixed feelings as he shuffled in the chuul's bags - the perspective of trying to maintain  pace set by the armored giant on his tiny legs was averything but appealing.. besides ,imagine the dishonor if any other neogi saw him.
Amit jumped down, clutching the documents  in his pincers ,and approached the guards

Idiots.

The small cadre of mudmen couldn't be more in sync with each other as they slithered through the underground encampment. A beautiful place of dirt and rock, sullied by the presence of these petty, horrible meat people: loud, obnoxious, stupid, and just plain ornery to the core, it would be a miracle if they could even work half as effectively as Mnogo's drones did on a routine basis. It took every ounce of will in his and Kalua's body to keep from sneering at these contemptible monsters. They could barely even convince the Council that their kind was even a race worth acknowledging, and now they being sent to some childish mining operation to prove their worth. Kid's stuff.

The drones themselves were content to stare forward, blissfully unaware of everyone except their loving chieftain and manager.

"Kalua, please make sure none of these pathetic monstrosities hassle our drones," Mnogo grumbled to his subordinate. "I'm in a bad enough mood as it is."

"Only too gladly, Chieftain." Deep down, Kalua could scarcely contain the desire to just slap every one of these miners and monsters into submission, but starting a fight as they approached the guarded tent would have them zapped to fine dust particles in no time. She would have to wait for an excuse.

Not that I'd need one. Can't wait for one of these meatpuppets to say something...

Yes, it is. (Jio)

The door hadn't been in place long enough for rust to form, or the hinges to creak, and as you darted out of the room, you could hear the din and cursing of miners and workmen, behind you and somewhat to your left. As you progressed though, you found nothing inside the tunnels of note, although the slightly downwardly sloping tunnel was odd, very odd. It was perfectly smooth, and as far as you could tell, exactly circular, to a degree of precision beyond anything your craftspeople had demonstrated themselves capable of; far more precise than anything the throng you had passed through before could accomplish.

Several minutes of travel yielded no side branching, and certainly nothing that could even conceivably be a map. It might be your imagination, but every so often you thought you almost felt the presence of something else alive, but never long enough for a distinct image to form.

Portal room chaos (Baseel)

Raucous hubbub continued on, with little attention being directed your way. As your group started to make their way through the crowd though, a figure planted himself in front of you. He was on the shortish side, canine with a dark fur that was difficult to determine the exact hue of in the dim lighting, stocky, with somewhat stunted leathery wings. Two dull gray eyes stared out at you, and he was missing half of his left ear, the marks on what flesh remaining making it look like it had been bitten off by something. Without preamble, he accosted your group.

"Meh name's Hethpthen, leader of this sorry lot of packers and movers. Stvag! You'd think for a job of this importance, they'd send some crewers to do it. I recognize you, they sent a description of some of our new overlords ahead." He gave a brief salute, or at least you think that's what the arm waved around his face was meant to be. " Aah was hoping aah could impose upon you for a little bit. Sign and stuff, it is, but when I knock some sense into these whoresons, I'd rather have someone official like to watch over, handle things if they get out of hand, and more importantly, shut their bellyaching up before it starts. Cahld I have a moment of your time to make rounds, sirrah?"

You could see Aleyna cocking her head, trying to make out a bit of the half demon's (you think) accent. Punching you lightly in the shoulder, she half snickered, half sang "I'm sure we don't need our most glorious leader to select out a camp site. I'll pick something out for us, unless you'd like a chaperon for your date with this beauty."

As the axles creak (Barbarus)
Nowhere in the immediate vicinity was suitable, that was certain.

The carriage, although making it through the portal okay, wouldn't be able to navigate through the tunnels leading off from the central hub, surrounded by chaos and bickering. It would probably just barley be able to enter, but neither you nor Belize could figure out a way to make the thing turn around, and horses are not well known for their ability to move backwards.

Nodding at his foster-father, Belize smiled and said "Now, you should be good for a few hours, at the very least, and if you want to wander off to putter about in a more secluded spot for your magicks, I suppose that's all right. I'll even get at least some basic shelter set up, if you don't find a pile of rocks somewhere to turn into a house. But you better not be out there long enough to make me drag you back for your medicine, you hear me?" Although the words were harsh, he said them with a broad grin on his face, erasing the sting.

Are you sure this is the right place? (Glup)

The two doorguards were muttering some code back and forth to each other. You manage to catch a bit of it "n-g4, B-h3, cdexe4", and the like, but it doesn't really make sense to you. However, when Amit approached, they stopped their conversation, glaring at the little neogi with hands on weapon sheaths. After a few tense and silent seconds, the little one proffered the papers he had. One of the guards examined them briefly, before muttering "more bloody settlers. And weird ones at that." They perfunctorily opened the door, and the second one grunted "Down the corridor, in both senses of the way. Keep to lighted areas, and you'll hit the main hub, all noisy like. If you have a problem, I don't care."

The two went back to their odd coded conversation. You should be able to make it down the corridor, but it'll be a tight squeeze. You can see some magical light fixtures indicating the way onward. Continue into the settlement?


Loud, idiotic meatpuppets (Mnogo)

Kalua had taken the drones off, and as you approach the tent, a grizzled, one eyed feline in rusty and mismatched armor sized you up, right hand resting a bit too casually somewhere under a tattered and mud-stained cloak. When you were within about ten feet, he hails you. "Well, they said a weirdie, and I'm guessing you're it. You're here to help run this place? This is the headquarters." The last word was said with a scoffed snort, "and I've been keeping fools away from it since this morning. You can go in, but there's nought but a table there now, not sure where the others are." With that, he went back to staring at something over your right shoulder. 

Every time the presence half-manifested itself, Jio stopped and balanced himself, expecting to be frozen at any second. When he didn't stone-shape, however, he cautiously continued through the tubular shaft. This is... too perfect. Those blaggards in the main chamber couldn't possibly have made something this good. He stopped for a moment, wondering, What was this place before we got here? Continuing on, he found no side passages or a map, so he turned around and started making his way back towards the central chamber, taking the first branching path he found.

As the axles creak

"Such a good boy.  I'll be back in short order, once I find a nice little spot to set up shop.  Go, introduce yourself to the masses as one of their hopefully many doctors, and get your first patients."  The elderly cat hoped off the carriage, and tapped his staff against the ground to check for slickness.  "And mind the carriage!"

Time for exploring.

Barbarus was looking around for a shallow cave.  Something that didn't go very far before becoming a dead end, hopefully one with enough ambient rock that he wouldn't need to bring more in from the surrounding caves, possibly damaging the passages, and putting undue strain on the floor separating the levels.  However, he was trained to handle massive supplies of raw matter if necessary.

Cracking Down on the Shenanigans

Baseel assessed the half-demon.  The canine was respectful enough as he gave his description of the situation and what he needed, and while he would certainly not complain to have her at his side, that would be selfish and counterproductive.  He needed her getting his camp running, not strutting around at his side...

He playfully tapped a claw across the tip of Aleyna's nose before replying to her and the half-demon.  "Take care of the camp, then... Be sure not to cause too much trouble without me."  The glint of teeth in Baseel's smirk was meant to be more unnerving to those around them than to Aleyna... She knew him well enough to catch the show he was putting on for anyone looking around... his razor sharp, and white polished teeth gleaming at anyone who was gawking.

Bowing his head slightly, Baseel replied to the half-demon, "If there is something i can do to get things moving, please let me know while i'm getting myself settled in... I'd like to make this place a little more tolerable as quickly as possible."  His tone was level and matter of fact.

"So, please, lead the way to where-ever it is you think you need me"

   It should be around here somewhere...
  Aboveground, something strange was lurking about. It appeared slightly insectoid, made of black metal, and had angular lines of a green glow running across the 'skin'. Four articulated legs were set around a central base, with an upright 'torso' mounted on top of the center, two arms protruding from both sides of the torso, and no apparent head.
 Xephelon had caught a flyer in a nearby town advertising a new Crysx mine, with help wanted. While Xephelon did use crystals and crystalline materials in the construction of magic items whenever possible, Crysx was by far the most superior. Now, he was searching about a specific patch of desert, looking for the shaft that actually marked the entrance to the mine. Despite the chill wind in the air, Xephelon felt nothing--his body, for the moment, was effectively metal, though warmed by magical energy flowing through it.
  Wait...could that be?
  Xephelon moved over to an irregularity in the landscape, and sure enough, he came across some kind of door over a hole, an unlocked double-door.
  Terrible. Nothing to mark it. No guards?
  With little else to do, Xephelon pushed the doors open, revealing an unnaturally smooth and steep tunnel. With nothing else to do, he decended down the tunnel, the stability afforded by his four metal legs preventing him from slipping on the smooth stone.

It's a long way home.(Jio)
It takes about ten minutes to retrace your steps,  and then another five to find a fork in the tunnels, leading back to a more "civilized" area. Voices bubble in, and it occurs to you that if you go too much farther, you'll be spotted, petrified, and probably carried back to that same storeroom. If you want to come up with a plan or a way of communicating, it would probably be best to do so before heading into the main area.
Exploration (Barbarus)
Rock, you have, but at least a quick exploratory foray reveals little else that you can use. As far as you can determine, the passages are made out of solid stone, not purely granite, but some sort of conglomeration of granite and a softer rock you can't quite identify. There don't seem to be any dead ends, with a lot of the passages either continuing at an even elevation, or going up or down at forty five degree angles, They all seem to loop into other corridors, or split off, but eventually return somewhere. If you want a dead end, you'll have to dig a bit. On the other hand, you can feel for water in some of the pockets, and the tunnels seem to be almost impossibly well crafted; you could easily tunnel around, or bring in stuff without wrecking the integrity of the place.
Headcracking.(Baseel)
It doesn't take long to get to what Hethpthen was referring to. It wasn't exactly a riot, but more of a score or two dozen small arguments all happening in a small circumference. You hear him mutter some kind of spell, although you didn't catch the exact specifications of it, before he roared in a voice that was loud enough to shake a bit of loose debris on the floor.

"All right you stinking whoresons! T was one thing to carry on like this for your foreman, but if you want the Council to see what a disgraceful lot of hairless humanspawn you are, then be my guest, but I doubt you'll ever find work in any sanctioned project after this again, and who else would pay for a sorry pack of dirtgrubbers like you anyway?
o
The speech does seem to cow most of the crowd, but one of the nearerm iners roars some obscenity you can't catch and swings a fY
Now might be a good time to do something, although you can't kill too many of them, not if you want to meet your quotas......
Breaking nothing, but entering (Xephelon)

You descend down the steep tunnel in near silence, but about forty feet in, two forms, one canine and one that resembling an upright goat, almost materializing out of the darkness. As soon as they do, you start to hear a bit of conversation, in some odd code you can't quite get, although you make out "eeaight-N-check". The canine approaches you and crows to his companion.

"See, I told you after the lobster fellah, this'd be a better way. Besides, we keep out of the wind. He taps on your shell, and says "I donnae which wizard sent yeh, but you tell him he better come himself if he wants to deal. We have some restrictions here, and I doubt some drone would be able to handle the complexity. You hear that? Go Home."

Hocus Pocus

As he Traveled, Barbarus made several small modifications to the walls of the cavern, where he felt water in the walls.  Marking them for future harvesting.  If they could be, anyway.  A simple clap of the hands, and a firm press to the walls, and a bit of magical pyrotechnics, a raised dias would emerge from the wall, with a simple water drop emblazoned on the disk.

As he walked he dropped blocks of blessed salt on the ground periodically.  An offering to the spirits to grant luck, and to keep their dark kin from tormenting the cave-dwellers.

Since he could not find a dead-end naturally, it seemed he would need to make one for himself.  He found the one of the tunnels that around, that no one was currently using, and got ready.  Out came a simple horsehair brush, and a small pot of ink.  The brush, once doused in ink, was used to create four simple transmutation circles on the walls of the cave that linked to the main one, then a much larger one on the floor.  Once done, the old shaman would step back and stab the base of his staff into the array.  The physical connection complete, energy would arch about the array, and to the circles on the wall.  The rock which made up the wall would, hopefully, reach out and connect, sewing itself together into one seemingly natural wall.

Once done, Barbarus made two more small circles on this wall, and empowered them, to create air passages, blocked from being holes by stone slats which spiraled through the two ends of the hole.  Effectively letting air in, but not much else.

Periodically renewing the ink on the brush, Barbarus went through the tunnel, marking areas of wall for rooms with circles, empowering them, and forming simple circular rooms with them.  He wasn't a young man anymore.  So he limited himself to five rooms to start with.  Two large enough to be bedrooms, one suitable for a living room, a store-room, and one he would later turn into a bathroom.  Once done, Barbarus would duplicate the wall making process he'd done for one end of the room for the other, but spending the extra effort to make a door, and a simple lock and key.

Now a tired old cat, the Were wandered down the tunnels again, for the hub, and looking for his carriage.  It would be a simple operation to get his son's attention...he hoped.

Jio halts outside the main area with everyone about. He had been planning on just going right through the area to the nearest command location, forgetting that these people didn't wear blindfolds. Tef damn it... he thought, thinking. With no idea as to what he was to do, he whispered some power words under his breath. "Ksin-besteh." Assuming he'd gotten his grammar right (never could be sure with only a year of Arcane Theory), the words, "I am alive," would be written in light over his head. ((Note, this doesn't actually happen, as Jio used the wrong "light." That, and they're very literal. If there are any objects with words on them nearby, they now weigh about fifty percent their normal weight.)) With this security measure hopefully in place, Jio continued on, taking a slow, balanced step so he wouldn't fall if he was spotted.

Near the entrance

  As Xephelon decended, his exoshell's artificial vision detected two beings approaching. He froze, waiting to see what they would do. They spoke in a strange vernacular that Xeophelon could not make out at first, but switched to more understandable speech as they closed in. They did not appear to be hostile, however, so Xephelon mentally relaxed. One stepped up to Xephelon, tapped his exoshell, and made several declarations.
  Each of the three lights on the center of the exoshell's torso, seemingly symbolic of eyes, flickered in sequence.
  "I assure you, I am no drone, nor was I created by a wizard, and I represent no one but myself." A voice emitted from the construct, metallic and slightly buzzing in its tone. "I do, however, commend you for recognizing this body as an artificial construction, and not some unknown beast to be destroyed. That is an unfortunately frequent misunderstanding. That said, are there any other restrictions that may be pertinate to me, or am I clear to 'deal'?"

The full blooded demon watched the scuffles unfold.  The flurry of insults and personal bickering.  There seemed to be very little to keep them in line.  That is, until the half-demon roared at them.  They shut up, almost instantly, save for one.  Had he been expecting the fight, he might have had the axe in hand for just a little extra intimidation factor.  He didn't, he'd come in, and taken a smug pose, arms crossed across chest, disapproving glare.  The fact that one of these "hearty" swine would have the gull to take a swing at both a pure-blood demon, and a warrior prince to boot was almost preposterous in Baseel's mind. 

He made his move, enhanced speed had it's advantages, and it was very useful here.  He took but a moment to extend his claws from small nubs atop his fingers to several inch long dagger points.  He hardened his skin, no point in taking risks in the event that someone threw something.  Lastly, in the blink of an eye, he collected a small ball of dark energy in the palm of his hand, forged it into a sharp, narrow bolt shape, then used a bit more magic to fling the solidified shadow at the miner's upper thigh.  As soon as the bolt had left, the demon took a defensive combat stance and prepared to gut the miner, should his incapacitating strike fail to phase the charging assailant.

Digdigdigdigdig (Barbarus)

The work went well, carving a simple but serviceable passage, and the rooms were fashioned with no sudden complications. Plumbing might be a problem, as you'd have to carve a path for waste to flow out from, but that complication aside, the rooms are serviceable, at east if you added some furniture.

As you step from the areas you just fashioned into the main tunnel complex, you notice that the tunnels that were there before are smoother than the ones you just made, and if there are any imperfections in the tunnel that you're moving through, they're far too slight to be taken as anything other than completely circular by your senses.

As you make your way back to the main habitation area though, the sounds are different. Although it was loud, boisterous and chaotic before, now, the sounds is more purposeful, dangerous. creams of pain lance through the inchoate shouts of rage and aggression. Right now, it might not be the safest place to visit.


We try things, sometimes they even work (Jio)

It was sudden, just a hushed shout of "Come on, we have to get away from those lunatics" before a knot of three or four burly figures rush through freezing you instantly as they peal into sight. Although you're well balanced, their path of flight bumps them right into you, and you topple over, fortunately without any harm.

You can see the ceiling, but none of the miners are in your field of view; still, their voices are clearly audible.

"Damn odd place for a statue."

"Fucking odd to have a statue at all."

"Come ON! We need to GO!"

"Yeah, and if some petrifier is down that way? Our chances are better in that riot.

"There's magic on him, some sort of spell. Can't tell what it is."

"You're drunk already Ferl, who would enchant a statue?"

"Not enchanted, the thing *cast* a spell, and recently."

"So it's not drunk, it's harder stuff you idiot. How the SHIT could a statue cast anything?"

"Look, I don't know, but here, *indistinct mumbling*, put some witchsight on yourself."

"Well, damn. DAMN. What is it?"

"Beats the shit out of me."

"Think we can carry it? One of the big shits upstairs would probably be interested in it."

"One way to find out."

The next thing you know, you find yourself being hefted, and carried, back towards the main habitation area.

Door Dimwits (Xephelon)

"Fancy, innit?"

"Talks fancy too."

"And there were that other pair of weirdies, came by earlier. I say we did our part for the mine. Too many newcomers at once could destabilize things."

"And we couldn't have that. Don't know what they're digging up here, but it seems to be important. If this metal thing might stop us...."

"Well, I don't think it'd be quite that bad, but perhaps something to demonstrate good faith, or to make it worth our while."

"Yeah, then we'd let you in. Sorry metalboy. You got anything like that?"

Rack and Riot (Baseel)

The energy lance isn't quite quick enough to prevent the miner fro hitting his foreman, but it does dig through his thigh, letting a spurt of blood pool around the floor, as both figures hit the oddly polished stone almost simultaneously. The sudden attack breaks the will of the crowd, but instead of dispersing, shouts are raised, a few crude spells are woven, and small packs, from three to five, generally, break off in every direction (except yours)  trampling their way over anything in their path.

Already, some of them have fled the central chamber, and you think you can smell smoke from somewhere off to your left and out of your immediate sight.

Well, this isn't what I expected, Jio thought as the workers carried him along. Damn foolish thing of me to not get the grammar right, let alone the proper word even. Really should try and find a book on power words, if I can... He worked himself into a semi-trance as he waited to reach his destination. These non-blindfolded people go really slow...

((OOC: Not really much to say. Figured I'd take the chance to work in the relative speed of life for the Moloi.))

Quelling the Mobs

With a snarl, the demon shouted, "-If- you surrender now, and peacefully, i will let you get back to work, no harm done! If you do not comply, -you- risk being made an example of!"

He then started snapping off orders to the half-demon, and anyone else who seemed to be paying even the mildest of attention to him.  Pointing to the half-demon first "Take the foreman to the infirmary, get him taken care of... keep this worker alive if you can, as well... he'll need a proper punishment if he survives.  After that's done, start bashing in skulls of any rabble-rouser you find.  Target the leaders, not the mobs.  Without a head, they'll fall to the most powerful voice of authority."   He then turned towards anyone else and shouted, "Get Aleyna and Nadia here! Soonest... We need some proper riot control, and i'm not doing this alone!"


With orders out, the axe came out of it's leather loop.  The demon summoned his massive round-shield and charged off towards the fire.  It was time to end this quickly, and put the workers in line.  Discipline would be required, a chain of command.  Enough time had been wasted already.  It was time to get this place running.

Door Dimwits

   Only one of Xephelon's light-eyes flickered this time. These "guards" didn't even know about the Crysx. Just how mixed-up was this mine's information flow?
   Still, he had to appease them somehow. Forcing his way past would not make him any friends inside, and worse, it was impractical with his abilities. So he decided to use his abilities more efficiently.
   One of the four arms of the metal thing reached out. "May I borrow a weapon of yours for a moment?"

You know what?  That makes me mad.

"Belize?  Belize!  Answer me boy!  Where are you?"  Barbarus would wade into the tide of angry persons, demonstrating expert use of his staff to drop anyone that would get in the way of his search for the mongoose with a sharp, swift crack to the head.  Those that put up a fight, would find themselves bound in place as, after a clap of the shaman's hands, and arcing electricity, the rock they stood on reshaped into grasping hands to restrict their movements.  "Belize!  Answer me!"

And he was just annoyed right now.  If he found out these idiots had hurt his little boy...Well, let's not plan for things that might now happen, shall we?

Take Me To Your Manager

In spite of the chaos erupting elsewhere in the camp, Mnogo kept his face entirely on the sentry and tent before him. It didn't take a psychic to detect how underwhelmed he was at his mongrel standing guard. Were this home, he would groom and fashion an entire legion of dripping brutes to watch over the perimeter, smashing and grinding anyone foolish to even look at them cockeyed.

Installing better security could wait; now was the time to gather intelligence. With a half-hearted grunt, he slithered past the one-eyed feline and into headquarters. Just because nobody was there to talk to didn't mean he couldn't learn anything on his own, be it from a discarded book, map, or other sensitive document. With the way the camp looked so far, he'd be surprised if these morons even locked their desk drawers after leaving.

Bouncing along (Jio)

It's hard to tell, facing downwards, but you think you're heading downwards, not towards the main habitation area. After a few minutes, your conveyors stop, and unceremoniously dump you onto the unnaturally smooth floor.

"Private enough Ferg?"

"Yeah, ought to have enough space to put at least a few looker­-spells"

Muttered incantations, but you don't have the vantage to see what they're casting, and whatever energies are entering your stoneform, they don't seem to be harmful. More wait.

"Odd, he's definitely alive, but there's no trace of a petrification spell. It's almost like he's supposed to be that way. None of the usual enchantments you'd see on a spy statute either. It's like he's supposed to be that way, or a statue come to life on its own."

"That is odd, and I'm not sure-" Whomever he was, he's cut off by a pair of high pitched screams, off to the corridor. You have a hard time placing where they're from, and they might be coming from two different directions. There's a short burst of panic, another incantation,and you can feel the edges of force from this one, and then four much lower pitched screams.

Something climbs on to your back, heavy, and with at least 6 feet,that are somewhat soft and padded; you can feel it tense, but then it scampers off, very quickly. About 30 seconds later, you resume your natural form. There's no sign of the miners that took you down........ wherever you are.

Rack and Riot (Baseel)

Only those closest to you, about 15 feet or so in, obey your shouted orders. Whether that's because of your presence, or simply because the others are too far away to hear you over the din, you're not certain, but enough people come to haul away the two supine figures, hopefully for some sort of medical treatment.

The cavern is lit, although not all that well, and you're forced to follow your nose to the source of the blaze, which is burning along merrily right now, consuming a few old crates, filled with nothing that gives off any particularly identifiable aroma. Through the smoke, you can see an old, battered lantern, probably dropped. There are no figures immediately adjacent to the blaze, although you can see a few scattered about the corners of your vision.

Door Dimwits (Xephelon)

The accent seems to be completely gone, and the guard's brow furrows deeply.  "Around here, it's very rude to ask for the weapon of anyone, especially if that anyone might be called to use it. Now give some sort of assurance that you're here for a benign purpose, we have a colony to defend."

Outskirts of the riot (Barbarus)

Most of the people around are more interested in flight than in fighting anyone, even someone as old and frail-looking as yourself. You're only called upon to hit one person, and that was more someone attempting to run right over you to get away from something else, and he didn't stick around to contest the blow.

Still, you find no sign of Belize, and combined with your exertions earlier, you're starting to get tired. Maybe if you had some way of signaling him.

Tent of management (Mnogo)

The tent is almost completely bare. A bit of dim light comes in from two green glowing fixtures somehow affixed to the "roof." Other than that, there's only a low table, and one small cupboard filled with what seem to promotional brochures. Out the back, you hear noise of some sort, screaming you think, although it's somewhat distant.

Door Dimwits

   "Rude? Well, perhaps, but necessary." The strange black metal insect-like thing replied. "But very well, then please at least hold your weapon out so that I may touch it, and I will give you the assurance that I am here to assist in the only way I am capable of."

As the crowd started to disperse more, Baseel's mind started turning, ideas forming rather than just reactions.  He prepared a pair of spells.  One, a simple silence spell which would be cast throughout the hall, cutting off the voices of all those, all the shouting, all the panic, everything.  The next, was an enchantment to his own voice, boosting it's volume to a level that should echo through the halls.  Even if the silence spell were only marginally effective, he figured the followup should be enough to at least draw their attention away from wanton destruction, and give the workers a better understanding of who was in charge, and how things would work.

He cast the spells simultaneously, adding a bit of arcane flash by having the ceiling of the cave seem to sparkle with dark energies, a fairly simple expendeture of energy, connecting to points, and having his own power jump the gap... doing it over and over again in a web like pattern.  He waved his hands, triggering the events.  A series of flashes across the ceiling, as the demon's voice roared, "SILENCE!  From this point forward, -anyone- who continues these riots shall be subject to immediate soul execution.  This is not a threat i give lightly... it is not a threat at all, really, it's a a promise... a mandate.   Now... those who surrender, and return, in -orderly- fashion to the main hall, will not be penalized.  Those who continue to fight -will- be dealt with, harshly.  Those of you with friends and family participating in this pointless demonstration in disorganization, i suggest you let them know that i am giving you 5 minutes."  

Summoning a small time-glass, The Alsatian flipped the hour-glass shaped time-piece over, "starting from now, to assemble in the main hall.  Anyone who is not here, and at attention, or peacefully making their way here... well... You may have noticed a few other demons with me... Not complying with these very direct, and simple orders will not be peasant."

The demonic canine ended both spells, then cast a quick implosion spell upon the empty crates to quench the flames.  Baseel headed for the main hall with the hourglass dripping grains of sand, floating at his side.  He didn't have much time to prepare a proper speech, however, it seemed, if this is the greeting they gave, they were going to need to -earn- the right to be bribed with a carrot, before the stick got put away.  He kept his sense tuned all around him as he made his way back towards the hall.   He kept his face neutral and icy, hoping word got around to the other leaders that there was to be a formal assembly in the main hall. 

Bah, let the blowhard force his will where he may, Belize was whom Barbarus was focused upon.  Of course he'd be there in five minutes, but only if he could find Belize in that time.  "Belize!  Ooh, when I find you, I'll take you over my knee if you don't start making yourself known!  Belize!"

If Baseel's little stunt had done what was intended, Barbarus should now have a much easier time of finding his carriage and little mongoose son.  Oh, his back was hurting from all this walking and hitting people.  He still remembered to drops blocks of purified salt down on the ground every so often, as offerings to good spirits.

Bah!  This was taking too long!  Fumbling around in his coat, Barbarus would pull out a segment of seemingly innocuous wood, then transmute it into a whistle.  Which he would use in conjunction with shouting to help locate his son, maybe even call the horse if she was around to hear.

Whaddaya know, someone that can move as fast as me! Shaking off the worst of the dust, Jio leaned against a wall and tried to decide between reporting the incident he had witnessed and seeing what he could do on his own. After a moment, he figured, I'm just an architect. I can't handle those things, especially since they seem to stone-shape me as well. Back to the tunnels it is. With a sigh, he started walking. Ksin-besteh obviously didn't work. Wait, of course it wouldn't. Ksin is for lightweight, not light. How about... "Besteh-osi. I am alive." Trusting that his magic had worked properly, he made his way back to where the miners had caught him at a light jog.

((OOC: As a reminder, the words will be incomprehensible without something to understand another language. Also, the spell worked right this time.))

Door Dimwits.(Xephelon)

"Look mister, I don't know you from The Firsts. If you touch my weapon, I'm going to be seeing what sort of insides you have, and that's final. Jink-jink or leave, your choice."


Aftermath (Baseel)

The grand hall isn't so much silent as it is muted. In groups of threes and fours, miners return. By the time the 5 minute counter is up, you'd guess that about two thirds of the crowd has managed to find its way back. Although it's not cold in the tunnels, a lot of them seem to be shivering, and more than one face has gone pale. The last ones you see make it in on time are a pair of youngish looking felines, both male, hauling what looks like an intricate statue between them.

A general sense of the crowd seems to indicate nervousness, perhaps even fear, but things do seem to be calming down.

Whistle while you search? (Barbarus)

Over the roar and panic of the crowd, the whistle is a small, barely heard thing, but with the roared pronouncement, people start drifting their way back to the main cavern, and you see a small swirl as they try to squeeze around a large, horse drawn carriage. The horse notices the thin screams of the whistle first, but Belize must have given it some sort of signal with the reins, as the vehicle stops completely, and the mongoose bounds out, rushing towards you.

He hugs you briefly, and then starts to usher you towards the carriage. "Are you all right father? There's...... I don't know what happened, but there's some madman threatening to soul-drain everyone who's not in the main cavern by a five minute mark. Thank the spirits you're back.  Are you holding up all right? Once we're inside and can be counted, I can mix something together for you."

Teshuvah. (Inumo)

It only takes a minute at a quick clip to head back, although the near constant ascent has you a bit winded. Looping your way back, you hear the newcomers at an intersection about a second before they turn the corner and petrify you, but stand in startled stillness long enough for you to take in their features. Both felines, short, but stocky, twinned pairs of green eyes and countenances similar enough to declare a blood tie between them.

Off in the distance somewhere, you can hear another one of those high-pitched screams, but it's very quiet against the conversation backdrop before you.

"I tell you, it's safer back there, in the main cavern. All those guys want to do is steal your purse. Thems screams are creepy."

"Where'd the statue come from?"

"Well, I'm a blighted idiot, who'd put a statue out here?"

"Maybe them screamers are petrifying people."

"We could say we came across him, on purpose like, that the higher ups needed to know about this. I'm sure someone would know what to do about petrifying monsters."

You're lifted, one cat-man on your head and the other handling your legs, and you're carried back up to the main cavern at a pace you find is surprisingly quick.

Damn Door Dimwits

  The three lights on the front "torso" of the metal insectoid "blinked" once again. Internally, he was beginning to retract his earlier appreciation for them recognizing his body as a construct. This was almost as bad as being mistaken for a monster.
  "I do not understand what you mean by something as inarticulate as 'jink-jink'. However, I must point out several things. One, if you truly believe that you or your friend can disassemble my metal form, then there would hardly be an danger in allowing me physical contact with either of your weapons now, is there? But, even so, if you really are are adverse to allowing me this, then any small trinket or worn article will do. A belt, or perhaps a bracer or gauntlet, or especially an amulet if you have one. It must simply be some inanimate and preferably inorganic object, and I simply must be able to hold it in my hands for a minute. I am a manipulator of magic, you see. But my magic is...unusual, to your kind. I do not 'cast spells', rather, I bind magic to physical objects. This is why I must physically touch something so that I may show you my worth by what I can do." The strange construct-like thing was oddly still, but the buzzing voice had changed pitch slightly. If someone actually intelligent were paying attention, they would know that the voice was starting to sound exasperated.

You're kidding me. Can they not read? If Jio had control of his mouth, he would have sighed. Physically powerless, Jio took the time to look at the wall structure and figure out what the blueprint of a cross-section might look like. After all, it wasn't like he had much else to do.

((OOC: Synchronized timelines are a pain for those that are due to be frequently powerless. >.< Ah well, to be expected.))

Pip-pip!

"Yes, I'm alright.  And we had better get going if you don't want to test that method for destructive transmutation."  Barbarus would hurry the mongoose up to the cart after returning the hug, and slumping in the carriage while indicating Belize to the reigns.  "Already late.  Hmm."  Barbarus would take the time to throw blocks of purified salt out the window if they started moving. "I made us a nice little house.  Rough, but it should do until I can polish the method."  While he recovered, Barbarus would speculate on the composition of the rocks, trying to figure out why it had turned out rough around the edges.

As the rioters begin to form orderly pairs and the noise dies out, angry gargling noises are heard from one of the side-shafts.
Suddenly, with a loud snap, the cross-support at the top gives way, and into the hall marches a  huge quintapede covered in rock dust and fragments, followed by something much , much smaller, but still having a rather invertebrate appearance...

"Why doesh eveglyone make bloody dooglwaysh sho low... lazy bashtagldsh.."
It gazes around the rooom...
"Amith .. doesh anyone   look like the bosh? Thoshe i shee, they sheem pgletty shmagl and weak"

Baseel waited for the glass to finish emptying.  He knew 5 minutes wasn't enough time, however, he'd easily be able to start things moving once an order was established, and it seemed enough of them had shown up that word would spread quickly.  These people didn't need to just run a mine, they also needed surface dwellings, they needed more construction, and furthermore, they needed to become self-sufficient.   He waited a few more minutes for the crowds to gather before  speaking up, "I commend you on your expedience, you who are here my have been forced here under fear of violence, but i assure you that your cooperation will be rewarded.  The living conditions are barely survivable, and horrifically inadequate at best.  There are no ammenties of the modern world, no running water, very little food outside the rations that were sent.  Me and my fellow council-race creatures have come to bring that to you.  It may take away from the mining for a bit, but we do need surface fortifications, we need a supply of water, a sewage system, crops, irrigation, perhaps herding animals.  We will need a security force, perhaps even a small army." 

The demon took a few steps forwards, raising his hands above his head while casting an additional light spell, so that he would be even more visible.  Continuing, "I am not here to grind you into the stones which contain that which we've come to harvest, and, should you be willing to work with me, i can assure you that it won't happen.  Me and my fellow compatriots were merely sent to guide and shape this place to make it more productive and profitable, making upgrades where we see fit.  If we need to halt production to get larger yields in the near future, so be it.  I haven't even been given a full tour of the mines, and yet, i already have to put down a rebellion.  You can fight me if you wish, but i assure you that it is pointless.  I am here to improve all our lives, and i intend to do so.  If there is something of urgent concern that has sparked these revolts, i need to know, i need to hear from you what is wrong with current policy or condition that would cause such mindless violence and destruction.  So, if any of you wish to speak up, and let yourself be heard, speak up, one at a time so that i may address your concerns as best i can."

He hoped his fellow creatures would join him towards the center of the mass soon.  Baseel was a warrior and while he could probably assume that he'd just positioned himself as a figure head, it would behoove him to meet his compatriots to help establish some type of pecking order, and delegation of tasks.

Door Dimwits (Xephelon)

The two guards confer for a moment, muttering too low for you to make out what they're saying clearly. After a pause, one of them reaches into a pocket and tosses a small amber brooch, in the shape of a tortoise, towards your shell.

"All right, any weapon you can make out of that you could have carried in with you. Show us what you got."


Main Cavern (Baseel and Jio)

The two stocky felines carry Jio into the cavern, intercepting Baseel as he heads back to the command tent. They start excitedly jabbering.

"Yer worship, we found 'im out there in the tunnels."

"Yeah, we were running from the screamers, and we found a statue, detailed as you please."

"And We think ther makin em, somehow. Maybe with ther shouts."

"Them good blokes out there. And....."

"Bert thinks ther gunna get eatin, yer Lordship. Turned to stone and eaten."

"We're just minin folk lord. Sure, maybe we'll tussle after a few drinks, or for a laugh, but petrifying horrors?"

The two make a small sign against evil, and tremble; waiting for some kind of decision.

Aftermath of the riot. (Barbarus)
Most of the people aren't willing to be trampled underfoot, and get out of the way of your carriage. Despite not making it in at the clock, the demon wolf at the center of the cavern doesn't seem in a mood to devour anyone's souls. He stands, in the center of the cavern, conversing with two short felines, standing next to a statue that you are certain wasn't there when you visited the cavern the first time.

Belize doesn't immediately open the carriage, pausing to mix some sort of foul smelling herbs  and thrusting the foul smelling concoction in front of your mouth. "Chew on this." he orders brusquely. Afterwards, he asks "that seems to be the one in charge. Do you think it's safe to approach him?"



Aftermath of the riot. (Glup)

While the tunnels themselves are large enough to get through, the intersections are problematic, forcing you to twist and shuffle your way through. Still, you come at last to a huge cavern, easily large enough to accommodate a hundred of you, where scattered figures stand huddling. One of them, in response to your query, points to the center of a room, where a large dog-demon stands, with some smaller figures that you can sort of make out around him.

Door Dimwits

   Finally. Xephelon thought, as the guards finally acquiesced to giving him something.
   "Ah, an amulet. Excellent, this will do nicely...it will not be a weapon, however, but it will be something just as useful."
   Xephelon then holds the amulet between his four metal arms. Though it's hard to tell of course, it seems to the guards that the metal beast was focusing intently on the tortise-amulet. They then saw small ribbons of light escape the hands of the beast, which then wrapped around the tortise-amulet and sunk in.
   After about a minute minutes of this, Xephelon finally moved again, and handed the amulet back.
   "There. Like I said, it is not a weapon, but when you put that on, it will activate a defensive charm. As an amulet already in the shape of a totise, it was very simple to do, which also allowed me to extend the time on it further." Indeed, the guard feels that the amulet is warm, and when he puts it around his neck, all his skin suddenly itches, but then feels...tougher.
   "The charm will give you great resistance, almost total immunity, from being cut by any knife, sword, or any other metal blade. You can test it right now, just try to cut a finger. Someone could still bludgeon you, so you are not invincible. It will also last only last for approximately thrity minutes. Permanent enchantments require hours, sometimes days to create, and special materials. But I can do far more than just that as well. I can make almost anything, with any effect, and I can quickly but temporarily place any effect upon an object, like I have done now. I presume this will be a valuable service to your operation."
   If the guard is indeed brave enough to try and cut himself with his sword or a dagger, the blade just slides right over his skin with no harm at all.

Who
Trying to focus the image as much as possible (given they have no eyelids, crustaceans can't exactly squint) Glup managed to make out that the supposed boss of this place is a rather large canine demon in front.
"Get up, Amith and letsh go! No one getsh paid for shtanding and looking aglound, ekshept fogl watchmen"
*clank*
*clank*
*clank*
Still dropping off bits of gravel and rock dust, Glup approached the german shepherd in charge, and began to speak in his watery dialect.
"Gleetinghs to you. I have been told you agle the bosh off thish place he'e... Am Glup and thish hegle" The chuul pointed a tentacle to the small, spider-like creature sitting on his back, "ish Amith. We agle tglavelling shalesh-cgleatu's, looking to shell ougl wa'es.. though we can shtand ougl own in a fighth too. I have been told thish place could ushe a geneglal shto'e. My shpesial agle fglesh, quality bglainsh, though i have all manneglsh of equipmenth"  Once again, the  crustacean pointed to his behind, this time at the massive bags with a "Private property, no touch" written on in several languages.

Exchange of Gifts
Barbarus took the mixture, and imbibed it without question, but also reached out and grabbed his boy's arm, giving him a look that plainly said 'wait a moment'.  While he chewed, he pulled a little shell on a leather band, which he then sprinkled purified salt upon, then would tie it around Belize's wrist.  Once he was done, exposition would come.  "A token of the ocean spirits, to give you depth and make unconquerable like they.  Ideally."  Then to the boy's question, upon his exit.  "It isn't safe to do anything here.  Not yet.  But if he is to be the chief of this tribe, we must make ourselves available.  I as a Shaman, and you as a Doctor.  Speaking of that, did you find any patients for your new practice while I was away?"

The two would wade in through the sea of people, Barbarus dropping blocks of purified salt periodically on the ground as he passed, until they reached the front of the column.  Then, it would be a matter of waiting to be recognized.

"actually, the soul-devouring comes first.  The flesh to stone tends to be an after-effect."  The demon replied rather matter-of-factly.  "Mind you, that won't be happening.  Have someone grab my entourage, not yourself though... i need you to tell me everything you can about these... screamers."

The demon heard the crunching as the shelled and tentacled creature slid forward.  It's odd, almost lobster-like appearance brought the demon's thoughts to a horrifying halt Heh, if that's what i'll be working with, i wonder if someone has a few hundred gallon cauldron, and an appropriately massive quantity of butter to melt.

Then it spoke in odd, slurping, gurggly tones in what Baseel could only assume to be a facsimile of common.  "Pardon?  You're a what?..."  He paused, to eye the bag.  "A merchant... you're trying to get rights to setup shop in the middle of a power shift?  If you haven't noticed, things are only just starting to get into order, Mr... Miss... Uh... whatever your apprioriate title happens to be... right now i have something a bit more pressing to attend to... If you can fight, great, lets get things sorted out, and you can help... if not, i'll have to ask you to leave until such a time that we're actually taking on merchants to field their wares."

Turning his attention back to the felines, he continued, "If you'd be so kind as to tell me just what the hell these screamers are, and why they caused such a sudden outburst like the one i walked into, i'll be sure to make it worth your whiles."

The minutes of waiting were starting to wear even on Jio's patience, which had become quite long in the few months outside the Valley. He had decided to pass the time by designing the perfect system for himself so he wouldn't have to deal with it, had gotten bored with it, then started designing a cathedral. It was about the time that he had designed the foyer and main hall completely to his satisfaction that he realized how long he'd been sitting still. In the name of Oros, is all they do talk slowly?

"Thathsh 'ight, a meglshant... a chuul meglshant."
The gargling crustacean monstrosity heard Baseel out and began to mutilate common once more.
"Powegl shifth? I have noth sheen ith. Musht have been while i wash... making my way thglough the tunnelsh. If it ish sho, I can help you get thoshe... thinghs shoglted out, ith ish in my intheglesht ash well. Tglouble no good fogl bushinesh... 'couglshe, no shuch thing ash a fglee lunch *gargle* *glup* "
Ending the speech were several gargly, flushing noises.....

Moving along. (xephelon)
The two door guards seem disinterested in directly testing your handiwork, instead conjuring up faint green lights and probing the material. One of them waves in your general direction, and without looking at you, mutters "Simple, just take the central passage, and keep going forward and down until you hit the main cavern. You'll recognize it when you see it. I reckon someone up high in there will have the best idea how you can fit in."


Main Cavern. (Glup, Jio, Baseel, Barbarus,and anyone else I missed)

Nobody else seems to be coming in, and more than one cluster of folk are hefting crude weapons or preparing simple spells, and watching the entrances to the lower tunnels. A small rat with stunted demon wings darts off into the corners of the compound where Aleyna and Nadia last went.

The two felines facing Baseel look at each other for a moment, before the one on the left starts relating his tale haltingly.

"We fled, after the riot sir. During it really. Just hoping to hide out in the tunnels for a few hours while everything calmed down. But our group, we started with four of us, my brother here, and two others named Fent and Thorp. And we were mighty scared, and heelin' it. But ahead of us comes this screaming, high pitched, like a girlies. And there's no way it could have been another group, less they can teleport. And it's dark in those tunnels sir, and the next thing we know, something comes flinging out of the corridor up ahead. We splash some spells and run back the way we came. Maybe a minute later we realize that it's just the two of us, but we come across this poor bastard, all turned to stone. Way I see it, there's somethin in those tunnels, and it's screaming and petrifying people, and dragging em off."


Any of you close enough to Baseel can hear the story, and most of the other miners who are in the room seem to be busy watching the corridors for signs of an invasion, clearing out space near the center of the chamber.

Door Dimwits no more

   About time. Xephelon thought as the guards finally accepted him. He was curious that the guards apparently probed his enchantment with more magic, wondering exactly how skilled they were. "Thank you." The buzzing voice from the metal insectoid said at being given directions. The exoshell then walked around the two guards and continued down the central passage, heading for the main cavern. Once he gets there, random people are suddenly asked by a strange four-armed four-legged black metal golem-thing for who's in charge of the mines.

Taking The Bull By The Horns

The demon nodded.  "Alright... soo... there's something else here with us.  It or they can cast magic, and are coming from deeper in the tunnels.  The most obvious answer, then, is to collect the miners here, and use this as a home base.  If we can build a gate here, it'll work as a good means of slowing traffic down coming from the lower mines, where these things are supposedly coming from.  After that, i'll take a small entourage into the tunnels to check things out.  This is now the citadel, the base of operations."

"So, lets get an inventory of what we've got, and who we've got to do things!"

Y'know...

Jio mentally twiddled his thumbs as he watched these people talk. No words for him, of course. I wonder if those miners are illiterate, he thought spontaneously. They didn't seem to notice that I had made it obvious that I was alive, after all. He returned to his bored observations of the people slowly discussing whatever they were discussing.

Circling Vultures

Barbarus motioned to Belize to follow his lead, and stepped forward, bowing to the demon.  "Barbarus of the Hagoo.  Shaman.  This is my son Belize of the Hagoo.  He is a doctor.  We have in our supply many domestic substances, as well as medical equipment, and in my case spell components.  I can lay down blessings in areas, to ask the local spirits to warn us of dangers; lessen the risk of placing actual guards who could otherwise be working.  And, if Your Lordship allows, I could study this poor soul, learn what was done, how to counter-act it if possible, and maybe reproduce the effect as a new spell.  However, I would first like to set up a summoning circle for creating our water supply, if Your Lordship does not have a plan for that already?"

Main Cavern (everyone now)

There's hustle and bustle and anarchy, but in about half an hour, things have settled down somewhat, with timid folk congregating in the main hall. By that point, you and your retinues excluded, you have about 80 people inside, mostly miners and tunnelers, but a dozen "security" thuggish types, who don't know how to use a pick or adze. If nobody else filters back, it means you've lost roughly a third of the population that was supposed to be sent over. As of the moment, the security forces are watching the exits, while the "civilians" huddle as close to the portal as they can.

Food wise, you have enough stores to last about 9 months. Accommodations are basic, mostly skin tents, and hundreds of magical light fixtures. There are enough digging and crafting tools for far more than the number of people they sent you, although there doesn't seem to be a dedicated blacksmith's set of tools, so if anything breaks it will have to be replaced. There's very little wood, mostly fuel for fires, which won't make good construction material; and the crates that the rest of your junk is stored inside.  About the only piece of ornamental value is the odd cat statue the two miners brought in. The more you look at it, the weirder it seems; it's a bit too light, and there seems to be faint magical emanations from it, although nothing part of any spell you can recognize.

   This is the most disorganized operation I've ever seen. Xephelon thought as he plodded through the crowd. The black insectoid with angular glowing green lines continued to ask people who was in charge, getting vauge answers at best.
   Suprising that hardly anyone else has even looked twice at me. Eventually, Xephelon caught sight of a particularly large and imposing demon, who had deliberately placed himself where he could be seen by all, and -seemed- to be handing out instructions.
   This is both promising and unnerving. At least there's -someone- in command here, but a demon? Hmph. Well, best not to judge before I meet him. We all wear exoshells...
   The strange creature strides forward and approaches Baseel.
   As Baseel is taking inventory and giving out commands, he notices something separate from the crowd and walk straight towards him. It is a very strange thing, probably something he's hardly seen anything like before. It seems to be a being made of black metal, with angular and gemoetic glowing lines of green etched across it. It walks on four spindly, spiderlike legs, and has four arms, two sprouting from each side of the 'torso', which appears headless. Three lights right on the front of the torso -seem- to indicate eyes.
   It walks straight towards Baseel, but not seemingly with hostility, but with simple purpose, though of course 'golems' and constructs aren't known for mannerisms. It stops in front of Baseel, and speaks with a slightly buzzing, dronish voice.
   "Are you the operator of these mines?"

Addressing the shaman first, Baseel replied, "Yes, please... study him as best you can, and if you can reverse whatever the spell is, please do so... all the information we can get about what these things are is very important.  If you need some privacy, feel free to go somewhere quiet, but take a few guards with you.  Someone of your talents is invaluable, and i'd hate to loose them due to carelessness or arrogance."

Turning his attention to the statue carriers, "Take that to wherever he orders to place it.  Be gentle as there appears to be some magical properties still applied... perhaps even a soul in there."

"Right... since a gate really isn't an option... lets thin down the tunnels with debris... make this place harder to get into and out of.  Beyond that... i'll personally be scouting out the lower mines as soon as my entourage gets here.  I will never ask any of you to do anything i myself wouldn't put myself in danger of facing."

His attention clearly focused deep on thought, the defensive plans came a screeching halt when the creature approached.  Angular, metallic and spidery, the demon instinctively wrapped his fingers around the axe on his belt.  After seeing is relative neutral pose, and the fact that no one in the room seemed to care to stop it, Baseel's 2nd reaction was to simply assume it a hallucination... Aleyna has clearly slipped something in my wine... -again-  I keep telling her those aphrodisiacs have side effects.. but no... have to keep playing her silly games.  Bah! just one more thing to deal with i guess.

It spoke... he only half payed attention while walking through the crowd to get a better look at the dungeon... if it was something normal around here... then talking to it wouldn't hurt... he had only just arrived after all... if the workers gave him strange looks when he replied to the spider, clearly he'd need to have a -very- long chat with lovely demoness.

"You could say that... no one else has attempted to retain order, so... for the time being, yes... you could say that i'm the leader."

Work to do

"Very good, sir."  The elderly tom brushed some dirt off the statue, and pointed the carriers where to go.  "Come now gents, let's get this poor boy away from the rabble."  Belize was instructed to stick with the colony leader, to organize with what other medical professionals were among the assembled.  If a private practice could not be organized, a full hospital could be arranged.  Barbarus led the carriers and three guards he was able to charm into following him to another area, and carrying materials for some profound Spirit Summoning magic.

Finding an alcove, Barbarus set up the array.  A ring of purified salt, bowls laden with incense, and charms lain upon the poor soul, trying to summon a spirit knowledgeable about the magic staining his body.  Clapping his hands, he formed a rough idol out of the wall of the alcove.  A large, portly figure of indeterminate race, species, or gender.  This was the traditionally preferred form of The Loa, a hive-mind spirit of Knowledge which had avatars versed in every field of magic imaginable.  The closeness with magic made The Loa an unpredictable entity; with the only general conventions of what to expect being the field of magic.  Dark magic tended to result in an antagonistic experience with death-threats aplenty, for example.

The Loa also demanded an offering of matter, predominately organic substances.  Barbarus had unblessed salt, a broad-spectrum offering that was a key ingredient in many spells of detecting and scrying.  "Mang asec, Loa, aleg.  Accept this offering, and open the gates of truth."  The salt was poured over the hands of the figure, and the shaman backed rapidly away from the statue, to work up the lengthy ritual of summoning.

As soon as Barbarus looked back at the statue, he'd notice that it was laying on its side. If he looked again later, it'd be gone. From the hall, he could here muttering in a language he didn't recognize nor understand.

---

"Took so bloody long I fell asleep! What is with these people? Not going back in there, no, not even if they paid me to do it! Bloody... lookers! If it weren't for the fact that this is my job, I'd leave them all here to get well and truly buggered. Oro save me!" Fuming, Jio stormed into the first unoccupied room he found and sealed it shut. "Besteh-cray," he said into the empty room, before drawing a three-dimensional map in bright yellow light of what he'd seen during that long wait, followed by annotating, and finally, adding to the image things he wanted to see built; namely, a catwalk system five feet across that ran along the roof of each tunnel so he could move around without being stoneshaped at every turn.

   Now I am very worried. Xephelon thought to himself. He could infer what the demon meant by his words. Still, might as well at least try and make the best of the situation.
  The thing spread its four arms wide, and continued speaking in the clearly artificial voice. "Very well then. I am Xephelon, Green Imbuer Mythos." A few pulses ran across the glowing green lines that covered the thing at that. "I would be surprised if you have heard of my kind, we are quite rare and thus frequently met with fear at our highly unusual forms. In my travels for a secure locale to set down roots, I happened by a flier advertising this Crysx mine. I desire merely a secure home in which to apply my race's primary skills in magical artifice and theurgical engineering to work, both in the employ of this mine, and towards my own projects. Crysx is highly valued to my kind, due to its extraordinary applications to our work. Do you believe you can accomodate me as an employee in such a capacity?"

Main Cavern (Xephelon, Baseel, Glup
A bit of work is going up, and the exits to the cavern, except the one that leads to the surface, quickly collect some crude barricades, mostly of the crates the food and light fixtures were shipped in. Here and there, magical surges are felt at the passageways and you can see a gray-wolf demoness, applying theurgy to roughen up the preternaturally smooth floors in front of the crude fortifications. Nearer to the center, you can see a small mongoose gathering up minders a bit behind the barricades, talking to them for a few minutes, and then moving on to the next station. Where he passes, people start using minor charms to create and boil water, as well as tearing up garments.


As Xephelon and Baseel talk, Aleyna approaches, looking askance at Baseel, and studying Xephelon. She opens her mouth, and then thinks better of it, simply watching the exchange.

Small Alcove (Barbarus)

It takes roughly an hour for the spirit to materialize. It is faintly green, and smells of loam and crushed grass. It's eyes focus on you, but every four or five seconds, it turns its gaze to a thin point of the summoning circle, where something seems to have disturbed the salt slightly, but then regards you.  It's voice rings like the faint rustling of leaves. "Who are you? What do you want? What will you pay? Who do you trust?"

Sealed Storeroom (Jio)

It takes only a few minutes to get the map in place, and with little in the way of distractions, you think you did a pretty good job of making it cohere. Still, from what little you've seen, there's scant indication that these solid sighting things have teh resources or skill to make a catwalk system, certainly not quickly.

Baseel's claws clacked together as he listened to the strange golem-thing speak in it's bizzare accent.  It was almost insectis like in speech, unnervingly unnatural.  His attention flickered from the supposed mythos to his companion, then back to the mythos.  At the mention of Crysx the demon's fur stood on end.  Who would be stupid enough to -advertise- a mine's location.  This stuff is worth several times it's weight in gold.  Something smells... off... If there were flyers for miners, i might expect that... but advertise Crysx?

First he responded to the stone spider, "It will depend greatly on your ability to enhance my men's combat ability in the short term.  There are... certain events... that leave me in an uneasy position... in the short term, we could use help, in the long term... well... that has yet to be decided."

The demon paused, then motioned for Aleyna to come closer, "What... do you think my lovely?"  He leaned in closer, so as only she could hear, then hissed, "Is it just me, or does something seem... off... about... that.  No one would be foolish enough to advertise the contents of this mine, epsecially in it's current state of disarray, would they?"

Jio put a hand against the wall, pondering his map. With a quiet, "Rish-molk," he attempted to turn the wall into mud just long enough to pull a small bump out by hand before it hardened again. If it worked, he would plan on making the catwalk by using the same technique to attach the catwalk to the ceiling.

   The three little lights on the 'torso' of the thing blinked quickly in succession. "Short-term enhancement? I certainly can aid with that, if you allow me to demonstrate. I shall need to borrow a weapon, or some kind of tinket, preferably inorganic but anything will do. However, while I'm sure they were doing their jobs, I was accosted by two guards at the entrance of this mine and had an inordinate amount of difficulty in gaining their acceptance, though we finally worked it out and I was able to demonstrate my ability to their satisfaction, and they admitted me."

Sealed Storeroom (Jio)

It takes you a few tries to get the timing down just right, that the earth turns to mud long enough to manipulate, but not so long it just spatters on the floor before re-ossifying. The spell is reasonably taxing though. You think you'd be able to work it for about four or five of hours before having to rest.

Main Cavern (Xephelon, Baseel, Glup)

Noting a pause in the conversation, Aleyna addresses Baseel, smirking, ignoring the other two. "The tent is set up, but the idiots are scared, and acting stupid. I had to put up an acid ward to keep out interlopers. If you forget to disarm it before coming in, you'll excoriate yourself again, and be useless for a few days. When do we go hunt down what's frightening them?"

Baseel pinched his claws together, lightly scrapping their black, obsidian like-edges along each-other as he observed the spider thing asking for weapons to try and enchant.  His own axe was already enchanted, as was his shield, he needed no help there.  Perhaps the workers would be more appreciate.  Pointing to one of the adventurers, Baseel said "Try one of them, they're hired hands, and don't have their own enchantments woven to their weapons.  I rather dislike mixing magics, tends to lead to painful unexpected results."

Turning his attention towards Aleyna, he reply, "As soon as you're ready." The demon's claws were extended as he approached the entrance into the lower mines.  "Hold the fort down while i'm gone, Nadia.  Use an orb if you need us... We'll be numbering the path we take, make it easier to return, and not get lost."

"Would you rather use magic or torches to light the way?"  he asked, Aleyna.

   It was hard to tell, the thing had no head to nod, but it seemed no move in affirmative once Baseel had finished speaking. "Indeed, mixing enchantments does create more difficulty, though it's certainly not impossible. Still, it appears expediency is of the essence at present time, so I shall talk to you about that later." The insectoid thing of black metal with glowing green lines turned around and headed towards one of the adventurers.
   "Greetings, unshelled." Xephelon said, adressing the entire group. "Do not be alarmed, I am a prospective employee for this dungeon, like the rest of you. From what I gather, it would appear that you are presently about to undertake a strike mission, and I have been given permission by your apparent commander to demonstrate my abilities. If at least one of you is willing to allow me to hold one of your weapons for a minute, I can bestow temporary magical augmentations to it."

Negotiations with a Spirit

Not good.  The Loa had come, despite nearly half the summoning array, which had been placed on the statue, no longer being present.  Perhaps there was something in the local climate that intrigued this facet of It.  It was asking for Payment...and for trust.  Definitely not good.  It was essential to not say 'anything' in regards to the payment.  Spirits tended to assume that defaulted into 'everything.'  Which would make their trade moot.  "Oh Great Name of the spirits, I am Barbarus of the Hagoo, the half-dark shaman who has summoned facets of yourself before.  What I would ask of you...is if you know this area well.  That perhaps, you might now of a location to place a reservoir of water, if none exist here presently.  I am willing to...willing to pay you with release.  It seems you've noticed part of the circle was damaged when the token I had originally asked you to study escaped.  For some reason you wished to come here anyway, and so I offer to let you out to find what you came for.  And as always, I trust my son."  This was a gamble.  A big gamble.  He was assuming things of the Loa, never smart to do, but really.  What choice had he left?  There was nothing currently available to trade to the Loa, as the crystal that might have been it was not being mined yet.  Still, until he saw what the spirit reacted to in his words, and how, then he just had to wait.

Search into darkness.(Baseel)
Aleyna starts heading towards the closest exit, answering with her back to you. I already brought a torch, actually. Magic will give better illumination, but it's easier to interfere with. Besides, light spells are easy to assemble. I was just going to have the torch lit and fall back on magic if something went wrong. As she passes the checkpoint, she mutters a small inflammatory spell, lighting the greasy wood.

"Dammit, didn't think of the smoke." You feel her enact another small spell, one you don't quite recognize, but you assume will help her breathe more easily. "Which way, boss? And which one of us takes point?"

Checking the Checkpoints (Xephelon)

The guards at the improvised checkpoints seem to be less belligerent than the ones at the surface gate. There's a bit of muttering amongst themselves, but after a few seconds, one steps forward with a crossbow. "Think you can do anything with this, ser?"

You do notice, they're more set up to defend against incursion from the outer lower tunnels. Some kind of enchantment to prevent motion in, or at least hinder it, might be more effective than enchanting every person's weapon, especially since they dn't seem to be all that expert at handling them.

Dealing with the spirit (Barbarus)

Your initial response seems to infuriate the creature, and it rages against the confines of the summoning circle. "Not name! Name IRRELEVANT! WHO ARE YOU!?" as it bellows, you feel it reach a tendril of power across the damaged circle. It puts a merest trace of compulsion on you, not enough to actually affect your ability to move or act, but enough that you know it's trying to. After a moment of pushing, it seems to calm, and states flatly. "Answers.......... acceptable. Summoner, Imprisoner. Mortal. Release not enough. Flesh in danger. Will die soon unless aided. Can wait for death to release. Better terms. Demands. Obey. Darkness at base of pit.  Odd. Impenetrable. Blind there. Seek, search, find. Report. Will wait. Will even bring water in exchange for information."

"i'd say race. But that would be a bad idea.  Leapfrog at each intersection, keep us both on our toes, and will give the leader time to mark the passage.  First passage is '1'  We make our turns with L or R.  We don't know these caverns very well, and we'll need to make our way back to report.  This is a reconnaissance in force.  If there's trouble, i'd rather error on the side of caution right now."

So saying he took a second hunk of wood, sliding it into an empty belt loop, letting his eyes adjust to the dim glow of her torch.  "also, best only to use one torch.  If it goes out, at least we'll have a spare." 

"Ladies first, since you seem so eager to lead anyways"  Flashing a slight grin as he fell in behind her.

Thinking for a moment, Jio carefully checked through the door for people, then exited once the coast seemed clear. He repeated, "Rish-molk," and started writing out, piece by piece, "Look away!" with an arrow pointing to the right. Then, he began using the spell to form handholds in the wall, allowing him to climb up to the theoretical catwalk.

Checkpoint Part 2

   Thankfully, the people Xephelon talked to this time were much more cooperative. One of them stepped forward and offered his crossbow.
   It was then that Xephelon realized this group didn't seem to be part of the strike force, but a rear chokepoint guard. Oh well, still a place to apply his abilities. There was very little Xephelon could do to actually fortify the chokepoint without crafting some object to serve as a foci for his magical enchantments, which obviously would take hours. Instead Xephelon decided to focus entirely on the crossbow, but give it an enchantment with some...stopping power.
   The four spindly, multi-jointed metal arms turned the crossbow over and over as ribbons of magic began to issue from two built-in crystals in two of the arms. The magic flowed into the crossbow, bound to the physical object, in one, two, three, four...ten discreet pulses. About three minutes later, Xephelon had finished, and offered the crossbow back.
   As the man took it, he could feel the energy thrumming in the crossbow. "I have imbued two enchantments into the weapon." Xephelon explained. "Both are trasferred into a quarrel when you fire it, and release on impact with anything solid. The first is a cacophanous sonic blast, and the second is an explosive discharge of electricity. Neither partiularly require accuracy, as they can affect a group of hostiles. It should be a very effective incapacitating combination, with the disorienting sonic blast, and the damaging and stunning discharge of electricity. Be warned, however, that this power is limited. Ten shots will expend all the energy I have placed within the weapon."

Deals with the Devil
"As you command..." And away he went, to the outside.  To where the guards were waiting. "We have a problem.  Big, big problem.  Find Baseel, find the exploration party, quickly!" And so they were dismissed, while Barbarus went off, shifting into the form of a feral cat, while he looked around the tunnels, for a pit.  He never left too far from the main cavern.  This was bad, bad, bad.

And in a cave network this developed, what were the chances of finding one pit?

Into the tunnels(Baseel)
Aleyna strides off into the tunnels, coughing every so often from the smoke of her brand. You take a left turn first, and then a right at the next intersection, leaving markers so you can find your way back. As you trudge down the corridor, you hear a high pitched scream, similar to that of a young woman that you know the mine doesn't contain. Unless the echoes are deceiving you, it's about ten feet behind you. You can feel something in the gloom, gathering itself to spring.


The checkpoint (Xephelon)
The guards are disinclined to leave their improvised shelter to go out into the caverns as Barbarus rushes through. They more or less ignore him. You can, however, feel the impact of someone working some kind of earth magic, slow and steady, and along the edge of the cavern where no entrances exist.


More Markless tunnels (Barbarus)

Your search is frantic, but without any clear indication of what you're looking for, you spend perhaps ten minutes running down corridors that all look the same. Your search is interrupted by a high pitched scream, about 50 feet in front of you, sounding like a young woman. Even further ahead, you feel a faint trickle of some kind of magic usage.


Carving a path (Jio)

Nobody interrupts your work, for the moment. Judging by the sounds, it seems like almost everyone is about the cavern entrances, probably watching for intruders. Assuming nobody comes along and petrifies you, it should take about one and a half hours of solid effort to get up to the height you'll need, two if you count the time you'll need to rest.

Checkpoint

   The three lights on Xephelon's 'face' flickered as a Were passed by, telling everyone to go out and find Baseel. The checkpoint guards didn't seem to budge to follow the request as the Were sped off down the tunnels by himself. Xephelon wondered what all that was about.
   But then, with his race's innate magic sense, enhanced by his exoshell, Xephelon started to 'see' bursts of earth magic behind one of the cave walls.
   "Alert." His droning voice buzzed, as he pointed to where he was sensing the disturbance. "I am detecting emanations of elemental earth magic in that direction, inside the rock face. I surmise that an unknown party is attempting to tunnel their way towards us. Unknown party may be hostile, I recommend preparing for contact."
   Xephelon then thought. "However, in the possibility that this unknown party may not be hostile, I further recommend you do not strike the first blow, allow unknown party to declare intent, with word or deed." Xephelon then scuttled on his four spindly metal legs around behind one of the barriers the guards were taking cover behind, and waited.

Seeing the shape in the gloom, Baseel's first thought was to throw himself in front of Aleyna, get his shield between the pair and the coiling shape.  He cast a quick dark-sight spell so as to better observe things.  At this point they'd been found anyways, giving away their ability to cast magic wouldn't harm things.  He then gathered a concussion spell on the edge of the shield, and braced his free hand behind the boss.

When then thing charged, he planned to shatter it's body with a combination of demonic strength, and the added force of the concussion spell.

When coils attack!
The cat made for the disturbance.  Making sure to not make a sound as it approached.  He had it in him for one last big transmutation, he could probably close whatever it was in a cocoon of solid stone with minimal effort.  But he hung back, trying to get a bead on this thing first.  Maybe The Loa would take something interesting to whet it's appetite.

Having worked up to about eye height, Jio stepped onto his first hold and looked up at how much farther he had to go. That was a bad idea... he thought, seeing how far he still had to go. With a sigh, he returned to working. "Rish-molk... Rish-molk... Rish-molk..."

The Checkpoint(Xephelon)
The guards thank you for enchanting their weapons, but they don't even turn around to look at the disturbance. "I'm sorry, but absent a clearly defined threat, we need to hold the outer entrances. We know there's something out there, and besides, we have the defensive set up right here. Sorry, we can't help you."

Digging along (Jio)

The digging goes uneventfully, but you feel a brush of some kind of magic you don't recognize, and hear voices. It seems likely someone has detected you working; there still should be time to get to cover if you want to hide.



Out in the Tunnels (Baseel, Barbarus) 
For the first time, you get a good look at what's been attacking the miners. They're big, they're purple, and they're vaguely insectesoid, having a triple-segmented body that must extend ten feet from head to the tip of the abdomen. There are three of them, standing side by side and crowding the width of the tunnels. Some kind of greenish slime drips from their mouths, and they bound towards Baseel and Aleyna.

The central one and the one on the left leap at Baseel directly, and the concussion spell catches one that hits the shield, blasting it backwards into the tunnel wall, where it hisses and scrabbles to get up, obviously having difficulty. The other one catches you right below the kneecaps, and while you stumble, you don't fall, although something is seriously painful down there, and you can almost feel your left leg swelling up. The third one bounds past you and heads instead straight for Aleyna, who fires off a spell shooting some kind of purple ray at it, which seems to be hurting it and slowing it down; it's still advancing towards her, but doing so much more slowly.


They don't seem to have noticed Barbarus yet, or perhaps as a cat he's simply too small to be worth eating.

Oh great, return of the Dimwits

   Xephelon's light-eyes flicker on and off in succession yet again. "You misunderstand." He says. "I meant that the anomaly I am detecting is heading straight for us." Xephelon tries to focus his magic detection to try and figure out how close the thing is now.

How fortuitous.
There was the man he'd been looking for.  And his women.  And those bugs.  Wait, the bugs weren't supposed to be there.  The cat observed the fight.  Hmm, already a Demon Lord looked to be having trouble.  But he didn't want to offend the older gentleman by leaping in with aid that might do more harm than good.

The cat's shadow grew, until his full Furre form stood, shaking the dust from his coat, and entering into the hallway, sharply clacking his staff upon the ground.  "Good greetings my lord and lady.  I have been looking for you, and lo and behold.  Do you require assistance, my lord?"  If Baseel agreed to the help, Barbarus would tuck his staff into his elbow, clap his hands together then slam them into the ground.  And from the lightning that followed would rise three large firsts of stone on stretching stone arms, reaching through space to deliver harsh strikes to the poor bugs.

If Baseel said no, then that would make things a bit easier.  Barbarus could take time to study the bugs, how they moved, where their armor did not cover, whether or not they showed intelligence, and above all, if there -was only three of them around.-

Baseel ignored the offer for assistance as his shield's edge slammed downward, and his weakened leg flickered back.  He brought his axe down as his shield lowered, deterring any more of the things from trying to get through.  He quickly spun and cast a barrier spell between himself and the offending bug in front of him. 

He then hurled a bolt of solidified dark-energy at the beast.  It was meant to pierce and explode once it pierced the carapace of the bug-like beast.

All these interruptions were beginning to get tedious. Glancing around, he figured himself about a quarter of the way up the side of the wall, and decided it'd be more time-consuming to go down the ladder, then back up it than to simply stay there. As a result, he made one more rung on his ladder, then altered it to have a hole right in the center of it. Looping his arm through the rung, he fidgeted slightly as he waited for whoever was coming.

Fight in the Tunnels (Barbarus, Baseel)

The hurt purple monster turns to wave short antennae at Barbarus, but doesn't seem to be gathering itself to spring at anything anytime soon, instead approaching cautiously. Aleyna is backing up slowly, still firing her purple ray, and you get the impression she has the upper hand against that one, but if he concentration falters, she could be in trouble.

Baseel is having a lot of trouble with his left leg, it's feeling hot and feverish, but it gets you away in time for the bug to skitter against the barrier. The bolt of dark energy is weakened from your almost immediately preceding magical work, but it catches the bug in the head, exploding it in a shower of ichor. Immediately, the one charging towards Aleyna breaks off, and starts scampering down the tunnel; no longer directly heading into her ray, it's moving pretty fast, although it's leaking something nasty smelling from it's thorax.

By the checkpoint (Xephelon)
Whatever was working at the stone, it's slowed, stopped almost. It's not getting any closer, and now that you have a better grip on it, you think it was making something creating a perpendicular path up a wall somewhere. You could still track it if you want.

Bimhayra, Bimhayra. (Jio)
Glancing around and listening doesn't reveal anything hugely important, certainly nobody approaching. You're sure you feel magic being worked though, and occasionally some drift in your direction. Still, hanging here like this is surprisingly comfortable, and you can feel your wind returning to you.

Checkpoint

   "No, wait...it has stopped." Xephelon amends himself as the 'face' of the black buggy metal thing stares at the stone cave wall. "It...is making a path in another direction...Hold. I am going to attempt to learn more about it."
   Two of the four spindly arms of the thing bend to touch the three light-eyes on the front of its own body. In the hands of the two arms are small focusing crystals, and Xephelon begins to work his magic through the crystals and into the light-eyes of the exoshell. He weaves a temporary enhancing enchantment into the sensory functions of the exoshell. The enchantment is one of divination and transperception, that will allow Xephelon -- for just a few minutes -- sense through the rock and stone, and try to 'see' what exactly is the source of the tunneling. After a minute of setting up the enchantment, during which the tunneler may have moved, Xepehlon finishes and steps forward to the rock, pressing up against it and trying to find the source of the tunneling again, and find out what it is.