TSW - Chapter 1: The Feldspar Maw (3) - First Steps

For all of Jarvi's attitude and bravado he was still subject to his own inabilities. The blindness he had suffered from his previous employers had scarred more than just his sight. Without the use of his eyes he relied mainly on touch or a bladed cane and the lengthy honing of his other senses. His familiarity with Darkperch lead him straight up to the mines. He whistled for his pet, a hawk like creature with four wings whose body was about as large as a man's head, and in they both went. His bird of prey rested on his shoulder in the dark, it's head constantly scanning the environment.

After a few moments in, he had realised he had forgotten his cane and reverted to his hands and feet. His hooves connected with the damp stone and he preceded, trying his best to keep in a straight of a line as possible, to wherever he believed he needed to go. The fact that he had left without direction, had actually settled in his mind and he stopped in his tracks. He leaned back against the mine wall and tipped his hipflask clumsily towards his mouth, only for a drop to fall. He dropped it to the side in disappointment. The only thing to do now was wait. He knew whoever the city-hawk was, he would eventually turn up. Mavis had in fact told him of Eryn's arrival with Lina, but physical descriptions were meaningless and Jarvi had not identified Eryn's voice yet.

Eryn, who had quickly followed Jarvi, was now debating whether he should go in himself. He had been confined to a dark and dank space for years, and didn't want a cave in to leave him to the same fate. He breathed calmly and then stepped forward. Within a moment he was interrupted by a patron of The Drunken Talon he had seen before but never spoke to. He introduced himself as Gur Tallan a researcher for House Morianna. He had a slightly rugged look about him and the clothes he was wearing were certainly however not city clothes. Gur told Eryn that he was one of the people Eryn helped evacuate out of the Foundation's Atrium and was now honour bound to repay his service. Eryn tried to plae the man, but could only remember fleeting moments from his escape. It was entirely possible this was true.

 Eryn was at least relived that Gur was not in fact a fan but rather thankful for his help.  This made the situation a little less clear cut for this motives Eryn didn't want to be accompanied and had purposefully left Xera asleep in their room; adding another companion would only complicate matters. However there was a look in Gur's eyes that Eryn recognised from when he was younger, the determination brought about by a creed or code. With a sigh he accepted Gur on but only until he had fulfilled his debt. Gur agreed and they both headed inside , with Eryn lighting his halo to illuminate the dark passages.

The old gentleman in the black suit and his company had kept themselves at a safe distance away from Eryn while still being able to observe. The younger man, in his mid twenties, was browsing over the notebook of the older man. They both kept in hushed tones but to Xera who was behind them and observing their movements with a keen eye, there was another clear distinction. Xera noticed the way the older gentleman behaved compared to that of his companion. His movements were purposeful but graceful and his tone was polite and respectful. On the other hand, the younger man was more outlandish, which included his gestures and speech. It was clear the older man was a servant, and the younger man was most likely from an important family, one with possibly a mass of wealth.

The two treaded in silence into the cave. There was a pinprick of light in front of them and the brief echo of distant words. Eryn, at the moment the pair had joined them in the mines, turned around and peered into the dark. His eyes had adjusted to the dark and he could clearly down the passageway and out but the footsteps he had heard were mostly likely, to him, an echo of his own. The caves under the city did not echo like the mines and there was something about the echo itself that seemed hollow. The two men that had just entered, had successfully kept their cover at the cave sides and they too had not noticed themselves being followed by Xera. Unfortunately for all involved, the cover of secrecy  was soon lifted.

Eryn and Gur and had  finally met up with Jarvi, although they first mistook him for a grotesque creature or a threatening jumble of shadows, to which Jarvi had heard both of these comments. As Jarvi was asking for more details about his surroundings, he stopped speaking mid sentence, feeling a rattling inside his brain. There was a faint buzzing noise inside his head before suddenly all along the shaft that they had walked down was peppered with metallic poles that had risen from the ground. The poles themselves were made of smooth metal, although warm to the touch.  On the top of each was small divot that filled with a red liquid. This liquid then started to glow to a point where it projected light up to the cavern ceiling. The liquid then gathered itself into a ball shape on the divot and rolled to the edge of  top of the pole. The liquid light  then started to roll around the edge like a marble, illuminating the area around it in warning hues.  The buzzing noise soon reached the ears of Eryn and the others and as they clasped their hands to their ears they noticed each other and gathered up front. Xera joined Eryn, Gur and Jarvi, sidestepping the servant and his employer who kept themselves at a reserved distance.  

The black suited  man introduced himself as Jarvan, the valet of Danton Scalar of Qi, to which the younger man bowed while carefully pressing his hand on the top of his chest as he bent forward. Gur was so enthralled with the metal poles that had appeared, that he had prized off the top of one to see if the light would go with it, to which it did, although the light was now chained to the balance it held. A few feet away the sound of the buzzing had intensified. The mineshaft gave way to a cavern which held the mining ravine, with rickety scaffolding down each side for access and transportation. However, just as the metal poles appeared so too did a large rectangular block of light on their side of the ravine which dropped  down to the other, nearly reaching a still lit torch next to a remote cave entrance near the bottom. The supports around and in the way of the light had been destroyed as though the light had forced its way through. Jarvi, without much support from the group decided to take it upon himself to scale down the side using his sense of touch, his bird and a rope the Eryn had attached to a large stalagmite.

 After a few rappels the buzzing noise pierced his mind, causing intense pain. He thought that he could hear screaming, as if the pain was shrieking at him. The sound however, was not from him but from three, pointy eared,  broad shadows that fluttered in the cavern roof before dive-bombing the group with claws outstretched.