((I want to preface this first and foremost with a warning, you will lose this upcoming fight. I have a plan, losing will not be the end, please just bear with me and see where this goes...))

Your mind is a fog, you cannot determine where you are or how you got here, and looking around you see several unfamiliar faces looking just as lost and confused as you are. The only light is coming from softly glowing phosphorous crystal growths in what appear to be cave walls. While there is just barely enough light for a hume to see directly around him, anyone without darkvision has a hard time seeing and even then there is no sign of any entrance or exit points as there is a wall behind you and a tunnel that seems to lead on far beyond the range of your eyesight.

As you try to compose yourself and figure out where you are and how you got here an echoing THUD! can be heard coming down the tunnel, and based on the frequency and rhythm you quickly realize the sound is being made from the footsteps of something big. The ground begins to shake with each THUD! as the beast gets closer and finally in the distance you can see the pinpoints of light that are the beast's eyes, glowing a florescent blue in the darkness. Stomping toward you is a mass of muscles and horns, resembling a massive, over-sized pitbull with long forward-facing black horns. The beast roars, bits of rock, crystal, and dust shake loose from the ceiling and rain down on you as it spreads its large bat-like wings and charges the tallest member, the viera. Before she has time to react the beast has slammed into her with enough force to slam her hard into the opposite wall, breaking more crystals away from the stony wall as she slumps to the ground lifeless.

((I did not expect the first round to go so brutally, with the Behemoth dealing a whopping 40 damage to our bunny-eared friend, sorry. Initiative order is as follows, but of course there is no need to wait to post. First we had the Behemoth, followed by Chessic, then Nomad, Kamina will unfortunately not be able to take a turn this combat, but a reactionary post of sorts would be great, last thoughts before she hits the wall perhaps, the wyrmling, and finally cdnflirt's dragoon. The Behemoth is blocking the only exit so there is little choice but to stand and fight))

Sukini raises her head, pushing herself groggily up off the ground. Muttering to herself, she looks around realizing doesn't know where she is or who she's with, although they appear to be as dazed and confused as her. Peering ahead in to the darkness, she tried to pinpoint anything other then the glowing crystals sticking from the walls. "A little dark in here, can't see a damn thing. Maybe one of these people know why we're here."
Before having the chance to speak to anyone else in the room a loud THUD breaks her train of thought. Another one follows, and another, each one growing closer and closer to the group. The next thing Sukini knows a huge beast, larger then anything she's seen, is charging towards her from the darkness. A terribly large thing, with fluorescent blue eyes, and horns as large as her. Time slows as the beast's hulking form connects with her body and a sickening crunch rings throughout her head.

She can feel a rush of wind, followed by something hard and malformed against her back. Her eyes widen in shock and pain, mouth agape, gasping for breath. The limp form of the Viera slumps over against the wall. She tries to raise her hand, to call for help, but nothing moves, nothing works. "Damnit, I'm going to die here aren't I.... This is what it feels like..." Sukini can hear the beast let out a terrible roar, but it sound so far away. Everything starts to go gray as she lies slumped against the wall. "Maybe I can close my eyes... Maybe this is all a bad dream.... Maybe..." Unable to finish her thought, Sukini's eyes drift close as the battle in front of her continues on.

Lini had what humes called a short-man complex. A lot of moogles did. Oh he wasn't aggressive with it. He wasn't angry at the larger races that roamed the lands. He didn't pick fights with everyone who could see over the top of his pompom without trying. But he absolutely had something to prove. He hadn't yet backed down from a fight with anyone larger than him.

Which, being a moogle, meant nearly every fight he'd ever been in.

Even the larger monsters. Ogres, owlbears, trolls. He had no fear of them. Well, no more than any intelligent mog who wanted to keep his wings right where they were, thank you very much.

But this creature.... the absolute size of it. It was too big to be allowed. How did it move under all that weight?

And yet move it did, towards him and the shadows that surrounded him. A distant part of him felt like he should be more alarmed by the danger posed to this formless group, but there was no room for it as Lini stood there trying to comprehend the bigness of what was before them. And as one of the shadows got tossed aside like broken spanner, the taste in Lini's mouth got stronger, and he finally identified it.

He could taste his own fear.

Hand shaking, he brought up his gun, took aim. Would it really matter? Could projectile or spell even touch this creature?

Could he live with himself if he didn't at least try to find out?

With that galvanizing thought, Lini passed over the secondary trigger, one that was hidden from casual view. Resting his finger on the main trigger, he sighted, taking a breath to grab what focus he could. He didn't see how it could help. He didn't know if that hide could even be penetrated, even with his Awesome Pistol. But he fired anyway.

(((Edit: OOC: Shoots big stompy thing with focused aim.)))

Gelion Greyflood shook his head to clear the fog. It helped a little. Just a little. He tried again. That helped more, but it also brought the realization that the fog was not entirely in his head. Or, more accurately, the lack of light. Looking around it appeared that he was on his hands and knees in a cave that was poorly lit by little crystals.

*Thump*

What? Where? This made no sense. Where was . . .

*Thump*

he? That nois . .

*Thump*

Gelion had grown up around cattle and he knew the sound of hooves when he heard it. He quickly scrambled to his feet and looked around. He saw a few other figures who seemed to be doing the same thing he was - trying to figure out where they were.

*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

The hooves thundered towards him and Gelion pushed to the side of the cave as the massive beast approached. A monstrous beast charged into the room and flung one of the other figres against a well. "That's gotta hurt," Gelion thought with a grimace desperately looking around for a way to escape the same fate. He saw none.

But don't give up without a fight he thought to himself, you have fought too many battles against those who thought themselves strong and untouchable. The fight can't end here.

He grabbed his bow, it didn't seem likely to do more than anger the beast, but really, what else could he do? He moved towards the back of the beast along the walls, hoping to find a way to slide past the beast and escape out the tunnel through which it arrived. He wasn't hopeful as the things bulk seemed to block everything, but it was the only exit he saw. As he moved towards the lone exit he fired arrow after arrow. He aimed at the eyes or the underbelly if he could, otherwise it was simply the old story of "let it fly."

Springing to action the moogle quickly draws a pistol that seems almost to be too large for his small stature and squeezes the trigger, firing a high speed projectile at the massive beast blocking the exit. The bullet tears into the beast's shoulder and the creatures lets out a pained roar. The hume is also quick to act, nocking arrows with trained speed and efficiency, unfortunately his eyes fail him even with such a large target, and neither of the arrows fired find their mark. The dragon whelp remains close to her burmecian handler, eager to protect if at all capable. The burmecian strikes out with her polearm, but fails to connect. The behemoth, realizing that at least one of his playthings is capable of doing him harm decides it is best to finish this quickly and arches his back, letting out a fearsome howl and the crackle and pop of electricity fills the air in the cave and several bolts of lightning strike each of you, causing you to drop, smoking, to the ground.

As everything goes black around you your eyes suddenly snap open and you find yourself in your own room, waking up for your first day reporting to the Crimson Falcons, a new independent Free Company that had recently begun to rise in power in the city of Stone Bridge. Shaking off the feeling of dread as it all having just been a bad dream brought on by the stress of starting a new life of adventure you quickly gather up your gear and rush off to the Company Hall so as not to be late to the orientation. You have only barely recovered from the dream when you come to the shocking realization that the other new recruits you have been placed into a waiting room with are the very same group of strangers which you just fought beside in your dream.

((Lini was the only pc able to hit the creature, since his weapon resolves against touch ac, hitting for an impressive 9 damage thanks to his Focused Aim deed. I resolved Gelion's action as being Rapid Shot, as the post mentioned shot after shot, but sadly he was unable to find his mark. Since the wyrmling's bonus trick is Defend that is just what it did, while I defaulted Zephyra to a standard melee attack with her guisarme, which also proved ineffective. I wanted to open with a fight, but wanted the 4 of you to not know each other starting out, so the dream felt the best way to go. Take a moment to post waking reactions to the dream, any prep and travel to the hall you would like to detail, and reactions to seeing your dream comrades and/or introductions that you see fit. I will try to update by the end of the week once you have had a couple days to post.))

Bolting up right, Sukini grabbed for her Wakizashi hidden under her pillow. Gasping for breath she looked around the room in a mixture of shock and fear. "Just a dream, it was just a dream. Pull yourself together." Placing her weapon by her side she sits up in her bed and rubs her temples while taking deep breaths. Although it was only a dream, it felt all to real. The pain, the sights, the sounds, the fear... Shaking her head Sukini stands up and walks to the water basin. Staring in to the reflection of herself on the surface of the water she lets out a sigh. "Guess I should get ready for this meeting then."

As she gathered her gear, Sukini tried to piece together what she knew of this new company calling themselves the Crimson Falcons. She knew they were able to boast being the only truly independent Free Company. They were also located in Stone Bridge, a rather neutral town that most likely contributed to them being able to stay independent. Last but not least she knew she recognized the name of their leader. Echario le'Rouge, a famous man with a far more famous ego, the founder of this Company and if the tittering of barmaids was true, quite the looker too. Stopping her train of thought Sukini looked to the door of the Company Hall and made her way inside.

Finding herself led to a large room with naught but a table surrounded with chairs, she opted to take the one at the opposite end of where she expected whomever their speaker would be to sit. Dropping her bag next to the chair she sits down and waits. As the others enter the room Sukini looks each of them over. She can't help but feel a spark of familiarity with them, although she swears she's never seen them in her life before. "First I dream I'm dying, and now I feel like I know people I haven't seen before. Maybe I should stop drinking wine before I sleep." Shaking her head once more, Sukini closes her eyes as she leans back in her chair and start to hum to herself quietly.

((OOC: Just so you guys know what she looks like: Sukini is a 6'4 tall Viera. From the ground up she's wearing Stiletto's common to the Viera, billowing cloth pants, a fitting cloth top with detached sleeves, and a mask similar to a belly dancer's, all a dark purple in colour. Her skin is lightly tanned and her hair/ears are a silvery-white colour. A spiked chain hangs coiled at her hip, a Wakizashi is strapped to her lower back and when the sleeves move you can see Shurikens sheathed within.))

Gelion woke with a start. He was not used to having nightmares, so the shock of waking from such a realistic experience was doubly shocking. If that was what it felt like to face the invincible, he didn't want to do it again. He'd have to make sure he always had a chance. "Nothing new about that thought," he said in his own head.

He gathered his things and headed towards the meeting room. He was looking forward to this meeting - he had a feeling that it might determine much of his future. In the past he had been traveling around, hunting so to speak, but always on his own and with only limited success. But the Falcons seemed to offer a place to belong, perhaps a way to make a life for himself. He might be here for a long time. Or, if this Echario proved as arrogant as the rumors and most lords, no time at all. His future could go a lot of different ways depending on how the Falcons reacted to him and he to them. It seemed to be a fateful day.

With such thoughts in mind he headed towards the hall. He entered and saw one figure, a tall Viera, sitting at a large table. She was opposite the big chair (More on that bit later, he thought to himself) that would likely be taken by their host. He also wanted to be able to see their host well and so took a seat beside the tall figure. As he pulled out the chair to sit he said, "My names Gelion Greyflood, I hope you don't mind . . . " but he just let the sentence hang.

It was an ok ending for a sentence, it probably seemed ok to someone listening, but for the young archer it represented a mind going over a cliff. He knew the Veira. Well, he didn't actually know her. But he knew her. Sort of. They had died together. Sort of. Just last night. Again, sort of. He had seen her crushed against the wall of a cavern. Well, sort of. Maybe. In a dream.

What was going on? He didn't normally remember his dreams and now here was one come to life. Strange. Gelion didn't believe in signs, but this seemed to mean something. He wanted to know more. "Do you know much about the Falcons? All I know is general rumor." He watched her face and eyes, as much as he could behind the veil without acting like he was staring, to see if she recognized him.

When the others entered the room he wasn't surprised to see that they had also been in the cavern last night. Well, sort of, again. A fateful day had certainly begun in an intesting way.


Physical description for those curious about such things: Gelion was the child of a woodsman and he looked the part. He was 5'10" tall, with hair that was somewhere between light brown and red. Reddish would be a good description as it was certainly not brightly red. His hair was slightly curly, not much more than wavy, and cut fairly short. It was a utilitarian cut, meant to keep his hair out of his eyes, not to look fancy. Although actually fairly strong, Gelion didn't look muscular. His was the wiry strength of the athletic and active. He was not the sort of man that would make every woman in the room stare, but the girls in his village had frequently called him "cute." His dimples might not make him a true ladies-man, but he could charm a lass when he wanted to do so.

His clothing was not ostentatious, but rather a fairly simple explorers outfit. He almost always had a broad brimmed hat upon his head to keep the sun out of his eyes and the rain off of his head.

Lini reflexively grasped the gun he cradled, peering around the room at the others. These seemed to be the people he had dreamed about last night. He was determined not to freak out about it.

He didn't seem to be the only person with that determination. But he ignored the part of his mind making that observation, and gripped the stock of his pistol again.

After listening to the Viera and the Hume, he decided it was his turn. "I'm Lini. Moogle gunner and the best shot you've never seen until now, kupo. I hope we can all get along." He paused for a moment, thinking on what Gelion had asked. "Nothing comes to mind, they're relatively new, aren't they? That'll change now that they have us though, kupo!"


(((OOC: Lini looks like a regular moogle. Dresses in browns.)))

As she leaned back in her chair, she opened her eyes as the one next to her was pulled out. Looking up to the young man as he spoke "My names Gelion Greyflood, I hope you don't mind . . . " Gesturing with her hand for him to sit, she closed her eyes once again. After a moment or two of silence Gelion spoke to her again. "Do you know much about the Falcons? All I know is general rumor."

Opening her eyes again she looked over to him. "All I can tell you is the same things you've probably heard before. Not much is known about this company other then the whole truly independent shtick they have going on. And if what the chatter of barmaids say is true, this Echario le'Rouge is quite the looker." Sukini winks to the young man as she chuckles a bit. "The name's Sukini Memro byt the way."

In this time, she hadn't noticed but a Moogle carrying a gun that looked far to big his person had joined them at the table. "I'm Lini. Moogle gunner and the best shot you've never seen until now, kupo. I hope we can all get along." Nodding her head towards him, She leaned back in her chair and tried to relax a bit more. "I wonder if they feel the same way I do right now, this is all to strange." "Nothing comes to mind, they're relatively new, aren't they? That'll change now that they have us though, kupo!"

"Well everyone here seems to be competent in their abilities at the least." As the silence came back to the table Sukini kept her eyes roaming between the doors, waiting for their host to make their appearance,

Finally, after what may have only been minutes, or may well have been hours, the door at the eastern end of the conference swings open and sauntering through the door comes a hume standing just over six feet tall, his figure muscled without being what some may consider buff. Long jet-black hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail and his face is adorned by a well trimmed short beard. The muffled jingle-jangle of chain can be heard beneath his finely tailored black silk shirt over which he wears an expensive-looking crimson vest and hooded cloak, on his left hip hangs a finely crafted and enchanted rapier, and from his right hip there hangs an ornate rod, which is easily recognizable as a Power Rod to any familiar with the weapons. Sapphire-blue eyes scan the room, taking measure of each of you before he speaks, his voice smooth and full of confidence and pride, "Welcome friends, to our illustrious nest, our home away from home, our safe-haven from the treacherous, wild world of political turmoil. As you five may well have guessed by now, I am the head of this ever-growing flock, the famous, or infamous depending on who you ask, Echario le'Rouge. Years of adventure, of life following the rules of others, of being a pawn in the great political game has taught me that the only way to be free of these games is to remove yourself from the board all together, which is exactly why I founded this organization; it is my hope that our very existence will inspire others, be they pawn or player in these games, to move away from the endless strife and find a better way!" He scans over the small gathering once again, clearly making quick mental notes based on initial impressions before continuing, "We are a diverse lot, we all have our own goals, dreams, and reasons for being here, and rest assured that you will be affronted plenty of time to pursue your own goals as well as helping to further the goals and reputation of the Falcons which you have chosen to join with this day. As you may have gathered, you four will be working together, but you will not be expected to do things alone." He reached back and raps on the solid door behind him 3 times and a lupine figure steps through the threshold and into the room, no visible weapons or armor adorn his muscled figure, his fur showing bits of gray giving away the fact that he is no fresh adventurer like yourselves. "Nam here may not be much for conversation, but he will shadow you on your first few jobs just to make sure everything goes well and to take stock of your teamwork and synergy. His presence does not excuse reckless or careless behavior though, he will only step in if it becomes clear that the job was too much for your team to handle, and only to prevent loss of life. It's bad for business and our reputation if new recruits get themselves killed on their first jobs, you see..." The Varg, Nam he was called, glances around the room himself and gives a silent nod of agreement to the statements that have just been issued by the Company's leader. Adjusting his silver glasses le'Rouge once again speaks, "Now I'm sure you all have questions before moving on to your first job, so we will now open the floor to you for some quick questions to satisfy your curiosity."

((Yes I am reusing a lot of the same information, word for word, from the last game, but it makes it easier on me to get this updated. I am going on the assumption that the Burmecian made it into the room, even if no post was made, she can back post as needed if she wants to. And for my returning players, no the mission will not be the same as the last one, so you won't have to worry about pulling out any stingers this time.))

Lini had intended to listen to the long-winded hume. He really had. But it didn't take more than a handfull of sentences before his mind started wandering. Maybe this was supposed to be a grandiose important occasion. It certainly sounded like this speech had been rehearsed. But Lini was always preferred action to words. He briefly wondered if being prone to such speech was a hume trait. He'd have to keep an ear out. Maybe he'd ask the one joining the group.

Looking around again, he eyed the only other person to introduce themselves. A viera with a rather intimidating sword. Lini wouldn't trade his gun for anything, but admitted to a certain fascination with swords. He wondered at times what it must be like to wave one around with such grace and precision as Sukini probably would.

Lini shook his head as the man in front of him opened the floor to questions. He only had the one. He was sure if he missed anything important, someone would fill him in. "Whats the job? When do we start?"

He wondered if he'd ever get to meet this Echario person. He wondered what a famous adventurer would be like. He hoped to be one himself one day, after all. Maybe that should be his next question.

Sukini sat in silence with the others waiting, not being able to see the outside from here it was hard to tell if they were only sitting for a few minutes or a few hours. After waiting so long it was almost startling when the door on the eastern side of the room swung open.

Staring intently at the man walking in, she could feel the confidence, or maybe arrogance, rolling of him in waves. She looked him from boots to head and back again. "Humph, maybe the bar-maids were right... Not to shabby I must say." Leaning back in her chair Sukini kept her ears open to listen to what Le'Rouge had to say.

It seemed like a rather general speech, then again she couldn't expect a fanfare and fireworks for something so small. Le'Rouge did have a way with speaking though, it was easy to see how he was able to convince the leaders of Stone Bridge to let him set his companies base of operations here. Near the end of his speech he introduced a Varg by the name of Nam. "So we have a babysitter for our first little bit eh?" She looked to her companions and gave a small shrug of resignment to that particular bit of information,

Adjusting his silver glasses le'Rouge once again speaks, "Now I'm sure you all have questions before moving on to your first job, so we will now open the floor to you for some quick questions to satisfy your curiosity." Sukini mulled over it for a second before shrugging once more. Any question she may have had was answered in the speech by Le'Rouge. She was content to relax in her seat and wait for the others to ask whatever it was they needed.

As Echario le'rouge entered the room and gave his speech, Gelion couldn't shake the sense of Deja vu that had come over him. It had started with the dream last night and now continued all the way through the big man's speech. It just felt like he had heard it before. But how was that possible? Or any more possible than the fact that he recognized the others in this room from last nights dream? And that was a fact.

But such speculations did no good at the moment. He could do nothing about them. Meanwhile, this day remained crucial for his future. Echario seemed to match expectations - both in the positive sense of the leader of a free company and the arrogant sense of a lord. But he was the man in charge. Gelion would simply have to accept this. If what he said was true, he should be a better boss than many. Sure, his political commentary seemed naive, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.

When the man finished his speech and asked if there were any questions there really didn't seem to be much more to do but to get this next adventure in his life under way. And so, as he usually did, Gelion didn't sit around and wait for everyone else to do things, he spoke up. "Thank you sir. for the opportunity to be a part of this company. A Free Company seems to be a great place for those who desire freedom. But we still don't know what our role in this company will be. What sort of tasks will we be asked to do? What choice in the matter do we have as members of the company?" (Indeed, what sort of freedom is their for the members of a supposedly "free company" he thought to himself.) To be blunt, what do we do now?"

As the Moogle leaned forward and said, "What's the job? When do we start?" Gelion couldn't help but smile. he hoped the little one was a good shot, because he had a feeling that personality would charge right into the middle of any problem that came their way. But Gelion liked how they didn't just sit back and wait for things to happen. So he smiled, nodded towards the Moogle, and added, "And yeah, what she said."

Before Echario could address the questions that had been brought up by the group the Burmecian rose to her feet, shaking her head and said, "I'm sorry... I... I can't do this... " She seemed visibly shaken as she left the room, and you can't shake the feeling that maybe she had gotten that creeping sensation of deja vu that you all felt and it had been too much for her to handle.

Echario cleared his throat to bring attention back to himself as the door closed behind the dragoon as she left. "This is all very unfortunate," he stated, "but we must move on." He took a seat in the large backed chair at the end of the table and looked around the room at each of you as he addressed the questions that had been brought up. "You lot get right to the important questions, I like that. To be honest we will take almost any job, within limits of course. What truly sets us apart from other free companies is that we are not at the beck and call of any one single nation, this allows us more freedom to accept jobs another company may not be able to take as well as allows more freedom to pursue personal agendas. The purpose of this band of like-minded souls is a simple one however, to promote personal freedom in our members and their lives as well as to provide support when needed, and to give our members the means to make some spending money when needed. After your initial mission, which Nam will brief you on later, you will not be required to report for mandatory missions, you will not have to report to any sort of commanding officer, and you will not be forced to anything you do not want to do. The only requirement moving forward from your first mission is that you watch out for each other, that you never leave a fellow Falcon in a tight spot, and that you represent our flock well." Pausing just a moment, either to gather his thoughts, or perhaps for dramatic effect, he adds, "I want to ease your mind on a few things though that many people come in here thinking. We Falcons may be a great many things, but we are not thugs, thieves, or assassins. I will not send you, or any other Falcon for that matter, to threaten, rob, or kill an innocent, and if in the future you are asked by a contact to do any of these abhorrent things I would expect you to refuse the job on merit and let us know at once so ties with the client can be severed. I want to clarify though, that you may be called upon from time to time to deliver a bit of "violent justice" as we have taken on work in the past to handle highwaymen, bandits, and other unsavory types, I am not so altruistic as to believe all problems can be solved without resorting to violence after all."

Without waiting to see if there are any further questions, ((and so we can push forward)) Echario rises from the table, signals to Nam on his way by, and leaves the room.

The Varg, who has been standing quietly in the corner now clears his throat with and sizes up the room before speaking, "We usually do not send out new groups of less than four, so I will be keeping an extra close watch on you three while we complete your first mission and hopefully a replacement recruit can be arranged by the time the job is completed. As you know, Stone Bridge is primarily a mining town, the mountains provide much for the people here. However, work has all but stopped in one of the more productive veins in the mines because the miners have broken through to a cavern and were accosted by unseen assailants. We will be going into the mines to scout the situation, put down any attackers, and try to get the mine operational again. We leave from the north gate in 10 minutes, if you can't see in the dark be sure to bring a light source."

Making your way out of the guild hall you are easily able to follow the streets to the north gate as informed with time to spare. Nam arrives to your gathering place, and hands each of you a crimson armband with a stylized falcon, "I forgot before we left, while we do not impose a standard uniform, you are encouraged to wear this band while on Falcon duties, to identify yourself as a member. The mine is roughly a 30 minute hike up the trail, there we will rendezvous with the foreman and begin our investigation." Nam spends the 30 minute hike in silence, nothing more to say about the matter at hand.

Aside from being passed by a cart loaded with cobblestones and ores the hike is uneventful and reach the foreman's outpost easily. A dirty dwarf awaits on the porch, enjoying a pint of ale. "Rally-ho!" he greets you with a bellowing voice. "Ye mus' be the recruits from tha Falcons, 'ere to look inta gettin' me mines flowing again. I am Kazadar Battle-Cair tha overseer at this hole. Tha men broke a mighty hole into a cavern network a mile or so down in one of our new digs, and it seems tha beasties that lived in that hole weren't too keen to see us. My boys are miners, not warriors, so they fled with minimal injury, and tha beasties didn't give chase. Now to get to tha hole take the Green railcar until tha dead end, then ya wanna hop on the Azure rail until you spot tha Red triangle markers on tha left. The opening at tha triangles will then lead you inta tha hole where the boys got in trouble." He motions with his pint toward the entrance, takes another long swig, and plops back down into the chair he was sitting in when you arrived.

((Feel free to ask any questions to Nam or Kazadar before delving into the depths.))

Gelion listened to the entire introduction with interest. As his questions implied, he was anxious to see where this new path would take him. And, sure enough, the varg Nam soon gave him a little information. Perhaps "little" was the more important word than "information." There was precious little of that.

A cave? That was not what Gelion had been looking for. He would have preferred a nice jaunt in the woods or something like that. He'd spent his life among the trees, not underground like a dwarf. What sort of light would he have to shoot by? How much distance to shoot? He'd heard that a lot of adventurers went down into caves and dungeons. He'd been in guards and such before, as well as on a bit of a personal quest, but he had never thought of himself as an adventurer. Is that what joining the falcons meant? Maybe. Then again, this was a mine, not a dungeon.

And unseen assailants? What was that? How did one shoot something they couldn't see? Well, there wasn't much for it. He doubted that a group of raw recruits would be sent if the higher-ups really thought the challenge was beyond them. He glanced at Nam and his rabbit eared comrades-in-arms as he considered the risk level of the mines and hoped that this particular threesome would be strong. He'd do his best to hold up his end of the bargain.

Before they left the conference room he spoke again. "Nam, you mentioned a need for a light source. I need one and have nothing immediately available. Can we get something at the mine or do I need to grab something before I meet you at the gate?"

Once they reached the mine they were greeted by an altogether unimpressive mine overseer. Sadly, he seemed to fit the stereotype of so many overseers - more interested in being the boss and the bottom of his mug than the men under his authority. Still, he seemed dirty enough that, assuming that wasn't just his natural condition, he might actually be doing a bit of work himself. Gelion's opinion of the man potentially inched up a notch. And he hadn't complained that a group of miners had run from a fight. That definitely pushed him up another notch. Perhaps there was hope for him after all. Perhaps Gelion would hear more from the miners under his authority.

But he could worry about mine politics later. For now the concern was what down in that hole. Gelion stepped up and spoke again. He'd be happy to let his companions speak if they would, but if they paused, he would make sure the questions got asked. "Sir. We are indeed the recruits. Before we march down into the mine perhaps you could offer a bit more information. You say your men were attacked. By what? When we were first told of this job we were told of "unseen assailants." But did they see anything? If they didn't see who attacked them, in what way were they attacked? With weapons? Of what sort? What sort of wounds did they suffer, for you implied that a few did suffer injury. When they broke into the cavern, what did they see? Was the attack immediate? Did they have time to look around at all? Was the cavern unusual in anyway? How did they know it was part of a larger network? Have there ever been attacks in the mines before? If so, what was responsible? How large was the party that was attacked? Do they have any idea how many creatures attacked them?"

Gelion paused for breath and smiled at the dwarf. "I apologize for the rapid fire questions. Forty five minutes ago we were sitting in a conference room, and now we are confronted by a railway ride into the dark. I can't speak for my companions, but personally I have little experience in caves. You are the experienced miner here, and I would appreciate any advice you might have. If you were me, what questions would you ask? What advice would you offer?"

Gelion wasn't afraid of the caves or of a fight. But he wasn't against getting as much information as possible before confronting whatever was down there.