Lini shivered a bit. Why'd the first one have to be caves? Not that he had anything against caves. He'd never been in one, mind you. He was sure caves were perfectly fine and respectable geographic formations, and they'd never done anything to him. Not yet, anyway.

But he was still having a bit of trouble shaking the dream/vision thing he'd experienced last night. Faces that he now saw next to him as they approached mine foreman. A cave that probably wasn't this one, but could be. What did he know of caves? What if it was the same if you went deeper?

What if he was being silly?

Lini visibly shook himself, then looked around curiously. It was his first time in a cave, but it may not be the last. The rock that made of the walls, the floor, the ceiling, it did interesting things down here. In the places it wasn't mined away anyway. Neat formations here and there. Study, but funny shaped pillars. Large, but dull spikes from the floor and ceiling. He wondered how it must be to work around such things all the time.

The foreman seemed fairly disinterested in the whole affair. Lini supposed there must be monsters underground as much as above ground. Perhaps the whole thing was just another inconvenience? Maybe they wouldn't have even called upon the Falcons had it not been for the whole 'invisible' thing. Lini had never fought an invisible enemy before either. But as long as he could shoot it, he could kill it. Probably.

Gelion took the lead, pelting the dwarf with questions in a rapid-fire manner that could put a moogle to shame. Good questions though. Lini was curious as to some of those answers himself. He had only one additional question. "Could you spare us a dwarf to guide us there and back? Preferably one who was there when the attack started?"

As Echario left the room Sukini looked around to the group of now three. She couldn't help but wonder what caused the Burmecian to leave the way she did. Grabbing her bag from the beside her she got up and made her way out the door after Nam and the others. Stopping at the gates Nam turned to them "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." Nodding to the Varg, Sukini slipped the armband on to her right arm and started hiking up the trail.

The walk was silent and quite uneventful, but that was fine. Sukini spent the time thinking about the strange dream they had last night. It took place in a cavern too, one far underground illuminated by nothing except those strange crystals lodged in the walls. A sense of dread started to creep over her as they came closer to reaching the mine. There was nothing to be afraid of of course, but after dying in a cave only a few hours ago it was uncomfortable.

Upon reaching the foreman's office they were greeted by a dirty dwarf whom appeared to be enjoying an ale. As he explained the problem and how to get to it Sukini looked around the area and took a few deep breaths. It was going to be the last bit of fresh air she'd get before they delved in to the underground. Gelion spoke up right away and shot out a series of questions so fast that she was surprised he wasn't catching his breath at the end. She glanced over to Lini as he added in a final request for a guide in to the caves. Content to let these two speak to the foreman she tapped Nam on the side of the arm. "If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been with the Falcons and known Echario? He seems quite fond of you."

The old Dwarf chuckled at the rapid-fire string of questions, trying to catch each one so no question went unanswered, "Leave it to a young Hume to rattle questions off like he's not gonna be around nex' week to ask more..."

He pondered for a moment on how to answer each question before continuing on, "Nay lad, the boys saw nothin'. Whatever was lurkin down there took out their lights before they could see anythin'. They did say they heard screechin' though, oddest thing that, since bats don't usually nest that far below ground, not much huntin' down that low. Whatever it was knocked out their lights, before makin' tha attack. These four lads, like yerselves, had no means to see in the dark without their lights, so they fled tha way they had come, toward tha lights comin' from the main tunnels. As they ran they were pummelled by stones, big an' small, and one o' the lads ended up havin' a piece of sharp rock break off in his shoulder after being struck. The others was much luckier, escapin' with minor bruisin' and cuts."

He shook his head as he finished that final sentence, concern for his men clear upon his bearded face. "The attack may as well have been immediate, the lads said before tha lights went black they could see a large central cavern an' several tunnels leadin' in various directions, then things went dark and stones started to fly."

He paused again, this time to take a drink from his tankard before continuing to address the questions, "Ye asked if there had been attacks before this one, and in short, yes. As with any part of our world we come across various beasts under the ground, but most avoid us. We had a problem with a rock worm some years back, but nothin' in a long while."

Turning a moment to address Lini he adds, "Nay my flyin' friend, I'm afraid none of tha crew that was attacked were Dwarves, and any Dwarves we have on hand are busy overseein' digs that are still active." He rises to his feet, the old chair creaking beneath him as he pushes out of it, and heads inside for a moment. He returns with three mining helmets, unfortunately not a single one is Moogle sized, as Moogles do not typically work the mines, and offers one to the young Hume, the Viera, and the third to Nam. "I dunno how much good they will do ya, as the boys was wearing the same helmets before things went dark, but I can offer ye these helmets fitted with lights." Each helmet is a dirty dull metal dome with a small attached chamber filled with a small flame and a lens made for focusing the light put off by the flame, and each helmet will put off roughly as much light as a torch while keeping your hands free.

Nam scowled slightly at the Viera's questions, it seemed to him almost as if she were not paying attention, and in life and death matters such as this not paying attention to a client was one of the Varg's pet peeves. Regardless he answers the question, not letting on that he was the slightest bit bothered by the question, or anything else, "Echario le'Rouge and I go way back, to before he started the Falcons. I have been a Falcon since long before there were Falcons."

Gelion smiled at the old Dwarf. "Thank you for your answers. Lets hope we can make the mine safe for your workers again. Obviously we wish they had seen more, but I can't say I'm surprised."

Before he let the matter drop, Gelion had a couple more questions to ask. Looking to the dwarf againg, Gelion spoke. "I'm afraid I must impose upon your expertise at least one more time. These railcars, how do they function? I suspect we are in need a short lesson before we attempt to follow your directions into the dark."

He also turned to Ham and added, "We probably should have another light source as well. If these lights were put out when used by the miners, it seems very likely that they will go out on us as well. Perhaps some sunrods? They might work where a flame has failed. Hopefully the helms are enough, but I think we need to be prepared. If the mine can not provide some, it might be worth the 15 minutes to run back to town and acquire some."

With this he looked around at his companions from last nights dream. "How about you two? Ready to go into the dark and get pelted by stones?"

"Echario le'Rouge and I go way back, to before he started the Falcons. I have been a Falcon since long before there were Falcons." Nodding, Sukini turned back to the other two as the dwarf finished answering their questions. She stood silently as the dwarf handed the three of them helmets that their miners wore.

As Gelion asked the dwarf and Nam a couple more questions, Sukini fiddled with the helmet she was given. Try as she might she could not find a way to make it fit comfortably on her head. She sighed as she decided she'd just have to deal with her ears being either bent or squished within the helmet.

"How about you two? Ready to go into the dark and get pelted by stones?" She looked to Gelion, then down to Lini. "Ready as I'll ever be, let's get started." "The faster we do this the faster this damnable thing gets off my head..."

Nam spoke up, answering for the Dwarf, "I know how to work these railcars, I was here during the Rock Worm incident mentioned earlier, and I have a few sunrods on hand should we need them." Motioning for the recruits to follow he leads the way into the mine and directs you all to pile into the railcar before climbing in himself near the hand brake and starting the car down the tracks.

The ride is uneventful, with Nam effectively braking the Green railcar at the dead end and then and leading everyone to the Azure line as detailed by Kazadar. With the light from the torches lining the tunnel you are easily able to spot the markers on the wall. Nam once again stopped the car and then leads the way down the tunnel, signalling everyone to stay close to him. Moving down the tunnel he motions that he can hear something up ahead, and Gelion also indicates he can hear it as well. ((ironically neither rabbit hears the movement ahead))

Moving cautiously you continue down the tunnel, aware an ambush may be waiting ahead. As you reach the mouth of the tunnel and step into the cavern a movement from the shadows catches your eyes and then everything goes dark, the light on your helmets has been extinguished just as the Dwarf had described happening to the miners.

Being able to see in the dark unlike his recruits Nam springs into action and strikes a handful of sunrods against the nearby stone wall and tosses several lit sunrods out into the chamber in different directions, illuminating the cavern for the recruits. The chamber is roughly 50 feet by 35 feet around, with several other tunnels leading out, one on the left wall, two on the right wall, and 3 on the far wall opposite where you entered. In the newly illuminated room you are now able to see what you could not see before. Three small humanoids with dark violet skin and black tiger-esque stripes on their limbs. Dull yellow eyes peer out toward you, squinting against the light, and a large mouthful of sharp fangs screams a battle cry toward you. The face appears bat-like, with a flat nose and large pointed ears. Their arms are long and hang past their knees, each figure holding what appears to be a club made from stone.

((So the scene is set, Nam had the highest init so I resolved his action for this turn, providing the rest of you with light. The room is roughly 50 feet between the left and right walls, and 35 feet between the tunnel you entered through and the far wall, tunnels as described. The tunnel created by the miners is about 10 feet wide, so you were able to walk 2 by 2 shoulder to shoulder into the cavern, the out branching tunnels seem to be narrower. As usual feel free to ask questions in QA... Two of the purple figures are in the far right corner, and the third is to the left of the room. Please try to be specific as to which one you are attacking, and it would help a lot if you include to hit mods and damage figures as well. Each figure is within a single move action from where you are at the entrance.))

Gelion rode the rails into the darkness.

He kinda liked the sound of that. It had an epic sort of sound. Now it just remained for himself and a couple of rabbits (Not that he would say that out loud!) to do something epic. Or, at the very least, to do something that didn't get them dead.

He was reasonably pleased with how things had worked out at the top. They'd gotten decent information and he felt that his questions had been good ones - if perhaps delivered a bit fast. But that had more to do with the circumstances than anything else. And he had gotten some answers. Plus, they had someone who could operate the carts and who had some sunsticks. What more could a buy want? Besides real sunlight, that is.

But he headed down into the dark with a little confidence. As they approached the cave he did so with a rapidly beating heart, but also some confidence. He could handle this and had companions that could as well. He hoped. He didn't really know any thing about them besides that they could get themselves killed in his dream. Well, so could he come to that. He would have to hope they were competent just as they would have to hope he was.

So he moved towards the room even as he and their pseudo guide heard some noise. Then the lights went out. No surprise there. Happily the sunsticks immediately brought illumination. He'd have to find out how the lights were put out.

But now that the lights were back on there was no time to worry about such things as 3 odd looking tiger striped things stood in front of them. He didn't like the idea of just shooting before finding out if they were hostile, but the noises they were making left little doubt as to their intent.

So Gelion immediately nocked an arrow and let fly. He aimed at the #2 "thing" whatever it was. It seemed to be the one closest to him. He'd fire two shots in rapid succession, at the same target most likely, but if it fell, the second arrow had a convenient target almost directly behind the first.

(OOC: Based on the comments on the Q&A thread: with rapid shot = +4/+4 1d8+5/1d8+5)

It was amazing how quickly the tone of things could shift. Lini was reflecting on this as he absently drew his pistol. He'd been enjoying that cart ride, and considering asking for a longer tour afterward, when they'd up and arrived at the destination. Lini had scarcely stepped out of the cart (or so it had seemed to him) when they were thrown into battle with some weird tiger/bat mutant things. How odd.

He slowly took in the situation, then decided the one closest to the group shouldn't have the opportunity to close. So deciding, he nodded to himself, and fired.

(((OOC: Lini attacks #3 with a standard shot. +5 to hit, 2d4+1 damage.)))

The ride in to the mine was rather uneventful. The group took the rails they were instructed to until they reached their destination. Adjusting the uncomfortable metal bucket on her head, Sukini fell in step behind Nam, constantly scanning the tunnel. As they entered a larger chamber, the lights they all wore on their heads went out, just as the Foreman had warned. Just as quickly, three bright points of light appeared as Nam lit his sunrods and tossed them in to the room.

Sukini stared at the creatures ahead, and drew her longbow. Whatever this things were, she was not getting close to them until she knew what they were capable of. Knocking an arrow she fired upon the same creature as Gelion.

(Attack #2 with longbow. +4 to hit, 1d8 dmg)

Once the lights came back on, so to say, Sukini sprung into action, nocking an arrow and firing at the creature closest to her. The arrow finds its target, but oddly enough does not seem to puncture the creature's skin. The creature on the left side of the cavern then yells something, "Haar daan kec-rhekaar!" and rushes at Nam, swinging the stone club he wields at the Varg. Nam skillfully sidesteps the blow and counters the attack with a brutal kick to the creature's chest, the sound of ribs cracking echoes in the cavern and the creature staggers back.

The creature in the far right corner makes some motions with his long arms and yells something, "Or tal'duul daan daararaar!", apparently invoking a spell, yet nothing seems to happen.

Lini, always eager to use his Awesome Pistol takes aim on the creature that Nam has so skillfully struck and his shot connects with the creature's already damaged chest and the bullet tears through the dark violet skin and the foe crumples to the ground, dark blood oozing from the wound as the sound of the gunshot still echoes in the cave.

The creature that Sukini had already shot at opens its toothy mouth and lets out a painfully loud shriek which echoes through the cavern. Gelion manages to bring his hands to his ears before too much damage is done to his hearing, and the mining helmet helps insulate Sukini from the brunt of the effect. However neither Nam or Lini are facing the direction of this foe and are caught off guard and take the full damage.

Once the creature closes his mouth and stops the shrieking Gelion lines up his bow, takes aim, and fires two arrows in rapid succession at the creature, the first arrow, like Sukini's, does not appear to pierce the creature's hide, but the second arrow finds a softer target and is buried in the creature's eye, and it immediately drops lifeless to the cavern floor.

Just as suddenly as they were dampened the lights in the mining helmets flicker back to life, the focused beams of light produced by the magic flames illuminating the cavern in addition to the sunrods.

((Overall, good round of combat, with 2/3s of the threat neutralized. Nam scored a solid crit on the counter attack, which softened up the target nicely for Lini to send it straight to Hell. The enemy spellcaster actually missed with his spell, so nothing happened. Gelion and Suki made their saves for half damage against the shriek, while Nam and Lini both failed, taking full damage. Even with DR against piercing damage the sheer power of Gelion's shots was enough to put the creature down, but only because Suki had managed to do some damage with her shot. Gelion and Suki took 2 damage, while Lini and Nam took 3 which I will update the QA to reflect the changes in HP. Gelion recognizes the words shouted as a dialect of Goblin, but he cannot make out all the words, it is clear though that these things are, at the very least, related to Goblins. The helmets are now lit again as the effect that darkened them only lasts for 1 round.))

Sukini's arrow flew true, but it didn't penetrate the hide of the creature. No sooner then her arrow connected with the creature ahead of her and Gelion, Nam and Lini took down the other creature to the left in quick succession with their attacks.

As a terrible shriek left the mouth of the creature she just shot, Sukini was actually glad she was wearing the mining helmet as her ears weren't exactly in the open to hear it. The moment the creature closed its mouth two arrows fly from Gelions' bow, one of which hits the creature right in the eye.

With only one creature left and it being nearly on the other side of the cavern, Sukini knocks another arrow. Calling over to her group she says "Take it out before it can escape!" With that she lets another arrow fly as all three mining helmets come back to life.

(Attack #1 with longbow. +4 to attack 1d8 dmg)

Lini had, of course, heard people speak of sounds so loud or so shrill or so whatever being able to hurt, not just hurt. He'd never really disbelieved these stories, but it never occurred to him to think on the difference.

A subject he no longer needed to think about, having just experienced it. Painfully.

When he could see again, he noticed the hume covering his ears. Maybe Lini should invest in earplugs? They were sure to have a ton of useful applications. After all, the group was newly formed, and he didn't yet know if any of his companion's snored.

Shaking his head, and hoping it wouldn't throb for too long, Lini cast his gaze at the last remaining enemy. His companions seemed more on the ball than he was, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to be back up.


(((OOC: Spend one grit point to fire a Focused Aim shot, should it still be necessary on my turn. Attacks remaining enemy with +5 to hit for 2d4+2 damage.)))

With only one target remaining the Viera once again nocks an arrow and lets it fly, this arrow seems to suddenly veer off course though as it gets close to the creature, missing it entirely.

The creature appears to take a moment to take stock of the situation, considering if it should stay and fight or die with his comrades. The gestures and chanting of another spell being cast seem to indicate that he has decided it best to stand and fight. "Ogaac haakaan sharaan ac agal'dakaan!," he shouts and from his outstretched hand streaks a glowing chunk of stone, striking Gelion in the chest. His armor blunts a lot of the impact, but it still catches him off guard and he has to take a moment to gather his breath.

Lini then whips around dramatically, lining up the sights of his revolver and holds his breath for just a moment to get the best shot he can line up. He squeezes the trigger and the projectile finds its mark, burrowing into the creature's skull with a brutal spatter of blood, bone, and brain matter decorating the wall behind him.

With all enemies down, the group is allowed a moment to regroup and take stock of what has just happened. The bodies lie crumpled where they fell, or what was left of them at least and the stone floor and walls are stained with freshly spilled blood.

Nam speaks up, "Good job recruits, it appears that even short a recruit you three can handle yourselves in a fight, just don't get cocky as we don't know what else lurks down these other tunnels."

It is then that you realize how odd it seems that even with all the noise of gunshots being fired off in the cavern no other hostiles showed up to investigate. You reason that if there are more fights to be had the enemies definitely know you are here, and will likely be prepared for you.

The cavern itself is rather unremarkable, and the tunnels leading out (excluding the one you came in though) are all sized for the shrieking purple assailants, only Lini can fit without having to crawl.



((What would you like to do next? As for the combat, Suki failed to hit AC due to the caster having cast Wind Armor before the group ever reached the cavern, this explains why the arrow was blown aside before striking. The enemy used a spell to hurl an earth aspected elemental missile at Gelion, striking for 3 damage (it's only a cantrip after all). Lini's Focused Aim allowed him to strike for additional damage, killing the foe in one shot, thus the dramatic gory mess.))

Lini couldn't resist a flourish as he holstered the gun at his back. His Awesome Pistol was... well... awesome. And he hadn't even broken out the cool stuff yet!

The fight had gone well. Mild damage from that horrendous noise, but the party was still in good shape overall.

He looked around at the tunnels the others had called attention to. He looked at them, then at his team, then back at the tunnels, and smiled.

"Well, if our larger members don't mind getting their hands and knees dirty, I could lead us down one of these tunnels, kupo. What does everyone want to do, kupopo?"

And Lini certainly wouldn't enjoy his teammates discomfort at being the ones that were the wrong size for once. Definitely not.

As the last of the creatures fell Sukini walked farther in to the cavern to see if any of the arrows she fired were still in a usable condition. She poked around at the corpses of the creatures when she was close to them but didn't bother to check their persons for anything of worth.

"Well, if our larger members don't mind getting their hands and knees dirty, I could lead us down one of these tunnels, kupo. What does everyone want to do, kupopo?" Looking from across the cavern to the smiling Moogle, Sukini shrugged. "It'd be a safe bet for us to explore these tunnels, and make sure there aren't anymore of these creatures. I'm up for a bit of exercise." She looked next to Gelion to see what he had to say about the matter.