Size Disparity in Subterranean Exploration [Private - Golash, Mineal]

[Lichen]

Brightening 24 of Aperitus
Era II of the Celestine Mandate
Era XIV Post Fractum

It was fairly early in the morning when the first expedition was arranged. The notes had been sent, the food had been packed, and now all that remained was the partitioning of gear, which was taking place in the green area behind the Ranger Hall. Tom stood in the middle of a pile of items, his long and lanky frame clothed in dark clothing. His gear was already packed, a small leather bag bundled off to the side, his ropes and pickaxes all ready to go. Around his waist was a wide leather belt off of which hung a small knife, a canteen, and a few other necessities.

Tom was the most experienced caver in Acumin, but he was not a Ranger, and so his expedition had a companion. She was about 7 inches tall, minuscule in comparison to his over six foot tall form, and had bright, star-burst patterned yellow wings. His hair was blond streaked with gray, hers was flame red and tied into pigtails. Ranger Inian was one of the senior rangers, despite her small stature, and she sat on Toms shoulder in a rather proprietary way, arms crossed, scowl painted across her tiny features.

Theirs was not the only expedition leaving this brightening, though. There was a flurry of activity in another section of the lawn, largely because Ethilde and Matthes were having a fight over whether or not he could bring an extra 6 rations of jerky. Tom sort of pitied anyone who had to go with them – Matthes was a funny sort, but not the type he’d want at his back in the tunnels, and Ethilde was dead useful but a right stick in the mud. Hopefully neither of his 'Assigned Adventurers' would be like one of those two.

OOC: This thread is closed for everyone except Mineal and Golash.

[Mineal Shade]

Mineal had spent the early part of the brightening gathering his gear and cleaning his crossbow after receiving the message. Once he had emptied the unnecessary items out of his pack the mosat had strapped on his equipment and taken his time with a simplistic rosyun.

Afterwards Mineal left the Ranger Hall. He looked left and right for some sort of affair that would point him in the right direction. It was not until he heard commotion coming from behind the hall that he had any clue. The mosat pulled his tinted goggles down over his eyes and headed around the back of the hall. In silence he approached the human and fae and stood before them, peering up quietly.

[Golash]

It was not but a short time until Golash found himself checking over his equipment that he has had with him quite some time. If anything some of his equipment being with him since his first step out from isolation. Golash was being perhaps a bit sentimental as he still packed food and his giant sized flask of water. Needless to say he could just make some water or grow a small fruit tree. However, conserving his Vis was always important and why waste it on such things he could simply carry in his field pack.


Everything was pretty much in order, a torch (a rather large one on comparative terms), jerky, some plant seeds he carries from Natura, some letters from Alicia Elsdragon, one roll of linen bandages (giant sized), a nicely rolled up blank scroll. Not much really as the forests were the giant’s home, and besides he always liked leaving some space.

The giant druid checked his knife. He let his great sword rest soundly in its giant sheath strapped to his back. A javelin fairly smaller than a giant would carry but Golash could easily carry it about it was fairly snug fitting between his field pack and great sword. He had to bring it as his first vyssie kill was with his javelin, so he had to bring it really.

Golash had only three pieces of armor really, his trusty chain mail, his open face helm, and his greaves as the pesky little ones seem to aim for all too often. Otherwise he sported a weathered hunter green traveling coat with large wooden buttons down the middle. Some brown linen pants faded from usage, his resilient brown sash tide over his leather belt leaving Golash looking well traveled and oddly somewhat fashionable for an explorer. To finish off his clothing scheme he sported his rather large and pricey explorer boots. Other than usage wear the clothing held up quite well given the giants harsh travels. Needless to say Golash was ready.


He soon placed his open faced helmet on and looked ahead with a smile. With a patient sigh Golash tightened his grasp on Crosus his staff and marched ahead as quite the model explorer.


He soon approached the hunters hall, and grinned noting that such a sight was pleasing. The rangers were certainly a welcomed bunch. Golash glanced around noticing a fussy human and off to the side a few footsteps (giant ones) stood a rat man, fae, and a human. According to the note these seemed to be the people he was to join. The giant jerked his head a rat man!? by the gods they are ugly beings! Golash was fascinated as he knew they existed but never met a Ratti...Golash reassured himself Carmelya loves the Ratti to even though they are quite ugly. The giant druid paused to make sure his assertion was true and nodded Yes, she does.

The large steps halted and his staff afterwards driving into the ground quite sternly. Golash bowed his head slightly and introduced himself "Greetings my friends, my name is Golash and I have been assigned to your group. How can I be of assistance?"

[Lichen]

”Golash?” Tom said, eyebrows flashing upwards briefly. ”Big fellow, aren’t you. Pleasure,” he said, stepping forward and offering a hand… upwards. ”Tom Tavers, and my companion here is Nia,” the fairy waved without smiling, ”and I’m assuming that this little fellow here is Mineal, right? Right. Well then, good to meet you, looks like the four of us are going on a little adventure!” Tom grinned and clapped his hands together. Nia looked a little bored and possibly annoyed.

”Well, ‘fore we get goin’ we got to sort out our gear. Why don’t we start by seeing what you guys did and didn’t bring?”

[Mineal Shade]

The sound of heavy footsteps proceeded the arrival of their gigantic owner. A giant attached himself to the little congregation. They certainly had a huge range of sizes, still Mineal thought that might hinder them rather than help. Certainly he and the fae would be able to negotiate the underground trails with relative ease, but the human was a tall one. Tavers was a good two, two and a half feet taller than Mineal but from what he had heard the man was an experienced caver. However the giant would add difficulty. Unless the tunnels they were to explore were massive Golash might make things more difficult than they would otherwise be. Of course Mineal's experience with caves was limited to rodenti burrows, which were a tight fit for anything larger than their builders. That avoided any sort of surprise attack by the larger races on the fearful little creatures. When introductions were held Mineal nodded his head to consent that he was in the proper place.

The mosat unhitched his waistpack and sat it on the ground as he wondered why the giant was wearing so much armor for the occasion. It seemed to him like it would be heavy to carry around and make it more difficult to move in the caves than what it would already be as well as make a lot of noise as they explored. On his pack was a large water bladder covered in rough cloth. "I brought weapons and water."

[Golash]

Golash smiled "Nice to meet you Tom. Golash gave a brief head bow to the fae "Miss Nia." Then finally peered down at the Mosat (not ratti, sorry) and nodded "good will to you Mineal."


The giant druid noted the unique "size" of the group, and how no doubt a strategist could frown on it. However, the giant on many of his travels was able to join diverse groups of peoples and overcome the obstacles they face. Dire the situations may be there was certainly enough potential to pull several bunnies out of a hate . Golash grinned a little or was that pull a hobbit out of a hate? Golash shook off the thought and casually removed his field pack. His field pack soon greeting the ground with a dull thud, and opened it for anyone to see without much difficulty.

[Lichen]

”Ooookay,” Tom said slowly. ”Well, erm, that’s a start! Lets see…” his voice trailed off as he ducked down to search for a few items to add to the Ratta’s collection. Nia jumped from his shoulder as he descended, evidently weary of the constant jerking about of her landing pad. She hovered before Mineal’s face, her tiny blue eyes stealy. ”So what, if any, sort of training do you have? Both of you.”

”Oh, here we go,” Tom said a few moments later, pulling out a few items with a triumphant grin. ”A torch, a length of rope – this stuff will easily hold your weight, though I don’t know about Golash here,” he said, tossing a wink the giant’s direction. ”Five bolts, five karabiners, seven brightening’s rations,” he continued, piling the items into the ratta’s arms, ”ugh, horrible stuff but theoretically edible. Oh, right – and some matches, of course, and a light blanket, hopefully it won’t be too cold down there though that’s probably over optimistic. Umm… right. And for you,” he said, pointing at the Golash, ”Lets go double for everything, eh? I don’t think one rope can hold you, but two can. Two blanket ought to be able to cover you, and… hmm, how much do you eat? You think double rations are enough?”

[Golash]

Golash watched inquisitively as the experienced caver immersed himself in the things of both Mineal and Golash. It seemed some items sufficed, and others did not. The giant druid nodded lightly as Tom rattled off some additional items to bring and it all made sense enough.

As for the question of food Golash answered informatively "well, we giants don’t eat every day actually we do eat a lot but not as often as you. You may eat several times a day, but we giants can eat a great deal of food one day and go without for a few days." He looked to see if the information sunk in and then nodded assuredly "Yes the amount will do fine." I probably should not tell him the amount of gas we can cut a day.


After a few moments the giant druid eyed the spunky Fae. He then knew he was in kind hearted company, and could reveal his talents. Golash never liked spouting off what he knew or possessed, but given the risk of wondering the caves it was appropriate. Besides Miss Nia was a Ranger he trusted her to some extent. He then casually told the winged ranger "an adept druid from Natura Miss Nia, and I was taught the use of the great sword by the brotherhood of steel. I have seen some decent share of combat in my time. Other than that I offer full intent of seeing this through until we are back safely and then go from there."

[Mineal Shade]

Mineal watched Tom as he started sorting through the gear. The mosat had left his rations and non essential gear inside his room. Much of it was not suited to caving and he was saving his rations for use on his travels to Narim. He continued to watch Tom until a flurry of wings and red hair appeared in front of his face. Mineal nodded his head. "Ranger training in Frigid River and lead one mission. I have wasteland and underground experience."

Mineal took the gear in his arms and laid it on the ground to sort it for his small pack. He tucked the rations into the blanket and laid the bundle in the bottom of his pack. Next went the climbing implements in the center of the rope coil along with the matches. On the side Mineal stuffed in the torch and closed his pack. He was not sure he would need the blanket but it would at least help to keep the rations in tact. Mineal strapped the pack back on under his poncho. It was heavier now, roughly the same weight as his usual pack, which was light enough for him to run on all fours without too many problems.

[Lichen]

”A druid?” Nia said, her voice hovering between derision and approval. ”I’m not sure that will be any good below ground.” She shrugged. ”Or whether we will have enough room for you to swing that supporting beam you call a sword. Well. Can’t have everything.” She turned her bright blue eyes towards Mineal, crossing her arms over her chest. ”Ranger, you say?” Oddly, this did not seem particularly impressive either. ”Let’s just make this perfectly clear from the start – I am in charge of this expedition, I consider neither of you to be particularly useful or helpful and will happily use you as a shield,” she pointed to Golash, ”and you as bait should it come down to it.”

Tom chuckled. ”And me, Nia?”

”I will use your flesh for sustenance when these delinquents get us stuck three miles below ground.” There was no outward indication that she was actually joking.

”Ahh,” he said, the grin not wavering. ”And here I thought you’d use my still steaming intestines for warmth. Good to know where I stand. Well, if that’s all, I suppose we ought to be on our way. The tunnel we’re exploring is a fairly, erm, large one,” he said, shooting a sideways glance at Golash, ”but it hasn’t been explored in great detail. It’s actually beneath the town which is why exploring it is so important. Couple of kids fell through the ceiling of some basement a few months ago, turns out it leads to a tunnel as well.”

He heaved his bag up onto his back, and Nia sat cross legged on top of his head, weaving her hands into his hair. He began to walk, indicating they should follow. It was a short walk before they came to the outskirts of the town, as there wasn’t actually much town to begin with. A large hole, centered in a dirty, gravel-filled depression opened up before them. Tom walked up to it and lowered her bag before jumping down himself. It was a short fall, a little over the height of Tom himself, but what remained of the roof didn’t seem particularly stable. Dirt slid in after him in substantial enough amounts that left him in a coughing fit and Nia pulling clods of muck from her hair with a disgusted look.

”Come on down,” he coughed. ”Entrance is over here.”

Tom walked them through the remains of several rooms, the architecture old and foreign with more than just age. They smelled like rotting and stale air, and the air hung heavy with dust. There were carvings in the wall, long eroded and no longer decipherable as anything other than former wealth. Finally, he lead them to what was basically a large hole in the wall. It was about two feet in diameter, and Tom pushed his way through it with some difficulty. ”Erm, Golash? The tunnel opens up out here,” he said, his voice echoing a little. ”But, um, getting through that… why don’t you send Mineal through, then smash it a little? Wall’s pretty thin, ought to be able to break your way through.”

[Golash]

Golash slowly blinked in contempt at being implied as though some expendable wall. Once again it seems the little ones tactics definitely needed revision. The giant druid mentally shrugged at his supposed uselessness and figured if anything the fae was useful as Q-Tip or Toothpick for all he knew. He nodded casually at the fae being the leader, and had no real problem with being led by something that was smaller than his dung.

Golash heaved his back pack on and tightened everything up. Realizing he forgot to mention his dagger...but meh no matter. He then lumbered forward as they got going listening to Tom and Nia talk. However, Tom's brief account of the cave they were going to explore did fascinate him. It seems that some ancient ways still was present right beneath the city of Acumin. If the city of Herozzal lied beneath Acumin then the city has been flirting with danger for a great deal of time.

The giant druid watched as the first of the crew lunged forward and crawled their way into the hole. He watched as an after draft of dust floated about as Tom and Nia entered. The hole was indeed much to small for the giant so like many things he would have to force his way through.


Golash waited patiently as he motioned for Mineal to go ahead before he brought down some of the wall. As he waited he peered at some of the markings curious as to what they once were. The symbols and such of course seemed to be to distorted or faded to get any idea. However, the idea of what could be or what this place once was will remain unanswered. The giant druid smiled as he looked a the small hole.

He then gave a stern warning "Watch yourselves now I am not sure what or how much debris will fall forth." He soon placed his staff to the side, then formed a fist but gave a moderate pounding as if a firm door pounding. If the wall proved weaker than expected he would then know more about how to push through and with what approximate force. After seeing Golash would push hard forward placing his left foot furthest back and his right foot firm beneath him as he pressed forward with his large hands.

[Mineal Shade]

Mineal just looked back at the fae with that bland expression he had when he was not particularly stirred in one direction or the other emotionally. He was no virgin to the hard realities of life. Rodenti life was difficult in the burrow and there was little kindness. The fiercely independent races shoved into small quarters with each other ended in a lot of bloodshed and baiting fights where the two would tear bits of fur off of each other with their claws and teeth. Living above the burrow, with the surface dwellers, was no better. People did not like the rodenti and he got more kicks for his trouble than helping hands.

But the fae was just cold. The mosat was implied to believe the fae, for the most part. She could leave the others behind but Nia would be forced by their common station to at least try to bring him back alive. However Mineal did not have much time to contemplate the affair as they all fell in line and followed Tom to the entrance point. As Tom talked he could not help but feel that the people of Acumin dealt with the situation fairly well. To think that so close to their homes were the nasty dark elves, perhaps even underneath their very feet.

He did not know what he was expecting but the mosat thought it would be a little more than a simple hole in the ground. Mineal followed Tom and hopped down into the hole, quickly lifting the hem of his poncho to cover his delicate nose from the swirling dust as he scooted out of the way for Golash to follow. After Tom Mineal walked and looked around in the dim light at the faint remainder of carvings from long ago. At the hole in the wall Mineal wriggled through it easily and crossed far enough to be out of the way of flying debris. Certainly Mineal believed that they had little chance of accidentally stumbling upon any elves considering the great amount of noise that accompanied the giant as he made his entrance into the tunnels.

[Lichen]

The wall was thin and damaged by age and mold, so with Golash’s insistant pressure it gave way rather rapidly. So rapidly, in fact, that Golash actually managed to fall through the wall and into the other side in a great wave of old plaster and new dust. A huge cloud burst forth with the giant, covering the group with fine white powder and drowning out the distant sound of skittering that the Mousat had briefly heard before the cataclysmic event of Golash’s entrance had occurred.

”Boil-covered Bollocks!” Tom exclaimed through the ensuing coughing fit. ”Well, if ever we need some bulldozing done, we’ll just – cough- have Golash lean on it!”

”I’m covered in silt, you heathen! If I fall ill, I will personally stab you in the face,” Nia said, her tiny voice approaching a growl, interrupted by sneezes.

Tom laughed and sneezed himself, far less delicate than the polite ‘achoo’ of his companion, spraying snot everywhere, the sound reverberating down the tunnel. Which, as it turns out, was not actually all that big. Though Tom himself could easily stand upright, Golash would have to be bent over at below the waist in order to continue, and he would likely be forced to crawl.

There was a quiet flickering noise and suddenly a tiny light in the tunnel, hovering above Nia’s head. The fairy looked a little crosseyed, biting her tongue with the effort, then she relaxed and the globe grew brighter and bigger. ”Well, now that we’ve all had some excavation fun, can we please get a move on?” she said. She was covered in dust from head to toe, and still letting out tiny sneezes and random intervals.

”Sure,” Tom said, brushing dust off of himself and taking a few minutes to light his own torch, the smoke tarry and thick where it wafted from the flame. ”This way, lads.”

The tunnel got a little wider with each step, but not quite tall enough for Golash to walk in it. There weren’t many stalactites or stalagmites, for the tunnel was relatively dry, and the rough hewn appearance of the walls seemed to indicate it was man – or vysstichi – made. There were grooves from axes and picks, and the sharper edges nicked at Golash’s hands as he crawled.

”What was that,” Nia said, stopping suddenly. ”Did you hear that?”

Pausing, the group heard nothing and then, a slight skittering off in the distance, quiet and fast paced.

[Mineal Shade]

As Mineal scurried out of the way he stood up on his back legs and his ears pushed forward as he thought he heard something in the distance. Whatever Mineal thought he had heard was quickly drowned out by the wall collapsing and the room exploding into a cloud of dust. Mineal quickly reached again for the hem of his poncho and covered his delicate nose.

After descending in to the dark Mineal had been able to see even less than usual with his goggles on. But as luck would have it, the dark tinted glass kept the swarm of dust sediment from landing in the mosat's eyes. There was sneezing and laughing and curses all while Mineal covered his nose to keep it safe in case it was needed later. A little ball of light flickered into life above Nia and Tom lit his torch throwing wan light onto the rough hewn walls around them. Mineal lifted his goggles and inspected the walls. Whoever had lived in the space, if anyone, had not made the tunnel to look pretty.

They entered the tunnel and Mineal jerked himself short from tripping because of the sudden stop. He listened to the dark air in the tunnel, but he heard it. Off in the distance was the sound of skittering, a light scraping against the rock. Mineal nodded solemnly. "I heard it when I came down."

[Golash]

Golash smiled as the wall gave way, but the smile quickly left as the wall not only gave way but took the giant with it. It was all a blur really, there was this worthy sound of crumbling and a peculiar moment of awe inspiring silence as the giant druid hurled forward in awesome might. The ground rumbled with anger as he punished the caves floors. Golash shook his head as he pondered whether he was seeing spots and then mumbled "Yup, those are spots I am seeing." Not too long after that he snorted up more dust than Veleraen could down a snoot full of ale while watching fire breathing belly dancers.

The giant druid hacked out incredibly powerful sneezes that can only be likened unto wild moose mating calls mixed with some pissy elephants. As he sneezed he spewed out small chunks of rock he managed to envelop. Some of the rock chunks pegging Mineal and probably Tom.

Golash was too busy patting himself off a little and trying to gather himself to hear the fae's scathing remarks. However, the stabbing in the face part was fascinating he would have to remember that. Golash reluctantly chuckled "So it would seem Tom" he eyed the wall and looked back at Tom "my apologies."

The lumbering giant finally gathered himself a bit, and realized the cave was actually still pretty small. Yes, he would have to crawl, and crawl he did as tolerated the random picking of the rough edges at his hands. He continued to note the cave's unique markings from what seemed to be at one poin purposely made.



A little Skit skit, as Golash listened intently there was indeed some skittering fascinating. The giant druid casually called for his staff and would cast Aura to see if he could get a better idea of what was around. If anything Golash could swear it sounded like an insect? Strange indeed . . .