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10 minutes ago, AonEne said:

 

Sarah turned her smile on Wes. "Hey, Wes! I'm Sarah. It's nice to meet you." She thought for a moment. "I feel like the name should be a little more scientific. Something that's either way too descriptive, like 'the Large, Glowing, Cave Worm Soother', or not nearly descriptive enough, like the 'Bridgewater Worm'." Her grin made it clear that the comment was a joke.

@AonEne @I think I am here.

Edited by Rushu42
I didn't see the previous post. And now I can't delete that quotation box. The pains of mobile.
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5 hours ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Everyone has their place.

Ah. Now that kind of talk he was familiar with. It was true, of course; people like Rig and Corette would survive, even thrive, in situations where others might wilt and die. It was the attitude he had been raised with, and it was a bit of knowledge that had always served him well. 

"Indeed. Diamonds are made under pressure, but some people just...crack."

Looking over the group, he had a feeling that there was a bit of both around. And I'm the rarest rusting gem around, he thought to himself while a slightly self-satisfied smirk played along his face. Corette looked ready, enthusiastic even, to enter the caves--she was another gem, if his experiences so far were any indicator. Her eyes were bright and knowing as she regarded the group around them, who seemed to be getting to know one another as they debated over  a name for the worm. Personally, Rig was calling it the DeepWorm, after the creature from Allomancer Jak issue 43: Tales of Hidden Hathsin, but he would never admit that to the rest of the group. 

Speaking of gems, Rig wondered what could be found throughout the caves ahead of them. The mouth of the tunnel they stood at wound tightly around the corner, leaving most everything about it to the imagination. Rig had never been much of a treasure hunter--bounties and contracts with his house had always been a more sure and comfortable thing--but he wouldn't say no to some long-lost horde of jewels and coin. And as a scout leader, naturally he would be entitled to a double portion of the take.

Rig cocked his head while continuing to look down the tunnel, leaning forwards on his cane as though he was ready to spring forwards. "Think we should head in soon? Looks like most of the crew Stancel gave us is here now."

@ZincAboutIt

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8 hours ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Deb looked up from her clipboard, which was covered in her own cramped handwriting, and restrained her desire to snap at the young volunteer. Keep it together, Deb. She gave a tiny sigh, then relaxed her face into what she hoped was a calm expression. This wasn't the Wings - these people weren't used to extended campaigns, and they needed direction. She looked over the camp; most of the wounded had been healed, and the employees had gathered the majority of their equipment for travel. Althea had already turned the corpse of the worm into water. It was past time to leave this place.

"We are preparing to leave," she said to the young woman - Sarah, she thought her name was. "Gather your belongings, and spread the word. We will be assembling at the far end of the cavern, and heading into the Promenade. A brief scouting of -- aha."

As she spoke, she noticed Rig and a few others approaching. She'd already hoped to assign the Coinshot to the scouting team along with the Seeker Twinborn. Deb would need to pad the scouting troup with new faces; she'd lost several of their best scouts to that damnation worm.

Deb raised her voice so that the others could hear her. "We will be leaving shortly, and should send a party ahead to check the safety of the new tunnel, called the Promenade. Rig, Corette, you're now Scout Leaders. Choose your team, and head off. Your tracking tablet should function to report the all-clear; Corette, I trust you understand the concept of texting. Explain as needed. I will lead the rest of the team after you."

--

Corette listened with half an ear to the Director's orders, already considering her scouting choices. She glanced over at Rig, eager to see him attempt to use the tracking tablet, then took one final swig of whiskey before slipping the flask back into her pack. He'd certainly drunk quite a bit of it, she noticed with minor irritation. Well, she'd just have to find a way to get something from him in return.

Once Stancel had said her piece, Corette nodded to the woman, then motioned to Rig and the others assembled near the Director. She lead them towards the entrance to the tunnel Stancel had mentioned, sending out a flare of Bronze to check for any immediate Investiture signature. She sensed nothing in the vicinity, but that didn't mean it was safe down there. Corette felt herself smile, then turned back to the group.

"Right," she said, blue eyes travelling over the faces before her. "Any of you who don't want to join the scouting team, say so now. The rest of you, tell us your skills. Oh, and someone fetch the mistborn - we can always use a Tineye."

@TrailRunnin @AonEne @Rushu42 @Voidus @I ♥️ Rashek

 

"I'll stay with the main group," said Nekorb quietly. "If that's okay."

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49 minutes ago, TrailRunnin said:

"Think we should head in soon? Looks like most of the crew Stancel gave us is here now."

Corette cast one more critical eye over the assembled group, then over at Rig. He was visibly resisting rushing off around that first hairpin bend, eyes sharp and glittering in the low cavern light. She could understand that well enough - it was taking the better portion of her own self control to stay here and chaperone everyone. You are quite the find, Rig Lekal. If Corette's initial impressions of the man held fast, well, he might be quite the asset. Quite the asset indeed. A smirk flirted at the edges of his mouth as he looked down into the tunnel, mind clearly elsewhere. Corette repressed a laugh when she realized he still had some glowing specks on his chin and cheeks - surely from the glowing fish.

"I wouldn't want to keep you here much longer," Corette said, reaching into her pack and pulling out a small compact mirror. "Why, you're practically glowing with excitement. Or, well," she put the little mirror into one of his hands, "you're glowing with something, at least. You may want to, ah," she touched a finger to the corner of her own mouth, winked and then climbed up onto a nearby boulder without looking back at him.

The little group was spread out before her, talking, chatting, speculating. There would be plenty of time for that on the way - they had already lingered too long for Corette's taste. She was here to explore, after all.

"Right, everyone!" She called, waiting for everyone to look her way. "Group up - two to three in a group. You'll be with this person until we make camp - no exceptions. You will not be scouting alone, I don't care if you're the rusting God Beyond. No one scouts alone. Get your headlamps on, and make sure you know how to turn on your tablet. If you fall behind, you hold all of us up. So don't fall behind. Make sure you have someone else in your line of sight at all times. If we call a halt, you halt. If someone is injured, make sure we know it. Get your metals, spheres, whatever you need. Whoever enters last, you make sure you're always last, unless you want to switch places. That way, we know we haven't lost someone. Good? Good."

Corette gave a nod to the group, tightened the straps on her pack, and jumped back down onto the sandy floor with a grin. She turned back to Rig, grin turning into a little laugh. "You ready, Scout Leader? I do hope you can keep up. Let's see how many diamonds this expedition turns out."

@I ♥️ Rashek @AonEne @Rushu42 @I think I am here. @Voidus @anyone else who wants to scout - my tagging is no longer working

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Rig hesitated for a moment, holding the little mirror in his palm and watching with a smirk as Corette hopped atop a boulder before addressing the gathered explorers. She was a fair bit shorter than Rig--most people were, after all--so she had to get some elevation in order to get some attention. He focused on the mirror for a moment, and was surprised to see small glowing flecks which seemed to have taken up residence on his face and in his hair. Rig pulled out a kerchief and cleaned his face as best he could, but gave up quickly on the hair; everything he did seemed only to smear it in more! Ah well; at least its distinctive, he thought to himself with a grimace. 

He turned back to the group as Corette finished up and hopped down next to him. She let out a little laugh like a bell, and he saw a flash of mischievousness in her eyes. She was almost as eager to enter the caves as he was; that much he was sure of. 

21 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

"You ready, Scout Leader? I do hope you can keep up. Let's see how many diamonds this expedition turns out."

 "Keep up? Let me show you what a real twinborn can do," he said, dropping a coin and grinning before turning on his steel. He singled out the comforting blue line pointing towards the coin, and tapped his metalminds for a flush of heat. "Watch and learn, seeker," he joked, then winked before firing himself into the tunnel and turning the corner. He paused then, waiting for the rest of the group.

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2 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

“I’m Wes. I’m a bendalloy Ferring.” 

“Hi, Wes, I’m Myriad. So you both do things with bendalloy?” Myriad looked back and forth between the two of them, interested, before looking up at Corette and listening to her speech. After turning on her headlamp like she’d been asked, she smiled at the surrounding people and went on, “Do you want to be in a group together?” 

1 hour ago, Oduim’s Chmapion said:

Hey everybody I am back for good now. I have had a rough time of late but I will try to do better. Anyway thanks for your understanding. 

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I’m sorry you’ve had a hard time! I hope things look up soon ^_^ 

Althea and Karin are still right next to them too, right? We can say anyone’s in this group, really. (But definitely NPCs.) 

@Rushu42 @Sorana @kenod

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2 minutes ago, AonEne said:

“Hi, Wes, I’m Myriad. So you both do things with bendalloy?” Myriad looked back and forth between the two of them, interested, before looking up at Corette and listening to her speech. After turning on her headlamp like she’d been asked, she smiled at the surrounding people and went on, “Do you want to be in a group together?” 

@Rushu42 @Sorana @kenod

"I'd love to," said Sarah. "If that's okay with you, Wes."

@I think I am here.

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Corette rolled her eyes as Rig shot off down the tunnel, then disappeared out of sight. What did I just say about no one scouting alone? Still, she smiled as she picked up the coin from off the cavern floor, turned on her headlamp, and headed after him. Corette downed a vial of Bronze flakes and turned on a light burn. She was quickly rewarded with the lively thrum of Steel off to her right, a sign that Rig hadn't gone too far, then. As she rounded the corner, she flicked the coin over her shoulder without looking at him, trusting the man to catch it.

"Impressive," she said, leaning on the opposite wall of the tunnel, the dark rock cool on her back. "Blushing and running away - a true skillset. And here I thought detecting Investiture signatures at a distance and not needing to breathe was something to be proud of. How wrong I was."

From her vantage point, Corette could see both back into the cavern and further down the tunnel. Far down the twisting hallway, she thought she could detect a dim glow. A thrill ran through her, and she rolled her shoulders, enjoying the prickling across her skin. She looked back at Rig, who had managed to smear a glowing streak through his dark hair. Corette would never actually tell him, but it looked rather good. "Enjoying the Alleyverse so far, then? Lucky for you that you ended up down here, instead of in an Alley somewhere. Giant glowing worms are far less worrisome."

@TrailRunnin

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Rig's hand shot out to catch the glinting metal of the coin as it sailed by his head. He tucked it back into his pocket and grinned in the dim light, glad that even if he was blushing, she couldn't see it in the dim light. Of course, he was Rigex Lekal-he would never blush. He took up residence across the narrow tunnel, putting his back to the wall as they waited for the rest of the group. 

"Obviously you underestimate the value of running away, then," Rig said, looking down the tunnel and noticing for the first time a sliver of light some distance away. "And I don't think not breathing is all that impressive; there're at least a dozen scientists that worm could've introduced you too with the same talent."

He hesitated for a moment when she mentioned the world above them. Rig was good at categorizing information and putting it away; you had to be, in his line of work. So he had barely thought of where he was since the worm had interrupted his musings earlier. A flash of concern rose in him to just below the surface, but he smothered it, careful not to show any signs of apprehension. He was making it down here just fine; up there would be the same. 

"What's it like, up there?" he wondered aloud. He turned back to Corette, teeth stark white as he smiled in the darkness. "Is everyone as strange as you, or is that just bad luck on my part? Everyone always did tell my I attracted the wrong sorts of attention." 

@ZincAboutIt

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"A bit presumptive, assuming you know how strange I am," Corette answered, raising a brow at him.

Some of the group had begun to filter into the tunnel, so she pushed off the wall and began walking. She motioned to Rig, trusting him to keep up. His long legs would likely eat up the distance twice as fast as her own - the man was at least a foot taller than she was. Maybe even more. She was silent for a moment, thinking, brushing her fingers along the cool, slightly-damp stone to her left. The tunnel was wide enough for two or three to stand next to one another, but not much more than that. She had been wise to segment the group into smaller pairs or threesomes. Here in the dark, Rig was a steady drum beat of Steel beside her, and he radiated a slight heat. Surely that would be his brassminds. She envied him a bit - it was rather chilly down here.

"As for the city," she continued, unsure how quite to describe the twisting, blended snarl of people and cultures and magic, "it's... complex. Dangerous... and glorious." Corette turned, looking up at Rig's eager, slightly-hungry smile; she gave him one of her own. "There's more out there than I could ever see in a lifetime, in ten lifetimes. It's like the crossroads of everything, every universe - there's always a path here. Right here, to this city. It draws people, pulls them like coins to a Lurcher. Anything you could ever want, you can find here - for a price, of course. Things you never dreamed possible. Riches, reputation, power. With the right connections, a man could walk in a misting," she waved one hand, "and walk out a Mistborn. Or more."

Out of the corner of her eye, Corette watched the man, her heart picking up a little as she spoke. It beat in a kind of counterpoint to Rig's Steel pulses, filling her ears as they walked, as she waited for his reaction.

@TrailRunnin

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The Wanderer felt a fading sensation begin to creep up his legs and realized his time was up. "Rusts. Just when things were starting to get fun," he muttered. Pins and needles heralded the coming sensation loss as it spread up his torso, and he slumped against the wall of the tunnel, head spinning; his shadows were no longer drifting away from him. He closed his eyes as he slid yet further down the sloped tunnel-side, the fading overcoming him. 

And then he was no longer The Wanderer.

Malu jolted awake. "What by the Almighty's Tenth Name just happened? Where am I? Is this...a cave?" He started as someone tapped his shoulder.

"Are you...okay?"

Malu leaped up and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Where am I and who are you? Did you kidnap me?" His voice began to get a little shrill by the last question.

"No, no, you just showed up. After you were denied, I might add. You sliced your way out of the worm thing that attacked us and healed one of our scouting party that just left. You're under the Alleycity right now, and we're exploring the tunnels that were revealed here after the crater incident. My name is Rerin, and I'm an employee of Alleycity Excavation."

Malu was left reeling. His counterpart, doing something good? Something nice? Without being asked? Something must be horribly, horribly wrong with the world. How he ended up inside this "worm creature" in the first place would remain a mystery. But... "Crater incident? How long was I gone?"

After Rerin caught him up on the events surrounding the crater and Ajax, Malu was even more stunned. He thanked the kind worker and sat back down to think. I guess I'm in deep already. Might as well see it throughThat's a first, though, me and him being on the same side. I hope this isn't a mistake. 

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Althea's face remained impassive, his her disgust completely when she listened to Allri's reply. Arrogance didn't suit the young woman. She was too inexperienced to wear it with pride.

"Or you could show a sliver of respect and don't try to incfluence me in the first place." Her voice was calm aswell, years of hiding her emotions making it easy to do so now. "I would prefer to work together on a base of respect, but it's up to you. Your powers, your decision." She let her words hang in the air for a moment before she turned slightly away from Allri to indicate that she was done with the topic. Allri couldn't know about her issues, and she had tried to help. That counted for the first try. If she did it again, there would be consequences. Mistborn or no Mistborn, Althea had no qualms to establish a hierarchy and replace respect with strength.

"Of course." She agreed to Myriad's idea to form a group and looked over the faces around her. Sarah, Wes, Allri, Myriad, Karin. Six people. "We are six standing here together. If possible I would prefer that all six of us leave the cave again." Her eyes rested on Karin's face for a while. Apart from her, Karin was the strongest one here, but she doubted that she would care if one of the weaker ons got lost. She would just have to make sure that the others had as much information available to them as possible. Then they could hopefully protect themselves.

Finally she looked at Wes and handed his bracer back. "Thank you." She said simply and then added for the whole group to hear.

"It is entirely possible that we encounter more creatures mimicing abilities we usually would expect on one planet or the other."

She switched on her headlamp as well and started to walk towards the tunnel. Corette and Rig were already there - good, then they could check the tunnel for unpleasant surprises.

@I think I am here. @kenod @AonEne @I ♥️ Rashek @Rushu42

Edited by Sorana
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I just want you all to know I’ve been shipping Corex since they met and they’re hilariously perfect for each other. 

Also, crem, does our little sixlet not have any NPCs? I’ll have to get creative when I die

Getting out would be nice, Myriad agreed mentally. And everyone else getting out would would probably be nice too. She nodded, hoisted her bag further on her shoulder, and started walking for the tunnel without a word. 

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1 minute ago, AonEne said:

I just want you all to know I’ve been shipping Corex since they met and they’re hilariously perfect for each other.

Also, crem, does our little sixlet not have any NPCs? I’ll have to get creative when I die

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Well, you are all basically in a neat little line, maybe there's an NPC right in front of you or behind you! NPCs: Always where you need them for easy possession! :P 

 

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6 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Well, you are all basically in a neat little line, maybe there's an NPC right in front of you or behind you! NPCs: Always where you need them for easy possession! :P 

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So handy :P never leave the house without one. 

(I love how you don’t even comment on the ship.) 

 

Edited by AonEne
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3 hours ago, AonEne said:

“Hi, Wes, I’m Myriad. So you both do things with bendalloy?” Myriad looked back and forth between the two of them, interested, before looking up at Corette and listening to her speech. After turning on her headlamp like she’d been asked, she smiled at the surrounding people and went on, “Do you want to be in a group together?” 

“That would be good,” Wes said and smiled slightly as the group came together, all six of them. He looked down and reddened as he realised he was the only boy in the group. “And yes, I can store and tap bendalloy. Which is calories. Not really as fun or powerful as Bendalloy Allomancy, but it’s something, I guess.”

He looked up at Althea and received the bracer she gave to him, clasping it back on and feeling the familiar weight. More monsters, she’d said. She said that she would prefer the whole group to come out alive, and Wes agreed. Though he already knew, that if worst came to worst, he would be the one least able to defend himself from another giant worm or other monster.

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Myriad can posses Wes if you want :P that would be interesting.

 

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9 hours ago, Voidus said:

Are you suggesting that someone would be surprised that you were shipping? :P 

Nnoooooo :ph34r: 

8 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

Myriad can posses Wes if you want :P that would be interesting. 

Are you sure? I don't want to take you out of the RP experience unless you specifically want me to (though there are ways to not do that, now that I think about it). I can always just say an NPC has been nearby. 

Myriad shrugged. "Hey, calories could be useful if we all start dying down here of starvation. You'll live. Though Mrs. Teleportation probably wouldn't let it come to that anyway." She kept walking into the tunnel, now facing them and walking backward. 

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15 minutes ago, AonEne said:

Myriad shrugged. "Hey, calories could be useful if we all start dying down here of starvation. You'll live. Though Mrs. Teleportation probably wouldn't let it come to that anyway." She kept walking into the tunnel, now facing them and walking backward. 

Althea raised an eyebrow when Myriad passed her, the first visible sign hinting at an emotion for a while and turned around and walked backwards. "Mrs. Teleportation?" She repeated and looked the girl up and down again. "I'd prefer if you used my name, actually. And you seem to be pretty sure that I'll get you out, show we get stuck at one point or the other."

Which she would. Brashen would kick her if she didn't. But it was strange that someone asumed that she would help, that she was part of the good guys. She wasn't entirely sure if the Mrs Teleportation part was respectless, or just careless, the carelessness people seemed to adopt around those they trusted. Had she been too friendly? Did the girls think of her as someone she could trust? Should she have behaved like Corette or Rig, doing her own thing without giving the weaker ones a chance to keep up and join? Althea looked at the faces around her, at Adren you had come over with a question, at Wes how hadn't even hunched down when she had handed the bracer back. No, for now things were good as they were. She had promised herself to be less harsh, less avoiding people. Max would like it, if she had more friends than just Tena and Zokora.

"The plan is, to catch whatever we find next." She replied to Adren. "Although it will depend on what it is as well. We'll just take a look and decide if we want to take a closer look, or not.

@ElephantEarwax

Edited by Sorana
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