Lets go on an adventure!

((Thought I would start a little roleplaying adventure, if anyone is interested please just weave your characters in however you see fit. I'll let Gimlet set the scene.))

Gimlet sought out the abandoned mine shafts which worm about the roots of the mountain. The crumbling records he had uncovered in the miners guild told of rich seams of iron ore abandoned there, of a curse unleashed and of the eyes of the dead flickering in the deepest dark. Gimlet hadn’t paid much attention to anything past ‘rich seams’.

The old tunnels went on for miles, a maze of dead ends, where mineral wealth had been pursued to its exhaustion, and one cryptic way leading ever downwards. As he trekked on through the narrow darkness, Gimlet often found cause to be grateful for his Lalafell stature. Where the decaying pit props let the roof sag low, he could duck his way under easily; any member of the taller races would have undoubtedly been forced to crawl through those tight squeezes on their belly. His smaller size also made it easier to evade the occasional beast which he came upon crouched in the gloom, gnawing on old bones. Of course an Elezen or a Roegadyn probably would have had no need for stealth, but creatures that would flee in terror at the sight of their imposing frames often eyed Gimlet in an unnervingly calculating fashion.

Kathy stood beside Gimlet as she contemplated the marvelous sight. In the eyes of the average, it would be a sight to tremble where doubts and worries would spawn within seconds, but to Kathy it was a sign of adventure. She smiled and clapped her hands as she slightly hopped in one leg widening her smile in excitement.

Her clothing was deceiving, although her body defined the average seeker of the sun, her clothing was strange and unusual. Not something a common Mi'qote would wore. She wore a sleeveless soft light green silk dress up to her knees over a rough tight dark leather armor which covered her entire body except for her arms and head. Almost deformed, the fashion was a statement, or a simple necessity.

"Forsake the richer vein, the mountain thirsts to replenish its blood"

Gimlet shock his head in dismay; the message chipped into the wall of the mine had to be about the poorest piece of engraving he had ever set his eyes on. The letters were cramped and crooked, of no uniform depth or font. It seemed as though whoever had perpetrated the appalling chicken scratch must have done so with a badly broken arm and somewhere else they desperately needed to be.

Beside him Kathy did a little jig. Gimlet had been surprised to find a Seeker of the Sun wandering the dark tunnels, but also quite relieved; the pair of giant rats which had had him cornered immediately turned tail when the practically dressed Miqo'te rounded the bend.

His new companion seemed eager to head deeper into the darkness and as all the seams on this level had been thoroughly plundered, Gimlet shouldered his pick and let her lead the way.

Kathy walked eagerly as she softly hipped ahead,"you think there will be any treasures inside?" she asked with a soft pitch voice announcing the prelude of her excitement .Her tail wags happily as she ignores the giant rats with ease. Her hopping changes to small jigs as she skips along the trail towards the darkness of the mine. She can feel the cold dry air traverse out of the mine giving her fast chill sprouts spiking through her skin reminding her of the past, a past she would like to forget,"Ah Gimlet, are we?" she asked once again turning around without stopping her lively jig giving Gimlet a wide innocent grin.

"Dunno 'bout treasure, after iron ore myself."

Gimlet mumbled, mind drifting to the Spatha he was planning to forge when he got back to Ul'dah. The first step would be purifying the ore and casting ingots, then shaping the cross guard, pommel and blade. He would have to pick up a sword grip from a tanner of course, but if he found as much ore as he hoped, then he should be able to trade some...

The heat of the forge radiating from his memory shielded him against the chill mine air, but a tug on the sleeve of his tunic brought him back to reality.
Kathy was peering at him with her head tilted to the side and an inquisitive grin lighting up her face; he had clearly missed something she had said while he was off in his head. Taking a stab at the probably topic he stammered out;

"Oh, ahh, don't worry; I'll keep an eye out for anything, umm, shiny. There's bound to be some treasure down here somewhere."

"Yay!" She shouted happily clapping her hands three times before moving back towards the mine "Then let's go!," she says over-excited stretching her arm pointing towards the dark mine still keeping her wide grin.

She started running towards the mine and stopped in the very edge peeking in trying to make something out of the tick darkness. Sounds unrecognizable by her soft furry ear slowly roared from inside,"Heloooo!" she shouted towards the cave investigating in her own gullible way.

“oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo”

Kathy’s shout echoed on and on beyond the cave mouth. Gimlet felt an odd mix of excitement and foreboding. It was as if two contesting forces were at work on him; one urging him on in the name of rare ores and financial gain, and a second cautioning him not to cross out of the man made mine workings and into ancient, untamed geology. He imagined that those who had originally discovered the cave must have felt a quite similar sensation...

Stripped to the waist, skin smeared with a paste of sweat and rock dust, their picks rising and falling in time, the guild miners labour at the rock face. Suddenly a particularly forceful stroke meets less resistance than expected and a gout of fetid air jets forth. The miners fall back up the shaft, pulling neckerchiefs up over their mouths, coughing and gasping; they have pierced a bubble formed long ago during the wanderings of Oschon. Soon the air smells sweater and, with trepidatious hearts, they come scurrying back to investigate...

“oooooooooooooooOOOOOOOAAAARRRRR!!!”

The roar excelerated out of the fading echoes and thundered through the air. Gimlet fell to the ground and pressed his ear to the mine cart rails which disappeared into the gloom of the cave; they vibrated rhythmically, as if being struck by alternating hammers.

“Incoming!”

He screamed to his Miqo’te companion and, scrambling to his knees, began rapidly collected together an arsenal of jagged rocks. Something was sprinting through the cave towards them, and he fervently hoped that Kathy could lay hand on a weapon much more lethal than his.

Kathy jumped at the impairing sound from inside the cave. She heard her companion and quickly ran back to his side preparing her weapon on her right hand. "Stay behind me!" She shouted looking. With a deep inhalation, she flexes her Miqo'te trained muscles, flexing and tightening to her fighting position. The tension and adrenaline elevated higher and higher pumping her blood to a fighting trance.

"Come out ugly thing, we are ready and don't fear you!!!" She shouted out of her excited lungs letting a small echo clash against the beast's noise.