The Fe'gan Mountains are the highest, coldest mountains Lambastia has to offer, with the highest peak recorded at 8589 m (28,179 ft). Only the toughest creatures survive here, and the trek to get to the Basantha Shrine lays through these harsh conditions. (+3 Endurance)

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Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 3:41 AM

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A cave. Great. Just peachy. Exactly where he wanted to be: down in some dark pit, probably seeking out his own death, all because Xing--- or someone, did Xing even approve all the missions personally anymore?--- decided this quack's venture was worth a shot, and that Fabio was the man to do it.

Seriously, he really couldn't picture Xing green-lighting this bullshit.

"Oh my god, Fabio, stop whining. It's just a cave." Melanie's voice fluttered in his ear, and he scowled.

"I'm just saying, if I die in there, it's on all of you. How are you even going to keep tabs on me anyway? There aren't any CCTV cameras you can hack in a goddamn cave, you know."
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 3:45 AM

"There are if it's man-made," said Melanie, which, yes, was clearly relevant to the topic at hand here. Fabio rolled his eyes, even though she probably couldn't see it. "Hey, don't roll your eyes at me!"

"If it was a man-made cave, I wouldn't have to be here mapping it," Fabio shot back. "Besides, you can't see me! How do you know if I'm rolling my eyes or not?"

"Gee, Fabio, it's not like we've been working together for years or anything," Melanie said, sarcasm dripping from every word. There was a moment's pause, and the next time she spoke, her voice had a more serious note to it. "It is true that I can't work off cameras this time though. I've got access to a couple that you have on your person, but I'll only be able to see around you, and even then my visual capacity is limited."
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 3:51 AM

Fabio snorted. "What good are you then? They should've just sent you with me if you're going to be useless." As he said it, the mouth of the cave he'd been assigned finally came into view. It had been a real struggle, deciphering that old fart's handwriting; and then he had to deal with the incredibly vague instructions. But here, at last, was his cave mouth. Or a cave mouth, anyway. If this wasn't the one the windbag wanted, that wasn't Fabio's problem anymore.

If there was any question about the man-made-ness of their cave, this had to have resolved it. The hole was barely big enough for a person to fit through, and was so rough-hewn that if Fabio hadn't been looking for it, he would never have seen it, since it blended in with the rest of the mountain landscape so well.
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 3:54 AM

He didn't immediately enter, checking first to see if he could hear anything, and making sure he had all his gear on him: flashlight, extra batteries, mask, water, rope, all that jazz. He looked like a goddamn hiker, carrying all this crap. Better with than without it though, since he was pretty sure that guy hadn't actually been kidding about cave beasts, for one.

He was so busy scoping out the entrance that he hadn't noticed Melanie's silence, but as he finished taking inventory of his gear, he realized she hadn't fired back the smart retort he'd been expecting. "Mel?" he said cautiously. "Everything okay?"
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 4:05 AM

There was no reply for a moment, and Fabio paused, a frown beginning to form over his features. Before he could jump to any conclusions though, he heard her sigh, followed by a short intake of breath, as if she meant to say something. Eventually, she said, "You know I can't leave the safehouse, right?"

Damn. Well, now he felt like a jerk. "Yeah, well, I guess it's just as well. You wouldn't be any good here anyway, and I do need someone to avenge me if I die down here." He tried a smile, then remembered she couldn't see him. This was going to take some getting used to.

He wondered if she would take the joke as a peace offering, but he heard the soft huff of laughter. "Yeah, okay, I will punch Xing once if you actually manage to die," she said.

"At least make it twice," said Fabio.
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 4:58 PM

There was nothing for it now though. He was here, he was running out of things to check, and now that he was sure he didn't actually have to drop everything and rush over to Melanie because something had happened to her, he had no more excuses. It was time to go into the cave.

"Ugh," he said again, partly for the prospect of spending all that time in the dark, and partly because he had to contort himself in some truly awkward shapes to get through the entrace to begin with. He hadn't even tried to wear his backpack, knowing he would never fit with its bulk on him, no matter how he bent himself into a pretzel. Even without it, getting in was tough.
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 5:03 PM

It wasn't like he was a big guy either. He wouldn't have called himself short, but he wasn't tall, and he kept in trim, fighting condition. Or, well, running condition, mostly, but he knew how to fight.

When he did manage to wiggle his way in, possibly losing a little skin in the process, he tugged his poor backpack in after him. All the rocks scraping against it couldn't be good for it, but that was what those hiking gear people made this stuff for, right? Hopefully.

"I'm in," he said, panting a little from the exertion.

"Hacker voice," said Melanie.

Fabio stopped, his face scrunching up in confusion. "What?"

"... Internet joke. Nevermind, I forgot you weren't cool. So, what do you see?" she said.
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 5:06 PM

See. Right. There wasn't a whole lot he could make out. There was a little light filtering in from behind him, but it was only enough to illuminate some rocks. The ground was mostly even enough for him to walk on in his immediate surroundings, as far as he could tell.

"It's roomier in here than I thought it would be," he said. The entrance had been very small indeed, but he could stand up straight without his head hitting anything, and when he stretched out his arms, neither brushed stone.

He debated between immediately getting his flashlight out or trying to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. One way or another, he was going to have to get his flashlight out eventually, but maybe there was some merit to seeing what he could see on his own first.
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 5:11 PM

... No, that was stupid. That would take time, and he didn't really have the patience for it, considering he wanted to leave as quickly as possible. Flashlight it was. He palmed it, turned it on, and directed the beam forward. It revealed... a fairly traversable stretch, at least for now. The tunnel bent though, so he couldn't see very far ahead of him.

The tunnel narrowed as he came around the bend, but as he rounded it, began to widen again. Abruptly, a little further on, the walls of what had more or less been a wide tunnel opened up to something resembling a chamber.

"Huh," said Fabio.

"What is it? Did you find something?" Melanie said.
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 5:13 PM

A smile tugged at his features. Boy, it must have been killing her not to have good visuals on his situation. He was so used to her being a little know-it-all, flouting how she was always one step ahead of him. This was kind of a nice reversal.

"And don't forget to draw on the map, Fabio. We don't get anything if you don't do any actual mapping," she added. He winced. Okay, some things never changed, visuals or no visuals.

"I didn't forget," Fabio said, even though he totally actually did, and was just now getting out the piece of paper and the... ugh, the pen. He jotted down a few quick scribbles to approximate the path he'd taken thus far, then put it away as quickly as his hands could move.
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 5:30 PM

The reek on that Skyllard was no joke. How was it even the feathers held onto the smell for so long? And now that he was in a cave, where the air was already starting to feel pretty stagnant, it wasn't going to dissipate like it normally would. He wrinkled his nose, and did his best not to breathe for a little bit.

"Okay, well, that's done. Let's see..." The room was sizable, probably not dissimilar to a ballroom. It didn't take him too terribly long to walk a perimeter around it. As he did, he noticed that the walls were covered with some sort of... growth. He didn't look too closely, not wanting to inhale something else weird. Who knew what kind of weird stuff was down here.
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 5:34 PM

The other thing his canvasing of the room gave him was two ways out, aside from the one he'd come from. Making his way back to his starting point, he said, "Well, Mel, I can go left, or I can go right. What do you think?"

"Why are you asking me? You're the agent."

He sighed. "It's nothing down here but me and the stink pen," he said. "Come on, throw me a bone here. The whole point of even having you online for this was to keep me company, right?"

"And to punch Xing, in case you died," she reminded him.

"Yes, that. So. Right or left?"

"You know you're going to have to go down both paths eventually, right? Since the point is to map the whole system."
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 5:39 PM

She was right, but he didn't answer, hoping to prompt a reply from her one way or another. She fell silent, either ignoring him too or giving the matter some real and serious thought. He hoped it was the latter. After a moment, she said, "Right."

"Alright, right it is," he said, setting off on the course she'd dictated. It was another wide tunnel, which went on for about the breadth of the chamber. This one was straight, and he could see a fair bit ahead, the flashlight being as strong as it was. It also sloped downward, which became a bit of a nuisance as the ground changed from rock to sand.
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 5:42 PM

He was so focused on keeping his footing that he actually didn't notice where he was going. It was only when Melanie spoke up over the comm to ask, "Hey, what's that... glinting up ahead?" that he really paused and took a good look. He remembered the Skyllard's words about cave beasts, and had to repress an instinctive shudder.

She was right. His light was glinting off something. He froze, fearing the worst, but when the moments ticked by and nothing happened, he began to wonder.

"Earth to Fabio. Hey, did you really die? You didn't, right? You've been in there like forty-five minutes. Not even." Melanie's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he shook his head.
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Re: Of All the Places to Be... [Caving; L] [H by Z]

Postby crow » 08/17/2017 5:46 PM

"Uh, no, yeah, I'm fine," he said. "I guess it's not alive." It didn't move; he thought, at first, that it had, but that faint movement looked more like a rippling sort of motion, now that he had some time to study it. Still, he didn't rush for it, taking his time to advance. It wasn't just because he was worried about what might jump out at him from the dark either. The sand was still loose, after all, and he didn't want to have a fall down here.

Boy, he could imagine what Melanie would say to him if he'd said that out loud. What are you, eighty? But not being able to see what was going on around you really took the wind out of your sails.
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