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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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 5:50 PM

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Victor could hear the squelch of wet footsteps behind him, and only briefly turned his head to confirm that Sven was the one tailing him. Even wringing wet, the boy's step was remarkably light, and he certainly looked much happier than he had before.

"Had enough fun now?" He teased, and Sven nodded enthusiastically, jogging so he could make it to the man's side to fall in step with him.

"Fuckin' blissful, man. I'm sad you don't know how good that shit is," His grin was euphoric. "It makes me feel sorry for you. All of yous who walk around on land all the time. Sucks to be you."
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 5:53 PM

Victor had nothing to say to that. The boy sounded a little too excited whenever he talked about water, in a way that a friendly mind simply didn't want to contemplate. If Sven's relationship with liquid was anything beyond platonic, it could stay between him and it happily. Victor's line of work kept him scarred enough.

Trekking back through the familiar lighted area took less time than they remembered, and they took the time to shine the flashlight around it thoroughly, looking for an alternative route. Nope. The only way they hadn't traversed was that more broadly visible one. Thus, there was no option - it had to be that way.
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 5:56 PM

The approach was fast, but Victor soon found himself at a crossroads. The path splintered in three potential directions - one directly to his right, and two twisting parallel to each other right in front of him. Sven was too blissed out to make any kind of quip, and had resorted to following along while playing idly with his peridot, which suited both of them fine.

There were no giveaways as to which area would prove fruitful, if any. After etching the routes loosely onto the map, he closed his eyes and spun his finger, resolving that the route he touched would be the one he'd travel down. The one to the right ended up being the winner.
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 6:14 PM

God damn it. As luck would have it, Victor's random selection process had made the wrong choice, because they appeared to have stumbled into some kind of stalagmite breeding ground. Everywhere he looked, he could see them, reaching from the ground like crooked, gnarled fingers. Ugh. They were one feature of the caves that he really couldn't get on board with under any circumstances.

"Hey, these are cool as shit," Sven exclaimed, moving forwards to sidle between the nearest few. Of course, he was going to have no trouble at all, being so slender. What a major pain in the ass. "These take a hell of a long time to form, right? Ain't that awesome?"

"Thrilling."
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 6:16 PM

"C'mon, bud! You can sound a bit more excited, y'know," Sven insisted, running his fingertips over the uneven surface of a stalagmite he was passing. "This is ancient, cool shit. We might never have come here if those folk didn't fall and die. Some shit luck that was."

"We're not here for the 'ancient, cool shit', though," Victor snapped in response. "We're here to cash in on some new information and hopefully some god damn loot. This place has been dry as fuck so far."

"Woah, you don't need to fuckin' curse, man!"

Idiot. There was no getting any sense out of the boy, especially not after he'd had a dip.
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 6:19 PM

Shimmying through the varied heights and widths of stalagmites blocking the way was far less amusing for Victor than it was for Sven. The bulk of his muscle refused to yield to the thinner areas, and he would frequently scrape his arms on those tall enough to graze them, leaving irritable red scratches that he yearned to itch. What kind of fresh hell was this? He'd like to see that dumbass Skyllard down here, stinking the place up and getting his feathers in a mess.

It was like forever had passed, and they were barely a quarter of the way across the field of stalagmites. Victor couldn't help but growl in frustration, kicking at one of the offensive formations - it wasn't a smart idea and left him with a distinct ache in his toes, but it made him feel somewhat better emotionally.
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 6:22 PM

Sven, on the other hand, was positively jubilant. This was the kind of adventure he was used to; squeezing himself through tight spaces and saving the day where others couldn't. Watching him scoot around the various stalagmites was not unlike seeing a meerkat in a tunnel or a hamster in a wheel; the entertainment and enrichment he gained from it was boundless. It was undoubtedly his beast side bringing that out in him, but he didn't care. He'd be as boring and miserable as Victor if he couldn't make some fun for himself in dire situations.

"Need a hand, bud?" He grinned as he turned back to face his companion, reaching out a hand which Victor stared at in disgust.

"I'll chew it off. Get away from me."
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 6:24 PM

"Aww, you're such a fuckin' killjoy, Victor! C'mon," Sven cooed, backtracking through his traversed path to return to Victor. "I can show ya. Look, it's pretty easy once you get into the swing o'things."

"You're five foot nothing and about ninety pounds while wet," Victor retorted without missing a beat. "I'm at least double your weight and a foot taller than you. You can't expect my ass to be able to squeeze through some stupidly small gap just because you're scrawny."

"Man, you're so aggressive. Just follow me. I'll find a decent path, alright? Fuck."

Victor had no other options. Making his own way through them was failing spectacularly, and Sven was advancing at a rapid rate.
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 6:29 PM

Never again did Victor want to see these cursed things once he got out of there. The stalagmites were as cumbersome as they were ugly to him, and if he could, he'd knock every single one of them flat. Sadly, neither the time nor resources to do such were available to him, and the professor would have something to say about him flattening the cave features, no doubt. Sven would get up in arms too.

Speaking of which, Sven was still examining the stalagmites as he passed them, as if each new one was entirely unique. It was lucky they were so firmly rooted to the cave, or he might have tried to take one with him for his hoard of shiny things. Not that they were shiny - they were remarkably dull for his tastes - but it was interesting, at the very least.
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 6:33 PM

How much further? Victor looked desperately ahead for some sign of the crop of stalagmites ending, but there wasn't much to see. Even shining the flashlight in that direction yielded little results under than a slight curvature of the walls. There was certainly a tunnel or a path of some sorts leading past the stalagmites, but they had to get there first, and his patience was running thin. Even with Sven's guidance, it was annoyingly difficult to manage.

"I'm getting pretty sick of this," He grunted, tugging his sleeve down to cover yet another scrape from the rock. "Tell me you see something soon, Sven. I'm going mad."
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 6:35 PM

"Patience, mate! We'll get there if you just relax a lil' and let me do the work," Sven dismissed him with a wave of his hand, sidestepping and sidling to his heart's content. "C'mon. I haven't done ya wrong yet. We're not that far off, I swear."

Better hope you're right, or I'll leave you tethered to one of these stupid things. Victor's mood was on a sharp decline, and listening to his companion prattle on about trust and communication was not helping. When were they gonna get to the good bit? If this was all they had to look forward to, it was a piss poor choice to even try an expedition in the first place.
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 6:38 PM

A few more moments passed with silence between them. Sven mapped out the path clearly, and Victor followed as quickly as he could manage, eager to free himself from the maze of rock. If he never had to see another stalagmite in his life, he'd be eternally grateful. Once they'd gotten clear of it, he was going to make sure to elaborate exactly what they were dealing with on the map - perhaps 'major fucking annoyance' in giant letters, just in case the professor had any doubts.

"Hey! We're nearly there, see?" Sven's chipper tone still grated on Victor's nerves, but he was less vexed when he shone the flashlight and saw the end of the field. "Told ya."
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 6:40 PM

Fucking finally. Victor didn't bother waiting for Sven's guidance to plow past the remaining stalagmites - he forced himself through gaps that were too small for him without worry in his eagerness to be rid of them. Damn things. Once again, he was thankful that he hadn't chosen Cecil as a partner, because that feline layabout would be crying over his designer clothes getting scuffed and ripped by now.

"Here we go!" Sven was up and into the tunnel leading onwards in a record time, and Victor followed suit, heaving a great sigh of relief as he did so. "Outta the woods! Or.. stones, I guess."

"Let's go."
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 7:11 PM

Now safely away from the stalagmites, Victor took the time to sit down and doodle on the map once more. As he'd promised himself, he made a big deal of labelling them as the menace they were - complete with an angry looking face sketched hastily next to him. In the meantime, Sven looked around for another potential way out.. only to discover that they'd have to return the way they came.

Mentioning that to Victor seemed like suicide to him, but he supposed it had to be done.

"Uh.. buddy," He said delicately, making sure to stay out of the direct range of his fists. "We gotta problem.."

"What is it?"

"We gotta.. we gotta go back through the stalagmites."
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Re: Expedition [Caving] [L] [H by Z]

Postby Isalynne » 08/17/2017 7:13 PM

There was nothing more to say. About as livid as he could be, Victor shoved the map and the pen back into his rucksack with a vengeance, and would later count himself lucky for not tearing it in two. Right. If he had to face the blasted things, he might as well try to make quick work of them so they could get the hell out of there.

Waiting for Sven was a thing of the past - he was already wandering through the stalagmite field with a furious scowl by the time the boy had even contemplated following.
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