In Search of Dungeons

Cyrus pulls his backpack tighter over his shoulder as the crew step out over a small valley that looks almost like it's a small caldera filled with various plants and forestry. With a notable 'gap' at its center. There's a heavy gust of wind that blows at the travelers as the Snow Leopard motions down. "That's the area I was told about." He explains to Mikage, and then presses his feet on the slippery rain-slick grass that leads down. A few scoots, before he begins to slide down as if he were snowboarding his way down.

There's various spots where they can slow down, and the ground turns rough again. Going up is going to no doubt going to be more trouble then going down into the caldera-like area. There's various areas where small gaps have turned into ponds. "See, the interesting thing is that this place isn't filled to the brim with water from all the rainfall." Cyrus remarks halfway down the slops, as they start hitting the jungle.

Exploring the world had always been one of Mikage's primary interests within Elder Tale. Since learning more about how to examine and record their surroundings, she'd spent more of her time mapping her travels, often collecting various scrolls and utilizing them while traveling.

As Cyrus speaks up, Mikage raises her head from doing some recording on one such scroll, looking out at the valley and then following his descent. "Hey, wait up!" There is a scramble as she tucks the scroll away in a water-proof case and slings it over her shoulder before starting to make her own way down.

She doesn't transform, though that would have made the descent easier, but uses her natural physical grace to help join him at one of the stopping points along the way. "Well, the water has to go somewhere, right?" She asks, looking at him curiously. "Is that what we're looking for?"

Cyrus nods his head as they wait at the halfway point. Right here, they have another beautiful view. It is lower beneath the mists that softly billow around this area, but still has that beautiful look of gazing right over the tops of the jungle trees below. "We're trying to figure out why the waters don't gather we. It's assumed there must be a dungeon below that is the cause of this. But strangely enough, not many people have investigated this place so far. I guess it's not that interesting to most."

He then looks up along the slope of the Caldera. "Or maybe it's just because this area has only recently become safe to traverse again, with the undead army being at bay." His gaze slips to Mikage, and he touches along her shoulders. "Want some time to draw from this angle?" He asks her.

At the lookout point, Mikage takes the opportunity to just take in the view. All of this while rama scrambles down behind them, eventually peeking over and then back at the two as if confused at what they might be staring at. Apparently, the Lynx is not impressed by gorgeous landscapes.

The touch to her shoulder has Miki blinking and turning her eyes away and back towards Cyrus. "I should probably at least note it on the map. I don't think I could draw anything that would do this place actual justice." Though she knew how to map out locations, she doesn't have the artistic talents that some other people posess.

Taking out the scroll again, she makes a quick notation, making sure not to allow the parchment to get wet as she does. "If there is a dungeon down there, it's possible some of the undead might have ended up trapped in it. So we might want to be careful." She advises, tapping the scroll back down and then reaching for her bow. "I'll keep an eye out."

Cyrus stands before Mikage begins to mark out on the scroll, giving her a firm back to scratch and sketch against. That way she'll have an easier time marking down. And when she finishes making her notes, he steps back as the scroll disappears into Mikage's inventory. "Aye. Let's hope we don't have to deal with any drowned. I hate those. Their trident attacks are /so cheap/." The youth grunts.

The young man then begins to 'skate' down the rest of the way down the inner hills of the caldera, further down into the forest side. And soon the ground hits normal ground. A bit wet, with various 'dip's in the ground showing where rainfall turned into temporary tiny little channels. But nothing alikened to a river. More importantly, the ground feels a bit odd to the step. One would expect either a firmness, or a sogginess. But there's something 'different' about the ground here.

Mossy?

It feels mossy.

Cyrus looks back to Mikage. "Hear that?" He asks, pointing up. The chirping of birds and buzing of insects happily calling out. "I don't think there's any quick monsters here at least."

While Cyrus offers his back, Mikage is more than a bit careful not to be one of those assholes who betray that kind of thing. She doesn't press too hard, making only the lighest of notes that she can darken with ink later when they are in a safer position. "Or thoes bloated ones, that look really groteque and tend to explode." She shudders, "I hate those."

She doesn't quite 'skate' down like the Cait Sith, but makes her way down with careful climbing none the less. It is Rama who really seems to pay attention to the shift in the ground, lifting his paws and looking at them before pawing at the ground with a confused expression. "This place is strange." She murmurs, though it seems an understatement.

At the question, Mikage switches her equipped gear with a couple of inventory swipes, then shifts into her gargoyle form, allowing her longer ears to take in the more distant sounds. They are relatively far away from others, and she is getting more comfortable in this form while around Cyrus. "Just birds, a few insects, maybe some small animals." She confirms, her tail giving a thump on the spongey ground. "It smells wet." Her ridged nose scrunches.

"Hrrm. Strang indeed. And it does smell wet." He agrees as they proceed onwards. In some areas, the ground is firmer than in others. It's more mossy further away from the jungle-thick foilage. Each time they're at a clearing, it's most soft to step on. "It's kind of interesting." Cyrus admits, eventually leaning down and taking a sample of the ground itself, and putting it into a small glass jar that he sends into his inventory after appraising it.

"Hmm... interesting. 'Sponge Dirt', it claims." The Cait Sith remarks. "I've never even heard of that. What the heck is 'Sponge Dirt?" He asks. "Is it just... sponging the water up? But then where is the water going?" He looks down. "Somewhere beneath our feet?" He wonders out loud.

"Let's head deeper." He motions, taking a moment to appreciate Mikage's monterous form before finally taking his eyes off of her.

There is a sqlechy sound as Mikage follows, her clawed feet digging into the soft earth and likely getting more than bit filthy in the process. She doesn't seem to care, though, as this form gives her better traction on the uncertain ground. "Something to study for later?" She asks, her voice ever so slightly deeper in this form than in her human one.

Rama continues to follow behind them, but he seems to do that 'wet paw' dance that cats tend to make, not liking the feeling of the moist earth beneath his feet. "Some sort of combination of water and soil, I would guess? I can sort of sense both if I wanted to call upon magic, but... I don't know if I'd want to mess with something I'm this unfamiliar with."

Tucking her wings against her back, the Were Fang makes sure they don't get in the way as she nods and continues following him deeper into the unusual jungle. "If this place hasn't been explored much before, imagine the sort of things that might be here, yet undiscovered?" Her blue eyes seem to be taking everything in, the longer ears seeming more animated, following small animal sounds around them.

"Hmm! We might find some rather interesting things." Cyrus answers, turning for a bit and walking backwards to take in Mikage as her radar-ears try to find each and every sound around her. "Wh~" And down goes Cyrus, right on his ass, as he manages to trip over a branch. Luckily, the fall is relatively soft. "Sorry about that. I'm not feeling as coordinated all of the sudden." The youth explains, and slowly begins to rise back up.

He grabs onto a tree, crinkling his nose. At this point, Mikage might pick up on a very subtle scent. It smells... well... alcoholic. But it's very subtle. Which means that either it's faint, or it is very pure. Or worse... both. More notably, it seems like Rama is starting to get affected faster than Cyrus. Wobbling on its feet as it hops about.

There is a look of surprise, her ears going slightly upwards as Cyrus takes that tumble. The next moment, she's standing over him, "You alright?" A clawed hand is held out, offering to help him up.

It's at that same moment that her nose twitches, the subtle scent causing her to snort once as if trying to clear out her nostrils to get a better read on things. Then, Rama gives a yowl. Turning, she looks towards the Lynx who seems a bit more wobbly on his feet than usual.

"Uh... something is very much not right here, Cy." Matters of poisons and chemicals are beyond her in many ways, so there is a bit of a uncertain look cast towards the Snow Leopard, as if hoping he might have some explination for what is going on.

Cyrus stumbles up, and with the help, he manages to right himself. Alerting him of the scent, he instinctively wets a rag, and puts it to his face. He then proceeds to make another one - steeping each one in an anti-intoxicant, and giving one to Mikage. He then grabs Rama, and tries to hoist the big cat up. "I don't think making one of those is going to make Rama very happy." He proposes to Mikage.

The youth then leans to a nearby tree, and uses a few chemicals to get a reading. Stroking the trees, and then noting; "Okay, there is alcohol in the air. But it's close to the ground. Which is why Rama is being affected more than us." He remarks.

"Welp, that would explain why there are no trees at the base of this Caldera, if there's a natural source of ethanol down there." The youth considers. "But that sure still doesn't make that much sense. I don't think Ethanol normally occurs that naturally." He swigs grabs a potion and swigs it down to remove some of the effects.

"Want to head deeper?" He asks. "It may be safer to head back, drop off Rama, and then come back. But if we carry Rama, we should be safe for a little while longer."

Rama has been Mikage's constant companion even before she started traveling with Cyrus. Even before the Apocalypse, the cat had been with her, and so it is no surprise that she might be a bit worried about his current condition. "Is he going to be alright?" She asks, more concerned for the feline than for herself.

She doesn't argue with wearing the mask over her face, giving a beast-like grunt. "I can try to clear some of the air with my magic, but I'm not sure if that would make it better or worse."

Still with that look of concern, she seems to weigh the options. As a healer, Cyrus probably has a good idea of the status impact of the chemicals on Rama and what sort of debuffs he might be experiencing, "It isn't impacting his health, so I think we should be okay for a little while. but you should probably hand him over to me. I can carry him."

She reaches out for the lynx, swinging him up onto one shoulder as she walks. This monster form offers her some increases in strength which help to make it not as daunting a task. "A little further, but if things get worse... we'll backtrack."

Cyrus nods; "Not for now. As long as we keep him off of the ground, he should be fine." The youth notes in regards to Rama's health. "But we'll keep an eye on it. I rather not use him as a canary."

Carrying on further down the strange forest, they start noticing that the trees have some rather odd colors on their leaves. Unlike your typical jungle environment, many of the trees here have fruits on them. Some of them have rotted away, and here and there fruits have already fallen off of the trees. They come across birds fighting eachother over a nest up in the branches.

Cyrus adjusts the wet 'mask' over his face he's using as a filter to keep the alcohol out. But as it is not a proper mask, some of it still filters through in the end - so he's constantly looking at the party window for any kind of 'drunk' status.

They're about halfway down the jungle caldera when they suddenly spot something. A rather large figure - but still human in size - steps into the path and lets out a surprised sound as he encounters the two of them. He's dressed in a long grey-white uniform that covers his arms and most of his body. His hair, dark and slightly curly, is long and goes down to his back. Some of it covering his eyes. He has this really 'hikimori' look to him.

"Visitors?" The man asks in confusion. "Are you here to deal with my pest problem?"

The 'problem' with a ranger and their animal companion, is that Mikage and Rama largely share the same health bar and status effects. Thankfully, as Miki is a bit larger than her feline friend, it doesn't seem to have as much of an impact, at least at first. Despite her monster form, she seems a bit less steady on her feet now and again.

Suddenly seeing a figure emerge, her body tenses and her clawed digits step down just the wrong way, causing one foot to slide forward and the Gargoyle to land in a tumble of limbs and wings with Rama sprawled ontop of her. "Oof."

She coughs once, looking towards Cyrus and then back at the stranger. Normally, she avoided meeting others in her monster form, but it seemed a little late to correct that problem at the moment. "Uh..." Between the slight effect of the intoxicating air around them and the embarassment from the slip-up, she seems to stumble over making conversation.

Instead, Miki just scrunches her plated nose and asks, "Pest... problem?"

Cyrus notices Mikage falling roughly at the same time that the stranger comes into view. But his attention falls to Mikage first, before the one before them. Reaching his hand out, he tries to guide Mikage to stand again. He can't easily lift Rama at the same time. The poor cat. It probably doesn't really quite get why it is even being lifted up.

Once Miki is standing again, he turns back to the one before them - and notices the rather odd INSPECT on the man. I, D, and Wings.

"Soma bids you; it's been a long time since I've seen one of my children here within the Cauldron." The man remarks to the group before them, introducing himself to them as many Landers do. Making sure to state their name as soon as possible.

"Ah, yes. Just recently a group of undead have gotten into my domain, and they're making a mess of my product." Soma answers Mikage. "You really shouldn't come here without proper face protection though." The man continues to state.

After the initial surprise passes, Mikage reaches out to take Cyrus' hand and pull herself up to her feet. Her tail acts as a counter-balance, the large appendage lightly supporting her as she crouches down to toss Rama over her shoulder again. The little cat yowls his displeasure at this, but he knows well enough to behave.

"I... didn't think there were people down here." Mikage answers, seeming a little uncertain about what she sees in front of her. "Then again, I didn't know what to expect."

Turning to Cyrus, she adjusts her own make-shift mask, and then looks between the Alchemist and Soma. The fact that the being had referred to 'children' has her looking that much more puzzled about the whole circumstance they have found themselves in.

"Some of our fellow Adventurers only just managed to secure some of the Undead away, but they're not fully dealt with." She explains, "It sounds like you're having problems, too?"

Soma scratches behind his head, as if he has an itch burried deep into that massive nest of hair of his. "Yes. They've been messing up my brews." Soma admits to the two in front of him, then scratches at his hair a bit faster. "It's really annoying." The man then looks between the two of them for a moment, but his attention seems mostly focused on Cyrus for some reason.

"I can't really leave this place to each out to the Hunters Guild. Could you maybe deal with that for me. Ehmm... I think this would be about your average Steel level... yes, I think this is a Steel level Quest for them to put up. Just tell them that the request comes from Soma, and they shouldn't give you any trouble." The man notes, before just...

Yawning.

He doesn't try to hide away that open mouth of his, and eventually just smacks his lips in this utterly unwashed kind of way.

"So... are you an alchemist or a somelier?" Mikage asks, knowing that 'brew' can refer to a number of things in Yamato. "Cyrus is an alchemist, himself. Stuff he makes tastes nasty, though." The look she casts him is playful, almost teasing at that. Though she has been on the receiving end of some of his more... 'flavorful' potions, none of which she is particularly fond of.

"We... should be able to pass that along." There is that slight hesitance as she starts sentances, as if the Gargoyle were a little uncertain about how to socially interact with this... interesting individual.

"You mentioned proper face coverings, though." This time she looks to Cyrus. "We'd probably want to warn people of the impact ahead of time so they can prepare."

"Well I am sorry for not being a fantastic cook... or brewer." Cyrus answers Mikage, putting a hand at his hip and giving her a bit of a sassy postured look. "You can always ask Sassaral to put her skills to the test working with me."

Soma interjects; "You should take care to make sure your things taste well. Or you will never reach a proper market share." With a lazy look, before he looks aside to Mikage. "Yes. It will be important that you bring masks to this place. I am surprised you've managed to come this far inwards to the center of the Cauldron." The man remarks.

He then glances to Cyrus. "Though I should not be surprised that one of my Children would be the first to find this place in so many years." The man can't help but chuckle bemusedly to himself.

Cyrus ear perks, "I don't think..."

Soma just smiles; "You are Cait Sith. You are one of my Children." He expresses, before turning to Mikage proper and touching his chest; "I am the greatest brewer in all the lands. From here to the lands of Dark Water."

With the sassy look that Cyrus casts her way, Mikage raises her spiked brows and laughs softly. "Well, we'll just have to work on that. You've been by my side through my strange training and odd moods, so... I should return the favor at some point." They did need to make sure they turned some of the focus onto Cyrus, so that he could develop his own skills in this world.

Rama makes an unpleasant sound where he is perched over her shoulder, almost like a mix between a hiccup and a burp, and then lays his head down across Mikage's neck. "It's okay, buddy, we'll get out of here, soon." She offers, rubbing at the cat's back. In response, the feline blows a bubble, which may very well be part of the status effect on him.

Then, there is that mention of children again, and Miki looks between Cyrus and Soma. Cyrus is far more knowledgeable about Lore than she is, and the fact that this seems to be someone important is not entirely lost on her, though. "Dark Water?" Now this, Mikage knows about. "That's... one of the other servers, right?"

Soma shows this strange unfocused look as Mikage mentions another server, and Cyrus interjects; "Yes. That is one of the continents of this world." Which seems to catch Soma's attention. "Yes. It's a rather dangerous land, compared to this one though." He remarks. "I've not been there in many a century. But even in the beginning, it was a dangerous place."

Cyrus crosses his arms and considers this for a moment. He doesn't have any answers for Mikage directly, and she even can spot him shaking his head in this slight way suggesting this is outside of his field of expertise at this time. "We should depart though. Our feline companion is clearly looking worse for wear. I promise you, mister Soma, that we will return to the Hunters Guild and tell them of your need."

Pause.

"Oh, and our names - This is Rama, her name is Mikage, and I am Cyrus." He remembers that unlike Adventurers, Landers cannot just see their names and 'know'. "If you would excuse me." He then offers, bowing slightly, and moving to turn with Miki.

Sometimes, Mikage does talk like a person who is more focused on the real world than most members of the New World Alliance. She has still held on to some of the hope of seeing the world beyond again, even if she lives more fully in this one. It is a strange line that she walks. But, with the reminder of how she /should/ be referring to it, it causes the gargoyle to quiet.

"I hope we can see it someday, dangerous or no." This is all she really says on the matter. That spark of interest that comes with travel and exploration is there in her blue eyes.

Then, Cyrus is offering up their names and giving excuses for them to withdraw. "Um, right." She stumbles with her words, uncertain what to say, so she just inclines her head to the strange man before following behind Cyrus.

Only once they get a little distance does she whisper, "I'm confused." Of course she is. Miki never really did grasp much about the Lore of the world, despite sometimes having a front-row seat to it. "Explain to me once we're out of here."

Cyrus touches against Mikage's back and nods. "I will try to explain what I can when we are out of here. But honestly, this may be somewhat beyond the scope of what I know." He remarks; "But do you remember Ganesha..." He begins, as the two of them wander on off to depart from the Caldera.