A burrowing encounter

It's a quiet early afternoon in the forests near the city of beginnings, a gentle breeze flowing through the plant life and trees lending the area the gentle music of nature. Birdsong and the occasional call of a wild animal or monster can be heard from time to time, making this particularly shady part of the woods feel especially alive with activity. The trees here have grown especially tall, looking quite a bit healthier than is natural and clearly having been tended by someone using magic.

There is a rustling of leaves and the sound of dirt being dug away from somewhere, before a fiercely clawed hand pokes up from the ground in an especially clear area. Shortly after, a dirty crop of red hair pokes up, a pair of emerald green eyes following after and a mouth that splutters dirt from its mouth, "Eugh! Freaking rain! I need to find a way to keep my entrances from caving in..." They mutter to themselves in a distinctly effeminate or perhaps particularly young voice. They wiggle their shoulder a little bit, and after a few moments of struggle then glance down. "Aaaaand I'm stuck... great..."

in the distance, not too far a way, a tiny spriggan is seen doing a workout, a giant rock is tied to her back as she does one armed pushups, "five hundred and sixty eight. .." she counted. The spriggan might not even be seen depending on angle, as the rock is that much larger than her, though, she suddenly stops and looks around. "Is someone there? I swore i heard someone! It better not be an ambush! I can throw this rock. So show yourself."

The sound of another voice in a forest where they clearly thought they were alone makes Rhi eep loudly and instinctively try to duck into their hole, only to end up smooshing their face into the detritus on the forest floor. With a groan they shout, "Don't throw rocks, you'll hurt someone!" Panic clear in their voice. They wriggle and squirm, trying to escape their earthy bonds but it's no use. "U-uuuuhhh... I kinda -cant-... sh-sjow myself..."

Viviene first returned to her feet and casts of the enormous boulder, which lands on the ground with an enormous crash, she begins searching around and follows Rhi's voice and looks down at them. "You look like you're in a pickle! how did you manage that? Need some help? Kind of a mercenary, you know." she shifts into a twirl and elegant bow. "Viviene, Applicant to the Sleeping Knights guild, and bladesinger, good to meet you." she says cooly, poise and all, though there is mirth in her eyes. "Is that some secret mole trick?"

The crashing of the Boulder causes the ground to shake in a way that makes the small (apparent) human let out a cry of surprise. They blink up at Viviene as she rounds the corner, clearly expecting something like a troll or a giant based on the great crashing sound they had heard. After a few seconds of confused contemplation, they reply, "R-Rhi... could you uh... h-help me out of my... this?" They ask, motioning with their one free hand to the hole in the ground they're currently stuck in. "Wh-what? N-n-no! I'm not a mole, I'm... I-I live here!" Giving absolutely 0 context.

Viviene ponders thoughtfully. "Live here? in the ground?" she asks in a rather smooth, feminine tone, more mature than her petite size lets on. "Well, sure, I can help you, but can you afford it?" she asks, reaching down to grasp Rhi's hand. "Because I'm not cheap! Brace!" she gripped Rhi's arm with both hands and begins tugging with monstrous strength for such an unassuming spriggan. "Here we Go!"

"Y-yeah, I built this de--" They don't get another word in before they're yanked out of the ground, the force of which causes runes all over their body to flash and a millimeter thick barrier of blueish light to appear all along their arm. Once they're out of the ground, they shoot Viviene a glare, "You could have ripped my arm off without my wards!" They complain, starting to brush the dirt from the body and clothes, which looked dirty and worn even without the layer of dirt on them... and far too large for their small body. They look up at their savior with a puzzled look, "I-I don't have money... I just... well, I-I don't go into the cities much."

Viviene just holds a finger up, shaking it. "Now now, services rendered must be paid for, you know how hard it is for us spriggans? My repair bill is attocious, and its hard getting jobs from the people. You really.. trying to cheat me?" she asks, almost dangerously, then smiles brightly. "It doesn't matter though, i happen to be doing a once a year special sale on rescuing mole people out of holes!" it definitely seems like this particular adventurer was acting out their character, and she wears rather worn out gear, and it looks like she has been in the wilds for a long time or simply hasn't repaired it. "So, it doesn't matter! Just this one time, my rescue service is free of price. But i have an image to uphold, alright? Im a mercenary."

After their robes are beaten clean, Rhi looks up at Viviene with a look of incredulity, it's clear that they couldn't tell if the spriggan was being serious or not, so they simply start to back away, hands twitching a bit as their emerald green eyes start to take on a more reddish hue. "You... help people then demand coin after?" They ask, the air around the two of them growing thicker all of a sudden. They look down at their own gear, which is very likely I'm worse repairs that Viviene's and grimaces, "Get a Chronologers bauble, won't be a problem anymore." Suddenly their shyness is nowhere to be seen, very clearly on guard.

Viviene lets out a laugh. "No. Not really. If I was a bandit I don't think I would have helped you right now, now would I?" she said with a further chuckle. "Like I said, I'm letting you off free, but that hurts my reputation as a mercenary, and I'm sure you don't want people to know you got stuck in the dirt, so fair is fair right?" she asks, stepping over and attempting to pat Rhi on the shoulder with a hefty pat. "You can relax. I'm not gona hurt you for no reason. Deal with enough problems out in the wilds as is, right?"

The moment Viviene's hand comes near Rhi's shoulder, a far thicker barrier of energy flares up, preventing her from getting closer than two inces of touching him. That being said, the small person let's out a breath and seems to relax, the shadows on the forest floor returning to their normal shapes... had they been moving closer to the pair? "Sure... I-I guess.." They say quietly.

Now that they knew they weren't about to come under attack, Rhi has begun to examine the Spriggan before him, tilting his head to the side and blinking at the pendant on her chest. "Wh-where did you get that!?" They shout, eyes going wide and shining with violet light, small runes twirling in their irises.

Viviene hadn't seemed to be bothered by the gathering shadows or the barrier Rhi creates, she just shrugs a little at it, but when Rhi gets worked up about her pendant, she blinks at him. "Huh? What about it, this thing? Oh, I think it was off some really rare mob I killed a long time ago. I just kept it on me as a keepsake. It looks pretty cool, doesn't it?" she asks of Rhi. "Also, whats a Chronologers bauble?"

There is a long pause as Rhi just stares at Viviene as of she were an alien, jaw dropped open in sheer disbelief. "You're joking, right?" They ask all of a sudden, pulling out a pendant that looks nearly identical. "This is only one of the most powerful relics I've ever run across, letting you read ancient symbols of magic and process information beyond the human limit. It's literally the basis for my magic and to you it's just a keepsake!?" They almost look offended! They put their face into their hands and take a step over to their hole, dropping down into it and shouting. "C'mere! You should probably see this."

Viviene sets her hands on her hips. "Kid, I fight things and find cool things, I got an appraisal skill of 'Not applicable.', but I'll believe you, sounds useful. What do you mean, human limit though? " it might seem weird for such a small spriggan call Rhi 'kid', but she definetly gives the impression of an adult. She looks to the hole, and makes her way over and looking inside the hole. "See what?

down that hole light can be seen, as well as the distinct heat and smell of worked metal mixing with the sodden earth that lined the walls of the den, lending the entire place a rather odd aroma. The voice comes calling out of the hole again, "Just get down here and I'll /show/ you!" Oddly they didn't seem at all shy with her, perhaps it was simply their excitement overruling their usually meek personality, or perhaps it was something to dow ith their shared relic, who knew. "I make magical items, just get down here and you'll see!"

"Oh, so there IS a race of mole people. Cool!" she hops into the hole, sliding down into it without much of a care in the world, landing on her feet and doing the classic 'superhero' landing once she lands as she looks around. "You got a whole little base in here. Very impressive." she compliments. "Doesn't it get a little musty though?" she asks as she looks around. "I'd chose a street alleyway over a musty hole any day."

"I'm not a mole person, I'm a hell-hound!" Rhi complains loudly, eyes flashing to their glowing red and teeth becoming closer to fangs, "Stop calling me that!" The hole was surprisingly deep, and it let's out like a slide, leveling out towards the bottom as little more than a hole in a wall. Inside, the floor, walls and ceiling have all been packed with hardened clay, lending a surprising amount of solidity to the small den. The ceiling was just shy of six feet tall, more than enough from for the two of them, but small enough that the larger races would have a hard time standing. The room they found themselves in way fairly large, spanning forty feet in one direction and thirty in another, a small portal in the wall showing another room. There was furniture in the room formed of raw stone, seemingly naturally formed and rather rough looking, showing that whoever created it had no ranks in the construction skill. The only thing here made not of stone was a work station that had a small forge and many metal and glass tools, some with gemstones in them, scattered about. Evidently the hovel was built on a hill, because there was slats installed near the edge of the ceiling that let in natural light and air, covered by brush. Rhi walked over to their work station and pulled out a bangle that had runes engraved along it's surface. "Take out your pendant and hold it by the clasp, look through the rings at this bracelet, okay?" They instruct as if they were a teacher. "Trust me, this is cool!"

"Oh, a hellhound. That makes sense. Tryin' to get closer to down below, huh?" Viviene teases, clearly just being light hearted as she pulls her pendant out and fiddles with it, looking at the bangle presented. "This isn't gona explode, right? I really don't feel like taking a nap right now." she points out, but it was clearly a rhetorical question, as she does as Rhi suggests, bringing the pendants rings to her eye level , and directs her sight and pendant to the bangle right and proper..for now, nothing happens. "So.. what next? This is new to me."

Rhi simply blinks at the joking Viviene with a confused expression, "No? Built this place not long after the apocalypse, couldn't make it back to city without dying over and over from exposure during the winter, so I made a place here. I have a bit of Earth-craft." They explain, watching with a grin as she raises the pendant... then frowns. "Do you not understand the basic principles of magic?" They ask, not in a condescending way, but in general curiosity. "You need to send mana through it to make it work, here." The raise their own pendant to their eye and suddenly music fills the air, a haunting humming melody that makes the very ground itself seem to vibrate in resonance. The rings begin to turn like a gyroscope, and soon enough they peer through a field of energy in thr center of their own pendant. "There, try that."

"I know magic. I spent many days practicing the arts and the occult, Y'know, I just .. Never had a cool item like this before, or well, knew how they worked. Not everyone is a pro gamer, Kid." her eyes light up with curiosity as the mana activates the pendant. "Woah, that IS cool. But whats it do?" she asks as she peers through the energy as she watches the gyroscopic rings twirl about. "You said its some powerful artifact? Sure this one ain't a dud?" she squints into the artifact though, as if trying to see through it intently.

Rhi passes their own pendant for Viviene to look through, revealing the symbols on the bangle to be an enchantment that very slowly reverses time on equipment within its field, essentially acting as a repair spell. "This basically let's you read ancient symbols, usually magical ones. I use it to make enchantments and as thr basis for my magic." They explain, glancing at the pendant she wore that was apparently non-functional. "It should work just fine, I don't think it takes that much mana to activate?" That being said to anyone who was able to sense mana, they'd note that it rolls off of them at monstrous levels, comparable to an archmage. "Do you want me to take a peek at it, see of any of thr sigils are damaged?"

Viviene squints for a little, watching. "Nah, it works. Pretty strong magic there, must take a lot to recharge to keep such a repair effect going, and I bet it don't work well in combat either, huh?" she noted. "Pretty neat though. This thing might be useful for work.." she said, as she regards her pendant before putting it back on her neck, mostly mentioning work to herself as an inward thought. "Who knew two of this kind of thing could exist. I just thought it was a really pretty high value item at first, but I can't even sell it, but its too cool to sell now. Shopkeeper Landers don't even want to buy it, and its no-trade, even."

"It's not a repair effect! I've found that some weapons like Obsidian can't be repaired, so I made this little thing to work with it. And yeah, combat disrupts the Chronon field and it can't effect organic matter, so it doesn't work on living weapons.... enchanted ones either." Rhis explains, scratching at their cheek with a full on claw. "The magic doesn't get along in most cases. Things I enchant can be repaired this way because I design them to be open to chronology, but that's also a weakness at times." They explain, rambling like an old wizard. At the mention of selling the pendant, Rhi's eyes go wide, "This is basically a natural treasure! even without its other effect, cryptographers would go to war over these!" They let out a small huff and say, "I'm not sure how two of these could exist either, from what I understand this was made from the corpse of a hero."

Viviene looks at the pendant and pokes it, then sniffs it. "It doesn't smell like its made of flesh, or anything like that, so Its gotta be something else from said hero, but hey, I met someone who is good at doing appraisals, I'll have them take a look at it and chim you what is discovered." she offers freely to Rhi. "Wait, other effect? What is that?" she asks as she peers at her pendant, shrugging. "This game stuff gets too much for me. Martial arts tournaments were so much simpler." she laments as she rubs the back of her head. "People use obsidian for weapons? Why not Steel or something stronger? They must break easily."

Rhi simply shrugs, "I couldn't tell you what part of them it comes from, likely their eyes? Would explain why there is two of them.... and no, they likely used transmutation to change the base material." They explain with a casual wave of their hand. They pick up the bangle and toss it to Viviene, "Keep it, if you're so likely to break your equipment then this will hopefully stop you from wringing out poor travelers pockets when you... assist them." Their voice is dry, but a small bit of mirth can be heard within. They blink at thr mention of an appraiser and suddenly shout, "I want to meet them! what's their name?" They ask suddenly, skirting around the question about the other effect for now. "And yeah, obsidian is brittle, but it's sharper than any metal you're going to find without a honing enchantment."

With a scratch of her cheek, she catches the bangle on a finger, puts it a hand, then offers the item back. "It.. won't do me much good." she opens a menu and turns it around, highlighting her strength stat. It is nearly maxed, costing many many many dozens of points and countless experience to actually increase. "Sure, it works in the long term, but I'm not capable of keeping such things charged with magic. I carry spare weapons with me. Its yours, kid, keep it. I will not take something you worked so hard on and take pride in. The Appraiser is named Haru. Only briefly met them, but they seem alright."

the bangle pauses in mid air as it is tossed back, a frown on their face as they regard their conversation companion. Their eyes turn jet black with violet symbols running about them for a moment and they frown. "Thats... odd. Usually players have no mana or lots of mana... you have... not a lot." They blink and their eyes are normal again and they shrug, "Well, now I have an idea for an item to make for you at least." they look up at Viv and give her a small glare, "You /will/ accept the item I make for you or I'll fuse it to your armor." They threaten,, before humming and getting back to their work. "Aaaaaaaanyways, I make jewelry mostly, enchanted and non-enchanted... got any requests?"

Viviene considers Rhi's question for a moment and shrugs. "Something that makes me faster? Makes me hit even harder? I can't even open the enchanting Menu, I don't even know whats possible." she isn't certain. "Oh, thats because while I'm -really- good with Dark magic, I'm more specced into sword artes than wave Artes. I've a few magics I can use, but I'm not a dedicated caster. I bet if I brought more magic to a fight my Magic bar would jump up, but nah.." she just points to her big HP bar. "Prefer that, and gettin' close and personal. You do see my swords, right?" She actually hasn't noticed her giant greatsword has carved a divot deep into the floor of Rhi's little hide out on her way down. The sword has to weigh more than she does.

Rhi has been doing their best to ignore the deep gouge in their work, though it very clearly had irked them. They consider the blades for a moment and snap their fingers, "What if I made you a ring with a gem in it that you could drag cross the blades edge to imbue it with dark, since that's an element you're familiar with? I've been working on these things called voidstones, this would be a pretty decent test!" They abnounce with a happy sound, "Could make your blade partially ignore armor."

Viviene ponders the suggestion quietly. "That might be helpful, sounds similar to Thorn Bind Hostage's effects, but actively ignoring defense on the hit instead of doing damage if a weapon gets through armor." she said thoughtfully, perhaps misinterpreting. "But, why are you insisting you make something for me? I'm broke, and believe me, I won't be able to give you much in return, unless you want to go questing or something...hate to say it, been in this world a long time and haven't touched a single quest, but thats mostly because Landers seemed to hate me. Heard about the Hunter's guild recently. I joined up."

"Well, I'm not gonna make you this ring for free, you'd have to find a way to pay for it" Rhi explains casually, picking up what looks to be an uncut sapphire the size of a fist and starting to let some blue wisps of mana flow into it... which anyone familiar with magic would know that mana that's actually visible is incredibly dense. "But you won't be able to use anything I make without the thing I have planned for you, but it's a surprise!" They mention with a small giggle, before motioning to the hole they entered from. "I've got a project to work on now, you're free to hang about if you like but I'm going to be too focused on this to talk to you now." They grab what looks like a want tipped with a red gem, and start cutting tiny symbols into the sapphire.

Viviene stretches her arms and adjusts her sword. "Well, if you will be working, I'm off to meet someone called Zekken. I plan to challenge 'em to a duel." she noted as she looks up to the hole above, and offers a wave. "Kind of tired of fighting things around here and doing pushups. Time to do something different for a change and see if mastering this virtual body has paid off." she nods at Rhi. "Good to meet you, Rhi, Do not blow yourself up enchanting things. I'll see you again." she taps a menu and offers a friend request to Rhi, before launching out of the hole with a sudden leap that probably causes the small little hide out to shake. "See you!"

Rhi offers a smile and accepts that friend request without even looking at it, definitely easy to take advantage of in their current state of concentration. "Good look Viv, there are some Gnolls hiding about in the forest nearby." They note absently.

A few moments after Viviene leaves the small den, a muffled boom sounds out, making the ground nearby shake just a bit.