Digging Up the Past(Eri and Almech)(Open)

[Albert J A Xavier]

70th Day of Winter, Year 511 AV Ajax had left Alvadas several days ago, and had set up camp in The Unforgiving, along with Almech and Eridanus, a Kelvic and Ethaefal who had offered to help him on this short journey. He had heard rumors of ruins in the area, and was determined to see if any of them had things that would further his knowledge, and allow him to start on what he hoped would be a journey to furthering the knowledge of the world at large, thereby showing his faith in his Goddess. In his view of the world, anything was worth the price of furthering ones knowledge, and traveling into The Unforgiving was what was required for the moment. So he was going to travel there, and see what he could find. Glancing around his makeshift camp, which was his tent, Eridanus' tent, with his pony nearby, and his saddlebags next to his pony, the scholar reached into his backpack, which he was using as a makeshift pillow, pulled out his blank book, quill, and stoppered vial of ink. He flipped the book open to its first page, uncorked the ink, dipped his pen in, and began to write. "70th Day of Winter, Year 511 AV. From the private journal of Albert Jacob Anthony Xavier. First day away from Alvadas since the accident. My leg still pains me when I think about what happened at the Watchtower, but not as much as it used too. Perhaps I'll find a Marked Healer and see if they can help me. If not, then I'll grow to live with it. On a professional note, I am heading into The Unforgiving to see if the rumours I heard of pre-Valterrian ruins are true. If they are, this should give me the chance to learn something about the people who lived here before the world fell apart under the Gods War. The only trouble I can forsee is running into yukmen in the mountains. With my limp, I may fall prey to these foes, though Almech and Eridanus are formidable fighters in their own rights. If I am extremely unlucky, I may even run into a Journeyman, seeking the same knowledge I do. If that happens, I am afraid that, even with the help of trained fighters, I will not return to Alvadas. That in mind, I plan on letting my pony travel some distance behind my group, with the journal in his saddlebag, just in case I fall prey to the dangers of this area." Without knowing it, Ajax had spoken aloud while he wrote, and his words carried in the still mountain air, to his companions.

[Eridanus]

It was still in the day, and Eridanus' body had taken on the form of his previous life, a messy-haired vantha with a devil-may-care attitude. He looked exceedingly young at the age of twenty-one to walk around with world-weary airs about him, and the practiced ease at which he carried his longswords around was an unnatural contrast to his physical youth.

He had met a scholar and magecrafter in the Sunken Conundrum not too many days back, and having taken magecrafting as a main degreeflashbacks still ongoing, thus ungraded and not mentioned in CS back while he was Zeltiva University it could be said that he was glad to find his kin-in-discipline, for magecrafters were rare these days. Most people who took up magic preferred reimancy when they were more hot-headed, and shielding when they were more careful. Magecrafting, along with a bunch of other rarely seen disciplines were left unnoticed.

The man's mind for intellectual debate had sparked Eri's imagination, and he found their viewpoints converging, especially on the part of the need for more knowledge. He agreed on that idea, though his personal perspective was so that he could empower the rest with education and knowledge. Gaining the information was only the beginning.

The fellow scholar had apparently been planning for an archaeological dig for pre-valterrian artifacts, and honestly the vantha felt it was a lost hope, for they were exceedingly rare. Still, the man seemed to have decided on the location of the dig after certain considerations, research and calculation. Since Eri did not have much to do anyway, he decided to help the man. At the very least his proficiency in combat should keep them alive.

It helped that his opponent-turned-ally Almech was with him too, and with that huge scythe of his it should intimidate the bandits and those smart enough to think about self-preservation. He would handle the rest.

The mild wind brought Ajax's words as he wrote in his journal, and the vantha wrinkled his nose in distaste, yelling out, "Hey hey hey, pessimism this early is not a very good sign. Have some faith, man!"

He sat on a rock in front of his tent, senses ever observant in case a random threat should appear. He wondered when the magecrafter would begin his dig. That was the main reason he was here after all.

[Albert J A Xavier]

Albert blinked, and looked up, at Eri. "What? Pessimism? Oh. I'm not being pessimistic. I'm just bringing my thoughts to their logical end. It's not my fault if my thought train leads to 'pessimism'," countered the man as he finished his writing. Leaving his book open to let it dry, he placed the journal on the ground next to him. Standing, the man lifted up his shovel and pick, and moved over to an area of the camp that was clean of the sticks, leaves, and other natural debris. His limp was more pronounced without his staff to lean on, and Albert stopped once to massage his leg, before continuing to the spot he was going to dig in. When he reached the spot, he placed the pick on the ground, and hefted his shovel. He brought it down, and began to dig. As he did, he decided he would talk with Eri. "Did you see where Almech went? I haven't seen him since we made camp last night."

[Eridanus]

"I have no idea, actually. He mentioned something about 'scouting' or 'food', can't really tell. He sure seemed hungry, though," Eridanus replied, as he watched the man begin digging. Without at least a person looking out and with Almech gone, he could not help the old man with his digging even if he wanted to.

He had to be alert in case one of the many dangers of the Unforgiving decide to make itself known to their small group.

He kept an eye out away from the scholar, but continued, "What exactly are we searching for here? I hope that you didn't just decide to dig here."

Indeed, he hoped it was not a random dig for it would most definitely be a lost cause. If the scholar did not have respectable knowledge that whatever he was looking for was at least somewhere around here, they would never find anything. The world was not exactly covered with pre-valterrian artifacts.

[Albert J A Xavier]

"There was a book in the Conundrum that said something about a city that was up here before the Valterrian. If those books were right, then there might be some buried artifacts up here. If they were wrong, then this is a big waste of time, and you'll have come up here for nothing," replied the scholar as he continued to dig. "If we're lucky, I might find some pre-Valterrian artifacts that I can study. Or get someone to help me study it, if it's been Magecrafted past my expertise." He stopped for a moment, to look around. "You ever get the feeling that you're being watched?" he asked, turning his head to look at Eri. "Like an itch between your shoulder blades. Although...That might just be an itch between my shoulder blades." With a shrug, he turned back to his work, digging once more. He spent several minutes throwing dirt to the side of his dig zone, before coming to a stop once more. "It's just...I don't know. Maybe Almech's coming back," he stated. "I just can't shake the feeling of being watched."

[Eridanus]

"Ahh... them books," Eridanus grunted in a non-committed manner, for he was merely making random conversation to pass the time. Guard duty was boring duty, though he was not sure if he wanted to find something to excite things a little, or not. It was not as if he could choose anyway, trouble usually found him.

"Watched?" He asked sharply, and began scanning their surroundings more carefully. Intuition was powerful, and though it may be a result of paranoia he'd most rather be safe than sorry. In a further end covered by rocks and trees he saw movement, the bushes were moving as a result of this disturbance.

"Almech?" He called out, his heart beginning to quicken its pace. He hoped that it's his gladiator friend or a harmless animal. It was too early in the day for strenuous activities like fighting for his life.

[Nyahna Sasin]

Why did these things keep happening to him? Why why why why why? Sasin collapsed under a bush, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Why was it that every time he tried to do something, he ended up getting attacked? Looking up, he could see the heat outlines of two people through the bushes. One of them looked a little familiar…

Poking his head around the side, his eyes widened as he spotted the Vantha. Grinning like a loon, he slithered around the side of the bush, keeping to the shadows, and popped out in front of Eri, out of reach of that longsword. He like his head where it was thank you very much.

"Hullo." Sasin said cheerfully, praying that Eridanus would recognize his Dhani form. It had only been a week and a half since their job together. "Before we say hi, catch up, and all that, I feel like I should tell you there's a herd of ugly dirt piles coming in this general direction."

That last part was made redundant the second he said it, as they would be able to hear crashing and pounding coming closer. "Very fast ugly dirt piles." He amended, pulling out his dagger.

[Albert J A Xavier]

"Yeah. Them books," he replied, turning to grin at Eri for a moment. Which was when the warrior began to scan the area. "What is it?" asked the scholar as he stopped digging, his shovel coming up to rest on his shoulder. And then dropped to rest on the ground, the handle held in his right hand as he used his left to brush dirt from his cloak. "Almech?" he asked, thinking the other warrior had returned, turning his head to look around for the man. When the bushes began to rustle, he lifted the shovel, as if he was going to defend himself with it. Which was when the Dhani popped out of the bushes and greeted Eri as if he knew the man. And then, it got worse. Yukmen. With a groan, the scholar hefted the shovel once more, his eyes darting around. "You brought Yukmen right to us?" he asked, as he scrambled out of his hole and towards his gear. He flipped his journal shut with one foot and leaned down to pick it up, when a earthy hand swept through the space his head had been moments before. The Yukmen had arrived, and attacked. Grabbing his book, the scholar scrambled backwards, waving the shovel infront of him, to ward off the Yukman. His injured leg gave out on his way backwards, and he fell. The shovel struck the yukmen, and fell to the ground next to Albert, leaving a large gash in the monster that was bringing its arm back to smash the scholar.

[Eridanus]

Instead of Almech, instead what came out was some sort of half-snake thing, and Eridanus jumped up quickly, drawing his sword mid-way before he realized that he had seen this creature before.

"Sasin!" He said in bewilderment. Mizahar was a large enough place for such coincidences to happen. They were somewhere in the wilderness, for Leth's sake. Unless he had been tracking them.

Before he could say anything, the Dhani gasped something about Yukmen, and immediately the scholar groaned. He had heard the word bandied about before, but the vantha had no real idea what they were facing.

Suddenly, he found a clump of short, vaguely humanoid things covered in rocks and mud. One of them apparently came from another direction, for it managed to take a swing at Albert with its mud-caked claws.

Eridanus swore, and the shrill screech of metal being drawn from its sheath rang into the air as the vantha took out both his blades. Half-running and half-bounding over to the scholar, he launched himself into the air and slammed a foot into the mud-creature who had attacked Albert.

He hacked at the creature, finding that its rocky skin gave it a form of natural armor, and instead he thrust his blade into it. The creature began squirming, and after several thrusts in different places it stopped moving, and Eri kicked its body down.

"Stay near me," The vantha commanded firmly. The scholar would be liability in combat, and his job was to keep him safe. Unfortunately, there was nowhere that could be confirmed to be safe, and so it's best to keep the man near him.

"Sasin! To me!" He cried to his ally. Together they would form a protective perimeter around Albert, and at the same time they would be able to watch each other's back.

At least this time trouble did not came to him. Well it did, but technically it came to Sasin first before coming to him.

[Nyahna Sasin]

"Brought them to you sounds so bad. Could we just say you were in my escape path?" He called over to the human, a sheepish grin on his face. "Besides" He brought his bow out, dropping his dagger to the ground. "They were headed in this direction anyways." He drew his bow, arrow nocked, and closed one eye briefly to aim. "I just gave you some warning." His arrow bounced off a rock. Petch. As he drew his bow again, something moved in his peripheral vision, and he whirled around to see Eri leap at one of the yukmen and slash at it. Turning back, he took aim, and released

He hated yukmen. A shrill cry pierced the air as another arrow sank into one of the creatures leg. Honestly, why couldn't the dirt stay where is was supposed to? Grabbing hid knife from the dirt, and retreating, he backed up until he was side by side with Eri.

"If either of you are wizards, this would be a good time to say so." He growled.

"Because the longer we stay here, the more chance we're going to attract something bigger."