Hikoru took one last chug of his water before he re-filled it one last time. Although it proved no benefit to his body in the outside world, it made him feel better in the moment. The previous day he had found a cave that he was sure no one had mapped yet, and he wanted to get first dibs, be the first person to map it. He had used a lot of stealth that day and had started to learn the ropes of what came with it, and he was able to evade a lot of nests of rats and giant spiders who had found shelter in the cavern by the sea. It was weird to see them there, but he didn't question it at the time. He had no clue how much range a creature could have from its habitat or if caverns had different beast rules than other places, but he didn't want to find out how strong they could be. He was lucky to find the right cavern that lead much farther into the cave, but it had gotten late and he knew that his body would need hydration, food and rest for the next day of work. Today was his last day of work before a day off however, so he could play as much as he needed to until he needed to eat, then he could come back and continue. He had planned to finish mapping this completely by tonight, and then start to make copies to sell. He soon appeared at the entrance to the cave, realizing that he had traversed all the way back in his time of thinking to himself. "Alright, day two in..." He thought for a moment, and realized that he hadn't given the cave a name, and he was sure it didn't have a name itself, or else he would have seen it on the board by now from the Cartography guild he had been hearing about. He sighed and scratched his head. What would he name it? He couldn't think of a name, and it was bugging him. He wanted to explore, but he knew that this would bother him and he wouldn't be able to get things correct if his mind didn't have his full attention, and he didn't want to get this wrong and put a bad map on the market, it would tarnish his name as a map maker. He sat down, and started to think of a name he could use, his tail wrapping around his waist so he didn't sit on it, blending into his black, basic clothing @Madison Freebird
As Madison drew closer to the seaside cave, she nodded to herself. Yep, this seems like the kind of place an old cult would hide out. It had all the characteristics that appealed to shadowy, secretive groups. It was secluded and well-guarded from prying eyes, with the shoreline on one side and the forest on the other. The briar witch spent half the morning trying to traverse the rocky paths leading to it. Her ankles burned, her arms were littered with bug bites, and she was angrier than usual. But the prize would be well worth the trouble. In the months since her first dive into Terrasphere, Madison found her little niche in the world. She survived her first big bits of content relatively unscathed, got a nice little gig at a research facility uncovering the secrets of the world's diseases, got in with a couple veterans who she could look up to for advice and help, and even began to acquire a small library of books that fed her desire to peel back the layers of Black Magic and learn the ins and outs of the art. One such book was buried deep within this cave--allegedly. That's what she picked up from hearsay and scraps of information from other tattered volumes. To be perfectly fair; Dunnstads seemed to be absolutely rotten with cultists, so she was bound to end up here eventually. Sometimes, Madison wondered why the hell the province wasn't named Yog-Sothothia or something. As the cursemage drew closer to the entrance of the cave, she noticed a Felis boy sitting on some nearby rocks, a canteen in his hands as he stared into the darkened maw of the cave. The black-haired cat seemed to be lost in thought. Maddy cleared her throat to announce her arrival. "'Sup," she greeted the Felis with a nod. It seemed strange that someone else might take an interest in the cave along the shores. It was well off the beaten path most adventurers took. Maybe he had an interest in the occult as well? She decided it was best to keep it friendly until she could decide if he was would threaten the outcome of her little quest. Motioning towards the cave with a gloved hand, she continued, "You here exploring as well?"
Hikoru was seriously trying to think. Thanks to a map he had seen earlier, he knew he was in the "Falderen" Area, so he was trying to think of a name that matched it. He kept trying, but nothing came to mind. He realized that this was pointless and just scratched the back of his head. Even though there were so many names he had thought, none of them felt right. He hit a stone wall, and he knew that he would just have to drop it until he finished the map, maybe the cave system would give a certain shape? He would have to wait and see. As he zoned out, someone had showed up just out of his peripherals. He jumped a bit as they spoke, and he quickly jumped to his feet. He had no equipment whatsoever, and it was starting to pose a problem to him. He was completely defenseless, but he didn't know what else to do. He let out a small sigh as he knew that he could die right now if he tried anything, so he lowered his defenses a bit, and held his hands up, his canteen in one hand and his half-done map in the other. "I'm just a cartographer, trying to figure out a cave no one else has found before... There's no found loot or anything yet, just spiders and rats..." He said, hoping that this wasn't a player killer, or else he just lost all of his hard work. Although, he was unsure as to how they would be able to figure out a map on an unfinished cave, and if they didn't know how to read a map they were even more screwed.
Madison could sense a bit of unease in the felis's voice and actions, holding up the drink and half-finished map in his hands as he explained what he was doing there. "It's okay," she interrupted, motioning for him to settle down. "I'm not gonna' hurt you or anything. Just picked up a lead on some dusty ol' treasure, figured I'd check it out." The witch had cause to believe him about the loot. Most people would've been a little less forthcoming about information like that. "Maybe the spiders and rats are guarding it," she said through pursed lips. She parked herself on a nearby stack of rocks, producing a bottle of water of her own from her inventory and taking a refreshing sip. Maddy motioned towards the map with the open mouth of the container. "I can imagine a map of this place will be useful once its done. How much you got left to draw up?" The cursemage wanted to keep this guy interested in the cave. What few people visited the place were long dead, either by old age or by annoying the wrong god. If he had to venture back into its depths, it'd be nice to have a guide. Or someone to watch her back if the monsters inside attacked. Or someone to use as a meat shield if they proved to be too powerful.
Hikoru lowered his arms cautiously as she said she wasn't going to kill him. He was unsure of who he could really trust in this game, and he wanted to make sure that he was safe so he still kept his wits about him as he listened. She seemed to think that maybe the rats and the spiders were hiding the loot, and he scratched his chin. It would be good for him to check, but he decided against it. He knew he would end up dead long before he got close to any possible check. "It's a possibility, but I have no way to check as of right now...." He said quietly, then she asked about his map. He unfolded it, and showed a good sized math, with only about half done, possibly less. He scratched his head. "Halfway done, but this alone took me hours yesterday to do, to do the rest would be awhile... Plus avoiding passing spiders and rats makes it hard to focus on making a map, or to move ahead fast enough to get a map done in a few hours." he said with another sigh. He scratched his head a bit looking at it, and still couldn't think of a name. "Anyways, I planned on going in right before you came along, I just had something on my mind..." He placed the map in his pocket and put the canteen back into his inventory, it disappearing into thin air as he looked around. The girl seemed alone, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but he still wasn't sure. "You seem awfully high levelled to just check out a cave in a place where lower-levelled players usually go... It's sorta strange, at least from my view." He asked. "Why do you think something valuable to you could be in here?" He asked curiously, now wondering if there was some alterior motive for her being here
Madison snorted. "High-leveled? Hardly." She produced her deck of tarot cards, the backs pressed with thin layers of green crystal harvested from the ant queen she helped fight. The emerald cards glistened in the sunlight, making the couple of flourish she performed for the felis seem just a little bit flashier and impressive. "Something I Iearned pretty early on is that you get a lot more enjoyment out of the game if you don't focus on levels and powering up., otherwise you'll just be wandering the beginner's fields and caves in Falderen, beating the hell out of an endless stream of slimes and wolves like I did." The witch effortlessly fanned the deck out in her hands and produced a card, which floated in the air before her, small purple wisps of flame licking at the card's face as the spell built up power. She dismissed the incantation, snatching the card out of the air and sliding it back into the deck. "Think of this more as an experience, and you'll have considerably more fun." She motioned towards the map the boy held in his hands with her cards. "You seem to have a good start on that already, yeah?" Not a lot of people starting out in Terrasphere would have considered map-making as a potential way to discover and explore the game. There was probably a decent bit of gold in it, too. Maybe not enough to afford everything you needed to make your way through the world, but enough to advance at a comfortable pace. Kind of like Maddy's current gig at Dunnstads Medical North, poking sick people with needles and sticks and mysteriously muttering to herself while scribbling down notes. "It's kind of why I like to lurk around Dunnstads," the cursemage continued with a soft shrug of her shoulders. "I like studying the darker aspects of a world's lore. This province is a hotbed of occult activity. There's just something about the proximity of the ocean and the endless unknown that lies deep down that attracts the spooks and weirdos, you know?" A small smile crossed her face. "Not to mention the fishmen that lurk all along the shoreline. This whole region is practically Diet Lovecraft." Gripping the tarot cards tight in a gloved hand, Madison pushed herself back up to her feet and stretched. "I'll move on when I've exhausted my research here. Speaking of which--" the briar witch motioned towards the beckoning maw of the cavern nearby. "I have a couple leads on a dusty tome that might be lying in a chest or something deep within this place. I figure, if you don't have the whole thing mapped out yet, you probably haven't come across it. But since you're looking to finish up, I could help you take care of the monsters lurking inside. "If we come across any books, they're mine. Anything else we come across, you can probably have. Deal?"
Hikoru watched as the women brought out some cards that he didn't recognize. He tensed up his legs in preparation to run. He knew that there weren't any trees or crazy things nearby that he could easily escape to and run from easily, but again, he didn't know what abilities or what kind of build this player was using. He continued to look as the young woman said something about his map, and he zoned back in. Apparently, there was some sort of cult-ish thing going on that he hadn't heard about before. His eyes widened a bit as he pulled out his map, opening and reading his notes he had put on the side, and noticed a pattern with the strange symbol that he had come across a few times, and he noticed that while they were sparce and few in between, they had all lead down the correct trail that goes lower throughout the cave. He had made a small drawing of it. He held up the map and pointed to it "Does this symbol mean anything to you?" He asked curiously. After a moment, he turned it back to him and rubbed his chin with his free hand. "This symbol leads straight down the right path, and if this is true, then we know how to check for the correct pathway in case we need to escape..." He chuckled. "This cave has turned that much more interesting." The woman asked him to accompany her, sort of like a guide of how to get through, he thought for a moment, and realized that if he had a good fighter, he had a chance to get treasure and things that he could use to help protect himself in this crazy world. He knew that the only thing she asked for was any books, or anything specific she might want. While he was a bit confused, he knew that he didn't have much need for a book, unless they had specifics on map making. He nodded and held a hand out for her to take. "That sounds like a fair deal to me." He said with a nod. After a minute, he looked at the map one last time, then nodded. "Alright, lets get moving." He said as he entered the cave. He took a minute to get his bearing in the darker area, but thanks to his more feline eyes, he quickly adapted to the dark and saw where he was going. He kept looking down at the map and then back up, checking his notes and seeing that he had done well, and he passed a mark, meaning that they were making their way down easily. He kept going until his map stopped, then he stood still, pulling out his quill. "Alright, this is as far as I had gone. I have to start sketching so things may slow down. If you notice anything around let me know, i'll mark it on the map." He said, before he sat down where he was and started to sketch the area around him, making precise marks on the map and making sure the curvature was correct, double and triple checking what he drew before moving onto the next one
Madison rubbed her chin with gloved fingers as the young felis held the drawing of the symbol in front of her. "Yeah," she muttered distantly while she flipped through the pages of her memory. "I've seen this in my studies, once or twice." It was the sign of a small band of necromancers called the... well, she couldn't remember how the group spelled their name, but it was in some sort of fake Latin. Like what some authors and game writers use to make themselves sound smarter than they really were. But while the clan's name was pretentious, they were far from pushovers. The briar witch recalled reading a page or two in an encyclopedia on the occult happenings in Dunnstads that talked about them. Their main goal was, like all most some necromancers, to give death the middle finger and achieve eternal live through their dark arts. Lichdom. They were quite unsuccessful, naturally. Their continued failures and bull-headed insistence on getting it right next time caused quite a stir among the local populace. Mostly kidnappings of young adults and homeless wanderers, as you do. A couple ceramics stores were broken into as well, picked clean of jars that would presumably act as phylacteries. But the uproar was mostly about the missing townsfolk. It was around thirty years ago that the necromancers finally gave up, though. And only after their numbers dwindled down to zero. "It's nothing to worry about," Maddy said with a shrug and a smile. Madison held a torch as they moved through the deepening tunnels of the cavern. Brilliant orange light cast dancing shadows of the pair of adventurers against the rocky walls. Further down, she could hear the telltale scratches of claws scampering across the tunnel floor. Eventually, her felis companion stopped in his tracks, commenting that this was as far as he'd previously gotten before pulling out his map and a writing utensil. "I'm gonna go on ahead a bit," the cursemage said. "If you see anything strange, holler. If it's dangerous, scream." Holding the torch out in front of her, Madison moved deeper into the cavern. Her boots weren't exactly finding purchase on the damp rocks of the seaside cave, but she easily kept her balance as she went along. Behind her, the cartographer continued to work. She could make out the soft skritching of his pencil against the parchment as he threw himself into his map, making sure he had every minute detail covered for any future travelers curious enough to explore the cave. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed some black markings drawn on the wall. Maddy immediately recognized it as the symbol of the necromancers, the very same one that Hikoru had himself scribbled down. Even though the cult was long gone, she could still feel lingering traces of power in the symbol. Unconsciously, her gloved hand slowly drew closer to the symbol, closer and closer until she pressed her forefinger against it. "Fuck!!!" The pain was immediate and electric. The witch hissed through clenched teeth. The iron tang of blood filled her mouth. Madison could feel the symbol coming to life beneath her touch. The eye at the centerpiece glowed black, seemingly drawing light away from the flickering flame of the torch. She could feel the icon tugging at her very self, prying into her mind, testing her for some unknown thing. She tried not to scream. Her jaw clenched hard enough to nearly crack her teeth. Blackened fingers continued to probe her mind, forcing their way into the darkest corners of her imagination. It was too strong for her to protect herself against--so the witch relented. The magic that haunted the necromancers' eye filled every part of her. Whispers of untold power echoed in her ears, promising to divulge the countless secrets of life and death if she bent her knee and offered herself to "them". And so she did. In an instant, the spirit was gone, the light of the flame returned, and she found herself on the floor. A wave of emptiness washed over her, leaving her completely numb. Her breathing was shallow, her thoughts scattered. The wall before her rumbled and shook as a hidden doorway opened up. Rocks split from one another in a jagged arch, revealing a blackened abyss beyond. Madison tiredly scrambled to her feet, squinting in the darkness to try and see what was down this new path. Her voice was weak and hoarse at first. "Hey--map boy--"
