💎The Dark Blowhole – Stage 1

Faizah and Emilia get wrapped up in something a bit more serious than they’re used to.

Characters: Faizah, Emilia, Pao (NPC), Leslie (NPC)

Warnings: N/A

Wordcount: 1,506

Vibe: something went DOWN and these two jackasses gotta get to the bottom of it

this managed to break my like. months long writers block so im a bit  (see: incredibly) rusty but im trying my best out here DFGHJK

this was for the paperdemon crystal caves campaign, this is the ‘non pd verse’ version
sort of improvising this as i go so !!! we’ll see where we end up

---

The Ultra Desert is full of constant reminders of its inhospitality, especially outside the comforts of the capital kingdom.

It was completely accidental. Faizah and Emilia were nothing more than treasure trawlers, after all… so fresh ruins definitely weren’t something either of them were expecting to come across. Neither of them were even aware of the small outpost… or rather, former outpost.

Despite the reputation the Desert’s residents had for being closed off to outsiders at times, those who remained at the wreckage were either ambivalent towards the duo, or even came up to talk.

A guzzlord? Here?

It sounded… concerning. Faizah was definitely curious, but was having trouble managing Emilia… after all, the destruction had dug up the sands enough to expose the layer of crystal underneath – a treasure trove they could easily collect and sell for a small fortune at the capital.

It was definitely a conflict of interest, but Faizah figured if this truly was a guzzlord incident… Emilia and herself wouldn’t have a capital to sell their bounty at in the worst case.

—

There was one building still standing intact in the outpost, a forge. 

A bit odd, Faizah thought… the bugfolk didn’t seem the type for heavy material work.

As it would turn out, she was right – there were some pheromosa lingering around the forge, but they looked more confused and angry, than anything. It was Emilia who could pick up the scent of a few different lupanthera individuals that were out of sight, before the duo was abruptly confronted by a blonde-furred woman… standing bipedally at her full height to blockade them from continuing.

She seemed to have the pretense that the duo was looking for a ‘Leslie’… neither Emilia nor Faizah had any idea what she was talking about, but Faizah was intrigued and did what she did best – play along for her favor.

Her words were calm and nonchalant, even if she spoke with a bit of a glint in her eye.

Part of her word was the truth – she and Emilia were travelers who had stumbled upon the town… but that the two had work they’d been meaning to pick up from Leslie.

With the state of the outpost, it’s only natural they’d be concerned about his whereabouts, right?

—

The woman sighed, and her imposing stance calmed down a bit.

She introduced herself as Pao, the co-manager of the forge. She did seem the tiniest bit suspicious that she’d never heard of Faizah’s contract with Leslie before, but mentioned it wasn’t unlike him to take on more work than she’d allow in secret.

Pao moved out of the way, and allowed the duo to move a bit more into the building. There, Emilia’s suspicions of a lupanthera staff were confirmed – and the workers seemed to eye the spectacle of seeing one of their own kin coming from outside for a brief moment before going back to work.

“I convinced Leslie to take some time for himself.” Pao started to explain unprompted.

“In turn… dumbass goes into the cavern mine alone, wanting answers, or something. He’s probably going to get himself killed and I’m worried, but…”

Pao paused for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

“He’s a bit… eccentric, so the other folks at the outpost were quick to try and ‘blame’ him for whatever the hell happened. But he’s like a brother to us here.” she said with a shake of the head.

“He wouldn’t… lure a guzzlord here, or some shit. So we’ve been standing our ground while he’s out. If anything, deep in a cave is probably the safest option for him right now.”

Interesting…

“Well, we’re already travelling, and my partner Emilia here is especially familiar with the cavern system.” Faizah nodded.

“Least we could do is… check in on him. Besides, if he doesn’t come out of there, we won’t get the work we paid for.”

There was no edge to Faizah’s words, as they were spoken with an air of honesty that did not truly exist.

“You sure? The reason he headed off into the caverns was because the guzzlord went there, too. I know it takes a professionally equipped merc to deal with that kind of nightmare.”

Faizah paused for just a second.

She was curious, yes… but going into an enclosed space with a guzzlord sounded like a solid death wish… she was reconsidering a bit.

Unfortunately, Emilia took Faizah’s silence as a chance to speak.

“We’re pretty good, I’d say! We’ll be alright.”

“Alright… y’all better come back though, you hear?” Pao sighed.

Emilia and Faizah nodded, though the latter’s expression was drenched in masked rage.

The two made their way on the path towards the mine’s entrance, and for the entire five minute walk, Faizah did nothing but lecture Emilia.

—

Deeper, deeper, yet deeper…

As the duo went into the mines, the damage was already evident – the path ahead appearing as if it was bored through shoddily. Knowing the voracious nature of guzzlord, Faizah felt they’d be lucky if they even found Leslie, or what potentially remained of him.

Despite complaining about her nonstop on their walk there, Emilia was diligent in covering as Faizah went onwards. While the mine seemed to be one-way, it was important to be alert when dealing with something like a guzzlord.

Still, Emilia walking while looking backwards resulted in her bumping into Faizah when she stopped in her tracks, nearly tumbling both of them over.

But Faizah’s poise was determined – because ahead of them, with his back turned, was a smaller-statured yet broad shouldered lunpanthera man investigating a large crystal formation.

He had an impressive sword, so Faizah felt she’d have to act confidently…

With a sharp sounding noise, Faizah withdrew her dagger and cornered Leslie from behind.

“Alright, hands up. It’s Leslie, right?” she said.

“No reason in hell someone with a clear conscience would walk into a pincer with a guzzlord, much less have their coworkers cover their whereabouts. You better have a real keen excuse, yeah?”

—

Leslie was quick to grip his sword’s hilt, but remained frozen.

“I don’t have any answers for you.” he said, his voice unafraid.

“I’m just seeking the truth. That’s why you’re here too, isn’t it?”

“Maybe so.” Faizah huffed.

“Are you crazy or just suicidal, then? Your sword may be impressive, but I’ve heard even heavy artillery struggles with guzzlord.”

“You’ve seen the outpost, haven’t you? There’s not much left I can lose. Least I can do for the community is try and get to the bottom of this.” Leslie said with a sigh, before turning around.

“Look. You sound smart. You’re the type who tends to know what you’re doing, right? Three bodies is better than one… I figure we’d both benefit if we worked together on this.”

Faizah retracted her blade and crossed her arms.

“I suppose you’re right. Not much I can say to argue.”she huffed.

“But for all intensive purposes – I’m in charge, here.”

“If that’s you’re only condition, works for me.”

—

The three continued deeper into the hole bored out by the guzzlord’s rampage in relative silence – at least, until the one-way tunnel opened up into a larger open cavern.

“Shit…” Emilia mumbled.

“Hm? What is it, Emi?” Faizah responded, stopping and turning to face her adventuring partner.

“If the thing bored through to a larger open space like this… do you think its trying to find its way to the Cavern City?”

“It’s a mindless monster, Emi. I don’t see why it would-” Faizah started, but was cut off.

“…I believe your partner is right.” Leslie said with a deep sigh.

“They’re attracted to divine energy. Some of the researchers at our outpost had noted unusually high readings as of late, even on surface level…”

Leslie pulled out a small box-shaped device, and flicked a switch on it that turned on a backlit display. As soon as it did, it began making a clicking sound regularly.

“It’s stable-type energy, so we’re not in any danger ourselves from it. But the fact that the reading is only getting stronger as we get closer to the underground city… isn’t reassuring.”

The was a long, dreadful pause. While Faizah’s expression remained neutral, Emilia’s was much more distressed.

“Fuck, we should hurry up then, shouldn’t we?!” she said, sounding a bit exasperated.

“Weren’t you two trying to lecture me on how trailing this thing was a bad idea? Just because there’s two of you in addition doesn’t mean dancing with the devil is going to be any easier.” Leslie snapped.

“This isn’t your first dangerous adventure, is it? You weren’t bluffing this whole time?”

Faizah stepped in.

“No, but… I can only assume that Emilia is charged with emotion. The Cavern City is her home town.”

“It’s mine as well.” Leslie huffed.

“But in circumstances like these, keeping levelheaded is a must.”

“She’s still working on that.” Faizah said, shaking her head.

Emilia said nothing.

“Whatever.” Leslie groaned.

“We need to keep moving.”