The Hard Way

You and the rest of the Runaways, after some rumination, decided that stealing from the Duke was a poor decision. Clodagh, with her enormous heart, didn't feel it right to take away something that, from the sound of it, the two of them needed to make their relationship work, such as it is, in order for the four of you to get going as much as you wanted. Joan, being the more direct and least scrupulous of the five you, was unconvinced of such concerns, and saw it as the easiest way to solve the problem. And yet, the prevailing notion that was held was the results of failure, or even success. You would likely face the **** of the Duke either way, and would than have to leave under flight yet again. The city of Kirden would never be quite like the glittering wealth and luxury of Shoza's capital, but it was, in a way, starting to feel like home, and you all agreed you would like to keep it that way. Or, at the very least, be able to leave on your own terms.

And so, here you were again, plunging the depths of some subterranean area, poised for trouble in hopes to solve someone else's trouble. And, as normal, a certain someone had different ideas.

"I'm just saying" Joan spoke up, her voice echoing off the narrow space of the cave "I think we're looking at this the wrong way. This could be literally a gold opportunity, and you all are letting it pass by."

"No" You spoke loudly.

"Oh come on, isn't there some ancient Stoneheart tradition you can deploy here. You clear out all of the monsters here, therefore you have right to claim it?"

"I'm not debasing my ancestral culture to claim ownership to a mine, Joan!" Your tone made it painfully clear. "Even if that was how things worked"

"Besides" Lita added "there wouldn't be any value in it. We'd what little gold we do have into it for years before we would start seeing any of it come back out"

"That's a pretty confident analysis for a former domestic servant" Joan retorted, with her charateristic barbs "What makes you so sure?"

"Because rich men never walk away from riches" Lita, despite her quiet voice, spoke with great confidence "They wouldn't have abandoned this place without a fight if they thought there was still value in it."

All eyes turned to Joan, who smiled as she raised her shoulders, recognizing Lita's point "Fair enough, you got me. Still you all should really know by now when I'm being serious or just chasing delusional dreams." There was a slight pause before she made another barb "Surely our two nobles wouldn't mind returning to the wealthy of life of prospering off of other people's labor."

Trevolia finally spoke up, firm but polite "That's enough Joan. Those days are behind us. You don't see Silve or me lording over any of you, do you?"

"Only when we ask him to," Clodagh chimed in, to comedic effect.

"Fine" Joan relented with a slight smile of her own. "You obviously pull your own weight now. And yet, I wonder what it would take for either of you to change back? You clearly still miss those old luxuries, wearing perfume as you move into a dark and dingy mine, filled with monsters."

Trevolia maintained a calm response that you would have struggled with. "We refused an offer to meet the King of Yokono. That would have probably been the best we'd ever get to fall back into the lap of luxury, and we turned it down without a moment of hesitation."

"ya, okay" Joan relented, perhaps not fully convinced "you two have clearly come a long way to get here."

Turning a corner, as the mine started to open up, thick spider webs start to fill the space, so ominous they could be cut through with a knife.

"Time to get right, everyone" Lita spoke up for everyone "We don't know how bad this is going to get, but clearly we're in their home now."

Clodagh chimed in as well "Let's be good guests than. Find what we're looking for, and get out. We're not exterminators."

"Well, that might be a little hard to find." Joan threw out "We'd get lucky to find an open vein of Tarinium in here."

"Maybe not" Trevolia countered "From what Denethil told us, they fled this place pretty rapidly once the infestation happened. "If they did know where an open vein was, or dig through some ore, it should still be right there. Besides, it's not as though Tyrant Spiders eat rock and metal, right?"

"So far as we know" Joan added "They're not native to this elevation, so close to the surface. They didn't get here by accident."

"You think there was something like a bigger predator that **** them up here?" Trevolia asked

"Good theory, but I wouldn't count on it. More likely, they were planted here by a Sapper"

"A what?" Clodagh asked, as clueless as the rest.

"A Drow Sapper. Spies and specially trained individuals sent to the surface in order to cause trouble, sabotage and damage the systems and societies. If they do their job right, you never know they were there. If they're really good at their job, people start to blame each other and tear things down themselves."

"Wow" her fiery friend's mind seemed to race, going through past events. "That explains a few things...maybe"

"I wouldn't give it too much thought." Joan patted Clodagh on the shoulder, trying to placate concerns "There's too few sappers for every mysterious bad thing to be on them."

"Let's keep our eyes on the task at hand than." Trevolia said as she came to a stop, lifting her spellbook "Okambo might have given me a solution to this after all..." She thumbed threw her pages and read the incantation, arcane energy being summoned around her as she spoke. Her staff started to glow with a dim hue of blue light.

"Watcha doing?" You asked with curious squint

"This should act like a compass, or a magnet, depending on how you want to look at it, and lead us to deposits"

"It can point us right to Taranium?" Lita asked, to which the princess shook her head.

"No, sorry everyone. There's still a lot I don't know. Maybe with more practice."

"Hey, don't worry about it" You touched her shoulder gently "It's still a big help. Let's how this goes."

Taking a precarious position in the lead, the five of proceeded deeper into the mine. The light not only made the journey easier for the two humans among you, but provided a clear sign of the overwhelming scale of the infestation. Tyrant spiders scurried into the darkness by the dozens, some nearly as big as your fist. You found even regular house spiders to be problematic, so you found yourself struggling to keep your cool here. As you approached a three way fork, the light of the spell seemed to point you towards the centremost pathway, one that also started with a steep decline, and even thicker webs.

"I've got a bad feeling about this" You finally found the courage to say.

"It's nothing we can't handle" Joan replied confidently "Don't let your guard down or anything, but we'll be alright."

Going along the tunnel, the line shone bright for a number of veins, but not for the precious Tarinium that Denethil said was necessary. You wondered to yourself if the apparent veins of iron or other mundane ores were deemed entirely unimportant, or if it was a smaller priority that the foremen wanted to get back to at some point. Something made you linger there for a moment. You picked up a pickaxe you spotted on the ground, recognizing you would have need of such a tool. Not recognizing, unfortunately, the distance between you and your friends. Having found a comfortable place to grip it, you gave a few good practice swings in the air, before everything suddenly changed.

You felt an immense weight on your shoulders and back, pushing you face first to the ground. The high number of small points of pressure made it clear what it was; a "Queen" Tyrant Spider. You struggled to turn on your back so you could at least have some means of fighting back. Stress lead to panic and you shouted louder than you ever had before, frantic. You could hear the shouting of the others to come assist. What was most distinct was Clodagh's maniacal charge, headfirst into danger. Having grown in size again, she was able to use her heft to push the Queen back, allowing you to rise up to your feet. As you did, you saw a flurry of missiles float past you, some magical in nature from Trevolia a bolt from the honed crossbow of Joan. Startled, wounded, and outmatched, the Queen started to try and scurry away back into hiding in the dark. Lita, like you, saw as well in the dark as in the day, and put a swift end to it's fleeing efforts. Using her own divinations, the Queen was dazed and motionless, allowing Clodagh and the others to make their attacks and finish it off.

The fight done, the ladies all swarmed towards you.

"Silve, are you okay?" Trevolia asked "Does anything hurt?"

"No," you shook your head, and started to feel woozy "Possibly worse, I don't really feel anything at all right now."

"Hold still" Joan said quickly as she swerved behind you. She tugged on your shirt, but you felt nothing "That's it. The Queen jabbed you with a numbing poison. You're going to be a mess for a while. Thankfully you're so big, it might not have full effect. If it does, we might have to pull you out of here."

"Great" You said with a slight smile "Hopefully there aren't any more like that."

"There shouldn't be." The Drow reassured the group "To get to that size, Tyrant Spiders have to start feeding on each other, especially in a space like this that has long since run out of normal prey to eat. If we go back the way we came, we should be okay."

"Well, at least that's the good news." Maybe it was the poison, but you couldn't help but smile, despite the dour mood you felt "I'm sorry this happened ladies. Sorry I wasn't any help"

"Oh don't be silly, you were a big help" Clodagh responded sarcastically, as she reached down from the floor "you find a pickaxe"

The five of you all laughed gently, as Lita stayed close to you while the barbarian and wizard found a suitable vein to mine from.