October Guided Quest Group B: To Them These Halls Belong

[Skie and Avery]

The mines were the lifeblood of Alerar. From both the export of ore and refined metal to the need for materials to fuel the booming technology sector, every ounce of mineral that came from the earth was important. The workers who had spent their whole lives beneath the ground, delving and searching for ore knew the lay of the stone like the veins of their hands. They could sense a line of ore before their pick chipped stone away to reveal it. It had been a long time since a new mineral had been found. When the miners of Tiralin Fal unearthed a stone stranger than any they'd ever lain eyes on and almost as hard to break apart as adamantine, they knew they were onto something big. But like in every business, there were more than one pair of hands that would do the unthinkable to take possession of a rare new find such as this. With caution, the Grimgock Mining Company sent out feelers for a few good couriers. They extended the job offer to a few, choosing those that wouldn't be too obvious under the guise of simply delivering mail from the miners to their families.

Periwinkle Hiddenheart and Ashla Icebreaker had been chosen and their way to Alerar paid by the benefactor. Now they stood at the entrance to the mines with their escorts. With them, they had two dwarves and a dark elf, mercenaries hired to help keep them safe. Their escorts told them that it was a walk of a mile to the current mine site, and where the packages of ore were held. Despite the chill above ground, below it got warmer as they walked.

Dionaea was already within the mines, having fallen in while wandering a cavern above. The hall that she occupied was dark, cool, and musty. The sound of dripping water from a tunnel ahead pierced the silence. Somewhere beyond that was the soft echoing clink of pickaxes against stone.


For our first posts, we should be focusing on showing who your character is. How they feel, and their motivations. Periwinkle and BlueGhost, why did you take this job? Was it for money, or something else? Do they have any feelings towards dark elves or dwarves? Dio, how does your character feel, is she hurt, scared, etc?

Also remember that you are allowed and encouraged to bunny and write dialogue for any NPCs that I introduce, including the three escorts that are assisting your characters. Welcome to October's Guided Quest!

[Ashla]

Ashla felt a little weird being around this mercenaries, she usually didn't work with their kind.. but this time, it was a must. Why did she take this job in the first place? Well, Ashla was in need for some more money, as she was saving up for some new clothes and weapons; but that wasn't the real reason... She knew that whatever was this rare treasure that the mining company had found, Ashla wanted to know what it was! Was it something really valuable? Would it bring good luck? Or a curse? Whatever it was, Ashla needed to know...

These mines were very warm underground. Ashla was used to the warm, having lived on Fallien for so long though; Ashla felt a little scarred about this assignment; could she do it? Well, she had Periwinkle by her side, a partner that could help her out to crack this thing open with her. Ashla looked over to her and smiled, I wonder if she's as ready as I am... Ashla then looked ahead again and sighed, What if I never get ou- Ashla!! She mentally smacked herself, Don't think like that! You can do it, I know you can! She smiled, determined and ready for whatever she would have to face.

Her cat, Fireleaf had been walking by her feet... and trying to grab away any food she could get from their escorts. The dark elf had been very annoyed by Ashla's fury friend; Ashla simply picked him up. Fireleaf didn't want to be held though, he wanted to walk around and stalk anything that looked like prey. Ashla let him squirm in his arms for a couple of seconds, then she set him down, "Fine, you silly kitty." he immediately jumped away and started whacking his paws at one of the dwarfs's pant legs. "Hey," he yelled, "Get away, stupid cat! Ashla chuckled, then her feelings of doubt came back to her. Ashla shook her head, letting them go.

Always remember, Ashla smirked to herself, You are stronger than they think!

[Dionaea]

Hunger, barely sated by the occasional unwary animal she caught, had driven Dionaea east. The comforts of her deadly home within the Red Forest were a distant glimmer in her mind. Weeks ago the lucky catch of a darkling child had given her more insight on the simple rhythms even a child of the land knew. Above ground,the chill that nipped at her fibrous flesh once the sun set indicated the coming of winter. Instinct drove her to find a place to dig deep and set down roots for the long cold winter while stolen intelligence drove her onwards, lusting for more knowledge.

Days ago, into a small opening in the earth Dionaea had followed several of the squat inhabitants of the region. Her intent to catch one unawares as a meal was quickly foiled by the twisting, branching tunnels, the whispering hissing of subterranean water and a tumble down through a dark opening in the floor. Lost and without means to find her way back to the surface, Dionaea wandered the darkness, her slender body wraith-like in it's need for sunlight, water and food.

Teasing in their indistinctness, echoes taunted ahead from within the darkness.

[Periwinkle]

Periwinkle eyed the gaping hole in the earth in front of her. Little light penetrated the musty darkness of the mine through the craggy opening; specks of dust floated upwards.

The atmosphere was uncomfortably stuffy for Perri, who was used to life in the cold mountains of Salvar. She rubbed Jada's head. The viper curled around her arm and on her shoulder seemed to offer quiet reassurance.

These past few months had been lonesome for Perri. She had decided to build a cabin, however temporary it need be, in Salvar. For this and other reasons, she was in need of money. Upon traveling southwest, she stumbled across the opportunity at Grimgock Mining Company, which called to her temptingly. But she chose this, not just for financial benefits, but also because she wanted to come out of her shell and see what people were like these days.

Now she wondered whether she was cut out for mining. Perri prefered breezy, wide-open places, which were the exact opposite of this cramped and steaming mine. She also enjoyed working in the woods, foraging, hunting, etcetera, but mining would definitely be a challenge. She had not met many dark elves before, but as she was part elvish and knew the language, she was herself in the company of the dark elf escort. The dwarves, however, irritated her with their confidential attitude in the way they muttered to each other in their dwarvish tongue.

Perri sneaked a glance at Ashla, whom she had spoken a few words to on their way to the mine. She was intrigued, despite herself, with the way the girl carried herself, the way she radiated self-confidence; Jada, on the other hand, did not seem to think much of the playful cat following Ashla. The viper hissed whenever the cat scampered too near.

What exactly are we going to be doing in here? Perri wondered as they prepared to enter the mines.

[Skie and Avery]

As Dionaea moved through the tunnels, she came into an open cavern. Tall pillars of wood supported the ceiling, while carts and bags were strewn haphazardly, waiting to be filled. A collection of pickaxes leaned against the wall, and to the far end of the cavern there was a dwarf working diligently with a smaller hand held pick to pry a piece of glinting gemstone from the rock. He worked furiously, crumbled stone cascading to the ground beneath his fingers as he worked. After a moment, he yelped, pulling back the hand that had been working next to the pick and inspecting the tip of a reddened finger.

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The escorts that were bringing Perri and Ashla to the heart of the mine were more content to ignore the women until the passage began to widen. They wove through supports, avoiding getting in the way of the rails that were used to push carts up to the surface. They nodded solemnly at dwarves and elves as they shoved stone and ore to the top of the mine, and while no one greeted them the miners had little trouble staring down the two women. Finally, ahead they could see where the surveyor's table was set up, strewn with boxes, samples, and parchment.

An older dwarven man was leaning over a parchment, a thick pair of bifocals on his face as he peered at the tiny scrawl along one letter. The escorts motioned to him and turned to Ashla and Periwinkle. "That's the man that you'll get the packages from, as well as a map of where you'll need to take them." It was the dark elf to speak, his voice rich though he spoke in perfect common, without accent. "Though," he added. "We know where this is going, so I doubt you'll need the map."

One of the dwarves crossed his arms and piped up. "This be a waste of our time, lad. These lasses can take a box or two to Ettermire! We're not gettin' paid nearly enough for this trouble, and we don't want to go." The other dwarf nodded in agreement. Before the elven companion could protest he spoke again. "C'mon now. Ye know that the moment we get to the pub, five jobs that pay a much better price than this one will pop right up. We don't even have to get paid, I don't care, let's just leave them here and get a quaff to drink!"

The dark elf, shrugged, thinking. It was true that they had barely been paid enough to cover the travel cost between here and Ettermire, not to mention the time. While he was not unkind, he was also not prone to charity. The elf turned to the women and smirked. "It looks like you might need that map after all. Remember, you cannot tell or show anyone what is in those boxes. If anyone asks, you are delivering a sampling of cloth to a tailor in Salvar. Even if you have to backtrack on the road to make it look like you are going to Salvar, just do it. Tell them when you get there that we dropped out and you'll likely get our share of the reward."

With that, they were left alone.


Alright, for this round of posting we're going to focus on dialogue! Periwinkle and Moonberrycat, you guys need to talk to each other to decide if you want to do this without the mercenaries or back out, and Dio - welcome to some interaction! The key to really making your dialogue come to life is to infuse character into what you write. Do your characters have accents? It may be helpful to describe that, or even the way that they talk. Do they have specific inflections? When they get upset, do they stutter or does their voice change pitch? For example, when I get irritated, I tend to speak softly. It usually doesn't help the situation because I can't stand to repeat myself but alas, no one can hear me so I get asked to repeat everything, leading to further irritation. However, I do raise my voice when I lose my temper. Everyone has small things like that, and think about the way that you talk to your friends and family. Also, think about what slang or colloquialisms that your character might use when they speak that you wouldn't normally put in the narrative.