The Crystal Breeze has finally landed. After a night in Elamoore and a bumpy coach ride, the young students find themselves in the middle of a bustling mining community. They're greeted fairly well, although the Vartans among the miners seem somewhat distant.

The day's events are fairly dull as Latania goes through a long boring speech about the importance of using pure minerals in ritual chalk and candles as opposed to 'cheap' items. The miners ignore most of this, focusing more on their work.

Many of the workers from the Crystal Breeze are also here. The captain is haggling with a burly Vartan with bright red plumage about the amount he should pay for his ores, while the airshipmen start stacking crates that leak a yellowish dirt.

Rory pokes around, looking intently, though he hasn't much of a notion just what he's supposed to look for … aside maybe from cut emeralds and diamonds sticking right out of the walls somewhere.

"Skiree?" Rory says, looking around. "You nearby?"

Another miner, this one a Vartan with mostly brown plumage but with a black feathered head and wings walks past. A little brown Eeee follows behind him. "So, are there any nice bugs around here? I'm from Rephidim, where are you from? What's your name? Do you like bugs?" she squeaks.

The little unicorn's ears perk up at the sound of the Eeee voice. "Skiree!" He clip-clops over to the bat. "Want to see something really weird?"

"Hiya Roar-shock!" The bat squeaks, forgetting about the Vartan (who seems quite thankful for that). "Whatcha find? Is it good to eat? I haven't found any candy around here yet… "

Rory shushes Skiree, leading her over to a more shadowed part of the tunnel. "See? I think I remember reading about these minerals. But … I'm not sure. So, I think I'm going to do a little experiment to find out!" He winks, then starts chanting a cantrip.

The brown and black hippogryph walks away, he squawks something to himself and then goes to join the other airshipmen.

Skiree's eyes go wide as she watches the Aeonian. "Whatcha gonna do?"

Rory continues chanting, closing his eyes to concentrate better. The light around him begins shimmering … sooner than he expects, to his surprise as his eyes open! "Ah!" The spell fizzles out. "Bah. I WAS going to cast a cantrip. I … Wow. I got so used to everything being harder in Rephidim. This will take some getting used to."

The bat giggles to herself. "Linford did that too. He almost burned his tail off." She puts her hands over her mouth to try and stifle her laughs.

Rory snickers, then cuts that off. "Ahem. I'll try again … and I won't burn off anyone's tail." He begins chanting anew.

The shadows grow darker in the area right around where Rory and Skiree stand … but not entirely. Everything white – such as the strange marks on Rory's face-fur – stands out just as clearly as before, seeming to glow by contrast.

"Oooooooooooohhh!" squeals Skiree.

Rory opens his eyes, still chanting, looking around, smiling at Skiree (but still chanting), then looking at the rock wall he stands before.

Little pinpricks of light begin to dance across the surface of the rocks around Rory as some of the individual grains in them light up in response to the spell. A Vartan miner who walks past watches for a moment and then walks away, shaking his head.

Rory looks around a bit more, still sustaining the cantrip with his chant, to see if anyone special might be watching…

Skiree's eyes get even wider. "Pretty!" She picks up a stone and watches the little bits of light sparkle through it.

Some of the Vartan miners seem to be watching, their expressions ranging from agitation to… pity? The only other person that seems to have taken notice is a young poodle who is having a conversation with one of the wolves.

Rory frowns, and goes into an 'end cycle' for his chant. For something this petty, he could just break it off – like he did accidentally earlier – but that's a bad habit for a young mage to get into it, so he tries to do it all properly. The glowing lights begin to fade, as the shadows recede.

Skiree turns the rock over in her hands. It just looks like a normal stone now. "that was keen. How did you make it glow? I thought you could only do shadow stuff… "

The poodle watches the light sparkle off the grains in the rock, and stops talking with the wolf. He comes up behind Rory and asks loudly, "Hey, that was really neat, you do that?"

Rory smirks. "Well … I didn't. I just made most of the light disappear. You see, there's a whole spectrum of light that… " He looks up to the poodle. "Uhm … Yes, sir. I'm with the field trip from the College Esoterica. I am Rorschach, of the Sphere of Shadow, at your service." He executes a polite bow.

Skiree hisses in Rory's ear. "That's Linford… "

Rory OHS! "Oh … sorry. I … don't get around much." He scuffs a hoof on the rocky ground.

Linford yaps, "Hey, don't stop him, he's supposed to bow to me. About time, I'm in the Sphere of Fire."

Mage Latania walks past the assembled trio. She seems to be heading toward a cave that is mostly being mined by Jupani workers. The Vartans give it a very wide berth.

Rory watches Latania pass, then says to Linford, "Well, the Sphere of Fire is quite a challenge, after all. You just don't find any half-baked wizards of the … er … Hmm. Poor choice of words… "

Skiree drops the rock on the ground, she snickers quietly. "Well anyhow. That was really pretty Roar-Shock."

Latania begins speaking with a wolf near the cave entrance. The wolf barks a few words into the cave and the miners inside begin to walk out.

Rory clears his throat, then says, "Well, pleased to meet you, Mage Linford of the Sphere of Fire. Actually … I'm not sure, but there might be a similar spell in your Sphere, since I THINK there's a bit of crossover where light is concerned… though, really, Fire or Light should be able to get more dramatic effects… " He adds this last part a little bit self-consciously.

"I'm gonna learn how to make balls of light fly out my ears someday." Skiree squeaks proudly. Obviously such a feat would impress many a student.

Rory blinks! "Wow!"

"Oh yes, easily done. Let me show you how." Yaps the young, but expensively attired poodle. He is the same height as Rory, but likely a few year older. Poodles not being of great stature. "I can do that for you if you want, the balls of fire."

Rory frowns. "Balls of FIRE? That sounds … dangerous. Especially in a mine."

Linford says, "She has big ears though, so I won't have… "

"All students please join me right now," a familiar Cervani voice shouts.

Rory jolts at the sound, then says, "Ah … I guess we'd better be going!" His ears flick in relief at the welcome interruption.

The unicorn grabs Skiree's hand and clips off in the direction of the Cervani voice.

Skiree squeaks! "Ohh… next rock lesson thingy is gonna start." She giggles and follows along beside Rory.

The poodle stops midsentence, "Yes, well, let's go," then sees the other two have left. He tags along after them, grumbling about how they should respect a fire mage more.

Latania waits patiently as the students begin to assemble. Well, maybe not all that patiently. "Our next lesson will be on the methods used to extract the minerals from the ground." She coughs as some dust blows into her face.

Rory whispers to Skiree, "Of course, Earth Mages have it easy… "

The doe gestures to a white and brown Vartan standing next to her. "This is Muir. He's one of the workers here and will guide us along." The Vartan in question does not seem to pleased about his assignment.

Rory smiles and waves to the Vartan.

Linford slips in behind Rory and Skiree, "You can burn them out too. I can."

Muir squawks, "The mines are a bit hazardous. Please refrain from using magic while inside. This cave in particular is very sensitive."

Rory muses quietly, "I guess Skiree could divine their presence so you'd know where to dig … but I'm not sure what I could – " He gulps at the Vartan's warning. "Uh oh," he whispers, shrinking down.

The Aeonian raises his hand, waving it about for Mage Latania's attention.

"They're just saying that because they're afraid of magic." Linford whispers from behind Rory and Skiree.

"You will form lines in the order that I assign to you." Latania pulls a paper from her pocket. Her eyes fall on the Aeonian. "Yes?"

Rory, looking guilty, says, "Uhm … Mage Latania? I cast a little cantrip back there in the tunnel. Is that going to cause any problems?" He frowns, not expecting the mage to be the most forgiving sort…

A group of Vartan workers squawk at Muir, who responds by glaring daggers at them. His feathers stand on end at Rory's words.

"Did anything unusual happen?" Latania asks as she unrolls the paper. "Did it feel incorrect in any way?"

"He messed it up the first time." Linford offers helpfully, "and it made the stones sparkle."

Rory ponders. "I … didn't feel anything. Just that it was a lot easier than in Rephidim. Well, it DID sparkle a lot when I thought things should glow… "

Rory nods, frowning, at Linford's announcement.

The Cervani opens her mouth to reply, but is interrupted by the Vartan. "Don't do it ANYMORE!" he growls, and then jams a miner's helmet down on his head.

Rory meeps and shrinks down even more. Much more, and he'd be laying down. "I won't!" he squeaks.

"That a grumpy-gus." Skiree squeaks quietly.

"See? Told you they were afraid," the poodle informs Skiree.

Rory whispers, "Well, you never know. They might have good reason. I'm not going to take any chances … anymore." He frowns.

Latania sighs to herself and nods. "Please see that you don't." Her words seem to be more for the benefit of the Vartan than anything else. "Now then. I shall call your names out, and you will line yourselves up in the order I give… " She begins naming off a list – with Rory and Linford right up at the front of the line.

Rory scoots into position, hooves clopping against the rocky ground.

Linford runs into position behind Rory, poking him in the back. "Hey, we got to be together, good huh?"

Rory jolts at the poke, then says, "Uhm … Most fortuitous?"

The little unicorn tries to surreptitiously glance around, to see where Skiree ended up in the line … and whether Silhouette is anywhere about. He didn't see her since they entered the cavern … Perhaps … there is some TRUTH to the Vartan's fears? He shudders.

"Its more a serendipity actually." The poodle corrects.

Latania continues to call out the order of names. Most of the students get into line with some order. Theres a lot of whispering and pushing back and forth as they line up. Various childish complaints: "I'm supposed to be here."; "She called me first"; and "When is something going to happen, I'm getting bored." can be heard as they find their places.

Rory furrows a brow, wondering just how he managed to get so honored to be first in line…

"You are future mages, please try to behave like some," Latania orders, prompting a silence to fall. She continues to name off the students, and Skiree's hasn't been called yet.

Rory frowns at the omission.

The unicorn looks around, waiting for the line to finish and to find out just what it is they're lining up for…

The Cervani mage finishes naming everyone, except Rory's friends. "Alright, now stay together." She looks up, frowning at the bat waving at her. "What is it Skiree?" "You forgot to name me, Mage Latania." "Just stand at the back of the line Skiree." The bat shuffles to her place.

Rory frowns, rethinking the 'honor' of his position. He gives a hurt look in Latania's direction.

The Cervani snaps her fingers. "There. I'll have some organization out of you yet. Miur, we are ready. Please lead the way."

Rory snaps to attention, ready to move.

Silhouette is nowhere to be seen. Latania did not call her name out either, although that's not much of a surprise.

"Who wants gurl around. It'll just be you and me, we'll have adventures." Linford pokes Rory in the back again, as he stands to attention.

Rory nods. "Yeah … adventures."

The Vartan nods and motions for Latania to follow him. "We'll start at the new tunnel. Be careful of your footing."

"Hup hup hup." Latania chants and marches in after the Miur.

The little unicorn marches in time to Latania's chant, being careful of his hooves as they clip-clack on the rocky floor.

The poodle marches along behind Rory, yapping at his ears. "Don't be scared, I'm a Mage of the Fire Sphere, you'll have nothing to worry about."

Rory doesn't look terribly assured, but at least he's facing forward … and at least you can't perform a ritual while you're marching…

The group of mages are led through a maze of passages, most of them look as though they were dug from out of the rock of the basin. "We use stone tools for most of our work." Miur scrawks. "But for delicate jobs we will use metal ones, they are expensive… but one must use what is needed. If we want to clear out a lot of rock we use explosives."

Rory's eyes go wide! He surreptitiously glances back at the fire mage right behind him, but then tries to look nonchalant.

Linford seems to like the idea of explosives, very much.

Latania suddenly interrupts the Vartan and begins to babble on about how acids are often used for purifying certain powders and how an earth mage is often employed in the process as well. The Vartan does not seem pleased but patiently clops along. The glow from his helmet lamp and bits of luminescent moss dimly light the way.

Rory is distracted by his fleeting examination of the luminescent moss, but does his best to look attentive while the mage is lecturing.

The moss grows in patches, but it is arranged in a rather orderly fashion. Perhaps the miners have encouraged it to grow in certain points to help with lighting.

Linford continues to demonstrate to Rory how much better Skiree's company is. He helpfully points out obvious things to the shadow mage, pokes him to get his attention, and explains how much more useful the Fire Sphere is, when compared with the Shadow Sphere, for mining.

Rory just nods politely. He honestly can't think of a single way shadow magic could be useful for a mine, unless you struck a vein and wanted to hide your find.

The tunnel opens up into a narrow cave, this one looks natural except for the deep trenches gouged out here and there. "This is where most of our crystals are mine fr-" the Vartan squawks – only to be interrupted again by Latania. "Yes yes! Crystals are very important. Not only decorative, but they are often ground into powder for candles."

Rory raises a hand. "What kind of crystals are these?" he asks, looking at the Vartan.

"Quartz, amethyst… no precious gemstones here." Miur answers. He picks a fallen crystal from the ground and holds it up to his helmet lamp. It sends rainbow colored light dancing across the cave walls.

Rory oooooos at the display!

"Very nice, "Latania says, sounding bored. "But onward we go." She nods to Miur, who follows along near the front of the line while the Cervani hangs near the back to hurry along the stragglers.

Rory frowns faintly at Latania's reaction, then tries to smile in what he hopes is a sign of gratitude to the Vartan.

Miur looks down at Rory and smiles back, he rolls his eyes and leads the group into another man-made tunnel.

Rory glances back toward the end of the line, then skips a bit to catch up closer to the Vartan. "Uhm … Master Miur? Could you tell more about why these mines are … sensitive to magic?" He frowns. "If you'd rather not, I'd understand. I just want to learn more."

"I don't see what all the rush is, it's not like the mine is going to collapse." Linford says, kicking one of the tunnel support struts as he walks past it. "Hey! Wait for me." The poodle runs after Rory.

Rory shudders. "I sure HOPE it won't collapse. If it were a danger, they'd be CRAZY to let a bunch of mages in here… "

Rory ponders the mix of fire mages, explosives, dangerous mines, sensitive rocks, and boredom. He shudders again.

"It's a long story, Child." Miur responds as he walks along. His headlamp dims for a moment but brightens up again after the Vartan gives it a good whack.

Rory sighs and nods. "Sorry to bother you, sir. But … it's going to be a long walk, isn't it?" He looks back up hopefully.

The Vartan sighs. "Some things are better left buried."

Linford starts poking around, examining the walls.

Rory frowns more fiercely. This only serves to make him MORE curious, but this is pretty clear as a "No." He nods reluctantly.

Eventually, the group is led into a huge open cavern. Holes and cracks appear along its walls here and there. "Here we mine phosphates… for fertilizer." Miur squawks loudly. His voice echoes along the walls.

Rory looks puzzled. "Rocks … for fertilizer?"

"You dig them up, then bury them again?" The unicorn grins at the notion.

"Among other things… " Latania says as she bustles the tail end of the line in. "You may look around here. There is much to see." This causes many of the students to scatter to different parts of the cave. Latania sits down on a broken stalagmite.

Miur frowns at the deer, Rory's words are forgotten. He walks up to her and begins whispering angrily.

The poodle comes over to Rory and yaps in his ear, "Hey, come look at this, theres a little hole." He grabs the Aeonian's arm and tries to pull him over to a dark corner of the cavern.

Rory pauses, watching the exchange. "This is WEIRD," he whispers to nobody in particular. Then, he looks around, anxious to see just what there – Well, the poodle takes care of that. "A little hole? Well, we ARE in a cave… "

Linford leads Rory over to the wall. The rough shape of the cavern hides this spot from easy view. The poodle crouches down, and pokes his hand beneath a small overhang. "Look, it just goes back."

The exchange between the Vartan and the Cervani continues. He gestures around with his hands while Latania makes dismissive motions.

Rory peers in, unable to see a thing. "Maybe we should get Skiree. She's good when you can't see anything."

"I thought it looked too dark to be just a shadow." The poodle announces, "You should have noticed it too, you're a Shadow Mage. Well, if you really want her. She can go in first. Remember though, if theres any treasure, I found it first."

Skiree seems to be poking at a bit of the moss on the wall and giggling as it changes colors at her touch.

Rory frowns. "You mean, we're supposed to go crawling in there? I don't think I like this idea."

Rory hmms, then says, "But, if you're really serious about it… " He turns around, looking in Skiree's direction.

Linford nods, "Of course! Its too small for any of the Vartan's to get into, it'll be all ours!" He crouches down, trying to see under the ledge.

Miur suddenly bolts to the other side of the cave, shooing some of the students away from a bit of rock. Latania sits quietly and examines her fingernails.

Rory says, "Hmm. Sounds like a plan. I'll go ask Mage Latania's permission." With that, he promptly clip-clops off in the Cervani's direction.

The poodle runs after Rory and grabs his arm, "No! She'll tell us not to. C'mon, are you afraid of the dark?"

Linford's eyes gleam like gemstones in torchlight, or perhaps, a raging forest fire. "Its an adventure! You'll be perfectly fine. I will be there."

Rory frowns. "No more than you are afraid of fire. Are you afraid of Mage Latania?" He pulls against the poodle's grasp. "If I'm going to get in trouble, I'll do it by doing the right thing."

"She said for us to look around." The poodle tells Rory, "… and she looks really busy."

Rory says, "Then why would she say no?" He pulls again, trying to head for Latania.

The Cervani is indeed busy. Busy preening herself and tending to her fingernails. She glares harshly at Miur who continues to hustle the students around.

"Because she always says no. You're just being a stick in the mud." The poodle grumps.

Rory aims for the Vartan, then. He should know more about the tunnels. "Then let's ask the Vartan."

"Master Miur? Master Miur? I'm sorry to bother you, but we found a tunnel, can't see a thing in it, have no idea where it goes or how far, and we were wanting to know if it's all right to crawl down it," Rory says loudly to the Vartan.

Linford stands behind Rory, kicking at the ground.

Rory waves his hand, trying to get the Vartan's attention.

The Vartan frowns. "No. The tunnels here lead to where the shadow is buried. Very bad." He shoots a glare at the doe. "I did not want you to be given such free reign over exploring here in the first place."

Rory sighs, then clip-clops back toward the poodle. "Sorry. I guess the Vartan isn't so keen on it, either."

"We should have just gone." The poodle yaps behind Rory, and starts fiddling with his fingers.

Rory peeks under the overhang. "Sure, sure. And just think how much trouble we would have been in when we got back. This way, at least we asked first, right?"

"Well what's this shadow thing?" The poodle asks Rory. "I think he just made it up, because he's afraid we'll steal his shinies."

Rory frowns. "And is that what we're aiming to do? I think I'm liking this idea even LESS now."

Latania stands up and claps her hands. "Alright everyone. Let us depart. Same order as before but in reverse, Those of you who were in the back are in the front now and vice-versa."

Rory sighs, realizing that means that Skiree's still on the opposite end. He stands up, waving to the bat, hoping to at least catch her attention before she goes.

Linford peers under the overhang also. "They're not his, we're in a mine. They don't belong to anyone until they're dug up. I bet you could see them if we had some light… "

Rory turns aside, saying, "Well, I'm sorry, but we don't have any."

The poodle jumps up at Latania's order, and bangs his head on the ledge, "Ow!" Rubbing it, he follows Rory to the back of the line.

Latania takes her place at the heard of the line. The little brown bat waves to Rory from her spot at the very front. Miur stands near the back, looking very relieved.

The unicorn lets the poodle in front of him, to maintain proper order. Plus, perhaps he hopes that having the fire mage where he can see him might relieve him somewhat. Of course, it COULD backfire, but …

Rory turns sideways. "Master Miur? What is this 'shadow' you were talking about?"

Up ahead, the Cervani's words are muffled as the line hustles along. "A monster." The Vartan replies. "A monster from very very long ago."

The poodle keeps turning around to look at Rory and Miur, often running into the person in front of him. He also keeps rubbing at the bump on his head, but at least he isn't trying to cast a fire cantrip anymore.

Rory shudders, and resolves to keep his attention ahead now, focused on just getting OUT of this mine. Whatever 'adventures' he missed, they were probably best left to grown-ups anyway…

"Do not fear." Miur says as he notices the Aeonian's reaction. "It is long dead. The Vartans killed it. Only its circle remains."

The unicorn blinks at this. "Its … circle?"

Miur rubs his neck. "You really wish to know the story?"

"Yes!" Rory says a little too loudly, then covers his mouth, his ears blushing. "Uhm … yes, Master Miur. I'm a student. I'm SUPPOSED to be curious."

Rory, however, begins to imagine the monster not quite being dead … but perhaps lurking in every shadow. Every shadow? A shadow mage worried of the dark? The poodle's accusation rings in his ears. But, somehow … he feels as if he were in the dark right now, he would feel terribly alone.

The tunnel floor is solid rock, covered by a layer of loose grit that has been packed down by all the traffic. The walls are rough hewn, every 10' there is a triangular support strut and beam. The only light comes from the lamps hanging from these, and the bobbing light on Miur's helmet.

The Vartan smirks. "Very well." He taps his helmet idly. "The beast lived in these caves for… hmmm… forever we think. It was a huge thing, described to me as a formless shadow… yet it was solid."

Rory's ears shoot up at the Vartan's description. "A … solid shadow?" He's definitely interested, and fights not to do something so silly as to try turning around to face the Vartan while he's walking the other way.

There are a lot of shadows, and things moving in them. As Rory draws near he can see it is simply trickles of water, leaking down the wall. Just water streaks depositing the softer rock on the harder walls, not some monster, this time…

"It had power over flesh. Evil power that soaked into the very walls." Miur squawks softly. "It killed whomever came into its lair, or it changed them to suit its needs. Finally the tribe of the Oak, my ancestors waged war against it."

Linford slows down, listening to the story and looking back over his shoulder. He walks into one of the support beams with an "Oof!". Shaking loose dust that swirls in the light of Miur's helmet.

Rory gulps at the descriptions, seeing all sorts of life-sucking entities around every corner, or perhaps lurking just underneath the rock, waiting until some stragglers in the group fall behind to burst forth and drag them away, while Mage Latania doesn't pay the slightest notice…

"For the longest time it seemed as though the Vartan warriors were doing absolutely no damage at all." the Vartan continues. "Then it fell all at once. Our losses were great… but it fell. Only a glowing crystal circle remained."

The unicorn takes care not to touch any of the walls. "A … glowing crystal circle? That's … that's really odd. Did you take the crystals?"

Something pokes Rory in the stomach! Oh, wait … it's just Linford, being a poodle.

Rory muses, "Maybe … maybe the crystals were remnants of a portal to another plane of existe – OOF!" He gasps, trying to regain his breath, though his imagination still runs wild.

The Vartan chuckles. "We tried to destroy the circle, but our strength did not even chip it." He chuckles at the unicorn's hypothesis. "Perhaps… although it would have been a very small portal." He holds out his hands to mimic the shape, indicating a circle that stretches about a foot across.

Rory almost trips as he tries to see the Vartan's gesture, then snaps his attention forward again. "A shadow monster … could … It could hurt someone who's just a shadow, couldn't it?" His ears flick nervously, as he begins to worry even more about Silhouette's failure to make an appearance…

A drop of water lands on Rory's horn, with a 'plock'.

"It only hurt flesh," the Vartan responds. "And it is dead. I would not have come here with you if I had the faintest suspicion that it still lived."

Rory's ears shoot straight up at the drop. He clamps both hands over his mouth.

Linford keeps trying to listen to the story, and look at the Vartan and Aeonian, as well as avoid walking into the walls.

Eventually the group exits the cave. The airshipmen from the Crystal Breeze have finished packing the ores away into open Dromodon carts while the carriages await the students. The evening slowly melts into night as the students slowly return to Elamoore.