Sometimes Gerhart really let his desire to see and experience new places overwhelm his sense of self-preservation. That realization struck him as he looked up towards the summit of Mount Drakolt from the bottom. A bit different from his more recent jobs, but he wanted something besides just hunting simple monsters. Searching for missing scholars with Fenrear seemed to go well enough, why not do that again?

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he began to worry about lava oozes. Are those a thing? He sure hoped not. Regular oozes were enough of a pain in the ass. Gerhart put his hands on his hips as he looked over to Cyran, "Well this is a far cry from being caught out in the middle of the open sea."

He grinned, quickly regaining his enthusiasm for this with another person joining him. It was always easier to travel when he wasn't just talking to the wind.

"So, I imagine the scholars are somewhere up this climb, though exactly where is going to be hard to determine.....I don't suppose you know a find scholars spell huh?" Another little laugh. "I can always do it the old fashioned way if need be."

“Agreed. I hope never to set foot in a boat for a very long time.”

Cyran had initially been surprised to see Gerhart in the Ashlands- so much so that he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when he spotted the adventurer at the base of Mount Drakolt as he was preparing to make the trek up. It had been some time since their adventure at sea, and Cyran had… mostly settled in Darkveil City, with a few bumps here and there, but there was plenty of work for him, including the job he was on now- an anonymous party interested in the information the missing researcher might hold about the volcano.

Dead or alive, were the instructions he’d been given. Preferably dead, but as long as you can find him and extract the necessary information on Mount Drakolt, it doesn’t matter what you do with him.

So one could imagine his surprise when Cyran met Gerhart and learned that the adventurer was after the very same researcher, though for different, more honorable reasons. It only made sense for the two to search the mountain together, and Cyran had readily agreed once Gerhart proposed it.

Now, Cyran rested a hand on his dagger as he walked, worrying his lower lip with his teeth. He liked Gerhart- the young man had a natural honesty about him, and an easygoing nature that made him easy to get along with. Cyran wasn’t sure if Gerhart knew exactly what Cyran did for a living, but some small, selfish part of him didn’t want Gerhart to find out that Cyran was nothing more than a glorified killer for hire.

Regardless of his mounting apprehensions about the mission, the air between the two of them was light, filled with the kind of small talk that friends engaged in when catching up after months of separation.

Gerhart made an offhand comment about tracking in jest, but Cyran merely tilted his head and asked, “Do you have a piece of his clothing on you?” At Gerhart’s bewilderment, he awkwardly cleared his throat and elaborated. “I have… what one might call advanced senses. It’s not as flashy or interesting as tracking, but it comes in handy.”

"Ah come on, it wasn't that bad!" He grinned, knowing their time on the Bastion Remnant was in fact that bad. One of those stories where by all rights you know you should be dead, but somehow you weren't. Made for a good tavern story, that's for sure. And it helped that everyone lived, so they didn't have any survivor's guilt.



"You know what, I forgot to ask for his underpants before I headed out here." He gave a small laugh before just heading up the mountain. "Old fashioned way it is! I know a thing or two about tracking, hopefully we can find something and you can sniff that out."



As confused as Gerhart was by this ability, he didn't seem to be phased by it for too long. While walking he keeps his eyes focused on the ground and occasionally stops to kneel down and inspect something or feel the dirt. Gerhart easily bounds over or climbs around some of the rocks, seemingly having caught the trail of something.^[1]



After a moment he stops, holding Cyran up. "There are some tracks so it looks like he did come this way...." He scans the path ahead, looking up the climb. A herd of woolful bound across rocks, the mountain animals seemingly defying gravity.



Gerhart seems to enjoy the little respite before something cuts off his little laughs. Pointing ahead he looks back to the traveling companion, "Does that woolful look like a statue to you? Like it's made of rock?"

---

^{[1] Genius Tracker}

Cyran cracked a smile at Gerhart’s good-natured ribbing, relieved that at least one of them had a tracking skill that would come in handy during this search. Gerhart was a natural hunter, efficiently leading them through the trail by spotting minute changes in the dirt tracks, until he eventually spotted faint human bootprints making their way up the mountainside.

It was surprising to see Woolful so high up the mountain- the little docile creatures were expertly maneuvering along the rocks. The little animals were a welcome sight amongst the bleak backdrop of Mount Drakolt. “I suppose this means we carry Ginma’s fortune with us today.” He mused. He didn’t hold much stock in the tall tale, but given what they were set out to accomplish, he figured they could use a little luck.

As Gerhart pointed out the strange Woolful, Cyran noticed that he was right- it almost looked like it blended in perfectly, if it weren’t for the fact that it wasn’t moving at all. “You’re right.” He replied. It probably meant nothing, but Cyran wondered what that sort of statue was doing so high up in the first place. “Maybe we should investigate.”

Moving slowly as not to disturb the creatures, he began creeping closer to the herd. The stone statue looked like an ordinary Woolful, but there was something off about it, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on…

"That scholar might not be so lucky." Gerhart makes his way up the rocks, the clattering of stone sending the woolful bounding away lazily. The bleats slowly fade away into the distance as they pair make their way closer. Gerhart eventually makes it up to the statue to give it a good look over.



"It's almost like it's.....been petrified....I doubt our scholar had the time and skill for this kind of work." It's at that moment that Gerhart notices the more heavy set footprints in the soft dirt. His eyes scan around trying to follow where they went or came from, but it is a mess of movement. He does perk up looking ahead though, human footprints it seems.



"Well good news, bad news......Good news is I think the scholar is up ahead see..." Gerhart steps back to point out the path of footsteps that seem to lead towards an opening. "I imagine that's where the scholar went....bad news is I think he's got a basilisk after him. I'd put my coin on he's already petrified at this point, but something to look out for."



He frowns a bit, hands on his hips. Bringing back a missing person dead was never ideal, but maybe there was a way to fix being petrified. None of that would matter if they died finding the guy, so only thing to do was to press on.

That was not good news. If there was a chance the researcher had already been petrified, then Cyran’s mission was already for nought. But Gerhart had the right attitude- they could waste time with what-ifs and whatnot all day, but they wouldn’t know for certain until they continued onwards.

Still, he grimaced as he pulled out one of his daggers- Cold Steel- and approached the entrance. In the yawning shadows of the cavern, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, searching for any creatures that might lie in wait.^[1] He could see nothing of the researcher… or the basilisk. He suppressed a soft sigh.

“I’m getting too old for this…” He mumbled. Though he supposed if there wasn’t trouble, it wouldn’t be an adventure, though. Turning to Gerhart, he asked, “Have you ever fought a basilisk before? If not, this will be a first for both of us.”

He knew the basics, of course. He went over them in his head as he stepped inside the cavern proper. They had powerful claws and jaws, but their most horrifying feature was their eyes. The unfortunate woolful they’d encountered on the path was proof of that. But what was their researcher doing chasing after one in a volcano?

There were too many questions and not enough answers. Perhaps that was why Cyran had been set on the trail. He only wished there would be answers at the end of the trail that he and Gerhart were set on.

---

1. Shadow Sight

"I've done my best to avoid them up until now....I know you shouldn't look at them, but fighting blind around lava seems like a sure way to die." Gerhart drew his fighting knives and kept his hands up at the ready in case something decided to jump out of a crevice.



He slowly made his way into this cavern, the heat building as little beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He let out a little sigh of relief as the room opened up. It was wide and tall enough that they could stand and move, no lava immediately threatening to overtake them. Tucked among the rocky wall, a small whimpering could be heard.



"Oh thank Ginma someone's come to find me quick, help me!" From the rocks came a scholar, covered in dirt and thick brown robes. Accidental camoflauge was better than none it seemed. "I was just trying to study the volcanic woolful when that beast descended, I tried to run, but it chased me all along the mountain side." The exhaustion and panic was clear in his voice, he had been here for days.



"Don't worry we got you n-" Just as Gerhart is about to reach out to the scholar, the basilisk drops from the ceiling cutting off the pair from securing the scholar and running.

It was a relief to find the scholar alive, but that feeling was cut short by the basilisk suddenly dropping from above, catching the adventurers by surprise and cutting them off from getting to the adventurer. Cyran let out a string of swear words in elvish that should probably never be repeated in polite company as he dove out of the way, immediately raising up Cold Steel. He didn’t see where Gerhart had landed, or where the adventurer had gone, but he called out all the same.

“Find shelter!” He called out, keeping his gaze diverted towards the ground to keep from accidentally looking in the basilisk’s eyes. How did one fight an opponent they couldn’t look at directly? He raised his hand in the air, conjuring forth a miasma of dark energy. The darkness gathered around him, coalescing in the form of a storm of ravens that swarmed the cavern, all pecking and scratching at the basilisk.^[1] As the beast was distracted, Cyran melted into the shadows of the cavern, slinking around to its backside.

He raised Cold Steel, jumping out of the shadows, piercing the basilisk in the back with enough force to pierce its tough hide. Ice began crawling from the wound, but the blow was barely strong enough to annoy the basilisk.^[2,3] Cyran hurriedly retreated into the shadows, shutting his eyes before he could look at the creature.

---

1. Raven Storm
2. Back Stab
3. Ice Rune Enchantment

The basilisk growled and stomped its feet, swiping at the ravens that had swarmed it. A few birds were caught in its jaw or batted out of the sky, but as it fought them it missed Cyran. It snapped at the man as he moved past trying to catch whatever meal it can.



While the ravens circle the monster, Gerhart moves across the cave to shove the scholar back behind some stalagmites. "Stay there!" .... "And you! You want a meal? You found one." Gerhart stands firm as he issues his challenge.^[1]



The basilisk turns to meet its challenger. Gerhart activates his dashing dagger, suddenly closing the distance and his eyes. Closing his eyes helps him avoid the basilisk trying to petrify him, but his swing right over the top of it.



"It should focus on me, find your advantage!" The basilisk does seem fully focused on the human. With his eyes closed, Gerhart can barely get a good swing in, but thanks to his armor and skill it at least isn't able to get a good blow on him either. It was an unfortunate stalemate, though the basilisk occasionally rising up would show off its softer underbelly. It would be tough to time with eyes closed, but there was a gap.

---

^{[1]Challenging Mark}

Cyran was grateful that Gerhart had caught the beast’s attention- the ravens were a good distraction, but they were already beginning to dissipate, and Cyran worked best when the attention was not on him. Gerhart was easily holding his own even without the use of his own vision. The two seemed evenly matched. Which gave Cyran plenty of opportunity to look for an opening.

If only I had some way to force it to close its eyes…

Cyran ducked behind a walk, holding his breath as Gerhart forced it to expose its underbelly. There was a rhythm to its movements- the underbelly was only exposed for a few moments, as if the basilisk was guarding it, but it had forgotten that Cyran was still here, as focused on Gerhart as it was. That gave Cyran the opportunity to strike from a distance. He counted the seconds, waiting for the next moment that the basilisk raised its stomach to poke his head out from behind the rock, a single finger extended outwards.

A burst of shadow extended from his finger, striking the basilisk right in its vulnerable spot.^[1] The wound turned black, darkness spreading out from the wound like spiderwebs through its skin, festering like a sore. The creature let out a hiss of pain, momentarily distracted by the sudden attack from nowhere, but Cyran had already hidden again, giving Gerhart another chance to strike.

---

1. Chaos Bolt

The sounds of the fighting and grunting echoed around the walls. This honestly wouldn't be so hard if this room wasn't an echo chamber, it made picking out the basilisk noises much harder to do. He winced as he felt a swipe against his midsection. It was deflected by the cuirass, but it was still much closer than he wanted it to be.



This was starting to get a bit annoying and the longer they fought, the more opportunities the basilisk would have to catch either of them making a mistake. Gerhart inhaled deeply, as he did Cyran's enhanced senses could pick up on the smell of ozone as the air around Gerhart started to crackle. The blue scales of his cuirass seemed to vibrate before Gerhart exhaled a line of lightning, hitting the basilisk as it was too distracted by the chaos bolt to dodge. It roared and reeled back in pain.



Gerhart took the moment of pain and anger to open his eyes and dash in, he wasn't going to miss this time. He sunk both of the fighting knives under its chin, holding the beast in place until it stopped moving.



When the fight finally seemed over he slumped back, looking to Cyran with a tired grin, "That was a pain in the ass."

Gerhart didn’t waste the opening Cyran gave him, dispatching the basilisk with his own pair of daggers, similarly enchanted like Cyran’s own. The basilisk let out a cry and slumped over, already dead by the time it hit the floor.

Cyran leaned against the rock he’d ducked behind, catching his breath. “I think after this I’m going to take a long, relaxing break from fighting monsters.” He dusted himself off as he stood, offering a hand to help Gerhart up.

“We should probably go find our wayward researcher, yes?” Cyran asked, scanning the area. It seemed that the researcher had slipped out of their grasp yet again, but he spotted a scrap of fabric that looked like it belonged to a coat on the ground. Cyran picked it up, immediately catching the researcher’s scent.^[1]

“It looks like he went further in…” Cyran wiped away more sweat that had gathered at his temple, already dreading the trek. No doubt the temperature would continue to rise the deeper they ventured. He hoped there was no more danger housed in these caves for the unfortunate man to encounter. “Really, all that danger for some volcanic Woolful.” He wasn’t sure if he was referring to the researcher or himself.

He continued on down the winding pathway, following the researcher’s scent. The progress was slow, the scent moving back and forth as if the man had anxiously been zig-zagging in search of a place to hide, but they pressed onwards. As they drew further into the volcano, the cave grew steadily warmer until it was just shy of unbearable.

---

1. Hunted Prey

"Of course he went furth in." He groaned before giving a small laugh as he took Cyran's help up. Going deeper into this place with building heat wasn't ideal for a man with a fair amount of metal strapped to him.



He followed Cyran's lead this time as it seemed he had picked up on a scent. Sometimes there were parts of Gerhart that wished he knew how to do magic things like that, but he had his skills and there wasn't much sense in whining about what you don't have. He was used to not having things anyways.



"I mean...they are cute....I wonder if....their wool is like....cooling or something....speaking from experience, heavy layers are....hot...maybe that's how....they survive." Gerhart's enthusiastic break neck pace had slowed as a mild bit of heat exhaustion began to settle in. So long as there was nothing else to fight, this should be fine......let's just hope it ends soon.



He takes a heavy swig from his waterskin, pouring a bit over his head just to have it steam away. "This guy better appreciate the effort." A rare complaint from the young adventurer who was starting to let the heat get to him.

Gerhart’s theory about Woolful fur made sense, Cyran supposed. He didn’t know much about the animals, but he figured if their wool was enchanted, then it would be worth studying- though perhaps not what his employers were hoping for. Given the rumors currently spreading around Darkveil that Mount Drakolt was at risk of eruption, they had expected that the researcher’s study was something more sinister.

He supposed the information was benign enough that it didn’t matter whether he silenced the researcher or not. The news was… relieving, though the heat was getting bad enough that even the normally laid-back Gerhart was beginning to complain. Even Cyran had stripped his coat, tucking it in his bag, but the absence of the coat made no difference.

As they walked, they had to maneuver around pools of lava that began cropping up, carefully avoiding getting too close to the molten substance. “I wonder if the volcano really is beginning to stir…”

It was a grim thought.

The sound of nearby shuffling brought him back to the present- Cyran stopped as he realized that the trail had come to an abrupt halt here. The researcher was hiding somewhere amidst the magma pools and the stalagmites.

“It’s just us!” Cyran called out, voice bouncing off the cavern walls. “The basilisk has been slain.”

“Oh, praise Ginma!” Came a squeaky voice from behind a crop of volcanic rock. The mousy researcher popped his head out from his hiding place, and he pushed his glasses further up on his face as he nervously approached the other two. “I was beginning to think that no one would ever find me out here. I’ve been hiding from that horrid beast in these caves for days!”

“You’re safe now.” Cyran assured him with a smile. “We’re here to escort you back to the city.”

“I can’t thank you two enough! If I'd been down here for much longer, I'm not sure what would have happened. I might have been forced to eat rocks and cave bugs to survive!” The anxious scientist said as he began to follow the other two, back through the winding tunnel system, out of the scorching heat.

"We had found you, then you ran off." Gerhart grumbled as he reached out to pull the researcher from his hiding place and help him straighten himself out. "I wanna know why you were all the way out here, but that can wait till town...and an ale.....and a cold bath."



Gerhart wiped the sweat from his brow as they headed off. Even just getting outside the cavern and feeling the light breeze around the mountain was like reaching heaven. It wasn't exactly a cool breeze being beside a volcano, but it wasn't a harsh and dry heat burning his face.



With Cyran's help he led the group back down the mountain side, careful not to start a rockslide. The last thing they needed was another disaster to avert. For once, Gerhart was not overly talkative, conserving energy for the slow climb down and walk back to the city.



Gerhart could not be happier when they reached town hours later, parting with the researcher. "Next time he gets stuck up there, someone else can go get him, I think I'm done with volcanoes." He gave Cyran a tired grin as they headed towards a tavern. "First ale's on my Cy, wouldn't have killed the basilisk if ya didn't hit it with that....whatever it is your spell was." Another little laugh as they push through the door.