-Quarry-
[A Human Realm city, named for its purpose as the primary stone quarry
In Spire. It’s a massive pit composed of six distinct layers, with massive arches holding up
Various platforms containing office buildings, homes, and research centers.
The city has evolved from its founding and is now a major center of the world’s economy, and many people come to the city in hopes of making it big.]
Ari stepped out of the Aeth’mobile, stretching her arms above her head, looking up towards the sunny, cloudless sky. A gentle breeze filtered through her blonde hair and dark blue blazer. “Feels good to finally get out of the car,” she said as she switched to stretching her legs, dipping deep into sideways lunges.
“Agreed,” Xeron said flatly, as he approached the guard rail, luggage in tow. “All my years as a Hunter, and somehow I’ve never been here.”
Ari joined him, and gasped as she looked down. “So this is Quarry? The view is great from up here!” Beyond the guard rail the ground gave way to a massive circular hole in the ground, a few miles in diameter, and several hundred feet deep. The hole seemed to get a bit wider, tapering to its smallest size at the top. From the top, you could see a handful of distinct layers, each crowded with buildings of various sizes and shapes. All were constructed from the same gray stone, but the way the stone was cut could differ wildly. From her understanding, most of those structures are houses and communal living complexes, but quite a few of them belonged to various companies. I wonder if we can see our employer’s company from here? She wondered.
“Indeed, far better in person than in pictures.” Xeron said before turning and walking along the path, leading the way towards one of the few surface structures. “Come on, the boss is probably waiting for us already.”
“I wonder what she’s like,” Ari thought out loud, “I bet she’s kinda ugly, but nice.”
“That’s no way to speak of our employer,” Xeron scolded. Ari smirked, knowing that deep below his serious facade, Xeron at least chuckled at the remark.
The building the two entered was a large, cylindrical structure made almost entirely of gray stone, with long, glassless windows cut out at even intervals. Despite having only one serviceable floor, the building was quite tall. The interior featured impressive vaulted ceilings, with intricate carvings lining the upper portions of the walls. Ari stood with her arms folded and studied them for a moment while Xeron checked in at the front desk. The carvings evoked images of the city’s culture, and its longstanding focus on industry. Despite being carved by hand, they were incredibly detailed and masterfully done. She was impressed with the building as a whole, as she couldn’t even see where pieces of stone were joined together. It created the illusion that the entire building was just one massive stone, and it was chiseled down to its current shape.
The rest of the interior was neat and tidy, featuring polished stone tiles for the floor and tables. The only items not made from stone seemed to be chairs and the various office supplies used by the reception desk. I knew stone was their primary export, Ari thought to herself, but I didn’t think they liked it this much. At the edge of the lobby was a large set of sliding double doors, which she guessed was the elevator leading into the city.
Xeron beckoned her towards the chairs in front of the doors, and sat down. Ari elected to stay standing, still restless after sitting for the entire trip.
The two waited in silence, the idle chatter from the others in the room filling the void. After several minutes, some loud, high pitched squealing sounded from behind the doors, followed by them slowly opening, loudly grinding against the surrounding stone. Behind the doors was a large elevator platform, with a handful of benches and seats, as well as rails to hold on to.
The platform was sparsely populated. One bench had three girls, a few years older than Ari, all huddled close together, looking at something in the middle girl’s hands. Another had a man, probably close to Xeron’s age, laying with his head on the lap of a girl around the same age. Near the dead center of the platform, holding onto a pole, was a woman, Ari estimated in her late forties, dressed neatly in a suit.
The woman made eye contact with Ari within seconds of becoming visible, and walked over to her briskly. She was a fair bit taller than Ari, but still shorter than Xeron. Her dark brown hair was cut short, a couple inches above her shoulders, and her green eyes were stern.
“You two must be the Tsumis.” She maintained intense eye contact with Ari, and stuck out an arm for a handshake. “I’m Yenva Muwal, your employer for the next little while.”
Ari shook her hand, “Ari Tsumi, pleasure to be of service.”
“And I’m Xeron, Ari’s mentor.” Xeron said as he stood up, followed by another handshake with Yenva.
“A pleasure,” Yenva said flatly, before turning back towards the elevator. “Come, we will discuss your job in my office.” She returned to the same central pole she stood at earlier, with Ari and Xeron electing to sit in the nearest seats.
“The platform will begin descending in three minutes,” a woman’s voice sounded over an intercom, “Please make sure all passengers are completely and securely on the platform, and out of the door’s closing path.”
“So, how far down are we going?” Xeron asked.
“The Grand Stone Guild is headquartered on Layer Six, the very bottom.” Yenva replied very matter-of-factly.
“So all the way, got it. How long is the trip down?”
She didn’t respond. Xeron shrugged after a while, figuring it’ll be a quiet ride down.
After a couple more intercom announcements, the platform finally began its descent. Within a few seconds, the elevator was below the ground. While it had a roof, it had no walls, which allowed for a very scenic view once it opened up. Ari fought the temptation to go up to the glass wall and get a better look, deciding to stay put. Opting instead to follow Xeron’s example of silently looking out from her seat.
After a few minutes, the platform made its first stop, announced on the intercom as Layer One. A large group of people, diverse in style of dress and heritage, boarded the elevator. Many seemed like straight-edge business men, wearing very formal looking attire, not far off from what she’d seen from the Human officials during the Peace Party a few months prior. Once everyone had boarded and was settled in, and another intercom announcement was made, they descended further.
The stop at Layer Two saw a handful people get off, exchanged for almost the same number of new people getting on. The station had a large group of people waiting there, but none of them got on. Probably waiting to go up, Ari guessed. With how long the stops were taking and how long it took between stops, she figured it would be a while before they arrived at their stop. She slouched in her seat, and pulled a small notebook out of an interior pocket on her jacket.
The notebook was a gift from her other brother, Orun. While he gave the impression of being very lazy and laid-back, Orun actually took his studies of magic rather seriously. The parts he found interesting, anyway. The notes contained within were all over the place, no real organization present whatsoever, and it jumped between topics frequently. After the fifth topic jump, Ari decided to use colored slips of paper to mark where different topics were talked about, with each major topic being assigned a color. Only half way through, the book was slowly gaining a rainbow between its pages.
The section she flipped to was the most common color, a deep indigo. This color signified any section with information regarding Aspects. With such a broad topic, there were often other topics brought up as well, namely various elements and their effects, and how they pair with the aspect currently being talked about. This section talked about Xeron’s aspect, the concept of “piercing.” It was similar to Ari’s aspect of “slicing” in that the most commonly thought of applications for this concept were for combat. Of course, this was Orun’s book, and this section was detailing non-combat uses for such a broad aspect, such as digging and mining.
Ari let out a chuckle seeing that example, given she was in a city where digging and mining was the main thing to do. Reading on, she was surprised to see him mention Quarry directly, and that the city was responsible for sparking his interest in this particular aspect.
“I had the pleasure of speaking with various people working in the mines,” the notes read, “one of the higher ups I talked to at Ensaru’s farm told me they don’t use xeron to dig at all. It made sense once they explained that it’s very good at making a hole, but not particularly good at producing chunks of stone that could be used for bricks and construction. Apparently they use it a lot when digging out new layers of the city though, as well as for interiors of buildings. She said it takes a lot of skill and precision to use it effectively, and it was only after a lot of trial and error that they were able to dig out layer six: the first layer with all of its buildings cut out of the stone, rather than built after the hole was dug.
“When I asked if they imbue the aspect with any elements, she said it largely depends on what’s being done. The example she gave me was using fyr’tur or other explosive commands to create cavities in the stone, or just to break it up more finely than xeron itself would provide. I’ve thought of some other possibilities, but I don’t really have the skill or place to test them. Maybe I’ll drag Xeron into helping me try it out. That may not go so well though, he doesn’t really like being precise with his magic. One day I hope to come back to Quarry, it seems there is much more for me to learn here.”
That last comment made Ari wonder. Orun spent a lot of time at home, only ever taking Hunts if they came to him, or if there was one that interested him. Reading through his old notebook felt like she was reading about a completely different person. She looked to Xeron, who had his eyes closed and arms folded, and wondered if he knew anything about it.
I’ll ask him about it later, she decided.
She continued reading, and before she knew it the intercom announced they had arrived at layer six. She looked up from her book to see the large stone doors slide open over the heads of the large crowd that had formed on the platform. Nearly everybody on the platform started moving to exit, though a small group stayed on, conversing with each other. Ari stood up after Xeron, who was hasting to follow Yenva. She cut her way through the crowd skillfully, weaving through the slow moving people quickly and smoothly.
Ari didn’t have time to observe the landing building, and they made it outside quickly. Only then did Yenva slow down a bit. Ari looked up in amazement. She saw the impressive architecture that made the layers possible; large arches holding the ground above, expertly engraved with ornate designs on all sides, including the bottom. Some buildings on the layer above were integrated into pillars that rose from layer six, a few of those pillars rose up as high as layer three. With how many layers there were between her and the surface, it was difficult to see the sky, though she could see small slivers through the weaving structures. Despite this complex web, a surprising amount of natural light found its way down to the bottom layer.
“Finally,” Yenva sighed,“I can’t stand large crowds like that.” She cleared her throat and regained her earlier composure. “The Guild headquarters are only a short walk from here, you can see the building from here.” When facing away from the lift, the direction she was pointing was forty-five degrees to the left. There, a large building with large glass windows framed by the same gray stone the rest of the city was made from, rose above its neighbors. It was easily five stories tall, and had an impressive width and depth.
What do you even do with that much space? Ari thought to herself. She’d learn soon enough, she supposed. She was no stranger to large buildings, and the amount of things that could be going on inside of them. But unlike the Old Palace in the Royal City, this was a building owned by one company, while being large enough it could house every Hunter in the Clan.
Yenva guided them down some stairs, taking them lower into the depths, and to what was considered the ground-level of layer six. Each layer had two large bridges that intersected in their center, supported by a massive pillar that extended through all of them. Ari wasn’t sure about the other layers, but down here it had statues carefully carved into it, one facing in each direction of the bridge. Facing them was a statue made in Yenva’s likeness, though Ari couldn’t see the other three statues clearly enough to make out their features. She wouldn’t be able to tell from this distance, but if viewed up close one could tell these statues were carved by hand, without the assistance of magic.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The group took a winding path, going in between buildings and through alleyways. One turn left, followed quickly by another to the right. This continued for several minutes, and Yenva didn’t slow down even slightly at any point. Eventually, they came to a large street, which seemed to be the main street of this quadrant of the layer. It stretched all the way to the bridges’ intersection, far to their right as they faced the street. To their left, was the large building seen before.
Up close it was truly an impressive sight. Ari had to crane her neck backwards to see the top. It would have stretched out of sight to the sides if not for that height, disappearing behind the smaller buildings crowding near it. Most of them seemed like houses, and nice ones at that. If not for them being dwarfed by the headquarters building, they’d seem huge too.
Between the group and the building was a courtyard, separated from the street by large stone pillars holding up a platform that ran along the perimeter of the rectangular plaza. The pillars only rose up a single story of the building, so despite their size they still looked small.
Yenva brought them to the front of the building, and of the several sets of glass double doors, she opened the middle one, inviting the Hunters inside. “Welcome to the Great Stone Guild.” She said as the doors swung themselves shut behind her.
The interior surprisingly wasn’t just stone. The floor was a smooth, polished white marble, with a regal looking red rug thrown over it, carving out walking paths through the lavish lobby. In front of the doors was a long reception desk, made out of a dark wood, and divided into several sections. Each section had two slightly higher sides, sandwiching a lower section in the middle, drawing the attention to the receptionist seated there. While the receptionists were sitting, the desk was at a comfortable height for most adults to stand at it. The workers were on a raised platform behind the desk, Ari realized. Most of the stalls did have raised seats for shorter folk to sit on, or just for longer visits to the desk. To either side of the long desk, there were several sitting areas, all of which were outfitted with writing utensils, and reading material, most of which was filled with recent news from all over the world, and would be replaced anytime new editions came out.
Yenva strolled up to the receptionist directly in front of them. A young man, he couldn’t be more than a year or two older than Ari, he had pitch-black hair and piercing blue eyes. “Ah, Miss Muwal, you’ve returned,” he welcomed her, “Are these the guests you mentioned will be staying with us for a time?”
“Yes, they are.” Her voice was flat, the only emotion was a nigh-undetectable hint of annoyance, “Would you mind calling Recen for me? Have her meet us in meeting room 36-A.”
“Of course, Miss Muwal. I’ll get in touch with her right away.” He started fiddling with something on his desk, a device Ari recognized from the Tsumi Clan headquarters. She was reminded of the pendant sitting in her coat pocket, tucked away safely.
Yenva was quick to leave, the boy hadn’t even begun speaking through the communicator yet. Xeron was right behind her, and Ari scrambled to catch up, lost in thought as they started leaving.
They circled around the receptionist desk, which was open at the back, a single step bridged the floor and the platform, which wrapped along its entire length. There they approached a set of elevators. Yenva pressed a handful of buttons quickly, blocking which buttons she pressed from sight. Shortly after, the doors slid open with a ding. The group walked in, and Yenva hit a button with a three on it. The doors closed, and after a quick few seconds they opened again on a different floor.
She turned left out of the elevator, into a hallway very similar to the lobby below. She led the group down the hall, and around a corner, before opening a door on the left. Inside was a standard meeting room, a large table surrounded by some two dozen chairs. The far wall was a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall window, split in the middle, with one half on a rail which it can slide along, opening out to a balcony overlooking a courtyard. Each room had a similar balcony, separated by walls. Before Ari could inspect the courtyard further, Yenva pulled some thick blinds to cover the view, making the room slightly darker, now lit only by crystals imbued with rel.
Yenva took a seat at the head of the room, and gestured for the Hunters to sit as well. Xeron sat down a few spots away from her, and Ari directly across from him. They sat in silence for several minutes, until the door opened and a woman walked in, carrying a portfolio full of papers. She had long brown hair, put into a single long braid that went over her shoulder and down past her chest, and dark, green eyes poorly hidden behind spectacles. She wore a suit, similar to Yenva’s, but was perhaps a touch small in the arms, as Ari could see the outline of muscle under the cloth. She nodded to Yenva before walking over to her, taking her place standing behind her.
“This is my older sister, and key assistant, Recen.” Yenva introduced the newcomer with a raise of her hand.
Recen bowed, “A pleasure to meet you, Hunters. I hope our partnership will be a fruitful one.”
“Let’s get straight to-” Yenva started, before being cut off by Xeron.
“If I may, there is something to discuss before the details of our contract with you, if that’s alright.” He said, tone cold and professional.
“Very well, out with it.” Yenva was clearly annoyed.
Xeron leaned forward, supporting himself on the table with his elbows, hands clasped in front of him. “In addition to the work you hired us for, we have another directive, straight from the Guardians. Due to our family’s agreement with them, this directive takes priority.”
Yenva raised an eyebrow, her annoyance seemingly growing, “And what directive is that?”
“I’m sure you have heard the rumors about a major rebel group forming recently.”
“The one with the Demon Lords? Yes, I’m familiar.”
Xeron nodded, “There’s reason to believe these so-called ‘Lords’ have a counterpart acting in the Human Realm, and a fair amount of evidence that at least one of these counterparts are operating here in Quarry.”
“If you’ve been sent to interrogate me, don’t bother,” Yenva scoffed, leaning back in her chair. “I’ve already been asked if I know anything about them by several others.”
Xeron smiled patiently, “I’m aware, I read the transcript of Hunter Rel’s various interviews, yours included. We’re here to investigate other groups and companies throughout the city, and see what we can find. Those interviews were already a few weeks ago, it’s possible things have changed, or even that things were overlooked initially.”
“Will those investigations involve our company in any capacity?” Recen spoke, her voice blank of emotions. She had a prominent air of professionalism that her superior lacked.
“Well of course,” Xeron said in a matter-of-fact way, “With your company’s prominence in the world’s economy, in addition to the sheer size of the company, we need to conduct a very thorough investigation here.” A small flash of annoyance crossed Recen’s face. “It’s not as though we’ll be interrogating every employee. Any and all leads we can get, no matter how big or small, are incredibly valuable in this investigation.”
“Very well,” Yenva said with a sigh, “We’ll cooperate. As per the agreement outlined in our initial request, we’ll provide you with lodging. I’ll show you to my place later, I have a few guest rooms in need of use.”
“Thank you, Miss Muwal,” Xeron said with a slight bow of his head.
“Still,” Yenva leaned forward, resting her head in a hand, elbow on the table, “I find it hard to believe anyone in Quarry, even our dear friend Ensaru, would work with a traitorous group like that.” Recen agreed with a nod, before clearing her throat. “Oh yes,” Yenva continued, “Our work for you. The previously mentioned ‘dear friend Ensaru’ needs to go. I have hired you to take care of him. He’s ever been a lapdog of the Guardians, and a thorn in my side. The Guild is, as you mentioned earlier, a very big company. We’ll be approaching the maximum amount we can dig on Layer Six sooner than most companies, and as such need Layer Seven to be approved as soon as possible. Doubly so if we can get the contract to work on the excavation. Director Ensaru of the J’alyr ke Ensaru is the only person in the city with as much hold on the courts as us, and he’s been persistently blocking the motion to begin excavating Layer Seven for the last two years. We do have the Guardians to worry about as well, but I believe with Ensaru out of the way, we’d be able to convince them a lot easier.
“Well, reasons aside. I would prefer if you were to assassinate him, but I suppose I would settle for just removing his influence in this city. I don’t care how you achieve it, I’ll pay you in full if he’s removed from the picture.”
“What can you tell us of the target? How’s his security detail, what about his personal fighting capabilities?” Xeron inquired.
“I can’t speak for his security, but I do know he’s a skilled fighter. From our past… dealings, let’s say, I’m aware he is attuned to the jarou element, but is plenty skilled with other elements. Aside from that, he’s fond of polearms, namely halberds. This information is a few years old at this point, so maybe things have changed. I also don’t think I’ve ever seen him go all-out before.”
“I see.” Xeron nodded, before turning to Ari, “Got all that? Mind writing it all down?”
Ari nodded, “Will do.” She reached into the inner pocket of her jacket, questing for a pen and her notepad, and began writing. Ari was aware most Hunters didn’t care to be as methodical as Xeron. He tended to write down notes and always tried to learn everything he could about his opponents before having to face them. Other Hunters, like the infamous Red Cloak, Kared, were the exact opposite. She preferred to learn about her targets as they fought, or if she was in a rush, kill them before they could even make their first move. Of course, she was able to do such things because of her ridiculous strength. Most Hunters pale in comparison to her. Ari was never sure how she felt about that discrepancy.
She’d only ever really met and talked to Kared once. She’d asked the older Hunter how she became so strong, and if she had any tips on getting stronger herself. Kared had shrugged, and said the only thing she could think of is dedicating yourself to the most intense training you can handle, and to do so for several hours every day for a few years. “At least, that’s what I did when I was your age,” she’d said with a second shrug.
Ari sighed, shaking her head as though to shake off the thoughts. She’d finished writing down everything from before, as well as everything they said while she was writing. She now had some very unorganized notes about Ensaru, including information about himself and his fighting abilities, the location of his home and his workplace, any notable members of his entourage, and a little tidbit Recen mentioned about how he always had “a finger on the pulse of the city.” The lean assistant had explained that he always seemed to know what was going on in all parts of Quarry at all times.
The meeting adjourned shortly after, Yenva escorted the Hunters out of the building the way they came in. “As mentioned, I’ll have the two of you stay at my place. Follow me.” The woman walked off briskly, in the opposite direction they’d come from. After winding through several more gray alleyways and crossing several small roads, they came to a large house near the outer wall of the city, almost exactly in the middle between the two raised central roadways. Ari was surprised the house was as small as it was, considering the owner of said house.
“Well, here we are,” their employer said, opening the door and letting them inside.
The interior was surprisingly plain. Dark wood floors, a staircase in front of the door leading upstairs, a sitting room to their left, an office to their right, and a kitchen straight ahead, with a window looking out at the house behind hers, and the stone wall at the edge of the city behind that. “Your rooms are upstairs.” She led them up the stairs, showing them the bathroom immediately left of the landing, before offering up the two rooms along the back. “My room is at the end of the hall, and my study is the door just before it on the left. If there’s anything I can do for you, you can usually find me in one or the other, or at the office building.”
“Thank you for your hospitality, Miss Muwal,” Xeron said, Ari quickly echoing his thanks after.
“Of course. I’ll let the two of you get settled,” She said before turning and walking towards her study.
“Alright Ari, I’ll give you first choice,” Xeron said, pointing his thumb to the rooms. Upon inspection, they were pretty much identical. The rooms featured beige walls, in contrast to the light gray carpet, adorned with various paintings, neatly aligned along the far wall from the door. Both rooms had small desks with chairs, and beds large enough for two people. The only differences were that the rooms were mirrored, and one had dark gray bedding, and one had black. Ari chose the one with dark gray, the one closer to the stairs and bathroom.
The decision having been made, the two convened in Ari’s room, the door shut and locked behind them. Ari sat on the bed, and Xeron at the desk. “Well, shall we make our report for the day? There’s still a fair bit of time in the day, but I don’t think we’d get far with any investigations right now.” Xeron suggested.
Ari nodded, and excitedly pulled her pendant out from her undershirt. It was a small metal object in the shape of the clan emblem, with intricate carvings on the sides. “How do I make it work?”
“I believe you just supply it with a bit of aether.”
She did, and the device lit up, a light blue copy of the clan emblem hovering just over the metal. “Tsumi Headquarters, this is Venn. How can I help you, Ari?”
“Hi Venn! This is so cool!”
“It is, isn't it?” Venn’s voice sounded from the device, a chuckle escaping the typically overly professional woman.
Ari cleared her throat, “I’m here to make my daily report to Danfis, Xeron is here as well.”
“Alright. Danfis is currently away, I can receive the report on his behalf. Start whenever you’re ready.” Venn said.
The two Hunters spent some time recounting the day’s events to the young receptionist, making sure to include as much detail as possible regarding their discussion with Yenva.
“Thank you for your report, and all your hard work.” Venn said after the report was finished. “Is there anything else I can do for you two?”
“No, that should be it. Thanks Venn.” Xeron said.
“Yeah, thanks Venn!” Ari was a lot more enthusiastic, before the device went dark again. Despite their age difference, Ari considered Venn a close friend. The receptionist was always kind to her when she visited the headquarters as a child.
Their report made, the two split up to acquaint themselves with their lodgings, and make themselves comfortable, and to prepare for the next day’s investigating.