Nike was one used to issuing orders. Granted, she had not been Commander for as long as Vangelis had been General, but the crown prince had been her personal mentor, and as she had grown and learned more, Nike was also a quick study, and picked up things as quick as she could. In the world she had given herself, that was a necessecary skill she had picked up. Which meant her mind compartmentalized itself easily when a task had to be segregated for a goal to be achieved. Nodding at Vangelis's instruction, Nike awaited till the other two had left before she too tightened the laces on her wrist bracers, and combed a hand through her cropped hair to muss it up a little. No sense in looking like a well groomed soldier.

Removing the chest plate that carried the insignia of the Red Knights, Nike proceeded to move towards the town, quickly and easily locating the blacksmith's as she followed the clanging of the metal and the roar of a fire from his hearth.

An order for arrows and throwing knives was quickly put in, but as the blacksmith got to work, Nike leaned against his counter and allowed her eyes to wander, brows furrowing when she saw the assortment of things there. If this was a mining town, then why did the blacksmith have ready-made weapons for sale, and looking as if they had been preordered? Her eyes fell upon a well wrought axe, swords, spears... far too many weapons for what was supposedly an innocent mining town.

Tight lipped as Nike had expected though, her queries on who the weapons were for were only returned with grunts of unclear answers by the blacksmith. Recognizing that the locals were unlikely to tell anything to a stranger to their community, Nike admitted defeat and quickly retrieved her throwing knives and the satchel of arrows, depositing a small bag of coins with the blacksmith before heading out.

Tucking her knives into the belt around her waist, she heaved the satchel of arrows meant for the young Valaoritis lord, and made her way to the tavern easily spotted with its swinnging sign. There, it did not take long for Nike to spot Vangelis's hooded form once she entered the bustling area. A quick flick of a finger had a mug of foaming mead slid across the bartop at her, and Nike grabbed it, weaving her way across to teh corner she had seen Vangelis seated at, only to frown when she found him all alone. The blacksmith had taken awhile to make the weapons.... had Timaeus failed to find the tavern?

Taking a seat, she asked beneath her breathe. "Did the young boy lose his way here?" she murmured, avoiding the use of names and titles as they were wont to do when out on the field.

All teenagers seem to have a certain immortality complex to them. It doesn’t matter if they are bookish scholars or young soldiers like Timaeus. Every young person between the ages of thirteen and twenty seemed to believe that the fates could not touch them. They all innately believed that no matter of tough a situation became or how certain doom was on the horizon, there would be a part of them that said everything would be alright. It was an immortality complex worthy of the heroes and demigods of their faith… and Timaeus was no exception to this.

Every single one of his foolhardy decisions on this quest so far were spurred on by this part of him. He was aware that there could be consequences --fatal ones even-- to his reckless actions, but he wasn’t capable of weighing them like Nike and Vangelis. They just didn’t seem as real to the sixteen-year-old whose only experience on the battlefield was stewarding for his uncle. He didn’t have the first-hand experience of things going terribly wrong as they did. He was just a boy eager for adventure with a limited understanding of danger.

It was for both of these reasons that Timaeus did not hesitate in moving deeper into the dark recesses of the cave. He could tell that it was foolish, especially after how the last exploration of a cave had gone, but the promise of adventure was far too tempting. However, at least he knew that he probably wouldn’t be able to go too far this time. The boy didn’t have a torch and probably wouldn’t be able to venture farther than the daylight already did. That should be enough to satisfy his curiosity and not keep the others waiting too long, right?

His justification was flimsy at best, there was no stopping the Valaoritis boy when his sense of adventure took hold. Carefully, being mindful to keep his ear out for the hisses of any snakes, Timaeus ventured deeper into the cave system. The path before him twisted as he moved forward, quickly shutting out the daylight as the boy reached out to run one hand along the wall. Even when he was shrouded in pitch-black, he kept moving forward despite his earlier promise of turning back once he reached this point. Not when the promise of some great treasure or new mystery could be coming right around the next bend. He could go just a little further. There was no harm in exploring just a bit more.

However, that came to an abrupt halt when the wall he had his hand on curved on him and the boy ran face-first into a wall. Stepping back quickly, Timaeus couldn’t help, but frown when it first appeared that his mini-adventure was at an end. Yet… something felt off. It took Timaeus a moment to figure out what it was (probably because he was distracted from the pain in his nose) but when it struck him, the shock of it felt harder than the wall.

His toes were not mashed against the wall.

Ducking down quickly, Timaeus found a smaller entrance that he had not seen on account of the darkness. Quickly running his hands along the sides of the opening, he wasn’t that surprised to see that it was small, barely big enough for him to crawl through. He couldn’t imagine that the pathway would stay that wide, but instead, it was far more likely that it would continue to narrow. That alone made it risky for him to move forward… but if Timaeus had paid attention to any story of adventure and mystery that this was exactly the sort of place he would find something interesting. So, even though logic told him that not only had he been gone too long and there was a decent risk he would get stuck… that ever tingling sense of curiosity won out and the boy crawled into the entryway.

He was right that it was claustrophobically narrow and it didn’t seem to get any better as he pushed his body further forward. It was then that he realized that he was a madman for thinking there was anything at the end of this small tunnel, hidden in a cave that could only be accessed by climbing down a cliff. This was foolish and he needed to turn around. Nike and Vangelis were probably both at the tavern waiting for him by now and they were surely chatting about how much of a liability he was if he couldn’t even quickly hide packs and return to the group. This was a fool’s errand and it was long past time that he admitted it. A small bubble of anger formed within him as these realizations hit him all at once, threatening to bring tears of sheer frustration to his eyes. Of course, he mucked everything up again!

“ Stupid, stupid, stupid.” He quietly muttered to himself as he lightly pounded his fist against the floor. It was a brief moment of frustration, truly nothing more than that. However, as Timaeus moved to shuffle back, he noticed something that had escaped his attention a moment ago. Noises. Instantly the boy shut his mouth and perked up a bit as he tried to discern what they were. He could tell that they were not the echoes of his anger just a second before. They were different. They sounded more distinct than just echoes like if he could strain his ears enough, he could tell that there were voices and the sound of something metallic scraping.

Timaeus was perfectly still as he listened, trying to pick out the little details. However, he was too far away and the rock walls were too thick. The boy couldn’t pick up anything specific, but the whole thing just seemed off to Timaeus. Off like the rest of this town and their lack of women and children. The noises he was hearing could be the sounds of miners at work, but it could be something else.

Either way, it was clearly a good idea to go get Nike and Vang to see what they thought of the situation. Now that there was a real risk, Timaeus knew that he couldn’t go forward alone, not if he wanted to prove Vangelis’s harsh words at the campfire right. If he moved forward, the only end up with Vang effectively putting the boy on a leash… just to keep the ‘liability’ out of trouble.

Quietly as possible, so that he wouldn’t alert the voices if they could hear him, Timaeus shuffled back to the small entrance. Once he was back in the main cave, the boy booked it back through the winding tunnels into the fresh air. He left the packs as they were as Timaeus tried to brush as much of the dirt and dust off of him. It wasn’t very successful so before the boy climbed the cliff edge and made his way to the gnarled tree, that he would have to move quickly through the town so no one would take notice of this strange boy with dust clinging to his clothes.

He practically ran the distance between the tree and the town square, only slowing to a hurried pace when he drew close enough that people might see him. Remembering his instruction to meet Nike at the blacksmith's when he was done, he thought about heading there first as he weighed what options he had… but he knew that he had been gone a while. It was more than likely that Nike was already at the tavern and even if he wasn’t, Vang would be at the Tavern. If what he had discovered was truly something noteworthy, the crown prince could easily get the commander himself, keeping the dust-covered boy from needing to run about and draw attention to himself. So, that made his decision to forgo Nike’s earlier orders and head straight for the tavern, ducking inside before anyone who could get a good look at him.

He noticed his comrades as soon as he entered the space. The sight of both of them caused Timaeus to breathe a sigh of relief as he ducked his head down and hurried over to them. Surely, they would have questions about where he had been, why he was late, and what on earth was he doing covered in dust… but he quelled them before they could even ask with a quiet hiss as he took a seat, trying to act completely normal, “I found something. A cave with a small tunnel in the back, barely big enough for me. I could hear voices when I crawled in.” With his back to the tavern owner, his eyes darted up at the pair, waiting to see what their reactions were to this discovery and what the group’s next course of action was.

Raising a brow when he reached for her cup of mead, he rolled his eyes with an amused smile when she spotted his own untouched and obviously room temperature mug of mead by now, and shook her head wryly before taking a sip herself as she sat down and nodded at his statement. There was little else they could do afterall, and the tavern was as good as any place to wait, considering the wealth of information they would be able to get from the amount of people who came and went from the town's watering hole.

Before Nike could catch much words however, the young boy in question made his appearance - a grimy appearance that had the Commander raising her brow in silent question on what exactly had happened to him. How dangerous could a simple task of hiding their belongings could bring him?

"So the cave he found... is one of the mining tunnels?" she murmured, quickly piecing up the pieces together. For them to haphazardly declare their positions and identity now would be hazardous, for no military to the crown or, honestly, the royal crown prince himself would be welcome to an illegal mining town, and without the might of their units and military behind them, the three of them were now outnumbered. "Did their construction of this illegal town drive the animals out of their homes? Perhaps that is why the people of Lyncaea has seen far too many creatures around?" the woman surmised in a low tone for the two to hear.

"Most likely."

Vangelis' words were in reply to Nike's shrewd considerations that Timaeus' discovery was in fake one of the off-shoot tunnels that led down into the mining facilities beneath the town.

"Partially."

This second assessment was in reply to her second comment about the construction of the town sending animals out of their homes. She was right that such a building of a settlement would throw the livestock into turmoil, send them scurrying to new landscape and new habitat. The defending of that new environment - for fear of losing their nests a second time - could lead them to violence against those that were a perceived threat. Like themselves on their camping journey through the woods.

"But I think there's more to it than that." Vangelis was careful to reach up and rub at his chin, the two days’ worth of stubble along his jawline abrasive against his palm. It helped to hide his mouth from any that might be reading the conversation of the strangers from a distance.

"But foundries need resources to make their ore into something sellable." And that included heat, fires, water and steam, all of which was used in conjunction to melt the iron or bronze or whatever they were minding here into a sort of shape that could be blocked into transportable goods, ready for coin exchange.

There were many laws about how to take down local forestry and clean away the excess offshoots of the work such foundries did. Including the expulsion of the tainted water from the melting barns.

"I think our illegal friends are avoiding safety precautions and poisoning the wildlife. Turning them rabid. It would explain the mountain lion... and the bear."

Water stained with molten metal would hardly see the local predators healthy. And rabid, confused animals tended to be more violent than those of healthy disposition. Which meant, whether they found the bear or not - if Vangelis' theory was correct - they had found the source of the issue.

And yet now they were three men in the centre of a town that likely boasted over sixty strong mining mercenaries. Hardly a position of strength.

"Timaeus..." Vangelis looked to the youngest of the party. "Lead us to the tunnel. We need to see how far this project goes so that we can assess further action. And we need to do it before night falls or our torches will be seen." And he wasn't about to lead his men down the side of the mountain’s cliffs in the dark.

Following in Timaeus' stead, Vangelis looked over at Nike, the two of them taking a step back from proceedings and permitting the young Valaoritis lord to lead the way. His expression was one of uncertainty. Not fear or worry, but more a sense of unknowing. Whether he was ignorant of what move to make next or how to handle the discovery of such a large illegal operation as this, Vangelis wasn't sure but he turned to bounce such ideas from one of the few people he trusted so explicitly.

"Any further information from the smithy?" Vangelis asked Nike, holding out a hand in a manner that suggested wanting. He had lost a few arrows in the fight with the lion despite the fact that he had turned to his sword early on and he needed them replenished with a few of the items his Commander had purchased on behalf of the group. "These men know what they're doing?"

The question was perhaps odd, as mining was a talent that needed a good deal of knowledge. You couldn't mine without experience and expertise of the land, else you simply dug tunnels that caved in upon you or hit air pockets that exploded with the sparked gas deep below. But whether the men around them knew how to mine was not exactly what he was asking. His query was more big picture. He was asking Nike whether or not she believed that the men in the town knew what they were doing was illegal. Or had they been drawn in with promises of gold and falsehoods of royally signed permissions. Were the luddites who manned the mining tools aware of the state of affairs at the top of the ladder or did they believe that they were mining for king and country...?

And depending which it was... how on earth were they supposed to work around that? Either take on a small army of miners who knew what they were doing to be against the law and willing to defend their fortune to the death. Or attack a group of men who might not be doing anything wrong with deliberate intent...? Neither were workable. And both were messy…

Following after Timaeus and allowing the young boy to lead the way, Nike handed over the arrows she had procured for Vangelis, keeping Timaeus's share still in the satchel, as she murmured her return. "I don't know if they know what they are doing per say," the woman explained, waving a discreet arm around the small and bustling town. "But they have an inordinate amount of weapons for sale there. Unusual, for a mining town smithy." Nike had come across many mining towns in her travels with the troops and their campaigns, for her to notice an anomaly in a local mining town, even if she had not went too deep in conversation with them.

"We're not equipped to handle them as we are."

The Gods knew how many of the people here were actually in on the whole organization, and the amount of axes and broadswords she saw available in the smithy was enough to tell Nike they would be easily overpowered and captured if they attempted to start a coup now.

Stepping over the cliff face after the young Valaoritis lord, her eyes followed his motions to the small ledge, and then raised a brow in slight admiration. The ledge was small, and as the young teen had said, not the easiest to navigate. Yet the boy had managed to jump his way there and back, and survived to bring them back yet again. It wasn't impossible per say, but for a teen his age, Nike was duly impressed.

Her widened eyes were the only indication the two of her companions got however, for the woman quickly started scaling the ledge, following Timaeus's instructions on which footholds to use to prevent herself from dropping off the sheer side of the cliff, and eventually got herself to the mouth of the cave with only a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. She squinted, but the pitch darkness of the cave meant that did nothing to help her vision, nor to figure out what exactly was in there. Did she want to enter yet another cave, after what had happened just the day before when they were in one? Not particularly. But Nike had always been duty before self-want.

Still, listening to the young boy talk, it sounded as if he made his own decision. He was young yes, but he grew up to be trained as a militant, and Nike didn't see why he shouldn't be allowed to go in. Turning to give a wry look at Vangelis, the Commander merely shrugged, and gave a nod of her head in agreement of letting Timaeus in. He was the smallest sized among the three of them, so it was almost a certain thing that he held the greatest chance in going the furthest in whatever small passageway he had found, to gain more information.