Guild Truthseeker had six members, but their leader only intended to bring a party of five to the mines. While he'd made his decision while they were buying supplies, he waited until they were at the city gates to make his decision known.

"We'll split up here. If the main party doesn't return by nightfall, the remaining member should come in after us to retrieve… anything possible."

"Uh, boss… Anything that can wipe out five of us can wipe out one of us," Olivia said, clutching her new bow tightly.

"I am aware of that. However, there is also the chance that they won't run into the same beasts. Or that they'll avoid the critical mistake that brought us down. Hopefully we won't need them. Now, this reserve member will need to be comfortable in close combat, because he won't have Maurice or Henry running interference for him."

All eyes turned to Francis.

"Huh. That makes you the only one left who qualifies," Gabriel commented, "Well, wish us luck."

"Well, I think he found the perfect role for you," Maurice said, wearing an insincere smile.

Francis was silent. On the one hand, he was being left out of the adventure. On the other hand, he was trying to present a loner image, and he was being considered the potential equal of all five of his teammates at once. (He tried to ignore the fact that none of said five thought that way for a second.)

"We'll have other missions this difficult for you to prove yourself in later," the leader assured him.

"...Am I to wait here all day?" Francis finally spoke up.

"Just hang out at the bar till evening," Maurice said, "We'll meet you there. Come on everyone!"

The active five turned away from their nightseeker comrade and spoke to a nearby guard. Francis decided he might as well go with their suggestion and walked back into town.

"You're the T-seeker guild, right? The Outland Count sent me here to wait for you," the soldier said, "Before we leave, you're sure you're ready for this?"

"We've prepared every way we can," Henry said, "Nothing else left to do but go."

The guard nodded and refrained from asking any further questions. "Alright. Then follow me."

The Old Forest Mine was a very green place, full of tropical plants and flowers. Palm trees grew next to more mushroom-shaped trees, and the path was overgrown with grass - but it was nothing compared to off the path.

As they had decided earlier, Maurice and Henry were the trailblazers, while their leader stood back with Gabriel and Olivia where they could use their skills in relative safety if anything attacked.

There was an aura of nervousness in the air. They had no idea where the Iridescent ore was, or how big the maze. But they could feel eyes watching them from the underbrush, sizing them up.

When the trail split to go around a large tree, Maurice decided to take the left path. This, as luck would have it, made things much easier for them. For this soon branched off another path to the east, and there, the leader happened to step on something round on the ground, and looked down to see it was a golden locket.

He picked it up to take a closer look. "It seems someone lost this."

"Well, it's sure not one of ours," James said, having turned around to look.

"Perhaps a fallen predecessor…" Olivia mused, "No, no signs of blood nearby."

"So, what? You wanna return it?"

"Well, to do that I'd need a clue who it belongs to." The locket was built to contain a picture, so the leader began fiddling with the clasp…

"Sorry, but you mind leaving that alone? I'm a little embarrassed to let anyone see it," a voice spoke up from behind them on the path. The team whirled around to see a shabby-looking older man. He had a tired expression, greyish hair, black stubble, an old bronze breastplate with an orange cape, and a dark green sack over one arm.

Without a question, the leader held out the locket and let the other explorer take it. "Thanks. So, which guild are you?"

"We're the Truthseeker guild. Who are you?" Maurice responded.

"Me? I'm Whirlwind," he says, "Though that's really just a nickname… Nice meeting you, Truthseeker guild." 'Whirlwind' appraises them again. "You're here for some Iridescent Ore?"

"That is correct," the leader responds.

"Yeah, I think there's still some to be had in this Old Forest Mine," 'Whirlwind' continues.

"Uh, why?" Henry asks.

"Because I'm the one who found it in the first place," 'Whirlwind' said, before pulling a something out of his sack. "Here, maybe this will help."

The leader took the parchment and looked at it. It seemed to be the beginnings of a map drawn by 'Whirlwind,' bundled with a set of drawing implements. He could see the entrance to the forest, and the mining site somewhere to the North of their current position. The rest was conspicuously blank.

"I sketched in where you can find the Iridescent Ore. I hope that helps point you in the right direction," 'Whirlwind' continued.

"This map is incomplete."

"Hmm? The map's only half done? Well, that makes this a great chance to learn to draw your own!" the older adventurer responded. "It's simple. Just draw in the walls and landmarks as you see them, and use the eraser if you see you've made a mistake."

It did seem simple in theory.

"How 'bout it? Think you can draw your own? Don't worry, if I can do it, anyone can!" 'Whirlwind' said after watching the runemaster look through the implements and find a place for them in his clothing, keeping one ready to use. While 'Whirlwind' laughed at his jest, the leader wondered just why the map was so incomplete…"But seriously, you need to learn to draw a map if you're going to chase Yggdrasil. That map's your lifeline."

"When you think you're done with this map of this Old Forest Mine, bring it here and I'll look over it for you. I'll be at the entrance," the man said, before parting ways with the group and walking back the way he came.

The leader looked down at the map. It actually gave the impression that the forest was much smaller than he'd thought, and he took comfort in this.

"Well, time we moved on again,"

As the group moved on from where they met 'Whirlwind,' they soon saw a clearing with something shimmering in the middle. Comparing it's position, to the map made it clear - it had to be the Iridescent Ore. However, there was a thin, deep pond flowing between them and it.

"Anyone know how to swim?" Henry asked.

Everyone looked between each other and shook their heads.

"We'll need to find a way around, then," the leader said, carefully filling in the map as they went.

Before long, the forest apparently decided they had gone unopposed for too long, and a pink creature with a thick grey shell charged at them from the underbrush.

"A Roller. Everyone, battle formation!" the leader said, pocketing the map in favor of the thick wand he'd picked up at the shop to better focus his magic.

Henry walked up to the creature, grinned cheekily and adopted an odd stance with his new mace. Olivia crept around to a better shooting angle and began firing at it's legs. Maurice charged in to slash at it with her sword. The leader and Gabriel decided to conserve their magic for further in and tried to use their wands as clubs instead.

The creature's armor was thick, and it threw itself at Henry for a hard hit. However, the fortress stepped back up to it and batted it away with his mace, and the five ganged up on it to kill it.

"...It seems none of our weapons worked especially well against it," the leader noted. "If we run into one allied with a different creature, it would be more efficient to leave this one to me."

They would have a chance to test that strategy soon enough. For as they continued through the winding trail, they were periodically attacked by more rollers and giant grasshoppers. Fortunately, these "grasseaters" weren't as well armored. In the case that the two were together, the other four could finish off the insect before the leader completed his spell to kill the roller.

As the group walked along the pond's bank, they saw that it ended at a rock formation. No path north there. West, they thought they could see a trail in the underbrush, but couldn't quite reach it. If they were lucky, they could widen it from the opposite side, if they found it. That left the main trail, curving Southwest.

As they continued making their way southwest until they found a way North again, suddenly, they all felt an aura of malevolence. North, further along the path was a monstrous baboon with a cruel expression looking in their direction.

"Formido Oppugnatura Exsequens," the leader muttered, "That creature is stronger than it appears."

"Yeah, let's not rush towards it and get slaughtered," Gabriel said.

"Maybe we won't need to," James said, "It's looking this direction, but I don't think it's paying attention to us yet. It's just… patrolling. Maybe there's a way to slip past it."

"There is," Olivia pointed out, "The path branches to the left again there. If we make it there without getting into clawing range, it shouldn't follow us."

Reaching said path meant moving towards the FOE and entering it's patrol route. But as long as they weren't distracted by a sudden attack by something else, normal walking speed should let them slip past before it reached them. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they stepped onto the branch and the baboon walked behind them without paying them any notice.

The next noteworthy event came when they explored a dead end to the south and found a fan-shaped plant.

"Hm, a Traveller's friend. Lucky to find one," Maurice said.

"What's so lucky about it?" Henry asked.

"They store water in their stalks," Olivia answered, "It makes them good to nibble on."

"Oh, I was getting thirsty," Henry said, "Let's take it."

"No," the leader said, "They're useful to adventurers, but they're just as useful to other animals.

As the others reluctantly turned away, they saw that he was right, and a swarm of grasseaters had gathered. The runemaster began crafting a spell while the others charged them, but it seemed their sudden turn let them catch the giant insects by surprise, and they suffered few injuries in the fight.

"That was a good call, Boss," Gabriel said as they caught their breath, "But now that we've dealt with that, there's no point in leaving the plant alone, is there?"

"You have a point," The leader said, and motioned for them all to pluck a stalk to chew on.

Finally heading north again, the group found the other side of the impassable trail from earlier. It was easier to pass from this side, and in a brief trip through, they cut it wide open. This would be useful for avoiding the baboon on their return trip. Now, they were drawing close to the ore again.

To their surprise, the group found that the last obstacle between them and the field with the mine was an ornate red door. But before they could question it further, they saw that a Tharsis soldier was standing nearby. He confirmed that they were close to their goal, and offered them a spare bottle of medicine, which was graciously accepted. Though they probably wouldn't need it now. They had clearly seen the mine earlier, and there was nothing there to stand in their way.

But when they opened the door…

"No. this isn't POSSIBLE."

Giant FOE baboons, the same as the one they'd evaded earlier, patrolled the clearing, circling another small pond in the center and stepping right over the pile of rocks containing the Ore.

"I can see where we were earlier from here. These creatures were not present!" the leader continued to protest.

"Yeah, but they're here now," Maurice said, "No point arguing with our eyes. Guess there's nothing to do but go get it."

"Hold on, fighting those things is suicide," Gabriel protested.

"Who said anything about fighting?" Maurice waited for one of the FOE's to pass by, and slipped behind it. Carefully, she matched their pace and circled the pond with them. When she reached the mine, she bent down to pick something up. But since the second baboon was coming up on her, she had to continue on with just one rock.

"Nice work," Olivia said, as Maurice stepped out of the patrol route. "Except, this isn't the Iridescent Ore. It's just slate."

"There wasn't time to make sure I got the right rock. I guess I'll need to try another loop," Maurice responded, stepping behind the second FOE. This time, she made it back with their goal.

"...Excellent work, Maurice," the leader said, filling out a few last details on the map. "We're done here. Let's take that shortcut and head back to the entrance."

Everyone was a bit sore from the long walk and fighting, but no one was seriously hurt. And what injuries they did have were patched up by Gabriel. On the way back, they made sure to speak with Whirlwind again, who seemed happy with the map they made, and just as happy to let them keep it. He congratulated them on completing their first mission, and reminded them to deliver the ore to the court. The tired explorers agreed that they should do this as soon as possible.