Welcome to the Kitchen Sink Odyssey! Feel free to jump in the story and introduce yourself at any time. The general tone here is very humorous and sarcastic. If you've read Acquisitions Incorporated, that is the perfect example of what we're going for. 

Start at Level 3 or below. Use 2014 or 2024, whatever makes you comfortable. All sourcebooks are fair game, and so is homebrew. Just don't be super overpowered and we'll be fine. 

~

Once upon a time, Arithia was a planet of sprawling continents and ancient civilizations. But one day, without warning (except for those by your eccentric local cleric wearing a “THE END IS NEAR” sandwich board), a torrential flood decimated its landscapes. Families were separated, centuries of knowledge was lost, and it was so much easier for merfolk to get around.  Survivors gather together on any available land they can find to create impromptu, imperfect societies. As the world begins the slow process of rebuilding, whispers are circulating that this so-called natural disaster might not be as natural as previously thought. 

After the flood, you came to Nimizee, a small isle that became a refugee village. It’s a safe and stable community, but maybe a bit too stable. Every day, you wake up, eat, do your job or just laze around, eat again and sleep in your tiny stick hut. 

Today is not unlike any other day at Nimizee. You set your things down at one of the picnic tables in the grassy open meadow, hand the grumpy old lizardfolk lady your tray, and pick your favorite colored slop for breakfast. “Feh.” she hisses, dropping the scoop onto the tray. As you set your tray down, you hear a loud explosion coming from the direction of the copper mines. Your fellow refugees run towards the direction of the sound. 

A'at turns his dark head in the direction of the mines at the sound of the explosion. He narrows his elven eyes and immediately feels frustrated. What new hell is this? he wonders. As others get up and begin running toward the copper mines, the idea of ignoring the problem and continuing on with his meal tickles the pleasure center of his mind. In the end, he sighs, stands, and hurries after the others to see where he might be helpful. We all have to chip in to survive, he repeats to himself.

Toil, one of the handful of farmers on the island, jumps up from his seat at the table, what in blue blazes was that? Quickly shovels the rest of his slope in his pie hole and follows the others to the mine. 

The entrance to the mine was once a carefully constructed man-made tunnel, but it has now been blown wide open, exposing the natural cave to the sun. A couple of miners crawl out of the rubble, coughing and injured. 

“We *cough cough* found a whole nother city down that there mine *cough*. Lotta these weird short grey folks. We wanted to go exploring, but they were real mad at us. We didn’t mean no harm. Just curious.” says an old firbolg miner, collapsing on the ground. 

“They sent this huge rock guy after us. We lit up the last of our dynamite to get away from him, and that’s how it turned out like this.” says a wood elf, lifting himself out of the rubble and helping to stabilize the firbolg. 

The denizens of Nimizee talked amongst themselves. They found a city inside a mine? What is it like? Is it filled with quirky people who have quests for us? But most importantly, is there anything down there that we can use to improve our quality of life on this island? 

A'at scoffs. What good does it do to say anything about this underground city? The way has been blocked by the explosion. How would they even get down there now? He crosses his arms over his chest and taps his foot in frustration.

Toil starts rummaging through his healers kit and moving to help those injured. Did everyone make it out? he'll ask the miner speaking. 

"I don't think so. We headed out with four men. I don't know if the others are stuck down there or worse." says the wood elf. 

Toil finishes tending the elf's wounds then stands and turns, Looks like there were four total in the mine, so we have missing folks. Anyone able and willing to go look for them follow me.  He then runs toward the cave opening, as he gets closer he leaps forward, taking the wild shape of giant badger. Toily the badger leads the way into the cave searching for miners.

A'at scowls again hearing about the possibility of trapped miners. He isn't a fan of cramped spaces, and the idea of being trapped in the pitch blackness threatens to undo him. But he takes a deep breath and follows the badger into the mine.

Gerald Dawnwing

I had been "enjoying" my morning meal when the explosion rang out across the area.  I quickly grab my gear, making certain that my healers kit is with me, and head for the trouble. I arrive in time to hear the firbolg speak about the short people underground and the missing miners.  Looking about, I see other locals attending the wounded survivors above ground.  So I shoulder my bag and head for the mine, following the badger.  I turn to one of the people I recognize and tell them "Please, let the captain of the guard know that Gerald Dawnwing is heading down to help look for survivors and won't be on watch until I return."

I head towards the mine entrance with worry in my mind. An underground city with short grey folk sounds like what old Sergeant Grim would have called grey dwarves.  Hopefully, if that is who they are, they speak surface dwarven.  Awfully hard to talk with people when you don't speak the same language. But now it's time to make a hole in the rocks and get those miners out.  

Bekhan, a male human of around mid 40s with medium black hair, had just sat down. His daggers placed on either side of his plate like proper silverware. He grabbed a spoon and was just about to take a bite of... Whatever this concoction was today when the explosion interrupted him. Having been an orphan and street kid before the fall of everything, he wasn't a stranger to a day or two without food, but he was really hoping those days were behind him.. He looks in the direction of where everyone is running to and shakes his head.

Seriously? Ugh..

He thinks to himself before looking back to his food. He contemplates if he should eat or not, but eventually settles on the later. He takes a spoonful of slop, shovels it into his bearded face, then grabs his daggers. He tucks one dagger into its holster and uses the other as a leverage point to stand up. He tucks the last dagger back into its holster and he makes his way over to the mine. He doesn't feel drawn to jump to attention, but when he hears that there are people trapped, it brings him back to a memory of when he was trapped in a cellar, that he had broken into, for a couple days.

Ehh, fine...

He thinks to himself, thinking they'd be fine for a day or two, but knows that any longer and they might not survive. He makes his way to join the others and begins to help create a way into the collapsed mine. Looking to just make a space big enough for him to see into, knowing that if he does that, he can use his blood powers to get inside.

(Bekar is a Rogue with a subclass of Shadowblood. It's a subclass from a 3rd party publisher, from a bloodpunk setting, but this is the least technologically advanced subclass I could find. Appearance below.)

you hear yelling behind you. "HEY WAIT UP"!

Gerald Dawnwing

I stop for a moment, both to look back at who is shouting and to grab and light my hooded lantern before heading down into the darkness.  Once it's lit, I continue towards and into the mine entrance until I reach where the rocks fell.

you see a birdlike creature runing towards everyone "i was enjoying some breakfast when i heard that explosion and i was away what felt like ten miles" he says with a slightly annoyed expression  

A half orc wanders by the site, fingerings his axe. The half orc is donned in animal hide. He turns to Bekhan. "So, what's all the commotion about?"

Linnëa, a half-elf ranger comes sprinting in, with her bow drawn, from a nearby forest, (if there is one) "You interrupted my exploration, there had better be a good reason for all this chaos."

"im afraid we all haven't gotten eachofvers names. my name is cakra". cakra said attempting to change the subject

"what's going on here," linnëa demands, ignoring the change in subject, "everything has been perfectly idyllic until now."

"Yeah, my names holth." Holth says. He stands there for a little bit, scratching a bit of his armor. He then checks his hands, and scratches a bug bite on it. Holth then looks around the site.

Gerald Dawnwing

"I am Gerald Dawnwing.  Apparently, the minors ran into some underground race during their work. Some of them made it back to the surface before an explosion closed the mineshaft.  Several of us were planning to go in to effect a rescue." I make sure my hooded lantern is lit and head towards the mine opening.  

I'm a human with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing chain mail armor with a large pack on my back. I'm 6 feet tall and well muscled.  The emblem of Tyr is on my shield.