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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 2, 2019 12:55:53 GMT -6
She stepped into the center of the main floor of the mines, casting her gaze around curiously. Despite it being quite near the start of the month of November, there were already plenty of miners here, talking with each other, counting their gems, or tapping away at the walls of the cave. Fiera wanted to go deeper, however- to better explore the part of the mines she had found last time. The sedimentary rock had been spectacularly easy to dig through, even if its cache of gems hadn't been so great. Still, gems weren't necessarily what she was going for this round. There had been rumors of a new sort of item to be found down here- if whatever it was was a gem, she would think she'd had heard of it already. No, Fiera was of the impression that she would have to try a new place this time around.
Fiera 13 Madison 0.3/2.3 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 2, 2019 13:04:53 GMT -6
Fiera made her way through the tunnels, searching for the path she had found before. It was more difficult than she had thought it would be. It seemed easy to find a tunnel when you were in it, but differentiating one stone tunnel from the rest was more difficult than one would think. Fiera was able to find one that she thought at least LOOKED like the one she had explored before. Instead of smooth, slick walls like others in the cavern, it had a gritty, rough texture to it, clearly the result of compacted grains of sand and silt and stones. It had bands of color, from different types of substrate and grit that had layered up throughout the years. Fiera ran her hand along it, letting bits fall from it as she went. This would be perfect for her purposes, for searching for this new type of finding.
Fiera 14 Madison 0.4/2.4 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 2, 2019 13:23:16 GMT -6
She trekked ever downward, still not sure if this was the same tunnel as before. There weren't any major landmarks that she had seen in the tunnel to differentiate it, other than its material. She pulled her tools along behind her, clattering along the path. Madison seemed to be getting used to the cave, and finally peeked out of Fiera's shirt, flicking up her ears so large that they hit Fiera's chin. The humanish snorted at the gesture and gave her another scritch on the head. Madison chirped happily, and crawled out of her shirt to follow her hand, and ended up sitting on her shoulder. The lead from her neck led down to Fiera's wrist, the other end tied around Fiera's wrist, but capable of being untied and held or attached to a stationary object. It was a thin lead, but suffcient for Fiera's needs. It wasn't like Madison could break it.
Fiera 15 Madison 1.0/3.0 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 2, 2019 13:34:42 GMT -6
The candy corn bat seemed happy in this new, dark environment, sniffing with her tiny velvet nose and rotating her large ears to take in every little sound, practically wagging her tail. Fiera mirrored her enthusiasm, but for a different reason. She wasn't much a fan of caves and mines, but she was a fan of what one could find in them. And she was fresh and brimming with energy, ready to go and find her fortune. Hopefully her and Madison would be able to bond over their shared joy. Fiera turned to glance behind her- rattling along behind her was her trusty minecart, several of her tools strapped to it. The rest of them were in her bag, of course. A perfect set of mining equipment, capable of collecting anything that these caverns could throw at her, so long as she still had the strength to dig for them.
Fiera 16 Madison 1.1/3.1 6
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Post by Renathan on Nov 2, 2019 13:38:50 GMT -6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 2, 2019 18:10:16 GMT -6
She had everything with her- chisel and brush, though she didn't use those very often. She rarely found anything delicate enough to warrant their use. A hammer- her very first tool, but one that she had stopped using a lot after she got more. The opposite of the chisel and brush, it usually applied too much pressure for most gems to take, shattering them. Then, there was her safety equipment- a flashlight and a hard hat, both in perfect bubblegum pink. Maybe not the best for digging, but had saved her bacon plenty of times. Or at least saved her head from getting thumped and letting her access darker areas. And then, there was her favorite- her trusty pick axe! It had both precision and force, letting her bash through walls with ease, but also to free crystals and gems from their moorings. It hadn't failed her yet, and she suspected it wasn't going to start soon.
Fiera 17 Madison 1.2/3.2 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 2, 2019 18:18:45 GMT -6
Speaking of, as the feline humanish passed by a wall, she felt something... thrumming. Pulsing. The sensation was familiar, but slightly different... to one that she had definitely felt before. It had happened a couple times before, but at the Eccentric's Mansion. She had been travelling with Victor, her rakai sarane, and found some odd crystals. They had been thrumming with energy, giving off a sensation similar to the one she was feeling now. Fiera glanced at Madison- if the candy corn bat could feel it, she wasn't showing it. Fiera could though, with some sixth sense, and from what she could tell it was somewhere in the wall to her left. Well, that was as good a reason as any to get her pickaxe out. So she did, nabbing it awkwardly from her backpack, reaching backward. "Sorry Madison, this might be a little loud." She chuckled, getting it ready.
Fiera 18 Madison 1.3/3.3 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 2, 2019 18:28:02 GMT -6
She hefted it up, and slammed it down into the wall. It was a good first strike, knocking a solid chunk from the wall, fragmenting further small pieces onto the floor. A nice start to the dig, a clean break to work with. Madison flinched at the noise, screeching with surprise, and retreated back under Fiera's collar. Fiera shrugged (internally, to avoid disturbing her pet)- she couldn't expect Madison to be used to the trials of mining quite yet. That didn't stop her from working however. The further she dug, the closer she could feel herself get to the humming sensation. It pulled at her, like a string tied around her heart. It would make her nervous if she wasn't familiar with the sensation by now. The rocks were practically flying by now, putting a decently shaped hole in the wall, about two feet wide, and maybe a foot deep.
Fiera 19 Madison 1.4/3.4 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 2, 2019 18:40:12 GMT -6
She kept working, rocks flying to either side of her with each stroke of her pickaxe. Madison was wrapped tight around her now, little heart thrumming against her collar, warm against her neck. At least the bat wasn't trying to escape or fly away. Fiera was glad for her patience. However... she felt that she was getting pretty close to the crystal by now, by some strange instinct. That meant it was time to change to a different tool. Fiera dropped her bag, digging for her other pieces. She got out her hammer and chisel which Madison, to her credit, poked her nose out to sniff real quick before retreating once more. Then, Fiera held them out in front of her at the ready, aiming for where she knew the magic crystal was... approximately, trying to home in on the vague sensation. This magic sense wasn't incredibly accurate after all.
Fiera 20 (Level up!) Madison 2.0/4.0 10
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 2, 2019 18:47:19 GMT -6
Then, she lowered the chisel to the surface, tapping gently on the end with her hammer. This noise was a lot quieter and more rhythmic. Fiera had to resist the urge to laugh and scare her again as Madison's curiosity resurfaced. The candy corn bat shifted around around Fiera's neck, tickling her with her tiny, delicate digits and fluffy tail. Little chips of rock fell to the floor as the pet poked her head out, crawling down Fiera's arms to get a better look. The humanish tried to not let it interrupt her work, blowing Madison's tail out of her face. After a moment's investigation however, Madison lost interest, scuttling back up to her vantage point on Fiera's shoulder. FIera felt like the world's oddest pirate, with a bat instead of a parrot, a mine instead of the open sea, and a hammer and chisel instead of a cutlass and eyepatch.
Fiera 1 Madison 2.1/4.1 11
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Post by Renathan on Nov 2, 2019 19:33:47 GMT -6
Wh-what? What is this thing? You've never seen anything like this before!
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 3, 2019 7:23:39 GMT -6
Soon, Fiera saw a hint of yellow. Yes! Yes, that was it! She chiseled even faster, careful not to hit the crystal as it slowly became revealed. More and more of it eclipsed its way out of the rock, about five inches long, until it tumbled out like any other piece of rubble. Unlike other pieces of rubble though, Fiera caught it as it tumbled down the slope into her hand. She held it up to the light, the bright pole attached to her mine cart. It shone through it with a yellow tint, but Fiera could tell that even without a light it would glow slightly on its own. How beautiful, she thought with a smile. And sure enough, she could feel that same beautiful energy flowing through it, now free of its holdings. Fiera popped open her mine cart and placed it in carefully. These were rare and valuable, after all.
Fiera 2 Madison 2.2/4.2 12
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 3, 2019 8:11:15 GMT -6
From there though, Fiera peered back into the hole. She could still see some faint glimmering in there- something else valuable, perhaps? She'd have to find out. She raised her pick axe, and started widening out the hole some more. Madison chirped irritably, but didn't go back in her shirt. Instead, the little back hid around the back of Fiera's head, staring angrily from her vantage point between the humanish's ears. Once Fiera was able to get a bit more light in there, she could see that there were indeed two more spots of glittering light from inside the wall. She no longer felt the thrumming, so they likely weren't magical, but she would certainly claim them regardless. Any gem was a good gem, after all. She kept on mining, swinging her pick axe to claim her glittering prizes. The less valuable chunks clattered to the floor, plain and brown.
Fiera 3 Madison 2.3/4.3 13
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 3, 2019 8:27:00 GMT -6
Then, the two chunks fell out- one grey and shiny, the other multihued. Fiera picked them both up, Madison peering over her shoulder curiously. Fiera lifted them up, ignoring the little claws that scrabbled on her head for a better look. Fiera knew a bit about gems by now, so if she had to guess... hematite and alexandrite? She was pretty sure, but she wouldn't know anything until she went to The Underground for a true appraisal. For now she put them in her mine cart with the rest of her findings, letting them settle down in their niche. Then, she turned back to the hole, inspecting it for anything else of value. She didn't see any more glimmers of crystals, but she did see... something. What was that? She leaned closer. It was dark in comparison to the rest of the wall, a shade of brown that was almost black.
Fiera 4 Madison 2.4/4.4 14
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 3, 2019 8:37:29 GMT -6
Fiera got out her chisel again, curious. She chipped away at the rock gently, more at the stone surrounding the strange object than the object itself. Pieces fell onto her feet, and soon the object moved to tip out of the stone, leaning precariously. Fiera dropped her chisel, letting it clang loudly on the floor, and caught the object before it could fall. She still couldn't tell what it was though, so she replaced her chisel and hammer in the bag and got out her tweezers and brush instead. She set the strange thing on the ground before falling upon it with her delicate tools, slowly picking off bits of rock and dirt, and brushing away whatever remained. Soon, she had found a... thing. It was about the width of a tennis ball, and covered with pores of some sort. A single ridge lay down the middle, bisecting the object.
Fiera 5 Madison 3.0/5.0 15
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