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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 4, 2019 20:44:53 GMT -6
It was a perfect specimen. Not in shape, not yet, she'd have to have it cut by someone professional later. But in color, it was pristine. She could get a pretty penny for it if she wanted. Or alternatively, a new necklace to match her eyes once more. She gently opened the mine cart, putting it in with the other gems. It was certainly one of her best finds so far. But, there was one more treasure to be found, now wasn't there? The other glimmer she saw in the wall. Fiera glanced up- there weren't any concerning cracks on the wall yet, so it was likely safe enough to mine that one too. She closed the mine cart, ready to return to her hammer and chisel. She'd be a rich woman yet, she thought while doing a quick flair with her tools. Let's see what else she could find.
Fiera 4 Madison 10.4/12.4 54
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 4, 2019 20:55:25 GMT -6
This section of stone was even softer, if such a thing were possible. Were it not for her knowing better, one could think that the stone she was chiseling through was made of butter. It must have been sandstone of a sort, for how it crumbled to pieces beneath her tools. Sand streamed onto her shoes. Then... a crack. Fiera paused. It arced up and away from her position, about six inches. Fiera cringed, really hoping that it wouldn't get any bigger as she worked. She tapped a couple more times, and each time the crack got larger and large. "Oh come on, come ON." She groaned, tapping faster and faster. Finally, she just broke off the whole lump and shoved it roughly in her pocket before grabbing the lead for her mine cart. She was NOT messing around with crumbling walls. Sure enough, as she walked away, she heard the wall crack further behind her...
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Post by Renathan on Nov 4, 2019 21:07:07 GMT -6
Aww... That's not gold. It's too pale a golden hue, probably just pyrite.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 4, 2019 21:18:40 GMT -6
She turned, and sure enough, the wall crumbled behind her. Fiera backed up, shoving her mine cart- and Madison by extension- further behind her out of protectiveness. Large chunks fell from the wall, clattering to the ground. Fiera cringed- any one of those striking her could probably kill her. She was lucky though, in that she saw it coming. And lucky as well, that it only fell in that one spot, and didn't spread further up toward her. She held her breath, watching the last of the rocks collapse from their wall. She felt a shiver creep up her spine- that could have been her, if she hadn't been watching. Another point for caution, she thought as she finally breathed out, her lungs aching. Of course, that now left her another blockage to get through on her way back, she realized with a groan. She guessed her job wasn't done yet.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 4, 2019 22:02:20 GMT -6
She kicked a rock, wondering if she should try and clear it out now, or if she should get it on her way back. However, she noticed something glimmering under the rock she just kicked. Fiera lifted it up and over, looking at the other side. Sure enough, a golden glimmer. Dollar signs lit up in Fiera's eyes, and she scrambled for her chisel. Sooner than you could say 'gold', Fiera was tapping away at the stone, eagerly digging for something of value. Once the ore was uncovered however, she realized that it wasn't quite the fantasy she was imagining. No, once she was able to give it more than a cursory look, Fiera realized that it was nothing but pyrite. How disappointing, she thought with a slight frown. Well, at least she could probably get something for it, and the humanish turned to put it in the mine cart.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 4, 2019 22:05:27 GMT -6
As she did though, she stumbled over another rock- the glimmering chunk she had cut out of the wall that caused the cave in to start with. She groaned, wishing she had never dug the darn thing out. It had proved far more trouble than it was worth. She put away the pyrite, putting it in with the other chunk of the same material that she had found earlier. Then, she picked up the rough chunk of rock, leaning against the wall as she turned it over in her hand. Well, while she had it she might as well find out what it actually was. She picked up her chisel and mallet again, working through the stone chunk in her lap. Bits and pieces fell away, revealing another chunk of amber. Unlike the one she found earlier however, this one was clear and pure, shining orange all the way through.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 4, 2019 22:21:33 GMT -6
When she held the amber chunk up to the light, orange streamed over her face. While it was a purer and possibly more valuable piece... Fiera couldn't help but be a little disappointed. As much as this piece was likely more valuable than the filled amber, it felt... well, empty. There was something much more interesting about a piece of amber filled with insects or something else, giving a window into the past. This gave nothing but a window into... the present, but distorted, wobbly, and quite orange. Madison was no doubt giving Fiera a funny look as she peered through a rock, but she was one to talk, seeing as the candy corn bat was already orange. Fiera sighed and set it down, opening the mine cart to do so. It was pretty, but probably not something that she was going to keep. The filled amber on the other hand... that was more likely.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 4, 2019 22:35:32 GMT -6
She closed the mine cart again and looked back at the pile of rocks again. Ughhh. Ok yeah, she'd clean that out now. You never knew when you'd have to make a quick escape, and she'd rather not be trapped by a wall of her own creation, as accidental as it was. She turned to Madison and groaned out loud. Madison blinked at her, twitching her ears... and then screeched as loudly as she could. "I agree." Fiera said, glancing back at the pile. "Ok, let's get this done, then." She said, retrieving her pick axe again. She lifted it, before glancing up at the hole the rocks had come from. She didn't see any more cracks, so hopefully she should be ok to cause more intense vibrations like this... but she'd keep an eye out, just to be safe. Then, she started up again, smashing apart the rocks as quickly as possible.
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Post by Renathan on Nov 5, 2019 6:59:36 GMT -6
A nice purple geode cracks open as a bit of rock slides down farther down. An opal appears to be stuck in the wall, though!
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 5, 2019 8:49:53 GMT -6
Fiera quickly noticed as she was smashing apart the rocks that geodes were pretty common down here! She'd have to come down through this tunnel more often, if she could deal with the frequent cave ins. The one she had just split was a rock that was threatening to shift its way onto her foot, so she struck it with a hurried jab of her pick axe. Sure enough, it split open to reveal a beautiful purple hue, to Fiera's delight. She snatched it up almost immediately, before another rock could slide down to cover it back up. She showed it off to Madison, but the candy corn bat had no interest in something like that- all she gave it was a perfunctory sniff before returning to her curled up position around the torch she had placed on the back of the mine cart. "Fine then, be that way." Fiera said petulantly, tongue stuck out.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 5, 2019 9:10:35 GMT -6
After she put the fresh new geode in with its paler fellow, Fiera closed the cart. The vibrations from her doing so bounced around in the ground beneath her... and she heard an ominous crumbling noise behind her. She turned around, cringing... only to find that most of the blockade had cleared itself out, with the majority of the large boulders toppling into the small, fast stream off of the edge. Fiera shined her flashlight into its waters, looking for any sign of the boulders. Sure enough though, she found nothing but dark, unforgiving waves. Well, that solved most of her problem... though she would have liked to have checked those slabs for gems too before they had fallen. She guessed there was nothing to be done about it now, though. All that was left was a single large slab, too big to be dragged off with its fellows roadblocks.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 5, 2019 9:14:50 GMT -6
It was long and flat, easy enough for Fiera to step up and over herself... but when she tried to pull her mine cart over it, it wouldn't budge. Well that was frustrating. It was a little easier to mine before she had the cart, but she wouldn't ditch it for the world. She was able to bring back MUCH large quantities of gems now that she had it, even if it was a little unwieldy. She felt a bit of a groan bubbling up at the prospect of having to hack through this giant slab though... until she saw a familiar glimmer in it. She sighed. Well, if it had a gem in it, she couldn't complain that badly. She lifted her pick axe, preparing to free the gem, whichever one it was, from its surrounding rock. A few blows later, and the slab was already close to splitting in two.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 5, 2019 9:20:07 GMT -6
Sure enough, with one large final blow, the left half of the slab broke off, following the momentum of the other rocks and slipping away into the water. At least it wasn't the part that had the gem in it. A few more taps, and the gem had been broken off into its own chunk, and Fiera shoved the remained of the slab into the stream herself with her foot. Then, she just had to free the gem. That was easy enough, now that she had a mallet and chisel and the experience to go with them. A few skilled taps, and the gem clattered to the ground, dirty but free. Fiera brushed it off a bit, and held it out inn her torch. It sparkled with a rainbow of pale colors, like a chunk of moonlight trapped underground. It was definitely opal- one of Fiera's favorites, even if it didn't go well with her complexion.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 5, 2019 9:24:55 GMT -6
She tossed the opal in with the rest of the gemstones before clapping her hands to get the dust off. One more shiny rock for the pile. She had enough to make a draconic blush by this point, but it never really felt like it was enough for her. She'd stop when she was dead, it would seem. But now that her path back was cleared out, it was time to move on. Fiera lifted the lead of her mine cart again, glancing one last look over her shoulder. Then, she kept on trekking down the tunnel, her cart (and, by extension, her candy corn bat) clattering along behind her. She kept up the cheery whistling again, too- might as well. It's not like there was anyone else who could hear her down here. She was sure she was the first one down this branch of the mines, after all.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 5, 2019 9:30:17 GMT -6
Her footsteps echoed off the walls of the canyon, making a constant beat against her whistling. It was pretty pleasant. This canyon sure did go on for a while though. Fiera was sure that it was a constant downward slope this whole time as well- how far down was she by now? How many feet of rock were piled over her head at this minute? How many valuable gems and fossils was she passing right by at this very moment? That last question was the most pertinent to her adventure of course, but the others were worth thinking of as well. With her recent close call from the rock slide, it was hard to avoid thinking about how deep in the earth she was, or how close the walls were. She had never heard of someone dying in the mines before, but she knew that it was always a possibility.
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