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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 13, 2020 15:56:48 GMT -6
Just as she was about to take another step further into a tunnel, Fiera felt a nudging at her ankle. A glance down revealed Lunara, with... something in her mouth. "Found something already?" The humanish inquired, bending down to examine her pet's find. She felt a small twinge of excitement, admittedly. This far in, and they had already found something! What sort of gem would it be? An opal? An emerald? A... rock. Ah. Fiera flipped it over. It was light and airy, one of those schmancy lava rocks, but... it really was just a regular rock. Black and bubbly, with no glimmer of value in it at all. And yet Lunara seemed very proud about it, so Fiera was hardly going to take the wind out of her sails. She gave Lunara a joyful pat on the head. "Atta girl, Lunes! Keep that up and we'll be done down here in no time!
Fiera 16 Lunara 8.1/10.1 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 13, 2020 23:17:24 GMT -6
From there, she tossed the rock in her mine cart. She doubted it was that valuable, and it seemed pretty sturdy, so she didn't see any real need to be gentle with it. Lunara seemed to have moved on anyway, sniffing around the rocks. Fiera quite agreed with her- it was time to find a nice spot to sit down and carve out a place for themselves. Literally. Fiera had a few paths she had chosen before, but none of them really spoke to her today. Sure she could go find that ominous pit she discovered the first time she was here, or that sandstone underground canyon she took her candy corn bat to. But where was the fun in those? She could visit those any time she wanted- it wasn't like they were going anywhere, after all. No, Fiera felt the urge to go somewhere new and see something else.
Fiera 17 Lunara 8.2/10.2 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 13, 2020 23:22:38 GMT -6
Without looking or thinking too hard, Fiera picked a random tunnel. Lunara floated after her, letting her owner forge the path and lead the way. Fiera supposed it didn't matter to the yumenokei either way- she didn't have to do any work down here, after all. Her job was to just sit there and look pretty. The tunnel she picked was dark, only occasionally lit up by torches. The walls were a dark, dark grey, making the area look a lot blacker and less friendly than it actually was. Still, the walls were smooth and the tunnel itself looked stable- not dangerous, just ominous. That meant that this area had been picked pretty clean though- they would likely have to stop walking and start working at some point. Still, she'd let herself get a bit further in before resorting to that. Sometimes, it was just nice to explore a new place.
Fiera 18 Lunara 8.3/10.3 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 13, 2020 23:26:01 GMT -6
Another factor encouraging Fiera to keep walking of course, was the fact that she could actually stand up in this tunnel. So much of the mine's tunnels were excavated with distance over comfort in mind, and Fiera was quite a stately lady- which was to say that she was frequently way too tall for the tunnels. At best, she had to flatten her ears against her head and stoop a bit. At worst, she had to get on her hands and knees and crawl through the tunnels. By that point, the humanish frequently gave up and picked a spot to tunnel on her own. If she couldn't stand up, she would MAKE a place where she could stand. If she was free to walk though... well, her laziness won out over her comfort in this specific case. Lunara, of course, would likely fit in any tunnel the mines had to offer, considering her small size.
Fiera 19 Lunara 8.4/10.4 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 13, 2020 23:35:50 GMT -6
At least Fiera was used to keeping a creature around in the mines by now. She had traveled pets across the board with this sort of thing- from gem familiars (Which you were SUPPOSED to have down in the mines) to young sarane, from bats (also good in the mines!) to... well, moon rabbits. Needless to say, Fiera was quite used to keeping half an eye out for things smaller than her and keeping them from wandering off and getting into trouble. Thankfully, she didn't think that that was something she'd have to worry about with Lunara. The yumenokei was remarkably docile and awfully... mature, to put a word to it. Frankly, she seemed more mature than Fiera sometimes, as if she knew something that nobody else did and was quite tickled about it. Sure, Fiera was a bit miffed about that, but it meant that she knew that Lunara could take care of herself.
Fiera 20 Lunara 9.0/11.0 10
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Post by Renathan on Feb 14, 2020 4:46:49 GMT -6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2020 14:14:03 GMT -6
Soon, as expected, the tunnel started shrinking as whoever excavated it got lazier and lazier. It certainly wasn't a naturally formed tunnel anymore by this point. It started taking on a different texture, too- rougher, more pockmarked with burst bubbles and black flecks. She suspected that this was old lava rock, frozen in place as it cooled off, forming a natural tunnel that someone else expanded with mining tools. Not a bad spot to find gems, if she was being honest with herself. Pretty big ones tended to sprout in spots like this. As if on cue, Fiera heard a tinkling noise at her feet. She glanced down, and her headlamp revealed some shiny objects that she had just kicked further down the tunnel. She crouched down, dropping the lead for her mine cart for a moment to examine them, cranking up the brightness on her headlamp with her other hand.
Fiera 1 Lunara 9.1/11.2 11
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2020 14:17:41 GMT -6
A quick darting out of her hand later and she had them scooped up. Lunara approached too, taking a look at what Fiera was so intently examining. The objects Fiera had just kicked were three gems, in green, yellow, and blue. Judging from their patterns and shapes, if Fiera had to guess she would say they were... uh... jade? She thought to herself as she turned the green one over in her hand. It was pretty solid and a light green color, so that made sense. As for the other two... citrine? That was less a prediction about what it was and more selected because it was the only yellow gemstone that Fiera knew about. As for the third one, the large sky colored gem, she just threw "turquoise" out there because she only knew two blue gems and this definitely wasn't a sapphire. It was too opaque for that.
Fiera 2 Lunara 9.2/11.2 12
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2020 14:23:53 GMT -6
As she sat there, trying to decipher what these could possibly be as Lunara slowly lost interest, an idea struck Fiera. This would be a perfect opportunity to use her new gem field guide! She popped open the mine cart and set the new findings in, before popping open a corner slot and taking out the booklet. She dove through the table of contents and flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. It was easier to use than she had though- the identification guide was easy to understand and quick to go through, but covered just about every item you could find in the mines. Then the individual entries on different gems had so many example images that it was impossible to find a gem that the book didn't have covered somewhere. In just a few minutes, Fiera had each and every one of her findings identified.
Fiera 3 Lunara 9.3/11.3 13
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2020 14:32:32 GMT -6
She was correct in the green gem being a jade, and the humanish gave herself a little psychological pat on the back for that before putting the gem away properly. That was the most obvious one though, the other two were much harder to recognize off the bat. A few shuffled pages later, and Fiera turned to the yellow gem's entry. It was... citrine! Well she'd be darned, she actually got that right! Though she supposed there wasn't a lot of gems that color anyway- perhaps it was less a lucky guess and more an obvious one. Still, she'd take the victory and bask in the self satisfaction. She put that one away as well, and dragged over the third gem, thumbing through the pages until she found the correct one. This was... agate? Huh. She could have sworn that that type of gemstone was a different color than this.
Fiera 4 Lunara 9.4/11.4 14
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2020 14:35:22 GMT -6
A bit of reading later, and it turned out that agate came in multiple shades and hues, not just this one. This one was blue, but green, orange, red, white, and peach were all equally viable colors you could find it in. Interesting, Fiera thought, but not particularly important. She put it away, and then slotted the book back in as well. It was a fun time reading, but she needed to move on now. She picked up the mine cart and started walking. Lunara bounced along beside her, clearly happy to move on to a different environment- she had been getting quite bored. As the pair walked however, the tunnel only got more and more narrow. Fiera sighed as her black, fuzzy ears brushed the top of the tunnel. She'd probably have to stop and get out her mining equipment soon, in preparation for excavating out her own tunnel.
Fiera 5 Lunara 10.0/12.0 15
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Post by Renathan on Feb 14, 2020 19:12:59 GMT -6
What a lovely vein of ore you've managed to locate!
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 15, 2020 15:55:55 GMT -6
As she skimmed the cave walls, it was as if a big, flashing "mine here" sign lit up on the wall beside her. Almost literally, as a flash of reflected light bounced back down the cave. Fiera kneeled to get a closer look at it, setting the flashlight next to her. Sure enough, there was a glittering vein on the wall of the tunnel, running a few feet to either side of where Fiera was touching it. From what she could tell, it was likely a type of metal ore. Its glimmering brownish shade was quite different from most gems, contributing to her theory. Still, she would find out soon enough. She just had to get her equipment out first. She opened a compartment on the mine cart, seperate from the one she kept her gemstones in. In it was the entirety of her mining tool collection, with the exception of the crystal torch.
Fiera 6 Lunara 10.1/12.1 16
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 15, 2020 16:14:40 GMT -6
The torch, she always kept tied to the side of the cart, letting it light up her environment as she passed through it. She could always take it down of course, but it gave her a convenient spot to work around. For the time being, she dug through the tool compartment and pulled out her trust pickaxe. Despite how long she had owned it for by now and how often she had used it, the pick axe still showed little sign of wear and tear, looking as new as the day she got it. With any luck, it would serve her faithfully for years to come- or at least for the next few minutes. She turned to Lunara as she positioned herself next to the ore. "You might want to cover your ears, dear." She said. The yumenokei merely looked at her curiously, tilting her head at the humanish's odd behavior.
Fiera 7 Lunara 10.2/12.2 17
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 15, 2020 16:37:27 GMT -6
She figured it out pretty quickly though, once Fiera started mining. The moon rabbit practically leapt out of her skin as the sound of the pick axe reverberated around the tunnel, bouncing off the walls in a rhythmic fashion. She crept behind the mine cart, glaring at Fiera in the way that only a creature that didn't actually have eyes could. Somehow, Fiera could still feel it drilling into the back of her head. Well, the yumenokei would just have to get used to it- she wasn't about to give up on mining now. Chips of stone flew from the wall, scattering around Fiera's feet. She couldn't go too quickly or put too much force into her blows, however- there just wasn't enough room in the tunnel for that. As a result, the pieces she was chipping off and onto the cave floor were rather small and valueless- just generic mining dross.
Fiera 8 Lunara 10.3/12.3 18
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