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Post by Noa on Dec 1, 2019 15:51:37 GMT -6
He had picked one at random that didn’t look too dangerous, since the gargoyle still hadn’t been his mining partner for very long. They were clever, far more clever than Cinna, his last mining partner, but since the had intelligence on par with humans, they were also liable to care more about things like fairness and grudges… and whether their partners upheld their end of the deal, for example. If the gargoyle was upset with him though, it was well deserved. Aster wouldn’t try to weasel his way out of that fundamental truth. It was just sort of an uncomfortable thing to live with, knowing that someone had legitimate reason to be upset with you.
If the gargoyle was upset, however, it was hiding the fact of it from Aster pretty well. Or maybe Aster was just no good at reading the features of gargoyles. That could be true too.
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Post by Noa on Dec 1, 2019 15:51:47 GMT -6
They were rather unusual looking creatures, with their bumpy wings and what looked to be some sort of built in collar, nott to mention the irregular little projections on their forelimbs. Could they even fly? Were they made out of metal, or did they just look that way? Aster couldn’t say, and as of yet, he couldn’t ask either. They were working on that, but…
Well, it was mostly the eyes, really. And the snout. And Aster’s lack of experience handling any sort of gargoyles, let alone the runic sort. The gargoyle wasn’t swiping at him or trying to take a bite out of his heels, but there were likely practical considerations at play here too. A runic gargoyle was at least smart enough to realize that Aster was going to be no good for anything if he was injured, or at the very least much less effective.
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Post by Renathan on Dec 1, 2019 16:29:48 GMT -6
Oh what a beautiful piece of filled amber!
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:27:01 GMT -6
But that didn’t tell him anything about the gargoyle’s mood. That might have been an easier difficult to bear if it didn’t add a certain element of the unknown to their interactions today, since the gargoyle's mood might well affect how willing it was to assist. Aster wasn’t the type that enjoyed that type of fun surprise, but he supposed he would be in for some over the course of the trip, maybe.
It was his own fault though, so he had no one else to blame for that.
The cavern itself was fairly nondescript, a straight tunnel reaching into the mountains. The only remotely interesting thing about it was that it narrowed somewhat from the wider entrance almost as soon as you stepped through, and even then, it wasn't enough for it to be uncomfortable for someone of Aster's size to pass through, let alone the gargoyle.
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:27:42 GMT -6
Not to mention, of course, that the gargoyle could have dug its way through if the tunnel proved to be too narrow even for him, opening it up by the power of claws that were well equipped for such a task. And it was smaller than Aster to begin with.
No, Aster imagined that the gargoyle would make much faster progress through the mines if it weren't for the fact that Aster had to be along with him. It was only Aster's more acute senses for magic that made Aster any use to him in his endeavors. If one thought about it, this partnership of mining familiar and humanoid was pretty heavily biased in favor of the humanoid, since they weren't bringing much of anything to the table in terms of skill.
Well, Aster supposed the other thing they had to offer, in general, was that society was geared towards humanoids.
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:28:05 GMT -6
Some creatures were free to live as second class citizens, but those were few and far between, and fewer lately still, if Rabbit's offhand descriptions of her trips into town were any indication. Aster didn't go often enough himself to be tracking any sort of trends, and when he was in town his attention was generally on other things, but he believed her. He had his own theories and speculations as to why it might be, and none of them were too savory.
So, grim as it was, the real and general benefit of having a human companion was to have someone with which to interface with the rest of society, and to protect you and your interests from the less savory members of that society. Find them some gems, and they'd keep you fed and taken care of, and keep prying hands and other interested parties away from you and yours.
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:28:23 GMT -6
But it was sometimes also a hard offer to turn down, going back with the humanoids to their holdings. Aster, when he'd been trying to coax Cinna and his ilk to come with him, had been as pleasant about it as he could manage, but he knew enough to know there were less scrupulous types who didn't ask or bribe so much as they threatened.
He chanced another glance at the gargoyle now. As tar as he understood, trom their very limited and awkward communications on that first trip, this gargoyle had sought out humans to help it with its task… And had wound up, somehow, in Zoological Imports for its troubles. Which might have been things going to plan, maybe, but Aster somehow doubted that was the case. Ithad worked out in the end, but how had it wound up there? What must it have been thinking, seeing the shop itself, and the myriad of other creatures within?
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:28:38 GMT -6
His guilt over having left the gargoyle to wait only intensified with that thought, so Aster squashed it down as best he could. Being overwhelmed with that kind of thing served no purpose for anyone, and his energy was better spent on other things, like actual y looking for crystals
... Right, crystals. What about that innate sense of magic that he'd been thinking about earlier? He paused a moment, closed his eyes, and focused trying to see if he could detect anything. It was a tricky thing, and not something he did often; generally speaking he only noticed once it had grown strong enough to make him take notice, jumping up at him like an over eager dog rather than skulking away like a cat.
... No, neither of those were the correct metaphors, really. He thought on it a little more, trying to remember the last time he had felt anything like that sort of tug.
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:29:06 GMT -6
Funnily enough, it was in the Mansion, but he somehow doubted those Remnant crystals were of any real interest to the gargoyle, beyond as a possible novelty; certainly they were no substitute for the prismatic that the gargoyle had specified that it was looking for.
But the sensation of chancing upon one was not dissimilar, and it was the most recent example he had to hand. And now that he was thinking about it, Aster could recall that it was not unlike a... a tune, hearing someone humming a tune from somewhere several rooms over. You didn't know what the song was until you got closer, but you could hear the hint of it, muted and indistinct, from greater distance away, which at least told you that there was something afoot.
Aster didn't hear anything. Or at least he didn't 'hear' anything in the sense that he didn't detect any crystals, anyway.
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:29:24 GMT -6
There were plenty of actual sounds to focus on if you wanted to here, even if they were alone: the distant echoes of other things, like rock falls and the movements of the native tunnel denizens, for one. The sound of his own breathing, for another. He'd stopped, so there wasn't the sound of their echoing footfalls where generally there would be, and it was a dry tunnel so there wasn't the steady drip drip drip of water falling from the ceiling like there were in some other caverns he'd been in. There might have been bats, since they hadn't gotten all that far in, but if there were, he didn't hear them.
Well, it was too much to really expect them to find a crystal this early, this soon. They tended to be deeper in, though there were exceptions to that rule; and they were rare in the general sense anyway.
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:29:53 GMT -6
When Aster opened his eyes, he saw that the gargoyle had stapped, and was eyeing him with what Aster hazarded was a bemused expression. Aster didn't blame it; he'd stopped suddenly, and for no apparent reason, to stand still for a moment with his eyes closed. He hadn't bothered to explain what he was doing either while he did it, so of course the gargoyle hadn't even the slightest guess as to what he might be doing.
But faced with its scrutiny, Aster found that he could hardly explain himself to the gargoyle either. With their limited ability to communicate anything, lacking a common means, it was going to be hell to even try to explain what he was doing, so he decided that he wasn't going to bother. It wasn't worth the hassle, and it wasn't worth running the risk of confusing the gargoyle further after all that effort either.
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:30:43 GMT -6
Maybe the gargoyle would conclude that there was something amiss with Aster, and how it would proceed from there... That was hard to say, but Aster didn't think he was too eager to find out, at any rate, especially if he thought about what he would have done if he thought a companion of his was a little off in the head.
So instead, Aster waved it off. "Never mind," he said, shaking his head, and walking forward to rejoin the gargoyle where it had stopped slightly ahead of him. "Let's go," he said, as he passed the gargoyle, leading the way once more Into the tunne The gargoyle seemed to hesitate a moment longer, but then it fell into step with him once more. Whatever it had been thinking, Aster's return to form had assuaged its doubts for the moment.
The tunnel had begun in a fairly nondescript manner, and they had been walking for some time without any real excitement.
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:30:57 GMT -6
At one point the gargoyle did stop to inspect a cluster of rocks, and after a little digging, had managed to produce a small stone that looked as though it could be of some value.
A single stone on its own was never incredibly valuable, especially in its raw state as it was like this, but if you got enough of the stuff together, it could be worth quite a lot. And some traders traded exclusively in such stones, owing to their persistent value across different cities and cultures, rather than accepting the local currency that most of the shopkeepers dealt in. Such merchants were usually travellers from further abroad, with exotic things to offer, made all the more desirable by their very limited availability. Anyone with enough wealth who had spent enough time living here knew about the merits of having at least a small stash of valuable gemstones on hand.
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:31:41 GMT -6
Knowing about the merits wasn't the same as actually following through on it, as some people lacked the means or the time or the wealth or even the interest, but even so.
As soon as the gargoyle managed to free the valuable stone from its rubble rock counterparts, it presented its find to Aster. That much had been as they agreed months ago. Aster looked between it and the gargoyle, not quite sure if he ought to take it for a moment. There seemed to be no resentment there, and if anything, the gargoyle seemed almost.. eager. Aster narrowed his eyes, doubting himself as to whether he was reading that correctly, but no, the impression did not change upon a re-evaluation of the gargoyle's features.
If anything, that made him feel worse. But he did take it, in the end, for he didn't want to refuse something presented to him so earnestly.
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Post by Noa on Dec 2, 2019 20:32:02 GMT -6
Whatever uncomfortable questions it might have raised about what the gargoyle had, in the meantime, been thinking about Aster's neglect of their agreement... Well, that would have to be settled too, but...
First he put the stone away, to show the gargoyle that there was nothing wrong with it, and that he did want it, that it was fine. Only then did he address the gargoyle, looking into the empty sockets of its eyes. Or at least, Aster thought they were empty; he'd never tried to touch one, since it felt like a grave intrusion of personal space. Which was a concept that even the less intelligent creatures had, but something that felt all the more pertinent when dealing with a sentient creature. And even Avander, who knew him very well, and who could demand and comprehend an explanation delivered through their telepathic ribbon connection, would have been leery of letting Aster run a hand over his closed eye.
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