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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2020 16:27:46 GMT -6
A nice streak of sky metal ore leads to a hunk of moonstone! What a find!
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 14, 2020 12:12:22 GMT -6
Ok, this was getting ridiculous. Fiera had kept chopping away at the rock, but no matter how deep she went, there was just more stone. Granted, she had found some nice things. There was a chunk of moonstone she had managed to excavate, filled with swirling, milky colors. She was sure she could get a decent price for it and tossed it in the mine cart. Then there was a metallic ore of some sort, which she was admittedly a lot worse at identifying. Still, a find was a find, right? It got added to her hoard with everything else and the lid shut. Other than those however, Fiera wasn’t finding much but endless rock. It wasn’t particularly pretty rock either- it was plain and grey to look at, with no neat inclusions or fancy stripes. Not to mention the further in Fiera went, the harder it was to mine through.
Fiera 16 Serkan 4.1/4.1 21
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 15, 2020 9:37:24 GMT -6
The rock really did seem to be getting harder the longer she went on for. Wasn't she meant to be almost done with this already? If she had to guess, she was supposed to have hit the other side of this boulder about two feet ago. Even Serkan had started peering into the hole, a little concerned for his owner's well being. If anything though, this resistance just encouraged her more, causing Fiera to fly into a determination induced rage. She mined as hard as she could, her pick axe clattering against the far wall of the cave. Unable to do anything to help, Serkan retreated under the mine cart, watching his owner warily. He had only known her for a little while, but this lady sure was weird. Fiera's breathing increased in difficulty as she worked, huffing harder and louder than before. She would do it though- she would get to the other side no matter what it took.
Fiera 17 Serkan 4.2/4.2 22
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 15, 2020 10:58:35 GMT -6
It didn't take too much, apparently. Just a few strokes later, Fiera finally saw a beam of light coming through the hole she had just made. It was ironic that just as the going was getting really tough, it would turn out that she was almost done. Fiera sighed with relief and kept working at it- they were almost free! Soon she and Serkan would be able to explore the rest of the quarry together and see what it held, instead of being stuck in one little corner of it. She was certainly excited, even if Serkan was being a bit of a lazy lump about it. She chipped away at the hole, watching as the light grew brighter and brighter and the hole grew more and more large. She couldn't see the other side yet, but she could smell the fresh air and feel the slight breeze blow through her fur.
Fiera 18 Serkan 4.3/4.3 23
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 15, 2020 11:01:41 GMT -6
Finally, the hole was big enough that Fiera could get through it if she ducked and wide enough that she could drag her mine cart (And her pet) through it as well. Excitedly, she rushed back into the clearing to gather up her things. "Come on Serkan, it's time to move on!" She said excitedly, disturbing the nyssa's nap. He sighed loudly, but stretched and got up to follow her. It wasn't like he had anything else to do, after all. She pulled the mine cart, still light due to the fact that they hadn't been here long, along behind her and through the tunnel, with Serkan walking along next to her. She yanked it through the hole, and... "Oh, you have to be kidding me." Into another blocked off clearing. She looked around and sure enough, this area was also completely choked with tall rocks, with no paths to other areas.
Fiera 18 Serkan 4.4/4.4 24
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 15, 2020 11:03:54 GMT -6
Fiera groaned as loudly as she could, her distress echoing off of the walls of the quarry. "Seriously?" She exclaimed, hands on her head. "All that effort and I'm just in another dead end? Ugh that's it, I'm done with this." She said angrily, punting a nearby rock off of the wall. Serkan didn't seem to care less, but did follow Fiera as she stomped back through the tunnel. She looked up the slope they had come from- it would probably take some effort to climb back up, but it would certainly be a lot less effort than carving through ANOTHER boulder. "Come on Serkan- I'm sure we'll have a much more productive time elsewhere." She said grumpily, and started the climb. She had found some nice things on this mining trip for sure, but frankly this wasn't worth it. If she was going to mine, she wanted to do it somewhere where she knew she'd make actual progress.
Fiera 20 Serkan 5.0/5.0 25
(Fiera takes Serkan and leaves the mines.)
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Post by Lethalia on Apr 15, 2020 14:13:02 GMT -6
Maybe the fetching almost-indigo Charolite hadn't been worth the anguish, but at least it's pretty!
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 11, 2020 18:43:02 GMT -6
Another month, another mining trip. Fiera had taken the previous month off, wanting to recover from her frankly miserable trip with Serkan. It hadn't started out so bad and she certainly appreciated the fresh air, but as the day went on, the external quarry she was working on became an oven as the heat reradiated off of the rocks, and she had gotten stuck in a corner and couldn't seem to mine her way out. In the end, she ended up finding not much of anything at all. This time though, she had renewed strength, energy, and enthusiasm. She knew she wanted to stay underground this time like she usually did. This time though, she had a new cute and fuzzy companion as opposed to a more traditional mining familiar. She wasn't sure how well he'd do down here, but she figured it would work out well for desensitization training.
Fiera 1 Sundown 0.1/2.1 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 11, 2020 18:56:18 GMT -6
Sundown was the product of one of Fiera's most recent houluh breedings, and he was one of the most gorgeous creatures she had ever seen. He had long, silky fur even as a pup and a perfectly level personality to boot. He had a reddish coat with nearly purple markings on it, white patches, and bright blue eyes. Fiera had been surprised that such a beautiful pup could come from some of her own stock. It was a little ironic that she was bringing him into such a dirty place then, all things considered. She had never been on a mining trip where she didn't come back covered in dirt. And yet, Fiera knew that Sundown would probably enjoy getting messy- what puppy didn't? And in the meantime, they'd be able to get to know each other better. Frankly, that was what this trip was primarily for as opposed to getting gems.
Fiera 2 Sundown 0.2/2.2 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 11, 2020 19:24:36 GMT -6
Though gems would admittedly be nice... what could Fiera say, she was a creature of simple (and expensive) taste. Still, Sundown seemed perfectly happy to be here, and was sniffing just about every rock in his field of vision as they walked in, his youthful curiosity earning him more than a few loving glances and whispers from other miners. Or perhaps that was wonder over his bizarre coat. Blessed houluh were still incredibly rare, after all- Fiera was pretty sure she had one of the few that existed right now, produced from a breeding blessed by the Goddess of Order. Or so she was told, but frankly Fiera didn't put any stock in all that religion hogwash. If the Goddess of Order wanted to convince Fiera she existed, she could come down and show her herself. In the meantime, Fiera would chalk up her pretty pup to a quirk of genetics.
Fiera 3 Sundown 0.3/2.3 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 11, 2020 20:10:42 GMT -6
Now she just had to pick a way to go. Preferably something... well charted. Fiera much preferred to chart out new tunnels when she could as that gave her the highest chance of finding gemstones (As most other areas were picked clean), but with such a rambunctious young pup by her side, she'd prefer to go somewhere where she wasn't as likely to lose track of him. So she'd try the upper tunnels, which most had picked clean already, in the hopes of getting both some privacy and some bonding time with Sundown. She turned around in the 'main hall' of the mines, or at least the strip-mined open area that most people considered to be the main area of the mines. The tunnels on the far side usually led down into the belly of the earth, so she figured that this time it would be best to go to the ones on the left and right.
Fiera 4 Sundown 0.4/2.4 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 11, 2020 20:16:54 GMT -6
She picked the closest tunnel and walked on over to it, with Sundown close on her heels. She hadn't trained him at all yet, but with the help of a leash he didn't really need any training. Sure he had a tendency to tug on it and not heel like she wanted, but that could be worked out later. For the most part, he was happy to trot along behind her as everywhere they had gone so far was equally interesting to him. The journey through the tunnel was pretty smooth, thankfully. The number of miners that had come through here over the years had left the grand majority of these upper tunnels wide and well smoothed, making it actually quite pleasant to walk through them. There was even a breeze flowing through it. If Fiera had to guess, she's say there was some sort of surface access around here.
Fiera 5 Sundown 1.0/4.0 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 13, 2020 20:30:50 GMT -6
Sundown certainly enjoyed it however, as he lifted his nose to the air to scent the breeze coming down to them. Fiera had the feeling this would at least be a comfortable mining trip this time in terms of temperature. Heading down into the depths of the earth could be either a sweltering hot or freezing cold affair depending on the location of the cavern and its moisture levels. When traveling in tunnels so close to the surface however, Fiera constantly had a cool breeze blowing while being close enough to the surface that some of that summer warmth still sunk through the earth. The only thing Fiera really had to worry about was cave-ins from old tunnels that had been overmined and didn't have any support structures from upper layers to help prop them up, resulting in the thing ceilings between them and the surface collapsing inward on themselves.
Fiera 6 Sundown 1.1/4.1 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 13, 2020 20:35:15 GMT -6
Fiera doubted that would happen though. She hadn't heard of any major tunnel collapses in years. Most people who came down to mine riches were pretty good at being stewards of the tunnels they were building, adding supports as they went or not disturbing natural ones. Fiera was pretty good at that as well. When she moved from natural cavern to natural cavern, she only took out as much stone as she needed to claim her gemstones or to squeeze through to the next room. She wasn't like some of these yahoos who knocked down support structures just for the fun of it all. After all, it would be a living nightmare if she ended up getting trapped down here. She was lucky in that she hadn't stumbled upon any truly dangerous situations yet though- she usually had enough good sense to stay away from dangerous looking places to start with.
Fiera 7 Sundown 1.2/4.2 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 13, 2020 20:44:44 GMT -6
Fiera had seen situations that could have gone bad if she wasn't careful- long drops with no visible bottoms, shallow cliffs to edge along, tight spaces with no guarantee she'd fit through them, and she had a simple solution that kept her safe each time: walking away. Yeah, she knew better than to tempt fate like that. There were far cleverer ways to die that would look a lot more dignified than starving to death in a slippery pit or getting crushed like a bug by a stray rock. Any time she had entered a situation that was even slightly dangerous, it was usually because of her pets... such as right now. Fiera kept a tight grip as Sundown tried rushing forward after a rock that he accidentally kicked and thought it was some manner of small creature fleeing from him instead. He attempted to dash off down the tunnel in pursuit, but Fiera's grip stayed tight.
Fiera 8 Sundown 1.3/4.3 8
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