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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2020 21:53:58 GMT -6
As a result, Fiera found herself walking through the larger tunnels of the mines, with lines of lights already dug in and strung up along the ceiling. Most people only passed through here on the way to their own personal exploratory tunnels, leaving this picked over and reinforced area alone. Well, for all Fiera knew there could still be some goodies in the wall, and the breadth of it meant that Drips would be able to sit around comfortably and “help”. By that, Fiera mostly meant that Drips looked sufficiently scary enough to keep people away from her mine cart if they decided to try taking a peek while Fiera was busy hacking things out of the wall. For all she knew, maybe she would stumble across a secret treasure trove of gems that other people had passed right by in the belief that this area had nothing else to offer.
Fiera 19 Drips 8.4/8.4 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2020 21:54:44 GMT -6
Some would think that it was irresponsible for Fiera to spend so much time on her own mining ventures while leaving Drips relatively to her own devices, but Fiera knew that it was safe enough. The sarane wasn’t exactly a curious one. Fiera could have left the mines, gone shopping, went home to drop off her things, watched a movie, took the scenic route back, and Drips would probably be right where she left her next ot the mine cart. Even now the sarane yawned, lulled by the comforting warmth of the mines and curled up next to Fiera’s cart, happy to have a little nap while the humanish worked. Her laziness sometimes made her difficult to train, but in this case it would be a boon. Fiera could work happily while Drips also enjoyed herself, and they would both end up all the better for it (...provided that Fiera’s plan worked out and she found some gems).
Fiera 20 Drips 9.0/9.0 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2020 21:55:00 GMT -6
Fiera glanced at Drips to make sure the sarane was both settled and… not in the way. She was a lovely creature to work with, really, but she had a tendency to sit right where it was very inconvenient. Fiera knew from experience as well that people tended to have a lot less patience than usual in the minds due to the hot, dirty, and uncomfortable nature of the work. They didn’t need a sarane butt plugging up the tunnels on top of that. Thankfully though, Drips had chosen to lean up against part of the wall while she napped, leaving the other half of the relatively wide tunnel clear for people to pass by. The humanish eyeballed it and figured that there was likely enough room for people to maneuver a minecart through- they’d probably be fine like this. “With that out of the way, then…” Fiera said to herself.
Fiera 1 Drips 9.1/9.1 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2020 21:55:27 GMT -6
She turned back to her mine cart and opened it up, revealing her expensive array of tools that she had collected over time. She would like to say collected over the years, but she really hadn’t spent all that long in the Labs City by this point. Still, she picked up and turned over her trusty pickaxe in her hands. It had served her well while she had it, and she used it to remove the bulk of the stone from her path while mining. It wasn’t great for precision work and tended to destroy fancy gems more than it dug them out, but it was good for getting the grand majority of the legwork out of the way when she was trying to dig a tunnel. And she supposed that’s what she was trying to do right now. She saw no obvious veins of metal ores or vague sparkles implying the presence of gemstones in the wall.
Fiera 2 Drips 9.2/9.2 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2020 21:55:41 GMT -6
Instead, it was just… well, a stone cave wall. As a result, if there WAS anything to be found, it would be deeper in. “Guess I’d best get started, then…” She said to herself quietly, and hefted the pickaxe above her head before driving it deep into the wall, cutting out a good inch of stone. A good enough start as any, but not one that didn’t attract attention. Drips huffed loudly and opened a glimmering reptilian eye to glare at Fiera. “Oh, NOW you’re paying attention to me?” The humanish teased, spinning the pickaxe in her hand. “You didn’t seem all that interested before. But now that I’ve disturbed your precious nap, suddenly I’m worth your time. Well, you’ll just have to get used to it dear, I’m not about to stop.” Fiera said, teasing the hen sarane as she got ready to get back to work on mining out this wall.
Fiera 3 Drips 9.3/9.3 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2020 21:55:55 GMT -6
She knew Drips wouldn’t do anything about it, after all. The brown hen was far too lazy for that. The most likely scenario was that the sarane would be huffy about the noise for a little while before getting used to it and falling asleep again, none the wiser for what Fiera was trying to do. The alternative was that, gods forbid, Drips would get up and move a few feet down. The terror. Fiera got back to work again, raining blows upon the mine wall, and sure enough the first option proved to be the case. Drips rolled over a bit so her face was no longer facing Fiera, but otherwise she seemed to no longer notice that the humanish was there, even as little bits of stone bounced across her hide. The hen was completely oblivious. “See, was that so bad?” Fiera teased gently between pants of effort.
Fiera 4 Drips 9.4/9.4 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2020 21:56:12 GMT -6
After that Fiera was pretty sure that Drips had fallen asleep, so there wasn’t much else to distract her from her task. The rest of the world fell away in stages until Fiera was laser focused on the task at hand, staring directly at the increasingly large hole in the wall. Some people would walk by and stop for a moment watching her with no doubt a little confusion at why she was hammering at the wall of a random artery tunnel, but they would usually shrug and walk away again. People had done crazier things down here after all, and Fiera was hardly different. Stones fell away in clumps at her feet, and chances are they would be more upset at the rubble that would block their carts after Fiera was done than they did her making an odd scene in this entry tunnel. Still, she wasn’t to be dissuaded.
Fiera 5 Drips 10.0/10.0 10
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Post by Nadia on Jul 12, 2020 8:08:24 GMT -6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 16, 2020 4:20:32 GMT -6
After several minutes’ worth of mining Fiera found some gems worthy of being taken home. It could have been longer of course, though. Fiera’s perception of time was always distorted down here, turning minutes into hours and hours into seconds. The lack of sky and the constant presence of half-light made it impossible to actually see time passing around her, and left her thinking that the time was… well, whatever she guessed it was. Drips was no help either, considering that the sarane had pretty much infinite patience so long as she was comfortable, meaning that Fiera didn’t even have her pets growing impatient as a wake-up call for her having spent too much time mining. Thankfully, Fiera DID have her WATT on her, and it informed her that she hadn’t been spending too long mining, leaving her safe to examine her findings and leave afterward with Drips in tow.
Fiera 6 Drips 10.1/10.1 11
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 16, 2020 4:20:48 GMT -6
The first was a chunk of… oh, what was it? Fiera quickly dug out the gem identification guide she kept in her mine cart. It was about the only mining tool she owned that she made sure stayed in impeccable condition at all times. It was a lot easier to restore a pickaxe to its former glory than a flimsy paper book after all. She noted the shape, the color, the size and the angles and eventually came to the conclusion that it was a spear of rose quartz. Fiera had to approve- it was a lovely, lustrous color and it glimmered beautifully in the light (or lack thereof). She let Drips examine it for a moment as well to share in the joy of finding a gemstone (even if the hen didn’t seem that interested) before opening the mine cart and dropping it in. A fine find indeed.
Fiera 7 Drips 10.2/10.2 12
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 16, 2020 4:21:13 GMT -6
Fiera was sure that even if she couldn’t find a use for it, she could easily sell it to someone who could, and for a pretty penny at that. So even if she didn’t use it, it was as good a find as anything else. The next gem she discovered was a prettty red one, with a luster of orange as she rotated it in the light. Unlike the quartz, it was round and smooth instead of angular and sharp. A quick flip through her identification guide told her that this was most likely a carnelian. Fiera nodded and threw that in the mine cart as well. She hadn’t found too many gemstones on this trip, but the ones she had found were welcome additions to her collection. With that in mind, she was considering this trip a success. It even allowed Drips to get a little sleep in!
Fiera 8 Drips 10.3/10.3 13
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 16, 2020 4:21:30 GMT -6
But of course, there was one last find. It was round and dark pink, and so deep to look at that it seemed like Fiera could just stare into it forever and get lost in it. Not to mention when she touched it, it had a very faint, distant humming sensation beneath her fingertips. There was no doubt in her mind that this was a mind stone. They were a special sort of crystal. They weren’t necessarily magical or elemental per se, but they were a valuable ingredient in the production of magical nodes, which Fiera had at least a little bit of experience in making by now. Fiera already had one of these at home, but she was sure that people would pay through the nose to have one for themselves. Fiera smiled happily and shoved it in her pocket, wanting to keep it close at hand just in case.
Fiera 9 Drips 10.4/10.4 14
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 16, 2020 4:21:56 GMT -6
With that out of the way, Fiera was pretty sure she was done here. Without further ado, she packed up her tools into her mine cart once more, making sure they all fit before loosening the strap on her hard hat a bit. Then she took the lead for the minecart and for Drips. The hen sarane… defintiely didn’t want to go. She had just gotten comfy, and it was so nice and warm in here. After some poking, prodding, and pleading however, Fiera finally managed to get the hen to get up and go. As they approached the outdoors again, Fiera took a deep breath of the mines air. Honestly, it wasn’t that pleasant. While the goodies she had found were great, she would be happy to see the sun again, and to get back to other important pieces of business- training Drips included. But at least she had some new gemstones to show for it.
Fiera 10 Drips 11.0/11.0 15 (Fiera leaves the mines.)
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Post by Nadia on Jul 16, 2020 8:53:10 GMT -6
A faint, distant thud of tool against rock can be heard as you retreat. The mine bids you farewell for another day.
[Nothing happens.]
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 9, 2020 11:37:02 GMT -6
Fiera left the light of day with Viridia, her jade wyrm by her side. The caves were thankfully quite cool today, and she hoped she wouldn’t end up breaking too much of a sweat. The weather was starting to cool down a bit, and she was grateful for the change, though it still wasn’t anywhere near “actually cold”. She wanted to spend quite some time in the mines today though, to (with any luck) dig up some of those fossils she had heard about. She already owned one or two, of course, including a “scute”- a type of fossil that was apparently quite rare amongst these sorts of finds. She had been mining with Viridia when she had found it, so she had brought the gem wyrm back for another go to see if she could make lightning strike twice… or to see if she could at least get more REGULAR fossils for her trouble. Fiera 16 Viridia 18.1/18.1 1
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