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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 9, 2020 11:37:16 GMT -6
If the gem wyrm was excited to be out and about again, Fiera couldn’t really say. These creatures were so strange, made of stone and nothing else. It didn’t exactly make them “expressive”, and Fiera hadn’t found Viridia to be interested in much else other than finding and eating gemstones. Gemstone critters tended to be a little “flat” like that. Still, she didn’t seem unhappy living in Fiera’s kennels either, apparently having no lost love for the mines she came from. There was interest in this place sure, but it really only seemed to be in terms of sniffing and scanning the surrounding walls for goodies as opposed to any thrill of being “home again”. Fiera could agree with the sentiment, considering her own checkered past with her hometown. At least the creature seemed to have finally learned how to walk (or slither as it were) on a regular leash.
Fiera 17 Viridia 18.2/18.2 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 9, 2020 11:37:31 GMT -6
Fiera was used to having to practically drag Viridia down the tunnels, though she seemed to be cooperating now. Perhaps that was just because this was a pretty cleaned out area however, and she would get a lot more distracted once they started down the less frequented tunnels and she began smelling (or seeing, or sensing, whatever it was she did) gems in the walls of the tunnels. In fact, she did seem to be pulling ahead- did she sense some gems and fossils further down? Fiera could only follow her and hope for the best, dragging her mine cart along behind them. She pondered the reason she was down here as well- her desire for fossils. They were neat on their own, of course. Amber filled with ancient insects, shells from millions of years ago, bones of some long dead creature, now turned completely to stone.
Fiera 18 Viridia 18.3/18.3 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 9, 2020 11:37:45 GMT -6
However, that wasn’t why Fiera was hunting for them. Fossils were neat of course, but they weren’t really Fiera’s “thing” in terms of decorations. They were far too dusty and brown for her tastes, even if carved and polished into proper shape for jewelry or decoration… which she was pretty sure that more scientific types would take as nigh desecration of a sacred object. After all, fossils were supposed to be incredibly rare and valuable for their scientific value as opposed to beauty. And for once, that’s what Fiera was after as well. Apparently the rumors flying around recently had been correct (for once- Fiera had heard some truly WILD things over the past several months.) and fossils could now be used for more than mere bragging rights. Indeed, the labs of the labs city could now extract DNA from them despite their age and incubate it to create something truly amazing.
Fiera 19 Viridia 18.4/18.4 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 9, 2020 11:38:04 GMT -6
Apparently… any fossils Fiera found today could be transformed into living creatures! And from there they could be nursed and nourished into larger, more fantastical beasts. Well, Fiera had always been one for collecting bizarre creatures of all sizes, and the knowledge that she could now claim creatures that had long since died and been revived? It was irresistable. Unfortunately… she hadn’t actually collected enough pieces of fossil to have enough valid genetic material to create one of those creatures yet. She had a couple of decent bits and pieces, sure, but not enough. Well. Her intent today was to fix that, with Viridia by her side. Hopefully gem wyrms were just as good at sniffing out fossils as they were at finding gems. The humanish wasn’t exactly sure how to TRAIN her for that, but she was sure they’d be able to figure it out together, one way or another.
Fiera 20 Viridia 19.0/19.0 5
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Post by Jack on Sept 9, 2020 19:19:36 GMT -6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2020 10:38:10 GMT -6
Fiera stepped foot into the main thoroughfare of the mines, a large and surprisingly open room in comparison to the rest of the winding tunnels that made up the mines. It was tall enough for even the largest uthax to stand up easily. For someone Fiera’s size, it actually had quite a tall ceiling. Even though it was quite early in the day, people were already bustling about, pulling sacks and mine carts in and out of tunnels, adjusting helmets and turning on lanterns. There were no guards to protect people down here or anything like that, but people rarely caused trouble down here, too wrapped up in their own goals to bother anyone else. The most common crime (if you could even call it that) was going into someone’s personal mineshaft or tunnel and digging out the more valuable materials before the original excavator could get at them themselves.
Fiera 1 Viridia 19.1/19.1 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2020 10:38:23 GMT -6
That couldn’t really be called a “crime” in Fiera’s mind though (and not just because she was guilty of it herself in the past), as no one could really lay claim to a tunnel down here anyway. Sure it was POLITE to avoid tunnels that had a name plate, self-bought lighting and personal equipment left around the entrances, but it was really just mines etiquette- there were no hard rules at all down here. Fiera even had her own “personal” tunnels, but to avoid having anyone find them she often blocked them off with the rubble from her mining ventures after she was done so whoever found them would think that a rock slide had come through and would avoid it out of concern for their own safety when in reality there was a pristine tunnel sitting right behind the pile. It had worked out well for Fiera so far.
Fiera 2 Viridia 19.2/19.2 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2020 10:38:38 GMT -6
After all, she usually found her tunnels in the same condition she left them in, with the exception of a few moved things that she could pass off as being caused by the natural fauna of the tunnels running through the earth here. She had met quite a few of the “native wildlife” here after all, in thankfully usually friendly encounters. Viridia had been one of them once, though Fiera admittedly bought her gem wyrm off of another inhabitant of The Labs City for… far too much. Fiera was quite new to the city and thus didn’t realize that gem wyrms were quite common as far as mining familiars went, and all she saw was a snake dragon made out of pure jade. How could she turn them down? Well, it turned out that there were a LOT of these particular creatures going around and she had been thoroughly suckered.
Fiera 3 Viridia 19.3/19.3 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2020 10:38:59 GMT -6
Fiera wised up a lot after that, and hadn’t made a bad purchase (in her opinion) since. Still, Viridia had proven a valuable and helpful companion on her ventures down to the mines. She had definitely earned the amount Fiera had spent on her back when the humanish considered how many gemstones she had found for her (even if the humanish did sometimes have to wrestle with her to get them out of her mouth. At least gem wyrms didn’t tend to slobber.) With any luck, they would do just as well together toda- “Woah!” Fiera exclaimed as the gem wyrm yanked her forward, straining against the leash as soon as Fiera stepped into the main room. The humanish was shot a few rude glances as Viridia yanked her with surprising strength across the room, disregarding the people in her way that she was rudely cutting off (or more forcing Fiera to).
Fiera 4 Viridia 19.4/19.4 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2020 10:39:23 GMT -6
“Hey, easy.” Fiera hissed as her shoulder clipped someone else’s mine cart. She rubbed the sore joint, but the gem wyrm didn’t stop, pulling her owner with disproportionate strength. Fiera was quietly amazed at the fact that the leash didn’t snap- she’d have to buy herself a few more of these, that was for sure. Viridia’s beeline finally stopped in front of the far wall and she began gnawing at the rocky surface, as if trying to get to something. “Found something already? Geez, that was fast-” Fiera started, moving to lean against the wall… only to feel something as soon as her skin touched stone. There was a familiar humming beneath the surface of the rock, one that had slowly become familiar to the humanish. “...Really? Here?” She said, mostly to herself. “You woulda thought folks had cleared out any elemental crystals here ages ago…” She said conspiratorily to her pet.
Fiera 5 Viridia 20.0/20.0 10
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Post by Jack on Sept 11, 2020 10:42:11 GMT -6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 12, 2020 22:15:16 GMT -6
Still, Fiera’s thoughts on the emptiness of this area wasn’t about to stop her from digging out the gems she was feeling, and it didn’t stop Viridia from writhing against that spot. Now that she was properly concealed though, she could dig it all out. She slipped her pick axe off her shoulder and Viridia finally crawled away as if realizing what was about to happen. Fiera raised it above her head and started chipping away at it, trying to dig the crystal out as quickly as possible. As she dug though, she caught shards of color out of the corner of her eye. Were there other gems here? She’d have to go back over those when she was done. Viridia soon began sniffing at them though, confirming Fiera’s suspicions. Even in her cast offs and spare pebbles there were apparently treasures to be found.
Fiera 6 Viridia 20.1/20.1 11
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 12, 2020 22:37:20 GMT -6
It didn’t take too long for Fiera to bang out a sizeable hole in the wall, ruining the smooth surface that had been carved out over the years by various miners that had been there much longer than her. She didn’t really care about the damage she was doing though- it was a public space, she wasn’t necessarily doing anything WRONG, and someone else could easily come along and smooth it back out again later, just extending this wall out a little further. If anything, she was helping to expand the place! At the very least, no one seemed to mind her work, with the few other miners that were passing through this room barely batting an eye at her. It looked like she would have some privacy to finish this after all, she thought with a small smile. So she kept at it, shards of stone flying off the wall as she worked.
Fiera 7 Viridia 20.2/20.2 12
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 12, 2020 22:42:42 GMT -6
As the hole widened however, Fiera noticed a slight change in texture and slowed down. She couldn’t identify it right off the bat so she crouched to get a better look, turning on her flashlight at a lower notch to try and get a bead on what that was. Sure enough, the rocks further in were oddly shaped, almost like... scales. Had she managed to dig up one of the fossils she had been looking for in her desire to prise out the source of the thrumming? Fiera was delighted at the thought, but she still grimaced a bit at her pick axe as she set it down. If she hadn’t been paying attention, there was a good chance she would have smashed the delicate fossil to pieces without noticing, bring her right back to square one. She would never forgive herself if that happened, considering it was her reason for coming down here.
Fiera 8 Viridia 20.3/20.3 13
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 12, 2020 23:56:11 GMT -6
Now that the fossil had been revealed though, Fiera still had to tease it out of the wall. Fiera sighed at the thought of that, knowing that it was going to take forever to do so. Normally she would be fine with that- it gave her a break from the back breaking work of banging away with the pick axe- but with that magical thrumming in the wall, she was pretty sure it would drive her insane until she could get past the fossil to get to the magic crystals in the wall. She wasn’t about to break a fossil just to hurry up the process though, so she decided to get out her hammer and chisel same as usual. She gently tapped around the perimeter of the fossil, leaving plenty of room around the scaly pattern embedded into the wall. Thankfully the stone was pretty soft here, so it was easy enough to carve.
Fiera 9 Viridia 20.4/20.4 14
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