|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 9:42:33 GMT -6
It didn't take long for Fiera to wrestle it out of the stone with chisel and brush. Sure enough, it was another bone, but not the same shape as the one she found earlier. It was slimmer, almost triangular. The shape of a wishbone, like you'd find in a bird. It felt overwhelmingly delicate however, so Fiera quickly put it away, making sure it was well padded. She could put that to good use later... provided that she could find more fossils first. She glanced at the wall she had been mining however as she stood up. The mining efforts that had already happened up here were extensive- this chunk of earth was already riddled with holes. She couldn't afford to stick around in one place for long... not unless she wanted to cause a cave in, that is. She picked up the lead of her mine cart and tugged on it.
Fiera 10 Daisy 5.0/7.0 25
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 9:44:38 GMT -6
It was time to move on. As rich in stones and fossils as this patch had turned out to be, she couldn't afford to whittle away at it any further. She kept an eye on the sandstone walls for any thicker areas however. It was clear that this was still some rich stone to be mining, even if others had passed it by. She glanced back at Daisy momentarily. The kitten was now fast asleep in the mine cart, apparently not bothered by the strange lightning and odd environment at all. It was a relief really, having a tailypo that was so calm in comparison to the others she owned. They could be so hectic and truly gave her the runabout, but with Daisy, Fiera didn't seem to have to worry. Good. That gave her more time, focus, and presence of mind to look for another good spot to start mining.
Fiera 11 Daisy 5.1/7.1 26
|
|
|
Post by Jack on Sept 11, 2021 10:12:07 GMT -6
Some thrumming could be felt a little deeper in.
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 15:51:09 GMT -6
Sure enough, as she passed by another bulge in the tunnel, she felt a familiar humming. "Another one...?" She muttered to herself. She was amazed that this place hadn't been completely picked clean of elemental crystals a while ago, but who even knew the methods by which they generated? They could arrive spontaneously in stone that had long been picked over for what anyone knew, just appearing of their own volition. Fiera couldn't say either way, that was for sure. Despite how ubiquitous they were in the labs by now, people seemed to know very little about these magic crystals... and in a way that put Fiera at unease. She had a node herself of course, but she wouldn't go much further than that. Magic was far too dangerous a thing for people to just be messing around with without... without understanding WHY it was all there. Where it came from.
Fiera 12 Daisy 5.2/7.2 27
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 15:53:33 GMT -6
People pretended to know, of course. Pretended to understand and control it, to be its master. But there were a lot of things that people pretended to know and understand and control that ultimately ended up destroying them. Politics. Armies. Small two tailed cats with a lot of curiosity. Fiera had the feeling that it would be something like that that destroyed this city someday... but thankfully she knew she had the cleverness and good sense to escape such a demolition. Hopefully with all of her creatures in tow, but even then she chose not to get TOO attached to any of them, just in case. Or at least... she hadn't grown attached enough yet. She furrowed her brow as she began to mine, digging the tip of the pickaxe into the soft rock, letting it push away the stone as she tried to push away her increasingly unruly thoughts.
Fiera 13 Daisy 5.3/7.3 28
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 17:28:32 GMT -6
Yes. She could leave if she needed to. And she would take all of these gemstones she kept finding with her. They would be fine to fund a new life in a new place. Physical goods like that always did well. It was her mistake grabbing all of her paper money to bring with her to the City, or else she wouldn't have been too bad off. Instead, all of the shops here simply laughed her out when she didn't have any of their little metal "credits". Unlike metal coins, there was zero inherent value to paper. You couldn't even melt it down to remake it into the local mint. She huffed. As a result, she had to build her whole little enterprise from scratch, mostly through mining. She had a decent income now from her political career, but it had taken a lot of hard work. Blood, sweat, and tears.
Fiera 14 Daisy 5.4/7.4 29
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 17:37:13 GMT -6
She stopped to wipe her brow on her sleeve, a move that no doubt got some makeup on it. It was hard for it not to melt off her face working like this, even though she bought only the most waterproof brands. A shame- she always worked so hard on it. From there however, she noticed a chunk of ore. It wasn't what she was looking for- it wasn't the elemental crystal- but it would certainly do. Ore wasn't quite as valuable as gemstones, but you could definitely make good use of it. You didn't have to worry about being gentle when you took it out either. Fiera pretty much just jabbed the edge of her pickaxe in there and prised it out, letting it clatter to the floor sharply. Then she picked it up, blew it off a bit, and stuck it with the other chunk she had found in her cart.
Fiera 15 Daisy 6.0/8.0 30
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 18:24:11 GMT -6
She was getting a decent collection so far. Not quite enough to warrant heading home, but Daisy would be struggling to find a place to sit soon. Fiera would likely pack it in before that point, however. She had already found a few fossils and even elemental crystals. What else could one ask for on a mining trip? She did still have to finish getting out this latest crystal, however. She could still feel it humming through the stone, like bees under her skin, loosening her grip on the pick axe. Honestly, she kind of hated it. At first it was exciting, but the sensation got quite unpleasant once the shine of finding something valuable wore off. Never painful, but not great. She couldn’t even see the crystal yet, as deeply buried as it was. She glanced up at the ceiling. It still looked stable enough, but she’d have to keep an eye on it.
Fiera 16 Daisy 6.1/8.1 31
|
|
|
Post by Jack on Sept 11, 2021 20:15:01 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 21:27:43 GMT -6
After a few more blows, Fiera finally- FINALLY- struck the crystal. When it was finally revealed she couldn't help but be surprised at its beautiful white light. Once again, a type of crystal she wasn't familiar with. Even the closest to that shade that she knew of, wind crystals, were still yellow. Like light filtered through amber, conveying the sensation of a cool breeze across your hand when you picked one up. This one... she couldn't even begin to guess. A few more gentle blows finally teased it out of the wall, and she managed to catch it in her hand before it hit the ground. The humming stopped as soon as it met her fingers, but she couldn't accurately describe the sensation it conveyed to her. Just a sort of... softness. Comfort. Warmth? Not physical warmth, not like a fire crystal. It just felt calm, nice, and orderly in her hand.
Fiera 17 Daisy 6.2/8.2 32
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 21:32:03 GMT -6
She frowned. She wasn't sure she liked that, actually. The humanish hurriedly stored the new crystal in her cart, right next to the other one. Daisy opened one eye, saw that it was another glowy crystal, and immediately went right back to sleep, curling her tails in front of her face. That was another reason Fiera didn't quite like magic. She had no desire to be told by others how to feel. About anything. For something magical to manipulate her emotions like that, to convince her everything was alright despite appearances to the contrary... it made her desperately uncomfortable. She liked to be able to TRUST her own thoughts, thank you very much. She turned away from the crystal. She knew it wasn't going anywhere, but she didn't like taking her eyes off of it for too long. She looked back at the wall. She shouldn't mine much more here.
Fiera 18 Daisy 6.3/8.3 33
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 21:33:55 GMT -6
The humanish had carved a large chunk of the wall out getting to that new crystal, and she now feared for its stability. "I think... we should move on." Fiera said to her tailypo, picking up the lead for her mine cart and moving on once more. She decided to head in the vague direction of the front of the mines. Her cart was definitely getting full now. One more attempt on a wall was probably all she needed to get a satisfactory amount of gems for the month. "What do you think, Daisy?" She said, and was met with a tiny, adorable yawn. "Hm. Sounds good to me." She said, amused. Finally, she stopped in front of a patch of wall. There was nothing particularly interesting about it except for the fact that Fiera was pretty sure she could mine a lot out of it without bringing the ceiling down on herself.
Fiera 19 Daisy 6.4/8.4 34
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 11, 2021 21:36:05 GMT -6
Sure enough, everything seemed fine as she began tapping away at the wall- until her pickaxe hit an empty spot. She swore loudly, causing one of Daisy's ears to prick up. Had she really broken through to another tunnel already? These upper tunnels were more spiderwebbed than she thought. She peeked into the hole, looking for where she had burst through. And yet... it looked like it was only a pocket of air. In fact, she gasped with surprise as she realized it was no mere pocket at all. Staring back at her from the pocket was a cluster of bright yellow crystals, indicating that she had managed to break open a geode that was embedded in the wall. "Oh, lovely!" She purred to herself before lifting her pickaxe up once more. She would have to be careful to mine around it this time- ideally she wanted to keep it as unbroken as possible.
Fiera 20 Daisy 7.0/9.0 35
|
|
|
Post by Jack on Sept 11, 2021 22:31:54 GMT -6
A lot of animals must have died around here.
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 12, 2021 7:22:58 GMT -6
She gently tapped at the area around the geode with a chisel and hammer, her pickaxe temporarily forgotten on the ground. She needed precision to get this done, not brute strength. It was admittedly a little more difficult to make it work as she rounded the back of the geode. The humanish had to crane her neck at an angle that she would definitely be feeling in the morning due to her age, but she finally managed to make it work as the geode crumbled and fell... right onto her shoulder before bouncing onto the ground. She hissed with pain as she rubbed the banged up spot. Screw her neck, she'd be feeling THAT in the morning for sure! "Flipping hell..." She grumbled to herself before cracking open an eyelid to look at her finding. Sure enough, it was a decently sized geode, bright and yellow-orange in its tone. Perfect.
Fiera 1 Daisy 7.1/9.1 36
|
|