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Insomnia
Jun 21, 2020 0:14:09 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Ashe on Jun 21, 2020 0:14:09 GMT -6
Ashe saw his Gargoyle approach and he gave her a nod of greeting. "Hey, girl! I found a crystal. But you probably already know that, since you seem to be able to find any gemstone down here…" he wasnt going to mention how she sometimes kept digging in an area that wasnt producing as much. He figured that was mostly because there was something good way down in there and she was trying to get to it, and Ashe just got too impatient and moved them along. She hadn't let him down yet, and he would continue to allow her to do what she wanted. While he also did what he wanted. Brazin cracked her bea at him in greeting, sounding like an old friend out bat flapping and also a soft grind like rocks. An oddly unique sound. Inyala made a soft noise, also greeting her, then a few more phrases which Ashe gathered to be her filling the gargoyle in on what she'd missed out on recently. Once all the pleasantries were out of the way, ashe resumed his place at the wall. Brazin came over to have a look, too, and Ashe traced the outline of oddly colored rock to demonstrate his interest in it.
Inyala: 6 0/5 Brazin: 6 1/5 Ashe: 0 10/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 27, 2020 12:42:54 GMT -6
Brazin took a keen interest in that part of the wall, watching Ashe's fingers trace the outline of the strange colored rock. She definitely seemed to sense something when he touched that stone, and if Ashe wasn't mistaken, it was a lot like awe. Little did he know that it was, indeed, awe in which she looked at that rock; she knew it was much older than it appeared, and much older than Ashe could comprehend right off the bat. He might never even know how old it truly was, if there was no specialist in the city. She gave a slight nod, indicating that he should continue to break it loose - though hopefully not breaking it at all just the stone holding it captive. Ashe seemed to recognize and accept the gravity of the situation, what a dramatic find he had, because he took care while picking at the rock. Once enough was shaved away by the big pick axe, he got out his little mini set. He didn't get to use this often because most of the valuables he found came free with the bigger one. Inyala hovered nearby, interested but knowing better than to get in the way or try to help. Now was not the time, he could do this.
Inyala: 6 1/5 Brazin: 6 2/5 Ashe: 0 11/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 27, 2020 12:57:31 GMT -6
It took them another fifteen minutes or so of careful digging for Ashe to be able to work the first thing free. It looked like a claw of some sort, and was thin but sturdy and sharp. He wouldn't risk its sturdiness by trying to force it free, so the last three minutes or so was spent making it loose enough that it practically fell out. And he caught it in his hand, turning it over, feeling the weight of it. It was dense like stone, but different, and definitely heavier than some of the samples of gemstones he'd pulled out of the mines. He rubbed his thumb over it, brushing debris away so he could get a better look at it. He would definitely say this was a claw or something... But to which creature did it belong? Ashe hadn't seen the likes of it before, not on any pet here in the city or created in the labs. And he thought his knowledge was pretty extensive!
"What could this have belonged to?" Ashe asked, branching out to ask his gargoyle and his Imp. Brazin looked at him blankly, like she usually did when she was interested but not committed. And Inyala made some soft sounds, but she obviously had no idea where it had come from.
Inyala: 6 2/5 Brazin: 6 3/5 Ashe: 0 12/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 27, 2020 13:05:28 GMT -6
But that wasn't all! When Ashe removed the claw, that revealed something else in there. Once again, he only noticed because the light on his helmet bounced around and lit off differently when it crossed over the other piece of bone sticking out. And that's what this one looked like; bone. Which meant this claw was probably a fossil of some kind, too. Maybe a prehistoric Dash-Claw! Ashe found himself a little startled, in a good shocked feeling way that was tinged with excitement, at the mere thought of an old, larger Dash Claw. How he would like to tame such a beast... But this other piece of bone was smaller, thinner, more delicate. The coloring is what set him off; it looked like bone! And the more he picked with his small pick set, the more details were revealed. By the time all was said and done, Ashe was convinced he had found the wishbone, or clavical as it was known in some species. He got that free and handed it to Brazin. "What do you think that is?" He asked her, wishing she would know and could tell them. Surely she knew what would be found down here in the mines! He sighed at her silence and showed Inyala instead.
Inyala: 6 3/5 Brazin: 6 4/5 Ashe: 0 13/20
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Post by Jack on Jul 1, 2020 19:52:11 GMT -6
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Post by Ashe on Aug 10, 2020 21:42:42 GMT -6
While Inyala played around with the bone Ashe had found, Ashe became aware of a thrumming in his bones. They must be close to another crystal of some sort! He could feel its power pulling at him, tugging at every cell and fiber of his being. It was weak, it must still be within the wall itself - but where? Was he closer to it, or was Brazin? Ashe put his hand to the wall to try and feel where it was closest, to pinpoint the location. He dragged his hand across the surface of the wall, not feeling anything. He walked along, feeling if he was getting hotter or colder, based on the increase or decrease in the energy emitted. He changed his path accordingly, and eventually found where the crystal was. It was pretty close to Brazin, to the right of where she was digging. She had noticed Ashe acting weird and had paused, to let him do whatever it was he wanted. Her head swiveled slowly to watch him. He put his hand up on the wall, felt where it was, and placed his pick there to start chiseling away at the wall. Carefully, though, because he didn't want to break it or chip it into pieces. Sittack would kill him.
Inyala: 6 4/5 Brazin: 7 0/5 Ashe: 0 14/20
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Post by Ashe on Aug 10, 2020 22:45:36 GMT -6
It caused Ashe a momentary pause, to recall the giant bull mammalian that used to threaten him at the gemstone workshop. He hadn't been to the workshop in ages; at first, because it had closed for a while, and then because he had gotten busy with other stuff. Was it open yet, he wondered? Or was it still closed for maintenance? Or had it closed its doors for good? He hoped it wasn't the latter, because he still had to get in there and create a wedding ring and propose to Vix... She was probably wondering why he hadn't asked her already. They had both been busy, though, so hopefully she wasn't too disappointed in him. He lifted the pick and brought it down, sinking the tip into the wall, wiggling it to break loose whatever rock material he could. Then he repeated it. Done with playing around, Inyala came back to Ashe and handed over the fossilized bone, then climbed up onto his shoulder to watch what he was doing. Brazin was slowly resuming her work, when she saw that Ashe was doing his own thing now and she wasn't in his way at all. She worked on the left side of the dent in the wall she had made, while he worked the right.
Inyala: 7 0/5 Brazin: 7 1/5 Ashe: 0 15/20
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Post by Ashe on Aug 10, 2020 23:59:07 GMT -6
It seemed to take forever, but was probably only a couple of minutes of solid, careful picking, but he was finally starting to see progress. There was a slight glow coming from the rock, that seemed heightened by the beam of the flashlight he had taped to his helmet. He shifted his head around, trying to get a decent angle this way or that way, to see which end of the crystal he was dealing with. Inyala tried to help him by instinctively leaning against the light to press it this way or that, based on her master's movements. Finally, finally, he got one corner of it broken free! He wiggled and chiseled at it, trying to pry it all the way loose. His blood thrummed with excitement over this prospect.
Meanwhile, Brazin was busy working on her side, and she believed she had found something as well. It was a white-ish stone, something she recognized as valuable to Ashe, but not something she knew the name of in the common tongue of the people. She worked at it and pried it free, setting it aside for Ashe to find, safe and sound. Then she resumed digging at the wall, tearing away rocks and loose stone, creating piles at her feet.
Inyala: 7 1/5 Brazin: 7 2/5 Ashe: 0 16/20
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Post by Ashe on Aug 11, 2020 0:14:05 GMT -6
Ashe cheered as he pulled the crystal free finally, from its rocky prison. He dusted it off, pried some stubborn dirt off of it, then held it aloft to look it over. So beautiful, so stunning, he had no words to describe it. What he did have, however, was a few words he could spare to show his excitement about getting to make a node finally! "After all this time, all this hard work, I can finally make a node, Inyala! How amazing is that?" Ashe wasn't sure, but he didn't know anyone else with a Chaos node. What was it like? What kind of magic could he tap into? His best friend, Jack, had nodes of all types, colors, and powers, but he didn't think she had a Shadow Node, like he already did, or a Chaos node. So this was uncharted territory, as far as Ashe was concerned! He rolled it around in his hand, showed Inyala, who made the proper appreciative praising noises, then showed Brazin, who did not make the proper noises but gave a solemn nod of approval. Then Ashe pocketed it, to keep it super safe from the dangers in this mine shaft, so he would still have it in one piece when they made it out of here.
Inyala: 7 2/5 Brazin: 7 3/5 Ashe: 0 17/20
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Post by Ashe on Aug 11, 2020 0:37:50 GMT -6
When he was done celebrating, he was able to see that Brazin had found something, too. It was white, and it was a stone, not a crystal. He reached down and picked up the chunk of rock and turned it over in his hand, in the light. He frowned in thought, trying to place what exactly it was. He knew he had one of these, but what... Oh, moonstone! "You found a nice chunk of moonstone, Braz! Thanks for that." He put that away too. It wasn't as valuable as the crystal but it was very pretty. They all got back to work, even Inyala hopping down from her perch to help go through the rocks and everything discarded by the two larger creatures. It was Inyala, in fact, who found the next gem; it was small enough, and dusty enough, that it had been looked over, but Inyala's small self and her keen eyes had found it. She called up to Ashe, then scaled the human's tall form and sat on his shoulder, holding the piece out in front of his face for him to see. He took it from her and looked it over; shiny green, definitely something he would want to keep! He pocketed that too and thanked her for her good work.
Inyala: 7 3/5 Brazin: 7 4/5 Ashe: 0 18/20
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Post by Nadia on Aug 11, 2020 11:26:15 GMT -6
Walking along, everything seems rather normal. That is, until the gravel beneath your feet starts to slip, sending you and your pet tumbling into a deep pit. The fall stings quite a bit, but that isn’t the biggest problem you face. The pit is rather deep, making the trip back up difficult at best.
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Post by Ashe on Aug 13, 2020 20:45:52 GMT -6
After the excitement of finding a crystal, and then finding some other miscellaneous things, it quieted down on the shinies front. Ashe hadn't found anything for a good ten minutes, and even Brazin was slowing down on her rhythmic digging. Ashe kept up a mantra of 'one more, one more, one more'... But it didn't seem to be accomplishing much. Even he was going to have to admit that there just didn't seem to be anything of interest here. He sighed and set the pick down, announcing that he was done for now. He gathered up anything the others had found of interest, put them in the buggy, then started to walk off. He called for Brazin, and the gargoyle got the idea and went with him. Inyala, as usual, made her home on his shoulder and tagged along that way. They were walking down a narrow pathway that seemed straight forward enough. Ashe's light bobbed along, bouncing off the walls around him. Then suddenly, the tunnel widened - and the floor dropped out from under him! He let out a startled shout as he fell, Inyala clinging to him for dear life. "Stay back!" He managed to shout to Brazin - who also had wings and could fly, if she did stumble down.
Inyala: 7 4/5 Brazin: 8 0/5 Ashe: 0 19/20
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Post by Ashe on Aug 13, 2020 20:49:14 GMT -6
The rocks dug into Ashe's thighs and back as he slid, on his butt, down the crater. Or the hole. Whatever it was, he was hoping it didn't rip the seat of his pants or, you know, damage any other goods in that general area. His legs had been swept right out from under him and loose rock made the footing impossible. He'd gone down hard, being a tall guy such as he was, and it was all he could do to curl his body around enough to keep Inyala from harm. She, thankfully, had a similar idea and was doing her fair share of staying out of harm's way. Brazin was nowhere to be seen and Ashe hoped that she was smart enough to have stayed above and not followed them down. Well, of course she was smart enough, but he could see her having some sort of savior complex... They came to a halt at the bottom of the pit, and Ashe lurched forward.
Inyala: 8 0/5 Brazin: 8 0/5 - paused Ashe: 1 0/20
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Post by Ashe on Aug 13, 2020 21:01:58 GMT -6
"You alright?" Ashe asked, reaching up to pluck his Imp from just under his chin, the safest place she'd found to hide. She let him pick her up, and squirmed enough to face him. Without using human language, she managed to say, Fine. No hurt. Are you hurt? Ashe stroked her thin body as if she was a cat (it was much more awkward and weird than petting an Estharne, so he didn't do this much) to reassure himself that she was in one piece.
"I don't know what happened..." He confessed. Normally, he was more on top of things than this, and it was shameful that he had allowed something like this to slip by his awareness. How could he not have noticed a giant pit in their path? He groaned and ran a hand through his hair, shaking out the dust and dirt as best as he could, closing his eyes as it cascaded over his face so nothing got in his eyes.
Inyala: 8 1/5 Brazin: 8 0/5 - paused Ashe: 1 1/20
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Post by Ashe on Aug 13, 2020 21:18:01 GMT -6
"Well, I guess we gotta...figure this out." Ashe moved Inyala to his shoulder, where she dug her nails in to keep her balance. He lurched to his feet and dusted himself off, checking his legs, and his ass, for anything worse than superficial bruising. He didn't feel like he had any broken bones. Thankfully, he must have sat right down and slid, instead of straining or pulling a muscle, and he hadn't landed crookedly on a leg. After stepping with each leg, making sure it worked, he stood still and used the light on his helmet to look around. Slowly, taking everything in. Was there a passage down here? He didn't see anything... How wide was this pit? What else was down here? What had created it? He tried to collect as much information as he could without losing his vantage point - the place he'd need to climb back up - or without moving. He'd hate to get turned around and lose Brazin!
Inyala: 8 2/5 Brazin: 8 0/5 - paused Ashe: 1 2/20
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