Star
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Post by Star on Nov 25, 2021 0:21:35 GMT -6
I had yet to see the mature form of any of these creatures. It took a lot of time and energy to grow them, and my relationship with them was still quite new. I was determined to see at least one of them reach their full potential, however. I was convinced that it would be worth the wait… or, at the very least, that I would finally be able to satiate my curiosity.
This world was filled with creatures I never would have expected. Humans, Tat-lung, even Tilvander or Chelcauda, these were all things that made inherent sense to me. They were enough like me that it wasn’t hard to compare them to myself. Something like Sha here, or like Sapphire? I found myself fascinated by just how different they were. Yet in many ways, we also had similarities.
It all made me wonder about the nature of life. Were some things inherent to all life? If that were the case, what defined it? Could it be studied and understood? I could easily say that Sha was alive, and that I am alive, but why? In many ways we couldn’t be more different, but we had at least that one thing in common. It truly made me wonder.
48 [13.6, 10.6, 0.6]
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Star
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Post by Star on Nov 25, 2021 0:22:35 GMT -6
I could tell that Sapphire was curious about Sha as well, but it was avoiding getting too close to him. Sapphire was a surprisingly intelligent creature, especially for a rock, so I suspected that it might be waiting to know more about Sha before allowing him to come too close. It was a smart tactic, especially if these Golem things turned out to be as dangerous as I understood they could be.
An interesting thought occurred to me as I watched Sapphire looking at Sha. Did it know something about him that I didn’t? What must the world look like through the eyes (or lack thereof) of a gem creature? It was an interesting thought, though one I would probably never know the real answer to.
I could tell that Sapphire was getting a bit impatient to get started, so I scooped Sha into a cloth pouch and tied it up so it would sit comfortably near my shoulder. It would be easiest if I carried him, as he did not move particularly fast on his own. Thankfully, he wasn’t very heavy and it was easy for me to carry him. Some day he would be large and intimidating, but for now he was just a ... baby.
49 [13.65, 10.8, 0.8]
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Star
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Post by Star on Nov 25, 2021 0:23:19 GMT -6
“Alright then, lead the way,” I said to Sapphire, gesturing to it that I was ready to go.
Sapphire seemed to know this place well, which was impressive considering how expansive the tunnels were. Perhaps it was just taking in different information than I was, and making an informed opinion based on that. It did grow up here, after all. At least, I assumed it did. I didn’t actually know anything about its life before I purchased it. If only it could tell me. I would be very interested to learn more about Sapphire and its origins.
It paused for a moment, scratched at the ground with its sharp little claws, then wandered off toward a tunnel. That seemed like a good sign, so I followed. As odd as it was to let a creature lead the way, I found it refreshing as well. It was nice not to have to make all of the decisions for once. Perhaps I would give another creature the chance to make some decisions. Not important ones, of course.
One thing I could admire about Sapphire was how decisive it was. It was not a creature who took its time to make a decision. Some creatures could be fussy and they would take the longest time to do the simplest tasks. It shouldn’t be hard to decide whether or not to go outside or which pillow to lay on, but anyone who ever met a cat would know otherwise.
50 [13.7, 11, 1]
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Star
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Post by Star on Nov 25, 2021 0:23:45 GMT -6
Sha used his odd appendages to push himself upright so he could see over the edge of the cloth. He was curious about this place, though he didn’t seem to like it much. I couldn’t blame him - there wasn’t much light here, after all. I would have to remember to remedy that as we got settled in to dig.
There was never much to speak of near the entrance to the tunnels. It was simply too easy to access. Everyone had already stripped the easy to reach tunnels bare. Sapphire would know where to start, though. I trusted that between the two of us, we’d be able to find something worth digging up. I could do a lot of things a person couldn’t, after all.
As we got deeper into the caves and any hint of natural light disappeared, I began to appreciate the fact that Sha could glow. I didn’t even need a torch to navigate with him around. Would he run out of light? I sure hoped not. If he did, then I would need the torch after all. Would that even work? I wondered if the light he needed to grow needed to come from the sun, or if something artificial would suffice.
51 [13.75, 11.2, 1.2]
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Post by Nadia on Nov 25, 2021 1:44:14 GMT -6
There's something about this crystal...
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Star
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Post by Star on Nov 25, 2021 23:22:58 GMT -6
Sapphire stopped to look at the rocky wall to our left. It ran its claws along the stone, clearly looking at the texture of it. I hadn’t anticipated coming across something so soon, but I also found myself eager to get started. I waited patiently for Sapphire to make a choice about what to do next. I sure hoped it had found something useful.
Sadly, Sapphire didn’t like the look of the stone, and it abruptly turned away to keep walking. I shrugged, not surprised but a little disappointed. It would have been great if we had found something that easily, but things like this couldn’t be rushed. Patience and resilience were important in such matters.
It was interesting to see Sha’s reaction to everything that happened. In many ways, the creature was difficult to understand, but I felt like I had finally spent enough time with them to get a feel for them. I could see its eyes scanning the tunnels and occasionally glancing down at Sapphire. It was curious, perhaps.
The faint light cast by Sha’s glowing carapace glittered off of the facets of Sapphire’s body. They made a lovely pair, I thought. They looked nice together.
52 [13.8, 11.4, 1.4]
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Star
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Post by Star on Nov 25, 2021 23:23:45 GMT -6
If Sha grew to his full potential, would all of the gemstones in my hoard look this brilliant? I loved the idea of a gleaming creature of pure light shedding magical radiance upon a bed of sparkling gemstones.
First, I supposed, I would have to curate such a hoard. It was pathetic as it was. A bed for the baby bug, maybe, but not for me. To do that, well, that’s what I was there for. Perhaps if I were less passive to the process, I could double our efforts. I began to scan the walls of the tunnel as we walked by, looking for signs of anything worth noting.
Here and there, the walls were dented or scratched. Signs of people having come through and pulled everything worth having out of the ground. People were notoriously lazy and impatient, however. I made sure to double check each hole and cut in the earth for any signs that they might still contain some treasure.
A flash of pink caught my attention in one of the holes in the wall. I presume that the angle I was looking at gave me a unique perspective which allowed me to see it. I reached my claw into the hole, but it was too shallow. I couldn’t reach the brightly colored object.
53 [13.85, 11.6, 1.6]
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Star
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Post by Star on Nov 25, 2021 23:24:37 GMT -6
It was difficult to see what was going on in the hole in the wall, so I lifted Sha out of his sling and held him up so that his light might reflect off the neon pink gem inside. It glittered in the light, almost unnaturally so. This was not a natural stone. I had seen others like it before. Now all I had to do was grab it.
Knocking out the surrounding wall would work, but it would be very work intensive. I considered if there were any other options. “Sapphire!” I called out. It came over in response to my call, looking up at me expectantly.
“Good, now, could you grab this for me, please?” I asked. I dropped Sha back into the cloth sling and lifted Sapphire up with one of my claws. I held it up to the hole so that it could reach inside with its tiny claws.
It took Sapphire a moment to understand what I wanted from it, but it did eventually reach into the hole and pull out the oval gem. It was one of those unusual magical crystals. I understood that the more round they were, the more valuable they were. Something to do with how the people did magic around here. I beamed, pleased with my find, and stuffed the crystal into my bag.
54 [13.9, 11.8, 1.8]
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Star
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Post by Star on Nov 25, 2021 23:25:10 GMT -6
“Well, that’s a good start,” I said, letting Sapphire back down to the ground.
“Oh, yes, good job Sapphire. You’ve done well.” I gently patted it on the head to let it know I was pleased with its efforts. I wasn’t sure if it liked to be pat, actually. It was merely instinct from dealing with other creatures that did like it. Could a creature made of gems even feel claws tapping against it? I wasn’t sure, but I wasn’t about to experiment on it, either. That would be cruel.
Before long, Sapphire was already wandering off again. Apparently, it didn’t think there was anything else worth seeing where we were. I noticed that Sha was upside down, so I flipped him back upright before heading further down the tunnel.
This particular tunnel was long and relatively straight. It looked like it had been worked by hand into the condition it was now in. I wondered why Sapphire chose this particular tunnel, given that information. It seemed unlikely that there would be much left, barring the few overlooked pieces here and there. Though, the fact that it had been dug out might also mean that there was something worth digging in the first place. Could we find the treasures the people in the past so desperately sought?
55 [13.95, 12, 2]
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Post by Kadin on Nov 26, 2021 9:10:58 GMT -6
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 9, 2022 23:06:13 GMT -6
I wondered what we might find if we continued on. Even though we had not found anything noteworthy so far, I felt confident would could find something worthwhile. I hoped that there would be plenty more gemstones up for grabs. The hoard was looking a little thin after a few recent purchases and it could do with a little topping up.
Sapphire was eager to get going as always. It had already learned to ignore most other things around it in order to pursue the ultimate goal: more gemstones. I always admired that about Sapphire, though I struggled to understand why it did then things it did. Without the ability to speak, I really could not know what Sapphire was thinking. It was such an odd creature that I would never stop being fascinated by. It’s as if a gemstone willed itself to life. It picked a beautiful form, as well, resembling a dragon of old. As much as I preferred my dragons slender and wingless, I couldn’t complain too much.
Sha had used his tentacle-like arms to flip itself over so it could watch what we were doing. I had never thought of him as a creature capable of much curiosity, but I was willing to give the idea a second thought.
56 [14, 12.2, 2.2] 1kS2f_ZT
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Yang
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Post by Yang on Apr 10, 2022 12:47:15 GMT -6
Something can be spotted tucked away...
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 11, 2022 1:27:30 GMT -6
The long and empty tunnel was a boring sight, and I was itching to leave it behind. Sapphire floated into the air with its tiny wings to get a better look, then headed further inside. This must mean that he thought it was a worthwhile place to explore. As Sapphire's instincts were rarely wrong, I followed him without complaint. It felt strange to let another creature lead, especially one so small, but I had to admit it was much easier to follow Sapphire than it was to formulate a plan of my own.
It was still early in our journey and I was optimistic about our chances. We had already grabbed a few gems here or there, and there were sure to be more where that came from. By the look of the marks in the stone, someone had been here to dig before, but they might not have found everything. At least, I could hope that this was the case, and that Sapphire wasn't chasing an instinct that was wrong due to the meddling of people. Could it tell the difference between a gem rich site and one that had already been stripped clean? Well I supposed we were about to find out.
57 [14.05, 12.4, 2.4] MAHFz_Pu
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 30, 2022 0:32:23 GMT -6
As we wandered down the seemingly never ending halls of the abandoned mineshaft of old, I noticed a glimmer of light above me now and then. I looked down into the pouch where Sha was kept to see that it was coming from him. As I moved and he gently swayed at my side, his light illuminated the ceiling in an odd little pattern. It reminded me of the way light flickered through the leaves of trees, but in reverse. Instead of the sun shining down to the earth, Sha was like his own little sun shining in the dark depths of the mines.
Could a creature of pure light like Sha really be that powerful? I could easily see a golem made of fire, lava, or even lightning, like those I had heard of, being immensely strong and unwavering in loyalty to their masters, but light... light was something else entirely. Could it be like my own ability to summon moonlight? As proud as I was of the power, it wasn't the sort of thing that was particularly lethal. Regardless, I would continue to raise Sha. Even if he ended up not being the best protector, he was rather beautiful, and I was growing attached to him as we traveled together.
58 [14.1, 12.6, 2.6] u5mdAU42
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 30, 2022 0:42:34 GMT -6
I had raised many of the golems so far, but only to this... useless wiggly stage that Sha was at currently. I really wanted to know what they would be like once they finally grew. I had read tales of swoopers, the ultimate versions of the golems, but none of the accounts contained a comprehensive physical description of the creature. They could fly, and had vents that freely emitted their respective elements, but everything else was a mystery to me. For such a fascinating creature, there was little information to be had.
This was why my own research was so important. I had to curate my own list of carefully edited notes so that I might become the city's leading authority on golems. From all around, people would come to see my carefully curated army of magical swoopers! Such fame could be a heavy burden, but I knew I was doing the right thing by these majestic creatures by sharing them with the world. I could even create a detailed account of my experiences, and publish the volumes for all to see. Apprentice mages would surely prize the collection as they raised their own mythical creatures following my instruction. Not to mention the high amount of coins I could charge for such rare and valuable knowledge.
59 [14.15, 12.8, 2.8] xfyNYOqq
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