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Post by Jack on Feb 23, 2020 14:14:05 GMT -6
Ah, he just wanted to find what he could, she supposed, with that answer. Jack smiled and nodded, ready to get going. "Shall we then? she asked, motioning deeper in the mines, "I'm looking for order crystals, personally, I'm hoping to make a node but I still don't have enough of them right now. If you find any while we're together, please let me know and I'll certainly buy it from you if you wish!"
Pleased with their exchange, she grabbed the cart with one hand and put her other hand on Red's head again, feeling the soft, smooth fur under her fingertips. She gave him a treat as well as she walked, keeping an eye on Xentus as well so he would hopefully not get lost either. That would be the worst, she didn't know if he had ever even been mining. A good next question, she supposed, though he had all the tools for it.
[18 Jack: 19/20 Red: 2 4/5; 4 4/5]
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Post by Xentus on Feb 23, 2020 14:43:33 GMT -6
Chatty, pleasant, trusting. Xentus gathered a quick mental profile of Jack, finding his first impressions of the lady to be nothing but likable. He nodded at hearing what she sought after. Order crystals for a.. Node? Now, he wasn't very well versed in the various kinds of magic crystal, much less their uses. Once before, he happened upon a prismatic one, though he saw it nothing more than a pretty gem at the time, and gave it away. Missed chance, maybe. But it did give him some idea of what to be on the lookout for, as perhaps these order crystals looked similar? He could only figure as much, though he wasn't going to be shy about asking Jack to verify any finds. She definitely knew what she was looking for if she was going to be so upfront about buying one off him on the spot. Suited him just fine.
With a nod, the leopard trailed after her, beckoning for Gid to follow. The crystalline creature was carrying a rock in its mouth, freshly dug out of the earth. It seemed happy with itself, thought it was frankly difficult to tell. Aside from keeping the light of his flashlight in view to assure his presence, Xentus decided to make some conversation with his newfound mining partner.
"Have you had any luck in your excursion finding these crystals?", he asked curiously, "They sound like rare find."
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Post by Jack on Feb 23, 2020 18:00:33 GMT -6
"Unfortunately not really, I've only found one of them and I need nine of them to make a greater order node. Or a varying number of Order and Prismatic crystals that add up to nine," Jack said with a frown, checking on the pup. He had fallen asleep somehow in the bag, and she paused to put him inside of the cart so he could sleep in peace, and then continued on with a smile on her face finally. Xentus was nice to ask, though she supposed it was just conversation. "Oh! It looks like Gid has already found something. Do you want to keep that one? If I can get a good look at it I bet I could tell you what it is," she said happily, stopping once more and looking at the familiar. That was great, they'd already found something and all would be fine as long as they were working together!
[20 Jack: 20/20 +1 Red: 2 5/5; 4 5/5 + <-goes to sleep]
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Post by Xentus on Feb 25, 2020 1:46:29 GMT -6
This crystal business sounded tedious.. He nodded along as Jack explained, a thoughtful 'hmm', emanating from his throat. The lady only had one of nine needed crystals.. Sounded like she would be in the mines for a while to get what she needed. Though, considering how knowledged she seemed about these crystals and nodes, he gathered she was fairly experienced with it all already. She looked so unassuming too. Such an interesting person to have stumbled upon.
Her keen perception showed itself further as she pointed out the rock in the dragon's mouth. Xentus was surprised to see that the gem creature already found something of notice, and fetched snack-grade gem from his pack to exchange it with before the thing ate it. "If you would, please." The leopard took up on the kind lady's offer of identifying the stone with a smile. He kneeled down and wrestled the valuable away from the dragon, giving it the snack-gem, then offered the shiny rock to Jack.
"Xentus is not too experienced with these things", he explained sheepishly, "So, what do you think?"
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Post by Renathan on Feb 25, 2020 10:58:53 GMT -6
A single crabfire stone glittered in the wall nearby. It should be easy to dislodge!
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Post by Jack on Feb 25, 2020 16:57:36 GMT -6
Jack smiled at him and took the stone for a moment, rolling it over in her hand. Red had fallen asleep in the cart, which was perfect, she could focus all of her attention on Xentus and the stones that were around them. She looked the stone over for a moment before beaming and handing it back over, "It looks like hematite to me! Some would mistake it for silver ore, but this has a distinct shape and not a jagged lump, so that's part of the giveaway."
Looking around, the woman shrugged and pulled her pickax and shovel out of the cart, careful not to disturb the pup, "Shall we simply mine here and go with what we find? You can certainly have the hematite, it's a lovely stone." As she leaned on the shovel a little to look around, she hoped that she was feeling a small thrum somewhere around the area.
[22 Jack: 1/20]
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Post by Xentus on Feb 25, 2020 17:55:45 GMT -6
So, this was hematite? Not something he'd found before, if his memory held up.. He would've definitely mistaken it for something like actual silver with the way it shimmered in the light. The leopard thanked her and stashed away the returned stone to his pack, pondering this new information a bit. He had some questions still, like if it was rare or valuable, though he figured he ought to research that much on his own later on. Jack may be helpful but she wasn't here to appraise every last rock he happened upon.
"Very well", he nodded at the notion of mining here and went to find himself a nice place along the rock wall to begin digging at. Meanwhile, Gid had already gotten a head start in the matter. The little snack he had was certainly not enough to satisfy his appetite for gems. It paused for only a moment to peek up at its master as the mammalian approached, then resumed its clawing and scratching. If any of his previous mining trips showed anything, it was that the gem dragon usually favored digging around areas of interest.
"Might there be any tips you have when going about this mining thing?", Xentus asked over his shoulder curiously, "You seem quite experienced; this one is a novice."
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Post by Jack on Feb 26, 2020 20:17:15 GMT -6
Stretching out her shoulders, she smiled, nodded, then started to dig in the dirt of the mines. She was pleased that she had found someone new to do things with, she didn't know if she could consider him a friend yet, but a mining buddy, well she could consider him that much, she supposed. As she watched the mammalian and his mining familiar, she felt a familiar pang of regret for not bringing Goran with her, but that was fine, she hadn't known she was going to meet someone else after all.
Oh a question! Jack paused and leaned on her shovel a little as she listened, then nodded slowly, "I've been doing it awhile, actually. Pretty much since I've been here in the Labs. I'd suggest looking for pockets of shine, see if you can feel a difference in the rock around you, or the dirt, see if there's a different pattern to the walls, most of the times if it looks different, there's a reason for it. Also, don't be surprised if you come across more like Gid there."
[24 Jack: 2/20]
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Post by Xentus on Feb 27, 2020 17:11:17 GMT -6
Xentus set his thoughts on aiding the dragon in whatever spot his was scratching at. It was a fickle creature, scratching at one spot, scooting over to another to scratch some more, returning to its previous place.. Perhaps it was trying to find the best earth to search through? Sometimes it pecked at an errant rock and snapped it up into its jaws, only to spit it out as a coarse powder. It was interesting to watch how it worked about the soil. Sometimes he wondered how the animate hunk of gem even lived.
The leopard was careful to consider the advice from Jack as he worked. Feel a difference in the rock and dirt.. Kind of abstract, but perhaps that kind of feeling came with experience. He absorbed the information, feeling a bit more confident. "Ah. Xentus shall take this advice to heart", he cheerily said with a nod, "Not too often has he delved into these caves. It was actually in one of his first trips did he happen upon Gid. Quite the surprise to find a living gem! But the drake has been a rather good companion when digging about the dirt."
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Post by Renathan on Feb 27, 2020 17:23:17 GMT -6
A very nice find, including a pink topaz at the end of a vein of gold, is just waiting to be located within the wall!
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Post by Jack on Feb 29, 2020 19:12:00 GMT -6
"They are good at helping out with finding stones," Jack agreed with a smile and a nod, "I have several at home, and I have a gem wyrm I'm trying to decide what to do with. Most people don't want to buy them anymore, sadly." She dug into the dirt some more and smiled a little as she worked with it, she loved working with the dirt and everything, so she hoped that everything would be alright. Hopefully they would find some more stones soon!
A glint of yellow showed through some of the dirt and she reached down to leverage it up. "Look! This one's a citrine," Jack said, holding it out to show Xentus, a look of excitement on her face as she showed it. "It's a nice yellow color, goes well with darker metals if you're looking to make jewelry, but... the Workshop's not open right now, and I can honestly say I'm not sure if it ever will," the woman ended sadly as she held out the citrine still.
[26 Jack: 3/20]
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Post by Xentus on Feb 29, 2020 21:41:11 GMT -6
The feline followed his familiar's lead, switching his pick-axe for a shovel as the creature dug into a particular spot in the cavern wall. It was a more appropriate tool for the current job, plus he didn't want to drown out whatever Jack had to say. His ears were pointed back towards his mining partner, eyes forward on the wall for whatever might glimmer there. Shame to hear that these living gems weren't popular among people anymore. They were interesting creatures, though perhaps the upkeep of something that dined on gems wasn't quite worth the hassle.
Xentus turned to see when there was an excited tone about.. Citrine? Was that a fruit? His gaze looked curiously over the gem, which was decidedly not fruit. "Citrine, you say? Beautiful gem this one is", he remarked, taking in the colors and shape and etching it into his memory. A slight frown appeared on his muzzle in regard to the bit about the closed workshop. It wasn't a place he ever visited, but he had seen some wonderfully crafted jewelry on the market from those who spent their time there. "Why is that?"
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Post by Jack on Feb 29, 2020 22:05:39 GMT -6
Chuckling a little, she handed it over to him, "Keep it to study if you'd like, I have a few back home already." She liked sharing with people, and considering she was well off at the moment, it didn't bother her much. Truth be told she was thinking of selling her hoard of gems, it didn't look like the Workshop was going to open up again, and what did it matter if it did? She could always come back and start mining on her own again, right? Jack gave Xentus a sad smile for a moment before digging in the hole again, trying to form her answer.
"I don't think it's going to open back up because there's nothing going on there, no rumors, nothing. It just shut down one day and it's not shown anything in a long while," she told him with a little shrug, "I'm thinking about selling my gems because of it, truthfully."
[28 Jack: 4/20]
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Post by Xentus on Feb 29, 2020 23:12:54 GMT -6
It was a little surprising to receive the newly found gem, but Xentus took it with a grin. This lady was generous, on top of her kindness and gem knowledge. He twirled the citrine between his claws, marveling at the yellow hue, then stashed it away into his pack. "Much appreciated."
He followed suit as she turned to resume her work, listening in as she explained the circumstances about the workshop. Just suddenly closed down one day.. "A sad fate for a place so prosperous", he remarked thoughtfully between shovel-fulls of dirt, "The artisan value in a worked piece will certainly be one to miss, but at least gems had still hold monetary value as is." The leopard paused his work after a moment as the gem dragon shoved its head into the hole he just made, a clink of stone on stone sounding as it fished out a blue tinted rock. Xentus made quick to swap out the interesting find with another snack-gem. "Speaking of value", he started, turning to hold the labradorite out to Jack, "Is this something note worthy? It looks almost like opal."
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Post by Jack on Feb 29, 2020 23:21:11 GMT -6
Jack gave him a quick smile and got to digging again, listening to him as he spoke of the value of artists and their art. "You know, it was one of the things I was actually really good at. I do a lot of things, but I can't say I'm good at a lot of them," she spoke wistfully and shook her head. It didn't matter, not now, she might sell them and call it good, she really didn't know, she could always find more. Her hoard was the product of years of work, however, it would be hard to build it back up if she needed to... Shaking her head, she dug into the ground again and shoveled a load of dirt to the side, scraping through it to see if there was anything of note there.
Her concentration was broke for a moment by the man asking if something had value. An opal? The woman looked it over and smiled, "Not an opal, actually, labradorite. You could get 15... 20 credits if you sold it to The Underground. It's really pretty when cut though." Shaking her head to rid herself of the thought, she dug into the ground again after passing it back to him with a small wink.
[30 Jack: 5/20]
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