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Post by Emery on Mar 18, 2024 14:28:03 GMT -6
His tail smacked into the gem wyrm with a loud crash, and it was half thrown, half pushed across the floor with the force of his blow. Emery saw a splash as it was pushed into the water. It shrieked loudly, but couldn't pull itself free in time as the water rapidly overcame it, yanking it downwards and out of sight. Emery and Moxie both stood there for a moment, breathlessly looking at the spot where it had fallen in. When it became clear that it wasn't pulling itself back out however, Moxie slowly backed away and Emery crept forward. She couldn't remember if gem wyrms needed to breathe- perhaps under normal circumstances she would, but the information just wasn't coming in right now. Perhaps because her heart felt like it was about to explode. There was a chance it was still alive down there then, but dragged along helplessly.
Emery 16 Moxie 39.1/39.1 26
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Post by Emery on Mar 18, 2024 14:29:55 GMT -6
That meant there was a chance that it would pop back up when she and Moxie found a more shallow bend in the stream later... or perhaps it would get swept down a different path or even caught in a dead end, held there indefinitely by the weight and force of the water. The thought of it relaxed Emery immensely- they were safe for now. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked down- only to find a souvenir. "Well would you look at that..." She said, picking up what appeared to be a piece of jade from the ground. Moxie must have cracked it right off of the beast when he hit it with his tail. Well, it belonged to her now. Even if it was just a cheap cut of jade, it was still worth it for the story behind it. Plus, she would never turn down a gemstone.
Emery 17 Moxie 39.2/39.2 27
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Post by Emery on Mar 18, 2024 14:38:07 GMT -6
She was happy to toss it in the mine cart- except she had to stand the mine cart up again after that powerful blow from Moxie had pulled it right over. She was glad she put a lid on the darn thing, or else her current findings would have all spilled out. Not that she had many to start with, but she wasn't going to let them get away that easily. Once the piece of jade was secured, she checked Moxie for damage. While he was well trained for battle by this point, this wasn't a normal situation and there was always a chance of injury no matter how well prepared you were. And it wasn't like there were medics waiting in the wings down here either like there would be in the arena. She gingerly ran her hands down his tail, watching for any wincing or other signs of pain.
Emery 18 Moxie 39.3/39.3 28
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Post by Emery on Mar 18, 2024 14:40:43 GMT -6
Moxie didn't seem to have a clue as to what she was doing though, and she didn't see any injuries, so she supposed she could let him off the hook. She patted him on the head- a bit roughly, but he didn't seem to mind. "Good job. Keep doing that." She said, her voice a creaky monotone. It certainly seemed to lift Moxie's spirits though, as he was quick to start trotting off down the tunnel with a spring in his step and while holding his leaves out extra wide. She could let him be a bit smug- it wasn't like he hadn't earned it. The rest of their journey went quite smooth as well. Emery kept a close eye out for any other monsters that could be creeping around in the depths, but nothing else moved. Perhaps anything that was in the area had been scared off by the scuffle.
Emery 19 Moxie 39.4/39.3 29
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Post by Emery on Mar 18, 2024 14:42:59 GMT -6
That was just fine by her- though it would be nice if she could find some more creatures made of crystal down here. Perhaps already dead- that would leave her with a real windfall. But no, there were no more glimmers in the depths for now. She did however, note the slope that she and Moxie were walking down was leveling off. Perhaps the stream would level off as well then, finally leaving a plane that useable gems would wash up on. She couldn't wait- this whole journey was doing quite the number on her legs. Moxie wasn't flagging at all, but she wasn't about to try and hop up on his back- that was a recipe for disaster. If they didn't find something soon then well, perhaps she would take a break to sit and rest for a bit anyway. She checked her watch briefly. They were getting close to lunch time regardless.
Emery 20 Moxie 40.0/40.0 30
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Post by Emery on Mar 18, 2024 14:56:35 GMT -6
She didn't have to wonder for long, however. As the floor finally levelled off, the cave on her left started rounding out noticeably, the ceiling getting even higher. The stream in front of her widened, and when she looked down into the water, she could finally see a bottom to it. One that was noticeably free of savage gem wyrms, thank goodness. There were even little round stones towards the bottom, though they were still about six feet down and she couldn't see any that looked valuable. Still, they weren't MOVING either, which meant the stream was slowing down here, depositing everything it had knocked off further upstream and leaving them somewhere where someone could theoretically collect them. Emery started to get excited, picking up the pace as she followed the stream. There had to be a beach here somewhere- there just had to be. And she was the first person here, too!
Emery 1 Moxie 40.1/40.1 31
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Post by Emery on Mar 19, 2024 8:29:04 GMT -6
Sure enough, the stream got wider and wider until- at least on her side- it was only a few inches deep, with the rest of the stream curving away to the right, rushing into the darkness. The part she was standing next to spread out over a wide "flood plain", made mostly of loose stones that the stream had deposited here over time. It was exactly what she had been looking for. "Oh, perfect." She said breathlessly, and unhooked Moxie from the mine cart. He wouldn't need to drag it along for now- she needed it to stay put so she could load up anything she found into it. In the meantime, her occasus kito was free to wander the premises, checking everything out, and perhaps grabbing a sip of water. She knew he wouldn't go far- he needed light to see as much as she did, so he wasn't going to leave the perimeter of her flashlight's beam.
Emery 2 Moxie 40.2/40.2 32
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Post by Emery on Mar 19, 2024 8:55:44 GMT -6
Emery was glad to have him wandering around, though- if he wasn't paying attention to her, that meant he was paying attention to his environment. And he had much better senses than she did- he'd likely notice any potential predators far more quickly than she would now that they knew they were around. He'd react faster too now that he knew he could beat them as well. With Moxie patrolling around, Emery knew that she had little to fear while she looked for gems. With little else to do, Emery started stepping through the water, scanning for any familiar glimmers amongst the normal pebbles. Her boots were waterproof, luckily. So long as she didn't step into a patch of water higher than a few inches tall, she would be perfectly fine wading around in the flood plain. She turned her headlamp down a few notches so she could see better into the water instead of the light simply reflecting off of it.
Emery 3 Moxie 40.3/40.3 33
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Post by Emery on Mar 19, 2024 9:43:17 GMT -6
She heard Moxie shuffle back a few steps to get into the light again when she turned her lamp down, but otherwise he didn't stop patrolling. Emery's back brace made the process of searching for gems surprisingly nonpainful, and after a few minutes she had already managed to snatch some shiny looking stones out of the water. One was a deep purple gemstone, smooth and round from the water's tumbling. She quickly identified it as an amethyst. They were a type of quartz, if she recalled correctly. They were pretty hard stones, not easily worn down, so this one must have been sitting there for quite some time. That was another sign that this place had been untouched by people. If she could find something like an amethyst in this condition, it must have been sitting untouched for at least a decade. It was her lucky day, now wasn't it?
Emery 4 Moxie 40.4/40.4 34
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Post by Emery on Mar 19, 2024 9:50:50 GMT -6
The next one she found was small and red. Under normal circumstances she probably would never have noticed it. Its bright, fiery color stood out from the drab river stones surrounding it however, so even at only a centimeter or two wide (Emery would never dare use imperial measurements) it was incredibly easy to spot. It took Emery a moment to grab it though- her fingers weren't dexterous enough to pick it out from the other rocks and it simply slid further and further into the muck, nestling itself between the other stones. She sighed and plunged her whole hand in, grabbing a whole fistful of rocks to try and get it. When she pulled her hand out however she still saw the little red stone sitting on the bottom, mocking her. Emery's vocalizer let out a hiss of static as she stuck her other hand in too, finally grabbing it along with a few other rocks.
Emery 5 Moxie 41.0/41.0 35
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Post by Emery on Mar 19, 2024 10:40:04 GMT -6
That was way too much effort for such a small thing, but at least she had plenty of time to work. She brought the rocks over to the dry shore, dropping them so she could take a look properly. Moxie immediately trotted over, sniffing at them curiously. "No. Not food." She said, shoving his head away before he could catch himself a mouthful of river rocks. He chirped with disappointment but returned to his patrol, sniffing out the various trails that animals had left here over time. She rifled through the rocks. Most of them were pretty plain looking, but she tossed a few of them into her mine cart that might have potential- a streak of what might be ore, a color that was a bit too vibrant for a regular stone. She got a couple of neat trinkets like that, but was still looking for the red stone.
Emery 6 Moxie 41.1/41.1 36
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Post by Emery on Mar 19, 2024 12:40:15 GMT -6
Finally she found it, nestled between a few of the river rocks. Emery held it up to the light, watching it sparkle through it. Interesting. She couldn't quite place what it was- maybe a carnelian? She didn't have the right tiles to do a hardness testing on it right now. Either way, even though it was small it was still big enough to be worth something- maybe smoothed down to size for a ring or placed as the centerpiece of a necklace. Emery couldn't be sure. Such things weren't really her style. They either didn't fit, didn't look right on her, or would get caught on something else she was wearing. Besides, it just seemed a waste of money to her- all that cash for a simple tiny trinket that didn't actually hold any function. She was grateful that they existed of course- it made her a lot of money mining up gems for it- but she didn't really see the point.
Emery 7 Moxie 41.2/41.2 37
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Post by Emery on Mar 19, 2024 13:01:33 GMT -6
It wasn't up to her though- jewelry had been a hting for thousands of years and likely would be long after she was gone. It was up to her to make the most of it for her own purposes. "What do you think, Moxie? Good enough to sell?" She asked rhetorically, and the kito simply croaked from his position across the cave. He seemed to be peering up at the ceiling now, twitching his head from side to side as he watched the water drip off of the stalagmites, marveling in the shapes of the shines of her headlamp as they reflected off of the droplets. She simply shook her head at his antics- others might find it charming, but it was a reminder to her of how he was truly just an animal. Perhaps an affectionate one, perhaps a useful one, but there was no higher intelligence rattling around that thick skull.
Emery 8 Moxie 41.3/41.3 38
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Post by Emery on Mar 19, 2024 13:03:21 GMT -6
Emery found a few more shards of gemstone including, perhaps most interestingly, a few more chunks of jade. These ones weren't rounded- in fact, far from it. All of the ones she had found had been sitting on the surface of the bed of stones, as if freshly deposited. She had the feeling she knew why. She knew the stream was fast and powerful, but didn't realize it was so strong that it could bash pieces off of the jade wyrm she had had Moxie slap into it. Then again, jade was a very soft material. That was why it was frequently used in statuettes- it was very easy to carve into. So if the beast was thrown around underwater, it would make sense that the pieces of it ended up here. That did leave the question of where the rest of the creature was now though. Emery looked around briefly.
Emery 9 Moxie 41.4/41.4 39
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Post by Emery on Mar 19, 2024 13:05:42 GMT -6
There was certainly no sign of it around here. She would have noticed by now- or it would have tried attacking again. That meant that it must have been washed further downstream. Hm, downstream. She hadn't considered her options after this yet. She could easily go back up to the surface once more- no one could deny that she had found plenty of gemstones to make her trip worthwhile. And yet, she still felt... something. She couldn't quite place it. Saying that something was calling for her made her feel like a lunatic, so she wasn't going to say that. It was more like she was forgetting about something important, and felt the need to wander around until she remembered. She placed a hand on her chin... what was it? Regardless, Emery stood up and stretched. She had found just about everything she could in this flood plain. It was time to move on.
Emery 10 Moxie 42.0/42.0 40
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