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Post by Renathan on Dec 23, 2022 12:39:34 GMT -6
Usually, Renathan had something in mind whenever he went down into the mines. For a long while, he was helping others find elusive crystals down in the mines for cash, but that ill-fated venture was long over now. He didn't really have time to do it anymore, and even worse he couldn't help but feel guilty about how... Strange some of those that had made nodes using the crystals he had found had turned out afterwards. He tended to do well despite his healthy dose of fear when it came to making nodes, but others didn't always fare so well. Someday, he wondered if he might not as well. He put those days behind him, and now he felt... Aimless. Plenty individuals would probably feel more free to do the things that they loved without having a task to complete, but he always felt much better when he had a goal in mind. He thought about this as he kept a careful eye on Sarabi, who wasn't stopping quite as much anymore as she strolled down the corridor.
[7]
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Post by Renathan on Dec 23, 2022 12:53:10 GMT -6
This particular mineshaft was easily one of the wider ones that Renathan had seen during his explorations, and it wasn't difficult to see why Sarabi might not be as interested in the particular area that they were in. On both of Renathan's sides the wall was gouged deeply all the way down it. It was apparently quite popular in the past, and finding a vein of anything in the mess was probably not going to happen. The mine shaft was most likely all cleared out from goodness knows how many different people over the years. Sarabi had checked a couple of places in the wall and stopped to turn over a smallish boulder every now and again to sniff around it, but so far she hadn't found anything she seemed to think was worthwhile. They kept on going down the shaft, which had a gradual decline down into the earth that caused a slight slope, until finally it began to level out into a small ante-chamber-like room.
[8]
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Post by Renathan on Dec 23, 2022 12:55:39 GMT -6
Sarabi stopped a few feet away from the opening into the antechamber that they had just come from and stood out of the way enough for Renathan to bring the minecart through with ease as she surveyed the area. Renathan stopped, still holding the handle of the cart in his hand, and waited for her to decide whether or not they were going to keep going, turn back, or stay in the area. He watches as she turns her head this way and that, and finally she turns about to the wall and began to walk along it, her nose practically pressed to the cold walls. This area looked quite mined-out to him just as well as the walls of the corridor had been before, but Sarabi seemed to be ore interested in the walls of the mine in this area than anywhere they had roamed thusfar. Perhaps she would find some paltry vein or another for him to help her with?
[9]
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Post by Renathan on Dec 23, 2022 13:00:43 GMT -6
From what Renathan had been able to gather in the past, the mines didn't seem to have too many large veins of anything in it so much as it tended to have streaks of useful minerals here and there. Perhaps that was why it didn't seem to have been commercialized in the typical Pethian way (Not that there was anything quite 'commercial' here as there was in the land where he was born- but it was still something that he struggled to shake off comparing). It was quite easy to earn spending money by finding and mining a few different minerals, but it would be quite hard to get anything in specificity at a good quantity systematically. Still, he was quite pleased whenever he noticed Sarabi stop and begin digging at something particular in the wall- that meant that she had found something that might be worth trying to mine to get to! So he reached into the minecart and went to retrieve his pickaxe to try to help her.
[10]
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Post by Jack on Dec 26, 2022 17:58:36 GMT -6
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Post by Renathan on Jan 25, 2023 20:53:08 GMT -6
The pickaxe admittedly felt all wrong in his hands. Perhaps it had been too long since he had done any mining? He looked to remedy that now. He moved over to one side of where his stalwart mining companion was digging at the wall with her thick claws. Those claws were perfect for the task, and undoubtedly they would be doing much better than Renathan's own pickaxe (though of course he wouldn't be entirely useless). "Excuse me Sarabi." He says, letting her know that he was going to begin work too. She shifted slightly out of the way just based on the timbre of his voice, and continued clawing at the wall of the mine. He squared up his shoulders and hips and then hefted the pickaxe once in his hand before readying himself to swing. He'd half expected something to happen in the moment's breath before he swung, but of course nothing did.
[11]
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Post by Renathan on Jan 25, 2023 20:59:49 GMT -6
Renathan swung his arm and felt the jar in his muscles that the strike of pointed metal against the blunt rock wall. He had struck at an angle in an attempt to loosen some of the material from the wall in a little sheet, and he'd performed it properly. The rock flacked off in a little slip and fell to the ground in little pieces (it was quite soft all things considered) but Renathan was not used to the movement anymore. His arm jolted from the force that traveled along his bone, and he shivered a bit as he moved the handle in his hand slightly. He murmured- 'Like riding an equillion' beneath his breath, and then continued after giving himself a moment to get used to the way that it made him jolt.
Where as Renathan was having a bit of trouble working, the gargoyle was doing much better. She was built for this!
[12]
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Post by Renathan on Jan 25, 2023 21:21:08 GMT -6
Though the gargoyle was (quite possibly, with the existence of the labs) built for this, Renathan was most obviously not. Though he had gotten used to doing this before and he had been trained on such things, it had been such a long time that each strike that he took at the wall gave him a thoroughly unpleasant jolt. It shocked through him even worse and worse until he finally dropped his arm in a bit of defeat. He shifted the heft of the pickaxe into his other palm, and then shook his other hand. He glanced on over to the gargoyle, who he realized was looking at him with quite the expression on her face (if he could even say that, what with gargoyle expressions being so different than that of any other group of beings he knew of). "What is it?" He asked at first, and then he watched as she turned back to the wall and scraped a bit more.
[13]
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Post by Renathan on Jan 25, 2023 21:25:28 GMT -6
"Oh, I see." Renathan murmured, continuing to shake his arm out to keep his arm from feeling so jarred. "You're judging me for not being very good at this anymore, huh?" His voice carries down the mineshaft, but he isn't interested in exploring further. In the past, perhaps he would have been, but this go around he didn't want to get into any possible trouble along the way. The mines weren't exactly safe even on the best of days. He does turn around though, and cast his gaze towards where he heard his own echo from- so far away. The passage was dark- so much so that he couldn't have saw down it if he had tried. He felt all of the hairs raise up on his shoulders at that- it almost felt like he was being watched. He leaned the pickaxe up against the wall and quietly continued to peer into that darkness beyond.
[14]
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Post by Renathan on Jan 25, 2023 21:32:43 GMT -6
The russet mammalian had learned a long time ago to trust his own instincts. However, he did notice that he often felt like something was watching him even when it wasn't. He glanced sidelong at the gargoyle, who was still merrily scraping at the wall with her claws. Surely she would notice if something was watching them? After all, she had before. Renathan thought about calling her to come with him, however, she seemed to be making real progress and he hadn't done much of anything of note. Instead, he began walking in the direction of the echo. He grabs the flashlight from his belt and holds it up, clicking on the light. The darkness was still so very thick that he couldn't really see too far beyond his toes. Perhaps it was about five feet ahead that the light was able to pierce through, but not much beyond that at all.
[15]
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Post by Renathan on Jan 25, 2023 21:53:34 GMT -6
Behind him, Renathan knew that the gargoyle was still scraping at the wall. He could still hear the sound of her claws. Undoubtedly she'd be fine even if she was in the pitch black since she was adapted to the mines (this was where he had gotten her from, after all- not this exact area but it still stood) but she was there in the warm light of the pole he had affixed to the mining cart that he liked to use. He was going further away from that light- where he would be surrounded by a blanket of inky darkness in no time at all with strides as long as his legs allowed him. He didn't have to go too far before he caught what looked to be a light in the darkness beyond, showing just lightly from beyond the darkness. He squinted. It appeared to bob and weave, moving about in time with his own movements.
[16]
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Post by Renathan on Jan 25, 2023 21:59:52 GMT -6
Renathan stopped short, and the light beyond the darkness also stopped moving. It was stark in the dark, and the fact that it had stopped moving at the exact same time that he had stopped moving. He started to move again, and the light stayed still for just a moment and began bobbing with his movement again. All of the hair raised up on his shoulders and nape, but he couldn't help but be more curious than he was frightened. As he continued to move forward, the other light began to get much larger as well. The pattern seemed very much familiar to him, as if he had seen it before somewhere. A ring of light filled like the suffused light around the moon, and then another ring of light around that at quite a bit larger circumference that was quite bright. After a moment or two, he realized what it was- and the gargoyle's wall scraping noises stopped abruptly.
[17]
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Post by Renathan on Jan 26, 2023 0:53:00 GMT -6
Renathan was far more worried about the lack of scraping than the light at this point, that was, until he heard Sarabi begin to crunch on something behind him. Ah, so she had simply found something to eat! He chuckled a bit, and switched off his flashlight before switching it back on. In time with his flickering, the other light responded in kind. That settled it, something ahead of him was simply reflecting his own light back at him! He couldn't help but chuckle at that too- his laughter carrying down the little tunnel and back to him in an echo. It was strange and creepy, despite him now knowing what was going on with it, but he had most likely been anxious about his own reflection earlier. He steps forward until he gets to the far wall; and just as he had thought the wall was reflective- almost like it was covered in glass.
[18]
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Post by Renathan on Jan 26, 2023 0:57:44 GMT -6
The russet mammalian had never seen anything like this before- but he wasn't sure if it was anything of interest all the same. He places a palm on it cautiously, only a small amount worried that it could be trapped, fragile and ready to fall, or worse- magical. He doubted the final of the concerns, since he couldn't feel anything of the sort- but one could never be too careful in this area. The Labs City was more and more odd any time Renathan did any further explorations. The surface was both cold and strangely flat; it reflected the light of his flashlight in only a semi-scattered fashion, and was otherwise surprisingly matte in color. It did not appear to be metallic; though of course reflective surfaces were much more common in metals than in stones. It didn't appear to be anything that Renathan could destroy and use, that was for sure. He turned around to return to Sarabi- who was still crunching rocks from the sound of it.
[19]
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Post by Renathan on Jan 26, 2023 1:03:10 GMT -6
Renathan turned around, and as soon as he did and set his eyes on the soft light of the cavern that he had originally came from, he felt that strange needle-prickling feeling on the back of his neck again. He rubbed his nape just beneath his braids and squinted before flashing back around. Once again, though more shadowed this time, he was 'treated' to the sight of his reflection in the reflective cave wall. Of course, it was just his own reflection that was bothering him... But it felt like someone was watching him- and when he was turned away from the reflective wall- well, he wasn't the one looking at himself, now was he? He quickly moved towards the cavern lit by the light of his own mining cart's lantern, back to the relative safety of having two pairs of eyes to watch after him (both his and Sarabi's) and away from the creepy reflective wall.
[20] - [Counting Level]
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