Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 16, 2019 7:13:03 GMT -6
It was help, in a manner the sphinx hadn't quite anticipated, but also in method that still required a fair amount of oversight.. After all, the design was not unlike putting a lawn mower on a rope lead and letting it run itself along the grassland. Sure the grass gets cut with less work of one's self, but the mower also doesn't distinguish between anything that ends up in its way.
If anything, at least it was likely to help ease the familiar's general nervousness once home.
For now, early in its stages, the sphinx could relax, however, and sit back to begin chipping out the rest of the lava rock. The porous surface made the task a little more finicky than necessary (likely the stone wasn't formed here but rather got trapped in the river's rushes when the mountains still flooded regularly) but it wasn't a complete loss to shave a little off the top just to clear it out easier.
(23) Darky: 23 Garnea: 7 (4/5) / 7 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 16, 2019 7:23:04 GMT -6
Most stone from the mines tended to be a little bit bigger and bulkier than their cut counterparts ended up as, which was fortunate for the miners, for there was little else to do with the stone that were all too small. The sphinx finished cleaning the lava rock and placed it into the felt pouch as well, before returning to observe Garnea's feverish (and nerve-fuelled) work. The familiar had managed quite a sizeable hole in the calcite, chipping and bashing her way forwards towards a prize only she knew or could imagine. And, more importantly, so far it appeared she hadn't broken through anything precious in the process.
So, with no point in sitting around to twiddle her thumbs at the same time, the sphinx joined her a few feet higher up the wall with her own chisel and mallet.
Side-by-figurative-side, the duo worried their way through a few surface layers of the wall. Fortunately it seemed that Garnea, while not all that bright, was still capable enough to divert and change her course once she inevitably hit the layer of granite beneath.
(24) Darky: 24 Garnea: 8 (0/5) / 8 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 16, 2019 7:27:31 GMT -6
And speaking of bright things, the glint from the crystal torch revealed the location of something on the sphinx's part of the wall far before she was able to distinguish it from the rest of it. A brighter yellow against the pale yellow-ish tan of the calcite, but unlike the latter, it was shiny and bright, and when the chisel struck it, its hardness left a ringing in the sphinx's fingers that she had to pause and shake out. Metallic.. Ore, perhaps?
No, not likely.. Sediment as this was more for stones, nothing so heavy as metals, but the sphinx carefully dug around it all the same to pull out a slightly dented piece of pyrite. 'Fool's Gold' some used to say once, but many miners these days knew better. Briefly the sphinx investigated the familiar's progress, ensuring she hadn't destroyed anything they would have liked to keep, before she took the pyrite lump to the bags and set it aside. At least this one was easier to dig out than the lava rock.
(25) Darky: 25 Garnea: 8 (1/5) / 8 (1/5)
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Post by Renathan on Apr 16, 2019 9:27:53 GMT -6
Oh, what a pretty pink crystal! It was near a moss agate, but not super close. What a nice mossy coloration! [21-25]
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 19, 2019 6:36:33 GMT -6
The familiar had managed to dig away roughly a square foot of the wall with her beak, showing little signs of intending to stop anytime soon. In her mind there was a Rock to find and find it she would, even if she had absolutely no idea what rock it even was. This.. powdery non-rock nonsense was just something in her way. Slightly higher and to the left the mammalian did the same work, even if with considerable more care and attention (as well as precision) but the familiar hardly had the sense to notice.
For a time their work passed under the calm, soft noises of calcite being chipped away, gradually echoing into and back from the rest of the cavern. The sphinx pausing only to take a sip of water every now and again, the familiar feeling unburdened by such a base need. There was a meditative quality to that type of work.. at least, for as long as one forgot the fact they were deep underground beneath tons of solid earth that was barely held together at the best of times, that is..
(26) Darky: 26 Garnea: 8 (2/5) / 8 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 19, 2019 6:41:42 GMT -6
And the worst of times? It was better not to think about it. The mammalian had had her share of dramatic encounters in the Mansion, some more drastic (and deeply affecting) than others. The fact this mountain was one cave-in away from a permanent trap every second spent here was a thought she had actively trained herself to ignore. A training that only helped with the assurances of the three strips of cloth on her tail, admittedly, but those made all the difference in the world.
The soft crunches in the cavern lasted some half an hour, wherein Garnea had managed to clear away another square foot, before a different sound suddenly interjected. It was a crunch, but a solid one this time, from the familiar direction. Darky turned immediately to look, initially assuming the familiar might have accidentally bitten into the granite beneath the softer layers, but the light of the crystal torch only showed light stone, nothing reddish or dark.
Well, almost nothing.
(27) Darky: 27 Garnea: 8 (3/5) / 8 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 19, 2019 6:46:12 GMT -6
There was a difference in tone to one of the dug-up wall's edge, a piece of rougher rock jutting out and being desperately gnawed on by the wyrm. It wasn't granite - there was a pale milkiness to it, with darker veins. Perhaps it was the heat, perhaps the damp, but it took the sphinx a full five seconds to realize Garnea had found something else. Quickly, she reached down to gently pull the wyrm away, with a soft, "Easy now, good work, Garnea, but don't go destroying it now." The wyrm wriggled in protest, unhappy to be interrupted in her work. Fortunately, setting her down to the other side of their little hole in the wall was enough to cause her attention span to lock onto to the new area and resume gnawing at it same as the old.
With that settled, the sphinx knelt over the find, brushing aside some chips and pebbles to get a clearer look. A bit of water to get the dust off and brighten the colours and it seemed to be an agate of a sort, most likely moss if one were to judge by the lines running through it.
(28) Darky: 28 Garnea: 8 (4/5) / 8 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 19, 2019 6:51:31 GMT -6
Now agate was a tough sort of rock, unlike the previously uncovered ones, so the familiar's beak had left but scratches on its surface. As far as Darky was able to tell, there were no actual chips visible, making it a decent stock for any jewellery. At least, once it had been uncovered from the wall.
The mallet and chisel chipped some of the sides, careful to steer clear of the stone itself (the familiar might not have had the strength to dent the stone, but a chisel sure did) creating enough weaknesses around it for the sphinx to grip the lump, jiggle it a little and finally pull at it with her whole body. The soft calcite gave way like crumbled bread and the stone popped loose, almost sending the mammalian toppling onto her back.
Garnea paused long enough to register the two-legger's antics, particularly since she came close to her personal space, but continued her gnawing quest soon after.
(29) Darky: 29 Garnea: 9 (0/5) / 9 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 19, 2019 7:05:23 GMT -6
The agate had been something that just got in her way, it wasn't the True Rock and so her attentions didn't stay. That, however, was quickly changed when the sphinx rolled back onto her feet, rubbing her side with one hand, gripping the agate with the other and glanced back to the now newly-made hole.
Something pink-ish glanced back. A bright tone unmarred by the calcite it was encased in, not exactly glowing, but gleaming just as when the torch light hit it fully. It was that gleam which sparked the familiar's change, turning away from the wall and slithering towards it with single-minded intent. That was the one! The True Rock! The closer she got, the stronger its energies were felt. It wasn't anything magical, not to the same extent as other, more specific stones, but there was a certain unique quality to the mind stones.
Before the wyrm could jump at it, the sphinx managed to catch her with her free hand, bringing her closer to herself, "Whoa, hold on there, you don't want to go busting this one to pieces, trust me."
(30) Darky: 30 Garnea: 9 (1/5) / 9 (1/5)
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Post by Jack on Apr 19, 2019 7:10:15 GMT -6
A strange little Gemmorn was sitting on top of a rainbow fluorite. Better see if you can grab them!
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 21, 2019 5:16:01 GMT -6
"Reason", "sense" and "Garnea" rarely made a coherent sentence, none more so when the mammalian tried to restrain the wyrm from out-right attacking the mind stone. The familiar wasn't necessarily a 'stable' one, her spikes of energy and activity being erratic, but once they spiked, there was little stopping the miniature freighter train.
Trying to hold the familiar back was like trying to control a thick coil of rope that refused to be held and always found a way to slither out of your grasp. Had she been a gem drake or a gem dragon things would have been different - for one there would have been more spiky parts to hold onto even if at risk of some minor lacerations. But no such luck there.
"Gah--no, wait, don--Garnea, stop! Don't--hold on.."
The struggle looked destined to continue for a solid minute or two without interruption.
Truth be told it would have probably been easier to simply let the wyrm have the stone.
(31) Darky: 31 Garnea: 9 (2/5) / 9 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 21, 2019 6:29:43 GMT -6
Could have continued to struggle on, would have.. even, if not for something in the darkness interrupting.
At first it was a scrabbling noise lost in the shuffling and noise of the struggle between mammalian and wyrm, a background piece that received no more attention than dripping water. But, as the struggle continued, the scrabbling became more and more distinct, set apart from the other multitudes of noise in the cavern. The sphinx noticed only second, given a breather when the wyrm suddenly stopped her strive at the mind stone and peered into the darkness with an attention span not unlike being locked onto a new target focus.
With an odd look at Garnea, and then following her line of sight into the darkness, the sphinx blinked as the on-looker to the struggle stopped dead-still, beady purple eyes glancing back from beneath a pale lump. It wasn't until the flashlight hit the lump with a streak of light that a faint chorus of colours began to sparkle back from it.
(32) Darky: 32 Garnea: 9 (3/5) / 9 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 21, 2019 6:38:23 GMT -6
The world and caverns as a whole seemed to hold their breath for ten seconds, as the trio sorted out their new-found company and the dynamics there-in. The gemmorn - their scrabbling little on-looker - didn't move. Garnea, deadlocked on the pocket creature was equally frozen in her fascination. And the sphinx, afraid of flinching loose the potential lynch-pin of catastrophe, only flicked her eyes between one and the other, keeping her head still.
It didn't take a future seer to figure out which of the parties would, metaphorically, blink first.
The wyrm suddenly launched forwards, the hint of her movement only but a small contraction of her coiled form in the mammalian's grasp, before she slipped between fingers. To the gemmorn's credit, it didn't stick around to see what the familiar's intentions were - the wyrms were small creatures, but the gemmorns were equivalent to the size of rodents in relation to similar fleshy serpentines comparisons.
And Darky suddenly realized she'd never thought to look this up - did gem familiars ever eat meat?
(33) Darky: 33 Garnea: 9 (4/5) / 9 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 21, 2019 7:03:36 GMT -6
The cavern was filled with sounds of three separate individuals doing three distinct methods of what could be called "a mad dash" - the gemmorn, burdened by the fluorite, hefted it by the jaws, pitter-pattering into the darkness on two tiny feet; the wyrm scrabbled after in her serpentine stride, scraping across rock and puddle with a gaped beak; and finally, the mammalian half on two feet, half scrabbling on four, skid, jumped and ran after, the light of her helmet duct-taped flashlight flickering this way and that.
"Garnea, no! Stop! Don't!" Darky shouted, for all the good it did to an untrained familiar (and even trained, the effect would have been questionable). Of the three she had the longer stride, able to catch up to the two with little difficulty, but that long stride also meant she had to do a fair amount of snatching towards the ground, trying to catch things small enough to easily slip from her grasp.
It wasn't long before it was evident the wyrm wasn't going to give into a trap so easily, again.
(34) Darky: 34 Garnea: 10 (0/5) / 10 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 21, 2019 7:13:51 GMT -6
So Darky, once again, improvised - rather than go for the slippery wyrm, she took a few leaps past Garnea, cutting off the gemmorn and managing to grab onto the small creature long enough to pick up. The pocket pet safely in hand, she held it up, out of the wyrm's reach and waited.
Garnea wasn't about to be disappointed, however. Sure the creature was out of her scope now, but the snatch had led to the rainbow fluorite to drop from its mouth, so the familiar now laid claim to it, coiling around the stone with a soft hiss. The gemmorn, initially spending the first half minute struggling, gradually seemed to calm when it was apparent the sphinx wasn't about to eat it.
"Alright," Darky panted, pocket pet in one hand, a placated wyrm at her feet, and a whole wall still needing work twenty feet away, "Are we all good now?" Silence met her. "You're sure?" She asked again, looking between the creatures, before sighing in steadied breaths, "Okay, good."
(35) Darky: 35 Garnea: 10 (1/5) / 10 (1/5)
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