Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 5, 2020 16:22:13 GMT -6
Her gaze followed the trajectory, once she had had the second and a half to process something being thrown/given to her and quickly scooped it up lest it become buried in the gravel. Holding it up to the light, the mammalian inspected it closely. The red was reminiscent of a ruby, but texture of the stone was off. It was.. softer, more closer to what amber felt like, though much more brilliant in its colour.
Ah, marquise, of course! She smiled, reaching up to scratch the gargoyle on the head, “Good job, Ras.” then placed her hands on the pit edge, hoisting herself up and out. There had been a few marquises in the recent trips and she wasn’t sure if they were simply more common on the surface or some geological event had left a more concentrated deposit in recent times. Here, in this cavern, that even could have happened as recent as the last month or as far back as several centuries. Flowstone was quite diverse in that sense.
(75) Darky: 75 Ras Dashen: 92 (0/5) / 92 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 5, 2020 16:22:42 GMT -6
She plopped it into the mining cart and turned back around to admire their progress. Unfortunately it didn’t seem all too much from this angle, mostly because a lot of the work was in the pit itself, which seemed such a small opening in the flowstone shelf from the cart’s perspective. Sure, the piles of rocks lining the edge of it were by now enough to make it look like a miniature quarry all on its own, but she had only managed to shift through some of the gravel layer below.
Compared to the rocks, the few scatterings of gravel on the edges seemed almost nothing.
Scratching her neck, she considered her options a moment, before making her way back to the gargoyle. Alright, Ras, time to join forces. Two sets of hands can deal with this faster than one. Hopping down to the bottom of the pit, she beckoned the gargoyle to follow.
(76) Darky: 76 Ras Dashen: 92 (1/5) / 92 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 5, 2020 16:23:06 GMT -6
There was a hesitant pause at first as the gargoyle craned his neck down to inspect the floor. It seemed.. suspiciously soft. It wasn’t common, but parts of the cavern could have sandy floors that just fell away beneath you, dragging you down with them. Of course, he didn’t necessarily need to breathe, unlike the mammalian, but neither did he like the idea of being immobile for however many years it took for him to wade his way towards a solid enough surface to climb out.
I don’t think its that bad, the mammalian smiled at him, now it being her turn to glean some louder thoughts off the gargoyle.
Safe..? he asked, deliberating.
As far as I know, she tapped the shovel into the ground a few times to show no sinking would follow. Finally, after a few more seconds of considering, he slipped into the pit, landing on the bottom and acting as if a cat who had just been placed on a boat.
(77) Darky: 77 Ras Dashen: 92 (2/5) / 92 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 5, 2020 16:23:33 GMT -6
There, see? Not so bad, now is it? Darky smirked and turned to begin shifting through the gravel with the shovel. From her perspective, perhaps, but Ras was keeping reservations. One didn’t stay an intact gargoyle in the mountains without having a healthy dose of survival scepticism.
Eventually, however, he began to paw at the ground with his claws, in imitation of the mammalian, and soon enough afterwards he was already vigorously digging and clawing around in the gravel. Much like before, the gargoyle was definitely more effective of the two, so the mammalian eventually had to resort to shovelling the gravel out so they could go deeper. Whatever Ras had ‘processed’ though, she could scoop up and throw to the edge of the pit, gradually forming a nice, stony pyramid there. Gravel itself wasn’t exactly known for producing or having any specific type of good materials, but given this entire cave could have been a river bed at one point, the gravel was the bed lining.
(78) Darky: 78 Ras Dashen: 92 (3/5) / 92 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 5, 2020 16:24:13 GMT -6
This meant that whatever the river carried either got caught in the calcite when it all dried up, or scattered to the bottom, buried by the gravel. This particular method and location type had become one of their specialities in a way - sure, one could chip and cut one’s way through a solid rock wall and eventually come across some stones hidden there, but rivers were nature’s dustbins. What treasure they held didn’t have to wait thousands upon thousands of years to be found and they tended to be more easily searched than solid cliffs.
As if to prove a case in said point, the gargoyle paused at a particular spot and honed in one it, digging his face deeper into the gravel. Darky still wasn’t sure if the gargoyles had some innate sense for special stones, or if they simply had a better sense of their surroundings in general, but a few short digging motions later, he was already holding up something bright and blue at her.
(79) Darky: 79 Ras Dashen: 92 (4/5) / 92 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 5, 2020 16:24:47 GMT -6
She brought it up to the light, though even in the dimness the rough outer layer had an unmistakeable azure gleam to it. This stone she knew quite well, as it was also very popular in older styles of her people jewellery - lapis. Unfortunately a stone not quite as popular these days, mostly because they were more difficult to get for a people who didn’t have a lot in the way of riches.
Keep digging, Ras, I’ll be back in a bit, she told the gargoyle and hopped back out of the pit again. Behind her, the furious digging and shifting through gravel continued in much the same swing. As she walked towards the cart, she rolled the stone around in her hands, checking its sides and patterns. In terms of jewellery, it was a pretty decent piece, and it occurred to her that perhaps making a few rings or necklace to the tribe at home would be a nice gift whenever she returned.
(80) Darky: 80 - (added) Ras Dashen: 93 (0/5) / 93 (0/5)
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Post by Renathan on Feb 5, 2020 20:10:41 GMT -6
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 11, 2020 7:24:56 GMT -6
Sprays of gravel sprouted up from the hollow as Ras continued to struggle with the hole. It had gotten to the point where the soft gravel layer was starting to hollow out beneath the calcite layer, creating a small cave. When the mammalian finished up with the lapis, she returned and helped clear the gravel further away from the mouth of the pit, so it wouldn’t pool up only to slide back down and cover the poor gargoyle again. It was hefty work and they had been at it for the better part of the day now, to the point that the mammalian began to wonder when it might be time to head home. The tunnels were so dark that the only way to know any passage of time was to peeks back into the main tunnel and look to the mouth of the Mines to see if she could still see daylight outside.
In this case she could spot the faint shades of purple and orange, signalling the onset of dusk, but not quite out of daylight just yet. Right, so a few more hours left.
(81) Darky: 81 Ras Dashen: 93 (1/5) / 93 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 11, 2020 7:25:20 GMT -6
For all their tools and methods, the most irreplaceable object had suddenly become a small tin cup the sphinx had taken with her as a drinking vessel, using it to shovel the loose gravel from the pit as Ras forwards it up to her, as if water from a sinking boat. For tomorrow she swore to return with a bucket or a pail of some kind, for as good as the cup was in scooping up the gravel, it’s size left something to be desired in overall efficiency.
Plus, at the gargoyle’s pace, she would need three buckets. At the very least his was managing to dig a larger hollow beneath the calcite layer and it almost got big enough for even her to crouch in it, if she hunched her shoulders some.
Keep going, try to make it a little deeper, she instructed, patting at the floor of this hollow as she resumed shovelling the gravel with the cup - the overall pit space was still a bit too narrow for using an actual shovel, alas.
(82) Darky: 82 Ras Dashen: 93 (2/5) / 93 (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 11, 2020 7:25:41 GMT -6
The gargoyle shifted gears, aiming his attentions downward now, rather than level and began to dig up the hollow floor. It wasn’t long before a few more feet were gained in the gravel hollow, though likewise the deeper he dug it, the more the sides began to slide in. After a while, the mammalian had to come to his aid and begin digging at the hollow walls, at least so far as she could reach to either side, so the gargoyle wouldn’t be accidentally buried.
The work gradually but effectively began to bear fruit and soon enough the gravel hollow was wide and deep enough for even her to duck in and out of fairly comfortably. Darky crouched among the gravel, shifting through the floor with her hands while the shoulders had a small rest. How deep do you suppose the gravel goes?
Loose, loose, Ras tilted his head at the ground, seeming to sense through it, Deep, not deep, deep.
(83) Darky: 83 Ras Dashen: 93 (3/5) / 93 (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 11, 2020 7:26:02 GMT -6
Well, that could have been interpreted any manner of ways. In this instance the mammalian figured to translate it more as the layers beneath being not so universal in their composition. Perhaps pieces of more solid rock intermingled with the gravel, perhaps a cave somewhere beyond. In so far, though, it seemed the gravel was able to support her weight just fine, as well as the weight of the gargoyle, so they likely need not worry about it suddenly giving out beneath them and taking them for an unrequited ride.
But, she was curious as to how deep it went.. And between solid rock and loose gravel, the gravel was times easier to search through, as well as that much faster. Without the aforementioned bucket or pail, it could take some time, but the sphinx had a strange idea, as she shifted her hand through the loose rock. It was fairly light on its own, and with the right kind of angle..
(84) Darky: 84 Ras Dashen: 93 (4/5) / 93 (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 11, 2020 7:26:23 GMT -6
For safety, she guided the gargoyle out of the pit and to stand at the side, out of direct line of sight (and fire, in a sense). Then, situating herself as far against the back wall of loose rocks as she could, the mammalian shuffled her feet into a stable stance and closed her eyes. A faint yellow-tinted glow emanated from behind her head, as the arcane leylines were drawn upon, hand moving through the air in motion, until they slowly drew up, atmosphere around shifting in soft waves, and then quickly thrust them forwards, the waves becoming a sudden rush of wind.
Gravel burst from the pit and wind whistled and howled out of it, carrying the loose stones like leaves blown across a field in autumn. Inside the hollow, the sides began to slowly rush in, in part from the atmosphere drawing them towards the guided wind tunnel, in part to replace the stones that had already been jettisoned out.
(85) Darky: 85 Ras Dashen: 94 (0/5) / 94 (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 11, 2020 7:26:49 GMT -6
The mammalian shifted in her stance, correcting for the sliding rocks around her and maintaining the spell for as long as she could. Loose rock continued to be flown out, gradually stripping bare the layers of more solid rock around itself, revealing that which had been hidden before. After about a minute, the magic finally dissipated and the mammalian lowered her arms, breathing out. The dust around the cave, both inside the hollow and outside the pit, slowly began to settle.
When she opened her eyes the picture was far different before - the slope up out of the pit had been smoothed over by gravel either pressed down or smushed between harder layers of rock, while the expanse directly around it looked in equal parts craggy and smooth. Pockets of sturdier, lumpy rock now intermingled among the gravel, some with hollows and pockets of their own. Where the gravel still remained, it stood deeper in wind-blown slopes, as if looking to imitate desert dunes.
(86) Darky: 86 Ras Dashen: 94 (1/5) / 94 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 11, 2020 7:27:14 GMT -6
Well, that certainly ended up working better than anticipated.. And put the idea of a bucket or pail to absolute shame. In addition, it appeared the gargoyle had been right - ‘deep’ and ‘not deep’ had unearthed protrusions of another tougher layer of rock from below, running uneven among the gravel. The sphinx approached one of the outstretched lumps and inspected it in the light of the flash-light. It wasn’t calcite like the layer above, but something else.. Difficult to tell with the lighting at hand, but a few taps against it shoved it to be sturdy enough to support them walking across it at least.
There was a very real chance this gravel layer had once been a waterway outlet, bearing everything beneath it smooth, right up until the mountain stopped its regular flooding. Whether the waterway ended up clogged due to natural means - too much debris flushed down to the end of its lines as to stuff it closed - or intentionally by the City, there was no way of knowing.
(87) Darky: 87 Ras Dashen: 94 (2/5) / 94 (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 11, 2020 7:27:40 GMT -6
Alright, Ras, the sphinx poked her head out of the pit to the awaiting gargoyle, and pointed to the gravel blown out by the windy spell, Search the rubble for anything, and be thorough. I’ll look down here.
The gargoyle stood attentive, then pattered over to where most of the gravel had been scattered across the cave floor. Fortunately for him, the gravel had had the sense to fall into a more or less uniform pile, given the tight opening of the pit hole. Unfortunately for him there wasn’t entirely all too much of it for him to search through - as spectacular as the spell had been, it was more show than practical profit outside of the pit. All the same, he lowered his head, moving it back and forth across the pile and its adjacent little scattered pieces, sensing for those familiar energies.
Perhaps the jobs could have been better served if reversed, but the sphinx had been on the outside-looking-in with the pit for the past few hours.
(88) Darky: 88 Ras Dashen: 94 (3/5) / 94 (3/5)
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