Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Apr 11, 2020 7:27:59 GMT -6
With the small brush in one hand and the flash-light taped to the helmet, she got to work inspecting the exposed pieces of rock. Someone could spend a whole year going through the gravel itself, longer even if the layer happened to expand side-to-side for a long while, even if it wasn’t so deep, so instead she focused on the pockets in the harder rock. When the mountain would have still flooded, these pockets would have been perfect for catching any debris or loose objects pulled along by the current.
So while Ras inspected for loose finds on the outside, she paid attention to the deeper, darker recesses within the hollow. It wasn’t even all that long before she brushed out the dust, soil and sediment of one such pocket in the rock when something red shone back. Darky blinked and brushed around it some more, revealing not just a wonderful piece of carnelian, but also the bumps and edges of a few other stones.
(89) Darky: 89 Ras Dashen: 94 (4/5) / 94 (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 7:28:18 GMT -6
One of them was green and tough to identify given the lighting conditions, but the third one had a glint and gleam to its rough exterior was to be almost unmistakable - a diamond. Folks in the City seemed to hold these rather colourless stones in particularly high esteem, which the sphinx had often found strange. Still, it was a tough stone, so perhaps its value was more in the physical qualities it possessed, even if its aesthetic qualities were left a little wanting.
Carefully, the mammalian brushed them loose from the sediment soil, before climbing out of the pit, three bright stones in hand. Ras in the meantime had been likewise busy, and he nosed in the gravel pile after something, before finally backing up, dust-covered and grey, but with an equally duty find between his beak.
At first the mammalian almost thought it to be a lump of granite, stuck together by some kind of calcite materials, but on closer inspection the spiral on it made it far more unmistakable - it was a fossil.
(90) Darky: 90 - (added) Ras Dashen: 95 (0/5) / 95 (0/5)
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Post by Renathan on Apr 11, 2020 17:19:13 GMT -6
A large hunk of copper could be found in the wall- but it seems to be an isolated incidence.
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:17:54 GMT -6
The fascination with bones was a strange one for her. Where she was from, the desert was littered with bones of all manner, shape, size and species. Most of them bleached by the sun, then scattered by the wind, and eventually buried by the sands. It was a mark of life existing within the barren wastes, even if that marker was often only evident through death.
Supposedly these "fossil" bones were special, however. They were Old. Not in the same way that she could say Ras was old (for he, too, was made of stone and mineral), because compared to them, Ras was young. And that rather put thing into a weird sort of perspective she had trouble understanding. Turning it around in her hands, it seems just stone shaped like a shell, but the shell had once been living, and in a time multitudes past to what even her people could remember as their origin.
(91) Darky: 91 Ras Dashen: 95 (1/5) / 95 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:18:27 GMT -6
Her people could remember more than thousands of years of history, meticulously set down by the scribes of the tribes, and maintained in the few remaining scrolls and books that they safeguarded. And yet the fossil was thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years old. From a time where her people weren't even a dream, much less existing.
The weight of such history was strangely light in her hand, but the weight of credits that geologists, palaeontologists and collectors alike would turn up for these was considerably less so. All in all, it was a good find, albeit not one she could use as material of anything.
"If you happen to see more of these," she held up the fossil to the gargoyle, with a smirk, "Be sure to let me know." There was an understanding pattern that passed through his mind, as the gargoyle turned and jumped back down into the hole to continue digging through the gravel.
(92) Darky: 92 Ras Dashen: 95 (2/5) / 95 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:19:03 GMT -6
Thick, black stone claws began to dig through the loose earth and rock, trying to hone in on what he sensed below. It wasn't always terribly accurate, those senses, alas.. He's spent his entire existence in the tunnels, prior to being found by the mammalian, and so finding stone was part of his nature - He didn't now why, they weren't exactly edible for gargoyles, but in a similar way as cats were to laser pointers, gargoyles seemed to be for gems.
Perhaps it was that gaping hole in his chest that caused it, to find that one stone, that last missing piece, which could finally fill it.. But if that was the case, surely his senses would have been good enough to know where such a stone was.
But instead, it was stone after stone after stone, each one more or less the same worth in his eyes than the last. If the organic one wasn't so interested in them, Ras might have given up on searching for them long ago.
(93) Darky: 93 Ras Dashen: 95 (3/5) / 95 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:19:27 GMT -6
Top-side in the cave, the sphinx did her side of the work, which was trying to break apart some of the larger boulders and sheets of limestone. In truth, some felt more like sandstone than lime, considering how easily they crumbled, but if this had indeed once been a riverbed, or an exit flow for the flooding of the tunnels, it wouldn't have had a lot of time to become too solid, before being buried.
So gargoyle below and her above, the two continued to, rather figuratively, "crack at it". Most of what she found was just other types of rock stuck between the large type of rock. Some with pretty patterns, but otherwise no different to the stones you could find on a rough gravel road. All the same, she spared a few of them and dropped them off at the cart, to put on display on a shelf somewhere, if nothing else.
Some could perhaps even be turned into a small rock garden?
(94) Darky: 94 Ras Dashen: 95 (4/5) / 95 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:19:53 GMT -6
Eventually, she called the gargoyle up from the pit to take a short break. Ras had brought up a number of different stones, but much like her own efforts, they were still just more of the common variety. A few cloudy-looking quartzes were in between, but nothing to the quality that would be actually useful on the market - They would have been treated like paler granite at best.
Back up top, she had him lay down and recuperate, much to the empathic and telepathic protestations of knowing no such word. Technically, the gargoyle was correct - He didn't know it, but that didn't mean he couldn't be affected by it all the same.
In the meantime, the sphinx herself settled down for a brief bit of lunch. Down here in the caverns, it was easy to lose track of time, as well as space, so the rumbling of the stomach finally notified that it was likely well past noon, and perhaps even closer to evening by now.
(95) Darky: 95 Ras Dashen: 96 (0/5) / 96 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:20:37 GMT -6
It wasn't too much of a concern - If they end up being late enough, then the trio would surely call up on her to see what's up and if everything was alright. Generally, they didn't worry all too much, despite the various previous adventures having been one type of death-defying or another. Or at the very least, threat-defying. Plus, any real concerns of panics would sure register emphatically long before the time ran out.
But all the same, the mines weren't an entirely safe place, and some accidents could end expeditions before the expedite could even blink. Cave-ins were common, especially if the tunnels around you were dug by people with considerably less mining-savvy than others. Ras could likely make it out, perhaps even get home to give notion that something went wrong, but beyond that..
If one wasn't careful, they could well disappear and never be seen or heard from again, with the outside world none the wiser.
(96) Darky: 96 Ras Dashen: 96 (1/5) / 96 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:20:58 GMT -6
But, for now they were still safe. They had light, a broad, well-supported tunnel, and close enough to the entrance that should anything happen, someone would surely notice in short order and come to help or raise an alarm. Plus, with the old buried riverbed, anything was still possible, in terms of finds - Treasure could have been flushed to this cavern from the deepest reaches, collecting more along the way, only to pass through here as final stop, before leaving the mountain.
Admittedly, treasure could have also filtered out to other parts along the way, or got stuck, but the other option proved to be the more optimistic one. At the very least, they had found a vein close to the entrance that many others had overlooked, which gave hope.
With the lunch done, it was high time to get back to work. The sphinx dusted her hands, checked her helmet and clamped it back onto her head.
(97) Darky: 97 Ras Dashen: 96 (2/5) / 96 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:21:15 GMT -6
Ras was sent back down to the gravel pit, to continue combing through the remains of the river bed, while she took the topside shelf. The hole to the pit was big enough now to fit her through as well, but the bottom was still too narrow to have them work side-by-side. Ras had managed to excavate most of the gravel out from that layer, and it lay scattered like breadcrumbs around the rim of the pit. With luck, he might be able to dig further to expose a pocket, that would allow the sphinx to join him down there as well.
In the meantime, she picked up the pickaxe and took to focusing on the stony shelf formed from layers upon layers of calcite dripping down from the moisture on the walls. In truth it was more a small slope against the far wall, than flat shelf, but given how slippery the surface was, she had to start from the end closer to the ground anyway.
(98) Darky: 98 Ras Dashen: 96 (3/5) / 96 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:21:42 GMT -6
The pickaxe chipped into the calcite with relative ease. The layers were thin and the stone brittle, so it made for easy going in terms of force exercised, but a bit more hazardous, in terms of shrapnel. Eventually, the sphinx had to pull down the goggles, to stop small stone shards from hitting close enough to her face as to make contact with the eyes. Nothing to cause serious injury, but rather inconvenience none the less.
Down below, the gargoyle was turning the gravel pile into his own personal bone graveyard. Not because he was finding bones, nor looking to bury one, but more in the sense that he was looking to make all vultici who ever considered burying a bone look on in awe and envy at the magnificence of the hole being dug.
It was an empty hole, but that didn't matter - Ras had a Job, and he would do that Job until it was done.
(99) Darky: 99 Ras Dashen: 96 (4/5) / 96 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:22:06 GMT -6
Admittedly, given the size, scope and scale of the tunnels, much less the mountain itself, it would likely take him a thousand years until the Job was ultimately completed, if not thousands upon thousand of years. By the end of it, he might be more of a fossil himself, and the mountain reduced to rubble, but such concepts didn't have space in the gargoyle's mind. As far as he was concerned, this was Completely Do-able, Because How Can It Not?
Darky could have added a correction to the logic, but on the one hand she felt it would have only further confused poor Ras, and on the other, well.. if it made him happy, might as well. (Within reason, at least).
The cave echoed with the thrashing through gravel stone and the tinny thumps of the pickaxe gradually chipping away stone. Around them, deeper and closer in equal measure, other sounds of the mountain joined in on the choir, as more heavy thumps came from some tunnels down.
(100) Darky: 100 Ras Dashen: 97 (0/5) / 97 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:22:24 GMT -6
Of the lighter noises, there was also the chatter of people passing through the tunnels and clatter of the tools they brought with them. It gave consolation - They weren't the only people mad enough to seclude themselves into a stony room and repeatedly hit walls until something fell out. Admittedly, some people relied more on their creatures to do that, while others did it purely on their own, but still.
In the vein of things falling out, the sphinx cracked a bigger crevice into the calcite with one of her swings, and pressed the pickaxe into the gap to yank more of it loose. The stone gave way like baked clay, shattering and crumbling along the fault line, until a sizeable chunk shook loose.
Within that line was something little different - Pinkish-brown, against the pale-yellow brown of the stone. She shone the light on it, but much of it was still rough around the edges. But when she scraped against it with the pickaxe, it glinted back brighter.
(101) Darky: 101 Ras Dashen: 97 (1/5) / 97 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on May 28, 2021 15:23:00 GMT -6
An ore vein.. A tiny one, more of a pocket than anything else, but still. This was good, promising even. She set the pickaxe aside for the time being and instead went to retrieve the hammer and chisel. From the looks of it the metal was copper, so she needed to be careful - It was soft stuff, and could lose shaving of it, if she wasn't patient enough. Considering ores could range from any number of purity levels, the more material she had to smelt into something, the better the chances it would be enough to actually make it.
And of the two of them, perhaps better she found this as well, as Ras was not likely to be quite as gentle with it. He'd found ores before, but rarely in clumps still attached to the wall. He'd been good enough at prying stones loose, but with the softer stuff it tended to come with surface scratches from his beak and claws.
(102) Darky: 102 Ras Dashen: 97 (2/5) / 97 (2/5)
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