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Post by Nadia on Aug 3, 2021 14:14:04 GMT -6
Better. Not being shined on and hissed at is a vast improvement - the wyrm lowers its head and emerges slightly from the wall to 'look' at you. Its tail is still curled protectively around its chunk of ore, but it's reconciling itself to the idea of you being around. In fact, it looks like it's sniffing, almost... got any rocks?
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Aug 5, 2021 4:05:19 GMT -6
Inwardly the mammalian let out a breath of relief, seeing the wyrm cautiously make its way out of the little nesting area. It looked to be more comfortable with the presence, which was good. Admittedly, it also put it right in view of Ras again, who wasn't quite so content to let things slide, but the mammalian gave him a firm, reassuring look, Easy does it. You can relax, Ras.. It doesn't look to be angry at us. Be nice.
The gargoyle wasn't convinced, crude thoughts sneering back, Nice.. Nice.. as if to mentally scoff. But he settled, sitting down and folding the legs under him like a grumpy rock pile. This wasn't the first familiar they've ended up adopting, and although he doesn't have the foresight for it, there's a suspicion it won't be the last. And he's never liked the other ones either..
Good boy, Darky smirks at him, a brief eye roll at the antics, but appreciative of the effort all the same.
As the wyrm approached, it seems to shift from suspicious to curious, until the sphinx recognized an all-too-familiar expression. For most animals it signaled food. For familiars, it was a rather specific kind of 'other'. There's a blink and she instinctively patted through her pockets, "You're looking for a stone? Oh, uh.." Well, none in the pockets, so she made a small waiting motion, "One moment.." and stood to walk over to the mining cart.
(129) Darky: 129 Ras Dashen: 102 (4/5) / 102 (4/5)
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Post by Nadia on Aug 5, 2021 5:41:53 GMT -6
Admittedly, the wyrm doesn't much understand the notion of waiting. It slithers further out of the wall after you, wondering where you're heading off to - and casts the filthiest look at the gargoyle that a gem creature can muster. The attitude is strong in this one. The titanium clunks against the rock face, still grasped in the wyrm's tail.
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Aug 5, 2021 10:09:22 GMT -6
The gargoyle isn't one to back down, and the glance he returned was equal parts scowl and seething. As much as he'd like to, he can't quite name the reason for the feeling either. Perhaps it was partly the innate sense of needing to keep the mammalian safe (for there were many dangers in the caverns and she kept finding most of them), perhaps the bond between them meant seeing anything else introduced as new into the mix sparked a sense of jealously.. Ras wasn't exactly good at the whole 'introspection' portion, even with the ribbon and empathic connection now shared.
But he knew to keep the familiar in direct line of sight. And the head slowly moves to watch it as it slithers out, level and rotating as if on a grinding swivel, narrow eyes glaring.
The mammalian can certainly sense the tension from him, but does her best to respond with soothing emotions. Introducing him to new creature has always been rough, but then, he is a guardian gargoyle, so it's not exactly far from his deepest instincts. When she reached the cart, she pulled open the lid and rummaged around, mumbling, "Let's see what we have here.. Something to match, maybe? Something softer? Aha!" Finally, she picked up one green lump of jade and turned to crouch down towards the familiar, holding out the stone in her palm as an offering, "Would this do, buddy?"
(130) Darky: 130 - (added) Ras Dashen: 103 (0/5) / 103 (0/5)
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Post by Nadia on Aug 5, 2021 11:01:26 GMT -6
Ah! The wyrm slithers its way eagerly towards your hand, and peers at the stone within it. A moment of consideration follows - dang, it must be a harsh critic - and then it makes a soft hiss of contentment, picking the jade up in its jaws. Success! What's more, now the wyrm's out of the way, you can see something else in its den... [Congratulations, you have successfully tamed the creature!]
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Aug 30, 2021 2:48:25 GMT -6
Thankfully the spirits were being kind today, even if the wyrm made a show of accepting the offering. What's more the sphinx gradually guided it into the mining cart, where it would be most safe (And least within eyesight of the gargoyle, thus offering both of them exactly what they wanted, really). The gem pile within probably hadn't hurt matters either.
With that sorted, she went back to exploring the crevice the familiar had inhabited, in case there was anything left behind. The gap in the wall was fairly small, so much so even Ras couldn't wiggle his way in, so she didn't really have a good view how far it went. What she did find, however, was something black and something white - One shining with the glint of metal, the other a crystalline formation of some sort. The metal was somewhat new, she hadn't really seen much of this type, and certainly had never worked with it at the workshop. The crystal, though, was quite familiar, since topaz was rather distinct in its composition and range of shades.
(131) Darky: 131 Ras Dashen: 103 (1/5) / 103 (1/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Aug 30, 2021 4:30:11 GMT -6
The sphinx made sure to deposit both of them in the mining cart, making sure nothing too hard was close to the wyrm, since it could accidentally scratch it. Jade was a fine stone for many carving projects, but its softness also usually meant it wasn't necessarily the most reliable stone. That done, she focused back on the pile of rubble, shifting through the top of it with the pickaxe. Ras didn't seem too alarmed by their surroundings once the wyrm was 'contained', so it wasn't likely she'd find anything, but it was worth the effort to try. After all, the gargoyle's senses were occasionally tripped up by happenstance or circumstance.
That said, she also wasn't looking to shift through the whole pile, since generally speaking rubble piles from cracked walls made for something of a foundation to keep the wall itself up as well. Can't exactly collapse in on itself, if there's some piles of itself at the base of it.
(132) Darky: 132 Ras Dashen: 103 (2/5) / 103 (2/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Aug 30, 2021 4:51:22 GMT -6
The fossil was still there, only lightly obscured by some of the rubble, so that was easy enough to locate. Aside that, however, it didn't seem like there was much else aside a few curious pieces of quartz-granite. Too much granite to be worth cutting, not enough quartz to be worth extracting.
"Alright, that should do for now," she stood, looking towards the gargoyle with a smile and beckoning him onwards. The gargoyle sidled up to her side, the harness attached to the cart growing taut and eventually the two were rolling along again, with the cart tottering behind them on the slightly uneven surface. It was smooth enough to avoid making too much of a ding, but the cart was also quite laden with different pieces of rock, stone and ore, so the contents (along with wyrm) rattled slightly as they made their way across the miniature 'cobblestones'. Due to the nature of the cavern topography, she rather doubted anything would fail to hear them coming, but perhaps that was for the best.
(133) Darky: 133 Ras Dashen: 103 (3/5) / 103 (3/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Aug 30, 2021 5:05:56 GMT -6
The sound of the cart made faint reverberating echoes forward, as the darkness stretched beyond. Anything too scared of approach would have likely fled. Anything else would have likewise made themselves known far before they got close enough to threaten it. So all in all, it was a win-win for either side.
The tunnel made slow twists and turns to either side, although generally it didn't seem to gain too much in elevation and had almost no slope down. If it had once housed a river, then it made sense it would have been one that flowed downhill, especially if it happened to be at the last stretch of the whole flooded network. Here and there the mammalian could spot shadows in the adjacent walls, denoting spots where other current and streams joined this main flow. Most were a bit too high up in the walls to climb into, and others too small and cramped to try and squeeze by, so the duo instead kept to the main tunnel.
(134) Darky: 134 Ras Dashen: 103 (4/5) / 103 (4/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Aug 30, 2021 5:09:59 GMT -6
A part of her did wonder how far it would stretch. Of course, any channel or dry riverbed wasn't likely to be one singular line from top of the mountain to the base of its roots. It would twist, turn, part and rejoin again down the line countless times (And they also didn't have enough hours left in the day to find out). But for the good solid thirty minutes that they spent walking along the smooth naturally cobbled floor, it did seem to stretch on endless.
Even Ras was growing quieter, as if his senses were stretching out more around them, trying to find something, anything. Most times he did this to warn, but sometimes that gargoyle brain (Assuming it existed) could also pick up on other things as well.
As for the mammalian, every turn of the head also made the flashlight scan across the smooth walls, floor, ceiling, trying to find anything odd or different about the topography of the place.
(135) Darky: 135 Ras Dashen: 104 (0/5) / 104 (0/5)
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Post by Nadia on Sept 1, 2021 13:33:38 GMT -6
Moonstone glitters in the walls.
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Sept 2, 2021 5:33:06 GMT -6
The clitter-clatter of the wagon rolling through the tunnels made for fascinating, but also occasionally somewhat spooky echoes. The mammalian was largely used to it, while the gargoyle was largely indifferent. Ras could be spooked, if something tried hard enough, but it wasn't easy and it certainly didn't necessarily work out how the aggressor might expect. For one the gargoyle was firmly in the camp of 'if it's bad, I bite it until it goes away', even if it would be panic-biting.
The flashlight's spotlight slowly moved across the walls of the tunnel, until something pale was caught in it's rays. The sphinx held up a hand for the gargoyle to pause, while the other was already pulling out the chisel from the belt. Walking closer, a white-looking patch among the smooth tunnel wall seemed to shine through some of the faint dusty translucence. Perhaps a stone that was caught who knows how many years ago during the flood, long since covered by the hardened sediment.
(136) Darky: 136 Ras Dashen: 104 (1/5) / 104 (1/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Sept 2, 2021 5:39:09 GMT -6
She brushed aside some of the dirt, grime and general accumulation of time that covered the tunnel walls, finding it only slightly improving the outline. Most of it was deep enough that she couldn't easily tell where one edge ended and another began, but she picked up the mallet all the same and began to chisel around it in a broader arc. There was space enough for errors, since the overall goal was to get it out of the wall largely intact - She can always clean it up later, do away with the excess sediment and leave only the stone itself.
The tapping echoed through the tunnels even louder than the cart had, so the gargoyle sat down and kept a watch. The tunnel was long and broad, with little twists and bends, so there was an innate understanding that their location was certainly being broadcast on a very wide length. His instincts gave a small red flag, for this wouldn't have ever been something he'd done when he had been on his own.
(137) Darky: 137 Ras Dashen: 104 (2/5) / 104 (2/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Sept 2, 2021 5:47:03 GMT -6
It took some fiddling, but it's not long before a final crack of the chisel causes the whole block of the rock to shift and loosen, freed from the wall. The sphinx picked it out, dusted it off from the rubble and the flakes and set it down on the ground. With one side braced against the foot, she chiseled at the edges a bit more, to get some of the more prominent excess off, before finally being content enough to place it into the mining cart. The colour suggested a number of different options, either opal, jade or even moonstone, but with so much of the rubble around, she'll need to take a closer look once they're home to know for certain.
Done and dusted, the mammalian returned the tools to the belt and looked to Ras with a smile, sensing his unease, "Cheer up, Ras. There's empty tunnel ahead and empty tunnel behind. If there's anything to be concerned about, we can always head back the same way."
(138) Darky: 138 Ras Dashen: 104 (3/5) / 104 (3/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Sept 2, 2021 6:53:16 GMT -6
Not like, the gargoyle responded, shifting in his place. Not like, not like. Bad feel.
"How do you mean?" the mammalian raised a brow, but was willing to take his concerns at their word. After all, Ras came from the tunnels of the mountain, so who better to know them? If something about his instincts told him it wasn't safe, it was worth paying attention to it.
The gargoyle's head swiveled around slowly, as if trying to put a pin into what was bothering him. Odd. Odd. Different.
Not exactly a descriptive explanation, but when the sphinx began paying attention to the surroundings again, she did sense an increase in moisture in the air. It hadn't exactly been dry to begin with, but now it felt like she could almost taste it. The flashlight moved and where before there had been darkness down the tunnel, now there was a lazy gray mass standing directly across it, as if suddenly a wall had formed.
(139) Darky: 139 Ras Dashen: 104 (4/5) / 104 (4/5)
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