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Post by Jack on Sept 28, 2019 8:40:12 GMT -6
They both froze when the light hit them and the voice was sounded. Froze... and then burst into action again, both of them baring down on the pair with sneers on their faces, ready to protect their hoard at all costs. The drake was a little more forward than the wyrm, and swiped at the gargoyle with another hiss.
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Sept 28, 2019 9:00:42 GMT -6
In hindsight making a loud noise towards aggressive creatures was, perhaps, not the best idea, even if the initial goal was to simply break up the fight. Technically, that worked. However the solving of one problem quickly presented another - rather than fighting each other, they were now looking to, despite all odds, to fight the duo. Darky spent a good few seconds considering options, unsure whether to try and calm the creatures or perhaps intimidate them. The gargoyle, however, looked at first indignant, then annoyed and finally completely done with this nonsense. He had all the gemlings at home to deal with, and while there were more gargoyles to help him now, there was a very long time where he had to be alone against the other mountain creatures.
More importantly, these gemlings, were threatening the organic one. And that just Wouldn't Do.
Ras Dashen, head guard, the wingless gargoyle, bestowed with a ribbon and trained and kept by the mammalian's side, puffed out his chest, drew his beak into not so much a sneer as an expression of utter contempt and stepped forwards between mammalian and drake. The drake was heading the charge, so the gargoyle stomped his feet into the rocky ground, head craned back, chest still forward and waited for the drake to be done with its posturing. Then, with narrowed eyes, his head thrust forward, long neck extending and BONK'ed at the drake's forehead with the flat of the beak, head quickly retreating again.
Gargoyles made no noise, but the threatening grinding of his lower beak against upper was all his own invention.
(42) Darky: 42 Ras Dashen: 85 (2/5) / 85 (2/5)
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Post by Jack on Sept 28, 2019 9:06:16 GMT -6
The drake quickly stumbled back after the bonk of heads, and it shook it's own to try and rid itself of the ringing in it's ears. It stared a little, then crept back, hissing, to hide behind the wyrm. Maybe this thing it had been fighting would have some idea as to how to posture with the gargoyle, but the drake knew it's place now, between the gargoyle and the gems of it's hoard. The wyrm stared for a moment before shaking it's own head and slithered forward to hiss at the gargoyle again.
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Sept 28, 2019 9:29:10 GMT -6
The hit is over before the mammalian even had a chance to flinch, and flinch she did, ready to reach forward and pull the gargoyle back before any further aggression ensues. Her motions stopped halfway when the drake, being disoriented, seemed to have.. actually backed down. For that moment, the mammalian relaxed, her expression the best approximation of going 'Huh.'. A strong part of her had not expected that to work, but then, mountain creature dynamics between the familiars, the gargoyles and others like the karzik were always a little.. off, from the rest of the kennel inhabitants. Things in the underworld just had their own ways.
If there was a way a creature of absolute stone could puff themselves up even further like a very territorial rooster, Ras would have found it. Lacking stumbling across that option, he certainly gave his best efforts. The drake backed down.. Good. It was a smart one. (At least, relativistic to the general intelligence levels of creatures whose brains were, most likely, literally pure silicon). However now the wyrm stepped up again. Ras Dashen's head moved at a glacial pace, switching from focused on the drake to focused on the wyrm, beak slowly grinding against his neck as he did so, like two slabs of stones rubbed together. Finally, it locked into place, the wyrm its target, and the gargoyle stomped one foot against the ground hard.
It was a warning. It was also a challenge. The two were not necessarily excluding of each other. In essence, the gargoyle said: You can try. But you'll regret it. Just like your friend.
(43) Darky: 43 Ras Dashen: 85 (3/5) / 85 (3/5)
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Post by Jack on Sept 28, 2019 10:49:22 GMT -6
The wyrm balked and hissed at the gargoyle, not quite backing down, but not quite challenging just yet. Well, maybe a little, it wasn't backing down so it was a challenge of course. The drake behind it nudged it forward a little, and the wyrm hissed again and narrowed it's eyes at the gargoyle, ignoring the woman at the moment, protecting the hoard of stones behind them.
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Sept 28, 2019 13:42:45 GMT -6
On the one hand the display before her was a great opportunity to study the behaviours of subterranean creatures within their own environment and displaying their own kind of social structures. On the other, the fact Ras was trying a bit too much was concerning. The familiars back home tended to give less trouble, when trouble was had (and it was often), but at the same time the social structures between all of them were ones of convenience, so considerably more loose than those between some.. fairly high-strung feral familiars. Darky tried to make no sudden movements, which thankfully meant she didn't need to move at all to ask the gargoyle, What's going on? What are they doing?
Ras stared the wyrm down, shooting back to equal and then some the wyrm's own. Position, he replied, though, again, it was evident the ribbon wasn't quite able to translate the meaning of his particular thought.
Darky tried not to make a face, though a certain kind of confusion still crept in. Po..sition..?
Position, Ras confirmed, trying to look as spiky as he could. Gemlings small. Low. Gargoyles big. High.
Low.. High.. The mammalian couldn't help but squint in contemplation, before she blinked, everything coming together. It was about territory. About social position. Dominance. Ras was attempting to establish himself as the higher up in this area, trying to put the gem familiars 'in place'. Except, the familiars weren't having it and it seemed that despite the gargoyles' best attempts, it wasn't working quite as he had hoped (or thought) it did. For all his stubbornness, he could not, alas, change the world on sheer will alone. But.. with a little bit of help, perhaps..
Darky stayed put where she was, only slightly and glacially inching lower as to be behind the gargoyle's back more in perspective. Ras, when I tell you, raise your front feet up into the air real slowly, okay? There was a momentary push-back in thought, a protest, but she told him to trust her. With a mental grumble, the gargoyle agreed, feeling as though his display was doing just fine. With all the focus and attention on Ras, the mammalian closed her eyes briefly and summoned forth a bit of the arcane, a dull glow behind her head. The energies became weaved into a spell - spectral winds - and she guided them to gently flow forward, up from behind the gargoyle. Now.
As multi-hued ribbons of air began to dance up from behind the gargoyle, Ras slowly raised his front feet, standing back on his haunches as the glimmering strands danced around him, as if guided. Technically it was the mammalian who did the guiding, but the gem familiars didn't need to know that.
(44) Darky: 44 Ras Dashen: 85 (4/5) / 85 (4/5)
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Post by Jack on Sept 28, 2019 14:26:39 GMT -6
At that, they were done. A gargoyle that knew magic of all things? They both scurried to hide behind the gem pile, covering their eyes as best as they could and surrendering their hoard to the gargoyle, if only he would leave them alone.
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Sept 29, 2019 4:50:49 GMT -6
Despite his initial reservations of not getting it done his way, the gargoyle was still none the less pleased to see the gemlings back down. That's right.. Come at his organic, why didn't they.. He lowered himself back down and with that the light-show subsided, the winds calming back down, the shimmering disappearing (though, much to the nature of all glitter, that seemed to stick around for far longer than physically possible). With the offering of the hoard, the gargoyle reached out a claw to pull it towards him, eager to accept.
Hold on, the mammalian said, shuffling a little to come closer to the gargoyle and more now in view. She kept her motions calm and slow enough as to not be threatening, but not so slow as to come off predatory. Of the four gemstones in the pile pulled closer by Ras, she separated them up and scooted each stone apart from the others. One she shuffled to Ras, one to herself and both wyrm and drake also had one gently pushed back towards them, a peace offering.
The gargoyle stared at her indignant, looking to protest something fierce, but there was a look given back that made him back down as well.
We have more gems in our cart, it's fine, she assured the gargoyle, but didn't go into an in-depth explanation on why dominance-based social structures so often caused more issues than they fixed. They may have bought their peace and the familiars' submission for that time being, but they would have had to keep an eye on their back the whole time in the cavern, for members of low-rung status would ever keep an eye open for opportunity to improve their station. By making peace with them, instead, they can be assured the familiars would be more positively attuned to their presence, perhaps even cooperate.
(45) Darky: 45 Ras Dashen: 86 (0/5) / 86 (0/5)
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Post by Jack on Sept 29, 2019 9:57:46 GMT -6
The two familiars stared at each other for a moment before shuffling toward the stones she had offered to them. That was odd, most people would take what they wanted without question, never offer anything back. Maybe she wasn't so bad, but they still had to test one more thing... The drake turned around and then nudged something forward, two somethings actually. One a dark brown stone, and the other... gleamed in the light.
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Sept 29, 2019 11:10:40 GMT -6
The two watched the familiars closely, one very curiously, and the other in a stony kind of readiness in case of double-crossing (for while Ras may have trusted the mammalian, it was a long-winded process to get to that point and wasn't at all afforded to anyone else around him). It seemed the familiars were almost.. putting them to the test now. The sphinx had half expected them to take the gem and turn and run, and yet they ended up.. producing more gems? Oh this one was a write down into a research paper for sure.
The first stone clattered towards them, a dark brown with some yellow bands and the mammalian tilted her head curiously, "Huh, I've never seen one like that before.." She had a similar one in her collection, but that one was much more on the yellow and gold side than this. Further study would have to be made on whether it was the same stone but simply darker in tone, or a completely other subtype of it. When the second object was rolled out she felt an involuntary tinging in her arm. Thankfully the fibres of fur in the arm were no longer faintly glowing from the light crystal's accidental discharge, though some sense at the back of her head registered it all the same - another crystal.
Darky looked at it quite surprised, but also conflicted. This was another test, most likely about sharing. While they already had the light crystal, it would have made sense to offer up the water to the familiars. However.. given they were but moments before recklessly trying to tear each other apart over some treasure, if the crystal were ever accidentally damaged in a scuffle like that similar to how they had accidentally dug into the light one, well.. There was a very cranky bull at a dusty workshop who had once made it very clear magical crystals were dangerous things.
So, the sphinx figured on a bit of a compromise. She slid the water crystal closer to her and the gargoyle, but slipped the brown stone back towards the familiars while also adding in her previously divided stone - one crystal for them, two stones to split between the familiars - and watched the reaction.
(46) Darky: 46 Ras Dashen: 86 (1/5) / 86 (1/5)
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Post by Jack on Sept 29, 2019 12:24:09 GMT -6
She was willing to share, though she had indeed taken the best one for herself. The drake couldn't fault her for it, though the wyrm was a little baser than most it seemed. They stared ahead of them and then the drake slowly moved up to the woman and put it's head down for a pat, the wyrm following, dragging the hoard behind it. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad with the woman, she was sharing her gems, after all...
[Congratulations, you've tamed the drake and wyrm!]
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Oct 8, 2019 6:34:11 GMT -6
Well, that had been a thing. The sphinx sat herself down with a sigh, using a boulder of their now-familiar cavern as a seat. One never quite knew what could be stumbled upon down here in the Mines and yet sometimes it wasn't so much about it being a 'surprise' as just a 'test' of sorts. The duo had taken a break long enough to escort the familiars to the mouth of the cavern, where Mear was able to meet them and fly the two home, to be acquainted with the rest of the 'flock', but the whole ordeal itself was still fresh in her mind. And in Ras' as well, it seemed, as the gargoyle seemed to almost sneer at any little shadow and any little noise out of the ordinary.
All this and they had barely even finished their hole even. The sphinx glanced over to it, rolled her shoulder, breathed in and got back up. Nothing for it, it was time to get back to work (at least, until the next interruption).
(47) Darky: 47 Ras Dashen: 86 (2/5) / 86 (2/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Oct 8, 2019 6:43:41 GMT -6
The tat-lung had brought along a new tool for them as well - a digging rod. It was something like a mix between a prybar and a crowbar. If ever they needed to move larger boulders now, they would certainly have little issue. In terms of the hole the digging rod wasn't as much use at present, the mammalian still needed to assess the damage after that light crystal explosion. The crystals themselves were safely tucked into the buggy, and though the hit had been dramatic it appeared the light one hadn't sustained all that much more damage as she feared.
Grabbing for the chisel and the mallet, with the pickaxe on standby on the hole's edge, the mammalian carefully climbed back into the hole, under the gargoyle's watchful eye. He still remembered something having happened at that spot which was Bad, though he hadn't understood what exactly (and in terms of protecting the organic one, she didn't appear damaged, so there wasn't even all that much to get angry at). At other creatures, such as the familiars, well, he could easily take his frustrations out on them. Some random burst of light with no physical form to attack? Somewhat harder.
(48) Darky: 48 Ras Dashen: 86 (3/5) / 86 (3/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Oct 8, 2019 6:50:42 GMT -6
Initial impression of the hole were almost disappointing. For all the drama and knockback of the blast it had actually dislodged so very little of the rock around it. It hadn't even left a scorch mark in the surrounding stone (though, much later, the mammalian would wonder and realize that a stone made up of pure light would also produce pure light, thus the fact the rock wasn't scorched wasn't entirely out of the ordinary). It had created a bit more space in the cavity it was in itself, only pushing out stones that had likely already been loose, so there was some room to keep digging without having to deal with as much material, but that gain was more negligible than anything.
Before she got to work on that she set the gargoyle to work on trying to break down some of the bigger lumps of rocks that had been tossed out of the hole, though she warned him to be careful. The fact a light crystal had been able to hide within these layers of stone so close to the surface as to be pierce-able by a single pickaxe swing suggested anything else glowing within them could actually be too dull to notice on the outside.
(49) Darky: 49 Ras Dashen: 86 (4/5) / 86 (4/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Oct 8, 2019 6:54:59 GMT -6
Thus, her instructions were quite specific - break down the largest of the debris stone, but do so very careful, small taps at a time. Spirits on high knew she would take some time still to finish her side of the oblong hole, and in that time Ras could pulverize the entire debris pile, but if he ended up doing that into something else that could explode, it would do him little good. So, the gargoyle grumbled at being limited, but shuffled over to the piles and grabbed the first of the larger boulders, beginning to tap his beak into it to crack it open, while the mammalian focused on the hole.
Chisel hit by chisel hit she carefully began to shave away the edge of it, trying to meet up with the flatter part against the wall. The temptation to simply go for the pickaxe was strong, but not until she could be sure it was safe to and that no other light shards were hiding nearby to fling her through the air again. While it meant progress wasn't exactly fast it at least gave her better control over the sizes of the chunks she chiselled loose, making it possible to shape them into forms easier to inspect later.
(50) Darky: 50 Ras Dashen: 87 (0/5) / 87 (0/5)
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