The Halls of the High Hollow ring with the echoes of long past labors. They resonate with songs whose verses were long sung last. Your place is not amongst the fading frivolities which shall soon be forgotten. The depths call for you to strike the Earth, and the stone walls that protected the heart of world for ages unfathomable are still no obstacle to a child of perseverance. To grasp the pickaxe and the spade is to have the riches of the world already half in hand.
You are the ever-proud APPRENTICE of…uhhh…Hm. You don’t remember. The stones? Yes, the rocks and stones. Hold that thought - you are a DWARF, which means you are MASTER of the rocks and stone, and all else that is buried in the bosom of the below. Anyways, with woolen raiment on and pickaxe in hand, you are ready to engage in another wonderful day of RIGOROUS EXCAVATORY ENLIGHTENMENT. >What is your name?
>>6456471>Dwalin Urist Ronni Ingvaldur Nuri the Fifteenth, or Durin XV for short
>>6456471Support >>6456474
>>6456470>>6456471Fuck yes I was hoping you would actually run this after seeing the concept in /qag/!>Name: Gaslark
>>6456471Bobrock
>>6456471I'm backing this silliness >>6456474
>>6456474Yes. +1
>>6456474>>6456476>>6456477>>6456478>>6456649>>6456650>Durin XIA strong feeling tells that you are called DWALIN URIST RONNI INGVALDUR NURY THE FIFTEENTH, but that is AGONIZING LONG and so you forcibly abbreviate it to DURIN XV, which is going to have to do as far as names go because you can’t remember anything else that’s remotely a name let alone your real one. Either such a name is PROPERLY DWARVEN or you are smashing a list of frequented taverns together and pretending that’s your identity like a DUMBASS.An erstwhile…er…To be quite short about it, you scarcely remember a thing about who you are or why you’re here, but you’re definitely supposed to be in these tremendous caverns and tunnels, both natural and shaped by many hands of all sorts over eons, so you are probably a PROSPECTOR PIONEER. One of the few things you do know is that you’ve found yourself in the HIGH HOLLOW, as all since the earliest inhabitants have called this place. Said inhabitants being the MOISSAN DWARVES, whom you are one of, yet the only one you know of being in these depths. And you dig, and dig, guided forth by a MYSTERIOUS SMILE with an ENCHANTING TIMBRE.>Attend to daily chores.>Consider the charming compulsion >Consider other residents of these caverns.>Write-In.
>>6456651>Attend to daily chores.Rise & Grind Hustlers
>>6456651>Attend to daily chores.They gotta get done one way or another
>>6456651>Attend to daily chores.>Put mole in cloak, for later.
>>6456669Yeah I'm obsessed with the miles, this art is fucking amazing
MOLES !
>>6456654>>6456658>>6456669>>6456672>Attend to daily chores.>Put mole in cloak, for "later."If you were not in the caverns, perhaps your chores would relate to cooking, scrubbing poop from floors, dusting or ledgering like a clerk, and whatever janitorial duties the day would demand of you.The task of scrubbing bat and mole crap from the cavern is for BLIND MOLES, one of whom you unceremoniously ABDUCT, so your task list is far shorter. They involve MORNING COFFEE, PROSPECTING, and DIGGING. The first matter requires waking early, at the crack of dawn, if such a thing meant anything down here. Some believe that coffee is not a matter that takes the better part of an hour or more. Such people have no concept of what DWARF COFFEE even is.Though there are a few mechanisms that belong to you that are naught but faithful and true, one being your COFFEE GRINDER. Dwarfen coffee is made from ground up rock and crystal of most any sort, whose special drinkable properties are extracted through the use of the grinder. Without the necessary MACERATION and TWIRLY TWIRLING the result is simple and unpalatable sand. Hence why none but Dwarfs appreciate the great merits of their MORNING GULP. They’re so excellent that going without a MORNING GULP would be unthinkable.
The morning ritual has another purpose, though. The products of a good grind, no matter their original make, are inherently unstable from ELEMENTAL EXPRESSION if not immersed in steeping water, though the effects of MACERATION and TWIRLY TWIRLING produce something quite DIFFERENT from what once was from one or two minerals (anything more than two requires PREVIOUS GROUNDS, which you lack). The unstable effects manifest easily with physical impact or the application of a small amount of heat from BEARD CORD, and become dangerous unless placed in the ARGON BAG. Stored safely in the sack, GROUNDS may be crafted into COFFEE BOMBS whose properties match the coffee they brewed, able to be set off through a harsh impact, or, if more delay is required, through flame and fuse.The consideration of EXPLOSIVES is beyond you right now, as without your MORNING GULP you cannot be held accountable for any sort of long-term planning.Your MINERAL YIELDS are meager right now, however, so your choice of metaphorical BEANS is slim. You will have to MAKE DO or PROSPECT.>Make a single-ingredient gulp. (Write in mineral to use)>Make a two-ingredient blend. (Write in minerals to use)>Prospect for alternative minerals>Write-In
>>6456696>Two ingredient blendAcicular Spekkiospar + Chert, I trust in the names and contrasting shapes
>>6456696>Make a two-ingredient blend. (Write in minerals to use)>Pyrite and malachite, because the -ite will make you feel alr-ite.
>>6456698+1, gotta go with the silly wordplay.
>>6456698+1 couldn't have said it better This quest is fucking GOATED
>>6456696>>6456698+1
>>6456697>>6456698>>6456721>>6456731>>6456786>Make a two-ingredient blend. (Pyrite+Malachite)The reasoning behind your choice of blend was based entirely on it being “a’ite,” which was frankly better than you were dimly aware of certain blend justifications being. If anybody had a problem with yours, they were free to come around and inform you of their disapproval, but being alone in the caverns entitles you to do whatever the hell you want.Iron Pyrite sparked as it was ground into an unrecognizable pasted, before the green Malachite copper ore was added and the lid closed. Water from your BARREL PACK, which contained everything needed for survival, a mobile base carried on the back, was heated within the COFFEE GRINDER through the same mechanism that pulverized everything within- the heat of friction and various other interactions put the crucible to work producing a MORNING GULP.After a good hour spent churning the lot, the grit and grind slowly turning smooth like churning butter, the COFFEE GRINDER gives a little jingle, and you quickly set the thing down ready for the spout of DWARF COFFEE. A lift of your mask and a single tip down and a raise again of the mug. SPICY and BRIGHT. A taste sensation divorced from the MULCHY GOOP within that would have to be extricated from the bottom bell- to be made into a singular COFFEE BOMB.
With the refreshing heat and tingle of the MORNING GULP, you recall a little more that you perhaps should have considered, but the stones are brewed and the drink is drunk. Dwarven Coffee-making involves ELEMENTAL EXPRESSION, which involves drawing out PRIMAL FORCES from the ancient minerals themselves, known as GEOMAGICAL FORCE. Each and every stone, especially in the High Hollow has a GEOMAGICAL ASPECT, which is passed onto the COFFEE BOMBS brewed from them as well as the GULP.Though your memory is foggy, taste alone tells a dwarf what geomagics a stone is suffused with. IRON PYRITE is a stone of FIRE, CHERT is a stone of FORCE, MALACHITE is a stone of LIGHT, and SPEKKIOSPAR is a mysterious stone whose property is one of INVERSION, which has no trait of its own but when combined with another force, makes it into a MIRROR of itself. INVERSION is a particularly uncommon an energy- best not to waste it.For example, the domain of FIRE, being one of HEAT, is enchanted by INVERSION into a shocking plummet of temperature rather than a soaring peak. The combination of PYRITE and MALACHITE geomagic essence, therefore, would pass on the forceful, concentrated effects of FIRE and LIGHT. Producing, you foggily recall from the sensation on the tastebuds and nostrils, a SEAR BOMB, whose fire is blindingly hot. You’d have to see if it would be of use later.GEOMAGICS are the basis of RUNIC, the arts by which Dwarvenkind makes their incredible inventions work in ways beyond mechanical force. However, the creation and augmentation of such requires GEOCHAOTIC ORES and GEMS, which are worth more than gold.Yes, that was the true purpose of the HIGH HOLLOW, and why the Moissan Dwarves arrived here. In the pursuit of GEOCHAOTIC STRATUM and the wealth in RUNIC ARTEFACTS they could bring. You are indeed looking for such riches. Though you do not recall being a smith nor smelter beyond what is expected of any dwarf of adult age…Awake and alert from the ROCK JUICE, your day is open for DIGGING. Although…there is a reason you CANNOT DO THAT YET. Despite what might be assumed, your PROSPECTING PICK is not an EXCAVATION TOOL, but an EXPLORATORY DEVICE for environmental analysis. Your status as an ORIGINAL GEOLOGICAL DIGGA is marked by the absence of another tool. One you might get to later.>Consider your missing digging tool.>Consider the charming compulsion. >Consider other residents of these caverns.>Write-In.
>>6456828>Consider other residents of these caverns.Any smoking ROCK AND STONE babes?
>>6456828>Consider other residents of these caverns.So far I like them
>>6456828>Consider other residents of these caverns.
>>6456828>Consider other residents of these cavernsMoles are cute. CUTE.
>>6456928>Any smoking ROCK AND STONE babes?Females are a myth. Everyone here has a beard...
>>6456928>>6456954>>6457016>>6457034>>6457065>Consider other residents of these caverns.You ponder the nature of other cavern inhabitants, before even thinking of your LOST GEAR. The High Hollow, given its geomagical traits, is no stranger to a BOUNTY OF BYSTANDERS to the true event of extraction. Some are what would be called natural flora and fauna, such as the BLIND MOLES which feed off of scraps and bugs, or whatever managed to fall in front of their sniffer. Then there are geochaotic mutations of such life, such as the BALD MOLES whose size and intellect grew in exchange for their body hair, MOLESHROOM CRICKETS which are possessed by sapience-granting fungi, RAGWING BATS who thirst for blood and fluids, and COWLS who traded flight for sorcery in ages past. All of these, however, are still less strange than creatures such as the ORNRY, animated stones of limited brains and infinite spite, or the SLIP which approximates the form of an attractive lady, or at least, as much of one as its body can form, which is usually only the torso and up- no ideas should be had, though, for they are predatory and increase their mass based upon the vitality of their victims they engulf and consume.Though the Slip and its engorged form, the Claydy, were inspiration for the greatest invention of the Moissan Dwarves. The desire for a companion in these lonely mines alone was enough to lead plenty astray- and the GOLEMITES, geomagical servants made to aid the Dwarves and scattered through the caverns to this day, were made solely for INDUSTRY. Not FAIR COMPANY.The simple question- what about women? Were they not the natural partner? The answer, it turns out, was not so simple.For some time ago, you now recall, the Moissan Dwarves FEMALE POPULATION all MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHED. Good riddance to them, thought all, for they were already working on the SUPERIOR VERSION. Female Moissan Dwarves, after all, lacked the traits ideal to a man. They were NARROW and FRAIL, not STOCKY and THICK, on top of being NAGGING PESTS, and most certainly not what all Moissans wished to see in women- LONG. With their disappearance came the opportunity to craft the Female Morph, or FEMORPH, from Geochaotic substances, able to match the desires of their partners…THAT is what the VOICE has promised. To guide you to a precious FEMORPH core, for those precious things were lost just as the first companions were. What would you do with it? Well- such a thing compelled the Dwarven imagination, for its capabilities could change to suit its master. You could do anything with one, limited only by imagination of command...
There was one more cave denizen to consider…“What are you doing sitting around like a bum, Durin?” A scratchy, nasally voice came from the darkness. Speak of a devil and it shall appear. It was the SERVANT OF THE VOICE, a ragged little courier completely covered in cloak, short and insubstantial. Something clearly female but not one worth proper attention. “Do you have more Moissanite for Lady Holos, to be fattening yourself up like a gnome?”You did not. Such crystals were the demand of the Voice for guiding you forth, the magical minerals that were first discovered, and exploited, by your kind.“You are not digging. You are usually at work right now. Why are you daydreaming instead of working?”Well. You would be digging, but your IMPLEMENT would have to be recovered…>Explain that you need to get your digging implement, before you can dig. You’ll be right on that, of course.>Ignore the Servant of the Voice, because she is small and annoying. Contemplate her master instead.>Lie and say you’ll get right to it. You just need to do…maintenance on your tools, yes.>Write-In.
>>6457254>Ignore the Servant of the Voice, because she is small and annoying. Contemplate her master instead.
>>6457254>Explain that you need to get your digging implement, before you can dig. You’ll be right on that, of course.Alright, alright, we'll get to work. We can contemplate the VOICE while we dig.
>>6457254>>Ignore the Servant of the Voice, because she is small and annoying. Contemplate her master instead.Deep thinking for deep depths
>>6457254>>Write-In.Tell her shes looking cute today.Maybe that will bother her enough to leave
>>6457254>Ignore the Servant of the Voice, because she is small and annoying. Contemplate her master instead.>She's cute in a snail way, but certainly the master must be hot in a shark way.
>>6457471Made me fucking kek thanks
>>6457254>Explain that you need to get your digging implement, before you can dig. You’ll be right on that, of course.
>>6457262>>6457286>>6457451>>6457457>>6457460>>6457471>>6457481>Ignore the Servant of the Voice, because she is small and annoying. Contemplate her master instead.>Write-In: Tell her shes looking cute today.>She's cute in a snail way, but certainly the master must be hot in a shark way.You DISREGARD the IMPOTENT WHINING of the scrappy creature, and instead ponder her master, the VOICE, LADY HOLOS.Only glimpses of her have been granted to you, visions in the mind’s eye, shapes in the dark, but those shapes, how telling they are. Covered in cloth yet stretching such taut, a glinting smile, and long, billowing locks of prismatic fluffy hair that beckon forth anybody- especially when a REWARD is offered. Whatever the bidding of the VOICE is, its sultry, smooth and velvety tones like a hot sweet drink for the ears, you feel no resistance in carrying it out. Your BEST INTERESTS are at heart, and what more could one ask for? Why would she guide you to a FEMORPH CORE? Well, you have a mutually beneficial relationship, after all. She guides you to riches, and you dig them up. What exactly is she? Some CAVERN SPIRIT perhaps, or maybe a BENEVOLENT GEOMAGIC INVENTION like a Golemite. It matters little. Inquisitiveness melts away when you see a glimpse of the softness, like a bed to be sunken into.“Stop ignoring me.” The Servant snapped at you. “Are you going to get to work or not?"Perhaps she’d leave you alone if you were annoying back at her. You tell her that she is looking cute today- though in a way like a snail. Unlike her master, who is...now, hold on, not an evil snail mind you, but still a slimy little-
She whacks you with her lantern. You take 10 HP of damage.“Shut up.” She snaps. “Did you lose your Narwhal Pick? I don’t see it anywhere. You lost it, didn’t you?”Well. You didn’t lose it, because you know exactly where it is. It’s stuck in the head of a rock monster that you accidentally struck, and you’d need to GO AND GET IT to make progress.>Refuse to admit you lost the pick. You’ll REPLACE it easily enough. Time to go get a substitute.>Admit to losing your device- and demand the SERVANT’s aid in retrieving it.>Do not address the WELLSPRING of BITCHING. It is time to GET YOUR NARWHAL BACK.>Write-In.
>>6457612>>Do not address the WELLSPRING of BITCHING. It is time to GET YOUR NARWHAL BACK.I haven't had my third coffee of the day(?) yet, come back later. how do we keep time down here?
>>6457610>Lady HolosAh, The Wife.>>6457612>Do not address the WELLSPRING of BITCHING. It is time to GET YOUR NARWHAL BACK.
>>6457612>Do not address the WELLSPRING of BITCHING. It is time to GET YOUR NARWHAL BACK.
>>6457612>Do not address the WELLSPRING of BITCHING. It is time to GET YOUR NARWHAL BACK.She really is shark hot..
>>6457621>>6457622>>6457628>>6457727>>6457729>Do not address the WELLSPRING of BITCHING. It is time to GET YOUR NARWHAL BACK.It was about time you got to work for today, though certainly not because this SHRIMP held any sway over you. Without another word, you rose to your STOMPERS and reviewed your TOOLS OF COMPULSION, a necessary accoutrement for any pioneer. While DWARVEN HIDE was resilient enough to weather many punishments, only a fool beast would engage the creatures of the caverns with their bare hands. Which was the purpose of your ARGON BAG with its grand total of THREE BOMBS. Your newly made SEAR BOMB, a bomb not-so-helpfully labeled with CATCH THIS, and one cryptically imprinted with the word, FUNNY. At least one of these was of obvious use. Your main weapon was the LONG TUSK. A stout, heavy and square applicator of contempt. Its size is deceiving of its capabilities. It is better to demonstrate than to explain, but to explain requires an example. Better not to waste this tool’s temper, either. All of dwarfenkind’s finest crafts are not merely unthinking servants, after all.Though, to put it simply, to calling the LONG TUSK a SWORD would be TECHNICALLY CORRECT, but still lacking. It does have an edge that cuts, but its true purpose is one of a RUNIC FORCE APPLICATOR. A rune of power is scribed upon its STRIKER section, and another is scribed upon the COIL section. The coil launches the striker out, the rune upon the striker is affected upon impact, and then RUNIC INVERSION of the coil retrieves the applicator, while also retrieving the rune by nature of the process of inversion. The Runic Inverse is by far the most precious piece of the contraption- it makes the LONG TUSK able to be used repeatedly, launched and withdrawn over and over again, rather than only once, even at the cost of making the tool MOODY.Being a RUNIC APPLICATOR, the STRIKER has a RUNE carved upon it. You, of course, recall what it is…don’t you?>Write in a single EVOCATIVE verb or trait that has been RUNICALLY IMBUED to the STRIKER or the STRICKEN upon impact. Be warned- the more POWERFUL or COMPLEX the rune the higher the chance of FIZZLING, and the effect of the rune, wherever it is applied, is by nature is REVERSED upon WITHDRAWAL. CARVE is SIMPLE and FOCUSED for example. Won't be updating tomorrow.>>6457621>how do we keep time down here?For the purposes of being GENIUSES OF INDUSTRY, Dwarves are innately capable of PRECISION TIMEKEEPING and TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT through material traits of minute crystals in their nervous system and able to modify circadian rhythm at will. This means that if a dwarf is late to work they are DOING IT ON PURPOSE, but GEOCHAOTIC MINERALS have unpredictable effects on said crystals...
>>6458029You are so fucking based it's unreal
>>6458029>DISSOLUTION!!!Or Dissolve, but Dissolution sounds cooler.
>>6458029For the rune I choose >QUAKING
>>6458033Dangerous in a cave system.>>6458029>>6458032 +1
>>6458029>FATIGUE
>>6458029>FUMBLE or LOOSEGRIP or DISARMThink about it, if the enemy dropped their weapon, we can take it, and when we invert the rune they can't re-arm themselves. Plus if we use FUMBLE they can fall or slip on cave moss or whatever.
>>6458029>>6458033So>QUAKEEssentially?
>>6458032>>6458033>>6458108>>6458111>>6458143>>6458162>Quake>DissolutionThe LONG TUSK has inscribed upon the essence of its steel striking edge a RUNE of BREAK. Such a force empowers it to send a SHATTERING SHOCKWAVE through whatever it impacts- a dangerous proposition in these caverns, if poorly aimed. However, one must also remember the RUNIC INVERSION PROCESS. Whatever is shattered will not remain so if the LONG TUSK is WITHDRAWN.Your TOOL OF COMPULSION is thus accounted for- the power of a BREAK rune is such, however, that there is an uncertain chance of FIZZLING, failing to activate or performing unpredictably, but not one greater than it working as intended. As for the thing to get your pick back from…A BLEMSTONN is a questionably sapient creature, a rock man with no head, and as the saying goes, no brains either. It can speak, but does not say anything intelligent, and their brutish and greedy yet arrogant nature makes them UTTERLY UNREASONABLE, like dealing with a petulant child with monstrous strength and durability. However, they can pass through stones like they move through air, and in the process, bring RICHES from within the stones along their trail, making them, unfortunately, a NET BENEFIT to mining operations. Suffice it to say, you probably could not DESTROY this creature even if you wanted to, but you do need to RETRIEVE the NARWHAL from its STUPID DOME.Fighting with it may be a given, however, despite being greedy and proud as they are stupid and thus immune to diplomacy, their ROCKLIKE STUPIDITY makes them vulnerable to BEING TRICKED. >Plan to AGGRESS UPON IT. It UNRIGHTEOUSLY holds your PROPERTY, which means it needs an ASS KICKING.>Attempt to ENGAGE IN DIPLOMACY, as pointless as it may be. It might lead to an avenue to TRICK THE STUPID BASTARD.>If you are to BEAT ITS HEAD IN, you might not be able to do so by yourself. Attempt to SOLICIT AID.>Write-In.
>>6458706>Attempt to ENGAGE IN DIPLOMACY, as pointless as it may be. It might lead to an avenue to TRICK THE STUPID BASTARD.Good place to start.
>>6458706>Attempt to ENGAGE IN DIPLOMACY, as pointless as it may be. It might lead to an avenue to TRICK THE STUPID BASTARD.Well, since tricking them is the way...
>>6458706>Attempt to ENGAGE IN DIPLOMACY, as pointless as it may be. It might lead to an avenue to TRICK THE STUPID BASTARD.
>>6458706>Attempt to ENGAGE IN DIPLOMACY
>>6458706So it's a pick that can break or mend? Neat!>>6458706>Attempt to ENGAGE IN DIPLOMACY, as pointless as it may be. It might lead to an avenue to TRICK THE STUPID BASTARD.
>>6458727>>6458904>>6459014>>6459026>>6459113>Attempt to ENGAGE IN DIPLOMACY, as pointless as it may be. It might lead to an avenue to TRICK THE STUPID BASTARD.Sometimes, VIOLENCE is not the answer. Usually when trying such a thing would lose or break something you’d rather keep in one piece, like a GEM or a SKULL. Or, such as in this case, when a creature is not built for dealing with non-violent solutions. BLEMSTONN are not known as particular dangers, after all, rather than irritants. No miner worth the crystal of his headlamp would admit to being obstructed by a literal rock. You return to where you know this Blemmstonn to be lurking, absentmindedly searching for trinkets that are not locked away within rock. Unable to comprehend their own powers of EARTH-SHIFT, it is no wonder that the only reason they don’t die of idiocy is because they’re too damn tough.With a hail, you demand its attention. DWALIN URIST RONNI INGVALDUR NURY THE FIFTEENTH speaks, and the stones listen-“HA HA.” The idiot makes a booming, craggy chortle at you. “FUNNY SHORTY.”You make the case for MUTUAL BENEFIT. The rock just has to return your pick to you, and surely-“POINTY DIGGY THING IS MINE!” It whines in a booming rumble. “YOU TRY TO BREAK ME, BUT TOO WEAK. YOU HAVE TO FIGHT ME FOR IT, HA HA. TOO CHICKEN TO. HA HA. BOCK BOCK BOCK.”Did you have to fight? Surely you could agree on a cultured resolution to-“POOR STUPID LITTLE SHORTY. NO DIGGY. NO GIRLIES. NO SOFT BODIES TO PUT BIG HANDS ON. BECAUSE GIRLIES DON’T LIKE CHICKENS. SHOULD ASK BIG MANLY ROCK FOR HELP. HA HA. YOU MAKE FUNNY NOISE LIKE SHROOM BUG, SHOULD SMASH AND EAT YOU LIKE ONE.”Most PIONEERS do not bother engaging these droll lumps of sapient sediment in extended conversation. Mostly because they get bored of anything that last longer than a sentence unless you have SOMETHING IT WANTS.>Alright, that’s enough. This thing needed to be put in its place. [ATTACK]>Yes, yes, you were big chicken and couldn’t fight for things. That was why you were here to make a GENEROUS TRADE for your gear back. [What do you want to trade?]>Attempt to PARALYZE its limited cognition with a LOGIC CHALLENGE. That should make retrieving the Narwhal EFFORTLESS…as long as it bothers to engage with it. [Come up with some riddle or puzzle.]>Write-In.>>6459113>So it's a pick that can break or mend?The mechanism of RUNIC INVERSION is only applied on withdrawal after impact and runic application. So it only mends after breaking.
>>6459188>Attempt to PARALYZE its limited cognition with a LOGIC CHALLENGE. That should make retrieving the Narwhal EFFORTLESS…as long as it bothers to engage with it. [Come up with some riddle or puzzle.]>What's brown and sticky?
>>6459417Clever, it's probably never seen a stick.>>6459188>Attempt to PARALYZE its limited cognition with a LOGIC CHALLENGE. That should make retrieving the Narwhal EFFORTLESS…as long as it bothers to engage with it. [Come up with some riddle or puzzle.]>What's brown and sticky?Call him dumb, and say right away (befroe eh can smash us) that if he isn't dumb, he'll answer a question, and bet the tusk on it. And attacking us just counts as admitting he's too dumb to answer the question.
>>6459417>>6459462>Attempt to PARALYZE its limited cognition with a LOGIC CHALLENGE. That should make retrieving the Narwhal EFFORTLESS…as long as it bothers to engage with it. [What is brown and sticky?]A Blemmstonn’s PRIDE, when combined with sheer IDIOCY, is its critical weak point. In spite of not caring about knowing much, none would ever admit to ignorance. So attacking one with a RIDDLE was a surefire way to trap it.First off, the bait. You call the big rock the fool it is. Unless-“BIG TALK FOR PANCAKE.”UNLESS, you raise your volume, it could answer a riddle that proves the worthiness of a PIONEER. Catering to its NATURAL GREED, you offer the LONG TUSK as compensation for proving you wrong.“YOU MUST BE DUMB ONE. BUT OKAY. NICE STUNTY GIVING ME ALL HIS STUFF, HA HA.”What is brown, and sticky?“POOP. I WIN.”No.“UH.”He stands there, obliviously staring into the distance, before sitting down. A subterranean creature such as him has no idea what wood is, or a STICK. Moissan Dwarves do not bring such things down, after all.
…Come to think of it, you don’t really know how you know what a stick is, given that you have no memory of ever being to the surface, but it is not anything to be concerned with. What is of most concern is the NARWHAL.Tugging it out is a waste of time. You just utilize the same method used to get it stuck in the first place. No harm done. To you.As for this butthead, he'd walk it off.
Now. It’s time to get to-“It’s about time!” A shrill high pitch intones from beside. “That guy smelled terrible! You left me with him and just ambled off to drink coffee or scratch your butt or whatever you do when you're not working! You’re awful, Durin!”The life of a pioneer echoes with annoyances, it seems. Yet MAGICAL ARTIFACTS are often MOODY, and the NARWHAL is no different when it comes to the core (a FEY HORN made into a DRILLING BITER) that drives its immense power, for its point can chew through near anything and its spinning casts waste-rock to a void, obviating any need for laborious clearance done with a spade.As long as the pickaxe can be MOTIVATED. Right now it is SULKING. Not unexpected, but the Narwhal won’t work too well if it’s tired or upset- which usually only comes after a good day of digging. Much like any feminine entity you’ve encountered besides THE VOICE, it is also sort of a BITCH, and considering the abuse a Pioneer expects of tools, it would not be a good precedent to APOLOGIZE.>Tell the Narwhal to shut up and get with the program. It was its own fault it got stuck in the first place. It could stand to be more supportive all things considered.>Promise it a reward if it cooperates. You suppose it’s been a while since you cleaned and oiled it…>If you IGNORE IT like every other female voice save one, things will surely shake out. It just needed to be distracted with a good day’s labors. Also known as bashing it against rocks until it shuts up.>Write-In.
>>6460072>Write-In. (Give it a cleaning and oiling immediately)What type of laborer doesn't clean their equipment!Tools need taking care of if they're meant to take care of you.Especially after misplacing it like you have, you need to double, if not triple check that it is thoroughly taken care of and ready for work!
>>6460072>Promise it a reward if it cooperates. You suppose it’s been a while since you cleaned and oiled it…Let's give her a bath
>>6460111This
>>6460072>Promise it a reward if it cooperates. You suppose it’s been a while since you cleaned and oiled it…>A BATH.
>>6460111+1>>6460072
>>6460072I'll go with >>6460111
>>6460111supporting
>>6460072>>6460111+1
>>6460111>>6460116>>6460170>>6460195>>6460205>>6460213>>6460246>>6460264>Write-In. (Give it a cleaning and oiling immediately)Admittedly, you may have SLACKENED on taking care of this particular piece of kit. Perhaps this situation could have been avoided with DILIGENCE, whose best time to address was the present. Though the Narwhal’s FEY PROJECTION was not filthy, it was also not its present form anyways, being worked into a more machinery for a PURE PURPOSE.Which meant cleaning the thing was practically like giving the sapient element of it a bath. Best not to overthink such considering the WEIRD NOISES the projection could sputter out when it was getting a DEEP SWABBING. “Aghck!” It choked, “Don’t stick that in there without t-telling, hmmgghggh.”…“W-wait, hold on, right there, there’s uh, a spot that needs more scraping. N-not so hard!”Not so moody now, you harrumph to yourself as the suspension axle’s aft contacts were thoroughly polished and shined. You were a MOISSAN DWARF, and hardly needed the INSTRUCTION of your tool to know how to care for it.The Narwhal had made some squawking at being COMPENSATED with little warning, but by the end, you had a spic and span, well lubricated and tightly fit machine once more.“Wait, wait,” It whined as you gave it a few tests and its machinery hitched on nothing, “Fine, we’re square, but not so quick, sheesh! Let me have a bit before, er, you get me all dirty again.”Just a bit of time to settle. Best practice for the coating to cure, or something like that. It’d give you time to plan out where you’d prospect. Next time the Servant of the Voice came around, she’d be even bitchier if you had nothing to show for the day.>PROSPECT for MOISSANITE. The VOICE requires it so, and you have your digging implement once more to burrow your way into a vein.>Don’t rough up your Narwhal so quickly with a hard digging. Look for more MUNDANE MINERALS, since your arsenal could stand to be better filled.>Perhaps you did not need to DIG just yet. Explore the tunnel- there may be other RESIDENTS OF NOTE.>Write-In. Sorry for the delay I had to do a bunch of stuff the last few days
>>6462046>Don’t rough up your Narwhal so quickly with a hard digging. Look for more MUNDANE MINERALS, since your arsenal could stand to be better filled.
>>6462046>Don’t rough up your Narwhal so quickly with a hard digging. Look for more MUNDANE MINERALS, since your arsenal could stand to be better filled.Fine, let's ease her into it.
>>6462046>Perhaps you did not need to DIG just yet. Explore the tunnel- there may be other RESIDENTS OF NOTE.
>>6462046>Don’t rough up your Narwhal so quickly with a hard digging. Look for more MUNDANE MINERALS, since your arsenal could stand to be better filled.Lewd cleaning...
>>6462046>Don’t rough up your Narwhal so quickly with a hard digging. Look for more MUNDANE MINERALS, since your arsenal could stand to be better filled.Gotta get some for tomorrow's MORNING GULP
>>6462046>Don’t rough up your Narwhal so quickly with a hard digging. Look for more MUNDANE MINERALS, since your arsenal could stand to be better filled.Lewder cleaning.
>>6462070>>6462072>>6462073>>6462097>>6462104>>6462144>>6462186>Don’t rough up your Narwhal so quickly with a hard digging. Look for more MUNDANE MINERALS, since your arsenal could stand to be better filled.Resist the urge to refer to the tool as HER. Yes, the FEY HORN is that of a NEREID FEMALE, and the PROJECTION is thus the MANIFESTATION of its SPIRIT, but it is important not to be distracted in terms of CLASSIFICATION. Elsewise a lonesome dwarf’s partnership with his tools becomes STRAINED. Anyways. Having just given it a thorough cleaning and ensuring compliance for a good work day, you needed to START DIGGING. No need for strenuous mining, however, as you acquiesce to requests to let the Narwhal get accustomed to its new state, and utilize your PROSPECTING PICK to analyze the tunnel you awoke in. While you don’t quite remember how you came to be here, the HIGH HOLLOW is uniquely stuffed with different strata of minerals, so you were assuredly not just wasting time.The strata you currently are exploring is a SEDIMENTARY STRATA, rife with stone born of the wear and tear of elements followed by deep slumber, bearing of fossils and minerals and metals that precipitate out of water, dissolved from elsewhere and collected in place over millions of years. Such layers were sources of GOLD STRIKES in more surface-borne contexts, as minerals were worn off of older stone and deposited whence water, the implacable mover, took it. This might set the illusion of not being in a deep place, but the HIGH HOLLOW has DECEPTIVE GEOLOGY, where it is an assembly of many different strata placed chaotically above, below, and aside, for reasons you cannot recall but have an inkling of a feeling is due to GEOCHAOS. As much unknown can be attributed to.A scrape test of nearby stone gives you easy indications of PHOSPHORITE MUDSTONE and HEMATITE. Phosphorous and Iron ores. Or, to refer to them more roughly, BATSHIT and RUST. Useful industrial materials. Their Geomagics correspond to LIFE and FLAME. Another prospect leads to a possibility of GIBBSITE and GOETHITE- Bauxite, in short. Geomagically speaking, they correspond to DENSITY and FLAME. A third probe…there, the flash! How lucky to have found Gold, you might assume…but Gold is a GEOCHAOTIC ANCHOR, and thus not bearing of its own forces without IMBUEMENT. Which is what makes it such a valuable material in RUNIC TOOLS as well as WARDS. This is also just a small touch of it- anything more than a few grains would require sole focus upon it.>Mine out the Phosphorous and Iron ores for their Geomagical traits- LIFE could only be a useful element for your long-term survival.>Dig for DENSITY and FLAME- very utilitarian Geomagics, considering your environmentally destructive TUSK.>What could be more precious than GOLD? Immediately begin to exploit your good fortune and dig deep and greedily…>Write-In.
>>6462685>Dig for GOLDQuest name demands it.
>>6462685>Mine out the Phosphorous and Iron ores for their Geomagical traits- LIFE could only be a useful element for your long-term survival.Hmm, yes, I love a good cup of batshit and rust in the morning.Also lol at the nose bending from taking a closer look.
>>6462685>>What could be more precious than GOLD? Immediately begin to exploit your good fortune and dig deep and greedily…Go for Gold always
>>6462685>What could be more precious than GOLD? Immediately begin to exploit your good fortune and dig deep and greedily…You know I had to do it to em.
>>6462685Nuggets or chunks? I always go for the bigger rock.
>>6462847>>Mine out the Phosphorous and Iron ores for their Geomagical traits- LIFE could only be a useful element for your long-term survival.im tarded
>>6462685>>What could be more precious than GOLD? (HORN?)
>>6462737>6462811>>6462816>6462844>>6462852>6463070>What could be more precious than GOLD? Immediately begin to exploit your good fortune and dig deep and greedily…It would be a lie to say that the allure of the NOBLE and INCORRUPTIBLE element of AURUM is ever forsaken by any who have the means to reach it- and DWARF PIONEERS are able to REACH ANYTHING. So, you follow the glimmer into the stones. Unlike many Dwarven crafts, GOOD FORTUNE does not grow more potent with age, after all.Your Narwhal works admirably in clearing through the rock in the way of riches. Properly motivated by a shared cause in ACQUIRING FLASH, dust becomes flake, then the thin vein that leads to the LODE.With a crash through the last stones, pulverized by the Narwhal’s shattering and clearing functions that leave naught but precious ore and metal behind, the prize for your efforts lays upon the ground, glittering in headlamp-light. A compressed lump the length of a forearm, dense enough that the chance of encountering such made one never miss weight training for the opportunity to haul by oneself.The sight of it knocked loose from its surroundings and clanking to the ground only brings about one phrase, spoken while pointing in reassurance to the senses.
We’re rich.We’re rich.We’re rich.“What the hell are you doing?” The scratchy voice of an eternally stuffy nose demanded from behind, “You dug a whole new tunnel to babble to yourself? Have you found any Moissanite for Lady Holos in here, at least?”We’re rich.“What?”You repeat it as the indisputable and important fact that it is, pointing. We’re rich.“That is not moissanite. That is-”We’re rich.“Yes, yes, you’re rich-”We’re rich.“Stop it!”We’re rich.“You’ve got your pickaxe back if not your wits,” The Servant said, her sharp teeth grinding. “Almost a whole day gone. Not all for naught though. Perhaps this can be used in trade, even if this strata is not the way you must go. You ought to go and listen again, but Lady Holos will want for Moissanite.”We’re rich.
The sound of knocking rocks tumbling came from behind, and you paused. A cave-in? No, too small. You turned around and saw a heap of ORNRY having followed your tunnel, led by a GEMLIN, an example of their kind who has been empowered through GEOMAGICS and a GEMSTONE IMPLANT to lead their brethren as a self-proclaimed LORD OF STONES.“You there, scoundrel!” the Gemlin squeaks in its geomagically imbued plucking of air to imitate speech of a civilized person, “You disturb the sleep of the EMPEROR, and this cannot go unanswered for!” It gestured madly towards the giant gold nugget- it did not look particularly IMPERIAL to you, though it was certainly SPLENDID. Also, silent, and if in slumber apparently an extremely deep one. Most likely the Ornry and their leader were just STUPID.We’re rich.“Oh, good,” the Servant of the Voice hissed, “More idiots. Do you lot have Moissanite, or is there no reason at all to not reduce you to gravel?”The Narwhal could, of course, do such easily…if it were not WORN OUT from a HARD DAY’S WORK. You would have to resort to other means if you wished to do such a thing. Which, considering the attitude of the interloping rock-creatures, was non-negotiable.“The nerve of you commoners! The Ornry Empire shall rise over the bones of the likes of you! Make yourselves ready for battle, fiends, or make ready for the grave!”>You didn’t feel like FIGHTING. Draw your LONG TUSK and collapse the tunnel between you two.>Enlist the aid of the SERVANT for a BRAWL- this would be an OLD-FASHIONED SCUFFLE, then.>Hurl a COFFEE BOMB to OPEN HOSTILITIES HASTILY. [Write In which bomb to throw.]>Write-In
>>6464779>Hurl a COFFEE BOMB labeled with CATCH THIS to OPEN HOSTILITIES HASTILY.They may inherit the stones, but not its mineral rights.
>>6464900+1, and also tell them to catch this.>>6464779
>>6464779>Hurl a COFFEE BOMB labeled with CATCH THIS to OPEN HOSTILITIES HASTILY.>Make ready for COFFEE BOMB.
>>6464779>You didn’t feel like FIGHTING. Draw your LONG TUSK and collapse the tunnel between you two.Dude your art absolutely fucking rules wth>>6464900>>6465021>>6465588Specify which bomb, dingdongs
>>6465592…They ARE being specific, you hyperding turbodong. They’re throwing the bomb that’s labeled CATCH THIS that was mentioned with our equipment.
>>6465596Oh fucking fart you got my ass bad with that one I am illiterate and also a turboding hyperdong
>>6465605>”NO! I must inform the dingdongs,”>”No, anon. You are the dingdongs.”>And then, anon was a /qst/fag.Oh, completely forgot…+1 to >>6464900.
>>6464900>6465021>>6465588>6465592>>6465630>Hurl a COFFEE BOMB labeled with CATCH THIS to OPEN HOSTILITIES HASTILY.>Also tell them to catch this.A quick rustling through your ARGON BAG let you review your COFFEE BOMBS, one of which you would OPEN HOSTILITIES HASTILY with by hurling it forth with an IMPACT FUSE. The three you had were the Sear Bomb you made earlier, and two respectively labeled CATCH THIS and FUNNY. Not remembering what either of them could be, you judged CATCH THIS to be more potentially helpful than FUNNY, molding the moist grounds into a projectile in your gloves before pressing a fuse into it with your thumb. It rapidly hardened into the shape of a proper rounded projectile.Good thing this process only took a few moments. It meant these stupid pebbles had to figure out what you were doing before they realized you weren’t rolling over for them.CATCH THIS, you suggested loudly before hurling the bomb forth.“What are you-” The Servant managed to rasp out a moment before she saw the sphere leave your grip and she immediately ducked for what scant cover there was. “Idiot!”
The GEMLIN obediently caught the bomb with his FACE, where it stuck for just a moment before a hiss set the reaction going into a BURST of WATER. No- a moment later, it was obvious that this was no normal water, as everything that the liquid touched was RAPIDLY BURSTING into GOOP, like a CANDLE in a BLAST FURNACE, molten, vaporized, and blown apart all at once before any smart remark could be returned at you. This must have been a bomb of RUNIC AQUA REGIA, able to ravenously eat away ANYTHING far beyond any predictable appetite, and something ABSURDLY DEADLY to have labeled so flippantly.The Champions of this upstart warband of rocks were either reduced to slimy muck or half-melted, and it sent the rest of their unruly mob into a shrieking panic as they didn’t bother staying to find out what else you had ready for them. A crevice rapidly formed as the bomb’s supreme dissolvent carved gouges into the very ground from the puddles, and rapidly continued forth in boring a chaotic tunnel downwards. Of the main victim of the bombing, the leader and all of his equipment, there was NOTHING TO BE SEEN.
“You always were heavy handed, weren’t you,” the Servant growled critically as she poked at the newly made mud with her staff, it hissing and smoking in response. “If we could have pried that gem off that creeature’s head, it might have been something interesting, but it and the best others are naught but vomit in a bucket now. Tsk.” The EASE by which the situation was RESOLVED seemed to be a secondary consideration to LOOT. Considering the MASSIVE LODE you’d found, you weren’t much concerned about that for now. The main consideration was actually that you were, for the time being, RATHER STUCK. On one side of you was the tunnel you’d dug out and the rock faces all around. On the other was a smoking canyon of still-angry acid, which it was UNWISE to test the patience of. You had to wait for the NARWHAL to finish resting (the course of a standard creature’s need for sleep of EIGHT HOURS) or think of something else. Collapsing the tunnel made below, after all, could be quite UNPREDICTABLE. “So now what,” complained the Servant of the Voice, “You oaf, did you get me stuck down here with you? You’ll have Lady Holos angry with me, you rock-head!”That sounded like a personal problem. The question remained as for what you were going to do.>You didn’t remember the Servant of the Voice being USELESS. Could she not do something about this? Even if she’ll demand some sort of advance or unreasonable recompense…(MAKE AN OFFER)>There’s nothing to do but WAIT. Maybe you can pass the time CHATTING. (CHAT with WHOM, about WHAT)>When a DWARF is confined to a space with materials, what can he do but WORK? Fashion this LUMP OF GOLD into something, though without a WORKSHOP all you can do is HAMMER IT INTO ROUNDS.>Roll the dice on ESCAPING this situation EARLY. Collapse a portion of the tunnel into the AQUA REGIA with your LONG TUSK’s quake.>Write-In
>>6465767>When a DWARF is confined to a space with materials, what can he do but WORK? Fashion this LUMP OF GOLD into something, though without a WORKSHOP all you can do is HAMMER IT INTO ROUNDS.Though if the Servant wants to talk about Lady Holos, we might listen. Half-listen.
>>6465767>>When a DWARF is confined to a space with materials, what can he do but WORK? Fashion this LUMP OF GOLD into something, though without a WORKSHOP all you can do is HAMMER IT INTO ROUNDS.Well, glad that got dealt with. Time to fashion this GOLD
>>6465767>“You always were heavy handed, weren’t you,” the Servant growled critically as she poked at the newly made mud with her staff, it hissing and smoking in response. “If we could have pried that gem off that creeature’s head, it might have been something interesting, but it and the best others are naught but vomit in a bucket now. Tsk.”Then maybe you should require bombs to be labeled with something more descriptive than CATCH THIS.>Roll the dice on ESCAPING this situation EARLY. Collapse a portion of the tunnel into the AQUA REGIA with your LONG TUSK’s quake.
>>6465767>When a DWARF is confined to a space with materials, what can he do but WORK? Fashion this LUMP OF GOLD into something, though without a WORKSHOP all you can do is HAMMER IT INTO ROUNDS.>>6465784>ImageKek'd
>>6465767>When a DWARF is confined to a space with materials, what can he do but WORK? Fashion this LUMP OF GOLD into something, though without a WORKSHOP all you can do is HAMMER IT INTO ROUNDS.
>>6465778>>6465784>>6465786>>6465810>>6465870>When a DWARF is confined to a space with materials, what can he do but WORK? Fashion this LUMP OF GOLD into something, though without a WORKSHOP all you can do is HAMMER IT INTO ROUNDS.A confined space is simply a FORGE by any other name, though with no proper tools that a WORKSHOP would have, the amount of actual WORK you can do with the materials at hand is limited. Not a problem- you’d fashion this LUMP of GOLD from a CUMBERSOME LODE into ROUNDS, able to be easily carried, divided, traded, and more. They wouldn’t be fancy, but any self-respecting dwarf such as yourself could make them neat and orderly. Mind set on ignoring any further BITCHING, you began to beat away at your find to flatten, stretch, and pinch it away. A CAMPFIRE made from a TABLET STOVE would not melt, but that was not your intention anyways. The SERVANT, unable to raise her voice above the CLANGING and BEATING of metal, seemed to go off to sulk in a corner. Even after you were done, she sat around buried in her robe, presumably having lost any meaning in life if she couldn’t be an irritant. As for yourself, you now have TWO SACKS of FIFTY GOLD ROUNDS. The difference, naturally, being that as you lack permission from the MINTNER MAGISTRATE to issue CURRENCY, a ROUND is merely valued by the materials that constitute it. Not that anybody down here would recognize a BANK anyways.…What were you going to do with this gold, again? You had an odd feeling that you could not go back if you wanted to, but couldn’t remember exactly why.You’d have to SLEEP ON IT. Sleeping for you, like any dwarf, was simply a matter of FLIPPING a SWITCH in your mind. When your NATURAL RHYTHM woke you once more, the NARWHAL would be ready for operation after a good MORNING GULP. Then you could drive forth, downwards, once again.
……What were you dreaming about? You forgot so fast. It was back to the STONES now, which did NOT make a good bed no matter how easily you could will yourself to sleep. “You’re finally up, huh?” The Servant snarled from across the hole. Had she slept at all? Did she even need to sleep? You were half hoping for a quiet morning. “Good. Hurry up and get ready to work. I’ve got places to be, and that pickaxe of yours is copying your conversational skills.” She tapped her staff against the rock wall near her. “Dig here and down. There’s a GEOCHAOS stratum down this way. A prime spot for Moissanite, which you have been lacking in delivery for THREE DAYS now. Lady Holos is patient as an angel with you, but not me, oh no…”Your attention had priorities right now. Coffee Grinder first. Then work. Quite possibly, after that, the Servant. Though you could think if you really wanted to strike into GEOCHAOS so soon. The ease of finding minerals rich in geomagical energies was matched by the quantity of dangerous and greedy creatures that sought the same thing as yourself…>Heed the Servant of the Voice; it was time to find MOISSANITE, danger be damned. You were tough enough, if not necessarily prepared enough.>You could save time and effort by going down tunnels already dug. Go down the crevice you melted through the floor, and see what you find.>More resources had to be gathered. Go to a prior PROSPECT and seek out more mineral resources.>Write-In.Also->Brew your MORNING GULP. You can use up to two minerals, or one. Your current minerals are: CHERT, ACICULAR SPEKKIOSPAR, and GOLD. You may WRITE-IN an alternative, but it is not guaranteed to have ANY PARTICULAR RESULT.
>>6467415Image reposted now without the seizure risk.
>>6467416>Heed the Servant of the Voice; it was time to find MOISSANITE, danger be damned. You were tough enough, if not necessarily prepared enough.>brew with Chert and GoldA nice blonde roast.
>>6467457I will +1 this, seems like a solid plan to me
>>6467416>>6467457Great idea.
>>6467416>>6467457Supporting.Does it matter which ingredients we choose in terms of well-being / buffs for Durin XV or is it purely an effect choice for Coffee Bombs?
>>6467457>>6467416That's a +1 from me too. Lets give it a shot
>>6467895>Does it matter which ingredients we choose in terms of well-being / buffs for Durin XV or is it purely an effect choice for Coffee Bombs?The MORNING GULP is the MOST IMPORTANT and often ONLY imbibement of the day, so it is CRITICALLY NECESSARY for PEAK PERFORMANCE, but the actual INPUT is of little consequence. The nature of the grounds being what is left over and undrinkable, after all. In short, it is the latter, besides the TASTE EXPERIENCE of a GOURMAND. Or anybody that may share.As an aside, sorry about the long delays, but things have been messy and I've been distracted lately. I'll be back to something resembling a better pace on TUESDAY.
>>6469323Totally okay QM. Thanks for running! Your art and world-building are both very good.
>>6469323Ye, it's fine. Looking forward to the next update. Thanks for the Morning Gulp clarification.
>>6467457>>6467462>>6467854>>6467895>>6467932Turned out to be Thursday, no comment. The drawing muscle just wasn't up for it.>Heed the Servant of the Voice; it was time to find MOISSANITE, danger be damned. You were tough enough, if not necessarily prepared enough.>Brew with Chert and GoldThe TWIRLY TWIRLING of the day’s commencement begins, the luxurious addition of GOLD being added, though you knew not what the COFFEE MAKER would do with it. It grinds like anything else, but when you take your GULP, it is NOTABLY SMOOTHER and MORE POTENT. As GOLD lacks its own GEOMAGICAL TRAITS but is able to BIND THEM well, you ascertain that these grounds, imbued with CHERT’s trait of FORCE makes the bomb formed of these things one of EMPOWERED FORCE.To put it bluntly, it takes the term “throwing a punch” and makes it quite literal. >EMPOWERED FORCE Coffee Bomb ObtainedBelow, then, to the GEOCHAOS stratum. Other strata are quite predictable- IGNEOUS strata are made up of volcanic rock and magma flow, SEDIMENTARY strata are settling grounds and homes of water, while METAMORPHIC strata are places of ancient realms of change and growth, but GEOCHAOTIC strata are utterly unpredictable, and may have traits of most ANYTHING. This makes them the best place to find MOISSANITE, the most GEOMAGICAL of any mineral, which are ever found in places where such energies are most concentrated. The warping of minerals such strata does also warps creatures, as well. This makes the strata quite DANGEROUS, and no sane natives would be found there like in other stratum.“The stratum’s resonance is to two-seven-five and one-three-six from this position. Don’t pretend to be off.” The Servant prodded the stone wall, then you. “It’s not too far. Be ready for a fight, and don’t get laid out too quickly. I’ll need time to get any help ready…”A straight angle from your arm, and your MOISSAN DWARF senses gave you the proper angle, even if the depth would be unknown. Not Far to the Servant meant you might not wear out your Narwhal that quickly. Something it noticed when you gave it a few testing swings and guards that were decidedly useless against stone.“Goin’ in swinging? Well, don’t get me stuck again. I forgot how hard you crack that whip, y’know. Like gold an’ rocks are all that matters. Hmph.”It ought to have known that there was no better work than this, and was in no place to COMPLAIN, as you did RECALL that the Narwhal’s projection was rather fond of GOLD COFFEE, and the stuff being too dense for only one single nourishing gulp, the leftovers were the tool’s as to not WASTE. You spun it up and began the trek through, the Servant hobbling behind at a careful distance, even as every shard and splinter of stone was displaced by the Narwhal’s geomagic warp sorter, only loosed at your will.---
You’d bored deep into Geochaotic strata, the HUNGRY STONE looming all about in its dark eminence, patches of it reflecting light and glittering while others soaked it up like a sponge of night. All of it felt AWARE and DREAMING. Following the coordinates the SERVANT OF THE VOICE gave you, you’d break through quite soon…with the NARWHAL only a bit tuckered out.“Something’s fighting,” the Servant said with a nasally sneer, sensing it through the ground somehow “Good. Maybe it’ll distract everything around and we can get the Moissanitee and leave…try to be subtle with this last bit.”No reason to BUST ON THROUGH with that sort of suspicion. You carved away the remainder carefully until a hole crumbled through- then pushed the rest of the way through with HAMMER AND CHISEL. You stepped through into the GEOCHAOS- crackling and brooding both, and looked down a fork of IMPERIALESQUE TUNNELS, the wall between them already catching the eye with the twinkling light of MOISSANITE beckoning through stone, twenty paces up the wall.True to the Servant’s word, down the left tunnel echoed the sounds of some FIERCE BATTLE. The earth RUMBLED with impacts made against walls and floor, and the sound of furious roars and impacts against stone echoed through the cavern. Whatever was fighting had found an EVEN MATCH.The MOLE that you were keeping in your things, which you honestly COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT until this very moment, suddenly decided to move out without forewarning. It scrambled down the other way through the caves, scrambling from stone to stone towards some ODD LIGHT, on the move. What it was or what the mole was interested in, you had NO IDEA.Only that you could only do ONE THING at once, and DELAYING the chance to mine might cause something else to WANDER ALONG when you returned from another whim.>Get the MOISSANITE. An opportunity like this is rare, and you won’t pass it up for any DISTRACTIONS. Least of all ones with NO BREASTS. >Investigate the FIGHTING. Perhaps something you liked might need help- or two things needing a BEATING would find out that you were destined for VICTORY.>Follow the WAYWARD MOLE, even if you knew not where it would go, surely a cave creature would not run so brazenly in such a DANGEROUS STRATA without good reason.>Write-In.
>>6470841>Get the MOISSANITE. An opportunity like this is rare, and you won’t pass it up for any DISTRACTIONS. Least of all ones with NO BREASTS.Gotta lock in! Goodbye sweet mole!
>>6470841>Get the MOISSANITE. An opportunity like this is rare, and you won’t pass it up for any DISTRACTIONS. Least of all ones with NO BREASTS.>(Write-In) Send the Servant to investigate where the ODD LIGHT is coming from.
>>6470841>Follow the WAYWARD MOLE, even if you knew not where it would go, surely a cave creature would not run so brazenly in such a DANGEROUS STRATA without good reason.>(Write-In) Send the Servant to investigate where the ODD LIGHT is coming from.
>>6470841>Get the MOISSANITE. An opportunity like this is rare, and you won’t pass it up for any DISTRACTIONS. Least of all ones with NO BREASTS.>>6470962>>6471139Interesting write-in for the Servant, supporting that.
>>6470962supporting
>>6470873>>6470962>>6471139>>6471211>>6473025>Get the MOISSANITE. An opportunity like this is rare, and you won’t pass it up for any DISTRACTIONS. Least of all ones with NO BREASTS.>(Write-In) Send the Servant to investigate where the ODD LIGHT is coming from.Your task was of course to get the MOISSANITE for the VOICE. This, you could do by yourself, especially with no interference. Which meant that REDUNDANCIES had to MAKE THEMSELVES USEFUL. You commanded the SERVANT OF THE VOICE to PURSUE THE MOLE and investigate the ODD LIGHT at the end of the tunnel.“No.” She spat. “Who do you think you are? You do not command me, dwarf. Precisely where on the pole do you think you are? I am the Servant of the Voice, not Servant of whatever smelly gravel brain rock breaker who needs to delegate mole chasing as some vital task.”You see how it is. You promise VAGUE COMPENSATION for what you are certain is something worth investigating considering the Stratum this oddity is on.“Half of that gold you spent all night pounding out,” she said, “That isn’t payment. That is what I will need to ensure anything at all comes about from this. You had best come up with something good or I will decide for you what I take for this.”One thing you remembered with PERFECT CLARITY was the terrible price of FEMALE EXISTENCE. Their propensity to always TAKE YOUR GOLD for their own. You had no choice but to quiet any protest, as the Servant’s MYSTERIOUS SORCERY took a sack of gold from your things and placed it into her grasp as though it had been there all along.The Servant went away at a leisurely pace, but when you looked away and looked back, she was already gone, even though looking away for only a moment should have had her only taking a few steps. Part of her SORCERY was that she moved VERY QUICKLY when NOT OBSERVED. That was much of what little you knew of her abilities, since otherwise, you had little idea how she SURVIVED in these caverns being so diminutive, without POTENT MAGICKS.
Without distractions, you quickly got to work. The remainder of the Narwhal’s energy was spent extracting the MOISSANITE from the cavern wall, chopping your way up to it then freeing it from its GEOCHAOTIC PRISON. With a loud grunting cry of victory, you claimed the radiant, sparkling lump of crystal, uncut yet still glimmering- if one were to carve at it, it would become SPARKLING AS A STAR. Its GEOMAGICKS thrummed against your BONES- Lady Holos would be PLEASED INDEED. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLGFGHrFD98This chunk was gotten with so little trouble as well…was there any reason for you to remain here? After all, the FIGHTING seemed to have reached a conclusion, the LIGHT had faded, and your tunnel to escape back up was well intact. There would be no better opportunity to SPLIT without any further risk. Additionally, though Lady Holos desired Moissanite so much, with this much you could potentially CREATE SOMETHING, should you find PROPER TOOLS…>EXTRICATE yourself from the GEOCHAOS Stratum. It was a rare day to venture into a place like this and get so much for so little effort. Go WHENCE YOU CAME.>Pursue the SERVANT down the other tunnel whence she was sent. CURIOSITY compelled you, though certainly not particular CONCERN.>Write-In
>>6473141>Pursue the SERVANT down the other tunnel whence she was sent. CURIOSITY compelled you, though certainly not particular CONCERN.I miss our mole
>>6473141>Pursue the SERVANT down the other tunnel whence she was sent. CURIOSITY compelled you, though certainly not particular CONCERN.
>>6473141>Pursue the SERVANT down the other tunnel whence she was sent. CURIOSITY compelled you, though certainly not particular CONCERN.Find the mean lady.
>>6473141>Pursue the SERVANT down the other tunnel whence she was sent. CURIOSITY compelled you, though certainly not particular CONCERN.We need to retrieve the mole. This is imperative.
>>6473393>>6473395>>6473402>>6473562>Pursue the SERVANT down the other tunnel whence she was sent. CURIOSITY compelled you, though certainly not particular CONCERN.MOISSANITE in hand, you set off…to retrieve a dirty, small, and thoroughly self-interested creature that you cannot bear to be rid of. No, not the Servant of the Voice, but your ERSTWHILE CAVE MOLE. Setting off in pursuit down the tunnel whence you had the Servant pursue, you charged forth seeking the now faded MYSTERIOUS LIGHT. Of course, this may be UNWISE, considering that your all-obliterator Narwhal is thoroughly KNACKERED from the effort of today. The creatures of GEOCHAOS are not to be underestimated, and you lack the BRUTE STRENGTH to contest one in battle without being at least SOMEWHAT CLEVER or DAFTLY DARING. Especially since Moissanite is coveted by most every creature anywhere, especially in the form you hold it, before any force has laid greasy, taming hands upon it, a lump of PURE and ENORMOUS POTENTIAL. Your headlamp remained the only light with each tromping step, eerily, the only sound being that and the jangling of your equipment and shifting of barrel pack as well. A sound heard next cooled the blood- the eerie beauty of an alien cello reverberating from the walls, accompanied by the enchanting buzz of a similarly strange flute.
The song of a CAVE SINGER, which was no player of conventional instruments, but a BEASTLY ARTHROPOD, said to be the nymph of a terrifying monstrosity whose eruption from the underground in their swarms would mark the end of an age…but they were as RARE as they were DEADLY, single-minded in their purpose of EATING and GATHERING GEOMAGICAL ENERGIES, adept in weaponizing their SONG and seeking out prey with SENSITIVE and PRECISE HEARING, necessary from OVERELIANCE on that sense making them easy to hide out of sight from, more from them simply not looking at anything closely than having appreciable levels of blindness.What was the advisable thing to do? Well, from what you remembered, it was to ABSCOND. Cave Singers, while ordinarily solitary, were known to draw one another together when they played the HAUNTING MELODY OF HUNTING, and where one Cave Singer’s song was fearsome, the more who could play, the more fearsome they were, their sense of teamwork as deadly with their scythes and mandibles as much as their coordination in performance. Despite appearing to be MERELY INSECTOID, their carapaces and underlying tissue were also VERY STURDY.The song played from behind- and was getting closer. It had most certainly heard you…so what to do, then?>Nothing to be done but to PREPARE FOR A BRAWL. No oversized undergrown bug would be the end of a Moissan Dwarf Pioneer as yourself, no matter a lack of a suitable arsenal.>Anything behind you could be obstructed with the QUAKE RUNE of your LONG TUSK, however, the runic inversion in withdrawing the blade would promptly UN-COLLAPSE any damage, so you would at least temporarily be making it useless for anything ahead…>RUN AWAY like a WUSS. Creatures of Geochaos rarely cooperated across species, so you might hope that the MYSTERIOUS MOLE LIGHT would hate the bug more than you…and perhaps you will catch up with the Servant who may be of some SMALL HELP.>Write-In
>>6474843>RUN AWAY like a WUSS. Creatures of Geochaos rarely cooperated across species, so you might hope that the MYSTERIOUS MOLE LIGHT would hate the bug more than you…and perhaps you will catch up with the Servant who may be of some SMALL HELP.Fuck no scary bug this rock is MINE!!!!!
>>6474843>RUN AWAY like a WUSS. Creatures of Geochaos rarely cooperated across species, so you might hope that the MYSTERIOUS MOLE LIGHT would hate the bug more than you…and perhaps you will catch up with the Servant who may be of some SMALL HELP.But for the record, we're running away like an ATHLETE and a TACTICIAN, ackshully.
