Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
3!
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Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 11:44 pm
Post 2/2 for Actual Mining! I
There was a simple peace in mining. It came between the strikes, when the pickax was at the height of its swing. It came in the calm, deep roaring of the wind overhead. It came in the dirt that fell off of the ores and stones as they were being brushed. It came in the simple movements in between major shifts in work. It did not come from miners cursing their poor luck for a terrible haul.
Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
5!
Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 11:51 pm
Post 2/2 for Actual Mining! I
As Bast dragged up another haul, she fell to her knees in mock despair. With a cry of exaggerated anguish, she threw her fists toward the sky and shook them, casting aspersions at the heavens that would dare to give her poor mining results.
"Why, why have you abandoned me, gods?!" she exclaimed, voice trembling dramatically. "I may be just a humble miner, but are you so callous to the plight of the worker that you can't even glance my way? Is a person's worth really decided by the sum of their efforts, or is it nothing but the cruel callousness of an unfeeling god's whims?"
That being said, she actually dug up more than she had during her last trip, so she wasn't too mad.
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Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
1!
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 6:13 pm
Post 7/7 for Refinement
At last, a note came! And it contained a seal! And some schematics! And a strange box! How lovely. Bast read the note over eagerly, then folded it into her notebook and sent a clone down to continue mining. After it was off to work, she took up the schematics.
"A battery using orichalcum instead of acid? What a novel idea," she commented to herself. "I just wonder if we have anyone who can make them. Same with the Gelel battery. Oh, I guess this means I should send him one of these stones..." So saying, she pulled out of her pocket a Gelel Stone of the rough size and weight demanded by the schematics and tossed it onto a pile. "This hoverboard looks like the old sand wind surfers we had back in my day, albeit with a much more... modern feel. I could probably get something similar up and working in not too much time, now that I think of it. If I had a sail and board both infused with wind marbles, then a weight reduction marble at the junction, it would probably be able to carry a person. Perhaps I'll talk with someone about the idea later. It could be worth looking into. I'll need to send out this shipment first, though."
Bast pondered this idea for a moment more, made a note of it, and then had the Princess go through and skim her share of the resources off the top of the piles. At the same time, she helped her clone sort through the newest haul, manually taking off her own portion of the goods. The clone looked somewhat tired, so after the job was done, she dispersed it. Based on what she could remember of their uses in variable marble creation, she made sure to gather different amounts of each substance. When all that was said and done, she sent the main load through Masahiro's seal, her own haul to her residence, and then reveled in the open space.
Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
17!
Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 9:23 pm
Post 7/7 for Refinement
After sleeping soundly throughout the night without even a hint of a disturbance from below, Bast woke up. Sand covered her clothes, but she hardly noticed it. The first day after a day full of mining was rough, as she found out.
"My back hurts," she complained to the unresponsive gathering of golems around her as Mononoke served her a breakfast of bread and fruit. "I can't imagine how much this would suck if I had to bring everything up by hand. Just chipping away at the walls and sorting things is bad enough."
When she was done, she made sure to tear up the fruit's peel into tiny shreds and bury it in the desert. Then, she grabbed her pickax and headed down into the mine. She picked a new spot along one of the walls and got to work.
The previous night had been calm. Just before the sun went down, she had the Hoatzins drop down into the sand to form a sealed dome over her. Doing so trapped the heat in and kept her warm enough to fall asleep easily. Of course, come morning, even the inside of her makeshift tent had gotten cold, but with the wind blocked it wasn't quite as bad. Her golems had kept watch all night, and in the morning reported nothing out of the ordinary. Who knew that sleeping in the bloody Red Sands would be so comfortable?
As the miner followed the Princess out of the mine during the last load, she realized the pain on her forehead had gone away overnight. Possibly sooner, since she quickly realized she didn't remember feeling it the evening prior. Just to continue to get used to it, she re-cast it on herself.
She was off to a good start. This haul had been fairly fruitful, with some Gelel and even some diamond in it. She sorted through the materials quickly and set aside her own portion.
((Bast claims: Gelel, 0.25; diamond, 0.125.))
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Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
10!
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 9:55 pm
Post 2/2 for Actual Mining! I
As the sun started to rise on the horizon, the sands started to heat up as well. The inside of the mine stayed relatively cool, but it would not be long until the sun was high enough to start scorching the entrance. Bast took this opportunity to work near the opening, knocking chunks out of a wall that would soon start heating in the desert sunlight. After knocking away a fair amount, she realized she wasn't getting much in the way of orichalcum. She dug through the uncleaned materials and claimed her stake, taking some of the most common samples. Coal would be useful in setting up a forge, while limestone might prove useful in glass making, if her memory served.
((Bast takes: 10 lbs. coal, 8 lbs. limestone.))
Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
8!
Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 10:02 pm
Post 2/2 for Actual Mining! I
Continuing her earlier train of thought, Bast tapped away at some of the uppermost parts of the mine. This time she had picked a spot just inside the entrance, placing her head level with the ground. The rock around here was poor, she realized. As she tapped away, she spotted very little orichalcum. There was plenty of limestone, though, so she had the Princess set that in her pile. She also grabbed some quartz as well, just in case she needed it for a variable marble at a later date.
((Bast takes: 6 lbs. limestone, 1 lbs. quartz.))
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Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
14!
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 10:10 pm
Post 7/7 for Refinement
The day was getting a bit warm for Bast's liking. Though the wind continued to blow cold air over her, she was growing uncomfortable in the sunlight. She knew this would pass if she let her body adjust to the oncoming warmth, but since she was going to be mining all day, she didn't want to bother. She headed deeper into the mine, found a promising spot, and started to mine away. Almost immediately, she realized this spot was much better than her previous ones. It yielded a high amount of orichalcum with every swing, which was what she was looking for.
As Bast followed the Princess out, she noticed the pain in her forehead fade. Getting tired of renewing it every so often, she sat down and re-cast it once she was in the shade of the Hoatzins, then added a Tebanasu Fuuin to extend it. With this, she didn't have to worry about it fading away without her noticing. It was going to stay for the whole day, whether she liked it or not. The dull pain sat near the center of her forehead benignly, holding her perspective steady. Truly, she would have to look into what it was actually doing when she returned to the Village.
The sorting and cleaning of mined materials went as it always did: slowly. It almost felt like it was deliberately moving slower than normal, but that was only because the shadows were moving more due to how early it was. Bast made sure to stop and take a drink of tea every once in a while, but even that did little to lighten her mood. The giddiness of the prior day's work had passed. In its place sat a dreary, dutiful silence. Maybe it was getting to be time to go home, Bast thought. Suna's debt to Konoha had not yet been repaid, though, so it wasn't like she could simply bail out of the job.
As she finished sorting the rocks, she realized she had not taken her share. She looked over the recent haul and decided to take some opal and some hematite.
((Bast takes: 0.25 lbs. opal, 7 lbs. hematite.))
Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
12!
Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 10:35 pm
Post 5/5 for Refinement
Bast felt like she was really getting into the swing of things now. Despite her poor disposition--or perhaps because of it--she was starting to pick up on the subtle details that marked a good spot or a bad spot. She picked up her pickax and swung it at the wall, pulling away a decently-sized chunk of orichalcum. This was a good enough spot, she determined. She swung away at the wall, knocking loose more and more chunks of rock and ore. Her back hurt, but it was starting to straighten itself out as she worked.
At about the time she started to head out of the mine to sort her findings, she started to wonder if she was ever going to return to the mine after filling this order. It seemed likely she would, given the availability of raw materials in it. The only problem was a little law in the Wind Country that dealt with land rights. She couldn't exactly come here on her own, mine away, and then take home all her findings. No, the majority had to go to the contractor, which was usually Suna itself. The only way she'd be able to use the materials she mined up was if she established a public materials storehouse of some sort and sent them there. Perhaps she would do just that when she got back. Then again, a workshop might be more appropriate. If it was just filed away in a materials storehouse, very little of this stuff would ever see the light of day again.
((Bast takes: 6 lbs. gypsum, 12 lbs. limestone.))
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Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
15!
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 10:57 pm
Post 5/5 for Refinement
Another good spot, this one was. Bast was on a roll. The pickax landed heavy against the rock walls. The Wind Country was unexpectedly bountiful. At the very least, this section of land was proving to be quite full of raw materials. If it had been discovered before so much blood had been spilled, it may not have even been named the Red Sands. "Orichalcum Plains" might have been its name, or "Resource Drop". "The Sands of Plenty" was a mouthful, but it at least rolled off the tongue better than "orichalcum" did. She would definitely recommend the Village build a permanent mining settlement here.
Still, there was the matter of the strange presence down below. If it were a living creature, it was definitely more lethargic than most she had encountered. If it were an ore or rock of some sort, she certainly wanted to get a look at it. Perhaps she would scout out the location later. There was nothing really stopping her, but it didn't make sense to waste working hours on something that frivolous. After all, if it turned out the feeling was just her imagination, she would have wasted a considerable amount of time.
((Bast takes: 0.25 lbs. silver, 0.5 lbs. opal.))
Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
21!
Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 11:08 pm
Post 5/5 for Refinement
The day was certainly heating up. It was quickly becoming hotter than even the day before, and at this point even the wind was starting to get a bit too warm for comfort. Bast took a swig from her jug of tea, then descended once more into the mines. It was significantly cooler down there. In fact, it was almost cold to the woman, as she had spent much of her life weathering hot days like this one on the surface. She took up her pickax, found a spot on the wall, and struck.
There were two things Bast thought were happening in the immediate aftermath of the swing, and only one of them wasn't terrible. The first one was that the mine was about to cave in. It was due to this thought that she immediately assimilated the steel of her headband. The second was that she had just discovered a yawning cavern just beneath her. This would have been preferable to the first, but still by no means ideal. It would have meant the mine was potentially unstable.
In reality, only one thing happened after the pickax struck: rocks fell away to reveal a hole in the wall. As the stones came to a rest on the ground, Bast peered into the darkness that lay behind them, bracing for impact. This was all very strange.
As Bastet continued to work and work her way through the vein and other materials, she would reach one physical end of the Vein of Orichalcum. Her attempt to find new materials or perhaps another vein of another material would find something very different, however. As the stone and earth began to fall away, she would find the corpse of a woman, clutching an, albeit smaller than pictured, chest that bore a large hole within one end. The stone at the opening would turn out to be the beginning of the Orichalc vein itself, and as the corpse collapsed forward to the ground, before her, the chest would bound open.
At first inspection, her eyes would be drawn to the scraps of clothing the woman, her kimono was frayed and made of black fabrics, bearing a slight shine resembling silk. Beyond this she wore a Haori, it, unlike the kimono was only sullied by the wear of time, but it was in it's original state would have obviously been white or silver in colour. The back of the Haori bore 9 Megatama, a symbol the woman known as Bastet would recognize from her studies of Ninshuu as the sign of a saint.
Her body was desiccated and his flesh was drawn taught, but well preserved as any mummified corpse would be. To the touch, no chakra would be or sight of any with the ability, her corpse would have no residual chakra within it.
The chest would fall from her crossed arms, the contents spilling out. Wrapped in fine purple silks that had withstood the ravages of time and the confines of the chest. Within was an item that seemed to hum with unforseen power. The item was a fan, set upon a simple handle, wrapped in white fabric. The feathers of the fan seemed to spread from the ring protrusion upon one end. The feathers upon it were bright in colouration, first red at the handle, then the midsection, long and widening, were wight, ending in the same crimson colour as the the feathers at the handle.
The item itself would bear semblance to something Bastet had seen in her past, but as of the moment she would be unsure just what the item was.
Ergo War
Item Get!
Bashōsen [ Banana Palm Fan ] Usage Cost: S Official Description: The Bashōsen (芭蕉扇; Literally meaning "Banana Palm Fan") is a large fan that is able to generate all five of the basic elemental chakra natures. To do so, the user need only say a mental command, which produces substantial amounts of the desired element when the fan is waved. The Bashōsen is revered as one of the treasured tools of the Sage of the Six Paths. When not in use, one can store the fan within themselves, drawing it from their own mouth when needed. Guild Description: Elements generated follow the same wave type of motion that a normal fan makes in the air, which follows the prior motion of the fan's direction. The usage cost is also the strength & size of the element brought forth. Storing the fan within one's body does not cost chakra.
Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 1:12 am
Post 9/9 for Brief Ritual
Bast reeled from the sight of the corpse, which bore clothing that--upon first glance--reminded her of her family's own. After catching her breath, she noticed a few inconsistencies between the outfit of the mysterious corpse and her family's, and then finally noticed the nine magatama on the back. This corpse was clearly that of a saint of Ninshuu, potentially someone close to the Sage of the Six Paths himself. The corpse's identity was indeterminate, though, beyond it being female.
The next thing that caught her eye was the fan. It was very colorful and wrapped in a fabric of a color typically reserved for royalty. Very gingerly, she righted the box, wrapped the fan up in its fabrics once more, and then placed it back inside its vessel. This was quite possibly an archaeological find larger than any seen in recent years, and certainly one of significant religious merit. To mishandle these items would be tantamount to committing blasphemy.
The first thing that needed to happen was the extraction of the body. The woman temporarily resurfaced to summon some wood from Konoha's shipment, then cut it down to form a coffin, paying special attention to make sure the lid fit tightly. Then, she had the Princess help her carry it down into the mine and placed it next to the body. She formed a few hand seals and made the corpse float upward a few inches using Fuuton Ninjutsu. Then, when it was stable in the air, she reached out and guided it into the coffin using her hands. It felt remarkably lifeless compared to how she expected a saint to be, but she didn't exactly have much experience with these things. She quickly closed the coffin, not wanting to expose the corpse to fresh air for too long. Then, thinking better of leaving it relatively unprotected, she bit down on her thumb and wrote a seal in blood on the coffin's lid, setting a powerful physical barrier over the entire vessel. Then she placed the box on top of the sealed coffin and added another physical barrier on top of the whole arrangement to both secure the box and add another layer of protection, followed by a Chakra interference barrier.
"All of you, full guard detail! Princess, you will help me carry this. Mononoke, take dictation," the woman said as she and the Princess emerged from the mine and placed the coffin down. As the Hoatzins scattered and Kanpai perked up, Bast started transporting the materials she had mined up while talking:
"Write two letters, one to Masahiro and another to Ayame," she instructed Mononoke as she sent the last of her items to her residence and sent away Konoha's portion to the appropriate seal. When all was said and done, the two letters read thus:
Lord Masahiro Hama Hatake,
Dig abandoned for the time being. Something of potentially great significance was found deep underground. There is now one more body that the Sand needs to handle. More info will come when available.
- Miyamoto Bastet
Lady Ayame Hatake,
The repayment of Konohagakure has been abandoned for the time being. I am returning on foot with an artifact I believe to be of great cultural significance. I will give a full report of my findings when I return. If possible, please have someone prepare some literature on the teachings and historical impacts of Ninshuu.
- Miyamoto Bastet
After Reverse Summoning the messages to the summoning seals of each of the recipients, Bast gathered her golems and set out with the coffin in tow.
XAyame_HatakeX
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Ergo War generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
21!
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 8:09 pm
Post 5/5 for Refinement
Bast jogged up to the mine, sweating a bit under the intense heat of the desert sun. She took a swig of tea from her flask when she arrived and ordered her entourage to set up camp in the area. As soon as they were off, she descended into the mine and headed toward the chamber where she had found Mitamashiro.
Just as she remembered, the chamber was relatively devoid of anything other than the body. Suddenly uncertain if she had remembered to move the ceremonial fan to be with the body, Bast radioed back to one of the golems still in the Village and had it make sure that was the case. If it had remained in the library, it likely would've fallen prey to ne'er-do-wells of all sorts.
The mine had remained untouched since she last arrived. She hadn't expected much, but not even lizards seemed to have poked their scaled heads in. In true miner fashion she started picking at some of the rocks on the walls and sorting through the debris.
This continued for some time without pause. She opened up holes near the room as much as she could, but rarely found anything other than the natural bounty of the land. This was a great success as far as mining expeditions go--she knew this well as she sorted through her finds before sending them up on the Princess' back--but there wasn't much she could claim was an artifact, at least not in the same way as the Sage's body had been.
As she neared the end of her hopes, she decided to poke around in the burial chamber a bit more. Ultimaately she started following one of the offshoots of orichalcum that began in that chamber. It led her to a wall and then disappeared, prompting her to start digging once again...
Wolfe Whitehorn
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 8:38 pm
Working her way into and beyond the vein, Bastet would find herself laboring for some time and clearing beyond the wall. The slate and granite would fall away with ease and eventually she would begin to find traces of a known hazardous, but very worthwhile substance. Traces, then eventually the entirety of a vein, which estimates gain an average mass of at least nine-hundred and ten (910) pounds worth, lay beyond.
Though, at her current depth within the mine, she would soon realize, ventilation was becoming an issue that would need to be sorted before this material could be consistently mined.
Uranium. As lovely as it was to have such a useful element lying around, Bast found herself immediately sprinting out of the mine. As soon as she was in the clear, she drew a summoning seal on a sheet of paper and weighed it down with a rock. Then she reverse-summoned herself back to the Village for an immediate medical inspection.
