Welcome to Gaia! ::

It might have seemed strange for him to be leaving the Order's territory on the day when he was probably most needed, but having effectively dismissed all of the troops he now had the perfect opportunity to carry out his plans. He was making for a small, secret place on the Northern part of the island - a small cave that could be found by squeezing through a small gap in the rocks underneath a small outcropping of rocks. You had to get into the water and wade over to it - which he did, removing his robes as he had done to rescue Feline the previous night, but also his trousers - he had other things to do that day, and walking around with part of his clothing soaking wet would have been a nuisance.

Lithely squeezing through the rocks, he bent down in the small cave beyond. It was bare, dank and wet and he had to stoop to fit inside it, but the real reason he'd come lay on the opposite wall. The tiny cave was small enough for him to simply have to reach out his arm.

He brushed his fingers along the familiar rock, and felt the tiny, subtle engraving human hands would have missed. Running his fingertips along the sanskrit-like code, he closed his eyes and quietly pronounced "Aunmysklyr."

The word was swallowed up by the water and the rock. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, the rock began to shift.

It only moved two feet or so - a gap roughly the same as the entrance. It was enough for him to squeeze through, but might have been impossible for a normal man.

The cavern beyond was a much larger. He was able to stand up straight, for one thing. For another, it NEEDED to be large, for it housed a veritable dragon's hoard of treasure.

He climbed over the nearest mountain of gold and slid down the other side. Obscured from view at the entrance were many large, incalculably heavy chests of stained wood and wrought iron. He paused, folding his arms. Now that he was here, he wasn't quite sure what he was looking for... he hadn't exactly planned what he was going to bring back with him. Well, it hardly mattered. He had plenty of time to choose.

Hefting open the chest second nearest to him - he knew that the nearest was only filled with native jewels - he began to sift through the trove of precious jewellry, which had been carelessly tossed in no particular order into the container. Rings of all shapes, sizes and settings - bracelets, torques, circlets set with precious stones in elaborate shapes - necklaces... necklaces!

Jessie began to pay more attention to the items he was pulling from the wooden chest, setting aside any particularly eye-catching necklaces. After some time, he moved to another chest and repeated the process - not wanting to put all his eggs in one basket, if you will. He had no idea how much time was passing, but sifting through the treasure soon became tedious, and he decided that the fifty or so he'd picked out so far were sufficient choice.

Each necklace was equally as fine and valuable as the next, so he didn't have to pay attention to that. He began to whittle them down on aesthetics. The first to go were too elaborate. The next were brightly coloured. Very quickly, he'd cut fifty down to five - five of a similar style; pendants on simple chains. Now there was only one aspect to choose by, really. The pendant.

Now he began to examine each of them very closely. One was encrusted in diamonds - too flashy. It was discarded. One was silver, with a purple stone - it may have suited some women, he thought, but not her. Eventually, he was torn between two very similar necklaces. They were entirely similar in appearance, comrprising of a single large, oval stone set in gold. One was sapphire, dark and stunning - the other was aquamarine, clear and pure. The colour of the sky on a clear day.

The sapphire necklace joined its brethren back in the chest. The lid went down. Jessie made his way back out of the trove, gift clutched in the palm of his hand, and the rock closed behind him, giving no hint of his passing.

Once back on the beach, he stopped to survey the precious item in the light of day, and was stunned by how good his choice had actually been. The unobtrusive, oval stone was ringed by a thin band of the gold setting, almost protective in its presence. The chain was one long, delicate strand of gold as oppose to many links. It had no fastening, being very ancient, and was meant to slip over the head. He didn't like the modern fastenings, anyway. They broke far too easily - they were weak, and unreliable. With this thought, he took the necklace in both hands and pulled with most of his strength. Nothing moved, snapped or broke. It remained perfect and intact.

Satisfied, he dressed, slipping the piece of jewelry into one of the many hiding places in his robes. He'd now head back to the cabin and tuck it away safely for now... in town, he'd need to buy a box and some ribbon, and perhaps one or two other things...