The First Step

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The hills of northern Anaxas; Scarmoge is a small village here.

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Evandria Sericks
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Mon Oct 22, 2018 6:39 am

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Berowyn. Northern Tors.

It had been a few days since they arrived to the small town and Evandria had already decided that she did not like the place. While the view was great and the constant breeze soothing, the way its citizens were looking at her made the hairs on her arms rise. She supposed she could understand that the humans would despise her, but it still made her uncomfortable. Her green Seventen felt like it was glowing by how many people turned their heads to look at her. At least she made the right decision of keeping Rvan behind.

Evandria had also decided that she would meet the Tarrenius family on her own. A group of Seventen marching into town would have attracted too much attention. No one seemed keen on helping her so the young sergeant was forced to find the residence on her own. It took her a couple of wrong turns and some doubling back, but she finally found the address that she had scrawled on a small piece of paper and carried around. In front of her stood a modest wooden house. It was difficult that a family lived here.

Taking a deep breath, the young woman knocked loudly on the front door. Evandria waited for a few minutes before the door opened revealing an old man with a mean scowl. As soon as he saw her uniform, his scowl faltered. “How can I help you?”

“I am Sergeant Evandria Sericks, the new sergeant for Northern Tors. Sir Braxus told me to find Bernard Tarrenius to learn about the mines,” the young woman explained formally, figuring that the man was the one she was looking for.

The man barked out a laugh. “Do I look like someone who can go to the mines, girl? You can find my nephew, Alaric. You’ll find him in the mines.” Before she could even respond, the man slammed the door in front of her face.

The wind whipped at her hair, ripping strands out of her braid. She would need to get used the constant breeze it seemed. She continued her trek to the mines, her eyes scanning her surroundings and putting them to memory. It was a half hour walk, but she finally arrived in front of the mines.

Approaching the men, Evandria pressed her lips together and watched each of their faces. Every pair of eyes seemed to be trained on her. Still, there was no time to waste. “I am looking for Alaric Tarrenius. Can anyone tell me how to find him?”
Last edited by Evandria Sericks on Sat Oct 27, 2018 6:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Alaric Tarrenius
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Mon Oct 22, 2018 9:11 pm

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BEROWYN | 19 O'CLOCK
40 YARIS 2718
Blue Phosphor was the life blood of Berowyn. It may not sport the appropriate color, like the Phosphor of Cerolyn, but it had the same effect. The glowing rock brought life to the valley after Alaric Tarrenius had gotten his hands on the management. His Uncle had been tasked with managing the golden Phosphor mines of Reedlyn many year ago; he had just about screwed the Tarrenius' out of their home here if it had not been for his nephew's mining mindset. It was not surprising that Bernard answered Evandria the way he did. It was a mix of bitterness towards his nephew, disgrace, and generalized abhorrence for the Galdori. Shutting the door in her face was probably the highlight of his day.

The miners had heard rumors that the Seventen squadron that had been "running" Berowyn had been removed due to corruption. The previous sergeant had been taking under the table bribes from Sir Theodor Braxus, the overseer to Northern Tors. He was supposed to abide by the rules laid down by the government; he preferred to make up his own rules and build a world of his own. His human servants barely lived and only those that had some sort of grace with him prospered. The Tarrenius family had been in good graces right up until Bernard had bumbled it up. Now, Alaric was just trying to regain a semblance of a life since he was 13.

There were three men outside the mine. One was keeping watch over the road while two were sitting over a box near the entrance to the mine. Smoke billowed out of the entrance to the mine, hinting to many of the locals that they were priming the mine for workers to remove the spoils overnight.

Alaric propped his elbow on the box, his fingers hooked smoothly together. His compatriot did the same, grasping Alaric's hand. "Are you ready boss man?"

"Gid ready to lose bruddah."

The other man counted down from three and then they were at a stand off. Vessels bulged over taut muscles as they silently wrestled. The key was to keep the wrist strong and attempt to curl it before the other. Alaric was already adjusting his wrist, preparing for the break and immediate slap on the crate. Alarmingly, he felt the other man abruptly give up and lose strength in his arm. Alaric curled and slammed, but did not rejoice. Instead, he followed the stare of the other man, looking to the Galdori lass that had joined them just as the guy watching the road jerked a finger in his direction.

"Dis is no good. Guess da Seventen have sent der replacement."
SpoilerShow
We need to decide on a date. Image pending for when I get home.
Last edited by Alaric Tarrenius on Sat Oct 27, 2018 10:34 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Evandria Sericks
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Wed Oct 24, 2018 12:24 am

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Without hesitation, the young woman strode towards the miner. The man sported a burly figure, even by human standards, pretending not to have heard his comment. It was easy to spot the proof of his work all over him – the dirt dusting his dark beard, the mysterious stains decorating his shirt. It was difficult to tell with the thick beard he sported, but something told her that the man possessed rugged good looks. The glint in his dark eyes was certainly not quite welcoming, but Evandria was used to the dirty looks. She could even feel the other men looking at her the same way.

The young sergeant had to look up at him once she was close enough, but what she lacked in height she compensated with the firm confidence in her eyes. Even when the small bubble of distrust grew inside the corners of her mind. “I am Sergeant Evandria Sericks, to be simply put I’ll be overseeing this region from now on with Sergeant Horwyn’s… removal.” She stretched out her hand to him. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Tarrenius.”

Whether he took her hand or not, Evandria’s attention was immediately drawn to the mine entrance and the noises coming from inside. Curiosity gleaming in her eyes, she walked over to where the entrance stood. The monite that soon escaped her lips were lilting, the voice of a gentle singer. Light seemed to bloom deeper inside the mines, where sunlight couldn’t touch it, the sight feeding her curiosity. “I’ve heard you have to prime the phosphor… Does it really glow in the dark as long they were exposed to light?”

“Mr. Tarrenius, would you mind giving me a quick tour of the mines?” she asked as she turned back to him, her eyes shining from the thought of going somewhere she had never been before. “Perhaps you can show me the town afterwards, I have to admit I have been having a hard time getting my way around.”
Last edited by Evandria Sericks on Sat Oct 27, 2018 6:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Alaric Tarrenius
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Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:52 pm

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There was not a single person in the valley that would call Alaric a gentleman. Calling him an upstanding man was one thing, but he had very little finesse when it came to his social ability. A gentleman would have taken her hand lightly, turned it over and placed a polite, feathery light kiss upon it. Galdori were supposed to be treated like royalty by those less than them. The miner did not believe in that mentality. Maybe it was the last traces of his training from the resistance; years deprived of proper Galdori hatred. Alaric gripped her hand firmly, connecting the curve of his hand with hers and providing one abrupt shake before releasing it.

"I had nuthin' to do with dat. He was easily controlled," Alaric stated, crossing his arms across his chest. It was a defensive move, but he would argue this point to his grave. That money grubbing Galdor had it coming.

He did not really respond to her initially aside from that. She clearly knew far more about him than he knew about her and it put him on edge. The way she moved was fluid and beautiful, and melodic voice seemed to pull a new life from his mine. Deep within the tunnels, something responded to her. He presumed the glow to be the firelight; however, he could not be sure with mages.

"Aye. Phosphor takes in da light. Fire. Sun. Light is light. I got Braxus ta believe meh. We burn in da day. We mine in da night. We make dough with da bigger chunks of phosphor," Alaric seemed to be singing praise about their endeavors here. It was hard to tell if he was talking about himself, the phosphor, or the other miners. "It not safe ta go in dere now. Da smoke fills da tunnels when we burn. You will have ta wait until dark."

He was on the day shift and he figured that if he could avoid showing her the mines, he would. Why did he have to be the go-to person for Braxus? He should come down here himself and show his new lackeys around. An insect buzzed around his face, forcing him to drop his defense a little to swatch at the bug. The man next to him threw out an elbow, digging it into his ribs. Grunts were shared, almost a indecipherable man language. Alaric glared before dropping his shoulders.

Who was he kidding, he wasn't getting out of anything.

"We can put da fires out early, if ya wish ta inspect the mines...Sergeant."
Last edited by Alaric Tarrenius on Fri Oct 26, 2018 2:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Evandria Sericks
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Thu Oct 25, 2018 1:28 am

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Evandria nodded at his explanation, slipping a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear as she turned back to the mine. Thick smoke was indeed making its way out of the entrance, staining the blue sky with patches of gray. It was quite ingenious, lighting up the mine during the day so that they could work throughout the night. Even with the glow of phosphor, she imagined that mining was probably not an easy task.

“That sounds good. I wish to know it as soon as I can since I’ll need to teach my squadron to find their way around the town and the mines,” the young woman replied firmly. While she didn’t want to hinder their work, Evandria wanted her squad to start as soon as possible. They had already used a few days to unpack and settle in. Not to mention that letters from Sir Braxus had arrived just yesterday inquiring about the mines.

She looked up at him, unable to ignore the glaring emptiness around him. The lack of fields around humans always startled her somewhat. It was a bit disconcerting not being able to tell what the person in front of her wanted to convey with the auras. Fortunately, the way Alaric was looking at her gave quite the hint regarding what he thought of her request. Which she ignored with an innocent smile.

“I’m assuming you are in charge of the all the mines in Berowyn then, Mr. Tarrenius?” she asked lightly, trying to learn as much as she could. In her head, she would have to deal with an old man already way past his prime, not a stout man with dark eyes who seemed unmovable.
Last edited by Evandria Sericks on Sat Oct 27, 2018 6:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Alaric Tarrenius
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Fri Oct 26, 2018 2:33 am

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Of course she wanted him to change the whole flow of the day for her and her squad; typical Galdori. Alaric again grunted, rolling his shoulders to emphasize that he was frustrated with the situation. The man with him seemed to understand the unspoken command and beckoned the other miner. The two approached the entrance to the mine. Both reached into a bucket of water and withdrew square pieces of cloth. Each donned theirs, folding it in a way that it would cover their mouth and nose loosely. A wet bandana to protect their airways. Thick goggles hung on a hook just inside the entrance. The first man took down two and passed one to his partner. Personal protective equipment was incredibly important to the day crew. It helped them live longer lives than former mine professionals.

While the two went into the mines to put out the fires, Alaric began to pull together equipment for them on the outside. Three axes leaned up against the wall next to the crate Alaric and his friend had been wrestling on. Closer to the mine, a box of pick axes stood for men to pick from freely. The manager grabbed the only separated axe. Its shaft had been handled by one man only and seemed to fit precisely into his hand. The tip was no longer pointed, having beaten many walls of rock over time. He placed his personal hard hat on his head before digging through another crate of communal hard hats. He threw some away from him as he looked for a particular size. Finally finding one, he lofted it to Evandria. "Catch."

The hard hats were basic models modified personally by the Tarrenius family. Hard hats had been purposed to provide the head a form of defense from falling rock. Over time, miners had fashioned a way to have hands free light by placing a candle on a stand in front of a piece of reflective metal at the center of the hat. Alaric and Bernard further modified the contraption by removing the candle and replacing it with a chunk of blue phosphor. Ideally, he wanted to further modify it by incorporating a different hue of Phosphor. He suspected that blue Phosphor would glow purple if a red Phosphor rock was used as the hat's light source.

Then again, maybe it was a stretch.

Billowing smoke began to slow to a trickle. Alaric, as if he were a barbarian, beckoned her forward with a heavy hand. "It be safer now. Dey took care of da fires closest ta da door. Come now. See da beauty of me mine."
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Evandria Sericks
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Sat Oct 27, 2018 9:40 am

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Alaric was not happy about what she was making him do and she couldn’t blame him. She was disrupting his work, after all. Still, this was just part of the job and she imagined a brief tour wouldn’t take very long. They could return to whatever they were doing soon and she wouldn’t bother them anymore. For a while at least. And so, Evandria watched the men work patiently. There was a rhythmic quality to their movements, visible proof that they had been doing this for some time.

Her eyes widened slightly, but her hand reached out and grabbed the hat out of the air. She wondered if the human wanted to see her fail and embarrass herself. “How far does the mine go?”

The sergeant could not help but smile a little as she turned over the hat in her hand. It was certainly creative for the humans to use the phosphor they mine as a light source. Her kind would have easily used a spell, instead of depending on something like this. Evandria wasn’t entirely sure of how bright the blue substance could be, but she supposed she shall see soon enough.

Placing the hard hat on her head, Evandria confidently walked through the entrance of the mine. The young woman could not help noticing how the walls of earth and rock immediately caged her. While she wasn’t afraid of closed space, it did made her slightly uncomfortable. It did not show on her face of course, but the slightest change of her movements were there. The way she rolled her shoulders to dispel the tension or how her fingers dug briefly into her palms as she made her way deeper into the earth. And it didn’t take long until they reached the place where sunlight couldn’t touch them.

“Has your family worked on the mines for a long time, Mr. Tarrenius? You seem quite comfortable in this environment,” the sergeant started as small talk, turning to look at the human man. He was at least more pleasant than a lot humans she had dealt with before. She wondered how long he would stay that way.
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Alaric Tarrenius
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Sat Oct 27, 2018 10:32 am

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"Da mine is aboot one mi'," Alaric concisely stated. Alaric lead by only a step or two. She was hot on his heels, her curiosity or duty driving her deeper into the mines. Every couple hundred feet, hot embers glowed from their shallow pits with remnants of smoke curling up from the spent wood. All around them, blue phosphor was coming to life. Some of the phosphor was taking a long time to glow, suggesting this may be the first priming the had every been through. The wall was speckled with various sizes of blue, from small flecks to hand sized pieces. The rock was very clear against the black rock of the mine itself.

It was not yet the deepest mine in Northern Tors. Reedlyn took that title too. He paused only a moment to check the guidelines at an intersection. She would notice that the rope, originally brown, had been periodically striped with red. At this particular intersection, the stripe color changed to orange. The paint appeared to be holding up and would not need to be redone anytime soon. Alaric grunted, bringing her to the right of the intersection and descending down the man made ramp. Half way down this tunnel, the stripes again changed; this time from orange to yellow. The miner did not give her any lessons freely about the ropes.

As they passed this color change, one of the men was coming back up, removing his soaked bandana as he passed them. There was a stiff nod as they passed; a silent understanding that the mining would have to begin early. One of the two of his workers would have to ride into town and wake everyone up. They would not take kindly to the extra hours of mining. Something that they would simply put on the Galdor for disrupting their work flow.

Just before the final color change from yellow to green, the earth groaned a little bit. Bits of dirt and rock shimmied from their places in the ceiling, dancing lightly atop the hard hats. This caused Alaric to pause as this was not a normal, every day occurrence. A gas pocket had been hit in this particular mine once in its youth, but he had not anticipated a pocket nearby. Then again, they did not have any Galdor working directly with them to use their strange magic friends to seek out dangers in the wall. The movement was fleeting and he felt it safe to continue out. They finally reached the bottom of the tunnel where pickaxes, buckets, and wash basins had been set up.

"Dis da end of dis tunnel," Alaric muttered, touching the wall gently as he moved around the circular "room". His fingers touched a loose phosphor chunk. It caused him another pause. Lifting his pick, he chipped away at the earth around the rock before using the point to pry the rock from its resting place. About the size of a baby's head, the Phosphor was strangely light in his hand. He turned to hand it to her so she could inspect it.

Phosphor was highly sought after. Its quality was determined based on multiple factors: size, refinement, and color. Blue phosphor was the lowest on the totem pole. Gold was the most desirable with orange and red in between in descending order. The larger the rock, the stronger emittance of light it would produce. Refining was not Alaric's specialty. The unrefined ore would travel to Reedlyn where shops would carve the phosphor into shapes and polish the cracks and chips from mining out of them. From clouded ore to smooth crystal orbs, phosphor was used throughout Anaxas. If you had the money to pay for it.

"Ya, I suppose. Me aunt and uncle are no good at managing da mines. Took over aboot 12 years ago fah dem. We do good, but Braxus no care for da Tarrenius famileh."
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Evandria Sericks
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Sat Oct 27, 2018 8:27 pm

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It was beautiful. The mines. As the darkness took over, the soft glow of blue light surrounded them and Evandria found herself reaching out to touch the walls as they walked deeper and deeper. Everything was cool to the touch, yet the rocks seemed to glow with an inner flame. It was like the night sky forming a tunnel around them. The young woman couldn’t stop taking everything in, perhaps letting show a childish curiosity.

Realizing she had loitered behind, the sergeant jogged to catch up with the man and his long legs. When he paused, she noticed a rope for the first time, marked with red. She gave no thought of it at first, but then she realized that the markings kept changing its color. While they walked in silence, her mind tried to guess what stripes meant. Perhaps to mark how they were from the entrance? Or how many intersections they had crossed? It was fascinating how the humans had made their own systems to work. “What are the colors for?” she finally asked when she could not contain her curiosity any longer.

While he didn’t seem exactly thrilled to talk to her, the young woman was certainly driven to learn all that she could today. “Sergeant Horwyn… What did he do? My captain had simply briefed me that he took bribes from Braxus, yet he did not tell me what it was for.” One might say that she should have asked for the details to her superiors. But that would be a stupid clocking move. The last thing she wanted to do was ask more questions to someone Captain D’Arthe.

Taking the phosphor, Evandria turned it over in her hand. She had never put too much thought on how the substance was acquired. Now, seeing the man with his axe, she could not help imagining the workers spending their day and night toiling away in the darkness. A soft monite tune slipped past her lips once again and the blue glow seemed to strengthen more, the mona altering the light waves. And more. Until the bright light was nearly painful to the eyes before slowly dying down.

Black spots stained her vision as she looked up to Alaric once more, but before she could say anything, the earth groaned around them. Debris and dust rained downed on them, like soft pitter patter of the rain. If there was any galdor nearby, they would have sensed Evandria’s field flaring and expanding in alarm.

“That’s not normal, is it?”
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Alaric Tarrenius
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Sat Oct 27, 2018 10:05 pm

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While she played with the rock, Alaric simply watched her movements. She had asked questions along the way, but he had been focused on inspecting the tunnel as they moved. Small conversations irritated him when he was expected to do one thing. In this case, he needed to give a tour of the mine. They had started their day early because of her; now she wanted more than a tour. She wanted information. Alaric sighed before starting the explanations. "Ya went ta school. We dun get dat luxury. Da ya know ROY G BIV? Da rainbow? Each quarter mi' is marked in da next color. Red, orange, yellow, and so on. Da deeper ya go, da darker ya get. Remember dat, and you can always find da way oot."

It was a clever system he had concocted and it was simple to follow. Alaric moved to sit on a pile of rock that had been cast aside for removal. Her next question was a little more difficult to answer and his face darkened with the thought. Sir Braxus had done some awful things and coerced Sergeant Horwyn to cover his terrible deeds. He could still hear their screams, claiming their innocence despite the fact it happened 11 years ago. "Da Galdori dun know wut Sir Braxus did. On da people of Northern Tors know. Sergeant Horwyn was bad cuz Sir Braxus made him dat way. You should not ask aboot dat story. Spare yaself da grief."

Alaric was partially protecting himself, and his self-involved Aunt and Uncle. He did not trust the Galdor before him; who was to say she would protect him as the rat if Braxus asked her to state her resources? This was a story that would never be told unless he came to trust her. That would be a feat in and of itself.

He jumped up when the earth started groaning against, moving two paces closer to her. Evandria was not a native to the mines, but even she could tell it was not a normal sign for the tunnels to be doing this. Her question only made the hair on his neck stand up further. "No."

This mine had been his baby for years, but this was the first tunnel that had made it into the green markers. Where had he gone wrong? If Sir Braxus actually listened to his needs and got him the extra intellectual support he needed, the mine would be significantly safer. More dirt and rock trickled from the roof. What alarmed him was the sudden crack that shattered the roof above the entrance.

Right above her head.

"Look out!" Chunks of rock and phosphor were beginning to rain down as the ceiling came down. Despite his efforts to decrease the distance between them, he was just out of reach to grab her. A split second decision caused him to lift his pickax parallel to her her body before rotating it 90 degrees and tugging hard. It wouldn't protect her from some of the smaller rock that had fallen before he could act, but that was what the hard hat was for. It was not graceful to drag her out of the way in this method. How she would fall was left to the gods.
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