12-28-2017, 11:09 PM
Erik ducked under the small doorway and closed the door behind him. He speed walked into the city square, and then kept going, heading for the same cavern he came in through. Before he left for the mine, he would have to find some accomodation for his horse, which he had left in the entrance cavern. A horse wouldn't exactly travel well in a crowd of dwarves, after all. Erik found his horse where he had left it, and it tossed it's head when it saw him. “I'm sorry. I couldn't bring you in.” Erik said telepathically. Even though the horse couldn't directly understand him, Erik hoped it understood what he was trying to convey. He took its reins and led it to the mouth of the cave, stepping out into the biting cold air of the fields again. Erik turned his head skyward, seeing that it was, indeed, already dark. It wasn't merely dusk, night had fallen to the degree that if it weren't for the blanket of snow that still drifted from the sky, Erik wouldn't know if it were still cloudy or not. “Davras wasn't exaggerating.” the psychic muttered as he turned to the guards who still manned the gate.
“Excuse me.” Erik said. Neither guard spoke, but one turned up to him and motioned to continue. “Is there somewhere where I can leave my horse?” The dwarf nodded. “Aye, there's a stable inside, go right from the entrance and you’ll find it easily.” Erik smiled internally. He had worried that the dwarves wouldn't have had stables, and he would have felt bad desummoning his horse. “One more thing, where is the cobalt mine?” This time, the dwarf chuckled slightly. “Lad, any dwarf in Dwarfholm could point you to the mines. Just take a left at the square, then go on for a few hundred metres and you’ll see it.” Erik nodded in response. “Thank you for you time.”
Erik turned and headed back through the gate, grateful to be out of the cold again, and headed to the end of the cavern. Moving back into the main cavern of Dwarfholm, Erik stepped out of the entrance and turned right. He passed a smithy, a gem cutters’ shop and and a small tavern before he reached the stables. Erik tugged on the reins and coaxed his horse over to the building. A dwarf was working out the front of the stables, moving hay for the horses held inside. He turned to Erik as he drew close and put down his pitchfork. “Another one, eh.” He muttered as he dusted off his hands. “Have you got money on you, lad?” Erik thought for a moment. He didn't have any cash on him, per se. “Do you take Omnillium?” The dwarf nodded. “Just leave your horse with me, and I'll get it in the stables. Go pay inside.” Erik thanked the dwarf and handed over his horse’s reins as he ducked into the main building.
The inside of the stables was dusty and smelt strongly of hay and manure, even in the reception area, but it had a raised ceiling like the building Erik was given his task in, so it could have been worse. A desk was located at the back of the room, which a bored looking dwarf sat behind. He turned to look at Erik as he moved through the door. “Welcome to the stables. How many nights will you be leaving your horse with us for?” Erik thought for a moment. Right now he was only gathering cobalt, but who knew how many other jobs he’d need to complete. “Three.” Erik decided. If he wasn't finished before three nights, he could always come back and pay for more, Erik reasoned. The dwarf nodded and produced a book from under the desk. He scribbled something in it, before turning to Erik. “That’ll be thirty Omnillium.” The psychic reached into his robe and extracted his orb of Omnillium, before splitting it into two identical spheres. He placed the sparkling orb of less value into the dwarf’s waiting hand. “Okri will be taking care of your beast now. Be back by ten in the morning in three days.” He said as Erik turned to leave. “Oh, and no refunds if you collect it early!”
Now that his horse was taken care of, Erik could focus on his job, namely mining some cobalt. The psychic navigated through the crowds of Dwarfholm, heading towards the main square, then heading left. As he approached the mines the crowds gradually thinned out until there was only a little traffic near the mine, and when the mining cavern came into view, Erik kicked himself for not seeing it. A large, presumably dwarf-made cave opened up in one of the walls, and minecart tracks ran from the mouth of the cave to deep within. Erik produced his Omnillium once more, and began summoning a pickaxe. If he was going to mine, he should have the right tools, after all. The shining substance stretched and morphed into the shape of a pickaxe, the long handle forming first, then the sharp points to cut into the Rock, before it hardened and took on the colour and texture of metal and wood. Satisfied with the pick, Erik entered the cave and followed its single path deep into the mountain. The lanterns which lit the mine were dim and sparse, and Erik needed his own lightif he wanted to find cobalt.
Carefully placing the pick on the ground, he fumbled for the brass lantern he kept on his belt with one hand and summoned a match with the other. Once Erik had both items in hand, he opened one of the lanterns on the wall and used it to light the match, and then lit up his own lantern. Erik dropped the match and stamped it out as he closed the glass casing of the lantern. ‘Now that I have some light, finding some cobalt will be simple.’ The psychic thought to himself. He was dead wrong. As Erik wandered deeper and deeper into the mine, he steadily became more desperate. There was not a speck of cobalt to be seen. Even the dwarves who occasionally passed him by had no cobalt in their minecarts. A small amount of relief came when Erik arrived at the fork the Mithril hall representative had told him about. He noticed that, unusually, only the right path had a minecart track, but paid it no mind, figuring that it must just be a new shaft. Heading down the left path, Erik’s spirits lifted slightly at the prospect of a better chance to find cobalt.
Deep in the mine, Erik spotted a shimmer of blue. His heart raced as he rushed over to find the source. It was exactly what Erikwas hoping for, he had struck cobalt. Grinning, Erik set his lantern down and got to work with his pickaxe. The steady ringing of the pick as Erik struck the cobalt was calming in a strange way, and he gradually fell into an unconscious cycle of striking the stone. Erik was brought out of his trance by the sound of a rock clattering across the ground. He didn't give it much thought, but reflexively glanced towards the source. When he did, however, he did a double take. Turning to look further into the mine Erik saw a dozen glowing pinpoints in the darkness. Without taking his eyes off the tunnel, Erik groped for his lantern and raised it to illuminate the source. Six creatures were peering at Erik from the darkness. They were small and humanoid in shape, with mottled grey skin and needle-sharp claws. Their eyes were sunken yellow orbs set into the sides of their bony heads, which seemed to large for their emaciated forms. Realising that Erik could see them, the closest creature screeched at him, an ear-splitting noise which echoed down the corridors of the mine. Erik quickly placed the lantern down as the creature threw itself at him, with its companions following suit.
Wildly swinging his pick, Erik caught the creature on the head, piercing its skull with the point and killing it instantly. The psychic shook the pickaxe in an attempt to loosen the body, but it was stuck tight so he tossed it to the ground. One of the creatures sunk its teeth into his left arm, while another targeted his legs. Drawing Mageslayer, Erik decapitated the beast going for his leg before runningthe one clinging to his arm through. Even in death, the monster clung to Erik, its jaws surprisingly strong for such fragile creature. Two more beasts were rushing towards Erik, and in his haste he didn't have time to pry the body off so he bashed its skull into the cave wall, cracking its jaw and knocking it loose. The closest creature ducked under Erik’s first swing, but was cleaved in two by the second. The last monster dashed through Erik’s legs and leapt onto his back before he could turn around, and began clawing at Erik’s head, neck and shoulders. In his rage, Erik slammed his back into the wall, and after the creature dropped to the floor, decapitated it with Mageslayer.
Breathing heavily, Erik observed the area around him. The mine walls were bathed in a mix of blood and a thick, grey liquid, and five small bodies of various levels of destruction littered the ground. Erik paused, realising something was wrong. He could have sworn there were six creatures before. Erik’s heart skipped a beat as he realised that the cobalt was gone. Echoing footsteps could be heard running down the tunnel, moving quickly away from Erik. “You bastard.” The psychic hissed as he grabbed his lantern and sprinted after the footsteps. The tunnel grew steadily narrower until Erik had to crawl to advance. The tunnel suddenly widened into a small cavern, about five metres in diameter. A large pile of stones, metal ores and gems, including cobalt, lay in the centre and on the mound was a larger version of the small creatures which had assaulted him. While the smaller creatures were a little under a metre tall, the beast slumbering on the treasure pile was at least half a metre taller. The smaller creatures crawled in and out of various smaller tunnels, occasionally dropping a small piece of ore onto the pile.
A plan quickly formed in Erik’s mind as he watched the creatures move about. He waited until there were no smaller creatures in the cavern, and quickly got to work. Erik pushed himself out of the small bottleneck he was watching through, and speed walked to the monster on the pile, sword drawn. He reached into the tunnel and pulled him lantern into the room, illuminating the cavern just enough that the beast didn't wake up. Mageslayer’s edge still dripped with gore from the smaller creatures, and sprayed the room with grey blood as Erik swung the blade upwards and violently stabbed his sword towards the sleeping beast’s chest. It woke with an ear splitting screech, even louder than that of the smaller creatures, and futilely tried to claw at Erik. The small beasts rushed into the cavern to see Erik shake and stab his blade further into the monster, until it fell silent. Drawing Mageslayer from the body, Erik lopped the beast’s head from its shoulders and raised it above his head, roaring out his supremacy as the smaller creatures fled in fear at the sight of their slain leader.
Adrenaline still ran through Erik’s veins as he threw the beast’s body off the pile of ores and rummaged through it, searching for the precious cobalt he had come for. Erik had gathered a pile that reached up to his knees when he was satisfied that he had recovered it all. He pushed the cobalt into the tunnel he came in through, then put the lantern in after it. Erik sheathed Mageslayer and prepared to climb in the tunnel, but realised he was forgetting something. He turned back and grabbed the beast’s head. It would be a shame to waste such a fine trophy. Now that he had all he needed, Erik crawled back through the tunnel, pushing the cobalt along with him.
When he had enough room to stand, Erik pulled out his orb of Omnillium and summoned a wheelbarrow to carry everything in. He first filled it with cobalt, then placed the lantern and head onto it. Dwarves going about their business stopped and starred at Erik as he came out into the main tunnel, although Erik wasn't sure if they were looking at him, the head of the beast, or the pile of cobalt. Erik took a deep breath as he got into the main cavern of Dwarfholm, suddenly realising how stale the air in the mine had been compared to the rest of the cave system. Erik quickly made his way to the building the Mithril hall representative had met him in. He knocked on the door and the dwarf opened it with a questioning look. When he say the bloodied psychic, his mouth opened in shock and he ushered Erik inside.
When the were alone, he sat Erik on a chair and took a seat across from him. “What happened, lad?” He asked. At first, Erik had thought the dwarf had left out the fact that the tunnel was monster infested, but he seemed genuinely concerned and confused. “This is what happened.” Erik said bluntly as he lifted the severed head of the beast out of the wheelbarrow. The dwarf remained silent for a while. “Do you know what this is?” He finally asked. Erik shook his head. “This is a ghul. They're weak little buggers but they attack in packs. The head belongs to a matron, one of the queens of the ghuls. The tunnel you went down is new, so we had no idea there was a ghul nest in there. I'm sorry.” Erik considered the apology for a moment, before deciding that it was legitimate enough. “It is no matter. I am still alive, after all.” The dwarf nodded, and remained silent for a moment. “Now, the cobalt. You have recovered a bloody good amount of it, so I'd say you've passed this job admirably.” Erik smiled gratefully. He was glad he didn't have to go back into those mines. “What's my next task?” Erik asked, but the dwarf shook his head. “Look at the state of you, lad. You’re in no position to do your next task now. Go rest up for a bit, then come back when you've healed.” Erik was a little reluctant, but saw the sense in the dwarf’s words, and left the building to explore Dwarfholm while he healed.
“Excuse me.” Erik said. Neither guard spoke, but one turned up to him and motioned to continue. “Is there somewhere where I can leave my horse?” The dwarf nodded. “Aye, there's a stable inside, go right from the entrance and you’ll find it easily.” Erik smiled internally. He had worried that the dwarves wouldn't have had stables, and he would have felt bad desummoning his horse. “One more thing, where is the cobalt mine?” This time, the dwarf chuckled slightly. “Lad, any dwarf in Dwarfholm could point you to the mines. Just take a left at the square, then go on for a few hundred metres and you’ll see it.” Erik nodded in response. “Thank you for you time.”
Erik turned and headed back through the gate, grateful to be out of the cold again, and headed to the end of the cavern. Moving back into the main cavern of Dwarfholm, Erik stepped out of the entrance and turned right. He passed a smithy, a gem cutters’ shop and and a small tavern before he reached the stables. Erik tugged on the reins and coaxed his horse over to the building. A dwarf was working out the front of the stables, moving hay for the horses held inside. He turned to Erik as he drew close and put down his pitchfork. “Another one, eh.” He muttered as he dusted off his hands. “Have you got money on you, lad?” Erik thought for a moment. He didn't have any cash on him, per se. “Do you take Omnillium?” The dwarf nodded. “Just leave your horse with me, and I'll get it in the stables. Go pay inside.” Erik thanked the dwarf and handed over his horse’s reins as he ducked into the main building.
The inside of the stables was dusty and smelt strongly of hay and manure, even in the reception area, but it had a raised ceiling like the building Erik was given his task in, so it could have been worse. A desk was located at the back of the room, which a bored looking dwarf sat behind. He turned to look at Erik as he moved through the door. “Welcome to the stables. How many nights will you be leaving your horse with us for?” Erik thought for a moment. Right now he was only gathering cobalt, but who knew how many other jobs he’d need to complete. “Three.” Erik decided. If he wasn't finished before three nights, he could always come back and pay for more, Erik reasoned. The dwarf nodded and produced a book from under the desk. He scribbled something in it, before turning to Erik. “That’ll be thirty Omnillium.” The psychic reached into his robe and extracted his orb of Omnillium, before splitting it into two identical spheres. He placed the sparkling orb of less value into the dwarf’s waiting hand. “Okri will be taking care of your beast now. Be back by ten in the morning in three days.” He said as Erik turned to leave. “Oh, and no refunds if you collect it early!”
Now that his horse was taken care of, Erik could focus on his job, namely mining some cobalt. The psychic navigated through the crowds of Dwarfholm, heading towards the main square, then heading left. As he approached the mines the crowds gradually thinned out until there was only a little traffic near the mine, and when the mining cavern came into view, Erik kicked himself for not seeing it. A large, presumably dwarf-made cave opened up in one of the walls, and minecart tracks ran from the mouth of the cave to deep within. Erik produced his Omnillium once more, and began summoning a pickaxe. If he was going to mine, he should have the right tools, after all. The shining substance stretched and morphed into the shape of a pickaxe, the long handle forming first, then the sharp points to cut into the Rock, before it hardened and took on the colour and texture of metal and wood. Satisfied with the pick, Erik entered the cave and followed its single path deep into the mountain. The lanterns which lit the mine were dim and sparse, and Erik needed his own lightif he wanted to find cobalt.
Carefully placing the pick on the ground, he fumbled for the brass lantern he kept on his belt with one hand and summoned a match with the other. Once Erik had both items in hand, he opened one of the lanterns on the wall and used it to light the match, and then lit up his own lantern. Erik dropped the match and stamped it out as he closed the glass casing of the lantern. ‘Now that I have some light, finding some cobalt will be simple.’ The psychic thought to himself. He was dead wrong. As Erik wandered deeper and deeper into the mine, he steadily became more desperate. There was not a speck of cobalt to be seen. Even the dwarves who occasionally passed him by had no cobalt in their minecarts. A small amount of relief came when Erik arrived at the fork the Mithril hall representative had told him about. He noticed that, unusually, only the right path had a minecart track, but paid it no mind, figuring that it must just be a new shaft. Heading down the left path, Erik’s spirits lifted slightly at the prospect of a better chance to find cobalt.
Deep in the mine, Erik spotted a shimmer of blue. His heart raced as he rushed over to find the source. It was exactly what Erikwas hoping for, he had struck cobalt. Grinning, Erik set his lantern down and got to work with his pickaxe. The steady ringing of the pick as Erik struck the cobalt was calming in a strange way, and he gradually fell into an unconscious cycle of striking the stone. Erik was brought out of his trance by the sound of a rock clattering across the ground. He didn't give it much thought, but reflexively glanced towards the source. When he did, however, he did a double take. Turning to look further into the mine Erik saw a dozen glowing pinpoints in the darkness. Without taking his eyes off the tunnel, Erik groped for his lantern and raised it to illuminate the source. Six creatures were peering at Erik from the darkness. They were small and humanoid in shape, with mottled grey skin and needle-sharp claws. Their eyes were sunken yellow orbs set into the sides of their bony heads, which seemed to large for their emaciated forms. Realising that Erik could see them, the closest creature screeched at him, an ear-splitting noise which echoed down the corridors of the mine. Erik quickly placed the lantern down as the creature threw itself at him, with its companions following suit.
Wildly swinging his pick, Erik caught the creature on the head, piercing its skull with the point and killing it instantly. The psychic shook the pickaxe in an attempt to loosen the body, but it was stuck tight so he tossed it to the ground. One of the creatures sunk its teeth into his left arm, while another targeted his legs. Drawing Mageslayer, Erik decapitated the beast going for his leg before runningthe one clinging to his arm through. Even in death, the monster clung to Erik, its jaws surprisingly strong for such fragile creature. Two more beasts were rushing towards Erik, and in his haste he didn't have time to pry the body off so he bashed its skull into the cave wall, cracking its jaw and knocking it loose. The closest creature ducked under Erik’s first swing, but was cleaved in two by the second. The last monster dashed through Erik’s legs and leapt onto his back before he could turn around, and began clawing at Erik’s head, neck and shoulders. In his rage, Erik slammed his back into the wall, and after the creature dropped to the floor, decapitated it with Mageslayer.
Breathing heavily, Erik observed the area around him. The mine walls were bathed in a mix of blood and a thick, grey liquid, and five small bodies of various levels of destruction littered the ground. Erik paused, realising something was wrong. He could have sworn there were six creatures before. Erik’s heart skipped a beat as he realised that the cobalt was gone. Echoing footsteps could be heard running down the tunnel, moving quickly away from Erik. “You bastard.” The psychic hissed as he grabbed his lantern and sprinted after the footsteps. The tunnel grew steadily narrower until Erik had to crawl to advance. The tunnel suddenly widened into a small cavern, about five metres in diameter. A large pile of stones, metal ores and gems, including cobalt, lay in the centre and on the mound was a larger version of the small creatures which had assaulted him. While the smaller creatures were a little under a metre tall, the beast slumbering on the treasure pile was at least half a metre taller. The smaller creatures crawled in and out of various smaller tunnels, occasionally dropping a small piece of ore onto the pile.
A plan quickly formed in Erik’s mind as he watched the creatures move about. He waited until there were no smaller creatures in the cavern, and quickly got to work. Erik pushed himself out of the small bottleneck he was watching through, and speed walked to the monster on the pile, sword drawn. He reached into the tunnel and pulled him lantern into the room, illuminating the cavern just enough that the beast didn't wake up. Mageslayer’s edge still dripped with gore from the smaller creatures, and sprayed the room with grey blood as Erik swung the blade upwards and violently stabbed his sword towards the sleeping beast’s chest. It woke with an ear splitting screech, even louder than that of the smaller creatures, and futilely tried to claw at Erik. The small beasts rushed into the cavern to see Erik shake and stab his blade further into the monster, until it fell silent. Drawing Mageslayer from the body, Erik lopped the beast’s head from its shoulders and raised it above his head, roaring out his supremacy as the smaller creatures fled in fear at the sight of their slain leader.
Adrenaline still ran through Erik’s veins as he threw the beast’s body off the pile of ores and rummaged through it, searching for the precious cobalt he had come for. Erik had gathered a pile that reached up to his knees when he was satisfied that he had recovered it all. He pushed the cobalt into the tunnel he came in through, then put the lantern in after it. Erik sheathed Mageslayer and prepared to climb in the tunnel, but realised he was forgetting something. He turned back and grabbed the beast’s head. It would be a shame to waste such a fine trophy. Now that he had all he needed, Erik crawled back through the tunnel, pushing the cobalt along with him.
When he had enough room to stand, Erik pulled out his orb of Omnillium and summoned a wheelbarrow to carry everything in. He first filled it with cobalt, then placed the lantern and head onto it. Dwarves going about their business stopped and starred at Erik as he came out into the main tunnel, although Erik wasn't sure if they were looking at him, the head of the beast, or the pile of cobalt. Erik took a deep breath as he got into the main cavern of Dwarfholm, suddenly realising how stale the air in the mine had been compared to the rest of the cave system. Erik quickly made his way to the building the Mithril hall representative had met him in. He knocked on the door and the dwarf opened it with a questioning look. When he say the bloodied psychic, his mouth opened in shock and he ushered Erik inside.
When the were alone, he sat Erik on a chair and took a seat across from him. “What happened, lad?” He asked. At first, Erik had thought the dwarf had left out the fact that the tunnel was monster infested, but he seemed genuinely concerned and confused. “This is what happened.” Erik said bluntly as he lifted the severed head of the beast out of the wheelbarrow. The dwarf remained silent for a while. “Do you know what this is?” He finally asked. Erik shook his head. “This is a ghul. They're weak little buggers but they attack in packs. The head belongs to a matron, one of the queens of the ghuls. The tunnel you went down is new, so we had no idea there was a ghul nest in there. I'm sorry.” Erik considered the apology for a moment, before deciding that it was legitimate enough. “It is no matter. I am still alive, after all.” The dwarf nodded, and remained silent for a moment. “Now, the cobalt. You have recovered a bloody good amount of it, so I'd say you've passed this job admirably.” Erik smiled gratefully. He was glad he didn't have to go back into those mines. “What's my next task?” Erik asked, but the dwarf shook his head. “Look at the state of you, lad. You’re in no position to do your next task now. Go rest up for a bit, then come back when you've healed.” Erik was a little reluctant, but saw the sense in the dwarf’s words, and left the building to explore Dwarfholm while he healed.
Quote:I forgot a spoiler for the last post, so I'm putting two in one.
1307 words in last post + 2467 in this post = 3374 words.
7340 characters with spaces in last post + 13549 in this post = 20889 characters with spaces.
6036 characters without spaces in last post + 11085 in this post = 17121 characters without spaces.
All of this is according to google docs.
Got the cobalt!
*The emperor of mankind yeets erik into a sun*
[Today 08:03 pm] Erik Vrell : Bruh
[Today 08:03 pm] The emperor of mankind : don't worship gods
[Today 08:03 pm] Erik Vrell : Bruh
[Today 08:03 pm] The emperor of mankind : don't worship gods