crescentviewmods

The mines, once boarded up and abandoned, have been opened back up to any would-be spelunkers to venture into in the hopes of finding gems and treasures aplenty. It is said that these mines burrow deep into the depths of the mountain and no one can tell you exactly how deep they go, but if you're feeling lucky, grab a pickaxe on your way in and find out for yourself.

cyoa-style exploration

once every week

RNG

unique items

blessings

curses

bring a friend

let us know at any time

will not be able to participate again

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The sun sets, and Trahearne finds himself just inside the entrance of the mines.

He told no one about this. He is aware of the dangers, and so he does not arrive unarmed--focus from Mishka on one hip, flowering branch on the other--but he is not here for a fight. His objectives lie elsewhere.

His glow grows stronger as the day wanes, and he's quite visible in the dark insides of the mine. He grabs a pickaxe for himself, but does not immediately venture onward. For some reason, he hesitates. ]

[ Ori, too, has wandered into the mines. Perhaps her objective is a little less focused than Trahearne's, however - just an adventurer's will, that's hard to snuff out.

She spots a familiar glow in the darkness of the mine and approaches. ]

...Trahearne...? So you're here, too! Let's party up.

[ Oriphi has joined your party! ]

[ Oriphi has joined the party!

After they get prepared, the entrance floor is the same as always, but at the end, there seems to be a wide hole. It's not as big--if one uses their flashlight, they can see the ground. It will allow them to go directly to B2F. ]

[ Trahearne hears a familiar voice, and glances over his shoulder. ]

Ori? This is a surprise. Glad to have you with me.

[ One he's not going to say no to! He nods, gesturing deeper in. He doesn't have a light source, but...his glow gives off a faint enough light that he can see the edge of the hole. Not that he knows how far down it goes, but considering last time, he's prepared.

Tucking his pickaxe under an arm, he sits at the edge and leaps down, ignoring the faint pang of fear he gets from falling... ]

[ What was that strange sound...

Oh well! Guess who's got Darkvision? This hellspawn!

She's not a particularly big fan of falling, either, but before she can even offer to ferry them down as a giant owl, Trahearne is already leaping down. ]

Oh. Okay. Here goes!

[ She'll leap down, too! ]

[ Upon arriving at B2F, they'll see another similar hole not all that deep into the mines on that floor. The only thing about this hole is that the air coming from it smells bad like someone's bad breath.

The flashlight will show dark pink chamber(?) walls and that seem to pulse. If Oriphi takes a better look with her night vision, she'll find a M-shaped platform along the walls. ]

[ Trahearne can't help but make a quiet "ugh" when he smells that, and he brings his hand to his nose and mouth. He can't see much beyond the lip of the hole, but he doesn't need to to know he doesn't like it.

He turns to Ori, not sure if he wants to make the first move this time. ]

I must say, this is not what I was expecting.

[ She lifts a hand to cover her nose and mouth. ]

Uh... Neither was I. There's... Something shaped like an "M..."

[ THIS FEELS PERSONAL SOMEHOW ]

I'm going to get a closer look. Stick close to me?

[ Here she goes! Nothing bad ever happens when you jump down into a chamber that's pulsating! ]

Edited 2023-02-28 23:21 (UTC)

[ Don't worry, Ori. It's definitely not personal. When Ori jumps down, it'll become apparent very quickly that she's descending into a mouth. It doesn't have any teeth though. Maybe that's the one saving grace.

Please roll higher than a 5 or have Trahearne pull off some sick moves to avoid getting swallowed whole. Ori can go ahead of Trahearne in tag order if that makes it easier. ]

[ Ori's confidence inspires confidence in Trahearne, and he's about to jump after her--

And when it clicks, his eyes go wide in panic. ]

Ori!

[ In one swift, fluid movement he grabs his branch-scepter and whips it out, oversized skeletal arms bursting from the ground around him at the edge of the hole to grab her and keep her from falling. ]

Ohhhh no Trahearne that's a mou— Eep!

[ She lands, cradled in the palms and embrace of a bunch of skeletal hands. Immediately she's grabbing onto one of the bony fingers and looks back up at Trahearne. ]

Th—Thank you! If you could pull me up and agree to never mention this to anyone ever that would be great!

[ For the record, everyone, she rolled a 7. But luckily Trahearne has some sick moves! ]

[ Trahearne better be quick about getting Ori up, since it looks like the mouth is starting to close. Its tongue slowly comes out and starts chafing those bones really hard like ultra sandpaper. ]

Don't worry--this stays between us!

[ No!! By the Pale Tree this is the worst!

With another whip of his scepter, the hands fling Ori back to the edge of the hole, where Trahearne is. He isn't equipped to catch her--he clearly doesn't mind if she crashes into him--he just wants to get her out.

The hands, however, remain in the mouth. Hope that mouth enjoys a crunchy bone snack. ]

Edited 2023-02-28 23:46 (UTC)

[ She'll do her best not to have to crash into Trahearne by extending an arm and conjuring a grasping vine to latch onto something, anything (just not Trahearne!) to help get her back up to safety. ]

...Maybe you should lead from now on...

[ It has no teeth to crunch them on, but it happily eats the bones anyway. Yummy. ]

More...

[ The low rumbling echoes throughout the floor as the mouth opens wide once again. ]

[ Once Trahearne makes sure Ori is safe and stable, he turns back to assess their situation, but-- ]

...More?

[ ...Well. He has a way to deal with this. He glances at Ori, brow raised. ]

Stay back. I think I can handle this.

[ He stoops to the ground and it bruises at his feet. From the darkened earth coalesces two flesh golems, one on either side of him. As he stands, they rush forward and yeet themselves into the opening maws of the big mouth.

He can stand here summoning them all day. Well. Almost all day. Hopefully that does the trick... ]

[ excuse me but what the FUCK are those— ]

We... We should think about an escape plan. I can turn into a dire wolf or a giant owl and scoop you up...

[ still, she can't seem to look away from the sight of the flesh golems yeeting themselves... ]

Edited (damn a fire wolf would've been cool tho) 2023-03-01 00:16 (UTC)

[ Omnomnom. The flesh golems are swallowed whole like tapioca balls sucked into the throat too fast too furious. After that, it seems satisfied and slowly retreats from the hole. The pit is now open! ]

[ Well. That worked!

Trahearne glances back at Ori, clearly not fazed by the mouth or his own flesh golems. ]

The way is open. I'm curious to see what lies ahead, but we must proceed with caution.

Unless you would like to retreat at this point.

R—Right! More caution, this time! Don't want to have to explain to either Syrlya or M-21 that one of us almost got eaten, huh!

[ her nervous laugh echoes through the caves... But she's going to make sure they're really using that flashlight now, so that they can both see well enough in the dark without relying on Trahearne's glowiness or her (apparently not that great) Darkvision. ]

It would be a shame to turn back now.

[ She nears the pit, but this time she'll wait so that she and Trahearne can go together instead of jumping ahead. ]

[ If they decide to go together, they'll land on a real ground this time, and whoever the huge mouth belonged to is one with the body of a hairless sphinx cat with the head of a person. ]

Thank you for the food. It was very good.

[ Looks like it can speak despite having no teeth. ]

[ Trahearne leaps in first, and--

Oh. Hm. He freezes for a second, not really sure what to make of the naked cat with the person head.

But it washes over him quickly, and a neutral air comes over him once again. ]

That was you? [ He realizes his composure doesn't quite make reach his voice, and he clears his throat. ] --I am humbled. I'm glad my offering was to your liking.

[ This is a being to be offered respect, right? He glances at Ori. ]

[ Ori knows exactly what to make of the naked cat with the person head. She's pretty sure that Sphinxes usually have fur, but this is a mythical being that holds secrets and guards treasure, isn't it!? Oh, she really should have listened to Dae when he was talking about this before...

She immediately drops to a knee and bows her head. ]

I— I am humbled too! To be in the presence of such a great, knowing creature...!

[ ... ... ...

It looks over at Trahearne and Ori tiredly for a moment until it realizes that it should say something. ]

Would you... like some treasures in exchange?

[ Like a cat that hoards things in the weirdest places, it paws some things over from the back. Ori and Trahearne can pick one each from a pool of a string, alexandrite, orichalcum, marble, a very cute "toy mouse". All items except gems have a special property. ]

[ Trahearne looks over, bewildered, when Ori kneels--was he supposed to do that?!

He's still trying to decide when the creature speaks again, and presents them with options.

Unfortunately, Trahearne isn't here for novelties. He eyes the orichalcum first, before his eyes drift and settle on the alexandrite. That...that looks like the gems that were at the bottom of the pond, the ones Syrlya was looking at. ]

Thank you. We would appreciate that.

[ And so, he humbly receives the alexandrite. ]

trahearne > ori > mod

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sorry for the wait!

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