[ MINGLE ] MINING EXPEDITION

[nonstopnarcissist]

WHO: Tony Stark & Co.
WHERE: North West Mountain Range
WHEN: November 5th - 8th
OPEN TO: Open to all
WARNINGS: Language, canon typical violence

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The Hike Up/Down

After sending a message out the day before to meet him in the fountain park at dawn (daylight is important) Tony packs up. Supplies secured and a path found mostly by working himself up (not that difficult) and following the blue path only he can see (still weird) Tony guides his modest expedition up a winding way over rivers and to a promising stony outcropping at the base of the mountains before needing a moment to 're-calibrate'. AkA get stressed out as to where to head next for optimal ore extraction. It takes a minute but- again, he's got a lot of anxieties to kick into gear and it should be easy enough to nudge their rag tag little group further up until they find the right spot. Making an easy walk down- well. That's also a trick. Finding a quick path back to the village before they lose the light- marking the way they've come so they can find it the next day? Kind of important.


Digging a Hole

Breaking ground is a matter of staring, trying to think back to what little he knows of geology (not fucking much), and waiting for the anxiety to get to the point where it'll hand him something specific. They need ore, they need a good starting location, and once they manage to pinpoint it? Pickaxes are handed out, a nearby cave explored, and Tony strips down to get to work. Crack stone, haul it out, rinse, repeat. Anything usable gets put in sacks made from stolen sheets to be hauled down- not the best system he's got but they're just getting started. Regular breaks are A thing, canteens of water passed around- he's pretty sure there's a stream somewhere that should help with the 'not dying of thirst' issue in the future.


Encounters With Natives

Somewhere on the hike up, during the dig, or taking a rest on one of the craggy boulders surrounding the cave where they're chipping away at stone, signs of native fauna linger. There's a patchy nest looking thing where one can hear the mewling of peakittens, blue eyed, tiny, and abandoned by the looks of it. Loping about the slopes a few curious mountain elk that bound in at the sign of food, keeping a cautious distance but wandering close should anyone appear friendly. Near the woods, though, just as they wind their way up- or make their way back down at the end of the day? Dust Moths have taken to the air, shimmering wings leaving powder in the air.


Environmental Effects

During the hike up in the predawn there's lying mist clinging to the sides of the mountain in thin curls, swirling in the air as they hike through it. Careful not to inhale too deeply, otherwise you might find yourself a little more honest than you'd like for most of the morning, and that could make the rest of the hike pretty damn awkward. In the caves proper there's stone and ore enough- and a dark, black powder that tastes of licorice and ash. Shadow dust. Maybe the next few swings don't do as much damage- or do any at all. Maybe they picking up stone becomes impossible till you're in the light.


In Too Deep

On the second, maybe the third day all their activity and digging catches some aggressive attention. A pickaxe sunk too deep, cracking through a cave wall and finding a den of snarling, hungry cave wolves that spill through the hole all snapping teeth and snarling claws, bursting out of the tunnels to scatter whoever's dared to come close to their home. A tree felled to mark their path startles a giant boar into charging, bellowing in the night, turning tusk and muscle to clear it's own way through their weary line.

Comments

[succored]

In a fight, communication was important, but action was even better. Out of his periphery, he saw her take down the ones on the right, and grinning slightly, he turned his attention to the cave wolf in front of him. A pick axe wasn't ideal, but it was better than nothing. It meant he had to get close the wolf, who had quicker reflexes than him. It took herding it into a corner to dispatch of it, but it had taken a lot more work than he cared to admit to.

"Don't suppose you have another one of those?" Ty asked, a bit breathlessly as he headed back towards her, gripping the pickaxe tightly.

[to_defend]

"The spear? Or the bola?" She sets the spear against the wall and moves to unwind the bola from the downed wolf's mouth. "Tony made the spearhead, I made the rest ... for both. I can make you a bola, if you want."

She affixes the bola back to her belt, then looks down at the carcasses. "We should probably get these out of the way."

[succored]

"The bola." Ty said, nodding to it, impressed. "If it's not too difficult, I'll take you up on that offer. Or I can do some labor in exchange." He wasn't looking to have a reputation as someone who just took things. Besides, the weapon was fairly interesting, and it would be a lot handier than a pick axe in a fight.

At her suggestion, he nodded, picking the wolf up by the hind legs to drag it out of the way.

"You think these are edible?" Waste not, want not after all.

[to_defend]

She grabs the front legs to help heft it out. "It won't be a too much trouble. Bring me linen for the rope and, I don't know, what kind of labor were you thinking?"

She wasn't planning on asking for anything in return, but it might not be a bad idea to take him up on the offer.

"Shouldn't take me longer than an afternoon to do, though." She tosses the carcass and she stands there looking at it for a moment, then squats down and starts looking at the head.

She stands and joins him to go get the others.

[succored]

"Most people have been fixing up houses to stay in. I can help with that, if you're not staying at the Inn." Ty said, grunting a little as he helped toss the carcass out of the way, heading back to grab another. "But planting, fishing, chopping firewood- anything really. And if you don't have anything right away, it's not like the repayment offer is going to expire."

He crinkled his nose slightly to pick one of the other wolves, heading back to toss it back with the other one.

[to_defend]

"I do have a house, and haven't done much fixing on it." She wasn't sure needed fixing; she felt she had everything in order that she needed (although she was grossly underestimating what a human could comfortably live with).

She helps him move all of the carcasses, then looks over them and seems to make a decision, swinging her spear around in order to bring it down on the neck of one and separate its head from the rest of the body.

She grabs it by the ear and shakes off some of the gore, then turns and starts to head back inside. "I'll let you know."

[succored]

"Then we have a deal." Ty said with a grin, and once all the wolves had been corralled in one place, he wiped his face off with the collar of his shirt. When he heard the quick sound of his teammate's spear slicing through bone, Ty started slightly, hands already gripping the pick axe again.

When it was apparent that they weren't under attack again, and she hadn't disregarded his idle comment before, Ty's brows raised slightly.

"What are you thinking? Making a stew?" A bit bold, really. He wouldn't have gone for the head first, at any rate, but he was curious.

[to_defend]

7 looks at the head she's carrying. "Oh .. I could? I just wanted the skull."

You know, for fashion purposes. But his current brings up some good questions.

"Can you eat it?"

[succored]

"Really?" Ty wasn't sure if there was a polite way to ask what for, so he didn't, not sure if he was going to like the answer.

"And there's only one way to find out. I'm game if you are." Ty offered up, though his cooking skills were rudimentary at best.

[to_defend]

Even if he never asks, he's bound to see it in action eventually. Getting the skin and gore off is going to be a challenge for her, though, and making a stew would be a good excuse to get some help indirectly.

“Yeah, once we get back and settled I'll let you know!”

[succored]

"Sounds good to me." Wiping his hands back onto his pants, he turned to glance back where a few others had gone back to mining ore.

"I think I'll help out for a bit longer and find you around dinnertime? I'll tell you now though I'm not that great of a cook."

[to_defend]

"I'm not, either. I think the big test is going to be whether or not we can it it, not whether or not it's actually good."

She'll deposit the head by her spear. How does meat work, anyway?