sixthiterationlogs | [ MINGLE ] MINING EXPEDITION

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[ MINGLE ] MINING EXPEDITION

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

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.

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She watches him, noting his low stance with the intent of mimicking it on the way back. Then, curiously watching as he scores the wood. That was an interesting tactic.

But they are both safely on the other side and dry.

"I can get behind this plan. "

"Later on, if we continue using this path, we can add more logs and make a proper bridge. For now, this will do," he agreed, and then began gathering stones and sturdy fallen limbs to do as they'd done on the other side. This time, with practice, and with her having seen how he did it before, it was easier - and they had a place to rejoin the rest of the mining expedition. And a way to get back across without drowning.

"I will say that it is good to know that I'm not the only one without skill at swimming. I've never been fond of water that could reach over my head."

"Did you also have trouble when you got here? With the fountain?"

She can honestly say she never thought she'd been so close to dying, and given her lifestyle that was saying something. "If I could never look at that much water again, I'd be happy."

Altaïr nodded, unashamed of his troubles there. "I did. I believe I nearly drowned. But then, somehow, I began to breathe the water instead of drown on it - though how that was possible, I do not know." It still confounded him to think about it, and he had thought about it at length. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before.

"Really?" She peaks her eyebrows at him. "I had a - light - show up, direct me to the surface, but I certainly couldn't breathe the water."

Maybe she's a little intrigued by that, even though she is not at all eager to ever be in that situation again.

He shook his head. "I've never heard of the like. People do not breathe water. But I did - for a few moments, I did. I'd thought for the time before it that I would spend the rest of my afterlife dying again and again in the depths of the water, but then I was able to get to the surface and pull myself out. It was... 'terrible' is not a strong enough word. But I am here now."

"Yeah, we're here now." She smiles. "And, we've survived the river. I definitely feel a little better about the trek back, knowing we've got this set up."

It was definitely a good idea to beef it up if they had the chance.

"As do I. It seems we may need to do more scouting, map the terrain a bit more thoroughly in the surrounding areas. I would think teams of three would be best for such a job..." Something to think about, certainly. But it seemed that lately, all he'd done was come up with thoughts of things that needed to be done rather than things he could do. The downside, he supposed, of being a leader.

7 nods. "I'd be willing to volunteer for something like that." Likely it was something she would have ended up doing anyway, already having a habit of patrolling and a certain restlessness. She loves the idea.

"Let me know if you want to set that up, I'm sure we can find one more person."

"If I were more of a cartographer..."

But that was Malik. Even if he'd detested it, he'd been markedly good at the job, keeping the trade in Jerusalem going, as well as keeping the Brotherhood up to date on all that was happening in the city--

But again, that was a stab of pain to be forgotten. "We would need paper and that, unfortunately, is scarce."

"Would they have paper at the library?" She may not be thinking blank pages, exactly, used to using whatever they could. "They've got books, right?"

Altaïr nodded. "Books, yes," he agreed, "but if they have been already written, they cannot be written on again."

But then...

Then he considered. How were these books made? He had seen some copied where signatures at the end were empty, where some pages were blank. Would it be horrid to go and find these blank pages and use them?

"But there is a possibility. I'll have to go and look at this library. See what I can find."

"We used to write on them. There were blank pages sometimes, or large spaces in between chapters and the like."

Helps that the open spaces were bigger when the page is as tall as you are.

"Granted we didn't write much, but 6 made good use of them for his drawings."

"I had just considered that some books do have blank pages. If that holds true, perhaps I would have my source of paper, though I am loathe to deface a book. Where I am from, though I wrote often and much, the books to write in were expensive. They were my one luxury." The Brotherhood had insisted on giving him fine robes, and he'd been grateful for their warmth, but the only thing he had asked for, for himself, was access to blank books. And that, besides his family, was what he missed.

"There were more than we were ever going to able to read. 3 and 4 were the only ones that took any interest in them as they were."

Sounded like books - and paper - were really important in his world. She'd have to take a look through the library here, see if she could find anything to help.

"Knowledge..." How to say it. He exhaled before beginning to string together words in a way that he was content with. "There is a verse from the Christian religion. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.. I have found it to be true, and yet, inevitable. Knowledge is the one thing that can grant someone versatility. You must know the world to react to it. And yet, the more you learn, the more you see what things are wrong, what things must be fixed, what things people will resist when you push their change.

"And yet, it must be done, if the world is to be made better."

She thinks on for several long moments as they continue the trek. She'd already seen the truth of it, an already broken world revealed to have been undone by the people themselves.

"I guess I can see the sense in that. I've already seen evidence of it. But do you think one person can male a difference like that?"

That got a bit of a smile as he looked over. "One person is a beginning. A pebble that starts a rockslide. We lead by example. If we show kindness, we show others it can be given. If we prove an open mind, others will see that opinions can be changed. To simply say it does nothing. To act it, to prove it: that will begin the change."

She smiles. She likes these ideas, she's already been living some of them; action over inaction, and the idea of showing kindess and curiosity, that was the kind of world she wanted.

And didn't 2 and 5 eventually find their way out of 1's grasp, whether just by her, or by following 9, they'd come out? Just as she'd hoped, if even just for a little bit? Further evidence that what Altaïr is stalking about isn't just placating words.

"Does it ever go wrong? Do people ... watch and mimic the wrong things?"

"It can." Which was not as much of an admission as some might have thought. There was nothing to gain by hiding the truth. "They see kindness and think it to be weakness. They see generosity and think they only stand to gain. Some see us lead and think we hold power - but we must show them, carefully, that what we do is give others the power to choose for themselves. We cannot guide their choices. We can only provide them the best information we can to make those choices on their own."

"I think I see it a lot more here than where I came from. The hu- the others, they were at war; with each other, and then with the Machines they build to fight other people. I didn't expect people to be so nice but here, I see it."

She liked her little group of dolls, very nearly all of them, but the humans she'd seen - what little she knew of them before they all died out - hadn't exactly been a glowing endorsement.

And he nodded his approval at her conclusion, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder - yes, she understood. "Unfortunately," he said, "many people seek power for the sake of having it. They want to rule over others, convinced that their way is the only way. They believe themselves stronger, smarter, better - more suited to tell others what to do. And while people do often need leadership, they should never become mindless, following another's rules without a thought of their own."

That little touch of confirmation - it's the kind of small motion that she'd get at home, from 5, or 2, and it's encouraging. She smiles, she nods acknowledgement, and reaches up to grip his arm in return. "I knew someone like that."

But now he's got her thinking about her the situation here, and so far she hadn't really met anyone that was necessarily 'in charge'.

"Is there a leader here?"

"Not that I have seen. Some suggest Tony. Others suggest someone named Mark. That I've been recommended two tells me that neither is 'in charge' as anyone might count. I have been, in the past, a leader of a village. I am afraid I am asserting myself where I am not welcome - but I remain unsure." He was beginning to think that the village might need a leader in truth. Someone to guide, but not to order. And he knew how to fill that need.

"I know Tony, he seems nice. I couldn't say about Mark." She tilts her head at Altaïr. "I wouldn't mind having you as a leader. You've got some very good ideas." It's no small gesture when 7 trusts someone, especially in a place like this.

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