Year 1552 of the Sixth Astral Era - Gyr Abania
"Ow.."
The back of her hand came to her eye and gently rubbed at it. Dirt fell from the ceiling of the enclosed tunnel she crawled in, crumbling into wisps as it fell in the dim light of the lantern she carried. Taking a brief respite, the blond woman ceased crawling and let her shoulders relax and her head droop for a few moments. Wasn't she getting tired of this..? The answer came so quickly she snickered at herself.
No. No, she would never get tired of this.
Her pearl buzzed in her ear at the lowered volume she kept it to avoid any booming sounds from caving in the stone and dirt around her.
"Arianna?" Came a familiar voice on the other end. "How far in are you? We can't see your light anymore." It was true, she'd been crawling a while. But surely this tunnel led somewhere. It had to. She picked her head up and looked to the dirt caked walls. Ancient ornate carvings that signified nothing to her stared back, the paint still visible in some places. Who knew how long ago this passageway had caved in? In all probability she likely crawled atop dirt that filled a corridor in a ruin from ages past. It'd been sheer luck that her team managed to find an opening. They'd originally figured they were digging around a long buried tablet in the dirt until their prize had crumbled inward upon itself, revealing a long forgotten and truly tantalizing passageway down into the ground. Caution was initially raised about entering. The wise choice was to wait and return with a larger team and more resources to proper excavate the area. Time was not a luxury this group of archeologists had on their side, however.
Glancing again to painted carvings on the wall, she resisted the urge to stroke them with her hand. To touch something that had likely gone unseen by anyone for the better part of 1500 years. Yet she'd never forgive herself if any part of it was permanently damaged due to her selfishness. Raising her hand to her pearl, she responded softly to the inquiry. "I hear you Myles. I'd wager I'm....50 yalms past the last mark point." She answered back, glancing back behind her for good measure. She was pushing herself hard. They departed in only a few weeks and Gods knew when they'd be able to return. In truth, they should have left much sooner. Ala Mhigo was dipping into chaos, it's current monarch seeming to possess a vendetta against his own people and their beliefs.
Perhaps it was the scientist and archeologist in her that was to blame for her selfish thought processes. This land was so rich in history, so far beyond even the great cities and roads the hearty people of Gyr Abania had managed to build in the harsh clime. Did their King not know what he risked destroying? Did he not understand what his people and land sat upon and how it should be guarded and studied?
Well, if he didn't know she sure did. The thought spurred her forward as she began to crawl further down the narrow tunnel. "I'm continuing on." She finally reported back. "I should be fine. This is an opportunity we cannot waste." The man's tired groan on the other end of the pearl sounded a lot like exasperation. Whoever Myles was it sounded like he was all too familiar with Arianna’s antics. "You've got 30 minutes. Any longer and I'm sending in Scuff to drag you out by the pant leg."
She snorted a laugh in reply and kept crawling. Scuff was the man's damned carbuncle. She hated the things. "Why do so many of them seem to have bad attitudes..?" She wondered silently to herself as she pressed on. “Though I suppose I’d have a bad attitude too if someone named me ‘Scuff’..†Her thoughts drifted back then to the more warming thoughts of home and hearth, the schooling they’d undergone when he’d first summoned and named the damned thing. These thoughts often kept her company during her crawling treks. It was surprising how much introspection one could get done in these sorts of situations. You truly are in a hole in the ground with nothing else but your mind after all. She thought of their home in the Old World, her husband, son and daughter she’d temporarily left behind to take this once in lifetime opportunity. Part of her longed to return, especially for her daughter who was but a few years old. Yet her work here was not yet finished.
Her partner's voice filled her ears again. "So, how do you think they're going to take it..?" He asked suddenly. "You know. Coming back with nothing?" He sighed. "I don't expect to see this area of the world again. At least not with it being fully funded.†He mused in discontent. “So much is picked over or destroyed. I just hate thinking about it, you know? I hate knowing that so much of this history and knowledge is to be lost for selfish reasons..â€
She groaned at his words. ‘Mopey Myles’ as he was.  "Why do you think I'm down here getting dirt in my eyes?" She quipped, stifling a cough of the musty air. "We're not going to come back empty handed and you're not going to have to worry about all that. So stop it." She assured him.
The man chuckled. "You insisted on heading down there yourself! I said I would have gone." He sighed. "Though in the end you don't have to worry about not being able to come back. I'm sure if you desired to return and excavate you could likely afford such what with having married a politician and heir to a publishing fortune.."
She temporarily muted her pearl as she sighed in exasperation. A mopey Myles was truly poor excavating company even if he wasn't wrong. The whole entire world was his enemy when he got like this. It seemed to be happening more and more frequently as well.  Adjusting her voice to a more upbeat tone she unmuted her pearl and replied. "You know that if I come back I'm taking you with me anyway." She began. "You're my partner in crime on these journeys. And what is Arman going to do, object to me doing my job? This is what I do for a living. Someone has to preserve this knowledge and he doesn’t disag...ah!"
The sound of cracking and dust crumbling filled the end of Ari’s linkpearl then all he heard was silence. He sat in their camp above ground, the moon just beginning to peak in the night sky as the gravity of the situation fell upon him. “Arianna..?!.†He shouted into his pearl only to get silence back.
"Ow.."
The back of her hand came to her eye and gently rubbed at it. Dirt fell from the ceiling of the enclosed tunnel she crawled in, crumbling into wisps as it fell in the dim light of the lantern she carried. Taking a brief respite, the blond woman ceased crawling and let her shoulders relax and her head droop for a few moments. Wasn't she getting tired of this..? The answer came so quickly she snickered at herself.
No. No, she would never get tired of this.
Her pearl buzzed in her ear at the lowered volume she kept it to avoid any booming sounds from caving in the stone and dirt around her.
"Arianna?" Came a familiar voice on the other end. "How far in are you? We can't see your light anymore." It was true, she'd been crawling a while. But surely this tunnel led somewhere. It had to. She picked her head up and looked to the dirt caked walls. Ancient ornate carvings that signified nothing to her stared back, the paint still visible in some places. Who knew how long ago this passageway had caved in? In all probability she likely crawled atop dirt that filled a corridor in a ruin from ages past. It'd been sheer luck that her team managed to find an opening. They'd originally figured they were digging around a long buried tablet in the dirt until their prize had crumbled inward upon itself, revealing a long forgotten and truly tantalizing passageway down into the ground. Caution was initially raised about entering. The wise choice was to wait and return with a larger team and more resources to proper excavate the area. Time was not a luxury this group of archeologists had on their side, however.
Glancing again to painted carvings on the wall, she resisted the urge to stroke them with her hand. To touch something that had likely gone unseen by anyone for the better part of 1500 years. Yet she'd never forgive herself if any part of it was permanently damaged due to her selfishness. Raising her hand to her pearl, she responded softly to the inquiry. "I hear you Myles. I'd wager I'm....50 yalms past the last mark point." She answered back, glancing back behind her for good measure. She was pushing herself hard. They departed in only a few weeks and Gods knew when they'd be able to return. In truth, they should have left much sooner. Ala Mhigo was dipping into chaos, it's current monarch seeming to possess a vendetta against his own people and their beliefs.
Perhaps it was the scientist and archeologist in her that was to blame for her selfish thought processes. This land was so rich in history, so far beyond even the great cities and roads the hearty people of Gyr Abania had managed to build in the harsh clime. Did their King not know what he risked destroying? Did he not understand what his people and land sat upon and how it should be guarded and studied?
Well, if he didn't know she sure did. The thought spurred her forward as she began to crawl further down the narrow tunnel. "I'm continuing on." She finally reported back. "I should be fine. This is an opportunity we cannot waste." The man's tired groan on the other end of the pearl sounded a lot like exasperation. Whoever Myles was it sounded like he was all too familiar with Arianna’s antics. "You've got 30 minutes. Any longer and I'm sending in Scuff to drag you out by the pant leg."
She snorted a laugh in reply and kept crawling. Scuff was the man's damned carbuncle. She hated the things. "Why do so many of them seem to have bad attitudes..?" She wondered silently to herself as she pressed on. “Though I suppose I’d have a bad attitude too if someone named me ‘Scuff’..†Her thoughts drifted back then to the more warming thoughts of home and hearth, the schooling they’d undergone when he’d first summoned and named the damned thing. These thoughts often kept her company during her crawling treks. It was surprising how much introspection one could get done in these sorts of situations. You truly are in a hole in the ground with nothing else but your mind after all. She thought of their home in the Old World, her husband, son and daughter she’d temporarily left behind to take this once in lifetime opportunity. Part of her longed to return, especially for her daughter who was but a few years old. Yet her work here was not yet finished.
Her partner's voice filled her ears again. "So, how do you think they're going to take it..?" He asked suddenly. "You know. Coming back with nothing?" He sighed. "I don't expect to see this area of the world again. At least not with it being fully funded.†He mused in discontent. “So much is picked over or destroyed. I just hate thinking about it, you know? I hate knowing that so much of this history and knowledge is to be lost for selfish reasons..â€
She groaned at his words. ‘Mopey Myles’ as he was.  "Why do you think I'm down here getting dirt in my eyes?" She quipped, stifling a cough of the musty air. "We're not going to come back empty handed and you're not going to have to worry about all that. So stop it." She assured him.
The man chuckled. "You insisted on heading down there yourself! I said I would have gone." He sighed. "Though in the end you don't have to worry about not being able to come back. I'm sure if you desired to return and excavate you could likely afford such what with having married a politician and heir to a publishing fortune.."
She temporarily muted her pearl as she sighed in exasperation. A mopey Myles was truly poor excavating company even if he wasn't wrong. The whole entire world was his enemy when he got like this. It seemed to be happening more and more frequently as well.  Adjusting her voice to a more upbeat tone she unmuted her pearl and replied. "You know that if I come back I'm taking you with me anyway." She began. "You're my partner in crime on these journeys. And what is Arman going to do, object to me doing my job? This is what I do for a living. Someone has to preserve this knowledge and he doesn’t disag...ah!"
The sound of cracking and dust crumbling filled the end of Ari’s linkpearl then all he heard was silence. He sat in their camp above ground, the moon just beginning to peak in the night sky as the gravity of the situation fell upon him. “Arianna..?!.†He shouted into his pearl only to get silence back.
![[Image: utfF6OQ.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/utfF6OQ.gif)
