Timestamp
36th of Spring
Smooth white sand slipped through Anteolokes’ lose fingers as he held it up and inspected it closely, crouched near the crashing waves on Swing Beach. He’d always taken sand for granted and had never given much thought to its structure or how it had come to be. He was trying to pay more attention now though.
Squinting, Antelokes held the grains up to his eyes. From a distance they all looked the same, but he could now see that the grains possessed quite a diverse set of colors. He couldn’t make out too much detail though. With a sigh he let the rest of the sand drop. It was interesting, but not what he was looking for. Antelokes opened his pack and glanced at the spoils he’d gathered so far. Two mundane stones about the size of his fist that he’d taken from Treasure Point several days ago, plus a hunk of shale he’d just found.
Some people combed the beach for long lost riches and others looked for beautiful shells or organisms they could harvest for food. Not Antelokes. The treasure hunt he’d been sent on was for rocks. With a sigh he slung the bag across his back again. The experimentress—T’aidell—had given him the task. She was willing to teach him some of her knowledge about Ivak’s role in the processes of geology but had wanted him to show some initiative in speculating for himself first. Thus, he had been sent on this hunt that he had a hard time convincing himself wasn’t completely useless.
Antelokes slowly walked along the beach, careful not to wander far from the settlement. He wasn’t likely to get killed on the beach, but there were still any number of large jungle creatures that on a whim might wander down onto the sands. Antelokes didn’t fancy his chances should he happen to run across one of them alone. As he walked he scanned his eyes across the rolling plane of the beach, seeking irregularities. Eventually, he spotted a promising lump and bent down to brush it off. Sure enough, it was a stone. It was solid, with an almost orange color. It seemed distinct enough from the rocks he had gathered so far, so Antelokes slipped it into his bag with the others. The weight and hard irregular forms of the stones made the bag uncomfortable across his back. He supposed that sensation was nature’s way of punishing anyone who was silly enough to carry around a heap of rocks in a bag.
He continued picking across the beach for several more minutes without much luck. Eventually—back by Syka’s more developed area—Antelokes spotted a small piece of rough-hewn granite laying discarded in the sand. It was probably discarded material from some construction project, too small and with too odd of a shape to be of much use. Its color was mottled in shades of white and black, though it was stained brown from exposure to soil and the elements. Perfect.
Antelokes almost laughed out loud at his own quick flash of pride. Finding five different types of rocks was hardly some great accomplishment, but however strange it seemed, it was what he needed to do to learn what he really wanted. The false visions he’d been receiving unsettled him more than he liked to let on. By know he’d heard Ivak’s voice from these false imitations far more than he’d heard it from the god himself. Antelokes wanted to learn as much as he possibly could about his patron. He wanted to more fully understand the god, and more easily distinguish him from the pale imitator that had ravaged his mind since he’d arrived here in Syka.
Antelokes was tempted to lug the rocks directly to T’aidell and demand she teach him what he wanted to know, but luckily a more rational section of his mind guided his steps toward the forge. T’aidell had asked him to try to learn everything he could about the stones before bringing them to her. Many of the tools that would best suit him in that task happened to be at his place of work. He would give this study his best effort—something told him that the strange experimentress wouldn’t be impressed with half-hearted attempts at fulfilling her request.
As he arrived at the forge Antelokes upturned his pack over a workbench, letting the stones spill out onto the surface. He stared at them for a moment, not sure exactly what to do. The closest thing he’d done to this was working with ores back when he’d helped run a proper metalsmithing forge with his father, but that was a long time ago now and he didn’t remember much. Plus, he seriously doubted that he had found any kind of ore lying strewn about on this tropical beach.
Visually, each stone was unique. Some were smoother than others, and the colors of each were different. None were particularly exciting, but what could be expected from a pile of rocks? Perhaps their distinctions were like those found among metals? Metals shared many similar properties, but a closer look revealed that there were many varieties, some of them derived from mixtures of two or more base metals in different quantities. A trained eye could recognize many metals at first glance, however with regard to rocks Antelokes’ eye was far from trained. That meant he had to resort to cruder methods.
That would be more fun anyways.
Smooth white sand slipped through Anteolokes’ lose fingers as he held it up and inspected it closely, crouched near the crashing waves on Swing Beach. He’d always taken sand for granted and had never given much thought to its structure or how it had come to be. He was trying to pay more attention now though.
Squinting, Antelokes held the grains up to his eyes. From a distance they all looked the same, but he could now see that the grains possessed quite a diverse set of colors. He couldn’t make out too much detail though. With a sigh he let the rest of the sand drop. It was interesting, but not what he was looking for. Antelokes opened his pack and glanced at the spoils he’d gathered so far. Two mundane stones about the size of his fist that he’d taken from Treasure Point several days ago, plus a hunk of shale he’d just found.
Some people combed the beach for long lost riches and others looked for beautiful shells or organisms they could harvest for food. Not Antelokes. The treasure hunt he’d been sent on was for rocks. With a sigh he slung the bag across his back again. The experimentress—T’aidell—had given him the task. She was willing to teach him some of her knowledge about Ivak’s role in the processes of geology but had wanted him to show some initiative in speculating for himself first. Thus, he had been sent on this hunt that he had a hard time convincing himself wasn’t completely useless.
Antelokes slowly walked along the beach, careful not to wander far from the settlement. He wasn’t likely to get killed on the beach, but there were still any number of large jungle creatures that on a whim might wander down onto the sands. Antelokes didn’t fancy his chances should he happen to run across one of them alone. As he walked he scanned his eyes across the rolling plane of the beach, seeking irregularities. Eventually, he spotted a promising lump and bent down to brush it off. Sure enough, it was a stone. It was solid, with an almost orange color. It seemed distinct enough from the rocks he had gathered so far, so Antelokes slipped it into his bag with the others. The weight and hard irregular forms of the stones made the bag uncomfortable across his back. He supposed that sensation was nature’s way of punishing anyone who was silly enough to carry around a heap of rocks in a bag.
He continued picking across the beach for several more minutes without much luck. Eventually—back by Syka’s more developed area—Antelokes spotted a small piece of rough-hewn granite laying discarded in the sand. It was probably discarded material from some construction project, too small and with too odd of a shape to be of much use. Its color was mottled in shades of white and black, though it was stained brown from exposure to soil and the elements. Perfect.
Antelokes almost laughed out loud at his own quick flash of pride. Finding five different types of rocks was hardly some great accomplishment, but however strange it seemed, it was what he needed to do to learn what he really wanted. The false visions he’d been receiving unsettled him more than he liked to let on. By know he’d heard Ivak’s voice from these false imitations far more than he’d heard it from the god himself. Antelokes wanted to learn as much as he possibly could about his patron. He wanted to more fully understand the god, and more easily distinguish him from the pale imitator that had ravaged his mind since he’d arrived here in Syka.
Antelokes was tempted to lug the rocks directly to T’aidell and demand she teach him what he wanted to know, but luckily a more rational section of his mind guided his steps toward the forge. T’aidell had asked him to try to learn everything he could about the stones before bringing them to her. Many of the tools that would best suit him in that task happened to be at his place of work. He would give this study his best effort—something told him that the strange experimentress wouldn’t be impressed with half-hearted attempts at fulfilling her request.
As he arrived at the forge Antelokes upturned his pack over a workbench, letting the stones spill out onto the surface. He stared at them for a moment, not sure exactly what to do. The closest thing he’d done to this was working with ores back when he’d helped run a proper metalsmithing forge with his father, but that was a long time ago now and he didn’t remember much. Plus, he seriously doubted that he had found any kind of ore lying strewn about on this tropical beach.
Visually, each stone was unique. Some were smoother than others, and the colors of each were different. None were particularly exciting, but what could be expected from a pile of rocks? Perhaps their distinctions were like those found among metals? Metals shared many similar properties, but a closer look revealed that there were many varieties, some of them derived from mixtures of two or more base metals in different quantities. A trained eye could recognize many metals at first glance, however with regard to rocks Antelokes’ eye was far from trained. That meant he had to resort to cruder methods.
That would be more fun anyways.
