Closed That which glitters...(Zephari)

[Akilah Windsong]

25 Spring, 515 AV

Ekytol? Akilah thought about it a moment, before recognizing the name as the desert they sometimes travelled near. She had rarely seen any travellers from there, but the few she saw looked a little like her mother's side of the family.

And Zephari, with her skin darker than Akilah's, definitely matched that description.

The few times she saw the desert she had always wondered how anything could survive there. The land always looked so dead, at least compared to her plains. But she had asked enough questions for the day and she didn't want to bother this stranger too much.

At least not more than she already had.

Akilah looked at Zephari's half of the crystal, then at her own. When it was pointed out, she could notice that darkness--but it didn't look that different from the rest of the crystal. She would have just assumed it was the light playing tricks or the difference was barely there.

It was amazing what a practice eye could tell.

"A prospector?" Akilah rolled the word in her mouth and smiled. "Clearly you're a very good one."

The woman looked so proud and Akilah felt a pang of jealousy. As of yet, her own skills were still developing, still growing--there was nothing she could call herself so proudly. Not yet at least.

Pushing it down--she was working on it, slowly. A little too slowly, but still. Working on it.

Akilah blushed when she noticed where Zephari was looking. She hadn't put away her papers properly, leaving them open for someone to see.

"I was trying to draw a layout of the land..." Akilah admitted, embarrassed. All of her scribbles, her really bad lines and the few good ones she had, all out and easily seen. Compared to the good maps, her own version of the cliffs were nothing.

"I have Adámas, so it's not as dangerous. And my sword, a Drykas never goes anywhere without a little protection." Akilah gave a wry smile, a little protection was literally what she had.

She was working on it.

"Though if it is dangerous, should you really be out here by yourself?" Akilah asked. The other woman, though her arms looked fairly strong, didn't seem like a combat specialist.

That said, the only danger had seen out here was the amethyst. Maybe they were still too close to the city for anything too bad.
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[Zephari]

So she's a map maker then? She could prove rather useful if shes any good at observing the landscape. And by the sound of it I'm the one that would need more protection out of the two of us! Zephari chuckled at the thought, and looked at Akilah curiously.

"So if your a map maker, you must be able to spot the small details within the land then right?" Zephari inquired, the idea of a partnership brewing. She looked around the landscape, wondering if the drykas woman would be able to help her find areas that would most likely contain more crystals.

"While I am a rather good prospector, I don't know this area all that well. I only stumbled upon this particular crystal via persistence and a little bit of good luck. However if I had the help of someone who knew this area well, I mite be able to find more." she offered, hoping she'd get assistance from Akilah. If she did indeed know the area well, there are many things she could ask about. She could ask if there where any areas that had deep thin canyons, or if there where any caves around here, both of which would be great places to look for more crystals.

Her thoughts snapped back to what she had said about this area being dangerous. She had only said it out of habit, as she could see the other woman was obviously younger than she was, but Zephari honestly wasn't that well defended herself. This area was dangerous purely by the fact that it is limestone cliffs, which were inherently unstable, so rock slides and collapses weren't uncommon.

"And to to be honest it is a little risky being out here by myself, but I don't really know many people here so I don't have much choice. I just really like to be out exploring." she explained, hoping to not seem too rash. She slide her half of the amethyst into her pouch, and went over to the pile of papers. Most of it was scribbles that weren't really recognizable as anything, though two or three parts were obviously the surrounding cliffs. Maybe there would be some merit to learning about map making.

"So what do you say?" Zephari asked, giving and ambitious grin.

[Akilah Windsong]

25 Spring, 515 AV

Akilah blanched--map maker.

There was no way she was as grand as a map maker. If a real map maker saw her 'maps', they were sure to laugh.

But it didn't seem like Zephari needed a good mapmaker so much as she needed a good guide. And considering the amount of time Akilah had spent making the map the past few days, she knew the cliffs around her decently well.

She could do this.

"I can help but I only know some of the cliffs here," Akilah warned, looking at the nearby rocky walls. The stretch of land she knew was limited, but then they were also limited by how many places they could go to in a day. And there was no way they'd go past that.

Probably.

Akilah wasn't really sure what Zephari was looking for. Maybe none of the areas she looked at had it. Maybe they all did.

"Alright," Akilah nodded. "What do you want to know?" Most of her goods were all packed up now, set aside in bags she now attached to her strider's yvas. Her partner nickered, excited for the new course of action. Affectionately, she stroked her horse's long nose before returning her attention to her maps.

Akilah unrolled them as she listened to Zephari speak. Her finger traced the cliff, the small marks she made for cliffs and pathways down. One of these places, she knew it, would be a good place for this gem-hunting.

OOCSorry for the delay, I was swamped with midterms

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[Zephari]

As the girl pulled out a more completed version of a map of she was sketching, Zephari looked over her shoulder at it, wanting to see what she had. There was a lot of stray marks in the shapes that didn't seam to have any real purpose, but the majority of it was readable, and she could tell it was the nearby cliffs by the rough shape.

"Basically I need to look for caves, overhangs, or areas where there have recently been rock slides, because those are the areas with this most fresh, exposed rock." Zephari explained, hoping that would be enough option to look for. She could try to explain the specific rock formations that gems usually grow in, but by the sound of it the other women had little to no grasp of geology, so Zephari decided that would be a waste of time.

Looking back up at the cliff she had climbed down from, she studied the rock coloration and shapes, taking note of them so she could keep an eye out for the same formation later. It was a pretty standard limestone cliff like what was usually common around Riverfall, though it had a few darker blocks in between the light milky sections, like the area the had cracked the Amethyst out of.

I bet that part of the rock is much older, so it has more good minerals in it. Maybe Akilah could make use of that, you don't exactly have to be a geologist to spot that kind of difference.

Turning back to the drykas Zephari said; "Also if any of the other cliffs have big dark black patches of rock, that is the type of rock I found the Amethyst in." She pointed with her chisel at the nearest patch of the darker rock, then at an outcrop of the lighter limestone for a comparison. Limestone was what the majority of the rock around here, and it only had a few things in it, however whatever the blackish grey rock was, it was much richer.

"Lastly areas that have been eroded by water, like a flood basin or washed out creek are great, because the water uncovers a lot of stuff you would otherwise miss" Zephari finished, waiting for a response from the girl.