[Open] Field Trip: Supernatural Surveyor

[nor_iron_bars]

Who: Jailbreak, her class, and/or anyone else who signed up for the Supernatural Surveyor mission.
What: A field trip to an Orihalcum mine, because that's totally a great place to send impulsive teenagers and a known thief.
When: March 4th.
Where: The Sinnias Orihalcum Mine.
Warnings: Jail's swearing.


[On paper, the idea seemed to make sense.]

[The Sinnias Orihalcum Mine had been run by the Watchers for years, and the metal it produced was extremely useful. While daemon attacks on the premises where a known threat, the security was highly equipped to deal with them already, making it unlikely to require any visitors to fight. A relatively safe but still potentially important area like this would be a valuable learning experience for students who had the time to visit and find out more about how it worked, especially ones whose specialties or interests ran towards magical artifacts. And, of course, the Academy already had a class dedicated to the making of those artifacts, and a teacher quite knowledgeable about the process.]

[It was just that, somehow, this perfectly reasonable chain of thought had lead to a large group of students being let loose in a working mine with Jail as their only adult supervision.]

[The trip there, at least, had been without incident. As they approach the entrance, she stops and gestures grandly, turning to face her audience.]

Okay, kids, here it is: your best excuse to skip class for the day.

[The Magic Schoolbus, this really isn't.]

For anybody who ain't real big on metallurgy, Orihalcum is that shiny golden stuff that shuts down magic. Can't enchant it, can't scratch it with anything softer than diamond, can't find anything sparklier outside of a glitter fight in the middle of Mardi Gras.

And yes, that weirdly specific metaphor will be on the test.

[There may or may not even be a test, but that won't stop her from saying it.]

So, ground rules: this is supposed to just be a nice, easy walking tour of the place, but sometimes shit gets weird. If it gets weirder than you can handle, hit the alert app on your phone and it'll call me. Only ring me up for emergencies, or if it would be really funny.

Your phone also has a file that gives you more background on this place, in case you want more details or just missed the melodious sounds of my voice. Hit the icon in the lower left to switch from audio to written captions.

[The recording- or the captions, if you prefer them- is pretty similar to the kind of tour guide audio you get in museums... except for the part where Jailbreak's narrating, which means some of the language is. Interesting.]

[The quick version of the recorded lecture is that Orihalcum is extremely useful for dealing with supernatural threats due to suppressing magic, and that it was the basis of a pretty large and successful civilization from the Outlands up until their luck ran out sometime around 1039 BCE.]

[The nation in question would be known to modern day humans as the lost city of Atlantis.]

[Credit where it's due, Jail's recorded speech on the topic is genuinely very knowledgeable and informative, even if she does repeatedly refer to a specific Atlantean ruler as "a complete fucknut", and at one point gets sidetracked into an extended digression in which she critiques (read: roasts mercilessly) the ancient Athenian legal system.]

Now, 'cause this place is the biggest source of Orihalcum running these days, security is pretty serious. We're gonna head through their checkpoints in a second here, then we'll be in the mine. These guys make the TSA look all sweet and cuddly by comparison, so if anyone's got some shit they wanna ditch outside so it doesn't show up on the scans, now's the time.

Anyone who can spot a serious security flaw while we're in there, come find me after we're done here and we'll talk. If it's legit, you get extra credit.

If you got any questions, just ask while we're walking. Anything I can't answer, the guy we're gonna be meeting up with should know. He's a dwarf by the name of Regin, the general manager 'round here.

[She turns to start walking into the mine's entrance, pauses, and looks back over her shoulder]

Oh, and remember: when we're in here? You break it, you bought it. The school ain't paying for shit.

[This one's a complete lie. Daybreak Academy absolutely will be replacing anything the students damage if they act out while in the mine.]

[But, well. They don't need to know that.]

[Onward we go...]

Comments

[yokeye]

Bad things happen with them!

[He doesn't understand her line of reasoning. He would be so much better off without powers, as far as he's concerned.]

[transfusionem]

[Oh the other side, Adelaide can't understand why he'd think that. She doesn't know the extent of his powers well enough to know why he'd be better off without them - all she knows is what she saw of them when they were in Paris.

So maybe he's right, but...]

But...you could learn to get to the point where good things happen with them, couldn't you?

[yokeye]

[Paris was pretty much the extent of them.]

Maybe, but that point's not coming fast enough~!

[He's hasn't really tried to actively control anything, and this is just a spur of the moment plan for an easy way out. One of his many bad decisions.]

Did you ever tell me what you had for powers?

[transfusionem]

That doesn't mean there's no point in trying. Good things come in time, you know?

[Or maybe he doesn't.

At the question, she pauses, and she doesn't know what to do. On the one hand, Toki already found out back in Paris and pretty promptly forgot it. He definitely freaked out about it, though, and Adelaide isn't sure she wants a repeat.

But on the other hand, she doesn't want to lie to him. (She supposes every minute of every day is a lie, but she doesn't want to dwell on that too deeply.)

Though, she supposes that knowing she's a vampire and knowing what powers come with being one are two different things, so it's not technically lying.]

And no, no I didn't.

[yokeye]

That's what they say~!

[He's not that familiar with 'good things' of any sort, except apparently he's rich and that's supposed to be good. Toki is also unfortunately very impatient and he will always go with whichever option gets things done faster.]

I suppose if this doesn't work, then I'll do the... waiting thing or practice or whatever!

[He's not even sure where to start for attempting control. He'll worry about that later. After Adelaide's answer, he doesn't ask what her powers are. She must not want him to know if she didn't elaborate. Maybe hers sucked too, or were embarrassing. He lets the conversation drop and collects more orichalcum.]

[transfusionem]

But...you're not going to be patient?

[She has a bad feeling about all of this. Still, it's not like she's going to be able to stop him. She gets the feeling there's few things in the world that would stop him once he gets his mind set on something.]

Well, just be careful. Who knows what long-term exposure will do.

[It's probably not that bad, but... Ugh. She hates being worried.]

[yokeye]

I know I should be more patient, but it's hard, and this solution just presented itself and it sounds like a good idea to me~!

[It's not, and he shouldn't go through with it. In the end, he may not. Time will tell. She does sound worried about it, though.]

Really. It will be fine. I'm taking precautions~!

[It's doesn't come out that convincing, as he has doubts himself.]

[transfusionem]

Okay... I guess if you're careful, it'll be okay.

[This is definitely not going to be okay. This sounds like a recipe for disaster.]

But, you know, if you ever want to try learning more patience, maybe I could help you out?

[She doesn't know how she'd do that, but it feels like something worth offering.]

[yokeye]

Is patience really something you can learn, though!? I mean, you could try, I guess?

[Patience will be even harder after contracting with a fey a couple weeks after this.]

[transfusionem]

Well...You won't know unless you try.

[You make it very difficult to have faith in you, Toki.]

[yokeye]

[Uhh. Effort.]

I supposed I could try~!

[A little. For like one day.]

Did you have something in mind?

[transfusionem]

[Does she have something in mind? Not really.

How do you teach someone patience?]

I didn't think that far ahead, honestly. [She just wants to help!!] Maybe we could go out to the city and do people watching? Something quiet, where you could get some practice in just...sitting around being patient?

[yokeye]

People watching!?

[That just described the most boring day ever, but he's going to pretend to be excited about it. Adelaide was just trying to help and she was so nice.]

An excellent idea~!

[transfusionem]

Well, I don't know-

[But he seems to be accepting it, so...Maybe it's not the worst?]

Maybe it'll help!

[yokeye]

Maybe~! You want to people watch in Paris!? I was thinking of going there for a day or two over spring break!

[A nice thought, if it weren't for the kelpies.]

[transfusionem]

Sure! It'd be nice to go there, again.

[If, you know, she doesn't have to worry about those Kelpies.]

[yokeye]

It's a date, then~!

[He chips away at the vein of orichalcum. Mining is boring, but he hasn't gotten enough yet.]

[transfusionem]

It's a date.

[She's...not sure she wants to continue mining. A part of her is unsettled by Toki's plan.

It'll be fine. They'll probably get rushed along soon, anyways.]

[yokeye]

[After a few minutes, he's gathered enough for his project. Just in time too, as it seems the field trip is moving on.]

Guess we're done here~!

[He leaves the magic tools with the dwarf and secures the orichalcum for later use.]

[transfusionem]

[This is now, officially, the point of no return.]

Guess so.

[There's a pause - Adelaide doesn't want to keep harping on this, so after a moment she sighs.]

...What else do you think is down here?

[yokeye]

[Toki considers that for a minute.]

Well, there could be anything further into the mine! Probably something more mundane than magical because why would magical things be in here if orichalcum has an effect on them!? So~ bats! I think there's bats!

[transfusionem]

Bats?

[Bats is reasonable. There are probably loads of bats in the tunnels that are left empty, and not being constantly worked.]

I wish we could see bats - they're pretty cute!

[yokeye]

Like little flying mice~!

[Some of them don't really look like mice, and some are as big as dogs. Toki doesn't know what types of bats are in France, or if there's some other type native to orichalcum caves. But if Adelaide wants to see bats, they should go exploring. In the cavern, there are three tunnels leading to other places. The entrances to two of them are fairly large, so they wouldn't have to duck, but the third is smaller and he's sure they couldn't stand up in it. He waves a hand at the tunnels.]

You pick~! Let's find some bats!

[transfusionem]

Yeah!

[Eh, it's close enough.

Also, this is probably ill-advised. They could get lost in these mines for forever. Well, the school would probably make sure they're okay, but. Getting lost is still a risk.]

Um... How about the middle one?

[One of the ones where they don't have to stoop.]

[yokeye]

[Getting lost is almost inevitable.]

The middle it is~!

[Upon entering the center tunnel, it doesn't look too bad. The ground is smooth, at least to start with. A well-traveled portion of the tunnel system apparently. A few deposits of orichalcum glint from all sides, but they become few and far between the further into the mine they go.]