Children of Earth
Duskmeadow Fringe - March 14
Cai's accounts
We are going to the quarry.
Oswin is 25, bald, outgoing, but not bubbly. He is confident. I’m doing this for my Razzy, who is not his girlfriend.
Noon: Cloudy, cold, sunny.
Where the grassland is in the distance we see a spire, a thin, tall, hollow, sighting.
We continue our route.
Later on we hear some sound of wind passing through a flute. It is calming.
We reached the inn. It’s only for “rich” people. We cannot afford it. It’s known for its rabbit stew, a popular place - empty now.
They offer us water from the well. Marta is there, 50 years old, with a happy face.
Cai talks to Marta about the Quarry and she said nobody ever comes back from that place - it’s cursed!
Marta is sorry for Yewtree’s profession. She is sad for him. She says she’ll speak with Earnest, maybe Yawtree can stay with them. Matheus didn’t like that, so he confronted the woman and we left. After walking a bit more, we camp near the trees.
During the night, on Matheus’ watch, 4 rabbits scare him off, while he is “nightdreaming” about werewolves. He catches 3 of them as they didn’t really try to flee. While killing them he realised that they had a human-like look to them.
We connect some dots and think there might be human meat in the hunter’s shack, because Marta said nobody ever comes back, and last time they saw meat in that place. We go there, and there are no windows on the shack, only a well-made wooden door. We open it and we an see an animal trap, like a bear trap, there’s dried meat around it.
Matheus looks at a ribcage and it looks very human to him. Yewtree has seen ribcages open, he is doubtful. Hilda goes ahead and takes some, she is in denial. We see heads of very young deer. We do not interact with anything inside the house and leave for the Quarry.
Arrived at the Quarry
We are in a big opening on the face of a hill, we go inside the mouth of the cave and after 20-30 meters it becomes a massive hole, excavated. As we walk in this pocket, we access a natural tunnel that leads to many different ways all going downwards. It looks like a natural cave system with no signs of ruby veins at this point. It looks like they were quarrying, in the area, and then maybe it broke down to the natural system.
We chose the steepest way in hopes of finding rubies very deep under, but quickly realise there is a vein of rubies around them. “Standing here won’t make it warmer.” and we start moving to the East this time. Cai doesn’t feel well, something like an anxiety attack, traumatised by last time. She needs to eat a bit to recover. Matheus helps her, and the rest go forward only to find an even steeper downhill and their light went out.
Yawtree is very antsy to get further and further.
Cai: “The deeper we go, the quieter the past gets.”
We reach a very steep cliffy place, Metheus ties his rope on a stalactite and passes like tarzan to the next level. Hilda follows, but the stalactite breaks and the whole ceiling falls off. Oswin reacts fast and passes through while the rubble falls, but safely. Yawtree and Cai are digging through with a shovel and their hands. Cai advises the rest to keep moving when she says “Shadows stretch longest for those who stand still.”
The others go down and find some statue parts that look like they are from young humans.They also find a pick and Matheus uses it until they eventually re-unite and keep going.
At some point we hear a “mip, mip, mip” sound and Yawtree puts his ear on the ground and hears it and some other, rhythmic sound. Not as stable as a clock, but at least rehearsed.
“Could be miners” or.. “Ghost miners!”
Hilda feels weird about ….
Oswin…
The sound intensifies, they really sound like they are mining. Hilda feels uneasy - falls on the ground in panic. The child-like stone head sort of looks at Hilda (or the other way around) and Hilda cannot walk.Throws away the head.
We go further down and we keep hearing those sounds. Cai feels like her heart beats faster and faster, along with the rhythm. She grabs Matheus’ pick axe and starts replicating the sound. She keeps going until Matheus grabs it back and tells her “it’s not your son in the other side of that wall”.
“Enough rubies, and our families eat. More than enough, and no one comes knocking at our door next week.”
Cai goes forward and sees the miners from afar. She only sees the movement, but they look dwarvish-sized.
We see dozens of them. We see veins around. There are all kids, we see big rubies. They are stones and they break off. Some have already broken hands. It looks like they suffer when they break off. They are mining and are responsible for one of the sounds, but the other one comes from even lower.
Now THIS is valuable, says Matheus towards incapacitated Hilda. He grabs one of the rubies and one of the kids lifts his hand waiting for Matheus’ hand and he gives his finger.
Yewtree asks the one without hands “is there a ruby behind this wall you were digging”? And the child indicates yes! Very obviously. Yewtree gets the ruby, while Oswin removes his arm! Another kid sees that and de-attaches his arm as well - they are having a moment.
Cai asks the one holding Matheus “what are you?” She takes her hand and points downwards, further in the cave.
Hilda goes around to gather the rubies.
People
Locations
Full moon rabbits
Mateus, Cai, Hilda, Oswin and Yewtree travel the Duskmeadow Fringe North towards the Quarry.
Far in the west, they see a spire, almost fading into the horizon. They arrive at the Rabbit’s Inn. Martha (the owner) explains the Quarry is haunted. She feels sorry for Yewtree’s life and asks if he wants to live with her and her husband, Earnest.
It is a beautiful, clear sky with a full moon. They camp on the forest’s border.
During his watch, Mateus is startled by four rabbits. Unexpectedly, they do not flee. Mateus captures three of them. As he kills them, one shows a human expression of sadness.
Earth’s rhythm
On the second day, they revisit the hunter’s hut. Mateus fears the dried meat is of human origin. Yewtree is not so sure.
Later in the day, they entered the quarry. Navigating slopes is dangerous, but they carefully progress.
A cave-in has separated the group. While some work to remove the stones and reunite with the others, Mateus and Hilda discover parts of a stone statue of a child: a head and a hand.
Deeper in the tunnels, they hear tapping on the rocks. The quarry’s heartbeat.
Stealing from children
They find dozens of stone children in the depths, similar to the statue pieces found earlier. The stone children work to find rubies. A few ruby stones lie on the floor.
Yewtree asks one of the children where to mine, and the child points to the exact location.
The children invite the group to explore the caves even deeper, but they return to Sigisfarne.