Earthen Heritage - 20/12/2023 - Archie’s Extracts

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On Prospecting The Elusive

Gulmyr Blackeyes, a dwarven miner knowledgeable in magic, had recently formed the Dawnlands Extraplanar Prospecting Company, and was hiring adventurers for a protection job. Mr. Blackeyes, when we met him, was covered head to toe in leather and wore dark protective goggles. I could see in my fellow adventurers' eyes that they were unsure whether we had rung the bell for business enquiries at the front door, or whether we had rung the bell for social calls instead. It turns out Mr. Blackeyes, though based in Daring Heights likes to keep himself mining-fit, which is to say keep his darkvision keen, his body protected (the leather was protective garb), and avoid airborne illnesses from surface-dwellers, as he put it. His entire house was darkened too, I had to cas the Light cantrip to see.

Mr. Blackeyes’ job entailed travelling to the Plane of Earth, where my young earth-genasi, fellow wizard friend, Rae had expressed a desire to visit, seeing the Plane of Earth as a sort of spiritual home to them.

Detective adventuring work had proven quite remunerative, it felt like a good time to explore whether prospective adventuring work could be lucrative too, although as our employer Mr. Blackeyes stressed, we were hired specifically as protection to the prospector, not prospectors ourselves.

Accompanying us were Raine, our half-elf bardic friend and fellow - and more experienced wizard friend - Amble, a gnome enchanter.

Unfortunately, both Mr. Blackeyes’ quest to establish a base on the Plane of Earth for future lucrative commercial mining success, and Rae’s own personal quest to establish a warm connection with their spiritual home were neither of them successful.

Mr. Blackeyes had to use an explosive method to clear a tunnel from poisonous gas. While we were able to hear fascinating singing from a distant group of Galeb Duhr, we did not draw their attention. But, we did draw the attention of Xorns. Mr. Blackeyes educated us that the presence of Xorns for miners meant that the surrounding environment had either already been emptied of precious gems and metals, or were soon about to be. Xorns eat gems and metals for sustenance, and were very capable of determining that us adventurers and a miner had plenty of ‘nutritious’ metals on our persons.

We had the benefit of Amble’s casting of Leomund’s Tiny Hut whilst Rae and Raine began a diplomatic exchange with the Xorns, who are quite intelligent, communicative beings (and I say this as pure observation with no mal intent, but from my experience, I would rate the average Xorn more intelligent than my two closest friends). Mr. Blackeyes wished to escape via the planeshifting spell that he cast to bring us to the Plane of Earth in the first place, fearing for our safety. But, Rae had established something of a non-hostile rapport with the Xorns, and it appeared at the time that we were not under threat, unlike Mr. Blackeyes’ previous dealings with Xorns, which he told us about. Rae had persuaded the Xorns that they were there to explore a land they wished to make home and we were accompanying them.

Persuaded that we were not there as threats, the Xorns took us to where they and their nomadic tribe resided deeper in the rocks. The Xorns appeared to do their best to shield us from harm, as they swam their way with us through the earth in the way that Xorns are able to travel. Most of us were fortunate to merely suffer the dirtying of our clothes and some shortage of breath. Poor Raine required a visit to the Healing Pool tent in Portal Plaza when we got back to Daring Heights, having nearly asphyxiated.

There came a point where we were talking to the large group of Xorns, and had become the centrepiece of attention encircled by adult and child Xorns alike. It was extremely rare for ‘fleshy’ creatures as the Xorns would put it, to visit them so deep in the earth. The shortage of access, air, and our own sustenance were chief among the reasons why. The reality of this was that Rae had to reach the upsetting realisation that the Plane of Earth, no matter what they had dreamed it could be, was simply not a hospitable place for them - earth-genasi are more humanoid than earth-elemental.

A further upsetting matter for all of us, however, was how we then felt we were being pressured to give up our gems and metals to satiate the Xorns. The Xorns were offering replacement stone tools for the metal tools they desired from us, but it did not feel like an honest negotiation where we were free to leave if an agreement could not be reached.

With the aid of Rae’s diplomacy and Raine’s bardic inspiring presence magical shaping my words, I was able to, and I might add, reluctantly, deceive the Xorns that I could provide them a feast of gems with the Creation spell, but only if I could cast peacefully within my ally Amble’s magic, dome-like hut with my entire allies aiding me. The lie took. Amble casted the dome, and from the privacy inside, Mr. Blackeyes casted the Planeshift spell and got us back to Daring Heights safely. I did, however, finish the casting of the Creation spell whilst in the protective dome, and did in fact create a large wheelbarrow’s worth of satiating; emerald, rubies and sapphires. I honestly hope the Xorns enjoyed them, although, and this is where the deception came in, after twelve hours, I imagine the gems lost all nutritious value as the gems would have disappeared; those being the limitation of the Creation spell.

Mr. Blackeye’s first expedition for his Dawnlands Extraplanar Prospecting Company was unsuccessful. At most it was a learning expedition, and he has now learned he must explore other regions of the Plane of Earth, if he is to find prosperous mining areas.

True to his word, Mr. Blackeyes paid us for our protection. Though we did not engage the Xorns in combat, we did protect him well from harm through our diplomacy, guile and magic, and our employer, as an honest man, recognised this and paid us 150gp (in silver slips) each in accord. I wish Mr. Blackeyes success in future prospecting journeys.

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