Calrod's Mines II

Rae stepped into the elevator shaft with her usual mining group. They included Musa, a 47-year-old man with three children, Gideon, a 19-year-old kid that was serving time in the mines, Nyssa, a 32-year-old ex-peacekeeping officer, and Alec, a 35-year-old man, and the unofficial leader of their group. Musa's wife had died ten years ago after giving birth to triplets, leaving him with more children than he could handle or financially support with his former job as a security guard. He was a 6'2" tower of muscle and sinew with light brown skin and a clean shaven beard and head. His lack of hair highlighted his baby face, and directly contrasted his physique. He had been attracted to Calrod's unheard of pay rates and the promise of job security, so he decided to try his hand at mining. He didn't strike it rich like he had hoped but he made enough to support his family. Now that Obed was in charge, Musa wasn't sure how long he could stay. Gideon was a version of who Rae could have been. Gideon wasn't an orphan like Rae, but his mother could barely make a living as a washerwoman. He hadn't been able to find any jobs in the mines as the companies that would take him on usually demanded more than they gave back with increased risks and the higher ranked mining teams usually went for strong men and women, not ten-year-olds. So Gideon had taken to stealing and roaming the streets. Eventually, he had gotten caught pillaging the pockets of one of the wealthier families in the city of Berth and landed in jail. He was going to be imprisoned or sent to the government mines for five years, but Calrod had intervened. He had agreed to take on guardianship and responsibility for Gideon in exchange for ten years of service. The court agreed and Gideon joined Calrod's Company. When Rae joined, Gideon had only been there for a year and was 11 years old when Rae was six so the two of them had grown up together. Now, he was a scrawny kid with ebony dark skin and curly, brown hair that he kept at about six inches long. Gideon only had one year left of service when Calrod had died, but the past six months had felt longer than the previous nine years. For one, Calrod paid everyone on his team 1000 credits a month. Gideon only got 800 from Calrod since he was a convict but that was still infinitely better than what he would have gotten from the government mines, which was nothing. Calrod also paid 20 credits for each stone over thirty that a miner brought in (40 for high tier stones). For Gideon, the rate was 10 credits (20 for high tier stones). If a miner happened to find a supreme tier stone, they would get 50 percent of the profit. Mana stones sold at a fixed price of 30 to 50 credits per stone for low to mid-tier stones, and 100 credits for high-tier stones. Supreme-tier stones were rare and sold at astronomical values of 1000 credit per stone, so Calrod's rates were actually pretty fair. Obed simply paid a flat rate of 20 credits per stones - regardless of quality.

Mining was hard work. Mana stones grew in honeycomb patterned rocks hidden deep within caves. The pearls were fragile so traditional mining tools couldn't be used to extract them. Instead, miners would break off segments of the rock and them in a specially formulated softening liquid, and then proceed to extract the stones. The stones were shaped like pearls, they were translucent and filled with a dense cloudy-white substance. The more opaque the pearl was, the higher the quality. Low-tier stones were almost transparent. Their insides were barely filled with anything and you could make out the rotation of the cloud within them. Mid-tier stones were a step up, they were filling enough that you couldn't actually make out the energy, you just saw a cloud of energy within them. High-tier stones were a lot like mid-tier stones but their centers were darker, instead of the same shade of white like the other stones. This showed that there was a stronger condensation of elemental energy. Supreme-tier stones were mostly unheard of and were a dark grey color all the way through. This level of pure elemental energy concentration would guarantee the strongest foundation for the mage that could afford them. Each day, a miner would only be able to mine 40 - 80 stones at the most. The majority of these stones would be low and mid-tier, with an average of ten high-tier stones. About once a month, someone would find a supreme-tier stone.

Calrod's miners went from earning 1200 to 2200 credits a month (not counting supreme-tier stones) to earning 800 to 1600 hundred credits. It was a big blow for the miners.

Calrod would also use some his profits to pay for equipment or even retirement or health benefits for his miners, but Obed just took the money. It seemed like Obed wasn't trying to sustain the mine. All he wanted to do was earn as much money as he could from the miners until their contracts were all up, and then sell the mines he had permits for, for a profit. It was why they were taking this senseless trip into an uncleared mine.

Nyssa had only been in the company for five years. While Mages took care of external problems, humans still relied on non-mages for protection and security. Nyssa had been a peacekeeping officer. She got into a physical altercation while trying to resolve a domestic dispute, and ended up having her license revoked. The man had cited abuse of force, and his wife was too scared to say otherwise, so Nyssa found herself unable to work. She moved around between company's and eventually landed at Calrods'. Thankfully, the wife had eventually been able to leave the man, but Nyssa still had the mark on her record. She was a stocky woman; about 5'6" with cropped black hair and light skin. Nyssa rarely spoke, and mostly focused on getting her work done, and getting paid. Alec had been in the company for the longest - since he was 20. He had worked his way up and eventually became the best miner in the company. If Calrod hadn't died, he might have inherited the company. Obed liked to go out of his way to make Alec's life hard. He would dispute the quality of the stones Alec had handed in or would dock his pay for infractions Alec never committed. Everything Obed did, Alec met with a calm countenance, and this only seemed to infuriate the man even more. Alec's skin was earth colored, and his hair was long, and white as snow. He wore it in a singular braid that he kept rolled up during mining ventures.

The miners put on gas masks before they began their descent. Some part of the process of creating mana stones made the air in the stone mining caves toxic to humans. The deeper you went, the stronger the poison. On average, the filters could only last for six hours. This was part of why each miner could only extract tens of pearls a day. Over time, the toxic air would become bad for one's health, and most mana stone miners would retire if they had earned enough, or move to lesser paying, but safer mining jobs which focused on regular ores.

Mining elevators were a technological and magical marvel. Before their creation, miners would have to venture out with guards of mages each time they went to mine stones. It was costly and deadly. Then, variant earth and air magic combined with engineering to create teleportation gates. Each new mine would be affixed with a symbol that would correspond to the main elevator hub. Miners simply needed to load the permit for the mine they were going to and push a button. The mining permit contained coordinates and they would be transported to the location specified on the permit.

It had taken Rae months to get used to the feeling of being transported somewhere. For a few moments, it almost felt like she faded out of existence.

"Everyone ready?" Alec asked.

The miners all noded one after the other, and the team leader pressed the button. It was time.