((OOC: Aleph lookin' for armor here, feel free to join if you want! Although, Aleph will be calling for some folks to hunt with in their next thread ;3c))

Aleph had to know what this tunnel was anyways. This was the dry one that led off from Orion, right? Yeah, Aleph had to go down this one. The goal was, as it was in most tunnels, simply to get to the other side... but Aleph didn't think that was gonna slide so fast in this one.

They hadn't expected all the stuff here.

It was everywhere! Scraps of all kinds of wacky things littering the whole floor! And these weird carvings everywhere; what were they? Watching, from the ceiling? Some kind of allegory, or a story? Aleph didn't want to get run right through. In fact, they felt it would be actively detrimental if they tried!

So instead, they began to search around.

Aleph hadn't found anything of particular interest yet, but they hadn't even made it down the first, uh, strangely-shaped incline! So there certainly had to be more to see, right?

Stopping every once in a while to admire something shiny didn't seem to be getting Aleph anywhere. Maybe they'd have to switch up their tactics. All the shiny stuff ended up being so broken and small, it was hardly worth it. So maybe Aleph should just, well, keep scrolling until something truly paw-stopping showed up in their line of sight.

It might help 'em walk faster, and Aleph had to get down this tunnel. Seeing the end would be important. The sooner they knew what Monoceros was like, the sooner they could go back and look for not just any not-dragon, but the right not-dragon to enter it with them.

And Aleph supposed they'd get the thingy back for the Collector? Actually, the Collector hadn't been the most clear about that. Yet another reason to go back and clarify... Aleph really didn't want to screw up.

Oh. It seemed the strategy of waiting for the mouse to run straight into your paws was working.

Alrik found a surprisingly decent quality plate of metal. It looked big enough to be fit over a torso. It was broken, yes, but not as much as one would've expected for something so old. Not that Aleph knew how old it might've been. Frankly, the pallas' cat didn't care! It was theirs now.

They dusted it off a little, released it from the ground, and dragged it to the side where it could just chill for a bit. Aleph wanted to find more!

With surprising speed, Aleph bumped into yet another more intriguing piece of metal. This one was a far worse specimen than the previous. Aleph was almost tempted to leave it, but then they considered... perhaps it still had a use? The other metal piece had a few chinks. Perhaps, if Aleph could find a way to piece this metal onto the other...

And if Aleph could do that, then why not collect a BUNCH of metal?! Make a whole dang... suit! Like a second fur! One that was denser, cooler, more fitting for a true warrior-- a KING!!!

The first metal piece could've fit a body. The second, or whatever remained of it, looked like it could fit around a paw decently bigger in circumference than Aleph's. This one... looked like a shattered hat of some sort? It was so out of disrepair, Aleph couldn't be sure. It was really more like tattered fragments of metal, probably safer not to touch, but Aleph carried it to the pile anyway.

The search continued!

Aleph found. A piece of shrapnel. That was nice. But boy would it not do anything at all. Maybe, just maybe, it'd be the perfect size for a small chink in the armor, but um... OH ALRIGHT, Aleph took it to the pile.

It would seem as though Aleph's luck might be running out. But maybe not! Maybe not.

Unenthused, like a very insensitive and rude judge at a children's talent show that took itself way too seriously, Aleph simply thought, 'NEXT!'

What Aleph found next was... intriguing. It had taken a bit too long, but it seemed to be worth it, for the most part. Half of a tool, it seemed; one that could fit in a creature's jaws. Were those spikes at the end of it? Very interesting... Aleph had no idea what this was.

Well, to the pile it would go!! Maybe Aleph should try using some of the worse metal to improve upon thing object as well... although Aleph had no idea what it could possibly turn out to be.

Yet another search!

Oh this looked interesting. A little gray gem amidst a few bits of shrapnel and metal. Aleph would take it. It was the only one they were seeing here. Maybe they'd find more?

They'd honestly collected a lot here. Several bits of metal. They had no idea how they were possibly going to carry it all, especially the main piece. Perhaps they should just bury it and wait until they could figure out what to do with it... it didn't seem like anyone else was around.

So that's what they'd do. Diggy hole, putty in, cover up, safe and sound!

Now, 'twas about time they met Monoceros in person!

- exit to Monoceros -

((OOC: +1 of each: torso armor (94%), appendage armor (30%), head armor (23%), tiny piece of metal (1%), gray grem ingredient (39%) to Inventory))