"Oh hey, I've been hoping I would run into you at some point here. This is perfect timing." Dawn stands before Roark, rummaging in her bag for a moment. "I found this when I was digging a week ago or so. I've been holding onto it since then in case I ran into you." Dawn takes out a medium-sized velvet bag, loosening the drawstrings on it as she tips it over, a stone tumbling into Roark's hands.
It was a Moon Stone, though it was clear it was an atypical stone - the normally rough and jagged edges were smoothed down and flush with the surface. The rhomboidal shape was still clear, though the normally pointed edges were more rounded off than they were sharp. The sheen on the stone was iridescent, several colors glinting off the glossy surface when the light caught it just right. The color of the stone itself was lighter, the color appearing a bit more milky with twinges of blues and deep greens. It was clear Dawn had taken great care in both cleaning and polishing the stone as to not compromise the natural luster and surface of the stone itself - something the very Leader before her taught her, Dawn clearly putting his guidance into action.
"I didn't really know what it was at first. I thought it might be a weird Oval Stone." Dawn returns the velvet bag back to its spot, awaiting the next interesting stone to be placed within. "That was until I put it in the moonlight. I'm not gonna spoil how this particular stone looks in it. Just- trust me when I say you're going to want to try it for yourself. I've never seen anything like it before. I honestly don't even know how the stone itself got so smooth either. I know erosion and stuff happens, but I can't believe no one else dug it up for so long." She takes a second to pause, realizing she's absolutely yapping Roark's ears off at this point.
"Anyways. Wanna go digging and see if we can find some more unusual stones? I've been on a hot streak lately."
Ah, two late night degenerates would inevitably come across one another in the underground—what is there not to love about escaping society and all of the responsibilities of existing, with the added bonus of finding cool artifacts after enough searching? Volkner should, hopefully, be comforted by the fact Dawn frequents this place as much as Roark does. Nothing terrible would happen without one or the other coming in to help. Roark looks up from his makeshift table—an overturned bucket with a chunk of hard-packed dirt in an oddly rounded shape. The vague luster of a crystal shimmers under the overhead lighting. Ramses sits patiently, but when Dawn appears, he perks up just as quickly, happy to see one of his favorite people.
"Oh, artifacts for little ol' me?" Well, say less.
This is usually how it goes, most of the time, so long as Roark wasn't grumbling over yet another missing flag.
He turns the moon stone over in his hands, entranced for a moment by the way each face reflects, almost like a labradorite at certain angles. Overall, reducing the raw edges down to just barely a curve changed the way light interacted with the very structure of the stone itself, almost like Dawn managed to implant a foggy night within the stone. It takes only a little time before Roark breaks out into a smile. "You've improved immensely on your preparation skills. Not a single level missed before the polish! You know, I've never actually thought to tumble evo' stones, I just assumed it wasn't possible without compromising it somehow... but to think that this is actually just how it naturally formed...."
Ramses peers over, chirping in agreement—he knows what they're supposed to look like, given the household he grew up in. But this could pass for something entirely different. "That would have been my guess had it been completely opaque." Still... under what conditions did the stone form like this, he wonders.. "The first thing I'm doing on the way home is taking it out away from the city lights, that's for sure."
In it's natural, unfinished state, maybe the moon stone had dodged the amateur gaze... ah. The offer of more digging cuts off his train of thought, but he doesn't mind, happily moving to take his current chunk of interest and using the bucket for it's intended use.
"Hell yeah—I wanna know where you found this one, too. I haven't come across any more cursed heirlooms in awhile. I need to see something interesting besides spheres—" Yeah. Yeah, of course neither Roark nor Ramses are going to pass up the opportunity, are they. Looks like they're not going home anytime soon.