The deepvein mine

A working mine deep under the cavern city of Undervault, with five levels of galleries, its own ores, gas, cave-ins, ore carts, a great pump, contracts and a weekly Deep Strike. Type /deepvein anywhere for the mine menu. It is also in the village life menu, under More to do.

Getting there

In Undervault, find the Deepvein mine cage and press shift enter inside it. The cage rides down the shaft with the bell, the drop and the dripping water, and lands at the Pit Bottom about 20 seconds later. To go back up, stand in the cage to Undervault at the landing and press shift enter. You come out beside the cage in Undervault. You cannot walk while the cage moves.

The levels

The Pit Bottom: the cage landing; to the west the miners' camp with Foreman Magda, the camp kettle, the tally board, the courier board and the timber yard; to the east the smelting house with the smelter, and the assay office with Assayer Tobias and the gem cutting wheel.

Ten steps down: the Cobalt Gallery, cobalt ore.

Twenty steps down: the Moonsilver Gallery, moonsilver ore, with the ore cart track, the cart yard at its east end and the tipple at its west end.

Thirty steps down: the Garnet Deeps, dark. Rough deep garnets and star iron ore. The old collapse is at the west end, the great pump in the middle, the Deep Strike chamber at the east end.

Forty steps down: the Flooded Gallery, dark, under water until the great pump drains it. Lumen crystal.

Ladderways join the levels: stand in one and press page down or page up once for every step. The ore lift joins the tipple with the Pit Bottom: press Enter on its panel.

Veins and claims

Veins open by themselves in the galleries and run out as they are worked; new ones open in time. Press shift enter anywhere in a gallery to sound the rock: you hear where the nearest vein is, how rich it is and who is working it. Stand on the vein and use any pickaxe. Picks wear exactly as they do everywhere else.

The first person who strikes a vein claims it. Anybody else who tries is told who is working it and cannot take ore from it until the claimer has not struck it for 90 seconds, or has walked more than 5 steps away from it, or has left the mine or the game. This is the same rule as for every other vein in the game.

In the dark galleries you miss half your strikes without a light: a carbide lamp, a lumen safety lamp or a miner's lantern. Some veins are hidden and half again as rich: only a carbide lamp finds and works them. The veins of the old collapse are richer too, but you need knee pads to work them.

Dangers

Gas: now and then gas creeps into a gallery. A canary in its cage stops singing, or a lumen safety lamp burns blue, about 30 seconds before it arrives. When you smell rotten eggs, leave the gallery by a ladderway: the gas hurts you every few seconds, never below a little health, and clears in about a minute and a half.

Cave-ins: sometimes the roof of a gallery comes down and buries its veins. Two or more people must dig it clear: 30 strokes with a pickaxe or a shovel in your bag, shift enter in the gallery. Knee pads make your strokes count double. Everybody who digs is paid. If nobody digs, the night crew clears it after 45 minutes.

Timbering: use a set of pit props in a gallery to shore it up for 2 hours, at most 4 hours ahead. A shored up gallery cannot cave in, and every strike there has a 1 in 4 chance of an extra piece.

Work

The ore cart run: take a loaded cart at the cart yard (shift enter) and push it west along the track to the tipple within 4 minutes, then press shift enter at the tipple. You get 2 pieces of ore and ln point, more if you take 90 seconds or less. 6 runs a day. If you leave the level, the cart runs away.

The great pump: every shift enter at the pump is one stroke. When everybody together reaches 200 strokes, the Flooded Gallery is drained for 2 hours and lumen crystal veins open there. Everyone who gave 5 strokes or more is paid, and the hardest worker gets a trophy.

Contracts: Foreman Magda gives contracts, 4 a day, one at a time: deliver ore or metal, run carts, work the pump, shore up a gallery, clear rubble, hew ore or smelt. Each pays ln point, 30 standing and pass XP. Your 1st, 3rd and 10th contracts give keepsakes of the Deepvein collection. 10 contracts give the title Deepvein Hewer, 20 a trophy, 30 the title Master of the Deepvein.

The camp kettle gives a free mug of tea every 20 minutes. Magda sells miner's pasties for 60 ln point, 5 a day. The timber yard saw cuts 3 wood into 2 sets of pit props, 3 times a day.

Smelting, cutting and selling

The smelter: 3 cobalt ore and 1 wood make a cobalt ingot; 3 moonsilver ore and 1 wood a moonsilver ingot; 4 star iron ore and 2 wood a star iron ingot.

The forge at the smelter: 1 star iron ingot and 1 wood make a star iron file, which takes 150 swings of wear off your most worn pickaxe. With Friend standing, a cobalt ingot and a cut lumen crystal make a lumen safety lamp. With Trusted standing, a moonsilver ingot and a cut deep garnet make a Deepvein garnet ring.

The gem wheel: 1 rough deep garnet makes a cut deep garnet; 2 rough lumen crystals make a cut lumen crystal.

Assayer Tobias buys, up to 12 pieces a day: cobalt ingot 60, moonsilver ingot 90, star iron ingot 120, cut deep garnet 110, cut lumen crystal 150, Deepvein garnet ring 380 ln point. He does not buy raw ore and sells nothing. At most 700 ln point a day come from the mine altogether.

The deep strike

Every Thursday at 19:00 universal time, for one hour, the blasting crew opens the mother lode in the Deep Strike chamber. It is one huge shared vein with no claims, and every strike can give any of the five ores. Everybody who works it is paid when it ends; 10 pieces or more give the mother lode keepsake, and whoever breaks out the most becomes Champion of the Deep Strike and gets a trophy. It is announced to everybody; you can switch the announcement off in the notification settings.

Menu and commands

/deepvein opens the mine menu: the guide, directions, the mine today, sound the rock, your contract, your Deepvein record, the Deep Strike, the tally board and the mining goods. Staff: /dmnadmin, also in the menu.