ORIGIN

...amiright?? -backdated to just after Incentive/this post

- THE LEVIATHAN -

They had stopped, for a time, in Cepheus. A dip into the Palace, an order at Nedies' kitchen, and they'd shared a snack, for awhile. It was... strange, simply travelling. Companionable silence followed them, for the most part; he kept an easy pace, careful not to leave Selenite struggling to catch up.

Now and then, he'd commented on the history of the caves--nothing spectacularly exciting or revelatory. But he'd explained, for example, that the Palace was used for visiting... dignitaries, one might say. He'd pointed out the Hellswans, and cheerfully informed Selenite of their real function, and real teeth. In Ursa, he'd warned of Mother, explaining a little of what he knew of Dontacael. And here, in Leo-?

"It was not always this green," the Leviathan observed, picking his way along the shoreline. He'd seen one of the dragons--he wasn't sure which--off in the distance, briefly, and it was gone now but he'd herded Selenite (and himself) closer to the trees, just in case. Offered a warning that some of them were... unfriendly. Trouble that he could handle; but trouble he'd rather not deal with, just now. "It used to simply be the Forge. The water can get quite warm. The Blacksmith makes his Forge beneath this room, you see--in the volcano, there, there is a cave. We will head down through that, into the workshop and tunnels. He is likely to be there. And then beneath this entire room is the Underforge. I doubt it has seen activity in millennia--perhaps we can fix that, some day; there used to be dozens of blacksmiths hard at work to forge weapons and armor for armies of our beasts. Hundreds, maybe. I don't know." That hadn't been his domain--he'd never spent much time, here. Never had the chance--Vargas had been restricted almost entirely to Canis and Hydra, bar short visits he'd earned elsewhere.

But that was the way things worked. He did not resent his past.

"If he has time, if he is willing, he may be able to teach you the old ways. I wonder if any of his old examples still survive?" he added, pondering.

Vargas led the way up toward the cave, glancing to Selenite as he went--if it had any questions, there were still a few minutes left to ask them.

@V-Selenite-One

Oh, the kaijin wouldn't have dared to fall behind, even if Vargas had moved at his usual, ground-swallowing pace; Selenite's poorly-veiled excitement had sustained its lopsided, power-walking gait the whole way. That, and the fortifying snack from Nedies's kitchen. He had utensils to eat with—and imagine that! It was all the hybrid could do not to barrage the chef with questions about such implements, and it resolved itself to just quietly (and not at all properly) picking chunks of stewed meat from its bowl. It slurped around the strange new… roots and sticks in there. Of course, it'd marveled at the inside of Cepheus's palace, never once brave enough to explore it before.

Ursa was an arduous trip, more so than usual; and was that because of the dread prickling at its gut? An arm held up to shield its eyes from both falling snow and the bright glare of light, it'd hesitated—subtly, it hoped, a few paces behind Vargas and out of his line of sight. Up to its knees in the permanent layer, it'd considered for a moment I hope Talys isn't there now.

"There," being whatever Forge, their usual digs, Leo at large…

V-Selenite-One (wisely) shook itself free of those concerns, both physically and emotionally.

If its brother was there, then… it could deal with that as it came. A few heated glances might be just enough—or, maybe, its Master wouldn't mind at all, because it was him who'd taught it a good amount of what it knew of crafting and more efficient-slash-civilized survivalist things. Vargas enjoyed having useful people around; and, there was the pointy-eared humanoid at his gathering not so long ago. (Certainly not the lighter skinned one whose name it'd only vaguely tensed up at hearing in the Cepheus section of their little… tour.) Helpful hands were good.

Hopefully, it would be a set of helpful hands—or two, rather.

Selenite's excitement was renewed for the umpteenth time as Vargas ushered the both of them to the cover of trees. Fortunate, because it was about to lament that it wasn't finished feeling the sand between its toes, but there'd be time for that later. It simply crept after him, following in the path cleared by his figure. Cyan-tinged ears idly took in what he was saying, but its attention was focused entirely elsewhere with him leading the way. Every dappling ray of sunshine through the canopy was a magnet for its gaze. It looked like it was seconds away from entering into a fit of chittering chirps and patting at the forest floor.

But, it kept a hold of itself, staying upright and offering uh-huhs and mhmms of acknowledgement. Tail flicking behind it, it blurted, "the volcano is the mountain, right… ? It has caves? I've neve—" Selenite involuntarily sucked in too much air to keep itself from divulging once frequent trips to Leo, and promptly stopped to cough miserably with two hands on its knees and two held up to its mouth. (The latter, because it was polite about its germs.)

"S-sorry," it croaked afterwards, "I didn't… know all of them had, um, tunnels. Mountains, l-i-ike Ursa." Another stifled cough, but it was nothing to make it double over again. A quick spasm of the chest, and the Selenite was ready to go forward again; which, it indicated as much by just… walking forward with a slight nod. Ears pricked forward, though, still genuinely curious about the thought of a solid rock mountain having tunnels and caves in it.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

The coughing fit came and went, and Vargas grunted and shook his head. "Not all," he answered, glancing out over the ocean. He tilted his head upward, too-many nostrils flaring slightly to take in that low-water scent--and then they were passing into the cavernous dark.

He looked back forward, again. "This place was designed for it. I think the forge beneath, and the water above to cool it? But I was not privy to its creation so I do not know for sure. I am guessing," he added, firing Selenite a glance filled with humor, his grin twisted a little higher.

Forward, forward... "As for Ursa, I doubt it was created so. Dontacael's minions have likely done most or all of that--or the Ice Worms, perhaps! Most of the other caves are not riddled with tunnels, but there are secrets in every cave that even I do not know," he added. Places he'd always been surprised to find rebels hiding. Or places the thieves had smuggled away food and other supplies.

Anyway!

"Down around this curve, and just ahead," he finished, nodding down into the hot and smoky tunnel.

@V-Selenite-One
(just gm tag whenever?? or tag vargas first idm-)

"It makes sense," the selenite provided, as if that were any help. It worried its lip with a tusk-like tooth, and busied its hands by working out a loose quill. Preening... like some damn bird.

It was a task made easy by the subconscious flare of its entire mane. Darkness came not with a refreshing cool, but stifling heat that trapped itself between chitin and rather tender flesh. V-Selenite-One was panting within a minute, and looked like it was prepared to melt within five. Every step was a rather miserable one, even with the calluses on its soles—there was no cushion between sensitive nerves and blisteringly hot stone.

At least it quickly figured out how to minimize the pain by walking more on the balls of its feet.

Still, that did not make it any more tolerable. Selenite choked down the complaint in lieu of voicing it, and steadied itself against the wall as an orange glow grew nearer. "Are we almost there?" it panted.

@Vargas (and gm tagging)

- THE LEVIATHAN -

The old dictator glanced to Selenite, realization blooming: if heat affected it this badly (it was panting, leaning on the wall and--he thought?--walking perhaps a bit oddly) then it would perhaps not be fit for blacksmithing.

Ahh. Unfortunate, that one suited to work and enthusiastic for it might find themselves blocked by their own damn bodies. Ahh-! But he could remake it, could he not? "If the heat proves too much for you, but you enjoy the work, it is possible that I could reform you to be heat-tolerant," he offered.

Casual almost-murder, and so forth.

"We are nearly there, however. Just a little farther." His tone held both his usual matter-of-fact bluntness and some... encouragement? Maybe. Hard to tell, but it was there.

Down into the workshop, then--not deep into the Underforge itself, but the mouth of its tunnels, certainly. Vargas took a breath, then paused, glancing around the smoke-choked, coal-glow rock walls into which they had descended.

"BLACKSMITH?" the Leviathan bellowed.

He hesitated, for a moment. In years past--centuries past?--he'd not have been ordering the Blacksmith around. And, truth be told, he wasn't sure he had the authority to. It wasn't that Masters weren't the dominant voice in the caves: it was that he wasn't certain where the Blacksmith stood. Algol-? Algol, he could bully and tease. But there was something about the Blacksmith that demanded... not respect, but... manners. The creature was far from authoritative, but Vargas, somehow, felt that roaring commands at this one wasn't quite the way to go about things.

Spying the distant dark-cloaked figure in the deeper haze, he lurched into movement again. "I have someone here for you to meet," he called out. Does he realize I am a Master, now? Should I introduce myself as such? He couldn't remember if they had spoken, since his-... 'ascension?'

Ehh, Vargas was best at getting to business, and so that's just what he did: stepped aside, gestured to the heat-stricken Selenite behind him, and made his introductions. "V-Selenite-One, this is the Blacksmith--and Blacksmith, this is V-Selenite-One, who is one of the Forge working beneath me. WHICH, ironically! does not have a forge, nor a smith." He strode closer, but moving out from between them. "We are seeking a goal for it. If it is not too much to ask," and he glanced at the Blacksmith--he liked the creature well enough but for him to say no to a master would be considered... well. Terribly rude, to say the least. "-Then I would like to request an apprenticeship, or at least a test, temporarily--to see if forging, smithing, suits it. It has hands," he went on, stating the blatantly obvious with a sweeping gesture toward Selenite--like the universe's most monstrous car salesman.

The Blacksmith's approach was a counterpoint to the Leviathan's own--if not tentative, then almost meek. It was not intentional, nor was it outright afraid. He didn't slink or cower, but his approach was slow, that of a shy wild thing, with cautious glances cast over his newest visitors.

Why have they come? he wondered, though that was answered quickly enough; oh, then, not to destroy his Forge or requisition his finished pieces with little warning. Well-... that was good, at least.

Hands gently clasped before him, he stepped to Selenite and looked them up and down. V-Selenite-One. Vargas--Master Vargas--was a stickler for regimented titles and Order, for one supposedly so devoted to Chaos; the name was... a mouthful.

The Blacksmith cleared his throat, and spoke quietly, the ambient groans and hisses of the lava vents providing a strange backdrop to his words. "Welcome... Master Vargas... and V-Selenite-One. Of course... I am willing... to teach you... what I know," he began. A keen gaze--behind a mask, granted, so maybe not so visible--fixed on Selenite. "Please... come in."

He stepped aside, then, wondering what this boded, what it meant for the caves, for Leo, for his forge, for his plants and his work. With luck, nothing much would be forced to change... "Would you care to tell me... what it is... that you already know?"

Best to start with that--and his attention, now, was fully on the Selenite. He led the way into the workshop itself--toward the massive anvil up ahead (pocked and worn with age and the acrid air); toward the smoke curling up into the vent, the piles of scrap and racks of ancient tools and armor, the lurid glow of the forge's light.

It was a whole new world--his world--and he was inviting Selenite in.

@V-Selenite-One

Vargas

V-Selenite-One

Vargas

V-Selenite-One

Vargas

Game Master Dark