ORIGIN

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The crow atop Dragon's head was silent, for once. The alligators voice seemed to simply shear away at her thoughts, as she stared off into the swamp, barely listening and barely moving. She didn't even give Ghanyarah any regard until after Tal'at spoke, but even then it was only a quiet chortle, short and low.

Eve turned to peer out into the water, feathers appearing almost flat against the bird's frail body. She watched the water for a moment, before she let out a croaking scoff and turned back to face the group, quietly bonking her beak off Dragon's head.

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@Ghanyarah

Ghanyarah watched as his alligator brother emerged from the water, leaving behind elegant ripples that all pointed to the reptile even as they began to stretch away across the surface. He watched the mesmerizing waves in the deep, swampy water before pink eyes flickered to Dragon. As he spoke his name, the komodo gave a low rumble of solidarity - brotherhood. He settled himself in the mud and listened to his proposition, shifting his gaze to the gleaming collar cleaned of mud, before looking back to Dragon. He had a good point. They would fare far better working together, and Ghanyarah wouldn't lie about finding companionship desirable. These creatures in particular were of little interest to him (except for Dragon, with whom he felt he did share a bond), but maybe sharing a hierarchy would help him overcome that.

"These secrets," He began, staring down his snout at the alligator. "will be ours in due time. I will make sure of it." Ghanyarah chuffed, giving his loyalty to his new leader. He didn't know what the secrets entailed, but if he needed to survive to learn them, so be it. He wanted them. He'd been told of them before but Ghanyarah had never hungered for them so deeply as he had upon learning that they hinged upon his ultimate victory. He would achieve them, if only to hold them over someone else's head.

There was a subtle stirring beneath the surface of the marsh. Its muddy bottom whisked up and shuddered with movement, as if a great weight had been lifted. The great, low reverberation of the alligator did not go unnoticed. The sound permeated endless meters of water, amplified in heavy waves that pushed a massive beast from its depths. In graceful, eternal strokes the monster would rise up and just barely breach the surface, turning its massive head so that one eye could just barely poke out above. The beast had not been made to be a lurker - he was a striker, focused vision pinpointing shadows. Even so, this intrigued him. He watched quietly until catching the glimpse of the shiny gold collar.

He moved. His head dipped down and his long body unfurled within the marsh waters, darting towards the congregation. The sea monster was silent, a stark difference to the temper tantrum he'd thrown earlier. But he was curious. Had they completed the task he'd assigned them? How? Reaching them, the beast smoothly rose from the surface. He was entirely soundless, and his body ascended behind Dragon, wild eyes fixed on the golden collar. Aquarian lifted higher and higher, his long neck crooked down to peer at them, only he was entirely fixated on the treasure.

Dragon had turned, armored scaled tail dragging along as he rose back up to face the others, the golden collar lying in the rotten leaves beside him. He was unaware of the massive, one hundred meter long serpentine body rising silently out of the black water behind him to stare down, unaware of anything bar those gathered before him. He closed his eyes in thought, for a moment, before speaking once more.

If we're going to be a family... now's the time.

Dragon gathered himself, weaving his thoughts into words, opening his eyes once more and making as powerful a speech as he could, though it was awkward and clumsy by the standards of any true orator. He slapped one forefoot in the pool of water beneath him--the one swirling with the brown, rancid foam of already-consumed corpses, the one where Aquarian's offering pile had been placed in the past.

"Many die and rot away, like the death-water under my feet. The ones who live eat the ones who die. The ones who are strong live, when the weak ones fall. Life is born from that struggle. Those who live are standing on the bodies of those who have died. We are the survivors--us. Us, here. We are the children of rot. I am going to stay here, in this marsh, and I am going to bring food to Aquarian. I am going to live forever," he declared matter-of-factly, gaining steam now, "and I'm going to learn all the secrets of this cave, and all the others. If you want to agree to help one another, so we know who is friend and who isn't--so we know who wants to live forever, and learn everything--let's decide now."

The ending of his speech was hardly a decisive command, but then, he was no commander. He was only making a suggestion, trying to find who his allies were. He looked among the others present, still so lost in his own nervousness about speaking in front of so many others at once that he still hadn't noticed anything wrong, any attention directed behind him, instead of at him.

For a soon-to-be leader of a group of Gembound, Dragon appeared rather alarmingly oblivious.

@Czernobog

Great one. Below. The words meant just about nothing to Czernobog, who simply sat and listened, content to be near his boat. The gathered others were very quiet, and so the pig merely snuffled at each of them in turn, curious. Where they harmed, in some way? Or, perhaps, they were like it, unable to work those strange sounds from their mouths! The thought made his tail wag just a bit, before Dragon's serious gaze set him back to stillness, a tiny ball of fluff trying to appear as big and intimidating as possible. Perhaps it could have kept up this barely-controlled facade of age and duty - but that chance was lost when a massive eye peeked up above the water, and Czernobog stared, jaw hanging open, teeth glistening, at the sight. Whatever it belonged to had to be gigantic, and it only got bigger the more it was revealed, cresting out of the water to reveal an enormous beast.

The piglet snorted in surprise, rocking back on his haunches, staring up at Aquarian in amazement. It was so big! And so scaly! Like a really big boat! Fascinated, Czernobog was only broken from his staring by the sound of his singer's voice, tapping hooves restless against the ground, caught between wanting to move closer to the creature and wanting to run far, far away, lest it be he who became prey. Many die. Rot away. Eat the ones who die. Born from that struggle. We are the survivors. I am going to live forever. The jumbled mess of words clouded the tiny piglet's mind, and it huffed, ears flicking lazily, only really understanding the parts about eating. Still, it was obviously important to his dad, so Czernobog stayed put, trying to at least look like he understood.

Who wants to live forever. Decide now. The boar huffed in agreement, scooting a bit closer to the water's edge, a silent agreement with whatever Dragon wanted. The alligator had an almost frightening amount of control over the boar, and at the end of the day, Czernobog would do whatever Dragon commanded. As long as it was using small words, of course.

@Talat

Tal'at had nothing to say. He simply perched where he was, his focus lost in the deep, vibrant red. It came up to greet them, rising high up behind Dragon as he spoke. The heartbeat of everyone else was washed away, his radar blinking strong and, ironically, blindingly. The creature was so large that he could not make out the shape of it clearly-- he just knew that it took up the entire waterfront.

And yet.

As dangerous as this thing must be, Dragon's heartbeat (the only one he could pick out, as it was just in front of the Great One) stayed steady. Calm. For once, Tal'at was not afraid of the large, powerful heartbeat. This was different than the raptor outside of Pisces. This creature... He was safe. With a spread of his wings, he lurched off of his perch and flew to the water, spiraling above the face of the mammoth Aquarian.

He did not speak-- he didn't dare-- he simply tested the waters, so to speak. He slowly fluttered down, and tentatively, tried to settled down on the crest of the noodle's head. This was who Dragon spoke of, the true Guardian of Cetus.

If this was what it meant to be a Child of Rot, Tal'at was proud. He was ready to worship this great beast, one who was so much older than them. How long had this creature guarded their home? Awestruck, he settled down if Aquarian would allow it, and allowed just three small words to escape his lips.

"To live forever."

!!! ...
@Willow

It's in the eyes!
I can tell, you will always be danger!
We had it tonight! Why do we always seek absolution?

The owl watched Aquarian with wide eyes, silent. For a moment she wasn't sure if she was terrified or simply curious, but she did not take her eyes off the great beast. Even as Dragon began talking - sure she listened, but she seemed almost afraid that Aquarian would eat the alligator.

Suddenly she found herself also staring at the small blind bat, who had essentially mounted the giant noodle. She tilted her head somewhat as she looked down towards Dragon, expressionless as she opened her wings to swoop down next to him. "To live forever, indeed," came the owl's soft voice, repeating the words of Tal'at.

The owl shifted slightly on the marsh, uncomfortable with the wet ground on her talons and tailfeathers, but she stared up at Aquarian and Tal'at, murmuring to herself a little. She glanced back at Dragon for a moment. "Chances of surviving are better in numbers," she said, more to herself rather than to... well, anyone. As she glanced back up at the noodle and bat, she snorted ever so slightly.

Chances are also significantly increased with a creature of that size by your side, the owl thought to herself with a slightly tilted head.

Evening

[Image: tumblr_n0sufarvA41tsu8dmo2_500.gif]

Eve hadn't even known Aquarian was there until Tal'at flew on top of him. She sat quietly, perhaps content, nodding along to Dragon's words carefully. She had opened her beak to reply to the words, before the bat moved. Watching where he went, the words soon turned into a squawk of alarm as the crow scrambled onto Dragon's snout, puffed up and wide-eyed. She looked between Aquarian, Tal'at and the collar, practically shaking.

Slowly, the crow calmed down and climbed back up onto the top of Dragon's head, chittering to herself. She was beginning to have second thoughts after seeing the alligator's father-- how could she be sure he wouldn't eat Tal'at, or anyone else here? Eve shuddered and curled into herself with a quiet and soft croak, but she didn't fly away. for now.

Silently, the crow began petting the top of Dragon's head with her talon, or so it would feel to him. To anyone actually watching her she appeared to be instead stomping on the alligator's head. It wasn't hard, of course- the crow virtually had no actual strength at all. She stopped soon after, however, puffing up and nestling down on Dragon's head in complete silence.

Eve

Ghanyarah

Game Master Madison

Dragon

Czernobog

Talat

Willow

Eve

Ghanyarah

Game Master Madison