ORIGIN

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In the wake of the silence that had overtaken the caves as of late, small sounds were amplified so that even a pebble falling might be heard from quite a distance away. And these still, quiet winds carried echoes from Cassipeia - odd sounds had been coming from the city center over the last cycle, apparently uninterested in the quiet. Metal scraping and squeaking, the occasional tapping of stone on stone, and an occasional whirring sound that never got louder then a squeal bounced from wall to wall and echoed out of the cave. But it was hard to tell exactly where those sounds were coming from. Until...

BANG! GRRGHHHH BROOGHHGUGUH......
BOOOOM!!!

A number of rats and other Lessers nearby fled in terror as a series of loud metallic sounds ripped through the silence, followed immediately by a loud, frustrated shout and another, quieter, BANG! and a clatter. The source could at last be identified as one of the larger buildings in the city, closer to the temple but set closer to the wall, unnoticed and undisturbed. An area of the city where once, perhaps, the wealthy and high-ranking valkhounds once inhabited.

A faint trail of smoke was beginning to rise from a crack in the ceiling of the building. Gembound attempting to investigate may actually find the large metal door leading into this building to be locked. Odd...

The quest Factory Settings has begun! Gembound are welcome to investigate the source of the odd sounds or attempt to find a way into the building. There is no threat of serious danger here and a task may present itself in the near future. The next post will take place in a few days' time.

Adi wasn't sure exactly how long it'd been since their hatching, what with all the exciting new information they'd been chasing across the caves. Each room stranger than the last! Creatures of all shapes and sizes, living together! brought to life by whatever twist of fate had birthed the caves. There was clearly so much history to be unearthed, they just needed to find whoever held that knowledge and pry it out of them.

However, they weren't actually in Cassiopeia on business, having merely spent the day meandering around, having a snack here and there, enjoying what the caves had to offer. It'd been oddly quiet lately, she'd noted, feels like they hadn't seen as many gembounds lately, even from afar.

That was before, of course, the silence was broken by a loud...something coming from nearby. And as usual, Adi walked toward the potential danger instead of away from it.

She sauntered up to the door, taking a moment to sniff it.

"Helllooooo? Anybody in there? You alright?

Amesemi had been wandering when she heard the noises from Cassiopeia, but unable to discern where any of the scraping and squeaking had been coming from, she quickly left. The place was kind of creepy to begin with, in all honesty-- it seemed like the kind of room that should have been filled with life and gembound going back and forth. The ominous clanking didn't make the place seem any less lonely.

On occasion she checked in over the last two weeks or so, but usually it resulted in the same outcome: a creepy, empty city, making unusual noises that she couldn't find the source of. Really, she'd been ready to give up and just put the room out of her mind entirely when-- while taking a nap over in Cepheus --the sudden sound of banging and screeching had her on her paws in an instant.

She'd nearly tripped over a couple of lesser rabbits peeling down the tunnel when she bolted towards the noise, nails clicking loudly against the cave floor as she pelted down back into Cassiopeia. There was already someone there, she'd noted-- not a lesser. The first actual gembound she'd seen in some cycles, she realized.

"The smoke is new," the sphinx told the stranger slowly as she padded forward towards the metalliac door they were sniffing at, wings half-unfurling. She'd half expected the doors to fling open and for them both to get returned to their chrysalises in an instant, but nontheless she got right up next to where the maned wolf nosed at the door.

Reaching out, she felt the metal beneath her palm before giving it a slight push-- but found it locked. "It won't open," she announced thoughtfully, looking down towards Adi. "You should probably stand back in case something comes out and kills you."

The other night, Wilder had read her cards, sitting in one of the high towers of Noctua as she always did. She read a few times, and each time she read, in her future, a journey. A small one, the cards assured her, and her own magic she cast forward to glance, and gave her peace of mind that it was not something dangerous. Surely, there was excitement forthcoming, something to discover here, so she followed the premonitions and the promise of fulfilling her desire to help.

She arrived in Cassiopeia just as the sounds exploded into being. It shocked her, but only for a moment - the next one, she was exploding into action. Somebody might be hurt. Somebody might be in danger. She needed to get there immediately to help!

Cosmic wings burst from her shoulder as she took off into the air, flying as fast as she could towards where she saw smoke rising in the distance (further proof that someone was in peril) and landed only a few minutes later just behind the other gembound already gathered there.

Her eyes were wide and the edges gleamed with the faint traces of her Enlightened madness as she strode forward, a paw coming up to push at the door, even though she'd heard the sphinx say it wouldn't open. No luck, of course. "Is someone in there? Are you hurt?" She looked around, seeing no other entrance through and then backed up, glancing up at Amesemi (who was nice and large and looked strong and was hopefully trustworthy). "I can look inside, but my body will be vulnerable. Please get me out of the way if something happens. I'll just be a second."

That might be a bit of a strange ask from a stranger, but Wilder didn't have time. Someone could be dying in there. So she slid behind the sphinx and curled up, all her magic focusing intensely as she pulled herself right out of her body. The eyes of Wilder slid closed and her body went limp as a shimmering pink phantom Wilder picked herself right up out of the body. Without hesitation, it drifted forward towards the door and began to phase right through to see what was on the other side.

@Amesemi (for visibility)

Howler's curiosity got the better of it. As red eyes watch the smoke pooling outside of the building, Howler makes its way closer. Other gembound have found their way to it before it, Howler notes the chatter.

Has this been here the whole time?

Its sensitive eyes stare at the building. Howler really does not think this thing has been here the whole time. At least, not the smoke. The city had been here for as long as Howler can remember. The note of killing settles itself into Howler's mind. Perhaps it should prepare just in case. A little bit of smoke could mean anything.

Sounds continued inside the locked building, nothing so great as what has called the gembound here in the first place, but squeaking metal and clattering sounds continued. Underneath which, if someone listened closely, could be heard a voice, but its words were unintelligible under all the other noises. Once the calling started, however, the voice quieted, and the sounds paused.

There was silence inside, save for a soft hiss (perhaps the source of the smoke?), and for a moment nothing happened. Wilder's phantom, peering inside past the solid door, would get a brief view inside - a mostly dark room with a single light on the ceiling that was dim and flickering, illuminating a fairly empty space that was currently filling with gray smoke. She didn't get much more of a specific view of the smoke's source, however, as she would find herself face to face with what looked like a brown pitch rat approaching the door, which looked quite shocked to see her.

But the shock registered only for a moment before a look of deeply exhausted annoyance settled on its rather expressive face. "Hey, don't you know this door is locked for a reason?! It's called PRIVACY. I'm fine, by the way!" He swiped at her loosely with a hand (she'd notice he happened to have four of them) before reaching up to unlatch the door.

The rest of the gathered gembound would be subjected to the deeply horrible squealing of rusty metal hinges protesting their forced movement as the door began to inch open. A bit of smoke began to escape its new exit as the pitch rat-looking creature squeezed its way out, a scowl etched on his face. "WHAT!! Everything is FINE! I'm sorting it out, I promise, I'll-"

But then it paused, blinking, eyes moving to each of the gembound and squinting, as if it was having trouble seeing them. "Uh, hold on a second...you're not my boss. Who the heck are all of you?" It moved further out of the building, so it was easier to see the full body of the creature.

It was smaller then most other cave rat species, not even 2 feet tall, and extremely grubby and ungroomed, its fur sticking out in all places and singed on the ends. At second glance it wasn't quite a pitch rat, although it certainly had rat-like features. But its ears were also bat-like, its head disproportionately large, and it was longer and skinnier then would be expected. Extremely twisted and bent whispers twitched as it scented the air and odd nostril-like sockets on its muzzle flared. It seemed this creature had more reliable senses then sight.

You have discovered Mr. Mechanic

This thread is still open to new participants.

@Adi @Amesemi @Wilder @Howler

Amesemi only half-registered Wilder's request-- and by the time she turned to look down at the cat, she was curled up and limp at one of her forelegs. Great, she thought, though nonetheless she shifted and guarded the cat with her entire body.

For a beat, nothing happened. Amesemi almost let herself relax when the doors made a horrific noise, ringing in her ears. The sphinx's upper-half dipped briefly and a large, dark talon scooped up Wilder's body like a ragdoll as she hopped out of the way of the door.

Now, she'd heard plenty of stories in the tavern. Big, tunnel-sized creatures coming out of nowhere, full of teeth and claws and whatever else, eating whatever came its way in one gulp. She did not expect a tiny, angry rat. Hesitantly, Amesemi placed Wilder lightly back down on the cave floor, still a few feet from the door.

"Who are you?" Amesemi asked. "You've been making noises for days. Is something on fire in there?" The smoke definitely indicated as much.

Rats. Rats, everywhere.

Rats fleeing the noise. A rat-creature peering out, frazzled and--to Archimedes--seemingly rather irritated.

And one rat arriving on the scene, quietly moving in to investigate just what was going on with all this racket and smoky stink. The building to which he'd moved his little base of operations wasn't far off, but even so he was later to arrive than some. He took in the sight of the others, wary, and stepped down off the back of his familiar, the Golden Charger serpent. It flicked its tongue; he ran paws through his whiskers.

He didn't want to get eaten by someone, mistaken for a Lesser, potentially along with the snake. But it seemed undignified to ask everyone not to eat him. So he glanced to Amesemi and inserted himself into the conversation, his tone one of mild agreement: "It has been rather loud." He then took a couple steps closer, examining this stranger with interest: nearly double his size, but still not particularly large, and with... just a couple too many limbs.

Interesting, he thought, and wondered if this creature was somehow related to him.

Aside from this, he remained quiet, curious as to what was going on but wary to put himself at too much risk.

She managed to catch a glimpse of the rat on the other side of the door for just a moment before it was shoeing her away and she was so caught off guard that she did so without question, letting out a small squeak of surprise as her spirit slipped back from the door and returned right to her body. A moment later, Wilder stirred, momentarily disoriented before she scrambled to her feet, glancing up at Amesemi with a breathed, "Thanks." She shook out her fur and then inched forward, sniffing curiously.

He smelled bad. Like dust and oil and something sharp and tingly. And of course a bit like smoke, but that was also in the air, billowing out from inside the building. Her eyes glanced towards the opening and then back, digesting what he said.

He was looking for his boss? His masters? Had he once been a resident of Cassiopeia when it was active? He eyes flicked to the stone hook on his tail. This thing was a valkhound?

She took another step forward, a little more wary, but more curious then anything. "Are you alright? Is something on fire in there? We all saw the smoke and worried." Her head tilted. "Who were you expecting?"

As requested, Adi backed away from the doors and skittered behind the stranger. Adi had never seen a gembound like that before. Why was the centaurs top half (mostly) hairless?

His mind was filled with competing questions, even more springing to life as the cat gembound nearby...levitated out of her body?

She watched Wilder pass seamlessly through the doors, mouth agape. "You can do that???" Before they could ask any follow up questions the rusted door began to open.

Peeking over the centaur, Adi eyed the little rat gembound, "How long have you been in there?" They looked..nasty, for the lack of a better word. Tufts of sooty fur sticking up every which way.

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Origin Cave

Adi

Amesemi

Wilder

Howler

Origin Cave

Amesemi

Archimedes

Wilder

Adi