ORIGIN

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Dawn didn't even look back at the owl's screams. She was unconcerned with his fate; he was not someone she had been ordered to Guard. She'd made it to the edge of the gardens when backup finally arrived. Isra. Thank goodness she was here. "THIS GEMBOUND--agh," she said hoarsely, opening a wing to point at it and immediately regretting it as the motion tugged at her wounds, "was DESTROYING and BURNING the gardens! It did not HALT when asked and RESISTED VIOLENTLY my efforts to stop it. I suspect it is a REBEL with FAR TOO MANY DANGEROUS WEAPONS on its person." Speech scraped at the burns in her extended mouth and she had to stop talking in a fit of painful coughs, though she would have really liked to fully expand on its CRIMES.

@Durathror

Well. Despite the corpse melting in her mouth, I wouldn't call whatever just occurred a win, either.

Durathror swallowed it down easily, Scorch's body shrinking rapidly into oily, meaty goo. Now in the aftermath, it was hard to say if it worth losing an eye for the snack. All of her still-bleeding wounds began to ache and burn, begging for any kind of reprieve. Burning hot blood still pulsed from her left socket at an alarming speed.

Its head snapped to Isra, finally paying attention, and something resembling a flight response began to spark to life. It immediately broke into a sprint in the opposite direction of the others, wherever that lead.

Attempted exit

@Dawn

There was always something just a little grating about those who took their self-appointed duties so seriously. It was, Isra thought, more akin to Order than to Chaos. Hell, she could almost understand the urge to burn down the neatly manicured gardens and such. Not that that's what had happened, here; she assumed it'd been some kind of disagreement. But a glance to the feathers told her that she had no idea who had gotten eaten. It wasn't that much a concern to her, aside from putting a stop to it happening again.

Dawn at least had the palace's best interests at heart, so Isra offered her a nod of approval. "Thank you, guardian."

Then she was running, with a sigh. She hated when she had to run. "Wait ONE MOMENT," she called. "You!" ...A bit lame, since she had no idea what its name was. Or designation? It sure looked like one of Vargas's things. Was he just letting them loose, now, without supervision..? She'd have to give him a stern talking to next time she saw him, then.

Isra was fast, and she was powerful, but she wasn't about to tackle Durathror or the like. She gestured, a number of Hellswans lifting off and flying up alongside--but they didn't appear to be attacking either. Just following along, watching Durathror. (One was honking.) "STOP," she yelled, and either the Valkhound would stop or it would leave. She didn't care either way; she would deal with it regardless, without messing up the grass any further. Well, not right now, anyway.

@Durathror and maybe @Dawn ? Definitely not Scorch.

The other Valkhound was hot on her tail, with several hellswans following suit. Her bleeding was so thick it left a trail of orange and putrid yellow-black near the edges, as it burnt through grass and brick. She had to run for her life. She had to live-

STOP. Okay!

Its claws kicked up clods of dirt as it froze in place, quills bristling in alarm. It knew it was in trouble. But! The lawn and that stupid bird DESERVED it! If it could just... Use its brain and words, it could convince Isra of this fact. They were the same, right? Beasts of Chaos?

Durathror blinked its one good eye, trying to figure out how to speak and what to say at the same time - it hadn't turned to face her yet.

Isra did her best to stay in shape, but listen, the Palace had some great food and a lot of shows in the cinema, and anyway she was panting just a little as she came up to Durathror. That didn't mean her voice was not commanding and stern, though. And she was wary, if irritated; the fact this stranger wasn't facing her indicated it didn't understand the hierarchy of the caves.

"The Palace and its grounds are off-limits for combat. Or damage. They are under my protection, do you understand? What is your name--or designation?" she asked, remembering Overseer V--no, Master Vargas's weird implementation of the old system.

Her serpentine tails raised themselves over her back and hissed. "OFF-LIMITSSSsss..."
"Undersssstand...?"
"Designation?"

She was debating, too. The damage was annoying, but they did have gardeners for that. The gore would need a little cleanup. But she had no idea if this was some ignorant fresh hatch, or active sabotage. Did 'community service' sound fair, she wondered? Making this one clean up its mess?

A second look, and a grimace on her bony face--nah. No. It'd probably freak out and burn the fountains down, somehow.

@Durathror

Her injured eye had begun to swell shut, her body desperately willing the injury to clot and seal over. It refused.

"...But. Whyyyy." Her first words! We're so proud. "Why protect... A lawn.. It's awful."

She didn't know what a designation was, thank god. She would've gotten incredibly angry otherwise. "Mmm... Durathror."

"I feel dizzy."

Isra's jaw tightened at Durathror's complaint.

But it wasn't irritation at the Valkhound, no. The gardens cost Isra more stress than they were really worth, and she couldn't exactly outright admit that. Ugh.

She turned, waving one hand, and the Hellswans landed and observed. She'd intended to instruct them to memorize this one's face if she'd fled, and ban it from the cave. "Banning" just meant "eat them if they ever come back." At least the Hellswans cleaned up their damn messes. But it seemed this wouldn't be needed, after all.

"This cave is a haven for esteemed visitors. They do not always enjoy..." The fruits of their work? The actual results of the Chaos they served? "...a garden that's made of burned plants," she settled on, with a sigh. "It's meant to be something novel and different."

Her first tail, Ba, let out a little laughing hiss. "VISITORS..." it hissed, and the other two, Si and Ra, echoed this word and the laughter. It sounded distinctly ominous, like a joke only they were in on, and Isra suppressed a smirk. Isra regarded the Valkhound, for a moment. Durathror distinctly struck her as young, new. She couldn't say "no harm done," but it wasn't the end of the world. Well--except for its victim, anyway. Their world was very distinctly over. She'd have to get one of the gardeners on repairs--was Pollen awake, she wondered?

"Durathror. Go and drink some water before you go, if you are dizzy. Do NOT destroy anything else, or-" she glanced back again; that feathered thing, bird probably, had been a Gembound, right? Well, it hadn't been a hellswan, not just because it'd been kind of brownish but also Durathror still had its skin on its body. "...try to attack anyone or anything here. These birds?" she warned, pointing at a Hellswan. "They are guardians. So is she," she added, pointing back at Dawn. "They don't look like much, but they will eat you." She thought about it for a moment. "When you're older you can come back and repay me somehow. Bring a gift. Until then..." She thought briefly over whatever punishment would be appropriate. "...You are barred from the palace restaurant and cinema." Yeah. Fuck it. Sounded good.

@Durathror

Durathror was experiencing the full spectrum of the mortal experience in the span of hours, including the process of bleeding out. It was getting harder and harder to focus on anything, the vision in its good eye began to blur and refract as the other pulsed black and white, black and white -

Isra's voice swung around her ears, alternating between deafening and a distant mumble. "....Esteemed." She was still trying so hard to listen. She was such a good listener!

"I will repay you." Durathror nodded aggressively, flicking acidic blood into whatever was directly in front of her - that being Isra, currently. She understood! She was sooo understanding!!

'Go and drink some water.' Another torrent of blood gurgled out of her face. "OKAY." She turned, waddled a few steps toward the fountains, then collapsed. Her stone swallowed her seconds later.

What a start.

exit to chrysalis

Isra would've thrown up her arms in exasperation. It PASSED OUT? Here? Now?! With the grass filthy with its blood?

Alas, she had no arms, and so her serpentine tails hissed and laughed and she grumbled at them. "Enough. Ugh. DAWN, don't kill it. It's just a child. You, you, and--you," she went on, nodding at a random three Hellswans among her flock, "...keep an eye on this stone. Make sure no one kills it, and make sure it doesn't destroy anything when it wakes." She'd forgotten how damn fragile they could be, but at least, in its chrysalis, it would heal. Probably.

The other one?

She glanced back at the cluster of feathers in the distance. That one had not been so lucky. "Are you injured? Did you know that one-?" she asked Dawn as she set back off past her, toward the palace. She paused, crouching by what remained of bloodied feathers. There wasn't much there; she also did not know if the now-chrysalized Durathror had eaten its gemstone, if even it had had one. "My condolences, if so. I don't know what happened to their gemstone, but you might want to retrieve it. Let me know if you need help. I need to find a gardener to fix this mess," she added, and sighed again.

"FIX."
"THIS...
"Garden!" hissed Ra, and Isra grunted her affirmation, before setting off for the building proper.

Durathror will awaken with a new Chrysalis consequence, one that can be healed in a future chrysalis if the player so desires.

Stray Gembound may speak and understand an ancient language rather than their common tongue. May have strange memories that are not their own.

Durathror's affliction in particular is minor, occurring less frequently, and while its knowledge of this strange ancient language will be partial and seem to come and go, they will also be plagued by strange memories. At times, it will seem as though it is seeing not the caves and creatures that are truly around it, but instead, a vision of the caves before the Great Awakening. This memory of the cave will seem silent, very dark, and lifeless, with nothing but drifting dust, the occasional remains of a war (broken chrysalises, shattered weapons and armor only a few decades old), and slumbering chrysalises. All the other portions of the cave will appear as they did before the Awakening, with certain caves sealed off or doorways caved in, as though the rebellion had just ended a few years prior.

@Dawn @Durathror

Dawn lifted her head smugly as Durathror passed out right there on the lawn. Yeah, take THAT. SHE had done that. (If the owl cared about taking credit for his part, he shouldn't have DIED.) She was a bit disappointed at being told not to kill it, though. (Not that she probably could've. She'd kind of been counting on Isra to do so, but I guess we're going with mercy and softness today.)

"Yes, Isra," she replied dutifully. "My injuries are not important!" (They really hurt. She might also need to sleep it off in her chrysalis, but dear Creator she was going to hold on as long as she could so she didn't do it right in front of Isra after the other one!) "I did not know it. I only regret that I was unable to guard the palace as effectively as my duty demanded." Her elegant head dipped, her gaze downcast dramatically.

As for their gemstone, ugh, she supposed it would be messy to just leave it lying in a pile of oil somewhere. Even if it was kind of gross to reach in and it was totally not her job (she was a GUARD, not a gardener). But she wouldn't ever look reluctant in front of Isra. "Yes, Isra! I will."

Hopefully the gardeners would come soon and she could stop holding on for the sake of her pride.

exit

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Dawn

Durathror

Game Master Dark

Durathror

Game Master Dark

Durathror

Game Master Dark

Durathror

Game Master Dark

Dawn