ORIGIN - Open Flame

Another of those sickly rats.

With a huff, the heavy alligator drag-limped himself forward a few paces. He inhaled, deeply, feeling the flames gutter and spark within him, feeling the heat intensify to smoldering. The rat was hunched, shivering, saliva dripping from its jaws.

The bright lash of fire plumed forth into the swamp, extending the three meters into the thick wet grass and illuminating the fog all around. With a whoomph it engulfed the sickly animal, and in an instant--with barely more than a few squeaks and a weak attempt to turn and flee--the rat was nothing but smoldering, charred fur.

Dragon, rather absently, dipped his jaws into the muck of the swamp to cool the heat. The burning had long-since calloused his jaws, and the pain had grown tolerable, if still sharp.

Where are they coming from?

With a huff, the alligator turned away, limp-dragging himself back to the offering pile. The sickly dead lump, he left behind; burned or not, it was not suited for Aquarian. Even if Aquarian had not been seen in months. The rats had been turning up sick--even a few cave deer--for a week or two now. He'd found many, too, lying dead. But fire purged them easily enough, and so he simply ignited those he found, and left them lying.

Thick, ridged tail dragging behind him, his deeply-scarred back dark in the mist, the alligator hauled himself with a limp all the way back to the edge of the Heart of Cetus. Here, the huge pile of corpses lay waiting for the day Aquarian would return to feast. He hadn't been answering Dragon's few summons, but then, he had always been a lazy creature.

Dragon eyed the pile over. The few cave deer at the top were still fresh, for the most part. A couple rats he'd found that didn't seem ill graced the sides. Fish lay here and there. The older corpses, near the middle, were rather a mishmash, and those at the bottom were a putrescent pile of decay.

It is perfect, he thought to himself. If Aquarian returns, he will surely be pleased.

@Septiezal

He had watched the alligator for some time. The large, reptilian beast would torch the sickly rats with bursts of flames from his jagged maw. He would lose him in the mist, only to be chanced upon again. Septiezal had not thought much of it, he would destroy the occasional diseased rat too, but the frequency of which they showed themselves unnerved him. They're sickness was already oozing into the cave deer population, tainting his main food supply. He wanted to speak to someone about it, to see if anyone else noticed, but when he racked his brain for allies, Septiezal found that everyone he used to know had disappeared.

Perhaps the alligator knows something.

Septiezal weaved his long body through the marsh and water, eventually tracking the swamp-dwelling Gembound all the way to the Heart. As his scent grew fresh, the serpent opted to slither up a gnarled tree for a better view. There, he noticed the unmistakable stench of rotting carcasses rolled with somewhat fresh ones. They were gathered in a heap, all unappetizingly cold. Septiezal flicked his tongue, puzzled. He wondered why the alligator left a pile of food to rot. That seemed like such a waste. His head snapped in the direction of heavy rustling. It was the alligator heaving his armored mass towards the carcass pile. Serpent twisted his coils around a few sturdy branches as he observed him for a bit. Slowly, he lowered his head into view like a creeping, chestnut vine, flicking his forked tongue.

"Pardon me," he said. "But what'ssss with the carcasssesssss?"

The serpent's face was speckled with scars, done to him by something claws for teeth. His left eye was glazed over in a thin, milky white, though the other, unobstructed, shone like glowing embers. Septiezal turned his head a bit to the side to get a better look at the alligator. It was clear that he couldn't see much out of his scarred spectacle.

@Dragon

Dragon swivelled his boatlike head, turning to peer toward the voice in the dark. A low hiss escaped him, not aggression but more an inquisitive surprise. He hadn't known anyone was there.

A moment of peering, a flicker of magicka, and his vision sharpened through the dark mist onto a serpent dangling from a branch.

Oh.

The alligator turned his body slowly, peering up and giving a thoughtful rumble. "I," he declared, "am Dragon! And the flesh is for my father. He is a thousand times my size, but one day I shall match him; and he requires offerings. He is Aquarian! The Survivor of the Swamp."

...Granted, Survivor was, in this case, just another word for coward. Aquarian had hidden when Raheerah had come, and Dragon himself had taken his Children of Rot out to fight in his name. For the caves. But--technically, Aquarian was indeed a survivor. It still counts.

"We will live forever, and uncover what secrets the cave hides, for we are the children of rot, and rot never dies. Who are you?" he demanded, tilting his head to peer up at the slithery, ember-eyed snake. He noted its scars, not too unlike his own, and he wondered if it had been the rats that had done this.

They had nearly killed him, once, as a hatchling.

@Septiezal

Septiezal eyed Dragon suspiciously then his pile of flesh for his "father". He had to slither carefully with this one, he could be a crazy zealot, like Mosi. The possibily did not seem to far fetched, after all, he was claiming to be "Aquarian's child" whatever that was. "Ssseptiezal." The serpent simply replied. "Sso, your father, Aquarian likesss, cold, stale carcassesss?" Suddenly, his eyes grew wide, realizing how that might have come off. Dragon sounded like he spent too much time in the swamp, his temper may be short, like Mosi's, and he'd prefer not to have fire blown in his face. "Oh, I did not mean for that to sound like an insult!

Smooth save Septiezal.

"Jussst genuinely curioussss-- wait." Septiezal cut himself off and inched closer to the alligator. He thought he saw this lizard somewhere. The serpent flicked his tongue inquisitively. "Sssssmell familiar... you were the lizard who defended Astraea."

"speak"

OOC: omg I forgot Sept already saw him in Finding Astraea lol
@Dragon

An insult? Why would it be an insult?

Dragon peered, boatlike snout tilting along with his head, then snorted in a huff of amusement.

"Yes! He will eat all things, to survive, as must we all. To find the secrets, we must survive, so he says. And to survive we must find the secrets."

Dragon then turned, crawling a few paces onto the side of the pile of squelching corpses. "Astraea... The stag. They cannot be trusted. Septiezal, yes? Do you know they answer to another?" Slyly he turned, eyeing the serpent. So many had no idea just how deep all of this went. "The Great Ones--the birds, the stag, the phoenix. They serve another. I do not know what it holds over them--survival, perhaps, or their minds, I do not know," he repeated. Thick, ridged tail lashed slowly through the wet as he eyed the snake, considering him. 

"They struggle for power among themselves, they struggle with their morals. Some wish to betray whatever task they were given. Nemean the Betrayer--the little creature which buzzes, filled with light. They detest it. Distrust it. I believe she has forsaken purpose, and does what she wishes for her own reasons. The others--they hide their truths from us. They hide the realities.  Make no mistake, snake--we are farmed, grown as crops or cow for the slaughter. Raheerah--the great dragon--he is mere chaos, overgrown past purpose and glutted with his own importance. Aquarian! Father! He is the only one we can trust. The only who will tell us truth! The only who knows what is truly important--to survive. He will hide, and live, as must we."

The alligator then unleashed a bellowing laugh. "But perhaps this is all meaningless to you; you are after all not one of my Children. Perhaps you are one of those who care only for mating, for talking, for fighting. Is there something else that you seek, here?" He eyed the snake, wondering if it would find interest in his words, in their truth--as Czernobog had been, as Eve had been--or if it would be something other. If it had its own reasons for coming to him, or if it cared not at all.

@Septiezal

As Septiezal listened, he felt himself lean forward. At first, he thought Dragon nothing more than a raving lunatic, but the more he listened, the more he understood. The bones in Canis.. my birthplace.. He knew there was evidence of mass culling, he was born from the bones, but he'd never thought it happen again, hopefully, not in his cycles. Perhaps, Dragon was on to something. If so, then this Aquarian must have valuable insight.

"Dragon," He said, flicking his tongue. "Ssssay, you're the lizard that sssmelled of Cetus. He turned his good eye towards him. Yesss, I remember you, you were the one who defended the stag and called the so-called Kings to Skahan's gem." Septiezal nodded respectfully, and allowed his coils to spill onto the ground. "You wield your fire well." He rarely complimented anyone, but Dragon's display of fire magick had impressed him. Perhaps, he can teach me how to breath fire like that.

Septiezal coiled his thick body around himself and answered the alligator's question. I sseek the past, He said. "I sssseek the forgotten history that the cave is obviousssly rich with. Dragon, you say Aquarian tells the truth, tell me, how can I speak with him?" Septiezal flicked his gaze over to the pile of meat behind Dragon. "Should I collect killssss for him too?"

"speak"
@Dragon

The alligator listened, pleased at hearing of Septiezal's interest. He huffed quietly, and then spoke, choosing his words carefully. This was not out of fear, or even caution. Words could obscure, and words could clarify, and he wanted to ensure that his were as accurate as possible.

"When the Children of Rot drew together, here, he agreed to forever guard our survival, so long as he was kept fed. I have brought him offerings since that day, even if the others have departed. Perhaps the Children are no more--and his agreement was never to bring us knowledge. Only that survival, would bring us knowledge. At times, he will answer your call! At others, he will not. He was our Father, and we but his Children. You may try to bring him food, and to call upon him, but if you are not one of the Children, I do not know what he will do."

Dragon eyed Septiezal with his own dark gaze, considering, calculating. Can he be trusted..? I suppose, at least with what was outright said to me. That, alone, is hardly secret, though perhaps it should be kept that way.

"You remember the stag. You did not, perhaps, see the phoenix which sent us there--the same that protected us as we fought the great dragon many cycles ago. The phoenix Tenzin. Seek the truth, but do not let the other Elders know, too much. I believe that some have abandoned their original tasks--but others have not, for Tenzin spoke to me, and this is what he said."

Dragon looked Septiezal in his flame-colored eyes, and spoke clearly, and slowly--and quietly. "'It is not our place to tell you many of the things you have spoken of, and much we are not allowed to say. There are beings that rule even us.' At least, that is how I remember it said. You understand the implications..?" Dragon's tone, even, was cautious--a rare thing for him--and he watched Septiezal closely, wondering if he would understand.

@Septiezal

The serpent flicked his tongue, considering Dragon's words. There was a glint in his good eye, like a hunter spying its prey. It shone with interest at the opportunity lying before him. Dragon had given him something valuable, a clue, and warning, but most importantly, a path.

"Dragon," Septiezal finally said. "Do you ever consssider reviving the Children of Rot?"

The Children of Rot, Septiezal had heard remarkably little about them. Then again, he was but a cowering gemling at the time. They were a passing whisper, rumors of a cult deep in Cetus, but he knew nothing more, not until now. It seems he had met on of its former members, perhaps its leader. Dragon spoke of them as if they were his. He claimed they were about survival, a through that, they gained knowledge.

I suppose that makes sense, Astraea and Tenzin are ancient, and they know much.

Septiezal wondered if he would live long enough to be considered and Elder. If he did, he would share his knowledge with all, not selfishly hide it away like a hoarding cave rat.

If many gembounds worked together to collect our past... Dragon is on to something.

Septiezal lifted his head. "I would join you." If he could get the alligator to rekindle the Children of Rot, then he could meet Aquarian. He could learn without the risk of stirring up the Elders and whatever powers that bound them, and Dragon could be his ally. Hermit life had been fruitless, perhaps it was time for a change of scenery.

"I have been on my own for far too long," Septiezal confessed, shaking his head. "Perhapsss being in the company of other, like-minded gembounds would be beneficial. I here it does wonderssss for longevity." The serpent smirked at the last part. "I know, should I learn the truth, I would not want hoard it from otherssss."

"speak"

@Dragon

The alligator watched Septiezal in silence, for a moment. 

Have I considered..? Yes, I have considered. But without Czernobog, without Tal'at-... He sat morosely, broad snout briefly tipping upward in thought. Then he exhaled, looking back to the snake.

"Yes, I have, recently. There are others who have taken an interest, as you have! Though it would be different. Many of those who were there with me then have gone their own way--and where, I do not know. My brothers and sisters and children, all missing." It occurred to him, briefly, that maybe Aquarian had eaten them, to which he instantly spoke aloud--"My father did not eat them."

Because of course he hadn't. He was their protector, there to ensure their survival, and Dragon had never faltered in his offering of meals.

"I have heard of a seer in the cave of bones. I will go there, and ask her what she sees for our survival and our truths. I do not know if she is accurate but I will speak to her regardless, and when I return here, if I bring the Children together, I will call. You are welcome to join us. Perhaps you would be a good brother, and child of Rot." His voice was a slow and thoughtful rumble. "And perhaps then we can call upon Aquarian. That, I do not know. Tell me--do you seek knowledge for knowledge's sake? Or do you seek it for survival? Or do you seek both."

Dragon drew his claws idly through the muck, curious. He knew little of Septiezal--hell, the snake could be a spy of Astraea's for all he knew--but if he were to be a Child of Rot, in time, he knew he should probably find out. "Are you one who fights, or do you use magic as well?" he asked, peering.

It would be good to get an idea of the snake's abilities, too--even if he did not reform the Children, it was good to know one's allies.

@Septiezal