ORIGIN

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Giggle remained far behind the others, barely visible in the distance as the strange creature appeared. The moment it did she slipped into the shadows, hissing a hush at Skeena--but too late, it seemed. She remained shrouded in the shadows, seemingly refusing to come forth.

Her paranoia was bad on the best of days, but now she stared with dark eyes unblinking--her bird still nowhere to be seen.

"I don't trust it," she muttered to Skeena. It was partly the bones--the way they'd spoken of a misheard voice. But then, there were gifts, weren't there..? Though the bones had not specified whether these gifts were good or bad.

Giggle would withhold judgement, for now... from a safe, safe distance.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

As a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light
She is modest and pure as she graces the night
When Thothaga finally caught up with the eagle and saw that he had lost the stone, she almost leaped at him in anger, until a bright flash struck her eyes. Thothaga flinched, blinded for a few heartbeats.

A new figure stood before the carvings, a creature the spider had never seen before. She marveled at the strange pelt that hung from its body. It did not look to be attached like the rest of the furred gembounds she met. She saw where her beloved stone had gone, it was tiny now and the creature had tucked it under its foreign pelt. Thothaga's fangs twitched with jealousy. She wanted that.

"The blue stone... its.. yours?" She asked. She wondered if the stone was a prison, or how he ended up there in the first place. Now that she got a good look at him, the tall horned figure in the wall carving had an uncanny appearance to this strange new gembound. Were the other figures forcing him in that prison?

Thothaga managed to catch Giggle's warning and remembered the bones' fortune. Broken echo... false.. Voice of a god, misunderstood. New beginning, gifts will come... Then she recalled the visions the stone had shown her and how, the in last one, she felt death. Were those the "gifts" he offered? Thothaga grew cautious. She peered up at the tall, horned creature, and recognized those crimson pinprick eyes from her vision and her fangs flexed curiously. "Who are you?"

"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Glory @Skeena @Giggle @Scorch @Felina // OOC:

The hooded figure listened closely to all that everyone said. He looked at them individually, too, as they spoke.

To Glory, he gave an appraising and appreciative look, indicated not through hidden facial features but rather a deep and respectful incline of his head. To Skeena, he also listened closely, giving a nod--and then glancing briefly at Glory, as if wondering which of their stories were correct. He looked, too, toward the distant and mostly-hidden Giggle, his scarlet eyes unblinking.

When Thothaga spoke he looked last to her, listening intently.

His voice came smoother, softer, as if the rasp from his long imprisonment was fading.

"Then I thank all of you. Though it... does present a problem," he added. His tone was apologetic, and his horns swayed as he gently, dismissively shook his head. "Allow me to explain. I create--and collect--objects of great magic. In ages past, those who served the caves through tasks I presented, were rewarded with these items. Alas..." and here the Collector turned, gesturing with a splayed set of long claws at the carvings behind him, "there were those who would take my gifts all for themselves. They bound me with my own magic, in death--within my own creation."

The creature's voice was mournful. He lifted his palm, clawed hands splayed. Within it sat the small many-sided blue stone, still softly-glowing. "I would offer this in gratitude as a reward for at last setting me free. Perhaps you can decide among you who is to take this gift. Though it is hardly fair to reward only one of you... Hmm." He seemed to think, for a moment, and then his horns again swayed as he nodded to himself. "For the rest of you, I will offer another quest. A small thing, really. It will come with great prizes of its own. But first I must ask you to decide who will be rewarded this bauble. It holds great power," he added, his tone taking on a note of warning.

"This stone must not be wrongly-used. It has the chance to rewrite fate itself... for better, or for worse. Who among you would claim this reward?"

@Skeena @Thothaga @Glory @Scorch @Felina

As Skeena spoke about all of them helping together, Glory realized with a burning feeling that she was right - perhaps he had carried the gem, but they had all helped to get it from Polaris to Canis. He dipped his head back in acknowledgement to the creature's appreciation and turned to Skeena. "Yes...you're right. I'm sorry, I should not be claiming the one title."

But as the creature began to speak again, Glory listened intently. He had to admit, the thought of powerful objects certainly sent a thrill through him, but not out of a desire to possess them, but simply out of wonder of what they were and what they could do. What was so powerful that their maker and collector had to be sealed away?

As for the gem, while Glory had indeed wanted to unravel its mystery, he personally had no interest in keeping it for himself. What would he use it for? He did not have the kind of deep magic that let him understand this kind of thing. He had fire and steel - physical, destructive, and strong. But there was one among them who had shown great affinity for the gem.

He turned back to Thothaga. "I have no desire to possess the stone but you, spider, I know that you have some strange attachment to it...I do not understand, but if you wish to have it I would have no objections."

©art by rettamkrad
@Thothaga @Skeena @Felina @Scorch @Giggle

Skeena flushed, as well as a Gembound could flush, flicking her ears back at Mother's words. She inclined her head, murmuring a soft "Sorry, Mother," and leaning in to nuzzle her ratty coat.

She listened closely as the cloaked figure spoke, ears twitching. Although she was hesitant, she was also tempted. She had always been the weakest, the smallest. Perhaps she could prove herself.

But, no, she didn't want the gem.

'NO! TAKE THE GEM! IT IS OURS! IT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS! TAKE IT YOU DAMNED COWARD!'
Skeena cried out "Ah!" and staggered into Mother, reaching up to wipe at her muzzle as the voice continued to screech. Without thinking, she barreled towards The Collector.

"I don't want the stone," she was quick to say.

'STUPID, STUPID, STUPID! WORTHLESS RAT! TAKE THE STONE! TAKE IT!'
She shook her head. "But I want to accept your quest. What is it you want me to do?"

@Scorch, @Thothaga @Felina @Giggle @Glory

The Collector watched and listened from beneath his hood as the others spoke. When Glory and then Skeena both declined the stone, the Collector seemed to pause and stare for a long moment, and then inclined his head with respect.

"This is very noble of you..." he declared. And then, to Thothaga, he stepped forth. His clawed hand reached out of his robes, and the fingers unfurled to reveal the small, blue die lying on the palm. Up close, it was clearer that the entire limb was covered in dark and grizzled gray fur, the black claws long and pointed.

"It shall not imprison any again. Those that knew how to work that magic have been dead for-..." and here, the Collector looked around as if studying his surroundings, before finishing--"a very long time."

He looked back to the blue-black spider as he handed the blue stone to Thothaga. "In their place are new creatures--fantastic and strange. I have never seen anything like you--or you," he added, first to Thothaga and then Skeena. Then he stepped back, the stone now with Thothaga, the hand slipping back into his robes.

"As for your quest... there is the stone of another, languishing. It must be retrieved; the one who holds it knows nothing of it. It is orange. I have seen, through my magics, the one who holds it: a creature on four limbs, jet black, somewhere around the size of most of you. It will not give the stone up willingly. Find it, and take it, and bring it here--by force, if necessary. It is very important to all of your survival. I will reward you all well."

With that the Collector bowed, his horned head sweeping low, crimson eyes for a moment hidden behind his deep hood.

Identified Item!

Thothaga has received an identified item from The Collector!

3★

Fate's Throw
A die that can be tossed once per thread with an Other roll to reroll any roll.
The second result must be used. Double-posts are allowed.

☆☆☆★ ★ ★

Fate's Throw

A single die formed of translucent, glowing blue opal. Each of its twenty sides bears a different sigil. Granted as a reward to Thothaga by The Collector upon his release. Can be tossed to rewrite fate, for better or worse...

ELEMENT: Arcane
MAGIC LEVEL: 70
DURABILITY: 50
SPECIAL: Reroll any roll as Other, once per thread
MATERIAL: Blue Opal

ATTACK: N/A
ADDED: N/A
DEFENSE: 0
WEIGHT: 2
EQUIP: None/Carry

Currently owned by: Thothaga

@Thothaga @Skeena @Glory @Scorch @Felina

Scorch stared at the newcomer with no little apprehension, even shivering involuntarily. It looked rather creepy, like it could be an evil one. Plus, Giggle didn't trust it. Giggle could get bones to talk to her and was very old, so her judgement was surely wise. Oh, and it had been imprisoned! That had to have been for a reason, right? Maybe it had done something bad before.

He remained silent and unmoving, watching the stranger closely, but relaxed as it spoke more. Now the people who'd done the imprisoning seemed more evil. They'd been greedy and they did a horrible thing to someone who was handing out gifts and (probably) doing nothing wrong.

However, the power of the magic he created did sound pretty scary. "Why?" Scorch asked hesitantly. "Why would you make something so powerful if bad people could use it?" Of course, Thothaga wasn't a bad person, but suppose someone else had gotten their hands on the gem?

The new stone, the orange one, and the one who held it sounded terribly sad. Languishing - it sounded like such a nice word, but its meaning was so sad. I want to help them. I want to make them happy and not languishing anymore. "I'll join you!" he blurted to Skeena. "I wanna help." He didn't want to use force, though. That just sounded mean... maybe they could think of some other way later. "Do you have any more information?" As he spoke to the hooded one, he realized that he didn't even know his name. Well, that was something he could fix right now. "What's your name?"

@Thothaga @Giggle @Skeena @Glory

Giggle

Thothaga

Game Master Dark

Glory

Skeena

Giggle

Thothaga

Game Master Dark

Glory

Scorch