Children moved about him and he could hear another rustling in the trees, but his attention remained on the cloaked wolf. As she described it, his eyes narrowed; and his own ears twitched uncomfortably. It did indeed, then, sound like Dawa's key.
"I see," finally came his voice. She mentioned earlier she was asking about something important but perhaps she really knew nothing about it at all. "I believe I know which orb you are speaking of," he answered, watching her carefully. "Where did you find it?" They had all been guarded by someone, and since Dawa had died, he could not find her key. He assumed it had been stolen but could not trace it, nor could he trace Raheerah's.
@Kin-Kin @Rift
The 'Light Sprite' had it. It made Astraea feel sick to think Nemean might have discovered the keys, but in any case, Kin-Kin ensured that it was in a safe place now and being guarded. He did not know the circumstances but it sounded like Nemean had not been aware of what she had.
They both seemed to be speaking to each other through guarded teeth. It made his lips twitch into a grin; it seemed not all of his Gembounds were the same. Good, then.
"I know everything about it," he answered vaguely; except its location, he thought to himself. "I am glad to know you have retrieved it from Nemean; for that, I thank you. Yes, it is important."
He decided to offer a bit of information to see if he might gain some himself. "There are three others, somewhat like it," he said quietly. "They each belong to someone. The guardian of the purple one is dead, and so, it fell into myth; likewise, there is an orange one whose master is—is, missing." He could not reveal Raheerah's location. "There is also a blue one," Astraea continued, pausing as a fungal carpet bloomed beneath him; before him, exposed in a bed of mixed, dense mushrooms: "and a red one." His eyes remained on Kin-Kin the entire time.
It had a subtle glow but was guarded by the fungal growth under Astraea's command, illuminating weakly from the grasps of his magic.
"It would be wise of you to return the other," he warned. "In its masters absence, I will look after it." He wondered then what the caped wolf might do. Did she actually know what they were for, and was she looking to collect all of them? Or would she return an unknown object back to him, relieving it into his care?
Discovered: Astraea's Key
Notice! The orb Astraea has is heavily poisonous!! Any attempts to touch it may severely poison your characters. If you
attempt to touch the orb you must
roll Other to see how badly your character may have been poisoned; the effects of the poison are up to you, but
always include very bad hallucinations.
* The orb is about 2-3ft in circumference.
It boiled his blood the way she refused him, as if she should actually be the keeper of something so important. Change her mind? He could take it from her if he truly wanted to. His long ears flicked in agitation and he snorted through his nostrils.
"That is fine if you do not know me," he began. "I am Astraea, father of the creatures within the cave; I am not alone in my creation. Tell me," his said, his tone growing colder, "do you know much of Nemean? Do you think she would truly give you such a gift, if it were a gift?" He tossed his head back. "She knows only tricks and traps. To think you are still alive, what a wonder," the stag groaned, but knew Nemean wouldn't want something that caused harm to her. If she didn't know what it was, then it was typical she would get rid of it under the notion it might be something special.
"It is not something I can tell you about," Astraea said firmly. "But I can tell you that it is a key to an important location, locked for a reason." His eyes fell to rest on his own key, emerged from the hidden depths of his magic and body. "I fear if someone were to collect them, they may be fooled into opening a terrible mistake," breathed the stag, his voice lowering. The fungi receded back to him, closing itself over the red key and pulling it back into the ground. "You could not protect it from someone bigger, stronger than you," he warned dangerously, his red eyes lifting slowly to meet hers. It was a threat, but he still did not know the location of the key this Gembound had.
@Kin-Kin
