ORIGIN

Pride's ear flicked at the mention of cleaving and empowering gemstones, and he looked to Amras in mild surprise.

"Is that true..?" he asked--not in disbelief, but in surprise. He'd never heard of this, and immediately wondered--silently pensive--if perhaps this was how he had come about. Had some stranger surged life into a gem in the stone wall? Did this stranger still wander the cave?

At length, the stag gently pushed the thoughts away. The concept of magic was suddenly that much more complex. "It implies," he said quietly, continuing his thoughts aloud, "that we are beings partly formed of magic. If that is how we, ourselves, were created--perhaps chance magic from the Spire, even, or the being within, filling gems and birthing us. It would explain our affinity with it. Our abilities with it." He paused, eyeing the Spire through the cave wall, in a sense--gazing off toward where he knew it would be.

He wondered, for a moment, if that made the Spire their parent--or perhaps, the strange being whose mind he had touched.

And as for the lesser gembound..? "How could we create a link, mind-to-mind, from a Lesser to a thing like the Spire? It would need to be directly magical, I suppose, as well--no. It would not need to be a mind-link, would it? Or--hmm. The magic only struck me when I linked with it, but it is possible it was not a surge of magicka so much as an overpowering of my spell..? I confess, there are many possibilities and I do not know how to separate them."

Pride looked a little surprised, at this last, and nodded.

This, unfortunately, made him dizzy, and he winced and closed his eyes for a long moment before speaking.

"...No. No, I've no intention of forming them into monsters, which would indeed make us monsters too. I was thinking of-... of uplifting them, perhaps. Of granting a few of them sentience, or more of them, though I suppose there would be moral questions."

Pride half-drowsed, for a moment, mind drifting abruptly into near-exhaustion, and after a pause he opened them again to eye Amras tiredly.

"I suppose there is-... little more we can do, with what we have. I will try to find my own methods, and we can keep one another informed, perhaps..? Unless you have other ideas?"

He paused, and then added--"Ahh, and thank you for getting me to safety. I owe you one, I think. Though perhaps I can repay you later; I feel as though my head may burst if I do not rest." He tried to ignore the sensation of blood slowly trickling from his wound, and jagged gems forming a bed below.

Given his exhaustion, and how powerfully it was suddenly overriding all his other needs, it was surprisingly easy to do.

Pride listened, one ear flicking, and gave a little nod.

"I appreciate that, Amras. Likewise, if you ever need my aid, you have but to ask it. I am often in either Eridanus, or Orion. Avoid the tunnel, by the way--that small, green one between here and Orion. Use other paths. There's a group of murderous Gembound in there at the moment, led by a rather mad goose. I would hate to see you attacked." Pride didn't think Amras would be in all that much danger, given his magical abilities, but something in him thought that even if the gryphon won the fight he'd not walk away from it the same.

Regardless, there was little more now on his mind. His head tucked down, flat against the stones, and before he even had time to register just how uncomfortable this was, his eyes had slipped shut and he was fast asleep.