ORIGIN

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The flight home was arduous, seemingly lastig forever despite him putting on every burst of speed he possibly could. In hindsight, he shouldn't have done that. He should have taken a moment to himself, to bathe and cleanse himself of the mud he had caked into his fur and the wound on his leg. But, nah. Escape was the only thing on his panicked peanut brain at the time, despite the goose being long-gone from view and his scent being rather untraceable among the other Cave-smells. At least that had been smart. He was not endangering anybody but himself over a damn rock.

As he arrived in the heart of Canis, Eythan touched down in the center of the pool, dropping the stone for a moment so that he could crouch in the water. It was sweet, despite the cloying taste of iron within it. Closing his eyes and mouth, he rolled on the spot, drenching himself and fluffing out his feathers much like a bird in a birdbath. All of the muck and grime came out easily, rendering him a clean, if not sopping wet, kitty.

Eythan would've taken time to dry himself off, but patience was for pussies and he doubted the Collector was a beautiful creature underneath that cloak and hood. Why else would it hide underneath them? "Oi, Collector. I've got your rock or whatever." He called out casually, lifting said stone with his right talons. There seemed to be no indicator of magicka or life within it. It was rather plain, banded like an agate. Perhaps a Lesser's gem? He didn't really care, though. His 'test' was done, so he added matter-of-factly: "dumbass goose tried to saw my leg off."

The Collector did not simply appear, this time, out of nothing. Instead, there was a soft, distant, rhythmic scraping of something hard on stone--recognizable, after a beat, as footsteps of a sort, almost hoof-like on the rock.

From behind a boulder he emerged, slipping out between them with head slightly canted in curiosity. The black cloak swished as he approached the hybrid that had called him so, and as he reached Eythan, one clawed hand unfurled, palm-up, toward Eythan. Waiting for the stone. Beckoning.

Crimson pinprick eyes examined it as closely as they could where it lay clutched in the hybrid's talons. "Ahh, back so soon? Well done. Allow me to but inspect it, and then your reward... shall be yours. The goose, you say..? Did you have much trouble? I trust it will not come for you in the future..?" Those eyes flicked up to Eythan, the smooth voice a near-purr.

The Collector waited.

@Eythan

Eythan's ears flicked gratefully toward the sound of hoof-like footsteps on rock, approaching from behind some boulder. Thank goodness he didn't get the shit scared out of him this time. The hybrid shuddered involuntarily in the cold, taking the moment of silence as an opportunity to shake himself out into more of a mess. His talons eagerly placed the lifeless red agate into the Collector's awaiting hand, accented with a scoff, "thanks, but ugh, yeah."

"All I did was take a rock and the bitch came at me and tried to cut my leg to shit," he grumbled rather childishly, as if the goose had no right to come at him like that. "But fuckin' anyways, she shouldn't be. I covered myself in a fucking ton of mud and hid my scent. I'm taking a detour around that fuckin' tunnel from now on, though." Fuck that noise.

The hand curled, almost gently, to pull the red stone back toward the Collector's eager face. The glowing red eyes beneath the hood looked it closely over as Eythan spoke, and at length, the hand retracted away, the stone vanishing beneath the cloak.

"Excellent," he crooned. "It would have been better yet if the stone held life, but that cannot be helped... You have performed your task admirably. And so, you shall be rewarded."

The Collector held both hands forth from the robe. Claws splayed toward Eythan, and the sudden surge of magicka was almost palpable. Eythan's furred hide, his wings, his claws and eyes and teeth, changed with a gradual, painless cracking into solid stone as the Collector spoke further. "You wished to be a guardian--a protector. I hereby grant you that right. I bestow upon you magic--a new magic--so that in others' times of need, you may stand as their shield."

Within his stone skin Eythan could feel and see and hear--nothing was changed, there. But he would find himself immobile, impossibly heavy. After several moments the stone would fade, cracking away, leaving Eythan flesh and blood once more--but the memory of the magic would remain.

"Now that you know this spell, perhaps others, too, may learn it, given time. But this is my gift to you."

The Collector bowed, his robe sweeping the floor.

Eythan has learned the spell Stoneskin! Eythan has now unlocked Stoneskin for all of Origin Cave in the Magicka shop!

Stoneskin - High Intensity Defensive. The user's hide temporarily turns to stone, providing a near-impenetrable barrier against attacks and increasing their weight substantially, but rendering them immobile. Repeated or backfiring usage may leave patches of Stoneskin behind.

@Eythan

Eythan stood up, wriggling his behind a bit and puffing out his tail feathers to free them of the weight of water. "Well, the goose was sitting on a chrysalis, but I'm not the greatest at doing any sort of magic, so, fuck that. Sorry," he chirped, and then added, "thanks again---"

---his beak shut with an audible little click! as the Collector splayed out spindly fingers toward him and magicka overwhelmed him. Something crackled around him, turning flesh and bone into impossibly heavy stone. "Hey---!" he cried out uselessly, his voice dying out as his face froze. Warning sirens went off in the hybrid's head as he glanced to and fro, fearfully. Eythan only distantly listened to the strange creature's voice, instead focusing on freeing himself from whatever this magic was. Whether or not the Collector had released him from it, he didn't care. He quietly attributed his freedom to his own will.

His talons shifted uncertainly first, and then his wings. They folded in and out, sopping wet feathers still sticking together. Blinking, he whirled around to look at his tail, breathlessly whispering, "what the fuuuuuuuuuuck..."

Suddenly, he was aware that the Collector was still there, and he nodded rather dazedly. "Thanks?" His voice lilted with confusion, pitch rising at the end of the word. On one hand, it was a rather oppressive spell and had dangerous implications but on the other --- he could be a protector. He wasn't good at casting magic at all and let absolutely nobody tell Eythan that he was. Nearly every intentional attempt was met with failure or a complete backfiring. Taking in a ragged breath, the hybrid repeated himself, more certainly. "Thanks."

Then, out of nowhere: "how do you know that spell? How did you, uh, give it to me?" And finally, "what other shit do you have?"

At Eythan's question, a low, sedate laughter came warmly from beneath the Collector's hood. It was a sophisticated laugh--high-class, somehow, in even its sound--yet richly bass and sinister.

"Why, Eythan..." he crooned in answer, "I collect them. Not only objects of power--but magic, as well. Many spells long-forgotten by other inhabitants of this cave still dance at my fingertips. And I will share them with those who provide adequate payment," he added.

The claws of one hand curled out to grip the hem of the robe. "I trust the reward is to your liking..? Is there something else that you desired?"

Red eyes fixed on the hybrid, unreadable, and interminably patient.

@Eythan

Well, Eythan found something else to dislike (hate was too strong of a word, he felt) about the Collector. That was straight-up a villain's laugh. The hybrid flicked his ear back, half-tempted to make a snarky comment about 'well, it is in your name' but managed to keep himself quiet. "Objects of power? There's enchanted shit here?" Now, how was that possible? He'd honestly heard of Gembound making things glow, but that was the full extent of his knowledge of that kind of magic.

"It's cool! It'll be very helpful, I think," he half-shouted about the spell he had been given, despite his uncertainty about it. No need to look a gift horse in the mouth. It'd come in handy at some point, right? Provided his stone decided it actually liked him. Haha, fat chance.

"I'd be down to do more shit, I guess. I've got a week to screw around, I think." Approximately, if he had any proper concept of time.

Clawed fingers drummed, momentarily, against the furred robe-hem.

"I would be willing to do more business with you, Eythan," the Collector seemed to decide at last. Perhaps he looked thoughtful, beneath that hood, but eyes remained unblinkingly fixed on the hybrid. "You have shown yourself thus far to be resourceful and efficient. But the tasks I have now are perhaps more... dangerous, and complex. Tell me what you want--name your price--and we will discuss."

@Eythan

"Awww, thanks," he chimed rather uncomfortably, not quite used to any sort of praise. Shifting his shoulders (and, subsequently, his wings) up and down, he shrugged. "I don't know, to be honest with you. Last time we chit-chatted, you mentioned some shit about doing a difficult task? But not be known for it? That's up my fuckin' alley" Then, with a dry laugh, he imposed: "I'd prefer to not be entrusted with any more magic, though. I'm not that good at casting it and I'll probably end up ripping myself in half on accident if I'm given anything else like that."

"Then I do have something that you can do," the Collector decided, at last. It had taken him a moment, it seemed, to come to this conclusion. "And something that you can have. Something that you can be. But you must keep my words wholly secret, and never repeat them to another soul: for if you do, you will drop stone dead, and your gem will crack, eternal. You are, of course, free to reject my task."

The Collector slipped his hand back into his robe. When it emerged, it held a tiny tuft of bright green fur. "There is a group of Gembound in Orion led by one weak of heart and mind. I would test this one: if it bears the strength to lead, it will succeed. If it fails, it will be replaced. I will tell you now, Eythan, this is no mere game that I play. The fate of the caves themselves may rely on this, in the cycles to come." The green fur lay in the outstretched hand, red pinprick eyes fixed on Eythan, still unblinking, and incredibly intense.

"There is a cave called Monoceros," he began again, words slow and careful, as if to ensure Eythan would not forget these orders. "Hot, and full of winds. Atop a ledge, past a winding shelf, high in the cave is the scorched den of a dragon. You must not be seen, or all is for nothing, and you will receive no reward. Wait until the creature is not in its den. Then retrieve the large and singing crystal from this den, and leave this fur in its place. Then, take the crystal to Orion, and leave it atop the throne--again, you must not be seen. Leave it, as though it is an offering; it is a very large crystal indeed." The Collector paused, and then continued. "But that is not all. When you have finished with this, you must find a lizard. It is long, and heavily-scaled, and it lives among those the green one calls its pack. You must tell this one--it calls itself Greed--that her leader is risking them all, and that her opportunity, should she take advantage, is close. Do this for me..."

The Collector's wrists both extended from the robes. "And first, you will have played a central role in ensuring our strength in the trials to come. And second, I will grant you an item that will allow you to save the life of an ally, but once... and at its own cost," he warned. "You, yourself, will die--or be sent back into your gemstone. There is no telling which will happen."

The Collector stared, the green fur held out in his palm. "Do you accept my bargain, then? Do you have questions about that with which I have tasked you?"

@Eythan

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Eythan

Game Master Dark

Eythan

Game Master Dark

Eythan

Game Master Dark

Eythan

Game Master Dark

Eythan

Game Master Dark