ORIGIN

"Good!" he boomed, in praise; "I did not expect you to pick it up so quickly. Your quick grasp of new magics is impressive."

Vargas then began to stretch, limbering up, though for what wasn't quite clear. "Now I will tell you of traps, of lures. With a little bit of backstory, to explain where this experience comes from--and why it is necessary. Each thing--each subject or ability--that you are taught, by Garnet Delta, Overseer Orthoclase-Alpha, myself; each of these are tools in your kit, tools to pass on to those you train. These tools can be mixed and matched, brought out and combined as you see fit. This tool is a necessity for prey that runs and hides. Things you cannot find, and must lure out; or things where you know where they are, and cannot reach."

He paced a little ways away, then sat to face V-Chaos-Two, again stretching; he looked around as he did so, eyeing the various crevices and cracks left by Draconua, by Khavur, by the movements of the rock itself. "Long ago, there was a rebellion in these caves. And even before that, there were always those who refused our ways, and who had to be put down. One of my tasks was hunting down rebels, and killing them." He looked to Chaos-Two, matter-of-fact, as he said this. It was hardly secret information; maybe Chaos had been told, maybe it hadn't but he didn't expect it to be shocking. "Naturally, a rebel going into hiding knows that I will be hunting it. One slated for trials who fears the trials more than they fear me might risk it. Either way that target will go into hiding, and they often did. But when you spoke of using the kindness of others against them--that is most certainly a possibility."

Vargas again pushed up, with a brief "Stay there," and paced off into the gaps torn open at the foot of the Black Spire--crevices rended into the very earth by Draconua's rampage. "They worked together--they gathered up, welcoming in other refugees. And so it was a simple enough matter to draw one out, when I found one." He pushed past a boulder, and out of sight.

The mimicry he attempted--enhanced, infused by magic--was not perfect, but perhaps Chaos-Two wouldn't know that: it hadn't ever heard the voice that he was imitating. And the voice itself was piteous: small, weak, a cry trembling with fear. "Help me-... I'm wounded. Help." Vargas then poked his head out from around the rock, his tone returning quite to normal: "You can see how this sort of thing would be helpful-?" he asked.

Vargas gave a quiet laugh. "This is not the trap, V-Chaos-Two. This is only the lure. It is one of many, and it is where knowing the psychology of your enemy, or prey, comes into play," and here he lifted one massive hand to touch about where his temple... probably... was. He paced out into the open, then gestured back to the mass of stones and fissures behind him. "The trap will vary on the situation. Rarely will you have time to create one in advance, particularly if you've followed your enemy to where they've gone to ground. Let me give you a common scenario."

He came closer, reassuming his conversational range of a few yards. "Let us say there is another rebellion. And I doubt that, to answer your question--it would be very bad for us, and also for the idiots who think it wise to rebel. They would be crushed if we did lose control of the caves. The fact that even we answer to a higher master is often lost on them," he explained. "But let us say there is another, and you have tracked a rebel down. It is hiding in these holes, here," he went on, gesturing back once more. "But there are tunnels they have dug, and you cannot fit. Nor can you spend time setting up an elaborate trap. They would hear you, undoubtedly--or smell you, or otherwise sense you. So you have only moments between your approach and a kill to lure them out. -Of course, you could try to wait them out, but the filthy beasts often have other escapes prepared--back entrances and so on--and you must be cautious not to walk into a trap they've laid, in turn."

Vargas paced over to the fissures Draconua had smashed in the rock, and then, with a light leap perhaps surprising given his massive size, he hopped almost silently atop one of the heavy ledges overhanging it. "So you will need to use the terrain. Use your magic, to lure them out. Perhaps if you know that they are carnivores, the sound of a wounded Lesser will draw them. Or the smell of food, and the sound of Cave Rats eating. Or a cry for help, if they're the pitying sort."

"Then you need to use the terrain: hide up here, for example, ready to leap down, using your shadows to hide you--and if there is wind, always be aware of the way your scent is blowing." He turned, hopping down and taking up position on the other side of the crack, as if to demonstrate; his movements were lithe, smooth, despite the wounds littering his hide. "If you do have time--or the terrain allows--you can set a trap--but always be wary the hunter does not become the hunted! I have encountered pit spike traps waiting for me, among other things. But use height; so many forget to look up," he went on, gesturing meaningfully ceiling-ward. "Hide above, be ready to push rocks down, or leap down yourself for a kill. There are tools you can use--weapons, spikes, poisons. If your prey is too fearful to leave its den, too sensitive to your presence, toxins can be left on food--not something I've had to do, myself," and he seemed to find this a tad distasteful, for whatever reason, "but it is an option. Just be aware you would need to return to finish off the gemstone, by whatever means you have. Are you following so far?" he asked, glancing up; he didn't want to push on if the fundamentals weren't clear.

Vargas stared at Chaos-Two, for a moment. Ahh--he hadn't taught it how chrysalises work, had he? And apparently neither had anyone else. Well! "If you kill with poison, it will return to its chrysalis. You haven't damaged it enough. You need to then kill the stone, or it will simply reawaken. Clearer?" he asked, head tilting. "What you do with its gemstone depends on the situation, but that isn't part of this lesson," he went on; it wasn't about laying out what made a creature's design either worthwhile, or too pointless, to use.

"Rebellion or not is not what matters so much as motivation. That is, how to motivate someone into your clutches. That is what I was talking about: the lure of sound, or scent. Mind you, don't overdo it. Enough to arouse curiosity, or concern--enough that they can't ignore it. Too much and it becomes too obvious. Now, I can teach you a little about actual, physical traps; certainly you can use magic, too, but again these are tools in a kit. These are things you can teach our spawn, yes?" he went on.

"I mentioned throwing stones. There are also pit traps. For those, you would dig or find a hole, and fill it with sharpened spikes--wood, gemstone, bone; whatever is available. Then cover it, hide it--loose branches, for example, covered in dust, dirt, leaves--anything to blend in. Your lure goes on top, or draws them over it. Another possibility is something that, when disturbed, brings something else crashing down on it. I prefer using my own teeth and claws--hiding above, or behind, and drawing them out. But traps are viable, and a creature specializing in traps, stalking and poison is very difficult to evade. A patient, skilled, experienced hunter can kill any prey--no matter how large, how powerful, how wary."

Vargas sat back, and looked around. "Let us imagine you had a target in... hm, Pegasus. How would you begin your hunt, knowing nothing of your target bar a vague description and a name?" He spoke patiently, knowing that Garnet-Delta had given it at least the basics of this sort of thing.

"You are not wrong, but you have skipped a step. How do you know if it is carnivore, or herbivore? Step backwards one point in this scenario." His tone was patient, leading Chaos-Two along his thought process. "You have only its name, and a brief description. First you need to find it: and then you must learn what you can. Naturally, you may not have that much time--you may need to act fast. But for the sake of this example, let us say you are not rushed. You have hours--days--cycles; whatever you need."

One many-clawed hand waved vaguely as he spoke. "What, then, do you begin with? Your responses are good, in that once you do know, you can plan; and you are keeping the terrain in mind, which is also good. But how do you find out to begin with?"

"These are the two important steps of the hunt: the learning, let us say, and then the doing. The gathering of information--be it as brief as the scent of your prey, or as detailed as its social group and habits--and then the planning and execution. -Figuratively and literally speaking," he added, dark humor in his tone.

He nodded along, listening, commenting now and again. "That first thought is a good one, yes. Finding the den is finding a place they will be at rest, unaware, vulnerable; someplace where they'll let down their guard."

"But tell me, how would you find that den? How would you know their scent, when you speak of picking it up? How would you find their residence to begin with, or their group; their relationships? Has Garnet Delta given you ideas? You arrive in Pegasus; what is your first step?"

His tone was still patient. He was not trying to be pedantic, or overly demanding, but nor was he the sort to simply dump all of the information and hope that his student grasped it. No; he wanted them to think it through. To come to the conclusions, yes; but also to understand the why. In practice, in theory, "pick up their scent" would sound--to the uninitiated--like a sound plan. But how would one come to know this scent, to begin with?

And there were other considerations to be kept in mind--but for now, he wanted to know where Chaos-Two would start. It would, he hoped, be (in some figurative sense) like Chaos-Two undertaking these sorts of things for real, except in its imagination--and rather than real world experience, Vargas would explain what may, or may not, happen. It would learn--but not through failures of its own, but rather, information granted by one who already held this very experience.