At first glance, this is simply a lion. An odd looking, rather large lion, around 7 feet tall at the top of the head, but a fairly ordinary lion. Except for the two curved horns breaching out from the sides of its head, its surprisingly ordinary. Soft light chocolate colors across its short, dense hair, the gloriously bushy mane a darker color, with stripes walking up its legs, and lighter colors on its belly, the undersides of its legs, and the muzzle. There's a shock of white hair on the top of its head, and a few decorative streaks around its sunshine eyes. A round oval of mookaite peeks out from its chest. Mostly standard.

Just look up, though. There's a goat attached to its shoulder blades.

Yep, all it takes is to look past the mane and there's nothing normal about this creature. The backside of it transitions from course chocolate fur to wiry charcoal hair. The back legs are powerful bovine kickers, with large, hard hooves instead of lion paws. Between the shoulder blades, parting the mane, reaches a goat's neck and head, dark gray with a slightly lighter gray mask over the flat of its face and similar decorative streaks around its eyes. The eyes are blood-red and burning with fury (perhaps because it literally lives on someone else's shoulders. Its crowned with two pairs of ivory colored horns, with a bladed mohawk-like growth of bloodstone running over its forehead, attached to the skull beneath the skin.

And running down the goat-section's back, transitioning from skin to scales parting the wiry hair, is a a snake. This creature has no proper tail, instead the tail is a third head cursed to look the opposite direction as its brethren. Thankfully, snakes are quite flexible so this doesn't cause much of an issue. Its almost a pitch-black in color with highly iridescent scales, flashing green and seafoam colors under the lights. Its mouth is a dangerously bright seafoam color - warning of the paralytic venom it carries. Just like the other heads, it, too, has horns - three pairs, just above its brow. Between two sky-blue eyes sits a round piece of chlorastrolite, looking very much like a third eye with multiple bubble-like eyes within. And at the edge of each eye are white markings over its scales, just like the other two.

Not the strangest creature walking the caves, but unique in a simple way - each head bears its own stone and is its own creature, bound together in one body. Each has a bit of control over each of its own "pieces" of the body they call the Triage - the lion head has control of the front paws, the goat the back legs, and the snake the tail. Someone got the short end of the stick (quite literally) but control can be given or taken in a spectrum, but generally, each actual head can only be controlled by its individual stone-holder. With great effort, one mind could control the entire body, but it is extremely mentally straining - they will find it easier to simply learn how to use their own piece of the body to exist together. Walking might be pretty difficult for a while, as they can't read each others minds.

Eventually, one will win over. A gembound is not meant to have multiple stones. For now, they are three in one. At 10 cycles, it will be two, and at 19, only one will remain. Who's to say which of these three beings will triumph over the Triage?

Three gemstones for three heads on one body with individual thought and motor control means that, yes, they do in fact have three personalities. Let's go one by one.

Buckley (he/they) is the lion's head and he is quite the gentleman! A soft and kind-hearted soul, with plenty of love to give. He is mostly nonviolent, and loves to interact with others just as much as he loves the other heads. He views them as his siblings and can be a bit of a pushover when it comes to them, despite their wildly conflicting personalities. He is deeply humble and will do his best for others, no matter the cost.

Gore (it/they) is the goat's head and is so wildly different from Buckley, it can come as a bit of a shock. It is loud-mouthed, violent, and extremely demanding. It expects a lot from others, and if they do not live up to its expectations, then DEATH. Literally. It is a bloodthirsty thing. Only truly tempered by Buckley's mellowness, but constantly fighting to take control so it can really live its vile fantasies. Instead, without any true way of reaching others, given its position on the body, it will scream obscenities and kick its legs, and cast whatever damn spells it can access. Stay away from the hooves.

Ishani (she/her) is the snake's head and is, perhaps, the quietest of the three. She likes to observe from afar, often found curling over the shoulders of her body-mates to quietly, and a little creepily, watch whoever they're talking to. She is somewhere between the other two in terms of personality - less humble then Buckley but not violent or loud like Gore. She prefers to whisper in their ears, influence their decisions. She is really the only thinker of the three and she is, for good or ill, crafty and slippery.

One day, the Visitor decided it would be funny to put three chrysalis together and see what happened. They grew into each other and now This happened. Good job, buddy. It's gonna have guaranteed trauma now.

 

(VIEW INFORMATION)

Breastplate enchanted with Summon Void

Spell List

Animal (used by all)
-Bioluminescence
-Lesser Empathy
-High Senses
-Charm
-Shell
-Swiftstrike
-Bloodhold
-Body Swap
-Regeneration
-Greater Empathy

Energy (used by Gore)
-Dispel
-Bounce
-Vaccuum
-Supernova
-Event Horizon
-Stellar Flare

Arcane (used by Ishani)
-Budge
-Telekinesis
-Telepathy
-Enter Paradise
-Phantom Hold
-Mind Reader
-Mindscream

Total: 9,100 magicka. yikes