+- ORIGIN (https://origin.boreal-nights.space)
+-- Forum: IC Archives (https://origin.boreal-nights.space/forumdisplay.php?fid=50)
+--- Forum: Year 9 Archives (https://origin.boreal-nights.space/forumdisplay.php?fid=72)
+--- Thread: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation (/showthread.php?tid=11455)
RE: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation - Whistle - Aug 20 2023
Whistle shuffled into the baking hot cave, a small grumbling figure in the crowd. Prizes, risk, reward. Those all sounded enticing enough, but it was the challenge she was after, the break from monotony - an interruption that did not include being up to her ankles in rancid fungus. That had been a nightmare to extract from chrysalis-wet fluff.
She was beginning to dislike this situation just as much, though. The scorching heat, the invasive sand, the blank stare of the merchant, the crowding of other bodies, the weight of the satchel she slung over her shoulders. The way the ground felt hollow underneath. Oh, and that ominous rumbling she felt reverberate from the sands, too low and powerful to be from the discs alone.
Time to go, time to get this done. She galloped forward on tiny limbs, summoning a gust of desert wind to lighten her heavy steps - she overdid it, of course, toppling forward into the dunes. She sneezed indignantly as that wretched sand wormed its way in, appalled at the audacity of this place.
Was it her, or was that rumbling getting louder?
RE: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation - Duck Duck - Aug 20 2023
Duck Duck heard the news it seemed, carried in low whispers across The Womb. She arrived oil-slicked, as if she had taken one more 'bath' by the spire for good luck. Maybe she knew it may have been her last. Would goose mourn it, if it passed here? forgotten by all but the merchant who had lured it here, and the sandworm that crushed its tiny body in its woodchipper jaws?
She took her satchel, barely a pouch, with a slow blink toward Vargas and the Masked Merchant. She left with a final mrrrp, full of unearned affection. Something strange about that one, but her mysteries would die with her.
She seemed to understand, on some level, what lay beneath. Though one would only need to know that it was something hungry, awake and listening. Duck was used to such things. Her magic spread, a low mumble, masking her tiny body with indecipherable and meaningless noise. her pace was languid, easy - she knew she didn't have to run, not yet.
Duck Duck is moving ahead.
RE: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation - K’cil - Aug 20 2023
The anteater was there. That is all there is to say, really.
Before he shuffled off with the rest, satchel on his person of course, he moved forward to plant a firm, confident lick on both of the hosts. Ideally on the forehead, but any part would do - he would not chase if they moved away. A thank you?? Maybe ?? I'm assuming this is a safe action that will not get him immediately disintegrated. I would also like to place a formal request on to how these creatures tasted - probably disappointing. Maybe why he wasn't as enthusiastic about it. After tasting the rainbow, where do you go?
oh my god. holy shit. He went for it. Maybe those licks were for good luck, because its surely the goddess Fortuna herself that blessed his gait. Those worms would never know what hit 'em. But despite his grace, he isn't that fast. Either by choice or inevitability, he remains with the cluster.
K'cil is staying with the group.
RE: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation - Galleon - Aug 20 2023
Galleon had taken the bag into her mouth, too inflexible to carry it any other way. She cradled it gently between her teeth, shifting it with her tongue so it wouldn't hinder her too much.
Galleon was built for this environment. She was filled with joy, an overwhelming sense of rightness at the scrape of sand against her scales. This was her land. Her sands. What did she have to fear? Sandworms in her territory? She slowed. She'd never actually seen a sandworm. She could only imagine such a hunt. The exertion of breaking into a sandworms carapace or dodging one.
The idea of it thrilled her. And she gave in to her desire to antagonize the sandworms. Her fin snapped shut as she dove even deeper (finding it didn't get wet further down to her joy) before then propelling herself up, breaching from the sands. Galleon tossed her head, throwing out the disc so that she could speak through the weight of the bag.
RE: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation - Fleas - Aug 20 2023
Fleas slunk along near the merchant, pacing in tight circles, anxious enough to have forgotten the weight of her bag as it hit her with every bounding step. Her tail stayed tucked between her legs. This sand was hot on her paws. She wasn't even dying yet and she was in pain. That was so unfair. And those dunes went on for oh so long. And there was even more desert further than that. Why oh why did she sign up for this? At least when she died it wouldnt hurt too bad. She hoped. She hadn't actually tested the collar yet. She shook herself out.
Fleas is moving forward
RE: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation - Anselm - Aug 20 2023
Anselm hopped forward on little black limbs. The pouch was tied around her neck, like a necklace or a collar, making the process of hopping somewhat awkward. The heat seeped into the melanistic hare, settling heavy on her. She could not burrow to escape the heat. She panted heavily, setting forward at a slow pace to stay within the shadows of her larger aquaintances. It worked, and the worst of the heat was mitigated for her. Still, her paws burned.
"Brilliance and heat undoes me." She bemoaned. Her magic would not help her here. Fire would only accelerate her heatstroke. "Shelter, a shield I seek. Shall any provide?" Tiring of the weight around her neck, she tossed it, and a miniscule disc was shaken out. There. Slightly better.
Anselm is moving forward
RE: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation - Conleth - Aug 20 2023
For most, Hydra was a place of danger, of risk and reward, or maybe just full of fools.
For Conleth, it was home.
A home they had only lived a minuscule amount of their minuscule life in, but home nonetheless. And despite being rather oblivious about the true dangers of Hydra, the idea of making the cave more 'livable' was enticing indeed. It meant more friends to bounce along the sand dunes with!
Connie would snatch their mouse-sized satchel, curiously digging through it's contents before shoving it all back inside in a haphazard manner. There were more gembound in just this one place than Connie had ever seen before, and much to pay attention to. They tried their best to remember The Masked Merchant's instructions, and the advice of other contestants- although they weren't sure what 'move with the sand' meant, given that sand was an inanimate object.
Conleth was quick to place their stone disk- partly because they were afraid they'd forget otherwise, and partly because the satchel was heavy, and really hampering their bouncing potential.
A fragment of the extra weight relieved, Conleth was free to bounce through the crowd, managing to avoid being trampled by all of those much, much larger than himself. Through the crowd, however, he spotted a familiar face.
"STAR! FRIEND! IS HERE!" He yipped, "It's been long! Where-"
And then the sand beneath Star turned into teeth.
@Star [Vis]
Staying with the group.
RE: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation - Aran - Aug 21 2023
Aran got curious, that is all. So when he trekked to the desert, a place he never goes to, it was only for this... Chance to prove oneself, as the mysterious stranger called it. Aran isn't particularly interested in proving himself, he's basically blind, but he really wanted to know what this was about.
So, he took the satchel, heavy on his legs and shoulders, and joined the group. A big one, he notes - the bird is getting weary. It's unfortunate, but he expected it. He shoves the anxiety down as far as he can, not far, because it's not actually his own emotions.
The rewards spur him on. Clearly this is a battle between life and death. Of what? Aran won't know. He won't know because he's going to survive. This is an odd ragtag group of all kinds of gembound, but he knows he can do it. Even being blind, and not knowing most of his life. Besides, he has the kids to return back to. Not that he's been particularly caring of them.
Aran takes note of what one of them says. They can hinder each other. Odd... He supposes rewards will not be for everyone, then. Gotta keep to the front of the pack.
He goes.
Aran is going to move ahead of those who fail
RE: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation - Ketur - Aug 21 2023
Ketur, finding the calls to prove oneself appealing, joins the group in the trial. it's a bit of a hassle to get the satchel on with all of the pointy bits, but when they do, they're ready. This is their moment. This is going to prove that even the shy ones can be strong too.
At least. They hope so.
In reality, Ketur is quaking in their hypothetical boots. They feel nauseous, visceral pain laced through their body. They can do this. It won't be that bad, surely. Yeah. After all, you do wake up after returning to the chrysalis. They're sure they will be fine.
Hopefully.
Ketur will stay with the group
RE: [EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation - Spinnaker - Aug 21 2023
It might be reckless, to charge into such a hostile cave like this. But Spinnaker doesn't exactly have much to loose. It might be infinitely drier, but the shifting sands of Hydra are not unlike the vast ocean, forever clawing at whoever dares cross it.
So he picks up his satchel, and takes off into the desert heat. Quickly! he thinks to himself, spurring his magic to life. Sure enough, the winds shift, sending him gliding over the dunes.
A tossed disc, this one tiny, lands below him, before he winds onward.
Spinnaker is forging ahead.