The heat of Hydra swept into the mouth of Tunnel P in blasts of searing air and scouring sand. Here stood the Masked Merchant--black-cloaked and unmoved by the heat or wind--and behind him, hovering and leering, Master Vargas.

"It's about time," Vargas had muttered, but the Merchant was never one for words. Instead he stood stock-still, waiting for the arrival of the Gembounds. The call, of course, had gone out in weeks past. Word trickling here and there, spread by the servants of Chaos, of another trial with grand rewards and a chance to prove oneself. Warning came with it: do not risk what you are not willing to lose.

That was all clear--the caves had seen these Trials before. What was new, however, was the pile of carefully tied, variously sized satchels--worn cloth and leather--piled around the Merchant in disordered stacks. As each Gembound arrived, they were given a satchel to carry how they saw fit--one suited to their scale. Each of them would find the satchel to be a burden, but not so much so that they could not carry it. Within, they would find three things: a strangely vibrating stone disc (ranging from coin-sized to a massive barbell weight depending on the Gembound's size), two separate pouches of plant seeds, and a number of slender wooden stakes emitting a soft phosphorescent green glow. How strange.

"Take... this," the Merchant told each new arrival. And when they were all there--all gathered, and prepared--he took one eerie, rattling breath and explained. "You will enter... Hydra. You will cross... the Dunes. Spread your... stone discs... across the sands."

"Then move... to the Crucible... climb to its top. Plant the seeds... in the brown pouch. Spread them... widely. Lastly... to the Dead Marsh. The stakes... to mark safe passage... the seeds... in the green pouches... spread throughout."

Vargas cleared his throat, then, to explain where the Merchant had fallen silent. "This Trial is different from the rest! We will make future use of Hydra. To do this, it must be pacified! Should you succeed in these tasks, you will do just that, and be well rewarded. Finish among the first and be further rewarded. Should you prove too weak, you will die." There was indifference, a matter-of-fact emptiness, in his tone. "There are no other rules. Complete the challenges--and survive. But cooperate--sabotage--simply go alone; it is your decision. That is the nature of the Trial."

Another pause, and the Merchant rasped a last, single word: "Begin."

Ahead, the air shimmered with sweltering, oppressive heat; the light was blinding, the sands burning underfoot and dangerously vast to cross. And this was only the very first step...

---

Round One

• Gembounds have each been given a satchel that is heavy enough to add to the strain of Hydra, but not so heavy as to hinder their movement.

• Each must roll to safely traverse the Dunes, spreading the vibrating stone discs across its sands. Any form of roll may be used so long as it makes sense (magic sense to avoid danger, other or physical to avoid or dodge attack, etc.).

• Upon a successful roll (Barely +), please specify in bold text underneath your post/posting table, whether your character chooses to move ahead of those who fail, or remains behind with the pack. In future rolling rounds, Gembounds can help/be helped by, or sabotage/be sabotaged by, those in the same race position as they are; those who finish in the first three, however, garner additional rewards.

• Failing this roll puts one under attack by Sandworms, which sense vibration from beneath the sands.

The next round will begin on August 24th, around 2:00 p.m. EST.

Welcome to the fourth Trial of Hydra. This is a potentially deadly trial of your Gembounds' capabilities, with rewards equal to the risk. Please see this thread for more details, including rolling rules, round length, rewards and theme.

If you did not register in the signups, you may still join on one character. Please be sure to read the thread linked above for information on risks, rewards and rolling first.

Here Fiver was: A neurological, twitching mess. He was frankly overwhelmed by the amount of other creatures here, in so many colors and sizes and shapes that seemed impossible to his limited worldview. By all accounts he shouldn't have made it at all: his father tracked his every move, and it was only be some miracle that he had happened to hear about the Hydra challenge at all.

The ultimate game, with the ultimate prize. Wouldn't Anubis be proud of him, if he succeeded? Wouldn't he see that he could indeed venture to caves even further beyond?

Never-mind that Fiver had gone through the forbidden cave of Canis-- filled with Mother's spores and spies-- to reach this place. He dare not think too deeply about his father; how much of a panic he must have stirred with his sudden and frankly unusual rebellion. Regardless of whether Anubis knew it or not, however, Fiver had been becoming more and more aware of a deep wrongness inside of him.

With no worldly experience, a stumble to his gait that was getting worse by the day, and his own mind slipping further away from him; the young gembound-- only freshly turned adult-- had no business coming to the deadliest cavern in the entire world for some mysterious prize and glory.

From the outside, it must have looked like a suicide mission.

Do not risk what you are not willing to lose.

Was it apt to say that Fiver had nothing to lose? As he stood, staring out at the blinding desert sands ahead of him, accepting his satchel of strange oddities, he felt more certain of something else. He had everything to gain.

Freedom from his failing body, in one way or another.

Freedom from those who sheltered him from the truth of the world.

Freedom from his own ignorance.

Fiver moved with the group, his own stumbling, irregular rhythm perhaps not enough to attract the attention of the monsters that lived under the sands. He was lucky for another reason: his own form was suited to the desert, the heat energizing him for now rather than overwhelming him.

He found his way along with the group, and paused for a moment to dig out the vibrating disk from his satchel. It buzzed between his teeth in a way that aggravated his already addled mind, but that made him all the more grateful to find a place for it, spaced out from the others. Once half-buried in the sand, he rushed back toward the others, fur prickling as the sands began to shift from something unseen below.