As it turned out, heat was one of the least of the pangolin's worries.

Gentle vibrations thumped through the ground beneath his feet, at first. The rather slow-moving creek rippled faster. A scale deer bleated softly as it bolted for cover. Then, a brief convulsion ripped through the crucible. It slithered up the walls. Mild as that quake had been, it was enough to send a shower of sandstone raining down the corridor. Many of the falling rocks were rather small, but a few were large enough to kill anything it landed on.

After a time, the rain of sand and boulders subsided. The last of them settled with booming thuds and formed a wall. Many had fractured on impact, leaving a jagged minefield for any denizen of Hydra to clamber over.

It was sheer luck that the little pangolin managed to survive without seeking the shelter of some nook in the wall. He had the potential of a fractured tailbone, but little else. It was quiet. No Lesser dared to emerge so soon after the landslide.

Itri is safe. He may now exit or do whatever he desires for two in-character hours, before requiring another GM roll.

The pangolin hobbled up to the top of the mesas, broken tail and all. Heat seared into the scales of his back; there was not a shred of shade to protect him up here. None, but the shadow of something high above. A shadow which drew nearer and nearer, with leathery wingbeats that thundered through the air.

Itri would come to learn that no part of Hydra was particularly safer than others.

An eyehook—full-grown from the looks of its massive wingspan—was making a dive for the curled up Gembound, talons outstretched to snatch him up.

Perhaps Itri's slowness was a matter of attitude, rather than any physical impairment. He made the unwise decision to commit to facing his predator. The hooked claws of a baby pangolin were nothing compared to the might of a bird whose wingspan easily hit fifteen feet. It barely reacted to the scratches inflicted upon its talons.

Talons, which were now closing around the pangolin's body in a crushing grip. The eyehook flew up and up in a dizzying spiral, talons pricking more and more at the scales along Itri's body. Just when it seemed the bird might squeeze him all the way to death... it dropped him.

It was a long thirty feet to fall.

Itri has one chance to somehow keep gravity from chrysalizing him... though, that might not be such a good thing.