Amras shifted a bit as Rift began to speak on disease magic. Even now he could feel it inside him, could remember the unpleasant hallucinations that had brought it to his attention. An alien visitor, acting similar to an internal element but strangely being external in nature. He hadn't quite gotten the nerve to delve into it again enough to actually invoke it on purpose. "For me fungi and disease are tied together in a strange way. I don't remember too much about the encounter but a while back in this room I worked alongside a number of other gembounds to clear rats and mushrooms from a gorge. The spores, as toxic as they probably were, gave me some insight into how one of the more destructive disease spells probably works. I hope to never encounter a beast deadly enough to require that theoretical knowledge be brought to its full practical application."

Wait, had Rift been there? He remembered a few different cats, a canine, and a rather sickly looking horse. There had been so much chaos and such low visibility within the gorge that any number of gembound might have been there without him knowing it. Unfortunately it sounded like that had not been the last disaster to befall this forest, and not the first by the look of some of the areas that had been torched in the past. Certainly this guardian of the forest had good reason to be so adamant about their post!

The gryphon flinched as in the midst of his attempt to recall if he had met Rift at that time the cat jumped over the stream toward him. The reaction was only momentary however- though they had just given a warning their expression was not one of aggression but of curiosity. Instead Amras allowed them to examine the mushrooms, watching with undivided attention at their process. For one associated with plant and its neighboring element their methods would almost certainly differ, but there was still insight to be gained. Touching and smelling and tasting the mushroom probably reacted to some innate shaping mechanism, allowing them to store the basic properties of the fungus for usage in the spell. If so then perhaps that meant that the mushroom propagation spell was not one spell but an entire family of subspells using the same principle. Beyond that it looked like the spell would succeed even if incomplete information, though not always exactly the desired result.

"Impressive nonetheless!" the gryphon encouraged, speaking more of the process than the result. "Let's see how well I can follow."

Without fully thinking about what he was about to do Amras took one of the tear-shaped mushrooms and, after looking at it for a brief moment, tossed it in his mouth. Immediately a mild numbness flooded the region. Apparently in letting the mushroom dry out he had inadvertently concentrated its properties. Without really meaning to his innate magic rushed to his tongue where the dry mushroom rested, infusing itself with the foreign object in a natural defense against potential danger. It had only been in his mouth for a second but by the time the gryphon spit out the dry mushroom it was glowing with beige energy that caused it to completely disintegrate as soon as it hit the ground.

The energy scattered with the destruction of the unknown object, drifting up into the air a few feet before making its way back to the ground. Wherever it landed, though, a mushroom popped up- exact copies of what the Mother's Tear had looked like before drying out.

"Nah wha ah espeted, buh id seem to ave worged" Amras remarked, flicking his tongue against the roof of his beak to try to work out some of the residual numbness that muddied his words.

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x12	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Dried Mothers Tear mushrooms (25 in3)	Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium)
Back bag: Empty

Take hold of the power within
"And shape the fabric of reality around you"
tags: @Rift
notes: None

Rats and mushrooms? Did he mean the strange fungus that spilled spores across the forest? Another thing that had annoyed him greatly and was an ugly sight in the beautiful green. Broken mushrooms, residual spores floating around, and the knowledge that such dangerous things had even been present there. Truly disturbing. But, now that Rift thought about it, he had seen Amras there. "Yes, I was there too. Little happens in this forest without my knowledge. You say that it gave you insight to disease? It gave me insight into pressure and my friend fungus. Perhaps it was a different experience for everyone. A very strange event. And I have met that beast. A black horse, its coat covered in mucus, half dead. It spread its plague to this forest and many things could have died, but we chased him away and are still cleaning the forest of what he left behind. If you ever meet him, I highly suggest caution." His claws sunk into the earth at the thought of the horse. If he ever saw the creature again, he would kill him.

He realized that Amras had the mushroom in his hand and tossed it into his outh. Rift widened his eyes and was about to warn him not to, but it was too late. He was already spitting it out. Rift watched with amazement as the fungus sprouted where there had been little before. "Wow, how did you do that? I've never used fungus magic like that before." He looked up at Amras, his whiskers twitching with amusement at his muffled words. "I was going to warn you to not eat the mushrooms. Are you okay? Do you feel sick at all?"

@Amras

For a moment Amras said nothing in return, the sharp effect of the mushroom's concentrated essence still resting on his tongue. As before, however, his subconscious self seemed to know exactly what to do with the situation. He could feel the magic within well up as the quartz rod in his forearm gave off a soft light. Rather than completely destroy the remaining essence his internal magic took hold of it, diluted it, hastened its spread through his entire body. What might have taken several minutes before was completed in seconds as the diluted essence began to flood through his bloodstream.

Minor aches that he had barely even recognized had been there were washed away in a way that even his recovery magic almost never reached. Sure, his innate magic could do many things from healing grievous wounds to combatting various ailments, but it almost never bothered with such minor pains.

"No." the gryphon replied with some intrigue, the numbness completely gone as he felt better than he could ever remember. "Quite the opposite in fact! I feel like if I’d tried that while the mushroom was still fresh there might not have been any ill effects at all."

With that bit of surprise passing Amras shook his head and continued on. "There was a time in my life where I would have been able to explain exactly how I gathered and shaped and manifested my native magic to produce such wonders. With these external spells, however, I'm finding more and more that their function lies outside my own control. It's a strange feeling, knowing the basics of what you want to do but handing its implementation off to something outside yourself."

Most likely Rift wouldn't be able to relate, and Amras knew this. Among all in the caves he seemed to be one of the very few whose magic required such detailed thinking. It was something he almost envied about them; being able to access their magic so innately, forming spells as naturally as moving a limb. At the same time the exacting nature of his magic was probably what allowed him to traverse the elements with such relative ease.

"More importantly, you say that the dreadful horse that helped me save the black cat from being swarmed back then started plaguing the area?" Unfortunately he could understand where the horse was probably going with the strategy. Those rats had been dangerous and if any remained they might cause trouble. "Is there anything I can do to help clean up? It sounds like they became overzealous and decided to try to solve a small problem with a disproportionately dangerous solution."

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x12	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Dried Mothers Tear mushrooms (25 in3)	Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium)
Back bag: Empty

Take hold of the power within
"And shape the fabric of reality around you"
tags: @Rift
notes: None

Rift was a little surprised at Amras's words. Did magic not come as easily or naturally to him? Could he not simply tap a claw or nudge his magic and create things, as Rift did? Thinking about it, he did it himself, softly patting a paw on the grass and a few small mushrooms appeared. Curious. He would have to think about this some more later.

But surprise didn't even cover it when Amras mentioned a black cat. His jaw dropped with shock as he tried to remember this. But he had been distracted, either by the mushrooms or their ill effects to notice. "Sebastian? The plagued horse saved him?" For a moment, Rift was on the edge of a shaky forgiveness, but then his face hardened. "Well, it doesn't matter, because he tried to kill him. My own brother, right in front of me!"

He was going to insert another scathing comment about the horse's motives, but he decided not to - he had already made his hatred for the creature very well known. Instead, he turned his attention towards Amras's question. "Well, I've been going around and cleaning what plants he touched. And...and killing those that have been overtaken by the plague. There's also been the matter of the animals that have come in contact as well. They are more difficult to track down. If you could help at all with that, I could finish cleaning up the plants that remain."

@Amras

It was obvious form Rift's reaction that the horse's redeeming qualities were news to him. News of the creature's open aggression toward one they had once defended, however, was similarly unexpected to the gryphon. His brows rose at the words, his mind immediately churning over the possible causes. Was there something in the horse's vision that led it to try to kill others? Was its desire to spread a plague not a tool used too bluntly as he had initially assumed but one born from some kind of madness? The disease element shared some similarities to the primal element with an innate desire to seek and feed, could that pure intention have warped the plague horse's mind?

"I have remained still for long enough, and this certainly sounds like an important cause" Amras spoke at the end of Rift's words, as much to himself as the great cat. If he stayed hidden in the trees much longer it might begin to feel less like a rest and more like a new way of living. "I will begin to patrol the woods and try to find any creatures affected by this disease. If possible I will try to cure them, but stopping the spread of illness sounds like the greatest priority."

Amras could feel his core spark to life as the thought of a hunt after so long feeding only in the way of the trees. Diseased or not the lesser gembounds would try to avoid him, and even if he was abnormally light weight his pure size would likely make sneaking difficult to do. Once more the gem on the back of his arm began to glow and knowing what he had to do Amras leaned back, closed his eyes, and intertwined his talons together in front of him.

As he breathed in deeply that translucent layer of white energy began to surround the clutched fingers, growing steadily until both talons were engulfed. Seconds passed and soon the energy began to pulse outward, creeping up his arm, across his shoulders, around his torso. With each pulse the energy took on a more and more red hue, slipping back toward white before pulsing to red again in tune with his primal core. By the time the energy engulfed him completely there was barely a hint of white left until all at once everything seemed to click into place and the concentrating gryphon was surrounded in a constant ethereal red shell.

This held for another second until in a sudden wave starting from his chest the ghostly energy took physical form and cast a silvery hue upon him from feather to fur to beak; perfectly reflective so that in the denseness of the forest he looked almost like nothing more than a shimmer in the scenery.

That went a whole lot better than when I tried it at the arena he thought as he opened his eyes, now layered with the same reflective silver as the rest of his body.

"This should help. Is there anything about their behavior I should know before starting the hunt?"

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x12	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Dried Mothers Tear mushrooms (25 in3)	Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium)
Back bag: Empty

Take hold of the power within
"And shape the fabric of reality around you"
tags: @Rift
notes: None

Felina had been searching for a new den for a while. She ate and drank as needed. She soon found herself in Eridanus.

Sharp eyes found two Greater Gembounds (Amras and Rift) in the vast greenery around her. Neither were familiar to her. She came a bit closer to them, but there was at least two feet between the runty female bobcat, a blue colored bird-like creature (Amras) and a male cougar (Rift). She immediately took note that they were *much larger* than her.

Tentatively, she addressed them in a respectful voice: "Hello. I'm Felina. I'm looking for a new den to live in. I was forced to leave my previous one due to mitigating circumstances. Can either or both of you suggest a place with plentiful fish, water and small creatures I can hunt?"

She didn't expect an answer from either the cougar or the very blue-colored birdlike one, but she had to at least *try* to get directions.

@amras, @rift

Rift watched with amazement as the colors spread across Amras until there was almost nothing at all. He blinked. Had the gryphon gone? But then he heard his voice and his ear perked with interest. He was invisible! That was awesome! "Wow, that's really cool! Yeah, I think that would definitely help!" But now was not the time to talk about this cool ability. Both of them were going on the hunt, although their prey may be different. His tail twitched with excitement, this task already seeming a little more exciting now that there was someone else helping him. There was still a lot of ground to cover, but now he had Amras to help with the creatures that were infected. He could worry just about the plants.

"No, they behave as normal creatures. But they smell vile and are swollen. Be careful, the plague is contagious. If you become infected, I can heal you. Shall we return here tomorrow to track our progress?"

@Amras @Felina - we're about to finish out this thread so if you'd like to meet Rift in another thread, I'll happily make a new one for you. However, in the future, please remember that its common courtesy to ask to join an AW thread when it has been going on for a while.

Amras nodded in response, the reflection of trees and greenery shifting as he did so. Even if his sense of smell was not as good as a canine's he would probably be able to track any infected creatures if it was as pungent as Rift seemed to be indicating.

Realizing that a simple visual response would probably not work well while this particular type of magic was active the gryphon spoke up again, his tone straightforward and attentive as though acknowledging the seriousness of the situation at hand. "That's a good idea. I'll try to keep my attacks ranged if possible and return here at this time tomorrow. Hopefully between the two of us and whoever else we can employ we can keep this from turning into an epidemic."

Aside from being a good project to get back into the swing of things this felt like the least the gryphon could do in thanks to those who had helped him recently. To the trees for sharing their gift of the production energy. To Rift for sharing the trick to fungi magic. To the room itself as thanks for providing him a safe haven from the terrors behind the wall.

A stiff breeze and a dizzying display of reflection was all that Rift would likely see as Amras spread his wings and lifted off the ground toward the canopy. His plan was to fly low and slow across the treetops in a widening circle spelling for any signs of decay. If there were no signs after a half day of searching he would drop down to ground level and continue on foot. Whatever he might find he had a long day ahead of him and doubtlessly a good and earned rest at the end of it.

- Exit Amras -

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x12	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Dried Mothers Tear mushrooms (25 in3)	Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium)
Back bag: Empty

Take hold of the power within
"And shape the fabric of reality around you"
tags: @Rift
notes: None

@Felina - likewise I'd be happy to throw a topic together for you if you'd like. Alternatively a good resource to find open threads can be found at /openthreads.php

A few people on the site dislike having more than two characters in any given topic so it's usually best to check in before hopping into a thread, especially if a character's entrance would split the narrative structure. Cbox and Discord would likely get you replies the quickest but there is nothing wrong with hopping in the thread with an OOC question/request if that is more comfortable for you

He nodded in response to Amras and felt a breeze blow across his fur. The plants around him bent in the wind as the gryphon took flight. He couldn't see him, but he knew that he had gone now. He immediately turned around to the way he had been going before, his nose twitching for the scent of the plague. There were still a number of plants that were covered with mucus and bile from the horse. He needed to get them clean. Water and cleanse. Water and cleanse. Yes, that was it. That was what he needed to do.

He sprun away, gracefull across the river and disappeared into the forest, back on the trail that the horse had followed on its way out.

*exit