as a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light...

Then, she cause a whiff of his departing magic. Thothaga snapped towards the Bone Tower. It seemed to be heading towards there. She jumped off the boulder and scurried towards it. Take me too him! She commanded her magick.

Thothaga followed the thread he laid, not sure if it was intentional or not. Ooh, I can never tell with that gembound. For all she knew, this could be some sort of game of cat and mouse--or well, spider and cricket-- except the cricket was eight feet all with inconvenient-looking horns. Poor fool, He must only be able to sleep face down... wait, am I the cricket?

Either way, the huntress was hot on the trail.


"Thothaga speaking."
Thothaga thinking.

At length, the trace of magic entered the Fortresses themselves. It wove to and fro among the buildings, heading somewhere, but the "where" was as yet unclear.

Thothaga could, with a final spellcast, keep track; otherwise it would seem to simply vanish among the bones.

@Thothaga

as a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light...

The bone fortresses loomed over her like a great, spiky beast, uninviting and harsh. Thothaga crossed Canis many times, but she never entered this area before, however, from its design, she could tell how ever built it wanted to keep others out. I should look into its past The spider witch thought. But first, where did you run off to, Collector?

Cautiously, she crept over its bony walls, following the strand he left behind. Thothaga kept to shadows, where her coat blended in best, skirting around the bone huts and crumpled structures, eight paws silent as a cat's. Then, the thread faded, and the magickal scent grew cold. Blast! Thothaga flexed her fangs, irritated. Now she couldn't ask him if she upset him or something. Maybe it's for the best.. Algol seemed like the kind of gembound who needed his privacy. It would be rude to barge into his den uninvited.

Thothaga turned around and scurried back to the wall. The hunt may have ended in failure, but she wasn't done with this place yet.

"Thothaga speaking."
Thothaga thinking.

as a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light...

Thothaga crawled up to the top one of the fortresses' walls and looked out over Canis. If her vision was somewhat decent, she would have thought that she could see the entire cave from here. Unfortunately, all the near-sighted spider saw was a mottled sea of ivory and stone-brown, but Thothaga didn't come here for the view She rested her body carefully between the sharpened bone spikes and dug her claws deep.

O' wall of bone, show me your past.

With her mind's words, the magick sparked to life.

"Thothaga speaking."
Thothaga thinking.

Thothaga would sense at once that the vision that filtered to her from aeons past was weak. Her magic had not sparked strongly enough, and so the scene that it latched onto was faint and transient. But it was there.

Darkness. The soft clatter of a few small bones broke an oppressive silence. A strange creature slipped into the fortress--almost insectoid, long, segmented--yet with a humanoid face, torn clearly by grief. Many pincerlike limbs delicately held a small, limp form: the creature laid the smaller figure down, gently, and its limbs clicked on rock.

As the vision began to fade, the insectoid creature began a low, keening wail: heartrending sorrow, suppressed by fear. This seemed almost to linger as Thothaga's mind returned to the present, echoing across the bones.

@Thothaga

as a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light...

More death. Thothaga thought grimly. As far as Canis was concerned, it was nothing new, but the instectoid's form did intrigue her. She had never seen another invertebrate Greater in her lifetime. Their cry tugged at her heart. No doubt she would do the same if it was Wilder or Algol that laid limp in her limbs. Thothaga wanted to see more. She crawled to where the insectoid laid their friend down and gripped the bones, this time tighter.

Show me more! The spider demanded.

The magick did not stir. She felt her body grow tired, but her fangs clacked irritably. I need rest. It was a reluctant thought, but there were only so much spells she could cast at once. But I will be back. She glanced back at the thorny structures, wondering which one Algol holed himself in. Spell or enchantment, his ability to teleport look useful, and but it was also annoying. Thothaga couldn't shake the feeling that she displeased him somehow, and it tore at her heart. I'm such a fool..
Then, just as silently as she came, Thothaga slipped back over the walls.

*Exit Thothaga

"Thothaga speaking."
Thothaga thinking.