At the bottom of the canyon, splitting a narrow creek around its bulk, there sat a chrysalis. It was spiked and crystalline, coming to a point at the top and looking rather like a geode (although it was pushing outward instead of leaning in). Inside it, a neonate was toying with the idea of emerging -- if he had known how unfortunate a hand fate had dealt him, well, he might have changed his mind.

As it were, he was ready to breathe air instead of amniotic fluid, and so he began to contort himself and fight. With a thump of foot against stone, magic aided him and formed a crack. With great struggle, he kicked and twisted as much as his containment would allow, and shards of stone began to flake off as spiderweb cracks split up the sides. Finally, he poked out a hole with one of his feet in a particularly weak spot, and then began to pull at it with his trunk until finally, the whole chrysalis collapsed.

Standing in the canyon and blinking the wetness from his eyes in front of the massive sun as water ran at his feet, the young creature picked up a sharp shard of his chrysalis in his trunk. He carried it near to his chest as he began to stomp upstream, water rushing over his feet as he moved with little regard for the danger around him. Instead, he was far more concerned with finding himself some grass to eat.

The crack of chrysalis drew a scurrying predator, one well-familiar with the sound.

The scorpion's three-foot carapace was dusty brown, spotted darker with hues of rust and dirt. Two tails curled over its back, stingers shading dark amber at their tips, filled with potent venom. The pincers, fat-muscled, were held out to either side.

Its legs were clattering quietly, and it arrived just before Dah-lin had fully emerged: ready to sting, to drive one tail or the other for the elephant calf, to claim a fresh and clueless meal.

Dah-lin must roll a Barely Successful or higher to avoid being stung by the Sand Scorpion.

@Dah-lin

Dah-lin glanced over at the shuffling insect, took one look at its sharp edges and size, and decided he did not want to tangle with it. Not that he really wanted to tangle with much of anything. He'd have much preferred to hide behind a pack of ten-foot-tall mothers and aunts with tusks and trunks to defend him, but he didn't have any of that, so he made a distressed trumpeting (which sounded more like a weird sneeze) and began to stumble and shuffle away from the scorpion.

Unfortunately, he was a large target, and wasn't all that fast.

Twin stingers drove for the calf as the scorpion scuttled close--only one hit home.

It struck a forelimb, puncturing deeply, wedging stuck a moment before withdrawing--and then the scorpion attempted to move away. Dah-lin would find the pain excruciating--a cruelty for one so young; a sharp sting that burned at his flesh.

In moments it would turn to numbness.

And after that, the limb would become paralyzed.

The scorpion would wait for that to happen before striking again; one did not reach this size and age without learning strategy and patience.

Dah-lin has been poisoned. He must roll to drive off or escape the scorpion before the venom fully takes hold, or he may end up at its mercy.

@Dah-lin

Dah-lin realized with a shuddering terror that escape was no longer an option. The scorpion jabbed one of its long tails into his leg, and the child was stunned for a heartbeat before he was howling. His eyes were wild as pain surged through him, and desperately he threw the sharp chunk of his chrysalis at the scorpion in the hopes of hitting its eyes or something. Anything to deter the scuttling monstrosity that was after his head.

However, the pain was turning to numbness, which was unpleasant but at least it didn't hurt. He'd deal with that when it became more pressing -- right now, he was fighting for his life with the limited tools available to him.

The rock-shard slammed the scorpion in the eyes--a first taste of the physical power Dah-lin would wield, should he survive long enough to grow into it. It bounced, leaving the creature skittering back as the 'dagger' clattered to the floor.

The scorpion hesitated, two eyes damaged--but they would heal; still, the idea of ranged weaponry was new to it and it did not like this one bit. Its many legs carried it back a few more paces--and then away, and into hiding: where it would watch, to see if the calf collapsed or not.

While the scorpion will stalk Dah-lin for a time, he is safe so long as he does not sleep in this thread. After two hours or at the end of the thread, if Dah-lin is still awake, the scorpion will depart. If another character joins this thread, further dangers may occur.

@Dah-lin

Dah-lin huffed, breathing hard as he watched, thankful, as the scorpion started to retreat. After a beat, he shuffled forward and grabbed the rock again, waving it in the air with his trunk -- a clear threat to the creature, and then he watched it scurry off into the shadows. A pulse of accidental magic surged out, and he realized with a shiver that it was still watching him from where it hid.

Dah-lin looked around warily, his ears flapping a bit. He needed... to get out of here. Very, very quickly. He started to trundle along again, but very quickly encountered an issue -- the leg that had been stabbed was locking up, and the numbness was growing nearly unbearable. The knee wouldn't bend anymore, and it didn't even really want to move properly at the shoulder.

He made a dismayed noise as the numbness steadily started to spread. The first coherent thought that the child managed to string together was Am I dying? and then, as his heart continued to beat valiantly against the spreading pain and poison, I won't!

It was the stubbornness of a toddler having a temper tantrum, he stood upright and still as his shoulder locked up and the paralysis continued to spread. He waved his crude chunk of rock around again, now slick with the scorpion's blood and vitreous fluid. He would just stand here, then! Even if it took until nighttime! He'd wait stubbornly until the paralysis went away, and then he'd continue on his merry way towards... somewhere safe that he could call home.

/exit dah-lin... even if it takes a while lmao