Pride considered this. He was, granted, a little distracted; and he was somewhat self-absorbed (not in a selfish way, but merely lost in his own thoughts) at the best of times. But even he noticed the faint tremor in Amras's claw, and the change in his tone, at the mention of the screaming voice.

"Whose voice?" Pride asked curiously--though he was careful to keep his tone gentle. It wasn't condescending; more... quietly unobtrusive. "And what did it say, if I may ask? What was this--combination of magic? I am capable of speaking directly into minds; certainly I cannot be the only one." He was wondering who would have bothered screaming at the Gembound. Amras seemed a little shaken, so perhaps it had been an angered Elder? Surely Amras couldn't have become superstitiously afraid of the voice--he had to know that it was a corporeal (or energy?) being, yes?

Pride shook the thought away, considering the rest of what the blue gryphon was saying. "No end in sight--no, I suppose not. I imagine that the power is an incredibly strong one, one that could bathe the caves in its own burning and destroy everything here, if it were sentient and desired to. But I've seen no indication that it is--sentient, I mean. I think what we can call up, as individuals, is likely limited by mental and physical--well, limits, more than the lack of more power in the caves." He thought for a moment, then nodded a little bit to himself. His gaze went to Amras again, and he eyed the gryphon curiously. "Though, I'd never have thought of splitting it into--sections, as you say, branches? I have simply found that if you wish to create magic, you can weave it into any form you desire. To shape it through willpower, I suppose. I do not know which... 'branch' my magics would belong to. I have always thought of it as more free-flowing than that."

Pride pondered this, for a moment, though he distinctly recalled Envy saying much the same--that they could cast different types of magic. Perhaps it was true, or maybe it was more that a Gembound fell into a pattern--that it was easier to cast magic into certain 'shapes,' certain channels, after practice with that spell type? As in, it was easier to listen in on another's thoughts after projecting one's own; or easier to switch the location of two objects after practicing with moving them around.

It deserved, he thought, further consideration.

@Amras

The gryphon shook his head, letting out a long breath as he tried to get full control over his mental state again. It had gotten a lot better, he wasn't panicking. In fact as far as his surface emotions went he was perfectly fine right now. It was just the clouding of his thoughts, the physical reaction to mental scars, the general discomfort of staring at the subject that ate at him.

"There exists a wall in Polaris, from the magic competition cycles ago. A few days before entering it an initially subtle mania had overtaken me that prompted me to perform three feats which ultimately granted me a bitter victory. First in that state I had used a strange corruption of the light elemental spell that many of the older gembound all began to possess at some point, amplifying the mania. Then I had called upon the earth to produce a large slab of epidote lined with sharp spikes, one of which pierced my flesh and spilled my blood upon its surface. Finally, absolutely helpless to the alien impulses, I utilized a spell the Blacksmith taught me, supposedly one that utilizes some of the principles required for enchanting objects."

Amras stopped for a few seconds, each limb locked in place as though he had been sitting still for hours. He had to face it, only by normalizing its recollection could he get past it. "The voice cried out in a repeated phrase over and over, speaking in the common tongue. It's meaning, however, was unfathomable. Simple words we should have been able to understand but impossible to grasp. Even thinking back now I can sense the words themselves but couldn't even begin to break down their sounds or meaning. The mania left me after I freed myself from the spike, but the wall still stands."

A ruffle of feathers- the gryphon's wings finally moved again. Joints cracked as slowly he began to release tension in his body and shift his weight about. The other subject would be much easier to face than that had been.

"Believe it or not magic itself doesn't seem to come as naturally to me as it does to the other greater gembound. Everyone I've talked to seems to be able to just invoke their will and make magic happen without regard for the subtleties of balancing the building, shaping, and manifesting phases. Sure energy magic is mostly like that for me, being my native element, but the other eleven colors require very specific steps or substrates to even begin to access let alone specify."

---

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: @Pride
notes: And reminded once again that the original form of Amras was an evil wizard who betrayed his kingdom after his slow progression into jealousy-fueled madness.

Pride listened intently, his gaze and full attention fixed on Amras. From the way the gryphon described it, he'd been under the influence of another Gembound's magic--one who felt it perfectly reasonable to toy with him, to make him fear. Pride was indignant on his behalf, until he thought about this. What does he mean in regards to this-... corrupted light magic? All of the Gembound began exhibiting its use? Perhaps it is something trapped, somewhere--and powerful--seeking aid. Or-...

Pride blinked, staring intently at Amras.

"Theoretically..." he began, "if I were a spectacularly powerful entity trying to open communication with regular inhabitants of the caves via magic, I would certainly choose someone well-versed and knowledgeable in its arts. I wonder-... Had you considered--since it was in Polaris--that perhaps the one communicating was the Spire itself? It may have tried to send you a message, even in our common tongue, but the message--despite being in this language--could not translate?" His tone was thoughtful, pondering even, his eyes still fixed on the blue gryphon. Amras seemed shaken--no doubt from the foreign communication and, worse, the seeming loss of control. Pride continued. "Undoubtedly it was shocking, but the being gave you back control of your own body, did it not? Had you tried to reopen contact with it? It may hold a wealth of knowledge."

He shifted in place, thinking for a beat, and then added two further questions--"May I ask--who is this, Blacksmith? And further, what 'corrupted light' magic do you speak of? I have never met any who use such a thing; it manifested in many at once, you say? Does it come, then, with age?"

Pride's tone was deeply curious. He felt something he rarely felt--a hunger for knowledge so deep as to make him slightly reckless in its pursuit. He knew, instinctively, that following up on these tales might prove dangerous--but for once, rather than the embodiment of pride, he felt himself slipping swiftly into greed.

He desperately wanted to know.

As to the reason for the differences between Amras and other users of magic, Pride could not even begin to guess. He certainly knew that he himself had it come very, very easily to him--he could not say why, or why it did not come so smoothly to others.

@Amras

The spire?

The tension in the gryphon's face released in an instant as his visitor presented an idea he had never even considered before. It was absolutely mad, but at the same time made sense in its own way.

The words without form. The infusion of will. If sentience and magic actually are linked the way we've been theorizing then it makes perfect sense that such a powerful object might possess thoughts on a scale completely alien to us.

If this interpretation was accurate that changed everything! Of course a more powerful sentience would lean on the threads of willpower if it tried to connect in a meaningful way. Of course he would be the one to be targeted given that even at that time he had to access almost all of the elements. What if the spire had taken note of them defending it against the spider, the fixing of the generator, the dispersal of the storm? Could it be that the fear the wall brought was only a result of the misunderstanding it had of what it meant to be made of flesh?

"Now I really need to go back and see that thing." he replied aloud, his eyes widened as his thoughts ran at full speed. "Could the unknown spell have been its first attempts at communicating with us?"

Right, the spell. Pride apparently hadn't been around at the time it appeared. "I don't think it had anything to do with age or power. No one had it before that point, and even that small sickly child I tried to help raise was fluent in its use after it appeared. In fact I think aside from being able to turn green it may have been Envy's first spell!"

Pride had also asked about the Blacksmith, but that could hold for a moment. They may have been on to something here. "I haven't used it since then, but if it is from the Spire... I have to know."

In a flash Amras hopped a short distance away from the water's edge and folded his wings back, shifting his balance enough to allow him to stand upon hind legs and reach his full height. With talons no longer supporting his weight he held them with palms raised in front of him to begin the spell. They still shook horribly, but now it was due in equal parts to the past trauma and to the much more positive anticipation of discovery possibly to come.

Unlike the rest of his spells his gem didn't glow at first as he invoked the Time of Darkness. Shadows gathered around him, congealing on the ground as a thick black fog that roiled like an ocean. Tendrils formed in the shadows and reached out for his form, each dripping as though made of liquid even if the drops quickly dissipated into its true form of smoky magic. One by one the spires of almost sentient fog latched onto the gryphon's body and clung like sap, filling his mind with primal terror like being buried alive.

The fog had almost completely consumed Amras's form by the time the second phase of the spell took hold. His own magic sprang to life filling his entire body with radiant energy, helping to fight back against the feeling of entrapment. Not a moment too soon either! It was only a matter of seconds before the gryphon's bright blue body was completely covered in sickening sloshing shadows which continuously rolled off at his back paws in a smoke-like veil. When he opened his eyes again they were the only thing that could actually be seen of him- slitted silver orbs whose shining light pierced the darkness.

---

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: @Pride
notes: None

Pride listened intently, noting the change in Amras' demeanor and expression as he considered the Spire as a potential source of the power. Yet as he watched the gryphon bloom with grasping shadows, he felt doubt. Something about the spell itself seemed... off. Distinctly sinister, even; yet perhaps it was a gift of some kind? A defense? Or--worse, perhaps the Spire was infected by whatever this thing was. Pride appeared troubled, for a moment--thoughtful--before speaking.

"...It could be that it granted everyone the ability to use that spell to hide. Or perhaps it's a hint at something infecting it. A taint of some kind that spread when it opened its link. I would like to go to it, I think, and see--do you want to come with me?" Amras seemed enthusiastic enough about the Spire, and Pride thought perhaps two minds would be better than one. Maybe together they could figure all of this out.

"On the way, you can tell me of the--what was it, Blacksmith? Or if you are not up for travel, tell me now, and I will go to the Spire and then report back to you." His tone was easygoing enough, yet there was a distinct thread of excitement in it--subdued as it was by his self-control. The idea of learning, of discovery, of something new--of Amras and Pride challenging themselves, and succeeding--was tantalizing.

@Amras

Within the roiling shadow Amras continued to breathe. In and out, the same fresh woodsy air that permeate this room. His ears were deaf to the silent movements of the veil and even his vision was unaffected by the light his eyes now cast. Unlike before there was no feeling of dread brought about by the spell beyond what had already been there.

Was it because he had made contact with and learned to work with the alien guests within? Had that been the portion of the spell that had thrown him for a loop? If the time of darkness was made up of light and prokaryotic elements that might also explain why it appeared in the cave all at once. A spell that acted like a disease, benign and possibly even beneficial with the right approach but dangerous if invoked in the wrong condition.

Pride's new theory of a spire infection could also fit that model. Had an anomaly in whatever it was in the air that transmitted magic around the caves written itself into the source of magic and spread to all who could use magic? Was it dormant now, having written itself to the greater gembound in a single burst?

"I would be happy to come with you, if there is knowledge of the nature of magic to be gleaned then that is an opportunity I can't afford to pass up."

Another breath, the claustrophobic feeling was subsiding and his body felt much more under his control than before he had started. This was okay, there was nothing wrong here. It looked scary and it had overtaken him before he knew how to use the last of the twelve, but there was no proof that it was actively harmful now.

Slowly the thick shadows began to thin and the light within Amras reduced its ferocity. The spell was fading just as any spell should when focus on manifestation waned. Still the gryphon stood balanced at full height, seeing no reason to sink to the ground again unless they were in a hurry.

"I'd be happy to tell you about the Blacksmith, though it's been ages since I've seen them. Lead the way and I'll relay the circumstances of our meeting and the tale they told."

---

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: @Pride
notes: - Exit Amras -

Pride watched Amras's spell fading, with interest. And at his words, he couldn't help but show some excitement: a little stamp of a fore-hoof here, a flick of his tail there. His pale grey eyes shined bright.

"I look forward to it," he fluted cordially, his tone politely enthusiastic. He turned, considering their path, and then headed toward Tunnel I. "I suppose he was one of the elders you have mentioned, the ancient ones?" A curious glance back, another flick of his tail, with interest, and he led the way out.

exit Pride ; @Amras (do you want to make the Polaris thread or should I?)