Kera considered this for a moment. She didn't know why Nemean wanted the lights out-- she didn't think anyone really knew why, but if it were for proving, surely she would have said so. The wolf gnawed the last scraps of meat off the leg bone before she settled down, thoughtfully.

"No," she said. "I don't think so, at least, and she didn't try to turn them back off or anything. She didn't tell us anything about it, or chase us up on it or anything. Maybe she dropped it in there on accident, or she just did it for fun."

... now that she thought about it, she was surprised Nemean could really carry the damn thing to begin with.

Her tongue swiped against her jowls briefly, cleaning the blood from them before she began chewing the bone absent-mindedly, curling one forelimb over the femur. "What did you sleep for?" She asked. "And why stop everything while you slept? "

It should be noted that some gembound would probably be disturbed at the idea of trials and deaths and 'our only purpose is to be playthings for the Masters,' but truthfully, the reality of this hadn't really occured to Kera yet. Or maybe she just didn't care.

She didn't like the idea of people dying, sure-- but everything else? It at least made a little sense. Everything bigger and older in Origin-- Astraea, the Three Kings, the Collector --wanted the younger, smaller ones to do jobs for them, for lacklustre rewards.

"What's the point of the trials, then?" She asked. "It can't be a good thing if everybody dies during it. It's just sort of a waste of time and lives if you put ten gembound through something and only one of them comes out alive."

Kera lifted her head away from the bone when work was offered, furrowing her brow suspiciously. "Depends on what," she said. "And what you're offering for it."

Hopefully it wasn't more fake wings.

@Vargas

"The point? It was designed to weed out the weaker things--and they were stronger, those creations. You-..." and here Vargas gestured vaguely--"are random spawn. Most of you would not survive the same trials. Which is why it will take time; and it brings me to answer your other question," he added.

"We need to know where all of your--'gembound?'--are. What sorts of creatures you are; where you congregate. Sizes, and names; powers, numbers. As in, amounts. Knowledge," Vargas explained. "Once I know what sort of material we are working with, I can plan from there. Otherwise," he added, and this was... encouragement, he hoped, if Kera was the 'protector' she imagined herself to be, "nothing will be designed quite right. It will all be meant for a certain population, one no longer present, and I imagine the death rate will be unacceptably high... As for rewards, there are life-giving creation allowances, and I would say private dwellings, but you seem to have one of those already." Vargas looked around, noticing for the first time that most of these now seemed... abandoned? Hmph. Never mind. "Higher rank and treatment, for those who serve well, and even the right to be excused from future trials." It was all rather matter-of-factly delivered. If Kera chose to serve, he'd be willing to test her out. If not; he'd find someone else.

He already had a couple of others out gathering information, but not a list quite this comprehensive.

"I would not need all of this if I had not slept so long; but I do not know how long I've slept. As to what happened while I did so, that is information the Masters have not yet fully... imparted." Vargas glanced around, trying to hide a scowl--and it was easy enough, given his bizarrely-shaped facial structure.

But why hadn't Astraea and Nemean (he wondered, for the fiftieth time since awakening) warned him of the state of the caves? No change to his orders had been administered.

It was all rather... disconcerting, really. But he could hardly tell Kera that.

@Kera

Kera tilted her head one way, and then the other, flicking her ears. She hadn't quite considered where she'd actually come from until now-- she knew that most gembound were just born out of the wall, and some were born because someone gave life into a stone.

But to be randomized, that seemed odd to her.

She licked her muzzle, chewed on the femur for a few beats longer, and then looked back up towards Vargas. All this seemed very reasonable to her. It sounded, to her, like there used to be a lot more control about who came hatching out of where.

Adjusting things so that less people died was a good thing, after all.

"There are allowances on giving life?" She asked half-quizzically. "I think most are just sort of doing it whenever. Even I've done it to, uh, three stones. One of them was because the Collector asked me, and some others, to do it."

She didn't have anything to say about the rest of it, however-- she spent a moment thinking about everything she knew, everyone and every place, and then flicked an ear back. "I can tell you what I do know," the wolf offered. "Here, in Orion, you have a group called the Seven. Their leader is a tiny, green weasel with quills called Envy, and there's a white stag called Pride with them, too. I don't know anyone else with them, but I assume there's about seven of them in total."

"I don't see much of them, either-- they stay closer to the throne, I think, and these rock-things are mostly abandoned except for one, somewhere. I've seen lights around it, but I don't know who lives there. It's a way bigger den than mine, though."

What else? "There's three more groups that I know about-- in Canis they're called something like Bonebound, but I only know one person there. She's a dog-looking thing like me, but she's sort of hunched over and has spots. In Cetus, there's a group ran by a big lizard with a flat head. He spews fire and calls himself Dragon."

"In Eridanus there's Rift's lot. Rift is a really big cat, and his hearing is really sensitive so you have to talk quietly near him. He's friends with another big cat, but I don't really know anything about him. Pride has a cat-friend in there, too-- they might all be cats --called Mercy, but he seems a lot older. He's really slow-moving but he's pretty nice," she rambled on, thinking, though she barely took a breath. "They're going to put on some sort of trial soon for Blackberry, who's a murderous goose. There might be a lot of people there if you want to go and see for yourself."

Finally, she took a pause, watching Vargas, briefly waiting to see what comments he had before she continued on.

@Vargas

Vargas listened in attentive silence. His mind, though tending toward blunt violence, was not unintelligent; and his thoughts rushed to commit as much of this as he could to memory. And his thoughts too, at least at first, mulled over the information about these Gembound just giving life to rocks all over the place.

She doesn't know about the restrictions-? Gah. Though I wonder if that could be an interesting method, in and of itself..? A lot of randomized experiments--this could be fun!--tested, who knows what powerful beasts we might end up with. And now for the information. His thoughts stilled as he tried to memorize it all.

Orion. 'The Seven.' The same group who play at being kings on his old throne? Small green--weasel? What is a weasel?!--Envy. White stag, Pride. Astraea's creation? He is a 'stag' now, I think? No--maybe? He had hardly any time to think about this, however--about whether the two shared a shaper, or one had made the other. Though the thought, briefly, did strike him: Did he lose his throne..? Did a new Master recreate him in his image?

And then, the rest. Groups-... Canis, Bonebound. I'd met Aure, yes. Dog-looking thing, spots. Cetus--CETUS?! Vargas blinked, shocked by this. These creatures were living in Cetus? Not just VISITING, testing their luck, trying death--but living! What would Nemean think!? he lamented. Oh, how everything had gone to hell... Lizard, fire magic, flat head--Dragon. Eridanus. 'Rift's Lot,' his mind carried on quickly, misinterpreting this as another official group name. Sensitive hearing? Another cat, cat-friend Mercy, ally of white stag Pride; trial, for goose. That must be the one that the Hunter-Child was pursuing. I will have to follow up on that.

When Kera fell silent, peering at him, he blinked six horn-straddling eyes at her thoughtfully. Strange, black membranes seemed to close wholly over them and then retreat, their glows vanishing and reappearing.

"You accept my offer, then?" he surmised, with distinct amusement in his tone. She hadn't just agreed; she'd launched right into it. "Good. And yes-... In the past, it was not freely allowed. But there are ways to ensure that it takes, those who can make certain that the life is granted to the stone. And there are special stones, those of Champions, to ensure your power lives on in others who are strong. We arranged, at times, unions between those who wished it as rewards." It was said indifferently, and it wasn't as ominous as it sounded. Sometimes one Champion just had a liking for another, but under normal circumstances they wouldn't have been allowed to cross. Or at other times, a powerful servitor or winner might want their life given to the best possible stone, or vice versa. It was just that: a reward.

"This is good information! Do you know what types of magic they use? The weasel, the white stag, the Rift, the Mercy, and so on?" He paused, thinking, then added--"I have met one of these Bonebound. It was a reasonable enough creature, and though foolish, quick enough to survive some things." It had also walked right into his trap, but in all honesty, it was a rare creature who didn't. "And I met a young Hunter-creature seeking to capture this. Blackberry, was it? for its trial. I wonder if it succeeded." Vargas had never learned the little elf-creature's name, or number; it had made one up on the spot. But it had obvious redeeming qualities, in his eyes, that if shaped properly could mould it into a good champion. It was intent, studious, with an inherent sense of responsibility, a desire to do as well as it could and to improve, to contribute to the whole.

This creature, on the other hand--this Kera--had different qualities. She was independent, and grizzled; she seemed fearless, which was good, and secure enough in her information and her magic. A strong mind, rather than that of a servitor, as the elf's had seemed to be. They always did have different things to offer--even if their shapes have changed, he thought idly to himself. He'd always been fond of picking out the strengths and weaknesses in various creatures, contrasting and comparing. Even if the weak were eaten, it was always interesting to note their deep individuality, and he'd always held admiration for (or perhaps 'been pleased by' would be a better phrase)the survivors, whatever their unique skillsets might have been. "If you continue to bring me information, then you may call upon me for a stone or the like, a special one. You will need to bring me more than this," he added, "but this is an excellent start. If you wish to truly be my hand in the caves, you will introduce yourself as such--Kera, Lightbringer, Hand of Vargas; and should you find yourself in need of aid you will come to me for it. But not for foolish things," he added, with dour memories of things that had come before.

@Kera

Kera shoved the remains of the deer leg to the side, away from the entrance of her den. She considered Vargas' words for a few moments, folding her forelegs over each other absent-mindedly.

She had to take a few moments to consider why there might be allowances put on giving life to things-- but it didn't take very long for her to come up with a very good example. Which further only lead to the question, how many Blackberries have there been?

The wolf licked her muzzle, a little stressfully. "If I denied your offer, I wouldn't be talking," she said dryly, though still absent-mindedly. "What are champion stones like?"

As for magic, however-- that varied a lot. "I don't know what the weasel does," she said. Her only actual experience with them had been with Pride, asking to grow a gemstone on the throne. "Pride reads mind and grows stones, I think. Rift and Mercy grow plants. Giggle, in Canis, grows mushrooms like me, and speaks to bones."

Everyone wanted to capture Blackberry, it seemed. The trial didn't make much sense to her, really-- either kill her or spare her and just be done with it --but whatever. Gembound did strange things, sometimes, and she'd go anyway. "Maybe," she offered. "I was going to visit sometime, we have a lot of history. Blackberry can shock people, also-- but I think she mostly just kills people with her various... teeth or whatever."

How the fuck did a goose tear people apart, anyway?

"Well, it isn't everything I know so far," she said, itching behind her ear idly. "Why the, uh, title? What's a hand?"

The last part of what Vargas said was a little more amusing to her-- Vargas wouldn't be the first to offer up his aid to her. There was Aether, the revived moth. "No, I'm not gonna call for you for stupid shit, like geese," she snorted. "Not if there's really dangerous stuff out there. How many others have you put this offer to?"

@Vargas

Again, his thoughts ran a quick tally as Kera spoke. Weasel--Envy--unknown magic; Pride, arcane and earth; Rift, Mercy, plants; Giggle, Canis, fungus and-... Talks to bones-?

Despite his thick, stiff reptilian hide, Vargas' brows seemed to furrow. "Talking to bones is not magic. It is insanity," he stated bluntly. Unless there was some new Master he was unaware of?! One able to speak to inanimate objects-? Or perhaps she, too, was a user of arcane magic-...

But Kera was moving on, and in response to her question, Vargas lifted one forelimb and wriggled its six clawed digits--three per side. "A hand. A forelimb capable of gripping; it means... acting in my stead," he explained. "And no one, not yet; though in eras past at times I had two or three called Hand of the Overseer. It was useful," he added, with brief, fond memories of one servant, broad leaves, and the gentle wind that a constantly-working slave could create on a particularly hot day.

@Kera

Kera paused, mid-scratch, narrowing her eyes at nothing for a few moments. She tried to mull this new information over-- was talking to bones insanity? --but came up with nothing, really. "No, I don't think so," she said, dumping her paw back onto the ground. "She asks the bones questions, and reads them, and comes out with answers. She said I'd turn on the lights, when I'd just hatched."

And we all know how that story went.

She turned her head upwards to observe Vargas' hand, and then turned her attention to her own paws. She definitely couldn't grip anything with those things-- they didn't curl in the same way that Vargas' claws did. The Collector had some grippers, though-- and some gembound she knew could probably bend their toes if they were long enough.

Regardless, this all seemed very reasonable to her. Surely, it'd help her keep an eye on people if nothing else, to make sure that they were safe. "Okay," she said, making a mental note to add it to her list of titles. "Is there anything else about the people I've said already? 'Cause there's a lot more in the caves."

@Vargas

This piqued Vargas' interest at once. Sight was a hell of a magic, he knew--one that allowed glimpses into the various threads of the future. But to offer one, accurate guess--and through talking to bones? That-... That was new.

"Interesting," he began, and his tone was genuinely thoughtful. "I will have to go and speak to this one myself." It didn't really sound like a threat, at least.

"No," he answered Kera's question--and then, peering at her--"You have more?" He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised that she had details on more than a handful of 'Gembound' within the caves--but he was pleased by this development nonetheless.

He praised himself, mentally; he was feeling that he'd made, here, a very good choice.

@Kera

Kera nodded lightly. "You'd like Giggle, I think. She could ask the bones about your future," she half-offered, in Giggle's stead. Giggle seemed to like doing that sort of thing, anyway.

The wolf half-stretched herself out along the cave floor, grumbling in confirmation. "Sure. There's a lot of people out there and I know a lot of people," she said. As she straightened herself up, she began to think where to even start.

... well, there was one more group to cover.

"Blackberry used to be a part of a group called the Bloodberries, but they're mostly gone now. Their members live on, and they're mostly the children of Blackberry and her mate, who was a massive, fat stag-thing with wider horns. He's dead now, though I don't know how," she began. "A lot of their members have '-berry' in their name, which is really stupid, if you ask me, but you could probably identify them fine with that alone. There's Jayberry, who's a wolf like me, but black. I don't think she does any magic. Huckleberry is a moose-goose and he's totally fucking pathetic. I'd guess he does spark-magic like his mom does, uhh, where he can shock you a bit. I had to fight him and he cried." Might as well throw in a conquest to the mix.

"I don't know how many of them are out there, really, but anything that looks like a fat stag and a goose paired together, it's probably one of her spawn. There's only one goose in the caves, anyway."

At least, as far as Kera knew. "I don't know where all of them went, but I assume they're wandering alone, now. There's more gembound out there on their own than there are in groups, anyway, but I don't think anyone is really on the same level as hated as Blackberry and her kids are."

The wolf took another moment to pause, and let Vargas ask his questions, if any, before moving on.

@Vargas

Vargas listened attentively. There certainly seemed to be a lot of hatred directed toward these 'berries,' though he wasn't entirely certain why. Surely if they killed, won, and survived, then they were champions? Or was it like the old... loyal versus rebels sort of thing? He dismissed the thought with a mental shrug. If they failed to survive, as a whole, then it does not matter much.

Survival of the fittest was rather a religion, to Vargas.

"This is very good," he agreed at once. "Continue--though, what is a goose?" he added.

He tried to picture one in his mind. Many teeth? Powerful enough to kill many other creatures? He imagined her as one of the beasts of old: purple, with an acidic green maw. His imagination tacked on a muscular neck, black-tipped spikes all over her body and massive, leathery wings.

...Was this what a goose might look like?

@Kera