Oh caves- James was already roasting down here. Hot weather didn't suit his feathers or fur very well. He wasn't a desert creature- at least he didn't think himself as one.

He stepped behind Tahi and perked his ears up, glancing at him before his eyes widened, "Wait- are you the black figure that was in the mural? There was a black shape with a similar silhouette to yours. They made a weapon for someone, but that person turned on them and attacked... and continued to do so, over and over again. A red figure. Do you know why?"

He was convinced he knew the meaning of the mural, or at least had interpreted in a realistic way. His wings flared to keep Comet and Kaimana back, just in case.

Haven swooped in gracefully, wings flaring out as she flapped them, searching for somewhere to perch. She flipped upside-down and latched onto the cave ceiling, wings spread out as she waited for Electrum to come, prepared to hold him tightly in her arms so he didn't fall.

"Oh- that's what the mural was about?", she said, looking towards her mate, "Cool!"

She faced the direction of the horned creature and waved happily, grinning, "Hi!! I'm Haven- nice to meet you!"

@Electrum

Comet walked up to the figure with the white mask, placing herself at the front of the group. Even though she said nothing, and allowed the others to do the explaining, she wanted to be at the front of this. Mainly so she can see the figure better. She sat down, and waited to see what would come of all this.

Aran followed the group once again as more and more gembounds seemed to appear. The clanging got louder as they all turned the corner, but Aran could not see what everyone else was seeing from his sight being so bad. Vague shapes of the stools and the kiln before them, but everything muddled together and made one large shape from all of those things being so clustered together. The voice though, there was nothing stopping him from hearing the voice of whatever they had come across.

Aran, however, had nothing to imput here, from being unable to see whatever the mural showed. He couldn't see it, and it was dissappointing. He would never be able to say that he saw such a thing, only that he helped to figure it out.

This place was unbearably heated, having a short coat on most of his body except for his chest (which was wooly), Aran was less hot than some would be - like Comet for example. But it was still searing hot down there, and he didn't want to have to stay too long. The place would start causing problems if they were.

The Blacksmith listened--offering a startled glance to the young deer that leapt past him to settle in beside the forge--and then went back to watching his new audience.

"Ah, the Collector-... He is... best described as a brother, though... our goals differ." The soft voice remained gentle as he shook his head, a little sorrowfully. "The mural--its story--I will tell it to you."

The Blacksmith approached them, hands held neatly before it. "Have you heard of Enchantment..?" This new word lingered, tantalizing, on the air. The Blacksmith studied them, head tilted gently to one side. Almost shyly, he kept his distance from them, as if worried about drawing too close. "It is a way to lay magic into an item. Magic's effects manifest, then, in the thing itself. Light... or floating... music. Many of the things Enchantment can offer are... gentle, pure, as many aspects of magic are, now. But there are others that offer... power."

The Blacksmith spread his hands as he began his story, palms up, as if in explanation. "Long ago, one of the greatest champions of the caves sought a new weapon. Something enchanted, something he could use to drive his foes before him. To cut down entire armies," and somehow, his voice was sad. "And so he sought out a blacksmith, and enchanter: someone who could form and enchant this item for him. And it was done: a great black blade, formed on an anvil and imbued with the power of Energy itself. A power to thrust away enemies that drew too close. But the champion knew something else about enchantment."

The Blacksmith paused, looking them all over.

"If an enchanter dies, so too does his magic fade: from each and every thing he or she has ever enchanted. And so, to protect his new weapon of devastation, he cut down the blacksmith. Again and again he returned him to a chrysalis, to ensure the safety of his weapon--of his power. It worked: he went forth and became a champion of legend. No one could get close to him, and his blade, with his strength--was devastating!"

The Blacksmith bowed his head. Whether the story was about him, he did not say.

"The secrets of Enchantment have been kept just that, ever since... too dangerous, I think. But I have long hoped for the day someone would learn this story. Maybe... it can be taught again. But tell me first: what do you think of this story?" the Blacksmith asked, lifting his mask-like face (or was it truly a mask?) to look over those before him.

Others who have not yet posted can arrive in time to overhear the Blacksmith in this round.

@Tahi-shei @Aran @Comet @Oka @Himmel @James @Kaimana @Leviathan @Haven @Electrum

Comet listened carefully to the Blacksmith, which was quite easy considering she was at the very front of the group. The pieces started to click in her head. So that was why the items that the Collector had had magical effects! "That's horrible!" she exclaimed, "But... what ever happened to this champion? And the blacksmith who made the weapon?" Her mind was brought back to the empty workshop back on the upper side of Leo.

Apparently, he was pleased by the explanation, because with a gentle dip of his head, he relaxed and stepped further into the workshop. "I've heard of enchantment," he said, an edge of humor and pain in his voice. He noticed how the creature kept a few paces away from them, how he watched his space in the workshop. At the explanation, he turned his head slightly to the side. "Like a bauble?" he asked, clarifying. Was that a type of enchantment...?

He glanced at Comet, and then to the creature. "You're the Blacksmith, aren't you?" He squinted, and then answered the question. "... It strikes me as something of a cautionary tale. A way of warning against hubris. If enchantment can really inspire such greed and strife, then who knows it should be selected very, very carefully. If at all." With the clear implication, he hoped, of oh my Caves, PLEASE teach me this awesome magic.

He paused, and considered. "Is there any other way to strip an item of its enchantment?"

"A straightforward tale," he grumbled, disappointed that there hadn't been more to it but pleased that he'd been correct about the whole cycle thing. "Who broke the picture?" he asked then, his beak starting to work bits of sand that had dried from between his toes. Grooming was generally a pain when your tongue was hidden by a beak, but at least it was good for stuff like this.

Hiding information meant guilt, usually. Or fear.

He listened, more out of necessity than anything. The heat from the workshop was a blessing to the fawn and he fell in to a half-slumber as he sat there. The sound of the masked stranger's voice lulled him further in to a state of calm, and he spent a few minutes imagining those panels from the mural as the stranger spoke.

It sounded like a sad story. To trust someone and give them what they ask for - especially something so powerful - only to be cut down? It made him wonder why anyone would offer up such a thing. Enchantments sounded like a blessing to those that received it but more of a curse overall; but how unnecessarily kind one must be to still bless an object with their magic.

The others spoke up too, and those voices roused Himmel from this thoughts; he did not know what to say immediately and merely listened to their contributions. When there was a lull in the conversation he tipped his nose up towards the masked stranger, at first thinking he'd tug at their elbow with a nibble of his teeth, but seemed to think better of it.

Instead of bothering him with more questions and hubris, Himmel sank in to himself and let the warmth of the room overtake him. He could always ask things later.

Tahi asked the blacksmith a question about the Collector, and Aran wondered if it was the right thing to ask about. They could ask so many different things... Though that one did seem important - if the gembound really cared for the Collector and what he did for the caves. Or if they even knew the Collector existed in the first place. From where he stood, there was a few younger gembound, it looked like, and they surely wouldn't know a lot about him. Aran didn't either, even though he'd prompted a deal with the being.

Enchantment. Aran supposed it would be possible. All of the gembound used magic, and magic could do just about anything they wanted it to do if the gembound knew how to do it right. Making someone extremely sick for example, or just outright killing them. Making an item be able to do something like that didn't sound crazy, if anything, Aran was curious about how to do it. It could get dangerous if dropped into the wrong hands, though, just like the blur of shapes said.

The story was a simple one, really. Of someone greedy for power cutting down the one who made it over and over to keep a steadyness of that power. It was smart, Aran thought. To prevent the one that gave you the power from facing death, so you could keep that strength. The blacksmith that made it could have taken their own life to prevent the user from having that power anymore, but with the one with the sword cutting them down... Well it wouldn't really work, would it? The one in front of the group asked opinions of the story, and Aran was going to share his.

"He was smart, the one that had the sword. However, it would be hard to do that forever. Cutting down the one that gave the power - I think it would be easy to accidentally kill the one who made the enchantment in the first place."

All of that was true, really. Aran did see a reason to condemn the one that used it, though, the sword. If that gembound went on a killing spree, it would cause more harm than good.

"I assume the cycle eventually stopped?"