He's been called out! Face flushing bright red, Yvan stammered and balled his fists, snake tail lashing this way and that like an overgrown cat's. "I- mnh!" Does he admit it? With shoulders hunched, Yvan huffed and pawed at the ground, eventually sitting back like a grumpy teenager.

Fine, buckle down! That's what she's egging him on for anyway! "Yeah, it's not cheating if you'd let it! But okay, fine, I'll not cheat ever ever again. If it can't be my familiar, can I get one too? Please?" Man, he's even begging at this point. "I'll even take a..." Don't insult Ryoto's cool reward. "A uh... I'll do the risk, okay? No more cheating. I swear."

He grinned uneasily with his hand held up, like he's swearing in an oath. Getting left out just for seeing if he could bend the rules? Now that's just cruel. He'd sucked up to Ryoto tons of times to get what he wanted, and he can do that here. He just had to grin and bear it.

Yume had been excited, at first, when she asked for a familiar. She had still been cautiously excited when she saw the first leg. Then the imps dumped out out a shaggy, toothed, cryptid horror over twice her size and crusted with barnacles. Had she known what a monkey's paw was, she surely wouldve imagined it curl. Yume swallowed. That couldn't have been her lesser, could it have been? And, almost as if in reply, she felt the magic of the link snap into place. Oh.

"Thank you," she squeaked to the blobs that had been the imps, vision blurred by unshed tears. She wiped them away with a wing. At the very least Yume could tell via the link she could tell it seemed...confused. Nonthreatening. A literal fish out of water, confused as to why it wasn't underwater.

"P-please follow me." She said. Not trusting her limbs to not give out, Yume slithered back towards the starting line on her belly. She led it to the starting position, where, with a sigh, she turned towards it. "Okay, you just gotta wait here and make it to the end, yeah? N-no, not yet! We have to wait for the signal. You're very scary, but we're going to work together and be friends. Just like mom and Cyg." She said, moreso trying to convince herself than the Spider.

The spider, for its part, though still confused seemed content to wait there, and began to groom itself. Maybe she should name it so it wasnt scary. Crusty? No, that sounded gross. Greenie? No.. it wasnt all green. Bubble? Yes, it had a bubble on its head. That was perfect! "I'm gonna call you Bubble. Big Bubble!"

Not seeing any harm in the gesture—and admittedly more than a little fascinated by the golem intent on handing him it—Richter accepted the offered drink with a jerky nod and a awkwardly drawled, "Wuh-well, uh, thanks." The straw was squinted at and pinched between claws before he took a tentative sip. Almost instantly eyes flew open as the sucking motion launched the liquid contained within the cup through the winding structure.

His mouth relaxed its grip on the straw once the drink hit taste buds, and lips withdrew, a tiny gasp falling from them. "I'll be," he couldn't help but comment, heavy admiration glimmering in a stormy grey gaze as he regarded the tool. That surely was a dramatically faster way to quench one's thirst compared to using a tongue. If only the reason behind the strange choice of shape could be understood. Maybe the many bends helped to increase the speed?

"Oh, I don't need anything wicked," he began to protest, completely misunderstanding what Nemean meant by the word. "Just a good, ordinary fell—uh?"

The sight of the beckoned over fox-imp pulling a rather oddball rabbit out of a stylish black hat immediately silenced whatever further chatter could have come from the kangaroo. Once the act didn't cease, progressing into increasingly alarming creatures being pulled out of the headwear's depths—the Ivory Deer in particular making him worry over exactly what had been in that drink—he just stared, looking for all purposes like a quartz from Orion's ceiling had broken loose and bashed his brains in. Left with a veritable zoo to choose from, building consternation drew his unoccupied paw up to rub soothing circles at ears. He glanced at each Lesser, debating over whose qualities most attracted his attention but also simultaneously questioning what would happen to the rest unclaimed.

"You've quite the forest in there, don't ya?" To pass the time, he asked this of the berated fox-imp, equal parts joking and genuinely curious. "I don't suppose you can put whoever's left back where you plucked them?"

Or maybe they'd find their own way back, he considered upon witnessing the Spitting Bug taking advantage of his distraction to skitter off, valiantly dodging a sea of shuffling Gembound feet. A couple of them definitely seemed spooked by all the commotion they'd been brought into. Not the Ivory Deer or Walleye Rabbit though; the first had laid down amongst the chaos, head tossed back into a haughty pose. Meanwhile the other snuffled the ground, engrossed in satisfying his stomach over solving the matter of his sudden relocation.

Perhaps it was the unruffled demeanor of the fluffy-tailed abductee that settled his decision. It could've also been the general kinship he felt toward another hopping being or the charming wiggle of the eye stalks protruding from sockets. Whatever the ultimate reason was, Richter found himself leaning over and scooping the Walleye Rabbit into the cradle of his free arm. He touched an affectionate nose against the furry bundle's back as a brief introduction to the Lesser.

"I guess you'll be a decent enough buddy. How about I figure out a name for you on the way down?"

Other than the link to him snapping into place, the Walleye Rabbit gave no indication he had any idea of the partnership established. Mistaking the twisty straw for a confusingly smooth-textured stick, he tried nibbling at the object until Richter shifted his drink out of biting distance. The gluttonous tendencies on display evoked a short bark of laughter.

"Looks like I'm not the only one hankering for a meal. I'll get you something later," Richter promised the other half of his duo. Taking great care to not spill either his drink or new familiar, he descended the stands to the arena floor and the unmistakable starting line drawn there.

ANALA
From a spark to a flame

"Thank you!" The rat was barely out of the hat when she spoke, tail thrashing back and forth as she tried and failed to stay still. She didn't want to scare the poor thing!
The bond snapping into place felt strange, a different kind of magic than she was used to, but at least this kind wasn't painful. The sudden panic she felt, however, was not so welcome. Were those her feelings? No, but they were there. How strange. Oh! It was the rat!
"Woah woah woah it's okay! It's alright little guy!" She hurried to calm the poor thing, both verbally and by trying to shove her own emotions through the bond. "We can be friends! Would you like that?! You can go home after this, I promise!" Please please please...?
The rat seemed to take well enough to her answer, and although apprehensive, it followed her to the starting line. "You'll have all kinds of stories to tell your friends when you get back, so do your best, okay?"

OOC Notes:

Sair

Sair offered their own echo of thanks as they examined their companion for the event. It looked colourful, and friendly, for when it opened its frills it hummed such a lovely tune. The snap of a temporary familiar forge was sudden, though, and Sair quickly learned of the lesser's true nature. Perhaps it would be best if they kept it after the event, if only to keep the others gathered safe. Besides, the caves seemed to have strange way of giving you just what you needed, just incase.
"Well then! You like friends, do you?" They offered a smile to their appointed familiar. "I'm sure you'll make even more friends if you can show them how fast you are! Come on, let's go check out the course." They nudged the firetongue gently, and it followed, settling at the starting line. They seemed more interested in the other gathered lessers than the course, but Sair hoped their flimsy bond would be enough to will them forward.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

Rhapsody looked sad at first when the empty palm was shown, tears pooling up in their two sets of eyes. That cleared away quickly when the fox-imp's hand turned around and revealed the little moth. Rhapsody clapped with awe, then stopped and gently held out a hand when the moth fluttered over to them.

"Thanks, Mister!" the child musically chimed, listening with intrigue rather than fear as the bone moth's appetites were listed. "Call you Bone-Eater, 'kay?" Rhapsody informed their new friend, bringing them over to the starting line.

There was a connection Rhapsody could sense between them and Bone-Eater. They tried to give Bone-Eater a sense of flying fast for a game, but they weren't sure Bone-Eater understood 'games'. Then they conveyed that their would a reward, like food, and the moth fluttered its wings in anticipation.

Mocha

'Cause I'm having a good time

The familiar Mocha was gifted was just about half his size, and it made him happy to see something smaller than himself. It slithered along unbothered, and as the bond snapped into place it wrapped itself around the sharkpup. "Hi friend!" He beamed, walking carefully to the starting line. It was weird to feel another's feelings when his were already so big! The snake didn't seem bothered by much, though, and it didn't take up much presence in Mocha's already bursting mind.

"Can you race, friend? I'll bring you something tasty!" He offered, trying to gently nudge his new friend off of his back. The snake seemed less than eager. "What's your name?" Unsurprisingly, the question was met with silence and a blank stare. "Oh do I name you?!" What an honour! And what pressure! What kind of name would a snake like?! "How about... Nori?" The snake finally moved to the starting line, and Mocha took that as a yes. Nori it was!

"LET 'IM HAVE IT!" Nemean crowed down to the imps, very cheerfully. It seemed like a double meaning.

And when the imps came rushing forward, crowding around the hat and muttering amongst themselves, that impression only grew.

The hat tipped forward.

It shivered.

It expanded, impossibly, a girth of several feet--then several more--and then one Imp hesitantly grinned and stuck his arm inside.

An instant later, a twenty-four-foot-long Sand Worm came crashing out, the Imp screaming (and laughing?!) as it swallowed him whole. The other imps seemed to think it was hilarious, too, doubling over with laughter (though they backed quickly away). Rows of razor teeth, jagged bristles, plated flesh and an awful, old-leather sort of smell filled the air as the Sand Worm reared back. It towered over Yvan, the imp just gone, and stared down at him for a moment. Then the link slid into place.

What lay at the other end was hunger.

The Sand Worm will cooperate but expects another meal for any event in which it performs. It will be sluggish, clumsy and devastatingly strong. However, should Yvan crit-fail a roll at any point, it will attempt to eat him--returning him to his chrysalis--and depart for Hydra.

It might get lost, though, as Sand Worms do not use maps.

@Yvan

"Hello, hello everyone!" Edeltraud said, trotting into the forum as if she were part of the main event. Her eyes were shining, nearly as bright as the booming red of her coat. She 'ooh'd' and 'aah'd' at her surroundings; the glitter of confetti and flashing signs around. "My goodness, what beautiful decorations! I love the signs, and the flyers too! So many little lessers as well--adorable little dolls! It's like this was made for me!" She sighed dreamily, staring openly at the menagerie of familiars. Even that massive sandworm caught her attention, her adoration, rather than her fear. So large! What she wouldn't give for one like that to go into her collection!

She too approached the imps with the hat. She had a little more than no reservations at seeing the imps again. She wasn't quite sure who had pushed her into the Orb, but she wouldn't be surprised if it had been one of the imps. In any case, this was an opportunity for her. Everyone here was asking for only one familiar, they had no ambition! She would show them how its done. Edeltraud cleared her throat.

"In case somewhere within you few imps assembled are one of the ones that pushed me in to that orb structure, I would oh so very much like it if something similar did not happen again. You seem like professio...ah, reasonable folk. But in my case at least there is no bad blood between us, yes?" Trying to be subtle, she ducked her head and front legs in a bow, hiding her stone from sight while she pulled on her magicka. It did not respond, much to her frustration. Ah, how easy a bit of charming magic would've made things.

Edeltraud rose from her bow, what she hoped was a soft smile curving her lips. "Mmm, as a sign of no bad will, may I request a few extra familiars...? Two perhaps, one for each trial! A marker of friendship is not the only reason, of course! You see I care so deeply, so very dearly, about my family, and that is what they are to me, family, yes? I would not want my precious dollies, my precious babies to be exhausted going from trial to trial! It would simply be better to give me multiple by these rules."

A young, small kitten with two tails peered over at this interesting spectacle. Carefully, he approached, avoiding the bigger creatures, and went over to someone with one of these magic hats.

"Friend? Please? For Raiden- For me," he asked, voice soft and a bit skittish, but overall excited. Then he glanced around for his older sibling, sure they were nearby.

"Sib, want friend, too?" the little kitten inquired when they caught sight of the young dragon, Yanyue.