Pride's ear flicked at the mention of cleaving and empowering gemstones, and he looked to Amras in mild surprise.

"Is that true..?" he asked--not in disbelief, but in surprise. He'd never heard of this, and immediately wondered--silently pensive--if perhaps this was how he had come about. Had some stranger surged life into a gem in the stone wall? Did this stranger still wander the cave?

At length, the stag gently pushed the thoughts away. The concept of magic was suddenly that much more complex. "It implies," he said quietly, continuing his thoughts aloud, "that we are beings partly formed of magic. If that is how we, ourselves, were created--perhaps chance magic from the Spire, even, or the being within, filling gems and birthing us. It would explain our affinity with it. Our abilities with it." He paused, eyeing the Spire through the cave wall, in a sense--gazing off toward where he knew it would be.

He wondered, for a moment, if that made the Spire their parent--or perhaps, the strange being whose mind he had touched.

And as for the lesser gembound..? "How could we create a link, mind-to-mind, from a Lesser to a thing like the Spire? It would need to be directly magical, I suppose, as well--no. It would not need to be a mind-link, would it? Or--hmm. The magic only struck me when I linked with it, but it is possible it was not a surge of magicka so much as an overpowering of my spell..? I confess, there are many possibilities and I do not know how to separate them."

@Amras

Amras nodded in response to Pride's surprise. Another spell that didn't seem to fit into any of the major categories. With as many hybrids roamed the cave he was actually a little surprised himself that the deer hadn't encountered that with the tale of a band of hybrids terrorizing one of the major tunnels lead by two individuals possessing the component species.

"We may then be creatures that arose from chance. Our minds and magic borrowed from a greater source and vulnerable to deconstruction by the same means."

As far as he understood it ther4e was a large gap in age between the oldest greater gembound he knew of and the ancients. Perhaps the Spire went through cycles of its own and they were the latest iteration of accidental life? Had the ancients been a previous cycle of life. If so then why were there so few ancients relative to the gembound the roamed the world.

Had something killed all but the strongest of them?

Another branch of questions that might take a lifetime to solve. At this rate he'd never reach the end of a strand without its scope expanding beyond comprehension.

"I'm not sure on linking a lesser to the spire. I imagine the process for linking lesser to a gembound probably involves infusing it with copious amounts of raw magic so perhaps if we trapped a lesser near the spire it would eventually link naturally?"

Something didn't quite feel right about that though.

"One thing for sure though- once a lesser could use magic, if that were possible to bestow, it would be harder to classify as a lesser at all. Magic and sentience, we have to confirm or disprove that link before we go further lest future gembound look back at us as though we were monsters."

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x12	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Dried Mothers Tear mushrooms (25 in3) + Fresh Mothers Tear mushroom x1	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 looked a little surprised, at this last, and nodded.

This, unfortunately, made him dizzy, and he winced and closed his eyes for a long moment before speaking.

"...No. No, I've no intention of forming them into monsters, which would indeed make us monsters too. I was thinking of-... of uplifting them, perhaps. Of granting a few of them sentience, or more of them, though I suppose there would be moral questions."

Pride half-drowsed, for a moment, mind drifting abruptly into near-exhaustion, and after a pause he opened them again to eye Amras tiredly.

"I suppose there is-... little more we can do, with what we have. I will try to find my own methods, and we can keep one another informed, perhaps..? Unless you have other ideas?"

He paused, and then added--"Ahh, and thank you for getting me to safety. I owe you one, I think. Though perhaps I can repay you later; I feel as though my head may burst if I do not rest." He tried to ignore the sensation of blood slowly trickling from his wound, and jagged gems forming a bed below.

Given his exhaustion, and how powerfully it was suddenly overriding all his other needs, it was surprisingly easy to do.

@Amras

"I will continue my generalized study of magic for now. If I run across anything that shines light on what we've seen you will be the first to know." Amras replied sincerely. It sounded like Pride had plans of their own to investigate more directly. Given the scope of the problem that was probably the smarter move, but for the moment anyways the gryphon was happy to stick to primarily thinking through it with only cursory action.

Besides, if both of them investigated directly it would probably have a greater likelihood of drawing the attention of the Spire, and if that thing did possess sentience he wanted to stay on its good side as long as possible until he figured out an effective means of defense.

For now though it was apparent that the deer was about ready for some well-deserved rest. Amras gently lifted himself upon four limbs and paced toward the entrance again. "It was the least I could do, Pride." he spoke with soft tone, "If you or your allies ever have need of help I'm not too difficult to find."

A soft chuckle as his neon feathers brushed the edge of the entrance, the pathway before him clear and the cave behind him safe. He briefly considered going back to Eridanus to practice state change more, but perhaps the rest of the day would be better spent in rest of his own. Monoceros, home of the eternal winds and location of his seldom-used dwelling. There he would be able to rest his mind as he always had been able to in youth.

- Exit Amras -

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x12	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Dried Mothers Tear mushrooms (25 in3) + Fresh Mothers Tear mushroom x1	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, one ear flicking, and gave a little nod.

"I appreciate that, Amras. Likewise, if you ever need my aid, you have but to ask it. I am often in either Eridanus, or Orion. Avoid the tunnel, by the way--that small, green one between here and Orion. Use other paths. There's a group of murderous Gembound in there at the moment, led by a rather mad goose. I would hate to see you attacked." Pride didn't think Amras would be in all that much danger, given his magical abilities, but something in him thought that even if the gryphon won the fight he'd not walk away from it the same.

Regardless, there was little more now on his mind. His head tucked down, flat against the stones, and before he even had time to register just how uncomfortable this was, his eyes had slipped shut and he was fast asleep.

exit Pride

((and just in case you want to read - @Amras ))