The tunnels of Lacerta's volcanic island lay humid, hot, and hidden. Most of them were little tunnel mouths that would fit only a smaller or medium-sized Gembound, delved into the rock but swathed behind sheets of leaves and vines. Others were huge, but likewise hidden, often by curls of tree roots. Water dripped down them, and each tunnel vanished quickly into the pitch black.

Mossie was returning to look for her adventuring partner who had plummeted to his near-death, and returned to his chrysalis somewhere in the tangle of tunnels far below. The first problem, however, would be finding the same tunnel: they had stumbled on the first two quite by accident, and Mossie had failed to mark the entrance in any way. They were two small points in the thick of Lacerta's jungles.

Finding any entrance at all might even be difficult. Finding one large enough for those she had gathered for help, moreso.

So step one in retrieving the downed Gembound would be finding their way back into the tunnels somehow.

---

Callum needs to be rescued from Lacerta's volcanic tunnels! Gembound should roll to try and find an entrance into the tunnels again. A Critical Success by Mossie will allow her to find the same tunnel she used before--but any successful roll by anyone will allow them to find a suitable entrance. They are free to enter together, or to split up should they find several...

Any Gembound may join this thread at any time, for any reason (be it to help, sabotage, etc.). Gembound may post once per week, though there's no strict posting order. This thread is potentially dangerous to any Gembound entering. Becoming trapped, and not rescued--for example, if Gembounds fail to save Callum--may place characters into an eventually fatal loop of waking, starving, and reentering their chrysalis until at last their magic is exhausted and they die.

@Mossie

Mossie really, sincerely hoped that there was a way to find the old tunnel she'd entered.

Because if there wasn't, her chances of finding her Buddy For Fancy Frolicking plummeted drastically. Even if he was out of his chrysalis by now, he couldn't call for help if he was too weak--and eventually, he might starve.

She recalls the fungal trail she'd left, and wonders if her mycelial senses can help her locate the entrance once more.

She presses her nose to the ground, taps into the fungal network below, and waits...

She feels the faint flickering of the tangled threads beneath the ground, but nothing useful.

"Oh for FUCK'S SAKE," she growls.

@Oliver

When he'd heard that someone needed help, of course he'd offered to come. And in tunnels-... well. The transformation into owl form was growing less painful, but Mossie would still have been 'treated' (after a gentle warning to look away) to the sight of the bird-dog shifting in cracking bones and whimpering agony into the shape of a great, black owl instead.

So here Oliver was, not as a canine but a large owl, his explanation as to why still ongoing. "I thought that like this, well--it'll be easier to get through tunnels if I'm smaller and I can see much better in the dark? And hear really well, too," he added.

But not everyone could see in the dark. So he attempted to summon up a light--something that'd help them find an entrance, and then to navigate the tunnels, too.

"Oh-... you found one?" he said, edging closer with a few little owl-hops. "There--it should be big enough!"

Cautiously Oka slid after the pair. Oka had done themselves up--their shell covered in swirling patterns of flowering plants, bushes, and tall, stalky plants. A trio of tiny sparkling chrysali dotted Oka's shell, and the spikes that jutted from it were dripping with vibrant flowering vines. It was all in preparation for the spring ball. Which, to say the least, made Oka look out of place, and overdressed for the practical down and dirty task of rescuing someone. Especially...here. In such a dense jungle. Oka did not like this new area. They admired the lushness of it, but....the creatures here were so large. It was scary.

"Ah, are they in this cave...?" Oka's eyestalks shrunk back reflexively as they watched Oliver shrink. How in the caves had they done that!? Nervous, Oka channeled magicka through their shell, willing the plants on their back to grow stronger, thicker. As the magic took hold, Oka's shell became overwhelmed with plants. Thick curling vines dragged along behind them, and the bushes and flowers grew into a tangle too thick to see through. Oka's eyes sunk deeper as they felt the roots themselves grow even further, digging deep into Oka's flesh. That hurt. Oka steeled themselves, and pushed their eyes back out. They slimed up around Oliver and Mossie, one of their eyestalks following him nervously. "I--ah, I don't know how you did that. But, um, it'd help. I'm large myself but..." Tendrils extended to touch at the edges of the tunnel, measuring the circumference. "Its tight, but um...I think I'll fit."
@Mossie

Jinyi was here, tall and beautiful and the image of a benevolent angel ready to help average Gembound like you! And Mossie.

He had several bags of chips in hidden pockets inside his robes, of course, should they need provisions for what might be a long journey. There was regular flavor, meat flavor, and an experimental grass flavor that some people had been doubtful about, but that he thought might appeal to the herbivores of the caves. He stared at the giant snail for a second, as it arrived. Maybe they would be willing to give him some feedback later, if the opportunity came up to offer them the chips.

He stared at Oliver, too, when he transformed into an owl, with genuine shock. "Huh," he whispered under his breath, and wondered if this was as new and interesting to Mother as it was to him. Was she watching now, through his eyes? He tugged gently on the Hivemind link. He thought she might like to see this, this spontaneous transformation from a furred to feathered form that defied all magic he knew. It was fascinating in a horrifying kind of way, and Jinyi winced at every resounding crack of bone.

When he saw that Oka was struggling with a tight fit, the chromatophores on his face shifted soft yellow with sympathy and he hid his arm inside his robes. A moment of concentration later, it grew a small shovel. "Maybe I can help," he offered, walking up to the tunnel entrance and withdrawing his arm from his robes. "It looks like it should be slightly wider inside, but dirt has accumulated on the entrance over time. Let me try to clear some of that away." He scraped at the entrance until he had managed to widen it slightly, and then retreated to begin meticulously wiping the mud off the shovel with some large leaves.

It wouldn't do to be dirty all the time.

(Jinyi may or may not have brought a light making device with him, pending an answer in #help chat on Discord. Assume not for now, but if the answer is yes it's in a pocket along with the chips.)

The entrance would be carved away, it--and the tunnel--just large enough for Oka. Oliver's illumination orb would show something strange just ahead: a number of worn, carved figures on the wall, following a small circle drawn higher up.

The first figure would be small, perhaps feline, covered in little circles and dots; the second, a large, squiggly round shape; the third a strange mish-mash of shapes that had been gouged away and redrawn with wings; and the fourth, a humanoid shape, stooped over with a circle at its head. The carvings continued just down the tunnel: a line, perhaps indicating the ground beneath their feet, carved into a low trough with a lot of lines jutting up from the bottom.

The tunnel smelled musty, moist, full of old life and detritus--and rock and bone. The Gembounds should make any form of relevant roll to perceive danger as they proceed.

Jinyi, though regretfully Mother had little light to offer, did watch Oliver with interest. Her attention seized on his pink-streaked stone. "Befriend that one," her voice whispered in his mind. "Find out where that Source has come from." It was softly eager, though not quite urgent: an interest had been piqued.

@Mossie @Oliver @Oka @Jinyi

Mossie had looked away at first at Oliver's warning, but y'know what they say about cats. This curiousity didn't kill her, though, just left her with a sort of fascinated disgust.

She surveys the trio assembled before her, glad that she didn't have to do this alone. She wasn't confident in her ability to pull it off with nobody else, and then she'd have someone else's blood on her paws.

"Thank you all so much for coming," she says as she pads into the tunnel after Oka. "I mean, really, I can't say how thankful I am. Callum will be thankful, too."

She darts ahead, examining the new mural with a gasp.

"Guys, look!" she points. "When I was here with Callum, there was a mural that looked like me and him, and these carvings, they kinda look like us, doncha think?" Her mind raced with theories. "Maybe these tunnels react to whoever shows up...or maybe whoever carved out this place all those cycles ago foretold that we'd be here! So cool..."

She sobers suddenly.

"We should be very careful," she says. "Callum fell down a pit trap specifically designed to be inescapable to even flying creatures."

She stands still, attempting to sense the mycelial twists and turns to detect danger once more. She's not rushing ahead again, though.

@Oliver

Oliver turned, lifting the weak, glowing ball of light to shine upon the carvings. He peered at them, curious. "...Do you think that one's me?" he asked, at length, lifting a talon to gesture vaguely upwards at the winged, scratched-out figure. "Maybe they saw me in both forms and didn't know how to draw me." There was confusion in it, but gentle amusement, too. "If so it's probably... yeah, they saw it, once. Like--future-magic?"

Not very eloquent, but there it was.

At the mention of traps, he pushed forward a little, sending the orb ahead. With any luck, it would warn them of any (visible) dangers in plenty of time to react.

reposted cause i forgot to roll i'm such a good rp

@Oka

Mossie and Oliver would both find--through differing magical means--a shallow pit hidden with old, dried straw just ahead. Within, sharp points like stakes lined the bottom, ready to impale anyone who fell. Perhaps that's what the carvings had been warning of..?

Jinyi and Oka, should they proceed, would find themselves treading weakened ground: earth beneath which lay other spiked pits.

The tunnel then wound downward, deeper: enormous, yawning into the dark and dripping with ancient moisture. A low hum seemed to come from somewhere farther down...

Ahead, further carvings lined the walls: these showing more vague figures, one scratched carefully out, progressing past what looked like something dangling overhead.

Something... sharp.

---

Jinyi and Oka should roll to detect or avoid the spiked pits. A failed roll will result now in a fall into a shallow, but savagely spiked, pit.

All Gembound should then roll (double-posting for Jinyi and Oka) to detect or avoid further danger just ahead.

GM note: Posting order's unimportant.

@Mossie @Jinyi @Oka

Oka followed slowly. They stayed somewhat ahead of the group, briefly glancing towards the carvings in the stone wall. Oka's gaze lingered there for a moment, admiring the artistry. But then a strange sense of familiarness yet otherness hit Oka. They turned away, crawling steadily into the darkness of the cave. It was dark. Way too dark, even with the help from Oliver's light. A thought hit Oka then.

"Ah, hold on!" Oka outstretched a tendril, and willed their magicka to concentrate. A plump, decently sized banana materialized in Oka's tendril, and they scraped at it with their tooth. While Oliver scouted ahead, Oka would provide a range of sight for the group. The banana's glow gradually illuminating the tunnel around them.