Tema's days sure had been busy lately. From emotional turmoil to seeking better ways to serve the Void, and more ways to consume oil, she had not stopped moving. Had she slept recently?

She had a plan! A goal! Furthered by her recent chance to get her paws on a rather high-quality gemstone, she knew exactly how she wanted to best be of use to the Void. It wanted chaos everywhere, and there was no better way to cause more chaos in more caves than to create more corrupted gembounds.

How would she do that? Easy! Giving life. Sure, she could try to convince others to consume oil, but why go through the trouble when she could be the mom she always wanted to be? It was the perfect plan, but a little hard to achieve cave-rending chaos when the only gem in her possession came from a woolly deer. Sure, the resulting creature could potentially inherit her claws, but she couldn't guarantee it. Would the Void even accept such a follower? She supposed if it didn't work out, the gem could be repurposed again...

What was she thinking?!

Rather than face such thoughts, Tema turned to her task at hand: find magic things. The most impressive magic things. Gems, items, anything other than what had just happened. She would not go that far. Yet.

"speaking" and corruption

As strange luck or chance would have it, there was another bear in this cave. Well-... bear-ish. Ex-bear. Barbearian, one might say.

Sergei had, after his brutal loss in Canis to the monsters of Order, woken to find himself alone. Oddly alone. And from there he had wandered off, glad to be away from the tangled white mold that spoke of the Hive's victory there. This place--this was new.

He wasn't here for any given reason, bar exploration. His typical shyness left him sticking to the shadows, watching Cassiopeia with small, dark eyes--eyes filled with a wary suspicion beneath heavy brows. Simple clothing clung to his body--a loincloth that wrapped up over his shoulder, armor strapped over it. His spear he held in one massively clawed paw-hand. This he clutched almost like a lifeline: either ready for battle, or quite simply afraid.

Quietly, he trudged through an open space. A huge, cracked-open chrysalis lay here, as if someone had awoken--or maybe the stone had been shattered, he wasn't sure. He peered inside. And then--movement, somewhere up ahead.

Sergei squinted at it, hand tightening around the half of his crude spear. He took a step toward it, hesitated, and then stopped. "Hello?" he called, at last, already regretting the loud sound of his voice ringing through the near-silence.

He felt exposed, here. Far too exposed.

@Tema

As hopeful as Tema had been, the cave did not, unfortunately, offer up its secrets immediately. Broken chrysalises lay dormant, magic long gone from their remains. Not to mention she'd seen little of magic artifacts. What would they even look like? Her pendant was an artifact, but by no means magical. How was she to tell them apart? She hadn't thought that far.

The bear continued along, paws sweeping slowly across the ground before finding their places, one after another, again and again, only stopped by the sudden grating sound of another's voice. Why must everything conspire against her?

"Hello." Her reponse was monotone, ans she glanced quickly over her shoulder before returning to-
"Well, you're a first!" She angled herself sharply towards the newcomer, bright eyes meeting dark ones with wide surprise.

Tema made her way towards the other a few steps, nodding at the spear as she did. "That is also a first for me. Another bear, but a biped with a spear? I'm pleased to meet you! Maybe you could help?"

Her fur stood up slightly as she mentally shrugged off whispers before sticking her nose in another nook, searching. She kept a lazy eye on the other, just incase.

"speaking" and corruption

@Sergei

Movement, again--and a response. A bear, Sergei realized, blinking in surprise. He was both relieved--it wasn't some unforeseeable monstrosity (again)--and a little worried. Was he intruding-? But he'd never been the eloquent sort, so rather than directly asking such a thing, he simply hesitated, moving his spear a little closer.

She seemed... friendly. Open. He tried to let go of his wariness, taking a breath and exhaling before taking a few shuffling, heavy steps closer. It struck him as strange she hadn't offered a name--and had gone right back to whatever she was doing. Confidence, or just absorption in her task, maybe? He studied the nooks she sniffed through, from a distance and briefly, but couldn't make heads or tails of it. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice as slow and lumbering as the rest of him, though devoid of demand or aggression. Just--faint confusion, the barest hint of curiosity. If she needed help, he had to know what to do, after all.

"I used to be..." (he glanced down at himself, searching for the right words) "on four legs. I am Sergei," he offered, then, drawing himself up a little and blinking. He tried to go back to his former concern; what if this was her place? Her... living, eating-sort-of-place, and he was trespassing? Instinct told him it was possible, though he'd never really had to deal with that, before. "Is this your place?" he asked, at length, with that same slow trundle of words.

@Tema

The other's hesitance hadn't gone unnoticed, whispers rising to a crescendo in the back of her mind in delight. Unsure if it was her own emotion, Tema found herself relishing the other's discomfort. Still, she had a task to complete.

"That would help, wouldn't it?" Her voice was muffled from within whatever crevice she'd shoved her snout into, "I'm looking for things. Magic things. I need to trade them. With this cave being newly opened, I hoped it wouldn't have been picked over by many others yet." She explained, pulling her nose out of one nook to stick it in an empty chrysalis.

"Do you like two better, Sergei?" She popped her head back up again, mentally matching the name to the face. He would be slower like that, wouldn't he? She pondered over the pros and cons of his form, deciding that she liked being on four legs herself. Still, it was always nice to see something new. Maybe he could check the higher areas? The shelves and whatnot that Tema had to stand on her hind legs for.

"I have no place, at least not nowadays. You'd certainly have known by now if it was." She laughed, a flash of fangs betraying her thinly veiled warning. The Void's praising whispers were clear; it liked the sudden change, just enough to keep the other on edge. "But that doesn't matter. I'm Tema. Would you put your height to some use and look over there?" She smiled, any trace of her moment of hostility dissipating as she motioned to one of the many buildings nearby. It seemed everywhere she looked there was some structure, some crevice, some long broken chrysalis. Surely there had to be something here?

"speaking" and corruption

@Sergei

He rumbled thoughtfully. "I can still walk on four," he clarified, but shuffled closer, holding out one paw pad-up. One of the long-clawed fingers had mutated into an opposable thumb, and this he wiggled before grasping the spear-haft with it to demonstrate its use. "But this... to hold things, it is good." The thickness of his accent, the clumsiness of his words, was rapidly becoming more apparent. So, too, was the shy honesty with which he spoke--as though he feared Tema turning on him, for some reason, despite also wanting company. "The weapon, it means I can fight... a little farther. But magic, some use magic," he added, in musing, as if to say he wasn't sure if it was really that much of an advantage. A breath, a glance away, and he continued: "I think it is because I was... buried. And could not get out. I was there for a long time. When I stood up I could climb. And dig out." Buried alive, in and out of a chrysalis-... not a horror he wanted to imagine again. He shook it away visibly, and huffed at the memory.

As he did, he went about aiding the search. Her flash of fangs was noted by a glance, and given a sidelong look that darkened just a little. It was as though she'd given an almost-confirmation of whatever he feared. At the same time, though--internally--he respected what seemed to be her confidence, her courage. It meant... she might survive, if she wasn't already turning into one of them.

He shuffled off toward the building she had indicated, nevertheless, leaning up to peer into the gaps between stones and sniffing, here and there, for hints or clues.

After a moment he dropped back down with another huff, and started for the next strangely-angular cluster of rocks. The... buildings, though they were quite foreign to him. "I see nothing," he reported, as he moved on.

@Tema

Beneath a few shards of a broken gem long dead to the world, a subtle shimmer caught Tema's eye. Claws, as gentle as any bear's could be, hooked it out of the rubble. "Holding things would be a great advantage." She nodded to her prize, hooked precariously on one claw; a simple string of worn beads and shells barely large enough to fit her wrist, though she did not trust its craftsmanship enough to try. "I wonder if you could use it to make things, like my satchel?" She mused, settling her prize gently in said woven bag. Its maker had used magic, but it had taken quite a toll. Would it be easier to use one's paws? If the other still considered them paws.

Tema regarded Sergei for a moment, trying to read into his strange way of speaking. Joyous whispers flooded her mind again, but she quieted them. She gave him the grace of a patient listener, stopping her digging and pacing, despite her body urging otherwise. Something about her task screamed urgency, necessity. "That must have been..." Beautiful! "Terrifying." She settled on before mirroring the shake of his head, not wanting to let the other dwell. She herself was trying to forget things after all.

She waited expectantly as he walked off, sighing when nothing was found. Despite the rough start, she hoped two pairs of eyes would still prove better than one. "I'm surprised, have you not heard of the events of Hydra?" Yes, more eyes would be better. "They offer rewards of your own imagination. Surely there's something you'd like to add to your arsenal?" She offered the incentive gently, feigned disinterest as she searched below a nearby worn stone table. His spear was an interesting creation... Maybe he'd ask for it to be enchanted?

"speaking" and corruption

@Sergei

A strange, dark crystal gleamed in the shadows and dust here. It was not magical, though Tema wouldn't be able to tell as much without a spell to check this; it held no residual life that could be revived.

It was, however, unique.

It much resembled a monkey's paw--whole and perfectly formed, each wrinkle on the skin and the overly-long, almost claw-like nails visible. Yet it was formed of one shining chunk of Chambersite, a dim violet-black with the faintest translucency to it.

Though it was not magical, it looked almost sinister.

Sergei paused in his searching, peering down at his oversized forepaws. "I have made... my spear. And armor." He glanced over, blinking. "Do you need another bag?" It was asked very slowly, as with all his speech, but it seemed to be a hesitant sort of offer. As if--should she need one--he was willing at least to try.

The bear set the spear aside and dropped to all fours, looking very much then like a typical (if massive) brown bear, albeit with overly-long hind legs. He then set to snuffling and sniffing along the sides of another building, at a gap at its foundation, claws swiping carefully into the shadows beneath the stone as he hunted. "I have not... made much, though. Mostly... I fought." A pause, a glance back, and he clarified--"With my paws."

As to her question of his live burial, he looked away again. "It was bad," he answered, simply but gruffly. "Do you know of Hive?" It seemed to be related to the burial, by the sounds of his conversational tone.

After a moment he stopped his search. His absent snuffling turned into focused sniffing, and then into grunting; he dug and scraped at the opening beneath the stone. Unable to reach whatever it was he saw, he went back for his spear--shifting back to two legs--and then went to the gap, swiping into the dark with it.

He hooked something, and after a moment he'd pulled it out. "I found this." He lifted it and turned, tucking his spear under one arm and shuffling to Tema, offering the object out: a gemstone skull that had belonged to a horned bovine sort of creature. The horns were hooked upward after a short sweep to the sides, like a yak's skull. The entirety was made of milky quartz, a soft white--eerily like shining bone--and though Sergei didn't know it, was of fledgling-level magic. A suitable reward for Tema to offer to the Merchant.

item result gm rolls incorporated directly into post!

@Tema

It seemed almost deliberate, the placement of the paw-shaped gemstone. It sat fingers down, as if it was preparing to crawl out at her and rip and tear and- Tema shuffled the strange crystal into her bag, trying desperately to ignore the creeping need for violence that scratched its way up her spine.
"Impressive. Useful." She mused, both impressed at the other's ability to craft and... disgusted by his choice of weapon. He comes equipped just as you do, with claws and fangs and muscles designed to- It was a shame, really. Perhaps the other needed a lesson on the Void's teachings, but it would still be some time before she was willing to welcome 'family' again. "I have yet to need more storage, but thank you."
Tema watched curiously as the other dropped to all fours, studying the differences in their design.
"Hive?" Her reply was simple as she tried to better match the other in conversation. She had not heard of Hive, but the word tasted bitter on her tongue.
She walked absent-mindedly closer as he began to dig, stopping a few steps away to watch as he swept the spear through a gap at the base of one of the buildings. She had once made a similar move with a straight stick and a nest of bugs that had settled too close to her garden. Those days seemed far away now.
Snapped out of the memory by the offering, Tema gladly accepted it, settling awkwardly on her haunches to make use of both paws. It took a bit of maneuvering, but eventually, the gem skull was half in the bag, taking up most of its space. She'd have room for something settled carefully inside the skull, she hoped, and with any luck that would be enough to earn her prize.
"Thank you, again. I doubt I would have been able to reach that one." She glanced around, settling on another half-standing building. "Maybe one more, if we're lucky? That should be enough." With no way to tell if either stone still held life, three would make for better odds. Besides, who knew what could be hiding in all this rubble?
She gave the other a moment to decide before she walked off, sticking her face under more furniture.
"speaking" and corruption

@Sergei