It was easy to miss the small gemstone right near Tema's paw, and had she not searched again, she would have done just that.

The reason was that it was attached to the bones of a small rodent. Some Lesser or other... one that hadn't belonged here. That, and the stone looked just like the bone that it was stuck to: off-white, dull, but for the faint gleam of light across one smooth plane.

Tema has found a Master-level Hambergite.

Sergei used one massive paw to scratch his face, risking a sidelong glance at Tema. "It is... bad," he began, hesitating. "Order. Hive is Order magic and it is bad. It... takes people and makes them its own. You cannot think, for yourself. When it has you," he tried to explain. His words came slowly, as before, and halting, filled with old horrors. Even as he searched, bending low to peer beneath a crack in the stone, he went on. "It is white things, and they stink. When you eat them, you become Hive too. It makes you fight for it. It has monsters, now," he finished.

His mind was on Canis, wreathed in mold and filled with massive, spiked Drones. The ones he'd fought, again. The ones that had forced him into his chrysalis, and even nearly killed him.

The bear shook his shaggy head, pushing on in his search.

He found something, it seemed, for after a moment of swiping at the dirt and grunting he came upright with a gemstone in his paw. It was a beautiful, cloudy grey-blue with streaks of deeper blue throughout, and he turned it over to look at it before turning to Tema.

Again, he hesitated. "I found... this. If I come back with you... will this thing give me things, too?" he asked; in other words, could he return this one, and ask for a reward..?

incorporated gm roll results again: this is a master-level Iolite

@Tema

Unaware of the incredible power the gem held, she nestled the hidden treasure carefully into the open spot in her satchel. It was a fragile thing, some remnant of prey from long ago, and much too small for her taste. But still, it was a gemstone, and it fit in her bag.
"White, like spider-silk? " She asked quietly, well aware of the tone Sergei used. She too had her demons. "I have yet to see anything affected by it, but the white things... I have seen them. Did the Hive...?" She froze, holding a breath as she waited to see... something. She did not want to push the one who had helped her up until now, but she also couldn't hide her curiosity considering what she had already been told.
Upon being asked, Tema approached again, adjusting her satchel in preparation for their journey. "Yes! Yes, of course." She nodded towards the dusty-blue stone, encouraging him to keep it. "I'm sure the stones we have found between us will guarantee us both a reward, and it is only fair!" She nodded, half to herself as she appreciated the less tense topic. How long had it been since she last talked to someone? The Masked one didn't count.
There was a pause as she studied Sergei's find closer, wondering what the stones they found once belonged to. It was a shame to give us such treasures, but she at least knew what kind of a stone she was getting out of the deal. "Do you know what you'll ask for? I can show you the way when you're ready. I don't want to keep the host waiting, lest we upset them, but I do think we could spare a moment more."
"speaking" and corruption

@Sergei

Sergei pushed up, ready to go... and at the question, hesitated.

"...I do not know. The last times I had gifts. I asked for being able to sense the Order in things. And to get rid of it. Like spider silk?" he repeated, belatedly, and tipped his massive head to one side. Brown eyes blinked several times as he tried to remember what that was like. "...Yes. I think so."

He didn't question what Tema had been about to ask. Didn't offer for her to finish that sentence, because he didn't want to think about it.

"I am ready to go there," he answered, at last. "Whenever you are."

@Tema

Tema offered little more than a nod to the addition, unwilling and to push for more. Sergei would think of something, and if he couldn't, perhaps the masked one or others gathered would provide some ideas. At least now she knew a little more about the invader in her home, the white silk that stunk like corpse rot... It was worse than she had thought, but better to know that she was right in her feelings about the stuff. It was awful, thinking about the gembounds that might have been made slaves to such a power... she was glad to have found the Void again when she had. Who knows what would have happened had it not kept her safe!
With a renewed hope for her future, and perhaps a new goal, Tema adjusted her bag once more and set out. With no certainty about if they'd ever meet again, Tema was at least glad to have met someone like her once.

"speaking" and corruption

/Exit, to the Dreamer Thread!
@Sergei

The bear--the other bear, the one standing upright--gave a nod in turn. He was still wholly unaware of Tema's corruption and loyalties, and perhaps that was for the best. Whether he'd have found a new and horrid home in its Oily embrace, or recoiled at yet another would-be slavemaster... neither were preferable to this: simply heading off through the caves with a sort-of, almost-friend.

Even if it was awkward, and nerve-wracking, and a hell of a long hike.

exit Sergei