The imps had been handling it, but this stranger approaching Nemean was met with a wary stare. (And a drink with a twirly straw, which a strange little golem attempted to press into Richter's hands.) He was super polite, though, so she greeted him warmly in turn. "Eyyyy! Yeah, buddy, sure thing! Give him something WICKED," she said, gesturing to a fox-imp running up with a black top-hat. "For being polite and all! Not enough of that, these days," she added to Richter, with a wink and a finger-gun.

The fox-imp proceeded to dip his hand into the hat, fishing around with his tongue sticking out between his teeth. When he withdrew it, he looked comically horrified at the strange creature he'd produced: like a rabbit, but with steely blue pelt, bioluminescent blue stripes and eyes on stalks like those of a snail.

"I said something WICKED," Nemean cried, waving her hands around. The fox-imp hastily set the rabbit down, and got halfway through pulling out what looked like a dying fish before Nemean sighed with exasperation. "GIVE me that," she said, sweeping over and yanking the hat away. (It was larger than her, but lighter, so it was okay.) What she pulled out was a tiny star-nosed mole, which she quickly dropped back in disgust. "UGH. What have you got in this thing?! Where's the DINOSAURS? Where's the SANDWORMS?!"

She proceeded to yank a number of Lesser Gembounds out, one at a time: an Ivory Deer, a pale foot-long spider known as the Spitting Bug, and finally, a black crow-like bird with a single red eye: the Hallowed Caller.

Nemean dropped the hat with a gesture that seemed to say 'not my problem,' then flitted back to her tall chair. "Just pick one, I guess," she muttered, giving the fox-imp the absolute stink-eye. "I wanted a BLOODBATH. Like some meadow deer stampeding! Or at least COMEDY. Can you imagine a fish trying to jump hurdles?! What do I PAY you for," she said to the fox-imp, and as he started to answer, she crowed "I PAY YOU IN THANKS. Don't make me arrange a pizza party."

---

Richter is being given a choice between a Walleye Rabbit, an Ivory Deer, a Spitting Bug, or a Hallowed Caller, because he was nice to Nemean.

@Richter

One week old and Knightly's seen the most creatures in one place se'd EVER seen. One, two... four... eight..? Se thinks? Eh, eight's good enough to end on. Se's more surprised that the instructions for this little quest actually brought sir somewhere! Yeah, se deserved a pat on the back for that. If se could reach sir back. Se hasn't tried. Se's not gonna try right now, people are watching!

Maybe. Honestly, se's pretty small, small enough to duck underneath a few 'bounds' legs. A few whistling 'fwee!'s are enough to announce sir presence, just so nobody steps on sir.

So what's going on? Why is everyone asking for something? "Is it within the RIGHTS of this... PLACE... for a SMALL yet BRAVE little KNIGHT LEE to obtain one of these..." Pause for dramatic effect... "FAMILIARS?" Knightly exploded forward to the emptiest spot se can find, waving minuscule little chick arms and turning sir head left and right.

"It would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!! if I were to be given a CHANCE at the WINNING! WITH provided aid." Yeah, se's proud of that sentence. Sir little chest puffed out, and sir beak curled in a wide smile, eyes pinched shut with the force of it. That's the perfect way to ask for the winning beast!

It's hot in Leo. It's hot in Leo, and now Yvan couldn't be in Leo, and he can't be where Ryoto isn't, so now they're both stuck in the wanderer's lifestyle until they find another comfortable cave to settle down in.

They can deal with it, as long as they have each other. Not even curiosity can get in their way; curiosity's why they're here after all, Yvan easily attracted by the interesting fliers spread about the cave. He couldn't really understand any of the sigils all over the page, but he could decipher the puzzle that are pictures far too easily. This should be the right place, especially with some loud thing yelling about animal abuse and whatever gold fish she's talking about.

Everyone else was asking her to borrow creatures to put in the race. Yvan already had one though. "Can my friend join?" Ryoto's obviously better than everyone else here. Yvan even held out his hand to it, showing it off. Makes perfect sense.

If only it were a smaller beast...

@Ryoto

Yvan's prospective beast, so thoroughly enraptured with juggling a rock between her hands, snaps to attention when he speaks— fluffy ears poking out of bedraggled hair and mane and eyes going wide. Talons click! as she establishes a better hold on her fidget toy of the moment and glances down to Yvan, then the rest of the event-goers, and for the second time pieces together the puzzle of why they were in this room.

"Bwehhh," she bleats in imitation of no Lesser in particular, playing up the bit.

Sticking her tongue out and then stuffing her fidget-rock between her fangs, Ryoto crouches down with fingertips resting on the ground without missing a beat. Pangolin tail wagging like a dangerous weapon.

Tourmaline paws up to Nemean and her various attendants. "A contest, huh? I'll try to not get to competitive, but I think some fun would be good for me," she laughs, eyes looking over the menagerie of lessers on display. So many shapes and colors... I wonder what I will get?

"So, do I just wait in line for to be assigned one, or just ask and say please? ...Please?" She sits down to wait, tucking her tail under her front paws.

Meanwhile, in prances Hysteria, strutting up to the tables set up. "Oooo! So many critters! You said I can have one if I play a game or two? I'd love to play!" she declares, eyes dancing across the obstacles scattered through the arena.

I get a game, and a friend! I can't wait to tell Mr. Dad!

One by one, under Nemean's lounging gaze, the Fox-Imps went about pulling Lessers out of hats for the attending Gembounds.


Knightly

Knightly was granted a Pixie Bat with a tourmaline gemstone: a beautiful little critter shining with iridescent color.

---

Tourmaline

Tourmaline had, ironically, a Red Mouse drawn for her. This one had a tiny necklace of pearls, but otherwise had no gemstone, and seemed very confused about how it had gotten here.

---

Hysteria

Hysteria was given a huge, snaggletoothed black Pitch Rat, just under three feet long if one included the tail. It bore a clear green crystal of Antlerite as its gemstone. It fought as it was pulled from the hat, and the moment the Imp dropped it, it ran to sit beside Hysteria while hissing at everyone else.

---

Sair

Sair's drawn Lesser was a harmless-looking Firetongue. Entirely harmless. Everyone gazing at it would understand that it was only perfectly friendly and not a threat at all. * It bore a Nephrite jade gemstone.

---

Mocha

Mocha's turn came, and a Lesser Snake was drawn from the hat, legless and shining blue. It flicked a tongue in some confusion, but seemed amiable enough.

---

Ahh, and then... Ryoto. The fox-imps looked at Yvan. They looked at Ryoto. One scurred off to Nemean, leaning in to whisper to her behind a cupped hand, and she idly lifted and lowered her drink as she listened as though it were some sort of royal scepter, eyes locked on them. She whispered something back, and the fox-imp nodded and scurried down.

The fox-imp then jumped into the hat. The other imps backed away warily as the hat began to thrash and flop, violently kicking up the dust of the arena floor. Then the fox-imp who'd vanished into the tophat spilled back out in a comic tangle of limbs and screeching and flapping leather wings. He threw, frantic, a whole Eyehook Vulture directly at Ryoto. It landed upside-down, pulled itself upright, folded its wings and screamed at the fox-imps, who kept their distance. A fluorapophyllite gem gleamed at its back. Ryoto has been assigned an Eyehook Vulture. Should Ryoto at any point critically fail a roll for the vulture during the event threads, the Eyehook will turn on her, briefly attacking her before flying away entirely, VERY upset with its own poor performance.


Ryoto

---

Each Gembound would feel a mental link snap into place: an imitation of the Familiar Forge magic, flickering into a makeshift link.

---

* Please see the Lesser Gembound Guide for more information on your character's assigned Lesser before posting more! This is very important! You may choose your assigned Lesser's personalities and actions going forward.

@Hysteria (Tourmaline) @Ryoto @Yvan @Knightly @Sair (Mocha)

Oliver had the spell, but he hadn't yet bonded with a Lesser Gembound. The rat he'd tried to rescue from Hydra had eventually died, the withering Order within it overwhelming it. It had saddened him greatly, but he'd at least made it comfortable in the meantime. Maybe if he'd had this bonding magic sooner... but it didn't do to dwell on that.

For now he came up quietly, a little shyly, glancing up at Nemean and then to the fox-imps. "Hello. May I have one? -For the... challenges?" he asked, hopeful.

Maybe it'd be a good little friend, something he could truly bond with.

Maybe he could finally complete Rift's Wish for Oliver's well-being.

"Wuh- hey!" Yvan danced away from the vulture that's flung in their direction, batting wings against air in shock. That's not fair! He was going to cheat! Well, no, maybe that is fair. Look at that thing! It's so big! And scary! And could probably eat him, honestly!

It's absolutely terrifying. But ooh, that throw must've hurt, and Yvan scooted forward to inspect it. Was it... their friend? He doesn't really trust like that, but why would Nemean give them the disadvantage? Hell, she just gave them the major advantage! ... he did try to get Ryoto to pose as a lesser though, so maybe there's a trick here. Maybe this vulture's working for her.

Well, it didn't matter in the end. They got a giant bird to use. But- "Is this one mine too?" He wanted to point at it but... honestly, he'd probably get his finger bit off, or his whole hand. "Can we share familiars? Is that allowed..?" How would that even work? It might as well be like a pet, right?

Nemean spoke up, at last, calling down. "You wanted one too?! I thought you wanted your friend to take part! You weren't trying to CHEAT, were you? You wouldn't CHEAT on my big day?" She laughed uproariously. "I mean, I respect the hustle. I can get you another one like that if you want, but nobody tries to one-up Nemean in her own stadium! ...You wanna risk it? C'mon. You wanna risk it."

Master Nemean leaned forward and grinned.

In the meantime, familiars were given out to Anala and to Oliver. From the tophat an Echoing Gray was pulled and dropped before Anala: it had no gemstone, and seemed frightened and confused, blinking. The link slid into place and Anala would understand this creature as a very social one, with lots of rat friends that it had just been taken from.



Oliver's Lesser was a tiny Dust Moth, withdrawn on the finger of the fox-imp. A tiny carletonite gemstone sat on one leg, but otherwise it was just a moth, with a moth's tiny brain and a moth's level of confusion at everything going on right now.

@Anala @Yvan