The children were almost here. The time had passed so swiftly that even the bear didn't know what she had been doing these days, running around trying to satiate her ever-growing oil appetite and preparing their home. It was annoying that the so-called arborspire guardian knew of it, but they would prove to be little trouble against her growing army. Two stones, quickly turned to three with Sergei's generous addition, had reached their full size. Their emergence would happen any day, now, and she visited multiple times a day to check on them. Not that she needed to, given the many watchful eyes that seemed to trail after her as she came and went.

"Hello, my children. My little soldiers. Hello, Master." She spoke, not into the silence but rather into the phantom whispers, dropping her head to nudge the stone as she always did. "They are almost here. Can't you feel it?" She offered each chrysalis, swirling with Chaos, a similar nudge. They had darkened beautifully, or rather... They had lightened, given the void light. The smile she thought she had lost had grown on her face more and more these days in anticipation of what was about to happen. Children! Her children! Oh, they would be perfect.

There was no response, but not silence. Instead the Hole was warm, pregnant with buzzing possibility, the whispering dark pressing in on Tema's mind. The whispers pried at her brain, threading through her thoughts, making focus difficult.

Smoke lingered in the blackened corners, as if these stones--these children--were cooking down here. Sitting in the heat, baking, smoked until they were done. The maddening Chaos wisped through the closed space, focused at the Altar but these stones--the Oilstone was in its element, true. The brown agate, though, was slicked over completely with an Oiled sheen that would never rub away, part of its inherent crystalline structure, touched forever by Chaos.

It was as though this room were waiting... but it was quiet, patient. Like a predator awaiting prey.

Tema will of course gain Corruption Points equal to meditation at the Altar.

@Tema

Tema made no effort to shut the whispers out, allowing them to feel around. They poked and prodded, making their home in her head for the time she was in the hole. They would fade once she left, but they were permanent company, now. She was never alone, not anymore.

One of her stones, the marbled brown one, had changed. It was not just darkened, but had almost completely blackened, the shining iridescence of oil taking over. The oilstone was harder to see a change in, but she knew. The Void had blessed her children with its power. It had given them some guidance, some gift. She just had to wait and see.

Any day now.

Tema's mind drifted, unable to keep itself rooted in any one thought for long when she was near the altar. There was no sweeping off her feet, this time, but she didn't need it. She needed no further guidance, no more reminders. Not for the moment, anyway, as she checked over the chrysalises. Oilstone, brown agate, kyanite. The kyanite's natural colouring flowed beautifully with the oil sheen, and she couldn't help but stare. What kind of a child had Sergei blessed her with? Something strong, she knew, given the trouble he had undoubtedly gone through to get it. She gave each chrysalis a gentle lick, cleaning them of stray oil splatters. It was an excuse, she knew. Any excuse to consume oil, to allow her master a better handle on herself. It was the least she could do, to both please the void and care for her unborn children. She hoped that they would hatch soon, so that she could begin her work. They needed a full four cycles to grow, after all.

/exit, to wait for hatching :)