backdated to happen soon after hey man, nice promotion

Into the depths of Eridanus did Tectus lumber, the massive purple valkhound trailed by the much smaller, but now almost full-grown cervid shape of September, picking his way through the white muck, careful to keep from stepping on the worst of it, although bits of white fuzz were already reaching to cling onto the sambar's hide. The Overseer's head was turning left and right, her ears perked and listening, looking for a certain Master that was apparently hiding (or not hiding, she had not known Artio to be a particularly shy Master) deep within the forest's depths. She heard, behind her somewhere, the deer make a comment about her presence here and she grunted.

"Master Artio will go where she pleases. I imagine Eridanus is not currently the most hospitable of caves at the moment, but it is her cave." She glanced back, almost amused at the deer's ignorance. It was lucky she'd run into him during her sweep - him and the green cat and his weird tree (that she wanted to ask about and understand more - how the fuck had that gotten there?). If they had just gone starting a fire here without her there, and without Master Artio's permission, oh they would have been in trouble.

She had already expressed this to them, especially September, but she had decided to bring him along anyways. He was the one with the allies and ideas and it was honestly better then having to deal with Pride.

Anyways. The Master.

"Master Artio," she rumbled out into the trees, as she continued to search for her whereabouts. "Are you here?"

ARTIO

THE PLANT MASTER

The Master that slid into the clearing a moment later did not walk into view. Instead, the trees, the leaves and vines and ferns of Eridanus seemed to shift just slightly, taking on a vague shape that clarified until one realized they were gazing not at plants, but at Artio herself. Her dress-like train of bark and growth whispered across the leaf litter below and behind her as she took several steps toward Tectus, her hands delicately pressed together, expression chiseled by habit into nothingness. She looked cold, regal, in her element; yet--as one might expect, with the infestation clinging to the branches here and there around her--there was a faint sense of displeasure to her.

"Overseer," she greeted, after a moment, the memory a tentative one--like so many things, after so long. "It is good to see another of you awake."

She paused, her focus ranging briefly over Tectus's battlescarred form, as if in an attempt to gain some sort of hint as to her presence here--her request for Artio's own. It then slid over September. "I greet you. We have not met." Finding nothing immediate to suggest the reason for their visit, she looked back to Tectus, and spoke again. "What is it that is needed?"

@Tectus

crickets and creatures will come in the night
keep my back from the reaper
who's hunting or running, you gotta decide

He didn't know what he was expecting, so a beautiful lady just kind of appearing out of the trees took him by surprise. He hadn't realized there'd been a "Master" of Eridanus (truth be told, he wasn't sure what a Master really was, but Tectus had been educating him a bit) but if ever there was, this would be her. Eyes shifted around along the train like the forest's canopy, the hanging wisteria, the tree roots and no real feet to see, and he suddenly found himself feeling bad for what he'd been planning.

Not bad enough to, like, stop thinking about it. But bad all the same.

He dipped his head, respectful. "Hello, Master Artio. I'm September." Was there anything else to say? Any other part of a greeting he was supposed to add? He glanced at Tectus, but she wasn't paying attention to him at the moment, so he stood back up.

The excitement came back with her question and he puffed his chest out, remembering that this had all been his idea. He'd been thinking hard about it for a few cycles now and been gathering allies to be at the ready. Everything was just about set to go and that was just....amazing!! "We want to start a fire!" He blurted out without any attempt at tact or ease at breaking the news. "To get rid of the fungus! We want to burn it all down and we want your permission!"

september

Tectus dipped her head as well as the Master of plant emerged from the forest itself, as stern and regal as she always remembered her to be. She was planning carefully what she intended to say, how she would present the idea to the master who loved and protected this forest they were essentially planning to destroy. But formalities first - "Master Artio, it is good to be awake. It is Overseer Tectus," she carefully clarified. "And we've come here to-"

And then that damn deer that she was now regretting bringing with her was blurting out the heart of their plan and completely ruining everything she'd been building up to say. She cringed, eyes flicking over to glare daggers at the sambar and had to restrain herself from turning and slamming him to the ground to get him to shut up, but that kind of sudden violence wouldn't look fantastic in front of a Master she was meeting for the first time in centuries.

"Okay, it's not - " she sighed with a faint warning growl towards September, turning her head to look at him. "Yes, but there were better ways to ease into it. Just...be quiet, let me talk." She turned back to the Master, trying to reign control back into her more capable claws.

"Master Astraea has tasked me with assisting in removing Order's filth from Eridanus. I happened to run into this one that was planning something similar. To burn the fungus out of the very roots. It would be a fire, but it would be a controlled fire. She glared at September. "We have a number of gembound ready to step forward - those who can control fire and water, as well as a number of gembound with your magic, ready to heal the forest once the damage is done. Master Vargas directed me to speak with you before it happened, to make you aware and ask your permission to do this." She swallowed. "It is...drastic, but I've heard the surface cleansing has not been working well. It may require more drastic action to be rid of it."

ARTIO

THE PLANT MASTER

Had Overseer Tectus introduced her to the concept gradually, and framed it as small and reasonable flames, she would have almost certainly listened. But 'burn it all down?' Her gaze snapped to the deer, eyes narrowing with sudden heat.

That heat lingered, and could perhaps ironically be described as dimming to merely 'smoldering,' by the time the newly awakened Overseer had finished. But her jaw was set. Her lips, thinned.

To those who might pay very close attention, there were other signs: like the way a hand that had idly reached out to grasp a thin branch now tightened, loosening only when it began to crack. She returned the hand to the other, clasping them before her once more.

She took a moment to compose herself. To compose an answer. And in the meantime she offered Tectus a nod, an "Overseer Tectus, thank you." Still, it took her a moment to speak in a way that did not involve twining vines around September and dragging him to suffocate and die beneath her forest floor for even suggesting such a thing.

"We will not be doing that," she began, quiet but clear and cold. Her mind went to Raheerah. Unleashing that sort of devastation would leave nothing behind. But... hmm. She took a moment more to think, eyes narrowing again, lingering on Tectus--now with thought instead of accusation.

"Admittedly the taint of Order here," and she said that word with faintest venom, has been difficult to shift. But, tell me. Canis is twisted by it, too, is it not..? If it was fire you wished to use to purge it, why have you not applied it there? There would be less... collateral damage," she went on. She approached a little closer, regal in each step, one hand reaching out yet again to brush the branches.

This time, she didn't nearly snap it in her grip. Her touch remained delicate.

"Hmm, no. I suppose he favors this cave." She considered. "Something to bear in mind. Tell me, do you believe that your risk is truly controlled? -If so, I will... deign to trust you, but with conditions."

Eyes bored into Tectus. September, again, and then Tectus.

"If you intend a 'controlled' fire, and you truly believe you can 'control' flame--do so. But if it goes out of control--if it damages even a single healthy tree--I will kill all of those involved in its destruction. Are you confident in your control?" she asked.

It was calmly said. Perhaps it was merely a test. Or maybe she very much wanted them to be sure before committing.

@September

crickets and creatures will come in the night
keep my back from the reaper
who's hunting or running, you gotta decide

September was a little less then enthusiastic about the very swift shut-down from both the Master and Overseer and opened his mouth to let out a defiant rebuttal. But there was a very sudden movement from the valkhound at his side and he suddenly felt a faint press against the top and bottom of his mouth - Tectus had swiftly shut his mouth with her claws. It was careful and controlled so that it did not puncture skin, but firm enough that it sent a clear warning: Shut the fuck up.

He got the message.

september

Tectus could see Artio's anger and she honestly was surprised the deer was not already dead next to her for even suggesting the sudden and violent notion of burning down her favored cave. She saw, in the corner of her eye, his mouth opening again - probably to say some other stupid shit, and she swiftly put an end to that, clamping his jaws closed with two claws and holding him there carefully. He didn't struggle, so she assumed he got the message, releasing him a moment later after she began to speak in return.

"Canis would be safer to burn down, yes, but it does not offer the same importance as Eridanus. Fewer gembound live there and from what I hear, cleansing is well under-way and already quite effective, unlike what efforts have been made here. Perhaps once Eridanus is cleansed, if Canis is still an issue we can employ the same methods there - provided they work, of course."

She shifted a little bit, uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the Master's gaze, the harsh threat in her words and her need for assurance. But Tectus could offer little to none. She was no magician and she hadn't even met many of the gembound that would apparently be participating in this...fire. A glimmer of fear and uncertainty teased the edges of her mind, but she would not bow to it. That was not her way. She convinced herself - Master Astraea trusted her. Master Vargas had given her his acceptance of her plan. She had thought this through many times over. Small local fires, burn away the rot, then put it out and heal the damage. No big giant wildfire like September had initially proposed.

She nodded, firmly. "I believe we can do it. There are many gembounds on standby with water magic and pressure as well, and others still with your magic that will heal what damage has been done to infected growth. I cannot fully assure that no uninfected tree will be hurt - fire's nature is in destruction, but it is like cauterizing a wound that will not close. It will hurt, it will burn, but it will heal. We will limit damage by starting small fires and heal what we cause when the flames are put out." She bowed her head then, hoping that it was enough. "If that does not pass with you, Master Artio, then we will find other ways."

ARTIO

THE PLANT MASTER

Artio, at first, showed no more signs of hostility. Instead, she listened, and by all appearances it was genuinely attentive, offered politely. It was only when Tectus began to offer a metaphor of flame that her jaw set and--several words later--her lip curled. Her eyes, slightly narrowed, seemed to touch upon disgust. Or perhaps strong distaste.

'I need no lessons on fire from you,' she thought, and the venom set her jaw, as if to finalize the frame of disapproval in her features. Her mind was on Raheerah. There had been nothing cauterizing about his destruction. There was no regrowth after his breath had passed.

One had only to look to the charred ruins of Orion to see this.

But when Tectus had finished, she smoothed her expression and offered a single, cold nod.

"Then do it. Inform me before you begin. I will be making preparations." There were Lessers to move, and specific plants to safeguard. (How much time did she have..?) "And be sure you give my terms, clearly, to all who will take part. I do not want them confused and surprised if I come to collect." Delicate-looking fingers drummed a branch, the sound of wood-skin on wood almost claw-like. Whatever she was thinking, she kept this to herself. Instead, her eyes flicked once more between Tectus and September, and at last she dipped her head, speaking to dismiss them.

"Overseer. Gembound. ...I will be watching."

@September

crickets and creatures will come in the night
keep my back from the reaper
who's hunting or running, you gotta decide

Tectus's claws slowly withdrew and September found himself able to move again - he hadn't realized until those massive daggers had been almost spearing right through his face how active a creature he was - shifting his weight from side to side, rolling back his shoulders, even taking a couple of impatient steps every now and then. But he'd been still as a statue while the Overseer had him silenced. Now he breathed out calmly, staying fairly still from the tension in the air (Tectus was nervous, the Master was angry or something, it was all very above him) and he made the decision, then, to not push any further. It seemed things were wrapping up.

He decided to...try to stick on whatever deal had been made. "Thank you, Master Artio. I will not burn the forest down. I promise." Keyword: I. He sure hoped that the dragons that Pride had contacted would also show some restraint. He glanced up towards the Overseer, hoping that was okay.

september

Tectus cringed at the anger that passed through Artio's features. Too far, way too far. By the creator, dealing with Masters she was unfamiliar with was a whole kind of game wasn't it? A very very dangerous one.

But she breathed a sigh of relief when the tension relaxed. Artio still looked at her coldly and she was obviously very unhappy with the situation but she would allow them this one chance. They would have to make sure not to fuck it up, then.

She dipped her head to the Master again. "Thank you, I will be sure to be very clear. And I will monitor every step of the way so that the forest is not injured." She glanced down at the deer again, eyes flashing with warning, but when he said nothing further, she nudged at him. "Come, we have some preparations to make."

A nod again, accepting the final warning, and the overseer turned and lumbered off into the trees with September following at her side, already making plans for the coming cycles before the fire began.

*exit with September