Lilith nodded curtly. "I didn't hear this from you." Of course she would not betray an informant. Who, then, would ever dare to say a single thing?

She watched Dragon carefully through his explanations, her eyes scathing and piercing, as if she was trying to extract every detail from his descriptions. How he felt about them from simply words and body language (although she had to admit, body language from an alligator was not exactly an easy thing to read).

A rebellion was interesting. She knew of Jupiter - not well, of course, Tamulus had never spoken at lengths about her, but ah...she was of this place as well, then. Interesting that she was dead, and disappointing - she would have been her first choice. Oh well.

She did immediately detect the mockery. An eyebrow quirked upwards. Perhaps this "Master Vargas" was the one to go to, then? But she quickly brushed off the idea. She was certain she'd seen him before, if he lurked in Draco. It was the place she visited to stabilize, and she'd seen the shadowy figures of monsters, huge, huge monsters all over the place. If the others there were loyal to him as well....no, she pushed him from her mind.

There were many Masters, it seemed. She had thought there would be merely a few. This complicated things. But if they sounded like that were so far apart from each other...?

Astraea? Hmm. Tenzin? No, if he assisted the gembound, she would not risk their ire. Same with Farina and Artio. She would find few allies. Aquarian she suspected was off the table as well. Nemean? Perhaps. The others? Seemed unimportant.

She nodded through it, still staring intensely at Dragon. "Interesting....why was there a rebellion? Do these Masters ever...interfere with Gembound negatively? Are there those that have been wronged by them?" She paused. "Have you been wronged by them?"

Her eyes looked up to the group gathered around her. "Has anyone here been wronged by those that would call themselves your masters?"

@Soh-ling (Brandle) @Larkspur (July) @Skein @Dragon (Wyrm)

Dragon considered each question. "I don't know why there was a rebellion. It was before our time. Hundreds of years before, if I understand it right." Thousands, actually, but he wasn't too sure on the timeline. "Do they? Yes. Threaten to take our children, to send them to other worlds, to collect them for war. They claim they have no say in the matter. That 'The Creator' will do it. Master Nemean and Master Vargas tore out my son's eyes and left him to die. Master Farina restored them to him. So I do not think they are all aligned! Masters... Farina, Artio. They detest Nemean. From what I understand she sees us as playthings." He didn't speak ill of Aquarian, at least. He had an idea in mind, something he wanted to try with that particular guardian of Cetus. For now? Nemean was the biggest pain in his ass. "Last I knew they were dragging Nemean off to boil alive."

And that had been so satisfying to hear.

If only Dragon had known of Lord Dhracia, he could have offered even juicier gossip, but alas.

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Wyrm felt, kind of abruptly, like she was way out of her league. What had begun as a curious little jaunt had turned deeply serious, and she could feel the implications of the exchange of words shifting the stability of the world around her. It felt like the dirt under her feet was drawing her in, that she would sink and drown in whatever came of all of this.

She looked around uncertainly, wondering if the faint worry in her gaze would be mirrored in the faces of any of the family and strangers around her.

But she had nothing she could add. She'd not really run into any of the Masters, so all she could do was hope this Lilith person was true to her word.

Hera had hidden among the trees at first, unsure of whether this stranger could be trusted, but she gradually grew bolder as Lilith and Dragon's conversation went on. She trusted the alligator's judgment, so she would follow his lead in sharing what they knew with this stranger. And knowledge was important. It was so important that everyone knew how dangerous dealing with the Masters could be.

"Yes," she piped up quietly from her perch, and spread her wings to glide down and land beside Dragon and the others. "Me too. Master Vargas also led a... a 'trial', they called it, with someone called the Masked Merchant." She wasn't sure if the Merchant could also be considered a master—she had never heard anyone call him one—but he was powerful, and cruel, and certainly allied with at least one of the worse Masters out there.

Hera took a deep breath, steadying herself. It was kind of comforting to talk about what they'd done to the Gembound in a secret gathering like this, where people were all there to hear about how horrible certain people were, almost like a gossip circle. "They recruited regular Gembound—I think some people were forced into it against their will, too—into a room called Hydra, where they released some kind of darkness that was like a living monster. It consumed people, and then called out to the survivors with their voices to lure more in." It had been the most horrible thing she had ever encountered. She had never even imagined that someone could be so cruel as to steal the voices of the dead. "I don't know why they did it. It was like they used us to feed their monster. The Merchant has some kind of affinity for the darkness, too—he's used them before, I think—but maybe Dragon knows more about that."

@Dragon

Lilith tapped her staff with interest, leaning forward ever so slightly. Her thought process was complex, twisting and turning, but all these things seemed to lead back to this...Master Vargas. Bah! He was protected! She was strong, but she was not strong enough to bust through his pack of warhounds...

She shook the thought from her head. She needed more information. She had an idea in mind. But this had been useful, quite quite useful.

"That is cruel," she said, first, to Hera. "To treat you as if you were simply feed. I am sorry for this wrong done to you. I, too, have been wronged by Masters." She gripped her staff tighter at the mere mention, fury coursing through her veins for a moment as she shifted burning red eyes back to Dragon.

"You seem to harbor resentment towards this Vargas and Nemean. Perhaps Nemean is already taken care of, and unfortunately I know of this Vargas, he is well-defended in his pit of corruption. I will not press you for information that may put you in danger, but...if any know of a cruel Master more....available..." There was a weight in the word, but she didn't wait for an answer. Not at this moment. Perhaps as a whisper, into her ear, or a word pressed into a palm.

"I am grateful, for your information. And now, a bargain upheld - beyond these caves is Let. The moon in which we all live has an entire surface world that knows nothing of your existence. There are many humans in many societies, of Tessaril, of Kylm, of the Verinen Empire. There are many animals that roam, stoneless, like your Lessers. There are witches in the mountains of the Vaa, witches like me, children of Tamulus." She took a breath to steady herself, to push down the rising rage. "Tamulus is from these caves. He was one of your Masters, long long ago. But now he lives on the surface, a lonely, pitiful hermit. He has betrayed you and he has betrayed me. He hates the gembound - your birth caused the death of his creation and he would love nothing but to see you all destroyed. He has abandoned the witches - we suffer from the wars his own creation waged while he silently rots far away. He offers no aid, he offers no power to help his own children! And I have been forgotten. Tossed in here to rot." Her face twisted into something ugly as she suddenly stood, seething and struggling to control the roiling corruption burning in her gut.

"If there is anything else you'd like to know, you may ask." She stated simply, her voice quivering.

@Dragon (Wyrm) @Hera

Dragon had glanced to Hera as she spoke. One of the oldest, rarely present but she knew more than he of the Trials and he said so, in a murmur. "You are more familiar with them, I think." He'd heard more from Imp, of course, but nothing Hera hadn't already said, and Imp's trials had been other, different ones. He turned back to Lilith to say as much. "I know the Trials change every time, and the survivors are rewarded. They usually take volunteers." He hadn't known there were some forced into it. That was... terrible, truly.

Regarding Vargas, Dragon grunted. "Well-defended, and has some of my blood in his Forge." He said it sourly, as if he didn't like it--and he didn't. Vargas had had issues curtailing Dragon's descendents. He'd come to Dragon to do it for him, not understanding that brute force wasn't a great way to raise children. No wonder half of them had barely any grasp of language, and none of their emotions! He still wasn't entirely sure how Vargas had managed to get Hunger to reproduce for the Forge, and it didn't matter. Dragon just... didn't like it, that was all.

As for other Masters, Dragon considered. "Nemean is loose again. If you kill her I will earn a few coins myself for the tavern I have heard has open, so that you can buy a drink." This was said with humor, but he meant it, though he sobered a moment later as if considering that the joke wasn't suited to the topic. "She is a thorn in everyones' side. I knew nothing of the... moon. Of Tamulus. Thank you!" and his gratitude, such as it was, was loud and freely given. It didn't make any difference to him now, this knowledge, but perhaps in time it would. So he tucked it away, doing his best to commit the details to memory. But it does not escape me that she is driven by her anger. It seems to be a poison in her. It may kill her, given time, he thought, studying her for a moment. It wasn't a happy thought, either. He wished no ill for a stranger, but it was clear that her bitterness was part of the core of her now, perhaps eating away at whatever else might remain. "Tossed in here to rot," he repeated aloud, thoughtful. "Hmm. That is why we are the Children of Rot. Those that die cease to be, and rot away, into Oil and bone. We are those that survive. You are welcome to survive alongside us, provided you do not bring danger to our home." He hadn't planned to invite anyone to join his group, today, but he might as well. Maybe it'd give the bitter witch some sanctuary. "In the meantime... questions." He considered.

"How do we go to this... surface world? Would we have a better chance of survival there? And if not..." Dragon considered.

His goal had always been survival. To survive, and thrive, despite the threats and enemies rampant in this place. "How do you think one could best survive here?" As in--was there anything he was missing, in terms of some half-decent survival prospects?

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