Jungles were not Audland's forte. It was so obvious, it barely needed mentioning, but the word of the day demanded it. He was large, he was blue, he was fuzzier than all the Fates combined. He really shouldn't be here. But, isolating himself in Ursa for cycles was proving to be a rather painfully inefficient way of learning anything. His job was to tip over Order, but he didn't even know how to even find that.

Unfortunately for Audland, he'd been just a little too late to the Eridanus cleansing party that he hadn't known existed. Just his luck.

But other learning opportunities existed in Eridanus. Such as: how annoying can getting tangled in approximately five billion vines and brambles be? Holy mother of mackerel, they were pissing Audland off. Chaos started leaking out, or trying to. Audland's mushrooms usually liked eating everything, but today they just weren't interested in responding productively to his rage. Audland tensed as some bullcrap happened and the itchiest spots on his body somehow became itchier. Screw that. He'll try fire next.

After a certain point he was just too itchy and frustrated. He tried to have a very polite, adult tantrum in the middle of one of the numerous small streams running through the room. Splashing around, limbs flailing, making various noises of frustration. A wonderful first impression to make on anyone in earshot: guy who doesn't know what he's doing is almost certainly exacerbating his own problems.

@The Chorus

Some of the Chorus's mushrooms that were growing on the bank of the stream heard the large creature coming. "Heard" is, of course, quite a generous word for what the Chorus experienced regularly. His footsteps quaked the ground and the scent-particles of the foul spores that clung to his fur touched their caps and made them recoil (mentally) with disgust. Immediately, the Consul was alerted - investigate this.

In the meantime, they opened their senses, particularly latching onto the black spores that rooted in his fur, feeling for the mass of the body, the warmth in him, the wrongness that had plagued the one who's stone was currently nestled in their care. Faint anger and weariness surged as attention now locked onto the valkhound that could possibly pose as a threat.

Water was now spraying onto their delicate orange caps and while they enjoyed the little shower, they were also amused that they once again went utterly unnoticed here as this thing continued to trample about as if nobody was watching. They waited a moment for the Consul to arrive to view what it was causing this ruckus. A large blue...thing. Very large, very blue, very...thing. The Consul stayed frozen, intimidated by its size, but they encouraged softly. They would not let him hurt them.

So the rat peeked out from the ferns and whispered into the air at the Chorus's command, "Is there something upsetting you?"

@Audland

Now that Audland was extra wet and yucky (thanks to some very ineffective splashing around), some wise cracker had decided that now was the perfect time to show up and spook him. "WHA—Who's there?!" The very big, blue, and thing swiveled around in every direction, his tail likely grazing a few mushrooms as it trailed behind him. Who's to say if they were all the Chorus's.

It didn't occur to the 8 foot tall mammoth that voices can come from even the smallest of creatures. It wasn't until his magic kicked in that he realized there was a presence of another Gembound. One he just barely managed to see. "Hello? Was that you?" Audland pointed and tilted his head a bit. His eyes trained on the mouse who seemed to be returning his gaze with intent.

@The Chorus

The fur on the Consul's neck spiked with fear at the beast's lashing about but the Chorus soothed it. Filled its brain with warmth and comfort and promised it wouldn't be hurt. And if it was, they would be brutally avenged.

It blinked up at Audland as he at last turned to speak to it. Under his gaze, the Consul seemed to relax a bit as it was no longer in danger of being accidentally squished. Its ears perked and it raised itself up on hind legs to at least be a little bit taller so Audland didn't have to lean quite so far down. "Yes, although I am just a mouthpiece. We could not help but notice your agitation."

The Chorus considered, for a moment, connecting directly with this valkhound, but it held itself back. It wanted to know exactly what the deal was here. The safety of the situation. It would not show itself off unless it needed to. In the meantime, the Consul continued to speak for them. "We apologize for startling you. We simply wish to help."

@Audland

The mouse continued to speak, and Audland very rapidly came to realize that the things he ate could easily be more sentient than he gave them credit for. Not that that particularly mattered to him; monsters have to eat something. Mice were far too small to sustain him, and now that his toddler-esque rampage was over, the Consul truly had little to fear—not that it knew, or that Audland was compassionate enough to recognize this fear. And, although he was not an effective predator in this interaction, Audland could still be dangerous if he and the Chorus were unlucky. Fortune has it, however, that no bloodbath would be required today.

"...Mouthpiece?" Audland echoed in slightly perturbed wonder. Mouthpiece for what? Audland's eyes darted around. What else could be alive right now that wasn't a plant, or a fungus. Neither of which had mouths. Both of which might need a "mouthpiece". (And the mouse itself had regular Gembound magic.)

...

Audland's eyes fell back on the mouse, and Audland decided... to sit. The thud this produced might have created vibrations that Audland himself couldn't even feel. He'd ball up and make himself cozy. "Uh, well. 's great that you wanna help, I guess. Um... I guess I'm... upset? About the foliage a' this cave. I am, as you have probably noticed, pretty big. And uh, the vines and sh%^ tend to get in my way." His eyes drift around as he speaks, not looking at anything in particular. Still, perhaps, trying to be watchful for whatever else might be watching him. "I don't suppose that... you and yours can do anything about that, can ya?"

It was just a hunch. Audland might be crazy. It would be crazy, if it was true. But also Audland might just be generic brand, garden variety crazy.

@The Chorus

Quizzical chatter ran throughout the network as they considered the explanation. Had it simply been that, a case of "annoyed by the foliage" caused such a childish rampage? And now he was sitting down to have a proper conversation with them. They wondered how much of the truth it was telling and decided to probe deeper, trying to keep themselves quiet and undetected as they listened for the thoughts in Audland's mind. Unfortunately for them, the magic didn't unfurl itself for their will. Too bad.

The Consul's head tilted a bit. It did not express or have much inflection to its voice, but the words perhaps conveyed some amusement. "Ah, no. The foliage is as part of this cave as anything. Perhaps it is something to get used to, if this is your first time here." It blinked, observing him up and down for its master's benefit.

Large, fluffy, blue. Perhaps from a colder cave, from elsewhere where it was more open for him to roam? They did not recognize the antler shape but his body screamed alien to this place. "You are not from here, I presume. What brings you to this cave, if the foliage inconveniences you so?"

@Audland

So whatever this person or collective of people was, they couldn't move anything out of the way for him. Well, at least that gave Audland what he believed to be a sense of scale. Maybe the thing talking to him through the mouse didn't have hands. Maybe if the vines and shrubbery were actually speaking to him, they couldn't do anything about their situation. Were they not offended by his dislike of them? Maybe whatever it was that had no mouth and no hands and magical control over a mouse—cave Jesus this felt like a stupid riddle—didn't consider itself to be part of "the foliage". Or maybe—oh forget it, let's just focus on something else for now.

The question. It was an astute observation that Audland was not from around here and quite possibly needed to give himself a chance to acclimate to the "new" cave, rather than trying to brute force it to be more immediately amenable to him. If Audland were a more patient, more heat-adapted creature, he might have tried that first. But he wasn't, so, truly, what had he come here for? He pondered for a moment.

"Well, to be honest, I don't know much about what's around here. I'm usually in the cave with all the snow, unsurprisingly. It's like, in the opposite direction from this place. But it seems I ain't built for all-terrain traversal." Audland idly scratched at various itches and groomed himself as he spoke. He wondered if the thing he was really talking to could relate. If it didn't have a mouth or the ability to interact with the environment outside of this mouse, how did it move around? What did it eat? "Bein' in one place most of the time makes me miss out on... various pieces of information, it seems." Like what war was. And what Master Vargas was. And, now that he thought about it, probably a whole lot of other things. "That's also kind of upsetting, now that I think about it."

The itching was getting really bad, the longer Audland sat with it. A lot could go wrong with the irritation Audland was experiencing. He had half a mind to try to burn himself to a crisp, but in the interest of having a nice conversation with what could be any part of this cave's wildlife, Audland would try to reign it in. For now.

@The Chorus

All-terrain traversal, huh? The Chorus was not sure what exactly made someone more suited for one terrain over another. Could a walking-one not simply...walk? Perhaps if they needed to fly from one place to another...ah, they did not yet understand what it was so be able to walk!

It could relate to his frustration, though. In fact, better then he could ever know. The Chorus was the definition of cut off from the world. Any information they wanted to gather, they had to have it brought to them. This will change, of course. Some voices giggled softly at the thought. They would not be this way for long. Soon they would be able to know whatever they liked, whenever they wanted.

"That does sound frustrating. We sympathize. We have little information to offer, besides the comings and goings of this cave...and of course, the cleansing of its sickness." The rat blinked. "Although, I supposed you would have noticed that." They did not even consider the possibility that Audland wouldn't even know about the white infection. For them, it had been there forever. How could one not know?

@Audland

So relate it could. Sympathize, even—were those two any different? Seriously, what was this thing? Something in Audland wondered if he should just check for himself... but no. That might turn this interaction sour, and the mouse had been so gallant; the true thinker behind it so polite. Perhaps he could see how far that politeness stretched; perhaps they could help each other?

The mention of its sickness made Audland light up. It confused him. Why mention it, as though he knew what that referred to? Surely, they knew he had not been there to know whatever that was. As they had just established, he was new to this place and its details. Perhaps they, too, had come to (The real explanation was so alien in reasoning, Audland wouldn't have been able to guess at it if he tried.)

"Maybe we can strike a deal, then? A trade. I don't have much to offer in return, though." Audland himself lacked much information. ...Ah, but you know what could be of interest? Audland's itching paused for him to gesticulate with his hands. "I have some stones. A box of 'em. They got life in 'em—prolly not much, but it's there if yer interested. Maybe if you got the kind a' magic that can see into their pasts—I met a cat who said she could do that once. Ye might be able to see things I ain't ever seen in my life." Audland would pause a moment to watch and see how that grabbed the creature, or the mouthpiece, or whoever. "I'll give ya one stone for every tidbit you can tell me. Then neither of us need to miss out on anything."

Audland would lean back and try, for a moment, to imagine what this creature had possibly seen. Would it even make sense, to one so mouthed and limbed as he? How different could a brain be—ah shoot, how many stones did he have?? He might want to make a clause for that. "Ah, just two rules about that though, if yer amenable." It's probably worth noting that every time Audland says a number, he puts up that number of claws. "One: I only got so many stones ta give. Let's say five at most. You don't need ta tell me five things if you don't know five interestin' things; just don't tell me more than that." Audland didn't want to owe anything extra to this incomprehensible stranger. "An' rule two: I'll decide what's interestin'. Word of advice: start with that 'cleansin' of sickness' thing ya just mentioned, 'cause I didn't know about that one."

Audland wasn't sure if he cared whether the creature was amenable or not. He wasn't sure what position he held in this instance of power hierarchy. It was probably best not to take the risk.

@The Chorus

The rat, not the Chorus, but the Consul himself perked its ears, intrigued. An exchange? The Chorus had never been offered an exchange before. The network whispered to each other, asking if this was real, if this was a trick, but no, no they hadn't expressed any desire in a stone. He would not be able to know they would be interested. Indeed, they could probably do what it was he mentioned, but they did not particularly care to. They were ever-more aware of their mycelial threads wrapped around the large rhodochrosite elsewhere in the forest. Perhaps, once they were ready, they would want to bring more into the world...

"A generous offer. I would be interested in these stones, should any information I have be of value to you." This time they threaded in just a bit of their magic, a quiet little listening port to see if they were correct in that this creature would not break the deal they'd just struck. If he truly had stones on him he was willing to trade for a bit of what their limited network could see.

"That sounds fair. I can offer what info I have, that may be of use. If you should find it interesting, you may reward however many stones you deem it worthy." The Consul received a cue - lean in a bit, widen your eyes. It did so, as it continued. "I will know if you are not being honest." It wasn't a threat, per say, but really just a note - they would not appreciated getting the short end of the stick.

@Audland