Nemean

The generator has been churning seamlessly for what feels like months now, with no pause in sight. Every now and then the lights may flicker or dim, but besides that, the generator is thankfully completely functional. The wheel at its side continues to plunge in and out of the water in rhythmic strokes... until now. Something has, for some reason, caused the wheel to stop - and even more mysterious is the fact that its only the lights in Polaris that have gone out. An impish giggle rings out through the darkness, and a small flicker of light appears overhead where the generator is submerged in the river.

This thread is part of the Trick-or-Treating event! Characters will have until November 1st to visit this NPC and receive either a trick or a treat!

That giggle- Fallah knew it. She followed it through the dark. Was this Nemean? Did she cause the lights to go out? The lynx followed, her ears pricked to listen for the buzzing or that bubbly giggle. As she padded forward, she called out, "Is that you, Nemean? My bark friend isn't here now and I won't chase you. Did you make it dark?" her voice held steady, but she was a little afraid. Nemean was little, but Fallah knew she was very powerful. Nemean wouldn't let Fallah find her if she didn't want to be found, so Fallah sat, waiting for Nemean to find her.

BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

It had been a good week, Rauslin had been found and the wedding had gone off without a hitch. It was all perfect! Well... He still had some troubles... Whenever he tried to think of past things or things that people claimed that he was he'd get strange headaches until he stopped thinking. He hated not using his brain to ponder over older things but if it brought him relief then he was happy to do it. Except... In this new location he felt a lot of pressure in his mind... As if something were trying to escape. It almost made him want to leave but he couldn't yet. Not without investigating what was up with the lights in this area. From what he'd heard and seen the lights were supposed to stay on, so why was everything flickering? Thinking about the lights took away the forming headache about the ambient scenery... the scorch marks... the blood...

Headache... Focus on the lights.

He could see the generator and a light and a lynx... She looked familiar but he knew if he tried to ponder it too hard then the headaches would start so instead he just smiled and focused on meeting her now. Perhaps she knew about the light situation. Curious he focused his magick and then attempted to send out a wave to her. In the wave of telepathic energy he sent an image of the flickering lights around them along with a wave of his own confusion. That should be enough right?

The white dragon paced forward and took a seat right next to the lynx, the smile still on his face despite his confusion.

Blaargh!
Quest
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6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Excitement clutched at her tightly, sending her paws rushing along the room. For the first time she was allowed to leave her birth area! It was more excitement than she felt she could ever contain. And so it led her through the tunnels, weaving her way towards the spot her beloved father had directed. Of course if she got too far away from him the little cub would turn tail and rush right back towards Cancer, just so he wouldn't have to shout at her not get so far ahead; like she had a couple times now.

Now she was at the entrance that led to another room. However, it seemed as if there were no light within this cavern. Hesitance consumed her and she gave a nervous glance towards her father. Had he not told her all the caves shared a light that came from the ceiling? So why was this room so dark? She lowered her head a moment as she kept her questioning gaze upon her father. Wiggling in her spot, Cure swung her gaze back towards the darkened room, pushing her rounded ears forward to catch any sound she could hear in there. The rush of water was the first thing she heard, but other than that there was a strange laughter. A giggling that drew her immediate attention.

It was only a matter of seconds before she suddenly saw a flash of light far away from where she currently was and excitement was quick to consume her once more. "Hey! what's that?!" She cried out in curiosity, but before her father even had the chance to answer she was off, racing towards the flash of light blindly through the dark room. Her paws carried her, drumming against the ground and stumbling over rocks and random changes within the ground, but yet she continued indettered. She wanted to see what it was, and by golly she would see it!

It wasn't long before she came upon a new scent. Two knew scents at that. Her eyes wideneed, as if to try and see better in the dark, but to no avail could she. It wasn't until her paws suddenly tripped over something long and furry did she come to a screeching halt, slamming face first into the ground just on the other side of what she would soon discover to be a tail. "Heeeey!" She whined as she pushed herself up before spinning around to see what the offender was. A tuft of blue fur! Fur that was attached by some white thing she could just barely see in the dim glow that was the light she was after. She wiggled, her rump in the air before she finally pounced on the intruder, attempting to catch it and show it a lesson for causing her to trip.

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"Speech"
Tags: @Cancer
OoC:

Ever since her encounter with the dolphin, Magdalena had been indecisive over whether or not she wanted to return to the river. She may risk slipping and possibly drowning again, and she didn't know if Alexander was around to save her again. But the prospect she still found enticing. Swimming like the blind cave fish... If they could do it, why couldn't she? Magdalena had been skirting near the edge of the river, always keeping the sound of its currents nearby, but never near enough to fall in. Until the sound of a giggle touched the air. Magdalena raised her head, swiveling it to the sound. Strange... She couldn't tell that it had darkened, but her paws carried her to the sound anyways. The smells of others touched the air, and it became increasingly obvious that she wasn't alone.

With a breath of magic, she sought to know who else was there. She could feel four presences at first - no, five. A smaller one. A familiar one... Her eyes narrowed, but her attention shattered at the voice of a child. Speaking to someone else. Nobody she knew. Except for one that made her heart lurch with disdain, and her nose wavered in his direction. His was familiar too, he and his unlawful transgressions against her Fire. But even his was different from the small, familiar one. Magdalena lingered behind, unbeknownst to her still immersed in the shadows, loathe to let Baratheon know of her presence.

The further they walked, the more Carcino felt a deep-seeded regret for this idea. Cure toddled ahead, excited and joyful, while her ever-burdened father sauntered uneasily behind her. He wanted to show her the caves, and Amaria had taken Remedy to see another area- it had been her idea to split them up, so they could focus on their lessons. Though Remedy wasn't Amaria's, Carcino was overjoyed that she'd taken her in as her own. A sort of... step-mother for her. Mood lightened at the thought, Carcino almost didn't notice their arrival in Polaris. The first thing he noticed were the lights. The cave was dark, besides a faint glow from the Spire. Alarmed, the panther froze in the entrance, ready to call Cure back to his side.

His daughter had other plans.

"Cure, wait-!" He called hastily, a hushed hiss, but she was off and running. He cursed under his breath and with barely a limp, chased after her into the darkness... so dark... a red glow... and his eyes lit up, pupils widening to take in every drop of light. The world displayed before him. His daughter ran towards the generator, where others had gathered already. A familiar shape. His blood ran cold as Cure tripped over a familiar dragon's tail, then turned her fangs at it. He didn't need any more reason. Like a flash of shadow through the dark, he shot his way expertly to his daughter's side and reached to snatch her up by the scruff with a rumble of warning; this wasn't safe. This wasn't right. If his teeth met scruff, he'd yank her away and back-peddle, fearful of the encounter to come.

@Cure

As expected, a swell of Gembounds had gravitated towards the singular light source. She hovered above the generator, still hidden in a swathe of shadow while her trusty ball of light wavered above her head. The sprite watched the slow gathering and the unfolding of each Gembound's arrival and subsequent interaction with those already there. The lynx seemed to be wise to her antics, calling out to her. The sprite only giggled again, but it sounded as if the giggle came from the light.

Then the dragon came, the one that popped his own eye out. After him, two black felines, the smaller one rambunctiouslu charging in only to trip over the dragon's tail, and the bigger one plucking her and taking her away. A final form lingered further away, not daring to allow the low light to lick her face, but Nemean knew what she was like all the same. More were sure to come, but Nemean was already itching to begin the festivities.

In a single decisive movement, the light flickered and everything in the cave fell unsettlingly quiet. "Trick or treat?" Her voice rang out through the darkness, jaunty, feminine and quiet, as if smothering a giggle as she spoke.

Literal Fallah as Bara comes up

Fallah waited, looking at the light. More steps approach and Fallah decided to not turn her head away from Nemean. Then it sat by her. Fallah did a double take, then lost her shit.

Fallah could only think about getting away. Her legs pushing her away from the beast as fast and as powerfully as they could. The lynx's nubby tail rotated for balance as she sprung several times, her fur fluffing up and her lips peeling back as she hissed at the being, "Go away!"

In her bouncing away from the beast, Fallah plopped on her side as the voice rang out from above asking "Trick or treat?" Fallah lay, heart pounding, her eyes turning slowly to the light, "Treat..." she breathed. Oh gods she needed a treat.

BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

The dragon was unaware of the approaches of the other gembounds for he was still sitting and still wondering about the lights. It was only when he felt something trip over his tail that he partway turned and grinned at the tiny cub. Cute! Did she want to use his tail as a toy? Well... He was absolutely fine with that! Rauslin usually played with it herself and he was quite used to feeling fangs in the thick fur.

Before he could reassure the Da of the small child... He assumed that the black leopard was the Da anyway... He heard a sound of complete terror. His eye was torn away from the cute cub and were forced onto the feline next to him. Why she was so afraid that she was turning flips! As acrobatic as that was that still couldn't hide how absolutely frightened she was. Was she afraid of him? Afraid he would hurt the child? He hoped not! He was no monster... He just wanted to be kind to all.

To show how kind he was the dragon lowered himself to the ground, he tucked his wings to his sides tightly and began to wag his tail like a dog seeking approval. From his mouth he let out a rather high-pitched humming-growl noise that was an attempt to sound disarming. Hopefully they would see that he wasn't out to cause any harm.

"Trick or treat..." His head turned partway to the sound and he let out a rumbling, hoarse bark --something he'd learned from his daughter-- in what others could only guess as meaning "treat".

Blaargh!
Quest
---
6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Drawn to the noise of many others speaking, Louie sat in the arch that separated the Spire from this area of the room that withheld the generator. Too many horrific memories of this place, and he watched as the pink dragon he had once come to conquer was among the group. Stiffening, he tried to listen to their muffled conversations but was met with nothing. Nemean had appeared, her impish giggle just made his blood run colder. Though he wanted to leave, he wouldn't allow himself to but he sat at the back, his presence unaware to those who did not possess the same godly powers as their host.

Trick or treat. It was so ominous, quite disturbing but he found himself in denial that he deserved a treat. Whatever sort of treat this woman was bringing was going to be something terrifying to say the least. Speaking rather softly, he made his decision. "Trick." Aware that this could bring about another cataclysmic event, he was prepared to flee at the slightest indication war would break out. He wouldn't lose another eye based on his foolish mistakes.