The Carvings

A detailed carving sits on the stone wall in the middle of this tunnel. The dusty rocks seem to have been manipulated in such a way that an illustration is displayed out of the stone. Lichens and moss have grown into the divots and deep lines carved into the rock, bringing the illustration to life. What it means, however, remains a mystery. Your characters are welcome to come and investigate this odd illustration. Perhaps an NPC might know more about it...

"Speech"

Todd limped down the unfamiliar tunnel, unsure of where he was going or why. He felt like he'd never been here before but all the same it made him uneasy. Then again, most things made him uneasy these days, not that Todd had properly clocked it yet. But here, the scents reminded him of... an unsettling time.

Moving forward, Todd began to slow. He was growing tired and this cold stone was starting to prickle against his scars. And in addition to that, he was quite sure that this tunnel was indeed familiar and not in a good way. So he came to a halt there, slowly sinking down into an awkward sitting position, with his legs folded into the positions they fell into with a thought to neither care or dignity. He'd rest for a while, and then he'd turn and go back to the soft mosses. That was a good plan. Todd was satisfied.

It was then that he noticed something odd, shapes on one of the walls. Precise. For all Todd knew, they were natural, but there was no mistaking the shapes they made. The young one had no knowledge of the past or the idea that someone might have put these here. In his mind, they'd gotten here by the same means as the rest of the cave; that was to say he didn't know, and didn't consider it.

Wanting a closer look nontheless, the young one dragged himself over to the carvings bit by sorry bit, his hind legs trailing behind.

He got closer, he looked and looked and looked, before he gave a small smile.

"Oh, it's the All-mother!" he cried, though he didn't seem all that surprised. Perhaps it was his unwavering tone of voice. "What are you doing in there, All-mother?"

Caravaggio had slowly been trailing after Todd after catching the boy's smell when he passed the tunnel entrance in Polaris. He knew that the silver fox must have gone down this way, especially from the lopsided pawsteps he saw in the dust. Caravaggio didn't expedite his pace because he knew the crippled fox couldn't move all that fast anyways, and he wasn't too concerned about him. I mean, maybe Caravaggio should have been a little more worried. The little fox had gotten the crap beat out of him after all. But Caravaggio warned the rest of the herbivores not to mess with him, and he wasn't in Orion - wait. This tunnel led to Orion.

And then he heard Todd's voice cry out, and he didn't even need fo hear what the boy said to suddenly charge forward, worry plaguing his mind. Please please don't be those rhinos, please don't be getting yourself into trouble, please don't be something scary - All Mother? What was Todd talking about?

He rounder a corner in time to see the silver fox propped up, staring at a wall. "Todd?" Caravaggio snorted and strode closer, lashing his tail. He took a cautious look around, and there didn't seem to be anybody else, so maybe they were safe. "What's the All Mother?" He asked, and in that moment turned his eyes to the mural carved into the wall. Woah. Was this always here, or did he just never notice it?

@Todd

Willow's nest was in tunnel I. It always had been; even though recently it had been abandoned. She had wanted to remain in Cetus for a while, with Dragon and Czernobog - but honestly, she couldn't care less about the rest of Aquarian's children, or Aquarian himself for that matter.

After all - there was something about Cetus that stirred the owl's insomnia. No matter how often she tried to sleep there was always some stupid thing that would wake her back up; if it be the abrupt calling of those dreaded one-eyed crows, or the splashing of a disgusting fish.

She needed a break from it all, simply put. The owl had flew back to tunnel I and upon reaching her nest, had almost immediately fallen asleep. It was comforting, familiar. Despite Willow's fairly poor sense of smell, she could tell it still had her scent to it - as well as the mix of Adeyemi's. Some of his bright green feathers were still in the edge of her nest, too.

Regardless, Willow met the fate that she often did when she tried to sleep. She was awoken promptly by the sound of another gembound, talking to another - even if it did take a moment or so for the other gembound to respond. The owl slowly emerged from her nest and padded along the ledge looking over the Carvings, watching the fox and the cow for a moment.

The cow had reflected her thoughts - she wasn't quite sure what the 'all-mother' was but the carvings certainly did resemble the huge white mushroom in Eridanus. Willow considered, for a moment, before simply calling down, "The wall will not answer you."

There was a pause before Willow fluttered down to observe. These weren't the carvings she had once recognized, were they? They seemed different-- surely she would have noticed the mushroom within the center of it?

She tilted her head and ruffled her grey feathers for a moment, watching the two for further commentary.

Once, Akiya would have been too terrified to come to the ground, much less leave Eridanus. But ever since finding that the "monsters" weren't all going to eat her, she'd been feeling much more confident. And since that natural feline curiosity had always pulled at her, it was time to look around and explore.

The tunnel was... strange. How could anyone make carvings like this? What did the symbols--she didn't know what they were, but she still recognized that they meant something--mean, and the pictures? She looked at them, and wished she could understand. Maybe someone else did--she'd be the first to acknowledge her ignorance.

So far, she hadn't seen any other people, but as she continued walking, she spotted some, up ahead. Maybe they'd know what the carvings meant!

Heading towards the small group, she stuck to the walking on ledges and the like, where they would have a harder time getting to her. She was willing to give them a chance, but there was no point in being reckless. That big monster could probably kill her just by stepping on her! Even the bird was as big as her.

"Hello," she said once she was within easy talking distance. Then she sat down and started studying the carving.

"Speech" @Caravaggio @Willow @Akiya

Todd hadn't the chance to wait for an answer from the all-mother because almost immediately there was the sound of hooves. At first he jumped with a yip of sheer fright, recognizing the sound- only for it to be replaced by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Caravag-gio!" he exclaimed proudly, his tail twitching with pure excitement. "The All-Mother!" he replied, as though it were obvious. "Flowers said the All-Mother protects us all." Todd spoke seriously. He knew what he'd heard and he believed every word of it. He raised his bejewelled paw and pointed it towards the centre of the carving. To the mushroom.

"That's the All-Mother! Flowers told me. She's biiiig, biiig, and she lives in Eridanus! I saw her."

Todd looked happy and excited at the thought- that is, until another voice shocked him out of it. As they spoke he gave a little whimper and shied away back towards Caravaggio. "She might do," he said softly. "I, ah, I dunno though." He sniffed the air and retreated between the cow's legs.

No sooner had he done so than there was another voice. His eyes were wide at that, and he looked from owl to cat before his gaze turned pleadingly to Caravaggio.

"You... ain't herbivores are you?" he asked them nervously.

It was refreshing to see Todd happy, especially to see him. Since the incident, Caravaggio had been adled with guilt for the way he'd spoken of the fox to the twin rhinos. White had taught him the importance of friends and Caravaggio liked to think that he and Todd were, in a way, friends - he didn't want to see the poor fox unhappy, least of all because of him. He delivered a smile when the fox excitedly greeted him, and the cow halted just behind the fox, lifting his amethyst gaze to the carvings. They certainly were interesting, but Todd's explanation did little to really tell him what All Mother was. The way he described it made the cow think that it was a really big Gembound of some kind. Thankfully, she lived in Eridanus, and the cow hated that place. He'd be safe from the giant... thing, whatever she was. Even the carving sucked at showing him what it was. It looked like a tree, kind of. With a big top to it. And... rays coming out of it?

Caravaggio was too busy scrutinizing the carving to hear the owl's approach, so when she spoke he jumped slightly and swung his head to see her. "Obviously." The cow guffawed and rolled his eyes. He didn't realize she was referring to Todd's earlier questioning of the carving, even as Todd fumbled to answer her. They were quickly joined by another smallish feline, and Todd was suddenly on the defensive, hiding beneath Caravaggio's legs as he asked if they were herbivores. The cow didn't think they were, considering among the three he was the only obvious herbivore. Despite that, the cow shifted and faced the two, hovering over Todd as a quiet reassurance. And still hoping the strangers weren't here to cause trouble.

"Any of you guys ever seen the All Mother?" He added, still intent on figuring out what this All Mother thing was.

@Willow

Akiya cocked her head, puzzled. What a strange question. It was so strange, in fact, that she assumed the small furry one was talking to someone else, and checked behind her. But no, there wasn't any huge intimidating creature behind her. It was just her, a tiny helpless cat, and the bird. So... how could the small furry one be afraid of her?

Then the huge scary monster turned to look at her, and Akiya found herself quite intimidated. "No, I'm not. What's--what's the All Mother?" The strange small furry one seemed to be quite obsessed with it, whatever it was. "I live in Eridanus, so maybe I once saw it. What does it look like?" She peered at the carving a bit more. It looked dirty. Maybe they should try to brush off some of the detritus. That could make the carving clearer, and easier to understand.

Akiya tried to, reaching out with a paw, but she didn't have a long enough reach to manage.

@Todd @Caravaggio

"Speech" @Caravaggio @Akiya

Peering out from underneath Caravaggio, Todd looked around at the others and felt safe. His big brown eyes were still careful but he let a sigh of relief escape his nostrils before looking expectantly around.

"Wha-?" He began, in response to Caravaggio, only to realize they were replying to the owl. He felt his skin prickle with embarrassment. If she couldn't talk, why did it look like her? Then again, the All Mother had never talked to him... He couldn't remember exactly what Flowers had said about her talking. Something here about not liking what she said, something there about sleeping... Todd was simply too awake to sleep! The little one's tail twitched erratically and his ears flattened back as he thought, because everyone seemed confused and Todd felt like they needed to know.

It felt funny to be the one explaining things for once. He didn't like it that much.

"I've seen her, I've seen her!" He cried out, flailing his bejeweled paw, with its large hooked claws gleaming. "She's big, big big. She's blue and she doesn't move or talk much. I think it's 'cause she's a plant of some sorts? Flowers said people think she's called the Monarch but she's really the all mother and she looks after and protects everyone."

The little fox breathed deeply.

"I've seen things like her before but they're really tiny."

He looked proudly up at the strange cat from where he was safely sat beneath Caravaggio, eagerly listening. They reached out a paw and Todd tipped his head to one side. "What are you doing? Can I help?"

"Maybe if we cleaned up the picture a bit, we could see what it was!" All this talk of the All Mother was beginning to sound vaguely familiar, and the fox's enthusiasm was positively infectious. "There are lots of tall trees in Eridanus, and there's this great big huge mushroom, but none of them are blue. So it must be something else." She hooked her claws into the moss, trying to pull it out and brush off the dirt that made it harder to see the picture.

Unfortunately, she wasn't too successful. She managed to brush off some of the worst of the dirt, but that wouldn't make it too much clearer.

"Dunno why I haven't seen her if she's there, though! How big are we talking? Just big, or biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig?" Akiya drew out the word, and gestured with her paws, trying to convey vastness. "Like bigger than him?" She pointed at the cow. "He's really big."