When the aye-aye began to drag the still-warm carcass of the rat, the body left a smudge of a strange, orange powder against the floor of the cave. Other than that, and the blood still leaking from the stumps that had been its fangs, there seemed to be nothing too abnormally wrong with the rat. no strange lumps, nothing to suggest why the rat had been so desperately gnawing the bone.

The Jaguarundi, however, went so far as to grab the rat's scruff in their fangs and throw it. The strange powder on the white rat's fur would taste bitter to them, and for several moments after they will feel strange, elated, perhaps compelled to follow a mysterious urge that will soon disappear.

What is this strange powder, and why is it covering the rat?

Quest participants may now post their replies.

@Aeroth , you may roll to shed the strange feeling which has overcome you.
@Yuma @Carni , perhaps you should try something else?

The pretty feline was grateful, thanking him as she freed herself of the rubble. She seemed fine. He shook his head, a bit winded from his casting, promising that it was no problem to him at all. Then, the little strange one came wandering over with a corpse of a rat and the other cat tore it from his grasp. He watched attentively as they argued.

Perhaps he'd be the only one to take notice of the powder, the other two busy with their values and ideals.

He wandered over to where the rat landed, eyes locked on that dusting of orange powder. Strange...

His eyes turned back to where it'd sat gnawing before. Carefully, he pawed his way back over there and stood above the rat's place of death. Here, he'd begin scouring for any signs of a trail of this powder, wary of using his nose lest he get any of it into his system.

He hadn't noticed Aeroth inhaling any of it. He didn't think it bad yet. Just unknown and strange.

She sneezed and shook her head as she inhaled a bit of the powder. She sat back dazed for a bit after speaking before Shaking it off and following Carni, watching him as he seemed to search around. "What are you doing..?"
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
Tags:
Notes: Roll 15 or below and she is affected.

Yuma Yuma simply shook his head as the rat was pulled out of his grasp and tossed away onto the floor. What had been the point of that? Was the cat attempting to start a fight? Useless, why assign value to something that no longer even responded to simple stimulus? The larger cat was investigating something now and the aggressive cat seemed to have choked in their own hubris, but neither of those things were interesting. Without a single word, and not even bothering to pick up the rat again, the small creature dragged itself back into the distance where it would try to find something, anything that would justify it being awake again. -Exit Yuma -

Tags: @Carni @Aeroth

As the hybrid sniffed in their effort to find a trail, they would have found traces of an earthy yet bitter scent, almost nauseating. And though traces were scarce, as though few carriers had passed through Canis itself, it was unmistakable to tell that this poor soul now lost among the bones had not been the only one in these caves.

The more that the creatures focus, the more signs they'll be able to see- aside from the bitter scent, faint smears can be seen on dark stones and powdery pawprints all seem to follow the same track whether they be coming or going; leading out of Canis and through Orion, all paths converging in on Tunnel I.

Quest participants may now post their replies.
If you wish, you may also converge with the participants of the thread A Scream as you pass through Orion. Or, you could head directly to Eridanus to continue the quest.
@Aeroth @Carni

Carni didn't immediate answer Aeroth as he shuffled around the cave, nose near the floor and wings scooping to either side as if helping the scents to linger by his face. When he finally did raise his head again, his jaws were parted and lips peeled back, flehman response.

"There was something wrong with that rat." He explained. "I rarely see rats in Canis that aren't half-starved and flighty. That one was obsessive and totally oblivious." He shuffled a paw over the stone floor and glanced towards the exit. "It leads out... I'm going to follow it." He turned back to Aeroth with a charming smile. "You can follow me if you'd like, though I'm not sure how far it goes." With that he headed for the tunnel leading into Orion, back on the trail.

( Exit Carni, headed for A Scream and then to Eridanus)

Aeroth shook her head again, sneezing and letting her mind clear before following Carni out towards Eridanus "Oh.. ok then." She still would seem slightly dazed as she padded behind him quietly.
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
Tags:
Notes: Exit Aeroth