The trail lead to Eridanus, a thousand sets of pawprints converging at the entrance, a hundred well-trodden paths turning into one.

At a glance, things would seem to be mostly normal here. The trees were still green and flowers fragrant. But, as one pressed deeper and deeper, things would start to change- those used to wandering here would know that something wasn't quite right. The deeper one pressed into the jungle's depths, the more one would notice a strange and bitter scent on the air, and the constant rustle of bodies moving, carelessly loud, but just out of sight in the undergrowth. Occasional shrieks echo around the cavern, and many rats' voices create a chorus of squeals, peeps, and hooting gasps.

And perhaps most frightening of all, there was the constant feeling of being watched and followed- no matter where you went, it was there- that rustle in the undergrowth, the occasional flash of red-crazed eyes following you into the dark.

The scent soon grew heady and strong, the Gembounds in the cavern might start to feel as though they walked a waking dream. Reality and the wild assumptions in one's head seemed connected by the thinnest of threads.

But scariest of all, was a low gully far from the entrance of the cave, which seemed filled almost with fluid. An orange-white pool, shifting and turning, floated and dissipated just above the ground, revealing that it wasn't, in fact, fluid, but a fine mist of a strange pale powder. And it was here that the sounds were loudest- squawking and shrieking and the sounds of fighting could be heard within the trench, as well as the sounds of eating. Occasionally the mist would part, and a rat would plunge out, bleeding and limping profusely, and it would run until it collapsed and died on the spot.

Just what was it beyond that mist, and was it the thing causing the cave rats to act strangely?

Perhaps it would be better to deal with the mist first...

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The quest is also still open to anyone who wishes to provide extra help!
@Aeroth @Carni @Zevruu @Amras @Kin-Kin

Carni arrived in Eridanus ahead of the others, his still freshly woken mind one-track. The trail coagulated into a mess of a path that led to... well, something bad looking.

He stopped a good distance away, observing and listening for a few short moments. The mist seemed to be causing some serious issues with whatever creatures wandered into it. Already wary, Carni found himself taking shallower breaths, the fur and feathers on his neck standing on end in his tension.

He'd have to clear the mist for a moment to get a better look... but maybe not from the ground. He started up a nearby tree until he sat on a lower hanging branch not too far from the chaos below. From there, he willed his magic out...

...thrusting his wings with claws anchored deeply into the tree's bark, he sent a blast of wind below and kept his eyes on the center of the mass in hopes of spotting a source or a clue.

Something had felt-... Wrong.

Khloros was in Eridanus, where he often came to graze, and drink. Now the place felt... strange, different. Surreal, in a sense, and moreso than usual. He wondered at first, in a vague and distant way, whether it were his memories here returning to haunt him as nightmares. Those who had betrayed him here, or turned him away.

He could not really remember, and so he dismissed the thought with a sort of mental shrug, and went about his feeding, picking his way slowly around the undergrowth. Now and again, something rustled, giving him pause, making him prick up his ears and lift his long head on its thin neck, to listen.

But whatever they were, always remained out of sight. He could sense them around him, watching, eating, but what were they? Rats? Mice, some other Lesser Gembound, the rabbits perhaps? It was not until he had delved much farther through the forest that he noticed that its usual petrichor scent was... different. Even over his own rank odor he could smell it--strange, bitter--and he flared his nostrils and paced onward, quiet hoofbeats marking a slow progression toward the source.

At times he stopped to eat, or went off-course to drink at a stream, or merely to stand and stare at trees, but in time the sound of shrieking and squawking reached his ears, and this--this, he followed.

It sounds like something in pain. Ears pricking up, pace quickening, he approached a break in the trees--and beyond, down in a gully, he could see the orange mist spinning. He watched from the shadows of the trees, pausing here, listening to the chaos, watching a bloodied rat scurrying out to limp away into the bushes. He tracked it with his lamplight gaze, then looked back to the mist, curious.

His mind reached out, through the stretching fingers of his magic, attempting to sense what lay within--and what sort of state it, or they, might be in.

________________

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

((ooc - UHOH LOL. Would a GM be so kind as to give me a HORRIBLE BACKFIRE?))

Amras Amras arrived shortly after the white hybrid had, reverting to his upright stance as they stopped short of a trench filled with some strange amorphous liquid. He'd already been a little on edge as soon as they got to this part of the room. He'd been here a few times before, observed the recovering aftermath of some fire that had raged many cycles ago. In all that time though it had never been quite this loud. The scent in the air was unlike the ashy mist of the burnt area nor was it like the floral scent of the more prosperous parts of the room had been. This was something new, something different. He watched the mists as his ally sought a better vantage. Really that wasn't a bad idea, with rats escaping occasionally staying on the ground was likely a hazard. Still, if the others had followed he wouldn't want to leave them defenseless should the rats decide to attack. Before they could do much though they would need to see exactly what was going on and perhaps try to stun the swarm within. An amusing thought crossed the gryphon's mind as he internally ran though his list of possible solutions. Was the powder cloud flammable? If it acted like powdered charcoal then surely igniting it would stun just about anything inside, right? Pouch 1: Black talc stones x7 (medium) Pouch 2: Charcoal dust 50 in3 Pouch 3: Quartz sphere x1 (large, soft glow) Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium) Take hold of the power within "And shape the fabric of reality around you" tags: notes: Leaving it for next post before describing how the spell fails, I suspect there might be a reason beyond bad luck.

Zevruu had followed the two creatures, one white and the other blue, into the tunnel and to Eridanus. His paw no longer hurt as much, and he found he could walk mostly normal, with minimal limping. With this, he was able to catch up to them. And when they stopped, he stopped as well, nearly bumping into the blue one. He walked around them, and immediately froze at the sight.

On the way here, he had felt like he was being watched. He paid it no mind, but there was definitely something - someone - watching him. And the sounds! It had been so loud. And the smell was unfamiliar. He was really starting to regret having gone in here, especially so soon after leaving it, saying he wouldn't return. What had happened while he was gone?

Looking around, he could see the white creature casting some sort of air or wind spell at it. The blue creature seemed to make an attempt at something as well. What could he do? None of his spells were particularly useful for this sort of thing. Could he cast his orb of light to check it out? Would that even do anything? It was worth a shot, surely. Besides, he couldn't just stand here and do nothing.

So he willed his magic to work, and was rather relieved to see it did. He worked on focusing it toward the mist, wondering what he would see.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Aeroth's ears went back when she walked through the place she knew so well, afraid of what could be putting this.. blight.. on the jungle. It felt.. sick. Like it was dying. Slowly but surely. She stayed low as she followed Carni, coming to the edge of the gully, her jaw going slack as she looked down into it, backing up and looking up at the hybrid she had come to trust. "What in the caves is that?" she asked shakily, this is the first time she had ever truly felt.. afraid. The witches-brew of gases swirling around terrified her.. she didn't like it. This place had been so lively before, and it was reduced to death itself..
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
Tags:
Notes:

Kin-Kin slunk in behind the other creatures, having been the only one to fail in detecting the trail. She had now, obviously, but failed to deliver any snarky remarks or show off. To redeem herself this time, she thought it best to simply follow, and hope that her failure would slip from the memories of the others or, better yet, go unnoticed entirely.

When she finally caught up, standing alongside the others at the edge of a basin which looked almost like fluid save for the strange powdered mist swirling around her paws.

She saw the white hybrid take to the air and using their massive wings, begin to beat the mist away. Kin-Kin decided to aid in this, and using her magic tried, and failed to summon an orb to light the way. Disappointment at her repeated failure made her spine bristle with shame. Her glow (and a similar orb cast by a big cat...) was going to have to be enough.


" speech "

With the beating of Carni's great wings, the strange mist began to swirl, rising out of the gulley and swirling in great clouds. Bit by bit, what lay beyond was revealed, with the strange powder spilling out into the forest beyond. The gully was not very deep, only dropping around two metres below ground level, rimmed by mossy rocks that formed gentle stepping slopes, making it easy for countless rats to enter. Perhaps it had once been large pond, but any water within had long since been reclaimed by the earth.

By the light of the orb, it was easy to see what was the source of the powder.

Mushrooms!

Masses of enormous, round, fluffy-looking objects could be seen inside the trench. They ranged from being around the size of golf balls, to being whole metres in diameter, and the hollow in the earth was almost full of them. Some were perfectly round, whilst others looked as though they had been eaten hollow. Most of the mushrooms had chunks taken out of them, some of which could only have been made by hundreds of rats. Some still spewed their strange powder out into the air.

The gully was also filled with masses of rats; not just reds, but echoing greys and shrieking pitch rats. It was impossible to tell true birdcalls from the sounds of the greys fighting, and the shrieking of reds and pitch rats created an almost deafening din. But as the light fell on them, most of the rats began to scatter, fleeing, squealing into the rapidly dissipating mist.

Soon, all living rats had scattered, leaving the trench littered with the bones and carcasses of those who'd literally eaten themselves to death.

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@Carni @Khloros @Zevruu @Amras @Aeroth @Kin-Kin

The plagued horse stood overwhelmed for a time, his senses reeling at the overload of information feeding into his brain. He slowly collapsed to his knees, a loud snort escaping him as he lay amongst the ferns.

Everywhere--it's everywhere--

It took several minutes for him to regain himself, and when he did, even, he remained disoriented.

There--something's blown it all away--and-... Mushrooms? The horse watched, for a time, hide twitching as he stared. It was fairly clear to him that the fungus ought to be destroyed, but how? He wasn't sure if his disease could do it, but it wouldn't hurt, he supposed, to try.

Unless the rats came back, and ate the disease too, and spread that; but at least it would kill them more quickly. If not start a cavewide plague-apocalypse.

He slowly untangled his long legs and stood, keeping his head as high as he could--and hopefully away from whatever was affecting the rats. He assumed it was inhaling, and he was much taller, but he wasn't sure. Slowly he paced into the little gully, head held as high as he could keep it, and then brushed against the fungus. His body was slicked in the pus of his disease, and his hope was to infect it, rather than... the other way around.

Though what effect a plague bacteria might have on a fungus, if any, remained to be seen.

________________

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

Amras Just as Amras was about to unleash a bolt of lightning at the cloud a gust of wind swept it up and broke his concentration by spectacle contained within. The sounds had given some indication of the scale of the issue, but actually seeing the pure carnage was something different entirely. Lowering his hand, the spell now lost, Amras cautiously approached. The rats were fleeing as light shone within and the real source of the problem was becoming apparent. Mushrooms, countless dozens, perhaps even hundreds of them lined the pit and even now tried to fill it with powder again. He'd seen the strange powder in the trail the rats had left behind- they'd definitely come from here. "Good job!" He called to the two felines who had lit the way, quickly adding in "I guess there's only one way to find out" in response to the remaining one's question. While most of the rats seemed to have fled there was no guarantee that they were all gone. Descending into the pit to investigate the mushrooms would be extremely risky unless they had a constant airflow like the white winged cat could probably provide and a guarantee that any hiding rats had fled. "I'm about to try to make a loud noise to flush out any stragglers." the gryphon warned as on two legs he walked up toward the edge of the gully and retrieved a handful of finely ground charcoal dust from his middle-left pouch. He hadn't actually tried this on purpose for any practical application before but his accidental usage had been effective in a previous sparring match. While he prepared to throw the sawdust in his left hand Amras began to channel energy into his right- his gem glowing white to yellow to orange as it stepped through the phases of his elements. There was no need for a barrier this time, all he needed was a small flame and that wouldn't burn him any worse than a large flame with a heat barrier would. That also meant that holding the unmanifested energy stable would be a lot easier. Making sure that no one was too close by the gryphon tossed his handful of combustible dust into the air above the gully and let it dissipate into a decent-sized cloud before allowing the spell in his right hand to manifest and striking the flaming limb into the cloud, bracing himself for what would probably be an explosion loud enough to scare any hiding rats away. Pouch 1: Empty Pouch 2: Charcoal dust 40 in3 Pouch 3: Empty Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium) Back bag: Empty Take hold of the power within "And shape the fabric of reality around you" tags: notes: Dust explosions are fun; Luckily know better than to use more than a handful XD