Khloros snorted, and turned. The last, large rat was attacking the winged thing, and he charged for it. Thin though he was, his muscles were powerful, unnaturally so for his rail frame. Hooves clattered over the dirt, thumping loudly, as he rushed for it.

He would try and stomp it, crush it, sending it rolling and sprawling in the dirt, into the ferns or even, perhaps, dead.

Whatever was going on, it was obvious that the rats were aggressive, and needed to die, most likely.

Another shrill whinny escaped him as he charged, echoing eerily through the jungle--or just irritatingly, depending on how one might see it. His eyes rolled wide in ghostlight, and the snorts from his nostrils sent plagued spittle pluming.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

Envy slunk between gnarled roots and beneath old ferns, lost as lost could be, and teeth bared in displeasure. Somewhere along the way, their attention was piqued by a strange smell, and a strange, heavy mist that lay low to the ground. They couldn't resist following it, mostly out of curiosity, and picked up the pace as their sensitive ears picked up the sounds of battle encroaching.

As they drew nearer and nearer, the sheer heaviness of the mist(or... perhaps it was something else?) began to make them feel slightly ill, and they finally came to a gulley, to them a deep crevasse. the little weasel saw a group of gembounds struggling with some enormous rats, and many mushrooms littering and at times blanketing the area. Blinking slowly, they cautiously made their way into the trench, tilting their head. Some of the gembounds here were attacking the mushrooms, whilst the rats appeared to be losing fast. They couldn't help but flinch slightly as they saw Khloros' hooves come down on a half-dead rat, and hastily turned back towards the pair of cats- one who seemed out for the count, and the other spitting fire on a mushroom.

Envy puffed up, pattering over to a large nearby mushroom, and jumping onto it, starting to tear it apart with tooth and fang. Might as well play the hero whilst they were here, right?

As Sebastian unloaded his gut of bile that bubbled and boiled and sizzled with heat all over its precious domain, the last remaining rat let let go of Amras and let out a throaty squeal of rage, but the sound was cut short as, in its moment of distraction, Khloros' hooves crushed it into the ground, ending its misery for good.

As Envy sank tooth and claw into the mushrooms, they would get a nasty shock. a familiar nausea would rise in their gut, along with a prickling sensation. whilst they might feel elated or a disconnect with reality, they might also feel their body moving and jerking, thrashing outside of their own volition as a jolting feeling rises in their gut. The only way to get rid of the feeling is to- as they have done many times before- throw it up, and then they might see the fluid buzzing and crackling with electricity. Though the vomit is real in this situation, the jumping lights and jolting electricity through their belly was all in their head. Envy has learned Electroball!

The mushrooms that Sebastian was focusing his attacks on hissed when the boiling liquid came into contact with them, soft flesh shriveling back and a foul-smelling smoke pouring out. those mushrooms shrivelled, and in time they would die. But there were a lot more of them in the hollow, and the efforts of a single gembound were unlikely to be enough. Perhaps they could find a way to seal off the hollow, somehow, so that Khloros' plague could do its work inside?

90% of mushrooms remain.

Red Rat has 0/30 hp.
Echoing Greys have 0/30 hp.
Pitch rat has 0/30 hp.

Any contact with the mushrooms will result in the learning of a spell of a random element, but the afflicted must roll successfully to shake off the effects.

Envy barely had time to analyze the situation- first, their vision blurring and their grasp on the current situation waning. Then the nausea caused them to choke violently, spitting out what little remnants of the mushrooms still remained in their jaws as they retched and arched their spine, stumbling back from the offending mushroom. That's when the pains started. They dropped to the ground as their body convulsed involuntarily, a shrill squeal emerging from their throat.

They tried to get back up, but found their limbs stiff, and eyes were wide with terror. They convulsed again, another strangled gag emerging. They tasted bitter bile in their mouth, and spewed fluid out onto the earth. Fluid that crackled and burned before their very eyes. They stared, transfixed, as they struggled to bring themselves back to their senses.

But gasping and thrashing, they failed to regain their feet or control of their mind, their vision blurring, and sides heaving, as their eyes flickered, glancing wildly around.

Rift heard Sebastian's voice from close by and his chest opened just enough so that he could move. However, it wasn't enough to shake off the spores. His claws dug into the earth and he struggled against the tightness. His body shook as he fought against the hallucination. "H-help...me....someon..."


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

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Amras winced as the anticipated pain shot through his left paw. To his relief though it lasted only a second as the black cat returned the favor by blasting the attacker off him.

As much as he would have liked to rest now that the rats had been eradicated it was obvious that time was still against them. The gulch was filling up with spores again and it was starting to affect the others. Perhaps if they destroyed the source quickly enough they could slow down the process.

The gryphon picked himself off the ground and nodded thanks to Sebastian, moving toward a particularly dense cluster of mushrooms. He'd have to shape this one carefully- unlike the feline he had no ranged fire spells. He might, however, be able to send out a shockwave that would destroy a few larger mushrooms and push some of the cloud out on its way through. Risky but it seemed like the best plan given the information he had to work with.

Sadly though he tried he could not gather enough magic to prepare a suitable spell. His head was spinning from standing in the area too long. It was probably for the best anyways: the magic would probably have sent more spores into the air than it would have removed.

"Let's head for higher ground, see if we can figure out how to get rid of these before the rats move back in" he called out as he moved toward an edge of the gully, ready to climb up.

---

Pouch 1: Black talc stones x7 (medium)

Pouch 2: Charcoal dust 45 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"
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notes: None

Before she knew it, Kin-Kin was on her side, and panting, struggling to get rid of the hallucination which had taken a hold. She was barely aware of the battle that raged around her. Barely aware of the Gembounds gaining the upper hand or the danger that she was in. At some point, the she-wolf lost consciousness, and when she came to, the world once more returned to focus around her, although there was some kind of a disconnect between the sensations she felt, and what she was thinking. Her paws slowly raised her into a sitting position, where she shook her head slightly, and stretched.

Looking around revealed several dead rats, and a few Gembounds- a tiny weasel thrashing on the ground seemed particularly afflicted, and a mountain lion whose friends clustered around, struggling to clean him of the spores. Kin-Kin was taken aback by what such a seemingly innocuous-... well... in this situation, not so much... -clump of mushrooms could do. Shaking her head, she rose to her feet, and paced around. Physically ripping up the mushrooms, it seemed, would not be an option, and that would likely only lead to the release of more spores. similarly, they couldn't exactly set the forest on fire... or could they? maybe they could.

Or maybe they could somehow seal off the mushrooms? Close up the hole, somehow. Kin-Kin began to clamber up one of the gulley banks, carefully avoiding stepping on any of those nasty mushrooms. for now, all she wanted was a better look.

The diseased horse was unsure what he could possibly do with the mushrooms. He wasn't sure if diseases would even have an effect.

The cats looked safe, but still thrashing in the throes of whatever disease or magic the fungus had inflicted. Thoughtful, Khloros turned, and started to stride down into the hollow with a snort. He went right into them, trying to simply drain them into death, to kill them and take their life for his own. To wilt them away, and their effects with them.

I am no rat, I am tall and my head is high above them. I should be fine.

It probably wouldn't be, but it was logical in his mind, and so he wandered in.

He closed lamplight eyes, shuddering in bliss as he felt even the grass over which he strode slowly feed him, their existence slipping into nothing. His body and mind flowing with fresh energy.

Pass into death. Pass, and strengthen he who carries it.

________________

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

Everything was going wrong.

As Sebastian watched, a small Gembound began to convulse, eyes wide and vomit spilling from their throat. He bristled, and lunged forward to grab them by the neck. He carried the flailing Gembound out of the mushrooms. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he had to get them away from the mushrooms. He set the weasel down outside of the range of the mushrooms as carefully as he could, before stepping forward.

Terror ripped through his chest at the sight of Rift, and he made a soft whining sound in the back of his throat. But he couldn't go into the mushrooms for fear of falling to the effects of the mushrooms. Besides, he didn't think he could move Rift on his own. He looked around helplessly, before hearing the hybrid yell. He turned to the hybrid, and called out, "Help me move him!"


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

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Rift growled lowly with whatever breath he had. He didn't want to be a burden. He had come here to save his forest from the rats and the mushrooms! He couldn't hold up the others by sitting around and needing saving. He dug his claws into the ground again and mustered whatever strength he could before giving his pelt a strong shake. The spores, finally, went flying off his fur and the tightness began to ease. He struggled to his paws, sides heaving, his eyes wide and terrified. Whatever he just happened, he hoped it never happened again.

He found himself face to face with Sebastian. "Don't worry...I'm okay!" His ears flicked at the sound of the hybrid calling and he wasted no time. He turned and jumped out of the mushrooms and raced up to the bird-thing's side, turning back.

He felt sick. The mushrooms were disgusting and horrible and they clouded the whole forest. He had to destroy them. Or, at least, help the others. He growled and flexed his claws. This was going to be difficult.


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

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notes: