Scorch drooped as Glory scolded him. The gem could take a peck, sure, but he'd been afraid that it would hurt him! With magic! Which would be terrible! Uh, not that hurting him with something other than magic wouldn't be terrible. What he'd meant was, any hurting would be terrible! Unless it was necessary because someone needed to eat. But gems didn't need to eat, and eating Greater Gembounds was unacceptable anyways. Ahem, moving on.

Working together sounded great! Much better than arguing, at least. So when Glory returned from his bone-hunt empty handed, Scorch volunteered excitedly to be next. "Hey! When I eat stuff, I throw up the stuff I can't digest as a sorta pellet thing, and that has bones in it!" Since he didn't want to make any of them touch his pellets (ew), he hopped off to find one himself, using his talons to extract a bone. Ew, now he had to wash his talons. Looking around, he saw a river nearby, but its shores were much too steep for him, especially since he couldn't fly yet. Sighing, he returned to the group. Oh gosh, this was disgusting. Why did he think this was a good idea again?

"Um, I have, like, a bone... but Gloryifyoudon'tmindcouldyoutakemedowntotheriverlatertowashmytalonsoffbecauseewewewthisisdisgusting?"

The gem continued to lay there, dimly pulsing. The bone being near it had no effect--even touching the stone with it would do nothing.

@Glory @Thothaga @Skeena @Scorch @Felina

Don't forget to tag the next person once you post!

"No. My name isn't 'Giggle'. It's Felina. I used to live in Canis. If this...'Giggle' lives there, I've never met her.

I've been away from Canis for a while. Unfortunately, that's the reason I can't think of any shortcut from here to there. I guess we have to get there by the shortest route possible."

The undersized female bobcat looked at the gem again. "If it's OK, I'd like to come along. I'll try to help as best as I can."

Felina hoped the Gembounds would accept her. The mysterious rune-covered gem might have some kind of meaning. She wanted to solve this puzzle, too.

((OOC: Please ignore the dice roll. I clicked on "Attempt" accidentally.))

Scorch stared intently at the gem, reaching out to poke it with the bone. Nothing happened. Not even the slightest reaction. So that wasn't it, then. Good, he was happy to be rid of the thing. With a flick of his talons, the bone went flying away from their group. So its path was a little crooked from what he'd intended, so what? It didn't hit any of the Gembounds, and that was what mattered.

"Nice to meet you, Felina. I'm Scorch." Canis... where was that? He'd never heard of the place before. He only knew of this room, Orion, and Eridanus, plus the passage connecting them. He was sure the older Gembounds would know something, though. "The question is, should we send someone over or bring this gem to Giggle together? I'm pretty young, so -" Scorch paused, thinking. How strong were his wings? He opened and closed them a few times experimentally, but they sure didn't feel like enough to hold him up in the air. "I'd probably just slow you guys down. But if someone who's fast and knows where Canis is can travel there quickly and bring Giggle with them, that might take less time than going there all together, even if that someone has to go farther."
@Glory @Thothaga @Skeena @Felina

As a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light
She is modest and pure as she graces the night
The new gembound announced herself as "Felina". She seemed like the helpful sort. That was good. More help was always good. Thothaga stared at the feline for moment. It was hard to tell what was thinking from her unblinking, beady, black eyes. "Not a hyena then." Thothaga simply said before turning back around towards the gem.

They could take it to this "Giggle. Thothaga felt her insight would valuable. They would be happy, waiting around, poking it with sticks, until the hyena corrected them, or perhaps, she could try to read it instead. Yes, she would read it then it would speak. Its magickal aura begged her to understand it.
Thothaga approached it with intrigue. "What clues does your past hold?" She demanded as she reached out to grasp the gem in her pedipalps.


"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Glory @Scorch @Skeena @Felina // OOC:

Glory eyed Scorch curiously, his heart almost bursting with happiness that someone had treated him as the superior figure. He nodded, but there were more pressing things to think about then taking a baby owl down to the river. What to do about the gem. Should he submit and let the spider take the lead? Try and hold himself back from being the one in charge? She seemed to have the best ideas when it came to what to do. But he didn't know if his pride could take it. He wanted to be the superior one!

He cleared his throat. "No, I think we should all go together. I don't think that it would do anything to bring Giggle here. The bones are probably pointing us to the room of bones, since a single bone did nothing. It's worth a shot." He glanced towards Scorch and gave them a smug look. "I could carry you if you don't think you could keep up. I'm quite strong and a very good flier!" He looked around at the rest, his burning gaze almost a challenge. "Is everyone up to traveling so far?"

©art by rettamkrad
@Thothaga @Scorch @Skeena @Felina

The moment Thothaga touched the stone, the moment her magicka connected, a flood of images flickered toward her. The spell was not as strong as it could have been, and thus some of it was distorted, missing, but what there was was surprisingly clear.

A vast room of piled bones, sorted in indistinct shapes--pits and towers, fortresses and scattered fields.

A hunched, tall figure in a dark hooded robe, cowering against a cave wall.

Shadowy forms surrounding him, raising limbs to the air.

The figure raising two long arms, robed, tipped with long, dark claws, in supplication--as if begging for mercy.

A flash of blue-white light, and the bone-etched gem lying on the rock.

The final image was clear enough: a small patch of stone along the walls of Canis, near where a small pool of water rose up. Carvings were etched in its surface, but what they depicted was unclear, and the image drifted into darkness as the spell at last failed.

@Thothaga

As a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light
She is modest and pure as she graces the night
Thothaga snapped from her trance-like state once the spell ceased. This was interesting, very interesting.

"It has shone me a something!" She announced to the others. "In the room of bones, along its walls, lies a small patch of stone with carvings. There! We must take it there!"

Carefully, Thothaga rolled the gem into her fangs. Since they could not wrap entirely around it, so she supported the precious artifact with her pedipalps. It was an awkward fit, but she felt strong enough to carry it. She started away from the group, impatient. "We must go, now!"

Then, the spider stopped dead in her tracks and looked around. It suddenly struck her that she had no clue were Canis was. Sheepishly, Thothaga turned back to the other gembounds. "Um.. which way is Canis?"


"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Glory @Scorch @Skeena @Felina // OOC:

Scorch beamed at Glory's offer to carry him. "That would be great!" The eagle did look like he was strong and a really good flier, and his words just confirmed it. The spider, Thothaga, reached for the gem. Scorch had already seen that touching it did no harm, so he didn't worry about it too much, even though touching it again seemed superfluous. But Thothaga said it had shown her something? Maybe the touch wasn't pointless, then.

"How?" he asked, confused. "How did you get it to show you stuff? Didn't you and Glory touch it before? Why didn't it show you stuff then?"

@Thothaga @Glory @Skeena @Felina

Glory stared at Thothaga with bewilderment. Had she used some kind of magic on the stone to get it to reveal secrets? If only he had that kind of power! But he knew that it wasn't his style - he could sense a deep, esoteric sort of magic flowing from the spider, quite different from his own fiery and physical magic. Perhaps that was best left to those willing to delve into those deeper arts.

As the spider went to pick up the gem, he took a step forward, narrowing his eyes. "Perhaps I should carry the gem. My talons are strong and I will be able to carry it easier. Besides, I know the way to Canis. I feel like it would be safer with me." He waited a moment for the spider to deside before lowering himself a bit for Scorch to hop on his back. "Dig your talons in, kid, I don't want you falling off. Don't worry, I can heal myself if you break skin." Of course, it would be a painful heal, but he didn't want to mention it to the bird. Besides, it would be all the more impressive when he did go to use the spell. "I'll lead the way to Room of Bones. I have been there a couple of times and I know the way. It's far, so be ready for a journey."

©art by rettamkrad
@Thothaga @Scorch @Felina @Skeena