Golems did not often roam Cetus in large numbers.

So when this one appeared, part of the shock one might have felt at seeing it could have simply been attributed to its rarity. But further surprise might have come from its appearance.

It was as if part of the swamp itself suddenly rose, the marsh buckling and contorting with sounds of tearing roots and squelching mud; the stench of rising swamp gas and long-covered rot belched forth. A massive shape, hung with ancient plant matter and glowing dimly with long-forgotten sigils, pushed up from the muck.

It appeared to be a conglomeration of stones, yet half held together by blackened vines and roots, its entire form wet and dark with mud. The sigils pulsed as it stood there for a moment, and then it turned and began to move--slowly, but steadily--through the swamp. Each step was a crashing splash.

It appeared to be honing in on something, its ten foot bulk on a purposeful march.

Among the blue-glowing symbols and shifting boulders lay one final oddity: a hole in the stone that made up its chest, an indentation, as if something belonged there but had been removed.

The stone shape moved more swiftly, careening almost haphazardly toward the deeper waters--seeking the stone it sensed.

The stone of a creature in the water's shallows, perhaps--a thing low-down, and within its reach, should it catch up. The stone of Pelt, the leopard seal.

@Pelt @Asimona

Owwwww. Owwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Pain, it seemed, made Pelt act in strange ways. Oh, and think, too, because thoughts were important, and thinking was basically all she could do. That and groan occasionally. Well, at least she was awake. That was something. And maybe if she tried hard enough she could move something. Pelt herself, however, would have preferred to fall unconscious again, because oh, the utter humiliation of being defeated by a tiny Gemling fresh out of its chrysalis! It was so... sooooo... humiliating.

Except she had a feeling fainting again was probably not the best of ideas, because there was a sound in the distance. An ominous sound. Ominouuuuuuuuuuuuuus. Splashsplashsplash. Oh boy, Cetus was disguuuuuuusting. What was with - with all the mud everywhere - and then there were the insects - and the trees, the trees were like the least cheerfulest trees ever.... Why would anyone want to visit this place?

But Pelt decided that visitors were probably good for her. Maaaaaayyyyybe. Visitors, well, most people were nice. Selfless idiots. So they'd help her get out of here. Oh boy, oh boy, she HATED Cetus. Maybe she'd refrain from biting them if they helped her. Unless they were more Gemlings coming to humiliate her and cause pain. Painpainpain, it was everywhere, wasn't it? The first thing Pelt could remember was pain. No worries. Someday she'd hunt down that snake and make it pay. Not now though. She wanted to go someplace else first. Less mud would be nice. "Helloooooooo," she groaned. "I know you're out there. You're about as quiet as a dying fish with magical lion roaring powers. So come help me out already because lying on this tree root is getting reaaaaaaally uncomfortable!"

@Asimona

Asimona didn't often visit Cetus. The cold, dampness was pretty nice, but there was a point in which dampness was just. Too much. Despite her dislike for the awful memories she had created there, Pisces always just seemed like the perfect place. Cold and damp, but not too damp. Cetus was, well, too damp for an ice dragon.

But she was here anyways, mindlessly exploring, keeping herself moving. If she stayed in one place she would certianly lose her mind. So at least the change of scenery was nice. It seemed that fate, though, had driven her here. She heard the noise of the golem and thought that it was impossible. She had never seen one outside of Polaris before. She angled herself in her flight until she saw the shape of it lumbering through the cave, clearly fixed on something. She followed its path until she saw a shape in the mud some distance away. She turned her head down and pulled her wings in close so that she was speeding in close. When she arrived at her destination, she threw them open and there was the sound like a parachute as her descent came to a sudden halt. She hovered in the air above the creature and felt a jolt of recognition.

"Pelt? Is that you?"

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags: @Pelt
notes:

The wet, splashing stomping continued.

When Asimona swept overhead, the strange runed golem seemed to take no notice.

When Pelt cried out, it barely reacted. It stopped, for a moment; this is true. It stood silent in the muck for all of five seconds, almost as if... listening.

Then, perhaps uncreatively, it simply continued stomping.

If golems were known for sticking to Polaris, they were also known for other things: for not appearing particularly intelligent, for example, and for rarely casting any sort of magic. Indeed they seemed to hunt magic down, and to simply try and crush it.

This one, however, proved strange on at least two of these three counts. It stopped some distance away, whilst Asimona was calling out to Pelt, and it planted both rocky fists firmly in the muck-water.

There was a thrumming, a vibrating hum, ominous, through the mud and through the swampy water--something Pelt would clearly feel. Whatever was happening was probably not good.

@Pelt

Septiezal's jaws stretched over the carcass of a strangled cave deer, and he hungrily began to devour the hearty morsel whole. It had been awhile since he had eaten anything, or at least it felt like it. Septiezal noticed a spike in his hunger since reemerging. Greedily, he walked his jaws over the flesh, using his claws to help push it down his throat. His kill was halfway down his gullet when he felt it.

splash.. Splash.. SPLASH!!


With the deer still hanging from his mouth, the serpent slowly turned around, and his pupils widened in shock. Paralyzed he could only watch in terror a giant golem passed right by him. A towering behemoth made of stone, whenever these monsters showed up, it was never good. Instincts kicked in and he quickly purged the deer from his throat and quickly retreated into a den of roots. However, something was odd about this golem. It seemed to take no interest in him (much to Septiezal's confused relief). It passed right by him. Septiezal slowly crept out from his hiding place and looked on in awe. Golems were supposed to mindlessly go after anything magical, so why had it not sense him. As a matter of fact, its behavor indicated it was searching for something. A chill went down the serpent's spine at the thought of intelligent golems. The Children of Rot would want to know more about this. Septiezal had to investigate.

He followed the golem at distance, hoping it would lead him to whatever it was looking for. It wasn't long before it halted and stick its fists down into the murky water, then powerful vibrations ring through Septiezal's jawbones. Though he could not feel any sound over the strange thrumming, he detected the fresh scent of two gembounds in damp the mist.

They must be the targets.
"speak"

Asimona glanced back at the golem. It was getting closer. Pelt seemed pretty stuck and she didn't want to risk the monster getting closer. She flapped harder and turned herself, shooting away in the opposite direction before stopping a ways away from Pelt. She knew that golems followed magic - she'd learned that from her earlier encounter. She opened her jaws and breathed in deeply before letting out a colossal roar backed up by a huge blast of magic, in the form of air. The mud in front of her parted under the force and, hopefully, at her distance, the golem would at least get put off balance if not knocked over entirely.

Hopefully it would feel the magic behind her attack. And hopefully it would switch targets.

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags: @Game Master Dark
notes:

It worked.

The golem staggered heavily, nearly bowling over--but its great weight and size stabilized it. It turned, pivoting its feet but with its fist remaining plunged in the mud.

There was a split second where it seemed to fix on Asimona, where the buzzing vibration through the mud abruptly intensified--and then a sharply painful blast coursed through the muck.

Anyone in contact with it would have a chance to be shocked--burned, or briefly paralyzed--but it particularly arced straight for Asimona, through the air.

Asimona, who had successfully drawn its attention. Undoubtedly, had it continued to go for Pelt, the shock traversing water, instead, could have been deadly.

Most likely she would be knocked from the sky by the muscle-seizing power of it, and possibly paralyzed for a time, or even knocked unconscious. The shock would come, too, with a burning pain, with the cramp of muscles, with the ringing of ears.

It then began to stomp slowly toward her.

@Eythan

He had flown as quickly as he could, rune-inscribed stone tucked tightly into his shimmering talons. Of course, the Bone King hadn't given Eythan too swift of wings or body, showing a strong preference towards gliding and a specific pace. In this case, that pace wasn't fast enough. By mustering what little magic he held in his control, the gryphon had sped himself along through the caves and into the mist-filled, rumbling Cetus. The Collectors instructions seemed to turn out to be unnecessary, due to the sheer size of the golem looming in the distance and the figure descending in front of it.

The muck and mire crackled with an unknown energy, the empowered golem stunning the earth and sending a blast toward the large, leathery-winged creature. Eythan tightened his beak into a hard line, watching the dragon fall to the earth. "Hey!" He called out to no one in particular, well aware that golems weren't blessed with any sort of hearing --- well, most of them, anyways. But, he realized, that most golems weren't able to use magic either. Whatever these runes did, it seemed the the golem may just be able to hear.

Regardless, he had a contract to fulfill. As he passed over Asimona, he called out, "don't use your magic!" Then, he did the exact opposite of his words, trying to dredge up the spell he had been given. Eythan flapped his wings, ascending so that he was just above the golem. Still clutching the runestone in his talons, he hovered for a brief moment, calling on his magic. Don't fail me now, asshole, the gryphon pleaded. Feeling a little blip of it, he tucked his wings in and dove, screaming, "keep your eyes on me, motherfucker!" His skin turned to stone and gravity dragged him down ever-faster.

If everything went right, he'd be on a collision course with the top of the golem.

Asimona bared her teeth in a grin as the golem changed its course. It had worked - Pelt would be safe for now. But her victory was short lived. A vibration around her suddenly appeared and intensified very quickly. She tried to back away in the sky but it was too late. A blast of...something knocked her from the sky and sent her hurtling into the mud where she cried out in pain as the strange buzzing tickled and burned into her skin. She was used to the cold - she could easily resist cold winds, ice, and snow but this strange, burning vibration? She wasn't built to handle this. Her thick skin naturally insulated some of it but it wasn't much.

The sensitive skin around her skull that absorbed sound was pounding and ringing horrible and she felt her muscles seize. She tried to call out but her mouth wouldn't even open. She was just sinking in the mud, a large, silver dragon getting covered with filth and dark, murky water.

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags:
notes:

The golem paused, fist in the mud, and began to pull upright--just as Eythan crashed down upon it. It stumbled, heavily, whatever it was going to do to Asimona now interrupted.

It pushed slowly back upright, and then turned, aiming a giant stony fist for the hybrid.

The golem is attempting to punch the slowed stoneskinned Eythan. Eythan must roll to determine how much damage against the stoneskin, if any, is inflicted by the golem and by Eythan's own fall atop it. Any shattered stone will revert to damaged hide upon reverting to flesh "form."

@Eythan