[This thread is for the leaders (and any group members they choose to bring) of the Kingdom of Eridanus, the Children of Rot, the Sinful Seven, and the Bonebound. If other Gembound enter they risk being forcefully ejected or injured. If you're a group member, please only enter the thread if your group leader has agreed to bring your character. All CoR members will have been invited by Dragon.]

Dragon hated this tunnel. It was cold, icy--though he kept now, at least, to the entrance near Eridanus. That was greener and warmer, with bent trees providing some measure of protection from the winds that blew through here.

It was a neutral ground: a relatively central point in the cave, and one at least halfway between Eridanus and Cetus. The last time he'd tried to call a meeting between the groups, nobody had come--perhaps because they hadn't trusted him enough to enter Cetus. Word had been sent out this time by Eve and by others, a quiet murmuring, a request for a short meeting in this tunnel, and on this day, near dusk.

This time he waited quietly, outside their home. He'd asked the Children if they'd wished to come--though also asked them to hang back, a bit, so as not to seem like a waiting ambush, or army. It was long past time to speak with the others in the caves--to share knowledge, to share information, to offer aid to one another.

It was to improve all of their chances at survival.

Still, he fretted over exactly what to say. If he outright said not to trust Astraea and the other elders--well, who knew which Gembound had his ear, which owed him their loyalty? He was pondering, still, exactly how to put this.

@Rift @Envy @Aure

'Take me to your leader,' Eve had said fuck-knows-how-many-times the last few days, followed by a mimicried message. 'Tell them that DRAGON, the leader of the CHILDREN OF ROT, requests their presence in tunnel H in two days' time at dusk--near the grassy place. Eridanus. That side. They will know the place, I hope.'

It'd been a rough time for her-- though she'd been previously excited to go flying through the caves again. She flew with her lantern, found each leader, relayed the message, and went back. It was a long flight, and she'd used a lot of magicka to do so quickly. She was exhausted enough that she went straight to her nest and took a nap.

That had been two days ago, though it felt like only two minutes had passed when Dragon was calling for a meeting, to depart into the tunnel to meet with the other leaders. 'Come if you want to,' Dragon said, roughly. 'Five more fucking minutes,' Eve replied, fifteen minutes ago.

She left her lantern in her nest, this time, but she did eventually get up and came splitting into tunnel H like a shadow, drifting easily along the tunnel before coming to land neatly on Dragon's head. She yawned, stretched, and snapped a couple of joints back into place.

"Think they'll come?" She asked quietly, still sleepily.

[Rift is coming alone]

It had been an eternity since Rift had left Eridanus...so many cycles that he forgot what the caves just outside his home even looked like. Even so, he wasn't exactly going far out of his forest home, but still walking from the warm greenery of Eridanus to the sudden chill and barren colors of the tunnel was jolting and his fur puffed with surprise. And also because he was cold.

He saw the alligator from some distance but did not speed up at the sight. He continued at a level pace, trying to make his puffed up fur less obvious, although it was difficult since he really was quite cold. It was much warmer in Eridanus then it was here. After a moment he stopped trying and just let himself look a little ridiculous.

He couldn't help but admit that he was quite nervous for this interaction. He had briefly met the Children of Rot some time ago, but the interaction had not given him much to go on. He knew Envy, at least he knew them through Pride and they seemed okay, not malicious at least. But he knew nothing of the Bonebound, or their leader and, frankly, the name made him a little suspicious.

At long last, he arrived at where the alligator and the crow where waiting. He nodded, but did not sit down or let himself relax. Not yet, at least. "Dragon," he greeted but said nothing else. He wanted to ask exactly what the meeting was about but decided to wait until the other leaders had arrived. They were sure to be asking the same question.

One, very odd day, a black bird had come into Canis, crowing for the Bonebound and their leader. As soon as Aure had come to actually listen to what the bird (who introduced herself briefly as Eve) had to say, a deep rumbling voice emerging from seemingly nowhere had announced a meeting of leaders, of sorts. Immediately, his mind flickered to the possibility of being the one mentioned by Black, some cycles ago. It was someone named Dragon, and dragons tend to be scaly beasts, like the one in the windy cavern.

It was a reasonable assumption confirmed, as he lazily fluttered into view, feathers slicked down to keep heat in his body. His head tilted downward slightly, listening as his mother spoke of a previous meeting held in Pisces --- an offshoot of this particular tunnel, of course. Aza'zel and Giggle had gone to meet some members of another group of the time, Maji Walezi, and spoken of alliance. Perhaps that was what Dragon sought, today.

There were already a number of Gembound present --- a green cat, Eve, and the supposed alligator of the hour: Dragon. Definitely the creature Black had spoken of.

Like Rift, Aure alighted and bowed his head simply toward the massive reptile and then the odd feline. "I am Aure, Bonebound." A glance was spared to Giggle, hoping that there would be no ill reaction at the sight. There was no need to show aggression here, in front of strangers. The wyvern took his supposed place, evenly spaced between the cat and Dragon, while still leaving room for the fourth leader, should they arrive.

Giggle paced up more unconcernedly. She was relaxed, it seemed--so much so that when she sat beside Aure, it was with eyes half-lidded and muscles slumped. In fact, she yawned hugely, and started to scratch behind one ear idly.

She'd consulted the bones, before they'd come. They'd been clear: the start of a journey, a journey worth making, it seemed--and they spoke, too, of communication, of wise advice, of leadership. Lastly of wealth--of the fruits of their labors. She trusted her readings enough to truly believe, then, that there would be no betrayal--no sudden fangs in the back, or ambush by unknown enemies. When her hind paw reached the ground, again, she cast dark eyes around the cave.

"Hello, Dragon. Is Serek coming?" she asked, her masculine voice rasping hopefully. She hadn't seen her son in many cycles, and she missed him--she wanted to see how he was doing.

Of course, she was also quite curious as to the purpose of this meeting. Dragon hadn't been particularly clear on that, it seemed, but Giggle had taken the "wise advice" portion of the bone reading as suggesting that she ought to be there--a wise presence, indeed, to advise her Bone King.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

Wilder came racing through the tunnel from Cetus. Dragon had invited everyone in the Children of Rot to some secret meeting with all of the leaders and she wouldn't be missing out! She didn't mind that Aure hadn't invited her, she'd be coming anyways! About halfway down the tunnel, though, a scent caught her nose, very faint, but there. It smelled vaguely familiar and she stopped to investigate a rock where the smell was coming from. But then there was a hissing sound and Wilder jumped back. She didn't have time to deal with that right now. She'd come back later.

She arrived at the meeting and saw Dragon, with his new bird friend, as well as Aure and his mom. Plus a green cat! "Hello!" she squeaked happily, bouncing into the meeting with her tail held high. She had absolutely no idea what the meeting was about, no idea about the horrors that had come from Eridanus, and no idea why everyone was so tense! What were they worried about?

She didn't sit down either, but more because she was far too excited about all of this. But she held it in. They were all so serious! But she had the sense not to break that air, at least not completely.

With their wounds, Envy was among the last to arrive, and they did so with a slight limp. Whilst their surface wounds had mostly healed due to magic, their bones still echoed with sharp stabbing pains as they walked.

They were nervous as they approached, although their anxiety was slightly alleviated by the fact that Pride... or at least, the scouting shade he'd said ahead, walked ahead of them like an ethereal bodyguard. Envy themselves had insisted on going ahead. Pride had concerns; he had a lot of concerns. And so the logical conclusion was to send ahead a scout.

After all, the Seven knew little of the cave's other factions. They could be being lured into a trap. But the last thing Envy wanted was to be seen as weak. They were already late; but that didn't mean they were going into it without precautions. Their fur crackled with magic that hid them under a coforting cloak of invisibility as they scuttled ahead and among the other gembounds; all of them so much bigger than Envy.

Finally, as they drew near, as they had listened to the others' words and their magic was wearing thin... once they were certain that there would be no fight, the weasel stepped out into the open and materialised. They shed the magic from their fur and straightened the crown atop their head as they tried to look regal, and proud, and strong. They hoped the display would be enough to show the others- all of them so big and strong- that their magic was a force to be reckoned with.

"I am Envy, King of the Sinful Seven... and I come with Pride." they twitched their muzzle back down the tunnel, but kept their eyes on the alligator.

Speech. Thought.

Pride was, if anything, even more paranoid than Envy. He didn't know these Children, didn't trust their motives. Why were they being asked out into a tunnel..? Why could this leader not travel the slight extra distance to Orion? Was it a trap? Were the remaining Bloodberries somehow involved?

Suspicious, he'd asked Envy to wait while he formed a double from his energy magic. This he'd sent ahead, to scout the tunnel. Though he'd lost his grip on it just as it came into sight of the rest (the risks of starting too far away, he supposed), he'd been able to note that at least there was no highly visible trap. No marauding idiot goose lay in wait; there were only a few Gembound he knew, and a couple that he didn't, quietly talking. They might--if observant--have noted a brief image of Pride stepping around the far curve before shimmering from sight.

He followed Envy in at a respectful distance--helped by the fact that, once close enough, he actually had no idea where the weasel had vanished to. So he'd pulled farther back, to be safe. Once his King had made their appearance, Pride stepped forth regally.

He bowed his head in silent greeting, silvered antler-tines sweeping the air, and remained quiet.

Pride would wait and see what this was all about, and meanwhile, be ready to defend Envy in case of an attack.

Mischief he left at the tunnel exit to guard the way back out--hidden, but ready to alert him if someone came.

The alligator watched with mounting satisfaction--and interest--as various Gembound turned up, offering a quiet "It seems they will," to Eve. He nodded a greeting to each as they arrived, an acknowledging rumble following. Giggle asked him a direct question, and he spoke, if briefly. "I do not know. The Children have all been informed. Though we did not know you were coming," he added. Giggle was Serek's mother, certainly--but he'd had no idea the hyena would turn up. Serek might come, or then again he might not.

When the rest had arrived, the alligator got right down to it. There were no displays of magic, no bellowing whatsoever--but he was careful to keep close watch with nose and eyes and magic on the tunnel itself, watching constantly for any intruders. Too, he kept his voice low enough that only those quite close could hear it.

"I am Dragon, of the Children of Rot. I thank you all for coming." He looked briefly at each of the others. Some he knew; some he'd never met. Rift he'd met--what, once, perhaps? The cat looked different; quite so. He gave him a long stare, curious, and then went on. "We Children are not many, but we have lived long, in the safety of the swamp. I am told that each of you--King Envy, and Rift, and Aure--you are each leaders of groups of your own."

He paused, his thick, ridged tail slowly sweeping the damp rock behind him. He considered his words, judging his audience as he went on. The same questions plagued him. How specific could he be with his warnings? How free with his information? They were not many, at least, and so that was something good. If their secrets leaked from here--well, they might spread, but at least there weren't fifty Gembound present to hear it.

"For many cycles we have listened to the advice of Aquarian--our great Father who dwells in Cetus. He told us that to uncover the secrets of the caves, we must survive. And so we have. Yet there is still much we do not know. There are many older than us--more powerful--here in the caves. The black dragon was one of these; the phoenix and the stag who fought him with us are more. The serpent Skahan, the Three Kings, Nemean the Betrayer!--the tree of Cetus; all beings far older than we, with more knowledge. I called you here today," he continued--and here he took a breath--"to ask that we form a pact. To share with one another knowledge as we find it--and to keep this knowledge secret. We do not yet know which Elders are truly our allies... and which may harbor goals of their own, counter to our own of survival. They fight among themselves, after all; Astraea the stag has lied to the Kings and kept them captive; Nemean has betrayed Aquarian; many have fought Raheerah. In time some of them may turn on us--there is no way of knowing."

"I propose," the alligator went on, his voice an ancient bass growl, "that we seek knowledge together, in our different areas of the caves. That we use our magic to seek the past; to sense the history that lies in stone and bone," and here he nodded in turn to Envy and to Aure, "to learn what secrets are held by the water and the plants." A nod to Rift. "To listen to what we can find--and to share with one another, but never with these Elders. If you agree to this, I will tell you all that we Children know of the caves; perhaps there is something you each might share in turn. If your loyalties lie purely with the Elders, however," and here his voice at last took on a more threatening note, a tone of warning, though not authoritarian--"I would ask that you depart, and not consider this pact further. But if you are willing... then perhaps, together, we can unravel the history of our home, the meaning of the stones and their carvings, the purpose of our lives and the plans that set it all into motion. Perhaps we can learn the future intended for us... and whether we wish it for ourselves. And most of all--perhaps we can learn how best to ensure our mutual survival."

@Eve

Eve puffed up with pride, if briefly. She'd done her work in sending messages and now all the leaders-- or at least the ones she and Dragon knew of --were here, some accompanied by others. She didn't know most of them, but she knew enough.

For once, the raucous crow was silent. She remained on the crown of Dragon's head, looking up and down the tunnels for intruders or potential ambushes, the only sound she gave was a faint trill of agreement towards the alligator she was standing on.

@Rift