It had been a long time since Bremen had been here to Fornax. While he was running his shop he hadn't really been able to wander too far away lest someone come and steal away all his treasure while he wasn't looking. now however he was free once more to go out looking for treasure and adventure. What better place to start then than the cavern where he and his noodlekin had had their first big adventure.

Well, it had been a bit of an awkward adventure but this was a big cavern and surely there was more to see here than lovestruck sea monsters.

It was here in the warm waters of the ceiling cavern that the dolphin part of the hybrid's ancestry could really shine. With his smooth skin, leathery wings, and impressive lung capacity he could glide through the water just as easily as he could glide through the air.

The morning so far had been mostly uneventful- catch a few fish, get as close as he dared to the steam vents underwater, see how high he could jump out of the water without using his wings- the standard swimming pastimes. During one of his particularly high jumps though he spotted a gathering of gembound in the distance, all seemingly focused on one big gembound in the center.

Could that have been one of the ancients like the not-a-horse-lady or the reindeer person that had given him his snow globe? Perhaps he could get a pretty gift from this one too. A scavenger hunt would be a great way to focus his attention and stretch his legs again now that he was awake.

After splashing down the cat-sized hybrid quickly swam to the edge of the landmass, straining his ears to listen in on the task at hand.

Dyes? That wasn't a crystal like the last time... or perhaps it was? It sounded like they had lots of options and this quest would require some creativity, exactly the kind of thing Bremen was good at!

With uncharacteristic silence Bremen ducked back under the water and began to speed toward the room's exit, where he would slide down the icy tunnel and make his way to the farthest room he could think, of. That way he'd probably have first pick of the rarest dye ingredients.

Monoceros- room of the winds. Surely something would be hidden among the chaos there!

---

’Thinking... thinking... thinking…’
"This is my voice, isn't it neat?"
Tags:

The big dragon huffed in thought, threads of smoke rising from his nostrils.

This thing promised them... something. He wasn't sure what. He didn't know what most of it meant; something about death and feathers, he hadn't really paid attention. But it sounded shiny, so Dread turned, wing-walking away.

He wasn't about to haul his ass the entire way back down Tunnel M--slipping and falling down the mountainside for a mile, no thanks. No; he had a stash here, somewhere.

He just-... had to find it again; never mind that he'd left this place when only a couple cycles old. It had to be here somewhere, right? Surely some long-forgotten treasures of his could be offered up for a better reward.

With a stumbling run, he picked up speed, until he was taking wing again in a gradual manner. Once airborne (and far more graceful) he banked, rising on the updrafts once more and spiralling off toward the far walls of the cave.

(temporary exit)

To anyone who had met the Three Kings many cycles ago and offered coloured stones to them, this sight may have been very familiar to them.

When Kera was young-- only a cycle old, really --she'd gone running between Polaris and Orion some seven or eight times, dropping golden gemstones before the three birds before darting off again. When she returned, she dropped down immediately, exhausted.

This time, Kera was a fully-grown, broad-shouldered wolf.

And the distance was further.

When Kera first appeared, she came bounding full-speed into Fornax, skidding to a halt before the Blacksmith and his table, and dropped exactly one orange gemstone before him. Then, she was bounding off again.

The second, a yellow gemstone. She ran in, dropped it, then ran out again.

The third, a pile of hollow bird-bones.

The fourth, white and blue feathers. Presumably from the bird.

She continued this, a total of seven times. Each time, Kera climbed the hill up into Fornax with an increasing amount of muffled, breathless swears, and dropped another item into her pile. A small creature covered in black oil, a glowing rock and a regular rock. All in front of the Blacksmith.
When she finally dropped the last item-- the regular rock --the wolf collapsed over onto her side with a hollow thump, rasping and wheezing for air. "I... brought you.... things," was her only explanation for a few, very long moments.

Eventually, with another heaving breath, Kera righted herself up again. "I brought you feathers, and this weird creature, and bones and a glowing rock and some gemstones." She gestured, laying on her belly, towards the yellow gemstone, the orange one, and the glowing rock. "These ones are the best," she assured.

"They bring light," she then explained, very confidently. Only one of them actually did, however, and barely at that.

Sanji slithered through Fornax. He would have paid more attention to his surroundings however something had caught his interest. There was a gathering of gembounds and there was something going on. He slithered forward and listened to the blacksmith as he approached. Once he had finished explaining everything he gave an understanding nod. "I see. So if we collect these dyes for you we can change how we look, change the colour of our body. I wonder how that works? This is fascinating."

Sanji was too distracted with what was going on to really look around and explore. He was fascinated by all of this. He wanted to learn everything he could about it but in order to do that he had to collect the materials this blacksmith needed. He made a mental note to make sure he brought anything interesting back. He had no hands so he would have to use his coils or hold whatever he found in his mouth.

Dread hobbled back in on foot. He seemed to be having trouble balancing--perhaps because one hind foot was curled up, its talons clutching something tightly. As a result his wings were alternately walking along the ground, and carefully beating at the air to keep him upright.

When at last he arrived at the altar, he leaned back, unfurled his talon, and dropped his small offering pile with a tinkle.

These items, removed from his childhood den here in Fornax, included a host of small and shiny pebbles, small animal bones, a green feather, a dusty orange gem and a somewhat cloudy yellow one.

"Shinies," he growled, but ember eyes narrowed at the Blacksmith. "I give them-... if you give me better."

Because that's how fair trades went, obviously.

After a while passed Bremen once more emerged from the entrance into Fornax, panting slightly as he was now weighed down by not one but two leather bags full of rocks. The first of the two, a drawstring pouch, hung around his neck and contained mostly undamaged chunks of charcoal scavenged from the abandoned den of a great artist. The second bag seemed much larger, resting on the odd hybrid's back between his wings like a backpack. This one had been hastily filled with talc sticks from the same abandoned den, and in that haste was now leaving an occasional trail of white powder behind as Bremen took to the air.

Though weighed down Bremen managed to find enough energy within himself to propel himself upwards, assisted by the warm air rising from the waters, and glide back toward the gathering of gembound without incident.

"I found some powdery black rocks and some powdery black rocks!" he called out as he landed once more and flung the smaller pouch onto the table. it took a couple more moments to snake his way out of the backpack enough to bring it closer and empty its mostly powdered contents onto the pile but thanks to the winged artist's generosity the gembounds present would now have lightening and darkening agents to add to the vast array of colors.

---

’Thinking... thinking... thinking…’
"This is my voice, isn't it neat?"
Tags:

as a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light...

A new spell! Thothaga always craved to learn new spells.

Eagerly, she took off near the shoreline, in search of something that could be used as a dye.There were many things that the great lake in Fornax had washed up, but none caught her more than a brilliant, white feather, resting gently on top of it all. Quickly, she hooked it with her claw and hobbled back to the Blacksmith. "I found a feather!"


"Thothaga speaking."
Thothaga thinking.

ELI
I CAN GO THE DISTANCE

Oh shit, oh geez!
Eli frantically looked around him for a pebble or something to use. He had to learn this spell! It was too perfect! He imagined all the glorious pranks he could play with this. (He could dye Eythan's beard pink!) The hybrid trotted around the group, sniffing the ground.

--Wait.

Eli smacked his forehead, feeling stupid. He unfurled a wing and plucked out a black feather. They were on him the whole time! "Ahem, anyone need feathers? I got some!" He said to the others, shaking his wings with the black feather still clutched in his teeth. Then he quickly added. "Not all of them though!"

OOC: Eli is offering his white, brown, and black feathers to anyone who wants one. Just don't be greedy!

Wilder bounced back towards the gathering, her branch of pink berries, a black feather, and a stone glowing faintly pink clutched in her mouth. She headed straight towards the Blacksmith and carefully rested them at his feet. She smiled wide at him, her tail wiggling happily. "Hi! I found some things! If we crushed the stone we could make things glow!"

The big bulky butch lumbered back into view soon enough, with one anaconda in tow and quite a collection of things on her person. For example: an amethyst cluster serving as a crown for her head; a hunk of yellow citrine nested in her jaws; and a sizeable chunk of some black gemstone. It was a successful haul, at least. A haul for what, neither partner new. Elspet was just the pack mule, here, looking to tattoo herself or something.

Who knew what butch lesbians were thinking at any given point in time.

She plonked down onto her rear and very delicately placed (read: slammed) each object on the ground. The amethyst and citrine sat together in partnership, and then the black stone by itself, likely where Usingizi would be. Yellow eyes scanned each object and the present Gembound, before barking out a sharp, "we brought the goods, tall dude."

@Usingizi