Envy had scoured the farthest corners of Orion looking for what remained of the tatters of their kingdom, and anyone else who happened to be found in the fallen city at the time. And now, they had returned to Pride and settled proudly atop his head, having donned the crystalline armour that Pride had helped Envy craft themselves through magic.

They had climbed, higher than usual, to a rocky outcropping that might once have been a part of a ruined building that would allow both Envy and Pride to look upon their kingdom as they spoke. Envy's quills trembled gently with nervousness, but they gathered themselves upright, glistening in the silvery light of Orion, and spoke, their piping voice ringing out shrilly over the assembled crowd.

"Welcome, Gems and Gemlings of the Seven, and beyond!" they announced, grandly. "We have gathered you here today to make some important announcements." Envy shifted their weight uncomfortably, drawing in a long breath. "Firstly, it is my greatest relief to inform you that the Caves' era of terror is finally over, and that the foul goose lies dead in a rocky tomb. Pride and I-- your King!-- hunted her down ourselves."

The weasel felt their heart pounding harder, and paused to let themselves settle. They felt charged with adrenaline, and half of them wanted to simply hide. No matter how many times they had practised their speech, it never seemed to get any less daunting.

They moved on quickly, avoiding dwelling on the subject of the goose for too long. They tore their thoughts away from the memory of what had happened, forcing the awful flashes of memory to the back of their mind.

"...The caves will be changing. They'll be a better place without her kind... But there will always be bad creatures in the caves. Gembounds that wish to harm others seem to just be a fact of life." Envy straightened up. "...But with our help, it won't have to be. The Sinful Seven is changing. Pride and I hope to change our kingdom, to give it new life. Orion will become a place of prosperity and training. We will give homes to the homeless, purpose to the lost, and protection to the weak. And we will no longer wear our sins with shame. Instead, we will be the Kingdom of the Seven!"

Envy waited expectantly for a response, before continuing. They appeared filled with a new sort of vigour.

"...And I have one more announcement, from your king, to his subjects."

They rose up, stretching, as tall as they could, to be seen, and raised themselves up. "You know me as Envy. I have carried this name from birth, as a sign of everything I couldn't have. I've spent a lifetime chasing ideals just out of reach, watching others take for granted the things that I suffered with every day! ...But no more."

The weasel, suddenly nameless, paused for one long moment, risking a glance down at Pride.

"From this moment on, you will call me King Livius."

Livius raised their head, feeling themselves glowing gold in the silvery light of Orion. They felt, in that moment, fully, and truly whole. And, for once in their life, truly proud.

"Jealousy doesn't define me, any more."

This thread is open to join for anyone wishing to aid Livius in rebuilding the Seven. The Kingdom of Eridanus will be called upon to grow gardens in the ruins of Orion, and craftspeople of the caves will be approached for weapons and armour.

Those who would cause havoc or chaos are not welcome.

@Pride @Reign @Amazon @Zothra @Narcissus

@Rift @Aure @Dread

The stag listened in silence, and when Envy--no, Livius, he reminded himself--had finished making their speech, he added a few words of his own. His voice was melodic, light and fluting, but it carried with grace and precision.

"Those who wish to learn to fight--to spar--or to use their magic for other means, please, find me and I will gladly aid you. Those who wish armor may come to me and I will create it for you as best I can, or send you to one who can. Together, we will grow strong; together, we will learn, grow, and together we will protect these caves henceforth."

He paused, and peered up. He couldn't exactly bow, or even bow his head, since Envy was--well, on top of it. ...Livius, he reminded himself, again. This would take some getting used to.

Pride gave a few final words, then, instead. "Long live King Livius; long live the Seven."

Dread listened from his perch atop the back of the throne. He was there to put in an appearance, nothing more--Envy had bribed him here with a small, golden gemstone and promises of more. When he'd complained, Pride had spent a dutiful hour or so conjuring up more of the things--variously-shaped and -sized pieces of topaz, chrysoberyl, citrine and tourmaline, among others. Satisfied with the stash of gifts, he'd come to listen in.

The new markings over his body glittered and glowed like fire, and Dread's tail slowly lashed back and forth, catlike, as he watched the pair below. When both had finished speaking, he inhaled, leaning back and half-closing ember eyes to let out a gout of flame skyward, as if in punctuation to their speech. It was a small burst of flame, hardly a flamethrower torrent, but it was enough to announce his presence at least to any who hadn't noticed him back there.

"AND I WILL HELP," he roared down, as he'd assured Pride he would. 'Keep it simple,' the stag had said, and so Dread didn't go into all the details of their deal. The deal that said he'd help so long as a steady supply of gold and gemstone "gifts" kept coming in, and that he'd protect Orion from the Seven's enemies so long as they bribed him enough to do so.

This stated, he settled his great head back on the stone throne's back, watching carefully for trouble.

Rift had been given the message that Envy was gathering gembounds for an announcement. That the Kingdom was needed for assistance in Orion. So he'd made the relatively short journey from Eridanus to the Throne and he lingered at the edge of the gathered gembounds. He looked visibly uncomfortable, unable to stand still and constantly glancing around. Without the cover of plant matter, he felt exposed and vulnerable. How did others live like this?

But he managed, at least, to keep his attention on Envy's announcement. His eyes widened with surprise that they had managed to hunt down the goose and kill her once and for all. Relief surged through him. He had feared that his own Kingdom would have to be the one to do it and that simply seemed like an unrealistic thing to ask of them, especially after swearing that they would be a Kingdom of peace. Now he didn't have to worry about it anymore. "This is good news! I will announce it to the Kingdom - they will surely be as relieved as I am that we don't have to fear her or her family anymore. Thank you, Envy and Pride. You have freed us from a great evil."

For the rest of Envy's speech, though, Rift felt a twinge of jealousy and a bit of frustration. The Kingdom of the Seven sounded very much like the Kingdom of Eridanus, as did their goal of being a safe place against the cave's evils. For a second, he considered protesting but then realized he was being ridiculous. This wasn't the time to be stirring up trouble. Not everyone preferred the plant world of Eridanus, after all. And his Kingdom was peaceful. The Seven, meanwhile, would probably take a more active role. Yes, that was their difference.

He stepped forward, trying to make himself appear more confident, although the location didn't make it easy. "You have our support, King Livius. If there is any service you may require from the Kingdom of Eridanus, do not hesitate to ask."

For once, Amazon hadn't been lounging around Orion. She had been out exploring, although she had, at least, been a little closer to home now. As soon as she had gotten the word she he hurried back to the Throne with all the speed a tiny lizard could. She was perched as close to Envy and Pride as she could, watching them with admiration. She didn't know much about this 'foul goose' but her pride for Envy, no, Livius, was apparent in her face.

They had grown up so much, grown so strong. She remembered the first time they had met and how frustrated they had been with how the world treated them. She had understood them, even been jealous of them, for their strength in fighting past it. And now, as they reached past that shell of envy and jealousy, she knew that she was past it too. She had been different this past cycle. Alive. It didn't matter, anymore, that she couldn't have the long lives that others did. All that matter was that she used the time she had to do whatever she wanted.

Her eyes shone as she watched the two calling out to the Kingdom. "I'll stay with you, Livius, until my last breath. You know I will!"

Shengxiao had gotten himself so incredibly lost from the cave he had spent most of his life in that he'd actually completely left Polaris. He had stumbled into Orion, confused, but he could have sworn he was going the right way! It had looked like the entrance to his cave! A big, open tunnel, just a little narrow. Lots of little skulls littering the place, just like his cave. He was very confused. This cave was a little bigger then his.

Some rumor reached his ears, though, that some king or something was gathering his subjects. Was he a subject? What was a subject? What was a king? Perhaps subjects were some kind of food. Sheng liked food. If there was a feast nearby, maybe he would join!

But, as it turned out, there was no feast. Just a bunch of critters listening to someone. Sheng milled about, a little confused. Why was that stag white? Why was he glowing? Why was there a chunk of talking gold on the top of his head? How confusing. How strange. He murmured questions to himself as he paced around the edge of the crowd. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see everyone better. It was getting kinda dark in here! Why were the lights growing dimmer? But then everything just got a lot more blurry and his eyes started to sting. He shook out his head erratically, trying to work it all out. Now he both couldn't understand what was going on, nor could he even see. Shit.

Okay, no. He needed to focus on something for once. The king was actually the talking gold pile, for some reason. Or maybe the king was the glowing stag. Didn't matter, it was one of them. King Livius was the name and this was some sort of Kingdom. Kingdom of the Seven? But there were more then seven here so that made even less sense. But it was at least something different then the usual mess of his life where he would just sit in a cave, maybe run away from a loud noise, and tell the rats and spiders and monsters poking around his cave to shut up and let him sleep. "What's going on," he asked at a respectfully low volume, not to anyone in particular. Maybe he wasn't even asking a question, just asking himself. It was difficult to tell.

After spending some time with Aeroth, Li decided it was time to return to Orion and see how Envy was doing. She had stayed away far longer than she had meant to - and was, admittedly, reluctant to leave Aeroth - but she had to see Envy again. It had been too long.

Returning to Orion was...a little odd. The last time she had been here was...to see Envy again. And they had...a child. Some cycles had passed since then - was Envy's daughter fully grown? She wondered how well Envy had raised someone. Hopefully better than Imperia had raised her...but was her raising of Envy any good? She hadn't been near enough to really tell, unfortunately.

When she got there, she realized that this was impeccable timing. She could see some others gathered around, and noticed Envy on a rocky outcropping, on a deer's head. She came in just in time to catch the start.

Foul goose...What? She hadn't heard much of a foul goose. Except...She remembered once, cycles ago, after Envy had mutated, hearing about it. About the goose and her family. Even now, cycles later, she had still reigned?

Li was glad to hear the goose was dead, but she also didn't like that Envy had potentially...killed. She really didn't like that, but she supposed she'd have to think about that later.

Next part of their message...They were really taking this kingdom thing seriously, it seemed. She was glad for that, at least. She just hoped Envy would be careful and not do anything reckless. It seemed the deer wouldn't let that happen, though. She hoped.

And the final part...a name change. Li was caught off-guard by this, but she also understood completely where Envy was coming from. She'd felt much the same way after leaving Imperia.

Livius. A nice name, certainly.

Looking around, she noticed others gathering. Upon seeing a large creature release some fire, she froze slightly. More cautious now, she made a mental note to stay far away from the dragon. She looked around at the others, recognizing a few here and there, though there were others she had never seen before. Then she turned her attention back to Envy - to Livius - and wondered if they had noticed her.


Speech. Thought.

Luster
Sometimes you need a second chance
because you weren't quite ready for the first

Luster scowled at the cave-spider. It twitched in front of her, refusing to do as she wished. She was panting, a low head-ache throbbing from over-use of her Magic, but she was determined.

And then their King was speaking. She hadn't spoken to them, not since that awful moment with Mama, and she had ignored their summons. Clearly something important was happening, so the hybrid grabbed the cave-spider in her teeth, killing it as she closed her jaws. As fast as she could, she scurried towards the gathered crowd, eyes scanning for the most important Gembound in the world.

And she found her, very close to the white stag and green weasel, whose words were little more than a mosquito's buzz in her ears. She shouldered her way through the crowd, skidding to a stop with a gasped "Mama!", dropping to her stomach next to the lizard and pressing her nose against her scales.

@Amazon

The Kingdom of the Seven seemed like a far more fitting name--- less hamfisted, really.

Aure had perched atop a rock some distance away from the white stag and Env--- Livius, placing himself a little lower than the weasel as not to make himself seem like he was an authoritative figure, here. Pride had invited him along, really, as a matter of diplomacy and to keep up to date with the happenings in the caves. The Seven seemed to be shifting to a more organized, purposeful group (Aure was definitely taking notes, especially to have a proper meeting once he returned to Canis.)

The Bonebound representative --- not King, not yet --- watched as several Gembound pledged their allegiance (weird) and as Rift offered his assistance. What does Canis have to offer? he pondered, ears flicking back slightly.

He adjusted his wings, side-eyeing the Spire-forsaken entrance to Tunnel K. "I wish you well, King Livius. Canis doesn't have much but bones and dust, but there's plenty of stories held in them--- and my Mother may be called upon to see into the bones; to learn what they have to say about your Kingdom's future," Aure piped up, smiling slightly. His head bowed, and he went back to silence unless spoken to.

He appeared from nowhere, though not very visible: distant, lurking in the thick shadows of the ruins. Long, twisted horns and crimson pinprick eyes froze stock-still, so as not to be noticed.

He watched, and listened, from this distance. The words were barely-audible. So this group of Gembound had not only survived their trials, but was expanding?

...That was interesting. Disappointing, in some sense, but at the same time, he could not help but feel a sliver of satisfaction in it.

He'd wait and watch, and see how they went from here. If he wasn't mistaken, they might manage greater things, though who knew how their story might end? With a soft puff of black smoke he vanished again, leaving nothing but shadows in his wake.