The crunch of sand underfoot was audible as the Merchant carried onward, hands held before him, gazed fixed on the distant ravines. Just barely he could pick out the specks that were Gembound climbing along the canyon walls.

"Master Astraea..." he rasped. "Master Nemean... You had gone long... without a test." It was an observation, rather than an accusation--perhaps an explanation of what was going on. "I came... to see it done."

As he gradually grew closer, he could see the lizard Amazon, the creatures Shango and Imp, the Lapis number Ninety-Five, and the fossa Mayngo all struggling to keep up with the rest. Wounded, falling, bitten. He kept striding unhurriedly forward, masked gaze on the distant fight for survival.

It was then that a far-off screech ripped through the ravines--and the Merchant knew it. He knew it would be deafening, perhaps terrifying, for those within the canyons. A massive shadow swept over the top, and then vast wings folded, and the shape dived: a black Eyehook Vulture, fully twice the size of the rest, its rending claws aiming to grab those who'd fallen, to rip and to tear at them, to fling the wingless high into the air to let them fall to their deaths.

The black shape shot skyward, wings spreading. Blood red-tipped feathers flared and she again folded herself for a screeching dive, massive hook-like talons splayed.

The Vulture Matriarch had arrived.

_________

While the others finish their ascent, the Vulture Matriarch launches a rapid, deadly attack on Shango, Imp, Amazon, Mayngo and Lapis Ninety-Five. These Gembound must roll to attempt to get to the canyon top while avoiding her attacks. Those who fail and who are not rescued will perish. Quartz Eight-Six-Zero may attempt a rescue on Shango, Amazon or Lapis Ninety-Five should they fail to evade or survive this attack. Mayngo and Imp may be aided by Quartz Five-Two-Four, Asimona, Agate Two-Three-Six, and Styx.

This round is only for the attacked, and those who can aid them. The rest are too far ahead to react in time.

@Shango @Amazon @Mayngo @Lapis Ninety-Five @Quartz Eight-Six-Zero @Quartz Five-Two-Four @Agate Two-Three-Six

Vargas rumbled a grunt of acknowledgement at Astraea.

"I have been sleeping, Master Astraea." he answered bluntly. "I did not arrange this; I am only now waking up. Though it will be good to get back into it," he added, with a brief and savage grin.

His gaze then swung to Nemean. "And you, Master Nemean... Tell me, have any of them ever told you to pick on someone your own size?" It was good-natured mockery. Vargas had mixed feelings about the sprite: he felt that she was tiny, undoubtedly physically weak--yet her magickal prowess, her undeniable cunning, and her pure willpower made her unbelievably strong. He despised the one, but grudgingly respected the other--and so he made fun, but it was in a deferential manner, his humor dry and grimly dark.

His head lifted, his position high over the sands allowing him a slightly better view than that afforded to the Merchant. His pace quickened, the corners of his jaws upturning just a little into a toothy grin as he saw a body tumble down the rock. "Not very good climbers, are they?" he mused, and then chuckled, just a little.

@Game Master CJ

Imp heard the shriek. His head whipped back, and he saw the impossibly large vulture (oh fuck that one's like twice as large--) diving down, talons splayed, to meet him.

Instinct gripped him, and he twisted, leaping with his own wings spread, calling on his magicka. He intended to try and grab on--and to then infuse his feet with heat, so she'd try to flee instead of fight.

Then maybe she'd leave him the hell alone.

...Maybe, he thought, I can even ride it to the top!

If he managed to get ahold of her, that was--and if her talons didn't rip him apart.

For an instant, as the Matriarch rose, a squat, ugly, gargoyle-esque figure was visible clinging to her. A torrent of smoke ran behind them--and then the vulture let out one of her shrieks, though if it was Imp's doing wasn't clear. He let go as she breached the top, his loudly-cheerful voice echoing down into the canyon as he glided unsteadily onto the mesa's lip.

"WOOOOOOOOOOO YEEEEAAH!"

Some distance below, Shango could see the black silhouette sweeping down for him. He, like Imp, instinctively reached for his magicka--for him, the idea of a storm, of a powerful gust of wind hurtling for her even as she dove for him.

He intended to let it blast her back and away long enough for him to scramble up and past her.

The rushing howl of the brief gust blew past, and for a moment he feared it wouldn't be enough--but in the narrow canyon it did its job. The vulture wavered, and then aborted the attack, swinging up with a bass beat of wings just past his head. Shango ducked, fear spiking through him--and then scrambled, catlike, up the canyon wall as if all the vultures of Hydra were behind him.

He didn't dare look back.

Amazon looked up, once again sizing up the large cliff of rocks stretching up before her. The others were already ahead of her, larger creatures able to clamber up the rocks so much easier. She frowned, but she wasn't going to give up. If she did, she would die. At least, she figured this.

So she scrambled up to the first hold she could find when a horrible, deafening sound touched her ears. She whipped around, almost losing her foothold again and her stomach dropped. A huge vulture, way bigger then the ones that had soared overhead earlier, was dropping down...straight for her!

With a terrified squeak, she popcorned right onto the next ledge and, as fast as she could on her tiny legs, scrambled up to the next right as the vulture's beak smashed into the rock next to her. She spent the next few minutes bouncing and climbing and dodging the vulture's attacks before, at last, it seemed to focus on one of the others that had fallen with her. She continued, however, to move as quickly as possible, running entirely on terror. Which, as it seemed, was quite a good motivator to get her to the top.

Finally, she scrambled over the last ledge and bolted away, hoping that the vulture wasn't going to chase her.

Lapis Ninety-five

Oh, you fool, there are rules, I am coming for you
Darkness brings evil things, oh, the reckoning begins

Having chosen her route, Lazuli once again began to scale the cliff. She struggled up, soon hearing the vultures’ keening cries, and feeling her heart pounding all the more strongly. She struggled up the cliff face, fending off their talons and beaks with keening screeches and lashes of wickedly sharp claws.

She climbed and climbed, hearing clatters as they collided with the cliff face behind her. Still she inched higher. Until finally, the great bird’s head poked over the edge of the cliff. With a final flex of her legs, she threw herself onto solid ground, heaving panting breaths and glancing up as the vulture matriarch soared overhead.

---

"Speech."
"Thoughts."

Laboriously, the fossa staggered to his paws. It took him a minute, he was already struggling with the heat, panting to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him. The dry air rasped in his throat, stinging his lungs.

There was a screech, and he stumbled, shaking his head. It echoed painfully in his head, rattling around in the skull, and he looked up to seek the source of the sound. There was a massive red and black blur streaking towards him, and his fur stood on end. Oh, oh shit.

His eyes widened, and he coiled his legs, aiming to leap up and land on its back, let it carry him to the top of the plateau. But he wasn't sure why, maybe the tears that still stung his eyes, that blurred his vision, or the disorientation from the sounds echoing in his mask, but he missed.

The vultures wings tore at his shoulders, digging into the flesh between them and trailing down along his back, sending blood flying as they flayed him open. He screamed, this time not in mourning but in pain, as he was flung to the ground, his blood splattering the sand.

As Asimona slowly made her way to the top of the cliff face, a horrible, terrible screech stabbed into her ears and she looked down. The straggling gembounds were under attack by a vulture, far too big to be natural, or at least too big for anything natural in the other caves. This must be the vulture matriarch that the Merchant had told them about. Perhaps she could veer off and try to pluck her trophy now...no, it was going too fast. And, as she watched, it began to tear into the skull-bearing fossa.

"No!" she roared. Without really thinking, she angled herself back down and dived. She reached forward with her arms and grabbed at Mayngo, flaring open her wings to stop her descent. She cringed at the pain that it caused around the edges of the ice, but she didn't care. As soon as she had him, she called upon winds to help her this time. Warm air twisted beneath them and pushed against her wings, lifting her into the sky, with Mayngo grasped in her front claws. She strained to make it the rest of the way, but at last, she dropped Manygo on the top of the rocks and set herself down, panting heavily, looking around for her two allies to join them again.

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

tags:
notes:

At the top of the mesa, the heat was once again intense. A wind blew now and then, sharp gusts dangerous to the unwary who strayed too close to an edge. Tufts of scrub grass and tangled, thorny brush dotted the red rock. Massive nests were scattered here and there, twisted together with dead grass and sharp, dry twigs, littered with feathers, the bones of prey, and shards of egg and gemstone.

The vultures all rose as one, screeching with violent protest at these intruders--but they did not yet attack, because one twice their size had just swept back down. The black vulture with the red-tipped feathers, with a fully forty-foot wingspan, landed with a screech that seemed to rip the air apart, her wings spreading as she faced down the Gembound. The other vultures circled, adding their screams to the fight.

_________

Round Three

The Gembound now face the Vulture Matriarch. They have choices: they may use their roll to attack the vulture, and perhaps attempt to kill her as a group; to steal a trophy and flee; or to sabotage another Gembound in the chaos, perhaps attacking them.

Placements will not be changed in this round. Gembound who succeed this roll will succeed at their task; those who fail will take injury from the Vulture Matriarch or a diving attack from one of her smaller brethren, or may even be knocked off the cliff. Gembound whose rolls fail will as before have a chance to save themselves from death in a follow-up round, and any Gembound who are successfully attacked by another Gembound will also post in that follow-up round to try and save themselves from whatever is being inflicted. Gembound may only sabotage, or be sabotaged by, those in the same placement as they are; the groups are still somewhat spread out. The Vulture Matriarch will attack them each in turn.

A Critical Fail on this roll will result in a severe wound from one of the vultures, or from a fall.

Please post & roll only once.

Click to view current placement rankings.

1. Yoosung, Reseda, Garnet Five-Seven-Nine, Desert Rose Thirty-Five, Labradorite Five-Four-Six, Opal Three-Seven-Six
2. Shango, Amazon, Quartz Eight-Six-Zero, Lapis Ninety-Five
3. Quartz Five-Two-Four, Asimona, Imp, Agate Two-Three-Six, Styx
4. Mayngo

@Yoosung @Amazon @Shango @Opal Three-Seven-Six @Quartz Eight-Six-Zero @Labradorite Five-Four-Six @Agate Two-Three-Six @Desert Rose Thirty-Five @Lapis Ninety-Five

As Reseda clambered onto the top of the cliff, she found herself faced with all sorts of nest and, of course, vultures. She immediately tensed up, ready for a fight, when a swooshing sound behind her made her glance back. She narrowed her eyes at the massive vulture that rose from the edge of the cliff. This must be the vulture matriarch that the Merchant instructed them to take a trophy from. Hm. Easy.

She glanced at the others. It would be so easy to rid herself of potential enemies now. They were all distracted. She could just...grab one by the ankles and sweep them off the cliff but...no, that would paint a target on her back. She would simply continue on as always.

She focused on the giant vulture, narrowing her eyes at the feathers on its body. One of those would suffice. With a flick of her magic, one came lose and came hurtling towards her. She opened her mouth and caught it, setting it beneath her tongue safely. She immediately took off again without a care for anyone else behind her.

Reseda is grabbing a feather and moving on