[event]

Attikias had passed through recently, and sure enough, this drew the attention of Theta. Curious-- and, admittedly, realizing his thirst had been ignored for several hours-- he trailed the scent of the walker, ears pricking as he noticed an alarming amount of gembounds gathered in one place. He stalked along the far wall, golden eyes watchful and wary as he approached. The stench of his pelt was a fair enough deterrent to any who wanted to bother him; with spores of fungi clinging to his matted pelt, he reeked of decay.

It seemed as though the gembound had gathered in keen interest of a variety of pearls. He listened to the explanation offered by strangers, eyeing the one gembound he knew stroking a pristine white kirin creature. He attempted, for now, to stay rather unnoticed and not bother anyone, creeping over to a glistening white pearl that caught his eye. There was a prickling unease that tangled deep into his thick pelt, his hackles set on edge. A low growl rumbled in the back of his throat, despite himself.

He sniffed the pearl, uncertain if he believed what others were saying about Magicka and... Gifts. He supposed he could take it and see-- but his attempts to avoid attention were lost between his strong odor and the way his fur bristled, gem-encrusted tail held high as he seemingly aggressively coveted the white pearl.

Ah, but looks could be deceiving, and the big bad wolf was more uncomfortable with the crowd than posing any sort of threat.

Nemo

These last few hours for him had been... well. A whirlwind. Lack of the storm itself be damned, he had been walking through the caves for ages and and frankly, at this point, his feet hurt.

Nemo had passed broken and twisted metal, some shiny and other pieces looking like a health risk. Some that I may tell Glory about...

A melted citadel that had stars on the ceiling and the rank smell of smoke and flesh, None of that, thank you very much. Was his only thought as he sprinted as well as his legs could take him, wings flapping for balance and to get him up and over steep climbs and drops. It doesn't count as flying if he can touch the ground with his talons, right?

The... worst tunnel he'd ever seen in his admittedly short life. The whole freaking thing was ice, and the one distinct opening made him feel... wary. The incline was savage, the ice was too cold... But fun to slide down the slopes I guess. A stance stone pedestal that smelled sweet and made him feel... something. Some sort of lonely desire. He also very quickly moved on.

The cold had bothered him so much that he'd chosen to slip into the first damp area he could find, with the logic that Dampness means warmer air, right?

Now he's here, actively gaping and staring at the blue everywhere. The roaring water, the massive pools. The color makes his heart soar, like the feeling of flight right before you drop out of the sky.

Now, finally making his way to the gaggle of... Other Gembound? Huh. , wounds from ice and the stone thatched across his legs and feet, he peeks between their legs by laying his lower beak on the dirt and peeking at the source of light.

"What ARE those?" Nemo wonders aloud, completely confused and frankly wanting to touch them. What? They seem like they'd be warm, with their light and all.

The sound of galloping hooves on stone drew nearer as it echoed off the walls. Soon, it was followed by a shrill neigh, heralding the arrival of another gembound.

Alastor threw his head back and snorted. He was charging fast towards the group and the pile of. Strong winds trailed behind him like an He shrieked again, this time, bellowing a warning. "Move! Move! Out of the way!" Alastor wasn't stopping for anything- or anyone- in his way. It was difficult to. He was coming in to fast and there was very little he could to keep his mighty hooves from trampling the unlucky. Alastor swerved out of the way of the pearls, dropping his hindquarters as he skidded to a stop. The wind pushed him forward some ways, and anything it could pick up, before dissipating.

Immediately, the wind-blown stallion broke into a trot and double back, eyeing the colorful pearls. He laughed. "Hahaha! What are these queer little things?" He bent down and nosed through them. As he sniffed, he noticed a that the others had some. There was some talk about Naskital leaving there. Alastor never had the pleasure of meeting this Naskital, but from tales, he sounded like a most gratuitous fellow. "Presents?" He said. "Don't mind if I do." His silver eyes sparkled with joy as he grabbed a gray-blue pearl by the bow and set it down between his hooves.


"Speech."
Thoughts...

Gatto had not exactly been looking for other Gembounds, but they certainly were curious when they stumbled upon the strange gathering of various individuals. They thought for a moment they had seen a blur of a familiar face, but the coward had scrambled out with a prize without even stopping to say hi. That was probably for the best, but all the same.

They listened, casually, to the conversations whispered around. One of the Masters, perhaps? Giving gifts? The name Naskital wasn't familiar, but their memory still was patchy-- and, to be fair, if they hadn't been involved in the Trials, then Gatto likely wouldn't have known them.

It seemed like the pearls were free for the taking, regardless. A horse with a massive gemhorn on its face came charging through to snatch one up, and Gatto quickly flapped themself out of the way with a SQUAWK of alarm, stumbling over to a pearl that had rolled away from the bunch after they had been disturbed. It was bland bluish grey and rather uninteresting, but the cockatrice was curious.

They reached their talons down to grab it, trying to send heat into their foot as they went to touch the gem, just to see if it would react. It seemed like the gem immediately pulled the magicka from them, however, as they stared with a befuddled expression across their mandibles.

As the pearl rolled into his hoof, it shimmered, unleashing something into body. Suddenly, Alastor found himself granted with more knowledge about his element than previously before; a new way to control the wind. He flicked his ears, noticing that sounds weren't just noise, but patterns of vibration in the air, his air. Alastor jerked his head up in excitement. The discovery felt more like a revelation. Why, he had to try this out for himself.

He focused on the most recent sound, a squawk made by a chicken-thing he almost trampled. That should be easy enough! He could see the pattern in his head, all he need to do was manipulate the air.

Alastor looked back at the mandible-mouth and called upon his magicka. He drew a deep breath and--

SQUAWK!

The stallion squealed and leapt away from the pearls, bucking with excitement. He tossed his head as he trotted back around and shook his mane. "Ha ha!" he chortled gleefully, pleased with the result. "I see now!" Alastor felt like he understood the wind on a deeper level. It wasn't just force to be pushed around, but pressure ripe for manipulation. Alastor felt more like the prince of wind than ever before. He was truly the spawn of Monoceros.

He looked back at the pearls. What a wonder gift they were, and what a wonderful gift they would make. Inspired by the spirit of Naskital, he walk back up it and eyed them some more. He thought of his mighty dragon friend, Dread. A knowledge pearl would surely strengthen his bond with the beast. He recalled how fond the dragon was of his treasure, particularly his gold, and it just so happened that one of the pearls looked like gold. For all Alastor knew, it could have been actucal gold. Perfect. He plucked it from the pile with his teeth, then picked up his gray-blue one and trotted off towards home.

As he left, the faint glow from the golden pearl faded.

-Exit Alastor-

"Speech."
Thoughts...

Wilder could smell Gembounds nearby. A lot of them. Curious, she bounded over to investigate, wondering if, somehow, she knew any of them. Somehow, none of them looked familiar to her - except for the vulture that reminded her so much of Aure that she actually called out his name. But then it struck her that Aure was, in fact, much larger then this one and had bigger feet and ears. A different lammergeier then.

The pearls caught her attention, however, and, excitedly, she bounded forward, sniffing among them curiously. They all smelled very...similar, but they all looked and felt different. She settled on a green pearl, picking it up in her jaws and taking it to a different spot so she could inspect it cheerfully.

Deli

The poor pup was still nursing a number of burns and wounds, but a disturbance in a nearby tunnel caught their attention. They padded through Pisces, nose twitching curiously as they followed the scent of other Gembounds. They arrived at a place that had a number of different pearls spread out and, immediately, they grinned, paws itching to grab as many as they could.

Everyone was only grabbing one, though, and Deli felt a pretty heavy sense of "don't take more, you selfish jerk" that somehow held him back from grabbing literally every pearl that was left.

Instead, they went for the dull gray one, simply because, next to all the crazy colored pearls, it seemed like the one nobody would pick. Which obviously meant it had the best prize inside.

---

it's t-t-t-time to vaguepost about raheerah events for Free Spell lmfao

Nassir didn't stay for very long - like many of the others.

Pale eyes fluttered to and fro, ears flickering back. He coughed, the residue of smoke in his lungs persistently reminding him of choking on his own blood and bile for cycles. Being a dark shadow on the rocks, the leopard moved easily from his spot to snag one of the shinier pearls. It was a stunning, brilliant color, something like the orb-lights and baubles across the cave walls and ceilings.

His jaws clasped easily over the fist-sized bauble, and he trotted off with it in tow, (natural) shadows overtaking him.

;exit with a funky "Faintly-glowing golden pearl"

The creature was curious, slipping through the network of underwater tunnels Lamia-child had shown it. There had been activity on the other end, as it sought more plentiful means of hunting (Cetus was host to a number of Marsh Strider herds, but hunting them for the purpose of feeding Aquarian-father and a strange group of outsiders was unsustainable. The bear seemed to prefer fish, anyways.)

Red eye opening and closing to observe a school of fish disturbed by a group on the shore, Phlegethon loomed out of the water. Resting its breastbone on the slippery-smooth shore, the slime-horror gazed at the pile of baubles and treasures. They were plentiful, and it seemed each was taking exactly one. Not recognizing any of them and assuming they were purely random gifts left behind, the immense being surged out of the water.

It slapped wetly and undignifiedly onto the stone, extending its neck as far as possible to snag the largest pearl of the bunch. The darn thing seemed to make its mouth buzz - which was a curious enough sensation for it to go away and inspect it deeper in the lagoon.
;exit with Softly-buzzing, yellow-streaked pearl

The nameless goose picked her way through Pisces. This cave was vaguely familiar to her as well, but it was like a building with nothing but a frame - she had the structure of memory, but not the substance. Oh, well, she was fine going on as she was.

A pile of pearls caught her attention and she very curiously stepped up to them, nosing through. Were these...gifts? Other Gembound were speaking to each other, each holding their own pearl so...perhaps it was alright to take one.

The pink pearl caught her attention and she picked a small one up in her bill, trotting happily away with it. She wished that she still had her basket with her - it would make it easier to carry - but the blue stone sat comfortably on her chest now and that was enough.

*exit with a violet-pink pearl that seems to faintly whisper