"Asteri?"

His voice called gently out into Orion as he rounded a corner, eyes alert to any movement. "Bud, where are you?" Maybe he sounded a little co-dependent, and Asteri could go where he wanted, but he was out and about and was pretty sure his son went this way.

His head popped into the curious area, and- 'Is someone speaking?' A hand pressed against the open door as he passed in, eyes glancing around as curiousity began to wrap its hold around his mind. He could hold off on his Asteri search, for now- he'd be fine.

The jingling and twinkling wasn't hard to follow. His voice was preparing for another use, hand brought up to his mouth, only to be halted short with an external noise responding before he had a chance to think. 'Who-?' It was a crash, and he startled, bursting out his magic to search for just who was out there as he raced to follow the noise.

The spider, it seemed, couldn't possibly hope to fend off being ripped in half. Its fangs stabbed uselessly against Alpha's hide, then went still. The orthoclase, quills still rattling, spat the arachnid out onto the ground. Oh-so-casually, it smoothed itself down and extended an arm out to shove over the spider's already decomposing head.

Searching eyes didn't seem to find anything, so it scanned the abdomen instead. Flipping it over - ah! Alpha drew back a piece of axinite, fairly decent-sized in even its fist.

If no other part of its quarry would be left in a few hours, at least it could keep this. The orthoclase gave a warning glare to the other Gembound present, before just up and popping the gemstone into its mouth for safekeeping.

Prowling forwards, it started to eye the Rainbow Bumblebug, trying to decide if it was worth ripping apart, too.

Oka's excitement at the new plant changed to confusion as nausea surged within the snail. Something within them felt hot, burning. Something was wrong. Their mouth opened as they retched, but instead of vomit out came a stream of bile, burning their newfound treasure to ash within seconds. Oka sat there for a moment, stupefied. Tentacles dangling limply. That...that pile of red hot vomit had come out of THEM. Then it hit them--their grass! It was on fire!

"No!" Oka rushed forward. Or, rushed forward as fast as a snail could go. They tried desperately to put the ashes back together. Their tentacles burned, the ash and heat dried them out. The warzone like noises and flashes went off around Oka. But Oka didn't care, Oka would save their plant. "I can put you back together!"

Krozz, alone in the tall grass, was more on edge than ever. Laughter, tinkling bells, the distant sounds of spells gone haywire- all would've given her goosebumps, if crocodiles had goose bumps. As it was, she jumped at every sound. At this point, all she wanted to do was leave.

Through the unnaturally tall grass, Krozz was able to get a glimpse of the cave's exit. She wasted no time heading towards it, though she gave the spider- or rather the remains of the spider- a wide berth. This, combined with having to deal with the obnoxiously large grass and keep checking she was heading towards the right spot, made the trip to the exit rather slow.

"Words Words."
Thoughts

notes:
tags:

coding by wulf for template purposes

Qisziux let out a silent grumble of frustration as the spell failed. I'm supposed to be good at magic. He thought, frustrated and disappointed with himself. He focused himself and tried to cast the spell again, determined to get some kind of result, at least.

The scent of burning- startlingly close- makes him turn around to see Oka with a burning piece of grass. "Woah! What happened?" He asked, bewildered.

"Spoken Words."
Thoughts

tags: @Oka
notes: ---

coding by wulf for template purposes

Deli

It took Deli a moment to recover from their temporary blackout, but when they came back to cognizance it was with a barking laugh. Despite the shock and fear they'd just experienced, they couldn't help but have a wildly good time with seeing what happened when they used spells. They scrambled back to their feet, giggling, and looked for the imps. Was this their doing? Did they make this cave?

"Why are you all so stressed?" they barked hysterically. "This is so much fun!" Ignoring what everyone else was doing now, they looked at the bumblebug, preparing to shoot a blast of foul fungus stench, although trying to prepare for something totally different to happen.

---

The cheetah startled as electricity struck him, not hurting, thankfully, but filling him with piss and vinegar, leaving him dancing in place, fighting the urge to leap around and snap and snarl, wanting to lung for the Silk Spider. But then there was silence, and he was left to stalk forward, approaching the trapped Bumblebug.

He ran through what he knew, though whatever he had wasn't exactly working, and hesitantly reached for it, hoping it wouldn't harm the Bumblebug, carefully aiming it at the webbing.

Hecate shook herself, and raised talons, trying to flap up and help the Bumblebug free. She didn't really know what else was happening, and she was hardly a selfless being; but it seemed the proper thing to do and the creature didn't seem hostile. Perhaps it could help fight the spider!

-Ah. Spider was dead, she realized, glancing back at the mess. Her vision was too blurred and green to have made it out before.

Ahh well.

She cheered as she was brought up onto the dog's shoulder, wrapping her tail around its neck to balance herself, reaching up to protect her eyes when she was told to. There was yelling and shrieking and 'I want Mama!', digging her claws into Deli's fur as they toppled over beneath them with a shriek, staring as some of the others approached the Bumblebug.

But she was more concerned with Deli, so she reached for her magic and attempted to summon a banana. After all, when she didn't feel good she ate, and it made her feel better!

"Sometimes you need a second chance,"
'because you weren't quite ready for the first.'

CW: Gore, gray paragraph.

The wild magic flashed and danced, visible in the air! Imp laughter and tinkling bells, the approaching buzzing of massive bees-... Attikias' magic did nothing to help him see. But, oddly, a large stone lifted, floating idly around before his very eyes, following his gaze, as if he could control its movements.

And Luster's magic--it quaked Deli's stone, causing brief, sharp pain, but thankfully no damage. Meanwhile, Deli's magic-...

Even as they grinned, staring, at the Rainbow Bumblebug, white fire erupted to engulf it where it lay helplessly trapped in the center of the web. It flailed, tangled, squeaking as the fire spread from within its abdomen to consume its poor, rainbow-colored fuzz, its multifaceted eyes seeming to ask Deli, "Why?" And then it was gone, thrashing in pale flames as it died... how cruel!

But its final act: to cast out pheremones at its attacker, as the Bumblebugs do, and now the army of massive Bumblebugs, each several feet long, came pouring through the trees.

...Straight for Deli. Whoops.

Behind the fraying web, it became apparent that here lay myriad, glinting and glittering chrysalises: a multitude of colors, and shapes, each shining bright and promising.

______________

Most characters may now choose to exit, or aid Deli (a DANGEROUS choice!), or to explore the small cave further, though it's unlikely to reveal much more... Hecate will however need to roll against the supernova so close to her position. And Deli will need to roll for damage against the oncoming Rainbow Bumblebug swarm! (They have very big stingers.) A failure roll is liable to leave Deli very dead, or at least, in their chrysalis to recover! The Bumblebugs are unlikely to even notice Luster unless Luster attacks them.

Players who have taken part in this thread may choose to adopt a chrysalis of their own! They may choose to design a playable character, without need of RCS, from any Spider or Bug species in the Lesser Gembound Guide here (excepting Hydra lessers)! HOWEVER!! ...A GM will roll to see whether this new character is, after leaving the Strange and Magical Cave, giant-sized... or tiny regular size! Those that would hatch as larvae will do so, and return to their chrysalis at two cycles to change into their adult form.

Have fun!!

@Orthoclase-Alpha @Hecate @Luster (Reign) @Krozz @Deli @Asteri @Qisziux