There was a deep and ominous rumble and, for the briefest instant, it seemed as though Pride's magic might cause serious damage. And then the ring shuddered, a sharp crack breaking along its circumference, all the way around it.

The ring, jaggedly, partially split, slowly jerked and grinded open.

The next: a pure black, absorbing all light cast at it, awaited them.

@Aure @Dip @Seshat @Soumak @Pip @Ashtoreth @Null

"What was that?"

Mercurius mulled over it quietly, staring at the now slicked-over and churning ring. It was... infested. Merely touching it would grant - "illness." He admitted this quietly, and tucked that magic away - it was not to be used by him in such a manner. It could bring harm, death - pestilence.

The churning of the next ring brought a peculiar clarity to his eyes, and he stared at the ominously black ring.

"Not even a shine," he observed.

Two rings churned, and the young King blinked back into focus. Aure wasn't particularly attuned to the idea of magic having elements either, but they certainly seemed to have... classes. Rock being one, Mercurius's illness being another. This... was darkness.

"Lights - it would take magical lights, yes?" Aure asked this, but didn't wait for an answer before pushing at his magic and directing it to weave a cloth of light around the ring.

Aure's lights danced over the dark ring, the magic seeming almost to absorb into it.

After a moment it began to glow, itself, a slow transition from pitch black to a soft white glow. The ring churned into motion, grinding into place with a gradual spin.

Next the metallic ring waited, still, silent and cold.

@Aure

There hadn't been much action from Pip. She'd yapped at Dip after being removed from the ring, but after that Pip had been quiet. At some point Pip hopped down and sat in her corner, watching with awe and curiosity as the fellow gembound had caused the ring to turn, casting more spells than Pip had seen days within the caves. After a while of simply vibing, Pip ended up falling asleep. Limbs tucked close to their body. The nap didn't last long.

The grinding of a new wheel alerted her, and she jumped up, full of energy once more. Ready to go at 100% already. Pip tilted her head at the metal wheel. The last she remembered there had been a lot less rings glowing. But this was the newest one. Pip was tempted to go up to the ring herself, and try to puzzle it out. But, they were cautious. Their methods of nibble and pretty noise didn't seem to work. They would let the other gembound deal with it. They knew how to work it, right? Pip, being no help at all, absentmindedly wondered what the metal ring would taste like. She scuttled closer, excited to see the next spell in action up close.


((pip just vibing))

Ashtoreth had been watching, silent as a stone, and it was highly unlikely anyone even knew she was there-- too many others, chatting away and casting magic and all this. She had been watching for a while now though, and her eyes glistened as Aure unlocked the next gate:

This one was metal. She didn't have much in the way of her noodle-dad's magic, but she did know how to make storms, in theory, and that metal at least looked like it would conduct metal. Ears twitching, she gently flicked her wings, silent as a mouse.

From out of no where (as, it was not centered on Ash at all), the air grew electric around the crowd. Static prickled as the sky seemed to tense up, and then ceased, and then a few strikes of lightning crashed into the metal ring with a violent hiss.

Ashtoreth grinned with delight from the sidelines, and felt a prickle of pride. See that, Aure? She wondered if he'd figure out it was her.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts

Dark clouds gathered overhead, swollen with deadly promise. Within minutes there was an unpleasant crackling in the air, and then lightning struck: bright and blinding, the crash of thunder behind it.

Once, twice; and the third arced straight for the metallic ring, searing hot through the air and striking with a burst of power that would throw anyone standing close to the rings back across the rock. When vision returned from the blinding blast, the last ring was still glowing faintly. As the light faded, it slipped smoothly into motion, turning silently to face its sigil upright.

@Ashtoreth @Aure @Seshat @Pip

Well, it certainly would've been nice if: a.) he knew that Ashtoreth were here; and b.) that she was sending down Zeus's wrath onto these rings.

As such, Aure was simultaneously blinded, deafened, and hurled by the resulting shock waves. His wings instinctively went out, but nothing could stop his thirty-something foot roll across the ground and startled squawking - not that he could hear his own voice in this throat over the tinny shriek in his ears.

Once he stopped skidding across the rock, the Bone King just... laid there for a second while all his senses recovered. Opening his eyes hurt, if only for his pupils being so incredibly shrunken that every part of vibrant Polaris looked pitch-black and floaters were drifting across his vision. His ears went eeeeEEEEeeee nonstop for the moment, but he could... stumble up to his feet somewhat.

... and haul himself right back to the rings. Squinting into the slowly returning-light, he noted the position of the sigil and peered around in suspicion. Assuming that everyone else was equally as deaf as he was, Aure didn't bother calling out, only drawing closer to the humming wall and the second-to-last ring.

He was already deafened, so why not will a pressure wave-shriek at this? (Not very scientific, he knows.) His voice died in his throat - or... he couldn't tell if any actual sound came out. It certainly didn't feel like anything had.

rolled a 19 for how bad that lightning strike was in general so lmao oops
casting sonic boom on ring anyways

If at first you don't succeed... scream, scream again.

Aure caught another upwelling of magicka, held onto it for a little longer with a swell of his breast - took a few shuffling paces back (just in case) and lobbed it at the ring in the form of a sonic boom.

It was loud and powerful enough to send him stumbling further away and start up the just-now-quieting ringing again.

The eleventh ring was struck by Aure's blast.

For a split second, there seemed to be nothing--but no, the keen eye might notice that the ring was vibrating. Resonating. A soft hum could be heard within it, the soundwaves of the sonic boom thrumming through its depth.

The eleventh seal ground slowly open.

Only the final, twelfth seal remained.