Esther is looking for anyone in the Chaos-Forge that will let them join!

Esther found themselves exploring one of the newest caves that had seemed to show up after that one golem collapsed. Whatever made those gembounds start freaking out didn't seem to effect the maned wolf at all, which was cool. They were pretty sure just about nothing could hurt them - on the weird.... magic side of things. At least anything that wasn't themselves.

They could hear whispering coming from.... Somewhere. Whenever Esther tried to pinpoint where, they couldn't find anything or see anything. it was almost as if something invisible was lingering just behind their ears telling them things they couldn't understand. It was easy enough to tone out anyway, and the gembound just continued wandering. Whispers of a group forming here had the winged maned wolf curious, and that's what they were there to discover. What it was about.

Dark eyes watched as the crystals around them seemed to move. This place was pretty cool.

- THE LEVIATHAN -

He was sat not far from the Aperture--away from the Womb, for once, so as not to be in visual range of the cluster of children remaining there. His reasoning was good; he was gradually (painfully slowly, in fact) working on recovering his wounds, bit by bit. Magic was drawn from the grinding Black Spire in the room's center, and redirected to the Master.

A grimace was on his face, bits of sloughed-off, burnt skin lying below where new skin had grown. Scars were forming--faint, lessened by his leaping off the ground when first the electricity had fired off--but they, at least, looked interesting. They were faint, traceries of almost lightning streaks down one flank and leg. A marring of his body, certainly--but Draconua had, perhaps, earned that.

The quiet sense of approach--a strange odor, the light touch of pawpads on rock--had his head swinging around to find that someone had entered the cave without his noticing. Vargas at once tensed--this place would need to be kept clear of strangers--but... Ahh. Almost at once he recognized it, the black stains around the eyes, the black oil of its stone. These new creations that embrace Him cannot physically support Him, he reflected. Its batlike wings were an interesting thing to see, too, and Vargas pushed up, abandoning his recovery attempts to approach it.

He was looming, of course--massive--but he did not stalk over with a predator's gait nor stomp with the dominant aggression of some territorial but mindless beast. Instead his approach was matter-of-fact, head canted to one side, his six toxic eyes locked on Esther with interest.

"I am Master Vargas, the Leviathan, and this is the Womb of the Creator. Do you have reason to be here?" but the question held more curiosity than demand.

yeah uhh, you got any chaos rocks??
@Esther

Chaos-Two had been stuck to Vargas like glue since their talk with him, mostly because he was a total worrywart but didn't actually want to admit it, so they sat turned away, fiddling with some rocks, humming a tune and hoping Vargas didn't notice. He probably did but at least Chaos-Two didn't know.

When the Leviathan moved, they stood up, leaping to their feet and trotting after his tail, weaving between his front legs to stand just between, them, frozen. Someone was here.

They looked up at Vargas and scuttled off to stand beside him instead, standing quietly and attentively. They noted the black and the oily stone, ears flicking up. That was sort of what they had.

"Master...", they mumbled, "What is that? They drip and ooze like Labradorite. Why?"

It kind of reminded them of when Khavur ate. Messy and all over the place. And just because, they sent another wave of healing magic over Vargas just to make sure that no bad germs got into his wounds. That would be bad. Call them paranoid or whatever.

Somehow, Esther didn't notice the ginormous figure nearby. Whether that was from them looking around at the strange rock wall with indents in it, or looking at the other crystals in the room that seemed to... Move. Which was still kinda creepy but Esther was mildly curious about what would happen if they touched one. Before they could move that way, their ears picked up the sound of someone moving. They almost didn't turn their head that way.

But then it talked at them. Esther turned then, wings tensing at their sides as they caught sight of the big purple... thing. Staring down at them. Glowing eyes seemed to see into their soul - but the being wasn't being aggressive. If anything, it was more curious. Esther's first reaction was to try and catch it on fire - but no. No they would not do that. Thankfully the urges to hurt things mostly were gone, after they stabalized themselves not long ago.

Another one showed up just after, too, asking all kinds of questions to the big one. Esther was standing right there - the weird looking thing could have asked them about it themselves. Granted, the maned wolf wasn't sure they knew the answer to those questions anyway - and they sure as hell didn't know who Labradorite was.

"I heard rumors and was curious." the canine responded. Looking between the two, the maned wolf decided to introduce themselves.

"I'm Esther." It would be rude to not at least respond with their own name since the giant one did, but Esther wasn't known for being nice.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas half-glanced back at Chaos-Two and its questions. "That is the effect of our magic on those unused to it," Vargas told it--"The Creator's magic. His power." Eyes swung back to Esther, listening to their response. He still wasn't sure how such magical corruption would play out, but it was interesting to see. Then again, some from his era had dripped--see Draconua; was it possible that this one was an ancient creation? It looked like one of the canines of this era, but grotesquely stretched, and its wings were... unusual. Its color was nothing like anything he'd known in the old days, though.

"Esther," he repeated, and it did not sound like an old name, or a new one, really; "Are you of this generation, or are you from before the long sleep? Curiosity, you say. If you have questions, ask them," he added, still studying it closely.

@V-Chaos-Two

Chaos-Two nodded in understanding, their small tail flicking back and forth as they watched the exchange between Vargas and Esther. Hm... were there others? Creatures who dripped and oozed- creatures who could possibly become allies?

They were close enough to Esther that they could smell the familiar scent that followed Labradorite, and they could see the variation of color, and see their eyes and their paws, but not the texture of their fur or their whiskers. And they were straining as hard as they could, so much that their eyes hurt.

Finally they gave up and decided to listen, flopping down and bumping Vargas before shuffling away a few inches to give him room, mumbling a small apology. They wondered if Esther would be accepted as an ally like Kethri was, or if they'd be turned away. Kethri wasn't even gifted with such magic, and she was welcome.

@Esther

The big one talked more. Esther didn't quite understand what it meant The creator? Who was that? The creator's magic? Is that what Esther had? That didn't really solve the aggression the magic seemed to push, or the chaoticness of it. How dangerous the spells seemed. The maned wolf shifted on the spot, claws scraping the rocky floor with a quiet sound.

They were adressed, and looked up at the purple looming figure with glowing eyes. Long sleep? What was that? This generation? At least they could get their questions answered.

"Who's the creator? What is the long sleep?" Their confusion of the topic was most likely going to show that they weren't around before then - but really, to ask all kinds of questions wasn't the reason they were there.

"I just heard a group relocated here and went to check it out. To see what it was like."

The other one that was there seemed to stay quiet, and Esther didn't have much to say to them.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

The short, sharp laugh that erupted from the Leviathan was abruptly, shockingly loud, but mercifully brief. "Who is the Creator! That answers my question, then, yes," and he glanced at V-Chaos-Two, as if expecting the little one to share his humor. -Ah, but it was--half-blind, and actually wouldn't share that humor, most likely-... Slightly dampened, Vargas looked to Esther again.

"Our Creator is the reason for this nest, and this nest exists to serve Him. You must be very young; only recently have these caves reawakened! And before then: sleep, for how long I cannot say, but long enough to wear away gem and rock."

Vargas grunted, reaching out one hand without asking, aiming to press clawed thumbs beneath Esther's jaw simply to turn it to one side--to get a better look at the oil slicking their face, there. "Tell me, how did you come to be touched by Him-?" he asked, curious. "Was it the Altar, perhaps-?" Behind him, grinding, breathing, was the Black Spire: of similar material, but a roaring source instead of a resultant trickle.

"As for the 'group,' those who serve Him will be operating out of here: this is Draco, the Womb." Free with his information, perhaps; but his demeanor made it clear that he expected his own answers in return.

@V-Chaos-Two

Chaos-Two kind of looked like that woman with all the math symbols floating around her head.

How did Esther not know about the Creator? Did the Masters not preach about them? Did Dhracia's visit not influence others too? Did anyone else even know about that even happening?

Suddenly they realized that there was a lot more work to be done despite his own vast expectations for the outside world being seriously uneducated about the matters that the Chaos Forge dealt with. Even the ones who did bind themselves to the Creator didn't even know from whence their power came!

It was so stupid that they let out a small pity laugh and rubbed their face.

"Master Vargas," they said, looking up at them, "Will we be evaluating them too?"

At the very least, this could be an educational experience for them. They would be evaluating many others in the future, judging their talents and where they could be most useful to the Chaos Forge. Perhaps they could watch Vargas at work here and take some notes.

@Esther

Esther didn't quite understand what the large one named Vargas meant when he started laughing, loudly, mind you. Except maybe that it was funny they didn't know who the Creator was? That really seemed to be the only explination for the answer they got, the answer being the bumbling laughing. Somehow, Esther didn't mind it, being more confused than anything else.

The altar? Is that what that place was? Really, it was dark in there and Esther didn't really know what was going on until it was too late. Until their magic changed and their stone darkened, along with their eyes, a strange oily substance coming from their eyes, nose sometimes, and lingering around their stone. "I... Think so." Came their reply.

Those who served Him... Esther wanted to know about this unnamed guy. Or maybe Him was just his name? Was that actually a guy or was their name just weird - that was something Esther distantly wondered as they came up with another statement, or question.

"What would it take to be let in? To... This group. I wish to learn more." Esther said, curiosity twinkling in their darkened eyes.

They did hear the question from the other one, evaluation? Someone must have stumbled in before Esther got there.

@Vargas