TEMA, the Voidkin
There can be love in Chaos; just follow the Void

It was almost funny how much of an impact a little snail had on the Voidcrawlers. It was a wonder how any of them had ever gotten along without her before their meeting, considering just how much space she had taken up in everyone's minds since. Her untimely disappearance could have been nothing but an experiment for all they knew, but each and every one of them had only one focus at the moment: getting her back. There was no room for anything else in their minds; the Voidmother had taken them over so sweetly, hot caramel melting their minds while they continued to lap it up without complaint. Not that any of them, including Tema, had noticed. But it truly wasn't all that awful, either. Sunny had given them family, friends, a purpose and a home. What more could they ask for?

It was a shame that everything she built would fall without her to lead it. Sure, they would try to continue her legacy. But in the end? The Voidcrawlers were hers in every way. The silence left in her place would continue to grow... and grow... and grow... and Tema was so, so tired of silence and avoidance in-between searches.

So she followed the only trail she knew, looking for something to follow. The snail had been her only guide until now, lovely words and boundless energy pushing her to improve. To impress. Her disappearance had only led in one direction now, and it was just... not possible to continue. Not yet, at least. Surely she'd figure out some way to use her magic to assist, but who knew how long it would be before her magic welled up enough to do so? Until then, she needed a new guide. The source.

"The Voidmother called upon you once and the Voidkin calls upon you now. I need guidance... Please?" She spoke to the altar before her, desperately trying to ignore the strange lighting of the room and the whispers that seemed to come from everywhere. But something else was there, too. A pull, opposite the feeling of when she called her magic forth. It was just as alive as her magic though, untouchable and yet so... real.

In honor of her pledge to the Void (or at least the idea of it), Tema obediently took the last step forward and pushed her nose to the oily stone.

OOC Notes: Backdated to just after festival's end.

It had been folly, to claim love from Void; to stretch peace from Chaos as if one could separate strands of melting good, like the pull of threads--one from another--from pure destruction. It had been idiotic, madness even, to pretend protection from what lay here. Sunny's words had been foolish, her proclamations the very antithesis of what lurked in the Hole, and every step the great bear had taken down the long and twisting dark had whispered this. Bitter cold lay under paws, Tema's eyes greeted with pitch black, whispers twisting just-unheard at the edges of her hearing.

Only when she emerged at last into the Voidlight did the Altar's very essence become clear, in a burst of sudden, certain knowledge. This place was Chaos. It was not gentle love and the support of friends. Why would Sunny claim that-? It was destruction, devastation, and as the bear's cold nose pressed to bone-white voidlit Oilstone, she at last saw true.

There was no sentient voice to greet her, but the whispers that came were rife with madness nonetheless: promises of power, seductive threats of danger, silibant hisses that swore this was the only way. The best way. Combat, battle. Assassins in the dark. Claws and venom dripping in every hidden corner. But there was triumph in it: those who survived were the dominant, those who won were the powers behind it all. Chained madness, brought to bear on weaker enemies. The force that would destroy, that would unmake, a universe.

And she-? Tema? Tema was a part of that, half-breed spawned in Chaos, the lurking magic waiting for her here. She was to join with it. Embrace it. To use that massive jaw, those thick fangs, those ripping claws, that magnificent hide--imagine it--black-stained, dripping with gore. And that was triumph.

Peace?

There was no peace here. Love? It was nothing. To pretend to find it here was a lie.

This was the altar of Chaos. And this was where Sunny had prayed.

Tema has seen Visions of Chaos, and has gained +3 Corruption. She is now Touched, and will see periodic visions of death and war; any strong negative emotions may trigger a powerful desire to inflict chaos.

@Tema

Nothingness. Tema's mind became a blank slate as the vision poured in, whispers just out of reach and emotions jumbled to the point of disappearing entirely. Time did not exist as she stood there, wet nose pressed to cold stone as the tension built in her shoulders. Just what was this?

Slowly her mind began to focus again, picking through the vision and trying to make sense of the puzzle, watching as the world burned around her and the scent of blood, faint as a memory, seeped into her nostrils. The chaos in her vision grew and grew, intensifying, changing, corrupting.

The bear ripped her nose from the stone as if it had burned her, and in some way it had.

This was what Sunny spoke of, denying the need for violence in search of creating a new path towards change. Sunny had seen what could become of their world if this was the path they followed. Now Tema had, too. A path that would have Tema destroy rather than protect was not one she would willingly follow. Power meant nothing to her.

Though thankful to the altar for having reminded her why she fought for the Voidcrawler's dream, Tema's blood ran cold as she began to feel unwelcome in the hole, sending her rather hastily on her way.

//Exit