Giggle lay herself down along the outskirts of the group, offering Tahi-shei a nod when his gaze passed hers. He was doing all right, though she didn't agree with everything he was saying--and she spoke up (quietly, really) to say as much when he had finished.

"I wouldn't call it a passive magic. Fungus can tear your flesh apart. It can rip skin from bone and consume you--don't think it doesn't want to. It's alive. It wants to grow, to spread. It can control your mind. It's nothing to not take seriously," she added, her tone one of somber warning. One paw pushed forward slightly, and a carpet of brown mushrooms--unassuming things, with pale creamy-white stalks--sprang forth before her, cropping up along the dirty stone. "Feel free to take a bite of one of these--or a real good sniff--if you want a more harmless example." If anyone did take a bite, they'd get a real trip: the stuff was heavily hallucinogenic, and one of the fungus she used to defend her pit and den.

Not like fire... hmph!

She still wasn't sure why Tahi-shei was naming his magics; she'd always found that a little pretentious, herself. They didn't have titles, not like that, to Giggle. Magic just did what the user directed it to do. "Not everyone... names it, either," she told the others present--purely so they'd know. "So others might call it something different."

"Anyway, I can help anyone practice, if they want to. And when it comes to fighting, I think I'll stay at the back." The bones had given her warning, and she intended to heed it--if even she went to this fight at all.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

A gentle glance was given to Reign at the cheetah's question. Oh, he wasn't going to go into the full answer to that. Instead he offered a polite look, a dip of his head. "I'm well, thank you. I-"

Pride's head swung down to peer at the stranger beneath him. The one... asking for his antlers. He blinked, at first uncertain what it was that they meant; and when he grasped it he blinked again. "My--antlers? -No, those are attached to my head. Err--if nobody has told you, 'lies' are a bad thing. A very bad thing," he told her, both gentle and puzzled. Why would someone willingly call themselves a liar-? And why the hell did Tahi-shei give it a tooth?! Pride studied that, for a moment, before shaking his head in some confusion.

The lesson by Tahi-shei went half-unheard, the stag's attention dragged away by the bug, and he almost halfheartedly glanced back up at the other deer. He'd focus on the fungus in a moment, then. "Let me focus on the lesson, but-" (and the stag paused a moment, concentrating; gemstone began to sprout, like branches, from the rock) "-will this do, for now?" He leaned down, nosing the gemstone, as if helping it free; his magic swelled a little. It took more effort than he'd expected and the result was smaller than his own grand rack--but maybe that was for the best; Arwen might find it difficult to carry this, otherwise.

They were two antlers--made of a milky white moonstone, a translucency to it that seemed to catch the light and shine silver, or even blue at times--connected by a stone band that would, if Arwen so desired, work somewhat like a crown. "You could wear that--it might need padding; or you can break them off if you wanted them separately," Pride told her, and then nodded. He stepped aside, to give her room to take them, and then turned his attention back to Tahi-shei, falling silent.

The other deer's explanations were... well, he was trying to lay it all out, and clearly, and Pride struggled to remember what had been said during his own quiet conversation. It wasn't really the same as imparting the knowledge of magic--it never was--and he knew he'd have to figure it out himself based on what Tahi-shei had told them. Fungus wasn't an element into which Pride had ever delved, so he waited, for now--sensing, listening, watching the rest, trying to get an idea of how they went about it.

Carja patted Charon's side and turned to Attikias, ”Attikias, this is my bruncle Charon. He's younger than me but he's my dad's brother because my grandma gave life to his stone- yeah! Bruncle.”

She spotted Tema and gasped, trotting over and immediately butting her head into the bear's side, purring happily, ”Hi Tema! I've missed you!!”

She curled up and tucked all her limbs in so she didn't hit anyone, looking at Tahi for a moment before looking back at her old friend.

”Is Sunny back yet?”, she asked softly, ”I've been in Eridanus, but I haven't found anything.”

She wouldn't know that Giggle was the Bone King's mother, or that she was Bonebound by a look. Maybe if she did, she could ask, but alas...

Idly, she watched other interactions, namely the one between Pride and the 'Queen of Lies'. What a silly name.

@Tema

CHARON

the very mountains whisper your name

Charon nodded at the pat and turned to Attikias as Carja wandered off. His face rested in a constant grumpy expression no matter his mood, so he ended up leveling the elf with a glare rather than a curious expression.

"Do you craft?", he asked, "I don't really do... anything. I used to defend Monoceros but there's no one to defend there anymore, so..."

He shrugged and coiled his tail around his legs, sighing gently, "Could you uh... teach me to craft?"

He wasn't really a dragon either. He had a pair of front legs, wings that couldn't fly, and he couldn't breathe ice or fire. He was just meandering around, struggling to find a purpose. Maybe in Ursa he'd figure it out, but until then, he'd just be a grumpy jerk.

"I sorta have hands," he continued, balancing on his tail as he held up his front claws, three fingers and a fourth that was sort of like a thumb.

@Attikias

Comet was relieved to learn that James would not be getting himself in danger by going into the fight. She wanted to go and help the wounded too, but she knew it would be better for her to stay with her siblings. "I will Renny, I'm sure they would like to learn." It pained her that they needed to learn such things. They were living in some dangerous times.

She listened carefully to Tahi, who had announced they would be learning how to detect fungi. That was troublesome. She didn't think she would know how to do it.

Aran already had magic to sense a few things, so learning how to sense fungi wouldn't be much different if he did try to learn. He'd told Tahi he would be here, but Aran wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to help them in this battle that was being coordinated. Would he have helped cycles ago when he could still see? Maybe - maybe not. It was hard to know at this point. His thoughts and what he agreed to were fleeting, but being able to sense things wasn't that hard. It was learning the other spell that would be more difficult - for the deer himself anyway. The others might have more trouble than its worth to learn both.

How many gembound were here exactly?

Upon thinking his thought, he found himself hearing what he assumed were the thumps of the hearts of the other gembound. He'd never... Casted that spell before. How long would this last? Either way, it helped him determine the location of the gembound there, and he could hear them normally anyway. He would have to use this more, even though it didn't work for his sight. Tahi gathered.... More than he expected the deer would. He could commend the younger gembound for gathering a good amount of them.

He cast a glance towards James as he corrected Arwen, showing visible surprise when she accepted his answer and then shooting an apologetic look at James. He felt a little guilty for not defending him now, but he'd sort of just assumed that Arwen would ignore him. Then again, maybe James would have preferred to defend himself. It wasn't as though he needed Tahi-shei to fix him.

He also noticed Arwen sidle over to Pride, and then announce that she'd taken a tooth from him. He cringed just slightly, one ear flicking. It wasn't exactly something he regretted, but it was kind of embarrassing, especially to be telling Pride -- considering Pride had watched him choose murder over letting the Collector have a piece of his body. The Queen of Lies wasn't as dangerous as the Collector was and was far more predictable, but he could still imagine that his intentions might be misconstrued.

Thankfully, Giggle chimed in, and he cast her a thankful glance. "Your input is welcomed, Giggle -- I cannot pretend that I have the understanding of this magic that you do, as that understanding can only really come with experience and age. You are correct as well; fungal magic wishes to control, to poison, to destroy." His eyes grew darker. "It is a blessing that it requires so much strength from the caster; the reason that Mother runs unchecked and uncontrolled is because this magic, this fungal destruction, is so much more powerful than any one single Gembound. The creator of this magic is strong -- that is why I have sought out the help of many in order to oppose him."

He noted that Pride and Arwen were still whispering to each other, and he created what looked quite a bit like a pair of antlers. In fact, it seemed like most everyone was occupied with their own conversations, and he felt a wrinkle of irritation and insecurity. His ears laid back just a bit as he looked throughout the crowd, and after a few more moments passed without anyone asking him for help, he reluctantly moved on, not at all satisfied that people were actually practicing but quietly admitting to himself that they didn't really need to right now.

Tahi-shei cleared his throat. "The next spell is one that I have called Fungal Wake, although Giggle is correct that not everyone names their spells, or even names them the same things." He gave a small shrug and a somewhat sheepish smile. "Honestly, I just think they sound cool." It was an intentional reveal of weakness, an intentional showing of his hand -- he was trying to make himself more relatable, more easily trusted. Everything Tahi-shei had done this far, at least consciously, was worthwhile. It would continue to be, he was sure.

"Fungal Wake, as I call it, is the spell I cast earlier -- and the one Giggle just cast as well," he said, nodding to her. "Would you mind giving an example as well, dear?" he asked, lowering his voice slightly to address James before continuing. "This is the spell I was born able to do, so I am unsure if I can describe the theory all that well, but it is... as if there is magic under your feet, and you are drawing it up, or pushing it up, into almost any form you can imagine. This can be used to simply create small fungus on any substrate you can touch, but it can also be used to draw fungal influence out of a body. This is likely the utility you will have for it in regards to the Hive; as it stands, though, it's a useful spell to have anyway. It can be eaten, for example, if you know that your particular variety is safe to eat."

He nodded at Giggle and looked out over the crowd of Gembound with a kind smile. "And again, if any of you need help casting it, please -- feel free to let me know, and I will see what I can do to help you."

@james @pride @attikias @madhukar @twisted @comet @tema @aran

I WILL POST AGAIN ON JANUARY 10 -- THAT WILL LIKELY BE THE LAST TAHI POST OF THE THREAD.

James gently bumped Tahi and smiled. He could indeed handle himself, but he appreciated Tahi not stepping in anyway. He'd gained more respect from Arwen by speaking up on his own behalf.

"I can certainly try," he said, and stretched his wings out, shifting to work out the stiffness from his limbs from standing in one place for so long.

Fungal spells came easily, though it wasn't as natural as his arcane magic. During the raid, he'd successfully cast it dozens of times, and had since become even more familiar with it, so he was mostly sure he could do it.

Mushrooms grew up from beneath his hooves, spreading out until they sprouted under Tahi's, too. They were a mix of green and cyan, with glowing caps and black stalks. If eaten, they would be bitter, but were ultimately non-toxic.

James' feathers fluffed up with glee at the successful cast, his tail swishing, "There. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier. Even if you aren't naturally proficient with fungal magic, you can learn it. I think it's less using magic to create fungus and more encouraging growth and feeding what's already there. Coaxing spores to become life."

But he was happy that Tahi believed he could do such a thing too.

Aran listened to Tahi - mostly ignoring the other gembound there. He himself didn't have much interest fighting this force, but both of his friends found it important. He'd already decided he was going before this, but how many of those gembound were actually going to learn the magic that Tahi was prompting them to learn? Either way, it didn't matter much to him.

"What else can be done with Fungal wake besides repel mother?" He questioned aloud.

Carja raised an arm like a school kid, eyes wide, ”Hey! What if you aren't magically inclined? What if you're more physically adept than magically adept?”

She was mostly talking about Charon, but she knew others had to agree with her point.

”How will we purge ourselves?”, she asked, ”What if we fall to Mother's influence and just end up fighting those who we were supposed to be fighting with?”

She didn't doubt that Mother would be so honorless as to do such a thing, guessing by the fact that she took over the minds of gembound for no good reason.