Action. Thought. "Speech."

he turned to the other voices for a moment, smiling. "yep, you can call me specs! a pleasure to meet you all" he chirped with a smile.

he hummed. he turned to the shouting voices for a moment, confused, but shook them off. sinister lessers? well, he did suppose they looked as such. best to be careful, but you all know how it is. curious.

he looked around. he supposed it wouldn't hurt to sniff around, would it?

he walked to one of the nearby walls, magic thrumming through his feet as he did so. he sniffed the walls and rocks, between cracks and crevices. if something was here, hidden, surely it'd have a scent, its just a matter of if his nose could catch it...

The Queen hissed under her breath, her mask hiding her glaring features. She turned to face the idiot and scoffed, instantly amused.

"What a stupid little creature," she said to Matthieu, "Ignore it, friends, it isn't worth our time."

Hopefully the beast was eaten first...

She peered over at Cerilaine and offered a gentle wave, pleased by her apparent intelligence. But aside from that, she mostly ignored those who weren't fae except for Cerilaine and Forgraves. At least they seemed to be polite.

She picked her way forward daintily, her deer hind delicate, matching the rest of her. She peered around Rain and tilted her head, curious.

"Does it not work?", she hummed.

Note: Glamour will be maintained for two more rounds.

Marshmallow merely existed. She was there, and watched everyone attempt to look around for something, but as she wasn't quite sure what that was, she just stayed perched on Arwen, observing. She continued on with her job of being cute and protecting Arwen should any dangers come.

Mosaic's jaw fell open incredulously. "WHAT KIND OF MORON ARE YOU?" she shrieked in disbelief. "LOOK - LOOK AT THAT ONE, WEARING THE SKULL OF ITS OWN KIN! WHETHER OR NOT THEY'RE LESSERS IS THE LEAST OF THEIR PROBLEMS!" Ugh, of course only a cat could be this stupid, this oblivious to the sinister-ness of these deer demon-ritual-wall-tapping-cultists, or whatever they were. Well, she had done her duty in at least trying to warn the others here, no matter how futile her efforts were in the end. Whether or not they would take her advice and do the smart thing was their own problem now. Mosaic had no patience for fools.


"Bunch of idiots, all of you," she muttered, turning tail and running out of Polaris. She was a carnivore, but at least she had not killed a fellow dog, and at least she did not wear the corpses of her victims as trophies. Deer didn't even need to kill, anyway! Didn't the stupid cat see what a bad idea it was to hang out with this sort of Gembound?

- exit unless stopped

What a commotion there was! A beautifully patterned canine with large ears was yelling something rather rude at a group of gathered Gembound, and Paige wondered what had made her so angry. She trotted closer, staring curiously at each animal in turn. There was a group of deer, a pale spotted cat, and a fox just like her! There was a deer who seemed to be wearing a disguise on its upper body, though it seemed less elaborate than Madhukar's had been back in Gemini, and it appeared to be pretending to be other kinds of deer rather than some kind of plant monster. Were disguises in fashion all of a sudden? Paige wanted in!

"Hi guys!" she called, cheerfully bounding over to the group. "I keep meeting people wearing disguises lately! I like yours especially," she added to the Tunnel Runner with the fluffiness of a Woolly Deer (@Arwen). "Your flower crown is so pretty!" Oh, how Paige wished she could be as good as Madhukar and this deer at making pretty things. "I had a banana crown once! I think I can make one again. What game are you playing?"

While she spoke, she focused on her magic and summoned another radiant, sparkling banana, peeling it and draping the peel over her head to make herself another crown. The fruit she split in two, and offered a half to the Tunnel-Woolly-Runner-Deer.

Won't you play a game with me?

By the name of the forest, why were there so many intruders here?!

Yes, yes, it was a free space. But that did not mean the "Marsh Strider" liked all this company. Their head(s) swiveled away at the sound of baying, staring off with narrowed eyes at the panicked canine. So loud. So nosy. And yes, it was true-- they were incredibly dangerous, and all these innocent creatures had no idea how easy it would be to rip out their teeth-- but they digress. It'd be impossible to chase them off now without drawing more attention to the questers.

Up came another-- spotted pelt, strange rims, shouting at the Wild Dog Who Cried Sinister. Matthieu regarded them coldly, before turning their snout to Rain again. Tick tock. Their fork didn't find anything of note. Their false-hooves stomped on the rock. Tick tock. Water dripped. The fox, the one called "Specs," rattled on. Tick Tock. The Wild Dog yowled. Tick tock. Another, even more oblivious fox joined the fraw. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Enough passive observation. That was Marshmallow's job. These little toys needed directing if they weren't going to hamper their progress. Plus, his illusionary spell was wearing off.

Or not. Bee hissed between clenched mandibles as the deer mirage began to flicker. "Veil's falling," she whispered in bug-speak, mainly to Arwen. This was not a good place for their lesser disguise to fall apart, not with everyone staring at them. 'What do we do?' But Boy, the humanoid screwed on backward, knew just what. "We'll keep the toys entertained."


"Friends!" Matthieu's cryptic whispering sickeningly smooth just in time as the spell flickered and exploded into a shower of sparks, revealing the monster beneath. A horrifying amalgam of insectoid and mammalian parts twisted together, one massive bee head staring into the crowd as their second, talking one swiveled around on their spine. Smiling like all hell. "Greetings. We see you have come here, ready to witness the extravagant event!" Of course, there wasn't actually a spectacle they planned for, but the faerie was a master at lying through his teeth. "We are the Cheery Court, and-- as the obscured one orates-- we seek the singing stones as directed by this."


Matthieu then turned back to Walks Like Rain, much quieter compared to their speech. "May we?" Barely leaving a moment to respond, her mandibles locked over the tuning fork and grabbed it away. Their rosy eyes flicked to the Queen, briefly, looking for any sort of response. And then they raised it into the air.

"Tada! Now, there are spoils behind the melody, so good thing you're here, because you may get a piece of them if you help us." Lies, lies, lies. Matthieu could barely tolerate their nosy butting. But they knew it would be quicker this way.

The faerie demon grinned ever larger.

"Now, which one of our marvelous friends wants to be the first to lend a hand, and the first to be rewarded?" They dangled the fork tantalizingly in the air. "Would it be you, Specs?" to Cerilaine-- "Would it be our spotted guest? Or maybe little miss 'Banana Crown', here-- perhaps you'll get your own, real crown...?"

He sighed dramatically and pulled the tong back. "Of course, we can always search by ourselves, but that would be no fun, would it?"

Talking. Acting. Glancing furtively at the rest of their Court.

Lying.

Got confirmation from Dove that Matthieu can borrow the tuning fork~

Jasmedai slithered in, at the back of the gathering. She did not draw attention to herself, nor was she so crass as to be the only court member there undisguised--she took the form of a meadow deer. A strange one, to be sure. It seemed deformed, having grown too many legs, hooves and legs stretched from the ground in a ten foot circle around her. Things were tied within the deer's mane. Feathers, bone scraps, and bits of jewelry. They flexed within the ground, in a way that spoke of very few, if any, bones. The meadow deer trotted up behind, quiet, no sound of hooves, but the slide of objects on dirt.

"The cheery court?" The meadow deer said. There was momentary confusion, the deer's black green eyes trying to decipher what Six Stripes was planning. She caught on rather quickly. Not the whole story, but the idea of this new jig, of using the others. Jasmedai had to resist the urge to laugh. The meadow deer smiled, and the smile tore nearly the length of the entire animal. Strangely, inside seemed to be more fur, rather than anything constituting flesh. This seemed fun.

A hunt. And Jasmedai loved the hunt. "How generous, you are! A grand idea!" She said. She clapped, though there was nothing with which she either clapped, or could appear to clap with. "What a rude court we be, if we did not allow our new friends to participate. I am the Wanderwilde, pleased to meet you all," she said, the front half of the deer dipping into the ground."

Cerilaine's ears dialed back briefly at the canine's ear-splitting response. Her expression had barely changed, though a look of disappointment, perhaps, came across her. Blue eyes flicked to the one she had pointed out- skull, perhaps, yes, but it didn't seem so much as a grim ritual and instead some form of warning.

And, it seemed, they weren't trying to warn away those that approached them, all but the dog.

Working her jaw, she turned her head away from the canine with a short huff, nodding once to the one waving. Her expression was still hard from the interaction with Mosaic- who was she to assume on lesser (or lesser adjacent) beings? She did not look like one, nor did she know their intentions- and neither did Cerilaine, really. They had some sort of odd object, but past that, well.

No matter. They were talking of needing help, and Cerilaine slinked forward, ears pushed forward in benign interest.

Treasure? What sort of treasure? What use was treasure here? Ceri's ear flicked as she listened (what was with the rhyming?), eyes roaming over Rain's cloak in a quick pass and lingering on the skull. Her fur bristled here, very minutely and nearly unnoticeable if someone weren't directly watching her, hesitating in a step forward. It felt off. Was it a warning or a lure? Why were they being so cryptic? Ceri clicked her teeth together in minute thought as she turned to the deer-

Just as they whispered out over an explosion of magic. Cerilaine winced back in response, fur bristling more- what- no, that didn't look right. It was two beings fused into one. Well- it was unfortunate, yes, and the leopard attempted to smooth down her fur as she slinked back forward.

Oh, but that smile was off-putting. Her ears flattened against her skull in her body's only protest to it, listening calmly to Matthieu speak about this Cheery Court. What was with the prose, too? Sure, Cerilaine liked a bit of formality, but it all seemed to be a bit too sweet.

The metal of the fork caught Cerilaine's eyes, and she straightened. "Looking for... Spoils, with that. What kind of spoils?" She squinted, briefly- perhaps she'd look serious, but with oversized spectacles on a child's face, it looks like she was playing dress-up for a detective game. And, as she looked to the others, her mind worked. They wouldn't gather so many people if there wasn't a good reason. Either it was a lot of treasure, they each wanted it for themselves, or- "And just how dangerous will this be?" If they were asking for help with this large of a crew, then there must be at least some level of risk.

The more it settled on her, the more it felt like a trap, but she wasn't about to let this opportunity slip her by. She didn't desire the treasure of it- but the knowledge of this... thing, that was being held out was certainly intriguing enough.

(If y'all end up waiting for me feel free to ping me or anything aa)

Rain scowled at Mattheiu and snatched it back. "If you take it, at least use it," they declared stiffly. "It's not ours, it's borrowed, and so it is mine." For now, anyway. They'd mourn it when they had to pass it back over to the Collector. In any case...

"You are welcome to join us," Rain said graciously, thinking of the questions. "I shouldn't think the danger would be too great, but unfortunately, we also have not been given the full details. As for the treasure, well, you're entitled to anything you find, and anything we can make you." Her eyes sparkled. That was a threat, although Cerilane didn't know it -- Rain could make her into quite a few things.

For now, though...

She struck the fork again.

Still no luck, though. Rain frowned. "We are not quite in the right place; let's move over here."

Arwen sighed softly, hands clasped in front of her. This was already falling apart...

’Do what you want,’ she chittered back, and then watched them explode into sparks.

She looked ahead and sluggishly followed Rain, hoping that the normies were entertained at least. She turned and faced Cerilaine suddenly, her masked face blank, a false expression of content on it.

"You haven't left yet. Hm."

She poked Rain after a moment, "I like her. Leave her fur on her body, perhaps she can be useful."

Another messenger, perhaps, or a pet. Though Marshmallow was just so stupid she barely had intelligence at all, and that was different.

@Cerilaine