Terror spares a glance towards its own sibling, pressing closer towards Creosote, eyes switching their attentions just for a moment. It worried about its sibling, sometimes. With a body that seemed more like limbs piled uselessly upon itself than any sort of functional design by the day, it worried about its sibling's capability to defend itself.

...perhaps it should train it in magic, when this is over.

And then the figure in front of them begins to speak, and Terror's attention is quickly caught by its flickering, faltering speech. Weak. The reason it is asking for aid quickly becomes obvious; evidently, the creature is not capable of diving beneath the waves itself. Terror wonders, briefly, if it can even swim. The robe hanging off of its body looks like it would simply drown the masked creature in the waves.

It is silent in the moments after the mask's own speech, imploring those gathered to help, head filling with thoughts. Mulling over the points of its speech, this and that—

—first, why should Terror deign itself to help at all? There is no reward for this, no flesh at the end of its great exertion. There will be fighting, sure, underwater fighting, but why should it take part in freeing this… whoever, past simple curiosity?

...and 'locked away' implies that someone else had locked this creature away. Trapped them, the same way Terror would trap an unfortunate fish between its jaws—for a purpose. A purpose that, despite its disinterest in the quest itself so far, it would very much like to know.

This question, at least, Terror does voice, if only for its own interest. "And why... would such a person be locked away?"

Why does it need to be freed? Terror would like to know.

Fishing was one thing. Fighting though—that required more finesse than the former, especially if they were to face an opponent with a mind sharper than a mere fish's. But if he had to learn fancier maneuvers than a simple dive and bite to be useful, so be it. There was no point in shying away from a challenge if it made him better.

"I can't stay below for long. But I can swim well." He nodded, as if reaffirming the statements to himself. Voice rising, his near mumble became a harsh rasp. "Those who can't. I can teach you if you want."

After saying this, he fell silent, partially to rest his tongue but also to listen to those around him. The seal's shouts, particularly, did have merit despite their aggravating volume; some were not built well to deal with the pressure of water. Fahl mustered up the strength to attract attention once more.

"What are we up against?" Weaknesses couldn't be improved upon if few knew what they were dealing with.

Here came the Beast.

A wobbly-footed hybrid trotted along the bay, feeling the heat wash over his fur as he came. Despite being, well, not the most social creature out there, he still managed to catch word of a strange blacksmith under a volcano. A blacksmith who needed assistance. Now, Beast wasn't a swimming creature. He couldn't even run without tripping over his own stubs. Let alone enchant anything. But a call for help is a call for help, and so he came.

It took a few tries for the octopod to find the right cave, and by the time he approached a large crowd had already gathered. There were so many gembounds here-- hooved things, flying things, things so complex they were hard to categorize-- it was like the entire caves were here! And all of them gathered around a single, hunched figure. The Blacksmith? Surely. He was already talking, so Beast simply listened in and tried to figure out what they were doing.

'You are... kind creatures.' Aww, thank you! 'Those of you who know my magic... might enchant... Those who know of water's secrets... might help.' Now, those were things Beast couldn't do, and his tentacles lowered at the thought of being useless. But still! Beast can help! '... And those of you who can... work metal... or find lost valuables... I ask you to create, or seek, things we can enchant. Okay, now we're talking. Beast can make things! Make them with his wiggly-arms! He can find things, too! Beast can help!

He opened his stomach-beak to speak... and was immediately flooded by a chorus of shouting, questioning, and probing from the others. Talkative bunch, huh? He didn't have many questions of his own, so he simply wobbled towards the Blacksmith, mumbling: "B-Beast will help."

Comet knew she had water magic, but she did not know of the one that allows one to breathe underwater. Or maybe... There were some other spells that she knew that did very similar things. She wondered if she could try and use that knowledge of those spells to make one that allows the user to breathe water? Comet felt that the way she could be most useful was fighting underwater. She didn't trust herself enough to enchant an item with a spell she wasn't even sure would work. It would be much better for her to use it on only herself, so if anything bad did happen, it would be only to her. "I can try to help with fighting underwater or finding something."

Her ear turned to catch James's sharp remark to... someone. This was out of character. Something really bad must've happened for him to act like that! But since Comet didn't catch what Pelt had said, she was just confused. "What's wrong, renny?"

@James (interaction)

Blight was quiet, for the most part, rocking back to sit almost upright on his tattered wings. He listened to the others speak--demands and offers, questions and information.

"I can swim well enough, but not for long. I could fight underwater, if I could breathe there," he added, musing over it. His wings were... ungainly beneath the waves; once he lost the momentum of a dive (his common hunting method) he tended to just flail, their drag slowing him drastically. But his magic didn't need air. He could kill from a distance, if need be--but was killing, fighting, even necessary? Fahl's question had him nodding. "That's a good question--what are we facing?" That would definitely help them to prepare.

He turned to Carja, then, peering and blinking at her for a moment before recognition set in. "Carja! How've you been?!" he cried, enthused; clearly, he was quite happy to see her, at once pushing up to shuffle closer. "Damn, you've grown," and he let out a raucous, rasping laugh. She wasn't the hatchling he'd first met, nor even the half-grown adolescent he'd last seen. And-... There was something else, too.

Blight studied her for a moment, before blinking. "-When did you change color?" He almost hadn't recognized her with the glittering cast of stars across her body!

Ahh, this was--a lot to take in, and a lot to respond to. As each question came, the Blacksmith did his best to field them, but it was a crowd that had gathered here. Though pleased with this, he was nonetheless a little shy, dipping his head and shuffling half back behind his anvil.

"I'd be happy to teach you," he began, to Talys; "but I will be working quite hard... I cannot slow down, yet. You could... apprentice later... perhaps? To learn what I do too quickly... now. And watch what I do... for now." He paused; did that make sense-? He had work to do, and he was rushing it; now wasn't the best time for teaching, but Talys was welcome to stay, to learn what he could. The Blacksmith could always slow things down more later on for better teaching!

Leviathan's question--and my, he was reminded, Levi was such an interesting-looking creature!--had the Blacksmith pondering. "It will be... in Fornax. But it is best... to avoid that place... for now. The waters at the bottom of each... in places... are very hot. Deadly-hot. So it is the same... for training. But Fornax... for now, avoid it." Tahi-shei then mentioned Farina, and the Blacksmith peered to him. "Ahh-... she is involved, but... she is not the one who is trapped. She is... freed. I would not go to Fornax, as she is-... there, and she is... angry." His pauses seemed more halting, now, as if he had grown even more shy, or uncertain.

"I am... sorry," the Blacksmith said to Pelt, as the seal jokingly addressed him. "I did not expect... many whose shapes are suited... to water. This is why we will need... the magic." A hand gestured at the tools. James's rudeness had him glance the horse's way, surprised. He was silent for a moment, pondering how to address this, before speaking. "There is no reason... to speak to one another... in such a way," he told the horse. As to Pelt's request--"I cannot spare... any such reward, at the moment. Everything I have... must be put toward only this task, and even then... I will be strained." And Whale, too, was asking for a meeting by the water. "I will come down there, then... we all can."

The Blacksmith hesitated, and set his hammer beside his anvil. Then he made his way through the crowd, seeming quite small beside some of their hulking shapes, moving out from the tunnel to look down over the sea. there was Whale: and he greeted her with a little wave, and then continued to address the rest. The alligator--another water-shape, he thought--was asking of things he had already answered; perhaps he'd missed this part of the meeting. "We are going to retrieve something... yes. Someone... stuck. Someone... lost, for a very long time. Your ability to... use that magic, can be enchanted into items. I ask your help, in this," he added. He looked around. "You will need... someone who can enchant things. And they in turn... will need your magic." Forgraves offered help with flasks, energy, and the Blacksmith--coming closer to the shore, peering down at Whale--pondered. "The way will be... long. If you can find a way... for flasks to be carried... and drinkable, underwater... then your help would be welcome." He'd leave that bit of potential ingenuity to the fox to try and figure out--he himself had much to do. There were others, who didn't speak--Carja spoke mostly to another of them, Madhukar silent in the background. But Terror asked a good question, and the Blacksmith peered to the creature. Yet another water-one, perhaps. "I do not know," he answered, at last. "Maybe... betrayal. Maybe... an accident." He knew about Farina, but this one-? He hadn't asked.

He liked remaining in one piece.

To Fahl--yet another swimmer! what luck!--he nodded. "Yes... it is a good question. You will be fighting--those who fight--things beneath the water. It will be very dark, down there. Light may be needed... for those who cannot see in the black. It will be hot, in some places. Very cold, in others. There will be... things with tentacles... things with poison. The great spiders... that weave webs in the deep. The great fish with... teeth and lures. There are many creatures down there... things you have never seen, I think..." The Blacksmith tried to remember them all, but there were just so many. So many tentacles, so many pincers, so many tendrils covered in venom... "We will need to get past... all of that, and more. So we will need... the help. And the one who wishes us to do this... she is too big to fit. She is the... Master. She is... Farina," he explained, with a nod to Tahi-shei.

Beast and Comet both offered aid, and the Blacksmith finished with a nod each of their ways. "All aid... is appreciated," he answered, in a murmur.

Pelt's request still lingered in his mind, however. He was asking them to offer a great deal of help... "There are things that... I could ask... Farina to grant you, in reward. As the seal requests. I make no promises... but perhaps she can... make you swifter in the water. Or able to breathe it... but I think she is... angry, now. Impatient. She will not do that before... her leaf is retrieved."

@Talys (Leviathan, Tahi-shei) @Kaimana (Madhukar) @Pelt (Whale) @Dragon (Blight) @Forgraves @James (Carja) @Terror @Fahl @Beast @Comet

James was just the tiniest bit miffed, and swished his tail, "Hmph. I don't appreciate being insulted out of the blue, and I don't appreciate being underestimated. Don't judge people by how they look, okay?"

He aimed that last phrase at the seal and snorted, stamping a foot. His ears pinned and he glared at the ground, angry, and moved to the other side of Tahi and Comet to get distance between him and Pelt.

"It's nothing to worry about, Comet," he said, "Ignore them, we're here to help, not to fight."

He swished his tail and looked at Carja, nodding, "Alright. As long as you can cast your magic, those of us who can enchant can do so. If anyone else has such a spell, step forward, please."

He made his way to a section of the forge that was unoccupied to get started.

James exits to this thread --> /showthread.php?tid=9416

”Hi...”, Carja breathed, tearing up just a bit, ”U-um, I've been good! Really really good! I've been just... hanging in there, I suppose. I live in Eridanus now with some others. Attikias and his family, they're really nice and we've got a really cool partnership going on... and I've got two kids on the way!”

She curled her tail around Blight, not touching but close, ”But um... yeah.”

She didn't want to mention Svartis or Bone in fear that Blight would reject her too, or even her and Dread's fight. It still hurt to think about it.

Her head turned to face James and she blinked, ”Right... let's talk later, okay? We can catch up properly!”

Carja managed a toothy grin and retreated, making her way towards James with her head low.

Pelt spared little attention for James' initial harsh words, too busy trying to process all that the Blacksmith had said. Whoever this Farina character was, she must be powerful to scare the Blacksmith and scare Gembound away from visiting an entire cave. And assuming they succeeded in their quest, she would surely be powerful enough to give Pelt the reward she wanted.

"Excuse me?" Pelt asked, frowning. Had she heard that right? "We're doing all of this to free a leaf? I will help anyway, but why exactly does this Farina care so much about her leaf?" She thought it was a person they were freeing.

She'd fought a fish, before, and tentacles didn't sound too bad. But the things with poison concerned her, as did the spiders with their webs. A slight shudder ran through her at the memory of being caught in a giant web in Cetus. It had taken her too much time to break free. If she got tangled up down there, with all the other dangers nearby... well, she would make sure to watch out for those, and not get caught.

Finally, the horse spoke again, telling Pelt not to underestimate him. She'd thought her estimation was rather accurate, but perhaps this one had hidden depths. Pelt grinned suddenly, watching his retreating figure. What kind of power did he hide beneath his unassuming appearance? She'd be looking forward to seeing how he fared underwater.

Whale's summoned wisp drifted down with the Blacksmith and his entourage, pulsing faintly with its blue light. What a grand undertaking this was shaping up to be! A thrill ran through her blood at all the dangers the Blacksmith mentioned. Oh, the stories she would have to tell when they succeeded! She would protect them- and light! "I can make light!" she exclaimed. The wisp bobbed excitedly by the group's side, while Whale concentrated and tried to summon another.

But apart from a faint, temporary glow that emanated from her gem, nothing appeared. The first wisp remained, zipping to the water in a looping path and hovering above Whale. "I can't breathe underwater, but I can hold my breath," she told the Blacksmith. "Maybe more than half an hour normally, but less if I'm going to be active fighting something. Will we be down there for long?" She could always surface to breathe, but she didn't like the idea of being away from the action. She wanted to help fight the monsters and protect everyone here! She wanted to free this trapped being!