Paige frowned, looking first at the patch of rock and then down at her own paws. She didn't think she could dig through solid rock very well! Or at all, really. But she still wanted to help! How could she help? She rocked back and forth on her paws slightly, humming softly. "Clues, clues, we dig for clues..." she sang under her breath.

She wasn't built for digging through the stone, but it seemed the members of the Cheery Court were! The bee-person had their mandibles, and hopefully that would work well enough. Her ears perked up suddenly. That's right! I have magic! Not any of the stone-breaking variety, unfortunately, but she could make some snacks for the Cheery Court to refuel!

At least... she tried. She really did, squeezing her eyes shut and concentrating really hard. But nothing came of the attempted magic, and she sighed, shifting her weight from paw to paw impatiently.

Arwen would sense the faint sheen of bacteria in and around the Generator, though it seemed consistent with that throughout Polaris.

The black light would display nothing, not least of all because black light did not tend to do so without some form of chemical treatment to bring out a result that could actually flouresce; it was just a pretty light.

No one was digging, and thus it could not yet be known what actually lay beneath.

Bee mandibles will likely be unable to penetrate the rock, though Matthieu may choose to roll to attempt it with the risk of mandible damage.

@Rain

Rain groaned and waved her scythes around. "Will someone with claws please try to dig?" she asked, her voice sickeningly sweet and a little sarcastic. "Or maybe rock magic, that might help." Rain adjusted her mask slightly. "Do any of you have magic that works on rocks? Or know anyone who does?"

To her credit, Rain did not use much magic, and probably would continue to not use much magic until she had need for it. Rain stomped at the ground a little more. Her feet didn't have sharp edges, so she couldn't really scratch at it, but she looked around for something to chip the stone with.

She wandered a small ways off and gingerly picked up a jagged piece of gemstone. Then, Rain held it up. "One of you with hands! Try to use this to break things!" and held it out for Arwen or Mattheiu.


@mattheiu @arwen @forgraves @paige

Luckily, along came what would likely be their savior. Paul had been investigating the various waterways of these caves and how he could make his way through them (especially to Leo, where he'd heard that there was a guy who made weapons) when he was swept off his feet by a cold, fast-moving current. It had been enough to give him a shock, and it had taken him quite a while to get his bearings -- by the time he had managed to get out of the water and clinging to the sides, it had just so happened that he turned up near the generator, where this lovely gang was hanging out.

"Hi," he called. "I'm Paul." He pulled himself across the ground over to where the bigger thing was standing. It seemed like they had gotten lucky, because Paul was the type who liked to take orders. It was just easier that way, not really having to think about stuff. Anyway, if things got hairy, he could always just go back into the water.

"I have magic that works on rocks," he said, looking up at Rain -- who was rather tall, at least compared to a half-grown octopus. "Might wanna move. It might hurt you, I'm not sure." Once Rain had finished staring at him and had moved to stand beside him, he curled his arms in a position strangely reminiscent of the Hydra symbol. Unfortunately, nothing happened.

"I'll try again in a minute," he decided. "You guys keep going. Anyone have water?"

The Queen peered over at Rain and tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing. She clicked softly under her breath, only slightly miffed at being ordered around, before moving forward to snatch up the gem and peer at it.

She made her way over to the rocks and peered down at them, holding the gemstone in her hands before bringing it down in a violent strike. It was as if rage overtook her for a moment, her grip vice-like on the stone.

"I doubt we'll be able to break the rock," she said, "Unless Paul's magic starts to work."

"Yeah! Go Cheery Court!" Paige cheered, dancing on her toes with sheer enthusiasm. "Woohoo! YEAH, Lady Flower Crown! You got this!" Unfortunately, she had neither the magic nor the strength to dig through solid rock, so cheerleading was the best she could do.

Well, that and make bananas. A large, ripe banana fizzled into existence, and she offered it to the one who was digging. "A snack? It's nutritious and might give you more energy! Also it makes you sparkle, and I bet that'd be super pretty!" She tilted her head at the many-tentacled thing thoughtfully. "Hmm. I think bananas are wet! But they're not pure water. Are you thirsty? I can make another!"

@Arwen and @Paul for visibility

Jasmedai had followed behind, wholly silent. She did not hold much care for the strangers. But she perked up when she saw Paul. She investigated her tendrils and thorny limbs, before looking at Paul's own. "Ah one of my kin!" Jasmedai said. Jasmedai let her glamour slip. She didn't care about keeping up appearances, not when she'd discovered new family "Fínscoth is like you, 'Paul.' Friend." She smiled at the octopus, bringing her thorny vines from beneath her crown of leaves. Then, she turned her attention to Rain. She hummed. "She will try."

She opened her mouth a fraction. Two green arms slipped from the inside of the plant, before a pale, green head ducked beneath the upper jaw. It rested its arms there, on the lip of her trap, looking at the rock. She hummed once more in thought. The humanoid blinked, before it slipped out completely. Its hand's patting, scraping, pushing, investigating the rock.

"Hah! Jasmedai recognizes this," The humanoid said. Its eyes were void. She made it smile, though the expression felt empty. She wasn't particularly trying to emote with it. "She's dug through many rocks like this for the soil beneath. Jasmedai will act." The lure retreated, and Jasmedai crawled over the spot. She pushed her roots into the stone, a slow and laborious project. One that, ultimately, failed. The rock proved too hard for Jasmedai's roots, and she could not feel any cracks with which to begin digging. "More difficult than she thought. Fínscoth must plan a route for her roots." Jasmedai said. "Another may try," Jasmedai concluded. She slipped from the spot, to allow another to attempt to dig.

Rain stared down at the octopus, suspicious. It looked... weird. Rain prodded at him lightly but eventually shifted out of his way with a sigh. "Jasmedai and... Paul... seem to be the best suited to this one. Uhh..." Rain looked around for something to collect water in, but mostly came up empty. Unless they wanted to ask Arwen to take off her mask, but they were quite sure that she would have given a resounding no. Also, she was pretty sure it had eye holes.

Borealis shrugged at Arwen, and got out of Paul's way. "What sort of thing are you, Paul?" Perhaps they would take a pet, like Arwen did -- or maybe Jasmedai would, seeing as she seemed to have taken a liking to him.



@arwen @paige @jasmedai @mattheiu
i'm starting a new round w/o gm tagging bc i am quite certain that nothing we've done is going to work, but i'll gm tag if paul gets a success

He looked over at Paige first, blinking -- one eye and then the other, rather than both at the same time. "I don't think I can eat that," Paul admitted. "But I'll try." He took the banana in one of his arms and pushed himself up to take a bite -- his beak was on the bottom of him, which had previously been touching the stone. However, it did take quite a lot of effort to keep himself up like this, so he sat back down to chew.

"I can't be out of water for very long," he explained. "Only a few minutes. I'm an octopus." He looked over at Jasmedai now, and after a moment, turned a series of reds and yellows that mimicked Jasmedai's orange pretty effectively. He held up one of his arms to compare to the thorns, and his patterns rippled back to a pleasant, rock-like tan. "Hah, cool!"

Then, he returned his attention to the rocks, banana still held in one arm but mostly forgotten. It was time to try and break rocks again. Magic skittered out in front of him, along where the tuning fork had been ringing -- now, they just had to see if it would have any effect.

Arwen stared at Paige, face blank but rage welling up in her chest. Lady Flower Crown? She supposed it was accurate but it was instulting!

She tossed the rock to the side and watched Paul's magic work. She pushed her cloak aside and flapped her wings until she lifted off, hovering above the group and getting out of the way.

"Well done," she said to him, "Surely that'll do something."