Backdated to 2/10/21

In all his time wandering down winding tunnels and back to what could vaguely be referred to as home base, East came to learn a grudging fact about Orion: it knew how to advertise. Whether crystals or shimmering light, the cavern’s entrances were an enticement, a tease. They promised sights, sensations, and experiences otherworldly. To those simple enough to buy into the flash, they saw what they wanted: a ceiling and surroundings full of glittering mystique, ignorant to the crumbled past and rotted rat flesh buried beneath. Disappointing, but what more could be expected of tourists?

Him, he’d never bought it—hard to when death radiated its presence wherever he stepped, dragging him down by the ankles to see whatever corpse had been tossed to the wayside. So, unlike some, little guilt was to be had in prying quartz pieces loose from a certain tower’s wall. Feet planted against its side, wings maintaining a precarious height, a hooked beak chipped and tugged away at the solid exterior.

The efforts sent dust falling from on high, but nothing more, a nuisance to whoever stumbled into its shower. Onlookers might have seen the silhouette of a bird seemingly gone mad, his frustrations vented ineffectually through strikes against the famed and steadfast tower of Orion.

To the pits with subtlety. These quartz were of better use as tokens than a monument to falsehood.

@Jasmedai

Jasmedai found Orion...interesting. She'd never seen anything like the sparkling ceiling it possessed. She'd already begun to take souvenirs from the place--a fragment of brick here, a lump of grey soil there, so on. But the Tower? Oh, the tower! It was a massive building, encrusted with quartz. It was practically begging for Jasmedai to investigate. A beacon for the plant beast to follow. To take bits and pieces from. So it was only natural for her to be drawn to it. And, by chance, the small bird who seemed to be in a fight with the tower itself. Her curiosity had been piqued.


She couldn't help but find it entertaining. The small bird was a morsel, too small to have been of much food for her. But perhaps it had items on it. Her coils intensified. She decided then, she would approach. Her magicka took action,the air and the gembound itself deforming and rippling until she took the form of a Meadow deer.

It was off, small black dots running along its sides. "Who is this..?" Jasmedai said aloud. The meadow deer began to approach, a slight grin stretching its mouth. It extended too far. "Hello friend! I couldn't help noticing you seem to be...struggling with something. Are you in need of help? Come down, speak with me. I may be able to assist."

@East

The pale-throated shadow turned, and a gaze harsh and yellow raked down the tower's side. It stretched to the immediate surroundings before settling like a steady searchlight upon a figure in the distance. The outline, though a rather monstrous size, said deer; his coroner's memory agreed, but not without emphasizing its unfamiliarity. Tunnel runners, all sinew and flesh—those he knew. This specimen, on the other set of claws, was no balder than an eagle and built sturdy as a cave wall.

And of course he couldn't forget the most important detail: it'd spoken. Unless Lessers had forged themselves a new set of vocal cords or taken lessons in mimicry from a friendly rat, the classification would be that of a Greater until proven otherwise.

Without breaking a beat in wings or thought, his head took on an inquisitive tilt. "Depends," he called out. "What's 'help' in need of?"

Voice strong and feathers unruffled by the stranger's attention, East plummeted and gradually pulled up from his swoop to rest talons upon the high and crumbling point of a building's only remaining side. Pebbles scattered as he landed, and toes curled tight to keep balance. Peering down from a somewhat closer perch, any concern was absent though his suspicion remained heavy.

He'd seen his fair share of deer skulls. None possessed a jaw so mismatched as that smile revealed.

"I'm renovating. Shine and sparkle is a bit out of date, but nobody's home to fix it." Shoulders shrugged. "Figured I'd be handy and do the job for 'em."

@Jasmedai

"Help...?" She repeated, puzzled. The grin fell. Then, expanded. Ahh, she was the 'help'. Jasmedai laughed. "Finscoth is just curious! A friend exploring, just as you. Do you not trust her?" A cold glint in the meadow deer's eyes, and the impatient pawing the creature appeared to do at the ground gave her away. Nothing she'd said so far was trustworthy, it seemed.

As East swooped closer, Jasmedai, or at least the meadow deer, appeared to follow his movements closely. Like, coincidentally, a hawk. Now that East was closer, Jasmedai's eyes scanned the hawk for any valuables he had on him. And, finally, landed on the stone sitting on East's head. She'd never seen anything like it. No gembound--none she'd seen at least--put things on their heads. Now wouldn't that be an interesting addition to her collection. Her first trophy. She'd love to store it in her crevasse, share it with her fellows. Jasmedai had a focus now. An objective. And thus, the hunt began.

The meadow deer's eyes flicked back to the tower, Jasmedai feigning disinterest in East's hat. She wasn't sure what, exactly, renovating meant. But it clearly had something to do with the tower. "You have an...fascinating idea of...er, this renovating." Jasmedai said. She slinked closer. "Quite kind of you, as well. Do you have a name, friend?"

@East

Call it an inopportune moment of indigestion, an odd bit of mouse rebelling against him long after he'd swallowed, but something plunged deep into East's guts and twisted them. The cause might've been that jaw. Maybe it was the way this Finscoth walked, steps not quite a careful clip and more a prowl. Whichever, the whole sight set his crest feathers faintly aquiver. If she weren't landbound but winged, he could've almost sworn she was circling for a dive, talons aimed for a prey animal's throat. Why and for what reason, he'd no idea; regardless, keeping wits about himself seemed best for, well, any murky situation.

And kind? He nearly scoffed. Coming from the bird in question, none of that had factored into his motives. To imply such, one would either have to presume much of his character based on a few dry statements or be lavishing undue praise. Doubts considered, distracting him with honeyed flattery wasn't difficult to believe. A songbird high in voice and ego would devour it; a hawk, being neither, the taste lay bitter on his tongue.

If she wanted to dress up, two could play that game as well as one. All he needed was his best fool's outfit for the masquerade.

The difference in presentation began with a jovial laugh that nearly tipped him over the precipice. He then puffed his chest, back straightening with pride. "Yeah, it's real fascinating. You don't see anyone else bothering with this around here. They just let things lay about, gathering dust. No ideas, no ambition." His beak dipped to preen feathers in a lofty show of pretend vanity. "But me, I know we can do better than that. Name's Barley." East swung his head to where the tower loomed. "See over there? All that sparkling stuff attached to those walls is going to waste. So I'm trying to, let's say, redistribute it. And take a few in repayment for the work if you, er, know what I mean."

A mischievous glint entered his eye as he glanced back at the deer.

"That seem like anything you can help with?"

@Jasmedai