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Mentions of Previous Gore

Vargas hadn't sent Nidhogg here, not exactly.

More accurately, he'd felt and heard that rumble and then slunk away at a rapid skitter, thinking himself cleverly sneaking off to an adventure. As he'd slid through the Aperture he'd heard a distant snort behind him, and a bellowed "YOU HAD BEST REPORT BACK" in Master Vargas's most booming voice.

He'd slunk lower to the ground and ran quickly away, and knew at once that if he didn't bring back a good report--and soon--he'd be punished for trying to run off.

Well, he was here now, and any self-control the serpentine idiot had quickly fled the moment he saw Opie. Everything in his brain screamed "cave rat," and thus "food," and he'd scampered straight for the poor child with the full intention of trying to swallow him up.

He'd frozen, though, upon spotting Aethril. He'd frozen, in fact, mere yards from Opie with his jaws already open, all his eyes sliding to land on the Hand. A memory flashed through his simple brain: a remembrance of a white owl, skin splitting apart, feathers flying, gore and guts exploding every which way at the simple whim of the Valkhand.

What had been Kethri's last words, again-?

"Well, shit," Nidhogg breathed, not meaning to say them aloud, but--there it was. At once he settled his feet on the ground, Opie forgotten, fear in his eyes as he came more upright. His neck arched and at once he hastened to scurry toward Aethril, head dipping in respectful servitude.

What was he meant to say, again-? Signs of respect, words- he thought frantically, and maybe he'd have been best-served by greeting her formally by her title, or even grovelling at her feet.

What Nidhogg did was to coil his body alongside Aethril in a long line, gaze up at her and blurt, in a hiss half-hateful (he'd have immediately tried to kill even her if he thought he could get away with it, but right now she fucking terrified him) and half-adoring, "I LOVE YOU."

Nidhogg paused. What the fuck did I just say?

At least it had sounded honest..?

The massive footprints led to the point at Fornax's wall where land met stone, rather than lashing water. Shattered rock had opened--or been torn--straight through, a doorway into pitch darkness now gaping in the wall. Rubble lay crumbled around its edges, fresh, and the footprints--after a mess of stomping outside--led within.

Just inside, one would need to allow their eyes to adjust to darkness. The footprints, still damp from Fornax's water, quickly faded into the tunnel; swatches of pale fur had caught on jagged stone edges here and there. The tunnel, however, was massive, and not something freshly-carved. Indeed it looked ancient within, formed of square stone blocks instead of natural stone, and above the doorway--just past the smashed, previously hidden entrance--snarled an enormous stone head as if in warning. It looked almost reptilian, or draconic, with flared nostrils and small, predatory eyes and many jagged teeth. Past this, the tunnel immediately curved left and downward, sloping away into the dark. It smelled old, within. The air was musty, stale, even by cave standards, and very damp; there was a rank odor of living thing emanating throughout. The sound of dripping was the only noise, but it echoed eerily from deep within.

Gembounds choosing to enter, to find out where this tunnel led and where the strange pale-furred beast had gone, would need to use caution.

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This is the last round in which new Gembound may join this event! After this round ends and the next begins, the thread will be closed to new entries.

Anyone entering the tunnel should roll some form of perception check (be it Other, magical Sense spells, etc.) to remain safe. Do not write the results of your roll; a GM will answer them next round!

@Opie @Catalyst @Tsetse @Bayo @Aethril @Jinyi @Madhukar (Khavur) @Obieth (Nidhogg) @Relic

It was quickly discovered that they wouldn’t need to pick up a scent, none of them would, the trail of massive footprints enough for anyone to follow. Whatever this creature was, it wasn’t stealthy, not like the small game they had experience with. Or the pup, for that matter.

Another creature had joined the troupe, a strange lizard that grovelled in way even stranger, to the tall blue woman that had snapped at Bayo and bossed the raptor around. They were finding they didn’t quite like her attitude, all self important and mean. They were unaware of the power she held to back her less than stellar disposition up, and one could only pray she couldn’t read minds.

They continued their steady trot, but stopped abruptly when the smell hit them like a wall. In front of them was an entrance to a tunnel, a doorway lined by bricks and rubble and shed white fur, watched by a stone carving that’d give most kids nightmares. They noticed that the footprints led within the stinking abyss, but none led out. “Bayo?” They said, uneasy. “Something’s livin’ here.” They thought back to Giggles prediction. Was this the mystery they spoke of? The gamble left untaken, or at least the one that should be?

They stood at the entrance, as close as they could while not being inside. It looked like a yawning grave, though they couldn’t draw that exact comparison. They’d let other creatures pass them, if they did. If this was a gamble, better to let other people take it. Then again, they’d try to sate their own curiosity, and maybe help some of the kinder folk, reaching out with their magic in case a heartbeat had echoed down the tunnel. As they stared down the darkness, they hoped whatever was in there wasn’t close.

Catalyst, so busy investigating the footprints, did not think much about the footfalls approaching. Until she heard Aethril's voice next to her Her snout jerked away from the footprints, and she glanced at Aethril. She did not know her, aside from the brief warning Mother had spoken, and and so she did not react with the fear that should have been warranted.

Her tail twitched, and her claws curled into the pebbly sand, yet she was able to ward off most other signs of her brain entering fight mode via Mother's constant stream of warmth. Catalyst opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out, as a slinky like beast, curled around Aethril's legs proclaimed it loved her. Her mouth hung open for another second, before she shut it, and shook her neck out. She did not know all of them, but she knew they were here, judging by the warnings.

"Mmm, planned on it," Catalyst said, her voice steady. Not wanting to spend any time standing with the creatures, she took off at a loping place following the tracks as they lead to a tunnel. She took an effort to stay ahead of the group, subtly as she could manage, trying to avoid the bulk of the chaos monsters, whilst following the tracks into the tunnel.

Catalyst wrinkled her nose as the air hit her nostrils, musty and humid. With the underlying scent of animal. She kept her head raised, claws close to her chest, keeping an eye out for anything that might be living in the tunnel.

The rumbling was unusual, the location was familiar, and the attendees were... something else entirely. Khavur wondered first if Farina had anything to do with this. The shape and evident pressure of the footprints drew Khavur's mind back to a blank. The trail led down, down, down and downward into something dark and old and, perhaps, if they were unlucky (which was probably), something just as watery as last time. Khavur would look around, investigating whatever could be investigated — even the other people, if need be, although most appeared far less interesting than the pale fur and large impressions in the ground at the moment.

There was little left for Khavur to wonder beyond the fundamentals of business conduct and exploration. At least, little for now. Sometimes, very rarely and occasionally, the creature's minds could be relatively peaceful and quiet. They could ignore little swamp monsters hiding behind their girth, and they could focus on a singular inquiry at a time. All this, of course, was only possible solely when nothing else mattered. When no one else mattered. And in this one instance, that was indeed the case, and would remain so... until someone else came to plunge a stake deep into the heart of the parasitic moment approximate to peace.

Her boat and supplies safely relocated to Leo, Kaimana now possessed less of a need to be in lonely, thunderous Fornax all the time, but she still visited. And when the activity of the room was so turbulent it could be heard throughout the rest of the caves? When it could violently distress the Frogbeaks? Well you better believe the Captain of the Frogbeak is going to be right there!

She came in too quick to think about packing a bag. Hopefully this would be a little less dangerous than the conclusion to her last Fornax adventure... although looking at that corridor and the footprints leading up to it, that hope was quickly fading. Speaking of looking at that corridor, let's look real hard at that corridor for a second. Listening for sounds, sniffing for clues, everything a professional genius like Kaimana could think to do to make sure it was all safe for all attending.

Before that flipping horse could catch up to her, Madhukar would follow along with the motion of the crowd, pattering alongside footsteps large enough to swallow her up and consume her. The place they led was no less daunting. Seemed Madhukar would have to be more aware of her surroundings than usual. That wasn't exactly hard — anxiety is built to keep you alive. But this on top of the presence of a practical manifestation of her demons felt like it was going to build up fast, reducing her to nothing but a cornered animal. For the sake of herself and everyone that might be trapped inside a contained area with her, Madhukar did not want that.

She decided to focus, for just a moment, on the task at hand-paw. Leering into the darkness, Madhukar could see... more darkness. Phenomenal. But what else could lie in that darkness of darkness? Rather unfair of the architect to make the tunnel curve as it did, so that they would have to go deeper in to see what was ahead. The perfect place to hide a large, frightening creature, such as... a kraken. With fur. Look, nobody's saying it's probable... but you have to consider the fact that it's plausible. Conceivable. Definitely not the worst design idea this cave has ever had. This cave builds demon horses and demon trains after all (not that Madhukar would know about the latter, yet). Trust me! Heed my words! Anxiety is built to keep you alive.

This was familiar. Back in this room, with Khavur. (and some other familiar faces it couldn't place names to, and didn't want to.) It found it's mind drifting back to that previous time to a distracting degree. It doubted it'd be related to Farina- wouldn't Vargas have some semblance of an idea of what the other masters were doing? And it felt mild disappointment when the gigantic footprints veered away from the water. It had been hoping to take advantage of what it had been built for.

Though it'd be more diffcult for the other's who'd come along to follow, under the water. It would've been alone.

It should've would've been fine with that.

It continued along into the cave- one with the hoarde of investigators- carefully reaching out it's magic for that it couldn't sense with it's eyes. It mentally prepared itself for the cacophony of heartbeats- hopefully it'd be able to filter the gigantic creature's heart out from everything else?

Obieth gave a low grunt, and pushed off ahead. If they were doing this, she wanted to make sure it was safe before Aethril plowed in.

To Nidhogg, she briefly bared saber fangs and gave him a hiss of warning: "Keep your distance." There was no fear in her, despite his size. She had a job to do.

In she went, a slow creep, every sense on high alert and feline reflexes at the ready.

She placed one paw slowly down, then the other, her eyes searching the musty darkness, her nose working at the air, her strange ears swivelling this way and that. Behind her, her tail gave a single twitch, its tip beginning to glow a dim blue as if to provide a light in the darkness as it swallowed her.

Nidhogg coiled in after, hissing back at Obieth--but the cat was already turned away and his attention, really, was on the dark tunnel ahead.

He scrambled in with far less caution, wary but too excited to slow. And he went in upside-down: darting for the wall and then trying to climb up it, to clamber along sideways instead of keeping to the floor like a loser.

A floor-based loser.

Nidhogg was far cooler than that.