Automatic: like the bristling of fur, a chrysalis found itself relieved of the reservoir. It was a reflex in response to the growing static from both radiation sources, and though the Spire was neither sentient nor willful, it was itself. A source—the source. Somewhere and somewhen, zero divided.

And of itself, again.

Itself—no, growing... autonomous? A body formed within the chrysalis, taking one shape, and then another. At first it was wolf, and then it was dog—and then they each formed separately to eat themselves, ever at war. So here, they could not exist, not separately; but together? It was Natural. And so it was both. Wolf and Dog. Mixed and melded, but not a hybrid—no, it was impossible. It was not the First, It was the Beginning.

The End.

As the wolfdog grew, it dreamed: there was no winning side, there were no sides. Of the radiation, it was neutral—it did not support the structural stability of bonds and it did not support the reckless abandon of mayhem. It could not, for it was both, and it was neither.

And it would know there was safety in this, in itself. Blossoming around its chrysalis bloomed grasses and flowers, so that it would wake surrounded by a garden. Garden.

It dreamed this. And the sky above it was shimmering and strange; silhouetted against this horizon was a wolf, and its orange eyes were telling. They were the Guardians. Of End. Gard. En... Guard. End.

We have been chosen, it would think. Have you not died before? A reflection of the wolf, shimmering. They may have. They may not have. Protect them, it would plead. The passing image of a grey centaur, strange.

Of the centaur's white hairs did the color fade from the wolf, and then, of the world, until its dreamlike slumber ended and it was awoken in its chamber, peaceful and cradled like a baby within its garden, sleeping soundly at the base of the Spire. But no color returned to it, and it lay inert and quiet. Like the zero it was divided from, it was grey and white. Neutral, and ever-meaning well. It tried.

You will know them, a soft voice echoed in the wake of its dream.

Four gentle hands brushed its fur. Wake up.

@Wulfsige hatches knowing Detect Radiation, and its birth into the caves unlocks this inherent knowledge for gembounds to discover. (It can be purchased in the shop for 300 Magicka.)

Detect Radiation
Medium Intensity Detection. Users can cast this spell to detect the radiation type of something and will be able to discern that of Natural Order (Skystone, normal gembounds/elements), Disorder (Oilstone/Corrupted), and Order (Clearstone/Ordered). Any not listed will cause unknown feedback.

The thread is marked AW, but Wulfsige should post first, and Snail may choose to have the thread as Private instead.

Zero. One. Two. One.

They were nothing and they were both and they were something Other entirely.

Dreams swirled in it's head- a war with no winner and no end. The shattering and forming of bonds. Structure and the destruction of structure. Violent individuality and the prison of uniformity. It was both and it was neither. But it was safe, and it was safety. It would be neither destruction nor a prison. It would be something else- the sum and difference.

It saw the sky- for the first and last time- and it saw a wolf. It saw orange eyes, and it knew they were Guardians. Of End.

Garden?

The dream was fast, and strange, and they knew nothing, least of all how to process it all. Talk of being Chosen and previous Death. The reflection of the wolf. A glimpse of a centaur. But out of it all, a singular message stuck.

Protect Them.

It would. It knew this as the dream faded from it's mind and the color from it's coat. It knew, as it laid peaceful and still within it's skystone cradle.

You will know them. Know who? It questioned, for the first time. Who would it know? Who would it protect? Who would it fight, those crystalline and fraying bonds?

Hands against it's fur. Soothing. Jostling. It was awake now, well and truly.

It kicked out, sending a spray of Skystone shards skittering across it's garden, and earning its freedom. Clumsily, it stepped into the soft grass and flowers surrounding its chrysalis, it's broken cradle. It open it's eyes. And then it opened something else, like sight but not. Something more, something deeper, something innate. It opened it's mouth, inhaled deeply, and breathed out it's first words.

"Who's there?"

Though there would be no response, Wulfsige would feel the effects of the spell by the shimmering aura of the Skystone near it. And it would know that this was Natural Order. This knowing expanded around it, and all of the small outcroppings of Skystone within Polaris would shimmer too.

Strong and hearty, Natural Order engulfed Polaris. Like tiny lights in the dark, bits of its presence dotted the room as smaller beings: the golems; Svarog beneath it; a myriad of gemmed lessers and possibly greaters, too. Wulfsige was not alone, but Natural Order itself did not promise allies.

The detect radiation was strongest here, next to the Spire, fresh from its creation. It would not always be room-wide, but it would serve Wulfsige and others well as the advance of other radiations seeped through the caves...

@Wulfsige

Wilder had noticed the crystal some time ago. How could she not, when grasses and flowers spread out from the base of the Spire, which usually snapped at any attempts of magic that came too close. She'd herself kept her distance, ever wary of the Spire and its power, but too curious to turn away. So she visited sometimes, Vaati always cowering at the end of her tail. She observed, watched as it grew bigger, until, this time, as she sat a little away from it, wondering what it could be A chrysalis, maybe? I hatched near the Spire...but not this close. And it looks so similar to Skystone... when something actually happened.

She watched, wide-eyed, as the newly-hatched pulled itself free from the chrysalis in a burst of broken shards. Vaati let out a barely audible squeak and she felt him turn and run to cower behind a rock. That was fine. She was fine. She could be...this close. Maybe a little closer. A pawstep forward. Maybe two, maybe three...

It could probably see her now. Even her black fur against the gray, harder to detect then others, was more then illuminated by the Spire's crackling blue. So she stopped crouching and stood up, but got no closer, feeling the pulse of magic getting a little bit too overwhelming now.

His first words - a question, reaching out for others, perhaps. A need to be close, a need to be not alone or perhaps suspicion. He'd already known she was there, maybe. He'd seen her, not that she was trying to hide. Or maybe he didn't see her yet. She flicked an ear and moved to the side, so that she was more in his line of vision. "I'm here. Just me...I think." She glanced behind him, to the Skystone that reached behind him. "And the Spire, of course."

Right, right he was new. But he looked big for child. She'd seen wolves before and he looked like he had been in the caves for as long as any of them, but she had seen this chrysalis grow from nothing. She was growing more and more curious by the moment, this new mystery like a book slowly opening in her head. And this...it was only the first chapter. The prologue.

She tried to look friendly, tail curling around her paws, but she couldn't help but lean in a bit, too curious and interested to hold herself back. "I'm Wilder. Are you...alright? Are you feeling okay?" Eyes flicked down briefly to the garden at his feet. "Did you do that? It's very pretty."

@Wulfsige

Natural order radiated throughout the cavern, constant but not consistent. Brighter sparks of it punctuated Polaris' energy- Lumbering living rockslides and slumbering giants. Tiny scurrying creatures living out Nature's will. The Spire itself, looming. The zero that had divided.

And another one.

It had sensed her prior, but she had been just another spark among a sea of light. Now, with regular sight, he saw a black cat- a cutout of shadow accented with pink. It would stare, unmoving, until she spoke first.

"There are many here." It spoke. "More than just us." This was definitive. A fact spoken as such. It'd let her continue, watching with silent, unreacting intrigue. It seemed a little distant- like part of it was still within that shattered chrysalis, refusing to come out.

"Wilder.." It echoed, silver eyes glinting downward to look at her. Even in this 'quiet' voice, shaken with newness of it's existence, it had a certain bigness to it. The way it's voice reverberated in it's chest like an echo in a cave. "I am.. alright." Because it knew. I am the guardian.

At Wilder's question its head follows a similar downward tilt, as if it somehow didn't notice the life sprouting around itself. "I did, and I didn't." It replies, like that made sense. Because it did.

And didn't.

@Wilder

Wilder watched the canine carefully (was it a wolf? Or a dog? It looked like both) and felt something unnerving stirring in her stomach. The way it was just kind of...staring at her was almost a little disturbing. Like part of its mind was somewhere else. Like the creature staring at her was only partially filled, not yet fully alive. Would it be like that forever? Was it just taking some time to wake up? Or was it the Spire that had done that to it, a side effect of growing off its body?

She nodded, an ear flicking with surprise. "Y-yeah, there's a lot of gembound here. Gembound are...us. Animals with stones," she explained, touching the rhodonite on her cheek. "We're Greater Gembound - we can think more and speak and use magic. Lesser Gembound cannot." She said it all a little quickly, like she just wanted to get it out of the way. Explanation for a new creature. At least, she hoped it was new. It would be kind of awkward if it wasn't.

She couldn't quite hear or catch the tenor of its voice, from the distance that she was (she had not approached more then a few meters from the Spire) but the answer she received was confusing. She tilted her head. "Oh, do you...not remember?" But then would it know if it did? Concern sprouted through her, pushing past her insecurity near the Spire, and she got to her feet, slowly approaching closer. "Are you sure you're alright? Do you have a name? Or...do you remember anything? From before now, I mean. In the chrysalis." She knew it wasn't likely but...there was something about this child or...not-child, she wasn't sure.

And she couldn't shake the resemblance of its stone to the great crackling Spire behind it.

@Wulfsige

It would listen intently to Wilder's explanations, despite already knowing in a wordless sort of way. But it was useful to connect words to more vague ideas that floated within it. "Yes. Gembound." It said, gaze on Wilder's cheek. It rolled back it's shoulders, as if examining the chunk of stone that jutted out there, that it could just barely see if it turned it's head. It didn't need to look, though. It already knew what was there.

"There is nothing to remember. I was not back then." It rumbled. It DID remember, but it did not know how to explain it, nor did it particular care to. It felt secret, somehow. Important. It caught Wilder's concern, and seemed genuinely confused by it. "I am alright. My name is.. Guardian." Another word popped into it's head, suddenly. "Wulfsige."

And that word was the snap of a rubber band that brought them well and fully 'here.' Nothing.. really changed, other than the distance of in which it had existed in prior.

They took a couple strides forward, out of The Spire's luminous blue shadow. Color that had never truly been theirs washed away as they got further from the spire's light, revealing they were well are truly monotone. Even their eyes glinted silver, and their tongue a pallid grey.

"Where are the others like us. Greater gembound, like us?" They asked. They needed to find them, they knew. Protect them. They didn't know from what, yet, they just knew.

@Wilder

The canine's words confirmed that it was new, but still it looked as if it had been alive for a number of cycles at least. Her concern melted away a bit, but this was still an anomaly. At least it seemed to have been saved from whatever had happened to her at the base of the Spire. But the longer she looked at the stone upon it, she wondered if it was different. Had it been...born from the Spire? Was it Skystone on its shoulder and not just a lookalike?

As it stepped out from the Spire's glow, she realized how truly colorless it was. It was discomforting, strange to look at, but it made her more and more sure that they bore a Skystone gemstone. Would Tamulus know anything about this? Was he aware that the Spire was now hatching Gembound directly? She wished there was a way to ask him, to see him again. She still had so many questions, and even more now.

But those were thoughts for a later date. For now, there was a new child here (even if it looked older) that needed some kind of guidance (she presumed). She nodded in response to his answer. "Okay. Sorry, I wasn't sure if you had just hatched or not. You don't look much like a child to me - but that's not bad! It just threw me off a bit."

She smiled and strode forward to reach up and touch noses with Wulfsige - hopefully he would understand it as a friendly greeting instead of anything else. "It's good to meet you, Guardian Wulsige. I'm Wilder. Do you know what you're a Guardian of?" Perhaps if it had been born of the Spire, it had come into the world with more knowledge then the usual Gembound. She wouldn't presume, though. No need to overwhelm it while it was, probably, a little overwhelmed.

"There are more - a lot more. I can tell you about them, if you like. About the caves and the groups and stuff. Are you hungry? We can find some food and sit down and talk, if you like." She planned to probe Wulfsige a bit, see what it knew, if it accepted the proposal. If not, perhaps she would follow it around for a bit. Purely to...make sure it was okay. And to make sure the caves were safe, with such an anomaly appearing. Perhaps fate would travel in its footsteps.

@Wulfsige

"I do not think I am a child." He agreed. "I am just... new" Those were often one in the same, but not now. Not in this case. He hummed, a little bit miffed- but amused- by Wilder's apologetic nature.

He would return the greeting, almost overly careful in the way he bent to touch her nose. He could not harm This One. The question- what he was a guardian OF, made him pause. "I guard.." He trailed off. "...The middle. Balance between extremes." He said, probing his mind for words to attach to what he innately, instinctually Knew. "Like you." He added. "Gembound. Golems. Spire.

"Groups. Of gembound. Where are they?" He asked, attaching almost single-mindedly to that desire. He must find who we was intended to protect. ...but knowledge would benefit him. Understanding the world and the caves he would guard. And the body which guarded would need sustaining.

"I am hungry." He admitted. "But it is not-" important "-Urgent.

@Wilder

Wilder's ear twitched as surprise laced through her. Did he say...golems? Why would golems need protecting? They did a good enough job being a menace to the other gembound of the caves and were hard to defeat. Were they even alive? She didn't question it, however - he seemed sure of himself.

What he knew was interesting to her. She knew, already, that the Spire was of a sort of middle ground. Tamulus had said himself - a neutral party was the first word that had come to mind. The source of Order and Disorder, of everything - Natural Order. Her eyes drifted, again, to the Skystone on his shoulder. Was that what he was? Born of Natural Order?

Why were things so damn complicated?

She shook herself out of her thoughts and focused on Wulfsige. "Well, if you're hungry, you should eat. Here-" she leaned over and touched her nose to the ground, a small sparkling banana popping into existence. She pushed it forward and sat down with a purr. "Eat, it's good! While you do, I'll tell you about the caves."

She thought for a moment - where to start? "Well, the cave we're in is called Polaris. Gembound come and go, but most of them are elsewhere. Like...Orion, the cave next to this. There's a group in there called the Seven." Her nose twitched and she tried not to convey her displeasure at thinking about them. "Well, I haven't checked up on them in a while, so I'm not sure if they're still there. Past Orion, there's a cave called Canis - full of bones and stuff. There's a group there called the Bonebound. They're good - a family-kind of group. They protect their own." She swallowed the lump that threatened to creep up her throat. She wasn't with them, not anymore, but they were still good and she still cared. I wonder how Aure is doing now? She hoped he was okay.

"There's a couple other caves connected to here - Cetus and Eridanus. The Children of Rot are in Cetus. They're very secretive and strong, although they tend to keep to themselves. And Eridanus has a lot of gembound because it has a lot of greenery and stuff. There was a Kingdom of peaceful gembound there but...I think they're gone." She'd visited the tree some time ago and was distraught to find it gone. Destroyed.

"I know there's also a group of dragons somewhere. They were in Monoceros for a while - that's connected to Orion - but I think they moved. And far up north, past a bunch of caves, in Draco there's a bunch of Gembound called the Chaos Forge." She shivered. "I...don't dare to get close. They're supposed to be dangerous. I hear they make monsters and do horrible things." She shook her head. "Be careful of them. They have large numbers and lots of strength behind them. But if you're looking for gembound to protect, the cave before Draco - Pegasus - a lot of Gembound live there. Peaceful ones. It's nice there, lots of space and open fields." She didn't mention that it was surrounded by caves bathed in voidlight, so the placement was a little unfortunate, but that hadn't stopped a number of dens to crop up once it had opened.

She purred again. "Well, that's just kind of what I know about big groups. There might be others I dont know about, and there's Gembound pretty much everywhere."

@Wulfsige