[Origin Cave]

what might this be..?

A strange little crystal had sprouted up in Polaris. Sometimes it was blue, and sometimes it was purple; sometimes the light it gave off was red or pink or green. It gave off a song, too: a soft chiming, welcoming and somehow almost happy.

It wouldn't last for long: a week, perhaps. And then it would be gone, its magic and its color fading. But for now, it was here, planted like some strange gift--a seed of magical stone left behind by an unseen hand.

It invited Gembounds to come to it: to place a hand or a claw upon it, to close their eyes and imagine their deepest wishes. They would know what to do, a strange knowledge given by simply drawing close to the stone. I am the Wishing Stone, it would seem to tell them, though not exactly in words; give me your wishes, and I will give you... what I can.

Some would be granted. Some would not. But all would receive gifts.

Characters may post once per day to receive a GM-rolled present! Their players will also receive an OOC gift once per day! See this thread for more details: click. This event ends May 8th.

Something about Polaris drew him to it. Maybe it was the almost energizing charge in the air. Maybe it mysterious, awe-inspiring spire. But today it was neither of these things. Today it was a song. It wasn't a siren's song- it wasn't quite that forcefully enchanting. But it was a curious and friendly song that he found himself echoing back at the source- the source which turned out to be.. a rock?

Well, he'd seen a lot of weird rocks by now.

He drifted closer, staring at this glittering, enigmatic stone. He placed his right talon on it- he didn't know WHY, it just felt like a thing you should do- and he closed his eyes. And he imagined.

The sky, as he remembered it. The impossibly wide expanse of blue. The gigantic circle shape looming in it's distance- a planet, not that he knew what a planet even was. And... flight. Endless flight, without ever finding a wall or dead end. Flight that came so easily, so naturally- despite the weight on his wing that grounded him.

And he waited. He didn't know what the rock could do about that wish- what anyone or anything could do about that wish- and he wouldn't blame it if it came up with nothing at all.

But he still yearned for the sky.

As the crystal rooted in the ground slowly pulsed through colors of every sort imaginable, wide eyes of unblinking ultramarine reflected its glow back. Chiming with gentle invitation, the little oddity had caught the attention of a passerby. Sound tickling the insides of ears, her leisurely stroll through the caves had become more purposeful than before; thick coils of mottled gold and bronze dragged over stone and moss and circled around the site of curiosity.

A tongue, deceptively soft pink, darted out to swipe across dark lips. Slit pupils constricted into hungry pinpricks. When she spoke, her voice was hushed, but amusement danced upon its tone as light, almost weightless syllables.

"And what might you be?"

Despite the object of her interest lacking eyes to observe her, she allowed a tiny smile to cross her features, just enough to allow a glimpse of white fangs. Then, drawing her torso up to tower over the crystal, a paw settled the very tips of curved claws against it with a barely audible click.

Such pretty music would be much better heard from me.

Bebby had found the rock after the others, drawn to both the chatter of voices and the soft and welcoming chime of the wishing stones song, and had heard its whisper just as anybody else had. it promised wishes!! that was so cool!!

she had bounded forward, to set her clawed paws atop its surface, and observe it, before she plopped down in front of it to begin pondering. it would grant her a wish? provided it could, atleast. that sounded exciting! but what would she want? could she come back for more? it did say plural, but it could be referring to the multiples of wishes spanned across many gembound. oh well, she'd just think of something good.

so, what has she been liking lately? well, she likes forgraves house, though she's probably drank enough tea for a lifetime, but thats a given. she likes her friends, like tori and jenny, but they were already there! they could wish for something if they wanted to themselves.

she likes sugary things, but she makes her own candy! she likes to fly, but she can already do that, and it cant really get much better, and she doubts the stone can make her suddenly super good at flying.

she likes reading, she thinks, but she can already do that, forgraves taught her how. she likes telling stories, but she's always so sad she can never see them play out! when forgraves tells stories theyre so cool, but she wishes she could SEE them, especially when she tells them herself, its so easy to forget nobody else can see whats in her head so its hard for them to keep up, and she can't see whats in FORGRAVES head, so she doesnt know how it looks to him either!!! what if its wrong!!!

wait a minute...thats it!!! she wants something that would let her tell stories, but in a way people can SEE!!! but not like a play, she hates wearing costumes, but maybe like. a smaller version of a play!!! so she can show people her stories AS THEY HAPPEN!!! she's a genius!

she doesn't assume the rock can hear her thoughts, so she vocalizes them aswell, just incase.

"i want a way to tell stories, but in a way i can SHOW people whats happening as i tell it! like a tiny theatre play! if not, thats okay, i will take whatever you give me, mr/ms rock!" she said, smiling happily.

speech
thoughts

It was the chiming that drew her attention.

It felt... safe. welcoming. happy. So unlike the Polaris Spire with its violent, crackling energy, or the Black Spire that would burn if you touched it. The sound seemed to invite her to come touch its source, and it reminded her a little of the 'singing' thing she'd done back in Ursa's tunnels.

She didn't discount the possibility that this was all another hallucination, of course. Wasn't that the most likely explanation for a singing rock suddenly appearing in Polaris? Once she gave in and touched it, believing its promises, it would dissolve into a thousand flapping aliens clawing at her, or something like that. But... this had to be one of the nicer hallucinations, maybe the nicest ever. So Aethereal stayed frozen there, afraid to give in to the soft invitation but unwilling to walk away from its gentle chime.

But the singing rock did not disappear within a few minutes, as most hallucinations tended to do. In fact, Aethereal thought--knew for sure--she heard other Gembound go up to the rock, their soft footsteps and a high, laughing voice the evidence of their existence. And she could not resist herself any longer.

She felt a wave of dizziness as she approached, which wasn't unusual given her constant illness--but something felt different this time. Could it be from excitement instead? Maybe she was just dehydrated, and had stood still for too long. But as she reached to place a massive paw on the stone, an awful, breathless hope threatened to knock her off her feet.

She thought of the odd whispers and sudden pressures that followed her around, of nightmares of alien war, of Vargas' threats toward her and the horse that had inadvertently saved her from death from lack of stabilization, of fever that plagued her with chills despite her thick fur and left her always sensitive to touch and pain. Of the desperate, shrieking being that had tried to latch onto her when she had formed a brief link with the Polaris Spire.

I wish chaos could never hurt me anymore.

Could this singing rock really grant her that?

Madhukar didn't want to get in anyone's way. And she hated it here most of all. Nothing but bad thoughts. Bad, invasive memories, and the taught-pulled tension in her limbs, her aching tendons, whenever she entered. The magic of Polaris could string her muscle fibers tight around her bones, play her like a violin, a fiddle, loud and hot. She didn't have the patience for those kind of impatient outbursts anymore. She didn't have the patience for anything, ever, and she could have sworn the color of her eyes was turning greener, more lush with the reflection of that green gemstone she just kept staring at, doing nothing with, a ticking time bomb. Didn't she have a plan? Why couldn't she—

Sirens called from the rocks, and Madhukar, ever the poor navigator, the poor decision maker, had heeded that call. So now she was here, staring at a crowd (yikes) and a formal invitation that she somehow understood viscerally in her mind without any previous exposure (double yikes). It smelled like the arcane, written up and down the walls of an old, loathsome situation. Madhukar wanted to—

Touch. There was an impulse, but it wasn't like a command. Touch. A gentle beckoning, a coaxing; Madhukar felt for the first time like the hibernating animal she was, coddling herself in a den that looked more like a cage each day. Coaxed, lured out softly, step by step, to an open palm. Lend it to me, was the wordless message, and Madhukar was struck by another surprise — one based on a juxtaposition. Again, it was no command. What it wanted, it would not take — the little stone she felt she could touch. What it wanted, she could give, it offered that chance to her. Others would have simply taken it, and others had. Her worries. Her fears. Her desires.

Madhukar did not feel like this was the light of some anglerfish, it was more like... this stone — this Wishing Stone she now reached out to touch, despite all hesitation — was beckoning an onslaught, and Madhukar didn't know why it would want such a thing. As per usual, Madhukar's heart pulled in every direction, and when she begged that tempest for clarity it only got louder. What did she want? What could she wish for? An immediate answer surfaced from roiling waves for a flash, a snippet of thunder its minute fanfare: I wish I knew. Madhukar caught that glimpse and just before it plunged back down and pulled, clawed desperately for the rest of it: I wish I could find... the peace to continue. To think about... stuff like this. What I want. How to get it. She couldn't hold any longer. With a violent splash, her thoughts returned to a turbulent sea. Madhukar herself rode her raft above. Peace. There was very little Madhukar could do for peace these days. If she could find that consistently, somehow, maybe she could search for more.

Madhukar withdrew her paw.

what might this be..?

One by one, the Wishing Stone went still. It was almost as if the rock was considering each request, carefully, although it was in the end just a rock.

Ariah was the first--and his was a difficult request. The ability to grant passage to the sky beyond was perhaps out of the Wishing Stone's reach--but could it offer an alternative..? After a few moments, a little polished chunk of Blue Chalcedony--in colors of cloud-streaked sky--tumbled onto the rock at the canary's feet. It was bound in a tiny cord of white gold, easy to slip around Ariah's neck and wear. And it felt... magickal, somehow. Though not immediately apparent, should Ariah sleep while touching this stone, it would cast the little bird into a lucid dreamscape of pure open sky, a sky that some days was clear and some overcast, some days lit by unfamiliar stars or by bright suns that might or might not somewhere exist. Here the bird would be free to fly, and to explore--if only in his dreams. It was the best the Wishing Stone could do.

Ariah receives: Stone of Dreaming Skies
An Enchanted Item icon will be made and added to Ariah's account soon.

OOC reward:
Snail has won their choice of a Tier Two reward, and may claim any one of the following for ANY of their characters in Update Me or Discord's Requests channel: Medium Spell Borrow, 500 Magicka, or Lost Stone (Guaranteed Revive, Hybrid Animal, GM-Rolled)

---

Miriam's quiet touch, that little bit of envy, seemed almost to send a shiver through the stone. Even the chiming song stilled, for a beat, yet now it resonated with Miriam's native magic. Just as suddenly, its song was hers: shared for a moment, and then granted to the Tatzelwurm. Knowledge of its gentle singing now belonged to her.

Miriam receives: Magical Melody

OOC reward:
Nemesis has won their choice of a Tier Four reward, and may claim any one of the following for ANY of their characters in Update Me or Discord's Requests channel: Specialty Spell of choice, Rare Character Slot (RCS), Guaranteed surface item from Gemini Rift (GM chosen), GM-designed Valkhound or Order Drone (player choice)

---

Bebby's wishes were listened to with patience--or, at least, a stone couldn't appear to be much except patient. In any case, her wishes were considered carefully--again, so it seemed--before a new knowledge laced its way across her mind. She, too, held the magic to do exactly what she wished--it was only a matter of shaping it. And now, the link between her paw and the stone taught her how to do that. She could form light and color into displays as realistic as she wished, and create shows as small or as large, as detailed or as beautiful, as she wanted. If she wanted more, though--the stone somehow seemed to promise--if she wanted a little stage of her own--she could return in a day. A tiny stage and set was possible... but the magic it had first granted was powerful, and it would need time to first recover.

Bebby receives: Aether Dance

OOC reward:
Josie has won their choice of a Tier Three reward, and may claim any one of the for ANY of their characters in Update Me or Discord's Requests channel: High Spell Borrow, 1000 Magicka, Uncommon Character Slot (UCS), Lost Stone (Alien/Valkhound, GM-Designed, Guaranteed Revive), High Intensity Non-Elemental Spell (Sensorial Link, Familiar Forge, Affix Dye, Enchant), or Mutation Slot

---

Aethereal's request was attended with what almost felt like somber sympathy. Was that possible, from a mere stone? But her pain and fear was met with firm kindness, a sudden sense of empathy, of care. It was a strange sensation, and it only strengthened by the moment. Her pain seemed to fade a bit, and the odd tingle now growing in her mind came with a wordless sort of thought: 'I'll take that.' It came with the skitter of claws, and the sudden bloom of hazy vision from eyes that did not belong to her, and the echo of a very real voice that was someone else's entirely.

"Hell-oh," came the quiet sound, though instinctively, she'd know that the speaker did not quite grasp true language. It was parroted, though near perfectly, by the being to which her link now grew. Perhaps, should it see its own reflection, she would know what it looked like: an Echoing Gray only a foot or so long, with another foot of ringed tail. It was a scruffy creature, with a fatherly sternness and compassion to it, as though it had perhaps raised many litters of its own young with a kind paw. Little scars and spines littered itself, and she would know that this was how it thought of itself: 'Scars,' a concept more than a name. A little point of peridot was embedded in its sternum, like a strange mirror of Aethereal's own gem. The Gray seemed to accept its new role with confidence, attempting to scamper up into Aethereal's thick fur, fearless: at once noting in wordless thought that she should eat more, that she should rest more, that she needed grooming in this patch of fur--it would tend to that... It would be, should she accept "Scars'" presence, like having a tiny but somewhat overbearingly parental little friend to share her pain, and to share its own eyesight and stern but gentle observations. For a foot-long rat to decide a Valkhound was its charge and almost child seemed odd, but here it was, nonetheless.

Aethereal receives: Echoing Gray familiar 'Scars,' and Familiar Forge.

OOC reward:
Cicada has won their choice of a Tier Five reward, and may claim a Winner's Choice in Update Me or Discord's Requests channel!

---

Madhukar, too, was greeted with something like sympathy. And thoughtfulness, too. This would be a tough nut to crack: how to grant someone the peace of mind, the time, to think things through? One could not simply gift the ability to meditate, for example, but... maybe there was something the Wishing Stone could do to help. After a long moment, a tiny amulet--violet amethyst, on a sleek gray cord--clicked to the ground out of thin air. With it was a variation on a normal enchantment: the ability to Pause time as Madhukar saw fit, for herself to gain a few moments' time to consider things while those around her seemed almost frozen. The Stone could not give her true peace, but perhaps this would help her to find her own..?

Madhukar receives: Amulet of Pause.
An Enchanted Item icon will be made and added to Madhukar's account soon.

OOC reward:
YspobDon has won their choice of a Tier Four reward, and may claim any one of the for ANY of their characters in Update Me or Discord's Requests channel: Specialty Spell of choice, Rare Character Slot (RCS), Guaranteed surface item from Gemini Rift (GM chosen), GM-designed Valkhound or Order Drone (player choice)

Identified Item!

Ariah has received an identified item from The Wishing Stone!

2★ Stone of Dreaming Skies A Blue Chalcedony hung on a slender cord of white gold.

☆☆☆☆★★ Stone of Dreaming Skies A tiny pendant of magical Blue Chalcedony resembling a cloud-streaked sky. A slender cord of white cold binds it, forming a small and delicate necklace chain. ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 80 DURABILITY: 10 SPECIAL: When sleeping while touching this stone, the wearer dreams of open skies. These dreams are lucid and can be controlled, but only those capable of flight will experience it. MATERIAL: Blue Chalcedony, White Gold ATTACK: N/A ADDED: N/A DEFENSE: 0 WEIGHT: 1 EQUIP: Pendant Currently owned by: Ariah

Identified Item!

Madhukar has retrieved an item from The Wishing Stone!

1★ Amulet of Pause A natural Amethyst crystal on a light gray, delicate fabric cord.

☆★★★★★ Amulet of Pause A natural amethyst crystal, only an inch or two in length, held on a light gray cord made of delicate fabric. It serves as a necklace or amulet. ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 50 DURABILITY: 60 SPECIAL: Grants the user the free use of Pause while worn, allowing them to collect their thoughts in what seems to outsiders like extremely rapid time. MATERIAL: Amethyst, Gray Cloth Cord ATTACK: N/A ADDED: N/A DEFENSE: N/A WEIGHT: 2 EQUIP: Amulet Currently owned by: Madhukar

@Ariah @Miriam @Bebby @Aethereal @Madhukar

She heard the song as she wandered into Polaris, intrigued by its song, but her mind somewhere else. She hadn't been the same since she'd returned. She'd seen the sky and talked to Tamulus and walked through the grass of what was basically another world, another universe. How could the caves ever be the same? She would have to learn to live with it, but the memories were so incredibly powerful and wonderful and magical that to live without it for the rest of her life, without the sky, would make her world so much more lifeless.

She'd often tried to walk through Orion and Polaris, looking up at the "stars" and imagining they were real. But they weren't, just lights from crystals on the ceiling. They were not the stars that she'd never gotten to see. There was nothing that was anything like the sky, the clouds, the planet so far away. She'd never see it again and it pained her deeply.

But this stone that introduced itself as "The Wishing Stone" let hope flare in her heart. Even as the little canary next to her wished to soar through the skies again, she sat and wished to see Let again. She didn't need to be there, physically, she just wanted to see so that her memory of it never died. She wanted to see the sky and the clouds and she wanted to see the real stars. The mountains that Tamulus lived in, even that cursed Verinen Empire he'd spoken of. She wasn't sure it was possible, but if it was, she would want nothing more.

The call of a potential wish didn't go unnoticed by the treasure-hoarder, Dread. He turned up at a brief moment when the stone had nobody else around it, and immediately set about trying to take the Wishing Stone himself.

But no matter how hard he shoved with his taloned hind feet, or how much he tried to wrestle the stone from the ground, he couldn't steal it; so with a smoke-filled huff, he settled in to make his wish, instead. He hated following the rules, but it seemed that in this case, the dragon had no choice.

Black scaled gleamed as he coiled sinuous around the Wishing Stone, studying it, eyes narrowed at its currently violet light. "I want the biggest shiny," he breathed, his guttural rumble filled with greed. "GOLD!" he added, and his mind filled with images of great piles of golden coins, of enormous golden statues, stacks of golden bars...

...And then, because he'd learned his manners, Dread added: "Thank you."

He'd never quite gotten the hang of "please."

what might this be..?

The Wishing Stone considered Wilder's request carefully, or so it seemed. It was silent for a time, the chiming hum seeming almost thoughtful, its colorful pulse slowing a bit.

At last, a clear thought entered the feline's mind: 'One man's trash is another creature's treasure.' Directions flooded her mind, too, the path to the Gemini Rift, and a faint sense of urgency in getting there. Her gift, it seemed, was on the way; she just had to go and collect it!

Wilder receives: Mysterious Directions...
Wilder can visit the Gemini Rift and GM tag for her reward!

OOC reward:
Jaymie has won their choice of a Tier Two reward, and may claim any one of the following for ANY of their characters in Update Me or Discord's Requests channel: Medium Spell Borrow, 500 Magicka, or Lost Stone (Guaranteed Revive, Hybrid Animal, GM-Rolled)

---

Dread, on the other hand, was 'answered' almost at once with a twinning sense of pure greed. It was like a likeminded individual had suddenly latched onto his desire, and powerfully shared it--and along with that came a strange sensation of flight, of panting desperation to get to Dread as fast as possible.

This was probably puzzling, until--a moment later--a strange gargoyle-like creature came flapping heavily into view. It was a Crystalwing Bat, except pure golden in its sheen, and huge, its wingspan almost a full ten feet; it was also very much alive, linked to Dread, and desperate to help him search for (and protect) his shinies.

Dread receives: Golden 'Gargoyle' familiar, and Familiar Forge spell

OOC reward:
Dark has won their choice of a Tier Two reward, and may claim any one of the following for ANY of their characters in Update Me or Discord's Requests channel: Medium Spell Borrow, 500 Magicka, or Lost Stone (Guaranteed Revive, Hybrid Animal, GM-Rolled)

@Wilder @Dread