It had taken a lot of planning and communicating. September and Oilstone T-One had both been great boons for the Overseer, their superior speed able to send messages and seek out recruits far swifter then she could alone. She'd gone over certain plans in her head over and over, how they would start fires, control them, and end them. The number that would supposedly show up. She'd heard back from a number of Gembound - hopefully they would show up and do their job well or they were all fucked. This was a big risk, with Master Artio's threats hanging heavy on her shoulders. Not one healthy tree harmed or all of them wiped out in an instant. She would make sure that didn't happen.

Now was the day she had planned for - all that she had contact knew, and all those that had offered their assistance had been given the time and place that they would meet and prepare. Here at the entrance to Eridanus from Tunnel I, just within the boundary of the cavern walls.

She stood, waiting, and as gembound appeared, she greeted them, but did not linger, waiting patiently and quietly, thoughts running a mile a minute until the time came. One of her massive paws lifted and slammed against the ground, commanding the attention of whoever had gathered.

"WELCOME," she boomed, her voice carrying over the gathered creatures, silencing any conversations that would have persisted. "I am Overseer Tectus! I will not give any elaborate speech about myself or our mission - you know why you are here! We will begin preperations, but first I must stress this - we will do this safely, with as minimal collateral damage as possible! Master Artio has given us her blessing but with one condition - we will not damage any trees or plants unaffected by the infection. There will be dire consequences should we cause massive damage outside of our mission!" She let that sink in for a moment, eyes raking over the gathered, trying to press the severity without exactly stating the threat. She didn't want them getting cold feet and walking out or this was all ruined.

"NOW. Before we begin, each of you state your name and purpose - your skills and abilities, but as briefly as possible, and one at a time!" She gestured out towards them, giving them permission, now, to speak.

@Anala (Tema) @Bacchus (Yanyue) @Dread (Ember, Pride, Oliver, Arsu) @Asira (Sprig) @Yew

crickets and creatures will come in the night
keep my back from the reaper
who's hunting or running, you gotta decide

September was the first on to make it to the meeting, prancing around with excitement and anticipation. Artio's threats were an echo in the back of his mind, barely dampening his joy for the coming fire, but tempering it enough to still have caution. He had self-awareness enough to know that his love for this whole starting fire thing was a little worrisome. This would be a good time to practice self-restraint.

When Tectus spoke and offered for the group to give their names, September was the first to go. "I'm September! I can start fires and spread them and control them a little." And to accent this proclamation of skill, a couple licks of flame flashed over his fur and his eyes began to glow hot. He felt warm and amazing in that moment, although he did not think to maybe add that he really did not have the ability to stop or choke fire.

september

Wilder had arrived early - she wanted to have a brief word with the Overseer before the task began. When she'd heard from the strange valkhound some cycles ago that there would be an effort to cleanse Order from Eridanus, she had immediately offered to put her skills to use. While she did not appreciate having to work with beasts of Chaos, she figured that a common enemy in this case made a friend. She hated Mother and her infection far more then she disliked the valkhounds and their ilk.

The one thing that had worried her immediately she had brought up to the Overseer - Lessers. There were a lot that lived in Eridanus and a lot that hadn't caught the infection. The fires would rage through them and many would perish. It would be a tragedy, both for carnivores that relied on them as a food source, and as a simply loss of innocent life. So, as others began to arrive, she quietly sat under a large, clean leaf and closed her eyes.

I wish...for all the Lesser Gembound left in this cave that have not been infected by the spores of Order to flee for the day, or take shelter where the fires will not reach, such as in caves or in the sanctuary where we will not burn. She stayed still in meditation, waiting for the magic to work before she slunk out quietly.

"I am Wilder - I've already done what help I can give, but if any are injured by the flames, I can heal them."

Shango held back, crouched against the ground, a miserably suspicious gaze sweeping over the group. He liked this cave. He'd come to help. But it was crowded.

Then again, to him, even two other Gembounds seemed crowded.

His tail lashed behind him as his turn came to speak, and his voice was a plaintive near-yowl.

"I am Shango. I make stoooorms," he explained, looking around him. He wasn't calling on his magic yet, but he knew full well rain would help to keep any flames from raging wildly.

In other words, the strange and stormy leopard-beast was here on damage control.

Dread arrived a little ahead of Pride, having been promised his usual pay of "golden gemstones." Which meant gold-colored, or even vaguely yellow, but truth be told he wasn't picky.

Blood-hued wings beat a solid thud against the air as he came in to land, onyx-taloned feet digging into the soil to stabilize himself. A moment later he'd rocked down, landing his full weight on those wings, before walking bat-like on thumbs and feet closer to the gathering. He seemed disinterested, vaguely impatient, but not particularly violent or demanding, right now. Mostly he stayed (astonishingly) silent, bar the occasional snorting exhale--unrelated to any ongoing dialogue--that sent threads of twin smoke curling 'sky'ward.

He offered a nod to Wilder--he had a child with that one, somewhere--and regarded with a critical eye the others as they spoke. Then he leaned back, neck arched proudly, the spines and fins along its crest standing tall. "I AM DREAD," he bellowed, drawing out the words unnecessarily. "I WILL BURN THIS CAVE TO ASHES-" ...and paused, as Pride leaned in to 'elbow' him with a push of his entire body. Dread blinked down quizzically, and then looked to the rest, correcting himself with a mental ah yes, not the entire cave. "I WILL BURN WHAT HE PAYS ME TO BURN."

There.

Sorted.

Not to ASHES, dragon, Pride thought, blinking.

He had, once upon a time, created children with Dread. Not as a romantic thing, but it should have given them more of an understanding of one another. They had even fought side-by-side on several battlefields, and yet, it still felt that the dragon should feel like less of a stranger.

Ahh, well.

He tipped his head upward, straightening, to address the rest. There were those among them he considered allies; those who were strangers, those who were--to his mind--closer to 'enemy.' But for the moment he focused on their shared task. His mind combed quickly over his abilities, so that he did not forget anything.

"Pride. I can help set flames, or control them by causing rain," and he spared a brief glance at Shango, "or open trenches to help with firebreaks. I can also offer healing, if anyone is burned, but it will not be perfect, so... try not to be."

Versatile, in other words; it was hard to feel like he wouldn't come across a braggart, but that wasn't his intent.

red deer img credit - dan seagrave

Joining the gathering was strange for Rift, who already had spoken face to face with some of them - the Overseer and the deer for one - but the others were unknown faces that still rang distant familiarities in him. Echoes of his past life, he was sure, as glances sent his way were not the looks of strangers. A bitterness welled up in him briefly, wondering to himself, How many of them even know I died? It was an ugly thought quickly pushed away to be addressed later. There was a mission for them, and for him as well, to keep the forest safe.

He arrived with Huckleberry at his side, head swinging to regard the gathered gembound and then focusing on the Overseer. He raised his head when there was a moment of silence to speak. "I am Rift. I can regrow after we burn but also create damp conditions to make the fire easier to control. But I will be focused on protecting the Sanctuary." He was really here to deliver Huckleberry, before he returned to patrol the edge of the Arborspire's reach, but he wanted to see what destroyers would be wreaking havoc through his beloved forest. Good to see they brought a dragon along. He was sure this would be perfectly manageable.

GRAY SOUL AND STATIC IN MY EYES

He turned up with Rift, trotting nervously at his side. He hadn't been around this many gembound in a very long time and hadn't been in such a crowd with so many huge creatures in...he couldn't remember if there even was a time. He stuck close to the side of a familiar ally and friend, wide eyes moving from the giant Overseer to the dragon to...Pride. Gaze lingered there briefly, but then quickly moved away. Feelings towards the stag were complicated. Maybe once he'd looked up to him, maybe once he'd feared him, but that was a long, long time ago.

Shiny wasn't with him, now - she had stayed behind at the tree, safe, so he wouldn't have to worry about her wellbeing during the fire. It was better for both if she stayed out of this for now. He felt confident enough without his emotional support to get this done. It was just business, after all.

"Huckleberry," he eventually piped up. "I have wind to help with control and if anything gets out of hand, I can put fires out very quickly."

TRY TO SEE THE FUTURE,
BUT I'M NOT SURE IF IT APPLIES

It was faint at first, a rustling of underbrush and skittering feet, but grew into the breath of Eridanus as a mass exodus of lesser gembound sought sanctuary outside of the Maw of Mosses. Some winged creatures even lifted and carried smaller, slower walking or crawling ones; insects and tiny creatures clung to the bodies of their larger refugees and together--oh, together, working in tandem with each other to ensure survival of those not taken by the infestation--they escaped. A greater will of instinct overcame them, and while they may never truly know why, they hurried from the cave to seek the safety of the tunnels and beyond; those that could huddled themselves within small caves or divets of the wall, or found themselves within the safety of the Sanctuary.

Esther arrives in the fungus-ridden forest, fond memories of their childhood coating their mind as they ignore the flashes of black in the corners of their vision. There's already a pretty good gathering by the time they approach the group fully, and the maned wolf cannot recognize any of them.

That's fine - they just hope the strangers stay out of their way. Esther can't particularly tell if any of them use His magic, but what they can do is try to make sure none of them get infected with it. Even if the call is pulling them - its enticing to think about spreading the power around. Chrysalis the only cure - Esther would watch the place go down in flames. A different kind of flame than the one they're about to occupy the space with. Except Vargas probably wouldn't like that - and it seems like there may be powerful magic users here. Esther is pretty weak in regards to every creature that has touched the caves (they think about Draconua).

The big one - purple, sort of like Vargas himself - calls out directions. An overseer? Esther can't recall ever seeing that one - or hearing about her for that matter. Not that they care, it'd be the same thing as helping Vargas out, just another job well done. (Even if they like their job)

"I am Esther. I can both make and control fire." Among others, but they're probably not too important in the grand scheme of things. Just something to keep in mind in case things get testy.