[Origin Cave]

Origin's Fifth Olympics

Magicka Show

Welcome to the Magicka portion of Origin's Fifth Olympics! Come for a display of creativity and magic from gembound across the caves!

Rules

1. ⁠You may use anything in the environment for your spells except for other Gembound, unless they are willing subjects. Casting on the Judges or any spectators is not allowed and will be grounds for disqualifications.
   
   
2. Winners will be picked based on both in-character performance and the success of the rolls. Be creative!
   
   
3. Posting order has been (mostly) randomized. Once it's your turn, you have three posts to impress the Judges and the audience. When you are done, please @Tag the next person in the order.
   
   
4. If a competitor is called and fails to respond within three days, they will forfeit and the competition will move on without them.
   
   
5. As with the other Olympic events, spectators are allowed! There is no set posting order for the spectators.
   

Posting Order

1. Pollen
   
2. September
   
3. Horizon
   
4. Nikolai
   
5. V-Corundum-One
   
6. Titivulus
   
7. Wilder
   
8. Gaheris
   
9. Yvan
   
10. Khavur
    
11. Tourmaline
    
12. Fahl
    
13. Phelix
    
14. Daphne
    
15. Archon
    
16. Draconua
    

Before the Spire, Tectus waited while the spectators amassed, holding a piece of wood in her claws into which names had been carved. She studied each of the names, remembering each gembound that had signed up for...this. For the most part she'd mostly randomly sorted the names through and had given them their own placements for the most part. She stared at the last name on the list and sighed as she put it down. Hopefully, this did not go the way she was dreading it would.

For the rest, she was excited to see. She would be keeping a close eye on all the powers that were about to be presented. For not the first time, she wondered if she should be the only one judging this, considering her own relationship with magic was fairly weak. But she'd seen enough in her relatively short life in the modern nest to feel like she had a good basis to judge on.

As for the competition? It was about time to begin. She was sitting on a slightly elevated place, before an open, flat area before the Spire, around which spectators had gathered. She cleared her throat loudly, calling for momentary silence. "Alright, we shall begin! The first up..." She glanced at the slab of wood. "Pollen will be going first! Please step up and show us what you got!"

@Pollen

She came dressed in her best outfit. Clad in simple white cotton, Pollen's dress danced at her knees as she stepped forward. Magic was something she was good at, she knew this, yet the swirling nervousness in her stomach only solidified now that she was in front of everyone.

Right. Put on your show face. Taking in a deep breath, Pollen tricked herself into confidence, smiling with her arms held out in welcome. She had to be the opening act, of course. Alright.

"Hello everyone!" She projected her voice with barely any hint of that anxiety. "My name is Pollen Rose, garden knight of the Palace. Um— enjoy the show!" One step forward, and she bowed with one arm across her chest, just like a proper showwoman. The broad-leaf plants across her back shuffled with the dip and tipped and cast across her shoulders like a shroud.

"Um, for those not aware, a knight is someone who protects, right?" Pollen straightened, keeping her paw to her chest as she grinned awkwardly. "But... I've spent a lot of time being the garden too." Her other paw reached out, the vine that coiled around it draping away after she'd released the knot holding it in place. "Most knights fight with swords or shields but I fight with myself. My garden!"

Squinting her eyes and morphing that grin into a genuine smile, Pollen drew her magic inward and drove it to the budding plants across her fur, driving it to root in and blossom. All across her biceps and woven beneath the leaves on her back, soft-yellow honeysuckle bloomed into being, a soft contrast against her dress. 'Don't hurt—' And right in the middle of her outstretched hand, a single, palm-sized flower with pink petals that drooped over the sides swelled into place. It was a familiar hurt, the feeling of roots in her skin, but ow anyway.

Careful fingers plucked the flower from her palm and placed it before her with another sort-of bow. This was going better than expected..! She couldn't keep her tail from wagging idly, slow and swaying as she hummed to herself.

When she drew up, it was slow, thoughtful, with a paw held under her forearm to showcase the braided, thorny vine that grew from it. It twinned on the other side, though she hadn't unwound that one— it stayed tucked and tied by her wrist, a tight spiral packed and alive with clear familiarity to it. "There's only so much you can do with flowers. Pretty, important, but there's so much more." She could feel herself getting into it with each breath. "All of my plants are curated for me; I've been taking care of them for all my life, they're... a part of me. They're my sword and shield."

This was the part she was made for. Drawing herself up, Pollen held her arm aloft into the air, drama swelling within her as the Spire's light danced across her whip. "And, uh, I... like my garden, basically." The delivery was flat, but oh well. She just had to make up for it with her dance.

Dipping suddenly, Pollen grabbed a hold of the loose vine and twirled on one paw, the arc flying over her head as she used the full force of her muscles to slam the end forward. One loop— driven by magic, she'd practiced so hard— raced down the length and snapped the thin end above the crowd. The force shuddered through the length of the vine, echoed in her ears, silence cut through so audibly that she gasped.

Yes! She did it! Quivering with sheer excitement, she forced her vine to remain aloft, keeping it from hitting anyone as she snaked it back to her. Her arm snapped back with a flourish and soon the vine was coiling back around and tightening against her fur like a protective shield.

"Now," she started as she pulled back, hand at her collarbones, "spells like these, I guess most people don't really see as... set up for combat. Plants don't move a lot, right? But... I've always loved plants. Knowing everything about them, how to work with them... and how to use them."

One paw drifted to her hollowed out eye-socket, lingering for a brief moment while she breathed in. Talk of usefulness and magic struck a chord in her; she didn't have time to simmer in it though, returning to that full-chested enthusiasm in a heartbeat. "People, ah, underestimate plants, they're just pretty things, but they're what make us alive, right? Lessers eat the plants, we eat the plants; without them, there'd be no meat to eat, no food. Well, except mushrooms, but they're close enough." She spun in place slowly, pacing while emphasizing her vines.

"And, ah, well, who said pretty things can't also be cool?" Her pacing sped up for a brief moment, nearly tripping herself up while she used the momentum of her movement to start forcing out the honeysuckle from her skin, the crackling of bark growing underneath pushing them out to flutter to the cave floor.

Yellow petals caught in her mane, her tail, stirred up by her pacing while they danced downward, leaves and flowers shedding from her back. In its place, dark, dense bark covered her fur, encompassing her arms and neck, plating her hocks and curling into a helmet that hugged her muzzle tightly. "There's, uh, a lot of things you can do with plants. Not just eating or looking pretty. And that's why I'm a garden knight, 'cause I use 'em to protect and be cool."

Slowing her spin, Pollen stopped and forced a smile, the anxiety of so much attention settling back in. "... Thank you." She bowed again one last time, stiffer than before with the limited motion of the bark. And that was that; her part was complete, though she waited a moment before escorting herself back to the crowd.

@September

With the wind as you fly away
Give a smile from your lips and say
"I am free! Yes, I'm free!"

His turn to go! Once the green guy was all done with his little plant show, it was time for something really spectacular to take the stage. He stepped in front of the Overseer, all poise and magnificence and glittering gold pride. His head was raise confidently - he knew what he was about to do was risky, but it was be glorious if he pulled it off right!

"Are you ready for something stunning?" He grinned. The wind around him began to pick up at his silent command, blowing through his brilliant mane, kicking up a bit of dust (but not too much. Don't want to obscure the view.) and surely catching attention. It was all in a circular motion around him, light at first, but growing a little stronger.

"Hold onto your tails and whiskers and ears and tentacles and whatever other extremities you fear may get caught in the storm!" It was all for show, of course. He had no intention of actually setting anyone on fire today.

september

With the wind as you fly away
Give a smile from your lips and say
"I am free! Yes, I'm free!"

As the wind whipped stronger around him, he sucked in a breath and began to prepare. The fire would come next, a blast stirred into the winds that he intended to take control of - the original idea was to dance the flames around him in a beautiful wind-fire dance, but as he sucked in a little too much breath, he coughed on the exhale and the flames got...stuck.

The cough turned into a retch as bits of flame and a bit of blood from the sudden searing burns inside his throat hit the ground in front of him. Somehow, he kept control of the winds but...ugh. It was close. And that really fucking hurt.

That was probably gonna scar terribly.

september

With the wind as you fly away
Give a smile from your lips and say
"I am free! Yes, I'm free!"

Reminding himself that this was a show, he raised his head, still some defiance left. Despite the embaressing display, he gathered his magic again and this time the exhale was smoother. It still hurt like hell, especially grating over the internal burns he'd just sustained, but the flames at least appeared and were caught by the winds. It wasn't...quite what he wanted, without anything to burn or any further magic to control them, they kind of flickered in the wind and went out after a couple seconds.

After a few moments of this, he cut the flames out and let the winds die. Embaressed and disappointed, he nodded and the Overseer and trotted off. He needed to get the hell out of here as fast as possible after that.

september

@Horizon

There were advantages to hibernating. One: everyone forgets who you are.

Unfortunately, the inverse was true; there were Gembound here he didn't recognize and new dynamics that he'd have to navigate. While he was likely to blend into the crowd, he didn't know the others' limits, didn't know what they knew either. Were they scanning for interlopers? No, no, that was that fear rising in his throat, soothed quickly and promptly ignored for him to focus on this task.

He made sure not to stick out, though. His pelt was clean, picked through and groomed to perfection so Mother's touch would be well hidden from the world, a habit left over from long ago. The only tell was his gem, and that was hidden well away between his teeth.

Pallas fit in. He was fine. Fine enough to where, upon making even brief eye-contact with another, he gave them a genuine-seeming smile with his eyes, an upward squint as he navigated to a nice, protected seating area. In for the long haul, Pallas settled down and tucked his paws beneath himself, keeping within the crowd as he watched the show.

Horizon had never been to Polaris before, and was instantly enamored by its- almost literally- electric atmosphere. Maybe that was just because of the Magicka Show, though. They had never seen such a large crowd before, and it was a little nerve-wracking to know all of these gembound would be watching them- even if most of them were here to compete themselves.

Horizon was absolutely fascinated by the first two performances [although they were rather concerned when September started choking on his own fire spell] and a bit startled to find out it was ALREADY their turn.

In their claws they held a couple of round, smooth pebbles. They'd fidget with them, rolling them around in their claws, as they figured out what to say. "Uh. Hi." They started. "I. Uh. Like magic. Its really cool and I'm pretty good at it I think." Very cool and good speech. Now lets get to the good part- the magic!

They'd toss the pebbles into the air one by one, and their magic would grab hold of the pebbles and toss them far higher into the air than they normal could. They'd juggle the pebbles between their hands and their magic, looping them through the air into elaborate shapes.