Quest: Dungeons & Dungeons
After the lights have dimmed, the tunnel, which is usually still and stagnant, has an air of life to it... though it is hard to tell why. There is a small flash of golden light carrying across the shadows, seen by no one; then, tucked away in a small alcove between two grand carvings of monsters, the wall begins to shudder and peel away as though it was layered there on purpose. As the clay falls apart, it reveals the remains of a broken statue sitting upon a tall square pedestal. The statue looks like it had once been a huge, husky creature resembling a goat, but pieces are missing out of it. They have been cleaved off in large chunks and are nowhere to be found in this tunnel.

Join This Quest

If you would like to participate in this quest, post with your character in this thread. Completing this quest will require some teamwork, so don't be afraid to roleplay it out! Feel free to request a GM when you feel you may be ready to proceed.

Participants:
None!

The thief's presence had been a little bit ambiguous. Y'know, be here, be there, poof? That was it. He was still quite young and his thick ruff had yet to grow in. In his absence, he'd been practicing his skills with his momma, and he was learning quickly and eagerly. From the blank slate of childhood naïvety grew Howl, a quiet thief with quick fingers that could pickpocket one quicker than the blink of an eye. It was just a matter of the fact that his form was still childish and pudgy.

So that was why he fell.

He intended to keep hanging from the roof of the cave in silence, watching and observing the strange statue that had mysteriously appeared in the tunnel outside of his clan's home. His scapolite stone shimmered and crackled for a moment before sending a searing pain through the amalgam's shoulder. Howl opened his mouth but held back an ear-shattering screech. Amidst his pain, he let go of the spire he was hanging onto and tumbled right down to the floor. 'Ah, shit,' he thought with a hint of salt as he pulled himself to his feet and stared at the statue some more, tail swishing behind him thoughtfully.

He was just exploring outside Monoceros when he heard an odd sound, calling the boy essentially. Looking back to the room, he considered retrieving Odyssey to explore this sound with him, but he didn't want to waste time. Finally, his paws carried the tall child towards the sound, finding chunks of wall on the ground and an odd statue above it.

Othello tilted his head. Was this where the sound came from? He looked around, seeing nothing else that looked disrupted. Truth be told, Othello had never been down here before, meaning he didn't know this statue wasn't here just moments ago. Sniffing at one of the wall chunks on the ground, he wondered what could've caused this...

Something fell then, to his left, and cursed. Othello turned to it momentarily, raised an eyebrow, then went back to sniffing.

Nemesis heard Howl's cry. She was there in an instant, a guardian to all of the Merrymen. With Hestia gone, there was and overprotectiveness in her heart that sent her chasing after not only her two remaining children, but those that came from Fang and Magdalena as well. She would not let another Merrymen fall to the wayside-- she would not fail them again. It was careless.

She was not. Never again. She charged past Othello, practically running him over in her hurry, but she got to Howl's side abruptly. "What is it? What happened? Who hurt you?!" She snapped, feet stomping, looking around with lava in her belly and magma in her gaze-- but upon seeing no one nearby, aside from Othello who she looked past once more-- she lowered her head to the child and began to coo, softly, kindly.

"It's alright... Auntie Nemesis is here, Howl. Come now, you can climb up on me where it's nice and warm and safe." The warmth bathed over them as she did so, her tail swaying behind her. Her dark midnight gaze lifted ever so slightly to look at the statue, and an unsettled feeling bubbled away in her chest.

That definitely had not been there before. She was oblivious to the point of fault sometimes, but she had been through this tunnel more than any other gembound (or so she thought) and she knew this was different. Unease settled into her, the heat rising off of her body, and she did not dare look away from the dangerously new thing.

@Howl

Each day ran in a constant repetition of the next one. Over and over, it was hunt, eat, sleep. Not that he was particularly good at hunting, his expertise in the craft was certainly improving but he was extremely limited in what he could and could not do. Wind was being pulled through the tunnel towards the twister, giving Iliad some sort of indication that he was indeed close to the exit. The scent of Othello was also present, and he found himself travelling down it.

When I speak.

When I think.

ooc; dodgy entry post

The black schnauzer made her way through the tunnels, nose to the ground and on the hunt for adventure. And adventure she found! Walking down a long tunnel until the figures of other gembounds came into view and then there were others creatures she had never seen before moving large stone. What are those . . ? Lowering to the ground and crawled across the floor, coming up near others who were standing around. One was a small creature and the other large, giving off heat. Nova wasn't sure if there were other's around yet, but spoke up to the one who seemed to most likely have answers. The one who was mothering the smaller gembound. "What are those . . over there?" Asking quickly, moving to stand back up as tall as a pup could. --------- "Speech" Thoughts OOC: words words

@Nemesis

Today was a good day for Kawenu's mind, thus his heart felt big and pleased. He happily strolled along, looking at the walls and doing his best to take in all the scenery. Everywhere he went was different. He pondered how large his home was; if the world was infinite or if it had boundaries. The sight of others drew his attention from his idle thoughts. He went to see what they were all investigating, then found himself awe-struck by the large statue, despite it's missing pieces. "How did that get there?" He didn't mean to talk out loud. It just sort of... happened. As a result, he looked over his shoulder with some level of embarrassment on his face, hoping the question wasn't absurdly dumb. "I-I mean... who made it?" he asked, hoping maybe it was a better question.

The queen's absence was over though she still preferred to stay out of the limelight when she could. Like now, for some reason there was a huge gathering of gembounds in one of the tunnels she used to get home. What was this? Why were they crowding up her space? Tsk. No matter, she'd just edge around them and go back. They'd probably clear out in no time, if they didn't she could always scare them away with the Fire.

The tiny Queen edged her way around the group, staying in the shadows and keeping out of the eyesight of the creatures around her. Only until she saw her Fire tending to...

Quickclaw! Was he hurt? What had happened? She felt her heartbeat quicken like it never had before. Nothing should befall her sweet Prince. Forgetting that she was trying to be sneaky the Queen ran straight out into the open and right up next to her son and her Fire. "What happened? Did someone hurt him?" She peered accusingly at those gathered, paw twitching as she fought the urge to grab her dagger-sword. If someone had hurt her Quickclaw then so help her she'd murder them! "Go on, get on the Fire. It's safer there."

The trino was right, he would be safer on her back and away from all the trampling paws. The new statue could wait, for the time being.


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"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

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Quest
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5/10

Cayenne was traveling now, exploring the tunnels and caves, staying as far away from Eridanus as she could, right now. There were too many memories there, too many nightmares. She just needed to get away, to learn to be who she was when she was small and the world was new. She couldn't let herself suffocate in the past.

So when she traveled down this path she'd never seen before and she saw little things glinting in the low light and the carvings up above on the ceiling, she felt a stirring of old excitement in her bones. Here were new things to see, to find, to understand, and she wanted to pick apart this tunnel and see the wonders it had to offer.

But something attracted her more than the promise of treasure was the hint of voices up ahead, and she shrugged her backpack to fit more snugly on her back and hurried to the sound. What was everyone doing here? What were they all looking at?

She peered at this very strange statue that everyone was around, and she frowned. Was there...something special about it? Why was it missing chunks? Why was it a goat?

She stood there and let out a soft "Humm...", looking around, seeing no one she recognized.

She was so horribly lost and she still hadn't found Cetus yet, and she was really getting anxious to get back home. She'd seen so many things on her journey! Hidden relics, danger, and the whispers of ghosts accompanied her travels, and though she loved it, she really missed her friends and the safety of the sound of the powerful waterfall. She just really wanted to go home.

So when she saw the big gathering of gems, she hurried over to them, saying softly, "Excuse me, pardon me..." Then her eyes locked onto Nova, and she gasped and half-ran and half-fell to her, laughing and exclaiming, "Nova! Nova, oh, how glad I am to see you!"