Quest: Will You Help Me?

The air was still, the atmosphere… foreboding… It seemed as if no one should be around in the godforsaken tunnel but through the faint mists there is life. The scuttling of unknown creatures is enough to send shivers through the pelts of even the bravest of gems. It is no wonder that through the mists you can hear a faint calling… a lonesome sound…

”Help… Help me…”

It is faint, barely even a whisper but it’s there and it’s the call of a distressed creature. Through the mists and in the eerie tunnel you can see nothing but you know the sound is there. In fact, you can even pinpoint it if you follow it. It sounds like it’s coming from near the entrance of Canis behind a boulder. Even though the source is easy to find…



Mini Quest! Investigate the source of the calls for help! I will post again with a reply when there are enough answers to this thread!

Good luck!

The rats were smarter than mice, that was for sure. Septiezal felt like a dolt for missing his target. He could only watch as the furry mammal scambered off into the inky darkness, shrieking a harsh alarm. He would have to step up his game if he ever wanted to have a full stomach again. The young python accepted the loss and slithered on. The rats knew of his presence here, he would have to try somewhere else. Suddenly, he felt the vibrations tremble through his jaw. Septiezal snapped his head toward the source. In his inner ear, it felt like speech, someone's pathetic cry for help. He lapped the air with his forked tongue and evaluated the particles. He did not taste anything out of the ordinary, just a plain boulder.

Strange. He thought curiously. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, he could have swore he heard someone. His instincts urged him to ignore it, told him that it was a just one of the rats, but curiosity drew drowned out all of its cries. What if someone really did need help, perhaps they were trapped behind this great rock? Septiezal inched closer to boulder and inspected it with his flickering tongue and heat pits on his snout, searching for signs of life.

The young python lifted his head a foot of the stony surface. "H-helllo?" He called out. The snake's trembling voice echoed through the lonely tunnel.

Zevruu was hunting when a low sound startled him. The sound-a voice, perhaps-chilled him to the bone. As he listened closer, he realized that it was indeed a voice. A voice calling out for help. He lifted his head and looked around. Was someone nearby? Were they far away? He slowly got up and began to walk in the direction that he thought he heard the voice in. He didn't even know why he was walking in that direction. His paws just seemed to lead him there.

As he approached, he realized someone else was there as well. A snake. A rather young one, at that. The snake seemed to call out an hello, his voice echoing. Zevruu shuffled his paws and looked at the boulder. The voice seemed to have been coming from here...But where? They couldn't be in the boulder, could they? He sighed. This was all very confusing to him and he wasn't sure what to do.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Tuck continuously looked behind him as he moved, which was easier for him than most animals, since he had the natural ability to turn his head a full 180°. He hated this tunnel. There was nowhere high to climb to. Not even the walls were good for climbing, and since he couldn’t fly, he was stuck crawling on the ground — which meant he was much more likely to be trampled to death. He didn’t even know what he was doing here except that the comfort of Eridanus got boring sometimes and that he yearned for adventure. This often left him feeling at war with himself, since he was a total scaredy-monkey, but he needed to prove that he could be just as cool and useful as anyone else! So, he… nervously pushed past the fear and just stuck very close to the sides of the tunnels when he was somewhere without a place to climb.

The sound he had heard earlier was probably the only thing that kept him from turning tail and charging back the way he had come. Someone had called for help, and by the gods, he was gonna figure out who and where they were. Tuck wasn’t exactly a helpful fellow, but if helping this creature proved to other creatures that he could be useful even if he was tiny, then he would do it. Now he just had to find the one who needed help. And avoid being eaten or squished by the others in the tunnel that he could smell and hear ahead of him. Oh boy…

Words: 264

Kin-Kin didn't often leave Eridanus anymore, but today something spurred her on. Perhaps it was this prickle in her skin that she wasn't welcome there anymore for some reason, or the faint whiff of something familiar leading her away... The golden wolf didn't care to dwell on it right now. She knew she'd have to go back soon for the sake of her own conscience, but right now she needed a break.

With her fur seeming to radiate its own warm glow, like a campfire, she'd followed that tiny trace of a familiar scent, and, well... If something was wrong back in Eridanus, it definitely wasn't... 'Right' here either. The wolf was filled with curiosity, however, but her cape, ever useful, helped protect her from the chills and hide the fur standing on end along her spine.

It was less about the scent then, and more about the sounds; Kin-Kin could hear others here, scales and claws rasping and clacking against stone, and echoing towards her.

And there was a voice, one that made her fur stand on end and her entire body to halt. Begging for help. Kin-Kin immediately distrusted this odd coice. She wasn't sure why, but something seemed... Off.

Curiosity, of course, got the better of her, and so she crept forward, glancing around. The golden wolf knew that there was others here, so perhaps... Perhaps she could let them go first. Give herself the advantage.

Quest: Will You Help Me?

As the gembounds gathered around it might not immediatley be certain where the sound was coming from but closer inspection would show that it was echoing from behind the boulder. During the first investigation it might be hard to miss but if one steps closer and peeks behind the boulder then they would be able to see a small gray rat with fierce red eyes. Its eyes seem intelligent and cruel and its obvious that the call for help has been coming from it as it gives one last call of,

"Help! Someone please!" Then, it let out a fierce shriek and scampered quickly away, before it can be grabbed, into a nearby hole. As if on cue several other rats seem to come out of hiding out of cracks and crevices in the wall and they quickly surround the gathered gembounds. Their eyes shine with hunger and its obvious that they're out to kill. The first rat was a ploy to lure the gems towards them! Now, they have come for the attack! These rats are Echoing Grays, large ones, that have gotten the hunger for fresh meat.

Fortunately for Tukluk it appears that he has been unnoticed or ignored for his tiny size, the rats seem intent on the larger prey... starting with Kin-Kin! Two rats (Rat 1 & 2) lunge at her with their yellowed fangs bared as they attempt to grab for her, one (Rat 1) goes for her left flank while the other (Rat 2) aims for her throat. A silver Echoing Gray (Rat 4) tries to use its claws to snatch up the snake, aware that it is a juvenile and that it might be able to get away with it. The last two rats (Rat 3 & 5) a pair of white ones, aim for Zevruu. One tries to leap onto his back (Rat 4) while the other (Rat 5) tries to sink its fangs into his right shoulder. The largest gray rat, who seems to be the leader, is hanging back and watching for an opening.

OOC: RATED M FOR LANGUAGE.

Ohhhhh shiiiiiiit! Oh Gods! What the hell? Rats?! Rats! Huge rats! Shit, and they were attacking the other Gembounds in the tunnel! But — but Lesser Gembounds couldn’t talk! Right? Tukluk, somehow, was the only one here who was not being attacked by a rat — and thank the Gods, too, because at least one of them was bigger than he was! He watched in horror as the others fought their attackers. He was trembling and staying low to the ground, pressing his body against the wall of the tunnel and praying that he would remain unnoticed. All of his instincts told him to flee, since he knew he didn’t stand a change against these rats, but… but that would make him a coward!

Oh, he wished he wasn’t so useless!

Little did he know that that wish was manifesting itself on his tiny back, in the shape of a very small plant beginning to grow rapidly. All he felt was a mild tingling/itching sensation in his back, but he was far too scared of what was going on ahead of him to pay it any attention. Not that growing a random plant on his back was… particularly useful, but it was something, at least.

It was probably better that he didn’t notice the plant, since his reaction to the spell would probably give his position away, if it hadn’t already.

Words: 230

Deceived! Septiezal's heart dropped when he came face to face with the biggest rats he had ever seen in is life. They were bigger than the ones he usually hunted and looked horribly bloodthirsty. He could not believe he fell for such a cheap trick. His instincts were right, he should have ignored the cries, now he about to pay for his stupidity. As pain ripped through his scales, the young python immediately snapped his attention to the fourth rat who was digging his claws into his sensitive skin. Boiling anger brewed in his body, engulfing his entire being. Septiezal open his mouth, and let out a belligerent hiss as he coiled his tense body into a striking position. With a flick of his tongue, he caught a taste the rat's scent. The python locked on to the terrible rodent's heat, and drew back his head, before lunging forward at his target, in an attempt to grab it with a mouth full of sharp, hooked teeth.

"Speech."
Thoughts...

Zevruu slowly peeked over the edge of the boulder and came face to face with a rat. He blinked, his eyes wide. He had not been expecting this...creature to be the one staring back at him. They most certainly did not seem to need help. Quite the opposite, really. As he watched, more began to appear. He lowered his long ears down and crouched, eyes wide and limbs shaking. What was he supposed to do? Were they going to fight? He didn't know how to fight!

As Zevruu hesitated, unsure of what to do, one rat managed to jump onto his back, and another sank their fangs into his shoulder. He yowled, pain slicing through his shoulder and down his leg. He did not like this one bit, not at all! He had never felt pain this bad, and he absolutely hated it. Immediately he began to shake, trying desperately to just get them off.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Kin-Kin hovered in the background behind the others who had also been investigating the sound. No sooner had she heard a startled hiss and the skittering of tiny paws that she suddenly saw something coming; a grey flash as a creature hurled itself towards her, going for the kill...

Visible shock made her tense and at first reel before her mind came to the sudden realization of what was going on. Instinctively, Kin-Kin knew that she was going to have to fight this out.

That moment, Kin-Kin lunged at rat 1, knowing that the large and revolting being's skull would be no match for her powerful jaws. She felt it's soft fur against her tongue, and it tasted foul, but she'd only managed to keep it inches away from her neck; any slight motion and it'd be free again. No sooner had the wolf assumed she was safe, however, when a sudden jolt of pain shot through her flank, the she wolf jumped and, regardless or not her first assailant was still in her jaws, began to jump, buck, and shake wildly, aiming to shake off whatever it was that was now clinging to her by the fangs.

This was... Poorly thought out...


IMPORTANT: i already rolled for this but I accidentally posted with the wrong account. I rolled an 11, barely successful, in an attempt to catch rat 1.