Between huffs of breath snatched from the mist, and between lurching, shuffling, limping steps, he spoke.

"This is our home," he declared to the little Gembound following him. It had been a long travel: Canis was far away, and with Dragon's limping leg, the journey had taken even longer. He'd carted Serek along with him, offering the youngster a ride on his back where necessary (and even where not; Dragon missed the energy of youth around him). He had offered, too, grand stories of the various caves as they had travelled, complete with indulgently answering any questions the youth had: the battle with Raheerah in Polaris, the fight, even, with their father Aquarian here, in Cetus. It was this he was now discussing.

"Our father was awoken by the Betrayer, you see. She led many to his jaws, hoping he would kill them blindly. A show, perhaps. For her own amusement. I remember enjoying the battle, such as it was; but our father gathered us all in his coils, and when others spoke to him, he answered. His promise to us began that day: we feed him, and he aids us."

Dragon slumped to a halt in the cold muck beside his offering pile. Old meat, rotted and putrescent--and he still wasn't sure if Aquarian ever even emerged, anymore, to eat it. Perhaps it just decayed away, untouched--but Dragon had never stopped fulfilling his end of the bargain. Even if what he could provide would barely be considered a snack to his "father."

For a moment, the alligator caught his breath, lying there watching the pile. "This is where we bring the food-... where I bring the food. It is where we used to bring it," he explained, turning back to Serek.

And now? Hrm. If he was going to begin laying on the secrets of the caves, discussing the new activity in it and the things that Tenzin had let slip, he might as well call upon the others who had been interested.

"Before I go into more," he said to Serek, "I will call upon the others. It is always best to say something once, rather than having to repeat it." He said this with wry amusement, and then turned, taking a deep breath and bellowing into the swamp.

"CHILDREN OF ROT," he roared, for those who might still be present, still be lurking. Still exist. "Those to whom I have spoken! Those who value knowledge, and survival! Come to me now!"

He took a breath to cast flame into the air, but nothing came. He was left holding his breath for a long moment, and then feeling rather foolish. Not the greatest beginning--but no matter.

@Serek @Layla @Aithaxas @Septiezal (whenever) @Sizzle @Ghanyarah ?? if interested - also open to anyone else who wants to cause trouble/listen in/potentially join etc

Serek hadn't quite expected the trip to take so long. He had no idea how big the caves were as Canis was not exactly a sprawling mass. He had gotten very tired a number of times and had breathlessly accepted Dragon's offer to ride on his back. Any other time and he would have been far too proud to let himself be carried, but he had been so tired, there was no point in refusing. However, Dragon's stories were certainly interesting and he had listened very attentively.

So many wonderful and terrible things. Why had he ever thought he would stay in Canis when there were so many interesting things happening everywhere else? A part of him never wanted to go back to the dusty old room when there were so many more interesting things. But, then again, he had to remind himself that his family was there. Mother and Skeena and Vinea. All of them he had left behind. He had to go back some day. He loved them and missed them already.

But as they stepped through Cetus, Serek suddenly felt himself more relaxed and calm then he'd ever been in his life. It was like he had never truly been home before until now.

He breathed in the damp air of the swamp, the rotting of old trees overtaken by fungus, the murky, black water, all of it felt perfect. Until he stepped into the water and realized that it encompassed the whole floor. This was a little different from Canis, to say the least. He'd probably have to get used to having his pelt wet all the time. Hopefully, that would be okay. But, despite it being warmer in here then Canis, he was already shivering from the damp air. It would take a while to get used to this.

He spied the dead remains of the food and glanced towards Dragon. It looked like they have been sitting there for a while, nobody eating it at all. Doubt began to spread as he observed the rotting carcasses. "Does Aquarion even eat it? It looks like its been sitting around for a while." He didn't think that this would possibly be rude and he was too cold and overwhelmed by all his new senses to care.

He turned with Dragon and forgot about the carcasses as excitement and fear jumped up. They would meet more, others that were joining the Children of Rot. Or perhaps those that were already in it. He pawed at the ground nervously and let a number of mushrooms spring from the muddy earth. That made him feel a bit better, but there was still the matter of others that were joining. He hoped that they wouldn't stare too much at him and his strange appearance.

"I'm screaming submission"
I don't know if I am dying or living

tags:
notes:

Aithaxas had been wandering, curious, throughout Cetus, though still trying not to stray too deep into the room. That was, at least until he heard Dragon's bellow. The maned wolf could not see the reptile himself, but he could hear approximately where he was-- and he wasn't far, either! He took off, excited.

The mud dragged him down, and it seemed like there was always something in his way. But his swift feet carried him to the source of the noise, Dragon himself. He could see the vague shape of Dragon, and someone else, but then he tripped, skidding forward in an attempt to stop his descent. He fell anyway.

Although he was not a big fan of the muck on his pelt, he ignored it, getting up. Aithaxas jogged over to the two Gembounds. Who was this stranger? What even were they?

"Dragon!" Aithaxas nearly cheered, tail swishing back and forth several times. It was only then that he noticed the large rotting mound. He gave it a quizzical look, but then accepted it. He could ask about that later, but he had something he wanted to ask the new Gembound. He turned his gaze to them. "What are you? Who are you?" he questioned, not meaning the first question to be rude. He was merely curious.


"Speech."

@Dragon @Serek

He heard the alligator's call and, faithfully, set out to answer it.

Ghanyarah knew vaguely of the lingering existence of the Children of Rot. Most of them had gone away, but his brother had set out to reprise their dominion over the marsh. There were younglings with fresh, ripe minds, eager to seek the answers they all sought, eager to work, to protect, to belong to something real. For a long time, Ghanyarah wondered if it was worth all the effort - to belong to something. If anything would ever be real.

But finding Dragon again convinced him that it was worth trying. He was not dead yet - so for as long as he was still alive, he would try.

The komodo lumbered through the muck toward the call, his tongue flickering as he tasted the scents of others on the air. He recognized two strangers before he had even caught sight of them, pleased with the success of Dragon's campaign thus far. Gradually, he emerged from the trees to where Dragon sat with a hoofed beast and a maned canine, the rotting pile of corpses slumped into the grass as though untouched - though, surely, their father had taken his share while they weren't looking, otherwise it would have grown into a mountain by now.

In truth, he didn't know. But all Ghanyarah could do was have faith.

"Brother," he greeted succinctly, his tail slithering behind him as he drew up close to the alligator and settled into the loam beside him. Pink eyes flickered inquisitively between the two youths, but he said nothing, merely giving them a nod of acknowledgment.

CHILDREN OF ROT! had been the exact phrase Eve awoke to. In fact, she almost toppled out of her nest with the shock; but a few flaps of wings and a squawk later, and she was upright and nestled back in her tree once more. Below, she could hear the familiar roar of a particularly flightless reptile.

She paused briefly, waiting for a sign of bright orange in the sky-- of Dragon vomiting out fire like he always did --but she heard nothing more than indistinct shouting. It took her a moment to properly comprehend, a moment to realise what was going on and why Dragon was screaming.

It didn't take her nearly as long to realise what she should do next.

The crow steadied herself on the edge of her nest for a moment, preparing, before she dove off the tree. Wings spread, she took flight quickly towards where the flame had left the alligator's mouth. A moment after the alligator stopped shouting (and a few raucous mid-flight squawks for good measure), Eve began to cast.

Gemstone talon glowing, a sound left her beak. Not the call of a crow, but instead the bellowing roar of Aquarian, loud enough to shake the very walls of the caves. She swept across the party before the air completely left her lungs and the sound finally-- after a terrible few seconds --faded.

With some pride, Eve landed on the chuckling alligator's head and ruffled her feathers. "Dragon!" she squawked, then turned her head to Ghanyarah. They were the only two present she really recognized. "Ghanyarah! Hello!"

Content with this greeting, she then turned her gaze to the maned wolfand hybrid. The wolf-- although appeared like Louie --did not have the ugly, scarred face of the fox. This thing was also stretched out, which would have made Louie look particularly stupid and stubby. The hybrid, she had no idea who that could possibly be. "Who are they?" She croaked down to Dragon, beginning to get herself more than comfortable on top of his head.

Layla had stayed in Cetus for a time, mentally preparing herself to leave her home for Orion and Canis, when she heard Dragon's call. The CHildren of Rot. It was happening! They were coming together again! Layla bounded in the direction of her father-figure's voice, soon spying a group of Gembounds.

"Dragon! I am here!" She called, her voice excited. Many had come to the call. She saw Aithaxas in the crowd, and went to stand by him, enjoying the company of someone familiar.

There was a roar--Aquarian's roar, so familiar to him. For a moment his heart leapt and he was sure their father had returned to them, but another familiar thing, the sight of a black crow sweeping down to him, left him chuckling. "Eve! After all this time. I thought you had left us."

Dragon looked over those gathered; some were edging a bit closer to him, some were standing around before him, or eyeing the half-rotted, malodorous offering pile. It was a bizarre milieu, to be sure, but it did not matter. They wished to survive, and he would do the best he could to aid them--to survive with them.

He opened his jaws once more, drawing in a breath and focusing this time, confidence reignited by the sight of so many answering the call. He felt the heat bloom forth, billowing up his throat and guttering out in a flamethrower that arced high into the air. The pain was there, but fainter now on his heavily burn-scarred maw.

When he was done with the display--a call to attention, to quiet--he looked them over and spoke, as loudly as he could, voice a rumbling bass bellow.

"Long ago our father Aquarian, who lies in the dark of this lake, told us many things. He told us that there are Eyes in the cave! Eyes that will eat the mind of those it does not like. He told us those eyes would one day consume Nemean, the Betrayer--and he told us of Nemean, who lures us to our deaths with her buzzing madness. He told us of Raheerah, the Great Dragon, who has been driven off--for now. He promised us that if we survived long enough, we would come to know the secrets of the caves. And he promised us that so long as we kept him fed, he would see our survival."

Dragon paced a bit, slowly limping to and fro in the sludge of the muddy, putrescent bank around the pile. "Something is happening in the caves," he continued, more seriously, more quietly. "Many strange elder things are awakening--birds of stars, and monsters the size of rooms, and Tenzin rising once more. They would use us for their own ends. Tenzin himself has admitted he cannot tell us all, for these Elders serve their own masters! Who do they serve, and why? I believe only our father would truly follow his word, and protect us here. I believe Raheerah was one of these protectors gone rogue! Nemean has betrayed what she was meant to do, perhaps. These mysterious Masters--" Dragon half-sneered this, derision in his tone--"may be manipulative, or they may be benevolent. We do not know. But it is my desire to draw together those who wish to uncover all these secrets. To keep one another alive. To keep Aquarian fed, and to live in Cetus when resting, under his protection. To keep our search SECRET from the Elders, who may feel duty-bound to kill us all if their Masters learn of our questions. I wish for those who can wrest secrets from stone, knowledge from fungus, memories from magicka! I wish for those who would study the carvings, and listen to the words whispered in the cave. I seek those who would seek the TRUTH! Who would seek SURVIVAL!"

He looked them over. He had not planned this speech, but it was heartfelt: he wanted to survive, he wanted to find out what was behind all of this. "I do not know how all of you feel, but I do not like being a pawn, a plaything and a tool, for an unknown goal, by others. I do not like being used! A toy, perhaps, to be discarded once purpose is served!"

He lashed his ridged tail behind him, rumbling a long, low growl. "I seek those who would rise from the rot of all those who have fallen in this cave, and seek the truth of it all, so that we do not fall back among them. I seek the survivors molded by those who have died, tough, strong, and cunning. I wish to know who among you would aid me in this endeavor. Who would join me as family, once more, to seek the secrets, together. To organize our hunt with me. To be Children, once more, of Rot!"

@Serek @Layla @Aithaxas @Septiezal (whenever) @Sizzle @Ghanyarah @Eve

There were so many incredible Gembounds here. So much variety. So much diversity. A creature like Dragon, a great lizard. A bird, who moments before had let out a bellow that shook the cave itself. Then there was a hybrid, a mixture of animals that clearly included a hoofed herbivore. Layla, a snow leopard, besides him.


He sat there, listening Dragon spoke. He wondered who these creatures were, or at least what they looked like. And more than anything, he wanted to talk to them. Even if they weren't helpful, or friendly, but if he was to do anything, it might be necessary.

He agreed with everything that the great reptile-- well, Dragon, not Ghanyarah-- said. Indeed, he did not wish to be a plaything. He would help Dragon in any way he could.

"I will join you," the wolf spoke, the words sounding awkward. He had to speak around the gem in his mouth; a task he was not yet completely used to. But he could be understood, even if what he said sounded funny.

"I will seek the truth of the caves," he added, taking one small step forward. He did his best to look impressive, even though his fur was wet and muddy.


"Speech."

Serek shrieked at the question that the dog posed to him. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell him about his heritage. An unknown gem, probably dead before the Awakening, randomly picked from the pile of bones and given life. He honestly wasn't sure if he was proud of his origins or not. But, then again, he was the son of Giggle, the Bonecaster. Yes, that was something to be proud of!

He stood tall and glared at the fox and anyone else that would ask him. "I'm the son of the Bonecaster!" He announced himself proudly, daring anyone to speak against it. However, he was suddenly extremely self conscious everyone here was older or bigger then him. But if he hid now, they would mark him as a coward. He wasn't a coward, he would have to hold fast.

Thankfully, Dragon's speech distracted him and he turned towards the lumbering giant and shook off his fur. "You know I'll join. The Children of Rot! I'll help discover the secrets and I'll protect you all too. I'll get strong and big, you just watch!" He remembered pledging the same hung to Sibling Skeena when they were just hatched. But then he had left. With a dash of fear he wondered if he would eventually leave this family behind too.

"I'm screaming submission"
I don't know if I am dying or living

tags:
notes:

The leopard listened to Dragon with high attentiveness. She was so moved by his words. Not that she hadn't ever been before, but it was different now. His voice was so powerful. So raw with power and it demanded to be listened to. Was this how he spoke to all his children? Layla wasn't sure, but soon his words stopped.

Layla stepped forward with Aithaxas, her chest swollen with pride and joy. She would be a Child of Rot. She would help find the answers. "I too, will become a Child of Rot! I will help bring answers, Dragon-father." Layla bowed, stretching one front paw out and bringing the other back, her head dipped with respect.