raid: what lies beyond

[ new discovery: ??? ]

Skahan had tried mostly to follow old paths he had known—had created—but much was different or in ruins, and littered with creatures he did not know. When he reached Canis and sat curled at its north edge, he contemplated moving elsewhere; instead, he gruffly said something to himself in an old language, and turned toward the wall next to him as if investigating the location. He looked behind him, then all around him, then back to the wall. Hmm, no, this must have been the location...?

His scales lifted and closed sharply several times, the light emitting from his gem glowing strongly; and then the massive basilisk began to bore into the wall, his body twisting so that his plated scales could work. The sound of crumbling, breaking, and shaking earth would be disruptive for those not only in Canis, but probably to those in Orion as well. The vibrations were likely felt throughout the cave system.

Fortunately, the area he was looking for was indeed where he thought it was. As he burst into the largely empty cavern, dirt flung from his rapidly spinning body as he struggled to halt. A redness glowed on his scales as they lifted, closed; his body itself looked as if it were breathing. Again, he said something to himself in an unknown dialect.

---

The cavern is cold and dark, its air ancient and stuffy, though still circulated with the same vent system the rest of the caves were. Its height is so tall, it has no discernible ceiling, just a void; it has no discernible distance, just a void; but in its center, reaching far into the room, is a single staircase made of rocks that reaches high out of the thick and inky blackness. At the base of the stairs, on either side, are statues: they are identical and posed before the stairs, sitting on pedestals like proud guardians. Next to them are lit braziers of magical blue fire, the only light within the room. Midway up the endless stairway are another pair of lit braziers, and at the end of the stairway, another pair of lit braziers which lit up a distance alcove.

If one were to make the trek up the stairs to the alcove, they would discover it is deeply inset; the entire center of the room is more clearly some strange mountain. Inside the alcove, past overhanging mosses, the back wall consists of a strange plate-like object with four neatly spaced round apertures. It seems as if something is made to fit into these spaces, but it is unclear what.

---

Skahan regarded the lit staircase for a moment; then, as if pleased by the strange mountain in the otherwise void-like room, he turned to make a settlement near the left side of the foot of the stairs. Compared to the size of the room and height of the mountain, Skahan was nearly dwarfed. There was a time he may have made this room, but that was well over ten thousand years ago now.

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:
Reseda, Bones, Vincenzo, Mongo, Liora, Umbra, Rohan, Karma, Howl, Black

Reseda heard the rumbling from her chamber and it caused all of her bones to go clattering around. She stopped gnawing on the one she had chosen and decided to go investigate. She had nothing better to do at the moment. She just managed to catch a glimpse of the huge snake entering the wall as she peeped out of the chambers. For a second, she thought she had imagined it when she had to remind herself that she didn't imagine things.

Maybe this thing could be useful.

She began to make her way across the bone field towards the place where the snake had disappeared and found herself in a strange place, of which she didn't have much interest in. She was more interested in the massive snake sitting next to a staircase. She approached it, looking up unblinking towards its glowing head. "What and who are you," she called up, bluntly. "And is it worth my time to stick around?" She wasn't really up to playing games right now. She was exhausted from dealing with other simple minded creatures. Hopefully this one would put up at least something of a conversation. Or, at least, give her something interesting to do.


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


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Bones was awoken by the sound of rumbling stone, lifting his head in alarm. When he pushed himself up quickly-- back legs shaking, not yet adjusted to the abrupt movement --he looked out of his den and saw something dark with many eyes slinking away into a new cavern, out of sight.

His heart sunk-- the Eyes? Senka? It didn't seem to be a cat, like Giggle had said, but anything with more than two eyes on one head seemed to be a cause for alarm. He broke into a quick hobble to follow after the slithering basilisk, pausing just in front of the new opening.

He sniffed the cavern inside, then shuddered. It was dark. Quietly, he began to focus on his magic. There was burning pain that rose in his chest and throat as his insides began to glow white with heat; pouring out of his mouth, nose and eyes.

With his maw hanging open he began to hobble down the cavern, barely illuminated with his spell. He saw a second shape with the first-- someone who had caught up to the snake before he had a chance to limp over, perhaps, but mostly ignored it for now, instead moving up next to the basilisk.

"Um, excuse me," he croaked, fire in his throat. "Do you have a name? I'm Bones-- did you open this place? Why? Um-- what is it?" His voice was quiet-- both naturally and both from the throbbing pain in his chest.

"I'm not-- against it," he quickly added. "Just curious? Hello."

Because adding 'hello' could never go particularly wrong after you interrogate someone.

VINNIE THE VOICE

The gull had been just leaving Canis when the beautifully shimmering, massively terrifying creature had gone plowing past beneath.

Naturally, he had immediately changed his plants from "leave the dry bones, go fishing" to "holy crap what is THAT" and averted course to follow, wings banking and beating so that he swept high overhead, keeping a safe distance. He'd sat watching, from a distance, as the thing stared at a wall. As it talked to itself. As it plowed through like some immense and oddly pretty drill.

Vinnie hadn't followed, not at first. Only when he saw other Gembound passing through did he decide to make the leap, worried that the pair might be attacked. Not that there was all that much he could do to help them, if they were--but he couldn't just leave it alone.

With a quiet croak he flew down, dipping into the cavernous darkness, blinking until the massive basilisk with those glowing gaps between its scales came into view. Its entire body rippled and shimmered and he stared, for a moment, before flying briefly upward--checking out the braziers, the long stairs. The place was pitch black--intimidatingly so--and at the top there was only moss and another intimidatingly-dark alcove.

Too afraid to check it out alone, Vinnie turned and soared back down, alighting some distance from the three. His head cocked to one side, one pale yellow eye regarding the basilisk, and--cautiously--he spoke.

"...Hey, buddy," he decided to try. "You, uh... you just kinda ripped a new cave out, huh? That's pretty neat. I'm Vinnie. You're not gonna eat everyone, are ya?"

He kept a nervous distance, still... just in case it said "yes."
________________

Mongo had come to Canis for a reason.

He'd heard of the Room of Bones - Canis - from the whispers of other Gembounds. And, hearing that it was full of bones, he'd gotten an idea.

His few cycles hadn't been kind to him. The fur on his head was burnt away, revealing the irritated, pink skin under it. The skin there was burned, cracked and raw despite being rather old. Everything hurt it - the wind, the brush of fur, the movements of his face. And it wasn't just the skin that had been ruined - his ears, once rounded, were now jagged edged, the edges having been burnt off. A deep scar ran from the center of his forehead, down his muzzle, and under his single, good eye, curling to a stop only centimeters from taking out his eye.

But it wasn't just his face that had changed. No longer was he a tiny, mewling cup, helpless and crying for Vinnie's help. Now his fur was a rich, dark brown, his Gem-eye not quite so oversized. He stood five feet from the tip of his black nose to the tip of his rudder-like tail, and muscles flexed beneath a shiny coat.

He'd thought, being a room of Bones, he could find a skull, something to wear over his wounds. But, as he was digging through a cairne of bones, he'd heard something funny, a scratching, scraping sort of noise. And so, taken over by curiosity, he'd followed it, sharp claws easily finding purchase on the bones beneath him.

To his shock, he saw what seemed to be a massive snake, burrowing its way through the cave wall. 'What's going on?' he wondered, slipping after it, surprised to see a new room. It was cold and dark, so tall he couldn't see the top, and rather stuffy. There were statues surrounding a staircase, and he tilted his head.

The massive snake was near the foot of the stairs, and there were other Gembounds nearby it. There was a massive reptile of some sort, the word 'Komodo Dragon' slipping to mind. There was also a canine of some sort, with a croaking voice, patchy fur, and a heavy limp. The last one he recognized, to his surprise - it was Vincenzo!

He loped to a stop not far from the gathering, adding his voice to the clamor. "What is going on here?"

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

The terrible drilling had roused Liora from her rest - if that's what you could call it. Rest. Rather, Liora had been settled on a high perch, observing the affairs of the inhabitants of the bone room. She had seen the oily black serpent slither his way through the room, massive enough that he dwarfed most everyone, and observed him with mild interest. She was out of his way and knew he wouldn't be a threat to her - wings were a blessing - but she wondered if he would attempt to predate on one of the others here.

That didn't seem to be the case. His interest lie in the wall. And, for a moment, she wondered if he was just a dumb lesser Gembound who had somehow reached enormous heights. Until he started drilling.

The bird cawed with alarm, ruffling her feathers. She stiffened until he was done, and then watched him disappear into an unseen chasm. A few others seemed to have taken notice, too. Liora spread her wings and soared down toward the tunnel, following the collective as they entered the void-like room. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness - although there wasn't much in the darkness for her to see. What she did see was all of them, illuminated in the strange blue light, gathering around the basilisk. Questioning him.

"GRAWK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she screeched shrilly at the group, landing in a huff behind them. "HE BROKE CANIS! BITE HIM!"

Seriously. He had just bored a hole into the wall, and they all thought they could just stand around gawking at him? Liora was mad! Liora had to fight to defend her home's honor! With a hiss from her crooked, gleaming beak, Liora flared her wings and looked expectantly at the others.

sorry for the bad/short post - just wanted to slip her in here while i had the chance!

Caliante swooped through the dull, shabby cave, feeling the seething, disgusting plague within her stomach. She hated it, she hated that Crack had accepted it. It didn't personally ravage their body, as they weren't actually infected, but it sat waiting, waiting to be passed. The knowledge that something like that was awaiting within her, with the power to cause sickness that horrible, it revolted her. They had not allowed Crack a single day since and whoever had not been in control had been guarding in case it tried to seize is for itself. They had been able to fight it off a few times, as it was infuriated they refused its days, but they somehow fought it off.

They had been hiding since, terrified of the disease and how it would pass, but something had caught Rusty's eye. A huge snake , bigger then anything they had ever seen, tunneling towards the room of bones. He had insisted that they check it out and Caliante, ever the democrat, agreed, even though it was her day in control.

So there she was, flying towards the cave that had never existed before. But of course, she had never been here before so she had no idea that it was new. But it was dark and that gave her some comfort. She did not like being in the light so much.

But the congregation of gembounds suddenly appeared, dimly lit by the candlelight. She froze and flapped her wings to lift herself higher so that they did not see her. Her heart leaped as the disease squirmed in her stomach. If she went down there and Crack took control...things would be bad. Very bad.

Don't worry about Crack. We can deal with it. Go on, I want to see what this is all about! That snake is HUGE!

"O-okay, I guess. Just...make sure it doesn't take control. I don't want all these people getting infected." After a reaffirming thought from Salvation, she angled herself down and headed into the crowd.

She immediately looked around in case she knew anyone and immediately felt a mixture of feelings upon sighting Mongo. She liked him, but she didn't know if he would appreciate her company, after what Crack had did to him. She saw the blister scars on his face and winced. But she would rather not be alone. She might as well see how he thought of her.

She landed a little ways from him and nervously crawled up to his side. "H-hi Mongo. Um, do you remember me? Caliante? S-sorry, if you would rather not talk to me that's fine. B-but, um, do you know what's going on?"

"Caliante." "Salvation." "Rusty." "Crack."

He had found something and was curled around it, eyeing it hidden within the thick curls of his mass—it was a red-orange ball-like object, glowing and sizzling. It was hot on his scales where it touched, so much so that they shimmered at the edges with a red-hot tinge. A flying creature might be able to see it, or perhaps the glow created against his scales.

Briefly, he glanced up the stairs, but a quiet disturbance below him distracted his otherwise waning interest. He might have wanted to bring the object up the stairs, but he also probably would have broken some part or another of the structure; and also, it was warm and soothing. He quite liked it. Turning his attention down toward the voice that spoke to him, his movements now were slow and paced, the sound like rumbling mountains as he turned and clinking, clattering stones as his scales vented the heat from the strange orb. There was no need to rush any longer, he concluded, if he were going to be stuck here for perhaps another some-odd thousand years more.

Why, he wondered, did this Gembound approach him and ask him if it should be worth their time to stick around? He hadn't asked anyone to follow him. Hot eyes merely regarded the scaled one for a time before another approached shortly after.

This one was curious about the cavern and true, so was Skahan. His eyes shifted from the dog and to the staircase; he knew what was supposed to be here at least. When a louder voice asked him if he planned on eating everyone, his head snapped back to find its source, jaws parting in a threat.

"Only if you want me to," he hissed, finding the bird some distance from them. The glow from his stone spilled from his open mouth, his forked tongue tasting the stuffy air of the cavern before even more Gembounds curiously had followed through. He watched them enter, closing his jaws with a clicking, rattling hiss. 'What's going on here' they wanted to know, hah. He was trying to figure—

"TRY!" he roared toward the bird who landed behind the group, his voice shaking the ground beneath them. "SO QUICK TO COMMAND WITH LITTLE ACTION." She could flare her wings all she wanted. If she wanted to bite him, she should have just made the effort to know it wouldn't have worked. The sacrifice of one would have saved the lives of all of them, rather than asking all of them to sacrifice themselves. He hadn't eaten in, oh, maybe... well, he didn't know. A long time. How polite of her to offer him a full meal, at least.

"YOU UNEDUCATED CHILD," he continued anyway. "I DID NOT BREAK CANIS, HAH. I DUG THAT GRAVE. IT WAS SO THAT I KNEW THIS DOORWAY WAS HERE; OR WAS IT, YOU THINK, BY HAPPENSTANCE I FELL INTO THE WALL AND THIS CAVERN WAS HERE?" He snorted toward her, nose uplifted. Impudent child. Who made her? He would have words.

"I AM SKAHAN. I SEE YOU DID NOT TAKE GREAT CARE OF MY CREATION WHILE I WAS DEAD." His journey to Canis has been displeasing. Everything was in disarray. His eyes shifted between all of them, thick tail slamming against the ground in anger. Much had changed, it seemed; and why was this erected here, this... door? Mountain? Rather, the mountain replaced the.. entry? He didn't know, but there was a magic here he could not dispel.

He just wanted... to get home. Fiery eyes glanced toward the rocky structure, imagining his path he would have taken to get to her. He would ask the children how long it had been, but he doubt that they knew. Skahan could have cared less to help the birds; if he was alive, and his task had been completed as it were, his priority was to venture there and at least check. The state of the caves suggested a long time had passed.

But if she were alive, then that was where he wanted to be.

When he quested for her mentally, there was silence.

It spun worry in him that churned the unknown and uncertainty into chaos.

@Reseda @Bones @Vincenzo @Mongo @Liora @Umbra

VINNIE THE VOICE

Vinnie leaned back a bit, as if to indicate he wasn't about to challenge the giant, metallic-looking reptile. Which, he wasn't.

"Eyyy, no, I don't want ya to eat everyone. Just, uhh, checkin' that you weren't gonna, that's all. Thanks, by the way, ya know, appreciated. Nobody wants to get eaten."

Vinnie listened to the others--the rude lizard in particular, adding, "'Cept maybe that one. You could probably eat that one." He then leaned down to Mongo, offering a little shrug, still a good, safe distance back from the rest.

"Hey, little buddy--well, big buddy now, eh? Good to see you. You got some battle-scars, huh? Gotta tell me all about that. And honestly, kid, I've got no idea what's goin' on. This big fella, he just--bored a hole, right through the wall, eh? The dog followed him and the lizard, too. Just wanted to make sure everyone wasn't gonna get eaten."

At length, he turned his attention back to the huge basilisk. He didn't want to get close--and he was still on the ground, so he hadn't yet noticed the orb. But he did call out to him. "Ey, good to meet ya, Skahan. I'm Vinnie. We're not, ehh, botherin' ya here? You uh. You need any... help with anything, or somethin'? I ain't sure what your creation is but if it needs carin' for, I mean, I'm not doin' much else at the minute."

He didn't even question what the creature had meant by, 'while I was dead.'

________________

Reseda glanced back as a number of gembounds began to filter into the cave. Even if the creature hadn't responded to her, she knew that this would probably be worth sticking around. Her interest was piqued at how many different creatures had appeared. Obviously, something was going to happen.

She didn't recognize any of them, which was good. She could make a fresh impression. Her brain was beginning to wake up and function. This would be interesting, hopefully. She turned back to the snake and decided that the best way to go about this was to Know. She reached out with a mental tendril, intending on reaching the giant serpent, but the instant her magic got close, she felt striking pain in her head. The creature was so old, so ancient. She could not get anywhere close.

As pain striked through her head, she cringed and pulled back the magic, breathing heavily. She had never failed like that before. She had never been so dwarfed before. Her ambitions to take over the cave...could she do it? Could she ever hope to match these creatures?

Well, she needed to gain their favor. She couldn't be so rude if she wanted to get on their good side. She looked up towards the snake and called, "I'm sorry, Skahan, for being so rude. You say that this is your creation...does that mean the caves? Did you make them?"

She dipped her head with respect. "You look troubled. Is there anything we can do to help?"


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


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