Something sleeps at the far edge of Eridanus... Nestled in a small, shallow cave is a chrysalis made of glowing diamond. It stands around ten feet, taking up nearly the entirety of its enclosure. An aura of energy swirls around it, and if the light hits it right, the shadow of a spiked creature can be seen within, its form curled and sleeping... Growing... Incubating...

Your characters are free to discover this chrysalis!
The creature inside will emerge February 23rd.

Crystal image credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/rW4QohSlxl4

Erzu was walking freely in Eridanus, until something caught her eye. It was a glowing chrysalis made of diamond. She walked closer until she was standing right in front of it. Powerful energy swirled around it, and at some moments when the light hit it at an certain angle, she could see a spiky creature inside, in slumber. She could not believe it. Though, she knew it would take some time for the creature to hatch. Though she may not be able to see it hatch for a while, she could see some of its past. She put her nose to the chrysalis, attempting to use her magic. But nothing worked. She would simply try again. With something as cool as this here, now was not the time to quit.

Erzu decided to try again. She put her nose to the chrysalis of the sleeping creature. Though the creature may have not been ready to hatch yet, she could find out other information from her hindsight. She put her nose to the diamond chrysalis again, and finally her magic started to work. Though standing this close to the creature's chrysalis was a bit scary. Looking at the spiky creature while it slept up close was kind of of, well, uncomfortable. A vision appeared in her mind as her nose made contact with the chrysalis. She was gentle though. She may have been a child herself, but there was also a child in this chrysalis. All she wanted to know, was why and how this chrysalis got here. Her arcane magic would help her figure that out.

There is nothing at first... but slowly the sounds of beginning trickle in: the cracking of forming diamond, the quiet whisper of a new heartbeat, and the soft closeness of amniotic fluid. There is nothing else.

@Erzu

Well, it seemed that the vision was not much. but that was to be expected, it just got here. Erzu decided to try something else. If that was all the vision had to offer, could she try to investigate it another way. She put both her paws on the chrysalis, and started slapping it really hard. There would be no harm done. The chrysalis was hard, and she was just a child. All Erzu wanted was to see if the creature would make any movements inside. Maybe, if she was lucky, she would see a peek of its eye colors. She banged on it three more times, just wanting to see the cool creature on the inside.

Two murky red eyes flash open, their stare unseeing; something had disturbed its peace... Unfortunately it could do nothing in its current state.

@Erzu

It seemed the creature had red eyes! The aardvark tilted its head in curiosity. Her ears perked up happily. Why was she so happy? If this creature was awake in there, maybe she could be friends with it, before it hatched! She wanted this creature to know it had a friend. That someone cared about it. The kind child let out a kind chuckle, and then spoke to whatever was in there. "Hi! My name is Erzu! I am an aardvark! I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep, but you look so cool! I want to be your friend, because I don't want you to feel alone in there! I may be a stranger, but I care a lot about you, even though you have not hatched yet! Want to be friends?!" With that the aardvark waited, hoping the creature inside could hear and understand her. The more she stayed with the creature, the more attached she got. Did this creature want to be her friend? She did not know, but she knew she would be there for it, even after it hatched.

@Game Master CJ

Deli

Deli liked this cave - lots of matierals to work with, to crush up and make paints with, and lots of places to paint. Many of the trees now bore little sketches and splashes of color thanks to their meddling and the bag they carried at their side was now reinforced with extra vines they'd picked from the trees.

The clattering of bottles rolling around was a clear indicator that the canine was approaching. From the trees they emerged, a casual grin stretched across their face as wide eyes came to rest on the aardvark nearby. But it only took a second for their eyes to drift over, instead, to the giant chrysalis shoved into a shallow cave and the energy swirling around it.

Deli froze, eyes stretched open. For a second, they thought it was going to move, that it was some kind of creature, but then they came back to their senses - it was a gemstone, after all. It couldn't move!

Giggling, they skipped over, reaching down to pat the kid trying to talk to the thing inside. "Wonder if it can even hear you, through all that gem! Doubt it can say anything back! But whatever, each to their own, I guess!" Deli, meanwhile, was much more interested in something else. This thing was beautiful and they very, very much wanted to capture that.

They stepped back and sat themselves down next to the chrysalis, facing a flat-rock just outside of the little cave. They slung their bag off their shoulders and set it down next to them, rummaging through and pulling out a number of different colors. They held up a couple of vials containing some blue powdery stuff, one nacre, the other ultramarine. There was probably enough in there for this painting - they'd have to get more later!

Uncorking both and pouring in a little water from another bottle to make it paint, they began sketching out the diamond chrysalis, glancing up at the creature's glowing eyes. Their gaze flickered to the aardvark for a second. "Heyo, kiddo, you got any light magic?"

---

Mumbling... muffled words... it could not hear them; its brain still slept.

Seeing that the creature could not hear her, she gave up. She turned to the canine that patted her earlier, and she called out to it. "Looks like you're right, it can't hear anything at all! Nope, I don't have light magic, I have arcane magic. My name is Erzu! What's yours? I see you are into art. That's good, it's really nice to see gembounds having something they like to do. You're about to draw that chrysalis, aren't you? Can I have a look?" The young aardvark walked over and sat down, wanting to see this creature draw. "Also, what's your name? It would be nice to have a friend who can draw! I mean, if you're in the mood for friends." She sat, her eyes bright wanting to see the canine's art.

@Deli