[Origin Cave]

Origin's Fourth Olympics

Obstacle Course

Welcome to the Other portion of the Olympics! Gembound squeeze through the narrow entrance from Orion and gather at the starting line in Tunnel M to show off their speed and agility. Baubled stones line the entire trail as markers of where to go, for those unfamiliar with the terrain.

— Thanks to Pip, James. Tahi-shei, Madhukar, Scout, Tupu, and Dread for setting part of this course up here!

Rules

⁠— The goal of this competition is to race through Tunnel M and reach the Union Pillars!
— No cheating! Magic, Physical Combat, and Other directed at opponents are grounds for disqualification (if the judges catch you...) You also may not fly over any part of the course.

— Magic also may not be used to benefit yourself or others. Only Other rolls are allowed.
— Characters that are incapable of reasonably completing the course may participate, but cannot place.

— Barely successful rolls are required to advance through each section of the course. There will be five sections in total, but as many rounds as are required.
— Winners are decided based on who crosses the finish line first. If there is a tie - characters reaching the end in the same round - the highest cumulative score wins that place.
⁠— Please allow a Judge ( @Nameless @Temperantia @/Pip) to post first to begin the race (and tag all of the participants!) Once a judge has posted and your character(s) has been tagged, have at it!
⁠— To remain fair, let everyone entered in the competition post before starting the next round. If three days have passed since the last competitor posted, you may post again.
⁠— As with the other Olympic events, spectators are allowed! There is no set posting order for the spectators.

Participants

Hemlocke
Crown
Bug
Ivory
Tahi-Shei
Kalama
Tupu
Yew
Sniffles
Hunter
Sharp
Lady
Ruby-Beta
Huckleberry
Sorda
Pumpkin
Doug

For your point-tallying convenience, here's a link to a Google Sheets detailing rolls on the current section and who we're waiting on!

The Course

1. Slip and slide! The course starts as a fairly straight-shot uphill run down Tunnel M. It is, of course, slippery as all get out with all of the ice and slick rocks. Piles of rocks are set up here and there to trip runners up, and inky-capped fungus provide extra slipping opportunities.

2. Um... electrifying. Tunnel M's terrain breaks away from the uphill climb to level ground that has... electrified hairballs lying everywhere. Step on one and receive a nasty shock!

3. It's just fire. What was once meant to be just a fire jump has been made into a veritable patch of fire. Runners must be careful to not get caught on fire and safely make it past this nightmare. Svartis is on standby as a fire extinguisher, just in case. Smaller Gembound might be able to find holes in the kindling to squeeze through. Flight is allowed in this section.

4. Climb, climb, climb! Runners meet their last uphill patch, which they must physically climb and scale to pass. Dangers are, of course: slipping and falling; getting stuck without handholds; or just plain being bad at climbing (sorry birds and little guys.) Flapping wings to aid in jumping will not get you disqualified in this section.

5. FitnessGram Pacer Test. In the final stretch, runners take off in a dead sprint to the Union Pillars. Last one to touch a pillar is a rotten egg.

She was oddly hard to see at first, white feathers that usually stood out like a light in the darkness only visible in flashes as the goose pushed through the crowd, offering a polite "excuse me," and "sorry" as she quickly made her way to the front before finally breaking free from the wall of gembounds gathered to watch. She opened her wings, no longer in danger of hitting anyone, and fluttered up to the top of the boulder. She was excited to watch the festivities - with no real desire to participate herself - and the best spot, where she could help as well? The judge's stand, of course!

She cleared her throat before honking loudly, her usually quiet, gentle voice as loud as it could go, echoing through the tunnel until there was silence enough for her to be heard.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Obstacle Course! These will be your judges for this event - Temperantia," she gestured to the strange wheel creature, "And Pip!" She opened a wing to point at the little mantis, although she wasn't quite sure how the little bug would be able to see the course. Perhaps she could help with determining the winner at the end? Ah, well, she wanted to help and the goose could respect that spirit!

"Remember, keep your claws and teeth and magic and any other part of your body to yourself! Any attempts to sabotage your opponents will be met with disqualification!" She stared hard at the participants - she'd be watching closely for any funny business - let them not forget that they had three sets of eyes on them, and one of them was pretty much made of eyes.

"Now, of you're all ready...on your mark, get set...Go!" The last word came out with another loud honk to indicate the start of the race.

@Hemlocke (Crown) @Bug (Ivory) @Tahi-Shei @Scout @Kalama (Tupu) @Yew @Sniffles @Hunter @Sharp @Sorda (Doug) @Pumpkin

Bug rolled her shoulders.

Bug flexed her legs.

Bug eyed the competition sidelong, and winked.

Her dad had mentioned that he'd set this shit on fire and she'd wanted to see; so now she was here participating, 'cause it looked like fun! When the judge said 'go' she goed--uh, went--bolting off with wings folded neatly across her back. No magic, she reminded herself, and oh--that was a sheer stretch of shiny ice-wall and black patches of fungus and rocks to avoid and-

Determination lit the little cat-dragon's heart and her claws unsheathed, gripping at the ice as she scrabbled to ascend.

pumpkin had run out, away from the oppressive air and setting that was most tunnels connecting in any way to hydra, and when he'd heard wind of some kind of obstacle course, a friendly competition, he immediately ran towards its direction, only stopping once to wash out his eyes and get prepared.

he didn't care if he won, he didn't care if he lost, he needed this. he needed this more than anything and somehow after hours of stretching he still felt stiff and unprepared.

the high of it all was FANTASTIC.

he watched with sharp eyes as the goose stood in front of them, announcing herself and the other judges, and pumpkin couldnt help but tap his bird feet against the ground, clicking, clicking.

he watched, impatiently, as she spoke out the rules.

on his mark, he crouched, prepared, ready...

and then bolted like a motherfucker.

it was slippy and so it was hard, at first, almost impossibly so, to get any traction as his feet hit the ice, but then he realized... he had claws. no, not claws, talons, to be exact, curved and sharp and ready to pierce and grab and hold onto something.

oh HELL yes.

he immediately, upon realizing this, began clawing at the ice, propelling himself forward with now sudden ease, sliding, wings in, no flapping or flying or soaring, his feathers only helping him steer as he slid across the uneven surface, clawing into the ice and curling around rocks to get him going.

with a sudden, new, bright smile, he let out a playful, overjoyed "WAHOO!" as he skidded through this section of the course, not caring that he was probably not going to be the best, he was having fun, even as he only narrowly dodged fungi and rock piles alike.

Deli

Deli picked a good spot, quite higher up this time, a nice little ledge on the wall that they climbed to pretty easily, so they could actually see what was going on, but they knew they'd probably have to use magic as some point to see them once they got far enough. They grinned wildly as they watched the competitors race off, clearing out their throat before beginning their announcing.

"This looks like a great obstacle course, doesn't it?! Look at all these great looking competitors! No weird monstrosities to take up all the space in sight! I hope one of you cheats so we have an exciting race!" They cackled. "Kidding! I can't say that as an announcer! So you better all play fair and square and I'll keep my personal opinions to myself!" They barked happily and clapped their hands together.

"Now, there's our judges, everyone! Aaaaaand they're off! I'll be providing some fun little commentary for you while they crash and burn - literally! - so keep your ears up for the main event!" They snickered, glancing ahead at the. Fire. The literal fire. Oh, that was gonna be hilarious to watch them run through that!

---

Temperantia floated over the crowd, occasional flaps as they moved. Their wings were tucked closely, though the bottom-most pair kept their eyes on the crowd below. There was a fair amount of participants. Temperantia had never seen so many gembound in one place. Except for--they stopped. A chill ran through the gembound, and they closed all their eyes. Paused in the air. Temperantia would not think of that day. There were things to be done, an obstacle course to With a flutter of wings, their eyes opened once more. They drifted to float nearby Nameless. When Nameless mentioned them, they extended a pair of wings in a wave.

"Hello," They said. "We expect fairness. We will be watching. And help any injured we find."

Temperantia had doubts about carrying injured, however they would try. And then, with Nameless' announcement, the crowd of gembound were off. Racing against each other and into the obstacles ahead. Some were too fast for their liking; they hoped none hurt themselves.

"When I speak."

When I think.

The last time she'd gone out with a gathering it had been to flee a giant fucking ice worm through canyons of ice and snow.

This didn't... seem much different. A less deadly version (she hoped) of the same. So the big beast braced herself, nostrils flaring, ghostlight eyes fixed on the path ahead and when the judge said go she bolted into motion.

She was careful to avoid trampling anyone, but clawed gripped at and hooves hammered the ice, short, feathered wings held out to help her balance. They weren't anywhere near large enough to help her fly, so hopefully the judges wouldn't mistake her intentions, there.

Whatever happened, it'd at least be a fun diversion--she hoped.

Pip weaved her way through the gembound. There were so many, and so loud. She managed to get through the crowd of feet by the sound of Nameless' voice alone. She was relieved to be out of there. All those gembound cramped together was a risk of getting stepped on. As soon as she emerged, Nameless was calling her name, and Pip turned, waving at the crowd with small forelimbs.

"Hi giant things!" She shouted. "I'm Pip! Me and Dread made a part--its my favorite! I hope you all like it. Its very big and pretty. And glowy!"

She nodded in confirmation. Mostly to herself. Imagining the faces of all the gembound when they saw the section she worked hard on. When Nameless gave the word, she hopped with excitement, wriggling. Surprisingly, the melody went through, a series of dings that rose in pitch and volume until it became a din.

"Go go go!" She shouted, watching as the gembound scurried off. They were quickly out of her sight, and without asking permission, the small bug attempted to hop on Nameless, to get a better view of the obstacle course.

Alpha's just spectating :]
The hulking monster - die mad about it, Deli - had settled into a place some time before the race's beginning; it was lying down overlooking the cliffs before the Pillars, toxic eyes staring somewhat dully from sunken, worn-out sockets. Magic worked idly to highlight the contestants, but it made no particular effort to watch any one of them. Any other day, it might've bared its teeth in a snarl at the ugly-white-dog-thing, but they reminded it a lot of what waited at headquarters.

Now, it was just observing - Overseeing. Here purely on the business of that, tracking down the skilled and strong to combat the Ursa guardian and maybe use for later reproduction. That is, if they made it for so long. Alpha'd brought a few of the creatures at Hemlocke's request, citing the purpose being for training and a reprieve from their near-constant patrol of Tunnel P.

Grumbling, it settled further into place, and watched as the Gembound (most of them were tiny little things) started their run. An attempt to refresh its magic sent a lancing pain through its skull. A migraine and droplets of blood both began to settle in it - the latter leaking from the persistent scab around its gem. Fortunately, it had an arm resting over it. Perfectly hidden.

The ruby was waiting patiently for the signal to go, but it wasn't really sure why it had joined this. Maybe to show its usefulness? Or, uh...show of its skills? Not sure, but it was extra work, which kinda sucked, but hey, Alpha was off doing the wrestling, so it might as well do this. And the wrestling too, why not?

It looked around at the others gathered up, glancing over Hemlocke, and figured that it could probably get ahead pretty easily. Although, maybe not jinx its chances?

It observed the strange panel of judges with interest, eyeing the strange winged creature. It wasn't particularly...good? But it was fascinating - so many eyes, no one would ever sneak up on it. And with so many wings, it could probably fly forever. Perhaps Master Vargas would like to hear about it-

But there wasn't time now - time to start running. As soon as the goose honked the beginning of the race, Beta was off, paws thrumming against the ground as it sprinted, claws out to grip against the ice and keep it from sliding, avoiding the trips in its path. Yeah, it had this.