Momma Bolormaa was busy, busy, busy. She hadn't had time to perform her work in so long-! The last cycles had been spent gathering the proper herbs, drying them to incense, powdering the right mixtures... She had cleaned the Union Pillars religiously, polishing them to a careful shine. The snow was brushed from the large stone platform, and now wreaths of flowers hung atop them.

At last, she sat back and observed her efforts.

All was clean, decorated, and ready. The only thing that remained was to light the incense: and so she did, with a few careful strikes of a flint and rock. The smoke rose, the sweet scent drifting outward to spread subtly throughout the caves: a smell that would calm those who smelled it and brush their minds with pleasant thoughts. Undoubtedly some would come to investigate, and she could offer her services--and her gifts.

She could bind those who deeply loved one another, in perfect ceremony! She could touch the love between parents and young, between lovers, between family, and grant them temporary gifts. Of course, such things were always fickle, as magic was--but it was always something good.

Momma Bolormaa has opened the Union Pillars for bonding ceremonies throughout the month of February! Gembound may arrive here and have her perform a ceremony affirming their care for one another, be they family, mate or even close friends. The spell Sensorial Link will be half-price in the Magicka Shop throughout the month (500 magicka instead of 1000), and ownership of the spell by one or both parties may offer additional benefits throughout the month if a ceremony is performed.

In honor of love and family, Momma Bolormaa can also aid each Gembound once during this event by ensuring that their Give Life spell on a single Gemstone revival succeeds.

Since passing through here to visit Tenzin with Comet, James had grown curious. The pillars had been mysterious to him, and so he'd of course dragged Tahi-shei along to investigate, his tail raised and swishing back and forth with excitement.

"Oh, they're cleaned!", he said, ears perked forward, nose in the air as he smelled flowers, his interested peaked, "Someone is here..."

He trotted forward and peered up at Mother Bolormaa, in awe.

"... Hello!", he said, and peered around, rather amazed, "This is so... beautiful."

@Tahi-shei

Chaos-Two had wished to see the caves while they could. Since they'd run into that beast in Ursa, they'd taken to bringing someone with them. That someone being their sibling, of course. Khavur, Reaver of the Dark Above, Holder of Butterflies.

This climb would have been impossible when their legs were still crippled, but they'd slowly packed on the pounds, developing muscle across their body the more working and wandering they did. Now their spear was for defending and hunting, and they could keep pace with the deer of Pegasus, enabling them to hunt more more easily.

Down they went, carefully, looking up to ensure Khavur was alright and accepting help when needed (they weren't one hundred percent yet, but each day they got better). Once they'd reached the pilllars, they stopped, diamond ears flicking forward.

"Khavur, look," they said, and grinned, because they could look too, "There are gembound there."

Chaos-Two crept forward, spear in hand, and peered around a pillar, curious.

@Khavur

Going outside still felt so new. Khavur had hardly wanted to go anywhere without its-- um, his? His little sibling. They just seemed to know better than he did about outdoor things. Like, how do you interact with gembounds? They were everywhere, just about, and they were usually so small and non-threatening and like, you know, it wasn't easy figuring out how to navigate that world on his own.

The climb was difficult, since Khavur didn't want to fly in a tunnel, especially when it would make it harder to help out Chaos-Two if need be. Chaos-Two? No, they could be Maximus out here. V-- Master Vargas wasn't with them, didn't have to be anymore. The freedom felt like a vacuum, pulling Khavur in and crushing him at the same time.

Khavur, too, stopped when their sibling did. He had followed behind, indeed remembering to ask for help when it was needed. And he did look upon command, one head smiling because Maximus was telling him to look, because Maximus could see-- Khavur tentatively peered out from behind the lamb with both heads. "They are small..." he would observe, an immediate curiosity gripping him by a throat. Who were they? What was this place for? "Do we... talk? To them?" A whisper, only for his sibling's ears to perceive. He never knew what to do in situations like these...

@V-Chaos-Two

Tahi-shei was clinging to James. It was cold here -- the only fungus around were scraps of stubborn, angry mold, and he was on unsteady footing here anyway. "What's it look like?" he asked, leaning slightly into James. He could barely see his surroundings -- the only spores those strange creatures carried were ones they'd picked up elsewhere, and anyway, it wasn't polite to stare.

He looked around, and raised his nose. "What's that smell? It's--" He paused and coughed, choking a bit on the strong smell. "Uh, potent."

@james

The Queen had come, of course, wearing a lot less than she normally did. A simple fur jacket and her crown of teeth, fresh flowers, and bone. Around her neck were more flowers, woven into a scarf-like garment, recently made.

She alighted before the alter, drawn by the sudden amount of gembound showing up, and turned to who'd been following her all this way.

"Fox," she said, "Come see, isn't it beautiful?"

She was amazed, really, delighted at the smell and the pillars and everything about this place.

@Redwood

Redwood followed arwen through the tunnel swiftly, quickly getting used to the small yet stiff limitations of their new armor. the clicks and clacks of wood did little to hide their presence, but Redwood figured they have their own home-grown disguise already. plus, they've never been much a magic user for more than theatrics.

they stood by her side, looking up at the tall, massive pillars, brows raised, though nobody could see it. "its quite interesting, your highness!" they chirped, hands folded behind their back as they looked up. "i wonder what theyre for..?"


@Arwen (for vis)

"Goodness," he huffed, punctuating the groan of a lion doing his very best to get a grip on the ice floes. Sharp as his claws were, they were not icepicks. Muscles tensed and contracted, screaming soreness. Mercy let out a sharp gasp, clearing the stone with his forelimbs. Hind legs scrabbled for purchase, and he—for the first time in a while—was on all fours and on solid ground.

Inky lips spread in a lopsided grin, tongue swiping at his chops and halfway to hanging out. Flanks heaving, he turned back to his companion; "I always forget what a climb this is."

Azizos had brought him here once or twice, rambling about the now-decorated pillars and their being a catalyst to great, powerful magic. He'd described them as having a floral scent before, but on every visit, there was just the musk of age-old stone.

Breathing in the air now, the saccharine stuck to the roof of his mouth—and it was unfamiliar, given his inability to taste much sweetness at all. It was cloying and nearly sickening, but—"this is quite nice, I think." Moonlit eyes glanced at the creature awaiting, dimly curious; but, there were plenty of strange manner of beasts in the caves. She may as well be another one investigating the scenery.

Though, it did seem that she was alone, compared to some others.

He gazed at the pillars for but a moment, before concerning himself with the state of Pride. Hooves did not make for good ice-climbing tools, either.
@Pride

The voices, so far down the ice tunnel, were a faint and haunting sound: distorted echoes left slightly off-key and faltering. Pride's ears pricked up, the fur along his neck and back raising just a little.

They drew closer, and as they did so the voices resolved: no longer eerie, only regular, everyday conversation. That was reassuring.

The scent here was stronger; warm and spiced air, quite unlike the frigid nothing of the rest of Tunnel M. Pride glanced around at those gathered, his curiosity piqued: what was happening here, today? He remembered something about this time last year; would this year be the same?

Pride glanced over at Mercurius, as the white lion spoke. Where Mercy had struggled with his climb, Pride had sort of gently drifted upward over the more difficult legs of the journey. He'd offered to lift Mercurius over the difficult bits; it might have seemed lazy, but to Pride it was simply expenditure of a different (and slightly less dangerous) sort. If he failed at using his mind-magic, then they simply didn't get picked up and moved. If he failed at walking, he could fall and break a damn leg.

Risk-reward assessment, not at all laziness...

"Quite the climb," he agreed mildly, but there was faint humor in his tone.

Momma Bolormaa near squeaked with joy at all of those approaching. The pouches laced onto the loose belt around her waist dangled and swung; a few wispy twists of dried herb fell from the upper corner of one more lightly-clasped.

"Hello, hello, welcome, my dears!" she cried, sitting up and wringing her forepaws together. She could not quite smile and yet she seemed to do so, her eyes nearly inverted Us with the upturn of her eyelids, her long lashes batting. She beamed, in fact, her tone full of joy at seeing so many visitors! "You don't need to hang back, everyone is welcome here!" she added, nodding earnestly toward the... larger, distinctly older-design pair lingering back behind one of the pillars.

Momma Bolormaa rushed to the center of the platform, ringed by the evenly-spaced gemstone pillars. Each rosy-hued pillar was translucent, sparkling in the orb-light, about five feet tall and a foot thick, and with a rounded point at each one's top; the light cast through them left a warm glow across the platform.

To James, she offered a bright "Thank you! It's a lovely place, isn't it-?" and though her four ears strained to hear Tahi-shei's presumably quieter remark, she hastened to reassure him. "Oh, it is only the incense! Dried herbs, in the right amount, burnt as a signal!" Then Momma Bolormaa nearly broke from her new position, eyes widening at Arwen. "That is a lovely flower wreathe. It looks beautiful on you," she added, in a tone of true admiration.

"Oh! But you're probably all wondering why you're here--why I'm here--um, why the incense brought you here!" she went on happily. "This place--it is called the Union Pillars. And each year, at this time of the passing of seasons" (or as much as the caves could simulate) "we gather to honor those bound by love!" Was this an old ritual of the Masters, perhaps? Or an old ritual of those in defiant rebellion? Momma Bolormaa did not say. "I offer ceremonies to affirm those who truly love one another! If they are linked by mind, it strengthens!--No!--Enhances! Those bonds, for a little while. Love offers strange and magical power," she added, with a solemn nod. "And love is not only lovers--family loves family; and friends love friends. And as parents love their children, I offer my magic to those who hold the gemstones of the lost," she added, with a sadder and more solemn tone. "For awhile, I'll do my best to make sure that if you revive a stone, your magicka is properly guided, and doesn't fail! -It sometimes does, and that's very sad," she added, wide-eyed and with hushed voice.

"But please! If anyone wants a bonding ceremony, please just step up with your bonded partner--oh, err, the one you'd like to affirm your love for! Mostly it's just a little ceremony," she added, happily clapping hands together, eyes back to that upturned U-shape. "But it does strengthen the magic link, if you have one! Just be orderly, please! One pair at a time! All I need is a name, and what your relationship is to one another!"

Gembound may now post to ask for a bonding ceremony throughout the month of February. Momma Bolormaa will perform a short ceremony for each pair. It will be assumed unless players note otherwise that they are approaching one couple at a time, and that the rest are observing, but players do not need to wait between requests. Multiple ceremonies will occur chronologically but can be posted at the same time!

@James (Chaos-Two, Arwen) @Khavur @Tahi-shei @Redwood @Mercy @Pride