ORIGIN - Canis

rebirth

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:08:49 -0500

The citrine had been sitting full of life for many, many cycles. Any gembound could think that perhaps it would never hatch - simply sit as a decorative piece within Oliver's garden. As the gemstone casing grew, the gembound inside hadn't tried to escape. It wasn't ready yet - but now?

Day by day the citrine had gone through a slow transition. From one whole, to cracks amongst the top. Those cracks spread further, eventually reaching the midsection.

As the fully grown hybrid slides from the cavern, they take their first real breath. Their soft blue eyes open to an unfamiliar world full of wonders. They quickly wipe their face of wetness and take their first steps.

"Hello?"

@Oliver

In Bloom

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:33:49 -0500

Oliver was tending his garden. There wasn't much else to say about today, or the day before, or any of the other days preceding this one in a long stretch since Canis had been purged of Order. A small Dust Moth fluttered around the tangled vines, and anyone stumbling on this place might not, at first, realize it was a "garden" or "tended" at all.

It was hemmed in by two half-crumbled walls of stone and bone, with a pool of purified water at the center. Around this grew an abundance of moss, ferns, flowers, berry bushes, and ivy--the latter of which tended to trail up the couple of actual trees that had been grown here. It wasn't easy; they weren't doing as well as they might have in, say, Eridanus. And plenty of these plants were from Eridanus, and more from Pegasus, even Cetus. But someone (Oliver) had actually carted soil here, and the roots had eventually broken down some of the rock below. He had to maintain them with magic, and that was what he was doing now: hobbling awkwardly (because of his strange formation of limbs) from plant to plant, checking which ones needed a bit of an infusion of magic where Canis' mineral-rich but nutrient-poor stone had failed them.

Here and there a bird sang high in the branches; they were drawn here, if they were in Canis at all. It was the only place with any real greenery. And despite the trees and such, it was oddly easy to miss, and thus doubly strange to stumble on: a hidden grove of fresh air and shivering foliage in the otherwise dead, bone-filled cave.

"There you go," Oliver said aloud. He stepped back, clawed paw-hand-wing delicately patting the bark of the tree before him as the flow of magicka faltered. The tree at once looked a bit healthier, the leaves perking up, greener. Oliver smiled up at it. "Good job," he said, with an encouraging tone, as if the tree had done anything at all.

@Audland

On Patrol

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:43:02 -0500

Timir was checking on Order, as per Vargas's instructions. It was training, or at least it was supposed to be but in practice Timir was finding it to be mostly patrolling. He'd helped clean up some of the stinky web in Gemini, and he'd been sent to check on that and Canis to ensure it wasn't just coming back full-force without the Chaos Forge's awareness.

So far, so good, except--he'd been distracted. For the last forty minutes, the Valkhound had been pacing up and down the tracks that made The Circuit. He didn't know that anyone called it that. He just knew it was a huge ring around the cave, so far as he could tell, clear of bones. And that was weird enough! But there were footprints here.

Timir wasn't looking for fungus just now. He was picking up his feet, staring at them (and their hot pink, glittering paw-pads) and then fitting them to all the strange, alien footprints he could find.

He didn't fit any of them. He wondered if he should feel... anything, about that. But so far he just kept trying, curious, like a child or someone playing a game of chance and hoping for that jackpot. If the jackpot was essentially Cinderella shoes.

To anyone at a distance, it'd look like a monster tracking something, except he kept stopping, setting a huge paw in front of him and staring at it for a moment before pressing on.

@Athebyne

me when i'm normal

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 16:47:25 -0500

It'd been a few days since Howlite had hatched. Now, she was having a little wander, more out of curiosity than any particular need or task. She'd found an ominously dark tunnel and, at the end of it, a door into a dusty room full of bones. Howlite wasn't very certain what to think of it, but she had a walk around anyway.

It wasn't long until she came across the bone shelters. She didn't know, of course, that once upon a time they'd been used to house people who'd rebelled, and that they'd been hunted by masters and overseers. They were just funny little structures that she decided would look a lot better on the ground.

She reached for her magic, but found nothing. "Phooey," the creature lamented, nudging at a bone 'pillar' with her forefoot.

@Brother

I'M NEVER GONNA DANCE AGAIN

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 01:09:06 -0500

As soon as they'd left the private bubble, the dark notes of the tea still fresh on their taste buds, the weight of what had been asked of Luna began to truly sink in. They had to seduce someone in less than two weeks. They had never pursued romance before, and romance had never found them. They doubted anyone had ever even found them attractive - or, well, anyone brave enough to pursue them.

She paced around Canis, the dead watching her puzzle over this conundrum with eternal patience. She could always eat the loss - she got caught up in the heat of the deal! But admitting defeat so soon... She was better than that.

Perhaps there was some opportunity still here, in the Gembound who'd answered the call like they did. They'd already have something in common, and there had been some real lookers in the crowd. A chance to get close to someone new... Someone who isn't Vestyge for once...

Luna settled on a bone pile, draping themselves lazily on the corpses, a weak puff of pheromones immediately dissipating into the dry air. Yes, they'd attempt the art of seduction. Just this once.

[Quest] Requisite Stuff

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 01:22:56 -0500

A lone, eerie whistling was echoing through the Bone Fortresses. Following it to its source would be an exercise in backtracking those echoes, winding one's way through the paths of dead and scattered remains long dried by time... or flying, circling until the reverberations suddenly clarified.

Revealed as their source: a black-cloaked, black-hooded, black-horned figure, one hoofed leg crossed primly over the other and bobbing idly. The owner was perched with almost amused disregard for the bodies beneath him, a fiddle resting unused in the crook of one elbow.

The Collector was waiting.

He'd left parchments around the caves, these last few days, taking a page (heh) from Nemean's recent announcements. He didn't bother making the text announce itself aloud, though; he'd not insult the Gembounds' intelligence. If they cared enough, they'd find someone to read it for them. And if not, then they weren't the sort he needed.

"'Are you bold? Do you have the ambition to surpass others? Do you have the desire to rise beyond, to grow in triumph where others succumb to defeat? Or perhaps you wish knowledge, followers, wealth?

A number of exclusive, time-limited contracts are on offer. Visit the Collector to determine terms, conditions, and rewards. This missive serves as a message only, and is non-binding.' -That's what it says," the Collector read aloud, and winked one crimson, pinprick-glowing eye.

It wasn't clear who he was speaking to. It also wasn't clear what the worn, dark and ragged sack at his side held within, nor why he had a lute he wasn't playing.

But it was clear he was making himself known, and awaiting those who might find his offer to be of interest...

The quest Requisite Stuff has begun! This quest will include two tasks secretly assigned to each participating character, as well as customized rewards for each character. Participants will have two weeks to complete each task.

The next post will take place in one week's time, and will include details on tasks and in-character rewards.

Out-of-character rewards for fully completing the Collector's quest will include an achievement and magicka.

Who let this thing raise a child?!

Thu, 21 May 2026 16:23:29 -0500

Backdated to Cycle 127

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

abuse

For the whole thread

Helion arrived swiftly at the cave in the wall, a small cave deer clutched in one of its claws. It wasted no time squeezing itself into the crevice it had made just large enough for the two of them to pass in and out, but nobody bigger, and emerged in their small living space where it expected to find its spawn waiting. After all, it had told it to stay there and its arrival was not exactly subtle - one could hear the clattering of bones as it clumsily stormed its way through the cave. One could smell the corruption on its breath.

It stood at the entrance for a moment, realizing how cramped the cave was getting, now that Anteros was growing. It raised a claw to the wall and tore the stone away, corruption spilling into the rock and crumbling it to dust before their eyes, widening the walls ever so slightly.

It then tossed the cave deer to Anteros, to let it eat from the caracass first. Helion would eat what remains, preferably when it had begun to rot away.

"Eat. And then we will speak. It's time you start learning properly."

It had considered when it would introduce this, when it would start to really begin molding Anteros into what it wanted its spawn to be. It had spent the last few cycles wondering what it would do, and now that it was beginning to really grow into its own, it figured it was time.

Helion had, to its credit, been relatively gentle to Anteros in the first cycle. As much as it could ever be gentle with its demeanor and behavioral issues. It had not exploded at it or been particularly violent outside of the occasional training to defend itself. That wasn't to say that it had been a kind parent, but it had been an effective caretaker. Now, though...that sliver of gentleness would be gone. Anteros wasn't an infant anymore.

@Anteros

PEOPLE CAN DIE????

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 13:54:20 -0500

The trio picked their way through the bones of Canis, for whatever reason or another that it was there. Wandering, journeying, looking for excitement, they all had their own idea for why they walked seemingly aimlessly.

Buckley wanted to find more friends and talk to more people. He had enjoyed the light companionship they'd found in the dungeons. Ishani wanted to see more of the caves, the wonders and horrors, and find more experience for all three. Gore...well, Gore wanted to find enemies to battle. It'd been training hard with the swordstaff and, now that they were well and full grown, and the muscles in its neck were hardy and powerful, it could swing it around with fair ease, although it still sometimes clipped a bit of Buckley's beautiful mane.

It held the staff now, quiet (it had the additional benefit of shutting it up for a while) as its burning eyes regarded the bone-strewn cavern. It realized Buckley was faltering in his steps and pulled back a bit on its own legs, looking down with annoyance.

"What is it, Buckley?" Ishani curved around the side of the body to see why they'd stopped. The lion was staring at the ground, at a broken skull sitting among the bones and rocks. "Uh. Is this a DEAD THING?" Gore snarled and leaned his head over, setting the swordstaff down so it rested against their body. "YES. Did you not REALIZE? This whole cave is filled with bones. Those are DEAD THINGS." It bared its teeth. "How I wish to know how they died! Perhaps a great battle or a culling, ah, to participate in the bloodsports would have been glorious!"

"Hm," Buckley mumbled, but he looked quite unhappy. He quickly rolled a shoulder to let Gore know he was ready to move and the goat quickly picked up the staff again and the Triage began to wander through again, although now Buckley was much more careful to not step on too many bones or skulls or anything that wasn't rock. Ishani kept an eye out in his stead, wondering what kind of creatures would deem this a fit place to live. And why it existed in the first place...

"Buckley is speaking!" "GORE IS SPEAKING!!!" "Ishani is speaking..."

@Anteros

The Bonebound

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 18:16:04 -0600

"Now to turn this house into a home; it's the only thing that rattles bones." — I Know a Ghost, Crowder
A family born from the yawning grave and enduring through the cycles past, The Bonebound is less of a kingdom with a patriarch and more of a simple family wishing to simply survive and find comfort in one another. They exist to take care of the bones, respecting them and seeing into their fortunes and secrets. They are rather isolated, preferring to seek assistance only when necessary and to only respond to aggression, not make it.

Threads

C46, It's Still Our Nest — Auré calls the Bonebound together once more, with his mother, Giggle, at his side.

C50, in this organization, there is a way — After four slow cycles, Auré calls his kin together to deliver grim news and promises for the future.

C55, roll call — Another lull in the caves brings necessity for another roll call.

C55, [Spy vs. Spy] The Bonebound — Astraea approaches the Bonebound and tasks them with the protection of a certain blue deer...

C57, [Quest] Spy vs. Spy Conclusion: Bonebound — Astraea returns to Rezik in a chrysalis and knowledge of where Mother's central nest is; the Bonebound prepare for war.

Hierarchy (click to reveal!)