ORIGIN - Gemini

did you know, most gamblers quit before their big win or whatever they say

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 20:49:34 -0500

So far, this cave has been simply wonderful! The sheep spent ages wandering between the reflective crystals, watching her face distort in the reflections. Those reflections usually grinned back at her, as she found them all equally amusing. Jester, the name she'd dubbed herself, very much loved this room.

Her little hands reached out to each new crystal and sparked a little nugget of curiosity. Why did they show her face? Why did she look like this? She had to push the fleece out of her eyes to peep back at herself. She decided she liked her fleece; it was cute and fluffy! Not to mention warm when some of the caves billowed her with cold air and hot winds in equal force.

Fingers played across the pearl atop her head; she didn't know its purpose, but it didn't feel like it was supposed to be part of her design. Yet, it was so solidly attached she couldn't hope to remove it. 'tck, tck, tck' as her fingernails tapped across the stone, her eyes observing it in her reflection. What could it be for? It's rather silly-looking, she considered as she tilted her head to the side. Perhaps it's fashionable! She'd seen carnies in passing wearing things atop their heads.

Maybe that was its purpose, she sniggered to herself, turning away from the reflection. Then continued her way, trotting down the rocky paths. Leaping over patches of odd-looking fungi. It was a fun game, travelling and seeing everything; if not a lonely one. What she would give for another friend.

All thoughts of loneliness came to an abrupt halt as she turned the corner, spotting the odd rift, much too far away for her to reach even if she wanted to. "Hello?" Perhaps it was lonely too. "Can you talk?" She asked, skipping over more of the pale fungi to approach the waterfall, and in turn the rift.

"Helloooo?" Jester singsonged. Is it a house? Or-- Maybe it's shy! Maybe we can do a trick for it... The faun hummed before reaching for a loose pebble.

Smoothing her thumb over the pebble, she shuffled front and centre the rift. Then, tossed the pebble upwards into the air. It arced neatly before beginning its descent- where it landed directly on Jester's forehead, as opposed to her open mouth. Then clattered unceremoniously to the floor while Jester remained gaping upwards like some sort of landed fish.

Hopefully it doesn't have eyes...

lootbox gacha

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 16:05:08 -0500

She'd lost track of her friend a while ago.

Her friend, incidentally, had been a little flaming familiar that lazily drifted around. Venti Frappuccino® with Oat Milk, Strawberry Cream Cold Foam and Caramel Drizzle, with Vegan Whipped Topping and Hazelnut Syrup had no idea, of course, that she had full control over where the thing could go-- and she had yet to realize that the spell had simply fizzled out. To her, she'd just managed to lose the little flame while she was trying to navigate Gemini's reflective walls.

And... well, it was very easy to get lost in here, too.

Passages she thought were carved into the wall where just reflected from somewhere else. Multiple times, she thought she saw someone else wandering through the room, only to realize it must have been herself. She eventually found water that shone her face back at her and a waterfall yawning over the cave wall that was cold to the touch, and not too far from that, an alcove that dipped into the wall.

By now, Hazel's head was starting to ache. Even just a smaller room would have been a relief, but sitting in that room was... something.

It reminded her, dimly, of a mouth. A magic, shimmery mouth. "What are you?" She asked, half-tripping over her own hooves as she stumbled forward to get a better look. It was, in truth, difficult to look at it, and not just because it was being reflected through the many facets of Gemini.

She reached out and touched it, uncertain.

owo what's this?

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 13:29:07 -0500

The valkhound had found itself wandering into Gemini, confused. At first, the tunnel leading here had been quite quite pretty! Crystalline structures and weird lessers, but as soon as it stepped into Gemini proper, it halted. Ew. What is all this? Everything was covered in some nasty, nasty white shit. The floor looked sticky with the mold. Its nose scrunched and its tail curled in.

It stepped up to a crevice in the ground, where slick mold was coating the crystals and small mushrooms were pushing up from the ground. It reached out with a claw and poked the stuff, horrified at the weird touch of it, the way it clung to its short fur and paw pads...ugh. Heat seared through its foot, burning off the fungus and also the mold sitting in the crevice. Nasty stuff.

It looked around. The mold was everywhere. Covering the crystals and the walls and floor. It felt so off in here too, like it shouldn't be here...or perhaps the mold shouldn't be here.

But what caught its attention for real was an odd something in the wall, near the waterfall. Something glowing. Carefully, it meneuvered its way through the cave until it was standing at the pool's edge looking up towards where the strange rift was. It wasn't in the wall at all, it was in the air. Athebyne tilted its head, intrigued. What is this thing doing here?

cure for boredom

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 06:24:25 -0500

4:20 am in the middle of the night. Does that count for a celebration? I don't think so. Audland wanders the crystalline pathways of Gemini once more, and winds up in the shiniest part: the alcove with the glittering rift. He stands in front of it in wonder. Its hypnotic design intrigues him. The rift has no ornate or intricate framing; it simply tears through space, and maybe time. It doesn't look designed to be here.

Magic attempts to reach forth like a bloodhound, to understand better what is in front of him. Whether it does anything is anyone's (mostly a GM's) guess. For now, blue Barney just stands there, scratching his head, pondering the rift. It's like the closest thing Gembound have to the Grand Canyon.

juice cleans[ing attempt] diet

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 13:53:28 -0500

Audland had returned from his brief excursion to the Southern quadrants of the caves. Somewhere along the way (mutually agreed upon through Discord messaging), he had made an agreement to exchange dinosaur stones for a poleax, which he now possessed. And there were probably some dinosaur babies in the world that he had some hand in making. Wow. That would be cool if he knew what a dinosaur was.

~~There were other children he'd had a hand in making~~ Let's not go there. Let's focus on the now. Now, Audland was in the room of crystals bordering his snowy home. It was refreshingly cool here. For a moment, he was willing to treat it like a vacation. Then he saw the cracks in the walls. It didn't take much walking to see them, disrupting his own reflection.

His breath caught for a moment as he realized what it was. His whole body began to itch. A failed spell, one he almost hadn't been aware of casting. The fungus of his own body teemed with life; yearning to be free, once Fate decided.

This is a cleansing Gemini attempt. Anyone is free to join.

[hatch] panic was never a factor

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 07:22:18 -0500

The rainbow obsidian had been sitting near the rift for some time. Long enough for it to grow from a small thing to a medium-sized, colorful stone. It cracks away, leaving behind a kitten. Big enough to be weaned and fend for itself, but small enough to be a tiny blip in this big world.

They shake out their fur quickly, removing some of the wet coating. Either head gazes at the area around them. A strange, new place. The shimmering rift instantly catches their attention. Glittering with strange power, the cats approach it.

What a pretty, strange thing.

buldak spicy carbonara

Sat, 11 Jul 2026 20:36:43 -0500

Tsvetok had gone wandering.

It'd been trained... a little. And now, it was just walking off wherever. It snorfed the air loudly, crimson head lifted, crest-- for once --held back against its head. It smelled strange in this room, though. Something bitter and tangy that hit the roof of its mouth unpleasantly, and caused it to start drooling.

Oh, it wanted to fucking wreck everything in here. Including whatever those little growths of white, symmetrical fungus was.

hi twinnnn

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 21:43:19 -0500

dated to just after Exchange Student

Gemini was not the fastest way back to Ursa by any means--in fact, this detour would nearly double Jinyi's traveling time--but this was ameliorated somewhat by the magical wings upon his back. He swept into the Room of Mirrors trailing pink cosmic light behind him. Though it didn't match his colors, it did tickle his Drone-brain to see the infinite pink wings reflected back at him from the crystal mirrors everywhere.

He landed in front of the Crystal Waterfall and searched through the alcoves nearby. He knew, in theory, what he was looking for, but with the maze of reflections everywhere, it could be difficult to actually find it. A quiet constant whooshing helped lead him to one particular alcove with a shimmering rift.

Jinyi stood there and watched the lightplay across its surface for a moment, mesmerized. From what he knew, the rift was inconsistent, unpredictable, not like the perfect crystalline march of the Dontas Factory that churned out bags of chips perfectly spaced on conveyor belts at impossibly precise time intervals. Would he get lucky today...?

Jinyi was not really the gambling type, but he guessed he'd find out.

We Care A Lot

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 14:44:33 -0500

Cycles had passed in silence. The whole cave fell into a calm, steady, rhythm. Life went on.

Mother was still working, of course. She always had a new plan. But the current orders were simple: Fade into the background. Let the careless Gembound forget, and the enemy grow careless. Do not engage, only maintain Order's current holdings.

Of course, Alcina is happy to oblige. Gemini remains strong, but there is no harm in patrolling and reinforcing hive nodes.

She lowers her head. Reaching out with her tongue, she feels and smells, trying to find either the scent of meat or the sensation of movement amongst the fungus. Without the magic to nurture Mother's fungus, she has to feed it the old-fashioned way. Hopefully she can find something suitable.

The only sound is the distant waterfall. Nothing but Alcina herself stirs. How str-ACK!

Alcina reels back, claws clutching her upper jaw. She'd walked straight into one of the reflective walls, thinking it wasn't there. Glaring daggers at the crystals from behind her teeth, she huffs, stamping the ground with irritation. She can hear someone laughing at her misfortune along the link, too.

INFESTED [Gemini]

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 00:14:15 -0500

INFESTED

Gemini

Gemini is currently Infested with the fungus that contaminates with Order.

Nodes of white fungus sprout like hair from the cracks and crevices between Gemini's crystals. Geodes and the cave floor and ceiling often appear coated with a thin film of pale, fuzzy mold. The effects of Order magic are empowered in this cave, with the power of Corruption slightly weakened.

Lesser Gembounds are far more likely to carry the fungus, serving as eyes for Mother and vectors of infection for Greater Gembound predators. Even the water beneath The Crystal Waterfall may serve as a vector of the fungus.

Characters are welcome to become infected in threads within this cave (either deliberately or accidentally), or to make attempts to purge the cave of Order's influence. Order characters may return to this cave to attempt to reinforce Order's influence in turn. All threads which attempt to remove or add Order should be posted in Update Me with a request to update the Order levels after the thread is complete. All Barely+ rolls will be subtracted or added, as needed, to the total. Should the amount of Order in the cave reach 0, it will be considered cleansed, its Infested status removed.

775

ORDER vs CHAOS master thread / information

[Read Only] The Mysterious Rift Opens!

Fri, 25 Dec 2020 21:54:42 -0600

Somewhere on the Surface...

Her cart was becoming heavy and burdensome for the horse pulling it—its breathing was becoming labored, it wanted more breaks, and the wheels of the cart themselves protested the weight with squeaky cries. She tapped the animal, tutting and hushing as it came to a stop, and moved around the covered cart to peer inside. Hm. Maybe she'd have to get rid of some of this stuff. She tapped her walking stick with curled fingers, leaning into the cart and jostling some of the things about. She frowned. She didn't want to get rid of any of it, that was the point of collecting it! Well, and some of it was important stuff she used all the time...

"Ezra," came a man's voice, and she popped her head around the corner of the cart to see him—dark skin, black hair. The mysterious companion she somehow tolerated enough to travel with. "Just get rid of some of it."

She narrowed her eyes. In turn, he rolled his eyes back at her. Despite the load, it didn't stop her from adding more shit to the back of the cart. Her head disappeared from view again, and with a large, exaggerated sigh, the man came stomping around the side of the cart to stand beside her. He did not lean in to view the junk. Instead, he simply stood there, watching. After a while, he reached for the closest item and dragged it into the road.

It was a long banner tapestry, made of thick red cloth and expensive gold thread; the gold was woven through the banner as filigree decoration, surrounding a large crest of a sword and shield.

"This. Toss it. Why do you want this?" he asked, holding it up as high as it could to display most of its length.

"I like it," was her simple answer, and he shook his head to disagree. "Are you not Verinen? Do you not want to keep such a prized possession, Feringar?" Her hazel eyes bore into his green ones, judging more from his answer than he might have expected.

"It's worthless to us," he argued, dropping it into the dirt and reaching in for something more. This time, it was a helmet. He didn't even say anything about it. Feringar held the item up for Ezra to see, and as soon as she opened her mouth to say something, he tossed it beside the banner. "No," he cut in, and gestured to the cart. "Ezra, this stuff is worthless. You have a hoarding problem, you white-haired hag—" he stopped short, and they both stared wide-eyed at each other for different reasons.

"I'm sorry—"

"That's it! Feringar, you genius!" she said with a snap of her fingers, leaning the stick against the cart and patting the cart excitedly. Her eyes bounced from one item to the other as she nodded and mumbled to herself, making gestures with her hands as if weighing the pros and cons of the idea brewing in the cauldron of her mind. Feringar shifted uncomfortably as he watched her.

"I'm going to take the horse for water," he said after a while, leaving her to her thoughts. After unhooking the horse from the cart, he checked on her one more time. "We'll be right back," he told her, though he was unsure if she was even listening. Feringar departed with the horse, leading it down the gentle slope to the river that was hopefully far enough away to avoid whatever consequences might come from whatever the witch was going to try and do. She was powerful, he knew that—but witches... He shuddered.

As the horse drank, he cautiously watched from the river as Ezra created small, bright explosions, before finally she made a sound between yelling and laughter. She disappeared around the cart before reappearing, as if searching for him, before she spotted him. She held up an item and waved—he squinted, but he could not see what it was. Even though the horse had finished drinking now, he was hesitant to make his way back up to the road and see what kind of magic she'd wrought. It wasn't often. She was secret about it, hid it, and maybe that made him all the more nervous when he did witness it.

He was slow to reattach the horse to the cart, biding his time, pretending like he was very busy. Too busy, even. But eventually, Ezra came skittering around the cart with a small jewelry box held in her palms. She had a very sheepish look that felt like impeding doom to Feringar.

"Yesss, yes, Feringar, what a good idea," she said, but he wasn't sure if it was a compliment. Ezra peeled open the top of the jewelry box and Feringar took a step back; but when nothing came out, he leaned forward to look inside. It swirled with colors and clouds. Yep, some kind of witchy magic. He retreated, and took an extra step back. This did not seem to phase her. Instead, she clicked her nails against the metal and smiled up at him with a smug, proud look. "We can put the things we do not want in here—well, we want them, just not in the cart," she said, as if it were easy to understand, and then turned around to gesture at the items in the dirt: the banner and the helmet.

She picked up the helmet and made a motion as if she were going to place it into the jewelry box. As Feringar was about to ask her how that might fit into such a space, the helmet got sucked into the portal within the box and disappeared. His eyes popped wide open, blinked several times, and stared at her for an explanation.

"It goes to my home in the valley," she said triumphantly, shuffling to the banner. He followed only enough to see her around the edge of the cart. She placed the jewelry box on the ground and lifted the banner, slowly lowering it into the portal until it was completely gone. She turned to him with another proud grin.

"You're sure?" he asked, because he absolutely wasn't. Not that he doubted her abilities—he had come seeking her for a reason—but still. It seemed like too perfect of a solution.

"Yes, yes, I know where I live," she snapped, leaning into the cart for more items. Hmm... there was nothing she wanted to immediately get rid of though. Not yet. Her eyes looked back to her companion. "Over time, you can put things in the box, but do not disclose to me which items. I will say no." She paused to think, wanting to add more, but then shook her head. "Just not the stuff we use a lot," she said, gesturing to a pile that contained things like herbs and cooking ware.

Feringar did not like having that responsibility, but he would do as she asked.

Somewhere in Gemini...

Tucked into a crystal alcove near the waterfall was an empty space. Usually. A few lessers had claimed it as an unofficial camp. It was small and cozy, perfectly cooled by the distant spray of water. They were relaxing together, grooming, chattering as critters do, when suddenly a bright light flashed across the facets of their crystal home. A portal had opened—small, about a foot in diameter—within the gemstone wall, flickering at first, coming and going, until finally it seemed stable. The lessers had started, some cried out, and others fled. A few of them remained to see what the thing was, with one brave mouse reaching up to sniff it—but a helmet came hurdling through, clonking it right in the face before sliding across the ground with a clang.

Now all the lessers fled, with the mouse coming to just moments later only to be assaulted by a heavy cloth item that blinded it and trapped it. It squealed for help, found an exit, and dashed off.

The two items lay quiet, abandoned... and not where Ezra had intended for them to be.

The Mysterious Portal is now open! Your characters may visit this space to see if there are any items available to be claimed by Request GM.

The banner and helmet are for Gortys to claim first (in a new thread), as this is their Winner's Choice: a portal connected to the surface that spits out random junk! Enjoy!