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Post by Lethalia on May 16, 2021 17:28:33 GMT -6
Juniper surged ahead and Lethalia let her go, following the hen's spined tail through the purple glowing crystals into the next room. The white hen would need all of the encouragement she could get for finishing the mental growth the mansion decided they would skip this time around. She found June stopped just barely in the precipice - Admittedly Leth stopped to gawk, too. Another cavern, smaller and hewn into a smooth oval, rather like an egg laying on it's side. It'd likely all been crafted by magic, but with the details as if it'd been done by hand with long cutting marks as if stone had been painstakingly whittled away. The bottom curve of the 'egg' made for a gentle sloping ramp to another pool, glowing brightly teal for the crystals that lined the pool floor like it were expensive tile. Compared to the rest of the cavern, Leth had to shield her eyes against the dayglow crystals. Juniper lv|9 ly|9 May|45
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Post by Nadia on May 17, 2021 7:20:51 GMT -6
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 22:50:56 GMT -6
Rising from the pure-looking crystalline pool and at the edge of the natural ramp leading up to it, a flat stone dais protruded near center of the room. Upon it's rim were more black rocks, arranged just so - a crude nest for the precious cargo leaning upon them. Crystalline-transluscent, glowing with their own light, and absolutely huge, were three eggs resting upon the cold stone dais. Juniper had gotten her bearings about her enough to slink up to the stone slab, neck extended fully to sniff the eggs and remain at a fair distance to run away if need be. Why, those were easily as large as the hen inspecting them! Their glow cast too much uncertainty about if they were.. viable or not. If they were, they lacked the hazy veins crossing their shells against their inner light. Lethalia would have tossed them out (or saved them for breakfast) if they were eggs she was candling. May| 46
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 22:52:17 GMT -6
Placed in front of the eggs were items of much more mundane size. Tallest among them and set back against the shells was some kind of statue - a shrine? - depicting a purple dragoness, more humanoid than not sitting with her legs almost-crossed and tail wrapped around her form. Unbidden the name Ariesa flashed into her mind, though Lethalia knew precious little about the local mythologies. But - this month, this carving, Ariesa the Binder, right? The satyr looked from the dragon statue, dripping with gold, and back to her own white 'dragon' and smiled to herself. Perhaps draconic things were somewhat divine around here. They were so prevailent, someone had to think them divine. While the statue remained pristine, the offerings scattered around her looked like they hadn't been touched in.. ever. A delicate-looking woven blanket draped across the cold stone, holding an assortment of items that had collected near as much dust as the cloth. May| 47
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 22:54:25 GMT -6
Coins in both silver and gold littered the dais in the most number, a few carved crystal pendants that could've been claws or fangs, slabs of stone arduously carved with glyphs, a white-cold fire glowing right in front of the statue. Lethalia hadn't much experience with divine things, but there was an undeniable air about this place and it's offerings... it was some kind of monument or shrine, wasn't it? Lore somewhere probably told of the Binder's last three eggs, or something like that. Unwilling to test her luck on any of it being reality, Lethalia kept her hands to herself and shooed Juniper's overly brave muzzle away. Not into the divine but perhaps mildy superstcious, the satyr searched her backpack for something she could leave. Felt like bad practice to visit a 'holy' place and not leave something of an offering, even if she wanted to say she thought it all hogwash she still had enough lingering fear to abide by some things. May| 48
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 22:54:56 GMT -6
Debating the general junk stuffed into every pocket of her backpack, Lethalia was only a little bit surprised to find a large shard of teal-grey sarane egg. There was no telling whose it was at this point, there were so many new hatchlings running around the farm. She might've intended to keep it for the sentimentality, but there wasn't much of a purpose in doing it now. Offerings didn't make sense to her nor was she certain if something like an eggshell that would otherwise be considered trash, could be somehow offensive. The satyr looked to the side to see Juniper's curious blue eyes on her. Leth shrugged at her hen, deciding to leave the egg shard all the same. Hard to imagine gods would make use of any of the other trinkets scattered about, so her meager offering settled her nerves about it. Better than setting a dead flashlight there, anyway. May| 49
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 22:55:26 GMT -6
With a sigh the satyr rose to her hooves and slung the backpack over her shoulder, turning to the hen to press "Shou'we get goin', Juni?" Those glittering eyes didn't have much to respond back with, mere curiousity over all the oddity her humanoid was doing. That seemed to be pretty normal thing among the sarane - as long as she kept herself enough of an oddity they paid attention to her it was a boon to retain their attention. "Dunno if th'mansion's lookin'ta give a way ou', yet..."Juniper, if nothing else, paid fairly rapt attention when the woman spoke. Well, she was rather the noisiest thing in here. Lethalia looked to her hen to beckon her, in time to catch her blue eyes flicker from holding eye contact to somewhere above the satyr's head. It was only natural to follow the sarane's gaze upwards. Juniper lv|10 ly|10 May|50
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 22:55:59 GMT -6
Crystals overhead - those hadn't been there before. Lethalia remembered instead the rough-hewn marks of an ancient craftsman against the naked stone when she'd first taken scope of the place. Hm. Acknowledgement of the crystals, their glittering points forming a nebulas of color in purples and deep blues, caused them to begin shivering. "What-" Instinctively the satyr ducked, still unable to keep her eyes off the quivering forms. Juniper let out an odd squawk, a far cry from baby-squeaks, and rushed to her owner's side. There wasn't anything to hide beneath in here; Lethalia flung an arm over her head, the other looped over cowering Juniper's shoulders. Instead of becoming showered with crystalline points she watched the stones drop as if they were about to fall - and instead begin to drool and pool into a droplet of shimmering liquid. As they descended, they also contorted into impossible forms, wiggling as if living things. May| 51
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 22:56:55 GMT -6
Maddening shapes drove Lethalia to tear her eyes off the chaotic display. Both of them hunkered down waiting to feel the cavern falling - or melting - upon them. Moments longer than it would've taken for the place to come down, the air stilled. Birds chirped in the distance. Cracking her eyes open, Leth shielded them with her forearm against the sunlight that glared. Juniper squawked again at her side, and the satyr could only think the hen had the same issue. (Would she have to worry about a white hen burning in this kind of sun? Her sire definitely avoided it.) Squinting at the ground instead of the sun's glare in an attempt at recovery, Leth gave a bleary blink at the realization her curly fetlocks were floating. Where there had been solid rock underfoot, they'd now been plopped into a shallow pool glinting in the bright noon sunrays. May| 52
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 22:59:23 GMT -6
In some way the crystals overhead bloomed into a bright, sunny spring day. Ivaylo recovered before her owner, unsurprisingly, and slid out from beneath the woman's elbow to take a look at something nearby. Lethalia heard a pair of high-pitched squeaks nearby and set to rubbing her weeping eyes in an attempt to adjust more quickly. "Juni, y'ain't gettin'in trouble, righ'?"Risking another glance into the bright outside world, Lethalia found herself peering up a steep black cliffside, starkly at odds with the jeweltones of the shimmering water they stood in, ripples still ungody bright for her cave-adjusted eyes. The rock nearly looked intentionally sculpted in hexagonal pillars, pressed up against one another like rows of natural obelesks. Some pillars were taller than others, creating natural steppes and nesting perches with hardy grass clinging to the cracks it could. Upon one such shelf, she spotted the same two little faces Juniper found first. May| 53
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 23:01:11 GMT -6
Pain of the sun's glare forgotten, along with the curiousity how the mansion fabricated this area, Lethalia rose to her feet with a splash that alarmed all three not-dragons. "Juniper, what'd'ya find?" she pressed in a more soothing tone, approaching a little more cautiously. Juniper snapped back to attention at the tiny lizards, who also saw it fit to pay more attention to the potential predator than the humanoid. "Tha'un lookin' like ya', Juni!" Lethalia remarked in a hushed tone, admiring the subtle whites and purples of one of the pocket-sized critters. Why, it could almost be said that the other in it's lovely earthen tones resembled Vidarr, if that was the case. Juniper's growl turned into a wanting whine at the end, thorned tail sweeping the water. She didn't seem to be hunting them, but she was terribly curious about those nearly familar faces peering down on them. May| 54
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 23:01:57 GMT -6
Lethalia's head was spinning at the pace of it - moments ago they'd been standing in a cavern lit only by crystals and inhabited by nothing more than cold stone. Now standing at the maw of a canyon, a sunlit endless 'ocean' to one side and a yawning black canyon extending far overhead as far as the eye could see on the other. Now two 'friendly' faces peered at them, when the satyr had come to expect to see quite few living things in the mansion on her excursions. and - it was the first time she'd gotten a good look at how big the hen had gotten. Juniper had grown into a beauty, shimmering pale lilac and pink in stripes and spots, otherwise snow-white to the very tips of her toes. It was just - she really had grown up, hadn't she? The markings that crossed her back were full-scale and adult, dangerous-looking thorns bloomed on her tail. Juniper lv|11 ly|11 May|55
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 23:02:14 GMT -6
Lethalia couldn't help but be offended the mansion had really.. fast-tracked Juniper's growth in what appeared to be a very real way. Sure enough the place could feel invasive from time to time, but this was on a different scale. There was reason to hope the mansion had used a mere illusion, but for some reason Lethalia just didn't think it was.. likely. This seemed too real, much like the places' other dirty tricks that involved dipping into her memories. She'd paused and gotten her bearings too long for Juniper's tastes. Another cacophany of twittering broke out as the hen slunk forward - probably thought herself quite the elusive sneak. "June, I know they woulda' made a good snack this mornin', but they'a bit wee for'ya now." The cliff-dwellers resembled wiurn a little more closely than the sarane stalking them, peering down on them while leaning on wing-knuckles and sporting miniscule head crests. May| 56
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 23:03:21 GMT -6
"Hey, c'mere Juni, stop harassin' 'em," Lethalia beckoned. Her voice wasn't much of a draw on it's own but the crinkle of a cardboard package sure got the hen's attention, a box of galabex jerky being squished out of the backpack. "Y'wanna try any, littl'uns?" The tiny cliff dwellers shied away from the hand that brandished a caroonishly shaped chunk of meat, keen little eyes only for the predator down below when the humanoid wasn't making any sudden moves. Shrugging a little she tossed the dried meat to Juniper who snapped it up with far more interest than the little ones showed. Though they did perk up when Juniper started munching, the bolder earthen one appearing like they were going to dive into the pool after the dropped scraps. Enough to get them fidgeting and twittering at them again, but the active Juniper below was still giving the creatures conniption enough to keep them at bay. May| 57
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Post by Lethalia on May 29, 2021 23:04:35 GMT -6
Curious - Leth wondered if they might eat fish living around this fabricated coastal area, but they seemed to be excited about a larger dragon's scraps more than anything else. It would make sense they were scavengers, a minute lizard like this wouldn't be hunting down much more than a mouse or minnow under their own power. Better to be opportunistic and live a bit longer rather than expending all of the energy in their tiny selves to hunt - not unlike the sarane hatchlings in that way. Food was food as long as they could get it down their gullet. They found the jerky quite a lot more interesting once they witnessed the larger lizard eating it, and the cliff dwellers paced and let out a few trilling notes in response to the next piece raised in their direction. Leth didn't figure she'd lure them all the way over, so she tossed the piece on one of the broken-off pillars below their current perch. May| 58
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