RP:Accidental Spelunking & the Subterranean Stinkbeast

From HollowWiki

This is a Mage's Guild RP.


Town Well

Svilfon is standing very close to the well in the centre of Xalious' village, occasionally peering into it. Alahir is resting around his hat, curled up and seeming to sleep right through the occasional words that Svil yells down into the murky depths, "I'm sure it's down there!... No, I won't throw you a rope until you find it!.. Yes, yes, dignified answer... but think of this as Mage Guild character enhancement!" It would appear Svil has lowered a young mageling into the well. For the second time in as many months.


Satoshi says patiently to Emielle, "I know, I know, the libraries are wonderful and I do adore them so, but it would take you four lifetimes to coil yourself around every book and shelf, m'dear." ~I know,~ the little serpent replies in wistful tones. Since arriving at the Mage Tower yesterday, the couatl had been given a thorough tour by Satoshi. Or at least as thorough as Satoshi could manage, although it wasn't quite as slow and in-depth as Emielle would have preferred it. Then again, Satoshi has a sneaking suspicion if they had gone at Emielle's pace, they'd still be on the steps at the entrance, examining the nooks and crannies in the stonework with a critical eye. So it was with a heavy heart that the magus has drawn her companion's attention away and chosen to go back into the outside world, namely the little village nestled beside the tower. Surely they can find something of interest here for the couatl. "...Well, speak of the devil." Satoshi stops short at seeing the very personification of her thoughts playing out in front of her, in the form of a wizard hovering over the town well and yelling remarks down to a mageling below. Emielle's head rises higher from the confines of the kit's coat to take in the sight as Satoshi draws nearer, the couatl hailing her brother with a flash of white wings while the foxkin salutes Svilfon. "New form of test, wizard~?"


Svilfon feels Alahir stirring before he's aware of Satoshi's presence. Something rare for the wizard, but his attention is somewhat divided and lacking now the extra bounds of their siring, it's not quite so easy to sense when the glacial magus is close. He's not yet spent much time thinking through that, though he feels he knows the answer better than Satoshi does. But this is one of those rare wise-wizard moments. He understands it's better for her to realize herself changes that have happened rather than him sharing his theories. The couatl, who wasn't really asleep, twists himself around to peer at Emielle, before flashing his wings in a gesture of greeting. Waves of joy come from the noble child of Emiur at seeing both his sister and her guardian. But he doesn't yet give life to his thoughts of greeting, instead he waits while Svil speaks after of course tipping his hat. "You could say that, lady icicle." He grins, the look far too crooked for his own good. "You may have heard there was some.. flooding in Larket." Just briefly the grin fades as Svil let's out an innocent whistle and rocks back onto his heels, before scuffing one of his boots on the ground. "I, of course, know little about it." He ahems. "But it would appear that these... wells... are not filled by the rare rain in the area. None of them are. They are... connected... I just need to find a door."


Satoshi feigns ignorance at the innocent whistle. If she doesn't know about it, no one can blame her for it, right? As the wizard speaks, the kit rests her palms atop the well's edge and leans forward, eyes squinting as they peer into the depths and seek out the mage student below. Her ears certainly have no trouble picking up the youth's swearing despite his voice kept to a low mutter. And Emielle has little difficulty reading the mageling's emotions over the distance, a mixture of annoyance, frustration, anxiety, and excitement. A cocktail the couatl has not yet encountered and now eagerly surrounds herself with to better absorb its meanings and nature. Satoshi glances once at the blissful, half-lidded face of the couatl before looking back down into the well. "Why a mageling? If you're looking for paths waters have found and taken, it's best to ask the waters themselves, no~?"


Svilfon spends a long moment looking at Emielle. He sees her interest in the thoughts and feelings flowing from deep within the well and it causes a thoughtful nod to almost dislodge Alahir, who was leaning quite far out to see if he can peer into the well beside Satoshi. "Studious and clever. You are lovely, Emielle." He smiles again as Alahir turns to his sister, and despite her quiet attempts at reading through the emotions coming below, begins to tell her the story of, ~He fought with the noble knight who looks after our brother~ Flickering images of the battle shift through the minds of those watching, though in them Svil seems to be doing a whole lot better than in the actual fight. ~And then...~ The words grow quiet as Alahir attempts to share them just with Emielle, ~I stopped him from hurting her. Do you think he would be proud?~ He doesn't say Emiur's name, though it's clear that is who he means. Svilfon has spent long nights telling stories to Alahir about how wondrous his father was, and its an ideal he's determined to live up to. With an absent gesture Svilfon lifts his hand and briefly rubs the top of Alahir's head, before speaking to Satoshi again. "Ask.. the water?" He peers at her for a long time, "I didn't really think it would listen... and a mageling? Because it builds character!" The last words are spoken pointedly down the well.


Satoshi's mind isn't on the discussion brewing between couatl siblings. As the kit's peering down into the well with a distant expression, Emielle turns half closed eyes toward her brother to better feel his story, eager for information. She is not a hasty creature, but when Alahir asks if Emiur would be proud, she does not hesitate in saying, ~Of course.~ What she knows of their father by his words to them through the shell and from Satoshi has instilled the cerulean youngster with a firm understanding of him, and she is quite certain Alahir takes after him more than any of the others. Even her brother's colors are similar to Emiur's, a thought that causes Emielle to self-consciously press her wings tighter to her body. Satoshi, despite her focus being elsewhere, doesn't miss this gesture, having grown used to the couatl's moments of uncertainty. Without a thought, the foxkin's hand is stroking Emielle's scales and feathers in equal measure, a silent reassurance that eventually draws the hatchling back out. Confident Emielle won't be dissolving into anxieties again soon, the magus returns her attention to the task at hand, which consists of conjuring a collection of ice into her other hand and reshaping it into a tiny mouse. Once the creature is complete and glistening, Satoshi drops it into the well, where it lands below with a soft plop. Already it claws can be heard skittering across damp stones in search of Svilfon's 'door'. "Well, if you want a mageling to build character -and- learn, I suppose I can give him another test. Oi~," Satoshi pitches her voice to carry down easily to the student then, "close your eyes, and draw up your magic in an aura around you. If you've been doing your studies, this should be easy. Now, I want you to use that aura to find the mouse. And once you do, -follow it-. Keep a thread of magic on it, and tether a thread where you stand presently." Instant mapping, mage style.



Svilfon doesn't miss Emielle's brief self-conscious display as thoughts of Emiur's undeniable beauty flitter through, nor does he miss the way Satoshi calmly reassures her with the simple gesture. Though the eggs are not his, nor even were they truly under his protection beyond him deciding they would be, he takes pride in this simple gesture; the way Satoshi coaxes out Emielle. He knew that despite her frosty exterior, the Frostmawian queen was the best suited for Emielle, and a fine guardian to her. Together, he knew, they would grow together. But such deep thoughts rarely hang around Svil for long. Alahir doesn't take long in beginning to preen himself in a gesture of great pride while saying, ~I bet he would have been too! I've seen many things with the wizard.~ He briefly rubs his head against the pointy hat in a gesture of affection, ~and even teleported!~ He shares the strangeness of teleporting with wizard through a series of weird sensations and a fire that doesn't burn as long as he's close to his guardian. ~He chose his friends well.~ While this goes on between siblings, Svilfon watches Satoshi again with a grin. "When I try to do that.. well..." Svilfon raises his hand, palm upwards, and focuses for a moment on making an ice mouse. All that happens is a bit of steam comes from the extended limb, though it does briefly look like a mouse while it floats languidly into the air. "No wonder the waters don't like me." He'd speak again, but instead he feels waves of magical energy coming from beneath the well. The mageling was trying to do what Satoshi asked, but being damp and grumpy is effecting his mood. Something Svil decides he'll rectify in a simple way, "Focus, or I'll put the lid back on the well and seal it shut forever." He winks at Satoshi as he feels upon the air the mageling's focus narrow to a point at the threat. And begin to follow the exploits of the frozen mouse as it seeks the ways in which this well and the others are connected. The wizard's not sure how good it's going, but he does manage a, "You may have to teach me that trick, clever lady of frost."


Satoshi smirks, without looking at the wizard. "If the mageling returns from this relatively intact, I shall. If he doesn't, you owe -me- a spell lesson. Also," here she glances up to flash Svilfon an impish look, "I don't count this as a lesson for the kid, unless he encounters an alligator or two. I can hardly be the One Lesson Lady, if all he has to face in his test are some slimy stones, eh?" Whether the mageling hears this or not, Satoshi can't be sure, although she can swear she felt his aura waver suddenly as if in alarm. Either way, the youth has his work cut out for him, as Satoshi has made the mouse particularly mischievous in its manner of searching, finding the most complex and troublesome pathway possible, with treacherous footing and narrow fits. All the while, Emielle is listening to her brother in enraptured silence. He makes teleporting sound so wonderful! It makes her curious why Satoshi had described it with dark loathing and unpleasant feelings... ~And you appear anywhere you wish? Without having to move your coils or flap your wings?~ the couatl asks, voice soft with awe. Satoshi scowls slightly.


Svilfon returns the smirk with one of his own; a somewhat feral look flashing between them both. He can almost feel the collective shudder in the Mage's Guild as these two loiter so close. "If he survives, I'll take the blame and say it was my lesson not yours. For the sake of your reputation." He tips his hat. "But if he doesn't, you're on. Any spell you like." For a moment he almost shudders himself at that. He knows a lot of spells that he's glad Satoshi doesn't, for the sake of his health when they fight! Though, in truth, she knows more than enough ways to hurt him as it is. "We'll let him go at it." The wizard, in a rather altruistic gesture, moves quickly to the other side of the well and drops a rope down, so when done the mageling can climb out and report on his findings. "I'll have to tell Oriyan to play nice with him for a while after this." Svil doesn't need to be told how mischevious Satoshi made the mouse. He knows her nature far too well. Alahir's thoughts have shifted entirely from their unique way of speech to a simple flooding of emotions. He's too excited in trying to explain how Svil vanishes and appears to be coherent, but he does make it sound devlishly fun! Something Svil is picking up on, and even quips in, "If you like, Emielle, I can show you one day... if Satoshi doesn't mind. Anywhere you wish to go, lovely one. Anywhere." He smiles at her, content to let the mageling struggle about beneath Hollow's surface, knowing he'll find out all about it when done.


Satoshi says in unison with Emielle's thoughts, "She'll want to go -everywhere-." Nodding, the couatl agrees and adds, ~Especially 'nowhere'. I hear much talk of the place but no detail. It is always just, 'I'm stuck in the middle of Nowhere.' Or, 'I'm going Nowhere, in Particular.' Is Particular a continent far from here?~ It takes a great deal for Satoshi to both hide her grin and keep her amusement masked from the pair of couatl. She's tried to explain to Emielle that these are just expressions and that 'Nowhere' is not a true place, yet the little serpent can't seem to grasp why anyone would call something by a name if it didn't truly exist. Arguing with the blind logic of youth is a dangerous and impossible mission that Satoshi has given up. Instead, the kit tries to distract herself with follow the mouse's progress and its attempts to torment the unfortunate mageling. So far, no alligators. Satoshi looks almost disappointed.


Svilfon does as good a job as Satoshi does of keeping his amusement hidden from his features and thoughts as he solemnly nods, "I will take you to a Particular place, where Nowhere is Everywhere, and Everywhere seems like Nowhere. Though, some say when you're there, you're not Nowhere, because Nowhere can't be any where you're near!" The wizard has to take a moment at this to work through what he said, which is met by psionic laughter from Alahir who too easily picks up on the vampire's thoughts. Svil did promise, after all, that he'd not mind the young couatl being privy to what's inside his mind, as long as he doesn't delve too deep. ~I believe, this is one trip I will remain behind for~. Svil gives Alahir a brief rub of his head, before leaning out over the well and speaking down into it. "Hello...hello... hello..." Echoes. "Did you find it?!" The words are met simply by their repetition, it seems the mage is too far gone to hear what Svil says. Which causes the wizard to grin. "I knew it." he says, almost to himself. "Satoshi queen, for this I will owe you much." That said, he tries again to focus on the mage's postion, wondering where he has been lead.


Satoshi actually flinches from the outburst of delight Emielle gives off, the emotion almost physical in its force and is especially unexpected from the quiet-minded creature. And it is not purely because the wizard promised to take her to Nowhere, but also the fact that he's just given her a riddle she can wrap her coils around and dwell over for days to come. It might as well be Christmas for this couatl. While Emielle twines herself up in languid, happy knots, Satoshi follows Svilfon's attention to the well, an ear cocked to hear the echoes. She can still feel the icy mouse as it grows rapidly more distant. "You were right, wizard~. I'll try not to sound too impressed." A jab made playful by the kit's wide grin. "Do you think we should follow~? If he's finding an adventure, we can hardly leave him without a proper chaperon." Adventures should be shared, dammit!


Svilfon smiles a bright grin at Emielle, one echoed by Alahir who finds his sister's enjoyment greatly satisfying indeed. He loved this wizard and ice magus; their games and their loyalty, their laughter and carefree way about each other. One he knew wasn't shared with most. This feeling flows amongst them all just briefly, before he begins to wrap himself around the point in the hat again. All the excitement making him tired enough to nap, despite the coming adventure. Svil would share it with him, after all. "Did you expect anything else?!" The wizard takes a moment to flash a proud grin at the snow queen, a gesture rather like ones she so often wears. "And... you wish to follow? I'm game, but it'll be dirty down there..." He can feel the mage growing more distant, following a twisting, turning path set by the mouse. "I'd intended to let him go alone and report to me his findings... but! If you're going..." He leaves the rest of those words unspoken. There's no way she'd have an adventure without him jumping in straight after her. It wasn't his job to stop her walking off cliffs, damnit! He was the one who walked right off beside her.


Satoshi always knew Svilfon was secretly a lemming in human form--after all, lemmings are much too small to wear wizard hats themselves. As such, the kit's answer comes in the form of a grin and her vaulting over the well's side, disappearing into its depths. An almost inaudible splash suggests a great fall, yet such is a lie, for the drop is short and easily made and the faint sound is only a result of Satoshi's knack for landing with little sound, even upon water. Or especially upon water, all things considered. It'd seem she doesn't care about the dangers of dirt and grime as Svilfon might have thought. Most of it is easily warded off by the protective enchantments of her coat and an aura flexed to repel moisture in the air. (How do you think she manages to stay dry in the rain, eh?) "Hurry up, then, master lemming~!" comes Satoshi's voice from below alongside Emielle's quiet intrigue. Both sound and sensation are rapidly drawing away as they delve after the mageling and mouse.


Svilfon briefly ponders diving head first into the well, but he decides against that. So he cheats miserably. Instead of climbing down, or attempting to be as eloquent as Satoshi was, he merely speaks a few quiet words and vanishes from beside the well. He appears again in its depths, sending a small cloud of steam out the top as the remnants of his teleporting magic fade, before he looks around in the darkness. This will not do. He murmurs a quiet few words, which causes a dull light to begin floating just above the point in his hat. He spies Satoshi rapidly following the mage and with a shrug and grin he yells, "Wait up!" Before trudging off after them. The walls are dark and somewhat slimey, and after a few moments beneath the ground caverns begin to open up around them; each one filled at the bottom with a layer of water, and it seems each has many paths leading from it. But Satoshi seems to know the way her mouse went better than Svil's rough knowing of where the mage is, so he's content at the moment to follow. "Did you hear that..?" The is a sloshing sound coming off to the side, "Maybe I should dim the lights..." He doesn't though, instead he looks over at the source of the noise and all he can see is a ripple in the water.


Satoshi resists the urge to look back at Svilfon. Unlike him, the foxkin doesn't require a lightsource to see by due to her own nocturnal vision and whiskers. At the same time, however, her eyes have adjusted to see in the dark, and so looking at the light the wizard has conjured would be a foolish move. Instead, she keeps her gaze set ahead and flicking to either side, wondering at the various turnoffs and caverns the tunnel possesses. All this, below the Mage Tower? Satoshi's suddenly glad she has the mouse's trail to follow, for fear she'd otherwise be lost down here wandering for ages. Not that Emielle would object, as the couatl extends her upper half out of the coat and stretches to look in every direction with slow, sweeping gestures. Satoshi pays the couatl little mind, her attention for the passage and the sounds echoing throughout. An ear cocks sharply toward the sound of sloshing and water rippling. "Probably just a rock," she says, as thoughts of a kraken's nest play through her mind.


Svilfon has stopped to turn and face the sound, and Alahir on his hat picks up on the wizard's worry. It is not worry for himself or Satoshi, he's far beyond that. It's worry for the couatls. Alahir can sense this and so he decides to take matters into his own hands.. or under his wing, as this case may be. He shares these thoughts with Svilfon, before a sense of resolve comes over him; there is no way young Alahir is going to let anything hurt them. So he uncurls himself from the wizard's hat, and quickly drops off the back, into the water. It is dirty, but he doesn't mind his wings getting covered in slime. He would protect them from this menace the best way he knows how! Which isn't actually a way he knows how, more... something he just does. An instinctual response to the coming trouble... He sends his thoughts out in a wave of force; a blinding, deafening, painful and devouring sensation of confusion and hurt; all his own fears shifted, multiplied, sent right at the coming creature with the force of a protective couatl. It means nothing to Svilfon that all the ripple was is a rock falling, dislodged by the power of their voices in a cave unused to such sounds. And when Alahir eventually ceases his tirade, the wizard is quick to bend down and pick him up and speaks in a voice entirely free of mockery. "Noble and proud, young Alahir." He lifts his free hand up and lets the couatl climb into his robes, where he travels around for a while, alarms when he finds Svil has a tail tucked into them, before popping his head out the top, which somehow has become clean. ~Let's carry on, wizard... they're getting away~ Satoshi and Emielle, that is. And Svil nods, before plodding on after them, soon becoming rather lost as they travel further and further. Yet something causes the lack-of-hairs on his neck to faux-stand-up. There was something in this cave... he was sure of it.


[A Roc scampered into view from the north. You said, "See?! It was just a Roc! *points at mob*"]

Satoshi and Emielle pause to witness Alahir's defensive measures, the former startled but impressed and the latter immeasurably proud. Whether a creature lurked beneath the surface or not, Satoshi doubts most would willingly approach a source of primal fear, pain, and confusion. Instinct drives predators from going near such things when there undoubtedly easier prey to catch among the rats and lizards. 'Most' being the keyword that keeps the magus alert. She hasn't lived this long as a wanderer by ignoring unlikelihoods, something she quietly passes along to Emielle to commit to memory. Trust no assumption. As the couatl nods and retracts into Satoshi's coat until only her head peeps out, the kit continues onward, with ears twitching and whiskers alert for any sounds of predator, lurker, mageling, or mouse.


Svilfon doesn't share such thoughts with Alahir. The wizard sees the world a little differently from the magus; he is alert insofar as he needs to be, but he doesn't teach to be overly wary. More - as Satoshi is as well - he likes to be simply prepared for any eventuality; an almost impossible task considering who his family is. But he's not dead yet! So his sense of wariness is a little different, yet there still. Almost. Regardless, Svil carries on behind Satoshi, moving deeper and deeper through the winding tunnels, occasionally catching the scent of the mageling, or seeing a tiny patch of frost where the mouse perhaps waited for him They are travelling east.. he thinks. Yet, there is something that's not quite right in these tunnels. Though, rough like the others, there seems to be a certain touch behind their randomness; a sentience amongst their twisting, turning ways... almost as if something carved them out for a reason.. He whispers words then to Satoshi, though the shifts in rocks strangely change some of the sounds, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more. " He said Sato and Xalious... honest.


Satoshi privately hopes it's a cowardly lion or idiotic scarecrow that carved these tunnels. Because she too has noticed the oddity of the caverns. They are neither smooth and orderly as structures by the humanoid races, nor utterly erratic and crude as nature might wrought. Something has cut these pathways with rough tools, or claw and tooth (Satoshi can't help but think of that nightmarish beasty in Vailkrin Kasyr's told her about). At Svilfon's words, Satoshi nods and slows to a stop. "I'm beginning to think alligators are the least of our concerns. I can't sense the mouse anymore." When exactly she stopped being able to pick up on the ice creature's presence, Satoshi isn't sure. She'd only been paying half-attention to it as a vague compass for their feet to follow. Attention had wavered during Alahir's display, at which point the kit realized all traces ahead have vanished, as if the rodent had been wiped clean out of existence in one move. Or passed beyond a barrier concealing magic. These are certainly not your average tunnels, Satoshi is convinced of it. Ghostlike tendrils spill off the magus then as she awakens her aura as mist and frost, urging it to fan out around her in the protective arrangement of half-furled wings. She'll not be caught flat-footed.


Svilfon has a sense unlike most other vampires. Something he learned from his wife, or perhaps even caused by his ties to her. But whether it's a scent on the air, a shift in the underground breeze, a ripple in the water... he feels some form of dragon is close... even as he can no longer sense the young mageling. He thinks Satoshi feels it too as she gives life to her fog. Though, what type of dragon would live down here is anyone's guess, but a plan quickly springs through Svil's agile mind. He quickly moves close to Satoshi before laying a hand on her shoulder, dimming his light and speaking through Alahir, so no sound can disturb whatever lays ahead. ~Young couatls... do you think you can disable a large dragon if Satoshi and I distract it..?~ His thoughts shift to a vision of a dragon still with bleary eyes. ~There's something I've always wanted to see if it was true... I'd have asked Emiur, but he wasn't for these types of adventures...~ Only then does the wizard begin to whisper into Satoshi's ear, "It is said, Satoshi queen, that within the minds of dragons rests a powerful gemstone. It has many names, most lost to time, but the one I like is draconite... It can only be taken from one living still... it would make you a fine birthday present, I think." He flashes a grin in the darkness, though he's not entirely sure what's ahead is even a dragon... these caves seem to be twisting his connections to the world around him in strange ways. Something he is not too comfortable with.


Satoshi's head tips to one side as she listens to Alahir's mind-voice and Svilfon's voice through him. Neither she nor Emielle answer right away, for the wizard's question is one that needs considering first, yet it is oddly Emielle who speaks first after a moment of silence. ~If it were not too large a dragon, perhaps? I don't know what their minds feel like.~ Satoshi picks up seamlessly where Emielle leaves off, her voice a whisper as nearly intangible as the fog surrounding her, "Alahir has had practice projecting his mind toward others, but Emielle has not. Nor has she met a dragon yet. However," here the kit turns a narrowed gaze further down the passageway, judging the heights and widths, searching for some clue marking walls or floor as to what cut its way through, "whatever's made these tunnels can't be overly large, and thus something we can handle with ease should the little ones not have the necessary strength." Although Emielle looks uncertain initially, Satoshi's confidence is infectious and she can't help perking up as the magus turns to face Svilfon again, whiskers almost curling with the feral grin spreading across her face, "What's the worst that could happen~?"


Svilfon simply offers Emielle a warm smile, one full of confidence in her - an unwavering emotion brought about by his trust that any child of Emiur has the seeds of greatness within them, especially one as lovely as Emielle. Alahir on the other hand is all for this plan. Though, his sense of honour has somewhat rubbed off on Svilfon of late, Svil's lack of concern and sense of adventure surely has rubbed off on him! ~We can do it, Emielle. We can do it, wizard and frosty one. By Sven's balls, we will not fail~. Svil grins even brighter as he senses those words, ones often shared between himself and Satoshi. Though, he can't help at wincing when Alahir speaks his less elqouent saying amongst his fighting one. "I think poor Mihsial," the young mage, "could tell us the answer to that." He winks at Sato, hardly caring, though thinking that Tiphareth is going to be telling him off if he depletes the number of young mages much further. The wizard points, then, further down into the gloom and darkness, made harder to see by the fog coming from Satoshi. "Onwards, then." Alahir climbs out and curls himself around the wizard's shoulders, ready to move if he has to. "Let's see what sort of thing lives beneath my mountains." Well, not his yet, but he says it regardless.


Satoshi bites back a laugh at the couatl's wizardly outburst. What Emiur would think of such comments, she can only imagine. Shaking her head, she moves to follow after the wizard, for now that the light is dimmed she's not risking blindness by keeping him in her sights, and at the same time her vulpine ears can monitor the path behind them, in case their prey turns predator. Unceasingly the magus' aura shifts and writhes around her, as tumultuous as a pit of enraged vipers and just as prepared to strike at the slightest provocation. Preparing in her own way, Emielle sits perfectly still and silent in the folds of Satoshi's coat, her mind sending out tentative waves in every direction. Probing mental fingers seek out the countless turns and nooks the tunnel offers, seeking out the minds of creatures larger than a rat. When her psionic radar brushes against a distant, unfocused mind ahead, Emielle goes rigid with excitement and fear before cautiously nudging Alahir's own mind to ask for his confirmation in what she'd discovered. ~Is it a dragon?~ While only a few days older than herself, Emielle views her brother as far more the senior, and thus the one to speak to before she jumps to conclusions.


Svilfon does not look forward to the day when Alahir starts asking quite what Sven's balls are. But he has to push such distractions from his mind and let it begin to focus. He is not as strong today as he would like; though his body heals fast, faster still when Satoshi lends her icy healing to it. But the source of his power is a finite thing, and he'd been exhausting it of late. But such concerns are not for wizards! They are for lesser folk, he decides, before pushing onwards into the darkness. When Emielle's silent thoughts seek Alahir, he follows their course. He had not sensed it yet, though his mind had been following the paths of the tunnels carefully. And he feels a spark of pride in his younger sister's perception. But he doesn't truly voice it now, instead he focuses on a mind that shifts and twists with a vicious mixture of instinctual and rational thought; a roaring in silence of a beast that cannot be reasoned with. One that will defend itself unto death. ~Just between you and I, sister, I've only ever seen one dragon before... the knight lady... she was more in control than this... but it must be, mussinit?~ With that thought, he nudges Svil in the direction of the sensation, warning caution. The wizard follows, moving in silence, one hand resting on the wall of the cavern as he traces it through into an opening which is too dark for his eyes to pierce, yet one the couatls assure him is where the creature rests. "It is here, Satoshi... I do not see it." His words are barely a whisper. "I don't suppose you have any more mice to send in?" Though foolhardy, he doesn't wish to approach the layer of anything so blind.


Satoshi is beginning to wonder how far beneath the Mage Tower they've come since descending into the well... but such errant thoughts must be reigned in, at the warnings given by couatls and wizard. Even if they hadn't alerted her, the kit would have noticed before fumbling into the lair, for her whiskers are keenly aware of the sudden disappearance of walls on either side, the shift in air's scent and temperature, and the cloying mixture of a beast's musky heaviness and the crossing of winds meeting through numerous tunnels. It's a confident or wily creature, that makes its nest in the center of a crossroads, where its back can never be protected. Carefully Satoshi peers around Svilfon, eyes wide and glittering like a cat's caught in moonbeams. But even her vision is not enough to thoroughly pierce the darkness ahead. You'd have to be a drow to manage that, or in possession of Kasyr's goggles--why hadn't she put similar enchantments on hers yet?! "There's something there... Not too big. Looks dragonish by the shape. Sleeping, maybe..." Satoshi can't be entirely sure, only able to pick out the vague outlines of a shadow within the shadows, unmoving save for the steady rise and fall of its sides. Leaning forward further, the kit sniffs delicately at the air only to clap a sleeve over her face to muffle a sudden disgusted cough. "Hellfire, does it -stink-." Voice muffled through her sleeve, the magus' voice is nearly inaudible as she shifts to whisper in Svilfon's ear, "That light you conjured... should we blind it and wake it up, or try to -keep- it asleep, in hopes the little ones don't wake it with their work?"


Svilfon almost laughs at Satoshi's reaction, only because he warned her it'd be dirty. But he is careful enough not to give in to such fleeting wants. He thinks over her words for a moment, before nodding to himself in the darkness. He whispers a quiet word to Alahir, who slithers his way down the wizard's body until he's resting in the water that still covers the floor of these tunnels. He sends a quick thought to Emielle, ~Come, lovely one, the wizard says it's best to get out of his way.~ He'd wait to see if she wanted to leave Satie's coat, before he moves off into the darkness, away from where Svil stands. Only then does the wizard whisper back to Satoshi, "Like a leech's breath." He shakes his head. "I think it will work best if we distract it. As much as I love our little companions, I don't think we'll get more than one chance at this. They are too young.. and if they awaken it before we're ready, we'll be stuck out of position with a dragon to kill... plus, it's more fun this way." He flashes her a crooked grin, full of excitement as the rush of battle begins to fill his mind. "Shall I, or do you wish the honours?" He snaps out his arm and summons his wand.


Satoshi sets Emielle down to slither off with her brother before straightening, expression one of fangs and feral eagerness. "Why not both~?" Is all Satoshi says in answer and warning to Svilfon, her own hand extending out with palm turned up. Something writhes within her hand, a fluttering blackness outlined by the lighter--by comparison--darkness around them. "I suggest closing your eyes." Waiting only a moment more to allow the wizard his own casting time and the couatl's time to close their eyes, Satoshi then lobs the contents of her hand forward. She rocks back on her heels then, watching it sail in an arc through the cavernous lair and come to land where she's judged the beast's head to rest--calculated by what she hopes are its snores and rank breath. Only then does the kit close her eyes tight and turn her head away. The instant the object hits flash, it transforms, unraveling from a bundle of shadows into a blooming rose of searing azure light, flaming petals unfurling as blazing leaves sprout forth. The cold flames burn bright as the flower comes into full bloom, threatening to blind any who look upon it while thorned frost begins to creep across the rock, water, and flesh in the lair's center, like aggravated, clinging ivy.


Svilfon likes Satoshi's attitude. He flashes her a feral grin right back, one full of fangs and gaps. "I suggest blocking your ears." The wizard then steps a little bit away from Satoshi and begins to chant a series of convoluted, vowel-heavy words. He carries on until the air around his body begins to waver in the darkness, shimering like the wizard was a source of great heat, though none comes from him. Finally, he keeps the last words on his tongue, waiting in silence as Satoshi lobs forth her attack, before he screams the last part of it. He figured by her warning she was using light, so he figured he'd use sound. He hopes the couatl's had heard his thoughts enough to wrap each other's ears up, for the final words he speaks shatters through the cavern like the most violent thunder-storm, causing loose rocks to rain down onto the cavernous opening. "Slimy-slug!" was what he said in that loud voice, and it echoes back and forth with tremendous strength. Only then does he open his eyes, letting them adjust to see what it is they have awoken and just how angry it is... though, in the back of his mind is a certain appreciation for Satoshi's magic. He always enjoyed it.


Satoshi blindly drops to a knee in a protective fashion over the pair of entwined couatl, while her hands, guided by their minds, curl over their heads and unseen ears. Her own protection comes in the form of her aura as it expands and enshrouds her before solidifying, well supplied by the abundant water in the area and thus able to produce a thick shell of ice around magus and couatls alike. Although not entirely soundproof, the barrier is thick enough to block out the worst of the noise, coupled with a shifting, slush-like consistency beneath the surface Satoshi has created to absorb and muffle the rest, like a giant snowy earmuff. When the foxkin emerges from the dissolving ice, her ears are only ringing slightly and she's grinning her appreciation at the wizard's tricks. Although the expression falters at the sight that greets her: her Azure Flame blossom has died down enough to be bearable by the vampires, thus illuminating an expansive cave, rough walls riddled with passages big and small, and ringed around a pedestal in the center, erected high above the usual water line and serving as perch to their target. What Satoshi had assumed was a horse sized creature turns out to be far, far bigger. All she had seen was the beast's upper body resting atop the pillar of stone, while the rest of its serpentine length had been wrapped in immense coils traveling down the stone and disappearing into the water. Rudimentary wings rest along the considerable length of spine, thin and fragile looking, and likely never been used for flight. Its forelegs are stout and short in the manner of the bull terrier breeds of dogs, with any signs of hindlegs lost with so much of its body underwater. But it's the head that captures Satoshi's attention most, as it's swung back in forth in obvious pain, legs too short to scrabble at wounded eyes and ears. It's a bulbous head in all directions but forward, Nature clearly having smashed its face into a brick wall while designing it. Ears are no more than holes on either side, eyes tiny, watery, and beady black, squished deep into the skull to make room for immense jaws. Most of the head consists of the jaws, in fact, a great, toothy affair that's broad and clearly powerful, with serrated canine fangs jutting out from the lower half. More teeth are visible, row upon row, plunging deep into its throat, as the beast opens its maw to roar in outrage and pain, its fury blind, oblivious to its attackers. Yet the wild flailing of its coils are a serious danger in themselves as the wyrm thrashes. That, along with the overwhelming stench that seems to wash over them like physical waves each time the wyrm moves. Satoshi's already staggering under the stench, her sensitive nose proving a disadvantage here.


Svilfon spends a long time simply looking at this hideous creation nature, mixed he thinks with the archaic emanations that filter from the tree above, has created. Svil almost wants it as a pet, because the grotesque wyrm would make him look gorgeous beside it. But he cannot dwell on these things. He doesn't bother to thank Satoshi for protecting the couatls, nor does he even look at them. His pale gaze remains on his target and he steps forward... into a tangible wave of dragon breath so foul it causes the wizard to stagger for a moment. Was this its breath weapon?! He was impressed, remembering just briefly a spell of stench he cast on Eboric long ago. Utilizing a similar defence to the one Eboric did, Svil reaches down and grabs a handful of slime and shoves it into his face, blocking up his nose with a filth he'd rather not think where it came from. That done, he begins to run forward right at the beast. He thinks thoughts of, 'be ready' to the couatls, unsure if they can even sense them, before he screams again in normal tones, "Down here, you lollygagging lizard!" He causes the dull light he early cast to flare up, showing exactly where he was to those dark, beady little eyes.. if they can even see after such a rude awakening. "This is the Xalious Tree, not the ugly tree! Go home!" Upon finishing those words, Svil readies himself to cast a fire-spell at its mouth, before its long tail coils out, and flashes from the left, striking Svilfon and sending him hurling into the wall with a dull thud. He slides down the rocks with a groan, before extending out his Xalious wand. "Eat this!" He whispers a word of power, causing a ball of fire to erupt forth at the creature. It strikes his side with tremendous force, but doesn't really do anything beyond enrage it further... now is when he starts to hope Satie is ready to go again, because otherwise he thinks they'll be digesting inside this creature for a lifetime.


Satoshi, sagging, is propped against the cave wall just trying to gather her reeling senses while the wizard charges into battle. But the wyrm continues to move throughout this assault, thus buffeting the kit with dizzying odors and crumbling rocks--those coils deal some hefty damage to the walls, after all. It's only when Svilfon draws his wand that things change. The wyrm freezes, not due to one of Satoshi's spells, but spellbound rather due to the presence of a piece of the Xalious tree. It twitches and snarls at the fire burst against it's side, yet still does not move from its rigid position. A thick, dark purple tongue lolls out of the beast's jaws as tiny, stubby nostils twitch in an eager rhythm. An almost purr-like rumble escapes the wyrm's throat then, although Satoshi is paying little mind to this, focused instead on drawing her watery scarf from her coat to be reformed about her face like a bandanna, to ward off the odor. As her mind clears, the kit shoots a cautious glance toward the enraptured monster before scooping up the couatl siblings and making her way across the waters, by means of frozen steps, to the other side of the wyrm. Whether it can see or hear after the prior assault on its senses is a mystery, for the beast is deadlocked on the Xalious wand by scent, and slowly it begins to draw its body backwards in the fashion of a snake preparing to strike. Jaws part and ropes of saliva drip from its teeth--where a chunk of what looks like mageling robes are visible--before the wyrm lunges in the direction of the wand with an elated roar. If it crushes a wizard in the process, all the better, right?


Svilfon watches the creature become enraptured by his wand with a strange look on his eyes. He is possessive of very few things, but his wand is one of them. He would not let it become little more than a toothpick to clear out the poor magelings remains from the many pernicious teeth. As it curls back, Svil stands and holds it above him, the very picture of defiance. "Come on then! Let's see how good wizards digest!" Badly, if you were wondering. But the wyrm never gets the chance to find out. For Svil waits for the longest time possible as that cavernous opening of teeth comes roaring towards him, blowing his robes to either side with the force of its breath. He waits and waits, until just before he's devoured he leaps upwards with all his strength. The force of the creature striking the stone beneath him is enough to send the wizard cartwheeling through the air, but he keeps his wits about him long enough for him to grab hold of the beast's body a fair distance from its head. He then begins to crawl his way up the slimy scales, which shred his hands. Finally, after what seems an age of bruising and bleeding he manages to make it to the back of the creatures head. "You want to see what my wand tastes like! Well, eat this!" Using the powerful archaic tool like a dagger, Svil begins to jab it down with all his strength, aiming at the beast's eyes. Over and over he does this, causing it to lose more and more control, until the instinctive response that the wizard hopes for comes: The creature's tail snakes up from the water, dripping droplets like a small storm, before it thrashes down in an attempt to crush the foolish vampire on its head. Svil waits again for the last possible moment, before he leaps forward. He is snagged by a rogue tooth, and ends up dangling from the wyrm's jaw.. but he's safe for now. Because with no longer a wizard there, the dragon has struck itself with great force upon its own head. Its incessant roar halts as it shudders with the force of its blow, and only then does Svil scream, "NOW!" It was for both the couatls to use this chance to keep it dazed, and also for Satie to begin to act. She was the mage with the swords, after all - she'd be doing the wyrm carving for its gem.


Satoshi, stowing couatls in the hood of her coat, leaves the siblings to their work. She is not a creature of psionics and so she has no reason nor business getting involved in the intricate weavings the young creatures must accomplish. Methods vary between the two as much as appearances, for Alahir is a couatl proud and honest, his mind a presence flung over the wyrm's own like a great blanket. If blankets were made of steel, that is. Alahir's presence and will are stern, dominating, and heavy in their manner, pressing down upon the wyrm with suffocating force, unyielding and thus subduing in its power. Impressive as his strength of mind is, Alahir is still young, his energies limited, and even he must admit with a sting to his pride, that he cannot hold forever. Nor would he manage against a larger or more intelligent mind. Fortunately, his has Emielle to aid him. Where Alahir's mind was enveloping, Emielle's is insidious if not as swift. She invests time in unearthing weak spots in the wyrm's mind, chinks in the armor that she can wriggle into and instill her will from within. Like a spider, she weaves a complex web of thoughts and emotions, suggestions of defeat, stabs of fear, whispers of confusion, all bound together by threads, thin and flexible, but unbreakable for these virtues. Between the two, alongside pain and bewilderment, the wyrm grows quiet, coils pulled up yard after yard to rest in an immense heap upon the pedestal, with its bleeding head atop it all. A low gurgling noise is made by the creature, the sound one voicing its submission so longs as its mind is tethered. All the while, Satoshi has not been idle. In fact, she was in the process of trying to climb the wyrm's slick sides when it finished the job for her by bringing itself up, thus depositing the kit right where she wants to be: next to its skull. Now's the tricky part... how do you break open a skull and remove a gem from the brain while it's still living? Killing things, Satoshi can do, no problem. She's damned good at it. Keeping things alive while delivering what should be a fatal blow... that's a new one. And then it hits her. If lightbulbs existed in Hollow, one would be lighting up above her head right now. "Oh ho ho, Kasyr, I love you more than ever today~," the magus snickers to herself as she draws back her right arm. The glacial limb transforms during the motion, shredding the satin glove encasing it to unveil a spike of solid ice where hand, wrist, and arm should be. The wyrm stirs then, blinking the ragged remains of its eyelids in the direction it scents Satoshi, mind distantly baffled as it smells the bite of Winter. Without delay then, Satoshi plunges her arm forward to puncture the skull and embed it elbow-deep into the brain's center, instantly willing the ice to begin melting and seek out any substance not quite 'brain-like'. Satoshi's nose wrinkles in disgust. "Ugh, it smells worse up close..." In little time the waters wash over a hard surface, immediately freezing solid again before the kit draws her arm back, hand intact and enclosed around something glistening amid blood and brainmatter. Holding it high for Svilfon to see, the magus beams through her translucent scarf. "We'll have to thank Kasyr for teaching me dragon brain surgery~!"


Svilfon is still dangling from the creature's mouth as Satoshi makes her proud proclamation and shows him the gem. "Wonderful," he mutters, his distaste mostly caused by the gush of half-digesting saliva that poured from its mouth and coated him from head to toe. With a grunt he wiggles himself back and forth until his robes tear and he drops into the water below. He remains underneath the surface for a long time, ensuring the slime on his face and the slobber on his body is all gone, before he pushes up; hat first breaking the surface with a small ripple. He shakes himself a bit, dislodging some water, before he looks up at Satoshi with a grin more natural to his jovial features. "So the book didn't lie... happy birthday." He tips his hat, which seems to already be dry, before closing his eyes and speaking to the two couatls. "I could feel it, Alahir and Emielle. I could sense what you did..." He could, at least in part, perhaps by being so close to the creature's now broken brain. "It is lucky between you two words are not needed, for words cannot express how proud I am." He lets out a flood of emotion at both couatls, letting them see how good they did, before he speaks again to Satoshi. "Now, lady icicle... as fun as this has been, I feel the need to breath the night air... or day air..." Time has no meaning down here. "I do hope you know the way home?" He grins, then. He knew, even if she didn't, and he'd wait there beneath the colossal beast for her to jump down before he got a chance to inspect her newest gemstone; the draconite.


Satoshi is equally proud of the couatls, as she makes apparent to their minds as they pop up from amidst her hair. If snakes could smile, these two would be beaming, instead they resort to preening one another's wings to congratulation one another and relish in their caretakers' approval. Holding the gemstone tight, Satoshi looks around to get her bearings. It's then that she notices the roof of the cavern, an elaborate network of roots, each one far thicker than herself and almost aglow with latent energy. Many end at unusual lengths and abruptly, as if they've been broken off or.. "...Eaten. This thing was -eating- the Xalious Tree," Satoshi snarls, offended by the very idea, yet amazed by the creature's adaptations. She sends a withering look to the brain-punctured beast then before turning on an indignant heel and disappearing from sight in a flurry of the present frost, all to reappear on a patch of ice on the waters below. Turning an eye up to the wizard, Satoshi calls out, "C'mon, we'd best get above ground and washed up, before we start smelling like that horrid thing too." Kit and couatls all shudder in unison at the thought. Satoshi is, at present, oblivious to the fact that her face is liberally splattered with the wyrm's remains. Namely the blood, which should be burning a vampire's flesh by this point...


Svilfon only now takes notice of his surroundings properly. He sees where the roots have been gnawed and can't help but frown, the look mixing with a fierce anger. But he controls it. They had finished what needed to be done, without even knowing it needed doing. Which is not at all how he will tell this story to the Archmage and Sublime Master. But regardless, he's soon following Satoshi, content to leave Alahir sitting in her hood with his sibling, glad in part that the two got to face adversity together. Ever is that how Frostmawians become close. His body is sore again, more bruises and blood to add to the last few days of fighting. But he is happy. Satoshi got her present, he got some excitement, and learned more of what resides beneath these ranges... something quite important to him. It is this thoughtfulness which makes him completely forget that Satoshi is covered in dragon's blood, and not flailing around like a normal vampire would... he merely follows her in silence until eventually they are under the dark night sky once more...


Satoshi unceremoniously flops back on the grass with an elated sigh--after she's safely removed the couatls. Fresh air. She hadn't realized how much she loves the feel of a cool breeze, until she'd spent the past few hours underground in stifling darkness. Even Trist'oth had more air currents than those wretched tunnels. ...Perhaps she'd like it more, if it were still flooded with water, has per the usual. "I wonder if we should go back and fetch that body? Stinky as it was, it was rather unique." Mostly, Satoshi's musing aloud for the sake of speaking at regular volumes again. But it is a valid question. "The magelings might want to study a one of a kind beast that ate the roots of our Tree." If only she knew that the unfortunate mageling from this evening had met his end because he'd stumbled upon the wyrm's nest of eggs. Sadly, Mihsial will not be warning anybody about that looming danger, as his remains sit partially digested within the mother wyrm's stomach.


Svilfon wastes little time in doing the same, before he draws in the cold night air. Well, cold for Xalious, warm still compared to Frostmaw. As Satie speaks, he replies quickly, "I think you mean... you wonder if we should send someone to go get the body. A group of young magelings... we'll make it a test." He nods at that with a snicker. "I don't think I could handle being stuck in a cave with that stench again. It'll be an age before I get it out of my robes." He shudders as Alahir slithers over to him, before curling up on his chest and letting out a sense of contentment mixed with pride at the four who braved the caves beneath to slay the beast eating the tree. "I also believe I might stay here for the night." The wizard was safe where he was; foolish are any who wake a sleeping wizard... sneaky are those who draw on them with charcoal! But foolish they are to awken them. "I think I'll look at your prize tomorrow... but be careful with it," as if he needs to say that. "We do not yet know what properties such a stone has." The book he read merely mentioned them in passing. None he could find spoke of what they do.


Satoshi had almost forgotten the stone was still in her hand. Now she lifts it up to the sky, putting the moon behind it so that the light filters through. Although still bloodied, glimpses of a deep, purplish black are visible beneath. Draconite. She'd only ever heard the name in passing on rare occasion. One of those trinkets of lore that had no basis aside from rumor. But then, how many souls are foolish enough to attempt digging into a still-living dragon's brain in search of mere fantasy? Answer: Two, maybe three, people, presently sprawled out on the grass together now. Grinning at this thought as Emielle coils up beside the kit's head, Satoshi tucks the stone away to dwell over later. For now, she's content to rest, lest the headache she feels brewing from that odorous onslaught takes hold. Still, she does eventually remark to the night sky, "You owe me a spell, wizard, but we'll call it even for the stone~." Poor Mahsial.


Svilfon replies to Satoshi quietly as his eyes drift shut, "Happy birthday, lady icicle." He's not actually sure when exactly it is, but he knows it's soon. That is all the wizard would say before sleep takes him, letting his body rest and recover from the pains of fighting a large dragon in its own lair. The second dragon he's fought in three days. Life, he thinks before he drifts off, has never been better...


Satoshi doesn't know when Svilfon's birthday is either, but she decides then and there that her present to him is to refrain from drawing on his face tonight. Congratulations, wizard, you've won one free pass from charcoal abuse. It has nothing to do with the kit feeling too sluggish to bother with moving. Not at all.


Svilfon doesn't know when his own birthday is either, though you can rest assured the first thing he'll do when he wakes up is check his face... damn giants didn't tell him last time for over half a day!.. so he will be thankful for the present, without doubt.