LizardFolk Burrow

ZardJ'Tali eagerly followed along, curious at what she was about to get from Grammy. She looked on in even more child like wonder to being told she could get some new ability by... Eating a rock. She instinctively looked to her own water spirit some, then back towards Grammy. "... Could fail... So i eat this and i could fail and have no water to keep alive?" For such an excitable Lizardfolk she was clearly thinking about her own survival still.

"Indeed, however if you ate this one you could fail and still have your Lesser Water Spirit Stone. However the ability you'd get from eating both will give your a chance of obtaining either both of what they would have given you or a special ability stronger than what you would get if you eat either one of them." Zardgrammy said glad that the oldest of the hatchlings was actually thinking this through rather than merely jumping at the chance to get stronger without considering the potential consequences of her actions. She would wait for Zardj'tali to make a decision before offering anymore advice as ultimately it was her decision she merely provided the knowledge to make such a decision possible.

She made up her mind, holding her hand out for the earth stone. "Then... Can eat one then other?" She had made her mind up to eat the earth, but her desire to be cautious and not take away her ability to get water was stronger. "Want to get strong, protect zardfolk and Grammy,"

"It is more risky that way, it's best if you want to eat them both to eat them at the same time or just pick one and eat that one. Maybe try eating the next one after you rank-up." Zardgrammy said trying to warn the young Lizardfolk against attempting to consume two of the Lesser Spirit Stones at different intervals. She knew others who had tried such a thing before and it had not ended up well for them to say the least. Still she could see that the young Lizardfolk was considering her choices carefully though she seemed set on doing it seeing as she wanted to become stronger and able to protect the rest of her younger siblings better.

J'Tali nodded enthusiastically, taking the advice she was given that would be the safest for her. With one last long look at the Earth stone, she clenched her eyes shut as she tossed it in to her mouth to consume the rock. "Ah! Tough to chew," she would do what she could to eat the rock,hopeful that it might work.

Zardj'tali would chew the Spirit Stone and immediately would feel some part of her was quickly becoming filled even though she was already at maximum capacity. However she likewise gained the knowledge that she could do something about it seeing as she felt that she had gained another skill. Zardgrammy would look at the young Lizardfolk before her awaiting the display of whatever skill she had gained hoping that Zardj'tali had been successful. If she hadn't then she would most likely die in a couple of hours from the Mana Burn currently wracking her body that is unless she could find a way to endure until its effects ran out. She was slightly disappointed that Zardj'tali hadn't decided to eat both Spirit Stones as she recognized that the Lesser Earth Spirit stone had been claimed from a Myconid and thus was more likely to ensure a success which if they had been consumed at the same time could of given her a stronger racial skill and as a result would of given her a chance for a more powerful Rank-up later on.

Spoiler:

ZardJ'Tali shivered as the effects took hold, and she looked back to Grammy with wide eyes, "I-I feel strong! Like... Like can be hit by rock and not hurt," She suddenly dropped down to all fours and shuddered all over. Doing so however dropped the little fragment of egg that she just as quickly stuffed back in to her rag 'shirt'. "Bit itch though," She thought over her options from there, but she felt sore and tired. "I go rest up if Grammy no need me?" Once she was let go, she would trundle back to where she had laid as an egg, to curl up to slumber away her injuries.

She would not have a restful sleep but she would manage to survive the night as she healed away the damage that her Mana overload was inflicting to her in addition to the minor injuries she sustained during her fight with the Myconid. When she woke up she would awaken actually feeling stronger than before not just because she had gained an elemental skill but also because she was still growing and thus was able to gain levels as long as she kept surviving day by day. Still when she woke up she would notice that she was rather hungry and if she didn't want to get even hungrier she would probably have to go back out of the Den and hunt some more.

Spoiler:

The trek back felt like it took longer going out. Of course, the two Zardlings were carrying back some prized loot which would make sense for them to take a bit longer to get back. Keanu wouldn't know how long this food would last, guessing that it might not last too long and that there would be another chance at hunting coming up soon. Still, he felt proud that he and a fellow Zard both downed two creatures to bring back and feed on, and on their first outing too! He'd hope their next hunt would be just a big of a success as this!

Indeed when they arrived many of their Kin would actually look at them with slight awe as out of all of those who returned they had the largest haul sure they weren't the first to return with something in fact by the time they got home everyone who was going to return had already done it but it was worth it. However Zardkeanu was right to assume the food wouldn't last all that long, there were some of them eyeing it with obvious hunger mainly among those who had either not gone outside to hunt or weren't lucky in their hunting endeavors. Zard Grammy would notice the two before smiling while nodding at them wordlessly congratulating them on their hunt, hopefully they would share with their brethren but she would not force them to do so seeing as it was their kill. Either way regardless of what they wished to do or not it was getting late and Zardteak would yawn before dragging the Kama Mantis over to a corrner of the burrow and curling up about 4 feet away from it.

OOC: Here goes, not sure how to RP this so don't judge me.

The world Ignacious, or Iggy as he had decided to be called, had always been darkness. Though, one had to wonder at what point had he decided to be called Iggy, or even knew his name was Ignacious. After all he hadn't been born yet, he didn't even know what a "name" was. However, as if some unspoken law had been written in his developing mind, Iggy new that this would be his name, something which would establish him as a being in the new world. Light began to crack through the void of warm darkness. It pierced the blackness like a spear, burning him, but possessing its own, different warmth. At first he experienced only fear and confusion, but then, as the crack widened, he learned the emotion of curiosity and stretched his new, clawed hand towards the crack. Grabbing hold he tried to pull himself closer to the light but upon even the smallest amount of tension on the edges of the crack, it gave way and crumbled in his hand. The crack widened beneath his touch as he tried again and again until finally, the entire void split open and shattered around him, bathing him in the warm light.

Iggy closed his eyes on instinct, the light too much to handle at first until, slowly he began to open them. Shadows took shape slowly as he blinked away the darkness and allowed his eyes to adjust to this new, strange world. Around him were odd, round shapes, mostly white or light brown in color. Beneath him was a strange, yellow, crunchy material. It tickled his skin and he ran his clawed hands through it carefully to inspect it. Then, off in the corner, he noticed a large, gargantuan shape begin to take form. It was massive compared to anything else around him and he immediately stood, baring his teeth at the creature.

OOC: From now on any who join or are reincarnated should assume that they have already been born and will start at Level 6 or whatever level is equivalent to the amount of days the other members of the Lizardfolk are currently on. *Note: if the Level is 100 it will be assumed you got to that level by just surviving thus causing you to be unable to Rank-Up. ^.^

Zardgrammy would look at the egg left by her daughter kept away from the rest because she didn't know whether or not it would hatch or not, sure enough when it did the young Zard would emerge and bare his fangs at her causing her to chuckle a bit. He would be a bit stronger than the rest were when they hatched if only due to the pedigree from his mother but that would merely translate into his starting levels which could be as much of a curse as it was a boon. Still he had hatched and it was now up to her to give him his Lesser Water Spirit Stone and send him on his way knowing that like her daughter he would probably come up with a name for himself at some point. "Peace little one, if you are that hungry eat your shell. Or don't this generation sure is weird though I could see why some would keep it after all it is some manner of additional protection as meager as it would be. Still welcome, you are a Lizardfolk just like I am, unfortunately this day marks the first day of the rest of your hard life, you must hunt and survive if you want to live that is just how it is." she said before holding out her hand where the Lesser Water Stone was and waiting to see if he reached out to take what she was giving him.

"This is a Lesser Water Stone, it can make water for you to drink, bathe and wash things should you want but it will eventually run out. Either way you'll find the rest of your brethren that way. Good luck." she said pointing down the hollowed out tree that that had re-purposed into a burrow so that he could make his way to the others who were probably just waking up to start the new day.

Spoiler:

The large creature's voice was somehow soothing and instinctively Iggy closed his mouth, no longer baring his fangs. He stood up straight, cocking his large head to the side to listen and observe the giant. Somehow he understood her speech perfectly, the words and meaning making total sense in his mind. He reached out and took the odd stone she handed him, carefully. He inspected it, confused by what exactly it did, but knew enough that it was important. T-th-thank. You. Thank you. He tripped over his words, his tongue moving in new, confusing ways. His own voice sounded odd to him, scratchy and raw, as if not being used for years when in actuality it had never been used. He pondered this for a moment before trying again, Thank you, Zard...grammy. There, that sounded better. His gaze followed her outstretched hand, noticing the cave he was in with her went deeper, or perhaps that was the exit out of here. Either way, it was a start and Iggy quickly climbed out of the nest and began carefully walking towards the opening. His legs wobbled at first, but he quickly got the hang of this new "walking" sensation. Stepping into the short tunnel and out into another chamber, Iggy looked around at the other sleeping Zards. He was unsure what to do next.

The young Lizardfolk would walk into the area where the majority of his kin were just waking up, a few of them had already formed groups but the majority of them were seemingly not paired with anyone which made his options rather plentiful. For instance he could choose to try and go at it alone and get experience hunting without anyone judging him or tripping him up, he could try and join one of the groups which had already been established after all there was safety in numbers or he could try and from a group with one or more of the other Lizardfolk who like him had no friends. Either way some of the Lizardfolk were still asleep but that happened since not everyone got back home at the same time. So what was it going to be, sure he might have started late in comparison to others but it didn't mean he was necessarily behind since some of the Lizardfolk had chosen not to leave the safety of their burrow on the first day.

Iggy would look around at the Lizardfolk waking up. Some still slept, others formed groups and chat amongst themselves. Some of the more advanced, older looking Lizardfolk even helped one another strap on rudimentary armor. He looked at a few of the Lizardfolk standing in the corner, their eyes shifting. They looked nervous and confused and did not talk amongst one another but instead stared at different groups as they head out into the wilderness. They seemed weak and frightened and Iggy had no interest in them. The others, the grouped ones, seemed already established and admittedly advanced compared to Iggy who had literally just been born. He was smart enough to not approach them, not yet anyway. It was far too early for that. He'd need to go out and prove himself first, show the others he was worthy of joining them in the outside world. With an angry snort, he strode out of the burrow and into the bright sunlight of the morning as it broke through the trees.

[/exit Burrow]

Keanu woke to another day. It felt different from hatching, yet the same. You were still surrounded in a darkness, but there was air to breathe and a coolness floating around that didn’t make his surroundings stuffy and suffocating. Even more pleasant was that he didn’t have to break out of a shell constantly, and instead just open his eyes to see the bright world around him. There were more faces than he recalled seeing, but that was quickly dismissed as he looked around for Teak and if they had anything planned for that day.

Zardteak would wake up and surprisingly the other Lizardfolk hadn't actually decided to completely eat the rest of their food but had instead left the two arms which bore the kama like blades which gave the Kama Mantis it's name. Sure enough he would notice his youngest brother wake up and start looking for him prompting him to wave and beckon him closer. "Morning, you ready to get more food today?" he said with as much of a smile as a Lizardfolk could make seeing as he was still sort of riding the high that was their hunt from yesterday. Hopefully they'd have just as good of a harvest that way they could eat even more and he could maybe trade food for favors from his other brethren.

Keanu picked up an arm and began to nibble around all but the actual exoskeleton of the blade and a segment of the leg it was connected to. “You think we can use these?”, he asked, inspecting the spikes that lined along the inner curve and tapping it on the ground. Keanu pulled out some more of its meat from inside the blade, but careful not to break the leg apart or crack the skeleton itself.

Zardteak would shrug as he wasn't the brightest of Lizardfolk so he didn't see the potential use of the Kama Mantis' bladed legs but he would try and follow Zardkeanu example mimicking him and trying not to damage it. "Maybe we can use it to cut things like the Kama Mantis did?" he said still sucking some of the meat out of it and kind of understanding where Zardkeanu might be going with his question. He didn't really seem to see any other Lizardfolk with weapons though so maybe it wasn't a Lizardfolk thing or no one but Zardkeanu had even thought about scavenging monster parts as weapons.

Spoiler:

Keanu nodded only to confirm to Teak that's what he was thinking. Now there was only testing it as a weapon and seeing how to use it and how effective it'd be. The way he recalled it being used though, these blades seemed to be pretty lethal, or at least they were when the mantis used it. A quick sip from the water stone as he waited for Teak to finish his meal and Keanu got up. He felt incredibly confident. "You ready to go hunting again?"

Zardteak would nod before getting up and walking towards the entrance of their burrow after their successful hunt yesterday he felt much better about going outside especially with Zardkeanu at his back. "Do you want to go back to where we hunted before or should we head in a different direction this time?" he remembered that they had went further south last time but if Zardkeanu wanted to explore somewhere else then they could easily go there instead. On the other hand they were at least familiar with the Southern forest and it could potentially give them the opportunity to kill more Kama Mantids even though they were somewhat dangerous. His reasoning was that since they were able to kill one before they probably could kill one again especially since they now had weapons that they lacked previously.

(Zardteak Exits. Post in the other topic unless you want to linger in the cave for a bit longer?)

ZardJ'Tali awoke after a little more activity in the cave it seemed. But for some little bit of time she had actually sit in her spot a little while, finding herself grooming another young Zard, a younger 'sister' perhaps, but she knew she had hatched the same day as she had during her absence. She no longer seemed to feel the dull buzzing throughout her body though from eating the Earth Stone, that was a good sign right? Stroking her tail she stood, going to investigate the others heading out again.

Iggy strolled back into the cave just as the sun began to set in the distance, the sky turning a blood orange to mark the end of his first day outside the Burrow. Beside him walked Zardsnow, a Lizardfolk who had more than proved herself out in the harsh wilds and someone Iggy was not only beginning to find himself very attracted to, but also discovering a deep respect for the white scaled Zard. He touched his nose gingerly, the worst of the damage already being shed thanks to his natural ability as a Lizardfolk. His belly was full and his wounds mostly healed but he still ached with exhaustion. His new muscles felt like they would tear with each step by the time he reached the sleeping chamber and his bones groaned with fatigue. The loose straw which made up a Zard's bed looked like a soft cloud by the time Iggy found an unclaimed one towards the right corner of the chamber. Tomorrow then? I plan to go out again. Iggy said to Snow as he sat down in the straw. He wasn't sure where she slept or if she even had a claimed bed, but he also didn't mind if she wanted to share his space with him, you know, for body heat. He didn't press the matter though, instead wanting to see if she'd ask herself.

A couple of things happened within the otherwise uneventful burrow when Zardj'tali woke up, the first being that her fellow Lizardfolk were huddled against her though when she stirred so did they and most of them began to go about their business. On the other hand there was one leftover who hadn't said anything when she noticed she was being groomed by the first born she had a piece of shell which actually covered most of her snout but other than that looked like the rest of the Lizardfolk. However things got particularly interesting when Zardiggy decided to walk into the burrow followed by a larger Lizardfolk causing Zardgrammy to immediately perk up and let out a gasp.

"Zardsnow! Wait, your size you managed to Rank-up?! You deserve a new name then." Zardgrammy said extremely pleased that one of the previous egg group had returned especially since she was part of those who had been missing and presumed dead. She would beckonher closer and hold out her arms  as she wished to inspect her as it had been twenty days since she had last seen her. "Yes..I'm home, though I wouldn't have been if not for Zardiggy here." she said moving over to Zardgrammy once she acknowledged Zardiggy's role in her retrieval and allowing the old Lizardfolk to fret over her. "I see, you weren't able to adapt it's fine even though this Rank-Up isn't ideal even with this your offspring will be stronger than most. Zwardsnow, I'm glad to have you home. she said rechristening her thanks to her successful Rank-Up. She would nod at the new name and then look for Zardiggy to find him laying down which would prompt her to sit next to him and shed her scales in preparation for sleep as well.

Lizardfolk Burrow:

ZardJ'tali found herself smiling and content as she awoke to find her fellow folk huddled around her. It just felt nice to be like this, to be warm and inviting. She watched from a distance as two more joined them, and she shared some surprise seeing the larger lizardfolk walking in with a younger. There was just something about her, but she didn't know what to say, had nothing really to offer. As she had stopped grooming her 'sister' she stood up and wandered a little to stretch herself off again and yawned. But now she was curious, hurrying over to Zardgrammy, "Hey, who this? She really big. That normal?" It seemed even after a day she wasn't losing the speech pattern.