Kazamaru Ironworks

[MagnusXL]

Alexa's eyes narrowed disapprovingly, baffled at the group's recent display. Placing her drink down, she continued.

"Really now? You can all shoot fire out of your hands, engage in combat against dangerous meta-humans and do all these other fantastic things, yet you let spiders bother you?"

The powerful wine was already starting to talk for her, albeit unnoticeable to all but the most astute, slowly chipping away at her inhibitions. With a slight and nearly silent laugh, the woman allowed herself a faint smile as she continued, gesturing her right hand towards Ryugi casually.

"You're a man and now a father. Verily, you should act like it."

The spiders had initially escaped the frost paladin's attention, but she couldn't help to notice when the entire groups notice was brought to them in a flurry of sudden outbursts. Ryugi shrilled away like a little girl, Tomorrow was ready to smash things, and Raven was cowering on a perch. The only people not making deplorable fools of themselves here were Damion and Maximos, though arguably the THUNDER GOD might be forgiven.

Alexa blinked. Wait, Raven was on a perch?

The knight slowly turned her head to the location where the Raven's true form was resting. Raising her left brow, she studied the bird for but a moment, taken slightly unaware at her sudden transformation. With a sigh, Alexa resigned to the fact that people on Gaia were weird and that she really ought not be surprised by anything anymore.

Turning her attention to Damion, she continued.

"Please, would you care to elaborate? You must forgive me if I fail to see how the spiders help. I'm not as... knowledgeable in this sort of field as the rest of you are."

The phrase "Sorcery Abusing Heathen" was on the on the tip of her tongue, but she managed to stay it. As tolerant as she tried to be in this realm, she was still jaded and slightly hypocritical about the use of most magics. She was also a bit of a xenophobe, an aspect of her personality that was somewhat subdued thanks to both her time spent on Gaia and her friendship with the Dragon Warrior. Still, Ryugi and her new-found friends were an invaluable resource of knowledge, one she would be eager to exploit if they were willing to let her.  

[Tomorrow]

"I fear no spiders....only snakes." John replied to the paladin, looking down from where he was trying to coax Hono'o down to the paladin, to Maximos, to Damion, to Ryugi and Ryumi, then back to Hono'o. "Please honey, c'mon now, they won't get you, I won't let th..."

Maximos

"Damion...how do you feed them?"

John's eyes went wide, before he held his pot out, poking it towards Damion and giving it a shake at him for good measure, the mighty Norseman weilding his pot uneeringly. "Don't answer that!! She'll have nightmares for days!!"

He glared at Maximos - honestly, asking such a question. He was lucky they were in polite company, otherwise John would've stuck his pot where Max's sun didn't shine. Didn't he know how sharp Hono'o's nails were? It would be like sleeping next to a restless lioness! Sometimes John would wake up with scars he never knew he had, thanks to a restless Hono'o...  

[Ryugi Kazamaru]

Well now, it seemed like the Frost Paladin was a lightweight. Normally Ryugi would have said something in his defense. After all, seeing to the safety and well-being of his daughter included protecting her from such nasty things as spiders. Of course, he couldn't simply burn them away, because apparently they were friends of Damion. Ryugi couldn't comprehend it exactly, but he wasn't going to burninate Damion's friends, even if they were...strange.

I mean no disrespect, Damion. I just...really don't like spiders... However, I think several of us would appreciate it if your friends spent the rest of the evening safely tucked away wherever they won't cause any further...ah...issues. Ryugi was as polite about it as he could be. He didn't want to be rude, but one had to realize that most folks didn't care much for spiders, especially around young children. This was Ryugi's home as much as the swamp was Damion's. Were Ryugi in Damion's home, he wouldn't make such requests, but Ryugi preferred to keep a spiderless home if he could, and he certainly hoped his friend would understand.

Vargus, meanwhile, seemed undeterred by the ruckus and continued working to prepare the meal for everyone, even if several of her helpers had been drawn into the fray. Delicious meals did not make themselves~  

[Eternal Dirge]

Antifreeze green eyes flicked around the room to each of the seperate faces that regarded him, his upper lip trembling somewhat where his right canine lay hidden but for a flicker of occassional white. Damion was a very particular sort of predator not very far removed from the spiders he protected so ferverently. Being the center of attention was just as bad if they had continued on in their earlier behavior, caterwhauling and making a scene over creatures that could be found anywhere at all if one looked. Well, perhaps not these particular arachnids, but spiders were a common thing.

But like a man approaching a wild animal Maximos came forward in what was perhaps his least threatening fashion, even if he didn't have hands outstretched or speak soothing platitudes. His desire to learn and understand appealed to the tiny spark of humanity that still held sway over the feral mans mind, the spiders ceasing their own agitated dance to collect around his slowly spreading fingers and arms, leaving his wrists bare.

" Like this."

Without preamble or further thought on the matter he brought one chitin covered arm up to his mouth, sinking suprisingly sharp teeth into his bare wrist. The spiders reacted as any predator would in the precense of food, knowing what this ritual intailed to them, rushing forward to the edges of Damions mouth to sup at the tiny trickles of blood that escaped there. The elementals pupils expanded rapidly with the sudden rush of bloody vitality, the taste more than enough to set fire to his mind even if it was his own. With a slight quiver of breath he drew away to repeat the process to his other wrist, the tiny white spiders rippling with sudden red coloration. The vital liquid spread over their tiny bodies like water until the flow began to cease, silk webbing criss crossing over the new wounds like bandages as the creatures tried to protect their host.

As they fed and fixed, Damion said nothing at all and seemed to be in an entirely different place, tasting his own blood through a hundred different tiny mouths, the pinpricks of their tiny fangs like the cattlemans whip. The entire ordeal was perhaps the least orthodox method he'd ever used in such a peaceful setting and his head swam with bloody fantasy's that made it hard to focus. His blood stained teeth became bared in a faintly hungry smile, a druggy with his fix.

" Just like that."

He didn't expect the frosty female to understand the mechanics of it all, he didn't entirely understand it himself. It was enough for the Hydra to know that he could give for his home even as it payed him back in full, aiding him how it could.  

[Tomorrow]

John baulked as Raven hissed at him and lowered his arm slowly. "Ooooookay then." He said, before turning to look at Damion as he gave his little friends a snack.

He grimaced at Damion's obvious enjoyment at the sensation. Really? Did the man have no social attributes at all? "You are a strange, weird, disturbing little man." John said to Damion, shaking his pot at him, before the big Norseman returned to the kitchen to daintly continue cutting up vegetables.  

[Ryugi Kazamaru]

The strange business with spiders seeming to subside for the moment, Ryugi would move to take a seat again, clutching Ryumi in his arms as he glanced around to double check that the little white devils had gone. Now, Damion, please don't get any blood on the furniture. It stains terribly... I'm certain you can feed your friends more later, right? Ryugi chuckled as he started to settle until Vargus' voice came from the kitchen.

Dinner is almost ready everyone, so I hope you've worked up an appetite! I know I'm starved. She smiled and chuckled softly. She adored cooking, but she adored cooking for others even more, and it was rare that she and Ryugi had company of any sort, so it was a rare treat for her indeed.  

[Maximos]

Maximos looked at Damion quite like he was a marvel. Feeding spiders was an odd enough concept, but to have them revealed to be some sort of vampire spiders was even more amazing. The little creatures turned from white to red, and whats more they seemed to be affected Damion's mind in some way. The docile way he spoke, the almost euphoric look in his eyes. Part of him wanted to correct the other man on the etiquette of indulging in mind altering practices while in the company of others, but such didnt seem like it would concern him.

Still, the Shadow wondered what would happen if maybe the spiders were fed blood from a dead creature, or an undead creature for that matter. How did the link function? Regardless, he had another theory to test. Seemingly ignorant to the grossed out or otherwise unhappy reactions around him. He outright scoffed at John, putting forth the theory that a priestess of the Lord of Nightmares, would have bad dreams. The Shadow held out a hand to Damion and said.

"May I see one? I promise no harm will come to it." Vargus made a perfectly timed call. Science and exploration always did make Max hungry, but there was something else he wanted to test first...  

[Eternal Dirge]

A slight laugh escaped him as John and Hono left, the corners of his mouth turning up further. Hadn't it been evident before that he had few social skills? Hadn't it been apparent to everyone involved that he had left quite a bit of his humanity behind long ago? Damion was long beyond making concessions to others, only making the effort to appear normal when it suited him to do so. Here, in the home of one of his closest friends, was not the time to make such concessions.

" It's ok Ryugi, they are very good at not letting a drop escape. My little doctors."

Despite his somewhat drugged appearance his voice came out clear and strong, eyes slowly returning to their normal venom green undominated by the pupil. The spiders surged up his arms slowly but for afew of the larger spiders, remaining behind in the palms of his hands as a kind of guard for the rest as they sought refuge from staring eyes in the elementals hair. He hid those left over from Vargus as she came into the room to announce dinner. He was sure Ryugi wouldn't want him to frighten the mother of his newborn so soon after the birth and he had no desire to challenge the dragon as of yet.

" On your word, Maximos."

Damion held out his right hand, a single spider residing there in his palm about the size of a silver dollar. As singular as it was more features became apparent, the slightly bulbous body shaped much more like a drop of blood than the body of a spider, the way the legs came in close instead of spreading out like a regular spider. If Maximos brought it closer he would be able to see a noticable lack of fangs on the creature, instead replaced by a tiny mouth situated just below the eyes. The tiny creature passed from the brown skinned hand of it's benefactor to the paler one of Maximos placidly.

" He has no name, but he is second in command of the hive mind. Each of the spiders is linked in a way, not just to me but to each other. They feel the deaths of others but are able to close themselves off from all the others when it suits them."

He wasn't entirely sure if they could shut him out as the idea had never been all that enticing.  

[Ryugi Kazamaru]

Ryugi watched the exchange cautiously. Max's interactions with strange objects were always interesting, even if it was a creepy crawly little spider. Damion certainly had a strange way of doing things. Ryugi remembered when he was but your average man, but time had certainly left its mark. Hive-mind eh? Interesting. Perhaps there was more to these strange creatures than at first glance. They were still nasty, scuttly little things, but that didn't mean Ryugi couldn't appreciate them for their intricacies.  

[Maximos]

Which was good, because Ryugi was about to appreciate their intricacies more thoroughly.

Maximos accepted the spider rather kindly, he lift it up closer to his face and cocked his lead slightly to the left. His right eye took on a faint glow as Maximos ran the gamut of visions. Spiritual, magical, a sort of magical magnification. The creature had a mouth instead of fangs, it was red like blood which would not lend well to immediate stealth, and was almost shaped like a drop of blood. The Shadow smiled.

"Why, your not even truly a spider are you?" Max whispered to the small creature and then looked over it to Damion, grinned a wolfish sort of smile, and looked back at the spider and said. "No matter, if what Mr. Damion says is true your a perfect choice..."

And then he turned, stepping around the table toward Ryugi and said. "You can speak for your entire species...as an ambassador."

And now, Max was walking directly up to Ryugi holding the spider in his hand and counting on a few simple things to keep this situation in order. One, that over fear Ryugi was a knight. Two, that he would not make Maximos a liar by tossing a fireball across his living room at his good friend because he held a spider. Three, that newborns have no fear and no reason to fear. And four, that Ryugi would understand the value in what Maximos was doing when he fulfilled his promise to be a teacher to the young girl and cheerfully called out. "Ryumi!"

And then, if Ryugi was not running scared, Maximos would lower the spider directly beside the girl. He spoke, as if he knew she would or could understand him perfectly and said. "Almost everyone here has been made uncomfortable by these little creatures. But that doesnt have to be. As our bearer of hope, I would like you to meet Mr. Red Spider, he speaks for all the other spiders."

With that, he let Ryumi to whichever response she thought best.  

[Eternal Dirge]

One would assume Damion would get a confused pulse from his tiny friend, borne away on shadowy fingers to a fate neither of them could have expected. But to assume that would be to assume that you understood the nature of the swamp's wildlife, that you knew beyond a doubt that each and every creature was out to kill you, from the smallest ant to the apex predator that was Damion. The daemonic influence of the creature Dagon was felt throughout the entirety of the wetlands and had done so for generations. Not a single creature had been untouched by the warping influence of the 'god' who by all rights should not have existed within this particular realm.

The spiders had their own limited intelligence in the same way tribal barbarians had their own culture. While no one in the room may have understood it, they possessed a hierarchy, leaders and castes within their hive mind that was completely at odds with the natural worlds arachnids. The spider that rested so comfortably and unmovingly in Maximos's hands happened to be of the leader caste, a locus for the blood of their 'leader' Damion. From him others could be lead and directed without Damion himself having to be there. Instead of being subsumed into the greater intellect of the Hydra the tiny thing had itself a greater intellect than the others, like any of the Locus caste.

So maybe it understood abit of what was going on, scuttling in place on its long red legs to face the two dragons in the room, all 8 eyes lost in the greater redness of it's body. Damion followed them with his eyes, somewhat concerned for the safety of his tiny ally. He couldn't come to think of them as pets, nothing from the swamp could ever be treated as pets, but to treat them as individuals seemed odd as well.

" take care..."

As he spoke, he wondered if which he was talking to, Maximos, Ryumi, or his little spider.  

[Ryugi Kazamaru]

Ryugi very much wanted to get the little critter away from him. However, he wasn't going to be rude and make his good friend a liar. Ryugi's fear of spiders stemmed from a particularly bad childhood memory, of course, that was another story to be told at a later date. At the moment, he simply decided to trust Max and Damion to bring no harm to his newly born daughter.

Ryumi, on the other hand, was completely stricken with an innocent fascination with the little red spider. Her clear, red-pink eyes locked onto the little crimson arachnid like the eyes of a hawk surveying something, looking for any detail and trying to memorize it. She could seem to make out that she was being spoken to, and being spoken about, strange for something so young. However, as Max, Damion, and especially Ryugi would watch, Ryumi would smile a soft childish smile, and gently reach out a tiny hand toward the little red creature.

Then, most surprisingly, Ryugi would feel a light warmth in his hands, and his own magical detecting eye would spy some soft radiance emanating from the little form of Ryumi. It was positive energy, and the light of spirituality. It was a calming warmth that seemed to speak of her curiosity, and her desire not to do harm to the little creature, and, in fact, to try and communicate with it.

Oddly enough, both Ryumi and the spider were somewhat alike. Neither could really speak as fluently and openly as the other beings in the house. However, they had emotions, thoughts, and wills. If the spider did indeed have some sort of mental connection, even on a primitive level, it would understand Ryumi meant no harm, and rather, wanted to be friends, if it had the concept of such a thing. It wasn't exactly telepathy, but it was some form of enhanced empathy, not unlike the abilities of her mother, Vargus.

Even as a baby, not even an hour old, it seemed Ryumi already had some rudimentary form of elemental power and control... Ryugi, of course, seemed dumbfounded. Not that his daughter was displaying such abilities, all dragon younglings did, but he was confused by her actions. I... I think she's saying hello... Do you feel that, Max?