Announcement LAY YOUR HEART INTO MY PERFECT MACHINE

METEOR

In the pharaoh’s quarters, Meteor stood still as he waited for Xanti to finish with the pharaoh regalia. By now, Meteor had the piercings for his ears and face for the golden chains to adorn him. As if the ram horns framing his face weren’t enough. But that was the point, wasn’t it? Communicate without words: I am the pharaoh. Ritualized. Communication.

And leadership was communication. By Requiem and Vayu, he spent most of his days talking through problems.

“Meteor.” Xanti’s voice cut through his thoughts, and Meteor’s eyelids flickered, though he kept them closed least an errant gold chain thwak him in the eye. “Will the summer tournament be to the death?”

“No.”

“If Valerius was alive, he would—” Xant’s telekinesis slipped; a gold chain slipped from his ear. Meteor kept his eyes closed; Xanti’s minor trauma responses were no threat. By Requiem and Vayu, he hoped the cheetah had some catharsis from mutilating xyr parents’ corpses. With Seamus, xyr brother, dead? Meteor didn’t envy Xanti’s current mindset. “—have already planned on fights to the death. In your place, Valerius would’ve already had one in ten cannibals slaughtered and eaten for entertainment.”

“Valerius didn’t understand the value of loyalty. Cannibals who will kill even their own friends at my command… spiraling into infighting is inefficient.”

“Inefficient in the long-term, but we’re months, maybe weeks, away from—”

“Xanti.” The lion’s golden eyes opened. “You’ve always bet on me. What about the current problem makes you doubt my ability to solve the problem?”

The cheetah narrowed xyr golden eyes in thought. Then an exhale as shoulders relaxed. “I wouldn’t bet on anyone else.”

Meteor nodded. The golden chains rattled. Xani clicked xyr tongue and affixed the last chain from left horn to nose ring. “That was the last.”

“Good.” Meteor tilted his head to pop his neck, but refrained from further stretching. Took self-discipline not to rip the finery off himself. All this gold was heavy! Almost as heavy as a crown would’ve been, he supposed. But he was becoming accustomed to performing as a narcissist-ram for the prosocial-sheep.

Xanti opened the door. And the two slipped out into the empty cave system.

The Descendants of the Departed had already gathered at the Bloody Falls for the morning’s evening. Nobody walked the torchlit passageways except the lion and the cheetah. This felt like years ago, when younger Meteor had, as a vizier, held an emergency meeting while Valerius had been incapacitated. Back then, Xanti hadn’t yet chosen the medical path and had been xyr apprentice.

Almost entirely, Meteor thought with a smirk, because Meteor had been the only one who could reason with Xanti. Just. Like. Meteor. Meteor’s mentor had been antisocial, too, though not nearly as intelligent as Meteor or Xanti. Funny how the antisocials stuck together. And the prosocials, for all their claims of empathy and peace, always succumbed to divide and conquer tactics.

“Don’t expect me to assign you a task.” Meteor glanced at Xanti. “I know you’re itching to slice that prisoner.”

Xanti smirked. “You know me well.”

Through the cave system, Meteor and Xanti followed the lava down to where the Descendants had assembled at the Bloody Falls. Meteor’s paws stepped on black sands. As the crowd turned to look at him, he walked alongside the steady river of lava seeping out of the volcano’s heart.

Then, he turned to face the crowd. The sun had crested the horizon an hour ago, and the morning rays hit him from the left. All that gold gleamed and glittered. At his back, the blood-red waterfall. To his right, where the river of lava hissed against the ocean.

He glanced through the faces in the crowd. Xanti sat near the front. Vale—in an odd skullfaced fox-like body—sat near one of xyr many friends. Meteor smirked, then lifted his chin.

“I’m pleased to see all of your faces. Thanks to all of your efforts, the damage from the eruption and earthquake was minimized, and we are overcoming this catastrophe. We will be stronger for overcoming Vayu and Requiem’s trials.”

Meteor tilted his head. The sunlight gleamed off the chains and piercings. “Therefore, I am finalizing the plans for our Summer Tournament. The sign-up for gladiators will open in a fortnight, and I expect anyone of age to participate. There are no consequences for losing—only a prize to the ultimate winner—and this will prepare us for the coming trials.”

Meteor glanced to Xanti. His golden eyes narrowed, and then he looked back to scanning the crowd’s faces. “Xanti’s brother, Seamus, was slaughtered upon the mainland. All of us—including me—will miss his delicious barbeque cookouts.” He inhaled. He didn’t have to fake the rage which crossed his expression. “His killer has already been caught: Project, knight captain of the Horde. Xanti will handle his punishment, and then we will return the fool back to his people, as Project should have returned Seamus, regardless of his actions upon the mainland, to us alive.”

“I ask that all of you refrain from attacking the Horde.” However, a shadow crossed Meteor’s face. “For now, anyway. If the Horde wishes to retaliate? Then we prepare for war.” Then a half-smirk.

“As for the state of the Big Island… the cleanups of the various beaches and reefs are still ongoing, but fish and other marine life have begun returning. Likewise, now that we have earth elementals assisting with the reforesting efforts, the land ecosystems are recovering. However, all of you are encouraged to eat chicken eggs as part of your daily diet. We don’t want to overtax the recovering ecosystems, hm?”

Meteor looked to find Knox in the crowd. “We have Knox to thank for Chicken Coop Cave.” A slight smirk. “For its initiative and management of this vital project, it is promoted to Doctor. Given the current crisis, Knox and her chicken knowledge is absolutely vital.”

Then, Meteor would look to find Dead Eye. “Likewise, with these trials from Requiem and Vayu, I have decided we need two inquisitors for balance. Dead Eye is promoted to Inquisitor of Destruction.”

Meteor’s gaze swept the crowd. “Now, with the announcements out of the way… we still have many trials ahead, but we will survive by working as an efficient collective. If anyone would like to prove their merit, please step forward and request a task.”

TL;DR:
- SEASONAL TOURNAMENT will kick off this month after Axiom does some testing fights with xyr own characters, so keep an eye out around mid-July for the signups!
- Xanti’s brother, Seamus (npc, a fantastic bbq cookout guy with a charming smile who was missing from the Big Island since volcano insanity), has been tortured and killed by Project, Knight Captain of the Horde. Xanti has captured and tortured him for vengeance. Meteor asks that everyone accept Xanti dishing out this punishment and make no move against the Horde… but if the Horde retaliates for Project’s punishment, Meteor will unleash the cannibals.
- Fish and other marine life have begun returning to the reefs! Please continue to clean up the beaches and reefs.
- The Big Island’s forest ecosystems are recovering; still in progress, but Meteor is planning on importing wild boar from the Emerald Isles to assist with the food supply.
- Knox is promoted to Doctor (chicken specialty), shout out to her awesomeness at recruiting an earth elemental AND figuring out how to keep chickens!
- Dead Eye is promoted to Inquisitor of Vayu.
- Step forward to request a task!