Chapter 54: Spelunking
Gallus’ head rang, so badly he had to hold it. All of his senses were numbed except his ability to feel. One thing was sure: He was upside down, as the gravity was clearing pulling him by the top. But whatever he was laying on it was soft. His memory of the last few moments started to come back: The arimaspi trapped him and Grandpa Gruff in the storage house for pillows and mattresses, crushed it down, and after that everything started to spin and he could feel the banging all around him until everything went dark. The aforementioned objects seemed to have softened his fall, yet he was still unsure where he was. He tried to feel about, but he reached a mattress only inches away from him; in fact, he could fill them and pillows all around him, almost fully pressing against him and he couldn’t move them away. Then he felt it - that familiar, horrible feeling he wanted to avoid as much as possible. Even though he couldn’t see it, he felt the walls around him closing in, pressing harder and harder with each passing moment, making him feel at the loss of breath, panic was beginning to set in, as the realization that he couldn’t do anything became all the clearer. He was trapped in a tight space and his claustrophobia was kicking in.
“HELP! HELP! SOMEONE! ANYONE! HELP!” he screamed in fear, it was the only thing he could do, yet with his voice sounding so muffled due to his surroundings, he had lost any hope that he will get out.
Suddenly, he did hear something. The sound was coming under his feet, or rather, above him. Somebody was clearly shoving away the debris that surrounded him. All of a sudden, he felt something reaching for his feline tail and he let out a loud yelp of pain as it got pulled, dragging him out of his predicament, through several feet of tight, yet soft wreckage. After a few moments, he finally felt the surroundings disappear and fresh air, desperately grasping for it. It was still dark, but now he could at least perceive the environment full of rubble and pointy rocky spikes.
“Finally. I’ve been looking for you for who knows how long, kid.”
He recognized that old frustrating voice. And even in this blackness, he could see the old griffin, no worse than before.
“Thanks, Grandpa Gruff,” Gallus responded.
“Well, if I let something happen to you, boy, then the council of Griffin Lords won’t be one bit happy knowing that I let something happen to you.”
“Geee… thanks,” he reiterated in a sarcastic tone.
“By the way,” the elder griffin added, “you really need to start doing something about that condition of yours. It’ll become really inconvenient if you at some point end up fighting an opponent in a tight space.”
He gave him an angry look. “Excuse me? You’re one to talk. You went completely limp when we saw the arimaspi come to life.”
“That was just a moment of shock, boy,” the elder of Griffinstone deflected. “Had I been ready, I could’ve easily taken that giant hooved fur-bag on my own.”
“Sure you could,” the younger one said in a patronizing tone while rolling his eyes, then started to look about his surroundings, unsure what to make of it as it seemed alien to him “Anyway, where are we?”
“Oh, we just had a little tumble and a roll and we ended up in Neverland,” Gruff jokingly said. “Think, boy. We just got tossed over the edge of Griffinstone, where do you think we landed? We’re at the bottom of the Abysmal Abyss.”
When he heard that, Gallus looked up. He was trying to see if there was any sight of the world above, but he couldn’t see anything through the blackness.
“We have to get out of here, Grandpa Gruff.”
“Get out? Boy, haven’t you been paying attention to where I said we were a few seconds ago? This is the Abysmal Abyss! No griffin or any other creature for that matter has ever come out of this place. If we try to fly out of it, the turbulent winds that pass through the ravine will pick us up and likely end us. The best thing we can do now is to wait for the rescue.”
“Rescue?!” He gave him a surprised look. “Grandpa Gruff, for all we know the arimaspi is rampaging through town and destroying everything in its path! Everybody up there is in more danger than us right now, we can’t expect a rescue!”
“Well, if you have any better ideas on how we’re supposed to get out of here then please, by all means – “share”.”
And the young griffin went into deep thought as he tried to come up with a solution, but as he did, it started to become really obvious that his elder may have been in the right. The outside rescue was out of the question due to the previously mentioned arimaspi issue, but on top of that, he also remembered the ram sorcerer and the chained centaur. And the only reason why there was no wind tossing them about right now was that they ended up at the very bottom of the ravine where turbulent winds could no longer reach, but if they tried to get up normally, they would end up just as the Grandpa Gruff said. Something was off though as he tried to look up the chasm where they were right now: Even though it was too dark for him to see the world above, that wasn’t the case with his surroundings. By all accounts, it should’ve been pitch black just as above, but he could still see the beak in front of his face.
“Grandpa Gruff,” he inquired, “why is it so bright here?”
“Beats me,” he shrugged. “When I woke up it was already like this.”
“Are you sure there isn’t a light source somewhere down here?”
“At the bottom of Abysmal Abyss? Where no living creature ever came out of? You must be joking.”
“That’s the only logical explanation, Grandpa Gruff. I say we go look for it!”
The elder groaned. “That’s gonna be a complete waste of time and energy.”
“Well, you asked for an alternative and I just gave it to you. We’re not waiting here in vain hopes for anyone upstairs to try and rescue us.” He walked past him. “We’re gonna look for another way out, and we’re starting with finding out where there’s light down here. Come on.”
Gallus marched down the narrow natural hallway, determined to find the source of the only light in the abyss. His senior, however, was not as optimistic. Nothing had ever survived the fall into the Abysmal Abyss, so how could there possibly be anything down here that would be helpful in their escape?
Tirek sighed in relief to himself. He was laying down, and for the first time in a long while he was able to relax even for a moment, despite being bound in shackles and muzzled. He recalled all too well how, for a whole day before, he had to endure the lack of sleep on a small ledge, out of fear of falling into the dark abyss below, and the strong cold winds that were brushing off him reminded him all too well of that fact. Luckily, the large shaggy beast proved itself valuable, as it hunkered down, allowing him and its master to use it as a shield against the natural force. But now they had passed the threshold, as the large platform made of dark light descended further into the Abysmal Abyss, the winds seemed to have died out. That being said, the end destination didn’t seem to be in sight yet, mostly due to the darkness that surrounded them all, their mode of transportation was the only light in the darkness. He was still unsure what they were supposed to find in the deepest darkest corner of the world, the old sheep wasn’t very keen on sharing the information. Speaking of which, throughout the descent, his arimaspi pet was just laying huddled on the ground unmoving, with his giant yellow eye wide open and unblinking, facing his master, while Grogar did the same, but unlike his “friend” he was at least showing some signs of life, as he noticed his facial expressions subtly changing. After a quick glance to confirm that his jailor hasn’t shifted from his position, the centaur turned back and tried to regain what little strength he could from his arduous journey, frustrated that he couldn’t be stronger. Suddenly, he heard a sound behind him. It seemed like a chuckle, coming from the ram sorcerer. He turned his head and realized that was the case: He and his creation were still unmoved since they descended into the ravine, but the smile on him and the sound he was making were unmistakably his.
“What’s so funny?” Tirek asked.
The Father of Monsters regarded him. “Nothing. I just… perceived, something humorous.”
“You saw?” the wizen prisoner was confused. “What can you possibly see in this cold dark abyss?”
“Never you mind, boy,” he refused to answer. “Do yourself a favor and try to recuperate as much as possible. You’re going to need what little strength your frail body can provide.”
If Grogar could see past the muzzle he had put on him, he would’ve seen the centaur grit his teeth in anger. He was taunting his condition, and he was unable to do anything against him. The only thing he could do was to lay away from him again and stare into the darkness so he wouldn’t be able to see him. Things quieted down again, as the prince of the Nether Lands tried to rest, while his jailor turned his sight back to his unmoving hulking companion and gazed into his eye once again.
“Clever…” he mumbled to himself. “Very clever of them.”
“WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!” Smolder screamed in vertigo.
“I THOUGHT SILVERSTREAM HAD EVERYTHING FIGURED OUT ALREADY!” Ocellus yelled.
“I DIDN’T BELIEVE THE WIND WAS AS BAD AS THEY SAID IT WAS!” she tried to defend herself.
The hippogriff, the dragon, and the redeemed changeling descended into the ravine, but they were wholly unprepared for what followed. Just when they entered the giant gap in the ground, the strong wind that was running from one end of the peak to another quickly picked them up and began tossing them about, left, right, up, down, like paper on the wind. The three desperately tried to grab onto tiny protrusions that were sticking out the side of the walls only for them to slip; they were completely at the mercy of the natural force. They could barely even see in the ever-increasing darkness, and the only source of light that provided any sight was the constant flashing from the racket high above the great tree. Yet it was just enough for Smolder to notice a large dried-up branch sticking out of the side of the wall and grab onto it, embedding her claws, stopping in the process. Not a moment later, the other two came flying by, and she quickly grabbed the hippogriff by one of her hind hooves, and soon after that, the aforementioned halfling grabbed the changeling by her front legs. Vertigo had finally stopped.
“You two okay back there?!” the dragon yelled in the blowing wind.
“We’d be better off if we didn’t have to deal with this!” Silverstream answered.
Suddenly, they felt a twitch, but it was only the branch holder that could notice it. The weight that they were putting on it was beginning to break it.
“Guys, we’re about to lose our safety line! Quick! DO SOMETHING!”
It was quiet. It quickly became apparent to her that they were dry on ideas. There was already too much going on that made thinking straight nearly impossible, and the surroundings they were dealing with didn’t offer any obvious solutions either. The silence was indicating that they had no solution… or at least, that’s what she thought.
“I got an idea!” Ocellus finally spoke. “Silverstream! Toss me at the wall!”
“What?! What good will that do?!” she responded.
They shook again, as the branch kept making the cracking sound.
“JUST DO IT!” the dragon commanded.
The hippogriff looked back and then gave a concerned look to the changeling. There was a noticeable determined look in her bug eyes. She nodded reluctantly and then began swinging to the side to gain momentum to make sure the wind wouldn’t immediately pick her up, before promptly releasing her. Ocellus flew toward the wall, feeling the momentum of the wind slowly picking up, and just before it nabbed her, a flash of blue magic enveloped her. In her place, a giant form appeared: A hulking purple body, with a star-shaped bloom-like nose, armed with buck teeth, and a pair of giant claws. The creature crashed into the surface and stayed there, held in place by its armaments.
“Wait, is that a maulwurf?!” Silverstream yelled in response.
The branch shook again, and both she and Smolder yelled in panic. The giant mole creature in meantime began digging into the solid stone wall, carving out a hole big enough to crawl inside. A moment after that, however, the branch finally snapped and both remaining students were quickly picked up by the wind and dragged off by its current once again, screaming in terror, only for the branch to be grabbed by a giant claw that reached out of the hole in the wall and pulled them both into the cover. The only problem they had to deal with now was the complete darkness that surrounded them, but that was something that was soon taken care of, as they finally calmed down, the dragon breathed flame on the broken-off branch that they were holding on to.
“Phew… that was close,” she sighed in relief. “That was quick thinking, Ocellus.”
In a magical flash, the changeling returned to her original form. “Thanks.” She turned her head to the hippogriff. “But seriously, that was a really bad idea from the get-go, Silverstream.”
“Guys, I swear, I didn’t know it was gonna be this bad,” she apologized. “I just thought that if we just try to navigate the air currents and follow the flow we might be able to get deeper into Abysmal Abyss without problem, but I didn’t think the winds were going to be this strong.”
“Even if that were possible somehow, I think that giant talking cloud out there might be making it all impossible, considering what a storm he’s cooking up there and making the draft that’s passing through the raving all the stronger.”
“If that’s the case, maybe all of this could’ve been avoided if we did THIS right from the start instead,” Smolder suggested. “Ocellus, turn back into that thing, and let’s dig our way down to the bottom instead.”
“That’s not gonna be easy, Smolder,” the hippogriff pointed out. “How do we even know where to go? Gallus and Grandpa Gruff could be anywhere in Abysmal Abyss.”
“You’re forgetting something, Silverstream,” the changeling answered. “Maulwurfs have a very strong sense of smell. They can smell their target even when under solid rock.”
“Okay, but how does that help us find Gallus?”
There was a moment of silence, where Ocellus and Smolder exchanged glances, before smiling, with the latter trying to suppress a laugh. “You’ve got Gallus all over you.”
Silverstream’s face turned red when she heard that, remembering the early morning when she freaked out and was all over the aforementioned griffin. “O-okay, but what about the dark?” the halfling questioned, trying to divert the awkwardness away from herself.
The scaled one picked up the giant burning branch. “We’ll have a good enough light source… as long as the wood lasts.”
Through the barely visible surroundings, the two griffins walked, one more eager to proceed than the other. They’d been tracking through the rough and spikey terrain for a while now and in complete silence, traveling in the direction where the light source was coming from. As they did, however, the younger one was beginning to notice a subtle change, as everything around the started to turn into an ever so slight shade of red.
“So, are you finally gonna tell me what you’re up to?” the older griffin finally spoke.
It made the blue-feathered one stop in his tracks for a moment. “Wha-what do you mean what I’m up to, Grandpa Gruff?”
“You know, your school?”
“What brought that up all of a sudden?” Gallus questioned as he continued his track, and the grumpy elder followed.
“What do you think? I’m gonna have to submit a report to the Griffin Lords at some point anyway. Since we’re stuck down here you might as well tell me now.”
“Oh… You know, same old, same old. Study this, study that. And you’ve seen we’re on the school trip to visit other places-“ he began listing things up only to get cut off.
“I’m not talking about that, Gallus,” the elder said. “It’s been four years since you’ve been enrolled in Equestria’s School of Friendship. I know full well that your time there is about to come to an end. And since that’s the case… why don’t you tell me what your plan for the future is?”
He’s been dreading it would come to this. It’s been going through his mind for a while now. It was only to his friends that he confessed the issue and nobody else. And to have Grandpa Gruff of all creatures ask that question was the worst.
“Well, boy?” the half-blind old bird asked after a prolonged period of silence had already passed. “What are your plans for the future?”
“Since… since when do you care about the future?” he tried to deflect the repeated question.
“Since when don’t I care about the future? I was here when Griffinstone was at the height of its glory, and I watched that glory fall because of that stupid humongous one-eyed sheep, fade away from history as it declined-“
“Hey, I think I see something!” he interrupted him, partly relieved that he didn’t have to hear another one of the elder griffin’s speeches, but also scared that he may have stopped the distraction a bit too early.
But he was onto something. There was a short slope in front of them that descended into a short tunnel, and through it, he could see a strange red light emanating. That’s what must’ve been the source of light down here.
“Come on, Grandpa Gruff, let's see who we’re gonna find,” he urged him as he moved downwards.
“For crying out loud, Gallus, won’t you just listen to reason?” the elder complained as he hurried to follow him. “There’s no way any living creature could live down here in the Abysmal Abyss, let alone one that could help us get out.”
Just as the younger griffin finally reached the mouth of the tunnel, he halted, and so would the elder one. The tunnel was only a few feet long and after that, a wide room opened before them, with a volatile-looking red mist moving, shifting just beneath the elevation that the two were standing on, with a single elevated pillar made of rock piles sticking out of the middle of it.
“What is this place, Grandpa Gruff?” the blue one wondered.
“How should I know?” the grey one responded. “I’ve never been to the bottom of the Abysmal Abyss. For all we know, this thing could be dangerous.”
The younger griffin slowly approached the bank of the misty lake, reaching out with its claw and slowly dipping it into it.
“Hmmm, odd. I don’t feel any- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Gallus started to scream, acting as if he couldn’t pull his arm out of the red fog, making his guardian look concerned. “Grandpa Gruff, it’s got me! Run! Run before it…!” He suddenly stopped and pulled his hand out, wiggling with his fingers at him while smiling. “Just kidding.”
“Boy, that wasn’t funny!” the elder exploded.
“Relax, will you? This thing’s perfectly safe to the touch, whatever it is.” Gallus splashed about playfully in the clouds.
“Well, if you’re gonna be such a smart aleck, why don’t you go over there to the middle and see what the deal is with this place?” He pointed.
The direction that he was aiming was at the small elevation that was rising out of the mists that surrounded it. Suddenly, the student didn’t feel particularly brave. Sure, the substance didn’t seem dangerous at all, but how deep was it? He gave a quick glance back at his senior, and all he was giving him was a stern look; he would have to suffer the consequences for the prank he pulled. He slowly stepped into the misty lake and walked further in, until he was neck deep while on all fours. He sighed in relief.
“Make sure nothing in there bites you on the way,” Grandpa Gruff advised.
Cold suddenly ran down Gallus’ spine. Why would he say that? There was no way for him to know what was hiding in the swirling mist, he couldn’t see anything. And in his fear of the potential danger that his guardian had introduced, he very slowly walked forward, carefully stepping one paw and claw after another to make sure he wouldn’t step on whatever could be lurking in the red fog. He was halfway to the middle already and his confidence was beginning to rise again. Perhaps he was being overly careful and Grandpa Gruff was only doing a tit-for-tat? And in the sudden brim of confidence he didn’t raise his claw high enough as he moved forward, he hit something, and tripped in the process, falling into the mist. He couldn’t see a thing; everything was red, he flailed about and felt nothing else. It seemed that his senior really was indeed just trying to give him a payback. He sighed in relief, but when he tried to inhale again, he felt a scorching burning sensation in his throat and lungs. He quickly surfaced, violently coughing. He wanted to get away from it, to some higher elevation so he could get away from it, and the only nearby place he could see was the elevation where he was sent to. He quickly dashed forward and climbed on top of the pile of rocks and desperately deeply inhaled and exhaled, an action that made him feel rather dizzy afterward.
“Boy!” Grandpa Gruff called from the other end. “What’s wrong?!”
He inhaled one last time, and the burning sensation finally passed. “Sweet giblets, it’s like concentrated salt or something…!”
“Well, I hope that taught you a lesson not to pull pranks on your elders, boy! Now get back here!”
He was right! It was a tit-for-tat! He huffed in anger, and it was boiling, he felt like he was about to explode from it with what his guardian made him endure just for the sake of payback. He struggled to push it back, to bottle it up, before descending back into the misty lake, but this time he made sure to keep his head high above its surface to make sure he wouldn’t experience the unpleasant sensation again. As he made his way back to the bank, he felt unsettled though. They discovered the source of the dim light at the bottom of the Abysmal Abyss, but that was it. On the way here, they saw no life whatsoever, and who knows how long the depth of the ravine ran. Perhaps Grandpa Gruff was right after all; perhaps there was no escape from this place, maybe the only solution they had was to wait for somebody from Griffinstone to send help. After all, Silverstream saw them, so she must know what had happened and told others. That being said, he had no idea what was happening in the world above. Was the arimaspi still there, ravaging the town, along with the one who brought him back? The thinking made him forget about something that had just happened though. Just as he got to the mid-way of his path, he hit something with his claws as he was moving forward, and he once again tripped.
Grandpa Gruff only watched as the blue griffin once again disappeared into the red mist. “Gallus?!” he called out.
A moment later, his head popped up on the surface again, and it was clear by the look on his face that he was desperately trying to hold in his breath. He finally exhaled in order to inhale a breath of fresh air again.
“Seriously, I’ve just about had it with this!” he raged, reaching into the fog surrounding him and grabbing hold of whatever made him fall the second time. “What in the name of Princess Twilight is this accursed thing?!”
His emotions were running high. The fact that he just fell for the second time, for the same reason, made him so angry. He just wanted to pick up whatever this rock was, just so he could throw it against the wall. Yet as he finally pulled the object out of the mist, he froze, realizing what he was actually holding. Even though the surrounding light made everything seem red, it was clear that what he held in his claws was a golden item, whose shape resembled a flame surrounding a small round rock-like object that sat in the middle of it. There was a name for what he was holding, but after glancing at the elder on the shore, it was immediately obvious even to him what this was.
It was quiet. Not a sound could be heard around them. And for the first time in a long while, the centaur lord slept; a welcoming reprieve to be sure… One that soon came to an end. He suddenly felt a bash against his head and he clenched it in agony. It took him a moment for his eyes to readjust to his new surroundings, especially since the sole light source that was accompanying him throughout his descent had disappeared and he ended up landing on the solid ground with his face.
“Was that necessary,” he complained. “Couldn’t you have just woken me up?”
The sorcerer and his one-eyed goat-like monstrosity stood nearby, the latter mumbling something to his make, words that Tirek himself could not understand even a little.
Grogar finally turned towards him. “We’ve arrived, boy. This is the bottom of the abyss. This is where you would’ve met your fate had you slipped off that ledge.”
“Or where your pet would’ve ended up if he didn’t hit one on the way down,” the prisoner bit back.
A mistake. It became obvious the moment Grogar yanked his chain and pulled him close to his face.
“What did I tell you about not showing respect to Paramis in my presence, boy?”
At this point he was already fed up with the old sheep ordering him around, belittling him at every turn, but he was in no position to do anything against it. “Sorry…” was the only thing he could utter.
“Good enough,” he hmphed and loosened the grip.
The centaur tried to get back on his feet. “Okay, now that we’ve reached the bottom of this hole, are you finally going to explain to me what exactly are we doing in this pitch blackness?”
“Yes.” The Father of Monster nodded. “Come here.”
The withered centaur approached him, positioning himself in front of the arimaspi.
“Alright, Paramis,” he ordered, “show it.”
The beast hunched over, low enough for his head to be on the same level as Tirek. He became motionless, as his large yellow eye suddenly started to glow and the iris inside it disappeared. An image of a shape began to emerge inside of it, twisting into a form. And when it was finally done, he saw a strange-looking object: An item made of solid gold, whose shape resembled a flame surrounding a small round rock-like object that sat in the middle of it.
Yet he was confused, not sure what he was looking at. “What is this…?”
“That is the object that had drawn Paramis here in the first place,” the grizzled ram elaborated. “As I had mentioned before, I infused his eye with magic, giving it a rare and unique ability to see, divine even, magical energies and artifacts that would be difficult to find otherwise. And this artifact drew him in.” He pointed at the imagery in the said eye. “The Idol of Boreas – the object that brought the whole of griffin kind together. I recall their kind way back. Even back when they weren’t united, it made my expansion eastward difficult. They are persistent creatures. Now imagine that persistency multiplied, made stronger by this artifact that had brought them all together. That’s what Paramis had sensed. He had almost gotten away with it but…” he paused, reaching out with his hoof at arimaspi’s face, gently stroking it, causing the imagery in the eye to disappear, and the beast once again became aware of its surroundings. “Fate was not kind to him.” He finally lowered his hoof. “This is what you’re going to recover here before we leave.”
“Fine… let's go,” Tirek groaned, slowly walking off, “the sooner we find this thing, the better-”
“I don’t think you heard me right, boy,” Grogar yanked his chain, stopping him in the process. “I said YOU are going to recover the artifact, not US.”
“What?!” he yelled, his voice echoing all around him. “Why do I have to do it by myself?!”
“I could’ve made you look for Paramis’ eye way back after it was lost under a mountain of rubble, but I considered that to be a waste of everybody’s time,” he elaborated further. “Surely looking for a large item that you know what it looks like, in open terrain, isn’t going to be too difficult for you, will it? Oh, and before I forget…”
His horns suddenly lit up, aiming them in Tirek’s direction. He covered, unable to even imagine what the Father of Monsters was going to do next to him. He waited but didn’t feel anything. That’s when it got him: He didn’t feel anything, that included the bonds. He opened his eyes and realized that all the shackles and the muzzle he was adorned in were gone.
He looked at the grizzled ram, who was just smiling at him. “You… you’re just letting me go…?” he asked in a confused tone.
“Well, due to the short-sightedness of the events that took place upstairs, my friend over here made sure that somebody else is already down here, to begin with,” Grogar explained, giving the arimaspi a rather disappointed look in the process, and he hung his head in shame. “So, it would be most inconvenient, if you encountered them while being restricted while in an already weakened state. At least now, you’ll have a little chance against them.”
Tirek was still confused by the fact that, after all that Grogar was doing and saying, he was just gonna let him go off on his own now. He couldn’t wrap it around his head. Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to waste this chance. The sooner he found the artifact the faster they could leave. He turned away to leave, when suddenly…
“And boy.”
The centaur halted, groaning at the sheep for using that word. “What?”
“I would like to leave you with a piece of advice,” he answered. “If you take somebody else’s power for your own, does that really make you stronger? Would you prefer a struggle to become stronger, or are you willing to become a slave to power you think you can control?”
The just stood there for a while, perplexed by what the old sorcerer was telling him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Grogar shrugged. “Just take it as you will. I’ve said my piece. Now off you go.”
Still perplexed by what his former jailor had just uttered, the withered centaur lit up a small red orb above his horns to serve as a source of light, as he stumbled across the uneven terrain, to look for an artifact he wasn’t even sure he would find.
As his light finally disappeared into the distance, obscured by the dim light, the arimaspi bent over to his master and began speaking in incomprehensible gibberish to him. “I told him all he needed to know, Paramis. Any further information will just be an unwelcomed deterrent.” The companion spoke again. “If he fails to realize it? Well…” he chuckled. “Then he will learn a very hard lesson about what it means to play with fire… and get burned by it.” He walked around the arimaspi and stepped closer to the wall. “Now come. Those three will be coming here any moment now, and I don’t want any interference in watching what comes next.”
The goat-like beast walked over to his master’s side and huddle itself close to his size. Grogar’s horns began to glow in the dark light and an illusion was cast over both of them, making them blend into the surroundings to look like a giant boulder. A considerable time passed in silence, but soon sounds could be heard coming through the nearby wall, and not a moment later it burst open. A maulwurf came crawling out of the hole, followed by a winged lizard holding a burning branch, almost halfway gone from what it originally was, and lastly, a hippogriff came through. And in a blue flash, the large purple animal disappeared, leaving a small alien bug-like equine in its place.
“See? Told you guys this was gonna be way easier,” Smolder proudly said.
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Uh-oh... the Young Gang has now made contact to the Father of Monsters.
And yet Grogar's Bell does just that. Stealing someone's magic/power so the user can transfer it to themselves.
Ironic really
11408206
Lol
I must've missed something in the last part.
I didn't know Griffinstone had soft mattresses, much less enough to fill a warehouse.
I guess I can't expect Tirek to know Griffin legends.
Still I had a feeling what this was going to be, the moment we saw the glow.
Now the only question is... is this last aspect for Tirek? Or is there a twist involved?
It's funny.
Given that Grogar is clearly a father of hybrids, with near universal influence, my assumption was that the Griffins were created by him.
His last loyal footsoilders before his banishment. The Orcs to his Melkor if you will.
It explains their petty nature, and why they live in a wasteland with little to no outside contact.
I guess they have no connections here though. Interesting.
Coming from Mister Bewitching Bell... That doesn't have the context you seem to think it does.
Unless he's warning Tirek about Turmoil.
Going to use his allies to contain each other? I guess it's a idea.
11416225
Nah. Grogar's going to sit this one out. The guy to worry about here is Tirek.
11416229
11416226
Spot on.
as I understand it, Grogar at the end advised Tirek to build his own muscles and not acquire it with the help of "stolen magical protein"?
11416393
Where do you think all those feathers go after the molting season?
I prefer to think that creatures who look like actual monsters, like manticores, chimeras, bearbugs, etc., were created by Grogar. Because if we take the "hybrid" idea, that means the hippogriffs were created by him as well and I'd prefer not to.
Besides, there's a large mass of water where the griffins roost so the distance is already an issue.
It is said that one should keep one's allies within view, and one's enemies within reach.
A valid statement. One must be able to read an ally's strengths, so as to determine how to best use them. One must similarly be able to read his enemy's weaknesses, so as to determine how to best defeat him.
-Thrawn
11416226
11418656
Grogar has learned something, thanks to Paramis.
From personal experience, he despises those who are weak, but that doesn't mean he's not willing to give them a chance to get stronger. After all, "servants" are only as useful as how strong they are.
And it's not like he currently has a choice in taking somebody else's power to use it, it's purely out of necessity (that and making sure Discord suffered). Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow took his original power that was locked inside the bell, so he has to use an alternative... until he can return back to his realm that is.
11418865
Well hippogriffs are half horse. Given ponies were already intelligent before Grogar, they might have been made through other methods.
Still, even if hippogriffs where created by Grogar, it doesn't mean a whole lot in the long run.
My head canon is that some most of his creations were too stupid for his purposes.
A lot of them were too smart and rebelled against him, which explains why he created so many different varieties.
Not all of Melkor's old allies wound up working for him either.
Even if Grogar planned for rebellion, perfecting his specimens against it probably took a lot of trial and effort.
This was still a flaw even by the time Discord came around, so it's likely he's dealt with similar issues before.
There's also a pretty big mountain range in the north, bridging the two contents from what I remember.
Grogar's a goat, so that works out pretty well for him.
I mean neither does Tirek. At this point, stolen magic is probably all that's keeping him alive.
We can debate how effective stolen magic is compared to his own, but he never had a problem utilizing it before.
(At least until the Season 9 retcons.)
11419086
He's a male sheep, not a goat.
Others calling him a goat is more meant as an insult.
I mean, Tirek survived on minimal magic for a thousand years inside Tartarus. Either that or Tartarus is a magical prison that ensures everybody inside is in permanent stasis.
I'd say the difference between Tirek and Grogar is that one is doing it as a cope for his daddy issues, and the other is just taking it as a substitute until he gets some homemade stuff.
11421726
Goat, Ram, Sheep. They're all climbers, which is my point.
Modern slang wouldn't nessicarly agree.
You assume that he didn't burn through his magic waiting for thousands of years.
The Princesses themselves said that Tirek's time in Tartarus weakened him.
It doesn't really feel in character for the Princesses to utilize a prison to starve their enemies to death.
Preserve them until they fall apart from old age yes, but not starve them.
Plus Cozy Glow doesn't look any worse for wear, despite having apparently been in Tartarus for several days.
If you want to be incredibly reductive sure.
I could crack jokes about Grogar being a lonely ram daddy.
It probably wouldn't play well in a story where he's supposed to be a serious threat though.
11422216
No, but they were certainly willing to put an elementary-aged little girl into prison for irredeemable monsters...
11423862
True, but it's the whole "we don't kill our enemies, we just toss them into hell" 'logic' that most superheroes run on these days.