A great orb of purple fire floated out of a poorly lit, abandoned house. The seasonal looked around, noticing every single little detail of the place she had lived on for so long. "You'll be back." The jaaku told herself, her unblinking eyes shootihng back and forth. There was the market she had played in as a younger creatu. There was the forest where she had pranked so many younger creatu. She sighed, sorting through her memories to find the one she most wanted to keep close. "Mom...." She breathed, looking at the face in her mind. It was of a gorgeus adult blonde jaaku, her eyes finally closed. Arebiea closed her mind and seemed to lock all the memories behind gates of steel.

Continuing on her way, after drifting around a few more areas, she floated gracefully through the refliem portal. She knew she was supposed to meet other investigators there, but she wasn't sure who they were. As she got into Refliem, she was transported to the Otroe Circle in the middle of a plot of land where a grave would eventually stand. She drifted over the rows of graves, whisps of purple coming off of her and landing on each of the graves she went over. The ebilia at the enterance glared at her and almost didn't let her pass, but she glared right back and he eventually gave way, moving so she could pass him...

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A black illuvu shivered under the gaze of his superiors. He hadn't been in the rogue buisness for long, so this was all new to him. Having a boss, being punished for the most random things, life was hard, but he earned plenty of money to keep his family safe. He sighed and passed the two silver otachies in his way so he could travel to his quarters. One of them slammed a metal stick into his rump as he passed and then laughed, a cold, evil laugh. Sweetests kept going, swishing his pitch black tail from side to side...

[I've decided that I'm not going to have seasonals in this RP anymore. I realized that it might throw off the plot a bit. Sorry to any who joined with seasonals! Also, SugarSnow, you posted out of order. From here on everyone please follow the posting order below:

kraine
lutino
teeeny
moo
fullmoon

I'll repost my intro and we can start over a bit. xD]

Alighting on the limestone floor of the hatchery cavern, he watched his employees step it up in his presence. Fat henchmen roused themselves and began cracking eggs, sorters disposed of the deformed hatchlings and carried the healthy into a labor cavern. Bacardi looked around for an informed worker. “How many this week?” he asked. The production in the hatchery seemed well enough, and if the number of slaves was higher than the previous weeks, they would soon become the primary slave traders in the eyes of Uldavi.

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“Come in.” Ornate’s mother stepped into his hollow beneath the roots of a tangled tree. He looked up and smiled. Always his mother had that tender look that he lacked from any other creature, a look implying love and friendship. He got up and nuzzled her. “I’ll miss you, mother. I have to do this, though.” She responded with an understanding nod, her graying nose and ears almost palpably whiter. “I’ll worry about you, O.” Ornate chuckled. “I’ll be alright. You know that.” With that promise, he grabbed the notes he had collected for his trip and slipped out of the hollow, silent as a cat.

In the shredded light from the canopy, his red-and-gold reflective ribbons shone dazzlingly. He folded them down and began to run to the planet’s portal to Reiflem, recieving disgusted glares from neighboring jahra. As he ran, he wondered if indeed he would ever come back. He had doubts, and this worried him greatly. Could he do it alone like he had the rest of his life? He had told no one but his parents about his plan to take down the rumored rogue organization. And even to them he did not explain why he was so determined. That inner quest was for himself only.

Still, he wondered. How will I manage this?

Kleenex crawled into the volcanic cave which was still warm from the Ardur which had left not long ago. Though the cave was dark, she could see through it rather well. Were all Wyraes gifted with such vision? Wyraes are unnatural creatures, and she was a wyrae with unusual features. She detested the thought. Special she would tell herself, a marvelous gift, but under that, there was the underlying feeling of I never wanted to be special. That feeling rarely reached the surface, she always tried her best not to lose herself.

The cave ground was slightly grainy and it got between the toes of her back legs. She tried to get rid of the sand, but it was no use, it would only come back with the next step she took. She sighed, perhaps she should've been less adventurous and hunted for Otachies instead? Otachies did not live deep underground in lava caverns. She knew the answer was exaclty because Ardurs were more difficult to obtain and bring back, the crystals they grew were valuable too, so they had a higher value and that meant more money for less eggs. It was harder, yes, all that lava around the eggs, the dark, suffocating cave, the irritating sand, but she could deal with all that. So she ignored the sand and continued on swiftly into the cave, her long tail following behind. Before long, she had reached a stream of lava. She stopped crouching and glanced around, looking for signs of a nest.

"Ah," she whispered, as if the someone would hear her if she spoke any louder, "There you are." She slithered closer to the rock where the eggs were nestled closely together. It would not hold her weight, so she used her tail. Carefully, she wrapped around an egg and and shook the lava off. Lava would not harm her, but the bag she was carrying was not made to withstand such conditions. One egg, two eggs, three eggs... She continued counting as she filled her empty bags with the coal coloured eggs. When there was only one egg left in the nest, she decided to leave. She looked back at the lone egg. Special, she hissed at it, before leaving as quickly as she came.

Did I just bless the egg? Or was that a curse. A blessing, for it not need to slave away, but a curse, to be special, the last one left. I am the only one too and I am not cursed, this form is fine, my life is fine, but I will not bless others because I feel cursed? No but... Her thoughts swirled around inside uncertainly. She pushed them aside and concentrated on bringing the eggs back to the headquarters. The first thing she would do once she gained enough tu, would be to change her name.

{{hope this is alright ono}}

Today's haul was nothing to be proud of; or, rather, such was the case for a particular Kioka steadily making his way through a dim cavern.  His hooves clicked quietly against rock, dark eyes darting from side to side under a split tragedy-comedy mask at each tiny unidentifiable sound.  Loose dirt, noisy working from beyond this tunnel.  It was rather pitiful, really, both the headquarters and the entire operation.  Not like he would be one to stand up against it.  And not only fbecause he didn't want to get his spine removed, but he just didn't care.

Twoface didn't care much for anything.

Including the pathetic, what, two eggs he'd managed to snatch from some poor sap's shop?  They weren't even anything special.  Just a pair of easeros.  In reality, the Kioka had been shot into a fit of rage earlier in the day and smashed a third egg against concrete.  He would, however, not be repeating that story to anyone.  He would just have to deal with his lousy catch for the day.

Eventually, Twoface found his way through the familiar tunnels of Bacardi's system, heading for the egg hatchery.  He'd drop off the dumb things- currently nestled in a pouch draped over his back- and maybe he could find a few more before he was declared a total loser.  Ears flicking, the Kioka snorted and twisted his head back, grabbing the pouch with his teeth and tossing it to a fellow cracking eggs.
What a life.

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What a life!

The Omni stirred slightly, stretching out in his rest and flipping over in the grass. One would have to be pretty oblivious not to notice the creatu; though his fur was dark and he was resting under an old train cart, glowing muli-colored markings displayed his location like a neon sign. The cart- his home- above him would have been a better place to rest, had it not been stuffy and hot and full of nonsense junk. Reiflem was a great place to live when it wasn't summer and hot as Relcore.

And, of course, when one didn't have to worry about stories of rogues and egg-snatchers about.

The Omni- Magnus, as he was dubbed- had no reason to believe the tales.  Anyhow, what could he do about it? He was a single guy, after all, and even if he had a longing to help, he probably couldn't. He was a loner, he wouldn't know where to start. Best give up before you can fail, he mused quietly, parting his jaws in a yawn and getting comfortable in the shade.

...Though, the thoughts of the possibility of the gossip being true...

Magnus' spine tingled and he buried his face in the shaded grass, covering a paw over his face.  It was horrid to think about. 

FooDog grunted, sweat making his fur dry in clumps as he limped into the hatchery. If the workers were not making thier own noise as they cracked open eggs, the small drops of blood falling to the stone floor would be audible. In between his teeth, he was holding a bag full of eggs. Aukira eggs, to be specific. He'd spent the day crawling amongst the rock and lava to get all twelve, as to please Bacardi.

Unlike most, however, he was anything but agile. His front right paw was cut up and bleeding, though he refused to show he was in pain. Bacardi would not be pleased if he were to appear useless, would he? Tail wagging back and forth like that of a young zenirix's, he set his precious load down in front of another worker and dipped his head.

"Twelve in all, sir," he barked in a low, submissive tone. FooDog enjoyed serving others; to help with another creatu's goal would surely help him with his own. What his goal was, though, he was uncertain of. He did not want fame, nor fortune, nor immortality. He didn't want much out of this world, aside from happiness. And he was lacking in that department greatly.

FooDog turned his head to the side as he backed away, beady lime eyes narrowing on Bacardi. He'd asked how many eggs in total today. He knew that they hadn't pulled in as many as they hoped, but it was more than yesterday's haul. The only thing he was uncertain of was the exact number.  

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Tobaz patted his friend on the back, their embrace tightening fractionally. "I promise I'll find them," he whispered to his zaphao friend earnestly. "Every last one, I swear, Zagar." Pulling away from her sadly, he wiped away the tears in her fur with one cautious finger. The magenta zaphao had a tendancy to let off electricity when she was upset, and the disappearance of her eggs had sent her over the edge.

He'd only made one friend after his abandonment, and that was Zagar. Even though they'd lost touch after she met her mate, Drio, she was still the only creatu he trusted out of all four planets. Being dropped in the forest, they knew how each other felt almost all the time. It was sad to see her so distraught over the theft of her eggs. "Thank you," she coughed, voice raspy. "I'll be waiting for you here, Toby."

Tobaz could only nod. The pain swelling in his chest like a balloon was quickly popped by the sharp thorn of revenge. Stretching his wings, he glanced at the sky. If the rumors were true, than he would find the culprits behind this madness and stop them, or die trying.

He took flight, unsure of where he was headed. He'd heard another rumor of late; that there were others who were heading out to search for these thieves. He let the breeze carry him, still unaware of his destination. But he knew what he was looking for. 

{ ... I'm sorry for that. v_v /ashamed } 

(The cave has more entrances, but they're mostly from the top. There are a few narrow, meandering entrances that start as caves far from the true entrance. The pay is the allowance to live in the security of the caverns, and a portion of the rewards given by the Uldavians each time they collect the slaves. Which is quite a large portion. Bacardi does not hoard all the pay for himself- he knows that he will only earn loyalty to the trade by paying well.

Rmails have been sent to people wishing to join.)

A rough-looking shaefu appeared at Bacardi’s side and informed him that twelve eggs had been collected so far. Bacardi bobbed his head from side to side, considering the statistic. “Not bad for a morning’s work.” He then thought to himself, disregarding the shaefu. If they continued at this rate for the rest of the day, they would exceed their goal. A smile curled over his razorlike teeth. The Uldavians would be very pleased.

He turned again to FooDog. “Go get a meal for yourself.” His previously bitter mood was nowhere to be seen, replaced by the thought of increased reward and notoriety amongst all Uldavian industry. The only trouble was to keep it quiet. He had nineteen rogues under his leadership. He prided himself on being able to organize these creatu under the same organization, as rogue thieves, the name would suggest, did not often work together. He strode over to a depression in the rock where eggs were being hatched, and dealt a blow to the top of an egg, cracking it open and sending a sepia valabex sliding across the floor. “Take this to the nursery,” he ordered a hulking gondra.

At that moment, Dagda flew in announcing his haul, a rogue that Bacardi found to be pretty damn annoying, and yet a surprisingly good worker. “Thank you, Dagda. We’ll be making the task switch momentarily.” His attention was drawn again towards an exit cavern, from which TwoFace entered. More eggs came in with him. Bacardi nodded to TwoFace as he dropped his eggs in the hatchery. He then turned to speak to the room.

“Alright, alright. We’re taking a meal, and then it’s task switch.” The tasks of snatching, hatching, and raising were swapped between the rogues a few times each day to prevent monotony- a dangerous thing to force rogues into, as they easily become restless. “And tomorrow the Uldavians are coming. They should be very pleased with your work. Our reward will be immense!” He smiled as the rogues hollered at the promise of good pay. That was the one thing they all agreed on- luxury.

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