Absinth stood at the entrance of this strange new land, her sharp gaze tracing the towering spikes that pierced the blood-red sky. It was a sight that sent shivers down her spine, but the thrill of it all sent her pulse racing in exhilaration. Look at this shit. This place was a mystery, shrouded in danger and darkness — a perfect playground.

She glanced back at her brood, her eyes narrowing with a calculating glint. Not all her children were present; only the ones that had dared to follow. Let them face it, she thought with a cruel smile. If they were to follow in her footsteps, they would need to prove they were more than just blood. They needed to show their teeth, their cunning, their resilience. Wasn’t that the point of life?

“Stay close, but do not cling,” she murmured, voice low and commanding. “If you cannot face fear, you do not deserve to call yourself mine.” A slight embellishment, but they were getting older now, and she could no longer lick away their tears and pain for much longer.

The whistling wind cut through the spikes, carrying its eerie, mournful cry. Absinth moved forward, relishing the disquiet. Warning be damned, she was intend to explore this fuckery.


"Absinth Artemisia Inferos"

Araxina grumbled with distaste at the strange sky and weird goings on. She couldn't help but be excited despite her outward expression. She looked up, up, up to the tip top of the spire, her mouth slightly agape. She couldn't help but imagine a grotesque body skewered on the rusted sharp end of it.

She brought her attention back to their mother, her ears flicking back and forth as she considered her words. She curled half her lip with a tsk and disbelieving breath. Everyone knew she was momma's favorite and she had no fear whatsoever. She silently puffed out her chest at the thought. Her mother would never abandon her, let her siblings fall behind and be disowned.

Xina slunk along the path and drew herself closer to one of the towering spires. A gross face was etched into its base, she drew close enough to it stare into its glittering terror-struck eyes.

"Prince of Darkness?" Fuck that, I'm the King

Dracun was no stranger to this lands, having ventured here once already to explore and investigate the strange new land. But how could he turn down a free trip back once mother offered? Perhaps things had changed, for better or for worse. Dracun was excited regardless, but kept his calm demeanor on the trip from their home to the place everyone was calling The Prominence.

Once they were there, Dracun looked around while their mother spoke before breaking off from the crowd. He didn't get to look at all the spires the other day and focused on ones that didn't look familiar, picking one out of the crowd before striding over to it. Already he could see differences, now etchings carved into the stone. Raising a brow at the horrified face, he studied it for a moment before moving from spire to spire, checking for the same features.


Speech ─ Think

─ by Skelle !

The events that occurred in the night were… peculiar. Abyss had been awoken from their sleep by the tremors, and had hunkered down with their family, as instructed. It was a restless night, and Abyss was on guard assisting their Mother in keeping tabs on her brood. And when morning came, Abyss didn’t hesitate to follow Absinth out of the Syndicate’s domain, to investigate the strange new land that appeared in the west. They were accompanied by a blood-red sky, which cast down onto their backs with an ominous intensity. But Abyss wasn’t frightened- they were intrigued more than anything, and wanted to investigate the new area with their family.

Arriving at the borders of the prominence, Abyss waits for their mother’s instructions. Stay close, but do not cling. With a nod, Abyss shifted their gaze to their siblings, waiting to see their course of action. Then, Abyss slunk away from the group, heading to the northern area of the territory. They weaved through the towering spears cautiously, stopping to peer into the faces of the odd, terrified creatures that were etched into the stone. And when they came across a loose patch of soil between two spears, Abyss slowly started to dig, wondering what clues they could find beneath the earth.

"Speech"

What in the hell was going on. Zagan hadn’t slept at all that night- the convulsing tremors radiating from the earth kept him awake, trying to instill fear in the boy but all he felt was irritation. If he didn’t sleep, he couldn't see his mother in his dreams. Perhaps she would have had some information about the oddities occurring in the world, given she lived in the spirit realm. Perhaps he could ask her later that night. Because his curiosity increased when dawn broke, revealing a blood-stained sky after a starless night.

Mother Absinth called her brood together, wanting to investigate the source of the events- a new territory that had appeared in the West, which had wolves from all over the continents gravitating to it. As if by some celestial, magnetic force. Zagan wasn’t the type to be left behind- he wanted to witness it for himself - so he left with Absinth and his siblings, traveling to the prominence and arriving just as the sun started ascending higher in the sky. But it did little to mute the blood-red color that consumed the heavens, which added to the domain's ominous aura.

Absinth gave the ‘ok’ to investigate, and Zagan didn’t hesitate to proceed. He headed inward, toward the heart of the prominence, stopping to inspect the towering spears. Some of them had odd carvings etched into the stone- contorted, terrified faces of creatures he did not recognize. His pelt bristled out of reflex, a sense of alarm ringing in his mind but he did not stop. Moving from spire to spire, he started to conduct a count of the structures, to see how many of them had faces carved into them.

"Zagan Saxe"

Absinth prowled further into the crimson-lit terrain, her ivory coat shimmering like a ghostly veil under the blood-red sky. Each step she took was careful, controlled, and exuded her quiet dominance, her children trailing behind in practiced mimicry. Yet, she could feel the doubt simmering beneath whatever masks of confidence they attempted to wear. A smirk played at the corners of her lips—perfect. If this strange land couldn’t carve away their softness, she’d make sure to.

She let her gaze linger on the towering pillars surrounding them, their sharp forms jutting into the sky, casting jagged shadows across the ground. She’d dreamed once, long ago, of something vast and monstrous moving through the earth—a tunnel-dwelling beast that shifted the very ground underfoot. It was an omen she’d not forgotten.

Among her brood, those who had dared to follow her—Araxina, Dracun, Abyssinica, and Zagan—stood at intervals, each finding their own space within this ominous landscape. She cast each of them a fierce, approving glance, emerald eyes gleaming with a challenge only they could understand. To her children her gaze offered a silent, wicked encouragement that dared them to prove themselves.

She watched them closely, scrutinizing every twitch, every hesitation. She wanted them to feel the thrill, the danger, to learn to rely on their instincts, and to find enjoyment in the unknown as she did. This place would test them, shape them—or break them. Survival depended on their wits and their resilience, and Absinth had brought them here for precisely that reason: to see how they would fare in this… unusual trial.

Under her paws, the ground pulsed faintly, as though alive. She paused, feeling the subtle vibration—a warning, perhaps, or a twisted sort of greeting. It didn’t matter. It was exactly the thrill she craved.


"Absinth Artemisia Inferos"