2716/Leve: Sylph-Management

Leve: Sylph-Management
Date of Scene:	02 August 2015
Location:	Hydaelyn Reborn <ARR>
Synopsis:	Diplomacy with the Sylph turns into dancing and fighting Garleans. This one gets tired of typing like these ones very quickly.
Cast of Characters:	255, 627, 747, 787, 815, N'raha Tia, 826
Tinyplot:	The Six Crystals of Light

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Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
Notice from the Adventurers' Guild of Eorzea (posted on numerous bounty and adventurer boards, including the Syndicate Network)!

Leve: Sylph-Management
Location: Little Solace, East Shroud
Type: Investigation
Urgency: High
Difficulty: Unmarked

Enclosed Message: Under leadership of Scarlet Everille and Setsuko Kaminagi of the Union, the three Seedseers of Gridania seek a small group of adventurers capable of handling negotiations with the Sylphs of Little Solace. As the Sylphs are currently distrusting of outsiders, you will be meeting with their de-facto elder, Komuxio, and he will do his best to put you in the Sylphs' good graces. This will likely require locating the Sylphs' elder, Frixio, who has gone missing, but saving him will doubtlessly go a long way here.

Find out what the Sylphs know and follow the last known trails of the elder, keeping in mind it is entirely possible the Tempered Sylphs are to blame-- not to mention there have been Garlean sightings in the area as well.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    For those who are new: welcome to the Twelveswood, a great, magical forest filled with giant trees, walking mushrooms, assorted wildlife, and more ambient mana than you can shake a stick at. It's all very nature-y and pure, though one gets a sense of unrest and lingering corruption and chaos of some nature.

    The weather tonight is fairly cloudly; occasionaly, bright purple and blue lightning bolts lit the sky, thunder echoing close and far alike, but never striking within sight. A storm has been building, locals say; it returns every other day now, a little bit stronger each time. At least it's not raining, but the clouds are thick enough they hide any sunlight, if there was any to be found tonight.

    Your destination is Little Solace, a small village but a dozen minutes from the Hawthorne Hut-- another village slash fortified Gridanian position, that one with an Aetheryte Crystal and a Warp Gate.

    Little Solace is essentially a mess of tents-- large, single-person tents, some with tables and wares to show on them. Traders' caravans are stationed to the side, and Elezen and Hyur/human traders are bartering and chatting with the Sylphs, some near campfires, some by their tables and tents. Above the tents, suspended to the trees by ropes, are bulb-shaped houses with small doors and windows, fit for the Sylphs.

    The Sylphs are small, green creatures of leaves and flesh, looking more like nature spirits than anything else. Their clothes, if they are clothes at all, are dresses made of leaves, with long sleeves and a glowing jewel encrusted in their chests. The color varies from Sylph to Sylph.

    Komuxio, the Sylph you are to meet, is waiting at the entrance of the village. His gem is a soft pink-red, but he's also put a bright rainbow hairpin in his... err, well, hair, if you can call it that, and you've been told that's how you'll recognize him.

    Because these guys really, really look alike.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
Bertram is going straight for Komuxio, though he seems to know some of the other Sylphs by name, and is able to tell them apart. "Hey Tonaxia, Ponnixia." He greets cheerfully as he passes them. In what appears to be rather uncharacteristic, Bertram is dancing more than walking, especially when he gets close to Komuxio, finishing his dance in a bow. "Hello Komuxio. How are you doing today?"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    N'RAHA has arrived without his armor, and without his Inferno Axe. No, he was specifically informed to try and tone down the gear today, because Sylphs are touchy about armed bipeds. Something something Garleans which was enough reason for the Miqo'te to respond favorably to that request. So he's here in his off-duty clothes, looking smart-ish at least.

    He too is dancing a little bit, or trying to. He's got the grace for it, at least, but the training he hasn't got. And instead of following Alwyn, today he's following Bertram, making sure to take direction when need be. He's a catsbody today.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    The building storm above makes Setsuko uneasy, for lack of a better term. Not quite 'unwell' or 'nervous'; since her transformation, and especially since discovering her full power, the swordswoman has felt a certain affinity for stormy weather. But even though part of her feels content with the storm something about the thunder bothers her, in some corner of her mind. Perhaps it's her battlesense, nudging her on a subconscious level about a battle too distant and small for her to properly take notice of. Perhaps it's simply the thought that the thunder could represent the presence or arrival of Ramuh. Perhaps it's all those things.

    But her unease is irrelevant to their mission. A mission, for once, of peace. By now the demigod is becoming familiar enough with the Hawthorne Hut and its surrounding section of the Twelveswood, so it's a simple matter for her to step off the ground and fly straight towards Little Solace. Once she lands, however, Setsuko stops, to look at Komuxio - and the other Sylphs in general. It's peculiar to see them, for one who knows them better as hostile little purple plant-people, so green and so not-attacking-anyone.

    But for the moment she will leave the diplomacy to those who are better at dance. Since that seems to be a requirement.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji arrives on scene to engage in fact-finding with the Sylphs. The natural environment seems to be gathering towards something, a tension in the air like the hour before a storm strikes.

Considering the situation, he finds it eminently appropriate. He seems completely comfortable in the threatening weather, himself. Ramuhan clothing is all water-repellant, if nothing else... On a tip from Bertram, Souji arrives on foot, moving with a stately dancing motion as he moves along with the delegation. Since Bertram knows the most about the Sylphs, Souji has him take point.

Judging from their whimsical nature, Souji probably would not be the best negotiator anyway. He gives a sweeping bow. "Komuxio, a pleasure to meet you." He states.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    There's only been one occasion for Scarlet to go into a real forest like this before. The kind that feels like a living, breathing thing. That one had been old, magically active, and frankly unnerving to even those without heightened senses too, but in a completely different way. This one doesn't seem as if it intends to hide its secrets or its hostility. It can be plainly felt building in the background, its ominous atmosphere essentially omnipresent, not helped by the distinctly "off" quality she can sense in its ambient magic.

    Good thing they're not staying for long then. It seems a little surreal that people are still living, chatting and trading here, but they're probably used to it by now. What's more surreal is seeing Bertram dancing his way over to someone just to talk to them, followed by N'raha. She'd heard the Sylphs preferred people who could dance, but she had assumed that meant in the actual time and place for it, not just to get around. Now it seems she refuses to make herself look that ridiculous just yet, instead watching them with a hint of disbelief. "Is he supposed to be doing that, or greivously misunderstanding." She really hopes it's the latter.

Epicea Chelid (787) has posed:
    DANCING IS FOR CHUMPS, REAL TALK THO'.

    Arriving without fanfare, because she had to tromp along through the stupid boring forest through the stupid boring monsters that didn't do any stupid boring things, yawning and blinking and being grumbly, is POOPSTINK SCRUBLO--wait, no, EPICEA CHELID. Ignore that first part.

    Arriving at the meeting place. "Oh my god did Sarah stand me up? I don't know whether to be proud, frustrated, or just annoyed." She grumbles, looking at the sprite. "Yo. So we're supposed to..." She rubs her eyes. "Do something? Save the damsels? Sarah usually knows all of this stuff. Just point me towards the action. Or a sweet sun-spot, I could totally get my nap on."

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    "This one welcomes the helpful one!" Komuxio states to Bertram, doing a brief twirl-- the Sylphs, while small, float in the air, around head-level, so at least having a conversation with them isn't TOO awkward. "These ones are worried about elder one still. Walking ones with machine ones have been seen nearby lately. These ones hope elder one is found soon."

    The dances won't go unnoticed; however poor or out of shape their dancing may be, N'raha and Souji get a few looks from the idle Sylphs, who seem content with the display. Komuxio himself gives a smile, taking an elegant bow mid-air. "This one greets the dancing ones, and hopes the walking ones change their minds about dancing. These ones truly appreciate walking ones willing to humor these ones. It lightens these ones' day."

    He nonetheless looks at Setsuko, Scarlet and Epicea, giving a nod. "Elder one has been missing for some time now. Elder one went for a stroll in the forest and never returned. These ones thinks he may not be far. Walking ones with large machine ones and many weapons are camping nearby. These ones prefer not to disturb them, but tempered ones have been fighting walking ones sometimes. This one believes it is an acceptable strategy of walking ones to let enemies fight each other, yes?"

    Translation: there's a Garlean camp nearby, and Tempered Sylphs have been skirmishing with them. Probably a good place to start looking?

    "But please, first, these ones would like to see walking ones and dancing ones show their determination. Walking ones would like us to help with Lord Ramuh, yes?"

    Suddenly, all Sylphs cease activity. They gather around newcomers, forming a circle of small, floating plant creatures who stare intently. There is no hostility to be felt, but--

    "Please, walking ones, dancing ones, won't you honor these ones' request and show us how to stand together as one? A grand dance, uniting many kinds of walking ones!" Translation: you all look and feel different from one another, can you dance together?

N'raha Tia has posed:
    OH HEY! A dance that's easy to do, in large groups, and can be taught easily. EVEN N'RAHA KNOWS THIS ONE. "Okay sure! We've got a pretty common dance around here, meant to give thanks to Nophica and the Elementals for their generous bounty at Harvest Time!"

    And then he gets into it. He and Bertram can at least lead the group at this. There's hand waving, and side stepping, and kicking of legs forward and back and side to side and a little bowing motion at the end!

    IT LOOKS VERY SILLY.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
Bertram definitely has no objections to dancing as a group, he just starts dancing a ... somewhat clumsy but perfectly acceptable version of the traditional Gridanian Harvest Dance. To the left, to the right, forwards, backwards, repeat. Fancy leg and arm movements included. He doesn't really seem to care about choreography or matching the others, he's just dancing as though he was the only perosn to dance.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji listens, considering what he is to say next. However, his potential insights and questions are interrupted with a ring of Sylphic interest. He pauses, an eyebrow arched as he wonders what he is to be asked to do.

Dance together? Souji considers it for a moment. It's certainly not the worst thing they could have asked... And then he looks over to N'raha and Bertram as they do the Nophican harvest dance.

His expression twitches... but he watches it intently. After watching one or two cycles, he falls in with the others, doing his best to mimic the dance steps. It's not the first time he's had to pretend to know a specific dance on the spot. Despite Bertram's assurances that coordination or even competence isn't necessary, Souji does his best to remain in sync with N'raha and perform as best he can. Which, considering his source material, might not be the best teacher.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    'We want to see you dance together.'

    Setsuko has faced gods and demons. She has stood against armies and advanced calmly. She has crossed blades with some of the most dangerous and frightening beings in the Multiverse.

    Apparently, being asked to dance is more alarming than all these things.

    "I..." The demigod begins, then trails off. Is she... embarrassed? Yes. Yes she is. Treasure this moment. The Union's own demigod of War is flustered.

    But Bertram and N'raha dance to the rescue, and there have been few times Setsuko has looked more relieved. With her superhuman senses, agility, and body control, she can at the very least mimic such simple movements. And so she does, watching N'raha for a moment before falling into perfect step with him. To a casual observer, her mimicry is airtight; only the keenest of eyes will see the little imperfections in her dance, the way it feels as if she's following a set of instructions rather than flowing through learned movements. Nevertheless, she is dancing.

Epicea Chelid (787) has posed:
    The /hdance is complex! Shuffleshuffle left, shuffle shuffle right, handwave, twirl, snore, fall over, take a nap, roll left, roll right, hit a rock, wake up, be dirty, handwave your face clean, still be dirty, forests are the worst.

    "Nailed it." Epicea notes, wiping dirt and grass off her now terribly stained sweatpants.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    For a moment, Scarlet is actually relieved. Having an actual occasion to dance shouldn't wind up making her look like an idiot. She knows how to do it. She's had practise before. Snooty practise. Then Bertram goes and ruins it by immediately leaping into the most embarrassing shuffle she's ever seen in her life, and it's all she can do to withhold a despairing, irritated groan. She'd come here hoping for something vaguely high-society, not an even more awkward kind of backwoods hoedown.

    She has to crank the magic way up for this as she slides into line with the group, watching for a couple of brief cycles before joining in herself, committing it to memory almost instantly. Despite how distinctly unenthusiastic about it she is, the minimum amount of effort manages to look downright sincere, and in fact, much prettier than everyone else, by virtue of casual altering of the concept of perception. Probably the lamest use of Circle Ceint that has ever been found, but if it works, it works. She still manages to slip Souji a Look though.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    It's true; they don't need to dance WELL. They just needed to show they could dance together, regardless of where they came from. The Sylphs circle the group, dancing themselves-- rotating, catching every angle of the assorted heroes' dances, whether good or bad.

    Magic or no magic, the Sylphs seem content, whispering among themselves with happy looks in their faces. Finally, Komuxio claps. "Dancing ones have proven their unity! Walking ones from many tribes and places fight for peace. But many walking ones fight for war still. Dancing ones have proven desire for peace. These ones will agree to lend air if Lord Ramuh is summoned. These ones would not dare face the Levin One, but these ones may have a token that would help dancing ones appeal to Lord Ramuh."

    He twirls happily, and the other Sylphs go back to what they were doing-- trading, idling, chatting, cooking. "But first," Komuxio says, "Elder one must be found. This one cannot grant dancing ones the token. This one lacks the authority to speak for these ones whole. Only elder one can. Will you go see if elder one was taken by the walking ones?"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    It's at this point that N'raha looks over at the others, his dance dying off as he just /beams/ at people trying the Harvest Dance. Amazing and wonderful, yes. He snickers a bit, ears flicking in joy as he coughs and tries to cover his glee.

    "Right ahaahhhrm. So, do you have any idea where he might have wandered off? I mean, the Shroud is a really big place and so is Larkscall. Would you know if the Elder ran into the... ah, the metal ones?"

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    The very instant dancing is no longer necessary, Setsuko stops. She stands as still as a stone statue, as if she had not been dancing at all and any inkling otherwise is a false memory. You saw nothing.

    "We will," she replies to Komuxio, bowing her head slightly. "And not just because we need your help - that your Elder has disappeared is worrying, and you're a peaceful people. I would offer my aid regardless." They suggested that the Garlean encampment deeper in Larkscall might be worth a check; she'll head that way, assuming no one stops her.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
Bertram has made sure introductions went well, and is more than willing to let others take the lead from there. Instead, he goes to hand in some things he had promised Tonaxia he'd pick up. Makes a little chat with Tonaxia, and then gets ready to follow the group.

Epicea Chelid (787) has posed:
    "Wow what a bum rap. You made us all look super lame doing highly synchronized dance moves which were funky-freshwater, and then you don't even have the authority to grant us what we want in the first place?" Epicea wonders, drawling slowly and looking angry.

    Then she fingerguns. "Sick middle management plays." She laughs. "Right, so, off to go... Tromping around big dumb forest to find the actual person we need to dance for? Sure, cool, gotcha."

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji attempts to regain his dignity after the dance, though it seems to be strained for CERTAIN REASONS. He nods and looks to the others. "Let us proceed. There's only so many places a group of the size that they have intimated could be without triggering a full scale response from the Wailers. Mr. Silent, N'raha, if you can identify those locations, we can check them first."

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Oh thank goodness. That's over. Now they can talk like normal people. People and weird, floating leaf things. Well the Sylphs are far from the weirdest thing Scarlet's seen overall, but the strangest to make houses and dance at the very least. She briefly adjusts her collar and pushes her fingers back through her hair, approaching Komuxio at the front of the group, and yet sparing just a moment to shoot Epicea a split second, "blink and you'll miss it" glare. Well, glare doesn't quite do it justice. It happens too quickly and too vaguely to really get a good look at whatever that expression might have been, but the barest glimpse of it gives the overwhelming impression of sharp, cold, disapproving hostility, enough to make one momentarily dizzy.

    And yet she's nothing but smiles as she approaches the Sylph, bowing formally before speaking. "That is our plan. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated, and so in return, we'll make every effort possible to disturb these woods as little as possible. I can't guarantee that there won't be conflict if the Garleans really are involved, but I can certainly promise that your elder will be returned unharmed." She produces her "acquired" map of the region, holding it up at head level for the Sylph. "Does any of this look familiar to you? If so, could you point to a general indication of where you think he might have went? We have a lot of ground to cover."

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    "These ones have been wary of a camp walking ones set up to the east. These ones lack the strength to oppose walking ones with machine ones, but dancing ones would be able to assist!" Komuxio answers. "Walking ones aren't far. Walking ones think these ones have not discovered the camp, but these ones saw through the trees, and machine ones are very loud."

    Clearer instructions would be given; but the short and sweet of it is, go east, through the trees, off the path.

    "Dancing ones won't need to repeat the dance for elder one; this one will ensure elder one is told all about dancing ones' unity for peace. Please bring elder one back alive, these ones can't stand another night of worry!"

    Scarlet gets a reply on the matter of the forest: "These ones don't mind if dancing ones need to fight. Fighting unfortunate, and very sad matter. But these ones understand why dancing ones seek battle. These ones won't be offended." Or at least, as long as nothing especially awful is done. Komuxio would point on the map, a location somewhere to the east and slightly north, essentially matching instructions.

    Going there is a trivial matter; few obstacles, the wildlife isn't especially hostile right now. Avoid the occasional giant, walking tree or frog, and eventually you'll come across-- warmachines. Well, two of them.

    A small cohort of six Garleans in black and red uniforms, two of them standing inside of Magitek Reapers-- those are the classic, walking suits of armor, essentially a sort of two-legged black walker with a cannon on its chest and an open cockpit in the head-- stand guard by a few cages. There's a number of Sylphs in them, green and purple alike. One has an especially large haircut and glasses, inspiring a feeling of 'elder' or maybe 'just very old'. Each Garlean is armed with a gunblade and shield, even those in the Reapers.

    Their camp is rudimentary, but large crates indicate they plan to stay, and have been here a few days already.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
Bertram gets out his old imperial uniform, and starts putting it on. He approaches the Garlean troops with that uniform on, and salutes them. "Sir! I'm my unit Medicus. Suspicious elements have been seen up north, my unit tried to intercept, but we were overrun. We need immediate assistance." He lies, using his knowledge of Imperial military protocals and the fact imperial helms obscure faces to try to get them distracted. "I'm too wounded to fight."

Now let's just hope this works...

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji is quiet as they move on from Little Solace towards the Garlean camp. He frowns at the sight of the enemy group. He looks back to the others, gesturing. "This seems too small for a dedicated assault team... Or those walkers are more dangerous than I thought. They will need to be prioritized. N'raha will lead the attack while we move in. Prioritize the machines unless one of them..."

He goes quiet as Betram breaks off and attempts deception. Souji nods. He can appreciate a good bit of misdirection.

He immediately revises the plan. "If they break off, wait for Bertram's signal and then we overrun the camp, then ambush the other group when they return. Standard priority. If they attempt to arrest Bertram..." He looks to N'raha. "You know what to do."

Do what angry axe cattemann does best.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    Setsko is silent, waiting a short distance away; she'd planned to begin with a lightning-fast attack to sow general discord, but this might serve just as well.

    But just in case, she carefully slips herself behind a particularly thick tree, then floats upward - her plan is to get up into the canopy, then make her way over their heads, so that if things go pear-shaped she can drop down from above.

Epicea Chelid (787) has posed:
    Settling in for AMBUSHARINOS is pretty easy! You let someone else do all the hard dangerous stuff and you bust out a cliff bar and chow down!

    This is the loudest wrapper in the universe, it's like opening sunchips in a fucking library. But Epicea crouches down - sits, really - and opens up her food bar, before cramming it in her toothy, fangy face and starts chewing loudly.

    "'fo. Whaf's 'fa plan?" She mumbles around the bar, drooping and looking sleepy again already.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
"I just explained the plan." Souji replies, watching Epicea. What an odd person. "Are you normally this tired?" He asks.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    There's a subtle shift in N'raha's frame as he approaches the camp, and from one glance to another his heavy armor has clinked itself properly into place from his Adventurer's gear.

    More importantly, that Aetherial Inferno Axe rests neatly in his hands as he stares down into the Garlean camp. The miq's tail lashes quietly in the rumbling tension of the Larkscall, as he listens to 'the plan' from Souji and watches Bertram head down into the camp. Is he growling? It's a very feline-ish noise from the Marauder. "Sure, Mr. Murasame."

Epicea Chelid (787) has posed:
    Epicea, being asked if she's normally this tired, is already snoring quietly, face down on the ground, making soft burbling sounds.

    Yep.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Well, that makes things pretty easy and pretty obvious. "At the very least, the Tempered don't have anything to do with this. That's preferable. The Garleans are already essentially at war with the Eorzean Alliance anyways. I'd still rather not get involved with..." she waves her hand towards the reapers. "Whatever those are." Fortunately Bertram seems to have an idea, and at his urging to wait for him to try it, Scarlet sits back and waits, immediately getting the gist of it just from the sight of the uniform. She likes the idea, but doesn't have a whole lot of faith he can pull it off by himself.

    Which is why she decides to help. Playing the role of the unsung hero, she settles in to watch, directing the use of Circle Ceint into an active effect centered on Bertram. Rather than working on herself for a change, she uses it on another, tweaking here and there to better fit the Garlean impression of a soldier. A little bigger, more imposing, a better accent, straighter posture, a more confident and serious tone. It's all the kind of thing she's done a million times before, and as a result, gotten very good at. Feeling satisfied, she takes a moment to kick the food bar away from Epicea's sleeping form, off into the brush where she hopefully won't find it again.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    Bertram starts conversing with one of the Garleans, bolstered by Scarlet's illusion magic. The soldier seems to buy it; after all, Bertram wasn't high-ranked enough that his face, as a traitor, would be EVERYWHERE. No, it's entirely possible for this small remote cohort section to not know who he is. Not to mention if that was an issue, Scarlet may have just slapped a new face on there. And Garleans? They don't have magic, at all. They're at the mercy of it.

    "Bloody hells. Is it the savages or the sylphs? Oh, like it damn matters. Take one of the Reapers and-- you two--, that'll be enough." The pilot of one Reapers makes his machine advance, volunteering, while the other two soldiers were pointed at pretty clearly. "Try not to ruin the paintjob on it, we just got it redone for this mission."

    This will allow Bertram to guide one of the Reapers and two soldiers away from the group. It'll leave three in the camp.

    One of the Garleans watching over the cages seems to hear the ruckus of the other adventurers gathering nearby, and thinking it must be wildlife, decides to check. You've got one of the soldiers coming up on you, with only leaves and bushes to hide you!

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
Bertram leads them away, and once he's at a comfortable distance, he says "Over there, not too far from here. I'll support from the back!" And then, once they start going in, he'll start casting spells. Not spells that will kill, no far more subtle. Gentle energies that will, ideally, overwhelm the reaper pilot first, and the others second, allowing them to fall into a gentle repose. Then, he will make his way away from them and return to the group, putting his mage's robes back on while moving.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    For the moment, Setsuko remains in the trees above. There is nothing else to report in this pose, but a minimum wordcount must be met. Oh hey, is that a B-rank hunt mark over there?

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Plan A seems to have worked fine, but unfortunately Epicea didn't seem to get the hint and has managed to force a plan B anyways. Fortunately, that proves to be pretty easy as well. Inflicting simple auditory stimuli on a single target is incredibly easy, and so Scarlet does the efficient thing and causes the suspicious Garlean to hear the same noise again, louder, 45 degrees off from them and deeper into the forest. She provides no explanation for this, simply watching him wander off apparently of his own accord as if she knew it would happen.

    "Whatever you're going to do, do it now." She states plainly over the radio, already beginning to move herself." She edges around the clearing towards where the cages are, and more importantly, away from the remaining reaper's primary sight cone, readying a something from her pre-inscribed deck for the moment the others act.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    YESSSSSSSSS.

    And like a coiled, heavy duty spring, N'raha unleashes himself like a red bolt of thunder, that axe swinging up and around into the air, as he LEAPS at the Garlean soldier, the business end coming down in an overhead chop.

    It is not subtle. It is not clean. It is not precise. It is mean to hurt this man while he dies.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
As soon as N'raha moves, Souji bolts forward, his hands seething with Magic Particles as he shapes them into the proper Pattern. The time for action has come. He doesn't call for anyone to follow him. apparently he expects them to just do it because it's what makes sense at the moment. Bertram did his job, it's time for the rest of them to do theirs. "Take them! Quickly!" And then he finishes the Pattern.

"Thunder-2." He calls out, throwing his hands forward and targeting the remaining soldier and his ally in the Magitech Reaver. There is a crackle of lightning, and the air shears with a powerful blast. Not the clinging shock of the Thaumaturge, but a deadly bolt.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    Once they're far enough, Bertram opens up with offensive magic right away. Water bubbles around them and brings them to a gentle sleep, and the three soldiers just fall to the ground (or rather, one falls face first into his cockpit's control panel, the others on the ground). The Reaper keeps walking until it slams into a tree (taking almost no damage) and then stops there, jammed.

    Scarlet's spell causes the Garlean to change heading, following the noise. Bloody squirrels, even this deep in the forest.

    N'raha leaps at him from the bushes, and plunges back with him into another bush. The axe would cut his throat open, and he'd choke on his own blood before long.

    This leaves a Reaper and a soldier in the camp. Souji engages by firing a thunderbolt at the both of them-- the man on foot is shocked, hard, forced to one knee immediatly. The one in the Reaper slams the panel and a blue, hexagonal shield forms around the war machine, absorbing most of the damage.

    The front of the Reaper opens, revealing a large cannon. It glows a brilliant gold for a second, and then fires an orb of magic straight for Souji's location. Upon impact, with anything really, it would detonate-- and it's pretty nasty. The sort of explosion that'd ruin your house.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    It happens without warning.

    A swordswoman in grey and black drops out of the canopy high above, the tall trees of the Black Shroud giving her ample room to make her move. The simple blade in her hand expands to the size of a massive sword, held high above her head, and her descent goes far faster than gravity alone could account for - her own power of flight, employed to add yet more momentum to her attack as she plunges towards her target. The Magitek Reaper represents a clear, significant threat, and she intends to deal with it by simply cleaving it in half, with all the strength and force she can bring to bear through her divine weapon.

    As if on reflex, Setsuko roars as she descends, a singular kiai to focus both her will and her attack.

    "CHEEESUTOOOOO!"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Well, he would have choked on his blood, if N'raha hadn't just finished the man off. There's a bloody snarl from that bush again, as the Miqo'te youth comes tearassing out of the underbrush, charging the Magitech reaper along with Setsuko. Granted, he's probably not going to get there in time to do much, but he needs this.

    But. it's the sight of those cages that tempers his wrath slightly, and he changes his tack to head for them instead to investigate.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    That's about what Scarlet suspected. The Reaper's escort seems to have been more or less dealt with, though the one she had lead off will come running back at the sound of that explosion. For that reason, she sends one of her usual familiars loping off into the forest, passing noiselessly through the treets and brush in its incorporeal state. Specifically, the "hunting dog", as if it could be compared to anything so mundane and wholesone as a canine. The full complement would have killed it pretty quickly, but a single stranded soldier in the deep woods should be an easy target to subdue.

    She's not about to get in the way of that cannon though, nor give it any reason to turn her way. Instead, she abuses hidden magic one more time to blast the pilot's senses with the hallucinatory equivalent of a flashbang, not going for any kind of subtelty or believability so long as it prevents him from shooting straight at anything. She ducks out from the tree cover in the distraction, running over to the nearest cage and kneeling behind it, pressing a premade transmutation circle to the bars and holding a finger to her lips at the Sylphs inside. The metal around her hand begins to boil annd froth, sloughing off like water soluble paint.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
There is a flash of light as a singly tiny object intercepts the incoming plasma sphere - A thrown Gil coin from Souji. The erupting blast of the cannon, nevertheless, throws Souji backwards, his suit and body smouldering from the backwash. The quick retaliation might have reduced the incoming damage, but he's going to be feeling that one for a big. "Tch. It's as I feared." He grimaces. "But then, if they were total pushovers, it would bode ill to Eorzea's capabilities. KAMINAGI!" He calls, as the deific swordsman drops down and cleaves into the Reaper.

He looks to the others, noting some are already moving to free the captives. He nods, rushing forward towards the location of the other soldiers. If he can bind them before they recover from Bertram's spells, perhaps they can find the tables turned upon them...

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    Setsuko comes down on the Magitek Reaper; her sword starts cutting through, but abruptly stops halfway in. This thing is TOUGH-- she's strong, though, and cutting that deep is a feat in and of itself. The size of the cut, even if it can't cleave the armor in twain, is enough to seriously damage its systems and disable its main gun, however. Not to mention make the pilot PANIC.

    N'raha's axe finds much lesser purchase, but smashes into one of the legs and badly damages one of the knee joints.

    And with Scarlet's flashbang, that pilot isn't going to have the Reaper firing on anyone else. He stutters, panics, and falls out of his ride, next to the disabled and paralyzed soldier. Is that a surrender?

    Scarlet's dog will find the second pilot well asleep, thanks to Bertram. It could eat the sleeping soldiers trivially.

    The cages have Tempered Sylphs and normal ones alike-- it may be best not to open the cage full of purple Sylphs. But the one that contains green ones contains Frixio, the Sylph's elder. You can tell because his hair is as tall as he is and he's got old man glasses on. He immediatly greets Scarlet and Souji with a dance-like bow. "This one thanks walking ones. This one is called Frixio, eldest of these ones from Little Solace. Pray forgive this one's need to be rescued."

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    There is some degree of surprise in Setsuko's expression when the weight of the Zanjintou doesn't cleave all the way through. But impressed though she is, it's a bad place to stop moving for any reason, so she does not. Instead, she disengages the weapon's full-sized form, freeing it by dint of the large blade no longer existing, and backflips away into a ready stance... only for the man to stumble right on out of his armor. She relaxes, somewhat, adopting a simple, guarded stance. "...I was swinging fairly hard. I'm impressed by your machine's durability." Worth bearing in mind for later.

    For now, however, she... wanders over to the cage containing the tempered Sylphs, looking into it with a simple, calm stare. "I'm sure all of you realize who I am. I'm here to tell you that I have no quarrel with your kind. I am not a god, and I was not summoned to challenge you or Lord Ramuh. If I free all of you, do you swear to return straight to the Sylphlands without attacking us?"

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Well the familiar isn't going to eat the poor man. For one, because Scarlet isn't the kind of person to kill for no reason, even secondhand, and there's certainly nothing to gain from doing it. For two, because it doesn't have a mouth. Besides, she's busy dissolving enough of the cage for a Sylph to fit through, the card burning up after roughly half of it has been rendered into formless metallic slag. She takes the little elder's hand in her own like a dance partner's, lifting him up into the air with a little flourish where presumably he'll be more comfortable being able to float.

    "A pleasure to finally meet you~ I've been looking for you and your friends. It's not my place to admonish you even if I wanted to, so I'll merely express my gratitude that you're unharmed." She looks pointedly to the purple Sylphs. "That said, we have no association with the Sylphs under Ramuh. I don't think there's a need to do much if they weren't the ones at fault here, but if you have any specific requests for where they should be taken next, please voice them now."

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji takes some time to bind the disabled Garleans. Capturing these alive might be... useful.

He looks back to the elder and performs a bow as well. "IT is no matter, Elder Frixio. What is important now is that you and the others are safe. Quickly, we should return to Little Solace after the other matters are settled."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    N'RAHA TOTALLY KILLED THAT ONE GUY CAUSE FUCK GARLEANS.

    That said people are being diplomatic now, and N'raha busies himself with trying to calm the fuck down over near the downed Reaper. 'Trying' being the operative word here. His blood is racing.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    Setsuko gets a reply. It's roughly as expected.
    "Of course our machine is durable! It's made of cermet, nothing you damn savages could ever reproduce!" Glorious nippon steel, folded 100 times. Pardon, glorious Garlean cermet, folded 1000 times. He's not entirely wrong-- Eorzea's blacksmiths could try as hard as they want, their forges don't have the conditions needed to reproduce cermet easily. But that's like saying you couldn't commission a medieval blacksmith to make you a space shuttle. It's kind of unfair.

    And that aside, cermet still manages to be inferior to properly magical metal at times anyway.

    The Tempered Sylphs look at one another. There's a lot of muttering and name-calling in there, but one finally turns to answer. "These ones will not attack rival one and walking ones in exchange for freedom. But these ones will not carry rival one's false words home with them."

    Probably the best you could expect.

    Frixio nods to Scarlet; his movements are still graceful, though they look exhausted at the same time. "This one is saddened to learn the tempered ones have resorted to summoning Lord Ramuh. These ones from Little Solace have an agreement with walking ones from Gridania not to summon the Levin One. This one will be happy to talk with walking ones once Little Solace is reached."

    Garleans are captured, if needed/wanted! They are in no position to offer much resistance. Those that are awake will cuss and swear because they really don't seem to like people who aren't Garleans. Not much of a surprise.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    In the blink of an eye, Zanjintou has cleaved off the top of the cage; Setsuko calmly reaches up, and tosses it aside. "Go. And ask yourselves on the way back - why would I release followers of Ramuh, lending him more strength, if I intended to fight him?"

    The sword returns to its sheath, and she turns to walk away from the tempered ones, over towards Frixio. "We would appreciate that. If there is any way we can bring this to a close without fighting Ramuh, I would be glad to hear of it."

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    Eventually, the group will return to Little Solace.

    HAUL: 6x Garlean uniforms, gunblades and shields
    1x intact Magitek Reaper
    1x damaged Magitek Reaper
    The Reapers are activated and piloted using identification keys, kind of like large keycards. The exact specifics of the technology involved can be explained as needed if anyone intends to mess with them or use them.

    Once back to town, or along the way, Frixio will explain:

    "This one believes it may be possible to appeal to Lord Ramuh with a token. These ones have long guarded a crystal given to these ones by Lord Ramuh a long time ago. If walking ones or dancing ones presented the crystal to Lord Ramuh, it may serve as proof that walking ones intend to live in peace with these ones and have earned the respect of this one."

    But, he would add, "This one cannot entrust these ones' crystal to walking ones on a whim. Saving this one is not enough. Walking ones have told this one that the forest is in pain. Elemental ones no longer in agreement, because walking ones are performing dark magic in its depths. When undead ones are put back to sleep, then this one will confer with these ones about the crystal."

    Translation: well, you saved me, that's cool, but it's not really enough. When you guys clear the Tam-Tara Deepcroft we'll have a Sylphy meeting and discuss the good you can do for the forest. And then we can give you the crystal.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Frixio handing over this "token" right from the start would have been nice, but Scarlet hadn't been expecting it to play out that way. In fact, things seem to be going exactly the way she had planned around. A smile of smug satisfaction is carefully represented as one of appreciation towards the elder Sylph, and then followed, by a brief curtsy of the kind one would expect of a young lady leaving the presence of her father's high ranking friend.

    "Be reassured with the knowledge that I'm aware of the issue, and already have plans in motion to deal with it. It was my intent to deal with it before seriously approaching you about this matter, but your safety was more important." Sure is a lot of "I" and "me" and "my" here, and yet somehow it tends to fly under the radar. "Next we meet, your single, sole worry will be The Lord of Levin, after which I'm sure we'll be able to work something out."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    N'raha... well. The 'I', 'Me' and 'My's aren't getting past him and as he peels off his bloody helmet and lets his hair out again, those ears flick a little bit in frustration.

    The word 'crystal', though, that gets a reaction. Like, a very visceral reaction as the Miqo'te's eyes slacken again. A hand clenches a little bit in a ball, and he looks around to the others, murmuring. "We /really/ need to get that crystal, guys. It's... well. It's really important, s-somehow. I... ah."

    He's coming back to the here and now again, and he's looking slightly embarassed for some reason. The ears and tail droop a little bit. "Probably. It's probably really important."