3059/FATE: A Breath of Stale Air

FATE: A Breath of Stale Air
Date of Scene:	19 September 2015
Location:	Hydaelyn Reborn <ARR>
Synopsis:	Bertram, N'raha, and a bunch of helpful folks beat the tar out of a corrupted air elemental, and Xiao does something foolish
Cast of Characters:	Lyria Mason, 707, 774, N'raha Tia, 823, 826

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Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
Duty: A Breath of Stale Air
Location: Fullflower Comb, East Shroud
Type: Cleansing
Urgency: High
Difficulty: High

Enclosed Message: Corruption has been limited to minor incidences for a while, but Brother E-Sumi-Yan of Stillglade Fane has received word about a serious elemental corruption in the East Shroud, beyond its long-term dangers to the Twelveswood, its influence has been affecting the Vilekin of the area, making them substantially more aggressive. Because of this, the involved risks are higher than they otherwise would have been.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
There are two fast routes towards the Fullflower Comb. There's the direct route, going west from the Hawthorne Hut Aetheryte, it is faster but takes somewhat more walking. Then there's the ferry from Old Gridania. It leads to a small port just a little north of the place. Bertram has taken the former, stopping by to pick up any who don't know the way and aren't comfortable exploring the large forests filled with dangerous wildlife.

Normally, the Fullflower Comb is a calm and pleasant beekeeping business, but the bees appear to have gone crazy, as have several other elements of the local wildlife. Large invertebrates that look like some kind of cross between spiders and scorpions are fighting a contingent of well-armed Elezen Lancers. Woodwailer troops based upon their uniforms. It isn't going well. And the source corruption isn't even in sight yet.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason hs got the job she was curious about it and given the urgency of getitng it done? She was very fast to react about the issue of the crorruption. This would spiral out of control. She was thankful for the help from Bertram in getting there as she kept pace with him. She was also pretty heavily armed too from the looks of her today. Her drones also slinked along after her.

"Ahoy! Looks like you could use a hand!"

She calls out as she moves to get her pistols ready for wht would be coming.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Mr. N'raha has already made his way here, following the call for an Emergency Leve in Bert's neck of the woods. The fact that E-Sumi-Yan was putting it out gets his urgency up more as well. Anytime the head of the Conjurers thinks there's a problem, there's a problem, and, well. He's been handling the corruption cases for a while. No sense stopping now.

    That said, fuck bees. He's not a fan, and he's certainly not a fan of Bees The Size Of Dogs. Or diremites. The catman looks pretty heated already as he steps in next to one of the Wailers, hefts that axe, and unleashes an aggravating wavve of aether that should draw some heat off of the Lancers. "Ahoy ahoy, fellas! How about a little help?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu would definitely have needed a guide; she's not entirely sure what to expect out this way, but she's taken the liberty of loading up. She's got her staff and a carrypack, and presumably her handguns are holstered inside her vest as usual. She might have some other weaponry stashed away in the pack slung across her back ... but all told, really, she looks more like she's out for a casual stroll than walking boldly into the face of danger. Except, well, she could be walking VERY boldly into the face of danger and not concerned about it.

She raises her eyebrows a bit as she approaches the fight between the stinging arachnoids and the stabbing spearmen. "Well, this looks like trouble, doesn't it ... ?" She considers briefly, then grasps her staff's headpiece, pulls it free -

- revealing that the headpiece does double duty as the hilt of a concealed sword, while she's at it -

- and leaps at one end of the swarm of chitin-clad creatures, slashing and unleashing a wave of ice magic, trying to freeze that *one* monster solid. Should that succeed, she'll follow up by kicking it into the rest of the swarm to try and, if not take them out, at least throw them into confused discombobulation.

She also puts some distance between herself and the swarm immediately after her attack, because if that gets a lot of attention on *her*, she doesn't want to be a sitting duck for the rest of the arachnoid monsters. Let N'raha draw some attention his way, the monsters'll be easier to deal with if they spread out. Right?

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Xiao Li Yu...actually wasn't here to help.

     As usual.

     She'd heard of the problem vaguely, but not of the mission to take care of it. Instead, she'd ventured into these parts all on her own, in a stealthy manner, avoiding the ground and actually flitting through the upper treeline in flight. "Hmm...very interesting..." She muttered to herself, a small smile on her face as she landed on to the nearest upper tree branch. Right before the incident of the lancers and their opponents.

     She took one glance at the fight in progress, as well as the arriving help, and then she simply plopped down on the branch, seating herself. In her lap, she set a sample kit, which was half full of corrupted things taken from the area. "I'm sure they'll survive. More importantly..." She produced a narrow looking glass, proceeding to take a closer look at what looked to be a corrupted plant sample.

     Xiao wasn't exactly easily visible, but if one looked up into the trees for more than a passing glance, they'd certainly see her.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian has also decided to take the direct route. He doesn't like traveling over water at all, really. So he's ended up meeting Bertram on the way there. And he is all too happy to have a guide. Forests and the like aren't exactly his forte.

    That said yes indeed, fuck bees. Particularly when you're a rather foppish Thedan mage. Dorian wasn't there for the talk with the Padjal, but he can see there's trouble here. As he arrives on the scene, he concentrates primarily on trying to protect what of the Elezen he can. He does this by casting a blue-white barrier in the area of the Lancers.

    "That should take some of the 'sting' out of things," he notes. "But do be careful."

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
N'raha certainly gets the attention of the diremites. Whether or not that's a good thing, well... that remains to be seen, of course. Those venomous stingers go straight for him, trying to poke a hole in the Marauder's skin and then fill it with poison. Bertram manages to get a protect off on the group before they strike, so at least that ought to help. One of the wespes has spotted Lyria and is flying towards her, sharp stingers aimed right for her shoulder. At least it's not anything like final sting. Yet.

Xiaomu manages to turn one of the diremites into a frozen projectile, crashing into another and squashing it like a bug. The others get splattered in bug goo but seem otherwise fine. Another wespe, dodging out of the way of the frozen Diremite comes across another intruder of the forests, and immediately tries to stab Xiao Li Yu with its stinger. Her plant sample shows some unusual aetheric properties, but it's hard to tell of what nature without more specialized equipment.

Dorian's protective barriers stack on top of Bertram's to make sure the Wood Wailers can keep fighting a little longer, and Bertram layers on wide area healing magics to further protect people. Then, he warns. "Be careful, these vilekin aren't the real threat. The air itself is filled with corruption, it's what's driving them mad."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"The air is filled with corruption ... ?" Xiaomu purses her lips briefly, considering what that means to her. "If people cast area-of-effect purification magic, would that do any good? Like what's that spell ... Esuna, I think?"

If only she knew how to cast that herself, she ponders briefly - but the Buddhist incantations she knows might not do a whole lot here. Well, it might still be worth a try. She re-sheathes Suiren, plants her staff next to her with her left hand grasping it, and begins chanting one of the purification sutras she *does* know, punctuating each line with a shake of her staff and a corresponding jingle of its rings.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Thankfully N'raha's got plenty of experience with Diremites of all verieties now. These aren't even near to the biggest ones he's faced. That said, he tries mightily not to get stung. That poison is butts and he hates it.
    The catman tanks at least one of those stingers before the protects and defensive bubbles pop into placearound him, blunting the rest of the blows.

    He cheers as those bubbles pop up, and he looks behind himself for a second to see who's helping. At least he can recognize most of them straight away. Then Xiaomu and Bert are talking corruption. "Usually you've got to find the source and get at it from there. But air is a new one on me!"

    Another of the diremites chrges at him, and he plants his feet, chopping stright downward, hoping to crack its chitin and splatter the vilekin in one blow.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian nods to Betram's warning. "We'll need to get through quickly, then. Thogh culling their numbers now probably wouldn't hurt." Besides, they do need to get the beasts out of the way. That in mind, Dorian takes a cue from Xiaomu, since she's switched to trying purification magic.

    He doesn't have any purification magic-- unless fire counts, and they're in a forest; he wants to try to avoid fire until he doesn't have any other choice. Instead he thumps the end of his staff on the ground, and a coating of ice should begin to form on the ground, underneath the general area of the diremites' feet. That should make them easier for the others to deal with.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is not looking fondly at thos stingers at all, she gets moving and starts attempting to snipe the flyer that's coming for her. She looks at the stinger and does not want to think about what sort of venom it might be carrying. She attempts to shoot it while dodging out of the wya but that's going to throw her shots off a bit as she does so.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     "Hmm...Yes, this corruption is the same as the plant samples collected from-" Xiao had mused aloud in her studies, but a rapidly louder sounding buzzing roused her out of her observational trance just in time to find a stinger veering right for her face.

     "Whahwahwahwah-!"

     Flailing her arms comically, the researcher slammed her kit shut and then fell backwards, her legs hooking onto the branch to keep her from actually falling to the ground. That would have sucked. "Hey! I'm in the middle of something here! Go bother those people!"

     Pouting, Xiao's anklets lit up, and she floated off of the branch and into the air, tucking her sample kit away into her inventory before pointing off towards the skirmish below.

     Yes, because huge bees totally understood human speech.

     Well, she had to get that out of her system. Seriously doubting that this monster would leave her alone, let alone all of the others, the scientist resigned herself to having to...*sigh*...fight, and produced a set of gauntlets. They immediately shifted, breaking apart into multiple short swords that floated around her figure.

     "Get rid of that thing." Xiao muttered, not wanting to waste more magic on lesser monsters. Simply exterting a bit of will, several of the blades flew off, leaving her and aiming to pierce through the bee with the velocity of a fired bullet.

     While this was happening, Xiao herself retreated at a casual pace, floating downwards towards the others. "Heeeeeey, fancy meeting you all here...in such a corrupted place...with corrupted monsters. How about that, huh~?"

     Yeah, not susupicious at all.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
"Be careful!" Bertram warns Lyria, though the warning might be useful for Xiao Li Yu as well. "When the Waspes feel threatened, they tend to put all their remaining aether into one last sting. It'll kill them, but you don't want to be hit by that kind of poison." As if on queue, the wespe that went after Lyria, and has been clipped by a few shots hovers near Lyria without attacking, magic flowing towards that stinger. Prepare for a final sting.

"Cleansing the air won't help if we can't cleanse the source." Bertram answers Xiaomu, but the purification efforts at least make the air feel less thick, though not by much. A swarm of hornets, normal sized but a lot of them, passes by her, some of them choose to try their hand at stinging Xiaomu.
Dorian and N'raha help make shorter work of the diremites, one more falls to N'raha's axe and the others are rooted in place by ice, and the cold doesn't to be too kind to them to begin with. One still manages to spit out a large blast of web, aimed right at N'raha's face. If it hits, that would hurt, shove N'raha back and cover him in constraining web.

Xiao Li Yu manages to to kill one Waspe, unfortunately her loud cries of surprise drew the attention of two more. They don't wait around preparing to gather a suicidal amount of aether in their stinger, and as much as Bertram doesn't trust her, he quickly casts Stoneskin on her to help her survive those highly dangerous stings if needed. "We need to find the corrupted elemental."

And then, as if on queue, a young woman in white robes approaches the group, healing magic flowing from her like water from a spring. She's being chased by a sickening green confluence of air, reminiscent of a tornado, it releases a smell akin to that of rotten eggs, and purple clouds gather around the elemental.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The axe drops clean through the bug and the catman howls happily, drawing it out of the twitchy corpse. "HAHAH! EAT IT BU-"

    And then N'raha has a face and mouth and torso full of webbing on him, and he falls over on the ground, struggling and trying to force air through his nose as he's Held and Suffocated. He thrashes with his axe and rolls, able to spot the Corrupted Sprite out of the corner of his eye but unable to help just yet. "Nnfffffggfffff."

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian blinks at Xiao Li Yu's appearance. He has apparently not grown accustomed enough to the Multiverse to find the concept of girls floating in from the sky normal as of yet. "Greetings, dear lady. Out for a pleasant jaunt? Admittedly this wouldn't be my first choice. Though I'm sure the place is quite lovely when the giant bees and..." He pauses, looking at the diremites. "...Whatever those things are, aren't trying to eat passersby."

    Suddenly the woman approaches, with the corrupted elemental behind her. The problem is, there is a webbed cat-man who appears to be suffocating in webbing. Dorian considers a moment. This is probably a bad idea, but considering the alternative...

    "Stand clear of the cat!" Dorian announces. And then he lobs a fireball off the serpent-headed end of the staff. At N'raha! It should burn the webbing off. and hopefully little else.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
The sage fox nods to Bertram -

Oh, swarm of hornets. So much for Xiaomu's attempt at purification; she swings Suiren through the part of the swarm that's headed for her, unleashing another wave of ice magic to try and freeze them right out of the air before they can sting her. Normal bee stings are bad enough; she does NOT want to try her luck against poison from nastier bugs that are under the influence of some kind of corruption. The approaching girl and elemental are quick to get Xiaomu's attention, and she waves to the girl briefly.

Her next course of action? Pull out one of her grenades and try to throw it so it lands (and goes off) *inside* the stinky whirlwind. Wind and fire are not usually on great terms, as she recalls the elemental relationships ...

(Actually, wind doesn't even EXIST in the Chinese five-element system.)

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason gets the warning about the poison nd it's very apt. She sees the thing making ready for one last suicidal sting in an attempt to bring her down with iot. Lyria does not desire this to happen to her. She focus her fire on the insect like monster trying to bring it down before it can make that last attack run!

N'raha Tia has posed:
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FIRE "AAAAAAAAAA!!!"

    Oh hey, N'raha can breath and scream and stop drop and roll, putting out the magical flame and the awful smell of smouldering web as he grinds himself in the dirt.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     "Hello~" Xiao Li Yu greeted Dorian with a smile. "A pleasant jaunt? ...Something like that." She answered with a mysterious smile. "The locale is...interesting." To say the least. "Which makes it a perfect place to collec-Bwah!" Her sentence was cut off as another pair of GIANT BEES came barreling right for her.

     THe swords she'd sent flying off were willed to return, and came bursting through the air, aiming to strike the bees from behind. But they wouldn't be in time to prevent their owner from being stung! Ahhhh this was going to hur...t? Xiao had shielded herself with her arms, her remaining blades positioning in front of her to try and assist in defense as well.

     But the pain she was expecting to feel was actually much less than it should have been. The researcher spared Bertam a glance and mouthed a 'Thank you' towards him, along with a waved greeting. At the same time, the swords she'd called back were upon the two bees, in prime position to pierce through them and rejoin their owner.

     At about that point, the woman came running into sight, followed by what had to be the source. Or at least a part of it. "Oh my...Could that be the cause?" She mused aloud, landing to the ground and rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

     For now, she watched to see what the results of Xiaomu's grenade would be.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
The remaining vilekin are either made short work of by the group and Wood Wailers or survival instinct starts to trump corruption-induced madness. The bugs are gone, no longer a concern. That at least makes the remaining task easier. "To cleanse the corruption, we'll need to excise the corrupted aether that's been absorbed by the elemental." Bertram shares, and then the grenade flies into it. Its explosion definitely causes an effect, first it seems to disturb the flow of the corrupted elemental. Second, it enrages it.

Though by no means comparable to the energies of a primal, this particular elemental is a strong one. Stronger than the water and earth elementals had been before it, and now that it's enraged and corrupted, tornodoes start appearing near people. They're larger than the elemental, and if people get too close they might find themselves sucked in and thrown up into the air.

The Wood Wailers fall back to recover, and the girl starts to cast her healing magic on them. This, in turn, causes Bertram to frown. "Sylphie, we've told you repea--" "I know what you've told me. You're wrong. I'm helping." And she goes back to healing them.

Bertram finds himself with more important things to concern himself with right now, and sighs, casting Aero at the elemental to fight wind with wind.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Maybe, Xiaomu thinks, that WASN'T the best approach.

Mind you, she's thinking this as she gets sucked up by a tornado and flung high into the sky, the 'skirt' panels of her qipao tangling around her legs with a protected yelp of, "YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ... !!!"

She actually tries to 'land' in the canopy rather than crash all the way back down to the ground; rather than lingering in the branches, though, she goes on to make a *controlled* jump back down to ground level rather than falling all the way. Or at least, that's how she'd like to come back to ground level. A touchdown in the canopy will also mean she can draw Silver and Platinum and open up on the elemental, firing anti-spirit rounds from both of her handguns.

If she misses the canopy landing, well, she's just going to hit the ground in all kinds of ugliness, untangle herself, and THEN start shooting anti-spirit rounds in the elemental's direction.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian winces at the shriek from N'raha. "Sorry!" he calls out. Fortunately, the fire, magical or not, goes out like any other fire on one's clothes. So N'raha shouldn't have to worry about being on fire for very long. There's that, at least.

    Xiao Li Yu's statement, including the yelp, gets Dorian's attention as well. Thankfully Bertram beats him to the punch with a protective spell. "Are you all right?" he asks her.

    Suddenly TORNADOS EVERYWHERE! Dorian's thrown against a tree by one of the tornados, though he does stand back up. He takes that moment to ask Bertram, "Is there an issue with the lady's presence?" A look to Sylphie. He doesn't know what exactly she's doing there.

    There isn't a lot Dorian can do for Xiaomu's falling, but he does at least pause to assure himself that she's not hurt too badly, whether she lands in the canopy or on the ground. Though if it's the latter, he's going to wince. Falling out of trees is painful.

    Once he turns his attention to the battle again, he focuses on the corrupted elemental. And by 'focus', we mean 'claps his hands together and flings a bolt of lightning at'.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason was able to take the monste rbug down before it could sting her thankfully. She make sure to check the ammo on her weapon. The bug us down but had she not been warned shed have ignored the injured one as it wasn't attacking her. It would have ended very badly otherwise. She now falling back attemping to go after Lyria can do little for Xiaomu to catch her, and this inspires something she'll have to get up to back at the workshop. For now? She turns her attention on the elemenals and starts fireing ice shots at it.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Thankfully N'raha is pretty close to the dirt when the first tornado passes by, still brushing smouldering webbing off his armor. Thankfully, he's not too singed. If he had whiskers, they wouldn't be there anymore though.

    That said, he's back up and attem, rubbing blood and dirt from his face as he plucks up his axe again. "You cna hit em if you just put a bit of effort and aether into it, guys!" And that said, he charges forward, ever at the front of things. He looks over to the Woodwailers. "Guys, pen it in from the other side, try to keep it from scooting away from me!" Then he's charging in, axe swinging.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Whatever little pain left from being stung by huge bees subsided once Bertram's apparent associate, Slyphie channeled healing magic into them all. "Good, good. One less thing to worry about." A smile was had before she turned her attention back to the elemental.

     Dorian's inquiry into her state of health was met with a chuckle and a shrug. "I'm quite okay, thanks to certain others. Thank you for askin-BWAH!" And like clockwork, Xiao was drawn into yet another situation. A tornado had formed quite close by her, which in turned pulled her right into it and blew her straight into the air.

     "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING!?" She shouted over the roar of the wind, coughing at the stench as well. Why did it always smell horrible!? Thankfully, Xiao was capable of flying, and hadn't totally exhausted her MP supply just yet. Her anklets lit up yet again and her uncontrolled trip through the air was righted, with some difficulty.

     "Oof!" Smack dab right into an upper branch she went before floating aloft above. "Ow ow ow...!" The researcher groaned in a comical fashion, rubbing her stomach painfully. "I swear..." She grumbled and then descended a bit to scope out the target. "A corrupted wind elemental..." She mused, a hand to her chin.

     A few moments were spared for thought, and then she decided to act. The blades that have been floating around her began to merge back together in a uniform manner, folding and turning until they collectively became a set of gauntlets yet again, wraping around Xiao's arms before locking shut. "Now then, let's try something..." She raised an arm and frowned in focus after that.

     DARK KNIGHT
     >> DARK ARTS
     >>>> DARK BANE

     SPELL FENCER
     >> SWORD MAGIC
     >>>> ASPIR, PHANTOM WEAPON

     With the combination of abilities decided, Xiao acted. A plume of purple-black darkness formed in her raised hand, blossoming outwards till it took on a tangible shape; that of a large, ornate lance. It then erupted in a bright blue magic aura. "Let's see how this works- Demon Lance!" The phantom weapon was thrown with great force after that.

     It pierced through the air, heading right for the elemental. If contact was made, the lance would immediately attempt to drain whatever magical energy was holding it together, disperse it into particcles, and then funnel it back into Xiao herself.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
The anti-spirit rounds do their job, tearing away at the corrupted elemental, shredding bits of essence, tearing out corrupted and healthy aether alike. The lightning flows through right after, polarizing the aether, making the corrupted energies far more concentrades in specific areas than before. Lyria's ice shots hit one of those areas, blasting out far more corruption than healthy elemental.

N'raha gets the Wood Wailers back in the action, though one of them gets trapped by a tornado and is in need of more healing right away. The others do get their strikesin, and N'raha manages to smack some corruption out of it. As for energy drain, well... Xiao Li Yu definitely manages to drain a decent amount of corrupted aether from the elemental. The problem is that she has absorbed corrupted aether, and it's no more pleasant to a flesh and blood person than it is to an elemental. It might not cause any real damage, but it ought to feel wrong and mildly painful.

The Elemental's corruption is far from gone, and it starts to spin rapidly. Bertram blinks and then realizes what's about to happen, he interrupts his spell and yells, "Take cover!" Diving behind a tree to follow his own instruction. A few moments after, a massive windblast goes from the elemental in all directions. Clearing out the tornadoes, and likely blasting back anyone who isn't in cover. Stray sand, rocks and splinters of wood in the blast make it a painful experience.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The catman is right there in front with the Wailers, right there trying to keep the attention of the Sprite and... well, he can hear the rest of everybody handling the thing. Good. He's still taking swipes at the elemental, hollaring at it. "COme on then! Hit me you windbag! I love the smell of eggs! YEAH!" Boy he's really into it, taunting the thing, brimming with aetheric energy, working hard to keep himself the center of attention.

    But then the massive windblast hits and the Maurauder yowls, trying to plant his feet and tank the burst. His reward is another facefull of crap, this time rocks and gravel, and a trip into the grass.

    He snarls, and looks around. One of the Wailers is hurt bad. "Someone help that guy out! Get him up. YOU HEAR ME? NO SLEEPING ON THE JOB!" He slaps the axe into the dirt, and comes around for another massive swing, aiming for that ball of corruption in the middle.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
If Xiaomu realized that Xiao Li Yu was actively trying to drain energy from the elemental, she would be split between a couple of possible reactions. She might think to warn the research mage; if she couldn't do that, she might wince in anticipatory sympathy. Or, on the flip side - given how little the sage fox likes Xiao Li Yu - she might intend on savoring whatever signs of suffering would be displayed.

However, there's not much about the spell-technique as it's being invoked which indicates the intended result ... and even then, Xiaomu has more direct concerns when Bertram yells to seek shelter. The sage fox glances around quickly, then flings herself towards the relative cover of a large oak tree - and is pretty certain she's not going to make it.

So Suiren is drawn again, and Xiaomu just stabs the blade into the ground, building up an icy barricade to help shunt the wind's force away from her ... and for that matter, away from anyone else who's close enough. "BUNKER!!" she yells, as if to cue her allies that yes, shelter CAN be taken with her.

The elemental doesn't care about Union or Confederacy or Syndicate, after all; its lethality is very much equal-opportunity. And while Xiaomu is hunkering down against the wind, she spares a moment to reload both of her handguns.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Drain successful!

     "...Ugh, this is horrible!" Was Xiao Li Yu's immediate comment once it had all flowed back into her. The thrown lance long since dissipated. It was strange, wrong, and kind of painful! Not enough to cripple her, but that terrible feeling permeated through her body, like blood flowing through the veins.

     She winced as it 'circulated' through her body, but managed to take her focus off of it for now. Bertram's yell to take cover was duly noted. Where to go, where to go... Behind a tree? Nah, too narrow. Behind someone? Nah, that was mean and inappropriate. "Aha-!" Seeing Xiaomu's erected ice barrier, she quickly descended, landing by the sage fox just in time to avoid getting blown away. Again.

     "Hello, wise owl. It's been a while." She greeted the barrier's creator, taking the time to adjust her own gauntlets with an amused smile on her face. "Have you reconsidered the idea of letting me have a bit of your blood?" The researcher went on to ask while peeking around the ice barricade in order to ascertain the situation on the other side.

     Time and place wasn't in her vocabulary apparently.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is able to help bring the elemental down, she's dealing with an alien world. It's like her own but somethings are very diffent. she make sure the thing is done it seems to be helping somewhat she mkes to eye for the sections that don't seem to be taited. She'll try to avoid dealing with those spots. She sees the Elmental is about to do something. She then gets warned to dive for cover, which she does. If not for Bertram's warning she might have had a far worse day. Even with that she's taking some level of shrapnel from the attack even as it is.

"Anyone got any ideas!?"

Her ice rounds seemed to work so she'll try to pop back up and fire off a few more shots, but spirits really at not her thing.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Bertram's shout gets Dorian's attention. And Bertram doesn't have to tell him twice. Dorian is finding cover no sooner than that warning is yelled. Thankfully Xiaomu's making an ice barrier. Dorian ducks behind that, adding his own Wall of Ice to the mix. Mind, ice isn't the school of magic that he's the most skilled at, but with Xiaomu's ice and his own, it should prove an effective temporary bunker.

    Once he's done that, he looks to Xiaomu. "Fancy meeting you here," he quips. Yes, he's kidding around. "We really must stop meeting like this." Mind, he's talking more about the elemental driving them into cover than anything she's doing. And he's only teasing anyway.

    Xiao Li Yu's question gets a blink. "My dear lady, it's generally considered rude to go around asking people for samples of their bodily fluids," he notes, with that same teaing voice. "Let alone during battle."

    Lyria's question gets a response as well, from behind Xiaomu's ice barrier. "Other than 'wait until the coast is clear and hit it with everything? Afraid not." And from his position he aims a Barrier spell at the lancers, hoping to give them some time to at least get their fellow off the field. He's no healer, sadly, and all he can offer is a bit of extra protection for those who can help the downed man.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
N'raha hits the ball of corruption in the middle, hard. The axe cuts through it and parts of it are going out. Lyria manages to excuse more corruption, and only fairly little of it is left. As people take cover, or not in the case of a certain cat man, Bertram explains the procedure. "We keep hitting the corruption out of it. Then once it's mostly gone I heal it. It ought to be able to rid itself of the remaining corruption after that."

That major blast seems to have taken a lot out of the Elemental, but it's not done yet. The wind is strong, but bearable. Although onpleasant, a constant flow of fast-flowing winds filled with sand and splintered wood, along with other stray objects that have been picked up. A constant onslaught, but despite its strength, bearable. Bertram casts healing magic on N'raha, and Sylphie rushes towards the fallen wood wailer. A truly immense amount of energy flows from her into the man, and after a few coughs and other painful sounds, he gets up, ready to move again.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"You can come back and ask in seven hundred years or so and the answer'll still be no," Xiaomu answers blithely to Xiao Li Yu's question. "And what part of me looks like an owl? Did you get whacked on the head and I missed seeing it?"

... okay, 'we're all on the same side at the moment' only goes so far in some cases. And after the Confederate researcher screwed up what Xiaomu counts as *YET AGAIN*, Xiaomu's not about to waste perfectly good sympathy on her when there are better people to offer it to. Like Dorian. "Sounds like as good a tactic as anything I can think of," she answers him. "And I wish I *could* aim for just the corrupt parts," she calls out to Bertram ...

Then comes up on one knee and starts emptying her clips at the elemental again: more anti-spirit rounds, of course. If she can spot parts of it that LOOK more discolored or warped or corrupted than the rest of the elemental's shape, though? That's where her bullets are going.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Okay good. Someone's tending to the fallen Wailer, the lancer getting the medical care he needs. N'raha's getting a boost of healing energy, and everyone's fairly getting back into place.
    The Party Tank snarls happily as he sees the Sprite weakening, sees it starting to lose cohersion. N'raha's body is thrilling now, his axe flashing, coming around for another strike, a wave of energy lashing out in its wake. "THIS ENDS NOW, BREEZY."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason says "Great then keep fighting!"

Is Lyria's reply She's still trying to blast out what she can of the corruption she can, or so she hopes.. She is howver eposing her self but Bertram confirms she's got the right idea.

"Undertood Bertram!"

She gets it they are here to save this thing after all hopefully they can do so.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Dorian gets a look.

     And after a moment she just burst out laughing. It wasn't raucous or rude, just a light laugh and a wave of the hand. "Oh please! It's fine, it's fine! After all, I hardly ever get to see my long lost sister~" Was that a joke about how 2/3rds of their names were similar? Probably.

     Xiaomu got a look after that, and a smile. "Oh, oh right. I'm so sorry! It was Great Hamster!" She playfully bopped herself on the head at that. "Oh you mythical creatures are so hard to tell apart after all~" Her tone made it perfectly clear that she was just screwing with the sage fox.

     ...But they were on the same side right now. Let's not heckle the animals too much, lest they bite. In the middle of battle.

     That in mind, the scientist clenched a fist at that, finishing her adjustments. Bertram's words are heard and a nod is given. "Hmn. Attack the corrupt parts. That's going to require precision." She sighed and looked back out at the elemental, ascertaining where to attack before nodding to herself again. "Okay then..."

     Xiao began to focus at that.

     DARK KNIGHT
     >> DARK ARTS
     >>>> BLACK BANE

     SPELL FENCER
     >> SWORD MAGIC
     >>>> ASPIR, PHANTOM WEAPON

     "This is going to hurt. But I do have an idea..." She mumbled to herself as the ability took form. Several weapons formed in the air around Xiao. Swords and lances crafted from dark essence yet again, and coated in a magic draining aura on top of it. The researcher took one last look at the elemental, figuring out where to attack again, before willing the phantom blades to fire, aiming specifically for those areas.

     Of course, if contact is made, she'd be getting that energy herself, but heeeeeeey.

     Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Well, that wind's not going away. But at least it's not too terribly bad. Once the coast is clear enough, Dorian notes to Xiaomu and Xiao Li Yu, "Do forgive me, ladies, you've both been charming company, but I see an opening." That said, he ducks out from behind the ice barrier... and ducks mostly behind N'raha. "Pardon me sir, I need to borrow you for a moment!" Hey, if N'raha's going to be the tank, as the mage, Dorian is going to use that to his advantage.

    He takes aim at the elemental again, and a blue-white symbol appears before him as he moves his hands out to the sides. The symbol flares brightly, burning blue-white in the air before him; as it does, several lightning-elemental orbs fire out of the symbol, arcing up and around N'raha, aimed at the elemental.

    Dorian goes still a moment, willing the orbs to aim at the corrupted sectors of the elemental rather than the rest of the creature. though this does put him as a disadvantage; his attention's on the flight path of the orbs and thus he's distracted. N'raha's really the only thing between him and the elemental now. And considering he has his arms out to his sides, that's going to be a direct hit if something does hit him...

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
Xiaomu should be able to spot the corrupted aether, it's a remarkably more sickening shade of green than the remainder of the elemental, and her aim is true. N'raha manages cut off a piece of elemental filled with corruption. The magic of Dorian and Lyria manages to get it close to manageable levels, and then Xiao takes a bullet for the sake of science, or something like that, and drains most of the remaining corrupted aether.

This is not pleasant, it stacks up with the earlier aether to go beyond merely feeling wrong and mildly painful. At these levels it ought to be easy to figure out why the elemental has gone crazy, the corrupted aether doesn't get along well with healthy energy flows attacking it like an acid that just met a base. However, the effect on the elemental is clear. Beyond weakened, it looks calmer, the wind dies down, as does the awful smell.

Bertram, if he noticed, doesn't comment on what's happening to Xiao at all. Instead, he casts his most powerful healing spells on the elemental, allowing it to recover. The elemental grows in strength, but doesn't grow angry again. Instead, it merely flits away calmly, sending a soothing, gentle breeze to drive out the remainder of that foul smell.

Back with the Wood Wailers, Sylphie is looking at her hands as she hovers over a wounded lancer. When Bertram looks her way, she gets up and runs away.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Urp.

     There it was again.

     That awful feeling.

     Except this time it was MUCH worse.

     She wanted to throw up

     She brought one hand to her head, clutching it in pain, but resisting curling up like a baby.

     She broke out into a cold sweat, taking deep breaths to try and keep herself calm as the corrupted aether ran through her system, attacking her normal magic reserves. "........" Whatever was happening, whatever success they found, she wasn't in the right mind to pay attention to it. Instead, she just flumped down by the base of the nearest tree, resting her back against it as she tried her hardest not to cry.

     Whose idea was this again!?

     Oh wait, it was her idea.

     Shit.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"And that," Xiaomu says mildly to Xiao Li Yu, "is why draining attacks can backfire. Especially if you KNOW your target is warped, corrupted, or otherwise toxic."

Is that a hint of sympathy in the sage fox's voice? She DOES know exactly what Xiao Li Yu is going through right now - Xiaomu's experienced it herself a couple of times, or something close to it. "You might want to try some kind of antidote magic," she suggests. "Otherwise you just have to let your body cycle it back out. Tossing some extra spells might get rid of the polluted magical energy faster than just waiting for it to go away."

She puts her guns away, pulls her sword free of the ground (it comes out clean), then chops a couple of small pieces of ice off the barrier before it can melt away. She murmurs a brief incantation, then offers the ice to the researcher. "Might help a little, at least it'll distract you from how awful you probably feel."

... yep. Actual sympathy. Maybe not MUCH of it, but better than none at all. Xiaomu finally sheathes Suiren in the staff's shaft and looks around at her other allies. "Everyone else okay? That was the only corrupt elemental we need to worry about, right?"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    N'raha... oh man he's riding high. The Sprite is vanquished, he's victorious, DUTY FULLFILLED... Only what feels wrong here? Oh wait.

    As N'raha steps forward to try and find the usual Gross Corrupted Crystal, it's not there. It's... "Doc, the crystal isn't here." He looks a bit confused, kneeling down and dragging his axe through the dirt a bit to try and scrape it up off the ground. Nope.
    A look to the others, and he grumbles. "Did anyone see a gross looking crystal come out of it?"

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian sighs in relief as the elemental seems to flit away. "At least that foul stench is dissipating," he observes. Sylvie's reaction to Bertram's look gets a raised eyebrow. "Do you have that effect on all women? I may need to ask you how that's done," he quips. More seriously, he asks Bertram, "I gather you and she don't get along? What has she done? Should we try to catch her?"

    He notes Xiao Li Yu's discomfiture and frowns. "Are you all right?" Xiaomu mentions draining the corrupted elemental, and Dorian shakes his head. "Yes, that was... probably not the most healthy tactic for you." A pause, and he tries to think of what he can do. "I have healing draught, but that's all I can offer. I'm afraid Spirit School isn't exactly my forte."

    N'raha's question gets a tilt of his head. "Crystal? No, I didn't see one myself," he replies. "They usually drop one?" He hasn't had enough dealings here in this world to know what's normal and what isn't.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is trying her shots with the others, and is able to do what she can she is loweing her rate of fire at this point she does not want to kill the thing she's fighting. They came to help it after all right? It could still be saved. She's going to turn her attention to other targets now. She looks at the elemental as it calms down and departs.

"I'm going to take that as a thank you... err Xiao? You okay?"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "Yeah, these things, the ones that get corrupted this bad, when you force all the crap out of them they usually drop..." And then Dorian mentions Xiao Li looking... rough. N'raha glances over at the Mad Girl, and sighs. "What did you do? I... did you suck it up or something?"

    He growls and stomps over towards her and her tree, looking... equal parts concerned, grumpy and offended.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
"Usually the corrupted aether we managed to remove from the Elemental coalesces into a crystal." Bertram explains, and though he doesn't say anything, he looks towards Xiao, it's clear he has his suspicions. "It's probably nothing we ought to worry about." Finally, he sighs. "That was Sylphie, a gifted healer and a pupil of Stillglade Fane." He sounds worried about her, "She's been ignoring all lessons and warnings we've given her. I..." He shakes his head firmly, "No, I can't discuss that. Not without clearing it with Brother E-Sumi-Yan at least."

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Xiaomu's voice registered and Xiao Li Yu looked up slightly at the sage fox. "...I got that feeling...the first time. But..." She shook her head, saying nothing further. Talking was distracting her from bearing the pain of it all. But casting extra spells seemed like a good idea...except she didn't know any magic she could cast willy nilly like that. Everything she knew was offensive. So there went that idea. She did take the offered ice however, the cold definitely distracting her a bit.

     Dorian's question gets him a look after. "Thank you, but...I'm afraid that won't help." She smiled a pained smile and nodded. "I...appreciate the thought." She looked to Lyria next and chuckled. "I've...been better." She admitted to that much at least before adding. "Still...this is slightly better than fighting Professor DeSalle, hm?"

     And then N'raha stomped over. "Hello to you too." Xiao greeted in a low tone at his half question half accusation. "Suck what up? ...If you mean that corrupted essence, yes. Yes I did." Another chuckle, the ice in her grip reminding her to stay focused. Not to give in. "If that means I took your crystal..." Beat. "...Whoops~"

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    N'raha's mention of the crystal not being there makes Dorian frown. "Maybe something else was reponsible," he suggests, crossing his arms over his chest. "Or perhaps we blasted enough of the corruption out that it didn't have the opportunity to form a crystal."

    Xiao Li Yu's words make the frown ease. "Ah. That would probably explain it," he says quietly. A look at N'raha and Bertram. "Might there be a way to draw it out?" he asks.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "Well there better be a way to draw it out of a person. That crap isn't right for the elements, and it certainly can't be good inside of you." The first to Dorian and the second to Xiao Li. N'raha crosses his arms and looks down at the girl, sighing. "I'm guessing you're hoping to go home with that... crud inside of you? Is that it?"

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason says "I see a crystal is it useful for anything? Or should we seek it out to dispose of it least another get infected by it?" %R She looks over to Xiao and nods a little bit.

"I got a pot or two if you need one."

She may have issues but todfay Xiao's in the same party and it never pays to be a jerk to one's party memebers in the long run.

"Humm so almost some sort of negative mana? Kinda like the extraveral science dealing with anti mat...wait no it does't explode in contact with normal type does it.?"

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
"As far as I can tell the crystal isn't useful for anything, but we've been trying to analyze it to figure out where this corruption is coming from." Bertram explains, and then he shrugs. "Well if it's not here, it's not here. We must needs look at what we can do, not at what we can't." And finally he tells Xiao. "I've never encountered something like your current situation before. I'll look into ways to help, but I hope it's a small enough amount you will recover naturally. Unless I can find a way, it's the best I can offer."

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Xiao smirked at N'raha. "Aw, you really think I.../planned/ to put myself in this situation just to gain this corrupted magic? That's an awfully silly idea." An amused by pained chuckle followed and she stood up, with some difficulty, but she managed not to fall right back down.

     "As Miss Hermit Crab says, it should cycle through naturally in time." A pause, and then she grinned mischievously "So unless you plan on strapping me to a table and doing 'things' to me, I'm afraid you're out one crystal. So sorry~"

     The researcher took a deep breath, steeling herself anew. As much as she was joking, this really did feel terrible all around. Lyria recieves a shake of the head. "I'm okay. ...I'm fairly certain I'll live." The girl gets a pat on the shoulder. "Save your things." Bertram is next. "Well..." A moment passed. "...I suppose we won't know until I turn into a ferocious, raging shadow of my former self now, will we?"

     That was said all too lightly.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "I wouldn't put it past you." N'raha still looks concerned/grumpy, but he's not going to stop her from leaving, if she wants.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Well, if tying her to a table and doing 'things' would actually get you the crystal you need, I'll bring the ropes and straps ..."

Xiaomu is *PROBABLY* kidding; she certainly looks extremely mischievous as she makes the 'offer'. How does anyone mistake her for something other than a fox? Her look grows more serious in short order, though. "But if the crystal *should* have dropped from that elemental, it's possible the real source of the trouble is somewhere else ... or, well." She clears her throat, a little bit ostentatiously, and says no more.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Xiao Li Yu waved a hand dismissively. "Right, well! Only one way to find out." She stepped past the others, and off on her way. "I'm going to go home and maybe curl up in bed for a while." She gave the others a sidelong glance as she walked. "If I turn into a raging berserker, then I'm sure you'll all be the first to know. Bye~"

     And she was off.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason says "I understand any help would be good and is very welcome. All eight Xiao, the offer's still there if you change your mind later."

She notes before falling back in with the party, she's going to make notes to give some others at the school heads up, should Xiao suffer horrible bad magic posioning. She moves over to Xiaomu with a bit of an smirk on her face.

"So your suggesting there's another source? You got a good point on that."