493/Crystal Blues

Crystal Blues
Date of Scene:	25 August 2014
Location:	Hydaelyn <HD>
Synopsis:	Several shipments of crystal shards have gone missing. Request for some 'adventurers' is sent out to go find the missing shards-- only problem is, these adventurers find far darker things at work...
Cast of Characters:	67, 307, 357, 487, 513, 522

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Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
%rOne of the camping check points that sits between the Thanalan Desert and the Black Shroud has done a call out for assistance to anyone who is willing to come and oh yes, they are also willing to pay some pretty good money for it too.

The camp is nothing impressive, it is near a patch with actually some flora is growing including around a few shade trees to escape from the hot desert sun if the tents themselves are not enough. There also lies broken pieces of once was an Aetheryte crystal. Its mystical glow long gone and is being slowly cannibalized by those who camp here to take back to Ul'dah for research.

Thankfully for our group, the sun is already setting as it seems this was the best time to take this contract. So at the camp itself a nice camp fire marks the location, including a few hanging lights along the trees themselves.

There seem to be four men here at this camp as well. A tall blue man, with light blue skin and a slightly bestial face. Another who is very short and has a dark tan with a gem in the center of his forehead of a red color. The other is that of a tall lanky elf-like young adult with dark blue skin and black hair. The final one is that of a normal looking human, who seems to be dealing himself out cards for a single play of game-- while the others drink.

It is actually the dark skinned elf that take notice of the group coming and goes to stand up. He knocks back his drink quickly before tossing it over his shoulders, which the metal cup goes clacking easily against the rock. "Greetings and welcome! We do hope you are here for the contract and if /not/, then I'll be ever so glad to fill you all in."

The small humanoid rolls his eyes as he goes to try and finish his drink-- only to find it all gone. The other tall burly humanoid looks over with a mild smirk. "Also please forgive my friend for being so open. He has perhaps a bit to much to drink and forgets he is a Duskwight."

The elf then shoots the other a glance over his shoulder, "Are you trying to say my people are worse then the back side of the drake, cause if so, I think you have mistaken us with those Wood-huggers."

That gets a mild snort of amusement from the short humanoid. Though the human of the group remains quiet and continues to play his cards, though they look odd for cards. They have metal edges and almost seem clear in some areas.

The Duskwight then continues. "But to the heart of the matter here." His tone gets far more serious as he leads them into the camp grounds. "There was suppose to be three Caravans that was suppose to arrive last night. Yet they have not. With the linkpearls no longer working until we can find means to re-attune them to shifting aetheric flow, we had to request aid from some Moogles that happen to be passing through."

The small one then cuts in about then, as he goes to stand up, including brushing himself off. His voice has a bit more of a proper sound to it. "What it carries on it is /very/ important. It holds crates and crates of aetheric crystal shards. Ranging from water, fire, ice.. and lightning. There may been other elements as well, but the point is. We need those crates back, because if the Moogles were correct,"

The tall man then speaks up, "Which they bloody probably are."

The small one gives him a look before he continues, "..because if they were correct, it is most likely the Amalj'aa was what raided the shipment and that is /very/ bad. Very bad indeed!" They all stand up, beyond the human, and kneel before the group as they all speak together, "We ask of you to please get back as much of the shipment as you can and we will pay a rich man's ransom for it!"

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
%rThen there is a slam of one of the cards on the crate being use as a table by the human as he goes to stand up. He slides the cards into the satchel, before he goes to snatch the jacket from the tree and then goes to put it on. "Yes. Ask 'em bloody strangers to do some dirty work by sending 'em into a death trap. Sounds like a traffic plan." He then pulls out one of the cards and points it at the group, "Mark me works-- you go to far in that desert and you will enter his domain.. and if 'em beasts got enough, we will all be under his influence soon enough."

With that said the human of the group then closes his eyes before a white glow forms around him, the air around him distorts, before he simple vanishes in a flicker of mystic light.

The elf then rubs the brow of his forehead, before he looks back at the group, "Our friend there has been under allot of stress, but really. I really wont be that dangerous, beyond maybe some arrows, fire magic, and few spears.. but I am sure nothing you chaps can't handle right?" The Elf then points toward the direction they need to go, "..and they went that way, by what the moogles said. I promise you though, the gil is all the worth for this and I am sure you'll be back before morning light!" The direction he points seems to be off toward several mountains and past a few narrow ravines. It looks like rocky county that way, which means a possible dangerous hike as well.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    One of the first people to appear is fairly short - perhaps a smidge shorter than the tallest of miqo'te girls - and clad in garments that would look right at home in the land of Doma... although they'd be flashy even for that distant country. If the horns on her forehead were longer and fuller, they might mark her as a padjal... but no, she is clearly not. The elezen-esque ears prove that. She is an outsider to this land, striding with calm, steady steps, with a map rolled up and stuck through one of the loops of cord at her sides.

    The first words out of her mouth are simple, and direct. "My name is Hana. Umikazeno Hana. I'm a mercenary, and a very good one, and I'm here for the contract. However, before I'm willing to accept this job..." One hand lifts, pointing at the place where the hyur had been before he teleported out. "Your friend. Who was he talking about? Who is this 'he' and what influence does he have? If there's a risk to this job, I want to hear it. /No matter how remote/," she adds, placing stress on that last part to forestall any 'oh, it's just a trifling thing, it's not going to happen'.

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra walks up behind Hana, "Why that's a simple answer Hana." Golden brown eyes gaze down at the Oni for a moment, "They speak of the Primal Ifrit." Her eyes turn back to the 'well armed' merchants. "They fear that the Amalj'aa have gathered the crystals to summon their Lord of the Flames and they fear that if they have already done so..."

    She frowns, "That we may be tempered and bent to the Primal's will, with some sort of a magical brainwashing effect." She crosses her arms and looks at the quad of people with her golden brown eyes, "So there have been even more people dissappearing around the desert, have there? Have there been evidence of more Tempered?" Her eyes glow golden as she smiles, briefly hinting at her fangs, while pouring on the charm magic, "You can trust us, we're all on the same side, aren't we?"

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Conor does, in fact, own a wardrobe that doesn't consist of liscensed t-shirts and jeans. He does, in fact, own clothing that would be suitable to this area, climate, and allow him to blend in.

But he is wearing a black 'I Shot First' t-shirt, sturdy professional grade work jeans, steel toed hiking boots, a leather duster, a cowboy hat, and a small backpack. Conor used to be a boyscout. You don't go out into a desert without one.

He is quiet, sitting away from most of the people, and generally being monosyllabic. Once the job spiel starts, he looks up and pays attention. He reaches down into his bandolier and snaps open one of the cases, pulling out a stack of plastic sleeved cards. He stuffs them up into his sleeve where they make a mechanical whirring noise.

That done, he lifts his hand, "Yea," he starts out quietly, then has to set himself to pick up volume, "Yea, what are the chances we'll be attacked by a giant monster then?"

Allyn (307) has posed:
A lion prowls through the camp when he arrives, well why not come and help, he's in a better mood and doesn't really have anything else to do. He prowls over towards where people are gathered and lays down on the ground, resting his head on his paws as he listens to what happened and what the job is about. He lifts his head slightly, "It sounds simple enough" Then lays his head back down again.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "I'm here I'm heeeeeeeeeere!" Finna comes barreling in at high speed just in time to catch most of the conversation, but she's clearly rushed for some reason or another. No Erik Blackburn this time, just a woman in her late teens and, for those particularly sharp-eyed and willed, strange fox features. She wastes little time checking her gear - a bow and a short sword - and fussing with some hair that got disheveled and is all over the place.

    "One quick question. What ARE the Amalj'aa, and what kind of presence do they have in these parts?"

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
When Hana introduces herself and then asks her question, the three of them look at one another. The Duskwight rubs the back of his neck, while the tall guy kicks a rock to the side. None of them seem to want to be the one to explain the true dangers that could be upon these outsiders.

Then Vi'Sharra answers it for them, though that comes with her asking her question, then followed by another. The three almost back into one another a bit as they glace side to side. The Duskwight then clears his throat, "Well, um. As the miss said there," He motions to Vi'Sharra, "we are indeed concerned about Ifrit, as if Ifrit has been summoned-- then the Immortal Flames will reroute everyone-- which will make things bad for the Golden Bazaar."

"As for people-- no?" The short man states with a shrug, "Not that we are aware of at least."

The tall bestial man then speaks up, "But we are not /true/ fighters and we don't want the Immortal Flames getting involved cause of well.. yeah.. the Golden Bazaar."

The Duskwight then crosses his arms over his chest, "..not like they really cared about it before the Calamity-- hard to believe-- whatever.. this is getting off subject." The Duskwight tsks softly. "It /is/ possible that the Amalj'aa.. a beast men made of onyx black scales and yes, serve that damn Primal Ifrit-- have not only all that shipment of shards.. but.." That may have answered some of Finna's question. Some of it.

The Duskwight then looks to the ground, "..but they may have also tempered our friends.."

That is when they notice the Lion and just stare at him. They blink there eyes a few times and just-- gather he is with the group. Outsiders are a strange bunch, really... they are.

The large bestial man speaks up, "But the more time that is wasted, the greater the risk. So please, like we said-- we will give one large sum of payment.. but the Shroud needs those shards and so does some people out here in the desert that have either lost things to the shifting sands and sudden flood waters."

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    Hana's attention is absolutely snared by Vi'Sharra, because that is the kind of information she would /absolutely love to know/ before taking up a mission. "Primal beings of elemental fire that can enthrall people." She turns to face the duskwight, with a very flat expression. "This would have been a good thing to put in the job description. A very, very good thing. As it happens, however..."

    Hana's arms twitch. From inside those voluminous sleeves, a pair of beefy revolvers drop into her hands; she spins them each on her index fingers, then holds them up above shoulder level, pointed skyward. "As it so happens, I'm in the business of dispatching powerful beings like that as well. I'd prefer more preparation, but if we do run into your 'Ifrit', I won't just end up another one of his thralls. Especially with these others at my back. I might charge more for that, though."

    The revolvers are dropped back into her sleeves, seemingly disappearing. "My only question before we go- your friends. If we encounter them, and they are 'tempered', do you want them brought back alive?" Not one to waste time on tact, it seems.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "T-... tempered?" Finna doesn't know that word in this context, but it sounds bad, along the lines of sacrifice, so her shoulders scrunch up. She likes these people out in the Shroud, they live like her own people!

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Great, giant monster. Just great. Why does he do this again? Conor slides the sleeve of his duster up, revealing a Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament arm-bracer that has been jury-rigged to run a Magic Life Total. It flips out into play mode and dispenses seven cards. He picks up the cards, fans them out in front of him. His jaw works in thought, cards being shuffled back and forth in the hand. Satisfied, he slides the cards into a clip on the device where it can hold.

He starts pulling things from around him. He closes up a small jar of spices and writes 'Hydaelyn - Desert' on it before locking it away into his bag. He stares at the bag, rigid all of a sudden, not as if in seizure, but the look of a man that thought has clamped down on. He could leave. He could run right now, he wouldn't get hurt. No one would depend on him.

The bearded deckmaster shakes himself and then takes a deep breath. Someone has to say it. Why shouldn't it be him? His voice shakes a little as he works out the sentence. "I'll bring them back alive, if I can."

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra shakes her head slowly, "Unless you have something that we don't know about... ...If you've been tempered..." She glances at the merchants, "If you've been tempered you're nothing more then a creature with no will but the Primals, you live to serve them. You die to serve them. And with your every waking moment, you force more ether into them via your worship." She shakes her head again, "It's a one way trip."

    She looks at the merchants with a sort of rough sympathy in her expression, "If there eyes are aglow, then we'll grant them peace, and freedom within the life-stream."

    She turns to glance at the Lion, and then at Finna, "Ahh... Hello Allyn." She smirks slightly, "Hello Erik."

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn stands slowly and walks over towards Finna and then stands beside her, "Isn't that the word the others we helped not long ago used as well? Those young people who attacked us?" he ponders, not sure if he is remembering right or not.

He then glances over towards Vi'Sharra when she speaks to him and Finna and purrs softly, "Vi'Sharra, looks like we're working together again, good to see you."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The three are starting to clam up a bit, they seeming more nervous the more this is talked about. The Duskwight seems to be the one who continues to talk, "If they are tempered, as she said," motioning to Vi'Sharra, "There is no way back. So if you find them tempered, they are best laid to rest."

The Duskwith looks at the ground before he looks at the group, "As I said just head up toward the mountains. The Amalj'aa have been moving about as much has we due to the changes in climate and terrain. Being its late hour-- you may have a chance to catch them with their guard down."

The short one looks to the side, before he pulls out a small redish-white crystal. He then walks up to Vi'sharra as she has shown some knowledge on things. "This only has a bit of charge left of the time before Calamity and the crystal here is almost gone.. but.. you can use this piece to create an Aetheryte Node.. just be warned.. it wont stay open long and its a one way trip back here."

Though when Hana shows off her weapons, she gets a stern look from the Duskwight, an almost teeth gritted, but he does not press, only glances away.

The Bestial man speaks up, "We have this stuff and know how it works, because.. well... before the Calamity we operated this Aetheryte camp.. though.. the name of it.." He rubs his forehead. "..damn primal.. damn Dalamud.. Damn bloody Garleans!"

"Easy now." The Duskwight says with a calm voice.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    "Don't worry. We'll have as many of your crystals back as we can find," Hana replies simply. "Any Amalj'aa in our way will no longer be serving their elemental god. And any of your former comrades that have been forced under his yoke will be laid to rest as well." Simple choice in words can make all the difference, she finds. There is a glance to Vi'Sharra; she of all people seems to know her way around here, so Hana is willing to let her lead the way.

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Conor picks up a card from the clipped part of the device, puts it down on the board. The mountains hum as Conor starts to draw magic out from them, a little at a time. A thin trickle of fire magic draws out from the land. He pulls another card from his deck and sets it on the hand clip.

He grimaces at the news about tempered. He'll let someone else handle that yet. He doesn't looks too happy about it in general. "Fucking worlds and their unbreakable slave magic bullshit." He hikes his bag up onto his back.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "FI-NNA." The foxgirl corrects Vi'Sharra playfully with a finger jab her way. But still, attention is paid to the explanation, and she shrinks Allyn's way upon hearing it all. "...." Finna's feeling outshone by Hana, who took the words right out of her mouth. "Couldn't have put it better.! ... Well then, Allyn and I would best serve as scouts. If we fly over the area as birds..."

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
After Finna, Conor hurriedly adds, "I'll be saving myself for the Dee Pee Ess."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Duskwight looks at Conor with a blank look, "..the what?" pause and then a hand wave, "..nevermind.."

Finna (513) has posed:
    "The huwha?" Finna turns her head to peer curiously at Conor! .... And her expression screws up as she deesperately tries to figure out just what the heck is up with his getup. She's never seen someone geared up like that.

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra snorts quietly, almost seemingly caught somewhere between amuse at their disease, and somewhere near sympathy for the plight of their friends, "We will hope for the best, and plan for the worst." Then after another moment she shrugs, and starts towards the mountain, "Allyn? If you'd be so kind as to take point and see what you can-"

    She pauses as Finna speaks, then nods, "That would work better I think. Just keep in mind that they like to lie in wait inside hidden caves as well." She frowns, "That's where the last lair was that I cleaned out..." Then with a shrug she starts forward, "Well... I trust the both of you, so lets move." She glances at Hana and then at Conor before she smiles, "And it looks like the two of you know your way around a battle so, this will definitely make things easier on all of us."

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Conor sighs, "I'm going to be the damage. The Blaster. The Wizard. Don't let them get to me, I'll be summoning the murder engines."

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn peers at Vi'Sharra and then Finna and he nods to both of them, "That sounds like a plan to me." He glances to the other two that are with them for a few moments and tilts his head, before looking to the two other women, "You sure they wont slow us down?" the large cat looks a bit amused at that, but then he's shifting forms the form of a large eagle taking the place of where the lion once stood. He launches himself off the ground with a couple flaps of his wings and then seeks out the thermals to soar, circling around a couple times as he waits for Finna to shift and join him in the sky.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna twists her lips about irritably at Conor. "... All you're coming off as is the weirdo, but I think I got it! Don't get yourself killed out there." With that, Finna executes a spectacular backflip and... her whole body shifts, ripples, compresses, and sprouts feathers. In mere moments she is a red-tailed hawk, and converts her fall into lift, quickly catching up to Allyn.

    Off they will go, to scout!

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Conor slides a card onto his device and picks up another, "Yea, you turn into a bird and I'm the weirdo," he mutters.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
As the group sets forth, they will notice a few streams of water cutting across some of the desert terrain. The direction they pointed was indeed moving into some mountains, with boulders and rocks of different sizes. There is indeed a trail a that has been made going up the rocky face and into a ravine on the other side.

In the slowly losing light of the sky, as the suns rays only dance against the land in the horizon, those in the air can see the path as well. Including a clear view of the Ravine, and leading along the ledges to that of an area that becomes far more open, though a good deal of it has been taken up by water.

Yet continual scans of the air will show that in the ravine is also another path, much more narrow, leading to another opening that has several large dark wood barricades up.. and beyond those barricades are indeed several camping sites with movement below.

The movement below-- was indeed the Amalj'aa. They seem to be working on construction of some kind and also there is a mix of people in with them and something Finna and Allyn may be very aware of.. a few of those "Garlean" soldiers as well, who all seem to be standing by as if --- just waiting for something.

There also seems to be some activity further north, but its hard for either the two fliers to pick up on what is going on. Beyond that suddenly the area becomes darkened in that direction for a moment, before it returns back to normal.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    Hana is both quick and quiet in her movement; in terrain like this, sounds can echo a long ways further than they might otherwise, and so it behooves them all to move as silently as they can. Beyond that, she is largely silent in other ways as well; having little to say unless a question is posed to her at the moment.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn circles around the camp as as he peers down at the activity going on down there. He turns his head to peer at Finna as they fly along. He ponders for a few moments and circles around a little more, maybe someone else in the group will see where he is marking.

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Conor has gotten pretty used to walking. He's a big guy, but that's because he tends to eat awfully. He drinks steadily from a canteen, picking up cards from his deck at steady intervals, then putting them in his hand, on the device, shuffling them around.

He's fairly quiet, dwelling perhaps more than he should on FInna's words. He is, after all, probably the only one here who doesn't have to fight ninjas before putting on his underwear every morning.

A tall gangly green goblin appears behind Conor, wearing nothing and wielding what is little more than a big stick with nails in it. He calls out with a shriek, which makes Conor wince, summoning forward a smaller goblin that is wielding what appears to be a very large spike with a piece of wood on it. Conor waves, "Fuck yo upkeep." He mutters, mostly to himself, banishing the tall green figure into the aether. A second small goblin appears, wielding a large bone with a smaller bone tied to it.

Conor keeps this up, because it is perfectly normal to him, tapping his three cards on the cards and then setting down another card. A goblin in what appears to be a chainmail toga appears in a flash of red mana, wielding a flail made of wood and spikes.

The toga goblin smacks the other goblins. "HEY! Yous not singing a marching song! SING A MARCHING SONG."

The goblins start to sing in chorus. The entire song consists of 'Smash' followed by 'Smash' to the tune of 'smash' with no real melody or bothering to harmonize.

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra glances at the rivulets of water as they traverse the desert, "The first requirement for life..." And then as they cross the paths she frowns and leans down at one of them, looking for the evidence of people carrying crates, supplies and the like, or at least bound prisoners. "So... I think we may well have our first clue."

    There's a pause as she reaches up to touch her temple before she frowns, "And we have a camp. With fortifications and barricades." She pauses, "We should stop for a moment, wait for them to find either a better way in..." She glances to Conor, and his noisy summons, "Or either conjure up a larger distraction that lets us get the supplies, clean the camp out, and investigate the hidden site."

    She glances around, "...Though I suspect if we're too close they may already know about us, especially if they have scouts out."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
A few of the Amalj'aa standing near the barricades can hear the singing echoing off the walls. One of them growls lowly, before looking over at the other one. Something Finna and Allyn may see from the sky. The point over at the two Garlean soldiers, unlike the ones they fought before. This group has cloth with some metal-- but the face is partly exposed.

Soon those two quickly start to scale up the side of the rocky base, being followed by two other Centurions-- the two Centurions who escapes from them...

They seem to all have gunblades in hand as they move up a higher up trail.

The two in the air may also notice that whatever was creating the dark energy is now gone, though if they don't act quick-- two dark spheres suddenly fly right for them both seeming to come out of no where!

As for the group on the ground, the ravine was echoing the sounds the goblins made and the area beyond that was rather quiet. Though as they continue on, they may find an unwelcoming sight of some skulls hanging from the ravine walls, including a few bones laying about within the rocks themselves.

Also a thumbing-- a knocking? Yes.. Though from where?

Both Conor and Hana pick up on its location. It was actually right where the skulls hang, in quick examination, it is easy to see that the bolder itself can be moved--- with enough strength at least or a proper magical spell perhaps.

A voice could also barely be heard, a young male it would seem, 'Help! Please! I don't want to be eaten.. or whatever those savages have planned! Can anyone here me! Heeelp!!'

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn continues to circle the camp with Finna for a bit and then blinks as he sees the sphere coming at them, though he's a much larger birds than she is at the moment. He gives a piercing cry and calls out to Finna, warning her that something is coming her way. He doesn't want to take the chance of actually being heard from way up there if he spoke out loud. He waits to see if she is going to be able to dodge the one coming at her in time, if not he'll be flying to intercept the black sphere so she can get away.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    "You know, I /had/ hoped we'd approach unheard," Hana calls over her shoulder to Conor and his goblins. She turns her attention back to the road ahead and adds, "Although, since that's off the table..."

    The oni takes a few leaping, loping strides ahead, deploying her revolvers to her hands until she reaches the boulder and is sure she's not going to fall under immediate attack. Then she retracts them again, sets her body against the boulder, and /heaves/. She might not be able to lift it over her head, but with a one-ton lifting capacity, she should have more than enough strength in her deceptively small frame to move it out of the way.

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
"We are in their territory, and I'm building an army." Conor replies. He turns slightly towards the rocks, moving towards it-. Hana takes the initative, making Conor back up slightly. God dammit, he hates people can do that and he can't.

He places another card down. "Besides. I have an ace up my sleeve. I'll scare those primitive screwheads just fine." He puts down another card. First a mountain, tap, tap tap tap. "Boartusk Liege." He announces again, mostly to himself.

Behind him, fiery mana erupts up into a large gangly goblin on top of a huge tusked boar. He wields was looks like a proper polearm of a type I'm too lazy to google. He lifts the pole arm up. "SMAAAASH!"

The other goblins seem to get stronger. "SMAAAAASH!"
That taken care of, Conor heads over with a canteen to help Hana in non-ridiculous strength ways.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna spots the incoming orbs a moment... well... not late, but later than she'd like. "Wh-aeeek!" She swerves and dives in midair, ducking under the blast and taking some scorches to her tail feathers. "Too close... why are the Garleans with the Amalj'aa?! ... They're up to something... or are Tempered..." But this is a contradiction that should be investigated. Just in case.

    because nobody likes the Garleans, and nobody likes the Amalj'aa.

    "Oh what the heck. Watch my back, Allyn!" tucking both wings to her back, she DIIIIIIVES for the nearest centurion, aiming to rip away some of the face cloth with her talons and get a good look at their face.

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra growls as the first part of the Chaos begins ... Far too early for her tastes. There are better ways to sow chaos on a battlefield then being in the absolute center of things.

    She gestures and a field of lavendar fire ripples out around her, taking the shape of a good twelve wolves, some of which crackle with electrical energy, others flicker with the pale blue light of ice, and the third ripple with flames. "Over the barricades! Into the camp NOW, and spend yourselves amonst their support troops. Don't let them get organized."

    A momenter later her small horde of wolves go bounding forward, past the barricade, suicidally charging the first line of guards, and then rushing past them into the camp itself ... Where with any luck, the screaming would start.

    A plan is starting to take form in her head, but... First, they have to get farther out into the open.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Bolder moves easily enough for the Oni, and behind it is a young man, maybe no older then twenty with deep red hair and teal eyes. He stares at her with a wide eyes expression, "Ah--ah--haha-- you.. you are not one of the beasts!"

Vi'Sharra will pick up there is something off about the young man, though what is hard to tell. Just-- something not right. Though he does continue to talk, as he looks around carefully, "Are they-- are we.. safe?" He looks at the group, "I.." He seems suddenly lost on how to explain something. "..they stripped me of my gear.. and kept me here.. The others.."

He then notices the Canteen, "..is.. is that water?"

The birds manage to evade the spheres, but the spheres seem to loop back around as they go right after the birds once more. Though they seem to be distracted by attacking one of the Centurions. Sadly Finna will find that isn't cloth on a Centurions head, but metal helm-- full face-plate helm. Though when she gets in close enough she can see the red orbs glowing past the dark void lens of where the eyes are located.

Though she has to act fast, before the Centurion goes to swing the Gunblade to cut her. The two normal Garleans and the other go to actually fire at the birds-- or-- were-- until bullets ripped right at them. A man with desert like clothing stands on the ledge, holding a revolver type weapon.

He has blonde hair, that is mostly tucked away in a bandana, with a band going around that seemingly 'connected' to a white orb in the center of his forehead. He then gives the two birds a smile, before he pulls out a cord from his side and starts to twirl it, as one of the Centurions goes to stand back up.

The cord is sent flying around like a grappling hook. There is a slight glow under the sandy sleeve, connected to a red metal bracer. His fingers though black gloved, has red metal finger claws. He rips the cord and pulls the Gunblade from the Centurion and then shoots him with his own weapon. Then tosses it aside as it explodes. "I take it you two are not normal birds from what I saw. So be thankful and go assist your friends. Those beast men will be on the move soon enough."

"..and don't worry.. I'm here to help." He says with a smile-- a very-- smug smile.

As Vi'Sharra sends in her wolves, the Amalj'aa quickly start to fire upon them with arrows. The wolves though take down a few, even as the Amalj'aa back up and continue to fire off their bows.

The next thing though for those Amalj'aa was they get shot right through the skulls by the unknown figure, who propels down the side of the mountain with ease and then flips off before landing on top of one of the boulders with silent landing as something cushions it.

Allyn (307) has posed:
"No we aren't" Allyn tells the man that helped them get away as he flies off to help the others. He circles around so that he can get into position behind the beast men, since they are distracted by Vi'Sharra and the others and peers towards Finna, "Beastmen, hmm? Finna my dear, shall we show these 'beastmen' what real beastmen look like?" as he lands he shifts forms once more, the eagle becoming a humanoid wolfman creature and he lopes forward, coming at the beastmen from behind, after giving a howl.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    The young man will find a revolver levelled in his face, and Hana eyes him suspiciously for several seconds before lowering it. "You're not safe yet, but we're working on that. If you want to leave, I suggest you do so now. We're here for the crystals, and I'm not leaving until we get them. Or find a reason we can't, I suppose."

    With nothing else to offer the young man, she turns and begins a dead run for the commotion. Already, both revolvers are in her hand, and the instant she comes within sight of an eight-foot lizardman, she'll start shooting.

    The bullets, as it so happen, are not ordinary bullets, either. Each revolver is set to a combination of Fire and Steel, giving all her bullets armor-piercing and high-explosive effects... the result being that, much like the firearms of a certain grim, dark galaxy, the rounds will pierce scales and then explode inside.

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Conor unscrews the plastic canteen and hands it over. He frowns, looking down at the bones, then around at the boulders. He idly pulls another card from his deck, looking at it. This should help. He nods to himself. "What is this, a sacrifice pit? Fuck, there's going to be a giant monster, isn't there?"

Conor ducks reflexively at the gunshots. "Son of a bitch. They got guns!? This is fantasy land, why do THEY have guns. Alright, I'm popping this cork." Conor stands up and erects himself. He tries to look at wizardly as possible. He has a few white hairs in his beard, it works a bit. "If you guys are going to do something, I suggest you do it. Because I'm going chaos agent now."

He draws up a loud breath. "DO YOU DARE STAND AGAINST ME?! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" Conor coughs low. Yelling like that hurts. But he can fucking yell. Then he breathes in again, "I AM CONOR FUCKING DELANEY, THE FUCKING LIGHTNING SAGE!"

He pulls out a card from his hand and puts it on the device. The sky suddenly BOILS. A moon the color of blood suddenly appears in the air over Conor, bleeding out into the sky. The color of blood suddenly lays over the land.

Functionally, it should do little besides make landmarks produce fire mana rather than whatever else they do, but that's not the point.

Finna (513) has posed:
    The red-tailed hawk finds itself in a bit of a pickle. To her eyes, those swings are clumsy and oh so slow, but she's surrounded. Letting out a "*TSEEEEEEERR!*" She jams UP on the helmet to screw up her target's aim and pulls away - but her momentum's all screwed up, and the dark orb's coming in behind! In a panic, she lets herself hit the ground at the last moment, hoping the orb will not be able to turn time and slam into one of the possessed Centurions!

    "Come on, that trick's easy to see through!" And in comes a rescuer.

    As the soldiers drop, Finna goes tumbling across the dirty ground and comes up in her human form, having pulled out a fine looking knife seemingly from nowhere.

    She rises, pushing some hair out of her eyes, and gets a good luck at their rescuer. "They THINK they'll be on the move." She returns the grin rather wildly. "You got us out of a pinch! Thanks!"

    Seeing what Allyn has planned, she nods in approval. "We'll scare them so badly their teeth will fall out!"

    What?

    ... Given previous experiences, that might not be a jest...

    Muscles along her arms and legs ripple, fur sprouts from her exposed flesh, and in a matter of moments she's put on considerable height. She lashes out at the air with a test swipe from her Claws of the Silver Moon, and dashes alongside Allyn... it's double team time!

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    At least three of Vi'Sharra's wolves fall, never to rise again, and another is limping pretty heavily, but they've done their job. Which was of course, cause a ruckus, and buying time for a breaking. The gunshots, followed by the Amalj'aa falling over with ventilated skulls... Now that makes her pause, before she shrugs, and just vanishes into a blurr as charges forward out of the canyon into the camp, "...Everything has to be a clusterf-"

    Whatever she's about to end that sentence with is cut off, as a pair of shortswords appear in her hands, and her concentration shifts to, 'Killing Everything With Glowing Eyes and or Scales.'

    Meanwhile the surviving wolves, continue their attempts at suicidal work, breaking into the support, troops and trying to prevent the Amalj'aa from getting organized enough to concentrate their forces.

    Then ... everything goes Red. And she pauses, uncertainty written briefly across her face, "Is this... ...There's not enough fire yet..."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Spheres do indeed crash into the ground as the disperse dark energy. When the moon comes into existence that causes not only the 'Rescuer' to furrow his brows, but the man inside the cave to just-- go right /back/ inside. "No! Nononono!" The man barks out. "I wont be part of Dalamud! I wont!" The man then hunkers down and places his hands over his head. "Its safer here!" He barks out again.

The Amalj'aa are no match for the group as they come rolling in. Bullets cause them to explode and as they fall their bodies turn into a form of dust-- like energy really. When the red moon comes and the area starts to pour on magical energy, one of the Amalj'aa with a bone headdress raises up his staff to the sky and roars out, "O' MIGHTY LORD OF FLAMES! WE YOUR CHILREN BESEECH THEE!"

He then points his staff toward the direction of the entrance into the camp where the Amalj'aa are just being slaughtered. "BRING DOWN YOU HOLY FIRE OF JUGDEMENT UPON THESE WHO DARE DEFY YOUR CHILDREN AND TAKE FROM WINCE IS YOURS!"

As the Amalj'aa head priest roars on, the 'rescuer' looks over and whistles softly. "This is about to get interesting..." He then calls over to the one who summoned forth the red moon to pour on more magic, "Hey! You! I'd watch yourself!" Is about all he can get out before the area rumbles.

Those with a good enough magic sense can pick it up. The Aetheric flow of the land is shifting, something is pulling from it as a dark eclipsing sun appears in the sky. The very area is being shifted and suddenly a few of the rocks start to become that of fire.

Something powerful is coming and its trying to yank right back the very magical energy being taken from the land and from any other aetherical item around.. including several of the living Amalj'aa who suddenly just combust into aetherical energy.

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Conor listens for the sounds of awe and 'there is a great wizard' and 'we should run away' and 'he is so handsome and powerful'. Instead, he gets 'PRAISE THE BLOOD MOON.'

"Oh, well, fuck. That really shouldn't have gone like that." Conor quickly draws another card and starts moving over his cards. "I could have REALLY used a land here. Alright, plan B."

Conor turns towards the goblins and points up the ravine. "Your god needs to get up there!"

They stare back blankly.

Conor rolls his eyes, "FORM A LADDER!"

The goblins make a sort of pile and Conor climbs up it with a grunt. "Alright, plan B, plan B is good, I like Plan B." Conor points his finger at the bone headdress. "KILL THAT ASSHOLE!"

The totally jacked goblin point their weapons forward, "KILL HIM IN THE ASSHOLE!" They charge. Conor puts a card into his 'graveyard' and then brings forward his hand, forming a thick ball of what is tar and semi-solid goblin stink. He hurls it at the head priest.

"NO, THE LIGHTNING SAGE, NOT THE LORD OF FLAMES!"

"LIGHTNING FLAMES!" The goblins bellow.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    Hana is content to shift and flow through stance after stance, a graceful progression of gunkata that takes her forward safely. Until, that is, they are urged by Vi'Sharra to put an end to that head priest ASAP.

    Putting an end to people quickly is where Hana Umikazeno shines.

    She takes a high leap up with all her strength, putting her atop the highest structure within easy reach. With both revolvers in hand, she takes calm, careful aim. There is only a simple change in bullet effects; the explosive effect is swapped out, replaced with an air-based effect that will allow her to control her bullets' path while they travel. They are still armor-piercing, however.

    This way, she can be absolutely sure that she puts every bullet she fires through the priest's head, even at this range.

    The oni fires four times, alternating between her left and right hand. One-two, one-two.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn manages to flash Finna a toothy grin as they run through the camp slashing at thigns as they go by. Well, it's kind of fun to be doing something like this! As he hears who they should target he runs off towards the magic using person. He's not afraid, well not too much anyway. He growls as he makes his way towards it.

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra frowns. Chanting about an ancient 'god'. Check. Person in the back ground saying things are about to get ugly. Check. Blood red moon. Bad ambience. Check. Chanting cultists. Check. Ifrit? Not... Yet...

    Well. It's not all bad yet. Which is why she takes cover, and lavendar fire begins to take shape around her, and more and more wolves begin to take shape, there's nothing at all wrong with having summons as an 'ablative shield'.

    Once she's done with that she ducks out from behind the rock, draws her enchanted heavy crossbow and ... waits to see if killing the priest worked... ...Or if they're about to have a hot time in the ol' town tonight.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Okay, so Finna -was- going to just rush in and claw her way through the Amalj'aa to play along with Allyn, but things have just gotten SERIOUS. The huge, sorcerous energy plumes and now red moons and the ominous invocations have put the brakes on THAT idea. Honest fear flickers in her eyes. "Mammoth shit, I smell trouble!"

    It probably looks pretty odd for an anthropomorphic fox to pull out a bow from behind their back where there was no bow, or a quiver to go along with it... but Finna does just that from her perch overlooking the procession, and takes aim... EFFORTLESSLY drawing the bow back. "Distract them!" She asks of Allyn, hoping for a clear shot...

    Because the moment she gets one? That arrow's gonna fly straight for the head priest's head!

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Amalj'aa continues on, "O' MIGHTY LORD! SHOW THESE HEATHENS YOUR GLORY! OINT THEM IN THY..." Then tar in face. The Amalj'aa shakes his head before he tries to rip it off. He snarls and roars in frustration.

There are some others who are also chanting out that have not been called into the aether flow. Chanting out about Lord of flames and lord of sun. They are kinda like extremists really from one of those bad TV Church deals.

The 'Rescuer' just sits down on the rock and rests his hands along his knees as he watches everyone pile in to stop he Shaman from continuing on before he glances around. "Honestly, I do believe it is a bit to late for that." He then points upward at the eclipsed looking ring. "The aethric flow is to high to be honestly stopped... yet.." He doesn't seem to finish that line of thought.

He then hops down from the bolder he was perched on while everyone works on taking out the followers and the priest. He starts to walk away from the combat, his hand twirling the gun idly as he makes his way toward the cave...

The Amalj'aa priest is then blasted apart, as his body becomes that of aetheric energy. The chanting from the others continues, even as they are mauled down, shot down, and cut through. For the moment the area at last becomes quiet.

Though the eclipse 'sun' is not gone and the area is still drawing on aetheric power. Which soon the very ground itself starts to take on a glow of red between the crevices and the cracks. Did they stop it in time?

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn stops when he hears Finna say distract them. Oh, she wants a distraction does she? fine, fine. What can he do that would be distracting? Well, it seems that the people and creatures of this world like large things right? He shifts again, this time becoming a winged serpent, but that's not all. He begins to grow more than just the fifteen feet long that he usually is in this form as he beats his multi-colored feathered wings.

30 feet? No, longer.. 40...60..He stops growing when he reaches 100 feet long as he hovers there in the sky. He hisses loudly down at the beastmen below him. "Is this distracting enough?" he bellows down, "Hey you mindless animals, look and obey me! attack your priest!"

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra pauses, then nods as the first of the priests goes down, but then... It becomes apparent that there are others chanting. Which is the point that she sets aside her crossbow, turns her hand palm up and looks at a bracelet there for a few moments, before it projects a small illusion above her hand.

    An Illusion of the Aetheric currents, with indications where the highest concentrations are.

    And that. That makes her frown. It also makes her pick up her heavy crossbow again. "...He's right. KILL ANYTHING IN THE CAMP YOU CAN BEFORE IT COMES! THE WORSHIPPERS ARE FEEDING IT POWER AS IT CONSUMES THEM!"

    With that she vanishes in a blurr again, before grabbing one of the head-tailed lizards, wrenching it's neck to the side with enough force to probably decapitate it, and bites, attempting to devour it's blood as fast as possible.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    Hana grimaces faintly. They're not doing enough damage. Not killing followers fast enough. Alright. She's going to have to switch tactics a bit. It's a gamble; she's going to have to abandon the armor-piercing effect to pull this off. But the Girls generate fairly high-power, high-caliber rounds when they fire. Even without armor-piercing, they have good penetration and stopping power. So it might just be enough.

    The cylinders click again. This time it's the Controlled Shot effect that stays. The Armor-Piercing effect is swapped out, though the new effect is drawn from the Steel element rather than Earth; when she pulls the trigger, each shot travels perhaps six inches from the barrel before multiplying and spreading out into 24 identical bullets. And each bullet is under her control. With that many to guide, her accuracy is less than it would be with a single shot, but with all of her targets holding still? She ought to be able to hit them just fine.

    And being able to fire at 24 different targets with each pull of the trigger is a lot more time-efficient.

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Conor looks around. "Fuck, fuck, fuck fuck." He looks through his hand. No. No. No. "FUCK, WHY CAN'T THEY HAVE ARTIFACTS!"

Then something clicks in Conor's head. He turns around. And he just starts laughing. He starts laughing. Loud and long. He roars with it as he lifts his hand, holding up one of his cards.

He starts pulling the magic that is being spilled out to summon Ifrit. He starts soaking up that mana, siphoning it into his body, letting it flow through his hand. He then slams the card down. "GRATITIOUS VIOLENCE!"

Suddenly, all the goblins are wielding crazy weapons. Chainsaws. Fire gauntlets. Rocket Sledges. Bumper Swords. Chainsaw fists. What appears to be a mace that is a stick with angry goats attached by chains. But he isn't done yet. He keeps soaking it up. He keeps pulling it towards himself.

It's a slow process, but there's so much mana out there that he starts crackling with red lightning as he uses it to play another card. "SCUZZBACK MARAUDERS!" Around him, goblins wielding chainsaw knives appear. He grabs up another card from his hand, holding it up to take in still more of the ambient energy.

"SIEGE GANG COMMANDO." More goblins spill out of the aether, one among them having an enormous ballista strapped to his mighty back.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
What Amalj'aa did remain, were already being consumed by the aetheric energy, and the one that still remains standing points his clawed finger up at Allyn, "It is you..who will die.. heathen.." Before the Amalj'aa crashes onto the ground, his body becoming wisps of energy and fusing into the ground.

The ones who do not chant and have not been clammed by the aetheric energy slam their weapons against their shields. Though when Vi'Sharra comes after one of them, and yanks it back. A few others rush right at here yelling, "We will die for our lord and master!"

Allyn soon finds himself facing arrows from Amalj'aa who had moved higher up that roar at him. "You do not command us! For our lord is power, he is the flames in our breasts! Burn Heathen! Burn!!"

The ground around them hasn't changed by the aetheric energy still continues to become more powerful, then a wisp of flame starts to form under the 'eclipse'. Glowing gold eyes form from the fire whips as a dragon-dog-like head can almost be made out of the fire.

His flaming clawed hand extends out as the area around the very hand of his emits a great deal of heat that the rocks under it start to combust into flames.

While the others are not looking....
The unknown man soon comes upon the cave and then looks into the shadows, his revolver pointing inside. "You."

"Ah--Sir! I swear I am not tempered! I--"

He then pulls the hammer back as there is a low hum from the revolver. "Shh.. shhh.. Its nothing personal. I am just here to finish a job."

"..Don't! Please! My wife! My children!!"

Back at the Amalj'aa camp...
Hana's shots go wild and she nails down several of the Amalj'aa trying to fight back. The Goblins maul down more of the Amalj'aa. Even as their master pulls on the Aetheric energy and then releases it. This causes though glowing gold eyes to look right at Conor. He opens his maul and roars out--

-- But because of the aetheric damage being down to the area, the summoned beast soon vanishes and soon-- the whole area becomes quiet.

At least--- until a man is heard past the roaring flames of the area, "DON'T!"

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra pauses for a moment, then glances back at her wristlet before she sets her heavy crossbow aside... ...And it too vanishes into laveder fire. "...I think we stopped it..." She looks up at the point where the eyes were, and then over to the horde of goblins, and the large number of wolves, "...We stopped it from manifesting by killing them all."

    She makes a gesture to the side, and the wolves vanish, much the same way as her crossbow did.

    She... Seems to be ignoring the 'Don't.' For now. At least.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn hisses as arrows hit him well they'd most likely bounce off his scales with him being as large as he is currently, but his wings of course are still vulnerable, but not so much as if he were smaller. Well, he decides to fly back down, coiling up on the ground as he does so, just to let the attackers do what they want.

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Buckets of sweat come down from Conor's head. He starts panting. Then, he suddenly vomits down on the ground, splatting the ravine top with it. He falls down to his knees, clutching his stomach. He starts coughing loudly, heaving another dry vomit.

"Fuck... yo... cough..." He wheezes. The Goblins cheer.

Then Conor turns towards the yell. "Shit." He scrambles once towards it, then falls flat on his face, groaning.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    They managed to stop it. Thank goodness.

    There are, however, still Amalj'aa which are a threat, and so Hana's weapons don't stop making noise. However, she does switch back to the more controlled, more deadly controlled+AP combo, simply so that her shots are more certain to hit and kill their target. The scream registers on her, and while her reflexes have her pointing her weapon that way in the blink of an eye... whatever it is isn't the most immediate threat to Hana right now. And so she focuses on keeping herself alive. Which means killing anything which is trying to kill her.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "What the..." With the summoning interrupted, Finna has a few moments to gawk at the crazy stunt Allyn's pulling. That is PRETTY DAMNED BIG, bigger than anything she's done, and it leaves her wide-eyed.

    But things rarely work out so well that she'd just be able to stay that way. A sharp cry for help through all of this calls out. And Finna acts without thinking... her whole body BURSTS with silver light. The aura kicks up tightly around her, forming into an obscure veil of swirling light and shadow. her figure becomes indiscernable. She has arms, legs, a tail, and mighty teeth. But all other features are hard to make out and a little amorphous.

    She goes from 0 to WHOAHCRAP instantly, dashing quickly enough that she's just a blur, gone in a blink.

    And this burst of swirling moonlight careens into the cave, moving on pure instinct to shoulder tackle the gunman!

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The 'rescuer' is caught off guard as he is suddenly shoulder checked by Finna. He is body slamed into the cave wall. The gun shot that is fired goes off and the blue burst of energy lights the very cave itself for that moment.

The desert clothed man shakes his head as he glares right at Finna. "That was a bit unwise." He then trains the weapon on her. "..but your not part of the job.." His index finger hovers on the trigger as his tsks faintly. He then points the gun back at the man, "You want to know why you had so much trouble getting rid of the Primal-- it is cause of him."

The man's eyes go wide, "What!?"

"He is tainted by the Primal and was aiding in the summoning--" He then looks to Finna. "-- if he lives, and with thus much aetheric energy in the air-- he can resummon the primal."

"Your mad!!"

The desert clothed man looks toward Finna. "Let me finish my job, or everyone here will pay a far greater price."

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra glances at the imager on her wrist and frowns, following an image over to Conor, before she looks down at him and sighs. "Congratulations. You register as a concentration of Aetheric energy." She chuckles and then with a mild grimace of distaste at his breath ... Since he did just throw up, and simply scoops him up. "But you're not the only energy point here."

    She points in the direction of ... The Mysterious Helper and the 'rescuee' with her chin. "The other one is over there. Sortof. And since, I know you can manipulate this stuff... You're coming with me, Yes?"

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    With all the threats apparently neutralized, Hana decides to go about hunting for the crystals; they're what they came for, after all.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Well it seems like the danger is passed, the large serpent gives a sigh and shifts, though this time he shifts to his human form. He shrugs some and wanders around the camp to see if he can find any of the crystals they were sent here to find.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Shoot him before we get our chance to investigate and you'll regret it. You might be right, but this group has some mystics.... we can double-check. ... I don't like getting in your way after you just got me out of a pinch, but youre not the only person out here trying to do right by the people living in the Shroud!" The glowing figure plants a hand on her hip.

    Yeah, she doesn't apparently have any real 'must save anyone' thing going on in front of an explanation like that... but she does ask the downed man. "So what is he talking about?"

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Conor gets scooped up with a little groan. "We call it... mana... thank you..." He groans, turning towards the rescuee. He pulls a card from his hand. He then puts it back into his hand. He's out of it. He can't think.

But he sees someone. He sees someone threatening someone else. He sees someone begging for their life and someone threatening to kill them.

He sees a bully.

The grey at the edge of Conor's vision gets a little red tint. God, he's gonna hurl again. He can hardly channel the energy for another spell.

But he can talk. "Hey, assface." He calls out. He points the goblins forward. The mass of goblins move forward. "These guys are going to beat you to a pul-god I can't breathe." He sucks in another breath, "Beat you to a pulp if you don't back off."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
As Hana searches she will find several crates that have yet to be opened. They have been labeled in Eorzean text and a few cracks in the crates show what look like beautifully glowing shards of some kind of red, green,blue, and light blue.

It would seem not all the crates were used, and there are still some remaining that they can bring back--- at least five of them.

The desert clothed man 'hrms' softly, as his finger taps the side of his weapon. His eyes just staring at the other. There was no smug smile, there was no facial expression at all. Just a long, cold stare at the other.

The one in the cave stares back, he almost backs up against the cave. "I.." He looks over to Finna. "..he..." He then looks back to the man, "...Why?! Why damnit!? At least tell me that?!!"

The other man just holds his position remaining very silent for that moment before he says in a very cool, calm manner, "It is not my job to question-- or give you that answer." Though his hand fidgets some. His finger taps again. He glances over to Finna, "..and we are running /out/ of time.." When Conor gives off his threat, the desert clothed man doesn't even look over, he just holds his position-- it almost reminds someone of a soldier really.

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra sets Conor down over near the edge of the cave. "Stand down goblins. Your summoner is a bit out of it." She looks at her wrist and the image there, and then at the 'rescuee' then at the Mysterious Stranger. "You're right. There's something..." She pulls the bracelet off of her wrist, and tosses it to Finna. "It's an Etheric map. It shows the currents here, and whatnot. Can you see how he's a distortion?"

    She frowns, and then steps forward, grabs at the sides of the rescuee's face before her eyes glow golden and she begins to pour out the supernatural charm, "Why are you a distortion in the Etheric Energy? Answer swiftly."

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    True to her word, Hana hauls two of those crates with her, one on each shoulder. The strength of the cybernetically-enhanced oni, on full display.

    But they're set down not far outside the cave, and shortly thereafter, the gunslinger steps in, right past the mystery man, Conor, and Finna. She walks right up next to Vi'Sharra, and raises a hand, a faintly smug look on her face. "Please, miss. I'm absolutely certain he's not tempered." She turns to look the man right in the eyes. "After all, if that was Ifrit we saw out there, he truly is a weakling. If that's all it takes to stop a 'god' from coming into the world, then he isn't worthy of the word after all. I mean, that didn't look like much more than a large fire elemental. Surely you wouldn't find yourself tempered by something /that/ pathetic, would you? It would be embarrassing. We could probably have felled a beast like that in under a minute. So obviously you're not tempered by such a poor excuse for a fire god, right?"

    Just absolutely layering on the abuse. Thick and acidic. The kind of insults that start holy wars.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn follows after Hana when she finds the crates, well he was asked by Vi'Sharra to go with her so he does. He looks around to see if there are any crates left to collect and if so he grabs one to take back as well.

Conor Delaney (67) has posed:
Conor lifts his hand, throwing his hand back a little. "Back... off..."

Conor doesn't like what's going on. He doesn't like he can't stop this. Fuck, all these goblins. And he feels so powerless.

Conor closes his eyes and doesn't open them again. The goblins suddenly dissappiate, the mana spent. The sky begins to clear.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Oh good people are finally arriving. Finna's utterly unrecognizable, but process of elimination makes it obvious who's over there, glaring at the terrified man. "How much time? I can buy more time. ... by the way, who are you, and what sent you here?" She asks of the abrupt gunman.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
"I-- I don't know why it is showing I'm distorted." He just slides down and tears well up in his eyes. "I swear! I am just a normal man! I was assigned out here! I-- please!??"

The desert clothed man lips 'distorted' as in a question mark way as he goes to peer over Vi'Sharra's or Finna's shoulder by now to see this himself. "It is distorted--" he decides to speak up on the matter, "--because the Primal Ifrit is controlling him! Soon has we turn our backs-- the beast will use him to summon us and burn all the sands hot red and tear down not only Ul'dah.."

The desert clad man then looks to Finna, "..and re-scorch what remains of the Black Shroud.."

The man in the cave stares right at Hana, "Look! I swear I am not tempered! I am not! Look.. you want me to be honest?"

The desert clothed man then taps the gun to his forehead as the one in the cave continues to speak. "They stripped me over my armor-- gave it to some they did temper that were not of a Centurion rank /within/ the Garlean Empire. I am /YES/ a soldier of the Garlean Empire and--"

The man points the gun at him again and steps a bit closer, which quickly shuts the guy up. "And /why/ would any Centurion give his armor over-- even willingly? Anyone who knows anything about the Garlean Empire /knows/ they will give their life before they are /ever/ captured. Now stop with the lies you tempered fool!"

It seems the desert man completely ignores Finna's questions, but he looks really tempted to pull that trigger and is yet-- doing a very good job /not/ doing it. Maybe an Eorzean who has an issue with the Garleans?

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    Alright, so if he's tempered, he can pretend not to be bothered by abuse piled on his god.

    That means Hana doing things a more direct way. Raising the questions she herself pointed out over the radio. "So if you're not tempered, how did you escape from the Amalj'aa? Why weren't they looking for you? You obviously present a threat to the summoning, so they'd be looking for you. And you weren't exactly well-concealed, either."

    Her right-hand revolver, Migi-ko, drops into her hand.

    "And for that matter, how did you move that boulder in front of the cave? I'm four times as strong as the strongest natural humans, and I had difficulty shifting it. How did you do it? Are you secretly superhuman, or did you have help? /Outside/ help, perhaps?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna is spending some time studying the Etheric Map... and frowning all the more, not that anyone can tell. She nods at Vi'Sharra, then folds her arms, waiting to see how this man is gonna answer Hana...

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra shakes her head, and her eyes stop glowing. "...He resisted." Her lips pull back fromm her teeth, and she snarls. "He resisted. Only higher orders can resist." Her eyes shift over to the Mysterious Stranger, "...This is absurd. Either you're tempered or something worse is going on." Her eyes narrow and she glares at the man, "You represent too many unanswered questions and too great of a risk of infiltration."

    Her golden brown eyes flash briefly with rage before she visibly forces herself to relax and... ...In a smooth, lightning stroke attemps to shove her hand through his chest, and crush his heart. "Imperial Armor melts. Imperial tech melts. If you gave it away, then you were tempered. Or you choose to serve them without being tempered... ...In either case. You're a risk this world can ill afford." She sighs, and drops the body if no one stopped her from ripping his heart out. "These cultists are bad enough without someone giving them more power."

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn goes back for the other crates of crystals while the others are dealing with the men. Well, it's probably better off with him not knowing what is going on with the men and the others. He'd probably just get in the way if he did, so he keeps busy with the two crates of crystals that were left.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The man has no time to really reply, because that is when Vi'Sharra goes to crush the man's heart. He coughs out blood, staring at the desert clad man. His hand extends out for him, before he collapses to the ground as blood runs from his lips.

Yet before anyone can really question further. The desert clad man is already walking out of the cave and he flicks his wrist slightly with a gentle 'click' could be heard as he continues to walk away from the group.

The crates however are easy enough to move as shards are extremely light. Yet one mystery remains, who was that man that is getting away and what-- was that which is about happen..??

Because when everything seems to settle down and the man is truly dead, before Vi'Sharra and only Vi'Sharra suddenly a reaper like figure appears before Vi'Sharra with scythe bone wings. It lets out a haunting scream at her direction, before it swipes its hand as it goes to vanish, but that very swipe is heavy dark aetherical magic.

The dark spell slams into Vi'Sharra, the very spell itself a dark curse that not only impacts her with the very thing that powers the creature, but impacts her with a heavy curse, one that nearly drains her of all that she is-- her very blood-- but not enough to kill her no. After all-- that would not make an example of her and she may very well hear the whispers in her own ears, its dark demonic rasping voice, "You.. are getting to close.. little one."

For the others though, what they will see is far different...

What they see is that of a sudden dark spark of lightning that rips across the air and explosion impact with Vi'Sharra to knock her into the wall.

It is actually that very impact that gets the man with the desert clothing to actually stop and look over his shoulder, before he moves his sleeve back and looks down at a device on his red bracer, "...well now..."

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    In the blink of an eye, Hana has both guns out and trained on the spot from which the blast is fired at Vi'Sharra. When nothing happens immediately, she begins a slow, careful backstep, one foot behind the other at a time, never taking her eyes off it and keeping her ears open. "What the hell just happened?"

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra slides down the wall slowly, a charicature of her normal grace, her mouth working soundlessly and her fangs in full view before she rises to her feet with a hiss, "...Starving..." She twiches. "...Hunger..." With that she dives at the corpse, wrenching it from the floor with one hand, before shoving her face at the hole in her former victim's chest... ...And draining it dry in moments.

    She twiches. Then shivers. "More..." She shivers once more and then her glowing golden eyes fall on Finna. "Food... Relax." Yes. Just just used a charm effect on a Lunar. It's not going to work. However, the fact that she's currently lunging at Finna, and if she gets into range will attempt to pull the girl into a close embrace and sink her fangs into Finna's neck.

    In short. NOM.

Finna (513) has posed:
    And down goes the guy. Finna cringes, closing her eyes. She's had to end lives like that, acting on orders and against her conscience, but it's never been easy before or afterward. Which is why Vi'Sharra's straightforward execution draws such a flinch from her. Less from the violence, more from how utterly casual it was. That's cold. Somewhat scary. Vi'Sharra is a dangerous person to be around!

    "Nrrrgh... I don't know, but someone shouldn't die like that-- what the--nhuh?" Finna's eyes go pretty blank for a few seconds.

    That's a few sufficient seconds for Vi'Sharra to start the feeding, triggering a sharp YIP - animal, more than human - from her, and wide-eyes. But she shakes off the Charm effect in seconds. "Wh-what... yo-you better not take too much!" Theres a tension in Finna's voice. She's NOT entirely trusting of Vi'Sharra but seems to have guessed what she needs. IN fact her eyes rapidly flick around as if quite worried about this predicament. Struggle, let Vi'sharra feed? For the moment, she's gauging it based on how much Vi'Sharra aims to take, and calls upon her own Lunar essence to supercharge regeneration. The depleted blood replenishes in SECONDS... but there's surely a limit to how much she can do that. "Aaaaawkward!"

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    Like a lightning bolt, Hana's revolvers snap around to track Vi'Sharra. She's edging back a lot faster now. And looking more than a little tense besides.

    "If she takes one step towards me, I start shooting and don't stop."

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn turns around from looking at the crystals, or whatever it was he was doing when he hears Finna's yip. He blinks as he sees Vi'Sharra lunge for Finna and then again when Hana aims her guns at Vi'Sharra. He runs over and stands in between Hana and Vi'Sharra, but facing Vi'Sharra and Finna, "Finna!" he growls at Vi'Sharra, "Vi'Sharra, let Finna go! you don't want to do that."

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra doesn't exactly slow down as long as the blood continues to flow, in fact, she very easily continues until she's drained several bodies worth of blood from Finna, but eventually... ...Reason re-enters her eyes, and she slowly releases Finna. "That---"

    A slow snarl sounds from the back of her throat, "That bastard child of a wraith!" Gently, and somewhat absentmindedly she sets Finna aside, "THAT IRRITATING SON OF A-!" She clenches her hands and steps away from Finna to slam her fist into the wall, "That ... Thing that threw me against the wall with it's magic. Drained my blood. Left me starving and berserk. Go. All of you. Take the crystals and go."

    Her lips twist into a snarl, and golden brown eyes literally spark with rage, "...The scanner. Did it record what happened?" She looks up to glare at Finna, "Did it record?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    Whether or not Vi'Sharra has any means to close bite wounds, Finna's not going to lose any more blood through that, but several bodies worth of blood is not easy to regenerate. That, in fact, leaves her with perhaps 15% of her power left to spare, and to be honest? The experience was extremely embarassing, wacky, and DIZZYING.

    "Oooooogh." When set aside, she topples to the ground limp. Breathing, but dazed and somewhat out of it.

    Never before has she needed to push her regeneration THAT FAR, and there's a toll to pay for it.

    But it's a good thing Vi'Sharra stopped when she did, because Finna was beginning to tense up and panic, and that could've been bad.

    When she gets back to her senses, finding Vi'Sharra all growly, the foxgirl blinks, tail lazily wagging a few times, and she holds the device out. "You tell me! All I sw was a burst.... GYAAAAAAH!! That's what a vampire does?!"

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn blinks when Finna topples over to the ground he rushes over to her side and stands in front of her protectively. "You ok Finna?" Well, he can tell that she's not, but at least she is talking and her tail is even moving, so she's alive. He watches Vi'Sharra a bit warily so she wont try to do that again, "Do you need anything?" He asks Finna.

Vi"Sharra don't demand things such as that from her, after what just happened." he raises an eyebrow to her. Then looks around, "I think we should get out of here like Vi'Sharra ays, before she has to do whatever it was she just did to Finna. I don't think she is fully back to herself yet."

He reaches down to scoop Finna up in his arms if she lets him to help her out just in case.

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra's eyes are still ... blazing with rage, but she seems in control of herself. In fact, her body language is COMPLETELY at odds with her eyes. Her body language says that she's calm and composed. Which is why she reaches out and takes the bracelet from Finna gently. "I apologize for losing control that way."

    She turns and starts towards the exit to the cave, slipping the bracelet on and looking at it's display for a few moments, "...It will not happen again. The enchantments on my armor will be modified to protect from such an incident." Golden brown eyes look back at the others, "Leave this place, the wraith may still be lingering, and..." A pause, "I intend to wipe it from existence, before the Amalj'aa come back to reclaim it."

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    With Vi'Sharra back to her senses, Hana finally lowers her revolvers, allowing them to retract up her sleeves and out of sight. "You're terribly naive," she replies to Allyn simply. "I was levelling my guns against a senseless beast that would gladly have eaten her, you, and me without batting an eye. She's back to her senses now, but for future reference, it's more than a little silly to try and protect something that's one meter and three pints away from tearing out your throat."

    The oni turns to leave, though on the way by, she flicks her hand and produces a business card; it turns out to be slightly weighted, because she flicks her hand and throws it with uncanny precision across the distance to the unknown man. (It is, of course, perfectly safe to catch.)

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Don't worry Vi'Sharra the evil reaper monster is not around anymore-- and as for the unknown man he catches the card before he gives Hana a salute from his distance and then just-- teleports away in a blue flicker of light.

Now it only leaves them to return the shards back to the men and collect their reward! Huzzah!

Finna (513) has posed:
    "And if it gets anotehr swipe at you and you freak out again? ... Yeah, I don't want to be here if that happens. Nor should ANYONE else... gah, couldn't you have stopped sooner?"

    And inc omes Allyn. Finna's definitely rateful for the help. She lens on him to help hget to her feet... or tries, and ends up being just scooped up instead. "H-hey!"

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn blinks as Finna says that when he scoops her up, "You are sure that you can walk? though I guess carrying you means I can't carry a crate or two either though." he ponders, "do you have enough energy to change forms a hawk to use my shoulder, or something that'd fit on top of a crate?"

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
As those go to return the crates and leave Vi'Sharra in peace a hooded robed figure moves along the rim to watch those heading back, before the dark robed hooded figure slides down the side of the mountain face. There was a sword at his hip, but it looked like a normal blade. His ability to slide down the side of the mountain was due to some use of magical aura.

Once his feet touch the ground he starts to move his way toward the beast camp that Finna and Allyn were stating to leave from. Because of the hood, it made it hard to see who was hiding amongst the shadows...

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra pauses and turns towards the group of people, and then ... She just blinks several times. Her mouth opens, and then closes before she starts walking towards them. "I ..." A pause, "Forgive me, but I have no idea how to address you in this situation, my friend."

    She smiles slightly, "I was about to burn this camp to the ground with summoned Wyverns."

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Groooooooof." Finna offers, shrinking down into her fox form and then hopping up on Allyn's shoulder. She looks a bit woozy, but somehow has no trouble keeping her balance perching there. "Food. water. Sleep." She mumbles, as if hoping for it.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn reaches up and scratches Fianna between the ears a moment when she gets on his shoulders. he then picks up a couple crates, well, they'll have to leave one behind he guesses, but that's alright. He then starts to head out of the village and blinks when they come across the person or people. He raises an eyebrow.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
There was one one here, but the figure turned to watch as the other two left, before looking back to Vi'Sharra once more. "I'd figure I at least come see the.. display of such a burning." The man has a calm, deep voice. There is an air of confidence to it, but yet also one who is not young either. "Perhaps even have a beat of cooked Amalj'aa over the roasting fires." Though it was said in a serious manner, there is a hint of dry humor there.

"Yet if you rather I leave, in concern for my safety..."

He takes notice he is being looked at and raises up his hand, which has leather over it and a metal top to the fingers, giving Allyn a little wave of his fingers.

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra smiles, "No. You're perfectly safe here..." She glances at the base of the bracelet again, searching for any other distortions, like the one that the 'wraith' gave off. Then raises her right hand, and... ...The air is filled with the shapes of lavendar fire... ...As Wyvern after wyvern, and drake after drake begin to emerge, wreathed in conjurers' flame, all of them landing in a perfect sort of formation behind her.

    "I think... ...In it's own way, you being here for this is fitting." She turns to the man in the cloak and smiles, "Would you give the command?"

    Finna and Allyn would probably notice that there's a drake following them with the last crate in it's talons.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn tilts his head at the man and nods and then blinks as he sees the drake carrying the last crate behind them. He raises an eyebrow, well that will work. He glances at Vi'Sharra a moment, it seems like she knows the man and seems like things are alright? "I guess you aren't here to stop us, then?" he asks the man, there's been a bit of that today, so might as well just be blunt and come out and ask the question.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The hooded man cants his head ever so slightly before he motions with his hand to the side, "If that is what you wish, my lady." He then raises up his hand in the air, before he then motions forward as his foot slides back slightly in an almost commander way, including even his voice carries. "Burn it all to a sunder!"

He then lowers his hand and tries to not laugh, though he recomposes himself quickly when Allyn then speaks to him, shaking his head gently. "You have no need to fear me. I am with her and only here to check up on a good friend of mine.. given these are dangerous times in.. dangerous places."

He motions with his hand, "Go along though. You look weary, along with your friend there.. Sleep would do you well."

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    And the waiting ranks of drake and wyvern take to the air, and begin circling around the camp for a little before they start diving at it, sending streams of fire down into the tents, the gathered supplies, the shredded bodies. Others stalk through the caves, and let the blasts of their breath weapons finish the jobs of cleaning up any remanants of the ones tempered by Ifrit... ...And anything that remains of their camp.

    Vi'Sharra smiles slightly. "We should return back to the ... Main base of operations. My weakness needs addressing..."

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn nods to the man and to Vi'Sharra, but he is a bit tired and he knows the fox on his shoulders is as well, besides he's worried about Finna, so he'll head back to where the people were that they met and find a place to make her comfy and then get some rest himself once she's fallen asleep.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The hooded man watches the destruction and gives a nod to Vi'Sharra, "As you wish." He then cants his head to the side, before he looks down at his hand, sliding his fingers along his thunb, before he extends out his hand to her, "...stay close.. you may feel a bit disoriented at first, but that happens."

Vi'Sharra (487) has posed:
    Vi'Sharra steps closer to ... The Other Mystery Person in a robe and smiles, "Thank you. I shall..."

    And Fade to Black?

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Yes, Fade to black cause they teleport away. Cause that is how this works!