2645/FATE: Something in the Water

FATE: Something in the Water
Date of Scene:	18 July 2015
Location:	Hydaelyn Reborn <ARR>
Synopsis:	Bertram seeks aid to help calm some unruly elementals in the Black Shroud.
Cast of Characters:	626, 815, N'raha Tia, 826

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Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
Duty: Something in the Water
Location: Jadeite Thick, Central Shroud
Type: Investigation
Urgency: High
Difficulty: Low

Enclosed Message: E-Sumi-Yan of Stillglade Fane has issued notice of an aetheric disturbance in the Central Shroud. For now it has only led to the calm river's waters becoming far more wild than is normal, but he fears that if the disturbance is not resolved soon, this could have great consequences. Pray attend to this duty before it gets out of hand.

----

Any responders to the notice have been directed to Bentbranch Maedows, a small settlement near Gridania and close to the Jadeite thick. Named for the massive, bridge-like branch to its west, which connects two parts of this region of the Black Shroud together.

At the Aetheryte a single conjurer is waiting, here on behalf of the Guild. His name? Bertram Silent. He's eating some kind of fish-based sandwich while he waits for the others to arrive, frequently looking in the direction of Gridania and the Aetheryte as though he's in a hurry to get started.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    If you were expecting an up and attem cat man today, it's still not quite that time. N'raha was up very late trying to fish up some stupid glowing night-time fish and it's showing a bit as he starts heading out from the Bentbranch Aetheryte and... well.

    It's the Doc. The miq lifts a hand in greetings to Bertram and smiles. "Hiya, Doc. Fancy seeing you herethouuuuaaaaaa-" That turns into a yawn, which he keeps right on talking through. "-ogh I suppose the conjurers would call on you for this, now wouldn't they?" He shuffles around, plucking out his daggers and settling them on his waist. "So what's the damage today?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra has been /extremely scarce/ lately. She may have, in fact, not set foot outside her world for at least a week. Her appearance here is mostly unannounced and at the mercy of other adventurers replying to the request for investigation-if it were to develop into anything else more than an investigation, that is. Solo adventuring is difficult for a lone white amge, after all.

    In fact, when she shows up, she suddenly seems a little bit discouraged when she sees Bertram already here. Kyra frowns and pulls her hoodie a little bit lower over her eyes. "Oh, uh, are you here for the investigation? I was going to go but...well, since you're here I think you've got the support angle covered pretty good, right?" Kyra herself clearly came with support in mind, hauling the CURE-ALL on her back and burdened with who knows what mixtures underneath her hoodie.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    Alwyn lives in Gridania! When he doesn't live under the stars, in a tent, or on a tree brench because he lost his tent again. This usually and typically works out fine, and he's gotten used to it. But that very first statement is why he can be around a bit faster when he gets beeped by the guild, the Lancer appearing in the blue light of the Aetheryte moments after the notice goes up.

    With a chunk of roasted boar still in his mouth. Kain, his pet baby dragon slash wyvern, also has a similar chunk in its mouth, much larger than the baby could swallow in one sitting. It lays perched on the Lancer's shoulders.

    "Bertram! N'raha! Whoa, Kyra too! Heeey, lucky day apparently, two healers. I-I mean, if we disregard the awful news and all, erm. Aetheric stuff. I'm not very good at that."

    "So where are we headed? I... erm... misplaced my map of the region again."

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
Bertram finishes his sandwich, "Good to see all of you here. I'm afraid I won't be able to help much with the investigation, I'll need all my attention to calm down the elementals, they're seething." Bertram starts to walk towards into the forest, towards the sound of loudly rushing waters, "Miss Hyral, if you could make sure everyone stays up in case anything goes wrong, I'd appreciate it."

The river itself looks like there is no way it should be suitable for wild water kayaking, and yet right now it is. A small stream with impossible throughput, and even most of the wildlife is avoiding it. "So far not much, beyond angry elementals. They're however angry enough that it seems like a real possibility we'll be facing the Greenwrath if this isn't resolved quickly. So we must needs make sure that doesn't happen."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra lets out a nervous laugh. "U..uh...well...I mean you guys saw what happened last time I used my magic here right? It's...well it happens randomly and the 'cure' stuff doesn't always go as intended. I could accidentally hurt you guys again. So you know."

    'Or kill them.' she thinks silently in the wake of the last Wild Magic hit in Denver.

    "I have alternatives on hand but I can't promise they'll be as gentle as white magic." Kyra warns as she unzips her hoodie to gesture to her needlegun and criss-crossed bandoliers of darts and vials. "Uh! Question! What's the Greenwrath? And where does this place stand on Elementals? Like strength-wise on average."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Oh hey! Mr. Highwind too! N'raha waves, but falls into step nearer Kyra. "Well, the good news is you haven't killed anyone here yet, and..." He jerks his thumb at Bertram. "He's the one that has to deal with them. There's like Elementals which are... I dunno, the spirits of the land. This might just be elementals." The difference in prounciation is there.

    Greenwrath, though, the miqo'te frowns, and looks to Alywn. "He's from around here and knows how to explain that better. Me, I just, you know, try not to be rude to the land, is all. Be respectful to nature." His hands do rest a little heavier on the pommels of his daggers though, as they head into the massive forests.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    "I don't know if they have enough strength left to even do that. Garleans have been pushing in and the elementals haven't done a thing about it, right?" Alwyn asks, mostly unclear on the matter of elementals and pre-Calamity superstitions. Well, he knows OF the Greenwrath and of Woodsin, but he also knows they've got Garleans walking right into the Black Shroud and not a sign of the supposed power of the elementals.

    Angry rivers and earth sprites aside.
    An angry river's still bad news.

    "Alright, well either way! Just point my spear in the right direction. I've never stabbed water elementals before. Air and earth only. The... latter were kind of awkward at first."

    He does answer Kyra real fast though: "Before the Calamity it was said the elementals of the Twelveswood would personally smite people who came to disrespect and destroy nature. But, well, the Calamity apparently crippled them. I'm not sure they have the strength to do things beyond make a river angry, but I'm not a big spiritual guy."

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
"They do have the strength to do more, Alwyn." Bertam says with a tone of voice that implies he's seen them do more, and didn't like what he saw. "They just don't have the strength to do it and target it, the Twelveswood is wounded but far from weak. After the Calamity, if the Elementals decide to act, they don't distuingish between Gridanian or Garlean, and the Seedseers have been working hard to make up for the damage the Garleans are doing. If we get a full on Greenwrath, people will die."

Bertam sits down next to the river and raises his staff, which glows a faint white as he closes his eyes and murmers. The surrounding area responds, the trees seem more alive, the ground shivers, the air whirls, around and the river? The river gets angry. Its waters group into a massive floating globe, with smaller globes floating around it. However, it doesn't look like clean water, it looks contaminated, dark purple streaks running through all the watery globes as it slowly starts to float towards the group.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    "That's what adventurers are for, right? Angry elementals, put them down. It's probably not what's best, but..." Alwyn shrugs. He was never really IMMERSED in Gridania's culture, what with his forebears being from Ishgard, and spending far more time at the Lancers' Guild than anywhere else. And then wandering off.

    "But, you're the one attuned to this stuff. I believe you."

    As the water elemental rises, the Lancer draws the rusted old Gae Bolg from his back, and his dragon perks its head up, eyes looking at the Aether of the area intently.

    "Looks like it's... dirty. Are you sure it's really just angry and not... I don't know, this looks corrupt. Not right."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "...yet." Kyra says quietly in response to N'raha's comment, almost too quiet to hear. Probably not quiet enough for N'raha's ears though.

    At Alwyn's words, Kyra nods, "Yeah, I heard about what those Garleans were doing here last time. If the forest is alive, it should be kicking them out with extreme prejudice!" But Bertram provides the explanation as to why this hasn't been the case. "Inactive or possibly not in control of their own powers...neither a good option." And Kyra would know a thing or two about not being in control.

    Kyra moves to slip behind Alwyn since he's a lot tankier than she is as the elementals appear from the river. She nods suddenly, "Water elementals. I've heard of them manifesting in these shapes before too but I've never seen it before. I agree with Alwyn, they look...uh, polluted. Hey, I have an idea-can someone hold one still for a few seconds?" she takes an empty vial off of her bandolier. "I would like a water sample to study."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    There's a serious look over at the others. "They say the desert and the seas can breathe death too, Doc. It's not just the Shroud that knows its own. Though, this place is a bit more..."

    And then the Mage calls up the... sludge bubbles. Ugh. "What the crap, is that ceruleum or something?" N'raha then grins over at Alwyn and Kyra. "Miss Hyral's probably got a better time of it, what with being abe to magic it... We just try real hard."

    There's a spray of water as N'raha makes the first move, dashing in, daggers flashing, a sheen and shine lashing out from the tips as he aims blade at the floating, orbiting globules. Pick at it a bit before we try and tackle the main section.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
It seems Bertram wasn't lying when he said he'd be distracted, he doesn't speak much, at least, nor verbally. He looks highly concentrated on whatever it is he's doing, but he manages to get a single sentence in. "It's angry because it's been corrupted. Pray cleanse it, miss Hyral." Those words combine with the whole region suddenly growing more hostile, ground shaking, air raging and one of the tree branches swiping at Alwyn; and only when he redoubles his concentration do the other elements calm down again.

The corrupt elemental closes in, and starts flinging water at Kyra and N'raha. Not only is this high velocity, high energy magical water, it's highly acidic, eating away at whatever it touches. Definitely not normal for a water elemental's attacks.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Well if you're going to hit an elemental, I'd recommend some kind of bashing deal. Something that can knock mass off of it as opposed to piercing weapons! At least that's what those Afterus kids got that one time-whoah!" Kyra will not have to go to the water elemental to get a sample because the water elemental will send samples at her. She tries to aim the vial so it 'catches' some of the water that it just shot at the three of them. She's not successful because the velocity of the water actually shatters the vial and burns her hands with acid. Kyra swears, tearing a vial filled with potion off her belt, popping the stopper free and pouring it over her wounds.

    "Here!" she tries to pass off another empty vial to N'raha. "You can get close. Get in there and scoop some water up! I'll make sure you both are up and going." Reluctantly, she seizes on her own magical particles-which fortunately function as intented-and weaves a Shellga spell over the group.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Splash. The first one hits the Miq right in the chest, getting him to stagger with the impact, and then... he can feel it sinking in, setting his skin on fire. No no no this is wrong. "Ow ow ow OW OW HELLS WHAT IS THIS?" Those daggers spin again, as he turns to look at Kyra. "Whatever it is you're gonna do, do it, Kyra!" This is said as he kickspins under another splash of Water, this one...

    The Shellaga swats up just in time to save N'raha's poor tail, as he aims a deep, aethericly powered strike into the heart of the poisoned core of the elemental.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    "Whoa!"

    Tree branches, what a nightmare. Alwyn is swept off his feet, Kain remaining there in the air where his shoulder used to be, flapping its wings to remain airborn. The Lancer clings to the tree branch that swept him and, after the initial shock and impact, regains his composure, swings about, and stands on the calmed branch-- well, crouches.

    "I thought the WATERS were angry!" he shouts at Bertram.
    Not that he can answer much!

    With his spear out, Alwyn glances down from his high ground and then smiles. "Don't worry, I got this!" His spear twirls once, and then he leaps off the tree, rocketing down for the elemental's... top? Head? No, it's more like 'the bigger bubble'. Spear pointed down, this is a poor man's version of a Dragoon's jumping ability.

    Used on a target made of water.
    This may go very poorly.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
Though Kyra's White Magic may not be the conjuration of Padjals like Bertram and the Seedseers, it's a very similar magic, and the Elemental notices the Shell flare up, notices the source of that energy. And though it approaches Kyra, its wrath lessens, somehow. Well, until N'raha's punch deforms the elemental's core, and Alwyn's spear scatters the central bubble. It reforms, though smaller, and with one less purple streak swirling around inside.

While this may have been a good start, it reinvigorated the corrupted elemental's wrath, and a massive omnidirectional wave of water pulses out of the elemental, not long range enough to reach Kyra. No, Kyra has more to worry about the second, smaller corrupted water elemental that is sending a small blast of corrupted water at her. From the opposite direction, two more come.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "No you should-" N'raha closes in before she can pass a vial. Kyra decides to table this goal for the moment until a better opportunity comes up since pestering the Miquo'te is just going to annoy him right now. She quickly slots the vial back into her bandolier and pulls the CURE-ALL off her back.

    The CURE-ALL resembles a grenade launcher but it is an alchemized weapon that directly draws on Kyra's magic particles to power the white blasts she fires from the weapon between Alwyn and N'raha. The sphere explodes outwards like a grenade might but instead of releasing destruction, it releases a pulse of white magic that functions exactly like an area-targeted cure spell would.

    Shortly after Kyra fires this, the second water elemental strikes the white mage square on the chest with a jet of corrupted water. It soaks her clothes, knocks her down, and starts to corrode both her skin and the fabric of her hoodie much to her anger. "HEALER AGGRO!" Kyra calls out from the ground. Frantically, she wrings out the fabric of her hoodie, extracting her corrupted water sample this way.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    WELL ALRIGHT! That's a st-wait no, the other thing, that's bad. He staggers and falls to his feet as the tide unexpectedly comes in, sweeping him around, and getting him wet all over, even more so now. He's soaking and the weight is starting to drag. Stupid Heavy water.

    There's more now and N'raha snarls. He should have brought his armor with. Not good, not good. He yelps and turns in place, 1 2 daggers lashing out from his hands to swat at one of the elementals converging on Kyra, as he tries to draw its attention and also keep the big one busy-ish.

    The wave of the Not-Holy swat at him, at least pushing back the pain of that acid seeping into his skin, and he takes several more swipes at the big elemental before he's got to turn his attention on Kyra's foes.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    What do you know he DID got this.
    He got this good.

    It still, however, takes Alwyn an unfortunate few seconds to recover from jumping into slash through a water elemental, mostly in the form of tumbling onto the ground and rolling for a few moments before jumping back to his feet, wet and in mild pain, especially as he gets smacked a few times by the water spells.

    "That almost went well!"
    Not at all, Foulques would say.
    Well, Foulques is a jerk anyway.

    The healing from Kyra is intensely appreciated, as the Lancer leaps to her defense. N'raha attacks one of the incoming smaller ones, and so Alwyn leaps for the other, a burst of wind gathering around his spear. It's unleashed as he thrusts forward, a few feet's worth of disruptive and stabbing wind currents.

    "On it!"

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
The healing burst does more than just purge the wounds of Kyra's allies. It shines through the biggest corrupted elemental and blasts away some of the corrupted aether stuck inside. It collects into a small crystal, a deep purple that just doesn't quite look right. It's not fully cleansed, but it definitely looks less bad, and it seems unwilling to act, at least for a moment.

The others are not so deterred, and it's a good thing that they fall apart easily, both N'raha and Alwyn manage to do critical damage. The one N'raha attacked bursts open as the outer layer is torn, spreading its aether, both corrupted and normal, into the surrounding area in one quick go as it dies. Alwyn's is dispersed by the winds that strike it, directing the dispersing aether away from him.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    With the two smaller ones down, and the larger one not-- acting?-- Alwyn walks up to Kyra, or at least as close as he can get without upsetting the larger elemental, planting the butt of his spear into the ground for now. Kain returns to his shoulder finally, having finished its comically huge chunk of boar while nobody was looking.

    "I... err... I think it's working?"

    Don't ask him. Alwyn's a Disciple of War all the way. Fancy magic stuff, rituals, cleansing, healing? That's complicated as hell. For him, anyway!

    "Hey, Bertram, would it help if we... I don't know, extend our hand and throw Aether at it? Like, hey, we're friends. That's a thing, right?"

    A thing he would comply to if told it'll work.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Oh, hey! We're... not being attacked! That's awesome! Or... uh.

    The miq's ears flick a bit, as he shakes out his head to try and work the water out in a timely manner. The perils of fluffy ears.

    And much like Alywn, N'raha is a scrapper catte and this is beyond him. This is hippie time now. "I'm okay with that, I mean, I... uh. I'm not usually talking with elementals. Unless Carbuncles are elementals or whatever, are they?"
    He's still flicking an ear, keeping an eye out for more angry water.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra blinks, genuinely surprised that the healing energies had that kind of effect on the corrupted elementals. It's enough that she even ignores the sizzling of her skin for a few moments, "...huh, I didn't know it could do that, Alwyn."

    Thankfully, N'raha and Alwyn prevent the remaining smaller elementals from ganging up on her by trouncing the pair until they disappate. Kyra takes the opportunity to give both a thumbs up as she hauls herself up onto her feet, dragging the CURE-ALL with her. She shoulders the weapon and takes aim at the bigger corrupted water elemental. "I can heal-shoot it again too. I've got plenty of magic particles left."

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
"Communicating with elementals is hard, and I'm not the best at it." Bertram says very quickly, trying to keep his concentration up. At least this time, he doesn't anger things by losing concentration, and he dares give more advice. "You need to make an opening for the corrupted aether to go out, and then send in new energy to make it so they won't suck it right back in. It's in pain, angry and lashing out, I guess the healing magic gave new magic and soothed its pain."

The corrupted elemental isn't done yet, and starts to pulsate as the group stalls doing anything, every time it shrinks in, the corruption seems to be pushed deeper, but when it grows again the corruption stays in place. This might just be a problem. "Pray do not stop trying to cleanse it."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "You guys do your thing." Kyra encourages N'raha and Alwyn, "I'm going to continue shooting it with healing magic. Best part about that is I'm not going to have to worry about hurting either of you while doing it! I'd also be interested in studying those little crystals it's forming if those exist still when we're done." She narrows her eyes and reaches forward, turning up the dial on the side that controls the amount of MP the CURE-ALL draws from her with each shot. She ups the level to medium-high though well below maximum.

    She fires again, releasing another grenade-like sphere of area-wide healing magic, though this time centering the blast on the very center of the corrupted elemental.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    For his part, N'raha shoots Kyra a salute and hops back to it, bouncing a bit on his heels. The daggers are stashed away in his belt, and the Miq pulls out those hora again. Somehow Punching the water seems more approprate at this point than Backstabbing it. How do you Execute a globe of river water anyways?

    There's a burst of aether from the miq's body as he settles in next to Alwyn, Ears pinned back to keep more water from getting inside as he occasionally gets his head soked through trying to push the corruption back out where Kyra can get at it properly.

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    "Alright, I guess that means we need to hurt it more," Alwyn says with a nod, before lifting his spear back up. "Kain, give me some juice." The little dragon makes a sort of tiny roar in acknowledgement, taking off from the Lancer's shoulder and gathering Aether in its mouth.

    Taking one step forward, Alwyn twirls his spear once and then thrusts it with the same motion, trying to reach the core of the elemental. At the same time, his pet breathes lightning on the weapon, and it courses through the length of it into the tip! It'll probably detonate if the elemental isn't dispersed by the attack first.

    On the other hand, Alwyn is standing right in front of it, so if it's going to lash out at anyone it MIGHT be him.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
N'raha's punches flatten the elemental to something more akin to a disk, making it so Alwyn has to pierce less deeply to reach that corrupted core, and reach it he does. With the lightning coursing through the water, the corrupted aether crystallizes, and Alwyn's lance strikes true, the corrupted crystal shoved halfway through the edge of the elemental, even as its natural instincts try to suck it right back in.

And that's when Kyra's healing blasts do their magic. With an alternate, and better, form of replacement aether, the elemental lets go off the corrupted crystal, and it falls down into the riverbed. Cleansed, the elemental itself starts to quietly disperge into its normal function within the, by now much calmer, river.

And that's when Bertram's staff stops glowing and he opens his eyes. "Well done, thank you."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    And there's the other crystal. N'raha flops back on his butt, sitting waist deep in the shallow bits of the river and just takes a few long breaths. "Well. That's... that was something." A grump though, and he scoots forward to police both of the ugly looking shards of aether. "Twelves, I've never seen anything like this. It's not even like... one of the BIG corrupted crystals. How did this... how did this end up in you, buddy?" He's talking to the now mostly docile elemental.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra lowers the CURE-ALL and watches as the elemental purges the corruption from its mass. Another shrug and she swings the massive 'weapon' onto her back, where it is held in place by a number of straps and weights attached to its bulk. She's quick to rush forward and scoop up the crystal, which is then deposited into a plastic ziplock bag that Kyra seals very carefully. "I get the feeling that taking this out of the forest is probably going to be very helpful to the mental stability of the elementals here."

    She finally taps herself, sending a normal cure spell into her to recover from the acid burns from earlier. "Nice work, guys!"

Alwyn Highwind (815) has posed:
    Success! He thinks.
    And then Bertram confirms.

    Alwyn lets out a sight, grinning. "Well! That... was exciting alright. Do you Conjurers have to do this very often?" he asks, curious-- since, again, magic is complicated and he kind of stays away from the associated guilds. No bad bias! Just, you know, if you're bad at something, don't intentionally go near it, it'll just confuse you.

Bertram Silent (826) has posed:
"It got stuck in him because someone polluted the river. We must needs look into how that happened, but that can wait. The immediate danger has passed." Bertram tells N'raha as he dusts off his robes and looks in the direction of Bentbranch Maedows. "Pray bring that crystal to Mother Miounne I'm sure she'll hold onto it until we can find someone who can properly look into it." Bertram starts to walk away from the river. "Cleansing elemantal imbalances is a standard part of Conjurer training, this is far worse than any naturally occuring imbalance would be. Anyroad, I must away and report this to Brother E-Sumi-Yan."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Oh, sure, I will bring it to her." Kyra says as she ticks the bag into one of the pockets of her hoodie. "Though you don't mind if I look0 at it myself0, do you? I am a scientist after all. Figuring out diseases like this is what I study to do." I will bring it to Mother M