Festival: Gift of the Divine

To some who have been within the Yamato region for a while now, this is not the first time that a situation like this has unfurled. A mysterious storm that refuses to move. A call from the Hunter's Guild. And most importantly... a box.

What may be unusual, is the person here carrying the box. An old man with eyebrows that seem to go on forever, messy gray hair, and a constantly smiling face meets the party on the plains to the north-east of Fort Ouph, from which many may have first viewed the tornado-like storm at a far far away distance.

Now that they are here, the wind is constantly galing and howling. In order to hear people, one needs to get almost intimately close. There's luckily a hollowed out rock that their Lander contact is waiting under, which dulls some of the wind's screams. But the constant tug at peoples clothes and weapons never leaves... and whoop - there goes someone's hat. That's gone now.

"Ah, there you are." The old man's voice croaks a little as the people approach him. He looks like just an elderly Lander. "I guess you are all the wonderful younglings who are going to escort me into the middle of that storm today." He remarks, visibly raising his eye-ridge in order to properly look at everyone, before he lowers them again, and his bushy eyebrows seem to practically overtake his eyes.

"Wonderful." He remarks. "It isn't often I go outside like this. So your protection will be really appreciated." The man expresses to them with a creak in his voice that just never goes away. The Pooka looks towards the literal /wall/ of window that seperates where they are now, from the region they must enter.

"I don't expect that we will see many monsters along the way. But entering that being's domain will not be easy." He takes some time to look at the various people present. "I'm sure some of you have questions. Go on then!" He opens his eyes wide again. "Come come! Let me hear your questions! You little Adventurer devils always show such interesting personalities."

Shiruba is a bundle of energy. Don't worry, it's not from too much coffea (though that might contribute some), she's still riding the high of winning the Storm Festival Race. And that is the perfect time to go on another grand adventure, and maybe learn something more about why the Festival is a thing in the first place. Which is just as exciting as racing is.

The wolfish Cait Sith is here bright eyed and bushy tailed, the latter which refuses to sit still behind her. Swish swish swish swish, just like an excited dog's would.

Opening himself up to questions might of been a mistake, but she's polite and respectful to not instantly bombard the elder with the entire flurry in her mind. She does take note of the box the man is carrying though, and his mention of a 'being's domain'. "So, this is some manner of tribute then?"

The last time a strange storm had emerged, Mikage had been drawn to investigate, and today is no different. Normally one to keep a hood up around Landers, that is an impossibility today. The wind keeps pulling it back, swirling her hair around her face and causing her cloak to flutter slightly. Even Rama seems to be feeling the effects, drawing his ears back.

"Let's hope it doesn't get as cold as last time." There is some relief behind the hollowed out rock, but only some. The sight of the Lander has her looking at him curiously. They'd sent someone that old out into the storm? "You must be... very knowledgable about the creature, if they sent you all this way." Either that, or he was the most expendable, but she tries to think better of most people.

She quiets a bit then, tending to be a bit more soft-spoken at times, at least when in larger parties. So, with the invitation to ask questions, she only offers, "Is there... anything we should be on the look-out for?"

The storm just isn't going away. It's a curious situation, and situations like this quickly attract the attention of the Imp Archaeologist. Proteus arrives, pulling her hood down as the storm winds whip her cloak about her dramatically as she ducks (ha ha) into the shielded cove.

The sight of the Pooka gets a tilted look from the Imp. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise." She smiles, and gives the man a polite bow. "We'll be doing our best to help." She says to the old man. "What do you know about this storm? Is there anything we should know ahead of time to smooth the passage for you and others?"

Goldenblade looks over at the Lander, looks back at the storm. She's got a new cloak, fastened extra tight this time, but it's whipping around in the wind and clearly wants to be free. Her chainmail is fluttering, and that's steel armor. It's not fluttering /as much/, but still. She looks to the old man, smirks with amusement. There, but for the grace of the randomizer, go I.

She debates asking the Lander questions, but the chance of getting an answer she'll actually understand ... is low. They tend to assume you know all about basic gaming knowledge and have a degree in gameplay. Better to ask one of the other players what's going on, and get the simplified answer. Even that can be a bit of effort, she considers, and often you can just wander along and fake it with a bit of effort. So, she's paying keen attention to the discussion and does not ask 'what's going on?' thirtyseven times. Anyhow, she's got the vague overall gist of it, the details would probably confuse her. This is not a high bar.

You know, the last time a storm like this showed up, Prophylaxis... Did not have a good time. Or rather, he /did/ have a good time, and that's exactly why he ended up /not/ having a good time. He had such a good time that he said things that he should not have said, and then had a very bad time with what followed.

The fact that he's here again is either evidence of madness, self-improvement, or the simple desire to spite the whims of fate.

But when he arrives and finds a shrimpy old man waiting for them... Well! He gets a little concerned, to put it lightly! If this geezer slips and falls, he might break a hip! Or worse! Prophylaxis has seen too many old folks come in with all kinds of fall-related injuries. It's a dangerous enough world out there without walking straight into the heart of a storm!

But then, something about this old man... Seems to suggest that he's not going to be nearly as fragile as he appears.

"I have one," Prophylaxis raises his hand. "Two, actually. First, how are we going to actually navigate through this hurricane? Second, do stubborn storms with spirits that need appeasing happen on the regular in Yamato, or is it just a couple?"

Gwen is right behind Shiruba as she often is, though she looks a bit worn. She's had a bit of a time in the tower, she does seem in good spirit though. She'll look to the oldman for a moment listening to what he has to say to them.

"We are."

she'll make ready to cover the man knowing how vital it is to keep him intact and she's a tank so she whould be one of thee ones to do this. She'll look ove to Shiruba for a moment.

"Just how much coffee have you been ... drinking?"

     It had been subtle, but there had been building frustrations in the little wildcat Cait Sith named Pela Clarpuff. So when she heard of an event, she decided to come and join in at said event. Especially since it pertained to /her/ precious lants. Sure she didn't really own them, but she strongly considered Eastal to more or less be hers. It was where she did most of her exploring.

     And whoop. There goes her little maid headband that was in her hair. ... Oh well, it's fine. Probably. She steps closer to the old wizard and looks up towards the storm, tilting her head a bit as she muses on that. "...Why does the storm not move on? ...It could have run over the continent by now, caused massive damage, but it's just... hanging there." She asks towards Jared curiously. "...And is it... not possible to just... move the storm? I mean... we have strong wind magic available, I'm sure that eastal in general does as well with the floating island and all..." She pauses, glancing towards Prophylaxis. "...I can probably help with the hurricane. ...Air magic is about where I'm strongest... that and herbalism."

Estelle is standing patiently to the side, in the most sheltered spot she can manage with the group. Given her tails, and how the wind is still pushing and tugging them about even so, she's not looking forward to the trek forward. Still, her Air magic is strong, and so here she is anyway, ears flicking as she listens to Jared's introduction to today's mission.

Familiar faces get nods in greeting, as she notices them - as do recognizable voices. She doesn't call out greetings, though - it's hard enough to hear as it is now. A soft smile is all they'll have to accept, for now. And while she has her own questions, she holds them. Most have been asked already, or closely enough, that she'll see what's left once they're answered. So she just grips the staff she's using as her focus today, a length of silvery metal capped in a spike of blur goldstone, because it can serve as a hiking stick in a pinch and help her brace against the wind.

"You know I hate the rain." Kaydon says, as he follows behind Shiruba, "I don't know why I let you drag me into these things, boss lady." Of course he really does, because she pays him well and lets him use the facilities at the HQ.

But he's still going to give her crap for it, regardless. He takes a good long look at the old man with the box, "What's your name? And more importantly, what's in the box?" He hopes it's not someone's wife's severed head. He's seen that ending already.

    "I don't think that will work Pela, it's usually created by spirits that need to be offered gifts, spirits that could probably manage to take on anyone in this place," Merek then notes to Pela, while he nods a bit, then he takes a moment to adjust that dark attire which he wears, potion belt lowslung upon the hip while he takes a moment to check on his weapons.

Mikage's response is rather natural on the whole matter of this old man holding the box. "Oh no no no. I would like to see someone try to 'send' me anywhere. No, I am doing this because I want to." He answers the Were Fang, smiling at her with this strange intenseness. His gaze slipping to her neck, what with the hood being thrown back along with her hair.

His attention is then drawn by Shiruba. "Yes! This is a tribute indeed." He touches the box tightly. "Isn't it interesting? What kind of creature must be looking for a tribute, yes?" Then, back to Mikage; "Yes! Beware of flying branches, rocks, wind elementals, and anything that looks like it is in the eye of the storm." He thinks about this for a moment, then nods his head. "Yes."

To Proteus, the Pooka old man notes; "Well, if you can stop the wind from getting to me, that would be just wonderful!" He answers. "Oh, and I'd like not to get hit by rocks or trees, if that is alright." He then quiets a bit as Prophylaxis speaks... and laughs!

"Ah! The good questions. Yes! We will be going /straight/... /that way/." He points with his stick towards the center of the wind wall. "Feel the wind. If it's coming from your right, it means you are going the right direction. See, there's this thing called Centrifugal force. It goes around in a circle..." He proceeds to go on into the details of what seems like Newtonian physics on how to tell the center of a circle by the forces touching you.

"There! Understood?" He asks, looking with bright eyes at Prophylaxis, before those bushy eyebrows come back down again. "Hrm... you asked something else. Oh, yes. There's at least a few of them. It depends on the year and the Divine Beast of course." The Pooka notes, before adding to that, while pointing at Pela. "If you can out-wind a Divine Beast, I would appoint you the new Arch Mage of the Tower of Mages." He declares bemusedly. "Even she cannot do that."

His old fingers drum on the box as Kaydon asks what's inside. "A most wonderful gem." He answers Kaydon. "It will be placed on a bit and dangerous horn! Oh, it'll be wonderful. I wonder which of you has the most steady of hands."

"Now. Let's go. Some of you young Adventurers take the lead! Go on, go on! Into the Wind Wall we go!" He riffles his fingers over the box again, and begins to slowly approach it. Then, he pauses for a moment. "Oh, before I forget. I am Jered Gan. Lord of the Tower of Mages." And with that said, he proceeds onwards.

     "...Out-wind a divine beast, huh? That's... an... interesting sounding challenge." Pela responds thoughtfully, tapping her lips. Maybe she'll see if the divine beast is open to a friendly interaction, after the gift is delivered to it. "...Hmm." She looks towards the box. "One last question... do you need help carrying that?" She moves closer to Jered, a hand resting on the box... mostly to see if it was particularly heavy. Really, she didn't feel like it was, but hey, it was worth checking.

     "...Oh! And I'm Pela Clarpuff, the Unknown Novasphere Pioneer of Herbalism. ... ... Honestly the job title is kind of sad." She makes a bit of a hesitant face as she thinks on that. How does one spread their story further than, well... spreading a book across as much of the world as you can and generally improving accessibility of herbalism knowledge? Hmm. .... Well. At least she knew where she'd start looking next anyway. She had business in the tower.

Hifumi smiles at the old man "Bento?" he asks when the man asks for questions, offering the Lander one of his cloth wrapped lunch boxes. "Mostly wondering about the spirits that do this kind of thing... it's interesting that it's something that happens at least often enough to have a procedure in place." he grins.

Goldenblade smiles with amusement as she indeed gets a lot of her questions answered. All she has to do is sit back. Metaphorically, because sitting back, right here, right now, is asking for a piece of driftwood in the face. So, straight -that way-, eh? She peers into the wind, then shrugs and leans into the wind, stepping out and going where the old man says to go. This is as good a chance as any to try out her brand new technique, half of her elemental defense plan.

Unfortunately, it's the earth and fire part of the elemental defense plan, and as the shield is forming up, windblown debris smashes into it, and into her, and she winds up in a pile ten yards down the beach, ass over teakettle.

    Merek walks through the wind wall while he begins to draw a shield about him, taking the time to nod along to the party, drawing the hood up to his features. Then he draws a bit of the shield along that lander. "Alright, we should be able to make it through the wind," he calls along.

There is always a strange sort of feeling when someone's eyes slip to that tattoo on the back of her neck. It always seems to heighten her senses slightly, ready for whatever reaction might come her way. Luckily, the old man doesn't seem to address her race directly, which is likely for the best.

The Ranger nods, "If it were me, I'd volunteer if only for a chance to see it." She doesn't know if that is his reasoning, but it is hers. It's also the reason that she is here, as well, knowing that this might be one of the rare chances to see such a creature.

His warning seems logical enough of what they can expect, so Mikage looks down to her companion, "Stay close to me." The cat sneezes in response, as if this means anything.

As they head out into the heavy winds, Mikage lifts the blue stone from around her neck, sliding it into place on a spot at the end of her sword. Holding the blade outward, the runes on the weapon glow faintly blue, shimmering before a layer of electrically charged ice starts to form in the air around them, creating a barrier to some of the wind's forces.

    Hifumi passes over a bento if the old man would like one. Then he calls out "Snakeroot, shield us from the wind." the snakelike summon does it's best sending up erruptions of roots and vines to act as a wall, however it is never quite thick or strong enough to really prevent Hifumi from getting somewhat battered by the winds.

"Enough" is the only answer Shiruba gives Gwen, and a bit of a snicker in response to Kaydon. "Because how often do you get to actually explore an actual storm?" Typical explorer reasoning -- because it's there.

At the elder mage's insistance they begain she eagerly sprints ahead. "Yes, let's go! I want to find out what kinds of beings could survive this sort of force of nature to reside within." Though as she nears the edge of the wind-wall, she peers up at it for a moment. Then down at the ground, considering they have an entire group to get through the barrier. So she hunches down, pressing her hands to the ground in front of her. Tan and green earth magic crackles around her hands as she evokes something and surges into the ground. It passes far enough to get under the wind-wall and then splits the earth up to raise several large forms of stone and earth from the terrain. Knotted vines and roots soon follow, winding amonst the spires to help reinforce them against the strong windstorm and make a windbreak structure. "Move quickly, I don't know for sure how long that will hold against these winds!"

     When it came to getting through the wind, Pela did the thing she could think of that would be useful. She slips a small slip of paper out of her maid uniform, lifting it up and tossing it into the air in the direction of the wind while they walked; a subtle crackle of electricity and mostly-invisible wall of windforce forming to block off part of the wind wall and help with the efforts to get through it.

Gwen looks to Jered for a moment and thinks "Yes it has my curious I'm just glad it doesn't want someone as tribute. Cause then it would really have a problem." WIth that she falls in with Jered as she keep alert bvut the wind it pretty hard, she will heed the mage's warning which keep her from trippijng up so badly. She will also look over at Kaydon.

"There you are Kaydon I really needed your Devil dog skills the other day."

She'll then look to Jered. 5R
"Gwen Pendragon."

She notes in return as the winds come she'll trigger Repelling shield to defeclt the wind and will keep intercepting anything that comes for Jered Gan.

"What, /straight/ through the storm?" Prophylaxis looks maybe just a LITTLE BIT incredulous at this apparently totally normal and safe plan. How many times has this old man just casually strolled through a wall of wind capable of flensing the flesh from his bones? And he's lived through it all! Incredible! Also terrifying. Maybe also manufactured, depending on what manner of maddening truth actually underlies this strange and fascinating world. "I... Well, okay?" Prophylaxis does not go forth without a plan, however! "Did you know that the momentum of a storm is largely driven by heat? So if we can apply enough 'cold' to just the right area..."

The magus swings his staff at the base of the storm. A wave of frigid energy lances out and robs the hot thermal currents there of their warmth. Immediately, the storm temporarily weakens-- perhaps enough to even allow them safe passage.

"I see," he says of the Other Storms. "I've only been to one other. There was a massive blizzard with a Yuki-Onna at its heart. She didn't seem very beastly to me, though." Though her personality-- that's an entirely different matter. "What are these Divine Beasts, anyway? Where I am from, we have five, you see. The Black Turtle, Azure Dragon, Crimson Phoenix, White Tiger and another dragon, but this one is yellow."

LORE is being acquired. Please wait warmly.

"Ah, I am Prophylaxis, Doctor of Tolbana. I believe I am acquainted with your tower's Akumeiji as well. We had an encounter with an Enigma once before."

"Well, I'll do my best in that respect. That's quite a lot of wind. I'm not exactly one who would try to pit my skills directly against a Divine Beast." The Imp isn't normally one for direct confrontations. Some other questions go back and forth, and the Imp just moves along, preparing for the challenge of breaching the maelstrom.

The wind is intense. Proteus moves with the others, attempting to coordinate her efforts to deflect the wind and various flying chunks of debris away from the escort. It's something of a problem. Proteus quickly activates one of her more potent abilities as the whistling wind begins tearing at them. + U K

Unfortunately for her, she uses the Ability as a parry style deflection and not a barrier, and her attempts to deflect the flying chunks meet with... less than spectacular results.

"Are there any particular indications of which spirit might be causing it this time?" The fox 'muses' (at volume, given the conditions), as they start along. She eyes the others as they pop up rocks, or use their own air spells to help offset things. Her tails... fail to swish behind her in thought, as the wind whips them - and her hair - to the side instead, like astral streamers. It is profoundly uncomfortable, until everything is in place to allay the wall of roaring wind and sound. Still, she shakes herself out and grips her staff, bracing herself for her own working.

Which involves her turning to face the West, one hand raised as in in supplication as the storm winds howl around her, even as Proph mentions more familiar Divine Beasts. "Oh Tiger of the West, with fur of shining white, I beseech you now to aid us in our plight. Lend me the winds of your domain, that I might show the world the strength of your reign." She turns the Arte alongside the others, trying to blunt the wall of storm winds with what strength she can muster as they move along.

Kaydon grins at Gwen, "You should call me next time. I'll come running." He replies, though he lets Shiruba take the lead, because she's the storm aspected one. He's just a fighter, and he's not gonna fight a storm, at least not with his sword.

So for now he'll follow the lead of the group who can lead the way through the storm, and keep them protected if they get assaulted from any monsters in the wind wall.

"No, I can carry this just fine on my own." The Old Man answers Pela Clarpuff, patting the box as he follows the others into the Wind Wall's extreme winds - refusing Hifumi's Bento. While they do so, he does manage to shout; "Oh? A Novasphere Pioneer? I didn't think Adventurers would reach those kinds of heights! Guess those bastards are still useful for something!"

The journey begins with Goldenblade quickly finding out that in a fierce windsheer like this, there's not just wind. There's also debris that rapidly slams into her before she has a proper chance to prepare. Communications quickly get very hard. Even Chim Link is having trouble picking up on anyone, with the windgale rushing through.

Merek's shield manages to take some of the debris that flies on by, none of it luckily touching the Lander. Mikage quickly follows this up with her electro-charged ice, which zaps away smaller debris when it gets too close, creating a wind-wall that allows people to make some progress.

The wind /bites/ into peoples clothing. It's not cold per-se, but every bit of wind gets under their clothing, making their bodies tremble and resonate with it.

Hifumi's wall of roots and earth is brought up, but it takes Shiruba to reinforce it before it can properly take a beating of wind, allowing further progression. The movement through the wind wall is significantly slow. And with the debris constantly blasting through the area, it's practically impossible to see further than a few meters ahead!

Pela and Mikage begin to work in tandem. One dropping their shield, the other bringing theirs up. Halting sharp vines and sharp branches from getting past the earth shields and cutting anyone. There's a few pieces that get through, causing the tell-tale red lines of damage across people. But none of it is remotely lethal. Still, it stings in that usual way things 'sting' for an Adventurer.

Gwen joins Merek in defending their all-important Lander ally. A spear of ice follows through soon after, creating a momentary 'tunnel' through the wall, allowing them to proceed further. But there is no way for the ice shard to push all the way through in but a single shot. But it does calm the wind enough for a moment; "You have met Yuki-Onna and survived? Interesting." The old man simply answers him, not speaking on the matter of the other Divine Beasts. "It's far more fun to find out yourself, do you not agree?" The Pooka asks Prophylaxis with a gleeful smile...

Before the wind's howl returns, killing word of Enigmas. Estelle and Proteus having to work together to make proper use of their skills together. It's unknown if Byakko is listening, or even exists. But she sure is having to put in a lot more effort than she'd probably like. Kaydon having to cut at pieces occassionally as it gets too close to either of the two ladies.

The howling winds do not die down, and the defenses have to be continued. When suddenly... amidst the howling winds, a large something approaches. So far, they've had to deal with debris. Small branches, the occassional big branch, maybe a few rocks. But what is coming this time are three enormous trees that have clearly been ripped from the ground, roots and all.

And to make things worse, joining them are two Storm Elementals, widening their 'arms' of wind and rushing forwards towards the Adventurers.

In that moment, the old man whispers something. Those closest to him can hear something along the lines of; 'I supposed I will make myself useful'. Right before he stamps his staff into the ground, and a blue aura of a sphere suddenly spreads from his position, creating a Sanctuary-like effect that blocks the wind itself.

"This won't hold againt those projectiles, and I won't move while keeping this up. But this will let you little devils deal with the Elementals won't it now?"

Hifumi pumps some more mana into Snakeroot "Alright little buddy, lets do this, keep Jared safe okay? Primary focus only goal right? We'll let the others go offense and keep the wall strong okay?" he starts to add some of his own power to the Wall harden and shape it to try and ensure the trees will be either shattered on or roll up over the top to miss the old man and his package.

     That... comment. Pela taps her lip. "It was like I went into a trance, where I just... really enjoyed the way that things grew and changed and the beauty of the temporary nature of the world. It was ... honestly... surprisingly pleasant? And when I finished my task I had that job." Pela nods simply, thinking on that. "...May I talk with you when we're not dealing with this event, perhaps? I want to know more. And I know a friend who would too." Pela says with a small smile towards that old man.

     A few thorns and other small injuries cut through her, but... nothing worth worrying too much about. Instead, she focuses on the new challenge that appeared, quickly examining the wind elementals... she shifts slightly, beginning to lower down, drawing one dagger and getting onto 'all fours', slipping her dagger into her mouth as she runs towards those storm elementals.

     At the last minute, she leaps towards one, grabbing her dagger to attempt to slice through one of the wind elementals, aiming for some sort of core! ... ... ... ... And her blade bites into air. And only air. Yep. That was super effective!

    Merek looks to the trees as well as the man with his package. Noticing that they need to deal with the trees as well as the elementals, the man takes that potion from the belt, then he throws that into the tree, exploding the splinters along into all elementals that he can, while he nods to the party, trying to buy the time for them to be more direct in dealing with that.

The fact that the old man is the Lord of the Mage's Tower is not lost on Mikage. It seems reason enough to treat both him and the mission with more than the usual respect. Enough so that her usual easy-going nature is replaced with a more serious expression, especially as she works beside Pela to help protect the line as they progress further.

She opens her mouth as if to comment on the last encounter with a creature like this, but then those larger bits of debris, along with the storm elementals cut off whatever she was going to say. Instead, she curses under her breath.

"Rama." She bends to one knee, running her fingertips down the spine of her lynx companion, a flicker of her own magic extending into him and causing his eyes to glow faintly blue. "I'll hang back here to help defend the others. Show those elementals what a real storm's bite feels like."

Empowered by magic, the lynx charges forward, trailing little flecks of ice effect behind him. He leaps at one of the elementals, where his 'bite' lands, it creates an encasing layer of ice, meant to slow it down and make them more vulnerable to other attacks.

"Novasphere Pioneer?" Prophylaxis' brow twitches upward toward his hairline. "Is that... A thing? I'm a Moonlight Pharmacist, myself. But I wasn't aware that there were other... 'types?'" He glances toward Jered, then, "'Those Bastards?' What do you mean?"

Does Jered know more than he lets on...!?

Of course he does, he's some kind of cryptic old wizard mentor. This is literally their entire schtick! 'The quest for knowledge is as important as the answers you find' and all that.

Prophylaxis has been through graduate school. He's /pretty sure/ that that's just what professors say to make sure that their students know what true suffering feels like. But then again, if nobody ever searched for knowledge on their own, nothing new would ever be learned. He shrugs, then. "Fair enough. And, yeah. There's a story behind the Yuki-Onna, actually. Maybe I'll have to share it after we're done in here."

After all, sharing it /before/ they're done could have... more consequences.

And this way he can suffer more. Hooray!!

What else is suffering, though: these adventurers, striding through a wind-storm full of debris the size of trees! And also debris that ARE trees!!! Prophylaxis hisses a curse, but the noise is lost in the howlinig wind. In a motion that's uncannily similar to Jered's own (are all wizards prone to stabbing their staves into the ground when they cast?), Prophylaxis looks squarely at the approaching trees and the elementals behind /them/ and...

"EARTH PILLAR!" Wham! Columns of solid stone hurl themselves out of the ground and crash squarely into the incoming threats! Some are knocked aside, others are shattered entirely, and Prophylaxis is pretty sure that even air elementals won't' appreciate a pillar of rock impaling them through their midsections!

Goldenblade picks herself up, having learned a bit about windblown debris the hard way. She takes a breath, then sprints back upwind, this time jinking left to avoid a flying rock, dodging right to avoid a tree branch, and now she's skimming low over the ground, hunched forward as she rushes to rejoin the group. And their new tree friends and their elemental buddies.

She looks to the others, though, waiting for a cue as to what happens next, no longer having to dodge debris in this calmed air. At least not having to dodge storm-driven debris. Elemental-driven trees are a different matter, but they're not faster than her, when she's paying attention.

"Having to remain where you stand is an issue with stronger shield Artes, I've noticed." Estelle commiserates with Jered, as she considers the foes and projectiles rushing at them. She raises her staff, though, and takes a deep breath. "Stand fast, everyone. We'll make it through. This is hardly our greatest challenge." And, as she did the last time she fought with a significant group, she works for synergy, weaving astral power around the other adventurers as they contest the Elementals and trees.

"From the earth to the heavens you stand, bridging the firmament's span. So, implacable Mensa I do thee bind, your spectral might with our flesh twined." Earthen might flows into the group, helping steady their step and harden their hide. Even as, around them as a whole, a spectral mountain rises for a brief moment, stretching skyward - though one with its top cut off as a plateau.

From there, she uses lesser Artes to assist the fight with bolts of silver starlight, placed where and when she can amidst the melee.

Shiruba stops, then quickly backpedals a bit as to get within the boundry of the protective spell Jered is raising to assist them as debris hurtles through on the winds. Plus there's Elemental's ripping up trees and hurtling them towards the party, adding to the chaos swirling in the squall.

"This is getting intense." Even with the barriers the wind is strong enough to flail about her long hair and even her tail behind her. But she grits down and draws her bow, though really, the wind is going to make even her exceptional archery skills tough to use. She still tries, shooting small bolts of ice that help knock various bits of debris away... The problem is that she was trying to shoot at the Elementals, but the junk being stewn about in the storm keeps getting in the way of her shots.

Gwen calls back to Kaydon for a moment

"Then I will next time!"

Gwen keeps defending their Lander Ally, she'll also keep up with using hr own wind magic to try and disrupt whatever is brin thrown at them by the wind. Well, there comes the elementals and Gwen attempts to give them a taste of their own medicine as it were.

"GALE OF SWORDS!"

She lashes out with her sword rapidly with a wind charged elemental fight air with air seems to be her plan today.

The team gets to work! Hifumi hardens the physical wall to hopefully better stop the enormous unrooted trees. While Hifumi sets that up, Pela gets the unfortunate response that; "No, I am incredibly busy. I don't normally come out for anything that isn't critical." He answers her. "But it's wonderful that you are looking to learn new things! You should keep doing that."

Pela's first swipe manages to catch only wind, as the wind elemental quickly pulls away from her. But not a second later, she watches as a small Lynx bites into the wind's area, and suddenly starts encasing it with its freezing bite! A ripple of ice quickly encompasses it, allowing Pela another attempt, slicing at it and breaking off some of the ice - and wounding the elemental!

Merek's potion shatters on one of the trees, exploding it into pieces, after which it caves into the not-iced elemental, ripping pieces off of its core, before the rest of it slams into Hifumi's wall!

The other Elemental, yet still ice, suddenly SHATTERS as the earth Pillar produced by Prophylaxis shatters it apart, leaving only the other one remaining. A tree slams against the Earth Pillar, shattering apart.

"Ohhh... Moonlight as well? You Adventurers are truly full of surprises. Ah... I remember..." His voice drifts off. A slime greeting his face. An earnest smile. "No matter!" And with that, the topic is closed.

Shiruba's first attempt at archery in this mess fails. The arrow being snagged by the wind and snapped into Hifumi's wall. But a second shot is suddenly enhanced, as she can feel Estelle's magical power overcome her body. The second shot lances straight through the body of the other Elemental, carving apart its Core and shattering it.

It's not long after, that the team cleans the remaining trees up that were coming their way, and Jered Gan halts is protective shield. People move back into formation, and it is another harsh five minutes of travel through the howling wind wall before things start to easy off a bit.

A good ten minutes later after that, they are finally stepping into the eye of the storm...

Where they see a great being. A horse... no... something else. It would seem like a Unicorn, if it was not for the curved back horn and its dragon-like features. Not to mention the ox-like tail. It turns its head their way, and immediately it feels like there is no more air movement at all. Sound stops traveling as easily. It's not quite a vacuum, but oxygen suddenly seems dangerously thin.

Jered Gan then opens the package, and pulls what looks like a yellow gem from it, attached to a beautiful leather-like band. Similar to what sits on the being's Horn right now.

"One of you will need to approach it. One if you who is capable of reading the Winds well. And remove the gem on its horn by sliding it off, without getting electrocuted." Jered Gan proposes to the group. "Who is willing to take on this... rather dangerous task? I suggest someone who is good at Handling Animals."

    Hifumi shrugs "I'm a Chloromancer, my summons are plants but it comes with the summoning that I'm at least skilled in Handle animal." he says with a little shrug. "But if someone else is better, protecting the Landers is more important."

Kaydon's attempts to block the incoming wind and rain with just his sword is less effective than he would have liked. How the old man is doing this without anything to protect him amazes Kaydon, but he figures the guy has to be at least a little bit used to this kind of thing if he does it every year.

"I'm a fighter. I don't know the first thing about handling animals!" He calls out, trying to raise his voice over the wind whipping around them.

Shiruba gives an appreciative nod in Estelle's direction. "Thank you." That boost is exactly what she needed to get enough strength behind a shot.

They finally make it to the eye of the storm... and the source(?) of it's tremendous unruliness. Shiruba's eyes widen at the sight of such a powerful creature, one that before she had only seen in myth and folklore. "Oh.. wow... that's something else..." A kirin at the heart of a storm, that makes sense!

She's having a moment of overwhelming awe. This must be how it felt for the explorers of old to see a new animal for the first time!.... She's probably not going to be very useful until she's snapped out of the awestruck daze.

Goldenblade follows the party at this point, looking up at our next quest and trying to judge her chances of sliding the gem from the horn without being electrocuted. Alas, the high voltage rubber gloves she'd had at work for just this sort of thing did not translate over to the VR world. Maybe she should work on something like that. Rubber's naturally occuring, isn't it? She remembers that heating is somehow involved in vulcanization, and it's hazy after that. But it's an idea, which is a step ahead of what she can do about this creature. "Er, how can I help?" she wonders quietly.

"You're welcome." The fox replies easily to Shiruba, at that greeting. But then they're moving into the Eye, and seeing what lies ahead of them... and she pauses there, ears briefly going flat. Even as Jered outlines the next step.

"... I can read the winds, but beast handling is not my forte." Estelle admits, as she studies the Divine Beast in front of them. "And it would seem we deal with Kirin, if I judge it right?" She bows her head towards the beast, as its attention turns towards them - her tails, ruffled as they may be, curl in as she adjusts her body language to be non-confrontational. She's not approaching the Beast, but she can pay her respects to it all the same.

"In the Legends of our Home, the Kirin is said to be a just beast, only punishing the wicked. That its gaze can pierce the heart of a man, and know how the scales of its karma lie - and so mete out divine justice." Her ears flick, as she considers the situation. "They're generally a good omen, a sign of prosperity and safety. Which makes me wonder why it has conjured up this Storm, if those ancient tales hold any truth to them?"

     A quick slice through the air and... Pela looks at the wind elemental with mild frustration, but that leap of the adorable little lynx bite and encase it in ice. She immediately took advantage of that to slice at it! It's wounded. She takes a deep breath as she watches it then get absolutely /hammered/ afterwards. Yep. That's a very dead elemental. Pela gives a simple nod at that, moving towards the Lynx to attempt to give it a quick little pet, before she's back to the wizard's side. "...Why would you come out? ...It would be rude to make you come to me when I am the one asking after your knowledge." Pela says with a curious blink up towards Jered. The... suggestion... that they get close without getting electrocuted. "...I cannot handle animals, so I'll stand back."

Using elemental magic seems to be enough to take a bit of the 'wind' out of Rama, who returns to Mikage looking a bit tired after his escapade on the front lines. "Stay with Jered, for now." She recommends to the lynx, "Recover your strength."

As they press onward, finally coming into sight of the creature they were looking for, the Were Fang seems hesitant. It's a familiar sort of creature, one that she has seen in mythology before. Her breath seems to come a bit shallower, perhaps as a result of the strange magic in the air.

When he pulls out that yellow gem and asks for someone who can handle both the winds, and animals, there is a moment when she looks around, her usual quiet nature meaning that it takes her a moment to raise her hand, "I can try."

Martialing her courage, she turns towards the beast and starts to approach, trying to do as Jered had said, reading the winds, or the lack of them as she takes careful steps forward. However, despite her usual skill with animals, she has never worked with anything like this before. Perhaps what she does with Rama doesn't even apply? It's hard to tell.

She simply holds her hands out, trying to not look like a threat. "Easy there. We just need that gem of yours." As if it could understand her.

This is not the time for you to be reminiscing about old adventures and old loves, old man!! What is this, some kind of WISTFUL WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE!?

...Oh well. It's fine. Prophylaxis just sort of sighs and shrugs and then--

The wind breaks. The air is... absolutely silent. Prophylaxis frowns, his gaze turning skyward before his eyes slooowly trace downward to find...

A Kirin.

"Oh wow I know what /that/ is," he says with a hushed, whispered awe. "That's the Kirin. One of the Four Benevolent Animals. Is that one of the Divine Beasts you mentioned...?" Prophylaxis asks the old man, then glances toward Estelle and shakes his head. "No, I think it's... The last time this happened, we replaced the gem around the creature's neck and recovered a 'used up' one. I think, maybe, that this isn't something it is doing intentionally. They mentioned something about needing to 'recharge' the gem the last time..."

    Merek watches along to the place, and nods a bit to Mikage while she will try to work with the being. The man takes a moment and adjusts the equipment with him to keep safe from the wind.

So far the party has done well the pary has moved on no one's fallen. Their charge is still standing, so far so good now they come up on a strange creature and she'll look it over as Jered explains things? She'll step tback as handling animals is not one of her skills though she can deal with the wind well enough. She has had the sense to drape her wings over her body like a cloak rather than let them get caught by it. It's time for someone else oit shine and and she'll remain with Jered guarding him while others handle the rest.

"I don't know about any of the Good Omen matter, but the Kirin you see before you summons this wind to keep Landers away from it while it's at the height of its power." The Lord of the Tower of Mages answers. "We give it these gifts, which serve as magical containers, to drain some of their magic at the height of their power, so that they can move without harming others." Jered Gan answers.

Jered passes the leather-strapped gem to Mikage, smiling at her. He need not say anything, but she can tell there's something... about that smile. A pride. Not in her, but more... what she is. It's not the kind of fatherly love that she got from Ganesha. It's something far different. Something upsetting and hard to put one's finger on.

As Mikage begins to approach the Kirin, it does quiet a bit. She can read the winds, she can tell there's anxiety within the being itself. Slow steps approaching it proceed at pace, but it can tell that she's nervous.

Still, it lowers its head slowly, even as it lets out a loud whiney of a sound that sounds more like a 'thunderclap' and a 'gale' combined than an actual horse's sound. As she reaches out, her fingers touch against the old and existing gem, and she starts to slowly remove it. The leather seems brittle almost, but she manages not to touch its horn. But that sharp point sure is aimed towards her chin at this point, with how deep it has bent its head.

Then comes the hard part. With the old gem off, it begins to discharge some of its energy against her body. And at the same time, she has to put on the other one. The passage proceeds...

But as her nervousness gets her, a few violent sparks of lightning jump into her body. She can watch has her health literally begins to plummet as she places the new gem over its horn...

Until suddenly, just as she gets into that dangerous red area, the Kirin suddenly rises onto its hind legs, and uses its front legs to kick her away. The old gem goes flying to the ground, and lightning continues to coarse through her! Someone will have to use some kind of healing magic on her immediately in order to ensure that her health doesn't drop below red!

Additionally, someone has to encase the now fallen and used up gem into something that can carry it, so it can be brought to Jered safely. If it was not for Mikage's mastery of Wind and her own resistance to lightning, the earlier ripple of lightning would have simply gone through her and taken away the rest of her health as well.

    Merek looks then to Mikage while he begins to lift up a hand, although it doesn't look like the healing which he's doing will be doing a lot. It's probably all the mana which he used up, while he takes a moment watching the woman.

Goldenblade rushes forward as Mikage is thrown back, hemmoraging HP. She reaches to her beltpouch and pulls out a small flask with a leather sort of halfcup on the top, pushes it to her face, and she twists the top of the bottle hard, then pushes the leather cup to her face. As soon as Mikage takes a breath from that, her HP stops plummetting, and as she keeps breathing in the rich air, she begins to recover.

"Is that the case for all of these 'storms,' then?" Prophylaxis asks, his voice quivering with the kind of intense interest that every single academic worth their salt would instantly recognize as 'geeking out, but productively.' "Amazing. Then the Yuki-Onna must have been doing similar for the Divine Beast back then, too. I'll have to keep my eye out for Earth and Fire as well. Hah! To be present for all four of the natural elements-- or are there beasts for Light and Darkness as well? You've given me an interesting topic to study, Jered Gan. I thank you."

A crack of lightning snaps him out of his reverie. Prophylaxis's attention pivots just in time to see lightning course through Mikage like a typhoon-gorged river rampages through a floodplain. Her HP-- is falling far too quickly. The Moonlight Pharmacist produces a sound of surprise and desperation. Instantly, his hand goes to his pocket-- and then tears through the air. A slim shape sails through the middle distance, slowing down before abruptly being propelled again by a summoned vine...

To plunge a syringe full of HIGH QUALITY HEALING POTION directly into Mikage's shoulder. "Hold on," he says, pushing forward to engage an impromptu Medical Inspection. "There might still be a status condition..."

It's almost as if he's SPEAKING FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE or something. Hmmm...!

Gwen has been leveling a fair bit so much Gwen finally has unlocked some healing spells again. Useful and maybe even more so than her beloved Grand Cross. She'll watch as Mikage head in and she'll remain where she is, yuet she'll target her friend and start chaning throwing out a healer where it's needed given that Mikage did just get pretty beat up there.

"Fairy healing!"

Shiruba snaps out of her awestruck revelation as Jered explains what the Kirin is doing and why. "So it does this to protect not itself, but others from it? Until it's power can be brough back under control." She nods. "I think that suits your analysis to a degree, Estelle. Nobley isolating itself to not bring undue harm..." She stops with a yip as the kirin kicks Mirage away... and then realize it was to protect her rather than out of malice.

The old gem tumbles away when dropped, but the wolfgirl is quick on her feet to respond. "I'll get it!"

As she darts towards where it lands she leans down, scooping up some dirt from the ground, and charging it with more Earth element energy. It takes on a cohesive but pliable texture, like some manner of clay. Earthen elements tend to be less conductive of electricity, she's hoping it will insulate against the gem's discarges long enough to retrieve it. This is taking making use of the environment to a different track, but hopefully it's improvising enough.

"Someone get some kind of container for this ready!"

That is all it seems to take. A moment of hesitation and things go very badly. She can feel the first flickerings of the electrical energy flaring up along her arm, first pinpricks, then fire. Gritting her teeth, she holds on for as long as she can manage to get the gems exchanged before the creature rears up, sending her flying backwards.

The air rushes out of her, the sparks from the electrical energy still causing convulsions. Even Rama gives a cry of alarm, the little lynx obeying the command to remain where he is, but his ears flatten back. The two share a health bar, so he starts to wobble on his feet slightly, bumping into Pela in the process.

Her health hovers precariously for a moment, but luckily the party seems to have capable enough healers on call. She coughs, taking a quick inhale from Goldenblade's strange flask, which seems to stabilize her health and stop some of the lingering electrical effect. "Tt-thanks." Wheeze.

"I... don't think that creature is an animal." She states, trying to sit up. That's when Prophylaxis' healing potion is shot into her arm, causing a wince and then... a look of relief. "Thanks, Doc. I think I'll live to get trampled another day." Soon enough, with the aid of some of the others, her health rises well out of the danger zone.

For now, she simply remains sitting where she is, leaving the rest to the others, it seems.

    Hifumi just stands by Jered, snakeroot coiled protectively just in case.

     As Shiruba ran for the gem, Pela ran right after her, darting in with a small slip of paper to attempt to slap it onto that ball of clay, attempting to further help to seal away the electricity with a paper that had the kanji for 'Seal' on the paper. "...I'll help." She states simply, doing a few quick hand movements and then... touching the paper, hopefully adding yet another layer of protection from the lightning in the gemstone escaping and electrocuting the rest of them. She takes a soft breath as she quickly darts back away though; no need to have too many people trying to carry the thing, and instead she just... moves back over towards ... Rama, reaching to gently stroke its fur as it starts to wobble and seem to get woozy.
     If he doesn't fight it, in fact, Pela would scoop Rama up into her arms once she was out of harm's way, gently attempting to soothe the Lynx with gentle pettings. ...She wasn't trying to handle the animal. Just be a friendly animal lover. ... It still might not go well since she has no handle animal/monster at all.

This is pretty spur of the moment, but Kaydon realizes they'll need something to put that gem in that'll not kill them all. He quickly ducks behind cover, and pulls out a few things from his inventory, "This is gonna be janky as hell." He mutters to himself, as he breaks out the blacksmith hammer and begins to go to town on the pieces of metal. The tattoo on his arm flares to life, working as a portable forge to enable him to move the metal in the field.

It's not perfect, but it hardly needs to be as he hammers away a small box, big enough to hold the gem but small enough to be carried by someone, and rushes over to where Shiruba has the gem, "Put it in here, quick!"

Once it's safely inside, he seals the box with a few more hammer blows, and theoretically contains the lightning, at least long enough to get it to Jered's better box.

Estelle winces when Mikage starts getting shocked during her exchange of the gems, seeing the drop of that health bar - but even as she raises her staff, she's not sure if sudden casting would spook the Divine Beast. And without its limiter, as it's been explained... Well. The matter is taken out of her hands, though, by the sudden shove the Kirin gives to its tender, and she starts forward - but so do many others, a tight press of bodies around both downed Adventurer and dangerous item both. So she pulls back, shaking her head as her tails swish behind her.

"Many hands make light work, but too many cooks..." She murmurs, regretting briefly that she went with the metal staff today. Still, she keeps an eye out for anything else that could go awry - like checking to make sure that the new gem has properly seated itself on the Divine Beast's horn, or that no elementals have been stirred into the eye by the discharged power.

"If it's janky but it works, then it's not janky," Prophylaxis says with the surety of a man who has probably had to dress wounds with duct tape before. But more importantly, Mikage's health is back to the tippy-top-end of its bar. Back in the green. Thank heavens. "...And no lingering after-effects, too. Though I think if it wanted to, it could have..."

He looks to the Kirin, then nods and bows his head deeply. "If it wasn't for your lightning-quick reaction, we might have lost her. Thank you, for your mercy as well as your kindness."

Does the Kirin understand him? It doesn't matter. With animals, the sentiment is often more important than the words being spoken.

Goldenblade is poking and prodding Mikage as she's healed by the party members that can. She holds the flask in place until it's spent, then tucks it back away into her beltpouch. "You look better," she says, doing a quick inspect. No doctor, she only gets the high level details, but it looks OK to her. "Doesn't seem like any breaks or sprains, either. That's always a danger, when you're thrown by electric shocks." Oddly, that sounds like the voice of experience. Or at least the voice of 50 years of mandatory annual safety training. And she's used it more here than she ever did at work.

Jered Gan answers Prophylaxis by grinning at him with that devious little smile you'd expect to see on a bit of a mad scientist. But he doesn't answer. He doesn't move from his spot. He just holds forward his case. "The rock must go in here." He notes.

Perhaps he's not moving much because of the thin air.

Then, there's a sudden burst. A shockwave that rushes through the area, as the yellow gem begins to glow upon the Kirin's horn, and the wind wall suddenly falls away. Silenced by the drain on its magic. The beast calms, and watches over the events playing out in front of him. Multiple people coming to Mikage's aid, and others using all kinds of techniques to contain the 'old' gem.

A few violent sparks of lightning rips from the earth Shiruba manages to place up, ripping across and spiking through Pela's arm for a moment as she moves to protect Rama, taking away a small chunk of health instead of harming the small Lynx. The stone forming around the gem begins to weaken the lightning. But Kaydon's quick thinking soon follows this up, and encages it in such a way that the electricity can't escape anymore.

Luckily, Prophylaxis finds no status effects on Mikage. Clearly, it had not meant to harm her. Things would have been far worse if it had - no doubt. Unlike the Yuki-Onna, whose ice had been 'slow' to drain Prophylaxis' health that day... this lightning was far more destructive.

As the gem is contained, the Kirin moves forwards, approaching the ground surrounding Mikage, and looks down at her. For a moment, they make eyecontact. And in that moment, Mikage would feel herself tunnel-visioned to the beast. For a moment, there's a connection there. A connection to nature itself. To the element of Wind itself.

And then that moment is gone again, before the creature looks to the others. It doesn't speak, but there is clearly communication happening. It is bowing its head, thanking those here today.

When Prophylaxis speaks to it, it bows its head again. Clearly, it can understand Prophylaxis. It is no 'Monster'. It remains with them for a while, as Jered Gan finally moves forward and waves over Shiruba and Kaydon. "Put it in here." He reminds them, holding out the open box for them.

Luckily for Pela, there's a distinct difference between a wild lynx and a tamed animal companion. In this case, Rama has grown up from his toddling kitten days with Adventurers, so he seems pretty used to this sort of behavior. As Mikage's health increases and the electric effect passes, he seems to shake his head a little, recovering from the shared damage, himself. The fluffy white cat dangles from Pela's arms, but his ears still seem to swivel now and again, listening for danger, perhaps?

"Yeah." Mikage agrees with Prophylaxis' appraisal of the situation. "I probably would have been a toasty critter if it hadn't tossed me." She rubs at her side a bit, where her ribs are still likely smarting from the kick. "Still hurts to be kicked, though."

Apparently, being electrocuted and kicked is enough to have her feeling a little less self-conscious about speaking up in the group, at least. She moves to try to get to her feet, but that's when the Kirin approaches. The girl freezes in place, her eyes going unfocused for a moment. Rama's do the same in that instant, seeming to glaze over.

Then, she blinks, "What the..." Both seem to return at the same time, Miki raising a hand to the side of her head, then hesitating ever so slightly before she bows her head to the Kirin. "I... think I understand." She probably doesn't.

Shiruba lets out a sigh of relief as between Kaydon, Pela and herself they get the gem back under control. Her layering of clay with Pela's enchantment ends up coating the inside of Kaydon's improvised faraday, keeping the conductivity down until the old gem is finally placed in Jered's box. "Good work everyone!" That is directed as much to the people that helped Mikage as those that helped her. Group efforts!

Her attention turns back to the Kirin, and when it bows, she bows in respectfully in return. Such a majestic being.

Then she looks to Jered as she rises again. "So what do you do with the old gem?" She's asking mostly because of how insistant he was it go back in the box the new one had come in, so there's got to be a reason for it right?

     Bzzt! Agh! The lightning that arcs along her is quickly redirected away from Rama with Pela's air power... sent deeper into herself and attempting to channel it down into the ground. Which, luckily, protects the lynx apparently! She smiles a little as the lynx in her arms seems to recover from his low health state, slowly she begins to settle down onto her knees, carefully setting down Rama and stroking his fur a few moments as he freezes in place.
     That look from the Kirin gets a respectful bow in return. Was she borrowing that creature's power whenever she tapped into the Wind? That was something to think about. Still... yet another way... that she found quiet beauty in this world. Mujou may be gone, but it had instilled a lingering appreciation for the world around her.
    "...We succeeded, even if it was bumpy, it seems..." Pela murmurs quietly, continuing to slowly pet the top of the lynx's head. Yep. That was her focus right now. Making sure that Mikage's little wildcat was okay. Even to the point she reaches to pull out a small piece of dried meat to hold out for the Lynx. Yep. She's spoiling him.

    Merek nods a bit when the gem would be taken care of, the man taking a moment to look to people, while he finds a place and watches while he takes a drink from the flask.

Goldenblade gets to her feet, and is offering Mikage a handup when the Kirin approaches her, causing Mikage to freeze in place for a moment. Goldenblade hadn't realized the cause, but when Mikage hesitates, she'll wait a moment and then help her to her feet when she's ready. "Ah, you're OK now?" she checks. "Electric shocks can be disorienting," she says, "But you ought to be able to shake it off quickly enough." More safety briefing stuff. But Proph is there, he's the medical professional, she'll leave any follow-up to him.

    Hifumi wordlessly hands Mikage a rice ball, stuffed with his terriaki 'duck'.

To be fair, Prophylaxis is pretty sure that the Yuki-Onna could very well have struck him dead where he had stood, if she was so inclined to do so. The fact that he didn't instantly freeze to death indicates that she was... Probably just having some kind of fun at his expense?

Or she wanted him to suffer and die slowly for his impertinence. That works too.

The Kirin responds positively to his words, and the doctor straightens in time to see it... Hang out for a little while. Possibly to make sure Mikage is still alright? It really is a kind and benevolent dragon-horse, isn't it?

"So I can make sense of what the Wind and Water storms are like, and I am frankly terrified of what the fire storm is going to be, but what is an /earth/ storm going to look like, exactly...?" Prophylaxis murmurs aloud, before looking toward Shiruba. He shrugs!! "Well, if it's like the other one, I assume that it needs to go get 'recharged' or 'recycled' somehow. Maybe by draining all the accumulated elemental energy?"

Gwen seems pleased everything seems to be handled she watches with interes pauses then opens an menu window. The next thing one might know she's got a small bag of cookies in hand. Which she's now muching on fairly contendedly from the looks of it.

"Firestorm? Just think California in the Summer."

"It comes back with me, to the Tower of Mages." Jered Gan answers Shiruba, as the man looks at her. "In the box please. That gem costs us a lot to make. And I'd like to have it back." He taps the side of the box.

Kaydon moves with the contained gem and places it back in the containment unit, or whatever Jered may want to call it. Kaydon isn't going to debate the guy on semantics right now, "No wonder you need a bunch of adventurers to help you out with this. That's some dangerous magic in there."

He gives a look to the kirin. He's not really super familiar with them, though it is a very beautiful creature, that much he can't deny.

The fox's worries are soothed by how the windwall around them disperses, and she relaxes between that and how the others get the filled gem contained. Her eyes flick back to the Kirin, though, when it approaches Mikage and the mass around her. The fox's head cants a little, ears flicking, at the silent exchange... and, when bowed to along with the others, she returns it herself. The Beast of Wind before them is to be respected, after all.

Though, then she looks to Proph. "... I can imagine a few potentialities; a sandstorm, a whirling wall of razor shards, earthquakes... unleashed elemental fury has many options, each more terrifying than the last." She gestures, as if to set the matter aside, and then turns to survey their path back - and how much debris has settled onto it.

Jered Gan then nods as Kaydon puts the gem into the containment box, and closes it. "Thank you." He remarks, and tucks it against his belly between his both arms. "And you are right. It's very dangerous magic. Luckily, Adventurers are blessed with Immortality. I've lost a few too many colleagues to this dangerous operation over the decades." He notes to Kaydon, while the others consider what it must be like to have different elemental events or storms like that.

Rama looks up as he is pet, his nub tail wiggling once before Pela offers out dried meat. There is a moment where his eyes go wide like something out of a cartoon before the greedy little cat takes the treat. Pela has gifted the lynx food. She is now in Rama's list of favorite people.

Taking Goldenblade's hand, Mikage gets to her feet, nodding her head. "Thanks... again." She laughs ever so softly. "I should be okay." And she is never one to decline a rice ball being offered to her. Looking to Hifumi, the young woman nods, and shrugs, taking a bite. "Huh... it tastes lightningy. Probably a side effect of being zapped."

As Prophylaxis mentions a fire storm, Mikage shakes her head, "I am not volunteering to interact with that one. No sir." That's a big nope.

Then, looking to Jered, she inclines her head, "Glad to... be of service?" At least immortality has its perks.

"Sandstorm," Shiruba replies to Prophylaxis. "Maybe making the term 'Dust Devil' something more literal?" Then hmms, tilting her head thoughtfully. "A 'fire' storm could just be an extreme heat wave? Drought? Those are just as dangerous, if not moreso, than powerful winds. Dehydration is not pleasant."

She wrinkles her nose a bit when Jered brings up their 'immortality'. "All the same, it is good it did not come to having to rely on that." Just because they -can- die and come back doesn't mean they -should- unless necessary.

     It's nice to be able to interact with animals without them trying to eat or attack you, really. Especially wild animals like a lynx. Pela smiles as the cat takes the snack from her hand, her other hand carefully scritching her hair. "You are a sweet little thing. A good companion to my friend, as well." She coos sweetly towards Rama, before finally standing and letting him go back to Mikage's side if he wanted to. Unless he decides to linger or something, which she doesn't mind either!
     "...Perhaps floating stones and such, gravity anomalies and such..?" She muses towards the other group. "...Anyway. ... I am glad that we succeeded with... mostly... minimal injuries." She rubs at her own arm where there was some red still. She absently pulls out a chunk of some sort of root which she begins to chew on absently. It didn't really heal her, but it made her feel better to chew on it.

The Kirin then finally turns, and begins to literally turn into a guts of air. Its form beginning to 'fray' and become almost mist-like. Its male becoming small torrents of wind, slowly 'disassembling' before them into ribbons of wind that simply... drift off.

Jered Gan in the meantime, bows his head. "I know, it's a rather cruel and utilitarian way to address an Adventurer. Do not take my comment as me looking at you like some expendable tool, as that could not be further from the truth. I am simply explaining why I requested Adventurers on this journey. I did not wish to see any lives lost while aiding the Divine Beast." Jered Gan remarks. "Now, I do believe it is time I take my leave."

And with that, he stabs his staff to the ground once more... and suddenly, sigils reveal themselves beneath him. The same sigils that people may have seen before, when dealing with the Heroes of that other world. Teleportation sigils that encircle that man for but a few moments... before he disappears in a fine wisp of light.

"Wh--" Prophylaxis wags a finger at the SUDDEN TELEPORTATION SPELL. "Hey. HEY! THAT'S CHEATING--"

Nope, he's gone.

"Augh! Damnit, why does /he/ get to teleport!?"

Gwen laughs for a moment "Oh it's thing I thought you knew." It seems Gwen has known about this ability...

    Hifumi blinks as snakeroot slithers into the earth and Snapdragon fades into existance on his shoulder. "Well... that's new... I didn't think the gate network was working... strange that personal teleporting would."

"What the hell?" Kaydon is shocked when the old guy teleports away, with the gem no less, "At least he thanked us." He mutters a little bit, though he looks to Hifumi, "Landers get special treatment apparently."

Goldenblade blinks as she catches the tail end of the Lander vanishing. "Wait, what was -that-?" she asks, confused. She'd never been in the game before, where that was a thing, or any game, really, and it hadn't come up before. "Is there like a trap door or something?" she wonders, peering at the ground where the sigils were drawn.

"... Interesting." Estelle murmurs, looking at where Jered /was/. His talk of immortality didn't bother her too much, though she hasn't explored death herself; she'd prefer not to dabble with that sort of self-necromancy. She shakes it off after a moment, though, her mussed tails swishing behind her in complex patterns.

"... So. The real question." She says a few seconds later, looking to the others, and then to where the mage was. "Who's paying us, and when, for our work here?"

"Leave it to the Mage's Tower to have secrets we don't." Mikage mumurs as she steps up next to Hifumi, offering a hesitant smile. "You know, I wonder what sort of other effect elemental magic might have on cooking. I mean, fire is obvious but..." She takes another bite, seeming for all the world like she hadn't almost died a few minutes ago. "It does add a certain spark." She smirks, "Of course, I can't cook for the life of me, but you're food is always delicious."

    Merek looks along the place, and nods to Estelle, "The Guild will," he notes, then the man thinks about it, "Well, a few things likely have teleport that we don't. Although some have a single use," he says.

Shiruba huhs. "I guess really experienced mages can still do teleport magic." She's been playing RPGs for long enough to not really be shocked at a Lander having some ability they have no re-aquired for themselves yet. "The quest was arranged through the Hunter's Guild," she answers Estelle, "So I assume they're handling payment as well."

Gwen says "Huh interesing teleport effect. Either way lets head on back to somewhere more enjoyable shall we?

Goldenblade looks a bit perplexed as everyone seems to accept that teleporting is a normal thing. Well, maybe it'll come with higher level? She'd heard that everyone had been regressed back to starting, so maybe it's a matter of re-learning? But there's so much she doesn't know and that's only a piece of it. She nods at what Gwen says about heading back. "I think so, yeah. It looks like our work here is done."

    Hifumi smiles "Thank you, I do my best, I use water and fire most often in my cooking. Haven't really dabbled into using air or earth, though I suppose getting salt that way wouldn't be the worst option."

"... Fair enough." She answers, on the topic of checking in with the Hunter's Guild. "Let's be off, then, before whatever normally lairs here returns - or whatever the lingering elemental energy might draw does." The vixen gives a brief stretch, and then turns to start walking along the path back to civilization. "We could probably handle it, but that was exhausting in its own way."