Duty Session 206: A Dark and Stormy Night

Schneider is sitting in a small inn, in a remote hamlet, out of the way. There is quaffing, which is like drinking, but you spill more. The rain is raining hard enough to drench the Lander coming in out of it, and everyone near the door as well. They loudly shout at him to shut the door, and he does so. He pulls his hood back, and turns out to be a worried-looking Spriggan.

"Hey," he says. "Are any of you looking for adventure?"

A prompt appears: << A Dark and Stormy Night >>

<< Accept Quest: Yes / No >>

    As the door opens and shuts, a large lizard man(were-fang) turns towards the door and then back to his drink. Rizadoman had been in the inn for almost an hour now, his friends promised they would show up, however maybe the rain had stopped them. They at least could have called and said something. So here he was tapping his claw against the bar when he gets a prompt. "A quest? Now? " Turning back he sees the soaked spriggan, " I fear my friends will have to learn, if they snooze they lose." His claw taps yes as he stands up. " Adventure sounds good."

Quaffing is like drinking, but you spill more... And sipping is like drinking, but you spill less. Which is what the Doctor of Tolbana is doing, while simultaneously reading through what appears to be a copy of <<SALACIOUS SALAMANDER SERVANT v.1>>. How scandalous...!

Though if it helps, he's not drinking ordinary booze, but some manner of mulled wine. It's a perfect respite from the driving rain and the howling wind.

And then someone shows up that he recognizes. Prophylaxis glances up from over his book, nods firmly, and rises from his seat.

<< Accept Quest: YES / No >>

    June's beer and sandwich is interupted by a popup. She's already pressed yes before she even reads anything in the message or finds the source. Sometimes her issues... get the better of her and this is certainly one of those times. But hey it's a quest and quests mean experience and loot so she stuffs the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and takes a long swallow to drain her beer.

Vertina is here, and it's not even her own tavern! She can be other places you know. Truth be told she had been traveling with some supplies she purchased for the brewery, and got caught in one of the sudden rain storms. So had ducked into the small place to wait it out. So just minding her time, waiting for the rain to clear... and then a quest message comes up? Huh...

Well, she's got nothing better to do at the moment so she accepts it. Got to be more interesting than sitting around here.

    With the rain coming down in sheets outside, Amalthea is content to stay at the first inn that will take her. The fact that there are others here, whom she already knows. Well that just makes the company all the better as the old Paladin warms herself by the fire.
    It's when the door opens and she gets a quest prompt that she arches a brow.
    Whatever could this be about?
    She considers for a beat before accepting the quest and rising from her seat.
    "Why not, I'll bite if everyone else is in."

Kotono's here, because apparently... well... because she's here! (With Miyako, of course.)

The two are just relaxing in the inn and contemplating what to do until the storm passes, when the prompt for a quest pops up. Kotono thinks for a moment then looks to her buddy and says, "I'm going, are you?"

    Miyako looks back at Kotono, over the rim of a mug of the local ale.

    "Well," she muses, "I don't see why not." She flashes her friend a grin, then drains her mug and slams it down, adding a few coins alongside it.

    "I'll admit I like the sound of a good storm, and to watch it from a nice dry room with a fireplace, but, well."

As Adventurers begin to accept the sudden quest being offered out to them, the man's expression seems to shift from worry to hope. He motions over those who expressed an interest. "Yes, come. Come here." He ends up taking over a table from a group of other Landers who seem to only give a momentary look of irritation before moving out of the way.

"Time is short." He begins. "I've been tracking a group of air elementals. They're drawn to the storms this time of year." He explains. "They're one of our only sources of wind shards. So I need your help." The Spriggan wipes dark hair out of his eyes. "We need to find them before the storm ends, dispatch them, then gather as many shards as we can." Then, with that hopeful expression, he asks, "I can lead you, but I can't fight them."

Once the group agrees, he is quick to lead them back out of the inn, much to the dismay of the other patrons. The problem is... no matter how bad the storm looked from inside, it is far worse when you're faced with it.

Winds come at them from all sides, rain pelts down against them, and there is a fair share of debris that is being whipped about by the storm's winds. It will be a difficult task to even get out of the city without taking some damage from the forces being thrown at them by nature.

Schneider, for his part, follows along through the driving wind and rain, squinting into the mess and grumbling. Seems his time in the warm and drinking had let him forget just how awful it was out here.

Ooh, Elementals. Don't get to fight those very often. Especially Air ones. Can you even punch air? She'll find a way if she has to. But that's enough to get Vertina's attention, and willing to venture back out into the harsh weather for the sake of a new adventure.

And immeadiately gets a face full of wind propelled rain. "Pffft!" she sputters loudly, wiping her mouth on the back of a sleeve. "We will have no more of that!" She makes a few quick hand gestures, bending the air around herself to resist both the rain and the blowing wind so she can walk freely onward.

    June steps out in to the storm, the middle aged woman in her barbarian princess get up, pulls her heavy fur cloak around her, and pulls the hood up until there is very little to be seen. Bare toes in sandals and a flash of ankle. Little else with the darkness of the hood and the bulk of the cloak pulled tightly closed.

    As Rizadoman steps out into the storm, his clothes become soaked as he stands out in the rain for a moment. The water runs off his scales as his hand begins to glow, trying to work some of his ancestral magic, " Ancestrial Nagas, storm wielders, grant us your blessing." It's not much but it seems Rizadoman has cast a small waterproof spell on the party, it would at least keep them dry for the most part. " So which way now?" Looking around in the storm, he'd get loss if it wasn't for all the people

    As the group exits the tavern, Miyako produces a bundle of cloth from inventory, unfolding it into a simple poncho that she tosses over her shoulders, pulling it down to cover herself. "Ko-chan, help me with the belt, and I'll get yours?" She eventually settles with the waxed cloth covering her from head to ankle, belted around the waist to keep herself covered, and helps Kotono with her own.

    Air Elementals eh?
    Amalthea purses her lips as the Lander gives them the lowdown on what's going on, before the group heads into the pouring rain. She wraps herself in her cloak tightly and...
    The sheer force of the storm is intense.
    Maybe staying inside was the better idea, but she already accepted the quest, so she raises her shield like an umbrella. Not that it helps much, but it does help against the flying debris.

Well, that...

You know, Prophylaxis thought the storm was bad enough just looking at the thing from in his cozy reading nook, but from where he stands at the very edge of the storm...

It looks almost like a living thing. Like a monster in the shape of a whirling, green-grey cyclone. He wonders, idly, if this is what his ancestors must have felt as they encountered rogue storms in the dead of winter atop the white-capped waves...!

(His ancestors may have never been fishermen, Prophylaxis' imagination is just running a little wild.)

"Right, protection spells," the doctor mutters before lifting high his wizard's staff. A white-hot electrical tendril arcs off the head of his weapon as wards of wind swirl around each member of the party. Simple air-shields, harnessing and siphoning away the violent might of the storm to protect each and every one of them. "Right, that should do. Let's make our way in, then."

"Right, Miyako," Kotono replies, helping Miyako with her belt. After that, Miyako gets to help Kotono. One hand washes the other, right? "It's better than nothing."

It's raining and the wind is blowing. Kotono thinks she can handle it though. "I might get a little wet, but I'm sure I'll be all right."

She zigs, she zags...

And she misjudges the winds. She gets blown off-course with her acrobatics, sending her spinning into a nearby wall, getting her soaked by the rain at the same time as well.

"Oww... that wasn't supposed to happen!"

Schneider, for his part, snaps up a magic shield, which is better against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune than it is against wind and rain. Still, it's better than nothing. The wind still bites, but not as hard, and the rain beads off to either side. Vertina does much the same, as do others, using control of air or water to manipulate the storm, or else calling up magic shields. A few are stuck with mundane gear, a storm-blown rock spanging off Amalthea's shield, though Miyako winds up soaked before she can get her rain gear fully on, even with help, and Kotono is buffetted around by the blustery storm winds /and/ soaked besides, adding insult to injury.

Once beyond the edge of the town, the true pressing force of the storm becomes obvious. There are no lights here to guide their path into the wilderness beyond the town walls. The wind throws blasts of water at them which would easily extinguish even the most sturdy of torches.

Their guide has a raised lantern, which seems to sputter as he tries to continue forward through the gale. "They really are putting up a fight." He has to shout to be heard over the storm. Then, during another gust of wind, his lantern dies, leaving the group in darkness.

"Could... use some of that Adventurer magic right about now." He laughs, water dripping down his face. "Should be able to stand up against this storm, right?"

Seems it is up to them to light the way, either by natural gifts,magic, or some kind of alchemical means that can stand up against the wind and rain.

Fire is easy. Making sure the fire isn't blown out in the strong winds and rain is another matter. Vertina is actually considering using some alchemy, but the bottle she pulls out is mostly empty, just damp with some leftover liquor along the sides.. Oh, wait, that's perfect. She holds the bottle up to breath fire into it, then use that as a lantern of sorts. The glass shelters it from the wind, and the lingering booze gives it something to burn for longer. "There we go, probably don't want to stand around for too long though."

    Rizadoman is always speaking about his naga ancestors but today he gets to prove to people they were indeed a thing. As you see due to his ancestors, he has a scond set of eyelids that he can use to see through the water droplets, and protects his eyes. He also can use his enhanced sense of smell to take in the smell of the storm. "Looks like the epic center of the storm is that way." He shouts over the wind as he points in a direction, "I can lead if the lantern goes out."

    That's insane. The storm is strong enough ti *lift a rock* and fling it against her shield. Never before has Amalthea encountered a storm such as this in all her years. In the sheer dark of the outskirts of the town, the old Paladin squints her eyes into the haze and the gloom. Before she casually draws her blade.
    Magic is the only reason a spark even kicks up as she scrapes the tip of her blade on the ground and causes her sword to come alive with blazing fire. The flames gutter from the rain and storm, but it doesn't go out.
    "Let's hurry this up so we can get back to the warmth of the inn."

"I have better than magic," Prophylaxis promises, the rain wicking down his wide-brimmed hat in sheets. It makes it look almost as if the doctor is wearing a veil of water-- which begs the question of how he's even seeing through it. Maybe it's just practice? Maybe countless nights of squinting through sweat and tears to make sure not to nick a critical artery has given him more acute vision than the ordinary man's...?

Maybe it's just Adventurer Privilege.

Whatever the case, Prophylaxis removes a small flask from his hip. He gingerly hangs from the head of his staff, uncorks the stopper and zaps the neck with a spark of electricity. There's a FWOOSH of flame as the Alchemist's Fire ignites, shedding a bright halo of nigh-unquenchable light into the howling storm. "It should last quite a while," he reasons, pressing further onward. "Stay close, now. Visibility in here is trash even /with/ ample lighting!"

    June peers into the darkness and sighs. Then there is a much bulkier form under the cloak. The iron hooves visible under the cloak edge and the horntips and muzzle sticking from the hood are the only indication she's changed forms. "Ooh sure.. make the iron girl get wet just so she can find the way." she grumbles but it seems more teasing than anything.

    Miyako grumbles to herself as she walks along, arms huddled around her chest to try to maintain some semblance of warmth as the rain soaks through her, the force of it getting in through the chinks in her defenses. (Mostly the hood, as it has to be open for her to see.) "Trash.... sigh. I gotta agree with Ammy." She lifts one hand to try to scribe a series of spell-runes in the air, but it fizzles out as rain keeps lashing down through her runes, distorting and twisting them. Guess it's time to just shiver and deal with it.

There's always a few ways to deal with things. Sometimes, using magic can help.

Kotono invokes a technique of the light, and the next thing knows, there's a bit of light coming from the girl thanks to her spell. "Let's shine a little light on the subject, shall we?" She gives Miyako a sympathetic nod.

Schneider has always heard it's better to light a candle than curse the darkness, but he's doing a bit of both as the gloom surrounds us, though his candle is a fistful of flame held aloft. And he's not alone, others are also getting magic swords, alchemists fire, and the like to shed light on the path forward, though Kotono's doesn't flicker the way fire does. Rizadoman's solution is unexpected, but quite useful!

With what light and guidance they can manage, the Adventurers continue to be lead away from the town and into the long expanses of plains that surround it. Some of the surrounding farmland seems to be taking quite a beating from the rain, but many of the plants grown in Yamato seem to be sturdy stock that can survive such things.

However, without any tall trees, it means that their journey has just gotten that much more dangerous. A bolt of lightning crackles out of the sky and nearly hits their guide, who stumbles backwards, landing in the mud. "Ha...haha, that was close." He seems to be laughing as a coping mechanism for the fear that just shot through him at being quite that close to death.

The number of lightning strikes seems to be picking up the further they travel, getting closer and closer to the party. It leaves them with a few avenues to progress safely. A skilled hand might be able to create a lightning rod, and a seer may be able to predict where lightning might strike, but others may just be left to little more than their speed and wit.

    Sooooo lightning strikes are getting frequent.
    Amalthea isn't too keen on holding the flaming hunk of metal that is her sword up any more, and she decides to sheathe her blade rather than be an impromptu lightning rod.
    She looks to the skies, squinting up at the raging storm and snarling clouds and furrows her brow.
    Thunder roars, lightning strikes and she jumps aside at the last second...!
    Only for the sudden bolt that comes down to change its course and arc right into her.
    With a slump the old Paladin collapses in a smoldering heap.
    "I'm okay." She says, muffled into the ground before she slowly picks herself up, squinting at her health bar and the chunk that took from it.
    "Ow."

First wind and rain, then literal dark and stormy night, and now lightning strikes? This is getting dangerous and risky and--

--And why the hell is Vertina SMILING like that? That way thrillseekers do when they see a chance to really go for the big rush. "Hell yes, this is just the sort of test I need for this!" She closes her eyes a moment to focus, and makes a few quick hand gestures that are almost a blurr in themselves. "Mirage Phase!" Then she takes off at a sprint.

And multiple other Vertinas do with her, as her speed and her aura distort her image to create multiple images of herself. And by some quirk the lightning seems to be attracted more to the copies, causing them to poof as they're struck and only leaving scorch marks on the ground.

The one way to tell the real Vertina is she is the one that actually jumps out of the way of a few strikes that still come close to her. "Whoo! It's working!" Stops and throws her fists in the air. "I am untoucha--"

*KRAKTHOOM* A lightning bolt hits RIGHT next to her, missing almost as if it was intentional to so.

"--and going to stop bragging now."

    Speaking of Rizadoman's ancestrial heritage , through his ancestrial heritage it allows him to have glimpses of the future. At least that is one explination, the other is that his increased animal senses, can smell the ozone in the air and feel the ionization alonng his scales allowing him to dodge the lightning as he goes. " Thank you my naga ancestors for blessing me with your divine sight." He continues forward without to much worry.

You know what they say about lightning striking, right?

Whether it holds true in a game world like this is anyone's guess. Kotono decides to test her theory. "Faster than the speed of lightning," She yells as she flips and dodges around the general area. "More powerful than an electric shock! Able to leap long distances in a single bound! It's Kotono!"

Once all is said and done, she finds that she successfully dodged all the lightning bolts and smiles. "Hey, it worked!"

    The thunder rolls, and the lightning strikes, and June just sort of keeps walking as it finds a path to ground running through her scales and into the ground around her. The iron bull of a woman shakes herself. "Shit that tingles like hell." she then laughs. "There's a perk right?" she says with a roll of her hips and and shake of her head that threatens her coverage with the fur cloak for a minute. "Well lets keep going." she says with a laugh ignoring lightning strikes as she goes and puts it on her notes to check if magical attacks using electricity are equally ignorable as 'natural' lightning.

    Lightning. Well, at least if she gets hit, she won't be cold and wet anymore... right?

    "Get ahold of yourself, girl," Miyako mutters, and skips ahead, hopping side to side in a quick zig-zag as she proceeds through the field.

    Finally, she seems to be getting over it, at least, there's a bit more energy in her steps. "Let's go...."

Prophylaxis' plan to light their way through the storm with a piece of volatile material in a metal-reinforced flask tied to the top of a staff has run into a bit of a snag.

That is, it has made him a target for LIGHTNING BOLTS.

"Uh," he sniffs the air, face wrankling, "Anyone else smell ozo--"

                                 KRAKOOM!!                                  

Prophylaxis is on the ground! Specifically, on his ass, where he fell just a split second before lightning smashed right into his vial of alchemist's fire, evaporating the thing in an instant while simultaneously blowing a chunk out of his favorite staff! "M-my staff! How can a wizard properly do wizardly things with a broken staff!?"

(It's only slightly singed, somehow. Hooray durability mechanics!!)

Avoiding the lightning is a bit more problematic. Agility seems to be the key for most, though Rizadoman seems to rely more on insight than speed. Schneider has his own secret weapon against the lighting. A few metal tent-spokes from his pack, and his Fire Shock spell to weld them end-to-end form an effective lightning rod, that is carried by a small elemental he summons, and it draws the lightning away from him. Amalthea, alas, isn't quick enough to dodge the lightning that's attracted to her armor, but she's tough enough that is doesn't slow her for long. Proph is singed, but at least the rain is pouring hard enough that he's not set on fire. Leaving the lightning behind, their guide pants from the effort of physically fighting the storm with every step in order to continue forward. The Lander seems to be pretty tough, as he has made it side by side with them, at least thus far. "Just, a little further." Hecalls out.

However, another flash of light from the sky reveals that their path forward may not be quite so simple. Swirling up high into the sky seems to be a wall of wind, water, and debris. Going over it seems impossible.

"I've seen this before." The Spriggan guide explains, "They're in there. When enough of them group together like this, they can create massive walls around the eye of the storm. There has to be a way through."

It is up to them to try to find a way through. Those with mining or earth capabilities might be able to tunnel their way underneath, but a keen eye for construction might be able to find a weakness within the wall that would allow safe passage.

Vertina is tall, and she still has to crane her head back, and still can't actually see the top of the 'wall'. "Huh. Don't see something like that every day. Oh well." She grips a shoulder with the opposite hand as she stretchs her arm. "If you can't go around it, you go through it!" She walks over and punchs a chunk of rock into the wall, sending it crashing through!

And then a bunch of the stuff knocked out of the way by the stone comes tumbling out on top of the Salamander before she can jump out of the way! Ouch.

After a moment a piece of debris is pushed free. "I'm okay! Sort of." It takes a few more minutes for Vertina to unbury herself and make her way through the cyclonic barrier with everyone else.

    June stomps a hoof, scuffs it a few times. "Alright then... we're going through." she says charging at what her magic tells her should be a weaker section of wall to smash through. The sound of someone dropping a gong cuts off when June shy a section of hitpoints only gets her horns through, smashing her face into the stone at full stampeed speeds. Then the swearing starts, it's creative, uses many genelogical references, some physical imposibilities involving animals of various sizes... and is delivered in Khuzdul. The tongue of the Dwarves rolling off her tongue and then into the translation.

    The lizardman looks at the wall of the storm and contemplates his options . So many options , so many ways he could try to get through the wall...and at the end of the day he decides to hit it with a rock. " O proud and strange brontosaurus grant me the strength of ten thousand!" His buff cast, he reaches down and pulls out a chunk of earth before he throws it with brute strength to attempt to bust through the wall.

Another Spell Rune, this time casting some earth magic.

Kotono is able to help open a path forward through the barrier in their path. "Who says there's no such thing as magic?" She asks with a chuckle. "It works quite well when you know what you're doing!"

    Miyako nods, stepping up behind Kotono to add a few runes of her own, shoring up the tunnel her friend creates. "Let's be quick about it, then."

    That sure is a wall of wind and debris. Amalthea peers up at it, looking about as pleased as a wet cat right now. A smoldering, lightning struck, wet cat.
    One boot stomps the ground, working her earth magic to try and for a path...
    Except the ground is just too wet and muddy for it to work for her.
    "..."
    Amalthea proceeds to grumble mightily.

Fortunately, it seems that Prophylaxis is just as capable of doing wizardly things with a broken staff as he is with one that's fully intact! Or at least, he's still able to do magic, though there's something a little off about the image he tries to project when he swings around a blasted-headed rod to do magic.

A little earth-moving, though, and he manages to dig a furrow into the ground just low enough for someone to belly-crawl through.

"Wonder how they're able to just... /build/ something like this," Prophylaxis says with a bit of awe in his voice. "I guess if you condense the air under enough pressure, it can get to be semi-solid. At the very least, it'll shred you to pieces if you try to make it through, so..."

"Watch your head?" He suggests with a shrug.

Schneider doesn't like the look of that wind wall, and the air elementals aren't listening to anyone. Earth elementals, now, are another matter, and Schneider summons up a small one, and it'll contribute to the tunnel being formed by the party's use of Earth magic. Some of the earth magic types, aided by Amalthea who can't get the muddy earth to respond, spend a bit of time digging Vertina out. June's attempt to, er, bull through, is also less than successful.

Beyond the wall is what must be the heart of the storm. It is eerily quiet here, other than the rustle of the wind through the grasses. All of the chaos that these wind elementals seem to be bringing with them has been pushed outward into the swirling mass of storm that still rages around them.

"There they are." The Spriggan gasps, seeming almost manic in his glee at finally beiing able to find them. "I can't help you here, but I'm sure you can handle it." Afterall, Landers aren't quite so immortal as Adventurers.

The elementals, themselves, look as if they were made from the essence of wind magic. Their forms shift, roiling winds, crackling lightning, a haze of cloud formations, each flashing against the darkness of the night. They seem to be distracted by the storm, likely drawn by the strong natural forces.

However, that makes them that much more dangerous. It is hard to tell just when they begin to notice the Adventurers, but one does start to shift in their direction, followed by a flash of lightning that shoots out towards their location. After that, they all shift into battle, turning their storm-forces against the Adventurers.

The fumbling with the debris stewn wind wall is quickly forgotten when they come face to face (or what passes for it) with their intended foes. "There's the windbags we were looking for!" She stomps a foot into the ground and holds out her hands as the elementals attack. Essentially 'catching' one of the lightning bolts flung at them and grounding it out through herself, grinning almost manically as she does so. It stings quite a bit and takes a chunk out of her HP Bar! But it gives time for their tank to move into position, and get their aggro.

Then Vertina leaps into action, powerful flames leaping to life around her as she does so. "Time to snuff out this storm! RAGNAROK'S WISDOM!"

The Salamander Godhand leaps into the air, twisting as she does so to bring around one of her blazing hot feet, and slam the flying meteor kick into what would be the midsection of one of the elementals. There's an explosive blaze at what would be the impact, sending powerful elemental energy surging into the target.

Turns out that yes, yes she can kick a storm. Having magical fire kicks help.

    Rizadoman sees the air elements and gives a toothy grin, "Our Quarry is ahead of us. Give no quarter. " Feeling the strength of the ancestrial blessing still flowing through him he leaps into the air at one of the elementals and swipes at it with his claw. Unfortunately he gets nothing but air and the elemental responds with a clear shot of lightning , putting the lizardman on his back, in the mud. It was painful and unpleasant.

Precision is the best way to handle things sometimes.

Wielding her right-handed blade with extreme accuracy, Kotono moves around and sizes up the situation before attempting to go at the elemental with the tip of her blade aimed carefully at the enemy. "Let's get to the point, shall we?"

    Amalthea has to take someone else's path through the wall when her own attempt fails. Leaving her to bellycrawl under it thanks to the good doctor's furrow in the earth.
    When she emerges on the other side she really doesn't look so great. She's soaked to the bone, chilled, covered in mud, and looking about as happy as a wet cat.
    She doesn't complain though.
    Instead she simply approaches the air elementals with murder in her eyes.
    She can't beat the tar out of them if she doesn't approach them, after all.

    "ANCHOR HOWL."

    With that declaration, she spams her taunts and takes on the job of tanking for the group, sword flashing in deadly strokes as she does.

    Miyako smiles to herself as she takes in the center of the storm. She's getting one of her /ideas/, isn't she? She pauses, biting her lip, for a moment. "Okay.... so, if that... and I target /there/..."

    She nods to herself and starts to inscribe runes. "With a little luck I can drain the energy out of the storm." She hunkers down to ride out gusts of wind, but keeps up the rune-scribing.

    Finally, she reaches the climax of her spell:

            ICE RAIN!

    And with that, the stormclouds open up to release a torrent of hail, directly into the center of the swirl of elementals.

Okay, there might be a /few/ practical problems with being a wizard without a well-maintained magic staff. Prophylaxis manages to get to his feet just moments before the storm elementals take notice of the party's presence. He yelps as a bolt of lightning races towards him, and only barely manages to erect a wall of stone between himself and the imminent electricution.

But it's all he can manage. Without a proper focus, he can only cast fast enough to keep up the defense. If he falters even just a moment, it could mean certain zappage!!

And that's just not something he's willing to risk out here in the eye of the storm.

    June throws off her cloak once they are in the calm eye of the storm. She looks around until she spots the enemy, elementals... that calls for magic. "Oh light of the heavens, spirits of purity, empower this servant with the blazing light of your wrath. Let us bring light unto darkness and crush the minons of darkness under hoof." she growls her eyes flashing as a golden halo of light gathers between her horns. The iron bull of a woman roars a challenge and then charges in, those who've seen the Were Fang in a holy rage before know the deal, others get treated to the show of the holy radience blended with fury and smashing, horn and hoof and fist, green mist puffing from her muzzle with each heavy breath.

And the fight is joined, as the minstrels say. Amalthea grabs their attention first thing, or at least almost first thing, and they begin beating on her, though not very effectively. She's hella tough! One of them, though, has peeled off to abuse Prophylaxis, pinning him behind his wall of stone and not letting him out, nor will he be taunted off, it seems, though Schneider is spamming Exodus to try. That one dies rather than give up, it seems. Vertina's flaming kicks pummel the elemntals, Kotono's blade saps their health as well. Rizadoman, alas, draws a bit too much aggro and gets smacked hard before Amalthea picks it back up. Miyako cleverly manipulates the weather in the storm to weaken the elementals, allowing June's charge to smash them hard, sapping their final HP.

There seems to be good reason that their guide had taken cover. The fight with the air elementals is chaotic, with dangerous bolts of lightning and icy lashes of wind sent in their direction. However, the Adventurers keep them spread out enough that they remain individual enemies rather than becoming one, more powerful, boss monster.

Over time, they are able to pick off the elementals one by one, though not without quite a bit of effort on their part. When the last one falls, the storm around them seems to quell, if only a little bit. The winds ease, but there is still an ever-present rain drizzling down across the fields.

"Aha! You did it!" The Spriggan steps out, grinning ear to ear. Where the elementals had fallen, there lies a series of small shards which he begins to collect. "These will be very useful to the Mage's Tower."

One he has gathered them up, he makes his way over, offering one out to each of the Adventurers. "Thank you all for your help. I couldn't have done this without you."

He seems to avoid any questions on what the shards might be used for, simply offering them all a grin before he heads off into the night with his bounty of shards.

    Brushing the mud off himself as the fight ends as fast as it started, and looks around. "It appears we are triumphant. Well done everyone." Rizadoman takes stock of himself in terms of damage and such before he looks up at the spriggan offering him an elemental shard. He reaches out and picks one up examining it for a moment before trying to look over at the Spriggan, "So what are these for..." It appears the spriggan has already ran off by the time Rizadoman can ask the question.

Things have been taken care of. Kotono smiles a little and raises her hand while twirling her blade victoriously. Then she realizes how soaked she is. "Come on, Miyako, let's head back and get dried off!"

    Miyako nods, agreeing in full. "Yeah, I need a hot bath, and some hot food... I bet they still have that pot of stew going." It's a safe bet. Most taverns these days keep their stewpots going full-time, after all. "I'd race you back to the pub but I don't want to try to run too fast in this, it's gotten pretty muddy."

    June snorts and growls and it does take a bit for her to calm, the glowing light slowly fading from her iron scales. The patter of soft rain on her scales seems to calm and relax the miniminotaur of a woman. She looks up in to the falling water, the puffing of green mist slowing until she has fully relaxed and simply shifts. Leaving the middle aged librarian in barbarian cosplay that is June in human form. She pulls her furs around her shoulders covering her bikini mail clad self from the falling rain. "There you go June... just click yes and end up with an unknown group out in the wilderness, good way to end up killed in the dark on your way back." she snorts, the words coming out in Sindarin (one of Tolkien's elvish languages).

"What did I even do to you!?" Prophylaxis demands of the elemental who just DOES NOT WANT TO LEAVE HIM ALONE. "Did I kick over your favorite lightning rod on our way in? Did I accidentally kill your sister and/or brother or something?! Seriously!!" It's not even being taunted off! What the heck! This is some kind of super sadistic storm elemental!!

But the rest of the party is able to clear through the encounter well enough, and soon area ble to relieve the beleaguered magus before he runs out of MP to spam walls of stone.

Prophylaxis sighs and sags to the ground as the elementals shatter and the storm begins to ebb. "Ugh... I'm going to need to invest in a new staff..." But maybe there's something that he can do with one of the items that just dropped...!?

Nah, he'll probably just commision a new staff. What does he look like, some kind of warrior-type who actually cares about gear? It's all arcane knowledge all day every day, babyyyyyy!

"Mage's Tower, huh?" Prophylaxis murmurs, picking one of the storm shards out of the Spriggan's offering. "You guys seem to get around quite a bit, don't you?"

Vertina doesn't care about what the Mages intend to do with anything. She tucks the shard away, maybe eventually she'll find something to do with it like she did the Phase Crystal. You never know.

Schneider nods to what Rizadoman says about us being triumphant, and he echoes, "Yes, well done. It was all a bit of a ..." he realizes what he's about to say, but can't stop himself mid-sentence, "... a whirlwind." There's no rimshot, though. He agrees with Kotono aobut getting dried off, and will hustle back as fast as the weather allows. "First round is on me," he declares. Then Miyako reminds him of stew. Stew! The taverns do keep their stewpots running, but they usually just have menu food, sadly. At least the ones out in the hinterlands do. "All right," he mutters, "let's make like a shepherd and get the flock out of here." Does anyone still say that? His dad used to say it, when he was trying to be hip.