Duty Session 207: A Dark and Stormy Night

Lightning.

Heavy pattering of rain.

Thunder.

Most people at the inn ignore this sequence of events. Enthralling especially to newbie adventurers at first due to the novelty factor, everyone has moved on to focus on their meal and drink. After all, why bother with darkness and inclement weather outside when there's candlelight and merriment to be had within the walls of this establishment?

Uta seems to be of a different mind.

Her head propped up by one hand on which her chin rests, her gaze is lost in the distance, through a window, onwards to infinity.

"I can't go back to the Peko Ranch without my slime," Uta finally announces, without averting her gaze. "I've come here for supplies, and lost it at some point. It could be anywhere in the city. Scared. Cold. Alone. And if that wasn't enough..."

A generic unprimed slime slithers into view, climbing Uta's back and then the rear part of her neck and head, until it plops itself to rest atop the nurse's head, like some kind of beret. A beret which causes periodic flashes and small decreases in Uta's HP.

"...today I have this headache that just won't go away." She winces. "...Must be the weather..."

Yeowang is having supper at the inn. She does not seem particularly pleased by this, though most adventurera are ecstatic to avoid the menu food. Sipping her tea, she looks around the room, taking in the various people, including the Spriggan girl being eaten, very slowly, by a slime. This baffles her, but who is she to say? She returns to her meal, holding her chopsticks formally when she eats, her table manners suitable for a high-class restaurant.

Gwen is no bard but that doesn't mean she can't sing somewhat badly and she's just singing a certain qUeen song softly as the weather becomes very very frightening. She meanwhile is chilling out at the inn as well but really just being social she's eaten at home. Still, though she's got a drink it's water, as water does taste right to her she'll have to track down someone like Taggart if she wants stronger things to drink in the end. She looks at the man as he enters.

"Is there something wrong sir?"

    Merek looks about the place while he takes a moment to drink from the flask with him. The man wears the normal dark attire with his potion belt about the waist.

With a gust of wind, the door opens. At first it is darkness. Then thunder strikes, illuminating a silhouette against the door. A Spriggan male of middle age, with a worried expression. He walks into the tavern, and as he does so, Adventurers see a quest prompt:

<< A Dark and Stormy Night >>

<< Accept Quest:  Yes / No >>

Without even waiting for the man to speak, Uta mashes on the 'Yes' button. "...I know how tough it is for someone of our race to be trusted in this world. Don't worry, I got you, fellow Spriggan."

"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.

Yeowang looks up as the fellow comes in, soaked from the rain, and soon a quest pops up. Unexpected! But she'll select yes, and follow the fellow out into the miserable weather. She wraps a cape around her, surrounded by a swirl of air as she heads out into the downpour, though around her, things seem a bit less nasty.

    Merek looks to the quest, then he begins to accept that, while he nods a bit to Uta, "Ah, interesting," he notes. The man walks along and outside of the place, while he takes a moment to form a shield to protect people from that rain. It does take a little bit of damage, but he doesn't look like he minds. The man is well leveled up.

Gwen then pauses at the moment as she gets a quest prompt. She stares for a moment, she's not seen that phrase since the last time she thumbed through her dad's Peanuts collection. However, no beagles on typewriters are involved in this quest. She will look to the man. Then for a moment over to Uta as she thinks for a moment. She'll get up as the man talks.

"Shart hunting huh? All right I can dig it and I wouldn't ask you to fight them. Get us to where we need to go and we'll do the rest sir through whats your name? I'm Gwen Pendragon."

At that she'll be ready to head out and follow the man into this insane storm.

"My name is of no consequence," the man says, as he leads the group forward.

Uta steps outside and-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Well, turns out someone had forgotten the true purpose of wings.

Or that she has wings at all.

Whirling about, battered around by the wind against various buildings and fixtures, Uta eventually manages to fold her wings down, before impacting back-first (and upside-down) against the outer wall of what must be a wareouse. "...why don't we get to fly, but we still have to undergo THIS?!", she whimpers. "It's not fair!" She winces. "And I still have that headache..."

She slides down, taps the ground slime-first (yes, that slime is still somehow clinging to her head for dear life), and eventually stands up. She sings a breezy song, and her staff, activated by the music, begins to deflect the air around her, so that she can advance with minimal resistance...

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.

Uta, at this point, attempts a different song, one which is supposed to create a low-key, but long-lasting light in the gem of her staff.

Yeowang blinks as the guide's light goes out, and checks in her pack, but with the blustery wind and the need to shield herself from it takes all her concentration, and she can't find what she's looking for, it seems. "Where is that?" she says to herself, her tone exasperated. "I could have sworn I had a light thing in here..."

    Merek looks about the place, and nods a bit while he begins to work with what looks to be reagants to make a lantern that's alchemical. The man lights the green lantern which will provide light for all of the party.

Gwen just facepalms. "It would be rude, but whatever I can't force you to give you your name."

She'll inspect him at some point before this is over but for now, she's outside. Much like Uta, she's not thinking about her wings and they catch the wind. Sadly can't really fly. She does however get caught by the wind and she let out a cry as she goes flying about and soon would end up impacting Uta in a similar manner "AHHHH!"

THUD, she slid down and roll off Uta dazed as she gets to her feet. 5R
Soon as their Guide leads the way and a still-looking embarrassed Gwen who now has her wings pulled tight against her body like a cloak would be ready for trouble as she chants a spell to generate a sphere of light to lead the party forward.

Alas, Uta's song, at one point, requires opening her mouth fully at one point, for the correct intensity, and-- well, let's just say that she's singing upwind.

Not a good combination. Her song degenerates into a gargle, and the staff, not properly prompted, remains unlit.

The slime cap still clings.

With what light they 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.

Yeowang blinks as the lightning strikes nearby, and she says, "We probably ought to hustle, yes?" And so saying, she will get the lead out, hurrying before the lightning has too many chances to zot us. She's got a pretty good turn of speed, it seems.

Uta meanwhile is still having some beter luck singing than she is though Gwen? she's gong tot ry a divation spell to get through this latest issue. However it's not going so well she's got a heavy duty penalty for the spell and it it fizzles on her as she tries to predict when and where the bolts will strike. This goes badly for gwen as she gets caught by one bolt and lit up like a Christmas tree for a moment she'll fall to themud and tries to get back after.

"...That...was a bad idea..."

Uta winces. "...oh by the Goddesses, no. I... I have no choice but do this."

Firm posture, intense stare, eyes closed. Pause.

She inhales.

Close-up. Eyes pop open.

...and as she begins her vocalizations, Uta launches into a Bardic Dance Arte, where her movements leave behind crackling trails of lightning whose frequency and rhthm attunes with her singing, and with the rhythmic beating of her staff on objects, creating a curious magical musical track for her solo voice. It works tho'

And it's quite catchy.

The whole thing is amplified by the strong winds, and probably due to the nature of her dance Artes, which also involve positioning her wings, enhance her movement by occasional being lifted and swooping around in the air.

It's not flying, it's... short-burst windsurfing.

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." He calls 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."

Uta's attempt consists in... keep dancing, but launch towards the wall during a crescendo, in the attempt to hit the wall with her musimagically charged staff at the right point in the song.

Yeowang is unable to get through the barrier on her own. It's weird and magical, and her command of the element of earth is not up to the challenge on this dark and stormy night. Luckily, there are party members who are up to the task. She will follow the path that others have made, and slip in after them.

    Merek begins lifting up with that ground along the way with spells of magic that tunnel into it, the man nodding a little bit to the party. It looks like the man is really skilled with magic.

The party is now at the storm wall Gwen is soaked at this point and she doesn't bother trying to use the menu to dry off. After all, she'll just end up soaked /again/. So she just deals with it through the temptation to swap to a swimsuit is getting stronger in the back of her head it takes her a moment to try and find a way though she'll attempt to use several earth spells to try and make a tunnel that doesn't go too well for her and now she's muddy /too/.

*THUD*

Well, all that practice from earlier paid off. Too bad the practice was about slamming into walls. So, the whole front of Uta flashes when an unexpected gust of wind shoves her forward at the last minute and messes up her timing due to the musical Spriggan impacting against the wall of rock. But at least helps it crumble, and thanks to the combined efforts of the other adventurers, it is eventually cracked open.

The wind elementals! There they are! Over the excited screams of the Spriggan Lander, they can finally be seen and... they look like an aethereal bunch of moths transfixed by the unusual storm. Best to tackle them individually before they can coalesce into one big boss!

Uta takes this opportunity to- well, look soaking wet. Just like Gwen, she's a disaster of damp hair, soaked clothes, and even her head slime, by now, has been primed into a Water Slime. "...Oh man!", she exclaims, as she slaps her forehead. "My umbrella! I've forgotten my umbrella!" A blink, followed by, "...do we even have umbrellas in this world?"

She shakes her head, and staff at hand, she launches towards the air elementals. They may be aethereal, but thanks to her attunement to the element of Air, she can wrap her fists and kicks in lightning, and /that/ should be able to interact with the elementals...

Yeowang has been following along, and remaining low-key for most of this mission. It's not that she's reticent about putting herself forward. It's just that trekking across storm-swept plains and breaking into swirling towers of wind is not her forte. Her forte, it seems is martial arts, and now that we're here with something to fight, she unloads just a huge can of whupass on them. Her style looks like something known in real life, mostly brutal kicks, with elbows and punches thrown in when there's an opening. She's soaked by rain and covered in dirt from the crawl into here, but there's a glow in her eye that says she's mentally at full strength no matter how she may look just at the moment. There may be magic in the way her fists strike air and hurt it, that's certainly pretty fantastic, but the whirling mayhem is all her, putting a beatdown on these monsters.

    Merek takes a moment and will lift up his magical rod while he tries to swing the Frost Shock into the enemies, although that doesn't look like it does anything. The man tries the best to assist.

Oh it's far from over even as the party gets past the wind wall. She's muddy she's soaked and looking a bit like a drowned cat of some sort. She would however press on as soon they find they have to deal with the elementals. She's managed to help so far so here she goes again she'll let out a cry charge into the elementals.

"ANCHOR HOWL!"

She will draw the attention of the monsters and will take the beating so her friends don't have to as she'll try to just keep the Elementals under control.

Gwen looks to her party when the quest is over. "I need to go somewhere strip down have a bathe and then dry off." She looks kinda mirsable but she's not mad she's got a shard as payment and maybe some reptuation with the Spriggans who needed these, right? That's not a bad thing and if Uta doesn't stop her, she'll carry Uta on back to the Inn.

Yeowang nods to Gwen in full agreement. "A very hot bath would be most welcome," she agrees. The clothes can be menu-washed, she supposes. She could be, too, but then she wouldn't get to sit in the steaming water and let the warm soak into her bones.

The combined effort of the group results in a success, and as a token of their victory, elemental shards are dropped.

However, as the Spriggan Lander is done expressing his gratitude, Uta is grabbed and carried away by Gwen. She attempts to flail, and open her mouth to protest, and ask for a menu bath instead, but before she can do anything, the slime on her head chips away at the last yellow bit of Uta's HP, and sends her into the red. She'll have plenty of HP left to reach back to the inn, mind you, but coupled with the weather and effort induced tiredness, the water slime's last bit of chip damage is enough to knock her unconscious, and keep her that way until the party reaches their destination.