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the_hopeful_tomorrow [2021/10/21 13:58] – bluethe_hopeful_tomorrow [2022/10/01 17:33] (current) – blue
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 ||Red aether bursts upward from beneath the village like an eruption, and creatures--clearly monsters--climb up the walls of the deep crater, roaring and screeing as they come to face the forest. As if at the same time, several more of the wood creatures reappear, accompanied by a far more sinister version of the living trees, mutated wildlife, and what appeared to be people half fused with the corrupted wood. The two groups faced off for now, still staring each other down threateningly for the coming battle, when finally amongst the creatures a small, tiny figure appeared, cloaking in burning crimson aether like a veil. The tiny figure landed on top of one of the beasts from the crater, a monster that seemed to be chunks of meat stitched together rather than a living creature. From the forest, the dense gathering of the half-wood soldiers parted, bowing slightly as a figure emerged from the darkness of the forest. As the figure approached and was illuminated by the light from the village, their features became more clear. It was....|| ||Red aether bursts upward from beneath the village like an eruption, and creatures--clearly monsters--climb up the walls of the deep crater, roaring and screeing as they come to face the forest. As if at the same time, several more of the wood creatures reappear, accompanied by a far more sinister version of the living trees, mutated wildlife, and what appeared to be people half fused with the corrupted wood. The two groups faced off for now, still staring each other down threateningly for the coming battle, when finally amongst the creatures a small, tiny figure appeared, cloaking in burning crimson aether like a veil. The tiny figure landed on top of one of the beasts from the crater, a monster that seemed to be chunks of meat stitched together rather than a living creature. From the forest, the dense gathering of the half-wood soldiers parted, bowing slightly as a figure emerged from the darkness of the forest. As the figure approached and was illuminated by the light from the village, their features became more clear. It was....||
 +
 +----
 +===== Familiar and Strange Faces =====
 +
 +
 +<fc #f4a460>''[A'erina]''</fc> 
 +
 +One and a half ears, a long tail not so bushy anymore, Red hair not as beautiful as it once was, white streaks  and a majority of it almost all burnt away, crimson eyes showing no emotion, those boots she always seemed to wear now tattered and devoid of colour, skin almost pale, with burn marks visible from every angle, seeping out aether from several parts of her body as if it's the only thing keeping her alive. As she made her approach, she ran a hand across one of the minions of corruption's face as if it was a pet.
 +
 +"Fascinating things aren't they? They will do whatever I tell them, provided it's what we want." The barely recognisable individual walks closer to the front so that the group can get a proper look at her.
 +
 +"You left me to die. Through everything, I've always been there, but when I needed any of you, I was alone. " A'erina looked at the trio whom she once called friends." Do you know what can happen in a lab when you're left with no options and don't want to become one of these mindless creatures? "
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Ask any one of Garlemald's unfortunate experiments, you could co-author a fuckin' book," Gair slowly claps for A'erina, of all the people who'd survived, he had a mildly impressed look on his features. The second of which that broke his dour demeanor, the first being suicidal elation on the airship. Remaining stalwart in the face of the rumbling earth and sinister display of the meat-stitched beasts and forest seemingly coming to life.
 +
 +"And I'd have done it again, it was my duty to protect the weak of the tribe. One I'd failed in," Gair gestures all around him. "A failure I intend to unmake."
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Just before A'erina showed up to greet them, Pipino found herself brought to her knees as the pain she was experiencing apparently seemed to increase. She managed not to cry out, but she trembled with trying to deal with it all, hyperventilating a bit before she suddenly appeared as she if she experienced great relief, relaxing her position and wiping beads of sweat from her brow. 
 +
 +She pushes herself up to her feet a bit shakily. "S-sorry...but... well, A'erina, I am glad to see you too," she sarcastically replies. "But honestly, all of us fended for ourselves in some way, so we are all equally guilty of leaving the others behind when it counted. You are not the only victim at the end of the world, believe it or not."
 +
 +<fc #f4a460>''[A'erina]''</fc> 
 +
 +"...I'll indulge you anyway. I managed to keep myself hidden away in my lab for what seemed like a long time, turns out it was only six or seven days. I decided that, after my linkpearl ceased working and I was alone, I'd be able to give up. " A'erina takes a moment to laugh, loud enough for anyone within earshot to hear it. "I made a fucking bomb! I piled everything up and decided to atleast take out as many of these things as I could. Turns out, its better to be at the initial point of the explosion and not several yalms away. I should be dead... I *am* dead. " She holds up her arms as the aether seeps from cracks and openings in her skin. holding out a hand and catching some of it in her palm. " Yet here I am, alive, thanks to the Dark One... " A'erina squints her eyes at Pipino " Still got a voice I see, almost didn't see you there." 
 +
 +One of the half-wood soldiers slowly shambles towards A'erina dragging an axe along the ground behind it " Ah, was wondering where that went. You should have boarded us when you had the chance. It would have saved everyone a great deal of trouble if I'd have ended you there and then." the soldier holds the handle of the axe up towards A'erina, somewhat shakily as if scared of her, she reaches for it but the soldier doesn't let go quick enough as she swings it up over her shoulder and the poor creature is sent flying a rather impressive distance.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +||The burning figure atop the monsters--likely the hero--suddenly fades away. At the same time, an area of the black shroud to the left of where the hero was a moment ago ignites with the same red aether, initiating the attack. Taking that as the signal, all of the beasts begin to charge at the same time towards the wooden army, crashing against one another with a sickening sound of meat smacking against crunching wood. The hero seemed to be quickly rampaging through the forest, as the blazing trail of aether flaring up through the trees like an aurora quickly starting to circle the outskirts of the village stronghold. Whatever was happening, the Sinner seemed to STILL be struggling to catch her breath, and promptly passes out as the battle begins. The Xaela woman with the group had already gone off to bark orders at her shadowy subordinates, leaving a chunk of the meat monsters to charge for A'erina and her half wooden subordinates.||
 +
 +<fc #f4a460>''[A'erina]''</fc> 
 +
 +A'erina turrns to the assembled army and flicks her head towards the creatures, the soldiers acknowledging as they head into battle with the flesh beasts. She looks back at the trio briefly and gives them a nod, after all she was still A'erina, and proceeds to join the rest of the army in the conflict.
 +
 +A'erina immediately rushes amidst the army, some of them stumbling as she knocks them over and finds herself at the front of her soldiers, immediately raising her axe aloft and bringing it down to the ground, a sizeable fissure opening up the ground, swallowing a considerable amount of the flesh creatures. " Kill every last one of 'em! Don't make me do this shit by myself!"
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc>
 +
 +Luna sneers at the revelation of A'erina's life, finding the source of her strength abhorrent, but chooses not to speak. Instead she bends down to pick up the Sinner, throwing her over her own shoulder and carrying her with her right arm so that she might still use her shield.
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +With the chaos of the battle raging around the village, and the four of them left to linger in the relative protection of the walls. Gair looks from Luna and then to Pipino to confer for their next course of action. "So, do we just sit on the sidelines to let Rina 'an this hero tucker themselves out? Rina did say she was on that fuckin' ship who shot at us." His gaze trails to where the Xaela retreated, a rarity, his willingness to be conniving *and* sit a fight out for once. "Not to mention...they said as much that rest is a priority."
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"As it stands, helping A'erina is fighting on the side of the corrupted and assisting the Dark One. I refuse to have any part in that. It might be best to let those forces battle it out for now, keeping vigilant here. I would also  like to tend to the sinner. Her current condition is worrisome."
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +The knightess's gaze falls upon Gair. "I only made one assurance to leave your kin alive, and it certainly did not fall upon her. She is vile as it is now, suffuse with corruption and madness. I bear no interest in assisting one such as her. If we should benefit from allowing her to deplete her own candle to aid ours, so be it."
 +
 +<fc #f4a460>''[A'erina]''</fc> 
 +
 +Amidst the battle, several corrupted roots make their way towards the flesh creatures, wrapping around what is presumably their legs or arms, anything resembling a limb, dragging them off into the darkness of the forest. one root however makes it's way towards A'erina and stops within reach of her as it is coiled around a Greatsword. " Thank you, darlin'." She drops her axe momentarily, her hand sliding across the root as if showing it affection. She holds the sword, before placing her other hand on the bottom of the blade, moving it all the way to the point and gets excited for a second, using some kind of magic she never knew she had until recently to set the sword ablaze. She picks her axe back up, and continues to fight the creatures, swinging left and right with both sword and axe.
 +
 +It doesn't take long for the flesh creatures to be somewhat overwhelmed, the corrupted minions perhaps would have struggled if not for their captain's abilities aiding them. As she gives the order to slay the rest of the stragglers, she turns around, covered in pieces of flesh and blood, her eyes looking somewhat pleased with what she had accomplished, and begins making her way back to the trio as the 'claws' of an almost dead creature reaches out and slashes at her leg. A few drops of blood rolls down her leg, the creature grips her leg only to feel burning pain as it's hand corrodes away at an alarming rate, she brings her foot down on whats left of the beast almost making a miniature crater in the ground
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +Pipino takes the lead and begins to head toward the hut that had been gestured to in a moment of peace, not sure if they are still welcome there or not. True to her word, she assumes A'erina is off fighting some epic wild battle, so she turns her back on the way she had left. "Besides, I cannot be taking such risks, fighting in these types of battles if I can help it," she says, referring to the information the sinner had told her about her blood and its importance in reversing things.
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Then go, Pip, I need to...watch this. Make certain my hand ain't needed out there," Gair nods toward Pipino and Luna both before stepping away from the trio of women. *Hopefully those three will get on alright without me, if it comes down to it.* He exhales a sigh and meanders out for the path they arrived, for the foot of the metal bridge that had bore them across. He crosses his arms over his chest and finds a metal slab to lean against, taking the measure of this hero and what had become of his cousin. *It may well fall to me, to bring you peace. Like A'tera.*
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +With a wild shriek from the forest, the tiny figure bursts into the village clearing still shrouded in red aether. The figure threw a head directly at A’erina with great speed—one whom she might recognize as the severed head of her pilot—before screaming wildly again and jumping back into the forest, another wave of neat monsters soon emerging from the crater to continue the fight.
 +
 +<fc #f4a460>''[A'erina]''</fc> 
 +
 +A'erina would hold out a hand and catch the flying head of her pilot, looking at it for a brief  moment before looking at the figure. " Tch, persistant little prick!" She tosses the head to the ground and looks towards the village and the bridge, noticing Gair standing there, presumably waiting for her. She holds her sword up and points at him with it " I'm stronger now... You'll lose, and everyone will see just how strong I am." 
 +
 +The forest starts making it's telltale signs of moving foliage again as several roots start making their way to A'erina and her army. She looks as they make their fast approach " ..But not today, it seems. I'm needed elsewhere, perhaps Ishgard has already fallen, or they're in need of me there to raze it while you cower behind your pathetic holdouts, shadows and red aether..." a single thick root wraps itself a few times around her waist and drags her off into the shroud of the darkened forest, the other roots grabbing as many of her army as they can and doing the same, some being left behind as fodder for the meat creatures.
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +"A meaningless contest in a dead world, cousin!" Gair steps forward and spreads his arms wide, as if to invite her to take his life. "If you wish to breathe your last to this old ghost, by all means." With a smooth gesture, he brings his broken crook over his throat and traces from ear to ear in clear suggestion. With A'erina's disappearance, he loops his crook onto his belt and rests his hands on his belt. Turning to return to the center of Fallgourd Float, interested only in the state of their party.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +The Sinner had yet to stir, and the supposed hero was still rampaging through the wood.
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +A snarl forms on the knightess's face as she reluctantly nods back at Gair. Quickly does she turn to join Pipino in heading towards the hut, the Sinner carried about as comfortably as could be expected given the circumstances. "It is better him than I to deal with such a... display." she mentions sidelong to the Lalafell as they move.
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +Gair reaches a hand out and grabs the Sinner's foot to give it a shake, only for her to continue to be unconscious. He gives it another shake and grunts, *if only there were a certain conjurer here about now*. " Did you kill her?" He asks rather casually as he looks from Luna to Pipino. After a pause, he offers his own recollection of the battle that had taken part just outside the steel walls. "The Dark One has a champion of his own, I suggest we make a move on the hero soon else we run the risk of a battle on two fronts."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +Slowly, the Sinner comes to a stir from Gair’s rude shaking, kicking and moaning weakly in response. As if signaled, a moment later a loud thumping sounded at the entrance to the hut, a glowing red aura obscuring a small figure hunched over on the ground like a feral beast. The hero had arrived.`
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +"No I did not lay her low. Surely she deserves such but I have not acted upon it. Mayhap I should have." she says coldly. As the sound of the new arrival occured, the woman goes into a defensive stance, aether flowing from her left arm into a shield which she holds in front of her and moves forward, readied.
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Well, speak of the devil." Pipino steps to the side, curiously taking in the small angry being before them. She studies its form for a moment, a hand ready for a quick draw should it come to it, but not wanting to appear threatening just yet. Keeping her eyes on it, she tries the peaceful route, just to make sure it is tried. "We wish you no harm," she says hesitantly, not exactly feeling like a master diplomat.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“GRAAAAAH!”
 +
 +The moment Pipino brought attention to herself, the hero stood up, very clearly enraged. She did not waste movement or time further, closing the distance within the space of several heartbeats and thrusting a red shrouded hand for Pipino’s left eye.
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +**Dice**
 +
 +The picture of sandy pirate Jesus himself, Gair barely gets his crook out in time. Wielding it with purpose as the hero himself tries to take Pipino's eye as a trophy. But rather than strike, he tries to guide and control the hero with the hooked end of the crook as if they were another sheep in the flock. Aiming to hook the man by the neck and ground him.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +**Hero action**
 +
 +||The red figure was rather light all things considered, and after being caught was easily redirected onto the floor as if it was completely outside their realm of imagination. There was a stunned moment as the hero hit the floor, where they seemed to have completely spaced out from the attack. A moment later however, there was a slight shifting in the hips followed by the sound of a heavy object swinging through the air. Rather than trying to escape Gair, a blade had emerged from the hero’s backside before flying again towards Pipino!||
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +**Heroic action** 
 +
 +Pipino saw the blade and her visible eye went wide, the Lalafell crouching low and springing sideways, rolling away from the attack swiftly and recovering her position in a three-point crouch as she withdrew her weapon from her back and swiftly fired an aetherically charged round at them, the bullet crackling and sparking with an aura of levin that made it look like a streak of lightning.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +**Hero action**
 +
 +||The hero twisted up in ways that seemed far too unnatural to do, bending and scraping out from beneath Gair’s crook before jumping back as the bullet arced towards her retreating form. The aether surrounding her seemed to take the levin bullet, but the force of it still knocked her onto her bottom. Quickly snapping into a crouched position, she continued to growl savagely at Pipino, even as the red aether surrounding her body faded away, revealing what was shrouded underneath.||
 +
 +||Flesh that seemed stitched on and burned. Wooden limbs that bent and snapped unnaturally to an unheard rhythm, large, unblinking eyes behind a badly cobbled together mask that seemed to resemble a face, but with sharp and grinding wooden teeth constantly visible just underneath. She was covered in little cuts, nicks, and scratches all over, and smelled of burning wood. This tiny wild woman was supposedly the hero.||
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +**Heroic action**
 +
 +Luna takes the proffered opening, rushing to find herself behind the supposed Hero. Quickly does her shield come down as she grabs the hero, hooking her arms around odd shoulders, using a foot to knock the hero's own foot into an entwined hook with Luna's own, effectively creating a tight hold. Aether hums from and around her arm, ready to be applied if the situation arises.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +**Hero action.**
 +
 +||The hero head butted Luna hard before jumping into the air, struggling and realigning herself into an awkward backflip in mid air before the sound of an uncomfortable scraping and a pop was heard; she had removed her wooden arms and in the same instance reared herself to kick off of Luna’s forehead, launching herself yet again for Pipino while screaming and now bleeding from arm stubs mid air, aiming a diving bite for Pipino’s face.||
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +**Dice**
 +
 +Pipino shields her left side of her face with her left arm, switching her weapon to her right hand only to extend it and send a short burst of flame at the Hero, hoping to catch their wooden components on fire to slow their erratic movement down and deter them from getting too close.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +||The hero was indeed hit by the fire, but strangely enough her wooden prosthetics did not catch flame. The rags she was wearing however very much did. More importantly, the fire itself seemed to have much more of an effect on the woman psychologically, as her frantic growls shifted into terrified screams and running around in circles. She seemed set to lunge at Pipino yet again out of rage and desperation, but was stopped by a shadowed hand yanking her back by the hair and patting her down. It was the Xaela from earlier who very pointedly declared she would NOT stop the person she was currently subduing. She still seemed ready to launch herself at Pipino at any moment, but the presence of the Xaela woman was clearly having some kind of calming effect. She was now sitting like an armless house pet.||
 +
 +The Xaela looked towards Gair and Pipino, shaking her head in disgust.
 +
 +“What the FUCK happened now? Where the seven hells are her arms? I thought you wanted help, not to set the damn brat on fire!”
 +
 +“Stupid fucking way to get help ain’t it?”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"I cannot help anything if she's dead set on ripping my face apart," Pipino replies coldly, catching her breath and pushing herself up to her feet.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Well that face does scream punch me...”
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +Gair presents the end of his crook against his chest, looking ready to draw some sort of weapon with his stick. Ready to intercede until the Xaela steps in to grasp them and put them in their place. "Glare at me all you want, woman. I controlled that ferocious little thing with naught but a stick." After a pause, he turns the question back onto her. "Or am I to let one key component to this mission tear the other apart?"
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“She managed to only attack one other shite lord before you arse cracks showed up. You sure blondie ain’t a damn spy?”
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +The knightess recoils from the headbutt and anime facejump combo, taking a moment to recover. Once she does, her eyes dart around to locate the Hero before locating her - docile and unmoving. Absolutely perplexed but not willing to show it, she stares at the Xaela as they speak, aether still humming out of her arm idly.
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc>
 +
 +Gair looks from the Xaela to Pipino now. Questioning and curious, he asks of the former. "Wait, can they feel corruption or some shite?"
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino stows her weapon on her back and crosses her arms shaking her head. "Ridiculous. What a ridiculous assertion. I would kill myself and beg for death before I would allow myself to be slave to that thing."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +The Xaela squints her eyes, while the hero seems to rattle in place, seemingly only now noticing she had lost her arms in the earlier scuffle.
 +
 +“...Bad blood,” she finally uttered with a mechanical sounding voice, “Must take.”
 +
 +Speaking seemed to be a source of pain for the hero. She seemed to catch on something in her throat inbetween each word, like a particularly thick hair all caught on something.
 +
 +“Can help.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc>
 +
 +Pipino looks to the Xaela, shaking her head in confusion before her eye bounces between the both of them. "Help with what?"
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“You said you know me,” said the Xaela, now raising an eyebrow and looking to the ground as if to find memories there, “so how exactly is that again?”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"I already mentioned it, I had met you briefly in front of the college, presuming you do not have a twin or someone who enjoys that particular method of painting your face. We spoke of the weapon I was given, and whether or not our mutual acquaintance deserved to die or not. I do not presume to know you from such a small interaction, but you are familiar to me."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Had twins....but I guess that clears it up. Did you drink his blood at some point?”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc>
 +
 +She looked insulted and disgusted at the same time. "Of course not."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“That’s the only explanation for it. If she was just pissed cause of the taint, I’d wager she’d be tearing that hooded bitch in half, not trying to get at you.”
 +
 +As if summoned by trash talk, the Sinner finally sat up, rubbing at her mask like it was her face.
 +
 +“...Looks like I’m not dead. Wonderful.”
 +
 +The Sinner froze around the sight of the hero, reaching out with shaking hands but not actually touching her.
 +
 +“Ah...such radiant aether. No wonder I could not withstand it.”
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +"So we're all acquainted one way or another 'an not killin' one another, even moreso," Gair chimes in with the Sinner's "Wonderful" comment. Opting to stow his stick entirely now, negotiations are happening and a violent hand is scarcely needed, he thinks.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Well I’d love to cry and all but I need blood samples. And a container to put them in actually...also a volunteer to take the concoction.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Oh, what, you mean to just... start straight away then?" Pipino asks with an eye wide with surprise behind her goggles.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Did you think I’d stall for time that is already limited?”
 +
 +The Xaela stood up and spit before walking away, her interest in the situation apparently having worn off. Unrestrained now, the hero seemed to close the distance on the Sinner within a blink, teeth chattering down towards the Sinner as she leaned in close.
 +
 +“Blood? Why?”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino simply nods her understanding. "How much is needed? And... What exactly is to be done with it?" she asks, clearly a bit wary of parting with her blood without some kind of assurance.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +The Sinner leaned back slowly despite the hero steadily leaning forward anyway, nearly crawling into her if not for her current lack of hands.
 +
 +“More than a few drops for sure but not so much you will miss it. As for what is to be done...how about we skip explanations which only I can under—“
 +
 +She was cut off abruptly by the hero falling over on top of her, thrashing about strangely before sitting up again.
 +
 +“Profit,” growled the hero, before jumping back and staring pointedly at Gair.
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +At this point, everything was so out of her wheelhouse that Luna could scarcely hide her plain confusion at the whole ordeal, as much as she wanted to. "So her blood is the key to salvation then?" she asks, trying desperately to rid her face of any signs of her true feelings.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Not quite no,” the masked woman replied, still staring warily towards the hero now, “but it is the easiest method to obtain what I need to create the tool we need.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"And what tool is this?"
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +The knightess sighs. "You all must enjoy the sound of your own voices overly much. No one speaks plainly." she muses to herself in frustration.
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Well perhaps if you used yours more, you could think to ask questions to address your concerns instead of lamenting," she snaps back in a testy way, clearly not in the mood for more sniping.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“I speak plainly that none of you would get it. If you lot really need a class while the world burns by all means I’ll give it. Or I can get to work so you all can try to undo all of this mess with that fancy action most of you seem downright itching to get to.”
 +
 +“Show of hands?”
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +"We're here, you said you can make the cure with this one hale and hearty," Gair's chin jabs from the Sinner to the Hero. All in all, passive and calm himself given that the mission thus far has gone at a decent pace. "What more do you need from me?"
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc> 
 + 
 +“A container for the blood samples would be lovely.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +She sighs and waves a hand for her to carry on, looking around the small hut for some type of containers, knowing nothing of what kind of vessel would be required.
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Any old flask will do until we get ahold of more?" Gair fishes out one from his pocket and unscrews it, downing the no-doubt foul contents. It's months old whiskey, or some foul adjacent concoction of liquor-like susbtance.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“I’d love a sterilized lab, some vials, and time. We have none of those.”
 +
 +She takes the bottle and observes it for a moment before nodding in gratitude.
 +
 +“Now I just need some blood wrists ple—“
 +
 +She suddenly stopped talking, staring at the hero’s stubs.
 +
 +“...Arms please.”
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Procurement has become a specialty of mine in the last few winters..." Gair trails off, stepping out of the hut to make himself useful. Going from residence to residence to first knock, *then* invite himself in. He's forgotten how to ask nicely since his gentler days in Ul'dah, but he tries his best.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“....”
 +
 +She does not bother to stop Gair even as people protest in the distance, staring instead towards Pipino, then the hero who had yet to move. The hero simply stared her unblinking stare before repeating her words again.
 +
 +“Profit.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc>
 +
 +Pipino looks to the hero, taking the chance at communicating. "...What do you mean by that?"
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +The hero simply stares at the Sinner before suddenly snapping her head to face Pipino, her voice now colored with aggression in addition to her mechanical voice.
 +
 +“Why should I? What I get? Pay.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Well, what is it you would like?"
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +"You will find yourself lucky to yet live much less profiteer during this." She **snarls**, this time emitting a sound rather than some sort of evidently offensive description.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Offer.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino looks to Luna. "No, blood has value, more than people realize. She deserves compensation if she will not willingly give it." 
 +
 +She turns her attention back to the hero. "I have not much I can offer aside from my skills as a machinist, unless you have a taste for art," she says, half joking. "My only other thought is perhaps seeing about getting you a sturdier set of limbs."
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +Having gotten into a minor scuffle with one of the residents over a vase that was holding a flower or some sort of pretty plant. A crash of glass and broken earthenware can be heard from outside.
 +
 +"Seven hells, the flower is dead! We need this more than you!"
 +
 +And the rugged man emerges back into the hut, having been only able to procure a few drinking glasses and a large vase with a broken top.
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +Luna lets out a groan much like a murderous sideshow clown, wiping her hand down her face at Gair. "I suppose I should consider it a boon that you have not changed altogether."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +The Xaela returned soon after, clearly pissed.
 +
 +“I can’t leave you idiots alone for half a damn bell before you do something stupid and shite! Why the gods damned hells are you fucking with my villagers like I won’t make you eat your own legs!?”
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Eat my legs after we have a cure," Gair snorts in answer, kneeling down to set the arrangement of cups and singular broken vase down in front of the Sinner to start her work. "Unless you have a...what was it? Sterile lab and time."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Eat my arse! Clearly nice and pleasant demeanor from me has given the wrong impression, so I’ll start over. I don’t care if it’s to stop the world from cracking in half, or that supplies round here are scarce. Touch my people again and I’ll gather some gods damned stone, pound it into dust and bricks, make some mortar, and build several fucking walls just so I can put your chocobo shite smelling arse through them! Fuck all four of you!”
 +
 +She looks to the hero now and stomps closer, jingling the wooden arms that had been lost before roughly putting them back into place.
 +
 +“And just tell Alkaid you’ll let her sleep you deaf fucks! That’s all the lazy little brat cares about!”
 +
 +She lifts both her arms again and faces the group one by one, making sure to flip each of them off in sequence before turning to stomp away.
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Rolls her eye visibly, feeling like her treatment is completely unwarranted. She turns her attention back to the hero. "Well... Alkaid, yes? We shall let you sleep then."
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +The knightess looks poised to speak but stops herself, not wishing to rile neither herself nor the Xaela. It is by the most tenuous fiber of her being that she does, however.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc> 
 +
 +Alkaid the hero turned and cocked her head, clicking her teeth curiously.
 +
 +“When? Is loud. Always.”
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +Gair grunts and steps outside mid-rant, nobody quite able to discern the displeasure on his features, as, well. They were persistently that way. Curiously, he looks around for wet patches of ground and begins to...dig at them with his stick.
 +
 +Some unseen twang of guilt weighs on him as he molds some crude earthenware by hand from what remains of the soil in the area. Sitting there in the dirt like a child at the end of the world. *What the fuck am I doing?*
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc>
 +
 +"Well... I am hoping it will be quiet once we are done and have a cure. Hopefully we all can stop having to fight for a time." She sighs a bit, her stomach twisting as she dares to rely on impossible optimism.
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +Improvising a furnace to fire the clay in, Gair opts to just heat them with thaumaturgical fire. Cooking up a number of cups and one vaguely vase-length receptacle. They aren't pretty, but they'll hold water. He just stares at them now.
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +Luna stands there as if she were the executioner of one's will. Anything she would have to add would not be helpful and instead colored by desperate fury. Best just to let those better at dialogue speak.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +Alkaid continues to stare, before suddenly closing the distance on the Sinner again, extending an arm while blood dripped through the apparently hollowed out prosthetic arms. Despite there being no obvious mechanism to make them function, the fingers still twitched and jerked as if alive. The Sinner caught one quickly, catching the blood in Gair’s previously emptied bottle.
 +
 +**HERO’S BLOOD ACQUIRED**
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +As this goes on, Gair makes for the residences he plundered. Opting to knock-and-run, setting the earthenware and retreating back to the heroes hut and wait outside on the ground. Clearly not wanting any form of adulation for his efforts.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +Apparently one of the houses he plundered had a little girl living there. Whatever he had destroyed had caused her to cry, but upon his somewhat crude repentance, he was rewarded with a snotty but happy smile before the little shadow child ran off to her end of the hut to celebrate.
 +
 +**VILLAGE ANIMOSITY REDUCED.**
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +Gair grumbles and kicks rocks, prickly tsundere of a Sagolii cactus he is.
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +Looking down at the girls curiously, Luna asks of the Sinner. "Is that satisfactory? Have we obtained what is needed?"
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Still need the other sample but otherwise yes. The rest will be on me.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"You are ready for mine then?" she asks, pulling off her right glove and reaching to her waist for a small utility knife.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +The Sinner nods, presenting the same bottle.
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +She tucks the glove under her left arm, approaching and pushing the tip of the knife in the soft pad of her ring finger, squeezing several drops into the bottle. She does so unblinkingly.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +The Sinner sighs, looking the samples over while apparently working with her free hand. The blood in the bottle begins to glow and swirl about in the empty spaces of the filthy bottle.
 +
 +“Finally,” she said, lifting the bottle for all to see, “the scales are rebalanced.”
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +Dutifully does Luna bend down, offering some thin ratty bandages for Pipino's wound.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +She reached up to remove her mask and place it down nearby.
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino accepts the bandages and wraps it around her wound before sliding the glove back over it, figuring it would stay in place better that way.
 +----
 +===== Transformations =====
 +
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>
 +  
 +||Underneath her mask were eyes that seemed to be strained far beyond imaginable limits, as if she had lived her entire life without blinking once. Rather than pupils, her eyes seemed a massive clot of blood and stretched veins. The entire upper half of her face was absolutely covered in scale like crystals that were red and white in color, while the center of her forehead sported a large and angular crystal not unlike the ones Gair had collected, or like the vast legions of the horde that had terrorized the world. With a blood curdling scream, she yanked the crystal free from her head before smashing it into the lip of Gair’s bottle, blatantly ignoring the immediate and serious blood flow gushing now from her head.||
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino steps forward and upon seeing the flow of blood can think of nothing but attempting to immediately attempt to stem the flow. They need her, and it isn't like she is just going to let her bleed out before whatever work was finished. She awkwardly strides forward and attempts to put pressure on the wound with her just her gloved hand for now, ready to back off if she would be in the way.
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc>
 +
 +Silently does Luna follow suit, placing her own right hand against Pipino's to help cover the wound. **If only Lucatiel were here, I can not mend this.**
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Sparing you to see it will be my mercy.” She spoke without minding Luna or Pipino, the glowing blood in the bottle beginning to sparkle and hum with energy now. 
 +
 +“Hundreds, thousands, millions of activities being carried out at once. All that data constantly burned into my mind. So much all the time. So endless. Flesh is not meant to process all of that data. So mine fails when the traffic is particularly bad.”
 +
 +“But my spite was once again underestimated. Such a gift, to hand me the means to undo this madness!”
 +
 +She raised her head to look at no one in particular.
 +
 +“An undying body. One that will regenerate even once abused, tortured...torn apart.”
 +
 +“You’ll want to find more containers for what comes after.”
 +
 +She lifts the bottle again, gulping slowly as she jingles it. For a moment, she seemed ready to launch it towards the floor.
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino screws up her face for a moment as she watches her gaze at it and makes a move to slide her hand out from Luna's and makes to snatch for the bottle, something in the words she uttered and the way she was gazing at it unsettling her.  "Those words sound not like ones of a curative nature!"
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +The Sinner has a grip on the bottle far stronger than anything she had shown prior, as if it were her last final treasure and the source of every evil in the world all at once. Carefully she took the bottle to her lips and downed the contents, including her own crystal which protruded painfully in her throat even as it slid down visibly from the outside.
 +
 +The Sinner’s eyes began to glow and cry blood in luminescent streams down her cheeks. Something was happening.
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino steps back from the woman instinctively and draws her weapon as she watches, an unsettling feeling gnawing away in the pit of her stomach. She is clearly torn between just wanting to end the woman for fear she would become too powerful, and i her carry on in case it could lead to some kind of salvation. She choses the latter option.
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +Instinctively does Luna step in front of Pipino, putting herself between the Eorzean Exorcist Girl and her old companion. The aether hums around her arm, forming a shield down where it hangs, covering her lower body and Pipino.
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +The sounds of yelling and screaming rouse Gair to stand, drawn from his thoughtful stupor to peer inside and stare. The sight of the crystals turn his countenance from sour to outright furious, but he chooses to not act on it and slams the huts door shut once more. Opting to go for a walk on the perimeter of Fallgourd Float.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +||Bloody and fresh looking voidsent like wings painfully and audibly rip their way out of the Sinner’s back, and her skin slowly fades from it’s deathly pale to a deep obsidian in fact, it seems that her skin seems to have taken on a crystalline like quality all its own, as her flesh began to reflect light around her. Finally, long and glowing claws burst from her fingertips in bloody fashion, radiating with aether. She was glorious and horrifying. Like seeing a daemon being born before ones eyes. She was....suddenly collapsed on the floor in a puddle of her own glowing blood, screaming in agony.||
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +Gauntleted hand finds its way to the hilt of her blade as Luna reacts to the strange display. Though she doesn't immediately draw, just being at the ready, still between the creature and Pipino.
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino watches the scene in abject horror, only repulsion and  conflict in her mind. Was this supposed to happen? Should she try and put her out of her misery? One action or the other could change the tide and the dilemma plagues her. She steps back, weapon drawn, and decides to wait, seeing what will come of this.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc> 
 +
 +||After a while the woman stands again, still very clearly in pain and suffering from the aftereffects of whatever she had done to herself. She looks off to the side briefly, although her glowing eyes made it impossible to tell exactly just what she was staring at before looking for her old cane to lean on, a triumphant smile creeping across her features despite her clearly still being in agony. ||
 +
 +"It's....as done as its going to be."
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino gazes at the woman, clearly still on her guard. "And now this is the point where you tell us precisely how this is going to lead to all you told us it would - a reversal, a cure."
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +Luna steps aside, the aether still humming around her arm but no longer taking the form of a shield. She looks between Pipino and the warped Sinner silently, listening.
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +Gair returns to the shack with a rather large and voluminous robe in hand, from the doorway he casts it toward the Sinner's feet. Glaring daggers at this veritable daemon that has been birthed by their efforts. Making certain to loom in the entrance to prevent any would-be sudden intrusions. "Coverin' up would be prudent, if you don't want the village to make a game of turnin' your skull to mush with the biggest rock they can find."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Past that point sadly,” she replied, still leaning heavily on her stick before turning to Pipino and shrugging. “I’ve already told you there’s no cure. What’s happened is not a sickness, but is instead like a...let us call it an evolution. People are evolving, but deep within what we will call the instruction manual for this evolution is obedience. Subservience. And for those even weaker of mind, the liberation from weakness and connection to, well...everyone at once is enough to cause a form of madness. “
 +
 +She displays her body now, flapping her new wings cautiously. Every movement seemed to bring her pain.
 +
 +“But I’ve broken the rules. Rather than just the select few who are resistant, we should even be able to retrieve the minds of those who have fallen. We can turn the dark ones own forces back to us. We can reclaim everything!”
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Stow this nonsense about such predetermined evolution. You sound more as one who wishes to convince others to join their cult then one who is explaining the facts." Luna protests, looking at the woman. "That we may yet save those afflicted is the only reason I would aid you in such madness, thou art fortuitous. A noble cause drives my blade."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc> 
 + 
 +“I spend all my time explaining to you all that explaining is meaningless because you would not like or understand it. Now I finally deem to calm down and teach as asked and suddenly I need to stop it. Whatever—you all pick where you are going next.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"'You all' is a little strong," she says, giving Luna a look of irritation. "I for one would still like to understand the implications of what we are experiencing. How do you intend to turn everyone afflicted against the Dark One? I hope it is simply not changing the reins of control from one Master to another."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“I’d certainly like that, but no. My surviving this transformation was already beyond my expectation. But yes, I can explain hopefully enough to satisfy without overmuch confusion.”
 +
 +“I told you all that I was there when the dark one appeared. Without walking through the whole story again, I was probably the first amongst what you think of as infected. I could not be turned thanks to my self improvements making my mind a natural impediment of sorts to the method, but this body was another matter entirely. Further, it is quite undying. That was part of the ideal. Sparing me to see what was wrought.”
 +
 +“This body cannot be destroyed unless it is erased. And now the blood of this body can undo the shackles binding the minds of the corrupted. Had we more time, resources, and manpower we could improve it but for now...this is it.”
 +
 +“To specify, the corruption is not the problem, it is the compulsion that comes along with it. The Dark One’s aether has been pumped into the lifestream like a virus, which facilitates the turn. Keep in mind the fundamental differences between sickness of the body and sickness of the spirit here, as it will help you organize how this corruption works.”
 +
 +“Evolution is not predetermined as our friend here theorizes, but instead is a multi-parallel response to the individual, the dark one, and outside stimuli. Some people might grow to be capable destroying walls for example. Others grow to improve cooperation. I want to describe it as a hive mind in function, but there are clear instances of individualism playing a key role in the entirety of the process. This means that rather than the aether corrupting simply the body to obey, it has instead corrupted the minds of the afflicted. In its own way, those who are naturally resistant to the change have the chance to retain some greater functions of the self, while others seem to be regulated to—“
 +
 +The woman cuts herself off now, sensing she was going into a tangent out of habit.
 +
 +“In short, think of minds as under an aetheric lock of sorts. My aether—and by extension my blood—currently act as a key.”
 +
 +“The best part being that Unless I’m completely obliterated, there is nothing that can be done to stop it! We have just won! With that out of the way, that brings me back to my original statement. You all can choose wherever to go next if you want to run off and die. You’ve done your part. The world is saved.”
 +
 +She picks up the robe Gair provided, shaking it off a bit.
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Those infected... Will they be turned back to our side through a mass action or... Or is it on an individual basis? What... What do you have to do to unlock it?"
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc> 
 + 
 +".....My aether. Or something that carries it, like my blood. Exposure should facilitate the process so...yeah. I wasnt planning on being around after this point so I figured it'd be your problem really. I guess being close to me could do it, but being exposed to something with my aether also should be able to work."
 +
 +"....All things considered, I think it would be better to pass it on to other people first. Once someone gets exposed to the key, they should in turn also be able to bring others back to us."
 +
 +"Any other questions?"
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +After a long moment of listening to the exchange between Pipino, Luna and the Sinner. Gair peers outside of the hut and looks southward, brows knit together in thought. "If the Dark One's blood has infected the lifestream...ain't there a sort of tree or grove that's close to it in the Twelveswood?" He queries, uncertain about the terrain himself. "I'd say removing the corruption, root 'an stem would do us well. Not to mention..." His gaze flits back to the Sinner and shakes his head at her. "There ain't no assurances they don't have a means to destroy you, so I ain't aimin' to go die just yet."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“What? That’s one of the.....actually, that’s a fairly intelligent idea. I think the main problem would be dispersal. I don’t know how the dark one manages to keep his corruption persistent but something I am sure of is that without the proper resistance smaller signals get washed out in the lifestream.”
 +
 +“Since the origin of this separate signal is me, I’m not sure how it would remain intact unless....ah.”
 +
 +She sighs, crossing her arms now.
 +
 +“Do you intend to force me into it directly?”
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +There is a slight spark in Luna's eye at Gair's idea. "We shall raze the Twelveswood this day then." she says, almost sounding as if there was a shred of excitement to it.
 +
 +"The elementals guard the Twelveswood and yet they could not even watch guardian over an abandoned little girl. No matter." she adds.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc> 
 + 
 +“What little girl?”
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc>
 +
 +The woman frowns. "A scared young girl bereft of family. Lost to the world and found by a monster." she says, clearly a bit reticent to expound.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“And based on what our failed pilot has said, you now believe burning the forest down is the solution to the current plight?”
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc>
 +
 +"I do not care. If he says we must remove the cause of the corruption, and the source is that Twelve-forsaken overgrown tree... It makes it quite simple."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Have you not cleaned your ears in the past several years? When did a tree become the source of the corruption!?”
 +
 +“He’s referring to the fact that the Twelveswood has font locations that are especially close to the lifestream, much like and in some cases literally being leylines. This allows for especially complex interactions with said lifestream that are not possible in many other places. In fact, the next closest place where we could do something like this would be in Mor Dhona, which is arguably currently the most dangerous place in the world!”
 +
 +She turns towards Gair again, arms still crossed.
 +
 +“So what was your plan?”
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +Patient enough to listen in between Luna and the Sinner, he explains to the former. "This is all nearly beyond me, but, I'm more meanin' the lifestream than the wood itself. **Maybe** a fire would help clear a path, but maybe quick'n quiet might do us better for the moment." He bares a rueful grin toward the Sinner now and shrugs at her, the idea itself rather off the cuff and a shot in the dark. "Either directly, so you might drown Him out 'an proliferate through the land. Quicker than merely spreading like a pox, don'cha think? Or...we erect our own throne?" He's clearly trying to think through the idea. "At the least, bein' at such a crossroads of power is to our advantage."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“You should know that while in the long term using this solution would free the world, it is almost the same as outright abandoning all those currently corrupted already. What you propose is like purifying a tainted lake, but that does not save the poisoned flora and fauna around it.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Abandoning them is not an option," Pipino pipes up resolutely after listening to the discussion, one she found resting just a bit over her head even through all these years. "I.. I am afraid I cannot think of some other way unless it were possible to fly over the land and sprinkle magic dust on everyone," she says with a frustrated sigh.
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc> 
 + 
 +“So you want both then.”
 +
 +“Well I can think of two methods that might work in that case.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Yes, I do. If it is at all possible. What are your ideas?"
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“First is simply....turning people slowly over time. There’s a greater chance we won’t be around to see it end but the seeds will certainly be higher that what has been started here won’t be stopped.”
 +
 +“The second...we try to overpower the dark one directly.”
 +
 +“In case it’s somehow not already clear the second option has a high chance of failure.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino sighs and runs a hand through her bangs, clearly a bit torn. "And it would take long enough that battles still need to take place - plenty of people who could otherwise be saved will continue following that thing's instructions and be killed. It is... difficult to return to the old way of doing things when you know there is way out of it."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Far as I’m concerned I’m already dead in any of these scenarios so I’ll leave it to you three what you want to do. I’ll have my revenge either way.”
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +Gair bobs his head in a nod, clearly weighing the options. "Is it possible the Dark One would feel us if we went to the center of the Shroud, possibly...send some of his strongest agents our way? I've an idea that might give us the edge on the latter of our two options."
 +
 +"That is, if he fears being expunged from the lifestream."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc> 
 +
 +The Sinner simply looked to Pipino.
 +
 +“That idea being?”
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Tamper with the Lifestream somehow, make him feel as if we are *about* to do something to end his reign. Albeit clumsily and obviously, so a force is sent our way...say, all the might of someone desperate to survive," Gair begins, gesturing vaguely with a gauntleted hand. "Then we convert the lot of them right there, enhanced and evolved- as you've said. Then march on the tower with our force in tow."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Do you think it will be enough?”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino looks away from the Sinner's gaze, crossing her arms. " Perhaps not... but it is a promising idea if it works. I think he would likely be aware of us, at any rate. How much of a threat he thinks we are though, that is uncertain. His reach is so expansive, I wonder if he would even blink to know we were attempting something."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“What do you all think?”
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +"The end goal is the same, it matters not what the means are to me."
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +Gair drums his thumb on the hook of his crook and shrugs. "I can spitball courses of action for a sennight if you want. If we wanted a surefire way to expunge him long term, we could each take some of the Sinners blood and quit for the cardinal winds. A pilgrimage, if you will."
 +
 +Gair looks toward Luna to ask. "If you lay no claim'ta preference, then will you agree to whatever course Pipino and I decide?" Now at Pipino he directs his attention. "I think we're too soon to decide between quick and risky, or slow and steady. Don't you? We've yet to see the process, or confirm it even works."
 +
 +<fc #4682b4>''[Luna]''</fc> 
 +
 +Luna nods at the man. "Indeed I shall. I fight to stay the dark, you must only needs direct the light of my blade."
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +Pipino nods. "Yes... If one of the options means that there will a lot of time before things are resolved, I do not see why we cannot take our time making a decision as to which course we should follow." She pauses a moment. "Would A'erina be able to be turned to our side, I wonder... and... and perhaps by extension, the beasts under her control? I am not exactly sure as to the nature of her corruption."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Who?”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc>
 +
 +"The Miqo'te from earlier who was controlling the wood creatures."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“The hero?”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +"No, the one who was fighting the hero."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“....Don’t recall. Tell me more about them.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"She said that she was dead. She was blown up by a bomb. Her body looks quite awful - cracks in her body with aether flowing out of them.  She said the Dark One sustains her. And she has the ability to control the corrupted creatures within the wood as if they were her pets."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Think she’s willing then?”
 +
 +<fc #fa8072>''[Gair]''</fc> 
 +
 +"Even if she ain't, if she's robbed of her connection. The Dark One's army would set on her like anyone else."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“Not necessarily true.”
 +
 +“...Hmm...if only we still had aetherites...”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +"By taking on the Dark One directly, what did you have in mind? I hardly think just walking up to him and and shooting him would do much for us."
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +“If we assume the same rules that apply to the horde also have applied to the dark one, I’d say whatever we imagine is likely insufficient.”
 +
 +<fc #00008b>''[Pipino]''</fc> 
 +
 +She sighs and stays silent for a moment, reckoning with something internally. She finally speaks up. "Assuredness is more important. Success is more valuable than shirt term triumphs, especially when the risks are so high. I... would rather set a foundation to end this that cannot be reversed."
 +----
 +
 +===== The Grand Conclusion =====
 +
 +<fc #cd5c5c>''[Eligor]''</fc>  
 +
 +||The group ultimately decided to sacrifice the Sinner. By dispersing her essence into the lifestream, they made certain that no matter the route THEY took, the future would be secured. The Dark One had no means to gain more followers, and those that would be born in the future would be immune to his corruption. Further, even so much as travelling through the aether would allow for one to be cleansed, further chokeholding the Dark One and its forces. The world was saved and, in time, its inhabitants would be as well.||
 +
 +||Taking the attack on Ishgard as an opportunity to bring yet more good to the many, Luna, Pipino, and Gair ultimately decided to directly attack the Dark One's seat of power: Mor Dhona. The plan was simple, end the dark one while his forces crush Ishgard, and there are no more invasions. No need for waiting on the future. What they found however was nothing short of despair. They were confronted by none other than a corrupted Aymeric, and the legion of elite defenders at his command. The three made their attempt to break through. Right as hope seemed lost however Raziel appeared, bloody and broken from the events that unfolded at Ishgard--but more importantly, enraged beyond her limits. She razed the battlefield, opening a way into the Crystal Tower for the group. She was not able to follow however, as Raziel was not alone: She had brought A'erina and her underlings along with her in pursuit. The group was forced to leave her behind while she fought off more of the horde. She was ultimately torn apart.||
 +
 +||Unsurprisingly, within the Tower was not a more hopeful story. Heat from lava and fire sapped away at what little strength the group had managed to scramble for themselves, and within were still yet more hordes of the corrupted. Unlike outside however, the hordes within seemed different and precious. Some were suspended in tubes while others seemed newly born and frail. The group made an effort to destroy all as they ascended. Soon enough however A'erina caught up with the group again, and again the group found themselves blocked off from advancing, and so Luna made the decision for them to leave her behind. Using her aetheric shield to hold off the advancing horde by expanding it further outward, she held off the horde until she felt herself falter and, in a final act of heroism, pushed A'erina and as many of her horde as she could manage with her off of the platform and into the lava nearby. Unfortunately for her however, A'erina was one of the Dark One's specially made corrupted, and the manner in which she had changed over the years in particular made her immune to high heat and attacks that utilize it. With what remained of her now mostly decimated forces, A'erina once again pursued Pipino and Gair.||
 +
 +||The two had made it to what could be considered the throneroom in the end, battered and bloody from yet more minor scuffles on the way up the tower, but found themselves encountered once again by their fallen friend. Parading what was left of Luna's bones to taunt them, the group engaged yet again. A'erina was finally feeling the weight of her constant battles as well however, and while the Dark One was present, they did not seem interested in lifting so much as a finger at the spectacle. Even more importantly, as they fought, Pipino began to feel even more off, like something was wrong. The grand secret she had kept was that Pipino herself was infected, but due to it's mostly dormant nature, had been using it to keep herself ahead of the horde. A particular ability that seemed to fail once she was summoned with the group in the floating Sanctuary. This was  an ability that was suddenly back and worsening from the moment they entered the Tower. Unable to risk being of harm or hinder to Gair, she informed him rather briefly before jumping into the fray, overheating her firearm and erasing the rest of A'erina's underlings. Now missing most of her arm however thanks to the subsequent explosion, Pipino collapsed soon after, now burning and bleeding out on the floor as Gair and A'erina made ready to kill each other.||
 +
 +||As it happens, A'erina's immunity to heat was quite a boon to her. Unfortunately for her however, the unkind years had made Gair equally immune to the fear of death. His goal before him now and A'erina still having enough strength to overpower him, he sacrificed his forearm as a feint, using his new abilities to form a blade from the wound--ultimately beheading his fallen cousin.||
 +
 +||It was now Gair with the Dark One, but broken and beaten as he was, the outcome of the fight was always obvious. Each and every attack Gair attempted was repelled, deflected, and countered. Blow after blow, and failure after failure, Gair continued to stand as if possessed by his single-minded wrath. It was not Gair's final charge however that drew blood, but a spear made from his blood. Without his input. Pipino was dead, but whatever was in her eye was still very much alive. Gair's blood had come in contact with a drug years prior and, unbeknownst to him, had been growing steadily. Flowing through him without aim or command. In the moment of the Dark One's hubris, it was commanded to burst from his chest, striking the Dark one in the heart as well.||
 +
 +||The group had fallen, but in their own way they managed to succeed. Despite it costing their lives, the had done irreparable damage to the Dark One and the horde. They forced the Dark One to go into stasis to heal, and his most powerful underlings were now lost. When he emerged, he would not find a world ready to conquer, but a future in which he was the prey. The one whom would be wiped out by the very world he set out to bring to heel.||
  
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-[[Start|Home]] --> [[Character Profiles and Collections|Character Index]] --> [[Pipino]] --- [[Luna]] --- [[Gair]] --- [[Aerina]] --- [[Raziel]] --- [[Veldi]] --- [[Wisteria]] --- [[Eligor]]+[[Start|Home]] --> [[Character Profiles and Collections|Character Index]] --> [[Pipino]] --- [[Luna]] --- [[Gair]] --- [[Aerina]] --- [[Eligor]] 
 + 
 +Cameos - Raziel, Novine, Wisteria, Veldi