BoZV - Arc 2

[Arashi]

Welcome Arc 2!

Announcements:

UPDATE 7/3: OUR LORE SHEET HAS A DIRECTORY NOW!!! YAYYY!!! Navigating it shall be a lot easier.

UPDATE 5/30: Started Arc 2.

UPDATE 5/23: Format changes to the lore sheet, much more organized now. Reminder that RP will be on hold starting Thursday of this week. Last posts will be Wed night, until Monday night of next week.




LAST LORE SHEET UPDATE:
6/1 - Minor blight magic info updates, very minor format fixes
5/23 - Formatting, no new info (yet)
5/14 - Technology, new section on general world info
5/13 - Several sections (Blight, light magic, races, others)

This is Arc 2 of our forum RP. Yayyyy do the stuff.

Arc 1 Summary is here

Please don't just join in randomly. We have rules and world lore and stuff.

Read all of this before joining.

Yes, all of it. It's all important.

[Arashi]

A day after our new-found heroes rested, the town had begun to rebuild from the damage caused by the blighted invaders. There were few casualties; all the townsfolk were safe, though some suffered minor injuries. Overall, the town was in good shape.

It was now a nice and sunny day; though it was not hot outside, much to everyones' relief.

What was next? It seemed like the start of an adventure.

~

After several hours of much-needed rest, Silver woke up with a yawn. She felt restored now after all the energy she had used de-activating the blight crystal.

She got up out of her bed and fixed the covers on it, then replaced all of her armor and cloak. She picked up the blight crystal and put it in her bag for now, but before the group left, she would have to do a few...things with it. It would prove to be useful.

As soon as she had all of her things, she walked out of her room and stood around in the lobby of the Inn, wondering where the others were. She figured she would come across them, and if not, now she knew where there rooms were at least.

She was going to have to answer some questions, no doubt, but she could use the book as an excuse. It might be worth letting the others know about that at least; she didn't have to tell them about her affiliation with the blight yet. If anything, she knew one person had her back, so perhaps that would help her explain...

[Swim]

OOC: Going to do a bit of a recap from my character's POV to help summarize and kick things off.
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IN:

After everyone in the group had made their introductions the elf Frida had put forth some of the questions that had been churning in Terra's mind. She listened closely as Rion and Silver gave their vague answers and opted to postpone questions until the immediate crisis had passed. Which seemed logical enough to Terra, but it also implied that both knew more than they were willing to share. And that feeling didn't sit well. The feeling didn't dissipate when the pair of them walked off to discuss something privately, Terra sat down next to a fire with Frida and some others but didn't discuss much, there was a lot on her mind.

Ere too long Rion and Silver returned and began to lead the party toward the source of the Blight. Terra didn't need the warnings, the sensation of walking on Blighted ground was unforgettable. Indescribable. The only upside was the adrenaline which made every fiber of her being stand attentive and ready for anything. She was running on all cylinders now.

Rion had called for a halt, holding aloft an orb of light which illuminated the darkened grounds. The veil of night dispelled it became apparent that they'd reached their destination, scores of blighted monsters had gathered to defend the crystal and Terra launched into battle. The walking corpses and ghouls fell just like those in Aldur had, it was clear that their party was well practiced in the art of combat and able to handle themselves. Even the blonde scientist, Lucas Boltin, was holding his own, she could see him off to her right side immobilizing half a dozen of the creatures himself with chain lightning and he seemed to be... counting to himself? Indeed, after smiting that small pack he withdrew a notebook from his coat and began scribbling notes... there was something off about that man but there was no doubt that he could fight.

Terra's attention was drawn away from Boltin by a monstrous roar, coming from a Blight creature much larger than those they'd previously fought. Her hand reached for the bolt action rifle on her back and she popped a special round into the chamber. She took aim at the brute's head and fired. The bullet sunk into it's thick skin and after a moment it ignited and detonated. The short explosion tore open the creature from within, and a moment later Terra had launched herself through the air, propelled by her flame magic and guided by the heat signature of her Supernova ammunition. She struck the creature square in the face with a fiery punch but the brute was tougher than its cousins. She placed her leg on its shoulder to steady herself and punched down again and again until the monster's hand came up to swat her away.

Terra landed with a thud against a tree, cracking the trunk which had already become brittle from Blight. She picked herself up as the monster howled and stomped toward her. Terra ignited her right fist in flame and punched down hard on the base of the tree, shattering the bark and uprooting it. Taking her new weapon firmly in hand and orienting it the way she wanted she ignited the flames on her legs and met the creature mid charge. Terra leapt into the air screaming a battle cry and thrust her blunted weapon into the chest of her enemy as though she were jousting, the creature flew a short distance away with Terra riding on its chest. In her battle frenzy she brought her weapon down again and again until her tree had become splinters and the monster a gory mess.

After a moment her tunnel vision faded away and other sounds brought her focus back to the rest of the battle which was still raging all round her. She got to her feet, now covered in dirt and foliage and monster parts and looked around, searching for more threats as well as party members who might need her assistance. In the distance she could see another of the large monsters staggering around on fire. If the corpses were once people, Terra thought, what in the hell did I just kill? In the distance she could see Rion stabbing the flaming giant from behind and channeling some of his light magic into its body, gradually the Blight brute turned into crystal and shattered. Quite an effective power against this sort of enemy, and a hell of a lot less messy than she'd been. Just what was his and Silver's connection to all of this?

Shortly thereafter the Blight field was dispelled and the party began their slow march back to Aldur, those of them that were capable of marching anyway, noting that Silver was being carried. For her own part Terra may have broken her ribs but thanks to her Earth affinity she generally received hits and recovered from them fairly quickly. It would be particularly advantageous in this situation because they'd probably be heading out again soon. Based on what Rion said there might be some mage out there working to spread the blight intentionally.

Tomorrow you're going to explain how you know all of this, Terra thought before Frida expressed similar concerns out loud to Rion. Terra waited expectantly in the doorway to hear how he'd respond. It seemed that he didn't have all of the answers either, and what knowledge he might hold he was being quiet about. Terra couldn't believe it had all been a chance meeting, that two beings with ability to manage the Blight had just happened to meet in the right place at the right time, precisely before the Blight would spread to Aldur. Based on the injuries they'd sustained they probably were not responsible for the crystal, but they were still making the decision to keep their allies in the dark. If Silver were awake in the morning perhaps she'd be more forthcoming. In any case she's join Frida and petition for answers. But that could wait until morning at least. Terra peeled off her armor, wincing with some pain in her abdomen and settled into a comfortable position for some sleep.


-----------------------------------------

Hours later Lucas Boltin was still awake pouring over his notes, studying battle data, compiling information on the new strains of Blight creatures and of course the capabilities of the others in his group. Rion had taken a bit of a haughty attitude toward his initial request to study him, but Lucas acknowledged that he hadn't had time to properly explain himself. After further observation he had shown himself to be a Light mage, not a Lightning mage like Boltin himself as previously supposed. Which was interesting for the sake of relative uniqueness but less useful to Boltin's topic of research. Now his interest had shifted to the half dragon who called herself Silver. Not only did she have Lightning powers (and Boltin had never experimented on a half dragon before!) but she had some level of mastery over the Blight... Despite Rion's warnings of danger, Boltin's scientific curiosity had won out over self preservation and he'd gotten very close to the Blight crystal... and to Silver. Somehow she had managed to neutralize its energies, and though he had recorded the event and studied it over several times it still was not clear how she'd managed the feat. At some point had Rion rushed to her side and appeared to heal her, thus demonstrating that she was not totally immune to the Blight effects. Hopefully she'd recover and be able to answer his questions, he had so many! First and foremost whether she had done this sort of thing before and whether the experiment was repeatable. Results, however impressive were useless unless they could be replicated. Secondly her method how had she accomplished her feat, and what sort of side effects she'd experience. As far as he knew dispelling the Blight energy was impossible, did her half dragon heritage have something to do with it? Further study was certainly warranted.

As if on cue Boltin heard a door close and quiet footsteps treading down the hallway. Who else could be awake at this hour? He opened his own door and peered out, just in time to see Silver disappear back into Rion's room. She's already recovered! But what could be so important that she needs to speak with him in the dead of night? He wasn't about to stand outside their door and listen, but his curiosity did compel him to listen for her to leave, and a quarter of an hour later she did just that. "Thank you by the way for understanding," she'd said in parting. "Please don't tell the others for now."

How intriguing. So there was something to tell, as if any of their group hadn't already deduced that based solely off of the number of times the two of them insisted on speaking privately. And now this meeting in the dead of night... Most curious was the indication that she was considering sharing of her own volition, that would certainly make things simpler. He'd heard Rion say something about a book as well, if she wasn't good at explaining he might be able to flip through that and find his answers. Doubtless things would become clearer in the morning. In the meantime he turned back to his recording and returned to studying those hulking Blight horrors.

[Sorrum]

"I'm telling you dad, it was unlike anything I'd seen before." Aqua had woken up earlier than she expected. Sleeping in a new place would do that, even if she was dead on her feet. "The girl stopped that crystal from making the monsters, somehow she turned off the Blight crystal."

"Okay honey, I believe you." Her father said back to her. The conversations over the visor were voice only. There was a calming tone from his voice, trying to ease the elf girl's confused mind. It was not the first time they'd seen such a thing, albeit Frida was much younger when that happened.. "So, what will you do now?"

"These two, Silver and Rion, are hiding something. I'm not sure what, though. They're powerful too. It might not be a bad idea to stick with them until I get to the next town but, if they aren't going to answer my questions then I'm going to have to take my leave of them." Aqua was sitting at a little desk in her room, chewing on a cinnamon roll that she'd ordered earlier. Service was free for the ones who'd saved the town. They even polished her armor for her, so the gold trim on the helmet would shine gloriously in the sunlight.

"That might be a bad idea for a single person like yourself out there, far away from home. If things get too weird, back out of there and alert the town guards, and then lay low for a while somewhere." Her dad's tone fell heavier on her. Aqua chuckled.

"You're not underestimating me, are you?" She replied. "Remember, I'm a fighter, and a damn good one too. And I'm mom's daughter." Aqua closed her eyes and remembered her mother's smiling face. Such a compassionate and kind woman, but by no means weak. Elders proclaimed her to be the Sea Goddess, her will was victory in the water, neither did those on land stand a chance before her ability.

"Well.. okay. I'm going to relax a bit. So, good luck. Oh, and Frida, don't be afraid to come home." Her dad threw out one last attempt to call his daughter back from her trip to no avail. She quickly said her goodbyes because something had caught her eye. There was a note on the floor that must have been slipped through the door over night.

Aqua picked the note up and read the message. A small smile appeared on her face. Silver trusted her to some extent, enough to answer a few questions. The good thing about this was that since they never caught the person behind yesterday's incident, the next big town would be a considerable place for someone to blend in inconspicuously. But Aqua was going there anyway.

Aqua suited up except for her helmet, which she carried with her, and headed to the cafe, where she expected the others would be waiting.

[Bloodbane]

Morning had come before too long, and with it Rion had made his way out of his room, once again equipped with his gauntlet and his torn cloak hanging over him. While he thought about the idea of simply heading to Agrova alone, feeling that it would be easier to ensure that any information about what happened near Aldur made its way to the right people, the situation as he made his way to the lobby was more or less as he had expected; the others were up and about, and they had appeared to be waiting on either himself, Silver, or most likely both. By the time he had made his way downstairs, the others were all standing or sitting around. A slight smirk came over his face as he looked upon the crowd, recognizing each of the individuals that fought alongside himself and Silver the evening prior.

"So you've decided to stick around, I see..." Rion said aloud, looking around once more. "We'll be heading to Agrova. Whoever placed that crystal is still at large, but if they were only able to manage what they had, they likely would have a hard time attacking a major city directly; if we can make the people in charge aware of what happened here, it may very well keep another tragedy from occurring in these parts." He explained, before looking to Silver briefly. While he wanted to get going as soon as possible, he had a pretty good feeling nobody was willing to go anywhere until they had at least some idea of what happened last night. "However, I can't expect anyone to follow me without some idea of what's going on; I understand a lot happened without much explanation, and I hope what I've been able to find in my travels will answer what questions you may have... So, ask away."

No sense in letting this tension build, right? While he understood Silver's reasoning for keeping back what she wanted to, and he had similar things to keep close as well, there was certainly no reason to expect these fighters to follow anyone blindly, especially into what was likely going to be a dangerous journey in the long run.

[Arashi]

Silver looked around for the others, wondering where they were. She soon saw them gathered up in the lobby as she walked towards it. Her thoughts on traveling with a group were mixed, but if she wanted to to this alone...it would simply be impossible. So, this had to be a thing; there was really no way around it. If anything, it would be a new experience. And Rion had proven himself to be trustworthy enough; perhaps the others could be as well. They did just fight for a good cause, after all, so they must be nice people. Maybe. Not time to test that theory out yet, though.

She still would not tell them about her own use of blight. That didn't need to be public knowledge. If the townsfolk found that out...

She shook her head a bit, trying to get those thoughts out of her head. She walked up to the group and stood next to Rion, now dreading the questions both of them would likely be getting. She simply listened as he spoke, nodding when he looked over to her.

"I am willing to answer questions as well. Though, we need to get going, so let us keep this as brief as possible...and you will learn more on our journey, I promise you that much." She spoke after Rion finished, then awaited for the others to ask the inevitable questions. Oh how she dreaded those; but they were expected. A lot of weird stuff went down, after all.

Though, she had an idea of how to answer them now. This was not going to be fun.

[Sorrum]

Aqua waited a moment for the others to ask their questions. When silence filled the room for an extensive lull, she assumed no one else would go first. Fine. She stiffened up and stepped forward.

"Yes, I have a question.." Aqua looked around. Even though they were town heroes, there were not many people in the lobby. Most hotel patrons had left to participate in the reconstruction effort or decided it was best to move on. They were relatively left alone here, except for the lingering staff members. They could speak freely here.

"We were dealing with a Blight crystal the other night, yes? Somehow, you single-handedly managed to destroy it or at least nullify it while we kept those creatures busy. So, what happens now?"

Aqua folded her arms across her chest and continued. Funny, she thought for a moment. She's now looking down at this girl who was quite a few feet taller than herself yesterday in her dragon form. "You've got a method for taking those things out. I want to know how, but more importantly I want to know what you're going to do with that kind of ability, because I know you have to at least understand how that magic works if you're stopping those crystals."

Aqua relaxed her expression and threw her hands up, palms out. "Don't get me wrong. I trust you're not a bad person, but I need to know your angle."

[Arashi]

Silver looked at Aqua as she spoke and simply listened. Her questions were, thankfully, reasonable and not too intrusive for now so she did not have to reveal too much about herself just yet.

"Having a group provides me a way to be able to take these crystals out safely without risking my life. I have wanted to try to stop the blight with my knowledge, but...it was far too dangerous by myself, and I couldn't risk dying because I don't know if there are others out there with that knowledge, so...I had to wait around for a chance." She tried to explain the best she could without mentioning her abilities.

"To answer your question, I intend on stopping the spread of blight. It's taken a lot of lives, and I'd rather it not continue to do so." Including part of mine. She thought as she spoke, though...she of course didn't add that in. Her next words were slightly more quiet. She glanced at Rion, before looking back to Aqua.

"As for how I do it, I can't explain it fully. I did pick up some sort of dark magic book in my travels, and it was written partially in draconic script so I have been reading it and learning...slong with trying to translate anything not written in my language. You can look at it if you wish, but...you won't understand a thing it says. I have learned how to reverse those crystals from that book...combined with several hundred years of traveling, you tend to pick up some...things. I hope that suffices for you." She nodded, then glanced at Rion again. She did truly hope that was a good enough explanation; none of what she said was a lie, but she just did not include the fact that she herself was, for all intents and purposes, a dark mage.

"So basically, my intentions are to save as many people as I can, if that's what you wanted to know."

She looked around at the others, waiting for them to speak. Her words were slightly messy, but they hopefully did the job.

[Sorrum]

Aqua listened intently to Silver's explanation. It wasn't the most informative, but it was the best she was going to get. The girl's eyes weren't lying about any of it either, despite showing hesitation. All things considered, she felt she could trust them.

Satisfied, Aqua beamed at Silver. "That's fine. Maybe I can take a look at your book later when we're on the road. See if anything jumps out at me, haha." Aqua chuckled. The road ahead may be treacherous given the events from yesterday, and it would be helpful to be in a group, she thought. Especially if this girl can stop those crystals and Rion can use light magic against the hard-to-kill creatures. Not to mention the other fighters too, like the powerhouse Terra and the lightning mage Lucas. Aqua thought how she hadn't gotten to know them and the others yet. Plenty of time on the road, though.

[Swim]

The next morning Terra sat up, wincing from the familiar stiffness that often accompanied her healing. Her calves were bruised and there was some swelling in her throat but she knew that would ebb away shortly. She could hear other guests of the inn already up and moving about so she supposed she'd best make an appearance and try to find some breakfast. A short while later the other warriors from last night began to appear. Lucas Boltin was sitting in a comfortable chair flipping through a notebook. Frida appeared, already clad in freshly polished armor. It made her feel a bit drab in comparison, her own was still sticky with monster guts from the night before. Finally, Silver and Rion made their way into to the common area.

Terra listened as Silver answered Frida's initial round of questioning. So they were to be her protection while she located and neutralized more crystals as they had last night. It was a worthy goal, and it aligned with Terra's own interests, but that answer by itself was not satisfactory. It was time to probe.

"I would like to know more about the Blight," Terra began. "Several of us have basic knowledge of it or have experienced it in some capacity before now but I don't understand it the way you seem to. Where did you get your knowledge? And where did that book come from?" she added seeing Lucas Boltin eagerly accept the tome she'd invited them to examine. "Who wrote it and how did you come to acquire it?"

"Yes, yes!" Boltin cut in excitedly before Silver could even answer. "You must tell me all about your procedure for deactivating the Blight Crystals, it's a phenomenon I've never witnessed before. Have you tested this method before now? If the results could be repeated on a wide scale I don't need to explain the importance of translating this document and spreading the knowledge far and wide! -And obviously you spent some time in recovery, we'll need to catalog the typical side effects so that others can take the necessary safety precautions and preventative measures."

"But wait-" he interrupted himself as if a new thought had just occurred to him. "The knowledge alone may not be enough-, would it be possible to instruct a human or an elf to perform the same feat or is it a power unique to those of the dragon lineage?"

Boltin had gotten himself a little carried away Terra thought, but he did raise a good point. Silver had asked that she be protected, and the power to dispel blight if it was indeed unique would make her an irreplaceable member of their group. It even necessitated that the others lay down their lives to protect her if the need arose, lest that power perish from the world. She'd maneuvered herself into quite the pivotal position and could easily use the weight of that role to manipulate everyone else... Hopefully Silver would give a satisfactory answer. It would make sense if she wanted to keep that knowledge to herself, as long as she alone knew the technique she was indispensable and everyone else expendable. Terra wondered what role Rion played in all of this.


---------------------
(Second round of questions in the likely event I won't have time to post tomorrow)

After listening to Silver's answer Terra turned to Rion. "I heard you mention something about someone planting the crystal, do you have any idea who that might have been? And how exactly does that work, is it just a regular crystal until they stick it in the ground and infuse it with magic or are they just resistant to the effects? Do you think this was a random act or some sort of test?"

Thus prompted, Lucas eagerly joined in with his own questions on this new subject matter. "Ah yes, the crystal! I should like to examine it now that the Blight has gone. Er, it has gone hasn't it? It won't re-activate after enough time has passed? Could it be re-activated through exposure to a new Blight source? What about the other elements, could you infuse it with Light magic? Or perhaps I might try storing electrical charge within it?"

More good questions, Terra had noticed Silver carrying it with her and wondered whether it could still be dangerous or used for something good now? She supposed it must still have a purpose or they'd have shattered it last night just like Rion had crystalized and shattered that Blight monster.

"That reminds me," Terra added, looking at Rion once more. "Light magic is very rare, where do your powers come from and how long have you had them? Are you self taught or did someone show you how to use them against the Blight?"

[Bloodbane]

Immediately, Aqua came forward with the question that everyone wanted to know; what exactly had Silver done to the crystal? For Rion, it was easy to see what had happened, and what Silver had taken upon herself in order to remove the darkness from it. To that end, Silver explained that she needed a group of people to be her protection while she used this ability she obtained from studying the information found within the book that she carried, though had not revealed to the group. She left her choice of words vague, and it was unclear just how she expected him to explain what he had done in order to save her. Should he tell the group that he had used his power to rid Silver of a darkness she had taken in as part of this process? He remained silent for the time being, simply watching the conversation as soon Terra and Lucas came in with their own questions for Silver; it was clear that based on the line of questioning that the members of the group were indeed understanding that what happened was highly unusual; whatever Silver did, it meant that she was indeed going to be an important person on this journey... which was indeed why he planned on sticking around to ensure she did not become consumed by the darkness in the process.

Once Silver had answered the further questions, Rion looked to Terra and Lucas once they began to inquire about his role in all of this. When first asked about the crystal, Rion simply nodded. "I cannot say who, nor can I truly say how the workings behind the crystal work other than what it does to the land once it is allowed to fester. I can only imagine that because they are already tainted by dark magic, they are not affected by its corruption and can thus plant the crystal where they see fit." He said, having only really dealt with a single blight mage in the past made it difficult to determine just what their patterns or ways were. Perhaps Silver had a better idea of this, given that she had managed to steal valuable information from one in the past? When Lucas asked about the crystal, Rion turned to Silver as he too was uncertain as to why she asked that they take it away. "He brings up a good point; the crystal is clearly dormant at this time... but why did you wish to retrieve it?" He said, reassuring Lucas that the crystal did indeed contain no more dark magic while also indicating that he too had no real ideas as to what the purpose of keeping it was.

Finally, Terra asked about his own powers, nodding in agreement that light magic was rare. "My powers came the same way as any mage, really; while I didn't learn of them or their importance until much later I would have had to been born with them." Rion stated, before putting a hand to his chin. When it came to his training... just how long had he been traveling before the incident? "However, my powers stray from the typical light mage; thus after a time my training was focused more on direct combat with the Blight than that of a healer. The best I can do on that front is work to overcome Blight within a person." He added, again being as truthful as he could, while refraining from going into too much detail, as even he was still trying to understand just how different his powers truly were now.

[Arashi]

Silver gave Aqua an approving look. This woman seemed kind, and accepted her less than perfect explanation. She was certain Aqua will prove to be a great ally. "Any questions that arise on our journey, please ask. I don't know everything, but some things I may be able to explain if you find yourself curious."

Silver then looked to Terra now as she asked questions, shooting a small glare at Boltin as he interrupted before she could answer. So far, Terra's questions were perfectly reasonable...but too complex to answer at this point in time.

"For my knowledge, like I said; several hundred years of wandering teaches you some things. I have focused heavily on learning about dark magic, in efforts to understand it...and stop the bad aspects of it," And maybe I have a few inside sources she thought, but...again, something that was best not mentioned. These people don't understand dark magic well enough yet. She then continued, "And as for my book, I have no clue who wrote it. I found it near a very large blight crystal."

That is omitting an awful lot of details, but it would have to do for now. Nobody needed to know of her past.

She then looked to Boltin, her eyes narrowed. Of all of them, he wanted to know way too much. His questions seemed to make her snap a little bit.

"It's far beyond your human scope of science or whatever...nor is it something just anybody can do. It would kill most. Maybe even me, if the crystal is too large. We are not spreading this knowledge beyond our small group here, understand?" Her tone left no room for argument, and was very different than how she answered the others' questions.
Of course, she failed to mention that only people capable of using dark magic can pull off this deactivation sequence; it wasn't just dragons. If anybody else found out about her ability, they may start to assume the wrong things. "I won't be one of your little experiments, so don't even think about it. Nor will I let you touch the book...but you can look at it over my shoulder if you must." She trusted Aqua to look at her book, and likely even Terra, but didn't trust Lucas now, even though it is highly unlikely he could even read it. He seemed to want to spread the word and did not understand the danger of letting others know. She turned away from Lucas at this point.

Silver then crossed her arms and listened as they spoke to Rion and as he answered their questions towards him. Everyone seemed very reasonable to her at this point, though she accepted Aqua and Terra fully. Lucas, she was not so sure about now. Just what were his intentions here?

"Adding on to Rion's point; He is correct, dark mages are not harmed by their own magic. Dark magic feeds off life force, and pretty much all of them are undead...so their life force must be infinite. This is what I have inferred, anyway...I'm not so sure on how correct that is. As for the crystals themselves, all I know about them is that they have a very powerful curse placed upon them. Otherwise, I have no clue of their origins...that is something I wish to learn." She looked at Rion, then to Terra. She figured it would be valuable information to them.

She then looked to Rion, not Lucas, as he asked why she wanted to keep the crystal.

"We can use it to create wards against the effects of being in a blighted area, long story short. I just need to find a friend for some help with that. You guys need protection against the blight; it's too dangerous to wander in it without anything. So I intend to use it for that." She nodded. This was not something she had tested before, but it was worth a try. There is no way she would want these brave people to suffer any ill effects from the blight.

"Before you ask me how that works, I have no clue. Was just some information I have come across." She replied, trying to shut down any questions before they happened. She really did have no idea how that worked. The crystals were largely a mystery to most...even to her more inside source.

"...Though, no, the crystals do not lose all of their dark magic. They retain a little bit... it's just lifted of it's curse. These crystals are dark magic in nature...they just lose their power to do anything dangerous when no longer cursed. And the curse will never come back, no, because that curse must be placed on it by someone. It cannot and will not ever be able to hurt anybody as it is now." She looked to Terra, then to Rion again, avoiding Lucas; even though he asked the question. She then tossed the crystal to Rion; trusting him with it the most, to prove her point. "See, does nothing to him." She then shrugged. "...That's all I've got. We have a lot to learn, really."

She then looked to Lucas with a glare again, now addressing his comment on trying to store different energy in the crystal.

"And you will not experiment on it. It isn't a toy." She spoke to him, glaring daggers. She had not a clue what would happen if he tried that; it might be dangerous...or it might ruin it, thus ruining their only possible future protection. Rather not find out.

"Any other questions, or shall we get moving?"

She spoke with confidence, but was anything but. She felt like she was leading innocent people to dangerous situations...but what choice did she have? Something had to stop the blight.

[Sorrum]

Aqua listened as the others made their inquiries. Terra asked some questions Aqua herself had been brewing in the back of her own mind, so she was happy to know they were on the same page. Boltin jumped right in with Terra and immediately started listing off tests and research questions, almost without stopping to take a breath. He was about as bouncy and erratic as his element's natural form. As Silver berated the mage for his behavior, she couldn't help but stifle a laugh. His energy was hitting a lightning pole with that one.

Rion gave about the same response to Terra as he had given her the night before. Not giving much information about his powers. To be expected, perhaps. They had just met yesterday and fought for mutual survival. He didn't really owe much more than that. Any more information about his powers would be voluntarily given and not inquired about, she felt. Aqua sighed.

The crystal and the book. Past her initial fascination with the half-breed dragon human and the light mage combatant, those two items had taken prominence. Rion hadn't been effected by the crystal, so it was truly inert. The idea that it could be used against blight magic made the journey this girl was on seem more important than she'd originally thought.

"I say we get going. The morning is nearly over, and if we get going we might make it to Agrova within a reasonable time frame. I'm not sure how long the trail on our unidentified foe will be around for either.." Aqua pulled her helmet from her waist and equipped it. She was ready to move on.

[Swim]

These two should run for office, Terra thought vaguely wondering if Aldur needed a new mayor, to be able to give such long non-answers to very pointed questions. To his credit Rion had given her the impression that he truly didn't know the answers, though he may just be a convincing actor. Silver though... was definitely hiding something. The way she'd snapped at Boltin confirmed it. The Lightning Mage was certainly a bit... untethered, but he was clearly the knowledgeable sort and he certainly stood a better chance than Terra did when it came to gleaming any useful information from the book or the crystal. And anything he did learn, Terra felt sure that he would reveal it to the group. Thus far he'd been far more eager to share than anyone, including Terra, had been inclined to listen.

She sighed inwardly, hoping she wouldn't have to be so direct but after such evasion she felt compelled to push one more time for answers. Frida was putting on her helmet and the group looked about ready to leave. It was now or never, hopefully they'd understand her appeal and not take too much offense. "I'm sorry but I have just one more question," she said to Silver and Rion. "Several times now I've noticed the both of you going off and having private conversations and because it makes me uneasy I'm going to be as direct as I can. What are you discussing that you aren't sharing with the rest of us?" There is was. Terra paused, exhaled and continued.

"I want to believe that I can trust you both, especially after fighting alongside you last night, but I feel that it's too much of a coincidence that two people with the power to manage Blight just happen to appear in town right before a crisis. Understand that this isn't an accusation but a request that you share what you know. Because whether or not you had advance knowledge that a Blight Crystal would threaten Aldur last night, the fact remains that up until now you have made a conscious decision to withhold information from the rest of us. And if we're going to be risking our lives with you then we need to know what you know."

And trust that I won't be stabbed in the back...

[Bloodbane]

Rion put a hand to the back of his head when Silver seemed to snap at Lucas. While it was true that learning anything from the book that could fall into the wrong hands would be bad and that anything they learned should be kept closely guarded for the time being, he had to wonder if there was a better way Silver could have handled the more inquisitive questioning. Regardless, it seemed that there was indeed more to the crystal than what Silver was getting at, as she knew that the crystal, while dark magic in nature, needed to be activated to cause the problems it did. However, he had not expected her to prove it by tossing the crystal in his direction, at which point he had turned and caught it, however doing so with his right hand which forced a somewhat awkward movement. While it was easy enough to explain that his right was his dominant hand, it was still apparent that he was avoiding the use of his armored hand to catch it. Despite this, however, a faint glow of light could be seen where his hand met the crystal, and in a similar but more subtle reaction, the point of contact took on a lighter color until he handed the crystal back to Silver.

"I... uh... might not be the best example of that. Having power over light already makes me a bit more resistant." He said, mainly to deflect from what just occurred. While it was indeed true that light mages were more resistant and could even go as far as overwhelming Blight within a person, it typically took a concerted effort to cause any changes in a more raw formation of Blight such as the crystal. Fortunately, what Terra asked afterward seemed to draw the conversation away from the crystal, and while he was certain the question would probably make Silver a bit uncomfortable for obvious reasons, he already had an answer, which at least from his side of things was nothing but the truth.

"To start things off... I only know Silver a very short time longer than anyone else here; while it is true that both of us may have some prior experience with dealing with this, our meeting was indeed a coincidence. After all, you yourself mentioned that you have at least encountered the effects these crystals have before, yes?" He asked of Terra, looking back to Silver for a second before to the rest of the group. "However, you are right... Silver wanted to speak to me privately because shortly before we ran into you she had shown me the book. Since I have been searching for any sort of information that could lead me to dealing with the Blight, I had already decided to aid her in her journey before the attack even happened. That being said, it would not be so easy to just up and reveal what she knew from the book to everyone as everything was happening; I imagine that would have been even more suspicious, so she had wanted me to be aware of at least what she was planning so I could make sure nothing happened to her as a result." He said, explaining everything from at least the conversation he had with Silver not only before the decision to take out the crystal, but even his conversation before the attack had occurred. However, he had no intention of mentioning the meeting from afterward; as far as he knew that was something only he and Silver knew about. Even then... that particular conversation was not entirely as much about what he knew regarding all of this as it had been about Silver; that was a particularly personal matter that she would have to handle as far as he was concerned.

He finally looked to Terra once more. "And that's all I know, starting from the time I met Silver yesterday up until this point. I agree that this is all quite an unusual circumstance for a group to meet so suddenly and embark on such a journey, but they say sometimes the greatest adventures start from a single chance moment. So if we're about finished here, I think it's time we got started on ours."