2018-09-07:The Snows of Zulan

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==============================<* Mount Zulan *>===============================

The largest peak on the Meribus continent, Mount Zulan is estimated to be more than five thousand feet in height. None have ever reached the summit; the peak is populated by angry and predominantly carnivorous wildlife, and the approach is treacherous. Landslides and rockfalls are common, with little warning. Despite the dangers, the mountain still attracts the occasional adventurer, drawn by rumours of ancient ruins from the first days of the Goddess's reign, said to lie buried beneath the ice and snows.


<Pose Tracker> The Missing Link has posed.

        The settlement of Zulan has endured the presence of its unwanted neighbor for months now. The snow still falls almost every night, and while the winds aren't as bone-chillingly cold as they were during the spring months, it's only a matter of time before fall returns, and then winter. No one wants to think about what might happen if the creature isn't driven off by then. Zulan has survived in no small part thanks to the efforts of brave adventurers, and now it calls upon them to deal with the menace once and for all. They have finally--finally--found the creature's lair.

        It's not a very pleasant place.

        The wendigo has made its home in a cave about three-quarters of the way up the mountain, which is about as far as anyone ascends if they hope to return to tell the tale. The ground outside is littered with chips of stone, and bones in various states of breakage. Some of them might be from deer or yak, while the gruesome skull of a Chiro Mongrel gapes from just beside the cave entrance. None of the remains are identifiably human, but that might not mean much.

        The ascent is grueling. The beast is surely nearby.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Just because he and his entire parent organization have been declared criminal elements doesn't mean Cyre is about to go hole up in a hole-in-the-wall in Azado just like that. No, he has things to do first! Commitments to keep! And up here amidst the driving snow of Mount Zulan, he has a town to protect.

Zulan was, after all, the very first settlement that the Caravan Kinship properly patronized up here on the moon. It feels wrong not being around to help punch their local man-eating snowbeast back into the stone age.

And so the shaman has come, clad in heavy robes that twist and billow in the freezing wind. He actually feels rather comfortable, to be quite honest. The cold suits him just fine.

The skulls don't. Mongrels are weird, man. What the hell kind of evolution caused those?

"Everyone doing alright?" Cyre calls back to the others. "It looks like we've found its home. Nobody here yet, though."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"Yep this is definitely the place..." Hiro calls back at Cyre.
 
"Hiro didn't Riese talk that thing down!?"
 
"She did."
 
"WELL THEN EXPLAIN THIS!"
 
Ruby points to the bones - THE BONES.
 
Hiro rubs the back of his head, the rest of him bound up in furs and looking exhausted from the ascent. "Uh. It's really stubborn?"
 
"So you're telling me that we did all of that - just to give the people of this town a reprieve!?" Hiro hesitates, thinking about the people they encountered back in the town, "... ... Sure explains why some of them were giving me those dirty looks. But we saved Maria didn't we?"
 
"Don't even talk to me about that nutball amnesiac with delusions of grandeur!"
 
"Look we'll fix this Ruby."
 
Ruby picks up a Chiro mongrel skull, putting it on her head like a helmet to give her a cubone like look as she pushes into Hiro's face. "Or it's going to fix us."

<Pose Tracker> Ree has posed.

Ree makes her way up the mountain, bundled against the cold, grunting and cursing. The villagers have offered a substantial reward -- substantial for such a small, inconsequential town anyway -- for anyone who'll bring in the beast's head (or other proof of death), and she intends to claim it.

Great, it looks like she'll have to split the reward money with others -- a double handful of humans(?) and one floating metal dragon...thing.

Ree keeps her remaining ARM close and loaded, and her sledgehammer readily strapped to her back. The other ARM has been destroyed, but she is holding on to its remains JUST in case it can be repaired, once she finds someone with the expertise. She shivers, noting the bones around the lair. This creature isn't to be taken lightly...

She acknowledges Cyre's question with a nod.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

The people of Zulan Village had been good to Jacqueline. The Caravan Kinship had stayed with them for a time, offering their assistance in dealing with the everlasting snowfall that plagued them. They had eventually parted...

...But now, Jacqueline deemed it was time to return. The creature's blizzard couldn't be allowed to continue - if the snowfall were to persist, the village's chances of enduring were slim.

"I'm alright, yes." Jacqueline says, nodding toward Cyre before looking over the rest of her group of friends. "Is everyone with me? If you haven't drunk the warming potion I gave you, do so now."

She's made sure to dress warmly for this occasion. Her potion would undoubtedly help, but...well, it was better to be ready.

"We shouldn't be...too far..." Jacqueline says, voice trailing off as she spots the gruesome entrance to the cave itself. She frowns and nods to Cyre. "...Yes. Should we lie in wait for it, or go looking?"

<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.

It's actually been a while since anyone has heard from Carina Wynne. She's been busy! Having ended up getting an apprenticeship in Lunarian tailoring from a Meribian artisan, she wound up taking it surprisingly seriously. But eventually, the news reached her ears that the members of the CaraKin are WANTED CRIMINALS?? That's concerning! Hecka concerning!!

But why are we talking about Carina Wynne? She is nowhere near Mount Zulan, surely...

"The people of Zulan cry out for help, and answering their call..."

Who is this, perched at the very top a pine tree, arms crossed, her long ponytail and red cape flying in the wind?



"Crimson Knight Locus is here, fighting for humanity's freedom!"

And with an inexplicable 'Toh!', the masked warrior leaps off, landing amidst the CaraKin group and kicking up a ton of snow. LOCUS, WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS. "Whoop! Sorry!" Her landing is otherwise flawless, at least.

"Hey, y'all!" she says, then notices the cave entrance. Her voice drops in volume. "Hey, y'all," she repeats. "I just heard we were going to kick that yeti jerk's butt? I jumped in as quickly as I could and boy, are my legs tired."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Lanval is within his bottle. He can't move freely now - or even at all - but Fox Company's got a job related to this creature's antics and destruction, and also there was another avalanche and his vessel went on another exciting journey to Jay and friends. (Don't worry, all parties are aware of the situation, Lanval will be fine enough in the CaraKin's care. They should worry more about the potion supply!!)
        He is very quiet throughout the journey towards the ominous cave, as though he has a lot to think about from word of mouth (and yes, yes he does). Where he stands on it all, now that he is DOUBLE, nay, TRIPLE, maybe even QUADRUPLE-CONDEMNED for his actions as regards the Red Priestess Mauri.
        All he knows is that he was not wrong to help them. The bottled Water Seraph may only have that thought for warmth.

<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.

Tes was still a bit banged up from the other day but there was yet another problem to handle. So here she was, bow in hand. Yes, bow she was hesitant to use her ARM generally on Lunar and today is no exception,s he's also not alone from the Caravan in responding to this problem. She was more than happy to help though as she checked her quiver and she's put on a cloak over her normal outfit given the weather issues.

 "I'm doing all right for now Cyre. Just thinking I'm going to want something hot and spicy for dinner once we're done here."

 Then Enters the Crimson Knight Kocus here to aid them all! She grins faintly before looking over to Jacquline.

 "Crazy that critters can control the elements like this. It makes a few friends back home heads explode honestly. So lets get in, get it done and make sure no one ends up dinner."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Beast has posed.

        The Beast of Lohgrin is a known presence, in Zulan. The animate statue appears, allows itself to be hitched with a sled, goes out to the massif to receive the firewood the foresters procure. It is a boon, in stormy weather, when the wind howls too sharp and cold and brings too much snow about it to venture from their homes. That statue is a thing of iron, after all, untouched by frostbite or fatigue.

        It brings water from the well to their homes when it is too cold to step outside; it carries home children who have ventured too far in their adventures and have been caught in blizzards which came too suddenly for young minds to comprehend.

        And it ever turns hollow eyes to the mountain above.

        Who commands such a construct? What force drives it to see to their protection? Ah, these are questions the villagers cannot possibly answer. Althena's Guard, perhaps, with which it first appeared. Or the now-heretical Caravan Kinship.

        The Beast of Lohgrin will have to have a conversation about that last one, at some point, but not today. Today, she is content in the knowledge that surely there has simply been another misunderstanding. The Caravan are friends, and it is with them she ascends to see to a question which has plagued them for some time: the ultimate resting-place of the Missing Link.

        It is, indeed, an animate statue, in the image of the Black Dragon, and what a strange sight it is. There is green airy energy flowing about it, for those with the Resonance to see - and a low, feminine voice. Perhaps it's strange, to see it alongside... a small and very alive dragon.

        "Were it not for their reprieves - they may not have survived long enough for us to fix this," says the facsimile to the fact.

        As THE CRIMSON KNIGHT LOCUS alights into the snow, a drift is kicked up about the Beast's plates, leaving headplates covered in white. She shakes them, and it does not completely knock off every flake.

        "I am glad to hear your potions will help with warmth," she says, to Jay. "Please be aware of the cold. Mortal flesh struggles with extreme temperatures, and I should not like to see you ill."

        She, of course, will be fine.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"I guess sometimes you can be convinced to doing something, and then change your mind later even if you're changing your mind in a bad way." Fei says, rubbing the back of his neck faintly. He looks around a bit, hesitant because the last time they faced the yeti they were nearly buried in snow after all.

He trails off, looking towards Lanval's bottle. He wonders what would happen if someone accidentally drank him. Wouldn't that be bad? Or would he just float through them? Why is he thinking about this????

<Pose Tracker> The Missing Link has posed.

        'WELL THEN EXPLAIN THIS!'

        Ruby's indignation echoes out across the mountain, and down into the yawning mouth of the cave. Something begins to stir--something just far enough away, and yet far too close.

        Crimson Knight Locus is here, fighting for humanity's freedom!'

        Cold wind blows across the adventurers gathered outside the cave. This is the only warning they get before a stalactite half the size of a wagon comes flying out of the darkness, headed right for Jay, Lanval, and Hiro! A thunderous, frenetic pounding echoes off the cave walls, as though something massive were charging out--

        Because something massive is charging out. It thunders out of the cave, and if the intruders haven't already scattered, what happens next might just ensure they do--an immense white blur rushes out from the cave, moving far faster than it has any right to, and leaps into the air. It brings both fists down in a slam that kicks up snow and rock and causes a shockwave in the process.

        This is the beast of the blizzards.

        Those who've already seen the wendigo in person can attest to it, but seeing it here puts matters into perspective once again. It's at least twelve feet tall and half as broad across, its hunched, ape-like frame corded with thick, solid muscle. Its fur blends in far too easily with the surrounding snow. The yeti draws itself up to its full height, amber eyes fixing on the intruders before it. An earth-shaking roar tears free from its throat, and it slams its fists into its chest in an unmistakable display of might.

GS: The Missing Link has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Unpleasant Welcome!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Hiro with Unpleasant Welcome!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Seraph Lanval with Unpleasant Welcome!
DC: The Missing Link switches forms to The Beast of the Blizzards!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Tesni Inoue with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Carina Wynne with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Seraph Beast with Slam!
GS: Hiro guards a hit from The Missing Link's Unpleasant Welcome for 59 hit points!
GS: Carina Wynne takes a glancing hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 78 hit points!
DC: MISS! Seraph Beast completely evades Slam from The Missing Link!
GS: Seraph Lanval takes a solid hit from The Missing Link's Unpleasant Welcome for 107 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has canceled their attack on Jacqueline Barber.
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Carina Wynne with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Seraph Beast with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Ree with Slam!
GS: Carina Wynne takes a glancing hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 154 hit points!
GS: Ree critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 27 hit points!
GS: Seraph Beast takes a glancing hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 75 hit points!
GS: Fei Fong Wong guards a hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 85 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Violent Welcome!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Hiro with Violent Welcome!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Seraph Lanval with Violent Welcome!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Carina Wynne with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Seraph Beast with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Ree with Slam!
GS: Ree guards a hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 91 hit points!
DC: MISS! Seraph Beast completely evades Slam from The Missing Link!
GS: Carina Wynne takes a solid hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 159 hit points!
GS: Hiro critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's Violent Welcome for 24 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Jacqueline Barber critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's Violent Welcome for 40 hit points!
GS: Cripple! Statuses applied to Jacqueline Barber!
<Pose Tracker> Ree has posed.

Ree quirks an eyebrow as Carina makes her entrance. Great, an overreaching optimist. Just the type to believe in True Love and Happy Endings. She gathers from the conversation among the CaraKin that they all know each other; she has to make sure they don't gang up on her. She will happily accept a warming potion from Jay -- and say thank you -- if one is offered. Her ice Symbology can only go so far in protecting her from the cold. Beast arouses her curiously -- what exactly IS she? Ree can definitely hear a female voice. She also wonders about the talking, flying cat.

Almost before she can prepare herself, a huge stalagmite comes flying out of the cave, closely by the Beast of the Blizzards itself! It sends snow and stone shooting towards her, nearly burying her and doing quite a bit of damage. She calmly --almost TOO calmly for this situation -- digs herself out, takes out her ARM, and fires, aiming for the beast's head.

GS: Ree has attacked The Missing Link with Savage Shrapnel!
GS: Ree has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Lanval takes a solid hit from The Missing Link's Violent Welcome for 164 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Ree's Savage Shrapnel for 63 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"Well I supposeeee..." Ruby seems to relent at Beast's say so because, as she flutters right beside Beast, she whispers excitedly, "You are so cool by the way? Does saying that make me uncool? I hope not! I mean even if you aren't a real dragon - presenting yourself as one is really a great fashion choice."
 
Whereas Hiro casts a glance towards the bottle, expression softening, "How are you holding up Lanval? I know things haven't been easy for-"
 
Crimson Knight Locus takes the stage!
 
Hiro's mouth is still open as if he were going to say something to Lanval, then he looks to the rest of the group and asks, "Uh- why's she wearing a mask?"
 
However then the beast appears. "Oh dragoncrap...! Hiro- Fei look out!"
 
It's too late for Hiro at least though, who even digging his heels in gets launched in the air by the Shockwave. Grabbing his boomerang mid-flight, he makes a somersault using a wind cantrip, and flings it at the creature. It arcs out, before breaking apart into two seperate boomerangs on seperate courses. That curve to slam into the creature in a one-two punch as he lands.
 
As Hiro lands, his heels skid back on the snow, panting heavily. "Any chance we can ask you to go and not trouble this town again?"
 
He says as he wipes snow off his face - seeing how angry it looks as it slams its fists into its chest. He uses this opportunity to draw his sword, a gleaming length of silver, adorned by butterflies. "Doesn't look like it."
 

GS: Hiro has attacked The Missing Link with Cross Boomerang!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
DC: MISS! Cyre H. Lorentz completely evades Slam from The Missing Link!
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.

"I'm all right," Locus tells Jay, as an aside, "this suit's actually pretty warm!"

Now, Carin-- LOCUS doesn't have the good sense to scatter away. It's been a while since she's fought, give her a break. So when the beast of the blizzards kicks up a torrent of snow and rocks, it also kicks up Locus in the process.

She screams in surprise and pain, but at least her sleek armor takes the brunt of the punishment. "Ugh! Frick!" Without much conscious input into the matter, she finds herself flipping in mid-air and kicking herself off of a flying boulder. The way he trajectory changes to make her fly towards the beast doesn't SEEM physically possible, yet here we are.

"You're an icy boy, right? Then let's heat things up!" And right in mid-air, she swaps the glowing orb in her belt for a red one...

                                ELEMENT: FIRE_

...just in time for her to swing a fist coated in flames towards the massive creature.

"Secret technique!" she announces, possibly ruining the secret, "Punch the weakness!"

GS: Carina Wynne has attacked The Missing Link with Secret Technique - Hit the Weakness!
GS: Carina Wynne has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Beast has posed.

        Ruby flutters up beside the Beast, and headplates tilt at owlish angle at the compliment. "Ah - thank you?" There's a measure of abashment to the words which don't at all fit the formal mien she presents. Of course, an iron mask is an unchanging thing. "I confess this is not a compliment I have ever heard..."

        The decision of a Seraph to inhabit a draconic vessel, after all, has certain implications which are not often praised.

        Before she can comment on THE CRIMSON KNIGHT LOCUS and her heroic deeds, however - there is cold wind, and upon it, ill portent. Heralded by its icicle, the Beast of Blizzards charges, and the Beast of Lohgrin leaps just before its fists come down against the ground. She is the wind; she is utterly untouched in her swiftness.

        Of course, she is not jumping away - she is jumping towards.

        She leaps into the face of the wendigo, large enough even to dwarf her draft-horse height, and metal claws tear into it as top and bottom headplates contract against its flesh.

GS: Seraph Beast has attacked The Missing Link with Leap and Tear!
GS: Seraph Beast has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

It had been far too long since she had heard those words. Jacqueline sends Carina - er, Locus - a friendly smile.

"It's good to see you again, Crimson Knight Locus, and yes, that's right. We'd be glad to have your assistance in this endeavor." Jacqueline says. ...It's all a formality for those who haven't been informed of her true identity, though.

And then, of course, there's the Beast. She gets a nod and a smile as well.

"Don't worry, I came prepared." She says with a hint of pride. "...But I do appreciate the concern!"

Before she can say anything further, however, a massive stalactite comes hurtling out of the cave.

"Look out!" Jacqueline shouts, leaping away from the impact zone just in time. Unfortunately, it lands with such force that snow and debris is kicked up, splattering Jacqueline and forcing her to backpedal.

"A-ah! My glasses..." Jacqueline whines, shutting her eyes tight and trying to clean them off. She finds herself temporarily blinded. "I can't see anything! Is everyone alright?"

As she shouts she rummages through her bags and pulls out a bottle which she proceeds to hurl in the direction she assumed the foe to be in. She can't see it...but she can feel it, in a way.

On contact with anything it'll erupt into a plume of flame. It looks like she, too, is aiming for that weak spot.

GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked The Missing Link with Apothecary's Fire!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
GS: Tesni Inoue critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 31 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        "..." Quoth the official dialogue box from Lanval for Hiro, as the young man inquires to the Seraph's well-being. "'m..." The stalactite, in flight, looses the bottle from whomever's possession it was in - this may be a vague matter but it's out of anyone's hands now. It's also out of anyone's hands in the physical sense, too, as it pierces through said bottle...
        The vessel bottle shatters, and an aquamarine spark jostles into sight that further materializes into an obese, disheveled, barefoot (in this weather?!), long-bearded wastrel who lies sprawled on the ground. Glass shards scatter in the blizzard winds, indistinguishable from the shards of ice that fill the space before the creature's den. Now he's there, out in the open, feeling exposed and vulnerable - moreso than usual.
        He almost seems as though he feels like just laying in the snow and pretending the flesh has been stripped off his bones like all those skulls over there, but he lacks bones, and probably flesh. He can just lay there perfectly fine as he is, watching loud crimson-hued bug-armored people do what they do. He used to do a lot of watching around for a good five-hundred years.
        The terrifying master monster of the blizzards pounds their chest and makes a big show of their strength... and how! His body flips once as the ground suffers a seismic force that flips him face-down instead. Their very roar could (and probably will) send another avalanche down upon the lot of them.
        "Mmm... ph." Lanval doesn't get up. He hefts up his gourd on a rope. The rope is detached from his person with just a tug...
        And he flings the gourd at it, like one might a wadded up ball of paper rather than with the force of a soldier's morningstar.
        "Keep it dowwwwwn..." He seems to have trouble mustering up the will.

GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked The Missing Link with Bonk!
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Carina-- no, the Crimson Knight Locus comes crashing down RIGHT NEXT TO CYRE. She kicks up a great big puff of snow. The shaman goes abruptly still as he's covered in a fine dusting of frost. "Hi, Locus," Cyre deadpans, "Always have to make an ent--"

Wait.

Cyre's ears swivel toward the cave.

Something's coming.

With a curse on his lips, Cyre leaps back as the wendigo thunders out of its cave. The last time he saw this thing, Cyre was a giant tiger and had recently uppercutted it over the mountain summit.

Funny. It doesn't look too badly uppercutted right now.

Shells of ice and snow belie the massive shockwaves the wendigo emits. It's only by virtue of his extraordinary hearing that Cyre managed to get out of the way in time. "This is no time for diplomacy," He hops back once, twice, unlimbering the massive rifle slung up over his shoulder. "This thing's had plenty of opportunities to get gone. We need to deal with it now, before it hurts anyone else!" Dropping down low into a snowbank, Cyre aims and fires once, twice, three times.

Guns are like diplomacy. Except better.

GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked The Missing Link with Deadly Sequence!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action.
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Hiro's Cross Boomerang for 95 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Carina Wynne's Secret Technique - Hit the Weakness for 49 hit points!
GS: Fei Fong Wong guards a hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 91 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.

It does not take long for the group to get eyes on the target, Tess is a littel distracted by what appears to br a dragonjoining them. She's about to say more but then comes the cold wind, Tes draws her bow and notches an arrow in it, it's a good thing too, as well? They found the target and it's rushing them all she leaps back only getting clipped by the thing rather than getting caught full on. Even befoer she lands she's letting the arrow fly.

 "Like we got the things attention! Hey fluff ball where here to evict you!"

GS: Tesni Inoue has attacked The Missing Link with Shooting!
GS: Tesni Inoue has completed her action.
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Seraph Beast's Leap and Tear for 65 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! The Missing Link guards a hit from Seraph Lanval's Bonk for 21 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Tesni Inoue's Shooting for 56 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Deadly Sequence for 122 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Jacqueline Barber's Apothecary's Fire for 88 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to The Missing Link!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei says, "shit." as Ruby's voice and Crimson Knight Locus's voice echo throughout the cave. He even grimaces faintly but it's not the worst thing to draw out the beast this way rather than advancing directly into its lair. Or at least, that's what Fei would normally think. Ruby shouts a warning and he braces himelf but even braced as he is, he's still knocked flat on his back when the MISSING LINK crashes into him like the latest Zelda project.

He is dizzied on the floor for a bit, groaning as he places his hand to his forehead and gazes up at the wendigo. He exhales faintly and adds, "You wanna go again?"

He flips back onto his feet. "You wanna go again!?"

That sudden fierceness may be surprising but maybe he's being a little fierce here because he's had a pretty rough munch. He throws a series of quick palm strikes for the beast to try and force it back.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked The Missing Link with Hagan!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Fei Fong Wong's Hagan for 87 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> The Missing Link has posed.

        The yeti does not seem impressed by the little human-thing pointing some sort of human-thing tool at it. It's seen more than its fair share of those, and its response to Ree is to charge right at her, heedless of the fact she's got a gun pointed at its head. Not even the bang of the gunsmoke ARM gets much of a response--the shot goes wild, punching a small bloody divot in the yeti's chest. And then it's suddenly right up in Ree's personal space, close enough to her that she can see the scars on its face, and smell its rancid breath. It balls up a massive fist and slams it down at the Geohound with bone-crushing force. Hiro's boomerang catches it across the back of the arm before it can do anything more, probably sparing Ree from further mauling. The yeti swats the back of a hand at the flying thing that just hurt it, as though trying to knock the weapon out of the way, and then charges Hiro. Its gait is something like a gorilla's, if that gorilla were over twelve feet tall and furious. It reaches out to grab Hiro's cloak, twist, and then--

        CRIMSON KNIGHT LOCUS to the rescue! And really, she can't be blamed for thinking that something that lives here might be weak to fire. However, the yeti's mountainous physique is quite resistant to punches. Carina's fist slams into the monster's gut, connecting with a mighty thwock, but all that does is ensure she's its next target. If Hiro has duly gotten grabbed, then he and Locus are going to get to know each other.

        Someone a bit more metallic than the mighty Crimson Knight rushes in next. The Beast of Lohgrin finds purchase with both claws and talons, forcing the Beast of the Blizzards back a half-step. The yeti roars, blood dripping down its face and chest from where the Seraph wounded it. It reaches out to grab any part of her it can reach, and then slam the lot of her against the rocky ground.

        Jay's fire is a bit more successful, largely by virtue of being loosely-targeted. The liquid catches fire on exposure to air, and as it so happens, it's exposed to air as it drenches the wendigo's fur. Suddenly on fire, the monster whirls on Jay, and then--

        *bonk*

        Lanval's gourd bounces off its head. Those beady golden eyes turn to the Seraph. Fei's palm strikes hit home, one after another, but as he will surely notice, the challenge in this case is not so much hitting the creature, as hitting it hard enough. The martial artist drives it back, into Tesni's arc of fire, where arrows slam into its hide. Cyre's bullets take chunks out of it--bloody holes that would surely fell any lesser creature instantly. It sweeps an arm out in a wild swing, trying to catch Lanval, Carina, and, Fei, and Jay with the same strike.

GS: The Missing Link has attacked Ree with Brutal Knuckle!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Hiro with Mighty Throw!
GS: The Missing Link takes 5 damage from Poison!
GS: The Missing Link has completed its action.
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Carina Wynne with Mighty Throw!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Seraph Beast with Brutal Knuckle!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked The Missing Link with Wintry Winds!
GS: The Missing Link has entered a Reflect stance!
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from The Missing Link's Wintry Winds for 0 hit points!
GS: Shield! Statuses applied to The Missing Link!
GS: Cover! Statuses applied to The Missing Link!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Seraph Lanval with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Unchecked Aggression!
GS: The Missing Link has entered a Reflect stance!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Tesni Inoue with Slam!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Slam!
GS: Ree guards a hit from The Missing Link's Brutal Knuckle for 103 hit points!
GS: Jacqueline Barber critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's Unchecked Aggression for 30 hit points!
GS: Hiro guards a hit from The Missing Link's Mighty Throw for 106 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> The Missing Link has posed.

        The wind, as some here can surely notice, starts to respond to the creature's presence. That last swing whips up a ferocious air current, which quickly turns into a localized vortex of bone-chillingly harsh winter air. Is it shielding itself? Can it do that?

GS: Carina Wynne guards a hit from The Missing Link's Mighty Throw for 106 hit points!
GS: Fei Fong Wong guards a hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 97 hit points!
DC: MISS! Seraph Lanval completely evades Slam from The Missing Link!
<Pose Tracker> Ree has posed.

Ree watches in consternation as Fei takes on the creature hand-to-hand. Definitely not the approach she'd use! She'd prefer to stay at a distance and blast the thing into oblivion -- which she has just tried, and failed. The creature barrels right up to her, swinging its mighty fist, and CRUNCH! Down she goes with bruised and fractured ribs! Thankfully, it turns to deal with Hiro's boomerang, and Ree seizes the chance to scramble away. She winces. Those ribs hurt.

She aims for the beast's midsection this time. Eye for an eye and all that.

 Now it's personal.

GS: Ree has attacked The Missing Link with Vicious Gut Shot!
GS: Ree has completed her action.
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Ree's Vicious Gut Shot for 124 hit points!
GS: Tesni Inoue critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's Slam for 30 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"Really? Never? Wow... people out there just don't know a trendsetter when they see one."
 
Hiro manages to catch his boomerang on the return flight. However then the thing is charging up in his face and - "Aw crud."
 
With little fanfare he's ripped off his feet by his cloak, and thrown about in the air with ease. There's little to do about this situation. Except...
 
Mid-flight he unstraps his shield.
 
He hits the mountain snow heavily. Rolling in a haphazard way until he happens to get his feet under him. One of his feet is strapped on the shield, the other is balanced on the edge. Sliding around in a curve, he skims up snow in his impromptu shieldboarding feat.
 
Giving the creature a look that seems pained, but mostly whimsical. Like despite how dire the situation is, he's having some fun. "Hiro really!? Take this seriously! You could have been crushed!"
 
"Don't worry - I am - huh-!" As he notes how it's bringing the wind as it's shield, "It's doing this again. Dang... I wish I knew how to do that trick."
 
Kicking his foot forward into the snow, he heads towards the thing on his shield, whipping his sword up in a rotating arc that seems to draw in the winds as well. As he slides past it, he cuts his sword in a vicious arc - sending out a vacuum slice that he hopes will somehow penetrate that wind barrier. "Set it up and take it down!"
 

GS: Hiro has spent 3 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Hiro has attacked The Missing Link with Sybillium Sword!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.

"Whoof!" Locus narrowly avoids colliding with Hiro in mid-air, but the bad news is that she is still hit hard and is sent flying right back. She skids in the snow, her landing only semi-controlled as she starts to have a ringing headache.

"Okay," she thinks out loud, "maybe goin' punch-to-punch with you's not the greatest idea. So instead, I'mma match your cleverness with mine!!" Please, no one say a word. She reaches for one of her wrist guards, unclasping from it a piece of shining metal covered in glowing runes. It lights on fire in her hand.

"And I've got a special trick for you! You'll never see it coming! Dodge this! UNEXPECTED! RETURN! BOOOOOMERANG!"

And she launches the flying, flaming weapon. It isn't meant to hit immediately, but rather fly past the beast and THEN... well, there comes phase 2 of Carina's clever plan. Gosh, what could a boomerang possibly do after missing its target?!

...Though even this might not go according to plan, as the mighty blizzard rises, possibly throwing off the boomerang's trajectory. Behind her mask, Carina puffs up her cheeks in annoyance.

GS: Carina Wynne enters a Counter stance!
GS: Carina Wynne has attacked The Missing Link with Unexpected Return Boomerang!
GS: Carina Wynne has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Beast guards a hit from The Missing Link's Brutal Knuckle for 103 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"Don't worry if you can't figure out what's coming-" Hiro calls to the Yeti after Locus' attack.
 
"Hiro for the love of the Goddess Althe-"
 
"-It'll come back to you!"
 
"HIRO!"
 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Beady golden eyes fall upon a pathetic lump of fat. Lanval's eyes are closed, less from pleasant drunken napping and more like someone who just wants to have a nice, long night's rest and not be bothered. There's not a speck of joy from the watery spirit.
        He grunts as he helps himself up. There's no cartoonish rhythm to the way he sways and stumbles past the wide, swinging arms of the Missing Link that could take his head clean off his shoulders if only his anatomy worked that way. He grabs the rope and picks back up his gourd less with the urgency of a warrior recovering their weapon and more someone just trying to pick up their trash as ambient dispersed seismic forces void his balance and send him face-down in the cold snow again.
        How does Hiro and Ruby do it? Maintaining such cheer and determination before all the Church of Althena has said and thrown their way?
        How does Jay do it, maintaining her desire to want to help people when few are likely to thank her for her contributions to heresy?
        How does his friend Fei keep finding a way to satisfy his need to seek danger?
        How does the bug woman thing work?
        Why are there so many fire adepts? Is the Fengalon devout over there also a fire adept too? He's got one of the weird fire wands.
        ...
        What of the other Seraph here, in the statue? What will she say, or do?
        ...
        Lanval gets out the kiseru-style smoking pipe he has. Maybe getting in on that breathing thing mortals do will calm his mind some... but he can't manage much of a focus there.
        He taps his finger on the shaft as the end of it points off to the side. Some water slips out, coincidentally underfoot of the rampaging beast. They might stumble or slip, but that'd be a momentary inconvenience at best.

GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked The Missing Link with Can't Even Get A Good Smoke In!
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.

Locus wants to high-five Hiro but is too far away!! What a predicament our heroes (Hiroes?) find themselves in.

GS: CRITICAL! The Missing Link guards a hit from Hiro's Sybillium Sword for 222 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Seraph Lanval's Can't Even Get A Good Smoke In for 30 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link critically Guards a hit from Carina Wynne's Unexpected Return Boomerang for 0 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline doesn't hear any response to her question. She does hear the sound of shattering glass, which elicits a wince from her. She has no idea what it means for the Seraph that was inside, but she can only hope he managed to escape in time.

She keeps trying to clean off her glasses...but the vicious beast in front of them does not seem willing to give her the time to do so.

She can hear it barreling toward her and she dives behind the stalactite at the last second for cover. Its massive fist crashes right through it, sending shards of ice and stone everywhere. Some of them pelt her, eliciting a wince.

"I think we've made it angry... Keep going!" Jacqueline calls out, then starts to listen. Now that she has some cover, she can finally clean her glasses off properly. She pops up behind the stalactite and gestures toward the yeti, sending a bolt of lightning crashing down toward its head.

GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked The Missing Link with Lightning Strike!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong frowns as he punches the beast and it just stands there and takes it. He tries punching again. He looks up at the snowbeast. "...Um." He says before he suddenly is seized up by his neck and lifted into the air and slammed so deep down into the snow that only his head is visible.

Fei says, "Hiro..." He says. "Hiro this is not pleasant, Hiro."

He wiggles in place from side to side from within the snow in an attempt to free himself. Wobble wobble wobble.

"...ugh..." Fei says, grimacing before he bursts into flames and---snow melts around him and water gets into his boots and it's really awful and steam is blowing off of him and it's still reallyawful.

"Nhh..." Fei grunts before he throws himself like a flying fireball right into The Missing Link. If hitting it with punches didn't work, well, hitting harder IS the challenge right?

Fei can do that. Yessirree.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has spent 3 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked The Missing Link with Kakei!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Beast has posed.

        There is, indeed, an awful lot of fire here, and some of it comes uncomfortably close as the Beast of Lohgrin gets up and personal in savaging the Beast of Blizzards. It slams her downwards, grasping at one broad chestpiece; the rest of her follows in loose concordance, unwilling to lose any one piece of herself. Dunked right into the snow.

        But she is not the only one in the snow - is she? Even as he rises up out of it, lethargic.

        There was a sound which echoed through the air like a mourner's cry, a shattering of something precious, and as the Beast pulls herself back into configuration those hollow eyes look to the Seraph she has seen once and again.

        "That was..." She pauses, a note of hesitation. "... your vessel, was it not..?" And there is sadness, there.

        The wind picks up, and it is balmy summer breeze as it curls around Lanval's regrettable form. All those lovely picnics - and lazy, enjoyable days. "... please hold on!"

GS: Seraph Beast has attacked Seraph Lanval with Fortifying Tailwind!
GS: Seraph Beast has completed her action.
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Jacqueline Barber's Lightning Strike for 93 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! The Missing Link critically Guards a hit from Fei Fong Wong's Kakei for 47 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Ha-ha! Take a look at that. Giant moon snow monsters clearly have no appreciation for the finer points of Filgaian gunplay. The shaman leaps out of his snowbank in a plume of frost. The beast's rage doubles as it flails and strikes with bestial precision at the world around it.

But, conveniently, not at Cyre himself.

The shaman takes the momentary reprieve to do what he always does when a great big burly enemy gives him a moment to breathe. That is: Set up even more bullet.

Or in this case, laser.

You see, Cyre is all too keenly aware that a beast of ice probably does not give too much of a damn about your plain old ordinary wind spells, and penetrating that shell is going to be more effort than its worth. But--

  • crack*


Cyre's reverie breaks, he stares for a moment at Lanval as the seraph tumbles out of his shattered Vessel. He looks from Lanval to Beast to Lanval to Beast again, clearly not quite appreciating just how terrible it must be to lose a Vessel, but...

Well. He can tell enough that it's not pleasant.

And so the next time Cyre fires, his barrage is accompanied by a torrent of brilliant, prismatic light. That wind shell might be able to turn away his usual fare, but can it deflect lasers?

GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked The Missing Link with Valkyrie!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! The Missing Link critically Guards a hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Valkyrie for 30 hit points!
GS: Mute! Statuses applied to The Missing Link!
GS: Hyper and Quick! Statuses applied to Cyre H. Lorentz!
GS: Seraph Lanval takes a solid hit from Seraph Beast's Fortifying Tailwind for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield! Statuses applied to Seraph Lanval!
<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.

The Yeti is not happy with Tess, and it's clealy going to be a bad night for her or is it? She's got plenty of arrows left as the entire battle contiunes on. Then comes the winds picking up? Wait it's protecting it? This is going to make it a hard nut to crack as it charges her again and she fits another arrow and lets it fly, nothing fancy for now she's just keeping up with the rate of fire to help distract it when another attack comes her way, She's able to brac eher self this time for the moment and is only lightly injured she's been veyr lucky so far.

GS: Tesni Inoue has attacked The Missing Link with Rapid Fire!
GS: Tesni Inoue has completed her action.
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Tesni Inoue's Rapid Fire for 76 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> The Missing Link has posed.

        'DODGE THIS!' roars Crimson Knight Locus. The yeti does not dodge. Instead, its massive hand whips out, backhanding Carina's boomerang before it can make impact. Where does it fly off to? Probably somewhere inconvenient. At least its sacrifice is not in vain. It gives Ree time to line up another shot, and fire. This time, the Geohound hits something more than just muscle. Her bullet slams into the yeti's abdomen in a crimson spray, and the creature doubles over around the point of impact. It sucks in a hiss of breath, and bellows at her, only for Hiro's vacuum blade to slam right through that winter-wind shield it just invoked. The yeti staggers back, a brand-new slash running along the length of its entire torso, and horrible fury in its eyes. If it slips just a little on Lanval's spilled puddle while doing so, well, that's probably no big deal, right?

        Jay's lightning bolt slams into the monster's shoulder, electricity coursing through its enormous frame. Its fur still smolders from Jay's earlier attack, though the curtain of wind around it means the flames are dying faster than the alchemist might like. Fei Fong Wong recovers from being pile-driven into the snow, which is more than many people who've fought this thing have done. The martial artist turns himself into a torpedo of sorts, blazing brightly as he launches himself at the beast. The impact knocks the yeti back, its feet skidding in the snow as it fights to stay upright. Cyre's brilliant, prismatic beam glances off its shoulder, and it howls in pain. Tesni's arrows sink into its leg, but it makes no attempt to pull them out--nor the other ones she landed on it earlier.

        The beast beats its chest, and lets loose with a hideous, blood-curdling roar. Its voice echoes off the rock faces, off the frozen surfaces off lakes and rivers, down the mouths of caves. Maybe it's just the thing to trigger an event that would've happened anyway. Maybe the land itself is responding to the yeti, somehow. But either way, the result is the same--a curtain of white suddenly falls across half the battlefield, potentially sweeping half the group with it as it continues on its rush down the face of the mountain.

        Towards Zulan.

GS: The Missing Link has attacked Carina Wynne with Thundering Avalanche!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Seraph Beast with Thundering Avalanche!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Seraph Lanval with Thundering Avalanche!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Thundering Avalanche!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Thundering Avalanche!
GS: The Missing Link enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Ree with Furious Howl!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Furious Howl!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Tesni Inoue with Furious Howl!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Hiro with Furious Howl!
GS: The Missing Link has completed its action.
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz takes a glancing hit from The Missing Link's Thundering Avalanche for 175 hit points!
GS: Jacqueline Barber critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's Thundering Avalanche for 86 hit points!
GS: Hiro critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's Furious Howl for 0 hit points!
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Hiro!
GS: Ree takes a glancing hit from The Missing Link's Furious Howl for 0 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Ree!
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Ree!
GS: COUNTER! Carina Wynne strikes at The Missing Link with a counter attack!
GS: Carina Wynne takes a glancing hit from The Missing Link's Thundering Avalanche for 94 hit points!
GS: Seraph Beast takes a solid hit from The Missing Link's Thundering Avalanche for 158 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Carina Wynne's Counter Attack for 94 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Ree has posed.

Ree throws herself to one side just in time to avoid the avalanche that is threatening to carry half the company away. The Beast of the Snows strikes at her furiously but misses. It bellows in frustration and rage as she reloads, takes careful aim, fires...

She backpedals quickly, getting out of its range before it can strike again. Will it follow her? If it doesn't, she may be able to help some of the avalance victims. That's one good use for the rope she's carrying! And any people she rescues will owe her.

Yes, that sounds like a plan.

GS: Ree has attacked The Missing Link with Vicious Gut Shot!
GS: Ree has completed her action.
GS: Fei Fong Wong guards a hit from The Missing Link's Furious Howl for 0 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Fei Fong Wong!
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Fei Fong Wong!
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Ree's Vicious Gut Shot for 120 hit points!
GS: Seraph Lanval critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's Thundering Avalanche for 67 hit points!
GS: Tesni Inoue takes a glancing hit from The Missing Link's Furious Howl for 0 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Tesni Inoue!
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Tesni Inoue!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Beast has posed.

        The Beast of Lohgrin is a known presence, in Zulan. It is animate statue which retrieves their firewood, sees to their care, protects their children.

        And perhaps she cannot speak with them - but she knows them.

        The ubiquitous shopkeeper's daughter is a shy girl with an innocent crush on the blacksmith's apprentice, because she always has time to talk about what she's doing to the other girl. She does this because she appreciates having someone to explain things to. It helps her to better understand the principles she's learning.

        There is a young man who feels lost in his youth, who has been inspired by the drifters who have come from far and wide to help his village with its problems. He wants to go out into the world and make a difference, too. But his father's father was a soldier - and he is so terrified of his son being hurt that he is harsh in his reprimands.

        There is an old man who has seen winters he would call so much worse than the Beast of Blizzard's horrific efforts, who has known the pain of deciding whether to eat his own horse. He is an embittered thing who refuses to let the trials of the village stop his day-to-day life. His granddaughter is constantly stressed as she finds him in the cold, dragging him inside. She says one day it will kill him. He says - it's welcome to try.

        There is...

        ... there are...

        ... so many.

        The wendigo roars, and brings forth the most horrible expression of its icy powers: the avalanche. "No!" Screams the Beast of Lohgrin, and in this moment she is all fury. The ice crumbles and roars. "Slay the creature - I will not let this pass!"

        And there is the immense pressure of ice and rock and debris, pouring down, and the Beast moves with it instead of leaping away, and for a moment it seems as if she is consumed by the torrent -

        - before a gale blows out ahead of her, and she pulls ahead of the rolling disaster coursing down.

        She is the wind. She is swift enough for this.

        And she will stop the avalanche before it consumes the town and all those people who do not realise she knows them so well.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"Sorry Fei! I just get a little too into it sometimes." These are the kinds of fights he enjoys. The kind where there's no conflict. Where he can just open up and enjoy the fact that he's fighting to help people. Not fighting like... say one of Althena's Heroes, or the Legendary Shepherd - or a girl who was just so overwhelmed with self-loathing that malevolence took her over, "I make no excuses for him Fei!"
 
The crack however draws Ruby's eyes. Blink blink - then suddenly she's taken aback. "Ahhhh! Oh crud! There's malevolence on this mountain too! You're going to be okay right?"
 
However then the creature's furious howl - the sheer anger in it nearly knocks Hiro off his impromptu board, as he hastily covers one ear with a hand and squinches his other against his shoulder. It feels like it was melting his insides, twisting around his guts as it throws off his equilibrium.
 
And then the mountain shudders - and then it starts to fall. Towards...
 
"The town!"
 
Now Hiro isn't having fun anymore... jutting a hand out, he hastily says an incantation and-
 
Beast is already there. "Are you sure!?" "Hiro if she says she's got this! She's got it!"
 
Hiro hesitates and instead points his hand at the creature, "Ferocious Winds!"
 
He's not a strong enough mage to try to rip control of the winds away from it. Instead he creatures a counter-current within it's shield of wind. A battering - cutting cyclone that tries to drive into the Wendigo - dead center.
 

GS: Hiro has attacked The Missing Link with Cyclone!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.

Carina frowns behind her mask as the boomerang is knocked away by the wendigo's massive hand, but cheers as it continues spinning in mid-air and flies right back for the creature, reigniting in the process. This isn't even remotely how boomerangs work, but Locus seems to be fine with this outcome.

"Yesss, just as planned!" She pumps a fist, but then OH NO AVALAN--

"Oh, no you won't!" Locus calls out, as she notices the avalanche's trajectory. Her tactic, then, is to run towards it, firing balls of flame from her fists in an effort to somehow stem the tide. It works, though only to a limited effect. And soon, the situation gets too hot to handle... "Aw, frick!" It seems someone else will have to do something cool to handle this.

Locus leaps over the wave of snow, falling back slowly as if in (appropriately enough) lunar gravity. As she lands, she takes a few seconds to pant from exertion, her body arching before rising back up. She looks back to see the results of the Beast's sacrifice. Is she gonna be okay? Carina REALLY hopes she'll be okay. But for now, she returns her attention to the yeti.

"Now you've really done it!" she cries out, holding her hand out in front of her. In a glint of light, a translucent, red-hilted magenta blade appears, already igniting with the flames Locus has been using so far.


"Why do you gotta make life so hard for the people down there? It's like you've got a bone to pick with 'em! Well, we've got a bone to pick with you! Several bones! Anyway, guess what I'm sayin' is... BRAVE BLADE!"

A localized storm of flames has gathered, swirling around the weapon. Locus slashes in the air diagonally, gathering it into a crescent of flames that suspends in mid-air until she slashes again, joining it with another to form a sharp-looking, burning X. This symbol reflects Locus' opinion of the yeti!!

"LOCUSABEEEEEER!" And with a dramatically extended hand, the result of Locus' dramatic special move flies towards the creature! If THIS doesn't cut through its thick hide, perhaps nothing will.

GS: Carina Wynne has attacked The Missing Link with Brave Blade - Locusaber!!
GS: Carina Wynne has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

With her glasses now clear, Jacqueline climbs over what's left of the stalactite and prepares to renew the assault. Before she can do anything, however...the yeti lets out a massive roar. The sheer force of it brings her to her knees.

...But then, she can hear a rumbling.

"That's...!" Jacqueline says, but she isn't capable of completing her sentence before it comes. The avalance comes roaring down the mountain, crushing all in its path. And in the path of its descent...

Zulan.

Jacqueline pales. She realizes what is about to happen.

"No...!" She breathes out. Before she can do anything about it, she finds herself swept up in the avalanche as well.

She shuts her eyes tight, but she does not go nearly as far as she expected. She finds the avalanche's progress stalled...

...by the Beast of Lohgrin.

Jacqueline stares at her in awe...and then, she nods determinedly.

"...Right! Hang in there, Beast! We'll make you proud!" She says, digging herself out of the snow. From with her bags, she draws out a tablet of stone.

"...Grudiev! See us through!" Jacqueline entreats, calling upon the Guardian's aid. And Grudiev answers - arising behind her and drawing debris into the vents on her back before expelling it back toward her and her allies in the form of a shining barrier.

"Everyone! Our friend's given us a task. We can't let her down!" Jacqueline calls out.

GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Carina Wynne with Material - Earthen Embrace!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Hiro with Material - Earthen Embrace!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Ree with Material - Earthen Embrace!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Tesni Inoue with Material - Earthen Embrace!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Material - Earthen Embrace!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Material - Earthen Embrace!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Seraph Lanval with Material - Earthen Embrace!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
GS: Shield! Statuses applied to Ree!
GS: Jacqueline Barber heals Ree! She gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield! Statuses applied to Hiro!
GS: Jacqueline Barber heals Hiro! He gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield! Statuses applied to Fei Fong Wong!
GS: Jacqueline Barber heals Fei Fong Wong! He gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield! Statuses applied to Tesni Inoue!
GS: Jacqueline Barber heals Tesni Inoue! She gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield! Statuses applied to Carina Wynne!
GS: Jacqueline Barber heals Carina Wynne! She gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield! Statuses applied to Seraph Lanval!
GS: Jacqueline Barber heals Seraph Lanval! He gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Hiro's Cyclone for 81 hit points!
GS: Shield! Statuses applied to Cyre H. Lorentz!
GS: Jacqueline Barber heals Cyre H. Lorentz! He gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Carina Wynne's Brave Blade - Locusaber! for 110 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Sympathy and concern is given towards Lanval and his situation - which is a gesture that should mean a lot more, when it is being given in a time where everyone's lives are in danger. Not just theirs, but the nearby village...!
        The Beast of Lohgrin asks a question not in mockery or in disgust, but with genuine concern, and one of Lanval's eyes open half-lidded in their direction as a pleasant breeze wafts through. Pleasant... warm. He could lie down and nap in it.
        He looks like he just might, the way he lies back down in the snow while blood, snow, roars, yells, and other seismic events happen.
        "...Yer showin' me kindnessh." Should she not? He didn't think he'd have anything resembling a friend among his own kind now. The Goddess has fully condemned him in whole. The Fallen Seraph, he is referred to as. (That's physically sort of true? He is lying down.)
        He wants to hear the answer to this question so much that the monumental avalanche finds itself with a forced break as he throws an arm up to a Seraphic Arte that brings forth a great wave of water. It freezes into an icy barricade against the immense cold, and the chaotic cacophony washes around and past. He cannot begin to appreciate how narrowly he evades his own demise as some of it spills up and over to batter him, in a moment of self-centered introspection.
        The Beast does not have the chance to answer. Lanval might be content, if absentmindedly, to let it all pass. She is not.
        Selflessly, the Beast of Lohgrin, a Seraph of Wind, rides the gale to chase it down and stop it. the Water Seraph opens up the other eye, half-lidded, so he can blink properly. She's not one of the enshrined - not a Lord of the Land - but yet she feels enough care and concern for the mortals beyond that she's willing to sacrifice a lot to go there for them.
        Ghaleon's right, he thinks. There will be others.
        It's a reassuring thought. He doesn't dwell upon where he can possibly go after the fact, but if there's still Seraphim like her around... some things will turn out okay. Maybe not everything.
        Rising back up with a gentle smile on his face, Lanval turns his head over to the creature of a deafening, blood-curdling roar. It is still a deafening, blood-curdling roar, and it loosens the little icy barricade he made, dumping more of that ice and snow on him.
        Lanval has a short laugh, like the whole picture were funny in a sad way. He's not moving or acting quite as urgently as he ought to, but Lanval tends to act on his own pace. Through Jay, the Guardian of Earth appears and gives their blessing with a dusty, rocky-powered barrier that... come to think of it he kind of has a few problems moving around in?
        On the whole it's a boon, though.
        Taking the rope that holds the gourd, Lanval whirls it about, spinning it like a wheel as he ambles in the direction of the gigantic embodiment of the cold - unyielding, harsh, blocking out all light and warmth. An irredeemable creature of sheer hatred who cannot be reasoned with.
        They can be berated with multiple strikes of a gourd, though.
        "Hm, hm, hm." There is mirthful chuckling. "I know naught what you have had, but you have had enough of it." So he declares. It would appear all gathered have had enough of it... ha ha ha!"

GS: Seraph Lanval enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked The Missing Link with Water Wheel!
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong says, "It's okay," to Ruby. "We all have our foibles! I think it's charming! At least so long as he doesn't keep..." Fei cracks a small grin. "...returning to it."

There's a blood curdling roar. Fei shakes briefly, falling behind rather than immediately being able to give chase. He takes in deep breath and shakes out his hands, flicking off snow and dripping wetly from all the water that he melted around him. He is, strangely enough, sweating despite the chill. Probably from all that fire.

Wait did Hiro just say 'Dodge This?'

No, it was the mysterious Metal Digger Locus which gives him a doubletake. Grudiev shields him and that gets him moving.

He runs after the beast even as it absconds, trying to land feet first against its back and push it down, turning it into an impromptu set of skis.

At least...that's the idea, but it's altogether possible they'll just end up tumbling embarrassingly together.

Or the beast might rip off his legs.

Hmm, maybe Fei should have thought this through a bit better.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked The Missing Link with Yin Yang Strike!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.

The Missing Link is pretty strong the thing is taking all of the assault form the party and keeps going and it lets out a roar she's not even being able to check her shots as she's trying to keep on the move. The roar? That is the sort of roar that a person can't really forget and then comes the snow at them and heaing towards the town, oh heck. This is not good. She's able to avoid being swept away, which is good for her, the town? She's not sure how to do something to stop that avalanche.

 She is bit beat up and that lesser problem is solved.

 It seems the Dragon has an idea and it's power ove the wind seems to be be set to deal with the snow threatning the town, okay there's only one problem left now. The Yeti, that's a vast improvement over several seconds ago.

 She doesn't use an arrow this time she reaches out with her mind to slap the Yetti in the face with pure force.

 "Thanks Jay!"

GS: Tesni Inoue enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Tesni Inoue has attacked The Missing Link with TK Lash!
GS: Tesni Inoue has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

It's said that Leitea Salk takes the form of a stalking beast to punish those who stray too close to sacred mountaintops, appearing in the midst of a blizzard to devour those who do not heed the ancient warnings. Could this so-called Wendigo share some strange origin to the Guardian of Ice and Snow? No, it's nothing but an imitation; Cyre knows that much.

But damn if it didn't make a decent case for its legitimacy.

The better part of the mountain topples from its slopes, roaring downhill as a cataclysmic wave of white. Cyre moves to escape it-- too late. His scream is silenced as he's dragged, leg-first, along the wintery tide.

Dimly, he realizes where all this is headed. This unstoppable momentum was aimed not at the drifters who came to slay the Wendigo, but at that village full of innocents at the foot of the mountain. Cyre snarls, groping for the stone tablets hidden within his robes. He can stop this. He must stop this. He...

Is beaten to the punch...?

Cyre claws his way out of the snow, hefting his rifle up into his arms again. He's too far away now. Too far to do anything without clearing a path, first. "Beast, hold on," the shaman murmurs, briefly glancing upward to see as Grudiev surrounds him in a protective, golden halo and acknowledging it with a nod. "We won't be much longer. This thing's getting desperate if it thinks it can just get past us and hit Zulan like that."

Cyre takes aim. The winds howl.

"We're going to end it here and now! Hold on, I'll lighten that load of yours!" He pulls the trigger. A slug erupts from the barrel of his rifle with a crack of thunder, and the recoil sends him reeling back. All around the bolt, a tremendous shockwave tears a trench through the freshly driven snow. He's enchanted it, imbued it with a shell of ultra high-pressure wind.

And upon impact, all of it will be released at once.

GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked The Missing Link with Tempest Barrage!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action.
GS: The Missing Link guards a hit from Seraph Lanval's Water Wheel for 172 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link critically Guards a hit from Fei Fong Wong's Yin Yang Strike for 31 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! The Missing Link critically Guards a hit from Tesni Inoue's TK Lash for 21 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link critically Guards a hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Tempest Barrage for 26 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> The Missing Link has posed.

        The intruders are still uncomfortably alive after that avalance--still uncomfortably there, challenging the beast in the very heart of its territory. If the creature notices the Beast of Lohgrin's selfless action, it likely doesn't care. All it means is one less intruder to fight.

        The sound of Ree's gunshot echoes down the mountainside, and the bullet slams into the yeti's stomach. This time, the impact staggers it. It's still tough, but the wounds are starting to pile up, and that can wear down even the fiercest of creatures. The polar vortex surrounding the yeti suddenly has to deal with someone else's influence, on top of that. Hiro's magic induces shearing winds inside the tornado, ripping open the myriad wounds made in its flesh. It sees Carina rushing at it, then, amber eyes tracking her before flicking to that phantasmal thing rising behind Jacqueline. The wendigo roars at the apparition of Grudiev. Does it mean to challenge the Guardian, or does it simply not realize Grudiev is not really there? Either way, it's an excellent distraction. The Locusaber buries itself in the wendigo's right shoulder, and that limb starts to sag a little as Carina pulls the blade out.

        The Beast of the Blizzards looks at Carina with hateful eyes. It sucks in a breath, and blows, a torrent of sub-zero air pouring over her. It's enough to sap the heat from her limbs, even through her armor. The beast turns, reaches for the rock face behind it, and wrenches a boulder loose from the ice and rubble. It hurls the rock at Jay and Ree, adrenaline picking up even as its muscles start to flag. Whatever it is, it's... debatable, if it can even see Lanval at all, or if the Seraph just gets his opening because the yeti is so busy dealing with everyone else. The sudden, relentless bonk-bonk-bonk of the gourd comes from out of nowhere, and the yeti reels back, bruised and battered. It chucks another, smaller rock in Lanval's general direction, but it's anyone's guess if it will hit.

        Fei charges. Cyre opens fire with a deadly, wind-empowered bullet. Tesni lashes out with raw telekinetic force. The yeti's response to all of them is to howl. The winds whip up around it in a single, barely-controlled burst, sending Cyre's projectile wide and knocking Fei back before he can clamber onto the yeti. The beast takes a half-step forward, shrugging off the TK with visible effort.

        These intruders keep hurting it.

        The beast leaps into the air, closing the distance between it and Cyre faster than it has any right to. The Beast of the Blizzards glowers down at the Wind Shaman, clouds of frost billowing from its mouth and nose with every breath. It reaches out with a clawed, gnarled hand, and grabs for Cyre's cloak. And if it succeeds, it will then hurl Cyre down the face of the mountain, as far as it can manage with its considerable strength. It's a long way down.

        The others have no time to try and collect Cyre, because the yeti immediately busies itself with the rest of them. It leaps into the air again, landing almost on top of Tesni, both massive fists swinging down at her with skull-crushing force. If that doesn't get her, the beast follows up with vicious, pummeling blows--it's trying to ground her, and then crush her against the stone of the mountain. Then it bull-rushes Fei, grabbing for one of the martial artist's limbs. If Fei doesn't escape, he's going to end up as an improvised bludgeon as the beast charges Hiro and lays into him with a good friend.

        Or a convenient rock, if Fei doesn't cooperate.

GS: The Missing Link has attacked Carina Wynne with Freezing Breath!
GS: The Missing Link enters a Counter stance!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Tesni Inoue with Bestial Brawling!
GS: The Missing Link has spent 3 Combo on Headshot!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Uncontrolled Descent!
GS: The Missing Link has spent 4 Combo on Gatling!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Hiro with The Beast Unleashed!
GS: The Missing Link enters a Counter stance!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Bestial Brawling!
GS: The Missing Link has activated a Force Action!
DC: MISS! Fei Fong Wong completely evades Bestial Brawling from The Missing Link!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Mighty Throw!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Ree with Mighty Throw!
GS: The Missing Link has attacked Seraph Lanval with Mighty Throw!
GS: CRITICAL! Cyre H. Lorentz takes a glancing hit from The Missing Link's Uncontrolled Descent for 189 hit points!
GS: Cripple! Statuses applied to Cyre H. Lorentz!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Jacqueline Barber guards a hit from The Missing Link's Mighty Throw for 100 hit points!
DC: Cyre H. Lorentz switches forms to Nahual - Fengalon!
GS: Hiro critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's The Beast Unleashed for 89 hit points!
GS: Hiro enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Ree takes a glancing hit from The Missing Link's Mighty Throw for 87 hit points!
DC: Cyre H. Lorentz switches forms to Wind Shaman!
<Pose Tracker> Ree has posed.

"Thanks!" Ree calls to Jacqueline, whom she has met before. (She also, truth be told, recognizes Cyre (the religious fanatic) and Lanval (who can't possibly be human)). The healing takes effect, and she breathes a sigh of relief. That was close!

The yeti hefts a boulder and throws it at her. It knocks her down, bruising her ribs further. Ree staggers to her feet, determined to finish the beast off.

And the sooner the better!

GS: Ree has activated a Force Action!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Lock On!
GS: Ree has spent 3 Combo on Gatling!
GS: Ree has attacked The Missing Link with Hired Gun!
GS: Ree has completed her action.
DC: MISS! Seraph Lanval completely evades Mighty Throw from The Missing Link!
GS: Carina Wynne critically Guards a hit from The Missing Link's Freezing Breath for 26 hit points!
GS: Tesni Inoue guards a hit from The Missing Link's Bestial Brawling for 118 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Ree's Hired Gun for 217 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline exhales, and begins to make her way back toward the fight. Unfortunately, in the process, it elects to try and take her out from a distance by hurling a huge boulder at herself and Ree. Unfortunately, Jacqueline is too distracted by the sight of something else it'd hurled.

"A-ah, Cyre!!" Jacqueline yelps...the notices the boulder a second too late. She tries to dodge out of the way, but it still smacks into her. It knocks her to the ground, winded, but she manages to force herself up to her feet using the boulder itself as support.

"Are you alright, Miss Ree?" Jacqueline asks with a wince. She turns away from the yeti for a moment, setting several bottles on top of the boulder. She starts mixing them, until finally she comes away with a bottle glowing bright yellow.

She shakes it once, twice, and then hurls it at the yeti's feet, where it erupts with the concentrated force of a lightning storm!

GS: Jacqueline Barber has spent 3 Combo on Gatling!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked The Missing Link with Apothecary's Lightning!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        A 'smaller' rock is still 'a rock that would turn someone to a fine red paste' in the hands of the great grumpy wendigo. For its lack of sight of the water elemental in question, that flung rock occupies the space where Lanval's head ought to be if he played nicely with the physical concept of space. Even then it no longer is, because the Water Elemental that seems to have covered a little more ground than is actually plausible by just idly walking down a hazardous, steep, icy drop has thrown his head back in mirthful laughter.
        The yeti roars to deflect further blows, calling forth the blizzard winds around it. Lanval just falls onto his seat before it, like he were sitting down and watching the television a little too close to the screen - metaphorically speaking - looking it over with fully-open aquamarine eyes. Then the yeti leaps away to go pummel everyone and everything because it is a creature driven by rage and the desire to do harm. He can see Cyre flying off, but he has no fear for his well-being - Cyre is of the winds.
        Lanval stays seated where he is, back turned to the very violent beast. There's a lot in life to worry about now, but this... this won't be one of them. He can entrust the Beast of Lohgrin to the rest below. For here...
        Watery energies build up, resisting the environs to turn to ice around Lanval as bubbles start to flit out of his raised gourd. They all float along over to the furious beast, each bubble attempting to distract.
        Then there are even more bubbles. Dancing at the depths of perception are the sights of a laughing, stumbling, careening, reveling Lanval who seems to be having a lot of fun with this - the idea of trapping the beast in a veritable maze of bubbles that keep multiplying. Keep surrounding. A watery fun-house, in microcosm.
        "Beast of the Blizzards!" Calls Lanval, as he wipes some dirbble away from his dumb face. "Be on your way in good health!" As he flicks an arm out, the bubbles all explode at once in a gigantic shower of pure, sparkling water that's going to make for some very pretty streaks of ice in a minute or so. "Revelry Labyrinth!"

GS: Seraph Lanval has spent 1 Combo on Gatling!
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked The Missing Link with Revelry Labyrinth!
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Cyre's shot goes wide, because apparently mountain yetis come with arms made of some kind of straight up bullshit super metal. Cyre whispers a curse under his breath and racks another round into his rifle when suddenly he realizes that everything seems to have gotten dark.

No. Wait.

That's just a gigantic shadow.

"Ah, shi-" Cyre doesn't get to finish, because the Wendigo doesn't just grab his cloak, it takes him by the head, winds up, and pitches him bodily off the side of the mountain.

The wind screams in his ears and tears at his eyes. The shaman steals a look downward, only to invite vertigo to play havoc with his mind. It's a long way down.

But.

Beast and all the others, they're still fighting. And not just some kind of terrible ancient evil, but just some asshole giant ape living on the side of a mountain. What kind of loser would he be if he died just like that? Shattered soundbarrier notwithstanding.

And so, just as the Wendigo turns its attention away, a pillar of emerald light suddenly swallows one slope of the mountainside. The air trembles as a thunderous roar bellows over the hills, shaking the very clouds. Something has changed. Something has come.

The air splits, a shockwave crashes into the mountainside. A tremendous predatory beast snarls as it strikes, digging in with claw after claw. Its limbs are covered in scriptures in glowing runes which sing the praises of the Wind God. On its back is a great golden mandala, hinged open like a storm coming unspooled.

It has come.

Fengalon has descended.

Cyre's words are lost in the fury of the Tiger

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Cyre's shot goes wide, because apparently mountain yetis come with arms made of some kind of straight up bullshit super metal. Cyre whispers a curse under his breath and racks another round into his rifle when suddenly he realizes that everything seems to have gotten dark.

No. Wait.

That's just a gigantic shadow.

"Ah, shi-" Cyre doesn't get to finish, because the Wendigo doesn't just grab his cloak, it takes him by the head, winds up, and pitches him bodily off the side of the mountain.

The wind screams in his ears and tears at his eyes. The shaman steals a look downward, only to invite vertigo to play havoc with his mind. It's a long way down.

But.

Beast and all the others, they're still fighting. And not just some kind of terrible ancient evil, but just some asshole giant ape living on the side of a mountain. What kind of loser would he be if he died just like that? Shattered soundbarrier notwithstanding.

And so, just as the Wendigo turns its attention away, a pillar of emerald light suddenly swallows one slope of the mountainside. The air trembles as a thunderous roar bellows over the hills, shaking the very clouds. Something has changed. Something has come.

The air splits, a shockwave crashes into the mountainside. A tremendous predatory beast snarls as it strikes, digging in with claw after claw. Its limbs are covered in scriptures in glowing runes which sing the praises of the Wind God. On its back is a great golden mandala, hinged open like a storm coming unspooled.

It has come.

Fengalon has descended.

Cyre's words are lost in the fury of the Tiger's roar. There will be no second chances here; no mercy, this time. The Wendigo falls here and now.

DC: Cyre H. Lorentz switches forms to Nahual - Fengalon!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has spent 1 Combo on Gatling!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked The Missing Link with Wrath of the Wind God!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"Oh Goddess - Fei!" Ruby shouts as the thing runs him down.
 
Fortunately he gets out of the way. And Hiro sees it bearing down on him - eyes as wide as saucers. Which is when Jay's spell takes effect around him in a shimmering barrier. Kicking his shield up with the side of his foot, it spins through the air, as he reaches through the loops with his arm.
 
And then the thing is on him. Battering him with a giant rock. Over.
 
And Over.
 
And Over.
 
The strength behind it is titanic. And if not for Jay's spell, he would surely be crushed beyond recognition.
 
Instead he stands up to the first, the shimmering barrier holding. And on the second the impact reaches through to crack his shield.
 
The third blow sends him to a knee - and then through the ground it seems. Like the rocks had broken beneath it's assault. Instead however it's that he was sank into a deep snow drift.
 
Buried down there by it's intense strength.
 
Ruby flies over and starts to dig with her pawsies, "Hold on Hiro! I'll get you out of there!" And breathing fire to try to melt snow. And again and...
 
And then the snow becomes slush before her eyes in great quantities from the heat. Ruby cheers triumphantly in mid-air, whooping with great gusto "AHA! Look whose dragonfire just reached the next level-! Look out world - Ruby is really moving u-"
 
And then Hiro bursts out of the snow, with a sword that's on fire. Ruby cringes from the realization as she mutters, "... noone say a word."
 
Dashing at the Missing Link he says, "I'd have been a goner if not for you Jay-" Before shouting at it, "-AND AS FOR YOU - BURN! BURN! BURN!" He passes by it in that instant. A trio of slashes flashing across the Missing Link's midline. Each one etching the flames tracing the length of the blade into it - assuming he strikes home.
 
Landing on the other side, he snaps his blade down, and turns - ready, in case it isn't enough.
 

GS: Hiro has activated a Force Action!
GS: Hiro has spent 1 Combo on Gatling!
GS: Hiro has attacked The Missing Link with Battalion Sword!!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei rebounds off the yeti with a flip (he is kind of anticipating that he has to do this sort of thing but the yeti is lashing out at him even as he's landing. With clenched teeth, Fei swings up a foot and knocks the hand away from his body rather then getting seized up and punked by it.

This does force him to twist his body back and land on his hands in the snow, pressing down upon it with both his index fingers. He flips once more forward and lands back on his feet.

He should be able to handle something like this, he thinks, with his own power. "Hiro!" He shouts, "Be careful!" Because he just sees the yeti snagging a rock to clobber Hiro with as he throws his feet back up into the air and tries to land right on top of the yeti's head and tap dance on it with several hard stomps feet first.

"Why are you so desperate to hurt them...?" Fei murmurs.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has activated a Force Action!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has spent 3 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked The Missing Link with Tenbu!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.

Tesni Inoue has lucked out for a while, her luck runs out now, she sees Jay is all right at least int eh chaos and Crye is dropping the hammer now as well.She gets smacked and she gets smacked dartn good here.

 "GET AWAY FROM CYRE!"

 She yells at hte monster lining up a shot with her bow and letting an arrow fly, hopefully this might divert it's attention even for a second and help Crye let slip the power she's channeling on this monster.

<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.

"Thanks, Miss Jay!" Locus says, extending a thumbs-up in her general direction. This barrier of Earth comes at a great time, considering how banged-up her bug armor is starting to look. As an armorer Carina knows that one might be wearing the greatest armor in the world, but in the end, the best armor... is friendship!

But even the coziest earth barrier or the most mysterious armor in the world isn't enough to keep Carina from being frozen by the yeti's ice breath. "C-C-Cold!!" Luckily, she has fire. While maintaining her frosted-over grip takes some effort on Locus' part, a few swings of her still flame-spewing blade put an end to that particular threat before it goes out of hand.

The next thing she sees is the yeti throwing Cyre away like a ragdoll. She can't see where he lands (does he?) but that doesn't stop her from being unable to believe Cyre is is friggin' dead. How many of her friends are going to be subjected to uncertain fates by that monster?!

"Ugh, you're really persistent, aren't you? Well, we're persistenter! And the people of this town," she points, "are the persistentest! And we're here to fight for their smiles!"

She leaps into the air, seemingly undaunted by the harsh winds, sailing up a dozen feet and still not stopping. "Always-Winning..."

She begins to bear down, and as she does, the saber in her hand disappears. In her hands instead appear glowing spheres like the one in her belt, one blue and one yellow. "Final..."

And she falls, her foot extended, sheated in a swirling inferno, while from her arms trail lightning and some (very redundant) snow. "LOCUS KIIIIICK!"

GS: Carina Wynne has activated a Force Action!
GS: Carina Wynne has spent 2 Combo on Gatling!
GS: Carina Wynne has attacked The Missing Link with Always-Winning Final Locus KICK!!
GS: Carina Wynne has completed her action.
GS: Tesni Inoue has attacked The Missing Link with Sniper Shot !
GS: Tesni Inoue has completed her action.
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Jacqueline Barber's Apothecary's Lightning for 213 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Seraph Lanval's Revelry Labyrinth for 248 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Wrath of the Wind God for 251 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Hiro's Battalion Sword! for 241 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Fei Fong Wong's Tenbu for 195 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Carina Wynne's Always-Winning Final Locus KICK! for 256 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: The Missing Link takes a solid hit from Tesni Inoue's Sniper Shot  for 152 hit points!
GS: The Missing Link has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> The Missing Link has posed.

        The beast looks satisfied, perhaps, as Cyre H. Lorentz goes flying off down the mountain. That's all the break it's going to get.

        Bubbles condense out of the air, and the yeti's head whips about, trying to identify what is making that. It isn't long, though, before Lanval's hallucination takes effect, surrounding the creature in a maze of reflections. It swipes at them, its massive hands striking and clawing at the thing it can almost see, reflected in countless prisms. Jay's bottle slams into the ground at its feet, a pillar of lightning erupting upwards and illuminating the wendigo against the earth and sky. Its whole body spasms, and it howls in pain. Ree, ever the opportunist, shoots it in the small of the back as it slumps forwards, large patches of its fur burned away.

        This close, Lanval and Hiro and the others might catch a glimpse of pitted, corroded metal at its neck. An arrowhead the beast has been carrying in its flesh as a memento of a hunter that almost killed it? No. The look of it is all wrong.

        Fei slams into the yeti's skull feet-first. It roars and snatches at him, but the martial artist is faster. His kicks land like hammerblows against the yeti's skull, and it sees spots, stumbles forwards into Hiro. The young man's blade cuts deep into the monster's flesh, three times, each strike cutting through flesh and bone. Tesni's arrow slams into the center of the creature's chest. Blood pours from around it in great gouts. It's still not dead.

        Crimson Knight Locus falls onto the yeti foot-first. She slams into its shoulder, driving it backwards, its feet kicking up huge plumes of fresh-fallen snow. She drives it towards the edge of the mountain, where the wind picks up. It cranes its neck towards something, and its eyes glimmer with rage and confusion as it sees the entity before it. It slumps forwards, drawing in breath, trying to command the winds to shield it. It does not know that the wind has other plans.

        The claws of the wind god trace bloody lines across the yeti's chest, over and over. It sinks down, tries to prop itself up on a clenched fist, but it's already lost too much blood. It tries to howl, to summon the avalanche to its aid, but Tesni's shot keeps it from drawing a deep breath.

        The actual death of the beast that haunted Zulan for months is without ceremony.

        Pitted metal glints around its scarred, bloodied neck. ...A collar?

<Pose Tracker> Ree has posed.

"I will be," Ree gasps to Jacqueline, holding her bruised and broken ribs, "as soon as this thing is dead!"

She gets her wish as Jacqueline's lightning, Lanval's bubbles, Cyre's apotheosis, Hiro's sword, Fei's tenbu, Carina's super kick and Tesni's arrow all seem to hit the monster at once. It topples, bleeding, into the snow. Zulan Village is saved! The villagers had better pay up. At this rate she'd need half the bounty for medical bills! She won't be in any shape for fighting for a week or so, barring magical intervention -- which she hopes to find in the town below.

She doesn't bother to examine the yeti's collar. She has other priorities. If the beast had an owner, let him or her track Ree down.

<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.

Locus rides the beast as long as she can, before kicking off and flipping back in the air, alighting in the snow again. At least the last few remaining flames around her mean she's kicking up steam rather than snow. Progress?

There is a 'thunk' as she gestures to wipe her brow, but metal only meets metal. Oh, right. Well, at least... "Whew, we finally did it... Rest in peace, big guy, but y'know... Least the town is finally safe. I'm gonna go down to the inn and take five naps. --HOLD ON, is Cyre okay?" Her head whips to the side. "Oh, Cyre's okay. Is the Beast okay, though?!" This one doesn't have as immediate an answer. Something to check in on as soon as they can.

But first, she catches that glint at the creature's neck... "Huh, hey, is that..."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
Hiro is still breathing hard - when he catches sight of the pitted metal. Just a glint.
 
And Hiro's expression change.
 
The creature dies - thudding down to the ground.
 
Hiro warily approaches.
 
Fei's words to be careful still ringing in his ear. It's context before was to be careful in battle.
 
Yet now it feels like a different kind of warning.
 
He delicately uses the flat of the blade to slide back hair...
 
And take a good look at it's collar, his expression grave.
 
"What is it?"
 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

...Jacqueline can't help but smile a little sheepishly as everyone thanks her for her aid.

"J-just doing my job..." Jacqueline replies...but soon turns her focus back on the fight. ...Not that it seems that her further contributions or necessary. She steps back and watches as everyone's wrath is brought down upon it, before finally a single arrow brings it down.

"...Is it...dead?" Jacqueline murmurs, taking a few careful steps toward it. ...It doesn't seem to be moving. They had done it, then. Could the people of Zulan finally know peace?

She glances toward Carina as she mentions the glint, however, and then with a frown moves in toward the yeti to take a closer look.

...A collar?

Hiro moves in to slide some of the hair aisde and, with a frown, Jacqueline joins him to take a look.

This is starting to feel painfully familiar.

"...Whatever this means...we have to remember one thing. Zulan Village was dying." Jacqueline says.

...This was necessary. She didn't like it, but...

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

A collar is enough.

Fei exhales faintly. "Maybe one day," He murmurs. "I can go outside and not kill somebody's pet."

Yeah maybe 'be careful is multi-use here. Jay's words are true, certainly, but it doesn't seem to reach his ears all the same.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Lanval feels so easy-going that he forgets(?) he's presently sitting on a steep incline as he leans back and sees something.
        He'd see more of it, but then he falls in a gleeful, silly little roll further down with the rest, where he comes to rest a short ways from the fallen yeti and then can now see more of this something around its neck. An arrowhea-- oh, no, that's not an arrow. That looks like a... yeah, as Jay comes closer to have a look, that's a collar. Someone managed to put a collar on that.
        ...He has himself a sip from the contents of his gourd, as everyone comes down from the adrenaline highs, ringing ears, and other excitements and damages in which to take in the somber aftermath of being exhausted and pushed to the brink in one of the colder, harsher environments in all of Lunar.
        Someone cared for it. Used to care for it? He can't comprehend the depths of its history, and can only speculate... he's just hoping the Seraph that seems to like cosplaying as the Black Dragon is doing all right.
        ...Oh, something else important. He supposes he should kindly ask Jay to borrow one of her potion bottles - or maybe four of them. Maybe even do away with the bottles and just make the Brewte Force brew itself his vessel, and invite all sorts of metaphysical philosophical scientific questions about what happens when one drinks up one's own vessel.
        ...
        That's a question for another Seraph to discover the answer to.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Finally, the monster is dead. The Wind God rears back and issues forth a triumphant roar. No more will the Wendigo-- the Ithaqua-- threaten this mountain. For a moment, the villagers who are brave enough to turn their eyes toward the source of that sound would see the white tiger standing victorious on the slopes--

Before it disappears in a haze of emerald light, leaving Cyre gasping for breath in the snow.

"D-damn, it threw me off the mountain." He breathes a long sigh as he feels the adrenaline begin to fade, fatigue setting in in its place. "Everyone alright? I--"

That... is a collar.

Cyre stares for a long moment... Then sighs and shakes his head. "...Yeah. What Jay said. No matter what, we had to protect those people. But..."

"Who the heck keeps a yeti for a pet...?

<Pose Tracker> The Missing Link has posed.

        The collar has a strange sort of script on it. Some people might be familiar with it as the character set used by the Zeboim civilization of Filgaia. Others might be familiar with it as the Ancient Tongue, a language whose origins are shrouded in antiquity, but remains in use in Seraphic circles. Translated:

        SPECIMEN 000032-01-23, GEOMANTIC BIOENGINEERING

        Definitely not the kind of collar someone would put on a pet, unless they had very strange tastes.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"I don't know." Hiro answers Ruby. Not saying anything on whether they had to do it or not. He knows that this had to be done, but he doesn't have enough information to judge if this changes anything.
 
Hiro cannot read it. So instead he plunges his sword into the snow to keep the hair shifted aside.
 
Takes out a notebook, and begins carefully copying down the characters as best as he can.
 
"Anyone else recognize it? It looks familiar but I'm not even sure what language it is."
 
There's a light sigh, "Bet my Grandpa would know."
 

<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.

Six months ago she'd not have been able to use a bow to make a shot like she just did she leaps back not wanting to get caught in a counter attack. She sees there is no need the beast i done from the massive assault and it finally falls but she pauses at the corpse she sees a collar? Her eyes narrow, the memory of the thing that had been a dog once floated into her mind. She would move towards the corpse and looks to Carina.

 "I think it is a collar..."

 She get closer and get a look the collar is something else though she paueses and notes.

 She takes look she'll pull out a her tablet to get some images of it and pauses.

 "Whatever this is? That was stamped on mechanically and I don't know this lanuage..."

 This seems to trouble Tess given she's an archologist...

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        "Mmmph..." Lanval's cheer shortens to regular 'useless drunk' levels, as he leans on his back in the snow, one eye open half-lidded in which to peer at the collar from here. "Who namesh anyone that..."
        What?
        "Shpecimen... zero, zero, zero, zero, three... two... zerooo... one... two... thre.... that'sh a weird name... not even all of iiit..."
        Even though they died horribly, there's some residual humor because that's the weirdest thing he's ever seen in time!
        "Heyyyy... maybe I got it backwardsh... that'sh... oh! It'sh name wash Geomantic Bioengineering..."
        Beat.
        He has another small laugh again... then just raises his gourd as if to say 'cheers' to it. He'll remember the name, because it's so weird.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"This is...it's Zeboim. ...Though, I guess if it's here, you'd call it the Ancient Tongue?" Jacqueline replies, looking it over with a frown. She saw a bunch of numbers, but other than that...

Thankfully, Lanval is here to save the day! Jacqueline looks toward him as he speaks.

"Geomantic...Bioengineering. So this was an experiment, then. But the question is...who and why?" She asks.

Well, she feels better now that she knows it wasn't someone's pet, but now she's worried that there might be more of these out there somewhere...

<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.

Tesni Inoue looks ot Seraph for a moment.

 "Wait you can read that? Wait Specimen? Followed by an number?"

 Then Tess face has the colour drain out of it for a moment "Bioengineering..." Gemoantic she's not sure on but given it's abilities? She has ideas it's clear she knows the term and it spooks her.

 "Zeboim? I'd like to ask you about that later."

 Colour returns a bit to her face.

 "I have a guess on why. It could be a biological weapon."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"You're totally smashed! Wow I didn't even know Seraphim could get as drunk as Ronfar during a pity binge..."
 
Hiro's eyes screw up in confusion at what Lanval says, and beneath the characters tries to hastily follow along. "... Uh... I have no idea what that means... other than Geomantic... and Specimen is like... I saw that in some ruins back on Filgaia... it's a science thing right... what language is that Lanval?"
 
Hiro blinks - then looks at Jay, "Wait huh? How would a Seraph recognize..." His eyes light up, "Oh! OHHHH!" And then he writes a note down below all of it...
 
"So if that language migrated over here too... then... some of our ancient tongues would be rooted in it..."
 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei doesn't look at the collar until Hiro says it's in a language he doesn't recognize. "Oh geeze not this again..." He says as he approaches it, crouching down to take a look. "..." His eyes widen sharply and he jerks back from it as if struck. "..."

He lowers his head. "...Maybe just because they could but..." He frowns. "...It couldn't have been...that old, could it? It obviously hasn't been harassing the town THAT long."

He curls his fingers into fists, his nails digging into his palms so much that it's leaving welts.

"The civilization fell for a reason." Fei says after a moment. "We should be grateful it wasn't anything worse."

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong adds for Hiro's sake. "Bioengineering is just engineering but for biological creatures so not exactly like engineering." offhandedly. "Specimen is just another word for 'experiment' but, like, a living entity."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        "Ehhh? Zeboim? Nawwww... it'sh name ish Geomantic Bioengineering..." Lanval 'corrects,' missing the point of Tesni's question as he just lies there in the snow. Do Seraphim get frostbite? He still has all his manifestation's toes, so maybe not. World(s) history unfolds about him, unknowingly, as he bridges a historic gap all while just sitting there, drinking, and having a laugh at weird pet names.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
Ruby's little pawsie pats Fei on the shoulder. "It'll be okay Fei. Look. It's done for. The town is safe. If it's linked to something bigger - well we'll figure it out and keep it from hurting anyone else."
 
Whereas Hiro jots down those terms, "So wait like - creating life?" He quirks an eyebrow, "That's... something. Especially if they can make something as dangerous as that."