Scene #2998:

Owner	Pose
Crystal Caravan	It bears mention for those arriving that, in spite of the proximity of this place to the village of Tipa, it no longer falls within the sphere of protected territory; the moment you leave Tipa village and head toward the River Belle, you will be surrounded by the miasma. It is for this reason that, rather than waiting at the entrance to the path itself, the caravan instead establishes a rendezvous point where the group met with them before. Not only does this ensure that everyone will know where to meet, but also that the trip will proceed without incident. So only once all those who have agreed to help arrive does the caravan set out properly, beginning its trek into the unknown... or so they would like to say. In all truth, most every member of the caravan has come here at least once with their families or siblings before. Still, it is also true that the place -feels- new to them; never before have they made the short sojourn here alone, and never have they done so with the intent to gather Myrrh. In the past, that was the chore of their siblings and guardians: a chore entirely unattached to them, and a burden they could not have understood. Even now several of them are unsure that they understand the responsibility they have taken on, making this particular venture an integral 'first step' indeed. Yet the appearance of the place is not entirely the same, either, for Tipa's Caravan is not the first such group to arrive this day. Another Crystal Caravan has arrived ahead of them and is already beginning its preparations to advance. Admittedly, this particular band is quite a sight to behold: each individual is armed to the teeth and clad in stainless steel, each of them holding their respective spears in perfect formation. When given the cue from the man standing at the fore, with his back to those approaching, each of them clap their heels together to elicit a cacophony of metallic chimes. Truly, they are as impressive a display of discipline as this world may ever be able to produce. As such, they do not allow the other caravan - and of course, the Multiversals - to go unnoticed for too long. Though their response when they finally acknowledge the presence of another party is a good deal more jovial than some may be expecting considering the competition for Myrrh. The man at the front, presumably their leader, claps his knees together and hoists his spear in the same sign of respect which his soldiers had demonstrated before in a gesture of greeting. "Hail!" He boldly, shamelessly proclaims; with a single word he has already begun to assert the surety he has in himself, and perhaps his cohorts. After a moment's pause of appraisal, he continues, "When first I saw you, I had thought you a Crystal Caravan as well, though your group seems a good deal larger than the norm. On that note, I am Sol Racht, and we are the caravan from Afiltaria, stalwart citadel of the Lilties and bastion of hope against the outpour of Miasma. I say again: hail!" With that, all his troops mirror his earlier motions, echoing his 'hail' once apiece. "Though since I have told you as much," He continues, "might I ask what business you have here, if not to gather Myrrh? We should very much like to help you on your way, if we may! It is the least we can do for adventurers in need." Is he kind, or is he just incredibly eager to show off what his caravan is capable of? Maybe a bit of both. Seems that it's already working on Amalie, however; under her breath, she just might mumble a "C-Cool..." before immediately recoiling when she realizes this act has been witnessed by Momo. The latter, of course, only giggles. For their part, Cyneric and Lefalsien seem to yield the explanation of things to the Multiversals who have accompanied them.
Yuna Kagurazaka	'So that everyone will know where to meet' assumes that everyone who's coming either was at that first meeting, or has relatively detailed information about it. Yuna is in neither category, unfortunately - but the rendezvous point is close enough to the warpgate that Yuna can make it without too much trouble. Running helps. So does her Light Suit's protective field, which flares up JUST enough on contact with the Miasma to leave the blonde idol rather worried-looking by the time she reaches the caravan's protected field. "Whew ..." Yuna hunkers over briefly, catching her breath, then straightens up, smiles, and waves to the others who are here, Tipans and Afiltarians alike. "Hi - er, hail, good travellers!" she replies; apparently she caught Sol Racht's greeting enough to try and respond in kind. Elner, the tiny robo-faerie floating next to Yuna, simply bobs slightly in the air as if nodding or bowing.
Alwyn Highwind	ALWYN HIGHWIND has come to help; he didn't have to be asked twice, really, or even once. He'd have come without being asked. The male Hyur in his mid-20's, with his dark brown, short hair, and his generic leather and steel armor, arrives not alone this time, but with a small draconic companion, a blue whelp that flies around the Lancer, occasionally landing on one of his shoulders to rest. It makes occasional, cat-like noises, essentially babby dragon's first attempts at speaking, not quite yet translating to anything. With his rusted, old Gae Bolg on his back, the Lancer is as ready as he'll ever be to lend a hand; and of course he'll greet the four Caravan members (and the Moogle!) happily, perhaps Amalie a bit more than the others (if only because similar people tend to do that). He's rather eager to see how a Caravan operates, and apparently gets the two for one bonus today! Another Caravan, of disciplined spearmen no less. He whistles in admiration, asiding to no one in particular: "Reminds me of what they say Dragoons are like. Training, skill, experience. These guys must have been at it for a while!" One day, babby Lancer will find his way to being a Dragoon, too. Oh, but they're being questioned now! "Hail! A-Ah, sorry, I guess I'm just hired muscle. Alwyn Highwind, pleasure to meet you, Sol Racht!"
Souji Murasame	This strange world that the Caravans cross is one of many mysteries and parallels to his own world of Galianda. The potential for revelation is high, and so Souji has decided to commit a more significant level of support to those who appear to be the most multiversally inclined of the local power structures: This small caravan. Small, of course, because it is abundantly clear as to the nature of other, more well-prepared and seasoned caravans that the one he has been dealing with is not the proper example. The display of discipline and unity causes Souji to nod in faint approval, and he gives Sol Racht a bow of greeting. "Greetings, Mister Racht. It is a pleasure to meet you and your company. We have come from a faraway land ourselves in order to provide assistance to one of the local caravans." He looks over towards Tipa's Caravan, and nods to those present. While he respects Racht and his company, his affiliation has been made clear for the moment. "We are to be setting out shortly on an investigation ourselves."
Crystal Caravan	Momo is the first to notice Yuna's quick amendment to her speech, and at least assumes that she's doing so to avoid giving the other caravan culture shock. As such, she eventually, casually walks beside her, saying, "Don't fret -- Crystal Caravans are not surprised by much. The miasma keeps us all so separate from one another that dialects and cultures can develop fairly radical differences now and then, so there's no one, correct way to speak or act. No matter what you do, it will come off as fairly normal to them. Different cities can seem like different worlds to us, essentially." She follows up that statement with a smile before sinking back into the larger group again.
Xiao Li Yu	Ah, this world was entirely unfamiliar to Xiao. She'd heard tell of other's last visit to this place, as well as the situation of this world over the radio and in reports. But this time, here she was, in person. Last time, she turned out busier than she'd anticipated. But now, she was here in the flesh, following behind Souji and looking left and right, hemming and hawing and every little thing in the surroundings. She wore a long, sleeveless, black cheongsam, instead of her usual shorter green one. Her hair was tied up into a lazy ponytail, and for once, her weapons were actually fully visible without any overly long sleeves to obscure them. Probably as close to adventuring attire as she cared to get. "Oh, what's that? And that over there! That too! Hey, that's interesting! What about that?" Once they were greeted, Xiao stiffened up in a comical display of attentiveness. "Hello! We come in pieces-I mean, in peace! We're here to do things! Yeah! Hi!" She saluted to top off her silly display/greeting.
Starbound Flotilla	The STARBOUND FLOTILLA are here, in their standard Durasteel exploration equipment! Moonfin, the fishman, is in elaborate full-body durasteel armor that looks like a powered cross between a diving suit and a samurai's armor, glowing cyan at the faceplate. Biteblade, the humanoid plant, is in durasteel plating with elaborately carved wood and bone ornaments over glowing powered components that glow an intense green. Pavo the bird-girl wears a pirate-aesthetic set of mesoamerican-style armor, with yellow bands of energized fabric linking the pieces and powering them. Albert the monkey-man is wearing elaborate dystopian commando armor reconstructed with a 'rebel spy' aesthetic: A sleeker faceplate, a slimmer form, and a more chaotic design that integrates thin, resilient plates of durasteel, and lines of bright white. George (just plain human) wears a set of futuristic EVA-combat and exploration armor in a suit that glows a gentle red at the faceplate. Seft, the robotic Flotilla member, is wearing full-on medieval knight armor with a soft energized blue glow below the plates on her body, and especially around the eyes. Each has a heavy industrial-yellow two-pronged plasma-cutter-like tool strapped to their side, a Matter Manipulator. And they are in the midst of their trek alongside the main caravan. This is their exploration gear, so it's best suited to environmental hazards... Such as, one expects, the effects of the miasma. The protective energy fields ought to hold up enough for an excursion, just long enough. Albert is the one who goes to greet the leader of what appears to be a group of very well-trained soldiers. His full-body armor obfuscates his identity, but his voice is distinctly apelike. "Hail. I am Albert Petrov, commander of the Starbound Flotilla, Core Fleet." He regards the entrance to the River Belle Path, and then squints at Sol Racht, the gesture visible in the glowing white of the obfuscating goggles in his helmet. "Ahhh, Sir Racht." He does seem knightly, so Moonfin will make the guess that he's the local equivalent of some kind of knight. The samurai-armored man steps forward to handle more diplomatic things, bowing deeply. "Greetings. Afiltaria provides quite a first impression. I am Moonfin of the Hylotl, diplomat of the Starbound Flotilla. We are here to learn more of this land, and its many opportunities; opportunities of trade, opportunities of exploration, opportunities of learning, even opportunities of acquisition. In even a land drowned in miasma, there is opportunity. Darkness does nothing but make the light shine even more brightly. I came to see the way to acquire Myrrh, and to experience the dangers of this land, to better understand the opportunity that can be found by those who withstand it." Pavo leaves the diplomacy to the diplomats. She picks at something between her feathers and looks dryly at one of the Crystal Caravan, whichever happens to be nearest. She's muttering, presumably out of earshot of Sol. "We about to get bullied off the Myrrh we're here for, mateys?" She seems grumpy about the idea. "Hope ye lot don't get yer fancy tree magic poached much."
Crystal Caravan	One can almost sense the smile that comes from beneath Sol's helm as Alwyn remarks on his group in (what he perceives to be) such a reverent way. "Ah," He responds, "yes, the Dragoons. It's good to see that some of today's youth are still so cultured! Indeed, Afiltarian knights are all trained such that they will mirror the talent and honor of the Dragoons. The Dragoons themselves may be little more than the royal guard these days, but once they were the force that brought order to the entire world! Only through following their selfsame virtues of respect and integrity will any one of us ever ascertain the mantle of a true warrior. You would do well to remember this! I see much promise in you -- you must simply reach for it, and greatness will find you." After this, he only bows his head once more. "Naturally, it is a tremendous pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Sir Highwind."
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna nods to Momo, looking relieved, and takes a moment to wave to the other arrivals, whether she knows them or not. Pavo's mention of 'poaching' prompts a worried look to cross Yuna's face, though. "Ah ... this Myrrh you're questing for, is it extremely limited in quantity ... ?"
Crystal Caravan	"/Sir/ Racht, if you please, Sir Murasame; Mister Racht is my father's name!" With that, one could sense an attempt at a good-natured grin under his visor. "But ah, yours is a quite laudable aspiration indeed. To so selflessly pledge oneself to another caravan, and when all of us have our own villages to look after! Yes, yours must be a very prosperous land indeed. It is good of you to help those less fortunate." Though this statement tells him that this group is in fact another caravan, he continues on undaunted - such is his belief in himself and his caravan that he need not fear the challenge of another group. "As a matter of fact," He continues, "I must say that your commitment to your own virtues has stirred my heart. What say we join together in this venture? Our own chalice is nearly full -- we can more than spare the time to help our fellows this day! What say we explore the Eastern side of the riverbank whilst your number fields the Western portion? And no, no; we'll accept not a thing for helping you. It is our tremendous pleasure." And so he essentially thrusts his help on you even though there are already ten-some people pursuing a single drop of Myrrh. Amalie seems to appreciate the gesture, at least. "Yes, please! Your help would be greatly appreciated, Sir Racht!" Looks like he's got himself a fan.
Starbound Flotilla	"One drop, from a handful of trees, every, what, year? Jeeze, yeah, guess it's pretty limited." George is the one who talks to Yuna, with a tone of humor in his voice, as if it's a joke, briefly flicking the obfuscating HUD out of his flat visor as he speaks. "I mean, I'm gonna go along with whatever, but we got two caravans and one drop, soooooo..." He does a big exaggerated shrug. "Eh, we'll figure it out." A quick tap to his helmet and the bright red HUD's back to obfuscating his face.
Kyra Hyral	In stark defiance of Souji Murasame's previous guidance, it appears that Kyra Hyral has come along as well, arriving not long after Alwyn does. For a few moments, she seems distracted by one of two things: Alwyn's little dragon or the miasma itself. She ventures close to the latter when she can, fumbling with something around her neck that, upon closer inspection, appears to be a gas mask of some kind. She does not do something as foolish as venturing into the poisonous atmosphere, forcing herself to focus and gawk at the display of Racht and his men. "Wow, professional.." she observes, her voice devoid of worry despite knowing that Myrrh is certainly a limited resource and, as per the last time she was here to learn of the Caravan, makes or breaks the survival of villages on this world. Despite that jovial manner, she remains privately suspicious about Sol's intentions. Outwardly, however, she smiles along with everyone else. "We're here to help gather Myrrh, yep. Also to fend off any wildlife that gets in our way." Kyra reaches backwards to pat the CURE-ALL on her back. It looks like a grenade launcher though such a thing would likely be meaningless to the locals here. But it's at least shiny and fancy enough, having been alchemized out of gold and platinum months ago. "I'm the healing support, by the way." she offers briefly.
Crystal Caravan	We come in /pieces/? At that, Sol Racht lets out a decidedly hearty laugh -- for him. But for him that constitutes only a few seconds of relatively mild chuckling. Ever the man of virtue and restraint, he is. "I should certainly -hope- for the latter," He says. "We should save the former for the monsters! Asides, mine may not be the most attentive set of eyes in the realm, but you look like a perfectly cohesive creature to me. Much more so than a Flan, I daresay!" In all likelihood, the joke will be lost on them, but he shall not be deterred by silence. As such, "Though yes, likewise! More than peace, though, we meet you in hopes of friendship! One can never have enough friends in a world such as this. It is, however, ever a pleasure to be in your company. May we accomplish all the 'things' together, ma'am!"
Alwyn Highwind	"Oh! Oh, wow, your... your world has Dragoons too? Royal guards? So you're from the city where Dragoons originate, here?" It will take Alwyn a fair investment of willpower not to immediatly start fanboying and asking to visit; fortunately he MOSTLY manages to refrain, keeping a minimum of composure. "Do you think they'd take kindly to an outsider wanting to visit? Just... to get a look at them. See their ways and history." The Lancer makes a mental note, though; it's Sir Racht, definitely don't mess that one up. He might be some sort of Dragoon himself! Or at least, trained by one. That's worth respect. Naturally, Kain (Alwyn's dragon) will respond kindly to Kyra's presence, perhaps occasionally moving from the Lancer's shoulder to hers. As dragons go, this whelp couldn't more accurately be a cat with scales and wings. A cooperative cat, anyway, otherwise it'd just sleep a lot. Something does catch Alwyn's attention though. "Your chalice is-- nearly full? How long does that protect a city? I thought just a bit of Myrrh was a lot, you guys must be like... world-class heroes to bring back a whole cup."
Crystal Caravan	When Sol finally turns to look at George and Moonfin, there is a long, long moment of silence. The men still in formation begin whispering to one another, and one even goes so far as to step out of line to whisper something into Sol's ear. Whatever statement this is, Sol makes little of it, instead only bringing the end of his polearm down - hard - on to the well-packed dirt of the path. "Yes!" He announces. "And so do the 'Hylotl' make an equally impressive first impression! You'll forgive me -- your appearance and your words caught me off guard a moment. Pray, do you mean you come from a world -without- miasma? That certainly seems to be the implication of your words, though I did not know such a place existed! Nor did I know there to be a world where Sahagin could speak as men do. Your existence is in itself quite a revelation, Sir Moonfin!" He inclines slightly in some semblance of a bow. "Your patience with me, therefore, is very well appreciated." He seems to have mistaken Moonfin for a 'Sahagin', whatever those are. But the conversation does not end there; chatter continues among the soldiers. The entirety of their conversation cannot be made out, but the words 'threat' and 'monster' can be heard plain as day. It seems not all of Afilaria's caravan are so 'warm' as Sol himself.
Souji Murasame	The correction causes Souji to nod. "My apologies, Sir Racht. It is poor of me to not recognize a knight when I see one. It appears that the Caravan leaders have no objection. This will make a rather formidable association." The corporate heir seems to simply let the compliments roll off of him like water, as he looks to the rest of those present. Despite the thorny, nagging presence of Kyra, Souji chooses to not continue to berate her. FOR NOW. Instead he nods to Alwyn. "He brings up an excellent point. As Myrrh is a highly rare and limited material, it seems that such a thing would result in heavy conflict where paths cross."
Crystal Caravan	Then, Sol turns to Yuna. "Ahhh, it seems a great many of you hail from lands where miasma does not exist, then... or that the lot of you are playing a very well-orchestrated prank on me!" He pauses a moment, as if expectant; he almost seems to think that they will, indeed, say that they're joking. When they don't, his posture stiffens slightly. "... if you do indeed speak the truth, then... yes, Myrrh is a very limited resource. Not only is it found solely in areas populated by danger and monsters in equally massive quantities, but there are so few such locations of which we are aware! This is why cities must send caravans such as our own to retrieve the stuff -- the common man is woefully underequipped to handle such missions, so we must do so in their stead."
Xiao Li Yu	"Yes, right sorry! Monsters! Flan!" Xiao hurriedly spoke in an amusing, harried manner. She must still be getting her head on right. After a short laugh, the researcher nodded. "Of course, we'll be glad to help! We get to see new sights, you get to find your Myrrh, everyone's friends!" A pause, and then she added. "Oh! My name is Xiao Li Yu! But just call me Xiao. That's what everyone does." After that, Xiao took a look about, spotting familiar faces. There was Lanceman-I mean, Alwyn, and her best friend Kyra! And there was the Core Fleet as well. Good, good. People she recognized. This wouldn't be awkward then. "Kyraaaaa, my bestest friend! I'm so glad you could make it!" She sauntered over to the white mage, a hand held up in greeting. "Try not to blow us all up this time, okay?"
Starbound Flotilla	Moonfin is keenly attuned to the subtle thrum of distress. He has the power of intense empathy, and also the power of recognizing racism when he sees it, because he is a terrible racist. "They do not seem as friendly to the Hylotl as their leader claims." "Maybe jussst can sssmell dumb fish ssstink." "This isn't a time for jokes." "Concerned. I think we should avoid straining relations..." "We got a human, aye?" "I'm not letting George be our diplomatic representitive." "Would be funny." "It would be prudent." "Would be a pain in my ass, but I'll do it, while we deal with these guys." George is the next one who steps forward, tapping his helmet once again to get the HUD dispelled, showing his face behind the faceplate's glass, showing that he's a human. "Alright sweetness, looks like we'll be havin' your help. Chalice near full, huh? You guys must know your way around a tree, you give us the lowdown on whatever we run into, right?" He stretches, as if limbering up, and draws a heavy POWER CROWBAR from his Matter Manipulator, hefting it over one shoulder. "Not much reason to stick around here then, huh? You cool cats wanna get goin'?" "Yeah, we come from a place that's not all fucked over by air that hates you, it's great stuff. We got our own problems to deal with, though, so don't get all hype about a promised land or anything, I'd stick to what works if I were you." He twirls the heavy industrial tool/weapon around his hand casually. "Don't worry about us, we're from off-planet but we're pretty much same ol' same ol' for you guys. Different look, same shtick. Flotillas, Caravans, po-tay-to, po-tah-to."
Kyra Hyral	"Hello Xiao!" Kyra grins in that almost-exaggerated-but-hard-to-tell sort of way, making it difficult to sense if her absolute joy over seeing her BESTEST FRIEND here in the form of Xiao was genuine. "Oh, don't worry at all..." Kyra puts a hand to her chest. "I have the feeling that I will be perfectly, absolutely stable today. In fact, I am so perfectly, absolutely sure of this I would bet my thesis on it." Kyra seems to be ardently ignoring the presence of Murasame. She doesn't even glance in his direction, instead distracted by George's frank words and the whispers of racism she hears amongst Sol's group.
Starbound Flotilla	"I believe it will be best if some of us less familiar sorts keep some distance from the Afiltaria Caravan." Moonfin says, muttering a bit as he retreats into the group. He's muttering to Souji, of course, to let him know the state of things. "You, on the other hand, are humans, and should draw less of their odd ire. Whatever a Sahagin, they seem to distrust it. One assumes aquatic life is as unfriendly as the rest of the wildlife here is said to be. I will be depending somewhat more on your words, Mr. Murasame."
Starbound Flotilla	There's a heavy apelike grunt near Kyra and Xiao Li. Wordlessly and without much ceremony, Albert has taken a place near them, drawing his POWER HAMMER from his Matter Manipulator and holding it at the ready. He seems quite eager to get this show on the road, and he also seems like he's going to do that thing he does, where he hovers near Kyra and tries to jump between her and anything that's going to attack. Xiao Li isn't quite as supporty, but he's probably going to cover her too as long as she's close.
Crystal Caravan	Sol simply nods to Kyra, here. "Healing indeed? An honorable profession if ever I've heard of one -- and second only to knighthood in my mind! Why, if only more people were so dedicated to the well-being of their fellow man, we should all live in a much better world. Though!" Again he claps his feet together, raising his spear skyward. He now faces the group more generally. "We have taken up quite enough of your time already, I daresay, and it is high time that we get down to business! As you say, the 'wildlife' here needs urgent tending; no small number of goblins walk this road, and no route to where we suspect the Myrrh tree is is entirely free of their prowl. So we shall advance with you to where the road first forks -- where there exists a bridge to the other side of the River Belle. Then we shall cross over and do our utmost to draw their attention for you. Is this an acceptable proposal?" Assuming he is given an affirmative response, then with a nod, he would raise his fist into the air, lowering it forward to order his soldiers to advance. They do so in two parallel lines, no one too far ahead of the other, before Sol follows in the center, just slightly behind. In this position, he's in an ideal place to continue idle conversation as the group makes their way. Idle conversation such as that he so gladly makes with Alwyn, of course! Regarding the Dragoons, he continues to bob his head. "I know not whether the Dragoons originate from Afiltaria -- their tradition is one so ancient that they may have simply inherited their laws and virtues from the Gods themselves. Be that as it may, their way is one that has been venerated in my homeland as long as it has been, and by the graces of the crystal, as long as it will be!" As to the second question, Sol pauses a moment in contemplation. "Hmmm. If you are truly so interested, I am certain I could arrange for a meeting between you and my father. Time was, he was among the most respected of the Dragoons, though he has since retired into a more humble life; one where his allegiance is more to his wife and children than his country. For this reason, I am fairly certain he would be glad to recount tales with you. If you want to meet present Dragoons, however, that might be a bit more difficult... still! In time, I am sure one such as yourself may prove yourselves to them. In time!" Then, the Chalice. "A full chalice will protect a city for slightly longer than it takes to acquire: one year. It is for this reason that Crystal Caravans are so often away from home: they only have a few quarters of a season to rest, several if they were expedient that year. The task does keep us quite busy! We will be glad when our time for rest comes... but alas, today is a day for different things." Then, finally, the group happens upon a gathering of Goblins. Five of them are gathered around a bonfire, and fifteen more of them sleep at various locations nearby. Upon sighting them, Sol Racht raises his gauntlet again to signify a 'hold'. "There lie they," He says, hushed, "and here lie we, giving us the upper hand. What say my band and I advance further toward the left path to draw their attention? In the meanwhile, the rest of you may deal with the slumbering ones as you please. I am certain we can handle those at the fire should we come to blows before you can provide aid." And with that, his group marches - albeit quietly - past the camp. They keep their heads facing perfectly forward so as not to give the goblins the impression that they have been seen -- and so the Goblins follow suite, attempting to sneak after them, entirely too preoccupied with the Afiltarian caravan to so much as notice the rest of them. And so the fifteen leftovers remain, unawares, ripe for the picking...
Yuna Kagurazaka	Goblins. Probably intelligent. Most likely hostile, particularly given the Miasma and what little Yuna's heard about it. Can they be reasoned with? she wonders. ... and decides the answer is probably 'no,' particularly given how readily the Goblins fall in to pursue the Afiltarian caravan. Yuna swallows hard, closing her eyes, then wills the Matrix Divider to materialize in her hands. "I can snipe a couple of them," she says quietly to her allies. "I don't know how many of them it'll wake up, my weapons aren't 'sneaky' ..." And, she thinks to herself, maybe she can hit her target (or targets) hard enough to leave them unconscious and staying that way, until the caravans have done what they need to do here and gotten back to the relative safety of the road. With that in mind, she finds a good spot to perch, and has Elner assist her in aiming for one of the nearest sleeping goblins. She doesn't shoot yet, though - she's going to wait until the others are ready ... at least, assuming she'll be able to keep breathing air that isn't Miasma when the fighting group gets closer to the Goblins. If it's a matter of 'stay close to the group or stop breathing safely,' she's going to have to abandon the sniping plan. She STILL would rather leave the Goblins unconscious than outright dead, though. If they're unconscious long enough, it won't make much of a difference, right?
Xiao Li Yu	"Oh really?" Xiao asked rhetorically, bringing a hand to her cheek. "Well, I'm not sure how valuable that statement is. After all, with how much you skip, I can't even begin to imagine how your thesis will turn out." She smirked, looking away and letting out a comically fake haughty laugh. "Oho hoho~" She sobered up after and sighed. "But no really. That's good." A tilt of the head followed. "Have you gotten any closer to figuring that whole stability thing out yet?" Xiao smirked again, making an injection motion with a hand. "If you want, I could take a blood sample and have a look. No doubt it will be a fascinating sight." Xiao no. Albert's presence is noted with a smile and a wave. "Hi Albert! Try not to let Kyra get turned into a meaty paste! That'll be a pain to collect and ship back to her relatives, after all." Yes, very important. The journey proceeded on from there and eventually, their group ran into a collection of goblins. "Oh joy." She muttered, bringing a hand to her chin. After a moment of thought, she spoke her thoughts. "Well, they're just goblins...probably. It shouldn't be too hard to sneak up and silence the sleeping ones systematically. Buuuuut that is just conjecture." Despite that, she did a quick check of her gauntlets, making sure they were working correctly while the others decided on a course of action.
Starbound Flotilla	Oh hey! Unconscious foes! "Biteblade. Kill them." "I doubt that would be regarded well by our allies." "Don't care. Biteblade." "Kay!" Biteblade draws a pair of POWER DAGGERS, flicking them around her hands, and then crouches low to the ground. Any sound she makes seems like the rustling of tree leaves, the soft settling of shrubbery... As she crawls, her appearance is that of a stout bush, or a small pile of vines. That should work out! She intends to pounce on the targets, one by one, as stealthy as she can be. Maybe she'll be discovered, maybe not, but her expert hunter's sense should at least give her a few kills before she gets discovered... The rest of the Starbounders hang back for now.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra puffs up her cheeks. "I don't skip class /that/ much!" she says defensively. "Just you wait, my thesis is going to be awesome. And as for the stability thing: no and no. I can take my /own/ blood samples, thanks." Kyra sticks out her tongue at Xiao. "Hey Albert." Kyra greets, nodding appreciatively, unsurprised to see the Apex so close nearby. "Glad to have you here." Her eyes drop briefly to the Matter Manipulator, a thoughtful look on her face. Were she a bird, she'd be preening with pride right now at the outright praise for healers. She doesn't even care that they're only /second/ best to knights. It's still good to be recognized in any sort of way, especially like so. "Actually, I've been wondering about the Caravans...does each village only have one? Or are there multiple teams that rotate to keep coming back with Myrrh?" Kyra's a little wary of the answer that will get but it was still something she needed to be clarified. The first challenge presents itself. Goblins. While it was almost reflex to scoff, Kyra refrains this time-Goblins might be /really powerful/ here! She does realize something else: "Shoot, didn't bring the Lifecam." she murmurs before gesturing with a hand, murmuring and drawing forth support-based white magic. Around Yuna, Biteblade, and Alwyn, green, crystaline shields flicker into existance. They're ethereal and fade moments later though the magically sensitive can feel the Protect spell lingering around them.
Crystal Caravan	Momo cants her head at Yuna. "Snipe? As in, arrows?" Though it only takes a turn of the head to see that the Matrix Divider is most certainly not a bow. Momo bats her lashes a few times. Still, whatever that... thing... is, it may yet follow the same principles as a bow, and the importance of finding a good place to shoot from is something that Momo understands to an extent, at least. Still, she only barely manages to stop Yuna before she walks outside of the barrier created by the chalice that Mog holds. "W-Wait!" She rushes up to her, hopefully just before she leaves. "Take this." Momo reaches into her pocket and offers Yuna a tiny crystal. "If you keep this on your person, it will keep you safe from the miasma... for time. It's only for use in emergencies, so it won't last too terribly long - perhaps several minutes at the most - but it should keep you safe for as long as you need to fire." After making her statement, she gives Yuna a parting nod, and a smile. Good luck!
Starbound Flotilla	Albert grunts an affirmative to Xiao Li Yu, after regarding her with slightly narrowed eyes. "I'm planning on it." He says, simply. "Stay nearby if you need the help too." And then he nods firmly at her. "I am deploying our hunting specialist. It's never a tactical advantage to underestimate enemies. She will kill as many as she can." And then he gives another affirmative grunt to Kyra. "Glad to have you here as well." He notices the glance. "The offer we made before is still open."
Alwyn Highwind	"Would you? That'd be great!" Alwyn replies to knightly gentleman, upon being offered a (potential) visit. Really, he'll take anything. Probably drag Amalie by the arm there, she seemed interested in the knights a moment earlier too. The Caravan keeps advancing though, even as they talk; no time to rest! When they come across Goblins, Alwyn falls silent, observing first, listening to the offered strategy second. The Lancer nods, finding it a good idea. He suspects the knights could likely handle all of the goblins on their own, really, and they're just trying to be nice to a pack of beginners. It'd be impolite to call that out rather than accept it. Alwyn sides up with Amalie, taking his spear from his back. It seems to click, some sort of mechanism at the end of the rusted weapon seeming to WANT to move when he takes ahold of it, but being too broken to do so. The weapon is so worn away by time it'd be hard to even tell what's meant to do anything. "Let's go, or we'll miss our chance to fell at least one!" The Lancer'll travel to the edge of the protection affored by the Caravan, waiting there for either Amalie to take the lead, if she intends to join him. When Goblins inevitably wake up from the murders-- then again, maybe they won't-- he'll be as ready as he can be to thrust his speartip into one's chest or head.
Crystal Caravan	There may, perhaps, be some small degrees of irony involved when Biteblade creeps up, as a 'bush', to the tree under which a trio of Goblins presently sleep. Her approach is seamless, allowing her to neatly pounce one Goblin, then another, both of whom likely slump back against their tree more permamently after her approach. The third, however, was never asleep at all! Rather than amiably surrendering his life, the creature quickly draws a serrated, poorly crafted knife on Biteblade just as soon as she's within stabbing distance, going directly for the torso. Assuming this manages to surprise Biteblade, he bolts immediately after! He runs directly for a horn situated at the edge of the river, blowing on the thing. It's easily loud enough to wake the entirety of the River Belle, and -more- than enough to wake the rest of the Goblins. And indeed, all of them are soon awake, and none too pleased...
Souji Murasame	Souji has little to say in the exchange between the knight and Alwyn, though several interesting facts are brought up. "It takes that long..." Souji ponders. "And failure means the suffering or destruction of one's homeland. This is a dire land indeed. With that kind of a situation it is no wonder that this has been the case for so long. There is no time to investigate ways to improve everyone's lot, and no Myrrh left to research the material and determine how it does what it does." He frowns, and looks to Xiao. "Should we encounter a tree, be cautious in your examination. I do not want to jeopardize these people even as we attempt to aid them." However, there is another matter at hand. Goblins. Souji crosses his arms, clearly believing that killing sleeping Goblins is beneath him. Biteblade, however, steps up for the disagreeable work. He looks back at the rest of the team, most of whom apparently had moral objections to this. "Very well." He says, as the alarm is sounded. "We do this the other way." He brings his hands together, channelling Magic Particles into a Pattern that forms in the air, sizzling before him as his hands crackle with arcs of electricity. "Thunder-2." Souji states, and thrusts out a palm, as a spray of lightning surges into the camp, chaining amongst the Goblins with a crash of split air, as if to answer the horn.
Crystal Caravan	Slightly before the horn's call is sounded, however, Alwyn and Amalie move into position. In the few moments of intercession between Biteblade's pounce and the horn's cry, the Lilty idly asks: "Hey, what did you think of those knights? I..." She might actually fidget for a moment. "I've lived my whole life here, so I actually don't know much about the history of Lilties. But Sol... Sol seems like he lives his whole life surrounded by it. I mean, on the one hand he's kinda stiff, but on the other, he just might be one of the most impressive warriors I've ever seen. I mean, I know we haven't actually seen him fight yet! But --" But her musing is rudely interrupted when three more Goblins come charging at the pair of them. Amalie only barely has the time to turn her head when they appear, lifting her lance as a shield to block an oncoming club. Two more bound after Alwyn, one swinging at him with an axe, the other leaping after him with a crudely constructed javelin. Each of them have murder in their eyes. No, these do not seem like beings that can be reasoned with.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna nods thanks to Momo, taking the miniature crystal and tucking it into her Light Suit. "I won't stay at range too long," she promises, then turns to give Kyra a thumbs-up as the Protect spell takes efffect around her. She finds a good spot to park herself, and settles in with the Matrix Divider in rifle mode. "Elner," she murmurs to her robo-faerie, "see if you can monitor how long I'm protected for ..." Elner takes a moment to analyze how well the mini-crystal keeps the miasma back. "As she said, a matter of minutes at best. The less you depend on it, the better." Yuna nods ... and as Biteblade starts murdering Goblins in their sleep (but not for very long), Yuna opens fire. The energy bolts loosed from the Divider's tip are focused and potent; if the Goblins aren't truly 'alive,' then the force may well rip through with 'lethal' force despite Yuna's intentions. If they're corporeal, organic creatures, though, Yuna's blasts should hit hard enough to leave them unconscious for ... a while. She's not sure how long this'll work. But Yuna only takes the time to try and KO three Goblins at most before sprinting to rejoin the others within the main Chalice's protective bubble. She may need to join in for melee combat, after all, and she doesn't want any of the Caravan's quartet of adventurers to get hurt when she can help keep them safe.
Crystal Caravan	For his part, Cyneric buddys up with Kyra. Before the horn is sounded, he has words of his own for the girl: "No, actually - each village only has one caravan. There simply aren't enough people in most places to risk rotations like that, and even if there were, it takes too much time to train multiple groups. When one group has already had the time to travel and familiarize themselves with the myriad locations that hold Myrrh, it's just too difficult to try to rely on many rather than one. Too few people know the world, and how to fight well enough to last. Even we have never actually been that far outside the village before -- this is the first time we'll actually be applying the fighting skills we've learned more directly."
Xiao Li Yu	"Eh?" Xiao glanced over to Souji and blinked. "Right, don't burn everything down. Gotcha!" She smiled and saluted right at about the time the horn went off. "Oh. Looks like it's time." Stretching her arms above her head, the researcher seemed to be content to let the others do the work for now. Once she was done stretching though, her gauntlets lit up with a complex array of red lines as she chanted a quick spell. "Poison." Several globs of green fluid began to form in the air above her open palms. "Phantom Weapon." Those globs of poison were then sent through a magic glyph, forming into ornate swords, glowing green and bubbling with poison still. And then she waited. Keeping her crafted blades floating in the air, Xiao watched as the others took action first. Once the smoke cleared, she smiled and willed her blades to fire forward, aiming for any stragglers in the goblin camp. The blades were made of pure poison, and would immediately and rapidly coarse through the veins if contact made.
Crystal Caravan	The rest happens in a flurry -- Souji unleashes a bolt of chain lightning in the same instant that Yuna begins to fire. A single, hopefully nonlethal energy pulse hits the skull of the Goblin that had blown the horn with a loud, particularly painful noise, at which point they teeter along the edge of the River Belle. They manage to get themselves to fall backwards rather than forwards toward the end, but as it turns out, this does little to aid them: at that point, Souji's bolt of lightning has already connected with the torso of a Goblin who had only stirred themselves into full wakefulness seconds before. The lightning jumps from that Goblin to the now-falling watchman, soundly incapacitating - if not killing - the both of them. And as for the next shot...
Kyra Hyral	"Huh, so it /wasn't/ sleeping! It's a counter-ambush, maybe?" Kyra comments as the number of active attackers quickly quadruples. She continues murmuring, weaving additional protection spells on the other more melee-oriented of the group. Amalie receives a Protect spell, as does Sol and Xiao (because she's clearly Kyra's BESTEST FRIEND). With some reluctance, Kyra even places such a spell on Souji though she gives him absolutely zero warning and is already looking away by the time he notices that it's there. Kyra frowns deeply as Cyneric reveals that there simply aren't enough people with enough experience to have rotatons on the caravans. "Well that's kind of awful. If there were more to handle it then the caravans could be more well rested. Er, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your predecessors?"
Crystal Caravan	... the next shot soars toward the head of a Goblin that had been resting against the gate that guards the bridge leading across the river, finding its mark squarely in-between its eyes. The Goblin stumbles back into the gate from whence they have risen before slowly, gradually sliding back down to the ground; she was successful in sparing one, at least. And in a very real way! One of Xiao's blades hits the wood just above said Goblin's head, meaning that Yuna's shot ever-so-narrowly prevented them from a decidedly gruesome demise. Were two Goblins nearer to the bonfire so lucky! Another of the blades soars past two of them, grazing - but likely still fatally wounding thanks to the poison - one, then stabbing straight into the heart of another. The latter falls off the side of the cliff, its body floating down the river. The other stumbles toward Xiao, but is unable to make way before they, too, collapse.
Starbound Flotilla	The knife slams into Biteblade's armor, blunting its impact, but nevertheless sinking into Biteblade's flesh. "AUGH! You want blow horn, you can CHOKE ON!!" She shouts, yanking the knife out of her body and flinging it at the offending hornman while the little goblin still has his lips on the horn. She then immediately DIVES for one of her previous kills, intending to begin devouring its flesh. She's a carnivorous regenerator, after all! While the others awaken, she energizes herself. "Murasame." "Murasame." Moonfin and Pavo each rush in at Souji's sides, swords drawn, checking to make sure none of the enemies are assaulting him. And if none are, they'll immediately shift out of their defensive stance, and rush forward along the path torn by his Thunder, intending to plunge deep into the group and strike down goblins with swift slices. Albert has stayed at Kyra's side, of course. If anyone gets near her, it'll be getting some heavy hammerblows to create tremendous destabilizing shockwaves, to hopefully drive them back! Seft and George go ranged. Putting his power crowbar away, George instead draws a big laser weapon, the stolen Mojave laser RCW, while Seft draws the Pew Pew pistol, another Mojave laser weapon. Each begin firing bolts into the crowd, intending to cover Biteblade. If the little plant can get enough time to bite a chunk out of her victim, she'll turn into an angry whirlwind of stabby death, supercharged by the fresh meat and bouncing between goblins with intent to stab them in spite of her slowly healing torso stab wound leaking weird sappy fluids.
Alwyn Highwind	"I think they're awesome!" Alwyn answers Amalie honestly, even as goblins come charging. One of the two's axes is caught by the Lancer's spear, the two weapons locked. The other's axe lodges in the man's shoulder, or at least his shoulderplate, the blade kissing the skin only deep enough to draw a streak of blood. He still winces, though, and would rather not let that Goblin keep pushing into the wound. "I mean-- my family used to be Dragoons, a long time ago! I grew up wanting to become one, but where I'm from unless you were born in a specific city-state your odds of getting the training are really awful. I hope to become an exception to that rule one day!" His spear suddenly whirls, caught in a torrent of wind. Aether flows through his arms, into the weapon, and he flourishes the spear in a wide circle, attempting to: 1. knock both axes back, 2. specifically the one in his shoulder. He continues the motion by thrusting the spear forward, which releases all of the wind into a forward point, extending the range of the weapon slightly. This only targets one of the two goblins. The other, his motion continues into a leg sweep, trying to trip it-- and cut into its heels while at it.
Crystal Caravan	But the goblin who blew on the horn isn't out of the woods yet, for even death cannot free him of a Floran's wrath. The same blade he had used to stab Biteblade comes flying back at him as his lifeless, smoking body vaults forward after Souji's cast of lightning, reversing his direction and sending him, too, flying back into the river. He lands there with a splash after his body tumbles over several jagged edges of the cliff's face. Truly, earnestly, there has never been a Goblin quite so dead as is this one. Whatever pain his brethren inflict upon the group, he alone shall have visited upon him a thousandfold. At the other end of the river, the Horn Goblin, as Xiao before him, shall arrive in pieces. As for Pavo and Moonfin, the latter will find a Goblin lunging at Souji indeed, a makeshift axe pointed with intent to cleave him. Thanks to Moonfin's interception, however, he is cleaved instead, a wide gash opening at his stomach as his axe thumps against the ground. For his part, however, Pavo finds no such obstruction, allowing him to advance well into the field cleared by Souji's spell. There he finds two more Goblins, still stunned from the earlier lightshow, one of which he is swiftly able to impale on the end of his blade. The other, however, narrowly dodges, attempting to slice across his waist in riposte. And after the quite literal storm of lasers and fangs created by Biteblade, George, and Seft, another trio of goblins are left dead, one half of those landing in the water along with their other departed kinsmen.
Crystal Caravan	The final unoccupied Goblin proves too brave to simply flee, but also not brazen enough to believe he actually has a chance of winning. As such, he retrieves something from a large, hewn pouch at his side. It's... a bottle, but a bottle containing something very particular. It's what Kyra, Souji, Xiao, and perhaps others might recognize as a living bomb, and the Goblin is charging straight toward Kyra with it in hand. As if on cue, the bomb inside begins to flicker between red and yellow, hinting at an imminent explosion. If this Goblin is going out, he's taking you with him.
Yuna Kagurazaka	"WATCH OUT!!" Yuna shouts, charging to interpose herself in the path of that last Goblin, the one with that flickering bottle. The Matrix Divider vanishes, though - "SHUGOSEIHEKI!!" - to be replaced by a large kite shield strapped to Yuna's left forearm; it's the shield with which she tries to body-block the charging goblin, and she fully intends to keep that shield between the bomb and the more squishy members of the party. If anyone else knocks the Goblin down first, fine. Yuna's more worried about shielding her allies from the explosion than racking up any more kills.
Xiao Li Yu	"Hmm...non miasma poison seems to be effective. Good to know." Xiao mused, noting this all down casually with a tablet in hand. Wait where did she get that from? After a moment of tapping the screen, she simply 'put it away' into nothing. Damn those Galiandans and their inventories. From there on, she stepped forward and knelt down to examine the closest fallen goblin body. "...I wonder if their genes are any different from Galiandan goblins." A creepy smile formed on her face and she poked the still body with a finger tentatively, to make sure it was dead. You can never be too careful! After verifying, she 'produced' a sample kit from her inventory, taking out a scapel and aiming to...collect materials. Xiao please. The bomb crisis was noted out of the corner of her eye, but the scientist did not make a move to help. Abert was already defending Kyra. No way he'd get blown up by a goblin with a molotov cocktail! ...Probably. Imagine if that's how he went out, after facing all manner of multiversal threats. Here lies Albert, done in by a goblin. It'd be one hell of a tombstone line. And then Xiao began to giggle to herself.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra finishes up a chant to cement the final Protect spell around Murasame when she smells something /quite/ familiar to her. Having worked with many, many explosives and the creatures with parts that make for good explosives, she's well accquainted with Bombs. It isn't long before she spots the bottle in the goblin's hand. "BOMB!" she warms to everyone around her. "Albert! Get ready to smash this thing!" Yuna's interference buys Kyra the time she needs to grab something egg-shaped off of her belt. It is what Kyra's long since named a cryo-grenade, a self-made device that releases a concentrated burst of liquid nitrogen. Generally, the effect is that it freezes things and makes them extremely, extremely brittle. Absolutely perfect for being smashed with big power hammers. She hurls the device after the Bomb-carrying goblin. "Heads up, Yuna!"
Crystal Caravan	For her part, Amalie is just barely able to repel her Goblin, setting them off balance after pushing their blade back. Once she's got them where she wants them, she delivers a swift forward thrust, sending them falling backward. "Wow! Geez, you're a blacksmith, a lancer, and now a -Dragoon- too? You're like --" Then she actually turns to face him and realizes that this conversation had been carrying on whilst an axe had been lodged in Alwyn's shoulder. Amalie's eyes grow wide the moment she realizes this. "AL-ALWYN! Y-Your arm!" She fidgets, trying to reposition herself and point her own lance toward the Goblin. But at that point, Alwyn already has things well in hand. She has to duck to avoid the flailing body of the first Goblin after Alwyn trips and repels them with a burst of wind. The other clings on by that gash in his shoulder for the first several seconds, but in the end it proves too much for them, and they're sent flying -- all the way to the opposite bank of the river. Whether or not it dies, it seems to fall unconscious as soon as it lands there, carrying on down the river as all the others before it. Amalie continues to bat her lashes at Alwyn, only barely suppressing another, muffled 'Wow'. And with that, there's only one left...
Starbound Flotilla	Albert knows his duty. "Kyra." He says, and doesn't really need to say anything more. She'll know how this sort of thing goes. He immediately moves to intercept the incoming bomber, intending to slam his power hammer into the ground with an apelike roar, creating a tremendous shockwave, ideally launching the incoming bomber away, or at least staggering them, before Yuna gets in on this! Moonfin, meanwhile, dramatically slides a goblin corpse off of his blade. He does so in a way that's expertly designed to make sure that Souji ALMOST but does not get any blood on his nice suit. Pavo, meanwhile, gets covered! Thank goodness. He stays near Souji, still on the defense. Meanwhile, Pavo has a near miss, but is still utterly confident in her allies, letting them handle the last of that. Biteblade joins with Pavo, but there's not much killing left to be done. The pair are, in fact, already intending to scout ahead! They're on the run, the most mobile of the Flotilla checking to see what might have been disturbed by that horn going off...
Crystal Caravan	All the rest is a blur. In concert, Albert and Yuna move into place, and Kyra lobs a cryo grenade toward a... well, a bomb. As Yuna arrives, her shield materializes, and just in the nick of time: the bomb begins to explode! Intense waves of heat bend around the shield, heating it to a point where it almost hurts to hold, before the other, notably more frigid explosive works its magic. It bursts alive in the sky above Yuna where it promptly counters the spreading waves of heat, forcing it to fizzle into smoke just before it can reach Albert. What of the bomb remains unexploded - and the Goblin, of course - remain, however, and Albert comes to clean up. With a single, powerful swing of his hammer, shards of ice are sent flying everywhere. No trace of the bomb nor the goblin remains, and for a few seconds, everything is silent.
Alwyn Highwind	"I'm not a very good blacksmith! And I'm--" Clashes of steel, brief interruptions. It seems, at least, he's pushed both of his Goblins off. He brings his spear to the closest one's necks, just in case it's still alive, as he turns to face Amalie again. "I'm fine! I mean, it hurts, but I'm fine. And I'm not a Dragoon yet. More like... the grand grand something son of one. Lancer is really just a stepping stone. I want to become so good with a spear that I'll be able to get Dragoon training! I just hope it works like that." He sighs, lowing his weapon and glancing at the wound on his shoulder. Oh well, that's one more scar under the armor. "Ha... lucky for us we brought a healer or two, huh?" He glances towards Kyra, indicating to Amalie she shouldn't worry too much. "But, what about you? What will you do after you get to find more stuff out? Is your people's history really that hard to find?"
Souji Murasame	Souji nods to Moonfin and Pavo as they engage in a totally sweet dive in maneuver, taking advantage of the disarray created by the unusual attack. The efficacy and combo potential of the Flotilla continues to impress him. He doesn't even move as the Goblin tries to attack back, knowing that Moonfin has it covered. The effect is awesome. He feels the crackle of magic, and he glances over towards Kyra reflexively, only to see her DEFIANTLY LOOKING IN ANOTHER DIRECTION. He frowns for a moment, but looks back to the battle as it wraps up predictably. "They never had a chance." Souji comments with some measure of satisfaction.
Crystal Caravan	Silent, that is, until Sol Racht and his number arrive amidst a clattering of their own suits of armor. After giving the moment its due time for silence, he says, "We were successful on our end, and I see you lot handled yourselves admirably as well! Alas, here is where we had promised to part. We will continue on down the Eastern bank, through the gate we found beyond here, while you continue on down the Western side. Good luck to you, and until again we meet!" With that, he gives a final one of his distinctly Afiltarian salutes before his group marches on down the path from whence they had come. Ahead, Pavo and Biteblade find the road surprisingly desolate. It seems any Goblins that might have been stirred by the sound of the horn have fled to the other side of the river rather than this one, meaning Sol's group will likely have more combat to deal with than theirs. For the most part, their group is allowed to advance down the riverbank without incident, until they finally arrive at the mouth of the river -- where the water emerges from beyond an arc of cerulean stones. It seems that Sol's group has yet to make it here, leaving the rest of them with ample time to read a sign conspicuously placed before said arc. It reads: 'Danger, kupo! Stay out!' As though the road itself had not been dangerous. Though that speech quirk so persistent that it even appears in writing foretells of something else. Mog picks up on this immediately, floating toward the sign and engaging in what could only be summarized as a 'long, careful, analytical whiff'. When he's finally satisfied, he flits back from the sign again, affirming what all the rest of the group must already know by now. "There are moogles here, kupo! But where...?" In that same instant, probably while Mog has his back turned, a red pom-pom disappears around the corner, where the road continues past the sign but forks away from the cavern.
Crystal Caravan	Amalie is... pretty taken aback by Alwyn for a second. She has to take a few minutes - and a nice, long breath - before she can wrap her head around the fact that this guy had just had an axe lodged in his shoulder. Also... yeah, wait, he doesn't mean -this world's- Dragoons; I mean, he's not even a Lilty! So Dragoons must be something else in his world, right; probably exceptionally powerful lancers by the sound of it if not something more. Once she's able to come out of her daze somewhat, though, Amalie finally replies: "O-Oh! Yeah. I hope you can get there, too!" And yet all she's able to think for the moment is how she would measure up against the lancers in his world. Could -she- ever become a Dragoon? This is going to haunt her forever. The next question makes her more thoughtful, though, and extricates her from her insecurities if only for several moments. "Well, no! I mean, there aren't many real records of these things, but my dad taught me all the I knew about the Lilty. He used to live in Afiltaria, but he moved to Tipa before I was born. I've always been curious about it, though, and going to Afiltaria would be like going to a place my dad told me about in bedtime stories. It would be like leaping into a storybook! So it's not really that it's hard to find, just that... just that these knights are like mythological figures to me. I mean, knights from Afiltaria? Wow!"
Yuna Kagurazaka	The heating of Yuna's shield is worrisome, but between its composition and the processes which integrated it with her powers, it's not bad enough to leave her with burned hands. It's intensely uncomfortable, certainly, but not much worse than that ... but she suspects she'll need to rest up some before plunging into further combat. Unfortunately, that's when moogle sign makes itself known. Yuna lets Shugoseiheki disappear again, looking between Mog (with the Chalice) and the disappearing red pom-pom. "Moogles can survive in the Miasma?" she wonders aloud. "And if they put up that sign, are they genuinely warning travelers away from something dangerous ... or are they trying to scare people away from a Moogle town so they don't attract extra monsters or other hazards?
Kyra Hyral	"...whew." Kyra breathes out as the gambit succeeds and Albert smashes the bomber goblin into tiny ice pieces. "Thanks guys." There's only a moment spent on relaxing when she hears Alwyn speaking-a glance in his direction quickly brings Kyra up to speed on a wound to the shoulder, which she didn't personally see inflicted, but assumes it came from those Goblins. "Yes! It /is/ a good thing." She doesn't pull out the CURE-ALL, feeling confident with her magic today, and instead opts for a good, basic Cure spell. Another flick of the wrist, followed by some words that Kyra murmurs mostly to herself. The loudest part, the "Cure!" is certainly audiable to everyone, however. Her hand glows with white light for a few seconds, the same glow enveloping Alwyn's wound before it closes up. Done this quickly, it's unlikely that much of a scar will be left behind. The glow disappears and, of course, Kyra immediately takes note of what Mog is saying, "Moogles? More moogles-oh, there!!" Kyra takes off down the fork in the road after the moogle sighting.
Alwyn Highwind	"Well, you know what they say. Shoot for the stars, land as high as you can. And then jump another time," Alwyn replies, grinning at Amalie. "So hey! Let's go visit, then. Hopefully it lives up to the stories. I can understand how you feel though. Dragoons from my world serve the Holy See of Ishgard. It's a very religious city-state that doesn't allow outsiders in. They say they're the barrier between the rest of Eorzea and the malicious dragons of Dravania. If not for the Dragoons keeping watch over that border, we'd have evil dragons everywhere." But, those are just stories. Alwyn doesn't know for a fact. He gives a thumb up to Kyra when she seals his injury, rubbing over it with one hand to verify and then glancing at the rest of the group. Sol and their crew take off, and they run across a sign; Yuna beats him to asking the obvious 'Moogles are immune to the Miasma', so he just kind of turns back to Amalie. "Step at a time, though! All this talk about Dragoons gets me excited, but I doubt I'm even a fraction of the way to being good enough. Despite what a talking crystal says."
Xiao Li Yu	"Hmhmhmm~" Finished with her collecting, and finding that the whole bomb situation was dealt with to her expectations, Xiao rose to her feet and filed her sample kit away. "Good job not getting blown up, everyone!" Yeah, like you helped. Humming happily, she sauntered on ahead, following after the group down the western road until they got to a peculiar sign warning them of danger. Reading it, she blinked a few times and then commented. "...Kupo?" Were there moogles around here? Mog confirmed that fact soon after and she had a brief glance about to verify. "Nnnnope, I don't see any- Oh wait." Just barely, at the last second, she was sure she saw a red pompom vanish around a corner. "....." Xiao brought a hand to her chin, an amused smile crossing her face. "I think we'll find our signmakers soon enough." And with that, the researcher soon followed after Kyra, though taking care to stay in the chalice's range.
Starbound Flotilla	"..." Albert regards the signage critically once he gets here. Biteblade seems to have... Followed the sign to the letter, actually, and had Pavo stop. The other catch up to the pair with ease. It looks like the road forks ahead... Away from the caravan? Albert finally shakes his head, as if this is... Well, exactly as ridiculous as it sounds. "If pursuing the locals diverges too much from the path to the tree, I recommend against it." He says, in his usual no-fun way. "Wow, zero fun all the time. Well, whatev', we gotta stick near the Cup of Destiny." George says, laughing briefly. The party continues on, intending to head to the tree but following along if the path to the Moogles is on the way... And if the path there is taken by Mog, of course. "Isss even more hood catsss! Floran wanna sssee! Floran kinda wanna go hug too. Maybe isss why sssign tell Floran, 'keep out'."
Crystal Caravan	Before Mog does indeed wander off and forget that the chalice he's carrying is keeping everyone around him safe, Yuna says something that interests him, keeping him firmly in place. "Kupo," He begins, "of course moogles can survive in the miasma! But we can survive without it, too. We're a little like monsters and the wiser tribes at once, and that gives us some perks. Being able to survive in the miasma is one of 'em, kupo!" But then Kyra actually DOES take off after the pom-pom she sees around the corner. "W-Wait up, kupo! I can't go that fast!" And Mog, decidedly klutzy himself, forgets that he's leaving the larger portion of the group behind. So essentially, it's keep up or get poisoned and die! ... it's a small mercy, at least, that Mog is a fairly slow-moving thing, particularly when he's carrying the chalice. After picking up her pace a bit, Amalie returns Alwyn's grin with one of her own. "Yeah," She says, "for sure. And when we get there, we can both meet the Dragoons! I'll make Sol introduce us, or else!" The sheer exuberance and warmth with which she says these things gets an interested look from Momo, who has of course never seen her get along so well with people she doesn't know. She doesn't say anything, of course, preferring to quietly smile to herself about it instead. She's just glad she's having such an easy time making friends! Cyneric rubs the back of his neck a bit when Xiao remarks on the 'signmakers'. "Heh, yeah. Y'know, though, it's weird -- I used to think moogles were pretty rare! I had only seen one or two before we started exploring, but in the past week I've seen several. I wonder if there's something to that. There are a lot of legends about moogles finding people who have destinies to fulfill, and still others that say they're outright invisible to most people. I don't think either of those things can be entirely true since -all- of us can see them, but I dunno." Kyra, in her excitement, is likely the first to see what lies around the bend: a house constructed of several boards that make the skeletal frame of a house, but nevertheless leave the larger portions of the walls unoccupied. In earnest, it looks like someone put one, big wooden slab on the ground and then put furniture on top of it, then forgot to finish the house. Still, it's possible that these particular tenants /couldn't/ have finished the house; one moogle is lounging in a large, violet-colored armchair with a simple cream-colored blanket on its lap while another, presumably the one whose pom-pom they had seen before, waddles up to them. At once, they jump on top of their chair, bouncing on top of the other moogle until they're awake. "I'm up, kupo, I'm up!" The other one protests, until, finally, both are levitating before the group. When they finally come to their senses, they, say, "Oh, we have guests! Hi there." After several moments of perusal, though, this one deduces: "... ah, are you a Crystal Caravan perchance? Sorry, but there's no Myrrh tree here, kupo!" "WHAT?" Amalie looks ready to explode. "We did NOT come all this way for nothing! You've gotta be lying! Momo, graceful as ever, gingerly touches a finger to Amalie's lips to pacify her. After that, she says: "We have been here before, and all the people of our village have assured us that a Myrrh tree resides here. Either you're lying, or this Myrrh tree has, in the span of not even a year, seen fit to whither away. As I've never heard tell of Myrrh trees whithering at all, I unfortunately have very little reason to believe you. But tell me: why would you lie?"
Crystal Caravan	Again, the moogles look to eachother, each letting out a sigh. "Honestly, kupo," One of them says, wiggling its pudgy legs in a panic, "we just didn't want you all to get hurt, honest! There's a big, scary crab guarding the Myrrh tree here, and we thought that if you didn't think there was a tree here, that you would just move on!" The other one nods their affirmation, continuing, "We didn't mean any harm by it, kupo! Honest!" Cyneric rests a hand on his hip here, making a warm - if somewhat awkward - smile. "No, no -- we get it. And honestly? If it was just Momo, Amalie, Lefalsien, and I, you would have ever right to be worried. But we have these others with us, too! So I don't think this crab stands a chance. Don't worry about us, okay?" "Okay," The moogle returns, "but at least rest here before you go to fight, kupo! It's the least we can do for you." Cyneric rests a hand on his cheek, contemplating the notion."Speaking of 'rest', I don't think the Goblins are going to return here any time soon. We could camp in the caravan, and the rest of you could come back to fight this 'crab' when you're all healed up. Does that sound like a good idea?"
Kyra Hyral	"...what? Moogles can survive in the miasma?" Kyra seemed shocked by this, though not shocked enough to stop in her pursuit. As she grows closer to the barrier against the miasma offered by the chalice, it does strike her that the moogles were moving about in the 'danger zone' without curling up and dying horrible deaths. At that point it also occurs to her that she should /probably/ wait for the chalice to catch up. Though while at the barrier, she does pull out a glass vial and attempt to capture some of the miasma wthin that she can examine later. Upon seeing the multiple moogles, Kyra is absolutely besides herself. "...eee...so cute..." she murmurs, her cheeks turning red. Sure, the distraction is not enough to keep her from hearing about the /real/ problem of an allegedly missing Myrrh tree. When it is determined that it isn't missing but guarded, Kyra snaps to attention over that. "I totally support this idea of making camp for the night and coming back to beat this giant enemy crab." She gives Cyneric two big thumbs up.
Souji Murasame	Souji does not hurry, nor does he dawdle. He arrives at the moogle house precisely when he means to. He looks over the production of the Moogles with a slight narrowing of the eyes, and he nods. "Salvage, then." He states, before he listens to Cymeric. "The Goblins were totally overmatched. I agree with your assessment. Let us gather our strength and push forward, taking down the tree's guardian. Now that these kind..." He pauses. "Moogles have informed us, we will be able to prepare for the battle."
Alwyn Highwind	Alwyn can appreciate threats of being introduced or else. Maybe it's a bit blunter and less polite than he'd like, but this isn't his world, so he's certainly not going to tell Amalie how to ration her spirit. Though at first he seems distracted by the idea of there NOT being a tree here, finding out it's all a lie to keep them safe reassures him. "Big crab, huh... well, nothing ventured, nothing gained! Souji's right, now that we know what's ahead we can prepare and come out on top. Let's get you guys that Myrrh and teach a big crab where not to nest!"
Xiao Li Yu	Upon arriving and meeting the moogles, Xiao had nothing to say. No, she just stared... ...And stared. ...And stared some more. A creepy smile adorned her face as her golden eyes slowly swept left and right, eyeing all of the moogles present. Probably wasn't hard to guess what she was thinking about.
Yuna Kagurazaka	"Camping and resting up sounds like a good plan," Yuna says with a nod. She really COULD use some downtime before heading onwards into a fight with a giant (enemy) crab, plus whatever other monsters might lie in wait around the Myrrh tree ... And the chance to get to know the Caravan's travellers better certainly wouldn't hurt, either. "Anything we can do to pitch in while we're taking advantage of your hospitality, as it were?" she inquires with a smile and a polite bow to the Moogles.
Starbound Flotilla	"Floran ssstuff Matter Manipulator with many bedsss!" Biteblade calls out, eagerly. "Floran make bessst sssleepy-over for hood catsss, will be wonderful! You want to fight giant badguy crab? We kill! Biggessst prey, biggessst ssstab!" She does a big, dramatic flex at the native tribe, posing STRONGLY! "I can establish a teleporter beacon here." Moonfin says, as always with a slight tone of smugness. "The Miasma means that I can't expect it to be reliable forever, but I would depend upon it for several days. We will have all the time we need to face this noble creature and claim the tree for our own again."