World Tree MUSH

    It's the middle of summer so Minnesota is still looking pretty green right about now as the beat up grey 2003 Ford Windstar makes its way along the Voyaguer Highway, route 61. To her credit, the Warlock, Morrigan, has obeyed all road safety and traffic laws, even insisting that her riders all buckle up and fasten themselves in for the ride as the van makes its way into the unincorporated community of Lutsen Township of Cook County, and rolls to a stop at...
    A very busy seeming City Hall with police station nearby.
    There's a crowd of people, many of whom are obviously scared and antsy all shouting for answers from a harried looking police sergeant.
    "Well this sure looks like the place." Morrigan says as she tugs the key from the ignition and steps out the van. "Mary? Do the thing."
    At her prompt, Morrigan's Familiar, a shinki by the name of Mary Contrary perches on her shoulder and dons a set of tiny reading glasses as she pulls up a holoscreen to read from to brief the party.
    "Locals have been reporting hearing strange wails at night and several people have gone missing ever since. Many of whom have turned up... Partially devoured by the edge of the woods. The most recent person to go missing is a Thomas Hicks, age 17, from a nearby township. Though not in the direct area, there's reason to believe his disappearance is connected with the seven others that have happened since this incident began."
    Morrigan claps her hands.
    "Sounds like a Class 4 Spookening on our hands, right gang? Okay let's start asking around for info."

    For something to snack on the way, Claire brought a fresh melon which she cut into slices. She's been eating one. "Is Class 4 bad or good?" She asks, checking her sword, slingshot and bombs before hopping out of the van. "Hey!" She tells to the crowd, "Adventurer, looking for any official who can tell us about the Situation!" Because subtlety is for nerds.

    It's not her first time riding in the Windstar. It probably won't be the last. Honestly, she finds it more comfortable than most of her conveyances back home. Even today's attendant seems relatively interested in both the vehicle and the Minnesota countryside. So when they arrive, both the healer and her servant are relatively calm.

    "I still don't understand this labeling and rating scale of yours," Matsu remarks as the briefing finishes. So saying, however, she's already patting her side, assuring herself that she's brought her usual implements of exorcism. "But if this is a... 'spookening', I can definitely help." The girl turns to glance at Claire with crimson eyes. "I think the bigger the number, the worse it is. I think."

    Sigh. Raylene may be young-looking, but she has the biggest sigh. SIGH. "Hm... could be a simple werewolf, but unlikely. They're usually less obvious." She hops out of the van, and then to the others debating, "I think she makes up the numbers, herself. As far as I know the Spirit Chasers have no official naming sceme since every case is unique. I'm going to check the newspapers to see when each one disappeared and try to put together a timeline."

    Way to ruin the fun, Raylene.

    Magilou, probably to the benefit of everyone who isn't Magilou, is keeping a lid on her own familiar at the moment. She stands out enough just for her manner of dress. She'd turned up to join the party - possibily under the impression that there might be reward money involved - and mostly just napped in the back of the van on the way over.
    That's let her gain back enough energy that she might be able to actually contribute to this endevor! "Right! Just let me do the questioning, that's sure to get the questing done at the same time. Two Kwehs with one stone!" It may not actually be a good idea to let her do the questioning, as she tugs her hat back into place from where it had drooped while she napped.

Neviah kept back from the worst of the noise. Listening's her forte, not gunning stuff down.

The young woman's got her notepad in hand, just listening to some of the conversations, before finally biting her lower lip and maneuvering into the crowd. She's a little out of place here - her fashion's not quite modern, at least - but she does know how to collect information.

"It's always the same forest, then?" she quietly asks someone in the crowd - a mother this time. It's sometimes easier for her to talk to women.

    "Class 4 is bad. It's very bad. It means 'someone has definitely died'. Compared to a Class 3, which means 'someone has probably died'." Morrigan explains as she pulls out a tattered old road map to look over while the party spreads out to find information.
    "Relax, Raylene, there's no need to sigh that hard!" The Warlock says brightly. "Just remember our cover story if anyone gets suspicious of a bunch of weird outsiders: 'We're with OSHA'."
    So what do people find, well; let's start on that:
    The newspapers detail a series of grisly findings over the course of the past seven weeks, with roughly one disappearance and one body found per week. This has been going on for a while. Lutsen is a small and sleepy community, this is the kind of thing that never happens here, so naturally the public is terrified for their lives, and the bodies have always been found at the edge of the Lutsen Scientific and Natural Area, just east of Eagle Mountain and the Lutsen Mountains.
    Claire throws subtlety through a window like a brick in asking for information flat out, earning her a series of suspicious looks from the populace before the police sergeant beckons her over.
    "We don't have much to go off of." He says. "People go missing, they turn up... Partly eaten. We think a bear's got a taste for man out there, or maybe a pack of wolves, but we'll be damned if we can find 'em."
    "Always the same forest..." A beleaguered woman replies to Neviah, "Just to the west of town, we hear the noises-- like a horrible wailing, and we know that means there's another body by the time they stop."
    Almost as though on cue, a keening, wailing, cry drifts over the town, causing the mass of people to start dispersing. Fast.

    "Thanks for the info. Sounds like we better act now." Claire rushes out at the wailing, ready to run to the forest or take the van, whichever seems better. When they get there, she has her slingshot ready, complete with explosive ammo. "So what's a class 11 Spookening?"

Neviah presses her lips together, eyes darting towards Morrigan as the woman explains things a little ways away.

But she has a person to interview. She takes notes with a quiet nod and a jot of her pencil across paper. "A wailing," she murmurs. "I'm sorry... it must be awful...."

It is. It proves it. Neviah flinches as people immediately start to run for cover. She resists the urge to do the same.

    /I must be foolish. This place has no connection I can see to my studies, so why am I staying?/

She can't find the answer to that, merely waiting for the crowd to disperse before she begins to move into closer formation with Morrigan, who isn't familiar but seems to have some degree of understanding of the region. Or maybe there's something else? Neviah gives the other dark-haired woman a longer look, trying to study her features out of the corner of her eye between the efforts needed to get to the forest edge.

    "That only explains half the classification," Matsu replies to Morrigan. But at this point, she knows an answer is unlikely. She'll join Claire and Neviah in investigating the crowd; her attendant is also writing notes down on a slate. She listensto the answers given, and she looks like she's about to ask someone a question of her own - when there's that wail, off in the distance.

    "...I'm going to investigate that," the tiny little white-haired shrine maiden declares. "Keiko, stay with the van." And off she marches. Without waiting for anyone else. Granted, it would be really easy for anyone to catch up to her, but still.

    Of course, she's already putting her sense for the supernatural to work.

    Magilou will not actually get around to asking anyone for information, having been too busy bragging about her plans to do so, and then there's a horrific sets of noises. She'll look up, though she doesn't show any sign of worry even as the locals disperse. Instead she'll start after Matsu, tilting her head and listening with her pointed ears.
    "..Hmm. I don't think that's a normal bear, or a normal wolf. Maybe it's some kind of crossover? A pack of wolfbears? Are there demons around here? Either way, it DOES seem like the kind of problem you'd call a witch for." At least she seems courageous enough in hurrying towards where it's coming from, even if she too could probably stand to move a little faster or get in the van or something instead of just striding in the direction of the noise.

    Oh joy. It's already wailing. "Please be careful, in case it's a banshee or barghest..." Raylene calls out. She's also trying to figure out if this is on schedule or if it's early for some reason.

    Then to Magilou, "Don't be silly, there's no such thing as a wolfbear." As if that were obvious. "Now, I suppose we won't find out too much more just asking, but if it IS a normal animal, then it's most likely a bear. Wolves would not be this regular and would need the entire pack to be crazed."

    The wailing cry makes even Morrigan glance up from her map, eldritch green-glowing eyes narrowing as she gets back in the van. Anyone who needs a ride to the forest's edge will get it.
    By the time the party arrives, there are a few nervous looking members of the local police force already present, which makes the Warlock click her teeth.
    "Alright guys, let's not do anything too inconspicuous. The locals here kiiiiind of don't know about the whole supernatural world all around them. ... In most cases, I think." She says looking to Raylene for confirmation as...
    A single youth emerges from the woods, clutching his hand. He looks back over his shoulder nervously a LOT too as he stops right at the edge of the trees.
    "Does... Does anyone have anything to eat...?" He asks, timid and meek sounding, as though he's been through the hell of a ringer and back.
    Raylene should recognize him by description from in the newpapers. It's Thomas Hicks, the latest person to go missing.

There are some telltale traits that Neviah's learned to look for in people adjacent to the world she barely knows. She's finding them the more she looks at Morrigan.

There are police on the scene; that in itself stops Neviah from reaching for her weapon. She left her rifle back home but packed a revolver in an inside pocket. It's not something she expects to be of /great/ use, but the closer they get to the forest, the more tempted she gets.

The temptation vanishes when a young man comes staggering out of the woods. Neviah widens her eyes.

She darts forward without any consideration of danger. "Here, come here," she invites as she pulls something out of the small carry-on bag she's got with her.

It's a simple marmalade sandwich on half-whole wheat bread. She peels back the white paper around it and steps forward with a sympathetic smile, offering it up. "Here... have something to eat.'

    Claire still has her melon slices, so she offers one of those as well, keeping her distance and her eyes out. "I didn't really know much about the supernatural world either, not until I quit my job and became a farmer."

    Raylene speaks up first about the boy, "That's the missing boy." She then quickly answers the question. "Since Blossoming, the world knows that magic and the supernatural exists, or something like it... but they think of it as something brought offworld, so if anything it's kept the actual supernaturals of this world far more hidden, as they can write off anything seen as something offworld coming here."

    Magilou will just make a hmming nose. "I guess those were owlbears at home, mostly. Demons come in all shapes and sizes." Given that if she DOESN'T present as supernatural she appears to be someone who woke up today and chose to go about the world presenting as a pink jester, Magilou will mostly ignore Morrigan's advice. She's always found that most people ignore things they find too weird, anyway.

    She'll eye the man as he stumbles out of the forest, more than a little bit suspicious of this sudden approach from someone teetering on the edge. People where she's from in that kind of state tend to end up as demons, after all, so it's just a matter of tempting them with the right thing.

    "I have a portible heat source so I've been keeping my lunch warm, but you can have it if you want something a little more meaty than what they had." She'll say, nodding in Neviah's direction, fumbling with her bag and coming out with what appears to be a slow cooked beef roast of some kind, complete with the smell of cooking once it's out of her bag, still just a little bit on the rare side. The sort of thing that might drive someone who hungers for human flesh into a frenzy.

    It's also a total illusion and will provide no nutritional value, but it smells, looks, feels, and tastes like a pretty great meal Magilou had in an inn once.

    Matsu probably gets picked up by Morrigan in the van about a quarter of the way to the forest. The embarrassed look suggests she didn't even think of that as an option.

    It's when they reach the forest and the missing person comes ambling right out that she really gets on her guard, though. As Neviah steps forward, so does the young Phoenix Maiden, but she does so with a wary glare, a look of open hostility. As she goes, she reaches down to her waist pouch, drawing out one of her paper charms, and as she reaches Thomas Hicks, she begins chanting, and...

    ...walks right past him.

    "Mighty Genbu, grant me your strength, that this barrier might stand fast against fell spirits..." The ofuda floats up out of her hand, into the air before her - and out from it unfolds a shimmering grey barrier, a tortoise-shell pattern that covers about ten or twelve feet square. It's not all that much of a protection against anything approaching, but it's an open declaration. 'I know you are there.'

    There's a glance over her shoulder at the others. "He was bait. We're probably the prey."

    A dour expression crosses Morrigan's face, crackling energy dances along her fingertips at the sight of the youth, but she holds her action.
    The boy flinches as the others begin to approach him, eyes wide and wild with fear as he takes the sandwich from Neviah and melon bits from Claire, who can see that his hand has been badly slashed in several places on the palm.
    "It's- it's not for me." He says, voice low and hushed as he glances back over his shoulder when-
    Matsu does a Matsu.
    "A-ah don't provoke him! He'll eat us all if you do that." He says. As the wailing begins again.
    Louder, angrier, from this close anyone with even a shred of magical potential will be able to understand it. A hissing voice whispering 'Don't lie to those people, boy!' carried in the undertone of the keening song-like cry, that makes the boy break into a panic, dropping the offered food as he rushes towards the police in hopes of safety. Which should distract them well enough for the party to move in and investigate if they so please.

It doesn't even occur to Neviah that there might be a trap set for them. She's more than happy to offer up food.

She glances past the youth at Matsu, but she remains focused on feeding the lad. The injury is noticed, and she reacts with a bite to her lower lip and a soft rush of breath. When she looks up to him again, she cants her head. "Not for you...?"

Matsu does a Matsu.

Neviah's eyebrows go /up./ "What on earth," she murmurs, before the wailing starts in again. There's more to it than she could feel from a distance. Recoiling away, she gives in to the instinct for self-protection and fishes a Tranter revolver out of her coat, loading it with a slightly shaking hand.

"There's a distinct consciousness," she breathes with a look towards Morrigan. "Whatever is in that forest is... is in communication with him, somehow. I don't think local police are cut out for it...."

For a few seconds, Neviah stands, tense. She squints into the treeline.

    /I must be daft./

She creeps forward, beginning to edge her way into the treeline.

    "He'll try," Matsu replies to the boy.

    But no immediate attack is forthcoming, so she allows the barrier to fade, and retrieves the strip of paper. Already, she's starting to advance again, brazen to the point of recklessness. She does, however, look around briefly at the others present. Everyone here seems to have some manner of supernatural experience. So she asks, in a general question, "The banishment of creatures like this is what I trained for before I became the Phoenix Maiden. But I have no clue what this specific creature might be. Can somebody tell me what we're facing? Even a guess is fine."

    "We're the prey? Hmph. There's no supernatural wolfowlbear alive that can lay a finger on Magilou." Magilou will brag, juices dripping off the roast and down onto her hands. She'll look down and change which hand the roast is in, shaking those juices off even though she knows they're just an illusion. An illusion being made by her. She's dedicated to the bit.

    Still, the boy didn't seem all that interested in it, as he sprited off towards the local authorities. Magilou, wanted criminal, will hum again to herself. "Usually magic is effective on this sort of thing. Can you do magic?" She'll ask Matsu, before moving back towards the source of the noise.

    Since no immediate attack is forthcoming, Claire carefully moves forward. "Given that it's clever enough to manipulate people and set traps, my best guess is a Shadow Shaman but honestly I don't know much about dangers that aren't found in the Valley so it's not really a great guess."

    Hmm. This group seems to be lacking many of the... 'heavy hitters' that Raylene has come to depend on for doing the actual fighting. This makes her grimace and quiet down a little. "Hmm. That's unfortunate. Ah well, at least if someone dies the Horror can be fed."

    Speaking of which, she lets it manifest now, though it's still invisible. Despite this, the oppressive sense of something WRONG settles through the area as Raylene's guardian gains corporeal form.

    The boy flees, completely uninterested in Magilo's juicy illusionary food. And with his panicked gibbering he has the local authorities pretty distracted as he babbles about being kidnapped and made to travel with 'the man eater'.
    The boy is as thin as a rail, which is probably why he didn't get eaten right away.
    Morrigan shudders as Raylene looses The Horror, the Warlock grimacing.
    "Jesus, Christ-- can you give a little warning when you let him out to play, Raylene?" The witch huffs but hurriedly rushes after the others into the deeper part of the woods as Matsu, Neviah, and Magilou advance.
    "I donno-" Morrigan replies to Matsu. "We're looking at some kind of North American cryptid that eats man-flesh, it could be any number of things that-"
    That's when it lurches in the darkness from between the trees, a ten foot tall beast with skin dragged tightly over its bony, gaunt, almost skeletal figure. With sunken eyes and a deer-skull for a face. It makes that horrid keening howl once again as it lunges for Magilou with sharp claws and gnashing teeth. That illusory meal of hers was pretty convincing. Just not to the boy.
    "Oh. Oh shit." Morrigan says holding up a finger.
    "That's a Wendigo."

    Claire holds fire until the Wendigo is right at Magilou, then she fires the explosive, aiming straight for the Wendigo's head with no apparent concern for collateral damage. By the look on her face, something has rattled her and it's not the Wendigo.

Neviah Younger is NOT a heavy hitter.

Revolver in hand, Neviah lets others take point. She's the wrong person to take hits or handle face-to-face fights. The real problem is she doesn't see anyone in the party who *can.* Her gaze darts to Morrigan, and she nods, frowning. "Yes, you might be right. There are some regional stories about--"

Out comes the lurching figure, lunging at Magilou and her meal. Neviah yelps and jumps back, catching her heel on a tree root as she does.

Her revolver goes off, but the bullet vanishes into the tree canopy as she tumbles ass over teakettle and lands in a bush. "Iyaaa~"

    Matsu glances Magilou's way, then holds up her ofuda again. "I'm trained as a shrine maiden, and possessed by a phoenix. Banishment and purification are two of my specialties, and I can wield modest offensive fire magic." She then shifts her gaze to Raylene. "We won't be feeding anyone to anything. If someone dies, I can bring them back, so-"

    The sudden appearance of something so horrid causes Matsu to leap about two feet to her left, spin on her heels, and drop into a defensive position with her ofuda raised. She can't see the Horror, but she can sure as hell feel it, and there's an alarmed scowl. "What in the White Tiger's name is-?!" It... it seems to be on their side, by Morrigan's reaction, so after a second or two, the Phoenix Maiden relaxes... slightly.

    ...of course, that's when the Wendigo comes stomping out. Almost on sheer reflex, the healer whips her hands around and conjures forth a fireball, accompanying it not with an incantation or a prayer, but rather an alarmed yelp.

    "Ah, dear," Raylene sighs, though she doesn't seem too worried for some reason. "Please be careful to kill it entirely, Wendigo are notoriously hard to kill. Oh, you're seeing that." After all, it's moving very fast. "It's also super strong," she warns, casually, before pointing and having her invisible friend charge.

    Hopefully the Horror won't get 'spotted' before it can slam into the Wendigo, giving Magilou a bit of time to get out of the way.

    To Matsu, seeing her reaction, Raylene murmurs, "Don't worry, that's mine. He's on my leash. Oh, but don't anger him, he's also very unpleasant and not at all human. But for now he wants to kill the wendigo and absorb its power."

    Magilou claims, constantly and loudly, that she's a witch. Up to this point, for actual YEARS noone off her world has ever seen her cast a useful spell in combat.

    She can feel the wrongness of the Horror, but mostly seems unaffected, watching the others curiously and definitely not paying close enough attention up until the wendigo charges out at her, too slow even with Raylene's help, though at least it's just her arm that will get got instead of her entire Magilou-ness. She'll get slashed by the monster as she's hopping backwards, the illusory beef going flying and landing on the ground even as she pulls back.

    Blood will drip down onto her tights, and that is evidently enough to get her to actually take something seriously for once. "I think fire is just what this thing is asking fur, don't you? Blood Moon!"

    The ground underneath the wendigo will superheat to the point of going molten, attempting to scorch it in an actual, honest to god display of magic that is definitely 100% safe to use right next to a forest. At least Magilou is ALSO a water magic specialist.

    The Horror has been loosed... And it seeks to feed on the Wendigo and absorb its power and... Morrigan is entirely okay with that, at this point in time as The Horror bodily slams into the Wendigo, throwing it off balance with a keening cry.
    Fire seems to affect the creature hideously, however, Clair shoots off her explosive, Matsu flings her fireball, and Magilou melts the ground beneath it, earning shrill wail as its fur and flesh sear and singe with the smell of rotten flesh cooking off as it clutches its skull-like face, fractured now from the farmer's explosive.
    This is about when Morrigan helps Neviah to her feet.
    "Okay this is going to feel really weird and a little uncomfortable but do you trust me? Okay good!"
    She uh. Kind of doesn't wait for an answer there as she touches a hand to the Scholar's shoulder and says a few words.
    The words are unpleasant to hear as they are unpleasant to say; harsh and guttural, Alien and entirely Other as the Warlock calls out to something from the Far Plane.
    And out there... Something... SomeTHING opens one of its many eyes and focuses it upon Neviah Younger, whispering in the Professor's ears of What May Come, What May Be, and What Is. Whisperings of the future- possible futures- a scene in which the party is slain and devoured crosses the mind. A vision of the Wendigo writhing its death throes as the heroes stand triumphant. Many other similar scenes of countless possibilities hissing in her mind's eye in the span of a split second as the future and all possible futures are revealed to her.
    All she has to do is reach out and choose one. All she has to do is aim and fire that gun.
    Because the Wendigo is picking itself up, and with a monstrous roar it charges, stampeding towards the party, gnashing its teeth and flailing it s clawed hands wildly.

    Wow, that fireball... really, really made it unhappy. As did the explosive, and the molten ground. Matsu's eyes widen a little. But she doesn't have time to think further about it; that monstrous thing is charging, and her most urgent order of business is getting the hell out of the way. This, the white-haired girl does with a great deal of vigor, scampering to one side and just avoiding a swipe of the claws. She pauses, looks around for a moment-

    -and then starts scampering her way in Magilou's general direction. "Hey! Hold out your injured arm!" Operating on the assumption that Magilou will do so, Matsu lifts her own hands, and unleashes a torrent of fire... but something about it is different. Even to ordinary human senses, it feels... warm. Gentle. Nonthreatening, somehow. To anyone who can discern supernatural information somehow, the reason is obvious: It's healing fire, imbued with the divine magic of a phoenix. It should heal those arm wounds up quite nicely.

>> SUMMARY[Matsu Shuzenji] >> Healing Magilou by setting her on fire.

Neviah flails a little before Morrigan sweeps in and helps her. She gets one hand on the warlock and the other on a tree branch, pulling herself up in a rush, considering the circumstances. "T-thank you," she manages before blinking. "Do I--"

She doesn't get to answer before Morrigan /touches/ her. Neviah's eyes grow wide.

    /something is whispering/
        /obscenities of time/
                /failure and triumph/
    /blasphemy and more blasphemy/
        /she moves the arm to where fate decided she would/

Neviah's mind reels with a mix of revulsion and horrified fascination - but she /listens./ Her arm slots into the predetermined gap of possibility laid out for her by something so obscene and inconceivable that her mind cannot truly process it. The Tranter is not anywhere near a modern weapon in a world like this, but with the Wendigo picking itself up, it doesn't need to be.

There's a sharp burst of sound as Neviah squeezes the trigger and the bullet marches down the path of blasphemous foresight. It's aimed with impossible fortune to try and hit the creature not just in the neck, but at a /specific part/ of the neck.

    Magilou, still rocking back and forth and tapping her foot to a rhythm only she seems to be able to hear, will spread her arms wide at Matsu's request. She's worked with other healers before, after all, and her own healing magicks are limited. The bleeding will stop, which at least Magilou will appreciate.

    She'll have to EXPRESS that appreciation later, because she's still chanting even as she's healed, the fire that heals her perhaps fading over time to reveal red energy forming in her hands as she chants. She seems to be winding up something bigger, for just in case whatever Morrigan and Neviah are doing doesn't work, but she's definitely going to need to be kept guarded from the wendigo while she's working on it.

    Hopefully it hasn't learned about the importance of interrupting mages in addition to the importance of eating people.

    The Horror is not the unstoppable beast many think it is, but it does have tooth and claw. Thus, it grabs hold of the wendigo, grappling with the vicious cryptid and basically trying to... chew on it. This suits Raylene fine, because she's not sure if the Horror could undertand more nuanced plans such as 'keep it busy so the others can attack' or anything.

    "Try not to get bitten too much. I'll make something later." Raylene apparently has decided to stay behind everyone and just be a brat.

    Claire shoots another bomb right at the Wendigu, just in case. She's staring at both Morrigan and Raylene with a mixture of dread and suspicion. She really doesn't like how those two are going about things right now.

    It might be a jarring sight; to see the huge cryptid suddenly have its forward momentum arrested as the invisible beast that is The Horror grapples it and starts biting. Every chomp earns a hideous wailing cry as that keeps it from continuing its advance to assault the other group members.
    Again, Claire's slingshot shoots true, the explosive ammo slamming it in the face and cracking that deer-skull visage down the middle, earning a shriek and fresh flow of blood from the wound.
    Morrigan does her part as well, aiming her hand at the beast, a ray of eldritch green energy lancing from her fingertips to slam the wendigo with agonizing energy while Matsu focuses on playing support by healing Magilou.
    But that's not what brings the beast to a halt.
    The CRACK of the Tranter sounds off, and with that lone bullet flung from the barrel, the die of fate has been cast.
    It reads 'Natural 20', as the shot flies impossibly true, slamming the beast in the throat, tearing through sensitive nerves, tissue, veins, and arteries, before flying out the other side of the Wendigo's neck, causing it to splutter, choke, grip its throat and collapse in a writhing heap, gurgling in its own blood.

Jarring sights seem entirely too common for Neviah Younger in the past week or so. First the demon priests, and now this. Maybe she's in the wrong line of work.

The humble revolver does its job entirely too well, thanks to the neat little slot of fate and time plotted out for her by the blasphemous eyes beyond existence. As the Wendigo splutters and collapses, Neviah looks on with a mix of horror and astonishment dawning across her face. Her eyes widen before she blinks rapidly, looking first at her revolver, then at Morrigan.

"What," she begins, but the question dies on her tongue as she realizes she probably wouldn't grasp the answer even if the warlock were to give it.

Instead she darts forward to kneel beside the gurgling Wendigo, fishing a lens out of her coat pocket and holding it to her eye as she tries to inspect it more closely.

    The bullet seems to work quite well from Magilou's point of view, and there are people - or Horrors - she doesn't necessarily want to attack standing right next to the Wendigo. On the other hand, she's gone to all this trouble to chant and build up energy! And it'd be a waste to not celebrate at least a little bit.

    "Ready, steady, Explode!" She calls out, loudly enough that everyone in the area can hear her as she lifts her hands up over her head, the explosion forming in the air a solid hundred feet or so above them rather than at the wendigo, a blast of noise and fire that could MAYBE be passed off as a flare or a firework if people weren't looking directly at it when it started.

    She'll then give a performer's bow to the rest of the group as she breaks that pose, while the blast fades. Regardless of whether they approved of the gratuitous and unneeded spell or not.

    Raylene flinches as she sees what's happening. She mentally halts the Horror, so it doesn't get in the way of the others... but while it listens, a faint, feral growling can be heard. Mostly it's because it's getting the rush of being near a dying being, and that... is fine with Raylene, mostly. "I hope it doesn't get a strange appetite from this."

    Of course, Raylene gets a portion of that power, too. But she never mentions that. At least she probably won't find it ethical to eat people.

    Basic firebird first-aid has been applied, so Matsu turns back around to face the Wendigo, prepping another fireball; but by the time she's ready to do so, Neviah has used unholy inspiration to bring the creature down. She lets the fire disperse, and then stands up a little bit straighter, turning instead to Raylene with a frown. "Don't get bit 'too much'? Does this thing impart corruption or taint of some sort? I can purif- GYAH?!"

    Matsu was not expecting fireworks. She yelps, she turns, she falls flat on her butt, and only then does she look up at the sky, then down at Magilou. "What the hell was that," she grouses.

    There's a pause while she collects herself. And then, in a tone of irritation and DEFINITELY NOT EMBARRASSMENT, she continues to Magilou, "Come here. Let me finish healing your arm. If anyone else is hurt, you come here too." Grump.

    Claire looks visibly ill. "Please give me some warning next time you pull something that shouldn't be. I'm magically attuned to nature and that was unpleasant." She sits down to take some time to recover.

    Hah hahhhh so about that answer from Morrigan.
    Neviah gets a firm pat on the shoulder.
    "WOW that sure was a great shot, huh?" The Warlock says brightly as the last vestiges of the whispers should fade from Neviah's mind... One last utterance lingering.
    'Narokath... Redgormor... XEL'YAOTH... Pargon pargon pargon...'
    The Wendigo is bleeding out rapidly now, its rotten stench body curling in on itself tightly as rigor mortis rapidly takes it. But the sudden explosion overhead makes Morrigan jump and then scowl.
    "We'd better burn the body before anyone gets here to investigate." She suggests before she tugs open the flap of her backpack.
    "Mary, do the thing."
    This is when the little shinki reaches into the bag and pulls out a small vial-- and then floats over to Claire with it.
    "Here, drink this, it will make you feel better."
    "I'm sure Raylene is sorry." Morrigan says. "At least she has that thing on a leash, right? Right?"
    Morrigan is already gathering firewood and lighting a torch.
    You know. To dispose of the body.

Neviah presses her lips together as she looks up at Magilou. She watches the woman's antics before canting her head a couple degrees to one side and staring at her wordlessly, a look of complete bafflement on her face.

It's at least partly Magilou's doing and partly the whispering in her mind. Shivering under Morrigan's pat, Neviah looks up at her a second, then down at the stiffening Wendigo. She's long since lowered her lens, sliding it back into her coat as her eyes dip away and towards the grass. For a long moment, she sinks into thought.

"...I wonder if this creature really was native to this world," she murmurs. "Or if it came from somewhere else."

Settling back into the grass, she comes down on her bottom, this time in a controlled fashion. The act of disposing of the Wendigo will have to go on without her. She's either lost in thought or in shock, from the way she stares off into space.

    Magilou will smile without her teeth showing at that response from Matsu, and the generally muted mood. She'll sigh, exaggeratedly, and stomp her way over to where Matsu is standing. "It was just a little fire and explosion. It's never hurt anybody to just fire off a spell like that, and I get headaches if I cancel it after building up that much energy."

    That is a blatent lie, of course. She has no such limitation. She'll take the help with healing her arm, though.

    "Not a literal leash," Raylene says, "But it is bonded to me. Not to worry, it hasn't killed an innocent since three weeks ago." She pauses for effect. "Actually never has killed an innocent, but just a little joke there."

    Raylene does not have a good sense of humor.

    Claire stares at the vial with mild suspicion, before deciding to trust it and drink it. "If that thing ever kills any innocents, let me know." She tells Raylene.