World Tree MUSH

    In the precious minutes that the group has spent trying to track down the sun dog that gave Clair and Benedicta the slip, the fire supression systems in the arcology have been really put to the test; and passed. Ankle-deep water flows through the hallways and pavilions of the mall-like conglomerate structure, punctuated by cooling mist that was probably steam. There's evidence of where the fires were started: scorch marks here, gutted places there.
    Aurelia gives a groan of frustration. "This isn't getting us anywhere... Oh." Her face lights up and her eyes blink. "Benedicta, you can sense magic, right? Because maybe we can track down the critter that way?"

Benedicta nods at that, "If there isn't anyone else magical inside...if there are any Cabal members in there coming out with your hands up now! You don't want to do this the hard way!" She's clearly not in the best mood from all the heat right now. Hopefully there wasn't anyone else trying to cause trouble inside.

    Talia is currently trying to wring her socks, to little avail. They're still very damp, and Talia gives up with a sigh. "Trenchfoot is inevitable I suppose." She mutters to herself.

    "Are there any top floor exits we could find?" She asks Aurelia, trying to wrack her brain on how they can escape.

    Claire is choosing to just deal with the wet feet. She keeps her slingshot ready, preparing an iridium bullet just in case. "Well I don't have any way to track them, but until we do I agree about trying to get higher up, I doubt these things want to stay on the wet ground."

    Aurelia nods. "I think there's a sky deck so tourists can see the city skyline." She pauses, then starts jogging towards a stairwell. "Elevators would be out, so we have to hike it."
    As the group slog their way up the stairwell-turned-waterfalls, they notice that there's more cooling mist coming from above, growing warmer as they ascend.
    Finally, the sky deck, which is more like a garden pavilion with a breath-taking view of the San Francisco Bay area's cityscape. Normally. Right now there's a pall hanging over it, a mixture of steam and a bit of smoke from the fire. The city fire-fighters are spraying down the deck with huge high-pressure devices, the roar of man-made rain and banshee screams of sirens echoing all around. Near the center of the billowing clouds of steam are two brilliant white sun spots, one larger than the other, stalking about.

    "We should probably hunt down the sun dogs while we're at it, before they can escape. The last thing we need is those things getting into the city." Talia says.

    Once they're outside, Talia takes a long deep breath of fresh air. Being stuck with the smoke was not fun, to say the least. She takes a look at the deck, noticing steam. "I think we just found them."

Benedicta squeeze the water out of her fur as they're soaked. Of course it doesn't get any more pleasant for her as she's overwelmed by the heat and the sound fills her ears. Her horn glows bright yellow again as they get closer to the bright sun spots. She tries to keep a low profile as they climb up higher. "Well, at least they're cornered unless they decide to jump off the roof..." She's not sure what happens besides a flaming creater.

    Claire takes a moment to refill her watering can before they leave the wet area, staying behind the others. She carries it with her as she follows the others, "They didn't seem to handle my watering that well, last I tried. Should buy you an opportunity at least." She suggests, gripping the tool tightly.

    Aurelia glances at the others. "I'll draw their attention, you guys wreck them." She's putting a lot of faith in the regenerative ability she was granted, but she's doubtful any of the others can survive close quarters with the intense heat of the beasts. Plus, she mused as she willed her gleaming golden armor to flow into long golden feathers to bleed off the impending heat, she only had a sword. With a sharp crack of displaced air, the crystal bladed sword appears in Aurelia's hand as she charges forward towards the glowing spots.
    Closer to the beasts the air shimmers with heat and water rapidly turns to steam fleeing outwards and upwards. THe snarling pops and hisses of the incandescent beasts shows their growing displeasure at this wet environment as they stalk about a concrete sun dial. As Aurelia charges forward, her sword's adamant blade refracts and reflects the sun dogs' light into a thousand rainbows scattered amid the steam, the sword almost too bright to look at directly. Sensing somebody to take their frustrations out on, the beasts lope toward Aurelia, pushing hot billowing clouds before them.

    Talia nods and grabs her lightsaber hilt. It was Go Time. She rushes towards the sun dogs, nimbly avoiding some rubble along the way as she's faced with immense heat. The heat is unbearable, Talia already feeling herself sticky with sweat.

    Noticing the firefighters, she gets an idea. "You! Target the dogs!" She calls out, pointing to the flaming hounds.

    Claire rushes forwards and swings her watering can, trying to use the momentum to get the incredibly amounts of water the tool can expel in one go additional range. She tries to stay behind the others, keep them between her and the sun dogs for now.

Benedicta wonders what she should do, she can only hold so much water in her makeshift trunk after all. She's worried about Aurelia of course, but getting too close was a death sentence. She might be able to keep her cool for a bit but that was about it. She's not sure how well her armor can handle the heat. Maybe she could lure them off the roof but that would be trouble for the people below. The almir'aj finds herself quickly sweltering and losing focus on her magic as the water shoots out of her nose.

    Steam comes off of Aurelia's armor even as overspray from the fire fighters, Claire's watering can, and Benedicta's spray rolls down it, the golden feathers glowing a dull red as they do their job and radiate the heat into the air. The air around the sun dogs shimmers with heat, threatening to bake both Talia and Aurelia.
    The sun dogs don't care for the water, even if it doesn't seem to materially harm them. The smaller one dodges and tries to avoid the twin streams from Claire and Benedicta, running through Aurelia. The young woman is set aflame. She waves her arms trying to get the flames out, accidentally slicing through the offending sun dog with her weapon.
    There's a rush of wind and steam as the blade seems to drink the inferno making up the sun dog, the vacuum quickly filled by thick vapor.
    The other sun dog, the larger one, is trying to avoid Talia and the water sources, dancing about in deadly steps.

>> GAME >> Aurelia Argent spends an Edge for: Anti-Magic Blade Boost

    Talia activates her lightsaber and rushes in to attack the soaked sundog, striking down to try and hew it to pieces. "Keep hitting it!" She calls out to Aurelia. It's unclear if her lightsaber will affect anything these sun dogs have, but it's worth a try!

"Dammit...they don't like getting wet but it doesn't to be actually hurting them...." Benedicta tries to rush to help Aurelia but then she pulls out the anti-magic weapon and she skitters back. She takes in some more water from the hoses and does her best to spray it at Aurelia. She's clearly getting frustrated at this point, if this keeps up she's going to have to try something desperate.

    Claire pulls her slingshot back out, keeping her distance and waiting for a moment where the sun dog is distracted before loosing an iridium bullet, reaching for another one right after.

    Aurelia is quickly put out with Benedicta's help, shaking off all the water in a huge dog-like spray. She gives the al-mi'raj girl a thumbs-up of thanks. Then the maho watches as the beast dances trying to avoid all the water, the slingshot bullet, and the light saber. She holds her blade up waiting for the right moment.
    And then, as the beast decides to lunge for Benedicta as the most immediate annoyance and source of water, she hurls it at the thing, using her magic to try and guide it.
    As the living inferno's gaping jaws open to engulf Benedicta, the sword blows through its torso, drinking deep of the sun dog's being and extinguishing its fire.
    Aurelia immediately banishes her armor and throws herself into one of the immense puddles on the sky deck, rolling around in it.

Benedicta grits her teeth and offers a hand to help Aurelia get back on her feet. "Thanks for the save...I wish I could have been more useful..." She doesn't deal with flaming opponents very well. "We still no idea where they come from though, I mean it couldn't have just been the earthquake right? Maybe some magical artifact was trigged or something?" She doesn't want to think that there's something like that living under the Earth.

    Claire pulls out a pink bottle and hands it to Aurelia, "Drink this, it'll help." She promises, she shrugs in response to Benedicta. "I dunno. Not familiar with the magic of this world." She opines.

    As the Sundogs are okay, Talia rushes towards a firefighter. "Do you mind if I borrow this?" Before he can respond, Talia yanks the firehose and aims it at AUrelia. "I'm really sorry about this!" She says before spraying Aurelia.

    Aurelia lies there feeling blessed relief as Talia hoses her down. The cool cool water was a welcome relief after practically cooking herself. After Talia is done with the fire hose, Aurelia drags herself to her feet, looking like she has the world's worst sun-burn. She nods to Benedicta. "You did the same for me, and pinning the things down *is* being useful, Benedicta!"
    She takes the pink bottle from Claire without question, opening it and gulping it down thinking it was water. Afterwards, her beet red skin heals and returns to a normal hue for Aurelia.
    She regards the bottle. "That's not water but I feel much better all the same. Thanks Claire!"

    Talia rushes to Aurelia, wincing at the burns. Claire's bottle helps, thankfully. Otherwise, Talia wouldn't wish a fate like that on anybody, not even an enemy. "Phew...I thought you were going to be a tomato." She says with a teasing grin. "All's well that ends well right? You okay?"

"I guess...I'm glad I'm not Kira right now. I'm sure it's getting harder and harder to keep everything a secret." Benedicta knows that the Order can't keep the facade forever. "Then again, it's going to be chaos when the public learns about magic." Then again it'be nice that she doesn't have to keep hidden anymore.

    "That's a life elixir." The farmer Claireifies, "They're pretty handy so I tend to have some around." She takes off her shoes and socks to allow her feet to dry some, hopefully preventing any trench foot. "Why keep magic hidden anyway? I'm on good terms with Rasmodius, our town wizard. He doesn't come out of his tower much, but he's a good sort."