World Tree MUSH

    "The Duty of the master diviner is to bring luck and avoid misfortune. I don't want my choice to plunge the Luofu into a terrible future... though walking the path predicted by Kafka and the Stellaron Hunters leaves an unpleasant aftertaste." remarks Fu Xuan. "Regardless, this is the one path that leads to the best known outcome. Only you can douse the elixir crucibles, and not be harmed by them... what say you?" she asks.

    March huffs. "I can't speak for everyone, but fine. I didn't hear a 'please', but seeing as we di kinda have superpowers around here... Stelle, Mr Yang, what about you guys?"

    Fu Xuan adds, as the other Trailblazers deliberate. "I will arrive at once when the smoke dissipates. You will /not/ be left to fend for yourselves."

    "I have my superpower," Jessica agrees, holstering her pistol. Her ears twitch, and she probably meant 'being a catgirl' was her superpower but... interpret it as desired. "I should probably ask how much we're being paid for this, but for now I'm pretty sure we should do something to keep everything from falling apart anyway, yeah?"

    "Sometimes misfortune is unavoidable, that's why it's called that. In my experience, there's no such thing as 'luck.'" Talia says, arms folded. She still doesn't appear too impressed by the whole fortune divining thing, especially with how clouded the future always seems.

    "My superpower is the Force. it's all I need." That and lightsaber skills, and a cute butt.

    "Well." Clara says, "If we're going to do this, we should get going." The silver-haired girl says pursing her lips.
    "Once they say please, anyway."
    There is a pause though.
    "... But I don't have a super power. Should I... Stay back?"
    Svarog lightly pats Clara on the head.
    "I can be your hero." He says completely deadpan.
    This seems to mollify Clara before she looks at Jess.
    "... I wish I had catgirl superpowers..."

    "I am but a humble rooster," Bi De answers. "Yet I am pleased to see that your pride does not preclude you from welcoming help from outside the norm. It is wisdom to understand one's limits, and how others can compensate for them. Is this too not a great power?"

    He bobs his head and walks up next to Talia.

    "Then I shall let you proceed. Remember, once the smoke dissipates, the Cloud Knights shall be with you." reminds Fu Xuan, before she moves off to rejoin the rest of her retinue.

    Stelle wanders off toward the ledge, peeks over it, then tilts her head. "This is a lift." she remarks, gesturing at the 'balcony' she's standing on.

    Once everyone piles on, the Jade Abacus panel comes to life, and begins descending.

    Curiously, Tingyun has accompanied the group... she's a foxian, isn't she in danger from the smoke too?

    "Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Talia asks Tingyun, confronting the elephant in the room. She follows along, concerned for Tingyun's condition.

    Clara, Svarog, and Grey pile onto the elevator and... Clara pauses.
    She looks up at Tingyun.
    "What are you doing?" She asks point blank.
    "Should you even be coming with us? Considering everything that was just said?"

    "Do you have some kind of special thing that lets you avoid the problems?" Jessica's ears perked up. "Oh! Maybe you're super good at holding your breath? How long can you hold your breath? I knew a guy, his name was Threepbrush Guywood, he could hold his breath for ten minutes!"

    "Hmm." Feathers fluff as Bi De settles on the lift. "So many mechanical wonders that everyone takes for granted. In my own land, such things are beyond the ability of most to repair." He huffs and peers at Tingyun. The others asked everything, so the bird will not drown her with a similar question.

    "Thank you for your concern, benefactors. But I'm fine~ The general commanded me to stay with you -- I dare not go against military orders." chirps the foxian coyly.

    "Your life is more important, Miss Tingyun. Go back, we can explain to the general." says Welt.

    Tingyun just giggles. "There's really no need -- I've spent my years traveling the universe! Not to mention, I'm younger and stronger than I look." she smiles warmly. "Even you benefactors have probably lived longer than me."

    "I am fully mature, yes," Bi De says. "I will soon reach my third year. Perhaps I should celebrate the day of my hatching, like many of your kind do." He hops up to perch on the railing, considering the destination. "I do hope we can handle this swiftly."

    "You don't look a day above two." Talia teases Bi De softly before turning to Tingyun. "We insist, we can't risk you being affected by the smoke."

    "I don't think I've lived longer than you." Clara says matter of factly. 
    She's staring dead at Tingyun.
    She points off the lift as if to say 'no. Bad Foxian. You can't come with us. Bad. Shoo.'

    "Unless you have some way of protecting yourself from the smoke we don't know of!" Jessica looks on earnestly. "Oh! Are you secretly a robot? Like Svarog with cuter ears? Clara, you should give Svarog some cute ears and a tail. You're all right with that, right, Svarog?"

    She looks at the robot, then back to Tingyun. "I guessed right, didn't I?"

    Unfortunately, since the lift has already traversed downward, the system seems to have encountered a critical error and has shut down. Touching the controls results in no reaction.

    "It appears that I have no choice now, Benefactors." remarks Tingyun.

    Progressing through the area, there is a wispy miasma in the air, white smoke that smells vaguely of cinnamon and cedar wood wafts from small floating crucible censers, these are much smaller than the larger crucibles, but deactivating them will be crucial for the Cloud Knights to progress.

    There are, however, Mara-Struck troops, and Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, along with those wolf-like Abominations milling about, so they will have to be dealt with while someone douses the smaller crucibles... three seem to be active in the area.

    Looks like the squad is committed. Talia keeps her guard up, holding her lightsaber hilt in hand while advancing through the miasma. It's very...pungent, to be sure. Once Mara-Struck troops make themselves known, Talia springs to action as she jumps into the fray. Lightsaber switched on, Talia efficiently and swiftly gets to striking at the creatures.

    "I do not think she is a construct." Svarog notes to Jessica on the subject of Tingyun. And if she was she would not be cuter than Svarog.
    How dare.
    Oh look at that. The elevator broke down. Clara kind of glowers at Tingyun while trying to fix the elevator to no avail. So it looks like there's no helping it.
    So moving on... When the Mara Struck pop up and the censers can be seen Clara sticks to the back row.
    While Svarog and Grey start storming in the direction of the crucibles.
    People better get out of their way.
    The two are large and in charge.
    And they are gonna start whalloping anytihng in their path to the crucible thingies.

    Well, Jessica is a ranged kitty! She's not going to head for the crucibles, she's going to linger back and take potshots at the Mara struck! Seems like a good idea to her. "How convenient for you! I hope you know what you're doing." She probably knows Jess is perfectly willing to kill an infected friend already, so that likely isn't an empty warning.

    Oh dear, once Svarog and Grey join the fun, Talia is quick to jump out of their way. She perches atop of Svarog, batting away projectiles with her lightsaber when needed. She likes being helpful. "I've got you covered, keep going!" She tells Svarog.

    As Bi De is more of a melee fighter anyway, he does his 'split into two' approach. The shining bright twin rushes directly toward the Mara-Struck, drawing their attention with a quick foot strike... but this is the 'fake' one, so while it could damage them, it can't take too many hits.

    The 'real' Bi De is the inky black one, ducking forward like a shadow toward one of the crucibles. If they can get rid of that, then the sooner the better.

    Stelle, March and Welt support the fighters. Stelle charging in with a leaping strike from the flaming lance, knocking several Mara-Struck off the platforms to plummet to the delve far below. A faint ripple of golden light appears over Svarog, Grey, Talia and Bi De's twin forms, letting them take a glancing blow from something. March's arrows strike, and flash freeze weapon arms, or legs to disable or slow, and Welt just rips open the space around some of the Abominations, sucking part of them into Imaginary Space, and leaving them with missing limbs or pieces missing... which are regenerating visibly.

    Those who go for the crucibles directly, find a panel of lit-up Jade Abacus runes. Touching this panel turns the runes off, and the crucible stops shaking, and begins to sink down into its cradle. The smoke begins to dissipate rapidly.

    Regeneration is annoying, but it does take time. "I hope you've all got those things covered!" Jessica calls out with her ears flat. She hurriedly fires a few more rounds, rushes to another place for cover, and shoots another Mara-Struck. Even if regenerating, shooting them can keep them down while they recover, giving the others some breathing room to hopefully get the objective done.

    Svarog and Grey pummel their way to the crucibles and... Well. It's probably for the best that Talia gets out of the way.
    The two are gentlemen on a mission.
    Clara quickly follows up behind the two big boys and futzes with the panels to start making the crucibles sod back off into their cradles.
    "Got one." Clara calls out before starting to move to the next in the wake of her two big boys.

    Talia remains on top of Svarog, perched on his shoulder like a treeki as she deflects the arrows hurdling towards her. "I'll take the next one!" She says, before rushing towards Crucible No. 2. She focuses with the Force, trying to manipulate the controls with the Force. It's delicate work, but she'll manage long as she has her focus maintained.

    The shining chicken takes a hit thanks to the buff, then tumbles down with another Mara-Struck, pecking and scratching with unnaturally-enhanced talons made of nothing but Qi. Eventually, another solid hit makes the silvery construct vanish into motes of light.

    No matter. It was meant to occupy, not defeat. Seeing the lights go dim and the panel receded, Bi De does something few ever get to see:

    He spreads his wings, leaps, and /flies/ to the final crucible, crashing into it with intent to push the deactivation as fast as possible.

    The three crucibles drop into their cradles, the smoke dissipates and the Mara-Struck are suddenly befallen by a squad of Cloud Knights, with Fu Xuan following soon after... it seems they got the lift working or somehow got down to this level another way.

    "Excellent. I'll lead my troops to the rendezvous." announces the Diviner, the Knights finishing off the Abominations, and moving to bind the downed Mara-Struck, so even if they can't be killed, they can't take up their weapons again and become a problem later.

    Moving on, closer to the main Elixir Furnace, a figure steps out from behind a stansion. "So, you succeeded in dousing the elixir crucibles." comes the feminine voice. "Unimportant. The inevitable is already upon us."

    Fu Xuan bristles. "Dan Shu."

    "You don't seem surprised to see me, Master Diviner."

    "Indeed. The general and I knew the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus must be hiding in the Alchemy Commission. However, without evidence we couldn't bring charges before the commissions. We had to wait for you to show yourselves.".. and now, your charges are many."

    "Crimes? If I am guilty, then all of our Xianzhou ancestors are equally so! They were the ones who accepted the blessings of the Abundance and turned their descendents into long-life species." Dan Shu retorts. "We only walk the path our ancestors laid before us. How is it a crime to seek ascendance?"

    Talia exhales with relief when her efforts are successful. "I was worried I'd have to throw it." Something so drastic wouldn't do. Of course, the arrival of a new face gets Talia on alert again, drawing her lightsaber. "Had a feeling we'd get one last surprise." She says, saber in a defensive stance.

    "There's usually a high price for ascension."

    "Is not the journey of import in how one arrives at the destination?" Bi De clucks loudly. "So many seek ascension in my world, and they often toss aside what makes the world worth living upon to do so."

    It is time for chicken kung fu.