The Savage Tide [IC]

[srgonzo]

Ka'Xet looks sheepish.

Appy-polly-loggies, my good Doctor. Must have took a tolchok to the dome.

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I humbly apologize, Dr. Cohen. The only possible explanation for my mistake is a blow to the head.

[lostsole31]

Korian has his paws/hands upturned with a "What gives?" look. Lazer looks at Korian and says, "Thank you, though you should apologize to your sword-mate for forgetting him."

Darrius & Celiss, as people bounce and drink around the new 'bonfire' (burning float), you are fascinated by the skill and entertainment of jugglers on stilts that are clacking in and around the area, freely moving because only the bulk of the stilts really are an issue. In a crowded city street, this is both a unique means of entertainment, and a particularly-suited means of getting around when its crowded.

[srgonzo]

Appy-polly-loggies droogie, 'twon't be dwa, ken-ken?

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I apologize, Korian. It won't happen again

[Tacitus]

Darrius sighs as he looks about, not even trying to filter through Ka'Xet's words. He looks over the float and muses aloud, "So, whats with the burning float?" He glances uphill to see if anyone is trying (and has by now quite obviously failed) to chase after the runaway wagon.

[lostsole31]

Sure enough, a few revellers accompanied by the watch come down. Turns out the float got out of their control, and the press of the crowd held them back ... but not the float. After hearing the report, the watch thanks the mysterious, continuously teary-eyed, six-fingered man ... and Korian and Ka'Xet as well.

Any other business here? words to the watch? words to the Caller? or just up and skee-daddle?

[srgonzo]

Mass tardy, droogie! Ka'Xet calls to the Caller.

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Later, buddy!

[lostsole31]

And the party makes its way towards the gates of Vanderboren Manor ....

.... and here is the "cliffhanger for the season."

[lostsole31]

Just as the party is turning to leave, everyone in the party realizes that several of the performers - stiltwalkers in black, form-fitting costumes with skeletons on them - are behind the party. They all have these glass vials at the ready.

R1T23: There is one - a female (the other stiltwalkers are male) - with a very nice figure in that costume - without a glass flask. She is right over Darrius (who until now has pretty much ignored the performers), who is towards the back of the group. She tries to use her stilts to knock Darrius down, but fails.

R1T21: The Caller, who is not yet entirely out of view, still had the party in sight, he closes 30'. He then reaches up to the sky, and then whips his hand down to point at one of the stiltwalkers. The man gets blasted off of his stilts (which themselves splinter) for 16 electricity damage. When he lands, he lands hard for 3 damage, and the glass vial shatters in his hand for 3 fire damage. The unmoving man's arm is now on fire, and that fire is starting to move along him.

R1T19: Korian looks around at the crowd and smiles. He trundles towards one of the stiltwalkers, gaining momentum as he charges, but the stiltwalker moves deftly enough to block Korian's attempt to knock him down.

R1T18: Darrius, you are adjacent to the stiltwalking woman (who doesn't seem to have any of these glass bottles. In addition to having the appearance of a hottie under her costume, and having wild, curly hair, she has this incredibly lovely pair of jade serpent earrings. Too bad she tried to knock you down. What do you do?

[Tacitus]

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Don't have time for a spiffy post, but point out of pelt and bracers into spit. Try a spit at one of the upright stilt walker's stilts to try and break it maybe? Spit provokes, though I'm not terribly concerned if she's prone.

If that makes no sense or isn't technically possible, just spit at a stilt walker.

[lostsole31]

R1T18: The torc at Darrius' throat glows a little brighter, though he becomes a little more substantial as a result. Not wanting to have her come toppling on him should he be successful, Darrius instead looks at another stiltwalker and rears his neck to spit. The woman above him balances and kicks downwards. She would've connected, but Darrius is no longer off-balance from the woman's superior initiative, and her combat style (currently) is very defensive. Darrius spits at his target's stilts, but misses, dissolving a support on the front awning of a meat pie vendor, adding to the furor that is now building after the blast of electricity and the man burning in the street.

R1T17.9: The same stiltwalker Darrius spat at throws his glass at the flying dwarf. The vial smashes against Lazer's face and bursts into flame (he is too high for anyone else to take 'splash damage' ... the fire burning out by the time it gets to those below). It would've done a hearty 5 fire damage, but Lazer continues to surprise (none moreso than himself) when the square-on flame-to-the-face doesn't hurt him at all. The man takes out another vial.

R1T16: Lazer speeds down to land at the side of the man who was blasted and has a burning arm. Not yet having time, he points his wand to the woman and yells, "I'm going to help heal your man, but I need you to call off your attacks!"

As expected, despite what was hoped, she seems totally unaffected by the wand.

R1T15: It's too late, the effects of the alchemical accelerant was too effective on the man as the fire spreads far too quickly, and the heat shatters the other vial he had at his belt. The poor man, though an enemy, is totally immolated.

R1T13: A stiltwalker 10' from Ka'Xet tosses a vial at the xeph and hits him in the left knee for 6 fire damage. Though too surprised to duck out of the way, Ka's reflexes save him from actually catching fire. The man takes out another vial.

R1T12: Ka'Xet, your knee just got burned by some stilt-walking pantywaist 10' from you. What do you do?

[srgonzo]

'Ow about a little of the ol' ultraviolence?

Close, manifest mindblade while closing, and ATTAĆK!

ATK
(1d20+7)[12]

DAM

(1d6+3)[5]

[lostsole31]

R1T12: "'Ow about a little of the ol' ultraviolence?" Ka'Xet calls as he closes, manifests his mindblade, and ATTAĆKS! The stiltwalker is able to lift his foot off the support as the blade passes where it was, and the stilt is steadied at the top by the man's hand before he gets his foot back onto the mini-ledge of the stilt.

R1T6: The last stiltwalker, 10' from Celiss, throws a vial at her, which shatters against her rock-hard abdomen, but doing very little other than putting a light scoring mark in Celiss' shirt (tunic/ whatever).

R1T5.9: Celiss, what do you do?

[PersonMan]

Celiss, surprised by the utter failure of the fire to harm her, takes a look at the ground around her. The burst of supernatural darkness that she could call up wouldn't help here, but if it was anything like the arcane spell then she could implant the source of the darkness within a pebble, and throw it up...

After a moment Celiss discards the thought; it would be too difficult. Instead, she simply slips forwards and takes a swipe at the stilts of the stiltwalker. If she instead pounded them into unconsciousness, they would fall anyways. Better to let the fall do some of her work, then.

Actions:

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5' step towards the stiltwalker and attack the stilt with my shortsword.

Attack: (1d20+7)[9]
Damage: (1d6+3)[6]

If it'd provoke an AOO due to it being a variant of a sunder, I'll just go for a nonlethal leg-jab.

[lostsole31]

R1T5.9: Celiss, surprised by the utter failure of the fire to harm her, takes a look at the ground around her. The burst of supernatural darkness that she could call up wouldn't help here, but if it was anything like the arcane spell then she could implant the source of the darkness within a pebble, and throw it up...

After a moment Celiss discards the thought; it would be too difficult. Instead, she simply slips forwards and takes a swipe at the stilts of the stiltwalker. If she instead pounded them into unconsciousness, they would fall anyways. Better to let the fall do some of her work, then. She jabs at the fatty parts of the man's calf, but misses wildly ... though an expert with her fists, Celiss is entirely unused to using her short sword non-lethally.

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Okay, attacking the stilts isn't a variant of a sunder, it is a sunder. So, it would provoke an AOO. If these men are unarmed capable like their leader, they'd get to attack; if not, then they don't get to throw a "vial of opportunity." But all of this is academic .... a short sword, a strictly piercing weapon, cannot be used to sunder. This is the exact same reason why Ka'Xet couldn't sunder the wheel of the cart with his mindblade - it's effectively a psychic short sword: a piercing-only weapon.

So, leg-jab it was. Next ... why in Arctic puffins would you use your shortsword - which you don't know how to use nonlethally very well - over your very NL-trained and capable fists? I mean, with that roll you missed regardless. But you suffer a -4 for using a short sword like that. The masterwork brings that to -3, but you can't flurry with it, and you do similar damage with your fists, anyway?

R1T0: The crowd is now in panic and is running randomly all about, making it harder to get at the opponents who are above.

End Round 1, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T23: The woman lifts her foot up high overhead to get as much power and momentum as she possibly can as she brings her foot down in an axe-kick. Darrius tries to block with the shield ... realizing all too late that is what she wanted as her foot comes down squarely onto the just-above-centerpoint of shield. The force of the flow blasts his prized darkwood shield into splinters. It is destroyed. Striking at the point it did made sure that his arm didn't reinforce the shield, but also kept him from feeling anything more than the shock and tingle he feels now - numbish, but not injured.

R2T21: The Caller continues to close. He calls down another bolt of lightning that strikes Ka'Xet's opponent squarely for 14 electricity damage. The stilts are, as before, splintered from the blast, Ka'Xet feels the ozone and his hairs stand on end, and the man falls to the ground. Though the vial didn't shatter in his hands, as he goes limp on the fall, it shatters in his square as he lands, taking 3 fire damage and 1 from the fall.

Ka'Xet just barely manages to keep from getting splashed by the fire. Other passersby, running about frightened, are not so lucky as they get singed (though no one catches fire). The man is now on fire. It is not known if he is dead or not.

R2T19: Korian draws his rapier and motes of chill form around his blade - though not quite like before. He stabs and misses, and the chill is gone.

R2T18: Darrius, your heavy darkwood shield has been sundered by the woman above you. The panicked crowd moves all around, but that will only be an issue if you try to move away from her (difficult terrain). What do you do?

[Tacitus]

Darrius looks in shock at the broken pieces of his shield as the last bits fall to the ground... and silver fire rages around him. He slowly looks up to the woman, "You little bitch." The silver hue of the fire lasts only for a few moments before it fades into a distinct aura of silvery light and a cascading cloak of blue flames. Though he knows his claws are nowhere near as effective as Korian's might be, he lunges into the attack, seeking to tear the woman down.

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Swift Action:
3 out of spit (looks like theres only two in the spit, so two out of spit, then) to 0
2 into Bluesteel Bracers (looks like the one from last round wasn't taken out, so only one into bracers) to 2
1 out of Sughting Gloves to 0
2 into Mantle of Flame to 2
Free Action: Incarnum Radiance

Full Attack into the stilt lady, with both claws thanks to my recently developed lack of shield.
Right: (1d20+6)[12]
Dam: (1d3+6)[8]

Left: (1d20+6)[12]
Dam: (1d3+6)[9]

[lostsole31]

R2T18: Darrius looks in shock at the broken pieces of his shield as the last bits fall to the ground... and silver fire rages around him. He slowly looks up to the woman, "You little bitch."

The silver hue of the fire lasts only for a few moments before it fades into a distinct aura of silvery light and a cascading cloak of blue flames. Though he knows his claws are nowhere near as effective as Korian's might be, he lunges into the attack, seeking to tear the woman down. She is fantastically agile, and both claws miss.

R2T17.9: Korian's target raises his arm to throw his vial at the furry youth, but that affords Korian a swipe. The man's agility just fails him, but a thin layer of padding (yup, padded armor ... and you thought no one actually ever wore that crap, huh?) just barely soaks it up. The wild swipe is enough to totally throw the man off balance on his clumsy swing, though. The man falls prone off of his stilts for 4 damage and his stunned, shattering the vial as he falls on it for 3 fire damage. However, his wild thrashing on the ground - stunned, but not immobile - keeps him from actually catching fire.

R2T16: Lazer figures everything is well in hand, sadly registers that the first man burning is dead, and flies over to the second burning man (Ka'Xet's fallen foe) and manages to put the flames out.

R2T12: Ka'Xet, your opponent got blasted and is KO'd (and maybe dying) by The Caller, and is currently being tended to by Lazer. Celiss is fighthing one, Korian; the latter's is prone and stunned. Also, Darrius is fighting the one that seems to be the leader. What do you do?

[srgonzo]

Ka'Xet closes with the leader and attempts to take him out.

ATK

(1d20+9)[15] (I added a flanking bonus of +2)

DAM

(1d6+3)[7]

[lostsole31]

R2T12: Ka'Xet closes with the leader and attempts to take him her out. She is flattered by the proposition, but .... His battle training and understanding of Darrius' desire for positioning puts him across from the dark-scaled man, with the woman's stilts in-between. That's when the easily forgotten concept of a three-dimensional battlefield dawns on the xeph as his stab misses. She moves around her stilts like a monkey in a tree; it's almost like seeing Jackie Chan fighting aloft.

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In a 2D battlefield, you might have a 'flanking position' ... but because of her height, for her to be really flanked you'd have to be one 'square' higher than her, with a line between you and Darrius crossing the space she's in .... you don't get to flank her when she's up high like that, sorry.

You, specifically, srgonzo, have seen 3D battle in my games before, with the same concept of attempts to flank denied because of simple height advantage.

R2T6: Celiss' opponent steps back 5' on his stilts and tosses his vial at her, despite having seen how pointless it was before, and it misses her by enough of a margin to not even be able to splash her. Some poor innocent passersby is not so lucky in the mad scramble. The civilian takes 2 fire damage and catches fire, and 3 others get splashed for 1 fire damage. The man looks shocked, and even a little horrified at his own collateral damage .... strange reaction, considering your attackers.

R2T5.9: Celiss, your turn. It requires 2 squares of movement to traverse the 5' to get to your opponent ... thus you cannot get a "5' free move" ... it's just a move action. What do you do?

[PersonMan]

Celiss moves up, counting on the man either being unable to attack her or being able to dodge his strike, and lashes out at the stilts, hoping to bring him down before he can cause any more damage.

Actions:

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I can't get on The Tangled Web again, and this computer is hostile to brackets, so this is being quite annoying.

Attack: (1d20+5)[18] Don't remember my exact bonus.
Damage: (1d6+3)[6]

[lostsole31]

R2T5.9: Celiss moves up, counting on the man either being unable to attack her or being able to dodge his strike, and lashes out at the stilts, hoping to bring him down before he can cause any more damage. He has no weapon in hand, so she is unharmed as she does 1 mod damage to one of his stilts.

End Round 2, Begin Round 3 ...

R3T23: "No, Dar-rius Wave-brea-ker," the woman says in an island dialect (think of Afro-Brazilian), "your flames not be scarin' me off."

She lifts her leg at the knee, building up some extra power, and slams down at Darrius' head, doing 14 damage. That run the aqua-man's bell! But her foot does take 7 fire damage.

R3T21: The Caller closes in more, and this time a bolt of electricity slams down on Celiss' opponent, but for only 7 damage.

R3T19: Korian attacks his beleaguered opponent, double-slashing him for 14 damage, and he goes limp.

R3T18: Darrius, that was a hell of a hit to the head. What do you do?

[Tacitus]

Darrius smirks within his shroud of flames, "Question is, can you kill me before you turn to ash inside them?" He repeats the slash at the woman, hoping to find a gap in her defenses.

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Full attack again
Right: (1d20+6)[23]
Dam: (1d3+6)[7]

Left: (1d20+6)[12]
Dam: (1d3+6)[8]

[lostsole31]

R3T18: Darrius smirks within his shroud of flames, "Question is, can you kill me before you turn to ash inside them?"

He repeats the slash at the woman, hoping to find a gap in her defenses, his right hand catching her calf for 8 damage.

R3T16: Lazer casts stabilize on Ka'Xet's fallen foe. He then moves over to Korian's fallen foe.

R3T12: Ka'Xet, you are across from Darrius (not flanking), fighting the woman on stilts. What do you do?

[srgonzo]

Ka'Xet backs up 5', throws his mindblade at the leader and re-manifests the blade as he moves another 5' to the left.


ATK

(1d20+6)[19]

DAM

(1d6+3)[8]

[lostsole31]

R3T12: Ka'Xet backs up 5', finding it hard to push through the crowd, and the woman kicks him in the right shoulder for a whopping 13 damage as he backs off through the press of bodies. Ka'Xet throws his mindblade at the leader and she kicks it aside.

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Okay, a couple different things wrong at once, but nothing terrible. I'm not quite sure what you were thinking, so I went in order of stated actions. Also, you did not (yet) know the game effect of the crowd ... that's experience fighting in this unfamiliar 'environment' for the wilderness warrior.

First, if you are moving (that is, covering distance more than a 5-foot free move, you cannot split with move-attack-move unless you have Shot on the Run. If you want that feat in the future, you need to get the Dodge feat, then the Mobility feat, then finally Shot on the Run. That said, considering you are going to end up going soulbow (archer-focused), this feat-tree progression is actually recommended for you.

Second, if the mindset was take a 5-foot free move, take an action, and then move ... remember that you can't take a 5-foot free move in a round in which you actually move.

Next, drawing a weapon can be done on the move. A 5-foot free move is not "on the move" unless you designate the move-draw as your move action. I'm sure you know this, but it's important to note now. You don't get to take a move action enveloped in a free action (5' free move) and call it a free action.

Drawing a weapon can be done "one the move." It is the only time I know of - without any special training - that two move actions can be combined into one move action. That said, manifesting your mindblade is NOT the same as drawing a weapon. Drawing a weapon is the physical readying of a physical weapon. Manifesting a mindblade is using a supernatural ability, but only having to take a move action instead of a standard action (which is normally required for supernatural powers). Despite the manifesting being similar to the concept of drawing a weapon, they are not the same. It's only considered a weapon-like object once it is manifested, not before.

Now the part which is not "should be known" game mechanics, and is just a function of Ka'Xet not realizing how so many bodies would affect him - he's used to fighting in wilderness terrain, not a crowded street with panicked people running to-and-fro - is that right now, movement through any square is difficult terrain. That means every square of actual movement costs 2 squares (10') of speed ... and a 5' free move only applies if moving 5' only costs 1 square (5') of movement. The extra effort pushing through the crowd opened him up to an AOO since he moved away, vice free-moving away. Acrobatics can help him on subsequent rounds if he needs, though remember, the double-cost of Acrobatics means that it would cost him base 2 squares/ per square x 2 (Acrobatics) = 4 squares of movement to Acrobatically move just one square. Crowds are not great .... and the unique nature of stilts are such that a stiltwalker doesn't have to worry about that movement.

So, I interpreted the round as:
MA: 2 squares of movement in difficult terrain to move 5', provoking AOO.
SA: Ranged attack with mindblade.

No actions remaining to draw mindblade. Hands are empty.

R3T6: The last man on stilts draws a dagger, backs up 5' on his stilts, and throws his dagger at Celiss. It gets past her geometrically-derived defenses of body positioning, her agility, and blows through her force armor, and is finally stopped by the very thin layer of scales she has.

R3T5.9: Celiss, you recognize that attacking his stilts instead of him - given the hardness of wood - would take far longer than just pummeling the man into unconsciousness. Because of the crowd, filling in the gaps, it would take an actual move action just to close the 5' (2 squares/ 10' of movement). What do you do? [See spoiler above, but the man gets a 5' free move on stilts, where you do not on the ground.]

[PersonMan]

Celiss, deciding to avoid opening herself up by slipping and ducking between individual panicking civilians, closes with the stiltwalker and tries to smash one of his ankles against his stilts. Her inexperience in such situations quickly shows and, despite her efforts, neither her attempt to tumble towards him or to attack him works well.

Actions:

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Close with Acrobatics. If it works like Tumble, it's DC 15.
(1d20+8)[10]
Then my unarmed nonlethal attack:
(1d20+6)[10]
Damage: (1d6+3)[7]

[lostsole31]

R3T5.9: Celiss, deciding to avoid opening herself up by slipping and ducking between individual panicking civilians, closes with the stiltwalker and tries to smash one of his ankles against his stilts. Her inexperience in such situations quickly shows and, despite her efforts, neither her attempt to tumble towards him or to attack him works well.

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Tumble would've worked for unseen combatants ... but even though the man is on stilts, he only has 'high ground' advantage, not reach, so that's okay.

End Round 3, Begin Round 4 ...

R4T23: The woman grits from the pain, and using the same amount of power, kicks at Darrius, cracking him in his left hand for a whopping 17 damage! Some of his smaller hand bones probably broke with that strike. Shooting pains go up his arms, on top of the blow he had taken from Kurgol before.

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See your sheet. Damage hp's count down ... and NL counts up. You have only 1 hp before you are KO'd because of the previous NL damage you took from Kurgol. Of course, that could be what saves your butt.

Her foot takes 5 fire damage from the blue licks of flame surrounding Darrius.

R4T21: The Caller closes in again, this time only 10' from the woman (and right behind Ka'Xet). He concentrates, but doesn't cast, appearing above the woman's head is a whirling bubble of air that is vaguely humanoid, and no bigger than a gnome. The Caller looks at the bubble, points to the woman on stilts, and says while making a fist gesture, "Knock her senseless."

R4T20.9: The whirling air launches a vaguely arm-shaped column of air at the woman, but the woman is able to make a hard block.

R4T19: Korian forces his way up to Celiss' opponent, and launches at him with both claws. His first claw does 6 damage, but his second claw crits for 11 damage (17 damage total), both claws pretty much disemboweling him. Korian lands on his feet a second before the man's body splats to the ground heavily and wetly ... pretty much signaling that he is DED. He looks at Celiss. "Looks like the others are having troubled with an unarmed opponent. How about a catfight, Celiss?"

R4T18: Darrius, you are very woozy, barely keeping from staggering. What do you do?

[Tacitus]

Knowing he can't keep in the fight much longer, Darrius tries one last time to attack the woman and hopes for the best.

Spoiler

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Full: Double Claw

Right: (1d20+6)[18]
Dam: (1d3+6)[9]

Left: (1d20+6)[17]
Dam: (1d3+6)[7]

[lostsole31]

R4T18: Knowing he can't keep in the fight much longer, Darrius tries one last time to attack the woman and hopes for the best. He attempts a vicious double-claw, and both look promising. Not only is she more agile than anyone else in the party, but she is so alluring that her dance-on-stilts is distracting ... enough so that his arms go just askew enough for her to deflect them with a leg sweep. (The leg sweep alone is sexy enough to make Darrius sweat.)

R4T16: Lazer casts stabilize on the first foe Korian downed, then moves behind Darrius. "Just hold in there, lad."

Korian has been studying her moves and he calls out, "Celiss, she's a battle dancer ... a martial artist like yourself, but who uses chaotic and distracting maneuvers to protect herself in a similar way that you know how to apply geometry to your defenses."

R4T12: Ka'Xet, you see that Darrius is getting woozy, but Lazer did just move up behind him. (Remember, you are on the other side of the stilts, directly across from Darrius.) What do you do?

Celiss, you're on deck.

[srgonzo]

Fthagn cali'wqxr tkuhlha jag'n Nyarla, chjxthutan!!!

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Enjoy sucking on one of Nyarla's tentacles, female canine who mates out of season! (No, Ka'Xet doesn't exactly speak the language of the Old Ones, but he's picked up an insult or two.)

Ka'Xet backs up a step, throws his mindblade at the woman and manifests another.

ATK

(1d20+6)[18]

DAM

(1d6+3)[6]

[lostsole31]

R4T12: Ka'Xet curses at the woman: "Fthagn cali'wqxr tkuhlha jag'n Nyarla, chjxthutan!!!"

This is one of those cases where nobody seems to have a clue what he just said. Ka'Xet backs up a step, and having to move a little to the side (the Caller was right behind him), and throws his mindblade at the woman as he manifests another. The woman does the splits, splaying the stilts out some and knocking the mindblade away. Her splits are, umm, 'distracting' to the xeph as well, and she slowly and luxuriously regains her normal position.

R4T5.9: Celiss, what do you do?