[M&M 3e] Defying the Future IC

[Zelphas]

Ntombi's smile twists slightly at Floral's comment, and then her question. She takes another long sip of her tea. "She doesn't know what she's doing, you know." Her voice is soft, carrying with it complicated emotions. "Not that that excuses her, but... you are one of those few who know what it's like to wake up with a different set of instincts, of biological needs and interests. And you had someone to blame--and you're right to blame her, she did this. You knew who you were before. What if you didn't?" Ntombi looks directly at Floral, her gaze penetrating. "What if you woke up with your body as it is, or was right after, and your memories of before that moment were all but lost? What would you be?"

Ntombi Peters looks away, her eyes growing shadowed as she sighs. "You're exactly what she thinks she needs; Floral, bio-manipulator. If you'd have gotten me first, you'd probably be my replacement instead of Raphael. By some quirk, you'd gained the ability to alter life like she did--but you actually know how to use it, in a way that she doesn't, maybe never did. Your scents are all distinctive, but yours is even more so, and she sent me to find the source. I was at the police station because there was a similar scent there, and then Lily Woods walked by. All it took was one Google search, and she had to have you, and I knew your weakness, your allergy--which meant she knew it, too." Ntombi lifted her cup again, her fingers perhaps a tiny bit whiter on the handle as she took another sip. "So that's what I have to apologize for. Her Vespers, her knowing who you are, is because of me. Only she and I know directly--though, with you showing your face more recently, some others might be figuring it out at this point, too."

Ntombi looks past Floral, to where the other three of you are staying a small distance away. She raises her cup to you. "If they have any questions, they're free to ask too; I'm almost done with my tea." She sets down the cup and straightens her shoulders slightly. "As for your question... I still say you all should pick a name, if you're going to go around being heroes. But I'm not sure helping me is the heroic thing, if I'm being honest."

[Dorni]

Helios likewise wore a sad smile while he took a seat at the table. He'd guessed Ntombi was Urial the moment they'd learned of the position's existence. It just fit. Ntombi, the one human known to spend time in the forest and not be attacked by Manchineel's minions and even befriended the dryad herself. It was too good to be true. But he hadn't wanted to jump to conclusions. And she'd helped them with a vital clue about subduing Rapheal. In hindsight, yet another clue to how much she knew about the inner workings of the menagerie. But still, he didn't want her as an enemy.

"What makes you say that?" No, maybe that wasn't it. "We know Manchineel's orders are not absolute. If they were you wouldn't have been able to help us the last time we met and we wouldn't be conversing now. When we confront her, can you not simply ignore her call for help? Once she's defeated I'm sure there's something we can do for you."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lily wasn't especially surprised to hear that Manchineel had little memory of Lucia Urquhart's life, and little in the way of her humanity remaining. She had always conceptualized Manchineel as more a force of nature than anything. On some level, perhaps that made her hatred towards her irrational but...Manchineel wasn't non-sapient. Lily's own experience showed she had the capacity to speak. Raphael proved she had the capacity to plan. Abel proved she had the capacity to care. Gabriel proved that she had the capacity to understand the goals and motivations of others. Uriel proved she had the capacity to learn.

Whatever gaps she may have had in her knowledge, whatever instincts and urges might be driving her, whether or not she may in fact be exercising it, what it all came down to was that at the end of the day, Manchineel had the capacity to choose. Unlike her menagerie, she was not forced to dance to anybody else's tune.

Because Lily tried to be honest with herself, she had to admit that she didn't know if she could have done better, had she been the raw materials that had ended up becoming Manchineel. She did not blame Lucia Urquhart for what Manchineel became. But even so, she found no forgiveness in her heart for Manchineel herself, meeting Uriel's stare unflinchingly until she glanced away. Ignorance was not the same thing as innocence.

As Uriel explained what she had to apologize for, Lily's body started to tremble. Not with fear. With rage. The scent of fresh-baked bread filled the entire coffee shop. The Vespers had been more than mere monsters, and had preyed on more than just Lily's biological weakness. They had been the living embodiments of her nightmares. They hadn't just hurt her, more even than just defeat her. They had terrified her, humiliated her in front of her friends and teammates, and come closer than she would care to admit to breaking her entirely. And that all would have been bad enough, but they had gone after her when she was at her weakest, near her home, in her civilian garb. It wasn't just that they had stripped away the security of her secret identity.

Floral would fight whatever monsters and horrors the league wanted to throw at her, and not hesitate for a second.

But the Vespers hadn't attacked Floral. In targeting her identity, her allergy, her phobia...they had attacked Lily Woods.

Lily wanted nothing more, in the moment, than to lunge across the table and throttle Uriel with her bare hands. Had Helios not come to sit down with them, she honestly wasn't sure she wouldn't have. But she forced herself to keep her anger under control. Not even because this was still not the time and place to force the fight, for all that that remained true. But because there was more she needed to learn.

Because Uriel had found her by tracking a similar scent to the police station.

Even so. The correct response, to Uriel's final statement, the heroic response, was to refute it. To say that she was another victim of Manchineel, and as deserving of help as any of them.

Lily did not say that. She simply answered, her voice as stiff as a tree trunk and sharp as a rose's thorn, "Very well."

Helios, fortunately, was a better hero than her, or at least a better one than she could be in the moment. But though his heart was in the right place, she didn't think his assessment was accurate. With a little sigh, she said, "It's not that her orders aren't absolute, it's that they're incomplete. Manchineel doesn't have fancy contracts that can prevent her minions from doing anything they believe is against her interests, like Lockdown. As long as they're within range of her scent, whatever orders she gives, they obey, even once they're out of her range. But anything she hasn't explicitly ordered of them, they have discretion on, to whatever extent their own intelligence allows. That's why she was able to advise us with Raphael, and why she's able to talk with us now, because her orders don't contain a clause for if she's approached by people who already know that she's Uriel, don't contain an explicit stipulation not to share Manchineel's secrets with her enemies. They would presumably de facto answer if she called, but she hasn't directly ordered them to do so, which is why Abel can elect not to. Her orders are inviolate, but they're also full of loopholes. She probably doesn't even realize it." Lily was answering Helios, but her gaze remained on Uriel, and when she finished her explanation she gave a little shrug. "Am I close?" It was, at the end of the day, only a theory, albeit a confident one, given everything Uriel had said and everything they had seen. She considered it more likely than not that she was more right than wrong. But a theory it remained.

"The scent that was similar to mine, the one that had led you to the police station. Did you identify its source? And if so, is Manchineel aware of it?" Lily was honestly a tad leery of asking even that much, because that indicated that it was important to her and so if Uriel hadn't identified her siblings it might help her to do so. But the odds were that Uriel had already identified them anyway, and even if she hadn't the goal was to neutralize her before she could make another report to Manchineel anyway. The risk was small enough to be worth it, weighed against the value of an answer to the question.

[Zelphas]

"You're right and wrong, especially in regards to me," Ntombi replies to Floral in an agreeable tone, her hands still playing with her cup. "You see, Abel, Raphael, Gabriel, Michael, they all play one role, and so their... instructions are related to that role. Clean. Grow. Watch. Hunt. Since they're still living beings, they can act outside of those rolls and move within them with some flexibility, but their positions are still decided for them. My place is somewhat different." She looks over the people around you, still in the middle of their own conversations, still acting as if you all simply weren't there. "I came about when Manchineel discovered her understanding of the world was not shared by all living creatures. People would disagree with her, reject her gifts, even undermine her or work to stop her. Manchineel didn't know why. Thus, she made someone who could explain it to her." Ntombi shakes her head, the glowing spores briefly appearing and rippling out from her before vanishing once more. "I have to be able to think, to argue, to even contradict--but Manchineel can't give up that much control. It isn't her nature. And so, a conundrum.

"She tried her best to compromise--she loves her 'children', or her 'comrades', or whatever name her mind has decided to give us in the week, and so she dislikes feeling my discomfort. But, she must have her rules. So, I am given tasks, and deadlines. I am free--somewhat--within those tasks. The deadlines are solid, and there's--well, let's just say I'm not one for missing my deadlines." Ntombi shakes her head again, as though she feels like she said too much. "My directives change with each meeting, though there are similar themes, and some can be reaffirmed to last longer. Perhaps because of that, there is less chance to work around those directives; they gain strength with each meeting, and deliberately working around them is... hard to contemplate. Not fully impossible, but impossible to do for long."

Taking one last, long sip from her cup, Ntombi places it down and looks Floral square in the eye once again. "As far as Manchineel knows or currently cares, Lily Woods has no relatives of any kind. It is against her nature to be less than direct, though I assume that is cold comfort." She pushes back her chair and stands, stretching slightly. Lifting her face to catch a slight wind from the lake, she smiles, though it doesn't reach her eyes. "Well then. It does seem to be a good time for a walk." Without looking at the four of you, Ntombi turns and begins to stroll towards Forester Park, her hands free at her sides.

Spoiler: Perception DC 41

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Sensing ahead of Ntombi, towards the trees in Forester Park, you just barely capture two presences. Presences you have felt before. Buzzing, not-quite human presences, with segmented eyes. They are waiting, hidden within the trees, too still.

[Ridai]

Nope watches Ntombi walk out the shop and towards the park. To the others: "Guess it's a fight then, huh." There is just a lot of gray mood, "it is what it is". There's never any looking forward to fighting Menagerie. Doubly so if there were talks beforehand.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lily gave Ntombi a little nod when she said Manchineel didn't know about her family. Putting it that way indicated very clearly that Ntombi herself did. Perhaps it wasn't in Manchineel's nature to target an enemy indirectly; even so, Lily much preferred the case where she did not know she had the option to do so. Ntombi hadn't needed to keep that a secret from Manchineel, and Lily could appreciate that she had.

It didn't change what had to happen next, but Lily wasn't especially concerned about that. Possibly she was projecting a fair bit, but none of the Menagerie who had been intelligent enough to communicate had seemed to actually feel any particular loyalty to Manchineel, beyond the constraints of her commands. She knew for sure that if she were under Manchineel's thrall, she would have much preferred the other heroes knocking her out and dragging her off to the Obelisk for containment. She kinda expected the rest of the Menagerie, at least the human-level intelligent ones, felt more-or-less similarly.

In the end it didn't matter. Manchineel was a threat, and her most powerful forces needed to be taken off the board, one way or another, if that threat was to be curtailed.

The one concern Lily did have what the bit about Uriel not being one to miss her deadlines. She had avoided saying something there, and while it probably wasn't quite the same as what Wrath had, she had a hunch it was in a similar theme. Which still didn't and couldn't change anything, but...

These villains. It wasn't like their forces were working for them out of their own interests. Maybe some of them had believed that when they signed up, in Lockdown's case, or Apophis's. But in the end it was all just control. No followers, just minions and mind-slaves. Forced to obey them, even made to suffer when they couldn't. And that was the people who were aiding their cause, to say nothing of what they were doing to the innocent people of Forester's Bay.

They were all just so...horrible.

As Ntombi finished her tea and headed off to the park, something subtly changed in Lily's head. Before, her goal had been to protect the people of her town, and defeating the League of the Future was merely a means to that end.

Protecting the people remained the top priority, but now...

In Lily's mind, defeating the League had become an end in and of itself.

She stood up, took one concerned sniff at the people around her, to make sure Uriel's spores didn't seem to be having any deleterious effects on their biology, and then (assuming they weren't) headed back over to Nope and Ariadne. "Yeah," she replied to Nope. "Let's go."

Spoiler

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Analytical Detect Biology just to make sure the spores aren't hurting anyone. Routine Expertise (Medicine) for 30 to diagnose any issues from the raw biological data she receives. Assuming they don't seem to need healing or anything I'm good to advance to confronting Uriel if everyone else is.

[Abracadangit]

Kal lets out a sigh, as needles appear in her hands.

"It is a shame to resort to violence, when we always strive so gallantly for an alternative."

For a moment, a layer of red thread flickers over Kal's entire form, coating her in crimson.

"But if it is violence they seek, we shall not disappoint. Hnn, hnn, hnn."

[Zelphas]

Ntombi continues to walk without looking back, seeming to anyone who hasn't just had a disturbing conversation with her to be a normal person out for a pleasant stroll in the park. The weather has turned cold and blustery in the past few days, and while today is warmer than yesterday, it seems that most had given up on the park for the season; the only sound is the crunch of Ntombi's feet on the leaves (and your own, if you were walking instead of using one of your several means of flight). Then, once Notmbi has walked a distance past the carefully-tended path that wound through the park and towards a small collection of trees allowed to grow mostly wild, another sound slowly fills the air.

The low, throbbing, familiar sound of a deep, heavy buzz.

Ntombi stops walking once the sound becomes fully audible, her back still to the group. "As I said, Floral, you were both right and wrong about why we were having that conversation. The truth is, anyone who expressed knowledge of my true nature is supposed to be destroyed, but three of you are already on Manchineel's enemy list, and the last is a special case." A pair of dim forms coalesce out of the dappled shadows of the little woods; humanoid, but too thin, too tall, with heads that were simply the wrong shape for their bodies. In the low light, from the distance, you could fool your eyes into thinking that they're wearing dresses. "On top of that, I was ordered not to return until I succeeded in 'Raphael's capture. There was enough leeway there to bend my rules; enough rope, as it were." Ntombi turns, and as she does, her human shape drops, fluttering away like a veil.

The being before you is humanoid like the Vespers are humanoid, but where they inhumanity makes them grotesque, Uriel is a testament to Manchineel's vision of beauty. Six long, flowing white veils wave in symmetrical patterns around a tall, thin body of precisely the same shade, often evoking feathery wings without ever losing their oddly flesh-like texture or form. Two constantly shift and hide the lower half of the being from view; two frame a perfect, symmetrical face that only vaguely resembles Ntombi's and create a pattern that is almost like a crown and a veil, all at once; and two reach outwards, lifting Uriel slightly off the ground. She seems to be clothed in flowing white garments beneath the veils, but the garments match her skin so perfectly that it is nearly impossible to tell where one ends and another begins. White hair, white lips, white arms, white face; Uriel opens a pair of utterly white eyelids to reveal eyes of the same texture and shade, yet somehow possessed of sight.

Spoiler: Floral, Accurate Smell

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Now that whatever veil Ntombi was using is gone, you can smell that she is one of Manchineel's creatures. However, she is not a plant, or at least not truly. It's strange enough that it takes a moment to identify: Ntombi, or Uriel, is a mushroom, almost entirely, with only the barest traces of human within her as well.

Spoiler: With Analytical

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More specifically, Ntombi smells like an extremely potent version of an Amanita mushroom, otherwise called "Destroying Angel". These mushrooms are infamous for causing the overwhelming majority of mushroom poisoning-related deaths, mostly because the symptoms of their poison do not appear for the first 5 to 24 hours; since the poison of Destroying Angel attacks the DNA of what ingests it directly, the delay between ingestion and symptoms is often enough to make the poisoning irreversible.

"Very well then, Heroes of Forester's Bay," Uriel speaks, her voice quieter and stranger than Ntombi's normal speaking voice. "You have your duty, I my commands. Let's see who remains." She pauses, an odd note coming to her already-strange voice. "I still say you should've chosen a name; it's too awkward to say the whole thing every time."

Spoiler: OOC

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Map.

Initiative

Floral: (1d20+8)[10]
Helios: (1d20)[2]
Nope: (1d20)[1]
Ariadne: (1d20+4)[23]

Vespers: (1d20+22)[34]
Uriel: (1d20)[18]

(They are only rolling separately because the Vespers got the drop on you all, technically; I'll put them at Uriel's initiative order after this round.)

Vespers go first, but then Ariadne beats Uriel.

[Zelphas]

Round 1

The two Vespers shift abruptly, leaping forward on impossible wings... but neither one aims for what was their primary target in the last confrontation. Instead, directed by an intelligence greater than their own, one Vesper shifts to stand beside Uriel. The living beehive in the rough form of a human shudders, and Uriel is surrounded by another buzzing veil, this one an oddly hexagonal veil of darting, black-and-yellow forms. The second Vesper actually swerves around Floral in its flight before stopping in front of the indistinct form of Nope. It shudders as well, and then a flood of bees pours out of the holes in its "body" and covers Nope in skittering forms. The air quickly grows hotter and hotter within their confines...

Spoiler: OOC

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Vesper 1

Move Action: Fly to X18.

Standard Action: Use Protect. Uriel is Deflected at 1d20+12 (min 22).

Vesper 2

Move Action: Fly to W29.

Standard Action: Use Overheat on Nope. (1d20+10)[26] Perception Damage DC 29 + Penetrating. +2 Penetrating; DC becomes 31.

Ariadne is up.

[Abracadangit]

Kal levitates slightly off the ground, as the Vespers make themselves known and Ntombi shifts her shape.

"I bear no love for the vermin of this earth," Kal says in her distorted voice, as she begins weaving arrays of whirling thread and zigzagging string into the air. "You attack us with pests, then I shall have to craft a net."

Spoiler: OOC

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Dropping a Silken Shields, centered on W27. The Deflect is Selective along with the Create, so the V2 will gain no benefit.

[Zelphas]

As Ariadne weaves her net of red threads, Uriel raises a single too-long arm. "A net, you say?" above the four of you, the daylight abruptly brightened, as though the lowering sun was breaking out between the clouds. "I guess that all I can do is... burn the net." Just before the sunlight becomes nearly too bright, Uriel sweeps her arm down. Above the four of you, dozens of sharpened pillars of burning light rain down upon the entire area where you are standing, striking everything in the area.

Spoiler: OOC

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Uriel

Move Action: Nah.

Free Action: Reconfigure Reluctant Angel Array.

Standard Action: Use Lance of Dominating Light on everyone within Ariadne's Silken Shields, and the shield itself. The Descriptors are [Light] and [Fire], meaning that it gets +5 vs. the Deflect rather than ignoring it outright, and any Immunities to either of those two effects qualify.

Accuracy
vs. Create Construct: (1d20+14)[34] vs. 15 or (1d20+5)[25] (minimum 15); Construct Resistance (DC 29 + Multiattack): (1d20+10)[21] Crit hit, Crit Resistance; still full Multiattack, so Create Construct is DESTROYED!
vs. Floral: (1d20+14)[31] vs. 20 or (1d20+5)[18] (minimum 15) Hit, full Multiattack; DC becomes 34
vs. Ariadne: (1d20+14)[29] vs. 20 or (1d20+5)[19] (minimum 15) Hit, +2 Multiattack; DC becomes 31
vs. Helios: (1d20+14)[26] vs. 20 or (1d20+5)[19] (minimum 15) Hit, +2 Multiattack; DC becomes 31
vs. Nope: (1d20+14)[16] vs. 18 or (1d20+5)[8] (minimum 15) Miss
vs. V2: (1d20+14)[19] vs. 24; V1 Resistance (DC 29 + Multiattack): (1d20+10)[23] Miss

On a hit, Resistance DC 29 + Multiattack vs. Damage.

All PCs are up.

[Quellian-dyrae]

As the smoke cleared from Uriel's attack, it had seemed to have little effect on Lily. She was perhaps slightly burned, but even that was fading rapidly away. However, her skin had turned a vivid shade of green. She gave Uriel a kinda flat stare, and then said in utter deadpan, "So this entire time...you've been the fungus among us."

I want to be perfectly clear here, Lily was not to blame for this! Uriel had brought back the freaking Vespers! Terrible mushroom puns are simply the proportionate response here!!

The buzzing drone of the Vespers made Lily's skin crawl, but she focused on Uriel, speaking as much to distract herself from the presence of the bee monsters as anything. "Amanita, unless I miss my guess. Known for its toxicity. Treatable, though. The milk thistle contains compounds that have proven effective against it. And in one trial silymarin extracted from S. marianum seeds went sixty for sixty in preventing deaths." Lily leveled her staff at Uriel as she said so, the flower at the top morphing into a spear-like thorn dripping with some faint whitish-goldish liquid. She wasn't the only one who could smugly explain things to her enemies.

"I don't expect it would actually harm you much, of course, mainly just weaken your offensive options. For actually harming you, we'd have to get into plant-derived fungicides, of which several have shown promise. Thyme, tumeric, ginger, even garlic. I don't recall off-hand any studies that tried them on Amanita mushrooms specifically, but it'll be useful data, in any case. Maybe when we're done here I'll write a paper on the subject," she mused, firing the poisoned thorn at the mushroom-woman.

(The poison was also laced with cells derived from balsa and linden trees, both of which were toxic to bees, just in case any of the Vespers jumped in the way of the thorn or something. She didn't mention that bit out loud, of course. Some things were better kept as a surprise.)

Spoiler

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Free: Reconfigure Flower Power, and according to Zelphas this gets the staff bonus in rounds Lily's hit by one of Uriel's sunlight attacks, so: 5 points to Overpowering Scent, 5 points to Overwhelming Scent, 10 points to Lingering Scents, 10 points to Concentrated Scents, 10 points to Floral Thorn, 10 points to Floral Regeneration, 4 points to Enhanced Regeneration, 6 points to Floral Blood. Feature to set descriptors to [Physiological] [Poison], specifically poisons effective against mushrooms and bees, if my research is correct.

Free: I'm...not sure if we currently count as in forest terrain, but if so set her Favored Environment bonus to Attack.

Move: You know sure long-shot attempt to Feint Uriel even though the Deflect will kinda mitigate it even if it does work: (1d20+7)[25] (after -5 for move action and +2 for Favored Foe (Manchineel's Minions)).

Standard: Attack Uriel with Floral Thorn at (1d20+5)[14], with an additional +2 if this counts as forest terrain. On a hit, Resistance DC 25 vs. Impaired+Vulnerable Affliction. On a miss, Homing. This is a Perception attack; it'll home on the first miss, but if the Homing attack misses she'll have to resist with the Perception penalty.

End of Turn: Gain 7 RP from Regeneration to finish Regenerating the Bruise.

Current Status: Normal, Floral Blood +3 (Defense 7, Resistance 13).

[Ridai]

So while Uriel and the others trade pithy and less pithy lines, Nope is busy flailing, feeling his flesh cook and lungs burn, having bees crawl everywhere, screaming in agony, said screams often interrupted by gagging and coughing as bees crawl into his mouth, and desperately trying not to erase all insects in Forester's Bay again.

All Nope has to contribute beyond pained noises is Removing enough bees that he momentarily isn't getting cooked alive and sending a jab of wanting the one particular Vesper in front of him gone (not all Vespers! Not all wasps! Not bees! Not insects! That one Vesper!).

Spoiler: Actions

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Free Switch to Remove Second Guessing, Remove Hit Points.

Move Dazed, rare, and miserable.

Standard Attack V2 with DC 25/20/20 Damage (Ranged, Improved Crit 4), Weaken Resistance, Affliction (Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless/Incapacitated; Extra Condition)
20 on attack roll

[Abracadangit]

As burning scarlet threads whipped through the air, hissing with sparks and smoke, Kal silently cursed that a plant enemy could have come up with a way to harness sunlight to attack. She had always assumed that when fighting Manchineel or her henchcreatures, she could take some small measure of relief in knowing fire was off the table.

"No matter," Kal says, weaving her threads anew, and trying to look resolute and hopeful after having much of her costume badly singed. "What are threads, but the fibers of plants made tame?" As she gestures with her needles, zigzagging lines of thread begin to appear around Uriel and her accompanying Vesper.

Spoiler: OOC

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Dropping a Thread Lash Cloud centered on Uriel, with Homing, Multiattack, and Secondary Effect. No move action, per Dazed.
Thread Lash: (1d20+10)[11]

[Dorni]

His wards flared to life under the barrage solar beams. That they were visibly bleeding energy was an indication of how much strain they were under, but they held. "Hey now, the sun is my domain! Go find your own thing. Actually no, you can have it back."

As a side effect of the solar energy barrage, the entire area had become saturated with heat and even a few small fires. With Fire aether. Helios swung a hand wide, gathering all that free Fire to condense and weave into a fiery ray barrage of his own - which he unleashed on the pair of Vespers.

He had no mercy for the Vespers, though as the barrage died down the look he gave Peters was... regretful. "Do you have any messages you'd like us to convey?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Free: Set Spells array to Damage (Multi-Attack, Secondary Effect, Perception)

Move: Dazed

Standard: Cast on Vespers 1 and 2 with multi-attack. On hit, DC 25 vs SE Perception Damage
Vesper 1: (1d20+8)[26] Crit
Vesper 2: (1d20+8)[11]

[Zelphas]

Round 2

Uriel's features are designed to be perfect, not expressive. Perhaps this is why it's difficult to tell whether she feels amusement, annoyance, or sheer resignation at Floral's deadpan comment. "I suppose you aren't one for flowery speeches," she responds just as drily, moving her head only slightly to one side to allow Floral's poisoned thorn to disappear into her many veils. "You were chosen as the next Raphael for your depth of knowledge and insight on the subject of plant matter, so by all means."

Nope's removal is effective on removing all of the bees that were swarming all around him; unfortunately, it doesn't extend beyond those bees already swarming, leaving the Vesper before him untouched by his strange abilities. Uriel and the Vesper beside her are able to sway and avoid the threads that suddenly burst into being all around them, though Uriel's graceful movements to dodge make the Vesper's inhuman movements seem even more alien and wrong in comparison. "Did you know that Manchineel tends to wear a 'dress' made of moss?" Uriel comments conversationally in response to Ariadne's statements. "Your comment on threads and clothing might be enough to give her a minor existential crises... and while she needs that, I'd prefer you choose a different route; she's awkward enough without adding public nudity to her list of violations."

The Vesper next to Nope chose to release a new swarm of bees at the exact moment Helios fired off his rays of light. The bees were vaporized, but the Vesper is once again unharmed. The Vesper next to Uriel is not as fortunate; too busy maintaining the shield around Uriel, the living hive in a terrifying caricature of a woman alights in an immediate pyre, burning away in mere moments. Uriel spares the conflagration a single glance before focusing back on Helios. "I was about to say that the four of you have a fairly solid nonlethal track record regarding your... more or less human opponents; do Floral's comments and your question mean I no longer qualify? In any case, I haven't lost this battle yet."

With a graceful flick of Uriel's fingers, the remaining Vesper darts away from Nope, flying on silent wings to one side while a swarm curls out of it. The swarm twists and curves before descending upon the four of you, black stingers glittering in the evening light. Moments later, Uriel is directly in front of Floral. Her veils stretch out over all of you, and the air all around you is suddenly filled with falling spores and burning light.

Spoiler: OOC

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Map.

Vesper 2

Move Action: Shift to J27.

Standard Action: Use Swarm on all of you using Multiattack, All-Out Attacking for 4.

Helios: (1d20+12)[32] Crit; DCs are 32/27.
Ariadne: (1d20+12)[30] Hit
Floral: (1d20+12)[28] Hit
Nope: (1d20+12)[25] Hit

On a hit, Resistance DC 27/22 vs. Damage Linked Progressive Impaired/Stunned. Floral, you have -5 on this check due to your Bees Complication; take a much-belated Hero Point for the Complication.

Uriel

Move Action: Shift to W25.

Free Action: Reconfigure Reluctant Angel array.

Standard Action: Use Weakening Veil of Light in a Burst 1, which targets all of you.

Floral: (1d20+14)[32] Hit
Ariadne: (1d20+14)[17] Miss
Nope: (1d20+14)[27] Hit
Helios: (1d20+14)[18] Miss

On a hit, Resistance DC 29/24 vs. Damage Linked Weaken Resistance. The Damage has the [Light] and [Fire] descriptors, and the Weaken has the [Physiological] Descriptor... and is designed for animals, not plants (not that it can't affect plants, but still).

All PCs are up.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lily gave a fierce grin as Helios incinerated one of the Vespers outright, which admittedly flickered with fear as the swarm of bees descended upon them. Lily's pores seeped nectar, modified on a cellular level the way she had before, so that the layer in contact with her skin was medicinal and the layer exposed to air was acidic. It wasn't enough to entirely stymie the bees, but it at least minimized the amount of venom that got through. Uriel's blast of sunlight scorched her a bit, but her super-photosynthetic cells absorbed enough of the light that the damage was minimal. The spores had no effect whatsoever, cleansed immediately by the medicinal nectar that had replaced her blood.

"Just because we're not going to kill you doesn't mean your ability to communicate is not going to be substantially curtailed, you know," she retorted. Lily wouldn't pretend she didn't bear Uriel any ill will, but it didn't override the fact that Ntombi Peters was still a person and a victim of Manchineel just like her.

The thorn she had fired, guided by Lily's minor personal phytokinesis (her staff was forged of her own cells, had originally been a lock of her hair, which meant the thorn fired from it was too) went sweeping around to come in for another pass at Uriel's back, but Lily didn't press her assault there. Lily's terror did not overcome her reason. The Vespers, she suspected, worked in some way like her, producing their bees through some manner of biologically-mediated process. The exact mechanics probably weren't quite the same, a transformation of their cells fueled by stored solar energy, but the core process probably bore some similarities.

And Lily knew well that such powers were not entirely automatic. Producing such a swarm of bees had to have taken effort and attention. It followed, then, that the Vesper might be at at least a momentary disadvantage.

Lily acted to capitalize immediately, pointing her staff like a rifle and firing another thorn dripping with venom (once again derived from balsa and linden trees) at the Vesper, even as she converted some of the sunlight Uriel had hit her with to regenerate the burns she had inflicted.

Spoiler

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Ooh ooh ooh the Vesper gave itself a Defense penalty! That means I can try this!

Free: Reconfigure Flower Power (+10). 5 points to Overpowering Scent, 5 points to Floral Thorn, 10 points to Poisonous Nectar, 10 points to Drugged Nectar, 10 points to Tactical Poison, 10 points to Photosynthetic Regeneration, 10 points to Enhanced Regeneration. Descriptor set to [Physiological] [Poison].

Free: ...Did we end up deciding on whether this is forested terrain? Favored Environment to Attack if so.

Move: Ready Reaction.

Standard: Aid my next attack with Overpowering Scent at (1d20+15)[21]. +5

Reaction: Attack V2 with Poisonous Nectar, Power Attacking for Aid value, at (1d20+10)[12]. On a hit, Resistance DC 20+Aid vs. Weaken Effect and Resistance. No Homing here since I didn't put full points into Floral Thorn. For what good it does me

EDIT: Extra Effort for nothing.

End of Turn: Regenerate a Bruise.

End of Turn: Homing triggers to attack Uriel at (1d20+5)[16]. On a hit, Resistance DC 25-Perception vs. Vulnerable+Impaired Affliction. Pretty sure that means DC 15 which means Can't Fail

End of...Helios's turn I guess?: Secondary Effect triggers. Lily receives Healing at (1d20+6)[8]. Nada

Current Status: 1 Bruise, Fatigued as of next turn.

[Ridai]

Nope really isn't feeling the banter in general, but especially not right now as his partially cooked self is being perforated and then seared so the juices come out, I guess.

Of course, Uriel's remark puts his last attempted panic Removal into sharp focus. Good ol' Nope and his ability to feel bad about a lot of things.

"I dun' wan' 'o kill things. I ha'e this," he croaks, what with his mouth and tongue burned and stung and swolen to hell. And still wanting to retch from all the damn bees.

Back to aiming the invisible reality-annihilating railgun to not die. You know, just winging the targets a little. With the railgun. Aim for 0 HP, not negative 10. Or negative Con. Or half max HP or whatever the hell the rules are at any given moment, who the eff knows.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Same as last round, really. Aiming at the remaining Vesper.

Move Can't.

Standard Attack the Vesper with DC 25/20/20 Damage (Ranged, Improved Crit 4), Weaken Resistance, Affliction (Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless/Incapacitated; Extra Condition)
(1d20+8)[10]

[Abracadangit]

As the swarm of bees coats Kal from head to toe, she lets out a distorted roar of anguish; first fire, now clouds of angry insects. Every one of Uriel's tricks seemed expertly designed to ignore her threadwork defenses that had worked (fairly) well on every other opponent up until now. To make matters worse, her own thread attacks were being effortlessly evaded or deflected with terrifying precision. This was shaping up to be one of the team's toughest fights yet, but without her strongest defensive spell, Kal feels like dead weight.

"Enough," Kal bellows, as she conjures a spinning cyclone of scarlet twine around herself, shredding the bees as they attempt to swarm. Granted, she still receives a modest share of stinging welts, but the maneuver affords her some measure of protection. She doesn't think she can pull a spell like that out of her needles too many more times, though -- already, her magic is beginning to fray.

Just as Uriel's veil begins to glow with strange iridescence, Kal weaves herself into a cocoon of crimson, with an eerie replica of her masked face at the top of the shroud, as though a giant Ariadne encases her. She feels the sickening warmth of the searing radiance as it washes over her, but is otherwise unharmed. Her barrier trembles for a moment, its threads twitching strangely -- then it suddenly explodes, into a volley of enormous, ruby-red weaving spindles, each one generating garnet thread in their wake as they arc and zigzag through the air towards Uriel.

Kal lets out a smirking laugh, while Uriel handily maneuvers around the threadwork projectiles. By projecting her voice through the thrumming threads of her attacks, her voice seems to echo from everywhere around Uriel at once. "She needs an existential crisis? You speak as though you wish her defeated, but here you stand. You alternate so quickly, between botanical thrall and rebellious lieutenant."

"But it matters not." Kal flicks her wrist as the final spindle bursts in midair, into a barrage of even smaller red sewing needles that envelop Uriel's form.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move Action: Dazed.
Homing Thread Lash from last turn, plus another Thread Lash because we gotta start somewhere.
Homing Thread Lash vs. Uriel: (1d20+10)[17]
Thread Lash vs. Uriel:(1d20+10)[28]

[Dorni]

"Foolish. If we saw in you a beast the question wouldn't have been asked." He raised a hand to strengthen his wards against the oncoming swarm. The runes flared to life again, absorbing the stings and bleeding off the energy. The wards weakened slightly, but held firm.

"As Flora says, we'd prefer not to kill you. But neither can we allow you to assist or warn Manchineel until that confrontation is over. I guess you could say I extended the offer as a kindness. But if you would rather not, then perhaps you could answer this. We know Manchineel didn't arise from a tree or forest spirit. You've interacted with her perhaps more than anyone else. Forgive the limitations of the word, but how much of her humanity remains? Could she ever give up her crusade?"

Once again, he wove Fire. Sheets of flame engulfed the remaining Vesper.

Spoiler: OOC

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Free: Set Spells to Penetrating Secondary Effect Damage Linked Penetrating Weaken [Resistance]
Move: Gotta figure out something to do with this
Standard: Cast at Vesper at [roll]1d20+10[/roll. 30. Crit On hit, DC 25+/20+ vs Pen SE Damage / Pen Weaken [Resistance]

[Zelphas]

Round 3

"Fair enough," Uriel replies to Floral and Helios just as Floral's thorn skids across her cheek, glancing away without making a mark. "My combat banter is somewhat lacking; I suppose being designed for espionage, I can't expect much better." There is a wry twist to her lips as she speaks, which stretches into a momentary but real wince the moment Ariadne's threads tangle through and shred one of her shifting veils.

Meanwhile, the final Vesper dances silently away from Floral's fired thorn, somehow asserts itself in a way that foils Nope's attempt to un-assert its existence, and then promptly bursts into another pillar of flame from Helios' onslaught. It burns, the too-long arms reaching to the sky as if beseeching; and in answer, a flood of bees swarm out of its burning husk, many catching fire themselves as they descend upon Helios in a smothering cascade. Moments later, it is also ash and smoke.

Uriel watches the Vesper burn, an odd sort of discomfort on her face. "I didn't tell it to do that; one thing Manchineel has never quite understood is that life is living, not just functioning. I do wonder what the Vespers would be, if they were free from their directives." A soft shudder passes over her veiled form. "Then again, we've already seen what happens when bees are engineered to be stronger. Perhaps they shouldn't be allowed greater intelligence as well. But I digress." Looking towards the tower of burning bees that is Helios, Uriel pauses a moment before addressing Floral instead. "In answer to his question: if you see her, just let her talk. She'll tell you. She wants to talk to you. It'll sound like the ravings of a madwoman, because that's what she is. A mad woman. A mad woman given powers she doesn't understand, impulses she doesn't realize aren't really hers... or, aren't who she was, whoever she was. Humanity she has, but that may have made all she did worse. But on the note of powers..."

Turning back towards Helios, Uriel lifts one long hand, and a spear of light appears between her fingers, followed by another, and another. "I'm afraid I must agree with the Vesper, such as it was," she comments, before casting all of her spears at Helios' hidden form. Meanwhile, her own form glows with the backlash of the light.

Spoiler: OOC

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Map.

Vesper 2

Move Action: Staggered.

Standard Action: Use Overheat on Helios. (1d20+10)[23] Resistance DC 29 vs. Perception Penetrating Damage. Hit, no Multiattack.

End of Turn: SE triggers, and the Vesper is destroyed.

Uriel

Move Action: Dazed.

Free Action: Reconfigure Reluctant Angel Array.

Standard Action: Use Lance of Unrelenting Light on Helios. (1d20+14)[27] On a hit, Resistance DC 29 + Multiattack vs. Damage. Hit, +2 Multiattack; DC becomes 31.

Uriel Heals herself (Temporary) at (1d20+14)[34]. Good grief; full healed and then some.

All PCs are up.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lily clenched her teeth in frustration as her thorns flew by harmlessly. She knew what the problem was. She just wasn't fast enough. Her wings could propel her body at tremendous speeds, but she wasn't actually a speedster, and she didn't actually have the combat training to make up for it. What she did do to make up for it was what she did to make up for all of her deficits of power - she cheated, releasing stored solar energy as kinetic energy to propel her body and her attacks as a sort of "personal phytokinesis". This went pretty far - it allowed her to fly at superhuman speeds with her wings, and to dodge and strike fast enough to more-or-less keep up on a superpowered battlefield. It was just that against Uriel and her Vespers she was mostly coming up "less".

Yes. Surely that's why she had gone zero for three on attacks, an insufficiency of power and speed. It definitely wasn't that she was unnerved by the Vespers and it was throwing her off her game.

Well, whatever. If Lily's powers were not up to the task, Helios's sure seemed to be, the sun mage nuking both of the Vespers outright one after another. No muss, no fuss. Lily's mind was her greatest weapon, but to be fair, it didn't actually take a genius intellect to realize that it was time to adapt her tactics.

First things first. Uriel seemed to have followed the same line of strategic thinking. Conveniently, she also went ahead and announced that fact, which gave Lily plenty of heads up. By the time she had fired her lance of sunlight at Helios, Lily was already leaping into its path, her skin turning bright green as she absorbed the sunlight. Her photosynthesis didn't quite work fast enough to keep it from burning, but it took the edge off at least, relegating it to nothing she couldn't take.

That done, Lily shot another thorn at Uriel, strafing just slightly right as she aimed and fired. It wouldn't be hard for Uriel to dodge - her reactions were more than fast enough, and Lily's aim was a bit too far right thanks to her movement.

Which was the point. Superhumanly fast reflexes were a wondrous thing, and Uriel clearly had them to spare. But they weren't a perfect defense. They remained, at the end of the day, reflexes. Great for fast reactions, not so hot for complex tactics. Having just jumped between he and Uriel, by moving right, Lily would open up a path for Helios to aim left - which would hopefully be right where Uriel's dodge would carry her.

Meanwhile, since the thorn only needed enough poison in it to serve as a credible threat, Lily focused the majority of her power onto producing healing nectar, using the sunlight she had absorbed from Uriel's attack went to fuel more curative power in her blood while also splashing some curative nectar onto Helios.

Spoiler

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Move: Dazed.

Free: Reconfigure Flower Power (+10). 5 points (attack bonus ranks) to Acidic Nectar, 2 points to Floral Thorn, 3 points to Petal Wings, 10 points to Floral Blood, 20 points to Healing Nectar, 10 points to Photosynthetic Regeneration, 10 points to Enhanced Regeneration.

Standard: Aid Helios with Acidic Nectar at (1d20+15)[25] Linked to Healing Nectar on Helios at (1d20+10)[30]. Actual rolls! +5 to Helios's next attack and CRIT on the heal for 25 RP

End of Turn: Regenerates a Bruise.

Current Status: 1 Bruise, Fatigued, Floral Blood (+5 Res/-5 Def).

[Ridai]

Nope is still stuck desperately trying to get his crap together, and it's looking like an uphill battle in that regard. Still this close to heaving from bees having gone where bees are not supposed to go and all the burns, he just tries to incapacitate Uriel. The nasty part is the whole it never being certain whether it might even work part of his powers, even if it... "connects". And the universe being dead-set on trying to erase his targets at the moment, it feels like. This is not a good state of affairs.

Spoiler: Actions

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You probably guessed it, same thing as last round.

Standard Attack Uriel with DC 25/20/20 Damage (Ranged, Improved Crit 4), Weaken Resistance, Affliction (Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless/Incapacitated; Extra Condition)
(1d20+10)[11]

[Abracadangit]

Kal makes a sort of accidental growling noise, as she watches Uriel regenerate the paltry damage that had already been inflicted. Ok, direct approach isn't paying off, Kal thinks to herself. Time for a new plan.

The red thread spirals around Uriel, but instead of striking at her, it aims to wrap around and encircle her limbs.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Action: Snaring Strands on Uriel, Immobile + Vulnerable/Stunned + Defenseless, Cloud Area.
Snaring Strands: (1d20+10)[24]
Also, Secondary Effect from Thread Lash last turn procs.

[Dorni]

The burning, dying bees assaulted Helios' wards, all the more desperate to fulfil their purpose before the fires finished claiming them. They managed to inflict some damage on his wards as they died, though no small part of it came from their combined scorching heat. Then the swarm was no more.

"You sound as if you pity her. Even after what she's done to you?" Helios eyed the glowing lances Uriel had conjured. They contained a significant amount of energy, and that energy had come from somewhere. Lily had more than once mentioned that her abilities were powered by stored solar energy. He wondered if it was the same for Uriel. She certainly teemed with enough Life aspect.

So he wove a working to gather Life, to pull it away from Uriel and leave her weak and exhausted.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Free: Set Spells to: Progressive Affliction [Fatigued & Impaired & Vulnerable / Stunned & Disabled & Defenseless / Incap] {48; Limited Degree becomes Quirk 2}, Healing 1.

Move: dazed
Standard: Cast Enervation on Uriel, Aid + PA/AoA 5. (1d20+15)[24]. On hit, DC 25 vs Progressive Affliction. I think that's a miss? If so rerolling
Healing (1d20+1)[4] on self. 4 RP

[Zelphas]

Round 4

Through thorns, threads, enervation energy and the power of negation, Uriel glows, slipping through every strike. The world shivers and puts on a coat, but while that might eventually have some effects, Nope's most recent attack does not do anything to Uriel at this time. The white, veiled figure dances through Ariadne's grasping threads, the red lines chasing her light without being able to grasp it. A veil falls away, torn by Ariadne's earlier strike, but it is replaced just as quickly, and the threads do not touch it. Uriel shifts to avoid Floral's thorn just as Floral had predicted, leaving her open to Helios' life-stealing magic--but instead of fading, her light grows brighter, the Life within her growing to face the draining force until she simply overloads Helios' spell.

A veil shifts, and Uriel's face is seen, the mouth twisted in a small, sad smile. "Do you rage at the rabid dog that attacks you, or the wounded tiger that claws your arm to ribbons in fear and pain? What would be the point? She is obeying her nature, as horrible as it is." Her voice shifts abruptly, and she is in the midst of the four of you, out of the cloud of Ariadne's threads. The air grows warm, and a too-sweet smell like rotting fruit or meat reaches your nostrils. "I seek only to survive her, and then to help her." Lances of light, shrouded with motes of green-purple dust, rain down among you once more.

In the middle of their fall, Uriel murmurs quietly, "Though I do not know if I am capable of either, anymore."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Map.

Uriel

Move Action: Shift to U29.

Free Action: Reconfigure Reluctant Angel Array.

Standard Action: Use Lance of Toxic Light, which targets all four of you.

Helios: (1d20+14)[23] Hit
Nope: (1d20+14)[25] Hit
Floral: (1d20+14)[22] Hit
Ariadne: (1d20+14)[31] Hit

On a hit, Resistance DC 29/24 vs. Damage linked Vulnerable & Impaired/Unaware & Disabled. The Damage has the [Fire] and [Light] descriptors, the Affliction has the [Poison] descriptor (which is physiological).

All PCs are on turn.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Uriel rained more solar fire and toxic spores down upon them, neither of which were particularly significant threats to Lily. She flew to cover Nope, taking the full force of the blast and...coming out maybe a little bit charred. Neither light nor poison had much of any effect at all. If anything the sunlight only allowed her to heal most of the damage the heat might have otherwise inflicted.

"We all have our inherent natures, Ntombi. What separates people from beasts isn't that we lack base drives and impulses. It's that we have the capacity to act differently.
Manchineel is no dog, she is no tiger."

Ariadne and Helios seemed to weather the blast fine as well. Even so, her team had taken a bit of a beating, getting this far. Both Vespers were down, but Uriel was more-or-less fresh, and outclassed them in power. They couldn't just trade blows for blasts like that indefinitely. Not if they wanted to win.

"You're living proof of that. I don't know what it's like inside Manchineel's head, but the evidence offered by her actions shows that she is capable of seeing that others don't agree with her. I assume, given your description of your role, that you've explained to her why that is, that you've told her how what she is doing is wrong."

So as she had many times before, Lily reached for the sunlight stored in her cells, to unlock its power and turn it to curative purposes, transforming some of the vegetable cells in her staff into vines that would extend out to her friends and splash medicinal nectar upon them, enhanced by the solar energy to the point that it would soothe their burns and treat their wounds in seconds, hastening the natural healing processes of their bodies to superhuman levels, if only for a few seconds.

"Maybe she really can't understand, maybe she really can't stop herself. I can't rule it out conclusively. But all the evidence I've seen so far suggests that whatever may be driving her, she still has the fundamental capacity-"

Only this time, perhaps due to the stress of the encounter with the Vespers, perhaps due to all the biochemical poking and prodding she had been doing to herself, perhaps due to having absorbed so much of Uriel's own Manchineel-gifted sunlight, or perhaps just because a process that had already been begun was now starting to catalyze in earnest-

"-to choose!"

-when Lily reached for that power, she touched something else.

White light laced with motes of sparkling green exploded from Lily in a torrent. It was nothing like her usual powers, no clever manipulation of plantlife or tactical transmutation here. It was raw energy, and not solar energy either. A pure, undiluted outpouring of Life. It would not speed cellular regeneration, would not provide a superhumanly potent medicinal salve. It would straight-up wipe away wounds on contact, healing them on the instant as if they had never been.

To Helios's mystic senses, it would appear absolutely identical to the healing blast of Life mana that Raphael had cast upon Lily, those weeks ago, albeit on a larger scale.

The blast of energy was entirely unexpected and uncontrolled, healing everyone nearby without regard to Lily's wishes on the matter, including Uriel. However, that was not necessarily an entirely bad thing. Partly, this was because Uriel was not, in fact, meaningfully injured at the moment.

Mostly it was because it would consider Manchineel's control over Uriel to be an external malady to be healed.

When the wave of Life energy faded, Lily looked down at her hands in shock, horror slowly dawning on her face. "Wh..."

Spoiler

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Well I was gonna do some mass healing this round anyway and I checked with Zel that this made sense so!

Extra Effort - Power Stunt off of Flower Power (+10).

Reborn Angel: Healing 14 (Burst Area, 12 ranks Persistent, Limited [Full Action]) Linked Affliction 10 (Vulnerable/Compelled/Controlled; Ranged 2, Extra Condition, Concentration, Limited [Full Action], Limited [First degree single condition; Compelled and Controlled can only force targets to act in accordance with their own will without regard to external compulsions]); Enhanced Resistance 4 (Reduced Defense 4).

Move: Charge Reborn Angel.

Standard: Use Reborn Angel. Everyone in 30' receives Healing. Uriel is attacked by the Affliction, All Out Attacking for 5, at (1d20+15)[28]. On a hit, Resistance DC 20 vs. [Mystical] [Spirit] Concentration Vulnerable/Compelled/Controlled; the Compelled and Controlled can only force her to act in accordance with her own will, effectively treating Manchineel's control over her as a malady to be healed (well, suppressed, since Affliction, but whatever). Healing rolls:

Floral: (1d20+14)[31]. 21+6 RP. Heals both Bruises, gonna put the remaining 7 RP towards my Recover.
Nope: (1d20+14)[17]. Gonna spend the first of my two Healing Rerolls from Growing a New Future here.
Uriel: (1d20+14)[17]. 7 RP towards actually-healing her suppressed Bruise, I guess.
Ariadne: (1d20+14)[33]. 23+6 RP
Helios: (1d20+14)[20]. 10+6 RP

Current Status: Fatigued (7/10 RP), Exhausted as of next turn, Floral Blood (+4 Res/-4 Def), AoA -5, Freaked, Just, Totally The Flip Out You Guys.
Growing a New Future: 1/2.

[Ridai]

There is a short moment of panic, Nope wondering if he subconsciously removed his (many) injuries, which would rank very highly on the "potentially stop living on accident" chart of developed involuntary behaviors. But there is no headache, no reality getting confused, just the... light from Floral. And she doesn't seem happy about it. So things may be about to go further sideways.

No longer being riddled with agonizing pain of burn wounds (which let him know burning to death is indeed among the more horrible deaths), Nope has to try and finally, actually, put a dent into Uriel's ability to fight. Focusing as hard as he used to on offensive Removals has become much more difficult after the insect incident. It is not like a wall or blockade preventing it from happening. It is more like too much effort getting dispersed, distracted, undermined. So considering that, Nope just desperately tries to make as much happen as he can to incapacitate Uriel.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Yeah it's this again. DC 25/20/20 Damage (Ranged, Improved Crit 4), Weaken Resistance, Affliction (Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless/Incapacitated; Extra Condition)

Standard Attack Uriel with AoA -2/+2 (1d20+12)[19]

EE Standard Do it again (1d20+12)[30]

[Dorni]

Uriel rained down more lances of light interspersed with toxic mist, but in dividing her mode of attack neither one had the potency to defeat Helios' wards. He emerged unscathed, waving a bit of Air to carry him away, taking up a flanking position. He backed off a bit - Uriel had been able to catch his entire team in her attacks at once. There was no sense to keeping close together and making it easy for her.

Helios was in solidarity with Floral. Uriel described Manchineel as simply obeying her nature. But Uriel's very existence was a testament to Manchineel's desire to learn. Manchineel had encountered resistance and chosen to respond by creating Uriel. Not running away, not attacking. She'd chosen to try to better understand the world around her.

That Manchineel had a set of instincts, he had no doubt. He'd thought her as more a force of nature than a being when they'd first started investigating her servants. He wasn't sure exactly when, but at some point he'd come to understand she wasn't entirely ruled by instinct.

Granted, that didn't mean Manchineel would listen to them, or even if she did that her goals allowed for peaceful coexistence. Or that her crimes were forgivable.

But those were questions for later. Helios gathered aether and wove fire.

Just as Floral burst into veritable fountain of Life energy. He felt it wash over the battlefield, restoring everything it touched. Just as Raphael had. In fact, it had the same signature.

Hastended by dread, Helios redoubled his focus on weaving his spell. He needed to end this quickly. Maybe it was the battle itself, or a personal epiphany and Floral was tapping into power an order of magnitude beyond what she'd displayed since he'd known her. Or maybe Uriel was doing something sneaky and pushing her towards Manchineel's goal of turning Lily into the next Raphael. He didn't want to risk losing her.

He finished his spell.

A massive pyre erupted around Uriel.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Set Spells array to: Penetrating Secondary Effect Damage
Linked Weaken [Resistance]
Linked Affliction [Vulnerable & Impaired / Defenseless & Disabled]

Move: To K24
Standard: Cast on Uriel at AoA 2. (1d20+12)[26]. On hit, DC 25+Pen/20 vs Pen SE Damage / Weaken & Affliction

[Abracadangit]

[fluff pending]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move: Move to AB24.
Thread Lash 1: (1d20+10)[26]
Thread Lash 2:(1d20+10)[29]