Now collapsing like the rain (Open)

[stormcalling]

Who: Valamia and open
What: Trying to shaman, now with rain showers
Where: All around the forest
When: A week around the beginning of August
Warnings: None

The Elements didn't respond to her the same in this time. Valamia had the same trouble when they first crashed into Azeroth. What little she knew at that time regarding shamanism felt like it was thrown out the window. Since arriving to this time on Azeroth she felt she same as she had then. It made her decision on what to do feel all the more strange. She was not the first person who wanted to jump up and make herself useful but she did need a distraction. That distraction was ultimately going to come in the form of attempting to keep the land and elements a pure and untainted from the Legion as possible. It may not be the boldest choice. It wasn't running headlong into the army or even removing a few imps. The task was however, was one that she truly believed she could manage. That was all that mattered to her.

And so she wondered the forest to a spot she felt or believed a pack of lowly demons had been slain. In each spot she set down two totems and sat between them. She would whisper briefly in Eredun and call upon a rain to cleanse the land. To answer her, the elements granted her that cleansing rain. It didn't encompass the forest, no it only stretched out around her for a couple yards at a time. Isolated showers weren't ideal but it did work. In time black smoke would rise up from the earth and begin to dissipate. Once the smoke stopped rising it was a sign to her that it was as close to pure was she could get it. The rain would come to a stop and she stayed seated. Considering that she was both wet and frustrated, she wasn't in any rush to get up. Her distraction wasn't leaving her to feel any better. Maybe the feeling of accomplishment for doing something for the greater good would kick in...eventually.

Comments

[seesbosscrotch]

The black smoke brought attention, as it probably should have -- one paladin, hurrying through the forest at the lope he could maintain for a surprisingly long time even in heavy armor. It wasn't particularly subtle, but nor was it particularly noisy, either. When it came down to it, Mar was in his element just running around poking into things.

And speaking of those things, he came to a halt outside the ring of water the rain had deposited, out of concern that he might interfere with some shamanic process.

"Shaman business?" he said by way of a curious hello.

[stormcalling]

She almost groans when she hears his voice. She doesn't turn to face him and almost considers ignoring him. Valamia didn't hate him quite as much since the redsworn meeting but he wasn't anywhere near her favorite person...or top five favorite people. She picks up her totems before she turns towards him. It was weird but a part of her almost expected to see a pack of demons behind him. Hm.

"Yeah. Someone has to do it, right?" She would say more but it's hard to. On one hand, it's him and on the other hand she doesn't want to admit to not having the same connection to the elements she had in their Azeroth.

[seesbosscrotch]

Hey! He wasn't running that fast...

"What's the specific 'it'?" Considering the extreme versatility of shaman totems, which he could personally attest to -- having been handed dozens of them to accomplish various tasks over the course of his career -- he could imagine any number of things that needed doing.

[stormcalling]

Ugh, does she have to try and explain herself to him? She almost opens her mouth to try and switch the subject to something else entirely. With how she seems to notice he likes talking about his accomplishments she could go to that. Wait no. That's a terrible idea.

"That's really that hard to figure out? You must have picked something up about how shamans work and how maybe someone as old as me might want to do with the Legion being around." No she's not spelling this out for him. He frustrates her. He can figure it out.

[seesbosscrotch]

Did every discussion they had have to come down to a conflict? Mar knew perfectly well what she was doing by putting it that way, but in the interest of promoting harmony through the flight, he kept civil.

"The first thing that comes to mind is soothing the elements, but I'm used to seeing an elemental or two actually appear when that happens. Though it is possible I just missed them."

[stormcalling]

"You also need a physical manifestation to talk to the elements." Granted she hadn't gotten clear messages from the elements yet. Honestly she didn't expect even after this she would. It was better then nothing.

She sets her totems in a little bag and stands up. She really does need to consider having a towel or something with for this. "I don't." a beat. "I would assume keeping the elements on our side would a understandable desire."

[seesbosscrotch]

"Yes, but I can imagine it might be difficult, when the ones who have been doing the most talking to them would be the trolls." Plus the elementals likely could sense the upcoming devastation, much as they had when Deathwing had caused so much trouble in his own time... but he still wasn't sure he should talk about that. "Definitely something we'd like though! Any luck?"

[stormcalling]

She'll repress a shudder. Of any race she didn't like associating with it was trolls, right alongside orcs. Not the best attitude for someone of the earthen ring. Vala shakes her head. "I...don't know." She's unsure. She doesn't know for certain if she's doing a single helpful thing. She isn't sure what hurts her pride more. Not knowing or admitting to Mar that she doesn't know.

[seesbosscrotch]

Oooh. He can guess exactly how much she didn't like admitting that, and the fact that she had warmed him up a bit. Carefully, the paladin stepped into the circle the rains had left behind, kneeling down to touch the grass. Not that he could tell anything about its feel through his armor, but... well, he had experience in any number of situations, who knows what he could tell?

In this case, nothing.

"Well, not that I have much talent with this sort of thing, but if there's anything I can do to help..."

[stormcalling]

She has to try hard not to make smart remarks at him. She had a feeling he wasn't going to pick up anything from whatever he was doing. She didn't bother to ask and Light help her, she didn't care. Valamia wanted some sort of normal communication with the elements. The lack of it was bothering. The Legion was bothering. Where was a cave to hide in until this was all over?

"I doubt it. I can't grant you the ability to hear them nor do I have any bright ideas on how to handle this."

Time to meet the other spacegoat.

[theshadowkissed]

There was a good chance that Rose was responsible for any number of the demon deaths that the draenei had been searching out. The dhampir also tended to pass through similar areas of the forest looking for the scouting parties that might be sent out to search for the missing demons. Little did she know that the Legion had such numbers and their leaders cared so little about a few lost imps, satyrs or felbeasts.

This time, Rose wasn't actually on patrol but the pattering sound of rain when she didn't see or even smell any caught her attention. Tracking it down wasn't hard, so there she stood outside the circle of showers watching the draenei... meditate? She'd vaguely remembered Vastania mentioning another of her people being there, but she hadn't actually seen the older draenei before.

When the smoke rose from the land, Rose's eyes widened and she made herself not interrupt. What was happening here?

"O...kay. So that was kind of weird and kind of cool," said the dhampir, clad not in her armor but black leather jacket, jeans yet still sporting her large sword across her back. "But mostly weird."

The old, not at all like Vas spacegoat

[stormcalling]

Valamia did intend on trying to zone out for a few more minutes before addressing reality. Seems like that wasn't an option. She sighs and grabs the totems, placing them back into a small pouch she had with her. She finally looks over at Rose and raises a brow. What she was doing wasn't that strange, was it?

"It wasn't much. Talking to the elements, trying cleanse the land of any corruption." She shrugs as she talks. She would go ahead and stand up to properly address her but she wasn't to that point yet. "I haven't heard of anyone trying to do it. I thought I would get a head-start."

[theshadowkissed]

The lack of standing wasn't bothering Rose at all. The draenei were so damn tall that she was okay with not being towered over by a foot and a half for the moment.

"You were doing..." Rose tilted her head a bit. "Is that some kind of draenei magic thing that someone from Earth doesn't get kinda like the Light thing Vastania says chose me or a nifty Redsworn thing?"

[stormcalling]

She stares blankly at Rose. She wants to remark about how of course she's chosen by the Light. Her and almost everyone else she's ran into in this Light forsaken event. She exhales slowly and regains her composure. Although being put in the situation of trying to explain anything wasn't ideal.

"Shamanism is an art spread across various races. The Draenei have learned it during our stay on Draenor. Other races have been practicing shamanism far longer then we have." She almost sounds bored with it. She is terrible at explaining things though.

[theshadowkissed]

"Huh." That didn't jive with what Rose knew of shamanism. "On my world, shamans usually do this trance thing to talk to the spirit world, not the elements." They also tended to get high as hell, from what she remembered in her history books.

"At least among ancient humans. Elements are more Moroi. They're magic is exclusive to to the five elements, but I don't remember any of them commenting on the element they've declared actually talking to them." A beat. "They probably wouldn't share that info with us dhampir anyways," she added on with an annoyed frown.

[stormcalling]

If she had expected her to have any reaction to all of that beyond confusion, she would be sorely disappointed. Not a single word she said clicked in her head. The only part of that which was remotely true was the part of talking to spirits. It wasn't exactly something Valamia was keen on doing.

"You do realize all of that could be spoken in another language and make the same amount of sense, right?" Even exhausted she can't avoid smart-mouth commentary.

[theshadowkissed]

Rose gave a little snort. "And yet everyone that's familiar with Azeroth prior to coming here does the same thing to the rest of us that aren't. Funny that."

She shook her head a little. "Moroi are another race on my world. They possess a connection to the elements which they can command as magic. Whereas Moroi can use all the elements, they have a special affinity for one over the others. For many Moroi, not declaring a magic is like not going through puberty." It had been hard on Lissa.

"Until recently, it was thought there were only four elements - fire, water, earth and air. But there's a fifth one called spirit that very, very few Moroi can use. Because Moroi are all magicky, they're kind of shit in a fight. That's where my people from in. Dhampir," she pointed to herself, "are defenders of Moroi. Well, most of us are. We train to become elite bodyguards called Guardians. We keep the Moroi safe from evil immortal undead assholes that try to kill them. Unfortunately, there aren't enough dhampir, so only the royal bloodlines get Guardians."

She raised an eyebrow. "Make a bit more sense now?"

[stormcalling]

She could retort to that little snip. After all she was no native of Azeroth. It wasn't her home. She likely thought of it as strange and weird as Rose did. The only difference was she had a few years to try and live on it. It gave her a tiny advantage.

She does figure that answering with no, it all sounds weird to me may not be the best choice. On the other hand she didn't get this concept still of nobles and bloodlines being so important. Plenty of races on Azeroth had that mindset. Valamia had yet to get that concept. The idea of connecting to simply one element didn't make any sense either. How does one be a shaman and not hear all the elements? She wasn't curious enough to ask about it or express her lack of understanding. "About as much sense as anything else does when considering the situation." She shrugs. Why the woman cares if she understands is beyond her.

[theshadowkissed]

Really, Rose didn't care much about bloodlines and the royals either other than her best friend being the Dragomir princess. She'd been mouthy enough toward Queen Tatiana that it had been easy enough for people to believe she'd killed the woman. She hadn't, but the evidence against her was strong as she'd been setup very well. Hopefully, her friends would find the way to clear her name.

"So, is it working?" She gestured at the stuff set up around the draenei.

[paopu_oath]

Kairi wanted to do some good, but she was woefully unprepared for this world. She had kept trying with her new magic, but it didn't come to her as easily as she thought it did to Sora. It was most embarrassing when she tripped on roots that she's pretty sure she accidentally called upon with her greensworn abilities.

All and all, Kairi thought she might make a better scout. Quietly slip into an area where a battle had since passed under the cover of tree brush (that, tripping aside, she had more control over than her mage abilities), check out the area (not that she always knew what she was looking for), go back to the Sanctum.

Not the safest of tasks, but she wasn't going to fight off demons, so Sora couldn't worry too much.

Except. She hadn't actually told him. If he asked her where she went, well. She told him she was just going over to Silverglen Retreat. She would even go, briefly, to the Retreat, and then head out to places like this.

The odd pocket of rain was something new though. Why was it only covering such a small area? It was enough that Kairi slowly made her way out to that area, pausing right on the edge of the rain to shield herself in roots next to a tree, then peering to get a better look.

A... person? Well. Humanoid, anyway. Kairi was... mostly sure it wasn't a demon. And anyway, what kind of demon doesn't deal in fire? The fires had gone out, so...

Kairi slips out of the roots and cautiously steps forward, keeping her staff attached to her back and holding her hands out to show that she didn't mean any trouble.

"Umm, hi? Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, I was just... scouting the area."

[stormcalling]

She takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. She wasn't surprised to have a visitor at this point. Valamia was exhausted by all the wandering and cleansing. It didn't feel like much or that it was making much of an impact. It didn't make any of it less taxing. She turns her full attention to the girl. Human and hm... she didn't know if the girl was small for her age or not. The girl didn't attack her outright or assume she was a demon. Small wonder.

She reaches out and grabs her totems and places them back in their pouch. "If you wish to scout the Legions activities, I would advise a bit more caution. The Legion is not known for making mistakes, kindness or being anything less then demons they are." She rests her hands in her lap, a sort of gesture to signify that she wasn't out to attack or harm the other. "Unless you desired to find out what other sworn of the various flights were doing. Were that when you meant to do, good job. You've found one."

[paopu_oath]

"Oh, um... Well I was hoping for post Legion activities..." Which she knows doesn't really help, but it's the best response she can manage, foolish or not. At least she looks like she acknowledges just how her words sound.

But at least the person--woman?--doesn't look like she's going to hurt Kairi, so she eases a little bit, lessening her control on the surrounding plants. She would have booked it if Valamia made any sign of aggression.

"But I don't exactly have a job, so I guess any information is considered useful. What is it you were doing?" Since it doesn't seem to hurt to ask, but Kairi won't be too put out if the woman doesn't wish to answer.

[stormcalling]

She raises a brow at Kairi. A human wandering around without a job? All in the hopes of finding Legion activity after they had left. Did she not know of the corruption of the Legion? The girl must be human from one of those other worlds. Ones that were untouched by their corruption. She considers how to answer. Ultimately she can only be truthful.

"Cleansing. The Legion can only bring corruption to all around and all that they touch. If left alone, that corruption could turn nature and the very elements of Azeroth itself against us." That could be dramatic. She didn't know considering her connection to this Azeroth wasn't the strongest. It did allow her to gain their assistance but it didn't mean they opened up to her.

"It is not a risk I want to take. The Legion is a force that can only be driven back. To accomplish that will require power far greater then mere weaponary."

[paopu_oath]

Kairi's seen corruption before... just of a whole other kind of force entirely. "They sound like the Heartless... Only with less..." she tries to think of a word, "disorder, I suppose. The Heartless just eat and eat, spreading Darkness wherever there is Light, like it's all that they know. It's just the way of things." Almost a base animal desire, no thought to it, just constant destruction, and when mobilized by someone powerful...

Kairi glances away and looks at the surrounding nature. She's been working hard to understand how to move the plants on her own. To think of it going against her...

"Can anyone do this kind of cleansing?" She likes to help, after all. "Or is it something only few can do?" Her eyes turn back, falling on the bag where the woman put the totems away.

[stormcalling]

Heartless? She might have heard some other young human mention them before. Did he? Something about what she said sounded vaguely familiar. It wasn't the threat of the Legion. Another time if she was curious, she would ask. For now the threat that was there and in front of them required their attention.

"Druids and shamans are best for the job due to the connection they share with nature. Druids are connected to nature and shamans to the elements. Both will have a better sense of where the corruption is. I have heard those who wield the Light can aid in it but...they would be wandering around aimlessly without someone to guide them to it."

She slowly eases herself up to stand. Old joints were not making all of this traveling around easy. "It is a task where assistance would be welcome." Ideally before she ended up collapsing one day in exhaustion. That would be something she'd never hear the end of from her flightmates.