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Thanks for the temporary wrap-up!
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Benedetto's hand closes on empty air as he's whisked away before he can reach any of the monks. He stares for a moment at the familiar landscape around Hearth, then sighs. He can only hope that whatever Wamblee was doing helped... After making sure all his companions at least made it--Aisling gives him a bit of a scare until he appears--he makes a quick trip to the oread district in Hearth to report what happened... and he hopes, to find that the monks were able to escape. After that he goes to rejoin his squire and the paladins for the march on Light.
"Don't leave the monks behind!" Benedetto shouts, racing to grab one of them as he gets caught up in the teleport.
Ah, I have a busy weekend and a lot of stuff happens. :D
I feel you on the everything is expensive front! Hopefully the new job goes well, and thanks for taking us into consideration.
Bennedetto doesn't know just what the relationship or the past here between Kallik and... whatever this thing was, but letting it joke Kallik seemed unwise. He lunges forward with his flaming rapier, aiming for the 'wrist' holding Kallik. At the same time, still suspecting this conflict is as spiritual as physical, he shouts, "Killing the penitent only makes past wrongs permanent! You don't have to forgive, but at least spend a moment listening!"
"Don't lose heart! What we're facing is the last gasp of the evil that has held our lands for so long! It senses its grip fading, and so tries to hold tighter than ever, but that is a sign of its weakness!" Benedetto's attempt at a rousing speech is interrupted by Kallik suddenly being yanked down to the bog below. "Get rid of these tentacles!" he shouts, then starts charging down the stairs whether they're gone or not.
Benedetto nods silently in agreement with Aisling.
Not for the first time, Benedetto feels like he's come in during the second act of a play. Samen and Gabriel know this oread? Questioning the 'coincidences' here certainly seems sensible... but something's happening down below. He nods slightly to Aisling as he slides up near Benedetto, then turns back to the stairs and the bog below. "So which is more important here, do you think? Literally, physically lighting the dark and burning away the gunk, or doing it metaphorically?" Whatever the case, he stands at the ready at the top of the stairs, just outside the tentacles, still with his flaming sword at the ready and a prayer to Phoenix in his heart.
And here I thought you were going for Sky and Phoenix having a good relationship. :D
Benedetto waits at the edge of the tentacles, watching the last of the enemies still trapped in them, blade at the ready to intercept it if it breaks free and goes for the still-vulnerable oreads behind him. Without taking his eyes off it, he says to the others, "Once this last one is dead, can you get rid of these? I don't think they'll help much against that big one."
Benedetto sees the remaining group of enemies in the grasp of Samen's spell, but still worryingly close to some of the drained monks. He moves over to interpose himself, blade ready to strike if one of the enemies breaks free.
Benedetto grits his teeth against the sensation of lethargy and pain as he tries to stab the one that's grabbed him.
"If you're too weak from their attacks, fall back! The rest of you, if you can interrupt their attacks, we can supply the flames!" he calls out to the oreads.
Benedetto's rapier bursts into flame. "Divine fire I can do," he states. He races into the melee, aiming to stop one of the creatures trying to attack one of the staggering oreads.
Benedetto watches this all warily. "So maybe we should expect something like this on the other side?" he muses aloud. After a moment he shrugs slightly. "One way or another, we'll be finding out shortly." He is, you might note, still holding his sword. Just in case.
Benedetto is quite willing to believe that this is exactly what it appears to be... but he wants to be certain. He focuses on his sense of what is wrong, both to check and make sure this voice isn't trying to deceive the group and to see if he can identify where to strike to break this prison if that is the correct course of action.
"Just how much has been lost...?" Benedetto muses, then sees Aisling falling to his knees. He quickly moves to the sylph's side. "What happened?"
Benedetto lowers his blade... but doesn't sheathe it. He looks around for the source of the voice. "Birdsong..." He hesitates a brief moment, then decides it's best to ask. "Is there something we can do to assist you?"
Benedetto flinches slightly, surprised at the sudden execution, though after a moment he understands the need to keep the dangerous being from trying something again. Still, he wishes there'd been another way. "Everyone all right?" he asks, looking specifically at Aisling.
Benedetto isn't the sort to banter or shout when faced with this kind of evil. He lets his blade do the speaking for him, rapidly stabbing at two of the shifting enemies.
Ah. Here, at last, is a target for a holy blade. Silently calling on Pheonix, Benedetto lunges forward, his sword blazing with holy flames.
That is pretty funny. XD
Feeling like Aisling is struggling, Benedetto whispers a quiet prayer to Phoenix, trying to channel some holy power into his concoction to ward off the venomous airs.
Benedetto is there again on the field of battle, the darkspawn looming over his unit. He recognizes the thought--this is a pointless way to die, this is a never-ending meatgrinder, there's no way to win in the endless war... But he knows the truth. That it *was* designed to be a meatgrinder. That while he shouldn't have deserted in the middle of combat, in the end he's been able to make something good out of himself. And while there's no guarantee he won't err again, he's not going to give up without a fight.
Benedetto holds on tightly, as much as he wants to shift his grip to the hilt of his sword, or maybe get out his bow. Until they get closer, the most he can do is watch his companions for signs of needing healing.
Benedetto hangs on grimly, hoping that Aisling's idea will help. With only one flight potion, he doesn't want to have to spend any of its duration he doesn't need to...
Benedetto is almost unharmed by the heat. He quickly looks over the rest of the group, seeing if any of them need some emergency healing. "Anything we can do to speed up? We need to get this done fast before we're killed just by the environment."
Benedetto glances around as the strange feeling washes over him. "What was... oh." He pauses. "Thank you," he says, looking uncertainly towards Theta, then turns to Gabriel. "So we need to get into them somehow? And ideas on how we do that?"
Benedetto, recognizing the signs, lunges out quickly to touch Qizz, calling on Phoenix's power to drive out this corruption.
Benedetto's grip tightens slightly as he makes sense of what's ahead. "Those are a bit bigger than I was thinking," he comments in a deadpan voice.
Benedetto leads the way onto the manta's back. "Thank you," he says as he boards.
Benedetto watches Gabriel carefully for signs of further distress. "Either way, we should finish our business here quickly. The elemental was speaking of helping us get to the battle, right? Then it's best we go with it."
Benedetto summons up the Phoenix's power to try to heal Gabriel and banish whatever darkness has invaded him.
"Samen! Be careful, there's something near you!" Benedetto warns. Then he sees Gabriel collapse and hurries to his side, checking to see if he can do anything for him.
Benedetto tries to pinpoint where the sound is coming from by flying slightly to one side and then the other, comparing the volume and turning his head to try to nail down a direction, his sword at the ready.
"I'm not sensing any wrongness near us yet," Benedetto states, still looking around warily with his sword at the ready.
Benedetto drinks his potion and flies up with the rest of the group. When there's mention of invisible elementals, he starts focusing on his paladin senses.
Benedetto holds off on drinking his potion until it seems like contact with the enemy is imminent.
Benedetto notes that the warmth of the Phoenix drives away fear in a somewhat different way from the heat of the Warrior... which he is just as happy with after all that's happened. "I'd say stay near me, but we may be dealing with some area damage soon," he says aloud. "Aaaand it seems like you have a pretty good idea of what to do. I'll follow your lead, then." He follows close behind Samen.
Benedetto draws his blade and waits a few moments for their two scouts to get ahead. "I can feel the wrongness here," he murmurs as he follows in their wake. "I don't think it's going to be hard to find the root of the problem."
"I know the feeling. I... probably should have spent some time thinking about what to bring for this," Benedetto admits, grimmacing.
Benedetto nods to Ibinu. "That sounds like a good idea. It seems like... everywhere's been falling apart. There's too much to do and not enough hands to do it." He sighs with a shake of his head. "Anyway, good luck. Send word when you can. Maybe we'll be able to send support after we've dealt with the situation in Light."
Benedetto returns the salute, as a senior to a junior officer. The hug catches him off-guard, but he also manages to return it before Drook runs off. He feels like... yes, these words seem about right. "Stay warm under the Phoenix's Wings while I'm away!"
Benedetto smiles at his squire, though it gets a little strained when he asks his question. "It's probably best for you to remain behind. I need someone I can trust to report to me on how the troops actually perform in the field when I get back. Can you watch and see if there are any problems while I'm away?"
Benedetto groans as he stretches out his tired muscles. He knew he probably shouldn't have been working so hard when their battle was coming up, but... well, it felt good to do some of this work with his own hands. Phoenix knew he needed the break from the headaches of command. Sure, technically he was here making sure the money he'd donated to building and repairing housing for the refugees was being spent properly. And sure, he could have done that without doing any hauling or laying ashbricks himself. But whatever his command responsibilities were now, he still didn't *feel* like he was some... great prophet or leader or whatever, and besides, he was pretty sure it was a meaningful thing to be willing to do with your own hands what you were commanding others to do. He was pretty sure Phoenix approved of not getting a big head, anyway. He'd been trying to make a daily habit of praying to the Phoenix, even though he was pretty sure the Phoenix knew all about his daily activities. Benedetto had particularly been praying about the whole new temple situation, just to make sure it was acceptable. Maybe it was just the issues he'd had with the Volcano Temple, but he still felt a little nervous about the whole thing. He sighs. Better get back to his office--he had an office now, who would have thought--and make sure everything was ready for tomorrow. The troops were, at least, starting to seem more like an actual cohesive fighting unit instead of a bunch of hot-headed warriors. They might actually listen to orders when the time for battle came. So he'd better go make sure they had some.
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