Niagara Falls, evening, 6/6: Arrival

((OOC: Okay. Moving into narrative mode again... ))

You follow the trail for some time. At first, the scent of contamination is slight, but as you travel upstream, it grows worse. Your tribe's affinity with the land works both for and against you here, making you sensitive to the contamination but also making you feel the land's pain. You've felt it in other areas around Niagara Falls, too. How could humans bury so much poison in the ground? How could they not realize it would come back to haunt them?

The source of the contamination, it turns out, is several miles to the north of Eternal Flame. Poisons seep into the water through a crack in the ground. It takes you some time and the interrogation of a number of spirits to trace the seepage to an unmarked brownfield. Whether it was once a legal dumping site or simply a place where an unscrupulous corporation deposited their wastes, you don't know--but mere proximity makes your hide itch. Whatever's down there, it's brutally toxic.

The area is quiet--too quiet.

Jayson is tempted to simply take care of the issue quickly; and it shows on his face with the disdain he has for the problems within the land here. During his questions he would be certain to ask what else is buried here, he has experienced land mines before and isn't keen on finding them accidentally. He so asking the earth and wind spirits questions about if things are hidden in places, and if so, where. (If they can tell.) This would include places where the earth might be unstable and he might fall into a hole if he was unlucky.

He would also look to see if this land is obviously owned by anyone, or if it is posted anywhere. (If there are signs of anyone coming or going into the area recently. (Farsight if the area is large.)

Once he determines that it is fairly safe, he will walk the circumference of the area, to have completed part of the requirements of the gift's usage, just in case he decides that he needs to cleanse the area in a hurry.

The good news? The land is neither trapped nor guarded by humans. From what you can gather, what's buried here has been buried here for decades. It's a bit hard to garner from spirits, but it sounds like it dates back to the 1940's or 1950's.

The bad news? Whatever it is, it's FAR more toxic than your usual industrial waste...in fact, it's downright radioactive.

The worse news? Well...remember when I said the land wasn't guarded by humans?

Yeah, about that...

The earth elemental is massive, and massively corrupt. He stalks the area restlessly, relentlessly. Broken yellow barrels are embedded in his stony hide; you can make out the radiation symbol on some of them.

And, yes, he's glowing.

At least he hasn't noticed you yet.

Jayson spends what could have been an eternity of thought all in a single moment, as though he’s planned for this scenario and many like it; though not in an area where his reputation is likely less than a whisper, or perhaps not without backup… but the hesitation is also the time needed in order to activate his fetishes, and prepare, should his first actions not be enough. He treads back just a bit so that he can be generally outside of the Elemental’s view.

(Assuming the sensory gifts like Sense Magic and such that don’t have cost are still going, or begin going again after this. Also assuming that there is at least a single cloud in the sky.)
Activations: (Currently starting at 2 R, 7 W, 7 G – Since I gave one to “the Bird”, Farsight & Invisibility)
• Gift: Sorcerer’s Blade (-1 G) (Agg to Supernaturals.)
• Gift: Lick Wounds (-1 G) (Just gonna hold the charge, it will save me an activation if I need to.)
• Fetish: Earthshadow (I’ll have a few seconds to convince it if I need to.)
• Gift: Elemental-Folk Favor (-1 G & 4 Social Traits) (Giving script.)
• Fetish: Ring of Wisdom (End of Script)

Jayson looks at the trees and the land at this feet, his heart truly saddened by what man had done in the past that would hardly be remembered by others. He walks a further away from the corrupted soil, and begins to chant:
“Here and Now, I invoke the elemental force of Earth, I call to the swirling dust and down-lit mountains, to the farmer`s field and all the swaying trees. You that remains solid, you that teaches of quiet stability, you that holds us firm against your skin, I call you here to aid me in my time of need as I call upon my gifts to try to restore your brother. Please aid me to root my will in the soil and my purpose in the stones. Boulder, Grave Redwood, and Rose Earth, I call to thee in this hour I may be in need.“
As the elemental rises Jayson will explain “Oh great spirit of Earth, I have come upon a site that I feel I must take action to cleanse; my hope is that I would not need to fight your kin in this, as I have been blessed to hold a gift of Selene that would allow me to not only cleanse this earth, but to revitalize it and repair the damage that has been done. One of your kin appears to guard this area, and has been tainted by the Unmaker’s hand. It is my belief that this gift will free your kin from this hold, but I may in fact be wrong. In this time of peril for many, I do not wish to harm your kin, please aid me in the event that my attempt to cleanse the earth does not affect him, and he needs to be turned anew.”

Jayson will then quietly travel back to the spot, with his earth elemental in tow and while there is discomfort in his voice, there is also rage, and he shouts “I *will* see this place cleansed!” (As he activates the fetish and spends all of the gnosis in his ring to see that his gift reaches deep as well as out.) He watches, patiently waiting, preparing to leap out of the way of any attack that the corrupted elemental might unleash. Beyond being at the border of the area, he does not transgress beyond until it becomes obvious that a fight must ensue.

The elemental rumbles. << HIS PAIN IS GREAT. HIS MADNESS IS GREAT. WHEN THE FLESHLINGS LEARNED TO HARNESS THE BALEFIRE, THEY BURIED THE POISONS TO HIDE THEM AWAY. MUCH WAS BURIED TO THE NORTH, BUT SOME WAS BURIED HERE. HE WILL TRY TO DESTROY YOU. THAT IS HIS NATURE NOW. I WILL AID YOU. TO CLEANSE HIM OR TO DRIVE HIM TO SLUMBER WOULD BOTH BE KINDNESS. >>

(Knowing there is more than one set, Jayson would do his best to better gauge the area. If 3 Gnosis would cleanse it, he will spend 4 (extra depth & thematics)

Jayson nods to the elemental and begins

After quickly reconnoitering to make sure there are no onlookers, Jayson begins his ritual. His elemental ally moves to engage its corrupted cousin in the Umbra--hopefully keeping it from materializing and threatening either the Veil or the Pumonca.

The power pours forth from Verdant Star like pure water, flowing into the wounded land, beginning to cleanse and heal it.

The plan is a good one. The elementals are evenly matched, and Jayson's ally would surely be able to keep its counterpart occupied long enough for the claiming and cleansing of the land to be completed.

Unfortunately, the elemental is not alone.

A blast of sickly green balefire lashes out from behind Jayson, causing him to stagger and snarl in surprise and pain. He whirls, lightning-quick, to confront a serpent made of flickering green flame. His eyes widen, then narrow--whereas the elemental is a victim of corruption, this...thing...is corruption. Here is the true enemy, and its voice is the crackle of flames and the hiss of Geiger counters run mad.

<< Did you think it would be so easy? You will burn. >>

Quicker than the eye can follow, the serpent exhales another gout of radioactive flame.

Quicker than the eye can follow, Verdant Star leaps to the side. The grass where he stood withers and blackens as he draws his blade, Earthshadow, and leaps to the attack.

Unfortunately, quick as he is, strong as he is, the balefire serpent is quicker and stronger. He slashes, but it returns the blow. Though his blade cuts deep, and its fangs only graze him, he can feel the toxin burning within him--and he knows he needs to finish the fight quickly, or he will not be around to finish it at all.

Verdant Star is not an Ahroun of the Garou, though; he is Bastet, and his mind is subtle and cunning even in war. He quickly realizes that he cannot match this creature physically. If he attacks its physical form, he will lose.

If he attacks its mind, though...

"Did YOU think it would be so easy?" Even through the pain of the beast's venom, Jayson laughs, his voice ringing clear. "Fire, be quenched by water!"

And with those words, a massive waterspout surges up from the ground, resolving itself into a gigantic water elemental...but looks are deceiving. The elemental is but an illusion...but against the relatively weak mind of the balefire serpent, the illusion proves effective. The serpent hisses and lashes out at the illusory water elemental, which strikes back with tendrils of water. Again and again, the two exchange blows as Jayson struggles to maintain concentration through the pain of his wounds. He circles, launching strikes with Earthshadow while the serpent is distracted, taking his openings where he can get them.

The end comes when Jayson's earth elemental ally--badly damaged, but victorious--joins the fray. Caught between what appear to be three foes, driven to destroy by its mad hatred, the serpent is beaten down and discorporates, leaving behind a brimstone and decay stench.

<< We are of one spirit, you and I, >> Jayson says to the elemental. << I thank you for your aid, cousin. >>

The elemental bows its head with a rumble like an avalanche, and then sinks into the ground. Jayson takes the time to lick his wounds, pouring what Gnosis he has left into counteracting the corruption and venom of the serpent. Then, exhausted, he is at last able to complete his cleansing. The earth and water in this place are again clean, as they were always meant to be.

Jayson bows to the elemental, a genuine smile that he couldn't hide even if he intended to. "Thank you for your generous words and time my friend. It will take some time for me to recover, however I shall look to cleanse this other land that you spoke of before it can do more damage to the world. If you would let your brothers and sisters know, I may have need of them too in this endeavor. I would welcome their assistance and yours. Is there anything else I might do to aid you while I am here?"

(I wasn't certain if this was where you wanted to end the scene or not.

((OOC: Okay. So here's the upswing--and, again, apologies for the delay, I missed your response somehow.

Jayson took a total of 5 Agg during the fight, but the land is cleansed. Eternal Flame will grant your request; a lesser jaggling will agree to serve within your fetish. We can roleplay that out if you like, or simply move forward, since this has dragged on and I'm sure you'd like to get done sometime before chronicle's end.))

I'm cool with moving on. I had a lot of fun with this though.

(( OOC: Moving on it is, then. Did you want to do the next leg here, or were you going to move on for that? ))

The other leg I have worked up. So I think we're good now!

The other leg I have worked up.  So I think we're good now!

((OOC: Awesome! Thanks for the scene, and for being patient with the lengthy delays. ))