Victorious advance

[Ebiris]

"Why don't you change the water into holy water?" Marie suggests to Alicia since that wasn't the satisfying impalement she was hoping for.

"I suppose I may as well, since I've started this I may as well see it to the end," she proceeds to alter the water to her new blessed specifications.

[Anastasia]

This works - the holy water is sizzling against it as the hands squeeze, slowly wearing it down. It merely looks like a question of when and not if now.

[Ebiris]

"This is boring," Marie announces after a moment.

"I know, Marie. Lets not do this again," Alicia says with a sigh, patiently waiting.

"You'd think being able to reshape the environment to such a precise degree over such a huge area would be a lot more exciting and dynamic, but it's not," Marie adds.

"I know, Marie," Alicia says patiently.

"Where are the lava geysers, the razor sharp hailstorms to flay skin off the bones, the tombs of rock crushing and imprisoning all who oppose us?"

"It's because most outsiders are highly resistant or even immune to base elements," Alicia says wearily.

"I don't like it," the eladrin concludes.

[Anastasia]

Antenora smiles, "Well, I found this rather enjoyable. I'm surprised you don't - I think what you really dislike is Alicia's methods of doing it, Marie."

Jessica merely stays on watch, but does add, "A slow victory is worth it if it's a safe victory."

[Ebiris]

"It feels like squashing a bug," Marie says. "Not even swatting a fly that's buzzing around and annoying you, but like stepping on a snail. It can't do anything to stop you but now your foot's all gross."

"And it really does take a long time," Alicia says. "If there were reinforcements or other factors to consider... well, it's not getting out anyway so we could safely ignore it, but still... Prefer my victories quick and clean at the end of a blade."

[Anastasia]

"It is effective, though." Antenora muses aloud.

It seems you aren't as courageous as others believe, Alicia.

[Ebiris]

"If it was a better swimmer, though..." Alicia murmurs. She doesn't even react to Malcanthet's baiting, so pathetic and petty it is.

[Anastasia]

And thus the horror is slowly ground down. In the end, it simply crumbles away into nothing, leaving behind nought afterwards.

Watching, "When one imagines power and facing down nightmares, you imagine great bravery, great heroism, death defying battles." Antenora remarks, "Not watching and waiting, as a clerk counts coins."

[Ebiris]

"Yes," Alicia gestures and the entire ball of holy negative energy charged high gravity water stretches out like taffy before it bursts into hundreds of house sized droplets that go spinning off into Limbo, the usual planar traits returning and the astral links being rejoined.

"I expected something to attack us if we came here, that's why I chose it. I thought it would make for a useful demonstration," she says, as much for Malcanthet as for her friends.

"Even if it's more versatile, it's hard for that sort of thing to catch up with aeons of spell development for immediate deadliness," Marie concludes as she creates a ball of fire over her palm and hurls it off into the distance where it explodes, an improvised fireball.

[Anastasia]

Antenora focuses a moment, a throne of polished opal appearing. She sits back on it and closes her eyes, resting. "Then logical to use it and also make a point to Malcanthet."

"Not to mention foil her plans and out Compete her a little bit," Jessica smiles at that, "Good work, sister."

[Ebiris]

Alicia inclines her head towards Jessica as Marie sends a ball of fire and a ball of frigid ice at each other to create a steam explosion a safe distance from everyone.

"Anyway, want to experiment more or shall we return?" she asks.

[Anastasia]

"Let's return before Malcanthet does something even more foolish," Jessica says with a bright smile.

Or commits more than we can easily handle, but I don't think she will, no matter how irritated she is. That's not her nature from all I've heard about her.

[Ebiris]

Don't forget she had Chourst able to drop in within moments when we last came here.

Alicia opens a gate to Sylica then, and the group all files through to go home.

[Anastasia]

Thus you return, another small victory a feather in your cap.

As Alicia does, she hears a particular prayer. It's Wil (Ox) from Lifasa. 'I dreamed it's going to be cold in the mountains today.' A simple prayer, no request, simply speaking.

[Ebiris]

That's... nice.

Hope he bundles up nice and warm if he's going for a hike!

She has a look over Lifasa using the sum totality of all the other prayers she's been hearing and Ebony's reports from when she visits there with Aurora and general divine awareness of her portfolio just to get an idea of what's going on in general and if Auril's done anything actionable for her to take note of.