[KQ] We know what we're fighting for

Sharp eyes went from collecting a second crystal to the Lily in Sunjata's hands, and then Hadama grasped the crystal and pulled, even as he pulled moonlight to drive back the poisonous vapors. Healing mist and the gentle glow of his power bathed all three men and the Lily as well, offering healing and hope against the tricks of the Void's creature. It might not have been much compared to the damage that they had taken, but it was something, at least, to give them the final push they needed to see the flower planted.

Deimos cleared the air, giving them all a much needed moment of clarity as the Lily was given a chance to recover before the wyrm could strike again, and Hadama murmured a quiet: Thank you, again through the bond, more a sensation of gratitude then full words as he focused on healing them all.

---

Hadama collects the second crystal and uses Turn the Tide to heal Deimos, Sunjata, himself, and the Lily.

Offense

None this round

Defense

Magic: Turn the Tide | Can cause a moonlit mist to rise in a 30 ft radius that heals allies while causing enemies to roll with disadvantage for one round. Has a 2 post cool-down between uses.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered

Magic: Temporal Echo | Hadama manifests two illusionary echos of himself that moves slightly out of phase with the original, making him difficult to target. The images has hit points equal to his 1/2 his END, cannot do physical damage to others. Can only be used once per thread.
Type: Grey | Rank: Upgraded

Type: Light | Style: Defensive | Level: Mastered
StArmour | Armour created from owlbear down. When not in use, retracts as a silver serpentine bangle etched with constellation and can be activated telepathically. Blocks physical damage. Has a 2 post cooldown

Type: Grey | Style: Other | Level: Mastered
Varylens | A golden monocle that can see through even the strongest of illusions, at a range of 10m.

Luck modifiers

Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Upgraded
Lucky Ring | A ring that when worn grants +5 luck. Must be included in all PQ/PQ+/KQ/DROP posts to be counted.

Regional Score bonus: +13 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.

the descent

The miasma thinned.

Deimos ’s magic surged outward like a wind given form, sweeping through the tunnel with ruthless force. The toxic haze recoiled from it, peeled back in strips and swirls, clearing the air until the bioluminescent glow returned in full. Visibility returned. The pressure in their skulls eased. Even the very walls seemed to exhale.

And the Lily stopped dying.

It paused, mid-wilt, suspended between collapse and resilience. Then, bathed in Hadama ’s moonlight and cradled in the cavity Sunjata had carved, the Lily rallied. The brown at its edges faded, curling back into gold. The petals unfurled again, slowly—tenderly—like breath returning to a drowned body. The flower brightened, its pulse of light steady, low, and clean.

Not just a breath of life. A ward.

Below, the Mirewyrm stirred again—but it recoiled rather than rose. The echo of its presence twisted and slid away, burrowing deeper, pressed back by the flower’s light and the purging air. It did not scream. It did not retaliate. It simply left, slinking into the buried arteries of Starfall, waiting for the next time.

They had not slain the beast. But they had driven it off. They had planted the Lily. The corruption that had once filled this wound in Starfall’s skin was, for the moment, repelled.

There would be more to face. Deeper tunnels. Worse things, but this place—this Descent—was clean.

And they were still alive.

---

Congratulations! The lily has been successfully planted and The Descent is now cleansed of the void.

You may make one closing post if you want, otherwise the thread will be archived in 24 hours.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

The second Deimos’ magic works, Sunjata watches as the moonlight soothes both himself and the lily, the edges growing back to gold. He exhales a sigh of relief, hunched over the flora with a few breaths of trying to relax.

He draws up and rubs at his face before he looks back over at Hadama and Deimos. “Okay, it’s in and healed. I think we’re good to just leave..?” He suggests audibly, shifting to stand and hoist the bag back over his sore shoulders, boots scuffing across the ground as he looks back up the path they’d taken to get down here, ready to leave with the rest of them.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

and the only solution was to stand and fight

The Sword couldn’t help the immense and intense relief suddenly flowing through him. The air billowed through, revitalizing, ensuring the poison didn’t sap at their soul, nor at the flowers’, and within moments their mission had been complete. Not wholly successful, as there would eventually be the damned wyrm to contend with again, but at least they’d done their part for the moment. There would be more days, more hours, stretched thin with the prospects of more to be done – of things to strive for, of things to aid in their future attempts.

But that wasn’t for now, and he could only oblige the Flood’s request with a nod. “We can go home.” Split off and away, heal and mend, find more blooms, and do it all over again.

DEIMOS

It was enough.

Sunjata persevered in his planting and Deimos swept the miasma from the air. Most importantly, the Lily regained its resilience, unfurling its cleansing powers out into the tunnels of the Descent and pushing the Mirewyrm deeper into the caves below.

A problem that would remain for another day, but for now they would take what small victories they could. And warn those who came after what they might expect in the depths.

"Here," Hadama called to Sunjata, tossing the Flood the crystal he had obtained during the planting. A ward stone, to be used for King's End's protections in the seasons to come. Now with the Wyrm and the earth quiescent he took the time to pry a third crystal free, this one to slip into his own bag against future need before he joined the other men in making the ascent back to the open air and their flight to their respective homes and loved ones.

~Fin