Standard Mission: Tainted Oasis of Rostol

Scarlet - Island

Scarlet flinched slightly at Dantes' voice suddenly ringing inside her head. Before she could react, the mayor and her guards confronted the group. She considered Dantes' words as her comrades addressed the mayor's demands.

"What are you planning to do with them? The elf is a person of interest," Scarlet followed up, pointing to the unconscious elf.

She didn't know why Dantes had chosen to speak up then, but considering they had never seen the mayor since arriving at the village until now, she was reluctant to trust her, especially considering all the information that had been omitted from their briefings.

Island

The mayor's face slowly turned into a scowl, though she still stood with her chest up high meeting the exorcist's gaze with all her might.  The guards began to slowly raise their weapons in response to the attacks on the mayor's character, but she slowly and confidently held out her hand in front of the guards.

The guards immediately stood at position eyeing the vanguards with a look of disgust and offense, but remained stiff as a board none the less. It was almost like breathing would offend the gods with how still they were.

When Zeyphr mentioned replacing the mayor, Hector couldn't help put let out a light smile simply nodding in agreement as the mayor shot the fisherman a quick sharp gaze.  A few villagers stifling laughs at the same time that seemed to be standing behind the fisherman, hiding from the mayor's wrath. Though, The mayor seemed to turn her gaze towards Zeyphr first, her forehead and brows seemed to twitch out of anger at each of his acquisitions.

"I didn't keep information from you, how was I to know there were demons in the lake? Nor did I hinder your investigation with my soldiers.  After that giant rainstorm over Ludo's house that lead to an attack how else do you think I'd react?!" The mayor replied with a loud demanding rebuttal.

"I expected you'd conduct your work in a professional manner and get rid of the kidnappers plaguing our city.  I don't see why I need to greet an exterminator that I already helped with the letter I sent." The mayor commented back before turning Scarlet with a more softer and polite expression.

"Isn't it obvious?  I'll supply the lake spirit with new quarters in a safe and secure location at my residence... I can't have the villagers seeing demons after all."  The mayor's face darkened, almost like she just saw a disgusting bug in an otherwise polished and spotless room, "As for the elf... Well, we'll be interrogating her obviously.  We need to figure out what she was doing and make sure it never happens again."

"Isn't more of a reason to leave the spirit in the lake?  The water elementals naturally protect it after all.  And the vanguards would be much better at getting information from a demon then a random mayor who didn't notice the 'demons in the lake for so long'." Ludo passively commented with a shrug, as the mayor seemed to look at Ludo for a long time before nodding in reluctant agreement.

"Fine, but I want the elf in your care Ludo.  I hope you know what will happen to your research if anything goes awry."  the mayor responded, as she turned away from the vanguards leaving them with the information you had

----

"Nice job telling that ***** off.  If you don't mind, you could take one of the Vodyanik if you want... they don't have much left here and you'll find these ones much more.... accepting than the ones you fought." Hector commented, as a few Vodyanik rose out of the altar sheepishly approaching the group.

---

Spoiler:

Oasis – Island
- Vayu -
B – Find an elemental from the lake

Obviously, the mayor wasn’t too happy about their objections, however she didn’t really have much choice.

To his own surprise, Vayu found himself agreeing with Ludo. The lake spirit was much better off in the lake, protected by the water elementals and hidden from the villagers. And it would continue to maintain the barrier to keep out the desert demons.

He didn’t relax his stance until the mayor left. Then he turned around to see the demons approach in a very passive manner.

He mostly ignored them and instead walked over to the lake, where he kneeled down. Curiously, Jack Frost followed him.

“What’cha doing?” he asked, the bells on his outfit jingling lightly.

“Returning a balance,” Vayu replied and took a small bottle from his pocket. It was the bottle that Ludo had given him and it contained the mix of water elementals. Without hesitation, he poured the water and the elementals back into the lake.

“Why are you putting them back?”

“Easy, they don’t belong into a bottle,” Vayu explained and watched the water. “Something that is imprisoned, will never help you of their own free will.” He turned to look at Jack Frost who plopped down into the sand next to Vayu. “You should know that.”

Solemnly, Jack Frost nodded. Suddenly he jumped up again when the water began to move in an unnatural way.

Slowly a water elemental rose from the lake. Vayu calmly looked at it.

“Come with me,” he said and held out his gauntlet. When the elemental touched it, it glowed and disappeared.

“Ohhh…that is so cool,” Jack Frost yelled and began to jump up and down. “Are you gonna make all of us stronger?” He kept jumping up, his eyes sparkling.

Vayu sighed and looked at him. “Maybe, if you behave.” He turned around and walked back to the others.

Zephyr Arc - Island | A) Accept Hector's offer

Zephyr, elf still on his shoulder, nodded to Hector. The fish showed off a skill he quite liked, so he was looking to grab one to feed to his spear anyway. He outright ignored the mayor like she didn't exist and he chatted with the other man.

He then made his way to Ludo. "So, think you can carry this yourself or should I take her all the way? The kids seem to like her so try to be nice..."

Scarlet - Island

D) Don't ask for any demons

Scarlet frowned upon hearing the Mayor's intentions for the elf and the spirit. Ludo did raise a good point that the spirit was out of the way residing in the lake. Given some of the villagers' reactions to Zephyr's comments, it seemed like the mayor wasn't that well liked, which just made her feel less inclined to trust the mayor wouldn't abuse the power of having the spirit within easy access.

Luckily, the mayor backed off, leaving the group with the spirit and the elf. Scarlet shook her head at Hector's offer.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll decline," she responded, a small smile on her face, before frowning. "So is the mayor always like that? It seemed like some of the villagers didn't like her. And you mentioned earlier that she was a control freak..."

Oasis - Island

Ludo's eyes seemed to squint at Vayu like he was examining the vanguard for a few moment before he jumped at Zeyphr's comment. He simply nodded before turning towards the vanguard with a nod of somewhat respect but a mixture of still being stressed.

"I'll be fine, Hector will help me load him onto the caravan that should be returning soon. And of course, we may disagree vanguard but I wouldn't hurt an unconscious lady, demon or not." Ludo responded.

Vayu could make out the sound of quiet footsteps could be heard in the distance. The man turned to see Rania gingerly walking over to the lake spirit. The spirit slowly handed her the elemental core that contained the seer's body as a relieved smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you so much! Colm always talked about you a lot... though I never would of guessed you were this real!" Raina told the lake spirit with a gleeful smile, as she approached Vayu giving a light smile to Jack Frost before turning her gaze towards the vanguard.

"Thank you for keeping him safe. I'm sorry if I wasn't entirely truthful.... I could tell something had happened to him but I was afraid what you vanguards might think..." Rania stated, as she gently embraced the core in her arms, staring into the magics that flowed through it, mesmerized for a few moments "I know with all that happened you probably won't want to come back to town, but if you ever do you have a home at my inn. I'll have some food sent to the caravan though! My treat!"

Everyone seemed to turn their gaze towards Scarlet whenever she mentioned the mayor again, Hector who had a look of contempt for the woman while Ludo only had mild annoyance. The two were about to say something when Rania quickly chimed in, interrupting the two of them.

"She does act for what she thinks is best for the oasis, but she tends to forget about the smaller things... I tried inviting her to the inn or relax once but she muttered something about being too busy." Rania stated with a rather defeated look.....

"Let's go, we should report our findings to Chaleda as soon as possible..." Ludo called out, as he hopped onto the boat with hector as the two waited for the vanguards to get on.

----

Spoiler:

Oasis – Island
- Vayu -

Vayu crossed his arms at Hector’s explanation. Just because someone was a control freak, was no reason to boss people around.

However, he turned when Raina approached him. Where had she come from? Did another boat bring her? She was holding the elemental core tightly.

“You could’ve spared us a lot of trouble,” Vayu commented dryly. “Hopefully there is no next time, but maybe then you’ll be more forthcoming with the truth.”

Jack Frost hopped up to them. Vayu held out his gauntlet and the demon disappeared into it.

“As you can see, I’m not a big fan of the heat,” he added. “Maybe the others will be interested in visiting again.”

With those words, he turned towards the boat and got on board. His eyes flickered to Ludo. “I think you should leave the mission report to us,” he said. Not that he was particularly interested in actually writing a report, but he was sure that Ludo’s and their opinions would differ.

“You guys good?” he asked Scarlet and Zephyr, wanting to make sure that they all came out of this okay.

Scarlet - Island

"It's good that she's so focused on protecting the village, but she should take the time to speak to the people..." Scarlet said to herself. As the party made to leave, she dismissed Warg, the demon vanishing into motes of light.

"Huh? Yes, I'm fine," she said in response to Vayu, boarding the boat behind him. "I agree with Vayu, it was our mission after all, they'll be expecting us to make a report when we return."

Zephyr Arc - Island

With a pixie elbow buried in his cheek, Zephyr walked up to Raina once all the excitement was over. "Sorry we were a bit cold before. We'll be glad to have some nice eats for the road." He told her. It seemed she was trying to keep things civil between the mayor and the rest of them, but he didn't really care much about that himself. It was just better for his face's well-being to keep quiet and let her handle it lest he risk being mauled by a pixie.

"There's a fine line between 'protecting' and being a tyrant control freak." He replied to Scarlet's observation, before addressing Vayu's. "I'm a little tired from using so much maga, but I'm otherwise fine thanks to Cherry here."

Oasis - Island

A sad look crossed Reina's face at Vayu's comment, a look of guilt, as her mouth seemed to be muttering something like she was trying to find the right words to say. Though, once Vayu mentioned not visiting again, her eyes lit up as she took few steps towards the vanguard, suddenly accosting them where they stood

"Well, I'll have to come visit you then! I think Colm would like to meet you all once he's recovered, and it'd be good if he got some time away from this place!" Reina stated with a heartwarming smile fitting of an innkeeper greeting their guests.

"That's fine, though they'll ask for my opinion regardless... vanguards." Ludo stated with a bit of an snark when Hector smacked the scientist hard in the back as Ludo fell forward in the boat almost landing in the water, the scientist turning around furiously.

"Relax! You can have a mood besides spiteful or stuck-up sometimes." Hector stated with a chuckle, his gaze turning towards Scarlet and Zeyphr at their comments about the mayor.

"Agreed, I'll just have to hope the villagers see different after this incident, she's been playing on their phobias of demons long enough." Hector stated with a nod, as all the vanguards got onto the boat and drifted off towards the lake. Reina meekly boarding the boat along with them, gesturing towards the mayor and how she came with them... basically leaving her stranded when she left.

---

As the vanguards traveled back out towards the city various villagers, seemed to be staring at the island... wondering why the giant statue of the lake spirit suddenly had shifted away from its old point with a few on their knees praying to the island in loud trembling voices.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to anger you! Whatever sins I did I'll amend!" A villager shouted, as their eyes suddenly shifted to the vanguards passing by with looks of annoyance and hatred. However, other villagers, ones reunited with their loved ones smiled at the vanguards, as they clutched their loved ones in their arms.

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Caravan

Reina seemed to be true to her word? It was hard to tell as the back of the caravan was now packed with various ornaments and goodies. Maybe hers was the basket between the tiny rock pixie next to a crudely and rushed carving of Zeyphr in some kind of desert sandstone or maybe it was the basket next to a child-like drawing the extremely angry and buff carving of Vayu with their arms crossed as they stood on top of a dead Vodyanik.

"Seems like a lot of people appreciated your effort, they all rushed her and delivered these goods almost a minute ago." the caravan driver from before said with a defeated smile, "Though it seems you didn't get much of a break...."

"Well now hurry up, someone asked me to get you back pronto... they have a surprise or something?" The man said with a shrug.

As all the vanguards boarded the caravan, Scarlet felt a pull on her gauntlet towards the elf that Ludo had just set gently in the corner of the caravan, as the caravan launched back towards Chaldea just a moment later.

Spoiler: