Awww. I was really hoping to see the plan happen.

Can't you retcon the roll? :p

I've got stuff to do right now, but I'll action soon regardless.

Das ist mein Handeln für die Wende!

"I guess the shield was weaker than we thought, it would've been nice to see the plan in action, but...there'll be other shields, I'm sure."

"I hope so, I've always liked puzzles, but there's no way that wouldn't have brought the shield down if it was strong enough to resist that."

"...and I can't be the only one, but does this seem to be too easy to anyone else? We've encountered nothing but passive defenses and terrain obstacles on the way here. Hmm...stay cautious."

"I wonder...Hey, En, can you hear me? I've got a question for you."

Proceed towards artifact from the rear half of the group, ready to fire a cutting beam.

"Maybe he can hear me if I think hard enough, that's how these things usually work. If I was to have any people fighting for me, it's what I would do....once we, uh, figure out the kinks."

Li suddenly started to whistle an innocent tune.

"Let's hope this try goes better than the last."

En! En, you there? Li's got a question for you.

"Looks like he can hear me. What do you want me to say?"

Li leads Al away from the group, so as to speak more freely.

"I want to join you guys on this quest."

"How come?"

Li sighed sadly. "I don't like being the spare wheel and having nothing to do," she smiled a little, "...besides, if I'm like you, we don't have to worry about any unfortunate accidents if I accidentally use my powers."

"Awww...alright, I'll send the message."

She wants to be an embodied like me...and uh, she's threatening to blow up the planet. More or less, she's just afraid we'll run into something and she could end up accidentally using her powers and destroying the galaxy, you know how it is.

Oh, uh, well tha


Silence.
Silence?
En?
...
Did he hang up on you?
Back. Sorry. In the middle of a thing. Sure, that's cool, too busy to do it right now though. She can either wait for a while or you can do it yourself if you really want.

Alright. As for not blowing up the planet...I can't make any promises.

Li smiled and sat down on the grass, waiting. "So! How's it going?"

"He's told me to try doing it."

For a brief moment, there was silence.

"Has he lost his mind? You can't even use your powers to clean your clothes without destroying every piece of clothing for a hundred miles!"

"I know, but I don't think he's going to change his mind. So...what do you want?"

Li sighed with concern, then reached into her pocket and pulled out her notebook. "Just tell me what you think for each one, alright? I've been scribbling down ideas whenever I've had the chance, and I think some of them are pretty good!"

Al-Aris smiled. "Let's hear them!"

"The embodiment of fire! I could make lights, use walls of flame to block off passes and throw darts of it to defense myself with."

"Other than the risk of setting the atmosphere on fire...isn't fire what...gods, I can't think of his name but...Pyr! That's his name. Isn't that his element?"

"It is, but he's creepy so it doesn't matter...but point taken about setting the planet on fire by accident...hmmm...how does the embodiment of diplomacy sound?"

"Oooh. That's interesting, and I've never known you to like a fight, but it lacks utility for dealing with shields and obstacles like that gorge."

"Love?"

"You're already that, you couldn't be lovelier if you tried."

"Protection?"

"Useful in bed and on the battlefield. I like it! But...offensively weak, I'd think, and Linna has shields covered already."

"Hmm...what about...Time?"

"I wouldn't touch that with an infinitely long pole even if I knew what I was doing."

"Alright, I'm on my last option here...Food?"

"Huh...useful. You could bury people in mashed potatoes and it'd stop them from being able to fight, but it wouldn't really hurt them, and you could use piles of the stuff to bridge obstacles and block attacks...alright, food it is."

Alright, En, she's chosen the embodiment of food. It sounds good to me, so...here we go!

"I accept."

"Wait! One last thing! I was going to ask En to come to our wedding, you know, help fill up the tables a little bit more, but...hmmm. I guess the thing I'll ask you for is for you to pass the invitation over to En."

"Sounds fine with me, there's no such thing as too many guests when you've got a private star system for the event."

Hey, En, she's asked me to pass a wedding invitation over to you. So...you're cordially invited to our wedding! You can bring as many guests with you as you want, catering is...handled, to say the least and we've set up a tunnel to an alternate universe made entirely out of booze to ensure the bar has infinite capacity. You'll need a suit...but I think you've got one, I can't quite remember. I'll arrange transportation if you can't get between universes, so don't worry about that...now, let's get this over and done with...

Give Li the Embodiment of Foods.

Alright, En, she's chosen the embodiment of food. It sounds good to me, so...here we go!
...
No response? Did he hang up on you again?

Hey, En, she's asked me to pass a wedding invitation-
OSFAR YOU SHITMONKEY I WILL BURY YOU IN THE MARIANAS IF YOU DO THAT AG
En, this is Alaris.
♥♥♥♥ I GOT MIXED UP. TALK LATER OKAY

Uh.
"He said to call back later."

Rory Mercury!

caekdaemon - Al-Aris and Li-Rala [-]:
You take a moment to look around the burial ground before proceeding right for the objective in the middle.
Li-Rala: "I guess the shield was weaker than we thought, it would've been nice to see the plan in action, but...there'll be other shields, I'm sure."
Al-Aris: "I hope so, I've always liked puzzles, but there's no way that wouldn't have brought the shield down if it was strong enough to resist that."


Al-Aris: "He said to call back later."
Alright. Embodiment. So, you need to look inside yourself...
A small black sphere sits, roiling calmly, seething gently. An embodiment of destruction and the end, but in no hurry to bring about its reality. Not merely destruction, but part of a natural cycle. What comes to be must come to an end, all things Decay.
And then, you look at it, not as what form it has taken, but what it is...
Underneath the black of Decay, lay more black, more Decay, down to the very core of the sphere. Split a drop of Decay, and you find inside it more Decay. To examine its true nature, you cannot simply split or reveal or peel away. Decay is the true form of this Decay, but not its natural state. The essence of something more basic lays within, as it does all things.
And then, take a piece... Urf... a rather LARGE piece, seems like.
Not reversion, but a change. Not negation, but a shift. To take the Decay, and remove from it its form and purpose. To make it raw, unembodied potential and existence. To make it become what has not yet become. The Thirteenth Point.
And then, give it to Li.
And let it return to another, to become anew. Something different, something wonderful. The progenitor of life, the proof of existence, one of the few ties that bind all who live lives.
Li-Rala: "Food!"
Al-Aris: "Food? So, it uh, it worked? Is anything around us a smoking crater?"
She concentrates for a moment, and a small lollipop poofs into existence in a cloud of glittery pink, then immediately disappears into Li's mouth with a big grin.
Li-Rala: "Yep and nope!"

Appearance: A big and bulky man that appears to be middle aged, with a full head of black hair and surprisingly dark eyes. He claims to be Middle Eastern in origin, but to an observer he would seem to be a little...pale.


Seraphimo - Dunrim [-]:
Dunrim: "That went much easier than expected."
Mikey: "Wait for it."
You look around the area cautiously. There must be a good reason for barriers like that around this place. You hope it was to keep people out, and not keep something in.
Nothing in the area that you see, just a bunch of small hills, and some rocks in the center. You surmise that the rocks are the important thing here, considering it's the only part of this place worth looking at, and you can feel the objective thrumming from right over there. Gives you goosebumps a bit.

Appearance: His face is full of soot and he looks a bit pale but otherwise he looks like a normal human. He is a little shorter than the average human and he likes to wear fully protective clothing. His origin is claimed to be somewhere inside Europe though he's not telling where.


TheKebbit - Wassily Nuñez [-]:
Keeping the Chart for the area out, you mark a line of Sea up to the pedestal, and once again note the peddles and grass part in the path to make a clear path. With that cleared, you cautiously approach the pedestal, sweating a bit from the energy the pedestal seems to be giving off. As you get closer, you see that on the pedestal seems to be a... hm. Pendant? Talisman? It's a circular disk three or four inches across, covered in intricate patterns and strung on a twine string with many small beads, claws, and fangs strung on it.
Is that what you're here for? That talisman?



CaveCricket48 - Linna [-]:
Heading over to your new friend, you try to pop a new shield, but it just sort of... fizzles when you do. Though, you get a feeling that that may be for the best. You hand your right hand shield over to the new guy, Matt your mind tells you, and examine this odd feeling that prompted you to hand it over. A new feeling in your power, something about your equipment. Handheld, like a shield, though very different from a shield. You manifest whatever it is in your right hand, having something of a guess as to what it could be.

You smirk as your guess is proven dead on by a heavy silver gilded maul materializing in your hand. You test its heft a bit, and though it takes a good bit of strength to swing, you can really tell it'll leave a mark when it hits, beyond just the weight of the metal. Like all your equipment, you can feel a certain energy inside it, in this case a desire to smite the unfaithful, compared to your shields' desire to protect the faithful.

Appearance: A young woman that seems a bit thin but stands on a sturdy pair of legs. Her short dark hair is still long enough to nearly cover her eyes that are already concealed behind thick glasses, making it difficult to read her expression.


maart3n - Mikey/Heph [8]:
Dunrim: "That went much easier than expected."
Mikey: "Wait for it."
You get an idea. This may totally not work, since your power is sort of... focused on living things. But you know what, you're never gonna get any stronger if you don't jump outside your comfort zone now and then. Letting logic and reality stop you is for quitters anyway!
You approach one of the totems, this one unmarred by any of your team's tampering, and lay both hands upon it. And you concentrate. Life. Live. Alive. Movement. Breathing. Warmth? No, not warmth. Motion. Energy.
"Move."
And with your order, the totem obeys. A rather large stylized wolf, it gives a series of mighty creaks, and fissures open on the surface of the statue, outline the wolf's limbs. It then begins to move, stretching and shaping, the stone paradoxically moving and flexing like flesh without shattering, and after a bit of amazed and excited watching of this strange, stylized living stone wolf learning to be alive, it pads around you in the grass, before sitting in front of you and letting its tongue loll out and pant. The noise sounds like two stones rubbing together, rather than any actual animal, but... it worked.
You have created life!
IT'S ALIIIIIIIIVE!



CrazyMLC - Matt Sterling [9]:
Hm. Your new sword is large, but construction workers are strong. Not to say that you're a construction worker, but you're probably strong. Hopefully. Maybe.
You lift the sword.
You ARE in fact strong! Excellent, excellent. Hm. You wonder if you can repair your sword if it breaks. That may be a very potent ability actually. You also wonder if you can integrate this powerful thing on the pedestal into your sword. It WOULD certainly be a powerful sword then, you can feel the Thing all the way from over here. Linna approaches you, and hands you one of her round shields. How nice! You wish you could use this sword one handed.



Events: While some of the team explores their powers in the rare free moment, Wassily and Dunrim approach the pedestal. As they get within a few steps of it, suddenly everyone freezes, as the feeling coming from the talisman pulses. Then again. And again. And again and again, a constant rhythm of pulses, sudden strengthening and weakening of the talisman's presence. Almost like...
Wassily: "Like a heartbeat. EVERYONE, on your toes!"
Both Wassily and Dunrim get back quickly, as the talisman's beat slowly builds up, increasing in speed. And slowly, as the seven of you watch, it begins to rise. Floating up into the air, suspended by nothing, everyone seeing it can feel a bad omen approaching. Then, the Talisman starts doing something else.

A vibrant green energy, like the essence of a spring's new growth, begins to flow from the talisman, filling the air around it in strands and waves of energy, taking shape and form. A large mass around it, then two extensions up near the top, and two more near the bottom. The very top extends upwards a bit, and all of it grows and thickens, becoming larger and denser. The extensions solidify, forming arms and legs. The top, a head. Sadly, it's not a human head.
Instead, the arms form thick, muscular furry arms, tipped by large, savagely curved claws and with their backs covered in... feathers? Yes, feathers. The legs form similarly to the arms, powerful and furred, with large claws and feathers adorning them. The torso solidifies as well, growing a layer of fur and muscle, along with large plumes of feathers all along its back and shoulders. The head forms last, and is the oddest of all. It seems like... an owl's head, though with a pair of small round furry ears, running counter to the rest of the... animal. A cross between an owl and a bear?

With its body formed, the energy then splits off, chaining across the creature's body and creating small strings of beads and decorations, necklaces and charms and straps all across the creature. It certainly does look like a Native spirit.
Then, it opens its eyes, glowing a pale whitish green, and emits a horrible screeching roar at the group, grating upon their ears and making their skin prickle. Upon its chest, nestled among several strings of beads and feathers, the original talisman still sits.

Riding through the desert on a roll with no name

EDITED :

"Hmmm..." Li pauses, examining the guardian. "As far as nature spirits go, I'd rate this one three out of ten stars on appearance, and two stars for personality."

Then she smiles. "Not bad for a first attempt, though! All you need is a change of appearance, maybe a little more consistency, and then you'd look great! And when you look great, you feel great, and the most important part about being alive is being happy with who you are and having fun in the little time you -"

"Li, I think it wants to kill us."

"...and uh, remember that part about keeping undercover?"

"...oh, right. I completely forgot...hmmm..."

"I don't suppose you would be willing to talk this through over a steaming hot apple pie?"

"Li, this giant owlbear screeched at us and I really, really don't think it's interested in diplomacy. On the contrary, I think it's interested in seeing what our insides look like."

She puts her hands on her hips and stares at the golem. "Hey! Big guy! If you attack I'll give you a cream filling!"

Al burst into laughter.

"WITH TOFFEE DRIZZLE!"

> Fill any visible openings with cream to weigh down the creature's movements. If there aren't any, cover with toffee to make the monster sticky and hinder his movements.

"This is cooking, with Li and Al! First you stuff the openings with cream and toffee, and then you slice the ingredients..."

> Slice, dice and put on rice with the decay cutter.