Master Of None

"In theory, we will need to purify this spring. But do you think we could do something like that? If Alice had come we would be able to without a problem." The thought that Gil had was to send someone back to bring help this way. 

"If we go back and get her we might not be able to get to the root of the problem. We need to get to the water elves first. If they need help we should help them first." In Walker's mind, the people were priority. For the chance that they needed help or not, it would be better to speak to them. If the group brought someone to purify the area without any communication with the water elves, it could cause future issues with relationships. 

"That does not look the way a warm spring should look." Neil had seen small springs appear within the icy mountains. They would be the results of deep ice melting from the shifting earth deep in the mountains. The rest of the group was happy to hear that he was relaxing his tone of speech because he was getting used to them., But they were not happy to see what Neil saw. 

"Why is it pink and purple. That's not how water should be. If I saw a patch of water in the ocean like that we would have to alert the entire city." It was not uncommon for the merfolk to encounter such things that drifted in the currents. The kraken ink was one that they had seen from other species of monsters before. 

'Alluring spring

This spring has been contaminated by a poisonous skill. This gives the spring the effect of attracting whatever is under the effect of the poison inside. The user of this poison then gains the ability to control and manipulate the affected being. Eventually, all of their wills is taken away and they become a puppet to the one poisoning them. This poison can not be purified unless the one that caused it is subdued or defeated.'

Walker read out his appraisal. He realized that this was the reason that the sweet smell must be around those that were walking the trails. It was also why they had not run in to many monsters. Everything in the area that smelled or touched this spring water would be under the control of whoever used this skill. 

"This may be worse than I thought. If the water elves are affected by this then they may be stuck in permanent danger. We need to hunt for whatever set this poison. I just don't know what could have done this. I don't have enough information." Alma desperately wanted to search the forest elf archives for information about such things. She knew that she would be able to find some answers they needed if she had the chance to search long enough. 

"We will leave it for now. I don't think we can resist this poison without Walker right this second. If we tried to do anything we would be at a disadvantage. Let's get close to the lakes and see what we can see." Neil was backing what Gil said. He too wanted to see what the situation really was. 

"We will move carefully. We are going to take this trail instead of the one we have been on." Walker showed them the longer way around to be sure that they would not have an issue with whatever was patrolling the lands. We can get closer and see the state of the lakes." Walker knew that their trial would have more rocks and dangers because it was less traveled than the trails they were on. But he feared that if they came in contact with whatever was patrolling that they would have trouble beating them. They were under the effects of whoever controlled them. It was a sure bet that they would not be able to hold back against them. 

"Onward we push." Leon took the lead with his spear at the ready. He felt that it was better to travel with more caution. He also knew that he would most likely be the fastest to attack since he could throw his spear as a distraction and damage dealer. 

The trail they took was barely a trail. The grass had nearly taken over the rocks that they walked on. There was even some running water around them that showed just how much the terrain had shifted since people had traveled this area. "I can't even imagine how a merchant would bring a cart over this. It feels like this is a dried stream bed." 

"It might as well be, the streams were once diverted in this area so that people could explore for resources. I read that in the demi-human descriptions of the area. That's another reason that the water elves do not like the demi-humans." Alma responded to Gil with a piece of solid information. It made sense that the relations between the two were not just based on some small farmland issue. The water elves were old and they had a history with the demi-humans that built their negative feelings. 

"At least the lakes aren't that color." Walker felt Midnight pull on his clothes and made him look at the lakes in the distance over the grasses and small hills of rocks. He could see that the lakes were still shining crystal blue. They didn't show that there was any poison in the air at all. However, Walker could see that there were many things odd about the lakes. Many things were in motion, especially the large island that separated the lakes from each other making them multiple instead of one. 

"I shouldn't have to worry about swim-" Just as Leon spoke they saw a large fin cut through the water. "Nevermind, no swimming in the lakes." 

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