Unmotivated Deity

Lesley firmed his stance and drew his bow as the others moved across the slick stone of the cavern cautiously, each making efforts to not alert the creature beneath the water. Bernard drew his sword and held it firmly, ready to do his best to stop the potential charge of the unknown beast. Olivia hung to the right of the group to ensure that if it tried to escape to the side, she could work to redirect it back to the two sturdiest members of their group.

Jien and Barret both took to the left of Bernard and Rosalind to better ensure that they could accomplish the same as Olivia. Both Barret and Jien were known for more of a precision-based fighting style, while Jien felt that he had some chance to possibly redirect the creature himself with the use of his wind spells it was better to conserve energy and resources given that they still had much to accomplish in setting up their camp.

Once everyone had moved into position near the water's edge Jien gave a simple signal to start the attack. Rosalind, smiling like a child being given a present lifted her warhammer high above her head before driving it down into the water with flex of her arms and torso. The heavy hammer head on its long shaft broke the waters' surface with a loud splash as if a fully grown adult had jumped in, a torrent of being driven upward and raining down on Bernard, who grimaced. He gave Rosalind a certain look of dissatisfaction which she either hadn't noticed or purposely ignored, instead drawing the hammer back out of the water, causing another small deluge.

It was as she drew the hammer back that the first sign of movement from whatever was in the water appeared. At first it was small, mostly hidden by the shift in the water caused by Rosalind's act, but the ripples from the center of the pool became clearer as those from the hammer dissipated. At first like that of a pebble breaking the surface of a still pond into a violent surge of water that seemed to threaten drowning the floor of the chamber around the edge of the water's surface.

The first thing they saw as the water seemed to froth, bulging up from the center of the lake, was the pristine rose rising from the surface, followed by a large, jagged fin that was as white as snow and as flawless as the purest jade. The rose itself was connected to the front of the white fin, its roots spreading downward like veins of deepest black along the pristine scales of the emerging creature. Jien was taken aback by the beauty of the beast emerging, but he also knew immediately that his plan had a flaw.

Jien had hoped that the creature was on that could exit the pool. He wanted to remove it from the water, kill it for food and then use the pool itself as a water source for their survival in the short term, if not longer given that the mist would continue to accumulate in this location and form yet more water. The trouble was that the creature in question would not be able to leave the pool at all. If they weren't careful the water source, he had hoped for would either become difficult to use or impossible.

The creature was truly beautiful, a large koi fish of at least twenty feet in length that he was able to see, though its tail was hidden deep within the dark waters and obscured by the disturbed yet still colorful mist. The koi had bright red eyes but what caught Jien's attention the most was not its eyes or its beautiful scales but the roots of the rose that seemed to stretch from its fin, down its head and then into its eye sockets, framing the eyes like beautiful ruby pearls in a wooden setting.

Jien knew immediately that he had picked a fight with a tough opponent. The fish wasn't the concern, the rose that seemed to be sitting docilely on its back was what worried Jien so. Immediately he forsook the idea of silence, the rose was too dangerous to worry about it hearing noise at this point. "The rose is a magical plant; it appears to be parasitic in nature, the fish is just a vessel and food source." his voice carried all of his concerns and urgency, making it obvious that the story wasn't as simple as just what he said. Though his first words were concerning, his next words sent a chill down their spine. "Don't let the fish or plant wound you, some plants of this nature don't even need a seed to parasitize the host."

Jien wasn't just trying to scare his team, this plant and its host could be the doom of them all if it got a hold of even one of them. There were many beasts and plants that were parasitic in nature but those that could control a creature of this size while being the size of a simple rose represented a higher class of magical plant. If it could capture one of them it would use that person to parasitize the rest and by the end there could be a number of roses floating peacefully in this pool. Truly and insidious foe to face as their first opponent in this place.