Another day for adventure, and Galen and Wynona have returned after recuperating from their last harrowing experience. The storm outside has been getting progressively worse, and the High Council has been more anxious about something being done to deal with the tower. But it is for certain that not all of the tower's mysteries have been solved quite yet…

Galen Lightningtail paces back and forth across the expanse of the room silently, hands clasped behind his back, head bowed, and deep in thought. He hasn't stopped pacing for over an hour now, since he and Wynona last talked about the curiously and portentously rising power of the storm outside. His eyes are slits, and his face is grim.

Just then, Wynona dashes in the front door, her wings held over her head to serve as makeshift umbrellas. "Woo!" she squeaks, as she gets in, and water runs off of them – and she rushes across the room to flap them without drenching Galen in the process. "It's dumping pails! I could have shielded myself, but – why waste the spell, right?" She runs fingers through rain-drenched hair, as evidently her "wing-umbrellas" are not entirely effective.

Galen's concentration is broken by Wynona's entrance. He stops his pacing, turns his head to her, and sees her drenched predicament. He unclasps his hands, walks to his knapsack rested on one of the table chairs, and pulls out a towel. Then he walks over to the Eeee, and hands it to her. "It's not good for you go out into that storm needlessly," he quips. "I don't want you catching a cold."

Wynona pauses a moment, looking at the towel with a sudden look of horror, then breathes a sigh of relief as she sees that it's a perfectly normal towel – not arcane in the least. "Oh! Thank you," she says with a flush to her ears and a giggle, taking the towel. Her face vanishes under the towel, and her squeaks are muffled somewhat as she tries to dry off. "No need to worry yourself!"

"Too late," says the Mephitian dourly, though he smiles at Wynona's attempts to dry herself. "While you were out, I was thinking … thinking quite a bit. About those books we got from the Earth level."

The bat sets the towel in a damp lump on the table, and reaches up to push tangled strands of platinum-grey hair out of her face as she looks to the skunk. "Yes?"

Galen's smile fades a little bit. "I'm still a little shaken up from Miss Shimmer, I'm afraid," he says. "And then you go and tell me that Earth elementals are even stronger than those of Water. And now the storm is getting stronger outside." He sighs. "Right now, I'm at a loss as to how we can deal with the final floor's elemental. He's strong, heavy, rock hard (of course) and thus impenetrable, and – worst of all – holding the gem we seek in his very own hands, instead of some distance away from him, like with the other elementals." He pauses. "It's a bit of a risk … "

He gestures with his hand to the table, and the stack of book currently piled on top of it. "… but, despite the traps, methinks we may find something valuable to us, some piece of knowledge or lore, on how to deal with this last elemental. I want us to try and disarm the books' traps, and read them."

Wynona nods soberly. "All right. Well … uhm … point me at one!"

Galen blinks at her, then smiles a little. "You're very brave, braver than me, to want to try them out right away." He sighs. "But I don't want you getting hurt." He looks over to the books. "I'm thinking, that we'll have to take a few precautions, first. Maybe cover, like an upturned table, in case of a blast; some way to try to open the books from a distance, once the clasps are unlocked … " to which he points to his walking staff rested up against his chair, "… which either you or I could do with the tip of the staff." And then, his face turns most severe. "And then we need some kind of padding, armor, protection, for the person who has to try and unclasp the locks on the books." He takes a breath, closes his eyes and keeps them closed for a moment, then opens them again. "What do you think?"

Wynona nods. "It all sounds very reasonable, after all we've been through, to tell the truth."

Galen nods back, affirmatively. "In case I'm forgetting anything vitally important … can you tell me again what you know about these kinds of traps, and what you expect a high-level mage as Celesti to come up with?"

Wynona says, "Well, I'm sincerely hoping that if the books have any valuable contents at all, that he won't try an especially destructive trap … or, at least, something that wouldn't destroy the book. But I won't really know for certain until I examine the particular book … and I know already that he's been smart enough not to put the markings in plain sight where I can just casually examine them from the outside. Everything's a risk … but I suppose we must take our chances."

To which Galen merely smirks. "We do that quite a bit around here nowadays, don't we?" He looks back to the books. "I think you're the best one to look through the book titles, and see which ones you think will help us. I'm thinking anything concerning elementals, of course … but, there may just be a book with apparently unrelated lore, that you may recognize as being able to help us, while I would not."

Wynona sighs, nods, and cracks her knuckles. "All right. Well … I'm going to use a spell of my own – a wind shield – to provide what magical protection I can, unless you have any objections. And then I'll dive into things."

The healer blinks. "No objections at all – but why the protection already? Are you saying that just looking at the book titles without opening them can set off the traps?"

"No," Wynona squeaks, "but some of these books don't have titles on them – or at least, nothing terribly informative. I may have to examine the books more closely, even if I don't crack the covers open. And there's no telling just how sensitive these traps may be. It may be a needless precaution … but, shall we say, I'm just a wee bit jumpy now."

Galen's eyes widen a little bit. "In that case, yes, I do object. I don't want any of the traps setting off while you're just casually examining them. Not without some more protection." He looks her over. "The air shield spell will help at lot, methinks, but I would really feel better if you wore something more 'padded', anything, pillows, even, anything that you think has any chance of absorbing or deflecting whatever trap is in these books."

"Well, we could get some pillows from the bedroom," Wynona says.

"Yes … " says Galen, "but without waking up the animate-blanket? And do you think the pillows would be animate as well?" As he is saying this, the Mephitian looks left and right, seeing if there are any extra tables on this level that appear to be unfixed to the floor.

"Oh. Right," Wynona says with a grimace.

Alas, this level isn't terribly generous when it comes to furniture. The central table is quite firmly attached to the floor, and the shelves to the wall. There was a table up on the kitchen level, but that would mean getting close to the place-settings.

Seeing that there are no readily available pieces of furniture lying around able to be lifted, overturned, and otherwise moved, Galen sighs. Dagh it all, he thinks to himself. This whole idea looks doomed from the start. What else can we use for protection??

Outside, thunder booms noisily. The fixtures shake. Wynona's ears perk up, and she looks about, anxious.

The Mephitian's own ears flick at the noise, and he looks to the main door far across the room. He is silent for some moments. Then, after the silence following the thunderous boom has long passed, he looks to his companion. "Wynona," he says, quietly. "I want your opinion. The storm outside is getting much worse; I am worried that, the longer we wait, the stronger it will get, and that means trouble for the townspeople. Which neither of us want. So … " He looks her squarely in the eyes, not threateningly, but with a very, very serious air. "Do you think we should spend the rest of our time today trying to un-trap and read these books? Or … do you think we should try and deal with the Earth elemental?"

Wynona frowns. "That's a tough one. The books might give us some useful clues … but … the hazards we might face trying to open them might compare to whatever trouble the Earth elemental gives us. Once again, we're dealing with unknown quantities. It's not like this is a particularly fair challenge, after all."

Galen sighs, deeply. "True … " He turns his head to look over his shoulder at the books, then looks back to Wynona. "… but I just don't feel that comfortable about the only protection you'll be having being only that air-shield. I may not be an elementalist, but what if the trap is 'air'-based in nature? What then? It's these kinds of things that are bothering me." He pauses. "And what bothers me most of all, is the likelihood, that you will probably have to be the one to unlock these books, instead of me, because of your magic-experience." He shakes his head. "I don't like this at all. I don't know if I could bear it, if something bad happened to you because of me and my crazy ideas." He gazes at the Eee mage most solemnly. "I do not want you to get hurt, Wynona."

Wynona sighs. "And I don't want you to get hurt – or anyone else in this city. I'm in a tower full of magical traps, and I'm a mage. I expect a certain amount of risk, though I'm not going to be all giggly about the prospect. Chivalry is nice, but must you be so … Ooo! Let's keep some perspective, here, okay? At least you're not asking me to go into the kitchen and dance with Mister Cleaver. But … oh … point taken, I suppose."

At Wynona's controlled outburst, Galen only blinks. Then he nods, very slowly, understandingly. "Do you want to do this?" he asks, most somberly.

Wynona says, "I'm willing to take the chance, if you think we can spare the time – and if you'll promise to patch me up if I blow things up too terribly." She tries to smile.

The healer blinks again – several times – then forces as realistic-looking a smile as he can from his lips. "Okay, then," he answers, then turns around to look at the imposing stack of literature on the table. "That's settled, then: let's do it."

Wynona cracks her knuckles. "All right. First … my air shield… "

The procedure of going through the books takes some time, and quite a bit of tension … especially when Wynona, while examining one book, reaches over to brush at what she assumes to be some dust obscuring the title … and a moment later, the room is filled with a choking cloud of silt! Fortunately, this is just the sort of thing an air shield is useful for, and Wynona manages to clear the air in short order. It turns out to be a book on the elements – Earth, to be exact, hence the dirt-based protection. After some perusal …

"All right," Wynona squeaks. "I think I have a better grasp of what it is we're facing, though I can't say that I've learned that much new. This earth elemental is bound to the room, and its source of strength would be the floor. The pedestal it stands on would be its anchor – and the runes surrounding the pedestal are responsible for controlling its behavior. Defacing the runes would free the elemental from any coercion … but then, we'd have to deal with whatever the elemental might be inclined to do, and we really wouldn't know just for certain what it might do on its own before returning to its plane. Separating it from the floor would cut it off from its strength, and make it weak – weak enough that even I could wrestle it down. But it's likely to be too smart to walk over some carpet, I wager."

"It can meld into the floor," Wynona adds, "and pop up somewhere else, taking the gem with it, but only within that same room. It can't stay in the floor for very long, though, by the constraints of its magic, so it can't just cheat and hide from us forever, thank goodness."

Galen, seated at the table and thrumming his fingers slowly and quietly on its surface, takes all the information into his brain, and processes it, looking for weaknesses and possible advantages. "Can it be blinded, do you think?" he asks the Air Elementalist. "Say, if we sprayed or threw something into its face?"

Wynona nods. "Actually, yes. It has a couple of gems that are used for eyes. Earth Elementals aren't quite as … er … fluid as most elementals are. I suppose it's the price they pay for the sheer strength they have. Although, I should warn you – melding into the floor is pretty much a cure-all regenerative for them. The elemental would be essentially breaking down its form and then reforming itself again. Anything we use to blind it would be cleared away by that process. Blinding it would be a delaying tactic at best – or something to do quickly followed by whatever we intended to do next."

Meanwhile, Randle comes in the front door, and shakes vigorousoyl, his toga steaming a bit now that he's inside. "It's raining Trollic wine-glasses outside! Any more of this and I'm afraid Mother Nature will be beside herself… "

Galen's ears perk as he hears the main door open and close. He glances in that direction – and then bolts out of his chair! "RANDLE!!" he yells, spreading his arms wide, a smile and wide eyes of joy on his face. "Where have you been!?!"

"Outside, evidently!" Wynona quips, setting the Book of Earth down.

Randle counts on his fingers. "Well, first, outside, then back at town, then to the dentist (always seems to take longer for me then most folk), then to the tailor for a new outfit … no wait, I did that first … then to the inn where I spent four weeks." He earperks and smiles. "Hello folks, what have I missed?"

Galen reaches for the towel previously used by Wynona, quickly walks up to the dragon, and hands it to him. "Procession above, we've missed you!" he says, obviously overjoyed. "Wynona and I got the gem from Miss Shimmer; now we're strategizing how to deal with the final earth elemental in the Earth floor. We're having very little luck, I'm afraid." He grins broadly. "But, in any case, we're glad you're back."

Wynona nods. "I was just going over what I could find about possible weaknesses of the earth elemental. Galen suggested we might try blinding it. That's possible, as it has gems for eyes that can be covered … but it can melt itself into the floor, and reform itself anywhere in the room. Doing so would effectively counteract anything we did to blind it. If we intended to blind it for some purpose, we'd have to act on it quickly, before the elemental recovered."

Randle smiles. "What happened to Miss Shimmer, anyhow?"

Wynona says, "Well … I suppose she's still up in her pool. We didn't dispel her. We just … made a really, really big mess."

Randle ohs! "Wish I could have seen that." He then ponders. "Melt into the floor? This Earth elemental is muddy then?" He takes the towel and puts it over his head, then shakes down his mane to get it dry. "Thanks!"

Galen nods at Wynona's description. "A really, really big mess is an understatement." He brushes a hand through his hair. "And, no … the elemental is rock-solid. Melding into the floor is one of its abilities. Among others."

Randle takes off the towel, leaving his mane sticking out in all directions. He doesn't notice. "Hmm … no baking it like clay then." He scratches his chin, making a thoughtful pose.

Wynona shakes her head. "I doubt it would be so easy as that. Dragon fire, I do not think would affect it much. However, magical fire might … but I would recommend that only if we felt the need to try to destroy it outright."

Randle says, "Might it shatter? Or can it reform? What happens if the eye-gems are removed?"

"No, no baking it like clay," replies Galen. He offers Randle a seat at the table. "Make yourself at home again, but mind the books: Wynona and I got these from the Earth floor. And don't try opening them, either: they're trapped." He looks to the Eeee, and smiles again. "However, Wynona was able to un-trap one, and get the information we're talking about now about the earth elemental."

Wynona says, "Well, technically, it does have some regenerative abilities. Your dragon breath might do some superficial damage to it, but it would be able to regenerate that fairly easily. The most you might do is anger it … which I suppose might be useful if you hope to cause a distraction. Magical attacks would be proof against it reforming quite so easily. About any element can cause damage to it except for Earth … though if we had an Earth Mage, he or she still might have other useful tricks to apply, other than straight damage-causing effects. But, of course, we don't have such a mage in our ranks, and I don't think we could find one on short notice."

Randle hmms, looking out of place. He looks about. "Is there any more tea?"

"As always," answers Galen. "Miss Teapot?" he inquires expectantly to the silverware collection on the far side of the table.

"Oh, but of course!" pipes the teapot. She promptly fills up a cup for the dragon.

Randle ohs and earperks, then clears his throat. "Miss Teapot, might you be kind enough to get me some … oh, thank you!"

"Quite welcome!" the teapot whistles.

The Mephitian muses for a bit. "Wynona?" he asks the Air Elementalist. "This may be bit of a long stretch … but, since fire can burn hotter with the aid of air … do you think your magic, and Randle's could work together, somehow, and burn the earth elemental more seriously than superficially?"

"I think you misunderstood me," Wynona says, "or perhaps I wasn't being clear. Even without us working together, Mage Randle's fire magic could do significant damage to the earth elemental. I was only referring to his dragon breath as being insufficient to damage it greatly. He is capable of casting spells, after all, if I am not mistaken. But you are correct, if we wanted to do it even more grief, we could combine our spells to do more to it."

Randle breathes lightly on the top of the water once, then sips again.

Galen nods, his arms folded on the table and his forearms raised, fingertips touching together, forming a pyramid. "Hmm … maybe I'm just being unreasonable today … " His voice deepens, somewhat. "… but I'm in the mood to end an elemental today. Or later." A small, devilish grin flicks across his lips – but is gone in an instant, and he resumes his seriousness. "Can your magic and Randle's work together? And do you think it may actually damage the elemental enough to destroy him outright? Or would it only wound him, and he could regenerate by melding into the floor?"

Randle says, "What about those gems though? They can't easily fit through the floor can they?"

"Gems are part of earth," Wynona says. "It's a magic thing. It couldn't take anything that wasn't made wholly of the element of Earth, though. Such as, it couldn't drag us down into the floor."

"A good thing, and one of the very few blessings we have against this foe, methinks," says Galen.

"As for the damage we could cause … that's something I can't say with certainty. It depends on how well we pull off our spells," Wynona says. "If absolutely need be, I could pump all of my energy into it to make it count – though of course I'd be unable to cast any more spells anytime soon thereafter. But I do think we could take this out."

The healer grins at Wynona. "That is very good news to hear." He looks to Randle. "So … your magic, and Wynona's, working together, just might destroy it." He smile lessens a little. "But, wait a moment: a major spell like this, using all you've got for one shot at it, and both of you working together on it … this would require taking some time, wouldn't it? It might try to stop you both, if it figured out what you two were trying to do."

"Mmm … well … yes, there is that risk," Wynona suggests.

Randle realizes his mane is goofed and tries shaking his head out vigorously.

"So," ponders Galen out loud, "there must be a means to distract it, so it won't figure out what you two are doing, and stop you." A moment passes. "I'll try to distract it, then. But how? I don't get the general impression that earth elementals would be the conversational type."

Wynona says, "Well … uhm … what would be the use of having an earth elemental in your bedroom, maybe? Maybe it has some sort of domestic tasks. I mean, all the others had a job of some sort, didn't they?"

Randle says, "Do they clean well? Could it, say, absorb the dust on the floor?""

Wynona nods. "I'm sure it could. That would be easy for an earth elemental."

"And what else could it do, do you all think?" inquires Galen. "Anything that could involve its utilizing its magic abilities, and/or mundane activities as well, I would think. What other services would a bedroom require?"

"Uhm … someone to change the sheets? To bring you breakfast in bed? Uhm … to carry out the dirty laundry?" Wynona guesses. "Well, it couldn't carry things through the floor with its melding, though. Not normally, anyway. There might be some sort of magical exceptions for it to be able to take stuff in and out. Or a chute of some sort."

Randle says, "So the elemental is in the wizard's bedroom?"

"Ahh, now I see," states Galen, brushing his lips lightly with a finger. "Perhaps, even if we don't destroy it, we could either blind it, injure it, or do something that will make it want to meld into the floor. If itimmerses itself completely into the floor, it would have to let go of the gem, now, wouldn't it?"

Randle blinks. "How long does it take to reform, after going through the floor? We only need enough time to find and remove the gem." He looks between the other two. "Do you know where that is yet?"

"Uhm … well, the thing is, if it goes into the floor, it'd take the gem with it," Wynona says. "That's the trick. It's holding the gem."

"Remember, the gem is made of the earth element, too," Wynona adds. "It's a gem."

Galen's smile of triumph dissolves into a frown of disillusionment. He sighs, and lowers his head. "So … how to make it let go of the gem?"

"And, by the way, Randle," adds the healer, glumly, "The gem is being held in the elemental's hands – both hands – and the elemental is currently sitting in a corner, doing nothing, just like a statue. It's very protective of its prize, I'm afraid."

Randle says, "But everything is made of earth? I thought it had to be part of the elemental?" He sips thoughtfully.

Wynona says, "Well … maybe it has some other duties 'programmed' into it. We don't know what duties take priority – sort of like, what with the water elemental being obliged to clean the room. Maybe … uhm … we could trick it into doing something that requires using both hands? I know I'm really reaching here."

Galen rests his head on his forearms, crossed and lain on the table surface. He sighs. "Back to chores … maybe if we could force it to engage in a task that requires two hands to do, so that it will have to let go of the gem while it does the chore. But, what chore qualifies? Folding bedsheets? Sweeping with a broom?"

Wynona blinks, as Galen says about the same thing. "Jinx!" she squeaks, and giggles.

Randle says, "Maybe doing both at once?"

Galen turns his head to Wynona, blinks … then a smile graces his lips. He sits back up, and now looks less forlorn. "So … chores, chores, chores. What chores can we make it do? The bedsheets can probably take care of themselves, methinks. So … what else needs work?"

"Well, maybe we could just brainstorm and ask it to do this or that or the other, and keep it as busy as possible while we watch for an opportunity to take advantage of?" Wynona says with a shrug.

Galen nods at Wynona. "That's not a bad idea." He then looks back to Randle. "As for, 'both at once': perhaps we can divide this all into two plans. Plan A: we ask it to do certain chores (hopefully, it will listen to us, and follow our commands), until we see an opportunity to snatch the gem. If that doesn't work, Plan B: we (I, most likely) will keep distracting it – probably making it do more chores – while you two mages cast the spell that can destroy it." He looks to his two companions. "What do you think?"

Wynona nods. "How about a … uhm … command phrase to let us know when to zot it? Randle's magic is best suited for destruction, so I think I would be best to cast a supportive spell to boost whatever he casts. When I can tell he's casting a spell, I'll know to supply some more power to back it up."

Randle listens, and shrugs. "Sounds good to me."

"But, of course, hopefully we can avoid that," Wynona adds. "One never wants to be around an exploding elemental. It gets ugly. Remember – When it starts to go … run!"

The healer nods to the bat elementalist. "A warning duly noted." He blinks. "You say I should state a 'command phrase'… " He looks to Randle. "Does that mean you can hold your fire-spell, and release it at will, once it's cast?"

"Well, something as simple as 'blast it now!' would do, I'm sure," Wynona says. "If nothing else, just be really really clear about it. I just don't want us to break into a discussion about what to do next, while the thing is trying to maul us, you know?"

Randle nods. "I think I can do that. You know, I never thought of treasure-hunting as an earthy profession, but we seem to be getting to the root of it."

"Good," replies Galen, smiling at the dragon. "Let's see … a 'command phrase', methinks I'll figure out later. But, at least, now, we all have a Strategy. Plan A: try to make it do two-handed chores, and then snatch the gem. Plan B: if A doesn't work, I distract it, while you, Randle, prepare your fire spell. Once your spell is ready, I say the command phrase, you cast, and Wynona casts her air spell to support your fire spell. Then, run our tails off." He pauses. "How's that?"

"Sure," Randle says.

"Okay, good," says Galen to Randle. He looks to Wynona. "And you?"

Wynona grins. "Let's go!"

"Right," grins back Galen. "And, from now on, let's not refer to our elemental opponent as 'elemental', hmm? Methinks a new, appropriate name for him from now on, should be: Mr. Earth … " Then he grins, most maliciously. "Or Dead."