[center][h2][color=007236]Let them come.[/color][/h2][/center]

The birth of Princess (and future Queen) Agniya should have been a happy occasion. A time of celebration and jolly festivities. It was but... the oncoming war cast a deep enough shadow to make it a somber, limited affair. Any gathering or celebration was a small, brief thing between family and friends; A toast to the new born leader where villages, towns and cities should have been having a party. 

The sky briefly turning red and refugees fleeing from Brey's former lands told a dark tale; Brey was dead and his murderer and their horde would be continuing the march soon enough. The fact that there had been a betrayal of a diplomatic deal made between the two sides earlier didn't really provoke the sense of outrage within Vatarr that it should have as he paused on his way towards the border between the heartland of his realm and Nodes 22 and 23 to stop by his throne and the Node of the Fungal Marshes. Brey had witnessed the first 'invasion' of his realm and the fact that he had seen the enemy and not instantly deduced that co-existence would not be possible meant that Brey had, in the end, proven to be a fool. 

The mortals of Vex were already in the process of extending their defensive line now that the enemy could come from two nodes rather then just one, but Vatarr felt the need to add his own... personal touch to the defense of his realm. He would be taking a more active role in repelling any invaders of course, but he could only be in so many places at one time and he had a realm to secure... and his skirmish in Node 23 had given him information he was going to make use of to do it.

Placing his hand on the Node, he channeled his strength into it in order to subtly reshape the Fungal Marshes as a region. The change itself was small... but at the same time, affected everything. Every aspect of Node 26, be it air, earth, water or just organic material was infused with and released a chemical compound that was perfectly tailored to destroy the spores that infested the horrors that originally came from Node 18.   

Since the horrors took advantage of all manner of organic creatures to serve in its tide, a solution that purged all organic life in a region already filled with it was not the best solution... so Vatarr had already decided to take advantage of what he had discovered in the creatures in Node 23 to strike directly at the root of the problem and target the means in which the infection animated and controlled its victims. Any creature sent into the Fungal Marshes for any length of time that was infected should have the infection destroyed and be cured of it...

Unfortunately, this alteration required more alterations. The chemical infusion was perfect for killing what it needed to do... but it also had the unfortunate side effect of being toxic to a number of other life forms as well. This was a problem since it was kind of pointless employing this method of defense if everything you were trying to protect died as well. 

The animals and plantlife of the region could be altered in order to survive and thrive in the post changed region: Altering the lungs to better process and filter the air and some minor tweaks to digestion and how the blood deals with the chemical once it enters the system were generally easy enough to do without any [i]major[/i] developments or mutations. Normally he would be against this sort of mass alteration, but since it was in response to a change [i]he[/i] was making to the environment it seemed only fair. It did also mean that they wouldn't exactly be able to [i]leave[/i] the Fungal Marshes without... [i]complications[/i], but that wasn't a major issue. At least not an issue to worry about for the time being.

The real problem was the humans. While some of them had been born in the region, they were not native to Node 26 and thus, couldn't be altered in the same way that the native creatures could be. Granted the change wouldn't be [i]instantly[/i] fatal... but some measures had to be taken all the same because it would take lives otherwise.  

While he did trust the people of Vex to come up with means of surviving until he rested and was able to alter them to be better able to survive the change in the environment, that would take time to do. Thinking of the issue for a few moments, a temporary solution presented itself. Around settlements large and small (as well as along where the defensive wall was currently being manned and constructed, since there were a sizable number of people there) a series of trees and bushes would spring up with dark purple leaves. 

The plants had a fairly pleasant scent, but it was the leaves and berries that were important. If the leaves were placed in water, it would infuse into the water and when drunk, would allow the human body to temporarily be able to process the the new chemical. Eating the berries caused a similar effect. They weren't a counter to the chemical as much as they were designed to allow the human body to deal with it.
It wasn't perfect, but for the moment it was the best he could do and still keep people safe. He trusted that they would figure out other methods of survival as time passed. 

Taking a deep breath, he started his announcement region wide about the changes that had taken place, why they had happened and the properties of the new purple plants in question that had sprung up nearby baring berries.       

[hider=Summery]
Vatarr thinks about the current situation and laments that what should be a happy time is being hindered by war and strife... as well as thinking Brey was an idiot for seeing the invading Hivemind and their creator and thinking that diplomacy was going to work long term.

Stopping on the way to the border to help aid in the coming defense, Vatarr placed his hand on Node 26 and used his might to alter the region. Namely, to make everything in region 26 toxic and deadly to the spores that the Cradle uses to animate and control its infected creatures. This also required altering everything in the region in order to survive the anti Cradle measures... through humans themselves could not be directly altered.

Creating a temporary solution in the form of a type of purple bush that sprouted up around settlements and where there were gatherings of humans whose leaves and berries offered properties that allowed the human body to process the new chemical safely. Trusting the mortals to be smart enough to develop new methods to survive the change until a time when he can alter them to better suit the changes, Vatarr announced region wide what had happened, why it happened and offered the information the people needed.   

[/hider]
  

[hider=Might]
Start: 3

Spend: 3 spent on reforming the biome of Node 26 so that everything is poisonous to the spores that the Cradle uses to infect and control its horrors and thralls... and so everything can survive the chemical introduced to do so. New plants were also added in order to allow the human population to survive the changes as well, since they couldn't be altered.
End: 0 
[/hider]