Turn the Tides

"Alright, you're good to go. Please do be careful. Next!"

Fern shouts over her shoulder without looking, already busy crafting the next Water Form Potion. She doesn't know how many of them she's made at this point, only that she needs to keep going. She'd temporarily left her post at Ulysses's ranch — with his blessings and encouragement, of course — and set up a small station between Ciryna Coast and Ciryeyah. Here, she's been handing out the potions to land dwellers who want to assist the flooded areas and need a more water-friendly form to do so. Fortunately, as a Nudinym, Fern is already well-equipped, but as a healer, she thinks her skills are best suited here. It's hard work, but important nonetheless. It's also been interesting to see what species each individual turns into and how quickly they take to their new forms. Speaking of which...

"Anybody next?" Fern inquires before turning around.

Ah, a lull in the activity. She puts down the completed Water Form Potion and stretches before kneeling down to take a quick break. She's sure Lythians will start arriving again soon, so she needs all the energy she can get! However, she'd only been sitting for a moment before she hears a rustle behind her. Here we go again. The little healer gets up, dusts herself up, and bends down to pick up the already-prepared potion. She turns around to offer it to the newcomer, only to find no one there.

Huh?

She spins around once more to see the backside of a green Forim descendant with a watery apparition, adorned in sea foliage. At a glance, she thinks it's a Siircio due to its aquatic appearance, but upon closer inspection, she realizes...it's an Igalyph! Huh, it's not every day you see one of their kind above ground, the Nudinym thinks to herself. Even though the ranch where she and Alistair now stay is part of Mausolia, Igalyph sightings are still rare there. She knows most of them to spend their time in the under-continent, so what's one of them doing above ground? Wait, is it heading directly into the water—

"Wait!" Fern exclaims, frantically chasing after it, potion in hand, "Igalyph!" Fortunately, it responds and turns around to face her, half its body already submerged.

"Are you going to help the flood efforts?" Fern asks slowly, hoping it understands commonspeak.

Its hollow eyes stare back at her for a long moment before it nods. Oh, thank the lords. Igalyphs are always so difficult to communicate with.

"Do you need a Water Form?" she continues, offering it the bottle.

This time, she's met with a blank stare. Well, guess its knowledge of commonspeak ends there. She tries anyway.

"It's a potion that turns you into a species that's better suited for underwater environments," the Nudinym explains. "I understand that you're already semiaquatic, but as a healer, I can't in the right mind allow an Igalyph to go off on its own without this support. Most of the others have been ingesting their Water Form Potions, but it should work if I just douse you with it, so here."

Without waiting for its response, she uncorks the bottle and pours the concoction over its head. The Igalyph flicks its receptors as the shimmery liquid drips down its hair, face, and upper body. Fern observes closely, watching the potion seep into the other before nodding.

"Okay, the potion's working, and you'll be transforming soon," the healer dismisses with a wave of her hand. "So you can go."

There's a pregnant pause as it stares back at her, expression unreadable. Fern's not sure what it's waiting for and is about to ask it, but she blinks once and suddenly, the Igalyph is gone. It didn't seem like the brightest individual, but its intentions seem good if that first nod was anything to go by, she ponders as she heads back to her station to refill the potion. I just hope it doesn't hurt itself or anyone else...