A skin crawling sensation rippled through him as he felt the squirming infestation dig into his paw. It was a price he knew he risked asking to purify such far-gone waters, even coming close to being in contact with them.

"No..." he breathed, staring down to his paw, turning it upward to look at its pads. Rohan closed his eyes, brows knitting together, drawing his magicka to himself. "Cleanse this... cleanse me."

And slowly, the feeling of squirming disease faded.

Close! His eye popped open, opal shimmering with magicka use. So, the fear of contamination was indeed real. If he could balance the use between attempts to purify and keep a safe amount of magicka held back, he could save himself from any future frights.

Inhaling and exhaling, he steadied himself to try again. He flexed his toes against the soft soil, approaching the mucky water. Then, his eye settled on the water with renewed confidence. Yes. Again.

"This is your natural form, Pisces," he called to the water, placing his paw back into the pond. "Be freed of this contamination."

Again, the silt rushed between his toes, worms digging into his skin. He winced at the feeling, reeling away from the water. No! He curled his paw toward his chest, staring down at the pond hotly. Why! Were there such pools so infected that he might not be able to cure them? He growled softly but not in anger. Rohan was frustrated and sad; he would not give up.

He considered: he was already infected, then. It couldn't get worse, could it? Could he try to push through the start of the disease, and purify the ponds? Rohan did not know the nature of the sickness that plagued Pisces and so it would be a risk to try such a thing. He placed his writhing paw gently onto the ground. It might be worth it to try. He could save his Fauna Cleanse for after, instead of trying to heal himself at each small scare.

He kept the infected paw on land, and this time placed his good paw into the muck, grimacing with distaste.

"Purify," he said through his teeth. "Know yourself again, Pisces."

And again the disease attacked him, infiltrating his body and this time with vengeance. It would not be had!

Neither would Rohan. He growled, recoiling from the pond with two infected paws and a disease that was spreading into his body. No, he would not be able to push through it. He would have to cleanse himself.

Rohan closed his eyes again, his magicka weakened. If he could cleanse himself of the disease that was rapidly encroaching on his wellbeing, then he would rest and try again tomorrow. He did not expect for this to be so draining—or rather, he expected the purifications to go more smoothly and with less infections. Rohan underestimated the disease.

Ah, but relief found him. The repeated use of Purify had left him feeling ill as well, but the Fauna Cleanse was not enough to cure both the plague and the magicka side effects. He could already feel his stomach turning now, his body nearly completely drained of all of its energy. Eye opening wearily, his stone was dull and dark.

He would have to return later.

Turning away from the pond with his head screaming and throbbing, he retreated to the Warrens to rest.

— exit Rohan —