[System]
Age: 9
Gender: Female
Personality: Outgoing but paranoid, she constantly feels like shes done something wrong. She just wants friends so she jumps at the chance of partner opportunities. She usually just radiate energy, but constantly needs a mentor as shes kinda absentminded and a bit slow if she doesnt devote herself to it like she did her studies. She's also extremely reckless, you will rarely catch her thinking through her actions before she does them.
History: Aries lived to be roughly 14 years old in the old world, she had always been a bit ahead of her peers. However, because of this, she ended up alone. She didn't have a very warm home life either, her mother didn't come home often and she had no siblings nor father. So she grew up quick, cooking her own meals and riding public transportation by herself from a young age. This lead most of her time being spent inside her head and studying, which might be part of the reason why she has always been so far ahead of her peers.

Her death wasn't very pretty, she remembers sitting at a bus stop reading a book right before a bright light nearly blinded her. Her head shot up and the last thing she saw was the bus coming right at her before it all went black.
Sticks
Supernaturally Lucky - Aries has insanely good luck, always seeming to find stuff before others and just barely avoiding death when others would seem it impossible. Dolly herself doesnt seem to realize how lucky she is, just thinking it natural.
• Mental State Manipulation - As a satyr she has the natural ability to influence the state of other beings. Not their emotions per say; she can more so just cause sleepiness, confusion, and even fear in their minds. However, doing this also influences her own inborn paranoia; each time she does so it gets worse.
 • Supernatural Strength As a Satyr she has sheep legs, horns, and ears. Her legs are much stronger than the rest of her body, even as a child. As she grows they may get even more powerful, but at the moment she currently has about the strength of 250lbs packed entirely into her kicks. Though this causes the rest of her body to be unnaturally weak.
 • Fire Weakness As a form of nature spirit, her resistance against fire is extremely low. Fire harms her 5x more than it would injure the average human being.
 • Nature Conjuration She can manipulate the plant life around her aswell as talk to it. The plants must be nearby and she must have seen the plant in addition to asking and get its permission to use a plant she did not grow herself. After she gets stronger she may not have to ask permission, but as she is still rather weak she needs permission to use plant to their full potential.
 • Sheep Form As a Satyr she can quickly transform into a sheep, usually this form is the immediate reaction if she is spooked too much and loses the grasp around herself.
• Passive Charm - She has a weird charm, causing some people to bend to her will. It only affects people weaker than her, at a slightly above or equal power level as her or people who are tired as hell. She however tends to think people who are under her influence have bad intentions, as she is paranoid and unused to people being kind to her.
• Teleportation - She has the ability to teleport, she can only teleport within a 15 meter range and must wait 15s before she can go again. She also must be able to see where she is teleporting.

[User]
Jasmine Carson/Glaive

The snap of ropes, followed by shouting, had been her only clues to the chaos unfolding. But considering Jasmine Carson, an average post college white American, was too busy listening to Dragonforce's Through the Fire and Flames to hear the sounds overhead, those clues were missed. By the time she could have looked up, it was over. The piano slammed into the young woman's body with enough force to send shards of it all over, probably hurting others, and definitely cracking her body to pieces. Mercifully, it killed her on impact, so she didn't have to deal with the horrible pain for more than a split second.

And then, she felt the wind. Or well, felt was the wrong word. There was a sensation of the sound of wind, but she also felt it more "distantly" now. Everything felt partially...disconnected. But then, her eyes shot open, and Jasmine realized what she was hearing was herself falling. Thoughts of why or how she was falling through the air when moments ago she'd been walking through the streets of New York were banished as she felt her body flip over, from looking up at the clouds overhead, towards the...forest below? Or green fields? It didn't matter, instead, a thought flashed through her mind. All those superhero movies she'd watched in college to treat herself after work. Most of the flyers...had a special landing trick? Or when Terminators came to land? At that same moment some of her hair flapped past, and the sight of white hair made her wonder just what the hell was going on. Was this some sort of Marie Antoinette type shit? But the ground was getting closer. At the same time she realized she wasn't the only one around. A dragon falling and grabbing others...eastern she guessed? Odd despite others screaming as they fell, she wasn't screaming.

(...Okay, think fast, and hope this isn't some cosmic joke...) Focusing, Jasmine moved her body more, only now becoming aware that her usual jeans and a t-shirt were gone, replaced by some sort of loose black top, and black leggings. And black...gloves...and weird hot pants? Not her style for sure. But the thoughts were wiped away, as she kept dropping, but feet first, then she bent forward, one hand closing into a fist. And she prayed internally the timing was right...

The impact between Jasmine and ground happened in a flash, as her form slammed into the ground, the surface shattering, cracks rising up as ground was flung around from the sensation of an object striking at terminal velocity. The resulting debris cloud thrown up hid her from view, but amid the falling dirt clods, dust, and plant life, Jasmine let out a groan, and fell over. She had landed just like one of those super heroes, one fist striking the ground to somehow steady herself, but now that she was on the ground? She was just there, on her side, breathing in and out slowly. By the time the cloud of debris had finished its own version of a take off, she was pulling herself back to her feet, feeling even odder than before.

Internally, some part of her felt distant, like she was more a jockey, rather than fully there, and yet, as she found herself gathering her breath, she realized something.

"Okay, that's weird...I'm breathing in and out, but I wasn't even winded when I landed, just in shock..." It was at that point she realized that she felt fine. Running her hands all over that she could reach, she found strange breaks in her skin, often times at places where she would be expected to have like, joints or points to bend forward. It was only then she decided to lift one of those hands, and examined herself. Strange glove like material covering her arm aside, she traced the cracks in her body she could see, and examined her top more closely as able, then looked at her other arm, then leaned forward, examining further down her body.

"Okay...if this is some idea of a joke...its not funny..." If not for the fact she remembered a sudden surge of pain right before...it was then she remembered what must have happened. She must have been kidnapped by Predators! It explained everything! The thought that she was actually in the Predators vs. Aliens universe had her excited, but then reality set in. If that was so, she was going to be hunted...and it didn't explain the clothing change. Or the strange breaks in her body. And then, she recalled the other people, and Jasmine's head whipped around, scanning her surroundings for those shapes. But she wasn't moving from her crater just yet, as if her shock was leaving her rooted in place.

To the others, the Warforged that looked way too human to be chance design, probably looked like it was having some sort of weird stroke as she examined herself, talked to herself, and began basically looking all over. Probably disconcerting. But she was in one piece, and clueless to what was really going on. Hell, she didn't even know what had brought her here...she was just assuming it was some sort of weird variation on the Predator's game plan, or a race like them pulling this...! How dastardly!

[Assistant]
Lin Quan
Given his own less-than-stellar landing, Lin found himself somewhat pleased by the fact that his efforts had not all been for naught—moreso after the little girl who had been hanging off of his face for dear life had finally let go, but pleased nonetheless. The mild soreness that reached throughout his body (which, upon closer inspection, was notably longer than he was used to), coupled with the remarks from the child who had been screaming moments earlier, caused him to glance behind himself.

It was fairly obvious now given that he was no longer falling through the sky, but as far as he could tell, he was a dragon. An Eastern dragon, obviously enough, but a dragon nonetheless.

"Mmm... So it seems," he said, lifting himself off the ground to get a view of the forest around them. "It is quite odd, given that I was most certainly not one minutes ago... What was it that Zhuangzi about whom the analogy of the dreaming butterfly was penned? Well, whatever the case may be, it certainly seems that this is who I am now."

Being lost in his thoughts for a moment (and ignoring, to the best of his ability, the child who was rightfully panicking after being placed into such a situation), Lin Quan calmly shook his head and nodded towards the other girl—one who, by all means, was taking this far better than either of the other two had.

"I would think that skydiving with one in the first place would be something to remember," he replied, a single eyebrow raised as he glanced at the group around them. Small as they were to him now, Lin could only assume that he was the only one not not look in any way human. For better or for worse, that had been their salvation, but as things were now, it was far too inconvenient to attempt to move about again.

As he contemplated the matter to himself, though, Lin's body began to glow, and after a few moments the dragon had been replaced by a young Chinese man with long, black hair and a set of robes. It was altogether particularly convenient for him, and with his arms crossed, Lin nodded in acceptance.

"Hm. Interesting; so I can shift forms at will? Something to remember for the future," he said to himself, nodding before turning towards the three girls in front of him and bowing.

"In any case, before I forget: my name is Lin Quan. Given these odd circumstances, I would like to ask if anyone else had any clue as to what has just transpired, but..." he continued, trailing off before glancing around once more. "Maybe it would be wiser to seek a safer place than the middle of these woods for the moment?"

@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist

[User]
I tried to wipe my eyes. I had to. This was no good, crying in front of these random strangers. And yet I couldn't help it. Was it because I was happy to be alive, even if my body was completely different? Was it from stress? Was it from fear of falling? I didn't know, but I could absolutely feel those tears rolling down my cheeks as I desperately attempted to try and wipe them away. Looking like an actual little girl wasn't helpful at all, was it? Even like this...

And yet...

Ah, I just couldn't stop, could I? My heartbeat was so fast, my small frame shuddering as I sat on the grass, sharply taking air in as I tried to stem the flow of tears.

I couldn't stop tearing up... at least until I looked up.

My eyes were greeted by what could only be called one of the most bizarre things I had ever seen in my life. The dragon had turned into a human. Which... fine, fine. Dragons could do whatever they wanted. When you accepted that dragons existed, you began to believe that they had nearly any abilities that could be ascribed to them. Frankly, it was a lot easier to deal with a dragon in the shape of a human as opposed to a huge serpentine fantasy creature.

No no, what was strange was the doll girl lifting her skirt without even the slightest hesitation.

"... You... what, are you some kind of exhibitionist?" I found myself saying, even as I tried to clear my tears away. This time it seemed to work, possibly due to the sheer absurdity of the situation. "Have some shame..."

I couldn't help it. Who did something like that? Even if they were some sort of living doll. For that matter, why was there a living doll hanging around here? Why did I have a tail? Why was there a dragon? What was with the girl with sheep legs?

I took a deep, shuddering breath, my eyes drifting back down to my body. These delicate, tiny legs... this small body, these thin arms and slight hands... It was so strange. I could feel my body. I could feel that it was me. But the view looking down was so totally different it was almost impossible to comprehend the situation. How had this happened? The last thing I remembered was the truck bearing down at me, then I was in the air.

By this point, all of this was far too real to be a dream.

"... I..."

What did I say? The dragon had introduced himself. He was the reason I was alive. At this point, I felt like I owed him some kind of introduction.

"... M... my name is-" I hesitated. Certainly I had another name, the name I had before being pushed into traffic, but...

"... Ravy."

[Assistant]
Aries chuckled while staring pointedly at the other child, she had to say that was a pretty good comeback. The girl looked around 5 years younger than her, but that didn't mean they couldn't be friends. At least she wouldn't have to be friends with the doll-looking girl who just flashed everyone. She didn't leave much time for her to talk herself down and immediately walked over to the little girl with horns and a tail.

"Little girl? Are you okay? Do you need a tissue?" She reached over into where her bag almost always sat, only to find it missing. At the moment, she didn't find this very surprising. She had goat legs for fucks sake, a missing bag was the least of her worries. "I think I'll have to take back that tissue offer." An awkward smile had made its way onto her face as she spoke.

She would admit, maybe she should have checked what was on her before making any offerings to other people. You couldn't blame her either, she always had the damned bag with her, she never would have thought it disappeared. Aries knew she wouldn't get it back anytime soon, at least not until she figured out what in the world was going on with her legs.

She reached up to scratch her head, only to hit her hand against something hard. "Son of a..!" She muttered a curse as she shook her hand. The whole scene looked rather peculiar coming from a body that looked no older than 10. After the pain dulled she reached up again, feeling around the horn she had hit her hand on. She tried to pull it off, only to be met with a jolt of pain. "Does anyone have a mirror?"

Aries quickly forgot about her previous problem when she heard Ravy speak again, a suddenly realization hit her that nobody would know her old name here. She could become an entirely different person, not like anybody would be able to call her out on it. After a moment, she said the first name that came to mind.

"Aries, my name is Aries. Nice to meet you, Ravy."


[System]
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Personality:
Hiryu is usually tense and silent in nature. Hiryu is known to brood and express himself in sighs or loud exhales of breath, giving the impression he is a typically miserable person. This isn't necessarily true, as these grunts are typically in response to Hiryu witnessing or experiencing something embarrassing and Hiryu doesn't coming across to others as anything less than a badass. He has a fierce sense of duty and looks to honour any bond of kinsman-ship or friendship from the moment they are sealed. That means he will commit to a stranger he just befriended with as much dedication as he would his oldest friend. It is owed to his ability to walk in anyone else's shoes with regards to empathy. It also allows him to mirror same drive or passion for things as his friends do at a whim; if it's important to them, it's important period.

It's no peculiarity for Hiryu to walk in on a scene in the midst of a jog or a training run. Hiryu likes to move and travel by any means but under his own power or from his own effort. He becomes very agitated when he is being escorted no matter the circumstances and will always refuse a lift or to be carried, expressing "I'll walk". This is because he has a grave sense of honour with his profession. When he is called upon to transport, chase or outrun anything, Hiryu will not let the mission got until it is completed and will count it a defeat if he is beaten or stopped from completing it even if he is cheated or given an errand that is impossible to run. He considers himself to be the world's best Transporter - a title he knows few if any would even care to challenge. Hiryu will accept any challenge to his claim by putting his belt on the line in some form of wager and will always be eager to prove himself when his proclamation is questioned.

He has a tendency to act like the chaperone within the group, keeping vigil over others and being the first to take the burden of responsibility without ever actually leading others. He has a secret wish to be a locker-room leader in the guild and to prove himself as a reliable figure within the family of the guild. He wishes to one day be strong enough that his name alone is enough to garner the reverence and safety of others in the guild.

He has acute gynophobia. He will feel uncomfortable around older girls and might squirm if he has to share an intimate embrace or really close quarters with the opposite sex. He will fluster up when in the presence of an older woman he finds really attractive and will visibly be looking down to the ground when facing her so as not to possibly stare inappropriately at any part of her anatomy. He will talk in brief sheepish responses when such a woman tries to interact with him.

He will always try to portray himself and his allies in an impressive light and will constantly recant past events making them sound a lot cooler or bad-ass than they actually were.

Hiryu has a curious reaction to wind. Whenever a breeze or gust is passing over him, he never hides or shields himself from it but embraces it and his eyes dart to try and find its direction.
Appearance:

Hiryu has neither an intimidating height or build for his age, standing at 6'01 and weighing 218lbs. His brown eyes are soft and his lips thin. Overall his face has a rather youthful expression. His eyebrows naturally furrow and are thin. His hair is bronze, medium cut and fairly shaggy. He has a tanned hue and his Golden Dragoon stamp is on his left chest peck. Although his body is not that imposing, Hiryu's legs and abdomen are quite defined due to the regular and rigorous exercise he puts them through. His eyebrows are long and thin allowing him great expression through them.
Hiryu's most distinctive piece of apparel is his thin, sleeveless hoodie. The front of which is white leading starkly into a deep red on the back. The lapel at the bottom tapers from waist length at the front to knee length at the back. Definitive stitches line both this jacking and the thin, form-fitting leather gloves. On the front of the gloves is the Golden Dragoon emblem. Underneath Hiryu wears no shirt but a pair of tracksuit pants, coal-black in colour and what looks like a championship title for a belt. His shoes are of the Derby/Gibson style, but the material and pattern are just like his pants, fit with a white, rubber outline around the heel and attributing crimson red laces.
Championship belt about his waist. He sports a white headband around his forehead.

Magic level: Medium
Type: Caster
Specialization: Kinematic (aka Journey) Motion magic
Style: Melee
Physical mutation: N/A

Spells:

Vajra - By sweeping his sole against the ground, Hiryu will be able to journey through a close radius of space using more than the natural 3 dimensions of space. He will seem to phase out in a blur and phase in again in a new position instantaneously. In actuality, Hiryu is simply walking through space that would be right next to each when mapped in more dimensions, like a drawn stick figure jumping between two points on a folded piece of paper. Hiryu can teleport this way a maximum of 30 paces, either in a sequence of phase jumps or one 30-step phase jump. He cannot change the his orientation momentum by using this technique, there for if he is falling fast face-first then he will still be doing so after using this technique.

Formation A
Hiryu will be able to journey through air by running, giving him an ability similar to the freedom of flight. When he stops running, he will lose this ability and gravity will begin pulling him to the ground.

Formation S
Hiryu will be able to journey through sea/water by running, giving him an ability similar to the freedom of swimming. He will be able to move as freely through and on water as if running on the ground. This does not give him the ability to breath under water, but to move unrestricted while running.

Ouroboros
With Hiryu's foot-based physical attacks, he can shoot a moderate amount of ethereal magic energy in a straight line. If this magic pulse hits something, that thing will be struck as if it was hit by Hiryu's physical attack, effectively sending his physical attacks on journeys through thin air.

Graham
Hiryu can send the impact of one of his kicks on a brief journey across an object he connects with. When his foot or leg connects with a surface, he can make the impact appear on a different part of the surface or body.

Falchion
Hiryu can carry a spell from an ally on a journey towards a target but having the spell initially cast against him. Hiryu's body will glow red, during which he will be unable to use his own spells until he has delivered the spell to another target by touching them (typically with the business end of a kick).

Falchion
Hiryu can carry a spell from an ally on a journey towards a target but having the spell initially cast against him. Hiryu's body will glow red, during which he will be unable to use his own spells until he has delivered the spell to another target by touching them (typically with the business end of a kick).

Cypher
Hiryu can track the journeys of people by hearing of the targets general character and a recent event. To Hiryu, as the story/even is being described, he will see glowing marks in the way of footprints (these are not real). These foot prints will show Hiryu where the person was going and even how fast or if they paused. However, the accuracy of this spell weakens the longer the time gap between the most recent event he's using and the whatever he is trying to track. The footprints will get fainter and also branch off, eventually coming to a point where the footprints are so faint and there are so many trails that all of the ground is painted in invisible crossing footprints. It should be noted, this skill is not a means of track exactly where someone is, but where you would expect to find them. If Hiryu is given a profile of the target and a specific event which would determine where they are trying to go, this spell will not account for any other interactions or events that would change that person's direction or goal until Hiryu is aware of them.

Ragnarok
Hiryu will take a target on a "journey through pain". For this spell to activate, Hiryu must strike the same target in the same place with the same part of his lower body twice without either attack being blocked. They do not have to be immediately after each other, but they must be consecutive. When when Hiryu manages hit the target in this manner, the point of contact will glow in neon-blue and both Hiryu and the target will be frozen momentarily. Similarly, the last 4 successful strikes before that will light in blue on the body of the target. Neon blue mirages of Hiryu will perform the other four hits on the target and the blue markings will explode with ethereal magic pulses. No matter what the physical strikes were, the damage by the exploding pulses will always be the same.

Legion
Hiryu runs into his target roughly 25 times, using the Journey Magic ability to move through space by more than 3 dimensions. As he passes the opponent, he will phase back in front of them to immediately do so again. He will run into the target with kicks and knees. From the outside, it will look like a swarm of Hiryus are phasing into the opponent consecutively.

Equipment: N/A

Title: "Dash-Mage" Vaultare
History: Hiryu was born on the wild plains of Fiore to a travelling clan of gypsies known as the Striders. The Striders Region of Fiore,as free and unpredictably as the wind. Though they could be difficult to track or follow there was always a possibility that the Striders would waft into a nearby town. The Striders skills in travelling made them excellent merchants of transportation. Couriering, escorting, message carrying - The gypsy clan could do it all. The Striders raised their young specifically to envoys, by teaching them forms of motion magic.
Hiryu became the last of his generation of his clan when in his teens, terrorists used the clan to unwittingly ferry suicidal lacrima bombs into a major festival. Hiryu survived the fatal delivery job because he broke a cardinal rule of inspecting the package and realising it was a lacrima bomb and ditching his parcel off in the woods. Unfortunately, he was too slow to warn any of his brethren, and for punishment of breaking clan rules, he was dismembered from the Striders.

In response, Hiryu decided to join a guild to utilise his skills and also claimed himself to be the world's best transporter to taunt his former clan for punishing him essentially for surviving.

[User]
Shadow had pulled his head away, and turn toward her instinctively as soon ass she poked him with her staff.

"Now now, none of that potty mouth here, 'kay?" She spoke sternly, but then let out a few small giggles before outstretching her hand to the new member. "The name's Charlotte! Since you're new, I'll treat you to something to eat and drink here. Unless you'd rather eat rats Mr Putty Tat."

Shadows looked annoyed when she had nagged him, but never the less he took her hand when she offered it. A rules he learn early in his life was keep his head down. In his default form he has strong sense of touch which to feel her purse though his leather hand. It seem calm so he touch her not to harm him. "Actually i rather just...*rumble*" Shadow was cut off but his own stomach which had not had anything to eat this morning. He thought about turning down her offer but he hadn't had a good meal in a while. "Actually yes please." He told her sounding a bit moody. As much ill-trust as he had for human he could sure use help for him, after all she would likely a better reader then him.

Shadow seemed worried about her himself, He was just to hiss at her and extend his craws when she turn the other way, deciding that showing obvious hostility wasn't necessarily. so he decide to take a few steps back from her, pull away from Charlotte, and extend his craws like he earlier plan. His ears and tail pointed upwards showing that he was prepare for a fight with her if she were to become a threat to him, it was clear sign of fear and mistrust.

[Assistant]
the G
Feon smiled at Hiryu she was glad that he had accepted her. "You really shouldn't be so nervous you know. You don't want that loner reputation to get thrown away and replaced with 'the boy who can't talk to girls' do you?" Feon asked him poking fun at him a bit. "Anyways of course I'm ready, just so long as you are." Feon added. "I just hope you have a better sense of direction than I do." Feon added. Feon did have some sense of direction, but it wasn't great and about half the time she would end up in the wrong place. Because of Hiryu constantly avoiding her in the guild she always felt that he didn't like her because of the other side of her personality. But seeing him nervous proved to her that he just had a hard time talking to girls his age.

Hall@Satoshi Kyou
Cinia and Linia took a step back from the girl who had started talking strangely. They found this rather off putting and then turned over to Makoto hoping to get away from the girl. "Having a third in our group is always fun! Sure!" Cinia said with a smile as Linia continued to slowly step away from the strange girl. "I really hope she's house trained." Linia added while looking back at the girl. The paper underwear on her was remove-able but if it got wet it would just fall to pieces.

[User]
Yuni's Change of behavior

"why are you stepping away from me?" Yuni's tone of voice and speech pattern changed when she realized what they were talking about and walked towards the girls and stopped them "if i am perfectly honest... i'm not raised by animals its just that they have been taking care of me for a couple weeks" she started to sound more serious since they were talking about a team and she tends to be more serious when it came to hunting or "missions" in this case "i don't know what my real name is but my animal friends call me Yuni but if you wouldn't mind can i take them with me? they are kinda like the only family i have right now... Considering I lost my real memories" Yuni scratched her head and started to apologize for her strange behavior "hope we get along... Ray and Kanu would love to meet some other humans for sure" she held out her hand "just don't be surprised if you feel a little wind around my body" she said waiting for a handshake

[Assistant] Not really sure on what else to say, Hiryu simply walked away from the situation, beginning to leave the guild hall. He pointed to the door before doing so. Hiryu couldn't remember the last time he walked with a girl anywhere. He wasn't sure if he was expected to slow down to walk side-by-side or take the lead. He knew where he could find the merchant in question. The street the job spoke of was at the south of town. Either way, Hiryu knew it made sense to just make his way there, though along the way he started no conversation with Feon of his own accord. They moved through the market, the shopping nexus of the city to reach the merchant. It seemed particularly busy today with most vendors stocking sweets, candies, teddies, plush toys and balloons. There seemed to be some sort of fair going on today.


[System]
Waldo Maria'Shante Du Blanche
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Animal: Human
Height: 5'10" (178cm)
Hair Color: Walnut Brown
Eye Color: Mocha Brown

Personality:
Boisterous: A loud exuberant man with a constant hunger to be admired. Being a narcissist he absolutely loves talking about himself and showing off his luxurious wealth and power to any who are able to listen.
Collector: Waldo is a collector of all the fine things in life; from paintings and sculptures, to tea-sets and beastkin. He's extremely fond of all things that are his, but in exchange is quite immature and hostile towards those who don't provide him with what he wants.

Background:
Waldo Maria'Shante Du Blanch is a proud nobleman, and is the current sitting head of the prestigious Du Blanche family. Renown amongst his peers as a rambunctious man with a huge appetite, and a lover of the fine arts, he's not quite liked amongst nobility circles, but the amount of political influence he wield combined with the immeasurable wealth he owns makes him a presence which simply can't be ignored.

According to rumours, Waldo was one of the key figures who drafted and supported the idea of Beastkin attending schools. His enthusiasm was so great that he offered himself as both a caretaker and an instructor to the lesser races. Despite his passionate actions, he perceives beastkin to be nothing more than pretty trinkets which would make a fine addition to his personal collection. No one really knows why such a selfishly arrogant man decided to propose equality of beastkin, but those who know him unanimously agree he has ulterior motives.

Kuon

Name: Kuon
Age: 16
Gender: Ambiguous
Animal: Cat (Black)
Height: 5'1" (154cm)
Hair Color: Pitch Black
Eye Color: Bright Gold

Personality:
Discourteous: Sharp tongued and highly critical of everything and anything around them, Kuon has an undeniable tendency to look down on those around them, and has no reservation against making a quick quip to make someone feel foolish or even insignificant. Blatantly frank and uncaring of the consequences of their own words, their only redeeming feature would be their relatively innocent looks, and sense of humor… even if it does come across as mocking and slanderous most of the time.

Competent: Kuon is highly competent in almost anything they attempt; from simple academics to household chores, they proudly boast that there isn't much they can't achieve once they put their mind to something. Unfortunately it usually takes awhie for Kuon to get serious about anything, and like most cats tend to spend their time lazing around unless something absolutely must be done.

Background:
It is not uncommon in Almaston for Beastkin to be owned and traded amongst the wealthier families. In Kuon's case they were the product of two prestigious families wanting to breed their reluctant pets. Though when Kuon was born, neither of the families wanted to adopt the ominous black kitten with an eerie stare. Auctioned off and bought as a kitchenhand for the Du Blanche family, Kuon quickly showed a high aptitude in every task they were assigned, and quickly made their way up the ranks at the young age of eight.

Unfortunately being bossed around by a demanding child wasn't received well by many of the other servants of Du Blanche, and Kuon's relationship with the other servants of Du Blanche quickly became strained to the point they were ostracized from humans and beastkin alike. Despite they're tragic little sob story, Kuon remained largely apathetic to the developments around them. Though the behaviour of their peers, and the irresponsible action of their parents have led Kuon to be quite sour towards fellow beastkin.

Kuon has absolutely no interest in attending the academy as they're quite content with their occupation as a high ranking 'maid' to the Du Blanche family.

Kuon has absolutely no interest in attending the academy, as they perceive equality to be a luxury unworthy of beast-kind. Content with their role in life, Kuon would still be working at Waldo's massive estate had their peers not nominated Kuon to transfer to the Rotting Wheel. While stationed as a servant to the beastkin students, they also serve as the live-in landlord when Waldo isn't present.

[User]
~* Ari, The Big Bad Wolf *~

 The loud growls from the wolfs stomach continued to become painfully obvious, even to the small critters around the woods who had taken up on scattering in all directions when the gray haired youth passed by. With a loud, and an audible sigh, Ari ruffled his hair a bit as the golden orbs looked around once his feet came to a stop. Patting his stomach, the wolf almost soothingly hummed, as he tried to think back to the last proper meal he had indulged himself in, as he remembered the cats lunch from a few days prior. Perhaps Ari should have played it a bit more smart and saved some of it, but after the hard earned work of sneaking off with the meal without the other knowledge, he just couldn't help himself but to gulp it down in almost one go. The thought of the meal got the wolf to salivate, it wasn't often he had actually gotten made food that was still pretty fresh. The last time he had stirred up some teens on a picnic, they freaked out to the extent that sent the food flying everywhere. Despite the taste of dirt, it hadn't tasted all that bad. And of course, stealing the cats lunch was actually one of the petty ways the wolf had tried to scare the other away from his house. His woods, his lake, and his dilapidated human establishment!

 Kicking a rock, the golden orbs watched as the peddle skipped off across the grass, as the youth tried his best to bring his thought out of his daydream of food, picking up on the long strides once again. Though, perhaps the wolfs timing couldn't have been better, as a little white cotton tail came into view just briefly, before darting off into the bushes. Mentally cursing himself for kicking that rock before actually looking around himself, Ari lowered himself down to all four and picked up his pace.

 Ari rose himself up to his toes, as his fingertips dug into the dirt and grime with each and every step, as the growls from his stomach almost instantly came to a stop or were forgotten. Now the predatory golden orbs had only one goal in mind; the white rabbit. The swift movements, as well as the speed only showed the wolf had perhaps spent his entire life in the woods; resulting in the boy being more of a predator then human.

 The chase got the wolfs heart to race, as well as his blood to rush through him, resulting in the wolf grinning and baring his fangs. The thought of sinking his teeth into the white fluffed flesh almost got his stomach to cry out for the meat to meet his lips. The golden orbs tried their best to follow the movement of the white fluff ball that had jumped off just moments ago, but it was almost like the rabbit was toying with him. Taunting him forward, as each time the golden orbs met with the cotton tail, it disappeared once more into the distance. Though perhaps Ari had been right, the rabbit perhaps was heading off to the lake to sedate it's thirst due to them gradually closing in on the clear and cool blue. Then again, the rabbit could also just be running for it´s life.

[Assistant]
Nixie

The one word that was constantly at the front of her mind was a simple, curt, 'unacceptable'. It entered her mind with the recent knowledge that she would be ascending to the surface world to mingle and mix with the grounders, humans and the like, on what was said to be a diplomatic mission. Diplomacy was hardly in Nixie's skillset, which was already a short list to begin with, and her feelings on the people who treated water and those that lived within water as their personal dumping grounds was anything but, well, polite. And yet her hands were tied. Her life of luxury and laze was all but over; though if she was going to survive amongst the paupers and commoners, she would have to get fancy. Creative.

She gave herself a month before the others were catering to her every whim.

The clear blue lake began to bubble and ripple as movement stirred beneath it. Perks of being an aquatic kin was knowing the waterways and routes of travel, just another in a long list of perks Nixie was afforded from birth. On the surface of the lake an ethereally blue head poked up and slowly continued to rise, revealing the royal daughter in all her unpleased glory. Her hands were crossed and her lip was turned downward in a scowl. Her dress had an aquatic sheen to it, and the lace hangings were moving as if they had a mind of their own; being tentacles that was just how they worked. Nixie's feet were bare and were being lifted above water and onto the land by a gathering of jellyfish. The royal treatment to the end.

As she stepped onto the shore, leaving a wet footprint as the pale limb added some dirt and grass before the dirty specks were washed away by her slick skin, she shook her head disapprovingly. "What is this...cold, blowing thing? It is making my dress move out of position. Tut tut...unacceptable." The wind was rather new for the princess and she decided that she hated it. Nixie spoke with an arrogant tone to her lilting voice, as if the tongue itself was offensive to her ears.

"Ah, that must be the supposed intelligent life," Nixie said as her eyes spotted a bounding white rabbit. "Such a small thing, it is a wonder your kind has done such harm to my home. HALT, I say, and answer for you numerous crimes!" Nixie held out her palm and adopted as big an authoritative voice as she could muster.

But the rabbit paid her no mind and continued hopping along, engaging in its far more interesting cat and mouse game.

Being ignored? Strike one. Faster than Nixie expected.

[User]
Several long minutes passed as Waldo loudly continued to praise and admire his new establishment. While the estate wouldn't do much in filling his pockets, primarily due to the almost negligible amount of rent Waldo was charging, the thought of owning his own little doghouse away from home was a thrilling one, and he frankly couldn't wait to acquire his first wild beastkin… err tenant.

Growing impatient as the seconds ticked by, he was startlingly surprised when he turned his head to lock eyes with the amber orbs of what looked like man with freakishly long furred ears. The shape of the Jackrabbit's pupils though indicated quite clearly though that the youth wasn't some escapee from a circus, but one of the many beastkin Waldo had waited countless nights to meet.

"Oh… Ohhhhh~" Waldo exclaimed, his entire body shaking with excitement as he flung his arms out to either side and swiftly waddled his way towards Lapis, acting like a needlessly mirthful uncle meeting his nephew for the first time since birth. "You're finally here!" he shouted, and although his voice was almost threatening, the childishly wide green splitting his face from ear to ear couldn't have been mistaken for someone with the intent to harm.

Fortunately for Lapis though, Waldo's attention was quickly diverted as he noticed a much smaller figure hidden behind the shadow of the Jackrabbit. Unfortunately the fortune that graced the rabbit wouldn't extend to the Nightingale girl, and if human beings could pop with excitement, Waldo would have turned into a bright neon green balloon at the very moment.
Hurriedly brushing aside Lapis, and nearly knocking him over in the process, Waldo swiftly closed in on Yennifer like an enraged hippopotamus ready to swallow its prey whole.

Had Waldo considered any of them to be his equal he would have acted… more like a gentleman, but they were lowly beastkin, and until they graduated they were figuratively part of his collection. "No, no, no, that won't do at all my fair little dove" Waldo stated, stopping so close to Yennifer that a step further would have knocked Yennifer over with his bulging belly. "A precious little damsel such as yourself shan't carry such enormous bags while the Great Waldo draws breath!"

With terrifying strength and vigor he abruptly snatched the large case Yennifer had been holding preciously from her grasp and hurled it in Lapis's general direction. Uncaring of the content as Yennifer was the treasure Waldo had truly been looking forward to. Not even the case being pulled along was spared as that too was violently flung aside, though this time it was Kuon who had silently appeared out of nowhere to prevent the case from being hurled onto the ground.

"You, fine lady remind me of delicate little daffodils swaying gently in the breeze on an open plain. So very beautiful, but also so very fragile. I'm sure you've experienced much hardship in getting here, allow me to-" Waldo started only to cut himself off as another winged 'angel' came unto the scene.

"Ah forgive my hastiness, I hadn't noticed you're fair sister had travelled with you! Fear not my little sunflower for today truly is a marvelously wonderful day" Waldo boomed, his face flushed red not with embarrassment, but purely ecstatic happiness. "Where are my manners though? Pardon me fine queen's, I…" he paused allowing the spotlight of the moment to center in on himself before elaborately continuing "Am the Great Waldo Maria'Shante du Blanche, your humble little benefactor for the upcoming year" he boasted, grinning pridefully as he figured that fact that his name alone would be enough to make them all grovel in his brilliance. And if not. the charitable act of offering them a place to stay surely would.

---

Kuon sighed loudly, as he caught Yennifer's case, and carefully placed it off to the side where Waldo couldn't possibly knock it over. The feline youth apologetically nodded their head towards Yennifer, though whether the white-winged girl could see them or not was doubtful. After all, it wasn't every day beastkin had to endure the threat of a round green whale shoved in their faces.

A decent attendant probably would have tried to attempt damage control… but anyone who'd worked with Waldo for even an hour quickly would realize how futile such an attempt would be. Furthermore Kuon didn't have the patience, nor care to interrupt the bulbous one's childishly arrogant antics.

Allowing they're slightly narrowed eyes to gaze over the group that had quickly assembled, Kuon's golden orbs were immediately drawn; not by the flaming red hair, nor the two winged girls who Waldo might as well have been sexually harassing. It wasn't even the mountainous monstrosity that towered over Lapis that made Kuon silently scoot over with curiousity… though admittedly the latter was the one Kuon approached.

"This is the animal farm you'll be staying at, yes… though… will he be staying with us as well?" Kuon asked monotonously, they're expression giving away neither excitement nor disapproval, as they gazed calmly up at Ozzy to indicate they were being spoken to. The question might have seemed puzzling to any other, but even if Ozzy himself was baffled by the question, the constant flicker of Kuon's eyes towards the stuffed white animal Ozzy had brought with him hopefully explained things clearly enough for the other.


[System]
Age: 21

Gender: Female

Appearance:

Abilities:
Luna is one of the strongest warriors from her family. Part of that comes from her unwavering training in her youth and part is from an inherited power in her lineage. Long ago, a dying Elder Beast made her family, so long as they were honorable warriors, inherit the remnants of her strength throughout their line. It was an Elder Beast of Light and Honor, or so the stories told. Out of her two elder brothers, her and a younger brother and sister, it appeared as though she were the one to inherit most of the generations power though the family's heir was close behind her.

For that, she is able to use a variety of Light based Magics. Healing and creating weapons from that light based magic, hence the family name, as well coating her weapon with light energy to strengthen it (though this can become taxing). She also can create damaging beams of light from her hands that damage opponents. Among other things, of course.

In addition to her family's boon from an Elder Beast, there were stories that far before the Lightswords were even called such, they had mixings with giants and have a very small amount of giant blood in their veins. There isn't much to it. They have a small affinity for the giant's relation to fire which gives them a resistance to the cold. Luna won't be jumping in a freezing ocean but she can more easily resist the cold winds of the north. Their strength is also increased a small bit thanks to their giant ancestors.

History:
A long time ago, to the cold north, the Lightsword family was not known as such. It was a clan of warriors with no such name. Then one day, Lucilia, an Elder Beast, took them under her wing. She saw their honor in combat and taught them and blessed them with her power. From that day, the clan was blessed with Light Magic. They fought with Lucilia for years until one day, she lost in battle and was put on her death bed. As she lay, she told the clan that they would continue to receive her blessing in their lineage so long as they stayed honorable warriors. The clan wholeheartedly agreed and had their entire line blessed and given the name, Lightsword. So the story goes, skipping over a couple of specifics. Still, Lunalel goes by this story, proud of it. If one asked her to recite the tale, no matter how many times, she definitely wouldn't mind sharing it. She could recite the majority of the tale perfectly since even before she could hold a blade properly though that was earlier than a normal child, given the family's heritage. And when she could hold the blade, she trained with it the rest of her life, becoming one of the best swordsmen or women of her generation in Lightsword territory. After a time, she went on active patrols with the soldiers. They would patrol the land and made sure that there was no threat of robbers, brigands, bandits, monsters and many other things. From there she received a reputation of being fairly well liked among the soldiers for a couple of things. They trusted her strength and endurance, such as when she made every grown man seem like a small child when she won a drinking contest against some of the best!

In recent days, Lunalel was with a number of soldiers in a small patrol. While on patrol, they were beset by a large pack of feral, starving beasts. While they would be able to slay a number of the beasts on their own, there were too many of them as they were being surrounded. Some beasts lunged and were quickly dispatched by the squad as they started to back up trying to not get fully surrounded and soon they made a break for it. They knew the location of a chokepoint nearby so they could prevent being surrounded on all sides.

As they retreated, the beasts were on their heels trying to maul or bite them only to receive spear thrusts or sword swipes. One soldier was about to be pounced on by the beast! Quickly, Luna aimed her hand at the oncoming beast and shot it with a beam of light powerful enough to kill it's frail being. Soon, the group arrived in a cave, as defensible as one could get against beasts like this. They set up a position ready to strike down any beast that enters. Soon, a pile of haggard and starving corpses lay at their feet but there was no sign of them stopping. They wondered what could possibly push such beasts to attack without regard but there was little time to discuss it before they had to defend themselves. Soon, however, a loud crackle was heard outside the cave and a figure appeared before them…

The figure, a woman, then asked them if they belong to the Lightsword house, to which of course, Lunalel smiled and admitted that she was the first daughter of Lord Lightsword before thanking her for saving them. From there, she led the woman to the castle. Where she introduced the woman and reported the attack. The woman needed to talk to her father about something and he dismissed everyone in attendance aside his Heir. Sometime later that day, her Father came to her and told her that she had a month to get ready for she had somewhere to go for him.

Anything else:
-Has a High Tolerance for Alcohol. Particularly likes the taste of mead.
-Her family has her mother and father (though apparently she takes more after her father), her two elder brothers, a younger brother and a younger sister and many extended relatives aside.
-Insists others call her Luna, rather than Lunalel, if they're friends.
-Gets flustered if a woman starts to hit on her.

[User]
"I-idiot!"

Sleeping face? Fio hadn't thought about that, but the Queen had totally gotten to see how she looked while she was asleep! Her cheeks reddened immediately, her small hands clenched into fists at her sides as she silently fumed for a moment, glaring at the Queen.

But it was clear something was a little off. The normally cheerful Sorcha didn't quite seem so upbeat as usual. That wistful stare out into the mountains wasn't like her, and although she'd teased the Sword Witch, at the same time she seemed rather melancholy. It wasn't the useful unbecoming royal she had become familiar with.

She hesitated for a few moments, before inhaling deeply and approaching.

"I joined your court in order to learn, so it's only natural I'd want to hear a story like that," the petite girl replied as she took a seat beside the Queen, brushing her hair back as she did, "It'd be foolish to think I'd pass up such an opportunity."

It simply wasn't something she could ever ignore.

[Assistant]
They're tougher than before...

As Niall noticed this, his tactic switched. Taking them down for good was not necessarily the tactic, and he began simply dodging, parrying and pushing them out of the way with hilt hits, kick and shoving if he could not lands a decisive blow instead. This allowed him to make progress and soon the two had reached the gate.

As the Tuatha began his ascent, Niall did not know what to think. His absence left the Knigth in a precarious position having to fend off this many enemies and they were closing in. With no other choice, Niall called forth the powers in his enchanted Lance yet again but to another extent this time. Seemingly coming out of the Lance's bit where the metal met the shaft, a black mist began leaking and rapidly expanding until Niall and his would be attackers were completely engulfed. From the outside, it literally looked like a mist descended on the area but it was dark and impossible to see through. From inside, it looked as if clouds suddenly covered the moon and they were in the pitch black of night. It did absorb light to a certain extent by any torches or light magic could help enemies see even in this magical darkness. Niall, as for him, had his enhanced vision and yet remained on the defensive for now. If anyone came forward to attack him, he would counter but otherwise was only playing for time.

"Whatever you seem to be doing, do it now friend before we are completely surrounded !"

[User]
Dragonspotting

---

Marduk was quite annoyed with the situation, all things considered. From who he was forced to work with to who they needed to free, Marduk knew for sure he was dishonoring his ancestors in some way. He kept it in the back of his mind for now, however, as they had a bigger foe to take care of. Indeed, they still needed to figure out how to deal with the dragon.

The fortification could serve as a potential point for them to fight the beast at. The primary concern was the civilians also all being here. Given the destructive capabilities of the dragon's attacks, it's likely they'll be risking more lives luring it to the fort than just going after it on their own. At the same time, they were a man short if they wanted to fight the dragon on their own. They needed to break that Fomorian-corrupted woman out if they wanted a chance at that, but at that point, fighting the beast on their own was moot.

"Luring it here is stupid, unless you don't mind the blood of those kids we saved on your hands. Would prove me right of your ilk if you really want to go with that plan, at least." Marduk began, heavy with his words as usual. "The two of us killing the dragon also is a fool's errand. Sure, we have a weapon that may help us fight that beast, but we're also a man down. We also don't have that Harzel knight with his fancy water tricks to help us.

"Unless you want to be responsible for more innocent lives lost, the better plan would be to focus on breaking your cursed 'knightess' out. One of us could start a distraction while the other sneaks in to break her out in the chaos. After all, the knights of the fort are definitely on edge. If all their focus is directed at one direction, they surely won't be focusing on guarding some prisoner if they're called to battle.

"Alternatively, we can just talk to 'em again. Seems like it worked the last time, and we do have a few others in there that recognize us. I spotted that Harzel brat alongside the two actual brats. They could make a good case for us. If they don't, we can just cause a ruckus and go with the other plan."

[Assistant]
"I didn't mean lure the dragon in while the refugees are there," Ethelred replied, audibly irritated at the elf's biting words. "Nor did I mean catching the soldiers unaware and unprepared. I suppose I misspoke before, but I meant cooperating with the local knights and garrison to take it down, giving them time to prepare and move the non-combatants to safety. Assuming, of course, they'd agree." He paused to compose himself, then continued.

He's right about fighting the dragon, if it was just the two of us, it might be a difficult fight. Considering how the last battle went, I'd might as well be fighting the dragon by myself. Ethelred had to bite his lip to not say that aloud. He knew he was downplaying the elf's role in the battle, but he was still quite irritated.

"As for breaking her out, it could be done, but while a big enough distraction might divert their attention long enough for you to get into the fort, it wouldn't hold their attention long enough for you to figure out where she his, get in, free her, and get out without being seen by the now-alert guards. There's too much that can go wrong." Besides, he was under orders to not cause a major diplomatic incident with Harzelslack, and angering an entire fort might do that.

"But..." he said, pausing again and contemplating, now calmed down somewhat. "Lonan did say that he needed to plan how to deal with the wyvern, and told us we were welcome to help. Yes...I think talking to them like you said is our best bet. If we can convince Grainne or Lonan to let us in the fort, we'd be able to look around and wait for an opportunity to break her out stealthily, while also giving us the option to cooperate with the Harzel forces in dealing with the dragon."

Ethelred rode ahead, making himself known as he approached Grainne's procession.

"Greetings, Lady Grainne, was it?" he asked, not entirely sure what her noble title was. "I am looking for Sir Lonan, to provide him further assistance in dealing with the dragon. Might I find him at the fort?"

He wasn't particularly excited to be dealing with Grainne, from what he had observed, she was a rather abrasive person, and Lonan wasn't around to rebuke her.

Chulainn

[User]
"Father let you come?" Luna said, questioning it a small bit. Soon enough, however, it was followed by a small smile. "Hah. That dear Father of mine. I am rather glad to see you as well, Sucaria." Luna said, leaning on her maid a small bit. "But yes, I would appreciate if you could guide my way." The Knightess said, as she went along with the maid.

She was mostly silent on the way there, aside a sneeze and a small cough. After they arrived, it finally dawned on Luna that they were definitely not in the barracks, though how it didn't dawn on her prior confused her a small bit. Perhaps she was more than a little tipsy after all. Still, she didn't say no. With no doubt would she not find a way to get to the barracks on her own so this much was fine for now. It was fine though. She was content to fall asleep here... At least, that's how it was suppose to be.

Instead, she found that she was being undressed by her maid. If she wasn't already a slight bit red from the drink, it would be showing now as Sucaria began to remove parts of her armor. "Ah.. Ah! S-sucaria..." She grabbed her maid's hand. "There's no need to assist me for a bath. I can handle it fine." Luna mentioned as she brought the back of the maid's hand to her lips again, kissed it and lowered it whilst still holding it. As she lowered Sucaria's hand though, she made a small stumble with her foot but caught herself. Realistically, she probably couldn't handle herself very well.


[System]
"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him. Me? I've built a whole house with the bloody things."
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Equipment/Possessions: Formal Wear, Jeweled Dagger, House Mnemon Official Seal and Documentation, Two Belt Pouches, Resealable Inkwell, Fountain Pen, Blank Book
-Pouch 1 Contents: 1kg of Bloodberry Trail Mix, and an extra 0.5kg of dried berries.
-Pouch 2 Contents: Money (2 Koku, 6 Quian, 4 Siu, 7 Yen), Magnifying Glass, and a "Lucky Rock"

Personality: Fergus enjoys life and loves the lifestyle his profession allows him to live. As a barrister (lawyer), he makes a significant sum of jade scrip compared to most. He does show it off from time to time by buying drinks for the whole tavern, buying expensive gifts, and indulging in his expensive snacking habits. He's a bit abrasive to poorer folks, as a result. But he does try to limit that. After all, a barrister can always use more future clients. Er... I mean friends.

Backstory/History: Son of a barrister and a midwife of Dynastic House Mnemon, Fergus was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Lord's Crossing was far inland on the Blessed Isle, and thus safe from the vast majority of the fighting from the Scarlet War. Even the civil conflicts of the Dynastic Houses were minimal there before the war, due to the Imperial City being the center of government at the time. What little fighting that did occur in Lord's Crossing was quickly quashed by House Mnemon's forces stationed there.

Fergus himself had an enjoyable later childhood after the war concluded. He even followed in his father's footsteps and went to finishing school to become a barrister for House Mnemon. His marks were acceptable, his demeanor was as expected of a notable and wealthy young man from a Dynastic family. At the age of twenty-two, Fergus was certified as a legal representative of House Mnemon. Both he and his father were incredibly proud, and he began working in Lord's Crossing with his family. Times were good for a year or so. Then he took a case for a soldier from his noble house, and that changed.

The soldier had been accused of aggravated robbery and murder, and Fergus was assigned to defend the man. Much to most people's surprise, he won the case. A big payday from the Mnemon coffers, and another win on his case record. However, the victim's family was also of substantial wealth thanks to being members of House Cathak. They decided to take matters into their own hands, and target the soldier and the family of barristers who had won him his freedom. Thankfully, they targeted the soldier first. As soon as the man was found executed a week after the case was settled, Fergus surmised what was going on. Noble houses were not usually nice when they felt justice had escaped them, after all.

His father suggested they part ways for a time and leave Lord's Crossing. Given that a barrister for House Mnemon could find work practically anywhere on the Isle, Fergus agreed. Even if he did not immediately find work, he had plenty of money to float himself for a while. However, the day he was to leave for Pasiap's Stair, Fergus got the news his father had been murdered. By this point, House Cathak had disowned the offenders and were trying to stop them from doing more damage to the houses reputation. It was little comfort to Fergus, however. He knew he would be next.

In hopes it would throw off his would-be killers, he kept his travel date to Pasiap's Stair. Instead of going there by carriage, he had called in a favor to a merchant friend and would be tagging along on a trip to the imperial Ruins. Thankfully, this seemed to successfully throw off the killers. As it is now a year after his father's death, and Fergus is now living very comfortably in the Imperial Ruins. He does keep in touch with his mother now and then by sending messages with merchants, but is otherwise completely on his own. No worries, though. While he does not make near as much as he did in Lord's Crossing, he still makes plenty enough to enjoy a lavish lifestyle compared to most residents. His home even has a hearthstone that provides running water!

Unfortunately for him, this too would soon change...

Other: Fergus has a slight addiction (he can stop anytime he wants, Karen... he just doesn't want to stop right now) to Bloodberries. They are relatively expensive (1 Quian for 0.5kg), so he has taken to drying them and mixing them with little crackers and nuts to make a sort of trail mix with them to make them last longer and save money.

[User]
Cilia Cosgair

---

Link to Cilia's Sheet

---

With a little whimper, Cilia trudged on with the group. As they walked she approached Fergus. From her body language that she was unsure about herself and wanted to ask him something important. Each time she would chicken out and fall back a little. She was afraid of what he might say. The internal conversation in her head, was fierce. Why did she care what a noble thought of her? When things calmed down, he would be in a fine house. She would be who knows where. Wasn't survival more important then taking people's stuff?

"I didn't want to steal that stuff, but we needed it," she said loudly. It gushed out of her as her mind was trying to reconcile what it was thinking. The thought was like a stone in her shoe, poking at her.

Butterflies danced in the air and landed on the wild flowers. She envied the simplicity of their dance. It lightened her heart to think that all life was not lost. Some even could dance on the breeze. So she followed on.

[Assistant]
丂刀のW 丂ｱﾑ尺尺のW

Snow was on his hands and knees for a while though eventually he did look back towards the smoke and the death. So far away. He pulled himself up and simply watched the smoke and the fire for a moment. He let the sweat fall from his face, his body screaming from the exertion, but pain was replaced with sorrow. A profound sadness that seemed to hit him and hit him hard. He sat up to a kneeling position. He closed his eyes, he felt his eyes water as he watched the carnage, now so far, too close. A bit of wind picked up the stray hairs from his face.

He closed his eyes. The Immaculates had words for those who have died, and indeed even monks do. Snow had said it many times on the Threshold, and he would say it again for each of his friends, the people he helped, those that had life until something awful had taken them. "Let go of this life. A greater one awaits. May you walk with the Dragons." It felt like... a lie now.

He whispered other Immaculate prayers, before Cilia interrupted him. The woman had taken steps to ensure their survival. He tunnel visioned before, seeing her stumble, but now she is holding other things. She did all this with barely a word, her actions and her eyes speaking volumes. He eyed her, a tear on his cheek that he wiped away. He forced a soft smile to her which quickly faded. He was so selfish! He thought he would have nothing to offer, save hopeless useless words. He gave a quick check to her, legs, torso, then his companions, Axley was nearly collapsed, Fergus pulling himself together. He sighed relieved before taking the skin and returning with a warm reassurng smile, though there was no reason too. "Thank you Cilia. I'm happy you're with us. You're more a survivor then I am. We'll need your skills." The water was luke warm, but it might as well come down from a glacier for how it felt. He accepted the jerky and berries as well.

When Cilia shouted. "Cilia has the right way of things. We are now fighting for our lives. If we find something useful. Let's take it. We'll warn the living, and borrow from the dead." He stood up when Fergus did, though his body ached, his breath short. "Food, water, and when we cannot see smoke, shelter. And, horses, wagons. Anything that could let us rest on the move. Thankfully I have my salt, and I have a healing kit." He tried to offer. "Of course, lets not get hurt so we wont have to use it." The salt was for any ghosts that the enemy may employ. He forced himself to the group and then offered Axley a hand-

And just then, there was a bellow echoing in the distance, and three lights in the sky. Its hard to guess... its hard to see but through shielded eyes a mountain was moving... and not towards them. "They.... they're going the opposite way?" His kingdom for a spy glass. He wanted to know more but the moment the group walked, so would he.

[User]
"... ve my leave to do as you see fit until then, but i STRONGLY suggest that you do not venture inland. In any case, that was exemplary work today, my dear. I will let you know when we have prepared for the next step." Mask of Winters shook his head after ceasing his communication with Cackling Harlot. He was growing tired of constantly praising her, but it seemed to ensure she always lived up to his expectations. He would continue to pat her on the back, though it was his opinion that a deathknight should not need praise to perform their duties. Regardless, he had now fired the first shot in this war to decide the fate of the Blessed Isle. No doubt the leaders of the Isle would try to answer with similar ferocity. It was time to show them that they had no chance of matching the military might he had amassed since the previous war.

Cackling Harlot was ecstatic, as she was every time her master praised her. She was leaving the Imperial Ruins as well, moving to the n. She may have free reign for now, but all she wished to do was to stick to the plan. And so she and the forces at her command would head to the next staging point ahead of Mask of Winters. This campaign MUST succeed." she thought as she pressed onward. Her thoughts then momentarily drifted to the losses that both sides would no doubt take throughout this... war. She hated calling it that, but that would be how it was remembered. Gritting her teeth at the thoughts and shaking her head a few times, Cackling Harlot steeled herself once again. This HAD to be done. Not just for the sake of her master, but for the sake of all that was left in the world.

===============================================

Fergus initially handwaved Cilia's exclamation and said "It's not like I'm going to sue you. The dead don't pay me enough for that, you know?" in an attempt to defuse tensions with humor. But as time passed and the group moved further away from the city, he had the niggling feeling that his humor was neither well-timed nor welcome. They had just escaped a hellish situation, and he was cracking wise? Poor form, to say the least. While they trudged onward, the barrister's mind was occupied with thoughts of how to make it up to the group. His level of distraction got the better of him a few times. Stumbling over a tree root or rock, getting slapped in the face by a branch, and eating from the wrong pouch at his belt... and finding a small reddish-brown rock in his mouth rather than a handful of his snack mix.

Right. That damned rock. Every time he got rid of it, the thing came back somehow. No matter. The mishap did make Fergus chuckle and absent-mindedly say "Stupid rock. You must see something in me that I don't see in myself, huh? Otherwise you'd have scarpered ages ago." as he put it back in his pocket. He did have to admit that its presence was a small comfort, though. In a world that was once again on going to war, very little was certain. Yet some things continued on as if nothing was amiss. Even things as seemingly as insignificant as a little rock always coming back to a now nervous wreck of a Mnemon barrister.

Maybe the rock WAS lucky. Moments after Fergus finished his little chat with the inanimate object, the group happened upon a creek that flowed lazily along. It was not deep, but had no large trees nearby to impede visibility at its banks, and a steep cliff to the south that would impede attacks from that direction. All in all, a fairly secure place to rest and mend their bodies for a few hours. By now, they were a good distance from the city... so pursuit had likely tapered off. Especially if Snow had been right about seeing the Juggernaut moving away from the city and toward the sea once more. While he had no clue why that would be the case, Fergus decided to take it as a blessing. Maybe the Deathlord's army had overtaxed itself and was falling back? If so, that would give them even more time to alert the leaders in Lord's Crossing.

If only that were the case...

===============================================

The sun was setting behind the hillside to the west of the camp when it happened. Fergus was tending the small fire they had lit to ward off the chill of the approaching night. He might even have said it was a tranquil and beautiful evening, had the morning and afternoon not been so terrible and violent. But the horrors visited upon the Imperial City were not done. Barely visible now was the outskirts of the Imperial Ruins, but what now befell the city was plain to see. No. In fact, the sunset almost seemed to HIGHLIGHT it. A strange purple-black dome seemed to appear in the city. It grew... and grew.., and grew. Initially, Fergus watched it silently as if he were hypnotized. As its edge crept closer and closer to their makeshift camp, though? That was when he snapped out of it and simply fell to his knees to meet what he expected was the end.

The sound of the apparent explosion now reached their camp. It was not typical, however. It was deafeningly loud and simultaneously barely perceptible. A sound just on the edge of hearing, yet one that was impossible to ignore. Cries of agony. Pleas of mercy. Tears of anguish. The sound was all of these things, yet none of them.

Just as quickly as the dome appeared, its growth ceased. Seconds later, the sickly thing had dissipated almost entirely; leaving a strange purple hue on the visible horizon that complimented the colors of the evening sky in a hauntingly beautiful way.

Fergus rose to his feet, unsure of what he had just witnessed. Chances were good that he shared that confusion with the others, but he had to ask, even if it was to no one in particular. "By all the dragons... what was that?" He knew only three things about it for certain. One: That it could not be good, if the sound it made was anything to go by. Two: That it was probably something he could blame on the Juggernaut and its masters. Three: It was something he would never forget.


[System]
Species : Elf
Gender : Female
Age : 54
Height : 175

Jazdia is a tall elven woman with a pale complexion, blue eyes, and long, waist-length platinum blonde hair that she often let untied. Elves are all born beautiful and Jazdia was no exception. Her attractiveness is often described as an eternal winter barely touched by the sun's embrace. But that's just another way for the gentlemen to adore her face that seemed to always sport a perpetual frown. At least that's original.

Former leader of a peacekeeping organization, Jazdia understands it would be in her best interest to omit such details from her MO. Not that she is a wanted criminal or anything; she ended her tenure on a relatively high note actually. The thing about working as law enforcement is you will have no shortage of old enemies who would persistently try to even the scales with you even after retirement, and Jazdia does not wish to be tangled with such... nuisances.

So now, she is just Jazdia. An adventurer, restaurateur, and tea connoisseur. Yeah, just put that in her business card.

Traits and spells:

-Blood Phobia (passive)
Taking damage would result in lower combat efficiency. Jazdia will start sweating, having a shaky aim and blurred vision. At a certain threshold, her Ultravision cannot be activated.
-Curse of the crimson flame (passive)
Resting near any fire or under the sun would slowly regenerate her power and heal her wounds. However, any healing magic cast on her would instead deal damage.

-Arrow Enchantment.
Channels magic into her arrow. Can only use one type of arrow in a single turn. Has three flavors:
A. Crystal Arrows.
Glorified fireworks with an equally destructive explosion contained inside. Can be programmed to either explode upon impact, delayed, or remote detonation.
B. Crystal Arrows
Non Explosive variants, but hot as hell it pierces through plates and mails like a hot knife through butter. Armor Piercing, nuff said.

-Counter
Any close-range attack will be answered with heavy retribution. Figuratively speaking, sometimes this extended to the non-combat situation. Proceed with caution.

-Ultravision
Channeling magic to enhance her vision, Jazdia can see pass through solid objects and magical manipulation such as illusion and darkness. Imposes varying degrees of strain on her body depending on the area covered and elapsed duration. Prolonged abuse of this skill might result in myopia and gradual blindness.

-Vengeance
At this point, taking heavy damage would no longer weaken her. Now she is faster and deadlier and angrier. The third flavor of her enchanted arrows unlocked:
C. Poison arrows. Deals heavy damage over time. The enemy killed by this arrow will have their body burst into a swarm of black lepidopteran that attacks nearby hostiles until either they or the caster died, or the effect expires. At the end of its fleeting lifespan, the insect will return to the caster and heals her wounds. Has 3 days of cooldown.

Equipment
-Lurea
A recurve black bow adorned with gold and silver linings on its limbs. Has an absurdly light draw weight of 44 pounds.
-Maugrim
A long knife with ivory handle and elven runes inscribed on its blade.
-Medium-sized satchel bag
A plain-looking bag that doesn't seem too out of fashion despite being designed with function in mind.
-Pocket watch
A momento from her father. Well maintained and functioning properly.
-Medikit
Generic first aid kit.

[User]
[GM Post]

"Whispers?" The baron's brows raised before scrunching together, trying to figure out what's going on there. He... couldn't figure it out. It's vague enough that he felt like it's an illusion born of his own mind. Well, whatever. He didn't know what Asevor's planning so he'll just go with the flow. "I'm not really sure. I couldn't tell if I'm actually hearing something or my mind made it up after you said so."

He shrugged, returning to the conversation at hand as Sir Jurgen insisted strongly to.

"I..." For a moment there Otto's brain traitorously whispered for him to tell the truth. Then self-preservation kicked in and he returned to his usual gear, cursing at how deceptive one's own mind could be. "I'm afraid I hadn't got another guest aside from Mister Aster recently. That was very specific details though? Where did you get the information?"

Right at that moment, the whispers seemed to abandon all pretense as it intensified. As if leading a prey by the nose before springing an ambush, those who intently listened was assaulted with a cacophony before a strong wave of drowsiness washed over them. Solomon and Veronica, being undead, was immune to the effect. Jazdia and Matilda both didn't even paid it any attention and only heard something akin to a low-volume scream before it abruptly cut off, as paradoxical as it was. The baron's head listed off to the side, out like a particularly thick log. Chounan, Yvonne, and Reinhold almost simultaneously faceplanted on their plate, no different than the baron himself. The sight repeated all over the room, crash and clang of cutleries and whatnot echoing as most of the servants also seemed to be knocked right out.

A creak and dull thud marked the exit closing, followed by a telltale heavy clicking of the locking mechanism. Meanwhile, Jazdia's piercing gaze would spot a large movement as the men on the third floor marched down the stairs, with one particularly large specimen bounding his way down much faster than the methodical march of the rest of the group.

A lone man in the second floor carefully closed a wooden box, the whispers seemingly ceased at the exact moment the lid went shut. Then he strolled to the stairs, behind the large man but ahead of the soldiers.

So much for a peaceful breakfast, eh? Perhaps the sleepyheads can be shaken awake before they missed the party.

[Assistant]
The bear's head swam, shapes distorted, and the whispers became a deafening cacophony from everywhere and nowhere at once.

Mere moments later, he awoke with a start face-down in the fancy oatmeal he had been served. Lightly salted with butter and honey, with crunchy streusel and black currant jam on top. It had invaded his mouth and nostrils, and had his entire face coated up to his ears, where he had fallen in face first. 500lbs of bear, fallen in, face first.

The table setting was in shambles where the cereal had slopped over the sides from the sudden ursine addition, and plates and cutlery had gone airborne after being catapulted by his left arm slamming down limp on the table beside it.

A section of wall behind bore the remains of a platter of over-easy eggs, their yellow yolks oozing down the plastered edifice, while the nearby tray of thick cut bacon was completely unharmed.

"GUH! NO NONONONO!" Bellowed the bear amid bubbles and a spray of oatmeal, as he fumbled blindly on the table for something to wash the offensive comestibles from his maw and visage. Blindly, he grabbed a ewer at random, and poured the contents, before roaring louder, and much more bear like, as a bright red fruit punch doused him, staining his face bright pink and leaving a terrible mess.

"Guhaaa! NOOOO I' BURNS!" [Roar]

He quickly stood away from the table in a blind stumble, sending the bench backward with a loud scrape, and the table forward with a jostle andvratyle of plates and glasses.

He repeated the desperate, blind clamor at the table, this time successfully obtaining the serving ewer full of water, then vigorously and grotesquely washing his face and mouth out in the poured stream, before ending with a disgustingly strong exhalation through his nostrils that sent trapped oatmeal out in a viscous spray, followed abruptly by a vigorous headshake that sent saliva chasing it afterward in the air.

The horrible spectacle ended just as abruptly, leaving a snot nosed bear with red eyes and stained facial fur boggling and trying hard to remember what the hell had just happened.

Blinking behind very irritated eyes that had just moments before been subjected to a wash with what smelled and tasted like elderberry wine, he examined the toom. The elf woman was looking at him in stark horror, while the sedate doctor solomon merely wiped strewn spittle from the side of his forehead with an amused smirk. Veronica's eyes were glittering black pits, in a stony marble face, festooned with what was probably once oatmeal.

He looked around the table quickly, noting several others face down on their plates.

'So it werent just me' he mused to himself, while still fighting back the panic of near drowning, and resuming the visceral battle of will to avoid returning face down onto the breakfast table.

"Wadda hells jus' happen!?" he bellowed. "I's been tryin' ta FUGGIN AVOID goin's all face-daown in muh damn dinner, an sum sunsabitch goes an' plunks me innit anuhways!? I'll KEEL im! ... ... I gots it up muh damn nose!"

"We noticed."

Veronica's cold deadpan tone could have shattered every goblet at the table.

[User]
Jazdia was so damned sure the food wasn't spiked she could literally bring it to her restaurant and it would pass quality control by Anderson himself. So what gives? Either the Baron knew their MOs and deliberately set up the serving. She looked up, the danger was closing in, but as her sight descended back to the current room he saw a wizard incanting some spell from a wooden box on the second floor. So either spiked or the place was filled with paralyzing hexes.

The big guy started to collapse, but then struggle to shake it off, causing a ruckus on the table and even more when he bellowed before attempting to wash off the mess from his muzzle, which caused even more clamor.

At this point, between the host and the guest, whoever violated the sacred hospitality was no longer discernable.

"We noticed."

"About time." She murmured. An arrow, enchanted with less-than-usual-magic embedded itself on the floor near the door. Acting as a trip mine.

"Wadda hells jus' happen!?" he bellowed. "I's been tryin' ta FUGGIN AVOID goin's all face-daown in muh damn dinner, an sum sunsabitch goes an' plunks me innit anuhways!? I'll KEEL im! ... ... I gots it up muh damn nose!"

"Snort it out. We've got more company to entertain us."
Another arrow nocked on her bow. Realizing that they were not in optimal number, Jazdia kicked Rosenving's chair, causing the sleepy noblewoman to fall over.

[Assistant]
Cedar scowled, then turned his head and snorted loudly again, this time discharging the remaining foreign matter discretely at the floor, before examiing the room for items he could improvise into a billy club, or just straight up use.

There were decorative rapiers installed on the wall near some colorful curtains on the other side of the table. There was a long but altogether too thin wooden dowel holding them above the window. It would likely break on the first hit.

He turned his head and looked behind. There was another decorative weapon stand, with several long but dusty pole arms poking out of it, and a lonely kukri knife hanging high above on the wall.

He shoved the bench toward the wall, and claimed the latter two items, leaning on the pole arm like a staff, while tucking the kukri into the belt sash of his robes.

[User]
Kaito had expected the baron to spill it all out but much to the fox's surprise he kept his composure. Was that turd at the end of the table able to resist his magic by his own will power? Or was someone else mind controlling him? There could be some powerful magic at play. The latter explanation certainly would bruise Kaito's ego a bit less.

However what happened next was certainly unexpected. Suddenly the baron and many others at the table started to drop like flies, face forward in their plate of food into a deep slumber. The fox could not happen but to let out a big yawn. But as he was about to close his eyes he shrugged the effect off. Maybe it was because he did not give the whispers his full blown attention or maybe he was just naturally more resistant to such types of magic being an ancient mythological creature and all.

Before Kaito had any chance to assess the situation a mixture of porridge, bear saliva and other foods came flying into his direction. Cedar had woken up from his slumber and was violently cleaning his fur from the food he had fallen into. As the fox whipped the porridge from his face he spoke sarcastically "Thank you for sharing your food Cedar. Just next time don't throw it in my face.

"The party is starting eh? Well, let's give whomever is coming a welcome they sure aren't going to forget." Spoke the kitsune as he threw his bowl of porridge to Chounan's head in an attempt to wake him up.

"Everyone on your feet and against the walls. We're going to give them what they are expecting. A table full of sleeping people." Whispered Kaito as he created an illusionary copy of himself that was fast asleep in the chain he used to sit on. The same he did for Jazdia. Now a perfect illusionary copy of her was sleeping in the chair. At the same time he created another illusion that made a copy of wall to the left and placed it just enough in front of that wall that he and others could hide behind it.

"Jaz, can you see how many people are coming?"

[Assistant]
Jazdia suddenly regretted giving that suggestion.

Not only the valuable food was haphazardly tossed, but now there was a bear snorting... a mixture of nasal and food matter onto the floor. Regardless of the despicableness of its owner, a dining room was supposed to be a sanctuary free from any filth and misbehavior. And now it has been soiled so badly she almost felt sorry for the Baron.

"Jaz, can you see how many people are coming?"

"Two dozen or so. It's like a bloody convention up there."

As critical as their situation seemed to be, it took those henchmen a while to descend to the second floor. Enough for Kaito to cast a spell to make a copy of themselves.

The bear stood close by, now brandishing a polearm stolen from a nearby display, instead of, you know the old-fashioned maulings and biting.

"That's very human of you. And piked weapon?" the elf groaned. "Why does everyone in this country so obsessed with polearms?!"