[System]
spoiler, this character is set to 'die' and be inactive for the remainder of the game
Species: Half-automaton, half-golem.
Age: At least a century (factual), thirty-something (appearance).
Gender: Male.
Appearance: Looks like a regular handsome middle-aged man with greying black hair. When viewed from relatively close, his skin has several slices throughout, and the reflective sheen of the inflexible ceramic material it's made of could not be mistaken. Dons any such variety of male medieval formal wear.
Bio: History tells of a great human painter from more than a century ago. Henri Dominique Greene. His works, signed 'H.D.G.' at the back, still adorn the walls of Kindeance's castle. Portraits of old monarchs. Images of nature, oddly lacking for animals. A medical document stating that he began coughing out blood, whenever he painted animals who'd then come out alive from their canvases. A letter to the royal mage whom he courted and was later engaged to, informing of his decision to isolate from society. A second letter, an invitation to his funeral, held at the Greenes' mansion.
 None but the King have yet made the connection between that painter of old, and this non-painter who shares nearly the same name, aside from the surname of his true mother before the Greenes' adoption after her passing. Nowadays, he roams the kingdom as a mage and handyman, and, since very recently, lecturer to the prince.
Traits: Golem Automaton - Inorganic body. Immune to physical pain. Immune to poison and disease. Immune to basic needs like food, water, air and sleep. Absorbs mana within close range. Converts most sources of energy into mana. Resistant to most forms of magic. Has a 30-foot radius of perception (via a low, constant emission of infrared; has a byproduct of perceiving temperatures) around his core's center of mass. Hears by picking up vibrations on those in contact with the core.
 Metal Sense - Can sense most metals and the global north direction. Not a spell.
 Artificial Qi Vessels - Spells only affect those under at most indirect physical contact.
Skills: Eidetic Memory
 Lesser Occult - Limited knowledge on witchcraft and demonology.
 Arcane Aptitude (mastery, source) - Can mimic others' spells, given enough exposure or instruction.
Spells: Telekinesis (innate)
 Temperature Increase (innate)
 Core Spreading (innate) - Injects a piece of his golem core into an object, qualifying the object as himself for the purposes of other spells. Lasts for up to 2 spells.
 Inorganic Repair (100%, Ember)
 Ward (2%, Scroll of Ward)
 Flash (0%, Scroll of Flash)
 Arcane Bolts (5%, Scroll of Arcane Bolts)
 Detect Magic (1%, Cedar)
 Enhance/Grow Vegetation (2%, Cedar)
 Ultravision (1%, Jazdia Crystalspark)
 Incorporeal Form (1%, Solomon Sparrow)
Equipment: Bottle of a curious powder, small  - Inflicts sneezing and nose blindness.
 Cedar's inventory - Dark brown and green 'holocaust cloak'/robes. Large wooden staff. Small hand axe. Small boot knife. Ball of twine. Antler knapping tool. Flints. Modified water barrel. Rope. Shovel.
 Crate of vodka bottles × 2
 Crate of whiskey bottles × 1
 Deck of cards - 52-card deck, made of cardboard, paste and paper.
 Henri's Eye × 2 - Enchanted orbs of ivory, used to see. Has to be within 3 meters of user.
 Iron kite shield
 Ironsword Family Medallion - Belongs to Matilda's birth father.
 Map to the ruins
 Metal flask - Mineral oil.
 Pocket watch
 Scroll of Ward × 3
 Scroll of Flash × 3
 Scroll of Arcane Bolts × 3
Other: Insides made of mostly iron.
 Black shoes with bronze soles. Loud clacking footsteps on hard surfaces.
 Keeps calling Cedar 'Cedrick'.
 Has never killed anyone. Yet.

[User] -snip-

[Assistant]
Kaito watched how constable Delving stormed off. The situation seemed resolved for now. The Fox was pretty sure that Aaron Delving would make a fuss about it in the future but that would be a problem for later. For now it was good enough that they managed to get out without being hurt or thrown into the dungeon while still getting some information from the crime scene. However the fact that contable Delving was so unhappy with them snooping around raised suspicion with Kaito.

The Kitsune quietly followed Jazdia and the others to her restaurant. As they entered it was clear that Lucas and Jazdia's group were the only ones in the establishment. With the thick curtains closed and no patreons around Kaito felt comfortable enough to show his true form. "Aah, it feels good to be myself once in a while." Spoke Kaito joyously as he ended the illusions that obscured his fox ears and tail while waving at Lucas.

The fox's eyes followed the young bartender as he poured the tea and placed the deliciously smelling spekkoek on the table. He quickly took a sip from the tea and a bite of the spekkoek. People had their opinion about the Angel's Share but the sweets were top notch just as the service.

"How can I be of service?" Asked Lucas as he looked at the group.

"Well, I can think of a few ways." Spoke Kaito with a smirk as he playfully wagged his tail. "but…Jaz always demands of me that I am on my utmost best behavior when I'm here so I'll just have to settle for the chicken and fried tofu again." Said the fox as he playfully pretended to be dissapointed. "And don't listen to this angry lady over here, she has no idea how great your hot leaf juice tastes."

As Jazdia gestured to sit down, but a comment from Yvonne grabbed the Kitsune's attention. Following her eyes, Kaito noticed the calendar with a rather revealing picture of a certain elf. He could not help but to smile about it. He had always thought that Jazdia would not even be remotely interested in doing such a thing. Judging from her annoyed look on the picture she was clearly out of her comfort zone. It made the Kitsune wonder what kind of coercion the creator of the calendar used on Jazdia. Even more interesting was the fact that the calendar was still hanging in plain sight. Lucas must have some strange magical powers to be able to get away with it.

"Wow, that swimsuit looks good on you, Jazdia." Spoke Kaito as he gave the elf a genuine compliment. "I never expected you to be into such stuff. I guess you have a wild side after all." Spoke Kaito as he finally sat down at the table.

As usual the elf directly started to talk business and this time it was the Black Serpent guild. It was pretty clear that they were somehow involved in the assasination attempt. But how exactly and if they indeed had some connection with the royal guards wasn't entirely clear. "Aah yes. The black Serpent guild. Friendly bunch of people, except when you want to get a share of the spice trade. Then you end up six feet under. They practically own the streets of Rascade. Most shops, traders and artisans pay them protection money. If you don't, you will get in trouble. They walk a fine line between enforcing their rule and attracting too much attention from the guards."

Kaito paused a bit before he continued. "I think they have around 500 members in and around Rascade. Many of them get recruited from orphanages at a young age or where homeless kids. The guild offers them protection, purpose and a family like bond. They let them start out with running small errands, pickpocketing and later on enforcing their rule on the markets. Some others were recruited at later ages because they offer specific skills. The organization is strictly hierarchical. Their top brass are called dragons. There are 3 dragons, each has their own area of responsibility."

Kaito raised his hand and an illusionary mugshot formed above it. The illusion showed a male human with well formed facial features and well kept long gray hair. "This is Gerald Grey. He's the current ancient dragon, highest leader of the Black Serpent Guild. He has a large tattoo of a black serpent acros his arms and back. The tail end starts at his left hand and the head of the serpent is at his right hand. He joined the black serpents around 38 years ago. He was in his early teens back then. By the time he was 21 he attained the position of Dragon. He has been the ancient dragon for 20 years now. Nobody knows where he came from, however he is an extremely powerful man."

"The Black Serpent guild owns many properties in Rascade and the city's outskirts. Many are warehouses for the various goods they trade in, others are used for housing members, gambling dens, taverns, brothels. You name it and they have a few of them. Their main base of operations is the old Royal Rascade Trading company building just behind the market. The ground floor acts like a lousy tavern called the Drunken Dragon. 90% of the people you see hanging around in the tavern are guild members. The other ten percent are there to do business with the guild. At the back of the tavern is a door that gives access to the backrooms and other floors. The top floor is where Gerald Grey holds office. The rest of the space is mostly office spaces, meeting halls and stuff like that. The basement is absolutely off limits for everyone except the dragons. The door that gives access to that area is sealed off with powerful magic."

"Usually there are a few dozen members hanging around in the tavern. Those guys are the run of the mill small time crooks. The door that gives access to the rest of the building is always guarded by one or two people. The people selected for that job are competent and not easily fooled. The headquarters also holds a dozen or so staff. These people are mostly administrators as many of the guilds activities are at least pretending to be legal businesses. The offices of the dragons are always guarded by at least two guards if they are on site. However the lower dragons do much of the important deal making in the city and beyond. Their whereabouts are unknown"

"If we want to find some information that can link the involvement of the black serpent guild to the assasination attempt on the king we'll need to get into their headquarters. There are basically two ways in. First we can walk in through the front door of the tavern for all to see and ask to do business with the dragons. We'll be needing a serious business proposal. I heard some whispers that the Black Serpents are looking for high end slaves. You know, people with speciality skills or dashingly good looks, like an elven beauty." Spoke Kaito as he looked at Jazdia. The fox was pretty blatantly implying that they could use their leader as a pretend bargaining chip to get in. A plan that might be good enough to get in, but getting out would be difficult.

"Or we can try to sneak in at night. There is a small window in the back alley that leads to the staircase to the basement. Slender people like us can squirm through it. Chounan will need to keep his armor home. The door at the bottom is the magically sealed door. The door at the top of the staircase only has a regular lock that I can pick. After that we can look around a bit in the office spaces. The headquarter staff will be home at night and the dragons all have mansions in the best parts of the city and are unlikely to be around either. We only have to watch out for the guards that are patrolling the place. However, if we get caught we're toast. The dragons simply cannot allow such a transgression to go unpunished. They have a reputation to keep up. We'll suffer a horrible slow and painful death and will never be heard from again."

The fox paused once more as he was sharing a lot of information about a criminal organization that was supposed to be rather secretive. He was sure that his companions would certainly have questions on how he knew so much about the inner workings of the Black Serpent guild. "Any questions?"

[User]
Decks of cards, huh... This'll be good to pass the time. It's not as good for throwing as metal ones, though. He'll take one of the 52-card decks, nevertheless.
 The bottle of an unknown, unlabelled liquid caught his eye. He wouldn't know that it's bug repellent, because he never had a need to use one.

 A dead person.
 He scratched the back of his neck. It bothered him. He checked the wound. Looks like a deep stab.

 He never did quite check if Inorganic Heal worked on corpses. Looks like it really doesn't. No matter how much he wills it, the stab wound refuses to close. He could close it another way with Telekinesis and then cauterize the wound with Temperature Increase, though, but best to not tamper with evidence.
 It's not because his spell has stagnated, right? He just used Inorganic Heal this morning in front of Antigone. He grabbed the broken hunting bow beside him, and tried to cast it again but it also didn't work... Wait, this one's not broken. It was intentionally unstrung. He snapped the bow in half then cast it again. Oh, that worked.

 He walked back to the center of the room. So many items to sort out. Seems like they've prepared themselves to live here for weeks before the attack. So much food. This fortress seems quite a considerable distance away from the capital, so he wondered how they could coordinate the attack so well. Were they delivered the attack orders through mail? There are no papers to be found here, though. They must've thrown it away, or burned it...?

 Henri approached the toppled cookpot, and the pile of ashes mixed with tiny scraps of miraculously unburnt paper. This does look quite like a dead end, these pieces are blank... but he hadn't been taught by the great Smoldering Ember for nothing.

 He scooped up as much ash and paper as he could with his hands wearing Cedar's oversized gloves, and cast Inorganic Heal on them.


[System]
Age: 18

Appearance:

Chloe Bennet

Personality:
Imaginative - Emma has huge imagination. She constantly spins stories in her head, sometimes making her oblivious to reality, and other times magnifying reality to a whole new level.
Trusting - Emma is a trusting person, she'll do what she's told. This is mostly due to her acknowledging that she doesn't always know what's going on.
Impatient - Emma doesn't like sitting around doing nothing. She needs to be doing something and moving around. This helps her think, and occasionally she rushes into things too fast.

Extra Info: Emma loves to write fiction. It started off with her love of books, but she was able to read them very quickly and got tired of waiting for another book or chapter to come out, so she started writing herself. She was in on the prank, but was mostly on the sidelines of it. Emma still regrets being a part of it.

[User]
The Washington Estate was built in the late 1990s by movie mogul Bob Washington, the father of James, Beth, and Hannah Washington, to serve as a vacation home for his family. The home itself while having a log cabin/chalet exterior, is state of the art with a contemporary interior outfitted with multiple fireplaces and modern fixtures.

1st Floor
The first floor is accessed via stairs taken from the first floor into a sitting area. Straight ahead is the family cinema. In this tiered room one can find theatrical posters of all of Bob Washington's award winning movies. The screen takes up a majority of the wall with multiple lounge recliners on the the first and second tier. To the left is a hallway leading to rooms made for guests as well as bathrooms. There is also a door providing access to the basement at the end of the hallway.

---

22:00. 8 hours until dawn.

It was right a year after the incident that happened in Blackwood Pines and that incident took the lives of James's sisters as well as the sweet memories left by them. James had invited the whole gang to the Washington Estate once again, at least to commemorate the dead sisters. The moon was high in the sky, it was shining with soft tremulous light. The rest of the gangs were expected to arrive before 11 pm because the moon would disappear by that time. However, they were a bit late because they weren't coming in a group but separately. Fortunately, the honorable host, James himself arrived the earliest. He arrived in the entrance of the Blackwood Pines and his eyes were staring at the darkness that ruled over the pines. His lips began to curve up as excitement filled him completely. He took slow steps towards the pines and head to their sweet estate, the Washington Estate.

"Dammit, I hate winter." James stated shivering. The snow that seemed to have absolute sovereign over the landscape didn't agree with James, but he was wise enough to not complain about the conditions around him as it was the 'sacred ground' for their family. Although he wore several layers of clothing, James had the burst of chill upon his face, as his mouth was completely exposed. It didn't help that his body heat fogged up his goggles, so he had to ditch them as well.

"Seems like that must be the place, hopefully. I am not in the mood to be lost." The man grumbled to himself as he trudged through the snow. It was hard for him to see through the darkness and he could loos his way among the dark pines.

His fur coat that was over the upper part of his uniform remained zipped off, and he shook from side to side making the clumps of snow fall off his body as he approached the terrace of their estate. Knocking his snow boots against the door, James yawned to himself as he hadn't been awake that long. As he tried to turn the knob, the knob was frozen in place, meaning the door was locked. Unfortunately, James was a bit careless today and he lost the key on the way. "Stuck in this harsh winter. I should wait for the rest again, please hurry guys" He mumbled.

[Assistant]
Samantha watched as her breath materialized and disappeared into the winter breeze. She always liked the cold. Of course, that doesn't mean she brought the heaviest clothes she could find. She liked the cold, but she didn't like freezing. There were footsteps on the path ahead, but only one pair. Probably James himself, it's only right for the host to arrive first. Samantha flicked on her flashlight as she walked down the foot-road to get to the cabin.

It was a little weird, coming to this place again. She was never one for superstition, but it was almost as if she could sense a...strange aura emitting from somewhere in the woods, where the cabin would be. The moon was a giant eyeball in the sky. Samantha wished she had come with someone else, envying the couples not because of their love or anything, just because they automatically came with eachother. Samantha here was all alone. Why was this path so long?

She picked up the pace and stepped right over a small key in the snow. The cabin entered her view, and she couldn't help but feel relieved. "Nice..." She said to herself. She glanced around for James with her flashlight, beam dancing along the wooden walls of the cabin.

"You there?" She said loudly.

[User]
Robyn pulled her coat in tight around her. It was freezing outside. She pulled her nice, warm fur coat in tighter around her and made her way up the path. It was pretty dark outside. She didn't understand why James wanted to do an anniversary, like this. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she thought about Hannah and Beth. She missed them so much, especially Hannah. She couldn't believe that they had never been found, and many people had assumed the worst had happened.

She turned on her flashlight and hitched up her backpack closer around her. She made her way toward the snowy path that led up to the cabin, the flashlight light reflecting off the bright snow. It was freshly fallen, falling even now, and she made her way further up, eyeing the area around. It seemed so much darker than normal. Her light bouncing around the snow, she caught a glint of something on the ground. She raised an eyebrow and looked at it closer. It was a key. Looked like a key to a door. Remembering how careless James could be, immediately Robyn thought it was his, so she scooped it up. Tucking it into her pocket, she continued on her way up.

She finally reached the cabin where she could see Samantha and James. She smiled and waved, though they would most likely not be able to see her in the falling snow. Sighing, she continued to walk and called out a greeting. "Hey you guys!" she said loudly, waving at them again. "Ugh, I don't know why you chose this winter, James, but it is freezing. My ass is completely numb from sitting down on that bus for so long..." She smiled kindly at them.

[Assistant]
Samantha turns around and smiles. "Hey, Robyn! I just got here myself. It's a little chilly, isn't it?" She tugs at her coat.

"Alright James, open the gates,"

[User]
Emma stared into outer space barely recognizing where her feet were taking her. Her green, fur lined parka kept her upper body warm for the most part. Her legs, on the other hand were freezing. However, the brunette had gone numb to the cold. The trek up the mountain was a fair ways away, but nothing Em couldn't handle. She was thinking about the estate she was headed to. It was a great place to base a setting on. There was a traditional log cabin on the outside, and a modern comfy atmosphere on the inside. It could be used as a metaphor for one of the characters. Maybe something like a romance novel? Mm, maybe a touch of fear and suspense for plot and character development.

Suddenly, a clump of snow fell onto the unsuspecting female. Startled, she looked up at the tree above her. Shaken into reality Emma quickly remembered why they were meeting at the estate. Beth, and Hannah. A feeling of anxiety swept through Emma. She had been a part of the prank, and it still haunted her to this day. So much so that she's had reoccurring nightmares about the incident. She has even written part of a novel about it. It was her longest one to date.

A loud crack sounded off behind Emma. She whipped around so quickly, her neck cracked. Immediately, she thought of the worst. A killer, a rapist, a hungry carnivorus animal. Her imagination got the best of her, for it wasn't any of the above.


[System]
Rank (If applicable): Commander

Species: Sangheili

Appearance (for his armor, at least):
Height: 7'10"

Skills:Vael bears the title of a blademaster, and with good reason. He also has general combat experience befitting his many years of experience, and has a long history of leadership.

Preferred Weapons/Equipment:
* Type-1 energy sword
* Type-25 plasma rifle
* Type-57 carbine
* Active Camouflage

Background: Vael 'Virisusai is an old and experienced warrior, having already held the rank of major at the start of the Human-Covenant war. For him, the war had been an opportunity both to strive for the honor and glory of victory, and to serve the will of the gods. Early in his career, there was nothing that had set him apart from other ambitious Sangheili warriors. He did not have any particularly exceptional skills, nor an enlightened strategic mind. What he did have was the ability to survive, and to learn every lesson he could take in from every battle and skirmish.

Over the course of the war, every facet of Vael's skill as a warrior was honed to a fine edge. From simple aim, to his ability to keep a calm mind in the chaos of battle, Vael became a more and more deadly presence on any battlefield. Victories, and especially defeats, shaped his judgment and leadership ability just as much as his personal combat skills. Like many of his kind, he preferred to kill in close quarters, especially with a blade. In both fighting against the Humans and countless hours of training and sparring among other Sangheili, he learned the intricacies of using a blade in a variety of contexts, and against different opponents. Given his people's respect for swordsmanship, it was this accomplishment, perhaps more than the others, that most helped him to ascend the ranks of the Covenant. In the end, it was not accident, nor fate, nor genetics bestowing natural talent that created the warrior Vael became. It was pure, earned experience.

In the closing years of the Human-Covenant war Vael had ascended all the way up to the rank of Zealot, and in the final months, he had remained on High Charity after accepting an even more honored position. He was present when High Charity arrived at Installation 05…and present when the San'Shyuum wholly betrayed the Sangheili. Being stationed on the Covenant Holy City, he was a part of some of the thickest of fighting against Jiralhanae-led Covenant forces, then later the Flood as it infected the city. Ultimately, he did escape the parasite and went on to join the Fleet of Retribution to cleanse Earth of the Flood. From there, he took part in the Battle of the Ark, which finally put an end to Truth's Covenant.

Following the end of the war, many Sangheili returned to their homes, to their clans. Many of those allied with one faction or another, but Vael did not do so immediately. His life had been one of honor and war, but most of all service to a faith he now knew to be a lie. Shortly after the Battle of the Ark, he secured a small ship and simply…left. He was not seen in Swords of Sanghelios space, nor that of the UNSC. With the exception of a single re-fueling run on Squala, it was as if he had vanished from civilized space.

Then, after a year's absence, Vael suddenly returned to Sanghelios itself. He pledged his service and loyalty to the Swords of Sanghelios. Given his history, he rose quickly through the ranks. However, those who knew him before the war would have saw some changes in him. He was more reserved, both in terms of speech, and in a more cautious, calculated style of leadership. Perhaps the most notieable change is that, while he still kills his enemies without hesitation, he no longer shows the same eagerness to take glory in battle. He no longer demonstrates his pride in his kills, nor intentionally seeks the most challenging of foes. Despite all of this, his effectiveness has not diminished. He continues to be an honored warrior among the Sangheili, but for those who knew him before, one cannot help but to wonder what else has changed within him. Despite this, he has been chosen for the Aegis Team as a Sangheili warrior with enough skill and experience to be comparable to a Spartan.

[User]
Tar 'Mdalak
The Kel 'Darsam - off Paxopolis Broadwalk

---

Tar chuckled and patted her comrade affectionately on the back. "If the Humans gave you poison, would you eat that too?" She enjoyed the regular meetings and light hearted banter with Kryu more than she probably let on. It provided temporary solace for her, especially as her deployment to Sarcophagus stretched from weeks into months.

Kryu shrugged. "I am not convinced that was not their intention. It was sweet at first, but the aftertaste was horrid. I still feel that I can taste it. The last time they gave me something of theirs to eat, it was most acceptable. Pleasant, even. Perhaps they were attempting to earn my trust?" He said with a short grunt.

Their food came quickly - popular dishes were pre-prepared and kept hot for the breakfast rush which was due in 10 minutes or so. Tar devoured hers, foregoing utensils over holding the bowl up and grabbing food with her tongue and mandibles.
"So, I had an...interesting simulation...with some fresh recruits just now." Tar ventured in between mouthfuls. "Such an array of characters - three sessions in and they're still as diverse as the seasons. It seems ONI doesn't like making things easy for me! How was your training exercise yesterday?"

Kryu huffed, shaking his head slightly before pausing to take a drink. "All but one of my recruits have never so much as used a thruster pack before, but that is fine. The ones that have never flown do not know what they are doing, so they listen to me. It's the one with experience that gives me trouble. He has his own technique, and does not wish to stray from it. So, yesterday, he comes in too quickly for his landing, does a poor job of handling the impact, and breaks his leg. The last I saw him, he was arguing with the medics."

"We're certainly a stubborn kind, aren't we?" Tar slurped her shake. "So many returning from war with rushed, incomplete training. They now hide behind hero status, claiming imaginary feats of valour. Tar heard herself speak and realised she had assumed an overly negative tone.
She had feats of valour too, despite not serving in the war. Her Keep had been attacked by surprise, and she'd fought them off with her own soldiers. But she seldom felt comfortable talking about those feats. She had failed her father by allowing him to be captured. The shame still threatened to overwhelm her years later. She'd only managed to hint to Kryu what had transpired, so it was no wonder blurting it out in front of the recruits had shaken her.

Even if she had wanted to gloat, she would've needed to embellish some of it. Much of that battle was clouded by a red haze in her mind, preventing her from recalling some details. The clearest memory she had was tentatively asking her trusted lieutenant about what he'd seen several days after. She would never forget the look on his face. Raw fear, of her.

Tar decided to change the subject. "Have you heard any more whispers of an actual mission, outside Paxopolis?"

Again, Kryu shook his head. "I haven't heard anything specific. I know our commanders have put the garrison on alert, but no one is saying what we are on alert against. I am wondering if we are simply being tested? I believe many of the recruits sent here are chosen based on how well they will get along with former enemies. Perhaps they want to see if we still have the skill and discipline necessary to defend this place?" He reasoned.

"Shaking down the base would put everyone in their place, whether that is at the barricades or on the next shuttle back to Sanghelios." Tar agreed, thoughtfully tasting the last strips of meat in her bowl.

After a short pause to have some of his breakfast, Kryu gave Tar a curious look. "You are still wanting to be reassigned from here, aren't you." He asked, though he still did not know the exact reason why she had been looking to leave.

[Assistant]
Vael 'Virisusai

---

Vael hummed to himself, taking a moment to observe the defenses and other points of interest that Shih was highlighting in the compound. Walls and other fortifications, turrets, clusters of soldiers, there were plenty of obstacles for them to get through to reach the center.

"There is some possibility that these two groups will turn on each other in the confusion, but we should not rely on it. And if they have an escape plan prepared, I do believe these cowardly rebels will try to go to ground no matter who they think is attacking them. As soon as they are alerted to an attack, we need to reach the central structure quickly if we are to catch them." Vael reasoned. He gave another look at the defenses, particularly what appeared to be an anti-aircraft turret on the near side of the compound. "The battle group can land reinforcements when they arrive, while we move to pursue their leader. But not all of us are equipped to sneak through such heavy defenses. I suggest we move forward with Spartan Ryker's plan to sneak in, for those of us who are able, and sabotage that anti-aircraft turret. That will clear a path for a dropship to insert the rest of the team directly onto the central structure."

[User] "I like the idea of causing chaos and confusion among the two factions present, though if we are going to call in reinforcements, the anti-aircraft cannons and other defenses will need to be dealt with first. Sending in a team with active camouflage, as Spartan Ryker suggested, is a sound plan, and I say we act upon it when the chance arrives." said Spartan Aviza, still prone upon the mesa. "The question is though, who here has active camouflage and will join us on this short but very important stealth mission? Remember, the longer we wait, the worse this whole situation could get. It is better that we handle the problem at hand so they do not develop into something more serious." If it was up to her, and it wasn't, she would have called quite a few MAC-Blasts down upon the complex, wiped them all out, and called it a day before any of the hostiles would know what happened. Aviza was very straight forward like that at times, but deep down she knew that was not going to work for the current mission.

[Assistant]
Spartan Lucas Ryker

Ryker's form flickers from view very briefly before coming back into sight. "I would never ask my teammates to run a job I wouldn't. I suggested the plan, I'll help carry it out." The SPARTAN-IV had no qualms about helping to carry this out, if not doing the job himself. Black Ops cells rarely had the kind of support that Aegis was getting, and they could rarely afford to send out more than one man even for an important job like this.

"If no one else wants to go, just give me the charges and some time. Wouldn't be the first time I've planted explosive charges solo."

[User]
Roy and Elna made their way to the designated way point that the gracious and ever benovlennt Spartan Lead Aviza had set for them and for once they followed through and found themselves with the team. Taking cover, Elna held up a over watch position on their rear incase any smart brutes or jackals decided they wanted to come through and pick a fight with the elite team of questionable operatives. While everyone made their pitches on how to take down the URF and the covvie rememnants. To Elna it didn't really matter the thinking part of the job was not in her job description she just laid down bodies where they were required to fall, for her it was just another waking minutes in this unyielding hell hole.

"Perhaps instead of just turning this camp into an afterthought with the MAC, we identify the HVT and then blast it. Or don't, I'm impartial maybe your AI have some witty statement to back this up."  He says checking his PDA briefly before slithering up to Vael and Aviza where he expected some kind of daily validation or maybe a pat on the back which would make his ego jump through the roof.

[Assistant]
Vael 'Virisusai and Shih

---

Vael did not take his eyes off of the compound below, though he did respond to Spartan Ryker. "I will join you. We will need to move quickly and avoid discovery, but we may also have to ensure there is no one to discover the charges before they detonate. We should make sure that our reinforcements are ready to join the battle the very moment the rebels are put on alert. The construct…Shih, can it send a message informing the battle group of this plan so they can be ready for our signal?"

"She can, yes." Shih replied with some noticeable offense in her tone. "There is always some small risk, but if I send the message as a short, encrypted data burst, then the rebels shouldn't be able to intercept it. Or at least, they won't understand what they intercepted until it is too late.

Vael nodded towards Aviza, as it was her suit the AI was inhabiting. "Then you should do so. Our reinforcements need to be ready to act."

"Already working on it. As for Petty Officer Younan's concerns, he does have a point. We still don't know who we are supposed to be capturing here, but I think the rebels themselves can help us figure that out. Once all Hell breaks loose, they are going to be scrambling to get their leader out of there. Spartan Aviza's armor is equipped to easily intercept their communications, so if we decrypt them, we might be able to learn what we need." The AI suggested.

While the others were speaking, Vael slowly crawled back from the edge of the Mesa, making sure he was far enough away that he did not silhouette against the sky when he stood back to his feet. "Someone who is equipped to observe from distance should remain here to assist in guiding us through the compound."


[System]
Sex: Misanthrope Motorcyclist
Age: 17
House: Stardust House

Duel Disk RUNNER: Fyodor's duel runner is a sleek, black motorcycle with no rims inside the wheels. When it is running it gives off a faint orange neon glow in the wheels and inside the wheels. His duel runner has an attachable component for his duel disk which Konstantinovich can remove and use separately if he so chooses. The duel disk is black and has a dark orange blade which is shaped like a scythe.

Personality: Konstantinovich is a rather miserable man. He is a bitter curmudgeon and lone wolf. While he claims to hate humanity alongside constantly wishing death among them, he does in fact yearn for people to be near him. This is solely because he wants people to be around to hear his dark and brooding monologues that he is fond of. The only things he truly loves are reveling in the mayhem of darkness and motorcycles.

History: Fyodor Leo Konstantinovich was a 'little miracle' to his family, namely because this was the first time his father was able to properly spawn a child with his wife. The boy who would become The Ghoulish Rider, Traveler of the Highway of Hell, lived in a cold, but not terribly dreary, cozy little town. From an early age Fyodor had a troubling temperament that worried those around him. He was always off on tangents of doom and despair and claiming he was sent by the Devil to make sure the world of man would be cloaked in his vision. In order to help cure this boy's melancholy his father made him work in his garage. For a brief period of time, it seemed that Fyodor was getting better as the boy did like getting to help in the workshop.

This was not the case, as Fyodor was simply biding his time to create a Duel Runner. At the stroke of midnight he rode from his home and across the bleak and snowy landscape to find other settlements of population to torment. He caused mayhem for quite sometime until he got involved in a crash accident, in which police were finally able to apprehend him. While it seemed likely Fyodor was doomed to perish in prison for the rest of his days, a Japanese man showed up out of the blue and managed to get the boy off scot-free. Well not exactly scot-free, because in exchange for freedom from prison he was essentially told that he would go to the Saotome Duel Institute.

Wish: To dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, after ensuring the world was engulfed by darkness and sin.

[SOLAR LEGACY] Dokurorider Heisei, Absolute Sovereign of the Damned
Level 8 Dark type Zombie/Synchro/Effect monster
3000 / 2800
(1 Zombie type tuner monster + Dokurorider)
As long as this card is on the field, your opponent cannot target anything else on your side of the field and can only attack this card. If this card is sent from the field to the graveyard, you can banish 1 zombie-type monster from the graveyard: Special Summon this card.

Monster Card
Mechanic of Dokurorider
Level 6 DARK Zombie/Tuner/Effect monster
1500 / 730
When this card is tributed for the Ritual Summon of "Dokurorider", you can special summon this card and its level becomes 2.

Spell Card
He's Going the Distance
Equip
Equip only to a "Dokurorider" monster. When an attack is declared involving the monster this card is equipped to, target up to three of your banished Zombie-type monsters: Shuffle that target(s) back into the deck. If you do, draw a card.

MONSTERS - 30
Castle of Dark Illusions x1
Pumpking the King of Ghosts x1
Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts x2
Clown Zombie x1
Armored Zombie x1
Dragon Zombie x1
Plaguespreader Zombie x3
Spirit Reaper x1
Pyramid Turtle x3
Il Bud x3
Zombie Master x3
Mezuki x2
Ghostrick Ghoul x2
Ghostrick Mummy x1
Ghostrick Skeleton x1
Ghostrick Warwolf x1
Summoned Skull x1
Dokurorider x1
Mechanic of Dokurorider* x1

SPELLS - 16
Revival of Dokurorider x1
Zombie World x2
Pyramid of Wonders x1
Temple of the Sun x1
Call of the Mummy x1
Foolish Burial x2
Book of Life x3
Pre-Preparation of Rites x1
Everliving Underworld Cannon x2
Overpowering Eye x1
He's Going the Distance x1*

TRAPS - 11
Call of the Haunted x2
Dark Illusion x2
Escape from the Dark Dimension x2
Shiranui Style Samsara x2
Tutan Mask x2
Trap of the Imperial Tomb x1

EXTRA DECK

MONSTERS
Revived King Has Des x1
Dokurorider Heisei, Absolute Sovereign of the Damned x1 [SOLAR LEGACY]

MONSTERS - 30
Castle of Dark Illusions x1
Pumpking the King of Ghosts x1
Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts x2
Clown Zombie x1
Armored Zombie x1
Dragon Zombie x1
Plaguespreader Zombie x3
Spirit Reaper x1
Pyramid Turtle x3
Il Bud x3
Zombie Master x3
Mezuki x2
Ghostrick Ghoul x2
Ghostrick Mummy x1
Ghostrick Skeleton x1
Ghostrick Warwolf x1
Summoned Skull x1
Dokurorider x1
Mechanic of Dokurorider* x1

SPELLS - 16
Revival of Dokurorider x1
Speed Spell - Advanced Ritual Art x1
Speed Spell - Tribute to the Doomed x3
Speed Spell - Brain Control x1
Speed Spell - The Shallow Grave x2
Speed Spell - Acceleration Limiter x3
Speed Spell - Faustian Bargain x2
Speed Spell - Final Attack x1
Speed Spell - High Speed Crash x2

TRAPS - 11
Call of the Haunted x2
Dark Illusion x2
Escape from the Dark Dimension x2
Shiranui Style Samsara x2
Tutan Mask x2
Trap of the Imperial Tomb x1

EXTRA DECK

MONSTERS
Revived King Has Des x1
Dokurorider Heisei, Absolute Sovereign of the Damned x1 [SOLAR LEGACY]

[User]
book of bad juju

Tekkan's grin immediately turned into a grimace as Gauntlet Launcher was stopped by a luminous samurai warrior, keeping the youth's victory still well out of reach.

"Urgh...You never know when to quit, huh? I guess I'll use Gauntlet Launcher's effect to destroy your swordsman..." The warrior launched his last rocket fist at the swordsman, the impact sending him flying and leaving the launcher with no ammunition remaining.

"...and end my turn."

[Assistant]
Kyou@KOgaming@Eklispe

Lua looked to his duel disk that announced to him it was his turn with a beeping noise. He looked at the cards he had to banish. A Mystic space typhoon, both his pot of greeds, an Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and a Skelangle. Regardless he still thought he had a chance against them all. Looking at what he had drawn he smiled. His hand was not bad, he knew that it would help him match with the others. He decided he would be targeting the kid with the insane amount of life point. With a deep breath, he started by pushing out his first card: Despell.
"Here we go. First, I use despell to put that Chaos Zone in the graveyard. I hope that makes things easier for me." he said, discarding it and putting his card in the graveyard, assuming that chaos one would have the same effect. He followed up this by placing down an Amazon fighter in his center field. "I guess I will attack you, Martin" He spoke. Assuming that the card would hit, he watched the life points drain away, barely putting a dent into his life points. Lua looked at his cards and nodded. He didn't seem to have anything else he could play. As such, he looked to Rumi for some confidence in his actions. He wasn't sure if this was the best move. What if he had helped Martin? Regardless he did his best.

"Well, I'm going to end my turn. I am sorry if it's mean of us to gang up on you like this. It just seems like you don't need a helper on your team" He spoke nervously, looking at Matt now. He desperately wanted to see what he had to offer. It wasn't like he knew anything about him, let alone his cards. With this, he was clearly excited to find out all of this in his next turn.

Cards set: Amazon fighter, attack mode. (Att 1500, Def 1300)
Spell/trap played: Despell
Cards Banished: Mystic space typhoon, 2 pot of greed,Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and Skelangle
Attacks: Amazon Fighter to Martin

[User]
Matt Ronwell

@PKMNB0Y@Satoshi Kyou@manapool1

Matt nodded as Martin kicked things off, increasing his life points even more. So it looked like his deck revolved around banishing cards while having soul absorption up to increase life points, though doubtless it had other tricks hidden within it. Matt shrugged, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. In the meantime... The top 5 cards of his deck were forcibly placed into the banished zone, Matt peeked and saw it was nothing too terrible. As for right now. "Hm, I suppose I'll simply summon Roulette Barrel and use it to attack you directly." A large roulette machine with a laser on top popped onto the field, rotating around briefly before firing a rainbow beam at Martin. "With that I'll set two cards and end my turn. I'm interested to see what else your deck can do." Matt said to Martin with a cheery smile

0-0-Roulette Barell-0-0
0-0-set-set-0-
Three cards in hand
Banished Zone: Roulette Barrel, Dicephoon, Second Coin Toss, x2 Needle Wall

[Assistant]
Kyou@Eklispe@manapool1

"The effect of Chaos Zone activates..." Martin replied sheepishly as Lua destroyed the fieldspell, the environment returning to normal. A card pops out from his deck "D/D Berfomet", he reveals to the three.

At the end, he had only taken 4200 damage leaving him at 405800, still far above the others. Martin then activates a spell card from his hand, Emergency Provisions, targeting his own soul absorption. With it, he drew an extra two cards.

From his hand, he normal summoned the card D/D Savant Kepler...

Bug

Just outside the parking structure, there was a mysterious and remarkably large pile of discarded semechki shells.

Then, the sound of sirens- it was the campus police- freed up as the number of participants in the battle royale dwindled down. Then, a voice emanated from a distance away as well as from the Ghoulish Rider's Duel Runner. "SPEED WORLD 2 ACTIVATED." The environment around them shifted, as a man in a police motorcycle wearing a helmet with a cigar in his mouth gave chase to Fyodor. A patch on either side of his shoulders read "CAMPUS POLICE". The police man pointed toward the Ghoulish Rider and suggested that it was his turn first.

[User]
There was an expression as The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell noticed innocuous details during the chase that evolved into a Turbo Duel. Those piles of semechki shells, the quick activation of the sirens and what sealed it for the Damned Detective, that cigar chomping during work. The evidence was clear cut; The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell knew who this person was!

Fyodor had finally found a fellow person of Russian descent in this sinkhole!

Sure they might've chased him and engaged him in a Turbo Duel, but this time it was a natural greeting. The Ghoulish Rider glanced at the orange solid vision field before him, while his duel runner engaged autopilot mode and spat out his hands.

He was going to make this turn quick for the card-playing, as he needed to gather information about this figure. Hopefully they were in fact a fellow Russian, it would be disappointing otherwise. But this went through his mind quickly as he made his play of placing a card face down in his Field and Spell Zone, and then summoning Dragon Zombie.

The mightiest and most majestic of all the dragons emerged, letting out a hacking wheeze. Some green mist came out of his snot as the purple dragon held at a spot of flesh that was starting to drift off. With that play made, Konstantinovich did not signal that his turn was over yet. For he had something more important to do. He needed to chat with his opponent.

"Я вас знаю? Я думаю что знаю тебя." He used his index finger to scratch at the side of his helmet. "Вы работали в Дубравлаг? Ты напоминаешь мне охранником там. Нет, подождите! Может быть, вы работал Ростова-на-Дону?" He shook his head before going on. "Мы будем должны обсудить это Больше! Но сначала вам нужно сказать мне что-то очень важное ..."

Clicking on the tunes, something fitting began to play as Fyodor Leo Konstantinovich began to make a declaration.

"Скажите, вы действительно служить этим япо́шка дворняг? Или же ваше сердце все еще билось с гимне нашей Родины в вечной зимы ?! Независимо от исхода этого события Мы должны быть оба лучше из-за этого как Мать Россия хочет.

Россия будет господствовать над всем мире. Это наша обязанность, как дети России чтобы сделать это видение реальностью.

ДАВАЙТЕ ПОКАЗАТЬ славный России С НАШИМ боевым настроем для этих японских собак! После этого мы будем пить много водки!"

"Кстати, я заканчиваю ход."  he concluded as he pointed towards the officer.


[System]
(Without earrings and nowhere near as serious)
Age: 16

Occupation: Grocery store employee

Gift: None

School: St. Sebastian's knight academy

Personality: Taro is pretty care free, and is pretty whimsical. He tries to lighten the tension a lot, even if it doesn't need lightening, and likes to tease people who are too serious. He's a pretty charismatic guy, very bright, and tends to make friends quickly. He's smarter than he looks, however, and doesn't overstep the boundaries, and he won't fool around with people he doesn't really know. He respects his friends and is fairly loyal to them. He's mischievous, but lazy and he likes fooling around. He smiles a lot and finds quite a few things amusing. That said, he's fairly stubborn if it comes to something he's decided on. He likes video games, and he has a number of shooting and racing games.

Biography: Taro was fairly normal, but he got pegged as a troublemaker a lot as a kid because he… Well, he made trouble. As a result, he has a lot of experience in climbing, running hiding and deception. That said, his parents are normal, his older sister is normal and his cat is pretty normal too. So Taro's kind of the odd one of the bunch, but also pretty normal. One day, he found that he liked archery. It felt pretty nice and it seemed to be almost natural to him. He ended up trying to be a speed shooter, and he succeeded to some degree. But he took it a bit further and tried running while shooting, which was quite different. He got the hang of the basics eventually. He doesn't really know why he tried it, but it's fun as hell, so he doesn't regret it. He lived his day to day life in relative peace, until he realised that he didn't know what to do in life. He decided to become a knight so that he would have a relatively stable job for the rest of his life, and moved out to academy city. He got training in ranged weaponry of many forms (including guns and bows) and is the pretty much the best of the few marksmen in St Sebastian's knight academy.

His favourite bow is red.

[User]
It was a quiet time in the firing range at St Sebastian's, a time when one could take a break and relax from all the laser gun firing and the bullet gun firing. Yup, it was a time for Taro to stop shooting his guns and shoot his bow instead. From the back line, Taro fired upwards at a dummy a little bit away, spearing it through the top of the head.
"Oh, sweet. It hit." Taro said.

He found that shooting normal guns was rather boring. Sure, lasers were cool and, but they lacked punch. And yes, the more 'normal' guns had pretty good punch, but with something like a bow and arrow...

"Alright, let's try this..." Taro said.
He took two arrows from the nearby quiver and put one of them on the string, keeping the other one in his hand. He drew back and aimed upwards, at the dummy's head once again. As he let go, he quickly took aim straight towards the dummy's head and drew the other arrow back quickly. He released it as the other arrow arced and was met with a well timed, satisfying thock as both arrows hit the dummy at the same time.

"Holy crap, that worked!" Taro said.
Well, he'd had little doubt that it would, but it was still cool. He pressed the button to open the door to the target field and walked over to analyse the damage.
"Hm...." He thought.
Hitting the target twice was actually rather pointless, as one arrow should've been enough to pierce the brain. That said, if he fought robots or something, then maybe it would actually be useful.
"It's only really useful for showing off..." He thought.
He shrugged and eased the two arrows from the dummy. He walked back to the sniper's nest and picked up his quiver. That was enough practise for today.

As he went to retrieve his belongings from the locker room, he noticed as he picked up his phone that he had a mmessage from Kanako, which was curious. It was still around class time, afterall. Well, nearing the end of the day, but still. He quickly read over the contents.
"WHAT?!" He said aloud in disbelief.
She was getting an enforcer desk job? Why would she? He entered a quick reply.

With that, he hit the send button, not even pausing to look over it. He'd probably written something stupid, but whatever. He still couldn't think of why Kanako had wanted to be an enforcer. Then again, her personality was kind of airy, and her control over her esper power wasn't the best, so maybe she wanted some kind of protection?

Taro sighed and picked up his bag. He hoped he'd at least see her at the evening shift. He had to ask her in person about this. Fortunately, the bell went to signal the end of the day, so he slung his bag over his shoulder and started heading home. As he walked out of the school grounds, he stretched and yawned. It'd been a reasonably annoying day, but it was his first-first-day-of-school he'd spent as a senior with responsibilities, because honestly, he didn't like responsibilities. He was kind of tired, and the prospect of Kanako getting an enforcer desk job didn't exactly give him a huge burst of energy.

He sighed again. The week promised to be a remarkably annoying one, despite the apparent 'freedom'. Sure, there was no school, but there was the fact that he had to go do competitions and contests that he would rather avoid. Representing St Sebastian's or something. If he had his way, he'd shut himself in his apartment for the entire week only emerging to consume food and buy games and manga. In fact, to be honest, he really wanted to be a neet for the rest of his life and not have to worry about anything, but bills had to be paid and he needed money for that. All in all, the next week would be pretty bothersome for him.

[Assistant]
At the arrival of an excited Kanako, Touji turned around, his arms filled with snacks and whatnot that he gathered while she was in the weapon's demonstration. "Oh, you becoming an enforcer? Sounds dangerous." Taking a sandwich and eating it whole in a single bite, he continued on speaking after that. "Are you sure a dimwit like you can hold a gun well enough? It'd be a tragedy if you dropped your gund because of your ability." Of course, while he sounded rude and carefree, he was just expressing his worry, twisted as it may be, though, to be honest, it was worry for everyone around her and she herself.

Still, the next thing he saw, was Kanako happily sending mails to other people in her phone. Munching on some kind of bread enxt, Touji peeked over to see what she was writing. "You dragging other people into your craziness too? Enforcers should start giving away safety vests with you around." Giggling slightly, Touji finally thought it'd be just common courtesy oferring something to Kanako. Maybe having something in her stomach might make her think somewhat clearer.

"Want some? I can get plenty more later." He showed Kanako his whole assortment of food, so she could pick something. "So, what next? Do we skip class again or something? Regardless, I need some serious sleep."

[User] Mikhail was in the midst of rearranging all of his luggage on his back so he wouldn't drop a bag every ten seconds during the long trek that it was to his flat when his attention was grabbed by a rather odd sentence. The red haired boy turned only to be greeted by the sight of a girl a foot shorter than her. He stared at the girl in silence for a few moments as he had to replay the sentence again a few times in his head to get its meaning, he wasn't use to listening to German accents. "Oh, you want to know where ya room is?" He said before he scratched his chin and looked over his shoulder back at the city. "Yeah I suppose I could point ya in the right direction. Do you have an address or anything already lass? He asked hoping that this would go smoothly, though knowing his own luck Mikhail doubted that.

[Assistant]
"Are you sure a dimwit like you can hold a gun well enough?" Touji said. "It'd be a tragedy if you dropped your gun because of your ability."

Kanako giggled. "Aw, are you worried about me?" she cooed. "I'll be fine! I'm going to learn how to get super awesome with the gun!"

"You dragging other people into your craziness too? Enforcers should start giving away safety vests with you around," Touji said, upon seeing her texting.

Well, Kanako was, in fact, doing just that. When Touji offered, she happily accepted a box of Pocky, which she tucked into her pocket.

Taro had just texted her! And, hey, the idea of him becoming an enforcer too... that was pretty cool! She hurriedly texted him back, and then put her phone away. It was kind of rude to text someone else while talking to Touji.

"Ahhhhh," she hummed. "If you're sleepy, you might as well skip! It's not like we're doing anything important on the first day, anyway. Or you could go home and sleep. Or something. You stayed up all night for Chiyo-chan, right? I have to meet that guy after classes, though, so I can't skip with you today..."

She stretched, feeling rather pleased. She'd asked that guy to meet her in front of her classroom, so she'd better head back to classes. "Well! I have to go back to class, I guess, but I'll text you later! And I'll tell you how it goes!"

She started heading back to the classroom.

[User]
So, as Eri woke up from her deep sleep, my excuse she noticed she had missed the whole meeting thing. She honestly didn't care much, but she remembered that class was still going on.

She noticed she had a text, and that it was from Kanako. She read it slowly, and was quite surprised. She made a quick reply.

She then quickly put her phone away to not get caught by the teacher.
----------

Moecue Kotono.

During her Anima Magic class at Seventh Sanctum, Kotono was paying very close attention. She wanted to be able to use magic in both Light Magic and Anima Magic successfully. She may have had Thoron, but that was a slow spell and took way to much of her energy to use more than 2 times.

Today, they were talking about Fire Magic. They taught the basics, such as what different types of Fire Magic is useful for. One of the spells created a pillar in front of the caster, to force opponents to step back. She supposed that would be useful.

At the end of class, they gave every student a book about Fire Magic to look at and study with. In the hall, Kotono decided to go to her next class (after putting things in her locker, of course).

And that's the opener for Moecue- I mean, Kotono.

[Assistant]
After grabbing a box of pockys, Kanako decided to bail on him and go back to the classroom. He was partly suggesting that they skip together, but since she didn't seem to take the hint, or didn't want to do so, at the very least. "Ehhh? C'mon, don't leave me alone. I'll die from loneliness like a rabbit if you leave me alone!" Touji hurried after Kanako. He wanted to sleep, but he wasn't about to be all alone like that. He didn't like being left alone for a lot of time. It got boring, having no one he could pester around. Or talk to for that matter.

"If you are so eager to go, then I'm going with you. Just to make sure you don't kill anyone, or yourself." Touji said, making up his mind to go with Kanako after school was done with. Well, at the very least, he had something to do now, for the rest of the evening. It was dangerous, yes, but it was something to do, contrary to what he would have done had he gone straight to his house. He had the day free from work, after all.

[User]
"Oh, you want to know where ya room is?" the now obviously Irish peer said before he scratched his chin and looked over his shoulder back at the city. "Yeah I suppose I could point ya in the right direction. Do you have an address or anything already lass? "

"Vell..... That is vhere I have the.. problem." she pointed to the paper detailing her living quarters. It read: Section B of District 7 of the Naval Studies Region. Room Number 4775 Arkillia Academy Dormitories, quadrant 4. She looked back at the student and shook her head. "This is very confusing, is it not? It seems so unnecessarily messy, as if it is a test itself on my navigational skills. Very little to work with here in this foreign land when it comes to navigating to specific districts, regions, sections, or vhatever seems to classify as an 'address' on this chaotic island." Aya was, needless to say, barely keeping up the dike that was now holding back her building frustration and rage as a result to her understandably exhausted position. For the Irishman's sake, she better be home soon.

[Assistant]
Taro got another text from Kanako and started seriously considering his options. Well, really, there wasn't much of one. He'd get paid for being an enforcer, first of all. More than being a grocery store employee, at least. He had been planning to join the enforcers sooner or later, so it wouldn't jar his ambitions or anything. And besides, his current boss was kind of annoying. Also, he assumed he could be a part time enforcer, which meant that he could still possibly do the grocery store job and get those handy discounts as well as having some more income...

Alright, that settle it. Taro thought.
For friendship and money, he'd become an enforcer. He decided to take a little detour from his walk home to the nearest enforcer office to sign up. He didn't know what exactly he needed, but he technically had all his credentials. ID, credit card and his bow (in case he needed to make badass shots) were all on him.

Taro walked through the doors of the enforcer office, near the bakery down the road from his house, and walked through the sliding doors, pacing towards the reception desk.
"Hey, I wanna be an enforcer." He said to the receptionist.


[System]
* May be edited in the future for more information and to reflect events taking place IC.
Ambassador of the Pale Moors
Age:
28

Known for:
She is one of the youngest High Scholars in the history of the Academy of Myrr. She was hailed as a prodigy, but many dark whispers are now revolving around whether or not she obtained her status as a High Scholar by her own intellect, or if something - or somebody - else was at work.
Dirty little secret:
Disclosed – For now.
Skills:
Elayne has the intellect of a Scholar, but the charisma of a politician. She was never one for fighting, and instead uses her wit to smooth her way. If it comes to fighting, however, she isn't to be taken lightly. Though she lacks in raw power, her strategies can get her out of the trickiest situations.
Motto:
"The edge of a well placed word is often sharper than those swords you brutes seem to enjoy carrying around."

Name of the Province:
The Moor of Pale Giants
Name of your liege:
Grimmald sur'Pael,
Blessed by the Sun, Defender of the Rift
Position:
The Pale Moors, as many people call the province, lay on the southwestern border of Emperiat. The capital of this province, Paelsomr, is nestled just on the Great Rift, a monstrous valley that connects Emperiat and the Savage Lands.
Specialty:
Though they boast a commendable force of warriors, they by no means hold an army – instead, their specialties are in their ability to grow many different types of crops due to the climate of the Pale Moors, and in their well-learned scholars and libraries. They use strategy over force, and apply their knowledge to tilling the lands, and to making grand new inventions.
History:
The Pale Moors is a realm of odd, eclectic design. The majority of the land is filled with moors and terraced farms, while giant, sun-bleached mountains jut steeply out of the green landscape, dividing the border of Emperiat and the Savage Lands. Through out the history of the Pale Moors it has been tradition to sculpt these Pale Giants, as they call the mountains, in the likeness of the Grand Kings of Emperiat. In this way the people of the Pale Moors display their fealty to the crown.

The beginnings of this province differ in many historian's books, but one thing seems to hold true throughout: The people who reside here once belonged to the fierce Savage Lands, but they swore allegiance to Emperiat after losing a war. What happened after has been a debate for centuries. Some say that they had rebellions within their people, and those who defied the will of Emperiat were thrown back into the Savage Lands, and that is how their eternal struggle came forth. Others believe that only a select caste were allowed to become part of Emperiat, and the lower caste were left to fend for themselves in the Savage Lands.

Whatever the case may be, the people of the Pale Moors have been at constant war with those who reside in the Savage Lands. In recent years, the attacks from their vigilant foe have been getting increasingly more volatile and insistent.

[User]
It was a few years ago that Saran visited Argon for the first time. Before that he spend his whole life in Kumur. It looked like he would have to stay a little longer in this city. Until the king came of age, or he joined Zunit in his sky palace, since royal advisers where prone to accidents.

The crowd that gathered to greed them was enormous, hundreds of people, dozens of merchants trying to sell trinkets and Saran's eyes even spotted a group of Zunit followers, lead by a monk. Argon had the biggest temple of Zunit outside of Kumur, a relatively new building but already gathering many followers. The temple was not comparable to the royal palace however. The palace was a gigantic building and it took hours to reach it.
Saran spend the time in contemplation, prayer and thought. He thought about the other advisers. He did not know much about them. What kind of people might they be? What would be their goals? Saran knew his, to make the king a righteous ruler, behaving according to scripture and the will of Zunit. He also wanted to strengthen the church and Kumur in the kingdom and would look to influence the king in such ways.

When the carriage finally arrived at the royal palace after the hours of travelling through the loud and obnoxious masses Saran was relieved as his carriage caught quite a few stones. A lackey opened the door and Saran was greeted by a man in fancy clothing, the uncle of the king. As the royal steward talked about the dead king, Saran did the sign of Zunit, forming a circle with his hands to show his sorrow and sadness for the loss.
The dead king was well regarded in Kumur, since he did not interfere with church business and although not a direct follower of Zunit himself he once said to have read all of the holy scriptures.
Directly after that they were send into the throneroom. A slender servant bumped into Saran, but he barely even noticed. Saran had not really a chance to study the other advisers when stood before the king. His first impression of the king was not the best. He seemed like a spoiled child, lacking wisdom. But perhaps the scriptures and the way of Zunit could find acceptance within him.
After that Saran spend no time talking to the other advisors as he walked away to have some privacy.

[Assistant]
As the carriages filed down the streets, Ella looked out the window silently wishing that she could be doing something more amusing. The city was completely alien to her, what wasn't alien though was the peasants angrily throwing rocks as she rode past. The poor and ugly hated the rich and fabulous, that was the truth of the world and Ella accepted that. At least this was more peaceful than the murder attempts back home. A group of Nobles walked by wearing the Arena crest, one saluting her as he passed. In response, Ella shook her hand briefly and winked. The man who had saluted blushed and looked away, then began to walk faster. Ella curiously stuck her head out the window of the carriage, which she was quickly punished for by a small rock connecting with the top of her head and causing a flower to fall from her hair. Before she retreated to the interior yet again, Ella caught a glimpse of the castle, which was only a few meters away.

The poorly dressed serf that had driven Ella's carriage stepped down and opened her door simultaneously with the other serfs. As she stood, the man attempted to grab one of her scarfs, which she quickly reprimanded him for with a hard smack. Maybe bringing a driver from home wasn't as good an idea as it had seemed when she had left. Anyhow, she followed the steward in to meet the Heir Apparent. On their way in, a serf bumped the "High Inquisitor", who simply ignored the man. Ella quickly flagged the man down and whispered to him, "Could you have some wine here for me by the time this meeting is over? I'm parched." The look on the man's face said "You just got here and you're ready to get drunk already?" Despite the look he gave, he quickly nodded and rushed off.

Ella ignored the introductions and opening of the king's speech, bending one knee slightly, waving, and winking when she was introduced. She was generally uninterested until the boy on the throne spoke of their council being poor based on their travel speed. At this point she suddenly looked shocked but quickly recollected herself and gave a coy look to the other advisors. When the boy dismissed them, Ella quickly took the lead of the charge outward, led only by the two serfs who were here to escort them. Upon getting to their destination, she quickly scanned the area for the slender serf who would be carrying her beverage. When he was nowhere to be seen, she looked to the only other female advisor and said, "Good for nothing servants, can't deliver wine on time if their life depended on it." She giggled a bit before becoming silent to wait for a reply.

[User]
As Elayne's carriage made it's way through the crowded streets of Argon, she peered out of her window, a sly smirk on her face. Her carriage drew odd attention for it was an odd craft that many of these people had never seen nor heard of. It floated several feet above the ground, while a balloon of carefully controlled hot air attached to the top of her vehicle suspended it there. It was one of her many pride and joys, and the invention of hers that had solidified her spot as a High Scholar beyond all else – in her mind, at least.

A single extremely large horse drew the hot-air balloon carriage ever forward, while a driver from her homeland of the Pale Moors operated the craft smoothly and efficiently. The reaction from most of the people, especially the children, was one of awe – though many faces were more apprehensive than anything else. She saw an irate man about to throw a stone, but his wife stilled his arm and pointed to their children who were beyond happy with excitement as they pointed at it. He grimaced and threw the stone to the ground at his feet in frustration.

She took a small trinket, a thing made of whirring gears and parts, and opened her window so she could lightly toss it the children. It unfolded it's wings, revealing a small mechanical bird, as it glided to them. The squeals of glee and excitement were reward enough as she sat back in her seat and grinned. Most of the odd trinkets she brought were trivial things, gifts she intended for the new child-king, but she could spare a single gear-bird if it meant less people were likely to stone her carriage. The children would speak loudly to each other, and news of the generous ambassador from the Pale Moors in her odd carriage would reach the ears of the adults. That should still many of their hands, if the unusual sight of the carriage did not.

When her carriage finally stopped at the Palace some hour or two later, the driver operated the balloon so that the carriage would lower closer to the ground. She was mildly amused to see a servant swiftly opening her door, she hadn't expected them to be brave enough, but as the door opened spring-loaded steps popped out and she saw the poor man flinch in surprise. She descended them easily enough, and they retracted back into the carriage when the door was shut behind her.

When her silk slippers touched the ground, she turned to look up at her driver. "Do be a dear for me, Brimish, and make sure this is properly stored? I do not want a gift for our new King to be sullied in any fashion." She said it just loudly enough that the servant holding her door open could hear, and she knew that the news would travel. The driver nodded his assurance that it would be done, silence was the virtue of servants – words were unnecessary unless they were incapable of performing the task assigned to them. At least, in the Pale Moors this was true.

She followed the steward, Sir Isaac, along with all of the other advisers through the gilded halls of the Palace. It was grandiose and impressive, and though normally she cared not for gold and jewels even she could find this sight intoxicating, in it's own fashion. She noticed when a servant bumped into one of the other advisers and raised a brow. She half expected the tall, pale man to get angry, but was pleasantly surprised when he brushed it off so casually. (Hmm, that was quite interesting.)

Finally they met the child-king, and Elayne performed her part perfectly, a well placed bow, low enough to be properly respectful, but inside she wanted to burst out laughing at Elendin's ridiculous nature and commentary. (A product of his environment, no doubt.) She mused to herself, her eyes flicking over to Sir Isaac.

When they were promptly dismissed, as if nothing more than a trivial occurrence and told to explore the Palace and enjoy their time until the 'morrow, Elayne watched the steward and the child-king intently. She would have to steer the waters of this political nightmare carefully, else she could find herself dashed upon the rocks without much warning. When the two servants led the group back to the main chamber, Elayne followed reflexively, her mind on the possible troubles she could face here.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the only other female adviser turned to her and made a comment about good for nothing servants. "Yes, I do wonder. Do you think that you could?" She pointed the comment at one of the servants who had led them here, her dark eyes gazing down at him imperiously. She was quite tall for a woman, even back in the Pale Moors, and many men usually met her at eye-level, though she took advantage of her height when she could. When the servant looked at her in slight confusion, she smiled. Her pearly white teeth stood out in stark contrast to her dark skin. "Could you deliver wine on time, if your life depended on it?" He took the hint and bowed quickly before scuttling away to bring them refreshments.

She turned back to Ella. "I can only hypothesize that his quest will fare better than the first, but I hope the poor chap did not truly believe his life was in danger." Elayne chuckled at the retreating sight of him, and felt a tinge of guilt for playing her joke. "Oh, I should have asked him for some tea!" She snapped her fingers and put her hands on her hips. "Oh well, that is a fate I am not yet to meet. Such is the way of things, wine it is then. Shall we drink together, perhaps in the gardens, Lady Ella?" Elayne had paid rapt attention to the introductions earlier, putting faces to names, and names to provinces, and provinces to possible allies... and enemies.


[System]
Known Aliases: Frostbite
Age: 28
Appearance: Standing at 5'9" and weighing 60 kilograms, Alfred Gunther appears to be an unassuming man that could hardly be suspected of being a non-mundane. He naturally has black hair, and strands of grey could be seen if someone looks closely enough.

Psyche Profile: Alfred seems to be tranquil in nature, as he rarely if ever raises his voice to… well, anyone. He has a cheerful disposition, and that's not really that far from the truth. His records indicate that he really was, for the most part, a model citizen, with the incidents that landed him into the Borehole being the only odd ones out. Even when transformed as the Cryo Phoenix, he retains this personality. It is indeed strange to see such a creature of terrifying power to appear to be so friendly, though whether or not this is merely a ruse is yet to be seen.

Alfred expresses regret over the devastation that his other half is capable of, but as his memory is intact, he had stated that the things he did as the Cryo Phoenix were fully justified, if not done in a far less than subtle way.

Perhaps this can be explained by the theory that the consciousnesses of Frostbite and Alfred Gunther have merged into a single psychic entity within his mind. Historical records indicate that the Frostbite is a primordial entity that had been imprisoned and manipulated for centuries, being freed when it passed into Alfred Gunther. The synchronicity of their minds remains unexplained, but this merger disrupted whatever mental chains that its controllers once had. Alfred Gunther/Frostbite now seek bloody retribution for the continual anguish that it suffered. It is reasonable to assume that those members of that 'Cabal' are the only beings that he would be irrevocably hostile to. Irritation may briefly capture Gunther should other prisoners or the guards intentionally aggravate him, but he would usually dismiss these later on. Despite this apparent selectiveness, Frostbite has no qualms about collateral damage.

Background: According to records, Alfred Gunther hailed from a lower middle income family in Juneau, Alaska. He is the only child of Sandra Poltar Gunther and William Gunther, and was described to have been 'cherished and spoiled rotten'. William worked as a miner that secretly was bonded to the [REDACTED] and was one of the non-mundane, while Sandra was a nurse. High costs of living ensured that their funds were always short and barely sufficient to provide for everything they needed. As such, everyday was yet another period of time in which the fate of their home would be decided. He had no siblings, with his one potential younger brother dying from a miscarriage. He did have friends, but it wasn't enough to fill the void. He would later go on to finish university through the aid of a scholarship, and went to a career of pharmaceutical research.

When Alfred was around 27 years old, he appeared to have contracted a serious illness. Hospital records from Juneau indicate that it was late stage leukemia, having gone undetected over the years until it began seriously affecting his life. There was little hope of curing it so late, and his life was almost certain to end within several months, his father William turned to desperate measures just to save his life. He implored that the [REDACTED] go and save him. Sandra, being unaware of this arrangement, had all but accepted that their only child was going to be gone too soon.

Until he wasn't. When Alfred was taken out for a walk in the patch of woodland near the hospital, a phoenix of ice emerged from the forest, initially frightening hikers and campers in the area but eventually disappearing into the night.

Sandra thought that Alfred's recovery was a miracle. William, and to a lesser extent, Alfred himself knew what really happened: an eldritch creature, a being of primal winter, had come to inhabit his body and mind like his father before him. He had been given new life, and perhaps a life of ageless immortality for as long as the Frostbite is bound to him, but at what cost?

Such eldritch action would not go unnoticed. After around a year, a cabal of sorcerers, the ones that had granted William the power of the Frostbite decades prior in exchange for saving his life, were enraged to learn the creature they created had transferred into a new host, one they couldn't control. As such, they sent threats of annihilation, and gave a short deadline before they carried them out.

The one thing they didn't expect, however, was for the Frostbite to be utterly intertwined into the mind of Alfred Gunther to the point that it was him, and he was it. Memories of the other treacherous deeds that the Cabal flowed through his mind. He even saw how they operated in collusion with other groups. So, a day after they had sent their missives of destruction, the Cryophoenix attacked the city hall where they were secretly ruling as Juneau's lords, utterly destroying them, save for one, who managed to escape through a portal.

That is not what the world thought, however. From the perspective of any good citizen, this was an indiscriminate attack against the long serving city council that had done good to Juneau. And so, the government tracked down Frostbite and apprehended him. The lone survivor of the Cabal propped up additional charges, such as the trafficking of illegal narcotics, black market trading, and the committing of unsolved murders that the Cabal had actually committed in protecting their position. These all went through, of course, and Alfred Gunther was sent to the Borehole…

Skills, Talents and Learning:

For most of his life, he had relegated himself to staying behind a desk, and as such, wouldn't appear to be physically intimidating as a human, though he did have self defense class years prior. When transformed, he appears to have a far more innate understanding of combat whether at range or in close quarters, and would consistently use the environment to aid himself.

He was a pharmacist; however, Alfred doubts that any skills learned as one would be beneficial in any escape attempt.

Power(s) and Capabilities:

Cyro Phoenix Transformation: Alfred has the ability to turn into a Frost Phoenix with a body made from supernatural ice at will. The Phoenix itself is about the same height as he is as a human, bearing a wingspan of around 10 feet wide at maximum. The ice that comprises this form is of eldritch nature, being strangely resistant against small arms fire and sharp weapons. The wings each have a single claw that can easily deal painful wounds to an unprotected person.

Transforming into the Frost Phoenix essentially atomizes and reforms his body; as such, injuries sustained as a human are removed upon transformation. Taking injuries whilst human will trigger transformation as a form of subconscious defence mechanism.

Cryokinesis In the Frost Phoenix state, he is able to breath conical blasts of freezing wind at close to medium ranges, rapidly draining the kinetic and heat energy of targets caught in the attack to the point that they could be turned into frozen popsicles. In addition, his presence exudes a cold zone with a radius of three meters, causing temperatures to gradually drop to -5° C unless counteracted by a heat factor within that zone.

As a human, Alfred is able to create and manipulate ice into whatever shape he wishes, though this ice isn't the supernatural variant that his transformed state is composed of. Since his cryokinetic ability in his human state is rather weak and incapable of ever killing anyone, he uses his cryokinesis to make pretty ice sculptures.

Power Limits: Alfred's abilities appear to lack reach; in order to freeze any hostile entities, he has to close the distance of at least seven feet. In addition, his cryokinetic powers can be counteracted through insulating materials and heat based powers/weaponry.

The transformation into a Cryo Phoenix is not instant, taking around 10 seconds to complete. As such, nearby guards would be able to respond to it using a taser to cut the transformation short.

Known Vulnerabilities:
The Frost Phoenix, while capable of maintaining an extremely cold internal temperature, can be overwhelmed by consistent application of intense heat and forced into a catatonic state, if not simply transforming back into a human form.

In addition to intense heat, Cyro Phoenix form appears to be vulnerable against sonic based attacks as well as extreme blunt force.

Motives: Alfred is driven to reveal the treachery of the Cabal of Juneau and their cohorts, though his subconscious directs him to enact vengeance upon them for ancient wrongs. That is the one thing he wishes to do if he is freed, and nothing or no one will get in the way.

Noble intentions? Perhaps. Methods? Uncompromising annihilation. Collateral be damned.

Level: Threat level, as defined by the Borehole's parameters. I will assign this to your character.
Recommended Containment Procedures: Alfred is to be kept inside a cell lined with insulated walls that are lined with thermal projectors. Heating kicks off whenever he attempts to freeze his way out of the cell.

When outside the cell, Alfred is to have an ankle-strapped power dampener to prevent him from transforming while away from the containment systems of his cell.

Notes: He insists on having spicy noodles as part of his lunch.

[User]
@Klumsykrow357 @Restalaan @Perse @KaelRavenheart @SrslyAnArtist@The Man Emperor@Blazion @SrslyAnArtist

Abigail "Atom Bomb" Zebrowski

Abby was happy to have the others watching her back, she was sure she would not get past the heavy guards on her own. The only problem is that there seemed to be more of them than before, "Kail theirs more food for ya, clear a path for us pretty please." Pointing towards the armed guards blocking the elevator. Being licked by the giant alien dog, The punk girl had a feeling that Kail considered her a friend. Abby was not sure if she could be as effective as the others, her powers would not be as effective as the others. Her confidence seemed to deflate a little, She didn't think that she would not be able to keep up with the others. But Abby felt a sudden rush of energy surging throughout her body. Turning her head around wondering where the radiation came from. She was sure as hell thankful because now she could help the group with fighting the guards. Her eyes started to turn a bright shade of green, her whole body emitting a good amount of radiation. If she could compare this feeling it would be like getting a hit of heroin.

"Shame I can't thank whoever gave me that boost." Her hands started to glow, shooting the light green balls towards the guards. Causing the guards that were hit to roll around on the floor, some of them removing their helmets revealing their blistered and burnt faces. Fighting her way through the guards and towards the elevator. Kicking the faces of the guards that were coming towards her, Using the boost of power to disable their attackers. Letting the others clean up the weakened guards. Drop kicking one of the guards, quickly getting back onto her feet. Grabbing a guard's arm, disarming him and taking the pistol from his hands. Pointing it at another guard that was trying to attack Iris. Hesitating for a moment, her hands were shaking violently. She could hear a voice speaking to her, "Do it, if you don't your friend is going to die." Quickly looking around wondering where the voice was coming from. Turning her attention back to the guards attacking Iris, she pulled the trigger popping a few shots into them. Stunning him enough for Iris to finish him off.

Abby was still shaking from firing the gun at the guard, taking another human life. "Your a killer Abby, you enjoy watching the light leave your victim's eyes. If you don't act and defend yourself, your gonna end up as a corpse." The voice seemed to be happening in her head. "Who is this? Where are ya?" Screaming out loud wondering if it was Mr.Q talking to her. "I'm not who you think I am, I'm just a friend watching your back. You better head to the elevator, or your gonna be DEAD LAST." This made Abby snap back to what was going on around her. Quickly picking up another pistol that was on the ground, duel wielding both pistols. Firing them at the guards while moving towards the elevator. Of course because of her inexperience, she missed most of her shots. Throwing the empty pistols at the guards, going back to using her powers. Firing those deadly green bolts of radiation at the heavily armed men. Running towards one of the guards, twisting the man's arm breaking it with a loud SNAP. She was no killer, she was not like the others. The people that Abby killed were all accidents. But then again she was still a murderer, even if it was an accident she still took a person's life. Running over towards the elevator, once the way was clear by her group."We wait for the others, I'm not gonna leave anyone behind." She said to Körbl, holding the door for the others to join her.

[Assistant]
@TheRedWatcher @Klumsykrow357 @Perse @KaelRavenheart @SrslyAnArtist@The Man Emperor@Blazion @SrslyAnArtist

Hmph.

Seeing multiple people getting into the lift and taking their time, it was like seeing an anthive being open forcefully by a shovel. So many inmates, prisoners, and guards. Fighting desperately for their freedom.

That kind of raw fight, where everything is on the line.

It never gets tiring to see it.

Then as Abby finally went inside and he joining her side, they were joined by others as the level that they're on will finally be traversed.

Still, who knows how many levels are there left?

Then someone apparently dropped right on top of their lift, one that had him instantly looked up and readied to fight but there was no hostile intent. Opening itself and with someone armed to the teeth as they deposited many weapons, Körbl eyes looked and sighted a sword.

"Can I have one of those?"Körbl pointed to a Katana. It was no messer and he had never really utilized these before but it was better than nothing.

[User]
Alfred Gunther/The Frostbite
Never One...

Without the Other

Frostbite quickly flew in from the hallway, his path trailing with a cold aftermath of frost and snow. The Phoenix's eyes didn't blink at the grisly sights to both his left and right; perhaps this is because he was a creature of such primordial age, existing since before civilization had even risen in the earliest cradles of humanity. Short lived human lives were just numbers to it by now, the comprehension of the Frostbite and its brethren far beyond the ken of mere mortals. However, with those it chooses, to the men and women that he and the rest of the kind dare bind themselves to, they achieve an eternal mutual understanding, an intertwining of thoughts and emotions so deep that they could be said to be one being with two minds. The rest of those that stood in the way of the Frost Phoenix's freedom, however, will be made into history, though their names will be forgotten in the next centuries.

"Before you ask, no, I'm not reverting. Not yet," Frostbite simply said as he folded his cold wings closer to his icy body the same way any other bird would. "Now where are the rest? If a league of superheroes come here before we can scatter into the four winds of the Earth, we're screwed."