[System]
Age: 27

Occupation: Laborer

Appearance: Joshua is just on the taller side of your average man, standing at exactly 6 feet tall (183cm). Due to his day trade as a laborer, he is anything but lanky despite his height. He's not exactly a circus muscle man, but his body is strong and toned. His dark brown hair has lightened somewhat over the years spent in the sun, making for some mismatched browns in his head and facial hair. He keeps his hair short, cutting it himself when he can't get to a barber. Similarly, he keeps his beard on the shorter side too, but worries less about it than his head. He is Caucasian, a fifth generation Scot (though that means little to him), and it's not unusual to find freckles, moles and sunspots on his light skin. He has a few scars on his hands and legs from everyday injuries, but the most noticeable thing about this average looking man is that there's a piece of his right ear missing from a wayward bullet, a man pulling a gun on him during a fist fight ("fuckin' coward").

Personality: Joshua keeps mostly to himself, the only people he really talks to being his foreman and fellow laborers. Seldomly he'll tag along on saloon trips and make light chatter with the other patrons. Despite his mostly introspective nature, he will help people in need - if it's something small. He doesn't play hero, leaving that work to the sheriff, and he keeps his money close. He plays his cards close to his chest but he isn't a wilting flower - in particular, he gets annoyed easily and especially angry if he is stared at for too long. Maybe his aversion to being looked at contributes to his personality, but he just finds it aggravating. He also isn't afraid to let his feelings known when he gets provoked, though mostly he's a "mind your own business" type of man.

Possessions:
* .44 caliber Remington 1875 SAA
	+ Joshua took to carrying a gun ever since the "ear incident." He'd never had a problem defending himself before but the world seemed to be getting rougher. He bought it off a War of Rebellion vet and quickly taught himself how to properly use it.
* Silver Crucifix
	+ The one thing of real value Joshua actually owns, a keepsake from his sister. Although mixed with a copper alloy, it's silver purity is high. It's hung from a simple leather cord. He doesn't wear it around his neck, instead keeps it wrapped around his wrist like a bracelet.
* Canvas Tent & Fixin's
	+ He doesn't carry it with him of course, but his spot in the company's chosen camp area just outside of town has: a modest bedroll, small oil lamp only able to light the inside of the tent, an iron pot and stakes, small blade for various use, and his many cartons of cigarettes.

Backstory: Although not originally from Longwater, Joshua has lived here long enough to consider it a home of sorts. His family - consisting of a mother, father, older sister and himself - moved into town when he was a young boy. Technically a Catholic household, the family didn't often attend mass together. Father was a workhorse obsessed with making money, and what little he made went into the home, horse, and further business opportunities. Mother had a small garden that she tended to most of the day, and focused on keeping the household afloat. Older sister, Sophie, tried her hardest to help out but her true passion was learning. She was away more often than not during the day actually studying at the local church. As for Joshua, he was a rambunctious child... at first.

Eventually Father's lust for money seemed to poison him, and he fell victim to several other vices and sins in his desperation to acquire more. He grew resentful of his wife and children, who he viewed as lazy leeches. He frequented the saloon for solace, falling prey to the drink. When Father started physically taking out his frustrations on his family, the once happy and humble household grew quiet and reserved. Joshua was no exception. Years went by of this sad state of living until it came to a head one night when Father returned home, drunk, and picked up the kitchen knife that Mother took care of so well (she knew Father wouldn't spend the money on a new one after all). At dusk, just after supper, Father stabbed Mother several times and turned the blade on the wailing siblings. Sophie protected Joshua, scooping him up to run and earning herself a nasty slice across her right breast and arm. They fled into the grass, pursued by Father, when a stranger with a gun just happened to be passing by. He shot the drunken patriarch and went to fetch the sheriff to tell him what had happened while Sophie and Joshua made their way to the church.

A few days of healing, a few weeks of traveling, a few years of living in a small shack and making ends meet between the two of them. Eventually they parted ways, though they still exchange letters - Sophie having learned to read and write and teaching Joshua while they survived together. Sophie moved East, and Joshua dearly hoped she wouldn't have trouble getting married what with the gruesome scar that still could be seen on her body. She left Joshua her crucifix, for luck. As for Joshua himself, he had taken several odd jobs growing up and that continued into his adulthood as he traveled around Kansas and other states either digging holes, laying steel, chopping wood, etc. His work led him back to Longwater last year, the company tasked with building a new inn and some new homes for the expanding town. He isn't exactly thrilled to be back, but he's long since put the memories of when he lived here behind him, just focusing on doing his job.

[User]
Longwater, Kansas. Late July

"Fools! You're all fools!" said Old Man Hill, as he staggered backwards out of the saloon and into the muddy main street of Longwater. The saloon's owner, Roy, was standing in the door, wiping his hands on his apron.

"Next time, pay for your damn drinks. Or else I'll throw you out again." Said Roy, much to the amusement of the patrons. Roy was a former slave, and spent much of his early years working the land of his master. He was already big and strong before running away to fight for the Union. Hill, even as drunk as he was, knew that fighting Roy couldn't possibly end well.

"I know what I saw, god dammit!" the old man drunkenly yelled. "The Devil's in Longwater, and we're all doom!"

The old man picked himself from the mud and nearly fell back in once his legs started to quiver. He righted himself and limped down the street back to his hovel.

Not known for much other than propping up the bar of Roy's Tavern, Hill was known throughout the town as a drunken layabout who begged, borrowed and sometimes stole the money he used for drink. So when he came face to face with the Devil, not a soul believed him. Even Father Stone, the local priest, looked at him with skepticism.

"Goddamn idiots, all of them." he muttered to himself as he reached his alley where had been allowed to sleep. Though he was drunk and dead tired, he was afraid of what going to sleep.

Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the cold, black eyes of the Devil. Hill couldn't remember any detail about the demon except for his eyes. The Devil's voice was as cold as his eyes, but carried with it an edge of danger. He asked Hill his name, very politely at that.

Hill turned and ran as fast as his old legs could carry him back to the saloon. He got back to his favorite bar stool and told everyone what he saw. A week had past since that night, and the town had been laughing at him ever since.

The old man sat down on his thrown away mattress, wondering if he should try going to sleep again. He almost didn't hear the running feet and the panting breath until it on top of him...
----

Gene Silver woke up with a start, having been shook awake by Sheriff Wilcox. Ever since his mother died, Gene had taken to sleeping at the Sheriff's office rather than go home.

"Get up, son. There's been a murder." was all the old Sheriff said. The deputy nodded and began pulling his boots on.

[Assistant]
A harsh wind lashed at Julia's bare arms and face, and the smell of a hard, chilly rain cling to the air. Daylight was fading fast. Thick, roiling storm clouds blocked what would have been another gorgeous sunset. Julia frowned. From the hills she spotted a small frontier town, nothing more than a few dozen or so houses and buildings seemed to make up Longwater. The rumors surrounding the place had regretted mentioning how small this town was. An unusually chilly gust of wind sent shivers running through Julia's arms and back. Clicking her tongue, she urged her horse along and down into the valley.

It was unusually quiet, she noted upon entering the town. Her horse was twitching and seemed agitated. More than once she had to pull back on the reins to get him quiet. Julia found the inn easily enough. After dismounting, Julia pulled an apple out of her satchel. She rubbed Anna's nose and feed her the apple. She seemed appeased but Julia knew better than to assume considering the last time she had the fool animal had nearly lost her cart.

Out of her satchel came a small black vail. Popping the cork she waved it under the dappled grey's nose. Anna's pupils went large then dilated to pinpricks. The horse's head Hung and her eyelids drooped. Julia patted the horse's nose and chanced a smile before going climbing the rickety stairs up and into the inn.

[User]
"Hey, it's mornin'," came a voice from just inside of Joshua's tent. The man, who Joshua quickly identified as a fellow layman, probably the guy in the next camp over, shook the canvas opening to make a little noise before Joshua grunted his acknowledgment. Morning, was it? If someone had come to wake him up he'd probably overslept. That wasn't like him. Joshua groaned and sat up rubbing his head. He recalled hearing some commotion move past the campsite in the dead of night, heading into town. Not really his concern, but it had woken him up with a bit of a fright. Took some time getting back to sleep after that.

 It was a few minutes later that Joshua Addair - former local, current traveler with a stick up his ass - emerged from his litte spot outside of town where he'd been camped with the rest of his co-workers. The whole company was currently employed by the foreman (staying at the inn of course, the dick) who was in turn employed by said inn's owner to expand their lodging operations. Lot of folks coming through Longwater lately, apparently.

 Joshua rubbed at his head before replacing his hat and making his way into town. It wouldn't due to be too late to the work site, so he planned to skip making breakfast for himself and stop at the general store for some dried meat. As he walked he passed some kind of gathering by an alley way. On closer inspection, it was the local law and some bystanders. Some drunk die? Or maybe something more malicious? Either way it wasn't his problem. He certainly hoped the town wouldn't devolve into a place rife with murder, but he couldn't help but think back to who or what ever had rushed past the construction company's last night...


[System]
Monster Type: Birdgon
Gender: Male
Occupation: None (In college)
Weapon?: Claws +10 ATK, It's... not possible to remove these.
Armor?: Plain T-Shirt +3 DEF, It's just a plain, white shirt... for a plain guy.
Magic (up to three) : Fire magic, Lightning magic, and Healing magic
Personality: Out of battle, he can be described as rather unassuming, generally friendly, and somewhat talkative, however... this all changes should you get him mad. He will often attack with everything he's got the moment he's mad enough to attack someone, but, after that, he just goes back to using one element at a time... and can usually be talked out of a fight after that first attack.

Bio:
 Unlike most of the monster kids, David always tried to use as many magic spells as possible, claiming that he'd 'get good at all of them!', so, while they continued with their more specialized magic... David was left with some very basic magic that doesn't adhere to any sort of theme. This, at first, got him bullied around by the others, who all had their magic down to a specific thing, their magic all just fit together, whereas David's was just sort of all over the place. He could create fire, he could create lightning, and he could heal... but... he couldn't really figure out anything more than that, whereas some of the more musically gifted monsters shaped their magic into notes, and actually used that to create music, David... could just sort of create the magic. He couldn't get it to do anything special, such as change the color of another monster's soul to force them to move a certain way, or have it shaped like something he likes... it was just sort of there. But... he always tried to make it into something else, but... he just couldn't figure out what, exactly. That being said, he never stopped trying. He continued trying to do something special with his magic... he tried with fire, then lightning, but all throughout his school years, not only did he not have a subject that he was best at, but he couldn't do anything spectacular with his magic... other than just produce lightning or fire.

 'This lack of specialization seemed to follow him into college, where, instead of focusing on one, maybe two subjects, David just took whatever classes appealed to him at the time... which, of course, means that he has a bunch of credits... that don't go towards any sort of degree. This ended with him spending a ton of gold on random classes that have basically nothing to do with one another. His magic, even though he continued trying to make it DO something different was still as plain as ever, even if he can use it to heat things, and power things respectively. Thankfully, the bullying has stopped as it usually does after high school, though, he occasionally refers to himself, jokingly, as 'Plain Dave' just due to how uninteresting his magical spells are. It was around this time that David caught a show about Mettaton fighting a strange creature, one that's been described as a 'human'... he thought it was odd, but, he didn't really want to get involved, as, for some reason, he figured that the human would end up getting killed either by Mettaton who really put up an amazing show fight, or the king... er... fluffysomethingorother. David just sort of figured that, much like the other times these 'humans' entered the underground, it would end with another soul taken...'

 He was wrong. Apparently, not only did the human make it past the king, he also broke the barrier. For the first time in his life, David would be able to see the sun, the stars, and probably so many other things... however, David was one of the last monsters to hear about it, so... despite his enthusiasm, he was also the last monster to leave, aside from whatever few might have actually decided to stay down there. Once he finally made it out of the underground, one of the first things he saw, other than a beautiful sunset, of course, was another human... this one was taller than Frisk, and, at first, David was actually somewhat scared of him, but... soon enough, Erion, the human, convinced David that he meant no harm, that he wants there to be peace just as much as David did. The two became friends after that, and soon enough, David was in a new college on the surface, where he continued the running gag of never being able to really work towards any particular degree. This was just about the time where he found out that the human he saw fighting Mettaton, who was apparently named 'Frisk' vanished... said human was also responsible for the peace between humans and monsters, and fearing a possible war, David tried to give a speech about how people and monsters alike shouldn't judge one another... but, it seemed to fall on deaf ears, as nobody wanted to listen to him... he was apparently a joke in that college, so, the crowd he had amassed just laughed, and left soon after.

Appearance: David is a strange creature. While he has the general appearance of a bipedal dragon, there are some decidedly bird parts on there... more specifically, he has feathers covering his back, wings, shoulders, and the top half of his tail. His arms also look quite a bit like bird legs, though, they have exactly five fingers, and he's capable of using them to manipulate tools (such as pencils). The feathers range in color from white to a light blue, however, his scales, which cover basically everything else are a contrasting red and orange color, with the occasional black scales. Oddly, he has a bird's beak rather than a dragon's scaly snout, but, said beak actually has a set of teeth for unknown reasons. He stands at about 5' tall, which makes him short among adult humans, but rather tall among children. His eyes are somewhat reptilian looking with slit-like pupils, and a yellow color around the pupils with almost no white area. His horns are a jet black color, as are his claws.

I dunno... that's a good question. CAN I, or would I just phaze through the ghost?

[User]
Underground Search Party-Ruins

Mettaton answered Chen, clearly glad that he was finally recognized, and someone was inflating was ego, "WHY YES I AM DAHLING! I'M SO GLAD YOU ENJOYED MY SHOW, 'COOKING WITH METTATON!'"
Skylar laughed and she warned Chen in a joking tone, "Careful, don't inflate his ego too much," She heard Mettaton let out an indignant huff at her warning. She couldn't help but laugh at David's joke as he flew overhead. She looked at Undyne and she answered her question, "Yeah, she did! Frisk did say that she led them through this puzzle..." Before she could even solve it herself (or call Toriel), Chen had already walked through the path, Mettaton and David flew over it, and Sans had taken a shortcut past it with the tiny Aria in tow. Skylar commented to Undyne laughing a bit, "Well there's no need to call her now...Let's get going,"

She then followed the path herself, leading the others who may have walked in after the solution was shown, and Skylar made sure that everyone made it across before progressing into the next room.

The next room was a long hallway. The exit was clearly at the other end, but it was hard to see due to the distance. On the left, leaning on the wall was a mirror. In front of the group, just lying on the ground, was a note. Skylar tilted her head in curiosity, and she asked "What's that...? Another puzzle from those sisters?" She walked up to the note, and she picked it up and read it out loud,

"From here to the tree,
Can you walk those miles
In another's shoes?
Enjoy this game
And see through another's eyes,"

Before Skylar even realized what was happening, there was a flash of light, and the souls of the group suddenly appeared out of their bodies, and flew around chaotically, before disappearing into the bodies once again.
To Skylar, there was a white flash of light, and she had blinked only to find herself, no longer standing and holding onto the note. She noticed she was in mid-air, and she asked, ignoring how her voice sounded completely different than it normally did, "What the-?!" Before she accidentally let out a bird like squawk and fell to the ground. She looked at herself and saw that she had feathers! FEATHERS!!! She started to ask again in shock, "What just-?!"

"Ohhh Myyyy!"

Skylar widened her eyes (in surprise, and embarrassment) at the sound of her own voice...mimicking how Mettaton would speak. She looked to see her own body, and whoever was in it was studying herself, before they spoke again, "Well, this is certainly a strange turn of events..." 'Skylar's' eyes widened before asking "Wait a Magnificent Moment! What happened to MY FABULOUS BODY?!" Skylar looked to see Mettaton's body, wondering who was in Mettaton's body, and she looked to everyone else in worry.

Surface Group

Forest

Asgore watched as Alphys tended to the pangolin monster. Of course, he was upset by the fact that this monster had charged at the human girl with a weapon, but he had calmed down enough so that he wouldn't act rashly. He asked the Pangolin monster while Alphys rifled through her belongings for a pack of ice, "What is your name, young one? And I must ask, but why did you charge at the human like that?" He wanted to give the Pangolin a chance to explain himself. But if the reason was something along the lines of humans being evil, then Asgore wasn't going to show the Pangolin mercy.

Town of Ebbott

Annie panted heavily as she tried to move the pipe from Erion's grip, only to find that she didn't have enough strength to make it budge. She had no choice but to listen to what he had to say, her breathing slowed and eased away from the panicked cadence. As she listened, she stared at Erion in the eyes, allowing him to spot something strange. Her irises had turned red, but as he continued speaking, the red faded and allowed Annie's eyes to return to their normal eye color. She sighed and dropped the pipe, and she answered him, "OK...OK...Fine," She then growled warily "But if you try anything, then I will fight back," For now, she was willing to give Erion a chance. But she was still worried that his monster friends would still come after her. Her body was still somewhat tense, as though bracing herself to run or fight again.

[Assistant]
Erion looked at Annie as he then saw the red parts of her eyes. He looked confused a bit. It felt weird for him. Although he didn't really ask too much about it.
"See... look, if they do try anything to hurt you without reason, I will stop them, promise." he then says, tapping a bit his fencing sword a bit.
"That monster that actually did try to attack.... I think I can take him on anyway... but still... I hope you understand those monsters are not evil." he adds as he start walking out of the halley, calmer, but keeping an eye on her. He did understand why she was having issues trusting those monsters anyway... He then though about something.
"Although... there is something I noticed... why did your irises... seem to have changed red back there. Never seen that before." he says calmly.
"I don't mind if you don't tell me. It's just something I noticed." he adds.

---

Celes moved forwards with the group, and then saw Skylar go to read the note. She was wondering what was written there until a bright flash blinded her. She stared longly afterwards as she was not at the same place. She looked around confused before seeing.... herself? She looked at her and saw that she was merely bones now.... what happen next? Well... let's say she screamed.
"What happen! Why do I look like a skeleton! What is going on!" she yelled, breathing heavily, although just feelign the air moving around her... bones. This felt so wrong, as well as the fact that she felt like a male right now. God...

[User]
"Yeah, nice to meet you, Chen. My name's David," I responded, rather dully, as if I didn't really want to introduce myself to him... I then hesitated as he held out his hand, but, shook it anyways. Sans appeared after that, and, unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to talk to him away from Chen before everyone else started moving on to he next room. I followed, flying, as I usually do, however, a few moments after Skylar read the note, the room was filled with a bright white light. My soul was visible, so I assumed it was some sort of magical attack, and, thus, I tried my best to dodge whatever was coming my way... it faded, and I didn't seem damaged, so I assumed I did a good job until... I noticed something. I wasn't breathing! I tried to check for any sort of pulse or heartbeat, and... nothing. Was I dead, somehow? No... if I was, then I wouldn't be able to see, let alone hear... myself? "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE!?" I asked, though, my voice sounded familiar, it wasn't my own... wait... was I... somehow... Mettaton? Mettaton, himself was in Skylar's body, that much, I could tell just from how he spoke about his fabulous body, but... I couldn't tell what happened to everyone else. I then remembered something... now, I was the one monster guaranteed to be in shot for... whatever it is Mettaton's doing... and, while I would normally just stand there, stuttering, I eventually came up with, well, something, I guess. "SHOCK AND HORROR! IT SEEMS AS IF EVERYONE'S BODIES HAVE BEEN SCRAMBLED! WHAT WILL BECOME OF OUR UNDERGROUND CREW? STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT FABULOUS EPISODE!" I tried my best to sound like Mettaton, and the speakers really helped with that, especially when I made them play his theme song, though, inwardly, I was more scared than I've ever been in my life... I then shouted to 'CUT', and 'END SCENE'... but nobody responded, for some reason...

 I then remembered something... that means someone's stuck in my body now, and... whoever they are, they aren't happy about it. Thinking I was off-camera, I tried my best to use the one wheel that Mettaton uses to move closer to... whoever it was. I was about to say something, but, I decided to use a grey attack just to see their soul, first. Pink... so... they're human... but, somehow, I don't think Chen's soul is pink... I thought before finally saying "Alright, I know it's hard, it's kind of hard for all of us, please, calm down... now, if you ever need to attack someone, you should have fire, and lightning magic, of course, you can also heal. Now, I've never actually chosen a shape, but, um, I've heard it's easy? Sorry, getting off-track, but, don't worry, I'll try to help you in any way that I can... Skylar," I thought about giving her a thumbs up... but I remembered that this body, in its box form... didn't have any thumbs, so, I settled on giving her a pat on the head, instead, and saying "Come on, we got a couple bosses to convince,"


[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]
Spartan Lucas Ryker

As the mounted machinegun opened fire towards Ryker, he was already diving with a startled curse. If he was honest, as he rolled part way down the ramp, the SPARTAN IV had hoped that the rebels wouldn't have bothered setting up any kind of defense on the walk way since they had seemed confident they'd control the doorway. Turning off the active camouflage system, he tucks into the wall of the ramp and swaps the SMG for his DMR before, risking a quick peak at the far end before ducking after a couple of the larger caliber rounds rebounded off his shielding. Hearing that Grikgar was on his way, however, gave the Spartan an idea and he waited for the Grunt to arrive.

The little guy has a fuel rod launcher and lots of explosives. I'm a decent shot and brought a few frag grenades. The problem is obscuring smoke wouldn't do us any good up here...but a series of progressive explosions could force the men behind that barricade in to cover long enough for me to rush them.

[Assistant]
Tar 'Mdalak

---

From her position behind the crates, Tar had a slightly better view of the elevated platforms above them. She couldn't see any hostiles peeking out just yet. "I can't see anyone on the platforms; will keep an eye out." Tar reported, just as the box she was hiding behind began shuddering from a hail of bullets. Cover was particularly poor this close to the near pillars; Tar needed to get into the grid of crates to stand a chance.

She noticed her left leg was starting to hurt; blood trickled slowly from a gap in her armour plating. Could that bullet she'd felt while holding up her Brute cover outside have gone through, rather than grazed her? She wasn't sure. Tar probed the gap with one of her fingers, mandibles clamped together. She couldn't find an entry wound. She'd need to leave it be for now and look once the fighting had stopped.

Tar peeked out from behind the crate she hid behind. A couple of Brutes and Humans had been dealt with, and part of the room was on fire. She could see shapes flitting between the stacks of crates toward the back of the room. It looks like they'd abandoned their previous position. "Our foe runs! We should press the attack." Tar called, shooting between crates at two Humans as they scrambled for cover. One of them fell over.

Tar had never actually killed Humans before now. There'd been no need to; her time with the Silent Shadow remnants had been exclusively focused on killing Brutes. She found these Human warriors to be quite disappointing so far. She'd simmed against ODSTs and other Human elements in Paxopolis, but that'd been in a carefully controlled environment. This was real.

"Moving!" Tar announced, mostly out of necessity. The crate she'd hidden behind had practically fallen apart. She got up and stepped into a 'corridor' between two rows of crates leading to the other side of the room. She spotted a Human with a SAW at the opposite end of the corridor just as they opened fire. Tar only made it forward one row before ducking back behind another stack of boxes. "I'm pinned, how is my right side looking?" Tar asked, partly to herself as she peeked around the other side of the box and partly to Aegis team, who would have a more holistic view.

[User]
Yalu 'Suumko

"They're giving ground already?" Yalu asked himself. "That chieftain was clear, but..." His eyes dilated in realisation. Shortly before Tar was fired upon by the human with the assault weapon, Yalu was already loping into a broad sprint down the right flank, sliding to a stop facing to one side. The human gunner flowed into his sights and five plasma rounds shot towards his centre.

"'Mdalak! Right side clear!" He hesitated, not yet seeing any sign of a jammer, let alone any extra movement on his motion sensor yet. "This feels like a lure!" He added over a growl.

Yalu kept his wits, trying to listen and feel more than see. Brutes liked activate camouflage in packs, and this valley between the walkways was perfect for their prey.

[Assistant]
The two folded into the Aviza brute-killing group (foreshadowing) as they began their descent into the corridor, it would only be a matter of time before they would go toe to toe with a huge group of bad guys. Elna kept her head on a swivel looking around, looking like a paranoid bat of some sort as she expected for Rebels to come flying off the walls. For Roy (Ray) though it would just be another series of motions and actions he would be forced to go through, the two treaded through before Aviza called for contaaaaact! Roy moved forward and jumped behind hard cover before getting up to fire at the rebels.

Elna also followed quickly planting herself up against hard cover as she got her Br-55 up and sent rounds down range towards the rebels and it was only a matter of time before they routed and ran away! Aviza quickly corpsed a flanking brute, taking him out without an ounce of remorse. The whole group began to rout but not in full, it could of been a trap - maybe it was? They were nowhere near the crates at this time so they could possibly be safe, though Ray kept his finger on the trigger.

"Keep an eye out Corporal, thinks aren't as they seem." Elna returned a curt nod towards the spook she babysits, both got up and returned fired onto some nearby rebels quickly killing them as they stepped out of cover.

[User]
Situational awareness is crucial upon the field of battle, Spartan Aviza had learned this through many years of not only combat training but also experience in live fire situations. Unfortunately, it appeared that some of the other members of her immediate squad had either forgotten this important tactic or were more brazen and impatient than the others. To Aviza, is was clear that the hostiles had set up some kind of trap for them, though she was unsure what that trap would be. Perhaps they were trying to lure some of the forces into an area then cut them off from the others with some sort of energy barrier? That would make them easy to overwhelm, and the hostile forces on the other side would have to somehow deactivate the shield before being able to assist. Whatever their plan was, Spartan Aviza was not about to let any harm come to those under her command.

Quickly, Aviza gave orders to the two had moved away from the rest of the squad, "Why are you advancing into what is most likely a trap? What happens if you two get cut off from the rest of the squad and we can not help? I want both of you back to my position immediately, the rest of us will provide cover and then try to find out what they have planned for us ahead." Spartan Aivza hoped that there was still time for the two Sangheili to correct their mistake, if not, the situation at hand was about to get much worse.

[Assistant]
There was some delay in the response from the enemy. They waited behind cover on the far side of the room, only giving token return fire as they waited for their attackers to take the space they had given up. However, Aviza did not give the order to advance, and the delay would give some time to try and retreat back to her position.

When it became clear that their attackers had, for the most part, not taken the bait, the Chieftain let out a roar. Right away, Brute stalkers, four at least, emerged from active camouflage on the walkway directly above the team's position. They did not have an angle to shoot down on Aviza or those who stayed back, but Tar and Yalu were within their sights. Two opened fire with spikers, while the other two tried to throw incendiary grenades to block their retreat. It was, indeed, an ambush, though it was far from ideal for the Brutes, as both of the Sangheili were still fairly close to Aviza's position. In any case, the Chieftain's roar had been the signal for an all-in attack. The Brutes started charging from far across the room through the crates, while the Human rebels positioned themselves to provide supporting fire. Although, they did have a fair amount of ground to cover to cross the entire length of the room.

[User]
Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker
// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery // Location: Enemy Stronghold

Grikgar shifted quickly from one point of cover to the next. "Copy Grik be careful now. Many explosions good for Grik but not good for everyone else." Getting to the pillar next to the Spartan Grik nodded and activated the shield he got from the jackal. The bright orange glow of the shield illuminated his position in time for the machine gun to open up on his position. "Grikgar create opening for Spartan."

Turing from cover his shield flared then broke along with his energy shield, Grik gar was only able to get two shots off with an unsteady hand before diving back into cover. "Shields recharging." What a rush, a bit risky but a rush all the same.

[Assistant]
Vael 'Virisusai and Tasuma

---

While Grikgar had not had much time to take his shots,the jackal shield had at least bought him enough time to be able to put one on target. The first sailed over the top and exploded on the far wall, but the second struck the barricades directly. It did not entirely destroy the barricades, and the rebels behind them were able to duck for cover, but the machine gun emplacement was caught in the blast. Ryker would still have to deal with armed resistance, with better cover, on the upper walkway, but there was no heavy gun to keep him pinned.

Some of the rebels had retained their bearings well enough and had managed to retreat out from the smoke cloud in the center of the room to form up behind the cover of the support struts on the far side. They had no heavy emplaced weapons, but they were well-armed on their own and had good sight lines. It would still not be trivial to displace them. If Ryker and Grikgar could claim the upper walkway, they would have a position on the high ground, at least.

Amid the smoke, Vael stalked the rebels who had not escaped like prey. Using motion trackers, or simply the sounds they made to track them, Vael weaved between the crates to deal with them up close and personal. From the outside, one would see nothing until he came close enough to a target to flick on his energy sword, which illuminated the thick smoke in a blue glow. It was generally followed by a short burst of gunfire, then the scream of a Human.

Tasuma did not make light of its own injuries, but in any case, it still moved into the smoke cloud as well. It was concerned less with killing stragglers as it was positioning itself to handle the rebels defending the far side of the room. The smoke would dissipate eventually, so it moved to find enough of a stack of crates that it could use for cover, instead of relying wholly on its armor for protection.


[System]
Nicknames:Fer
Age:21
Gender:Male
Level: 1

Class: Shield Hero

Hero Class: Shield

Specializations: Survival Training, Languages, Tactical Training,

Magic Affinity: Wind

Appearance: Tan skinned with Knife cut hair down to his shoulders. He has brown eyes and a curved hawk like nose. He stands 5'7" and weighs about 180 lbs. He has many scars on his body and his clothes are ragged and worn. He has a quiet attitude and talks very little. But when he talks he has a sort of tenor voice that is a bit raspy from lack of use. He unknowingly has a protective spirit and has on many occasions helped a person but he tries very hard to seem indifferent. He has no qualms about getting his hands dirty but only resorts to violence when necessary.

Biography: Fer is from a war torn country in the South American Continent in the early 1980s. Living in the harsh rural mountains, made him a hardy young lad. When the guerrillas started abducting children he was unfortunate to have been trapping when his younger brother was taken, his father and mother butchered and his younger sister abducted probably to be sold as a slave. Fer tracked down and joined one of the guerillas. His aim was to find his siblings and exact revenge, on whoever he could, from within. He endured harsh and violent conditions. He learned to use conventional and fabricated weapons. His trapping skills eventually earned him a place as a tracker and forager. All the while his goal was to find his siblings.

By luck or providence, he was able to discover that his poor brother had not survived the harsh living conditions of jungle and a boy soldier. It had been many years and he felt that he had failed his siblings, his parents and justice. He was contemplating ending it all when on his way back to camp he heard a cry of despair and pain.

He followed the sound and happened upon a very common scene of four or five guys surrounding the poor body of girl from where the sound had emerged. He was about to turn away when one of the young men parted and he saw the dirty and tear streaked face of his sister. Rage and pain clouded his emotions as he deftly loaded his old pump action riffle. Despite the emotional storm going on in his soul, Fer managed to quickly and accurately send two bullets bursting into his intended targets. He did not even stop to assess the damage when a quick reaction from one of the remaining three young men reached for the riffle. Far let the riffle be torn from his grasp but his hand immediately pulled the hunting knife he wore on his waist and plunged it deep under the ribs of the attacker who slumped to the ground after a gasp of surprise. The one that had been assaulting the young girl had succeeded in punting on his pants and stood up just as the other lad managed to close in combat with Fer and knock him to the ground trying to pry the knife from his grasp. Fer reached up with his other hand pulled the lad's hair towards his face and bit hard into his neck until he felt the metal taste of blood. A yell of pain from the wounded neck which was spurting in a rhythmic fashion.

Before he could get to his feet he felt a sharp pain on the left side of his head. He fell to the side trying to fight off confusion and a nausea. Before he could recover he felt the weight of a sweaty body on his and rancid breath near his nose as the last attacker fell onto him striking with his hands. Adrenalin and desperation made both defender and attacker inaccurate in their scuffle. Somehow, the attacker's hand happened upon the hunter knife that had been dropped. He raised the knife and brought it down upon the raised arm of Fer who had appempted to protect himself. The blade plunged deep into the left forearm and scrapped bone protruding from the other side. The lad used his weight and pushed down forcing the blade slowly down. It was a life and death struggle. The blade was dangerously close to Fer's neck when a shot rang out. While the weight remained on him, it was dead limp weight. Blood started to drip from a hole on the side of the face of the attacker and Fer pushed the dead body off him, the effort causing him to almost pass out from the pain in his left forearm.

A crying girl rushed to his side. "FER!" the girl said between sobs. Fer propped himself on his knees, the Adrenalin slowly leaving his body and giving way to pain and nausea. He still managed to hug the young girl and say her name through bloodied and busted lips. "Rosa, please forgive me!" He added his sobs to hers as they held each other surrounded by a grim collection of bodies darkening the earth and pooling blood.

Five days later found Fer and Rosa in a rural train station headed towards town. They wanted to leave so much grief and pain behind. Perhaps even one day make it to America. They had somehow made it down the mountain to a village where they had found good people who patched up Fer and helped them find a ride to the rural town. They bought passage with the selling of the equipment and cash found on the dead bodies of the assailants. It seemed like their bloody past was behind them. There had been no signs of pursuit and nobody would even know who was missing or who had attacked with so many rival guerrillas in the area. While they waited, Fer's gaze fell on the odd and eclectic offerings of a merchant. It was a worn book. Fer smiled, his younger brother had loved books. He had been the smart one in the family. Fer knew how to read of course but had not envisioned a life outside farming the land like his father. He knelled and for 5 pesos bought the book. He was on his way back to Rosa and the approaching train.

In an instant, there was a bright flash of light which all but blinded the young man. When his vision returned and the spots dissipated, he was standing in a stone walled room.

---
Preferred Weapon(s): Shield, (proficient in fire arms , bows and knives)

Appearance of Weapon: Dependent on the ability being used but at rest it looks more like a solid metal bracer with a jewel on the center of it.

Abilities of Weapon: (if applicable)

Appearance of Weapon:

Abilities of Weapon: morphs shield into any of the shields shown above. The shields have no particular ability they are just metal shields in that shape.

Appearance of Weapon: :

Abilities of Weapon: equip bonus: defense 2

 Appearance of Weapon: :

Abilities of Weapon:

Air Burst- Able to create a strong burst of air that impacts the target in a 12 inch ball. Diameter of ball increases with the user level.

Burst Shield- forms a air generated shield (similar to the one in the manga) and helps minimize damage from attacks. The number of layers or shields are depended on user level.

[User]
"Ah yes Records of Past Heroes? The former shields, swords, bows, and spears? Well I must say we don't have a VAST amount on them as King's great great great Grandmother did have the records classified for the sake of making sure they were safe but we have some stuff. The names of those who travelled with the heroes, the people who they defeated, and the records of their specific calamities though I must warn you even I, the summoner, of our new friends am currently not so sure how much is accurate." commented Hans as he looks around and then leans into whisper. "I feel that some here of specific...political, and factional disputes may have embellished some of it personally. I only say this to you for the simple fact you're with the heroes. Are you sure you wish to proceed knowing that?" comments Hans quickly as he pulls back looking around to hope no one saw him. He adjusts his glasses, and robes looking nervous as he looks at Auriel sweating slightly. "Aside from the obvious we all know the legends we were raised, and born on. The Spear Hero Shani who slew a kraken to save a port town, The Sword Hero who put down a war using only the power of her voice to calm the generals during a meeting, and the Bow Hero who split an entire mountain using one almighty shot down from the top of it. But who knows if those are true, and if they are I have high hopes for them."

===

"You're not my lackey Fer, you're my teammate. I'm not looking for followers more so people who will help me. And I think you know that too but its worth saying regardless." Cole returns to Fer as he looks directly at him his eyes firm, and unyielding as he nods then turns to Marcino who rubs his chin while he thinks about his reply. The grizzled veteran considers all of the things that could go wrong, and may very well go wrong, and eventually he takes a short breath as he looks at Fer intently.

"Escort job huh? And I guess I suppose I should thank one of those sneaky bitches that's been keeping an eye on us when I took you out to the field for target practice. King's little entourage does a lot for him you know. Not like back in Zeltoble. The Phoenix Born Hero doesn't let his crew go around doing whatever without his knowing. Then again...maybe that's for the best since the kid's got a lot on his plate. Don't envy the man that's for sure." comments Marcino as he takes a long swig of his beer. "Phoenix Born Hero?" Cole asks as the man shook his head and looks at him. "No, he's not one of you. He may as well be though...he's well...I suppose I shouldn't tell ya. Would be rude to not let that old shit not surprise ya." Marcino says crudely as he gives them a wide smile. "Anyway as long as the king foots the bill for me helping you stay alive I'll take the job. I'll even do it at a discount this once because I know its probably about Winters right? Heard a guard complaining about her a week ago before you both arrived. Consider it on the house for having one of my 'own' causing troubles. So you know when you're heading out?" Marcino asks as Cole stopped to wonder if there was more to this then Marcino let on. "I'm ready to head out at any time really but Auriel went off to somewhere...I don't remember I was hardly paying attention to her given the circumstances...and how did you know abo-" Cole started before Marcino shook his head. "No this ain't the place to be talking more than necessary about those people you get me?"

[Assistant]
Fer's eyes narrowed. Apparently the emissaries were keeping eyes on more than just the heroes. He wondered what sort of play was going behind closed doors. He already felt uncomfortable knowing that he may be indirectly be used as a tool to further someone's cause. Often, if the tools is kept in the dark then the person using the tool was not of honorable persuasion.

The mention of the Zeltoblian hero spiked his interest. If there was a personage important or powerful enough to be placed in the same category as them, he felt he should know more about them. He filed the reference to ask Auriel. He figured he could ask Marcino but the man had quickly changed the subject. This spiked the young hero's interest even more. Was there a man that the gruff veteran actually looked up to?

Fer nodded as Marcino surprised them by taking the job free of charge. The hero had resigned himself to pay what was necessary. After all, amasing fortune would be useless if his ultimate goal was to return to his own world at the end of the waves or his time here.

When Cole mentioned he did not know where their angel winged companion had gone Fer offered as a way of explanation.  "She went to the Cathedral and library to check on the Dragon Glass and try to find some information about the old powers or skills of the old heroes."  The young man shrugged. "I had asked her to see if she could dig up some information. I want to be of better use. However, so far, I have only been able to morph my shield and gained a small orange one from feeding my gem those balloon monsters we fought the other day."

He seconded Cole's mention of being ready. "If we can pick up Auriel on the way, I am ready to go too."

[User] "Well before we do...I have a question for you Fer. Do you think the other two heroes will be a problem for us? Not on this misison I mean in the future. The Spear Hero is a big unknown, and The Bow Hero is a loud mouth vulgar biker chick. I don't think we'll have much luck when it comes to teamwork BUT we need them. That's the big problem we need to form a cohesive team because otherwise we'll be split, and easily picked off once the waves come. We had some trouble with the bandits but given two weeks of prep we can easily manage to overwhelm the basic bad enemies that we'll fight. But the big ones? I don't think I can stop those alone." Cole states as he looks across to Fer his eyes fixed firmly on him as he grips the table a bit tightly. Cole wasn't sure what his comrade thought on the matter. Given the chance Cole would prefer the heroes joined together to save the world but...would that even be a possibility or were they called her to be doomed?

[Assistant]
Fer considered the question posed to him. He had very little interaction with the spear who had left almost as quickly as he himself had appeared in this world. There seemed to be no animosity or bad blood in the departure. Indeed, the Spear had seemed level headed and even was able to pull an entourage with him which meant that at least some people of this world found him trustworthy.

He knew even less of the bow hero beside the comments of both Cole and Marcino. What he heard however, did not leave a good impression. As far as warriors went, apparently, she was very good. It was in the interaction between people that she seemed to be lacking. Fer was never one for sensibilities despite his usually calm and helpful attitude.

His friend was right, teamwork for the sake of survival, not just their own but of the world, would be critical. In truth, Fer had forgotten at times that two other heroes existed except for the time that Auriel or Cole mentioned them. He had enjoyed their small group's dynamic. But his childish desires were trumped by cold hard real-world needs.

He sighed as he prepared to respond to Cole. His voice had a resigned tone that told of the unwillingness to do what his words said but his conviction to do it for the greater good.  "IF there is a way to speak to them and IF we manage to get them to work with us in a sort of loose alliance. Our survival chances will increase. We do need more fire power Cole and just you and Auriel in the vanguard may not be enough."

He paused for a second collecting his thoughts. If the bow was indeed such a jerk then her addition to the party might do more harm than good. But from what he had heard, the waves were named thus because they came in predictable and timed patterns. Perhaps there was a way to work with them during the waves and allow for the freedom of everyone following their own paths while in the lull between the waves.

"It would be great to have us work together in perfect synchrony but I don think that is possible. So, if we can at least fight in a loosely based plan with certain teams doing certain tasks then we should be able to fight effectively. It would take too much cooperation to fight efficiently but we can at least cover each other's backs. I hope we can at least trust them enough for that."

He looked at his fellow hero. "Do you think that you are charming enough to win them over to our side?" His tone was playful.  "Or do you know them enough to perhaps offer some sort of deal or incentive?" Fer shrugged. "The least we can do is try and talk to them. If nothing comes of it, then we go back to being separate cells and hope that we survive."


[System]
The Chimera of Lynore

To the south, the province of Lynore was home to schemes most foul. Ideas cooked up to create life rather than simply control it led to a partnership between a druid and alchemist. Their intention was to harness the strengths of the wild and tame them through combination as to make profit off of anyone who would pay for their creations. Bear-shark-humanoids, snake-dogs, and what would later become Luciel was a shift in direction from simply making monstrosities to appealing the everchanging tastes of humanity.
Luciel is one of about 60 such creations intended as servants, the exotic features of otherwise docile creatures serving to doll up what was essentially a small human. Ears and the tail of a rabbit, antlers of a deer and the eyes and fangs of a cat, this variant became popular in the region and were kept by nobles as pets, servants...and such.
Luciel appears around 14ish for his relatively short stature of nearly 4'9. He was personally tailored for the duke's son and carries wavy pink, shoulder-length hair from which matching bunny ears poke out from. Their left ear holds three small silver studs, linked together by a fine chain. Sports two antlers, each with three points. Ruby red eyes cut with cat-like pupils.
Luciel could be described as beautiful in an androgynous way; a lithe slim frame and a porcelain pale doll-like complexion from being confined indoors for most of his life. This is marred by a darkness under his eyes from nights spent laying awake and lingering bruises of various forms, hidden under his clothes from treatment which only ended roughly two or three days prior.

Observably (at least at the start of the thread), Luciel is shrouded in a large section of tapestry likely stolen from the manor of his previous master and wrapped around his figure to obscure all but the shadow of a nose poking out from how he bundled it all like a cloak. The material is tattered and torn in places from a very inconvenient walk through bushes and brush.

Underneath this is his 'servant' attire consisting of a short sleeved white buttoned down shirt under a black vest. Snug black shorts adorned with a long chain wrapping around his waist with slack hints to a pocketwatch, likely stolen. Knee-high boots (3 inch flat-soled heels) with black mid-thigh stockings fixed with garters running up his shorts.

Not his first choice of attire, it lends the question of what his purpose was.
Inventory: A simple pocketwatch, a simple shortsword pillaged from a dead sailor as well as a light crossbow. Two ornate rings too big for him to wear...likely stolen. A keyring holding various pieces of slim metal beaten into the shape of a makeshift lockpick set. Two flasks found at the scene of the wreck which Luciel assumed was water until getting his first taste, their contents seem to serve well for aiding in starting fires, though (sailors' rum).

Enhanced senses - The splice of cat-like eyes gives Luciel superb vision in most lighting scenarios. However, pitch black is still pitch black. His ears allow even a very weak form of echolocation due to their discerning sensitivity (However, this makes him susceptible to sonic damage)

Lockpicking - Leading up to his escape, Luciel had plenty of practice in picking locks to undo his binds. However, magical locks are beyond his expertise.

Natural Weapons - Animalistic by a latent primal nature; though his fangs may be small, determination and their sharpness make a bite from Luciel a suitable deterrent in a pinch. Alternatively, the points of his antlers are whittled sharp.

Through his pact with the abyssal entity which he refers to as "O'Distant Fish", Luciel has an affinity for illusion and ice magic.

Examples of illusions usually work in the way of camouflage which is especially effective in the shadows which he can almost seamlessly blend into if not moving.
As for ice, his strength lies in distractions. Chilling moisture in the air, Luciel can summon small clouds of chilled moisture to distract or temporarily blind those it consumes with the exception of himself. This is mostly to buy time for a precision strike from conventional weapons or to obscure his movement.

Most variations of these spells require verbal and somatic commands to conjure. Being bound hinders their effectiveness while being silenced in any way prevents spellcasting.
Personality: Luciel is soft spoken and often comes off as timid, though he has developed a nasty habit of 'fear biting'. He is inexperienced with the world and is often seen as naive or even foolish, though has enough street smarts and common sense to avoid dangerous situations if possible. Repeated abuse has worn down any love he would have towards humans as well as inherent disposition, leaving him almost seeming 'hollow' at times. Outside of this, Luciel is excitable and eccentric when expressing emotions. Curious of this new world outside of servitude, he has a distinct fascination with the accumulation of knowledge and an abstract method of defining experiences and that which he witnesses in an almost poetic way.

Speaking ill of the dead is not my intention, as they are gone and cannot hear my words no matter how loud I scream.
Existence came as suddenly as one would wake from sleep, and all I knew since then has been one nightmare after the other. It begins with a monster of a man and his monster of a son and ends with both of them dead for their vileness. There would have likely been more, but I was smart enough to know when it was time to leave.
I had spent maybe a day on the run before coming across the perfect place to rest. Unbeknownst to me, the crate of linins was bound to be transferred by boat to destinations unknown to me. Wherever it was, the ship would not reach it as the force of a storm toppled the craft.
To this day, I'm not entirely certain how I survived. I dreamt of a creature within the darkness of the waves who came to my aid, massive as the shore as black as night. Though it did not speak, we came to an understanding that my mortality was left to its mercy and that it had no interest in my soul at that moment. Though I did not hear it speak, I knew words which it etched into my mind; formless syllables and cryptic verses whose very recollection brought power through even the vaguest attempts to pronounce them.
...Existence returned to me as suddenly as one would wake from sleep, dashed upon the shore with the corpses of sailors and passengers as well as their cargo. Quickly collecting what I could, I fled from the shore with no direction or plan.

I was free, whatever that meant. It didn't take long to find a suitably large cave which I intended to take shelter in while endeavoring to collect myself for what was now where my new life began.

Other
- Given the region which he learned to speak in, Luciel carries a bit of an accent vhich I vill be inflictink upon readers. On top of this, his linguistics are shoddy at times and the prose with which he speaks is often either over formalized or abstract like internal musings, a testament to the depth of his mistreatment.
- Opposed to the nature of the entity he made a pact with, Luciel is a less than impressive swimmer. If anything, he has a bit of hydrophobia for any amount of water more than waist deep.

[User]
Victor was going to listen to their new found 'friend' before he realized how little he cared. Honestly, he intended to suck him dry if given the chance. No reason to keep two blood-bags around when one of them appeared quite tougher and less afraid than the other one. But, unless he wished to reveal himself he couldn't very well do it right now. As the boy William talked Victor was attempting to manufacture a situation in his mind where dining on the boy would become possible, and even easy. Unfourtanetly the Witch Rose intervened again, quietly Victor wished the strange creature had eaten her... but it appeared she had learned its name. This 'Unyat' she said was friendly if strange, and seeing as she was a Witch Victor was inclined to believe her. She had other ways of killing them all without letting some cave creature devour them so he took her at face value. The way she commented about William brought a smile to Victors hidden face, hopefully it meant she would not try to protect him, giving Victor the edge he needed to slake his thirst in duplicate.

He was rather surprised at her view of the scarecrows and their origin, more that she went innto the nature of witches than anything else. He disliked all witches be they light ir dark as all could become a nuisance to a vampire. More powerful ones were outright dangerous to them, and he would already need to watch his step with Miss Rose let alone another witch. Regardless, Victor was intent on drinking soon seeing as he still had no idea when the last time he had sated himself had been. When Rose gave the command for Gish to decide where the little company would be going Victor was abiut to make a case for their heading to the cabin before Rose started prattling on again, supporting both sides of the arguement like a damn fool. Victor growled quietly beneath his helmet as the Witch was already beggining to grate on him. Then, once she had finished he prepared to give his case when Gish herself headed him off, deciding they woulld indeed be going to the cottage. He smiled widely, and sloshed across the shallow pond to Luciel, who he gently but firmly brought to his feet, "Come Luciel! Gish leads the way now!", he chuckled, gripping the boys shoulder firmly to pick him up and point him in the direction of the cottage, not wanting his primary food source to leave his side. Before he left with Luciel he also picked up William, smiling, "Welcome to our little merry band William!", and similarly giving him a light push to the cottage... if he was lucky and careful he may very well eat tonight.

[Assistant] So it seemed that she and Mathias were not the only ones that had just appeared here. That was not uplifting. Truth be told her memory was mostly intact, but the journey down she was unconscious so all of that was missing. Stroking her hair a bit she leaned her head to one side. "I remember things before coming here. I know I was swept here by water but I do not know how far I have come or the direction to go back. This place is quite confusing as I have seen light coming through. The air is strange here though."

[User]
Even having a moment to breath barely eased the small sting of adrenaline, Luciel meeting the many moving eyes of the beast that identified itself as 'Unyat' in a plural sense. It was moments after this that the chimera was tilting his head, flicking an ear as he could've sworn the strange growths on top of their new...associate had moved. Tiny eyes and clicking teeth glinting confirmed this, sending a ring of tinnitus through his senses as he took a step back only to find his legs lock up and feel numb.
Luciel came back to his senses, shaking off almost fainting as he propped himself up on an elbow and rubbing his face with a groan, thankful the ground was at least soft enough so as not to inflict any more than a sore arm after landing on a shackle bruise.
'Why couldn't it have just been a normal, empty cave?

The very thought of looking at Unyat made Luciel's skin crawl, but he'd apparently refocused during an explanation by Rose in regards to the scarecrows. Her talk of percents went over his head, as he found it simply a needlessly fancy way of saying 'I'm pretty sure'. Convoluted human-speak, it summed up to be, though he was curious why Rose would name Gish as the group leader.
All of the effort going into explaining witches, naming people as leaders, cheeky winks...subtle implications drew Luciel to conclude Rose was trying quite hard to be friendly with the group, immediately making him skeptical of her intentions. To him, witches were just made-up antagonists in children's books to encourage them to obey out of fear of being eaten by haggard crones. In all honesty, to even call anyone a witch was a notion steeped in misunderstanding. People simply want, and those who use magic to get what they want are called 'witches' by those jealous of their power. The color that goes along with them is as meaningless as the size of their boots, as the toils of human aspirations cannot so simply be summed up with the hue of a color...the very idea was presumptuous and forgettable.

It wasn't hard for Luciel to sum up Rose's explanation as a sort of redirection, though it was tricky to tell from what.
Gish's explanation with William nearby made him slightly curious of the group. Everyone seemed to have either been from this cave or just appeared in it in rapid succession timed apparently just before he blindly walked in. Though he didn't think it would be polite for him to make a joke about it being weird since he found the cave on his own accord, he did have the heart to say, "Vell...I just vahndered in...to zeh cave."
His voice trailed off as he looked away, easing himself into better footing before simply being hauled to his feet by Victor who came sloshing across the shallows of the pond to do so.

Luciel was glad that they could come to a consensus regarding a plan. Worst case was that the cottage was occupied and they'd have the opportunity to ask for directions or maybe if it was okay to camp...well, no...worst case scenario was that the chimera was completely wrong and Gish's fears of being eaten by witches could come to fruition. Still, if push came to shove, Luciel wasn't above murdering the occupants for a chance at rest which he'd sought, hours ago. On that note, the idea of cooking the contents of his game bag sounded as enticing as ever as being marooned in a shipwreck and walking miles through forest and caves was a good way to build up an appetite.

"J-jeh, I suppose" Luciel said, making a sound that may or may not have been the poorest attempt at a forced chuckle as his ears folded back from Victor's touch. A dull click came from the crossbow which had been triggered at an angle which left the bolt knocked on the spent string. With a sigh, he withdrew the bolt, holding it in his teeth while rearming the device. There arguably wasn't any apparent threat...though Luciel couldn't help but notice Unyat out of the corner of his eye, making his skin crawl; you could call it paranoia, simply having his weapon ready was enough to ease his nerves to the point of working the shake out of his steps as he followed Gish to the cottage.

There were so many people to keep an eye on. Unyat needed no explanation, and the feel of their eyes tested Luciel's resolve in every waking moment he was aware of them looming just out of his willingly redirected sight. Two of the three humans were overly friendly, what with Rose trying to be helpful and Victor uncomfortably buddying up to the chimera enough to worry him considerably. Certainly a knight of his supposed standing, capable of owning a suit of armor so extravagant, would rather bother a woman like Rose.

Was he just...into that sort of thing?

Everything was so cringe-worthy, even seeing Victor encourage William to the cabin. This left him only to Gish and William; Gish from Rose and William from Victor, it was a strange feeling to have the slightest sense of compassion...a will to protect.
Luciel shook these feelings, those he concerned himself with were merely there for now until finding the reason or means to take what they could and leave, he was certain of it...and felt foolish for letting his focus slip with so much to lose from supposed 'friends' he was surrounded by.
Biding his time was still the best course of action, letting himself be wheeled off to the cottage.

"Ehn-yeh...V-velcome to zeh group"


[System]
Race: Bean Nighe
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Occupation: Unemployed, robs graves for a living.

Personality/Interests
On the surface, she seems like a very easy person to talk to, someone who you can trust, someone who knows a lot about the world. On the inside, though, Mysaren just desperately wants to be accepted by people. One of her biggest fears is people not liking her. Mysaren can be seen as somewhat manipulative, lying and cheating to people often to get her way, although this is something that she is trying to fix. She's definitely not above dirty tricks in order to get what she wants, or sometimes needs. She's very good at feigning confidence, which is how she does her "job", by either brute force or pretending that she's supposed to be in area's that she's not supposed to go. Despite this, she's definitely loyal to those she cares about, and definitely tries to help her friends in family in any way she can. Mysaren is somewhat hot-headed, and has a very quick temper. On the inside, she's a very sensitive person, though. She takes a lot of things literally, and doesn't really appreciate jokes or teasing at all.

She cares immensely about her family at home, and her greatest fear is something bad happening to them. Her entire life has been spent trying to support them the best she can, even stealing and cheating in order to get money. She's often very cheap, not liking to spend money frivolously, even if she has money. She has a bit of a mistrust for anyone with large amounts of money as well.
Appearance
Mysaren is a rather tall women, having the look of a warrior. She's muscular, with a chiseled, prominent jaw and square face. She has short, curly black hair, which barely goes past her ears, although her bangs cover her eyes if not pulled back. She has dark brown skin, which is marred with various scars. Her eyes are deep-set, and blue eyes that look like the deep end of the pool. Freckles cover a large amount of her face, and are lightly sprinkled on her shoulders.

Details
Body build: Muscular, well built.
Hair: Short, curly.
Hair color: Black.
Skin color: Dark brown.
Eye/Iris color: Dark blue.
Height/Weight: 6'3, 185.
Notable Features: Freckles, her arms and legs are somewhat covered in scars.

Clothing Description
She tends to wear long, dark purple robes with a gold trim around the edges, and a hood. Underneath, she wears a black tunic, a normal pair of pants which are brown, and a belt, which is covered in various small pockets and bags. She carries a larger, messenger bag that's made of black leather and has several runes carved into it. She also wears thick, black leather gloves, and rather strong, worn boots, made for travelling.

Equipment
A spell book and several other books, a few healing and mana potions, various materials for her spell work, a shovel, a lantern, and a bottle of oil.

Weapon(s)
Her wand, a knife, and a small sword.

Powers
Due to her years spent living in the darkness, she has a heightened sense of sight.

Abilities
She is able to tell when someone is about to die, although she can't get specifics on who/why/how. It's usually just a loud, wordless muttering in the back of her mind.

Talents
Hand to hand combat.
Petty thievery
Her persuasive power.

Magic
Deals primarily in Necromancy. Talking with the deceased, being able to call upon them in times of battle.
Sessamaru - "He seems level-headed, but I am envious of his rather joyous personality."

Historia - "A naive little bird. I do hope she at least knows enough to stay out of trouble."

Saha - "Never much liked snakes."

Katelia - "An annoyance."

Julio - "He knows how to keep his mouth shut. I can respect that."

Azzrix - "Pompous ass. I can't help but respect his ability to kill rich people though. Keeps me in business."

Margaret - "I don't much respect greediness, but she's at least a good companion otherwise."

Naida - "Rather nice. Pretty cute as well."

Drubbins - "An idiot. Lovable, but an idiot."

Tahira - "One of them brainy types, and not so good with people. Kinda painful to talk with her."

Rimau - "He has a very similar sense of humor as me, and he's pretty friendly. I like him a lot."

Claire - "Rather shy, but not bad to talk to. Could be a good friend."

Viggo - "I can't stand him or his music."

Rouen - "Some pretty rich boy who thinks he knows how the world works because he's lived in a nice castle all his life."

Falen - "I respect him a lot. He kinda scares me sometimes though..."

[User]
"Dogs like me." Said Drubbins happily at the snake bloke. He had no idea what Da Boss would want a dog returned to someone, but that was normal. Da Boss asks you to punch down a building you don't ask what's inside. Da Boss wants every slime in the area gathered up and shoved behind the same door, you don't ask why. Da Boss asks you to chop off your hand and let your blood spill into the stone circle, you ask "how much blood would ya like, Boss?"

He was also happy to have someone to come with him. Most Bosses didn't trust Drubbins to handle anything more complex than krumping a bloke on his own, and most of them at least sent someone to make sure he'd Krumped the right bloke.

He thumped his chest, threw the rest of the pancakes directly into his mouth, and garbled "You point me at dat Peanut and dat 'ouse and I'll do da rest."

[Assistant]
"Oh, I understand. Uhm, you can borrow my cloak if you want, you know. I don't mind." Even if Rimau was tough, Mysaren didn't want to have to deal with a pissy Zizz all the way up some mountains. She could live without the cloak, being pretty used to the cold. Her cloak was mostly just to disguise herself, make her blend in a bit, but it also helped with self esteem issues. She scratched her arm idly.

"I'm not a huge fan of mountains either, of course, but, well, hopefully the reward makes up for it," Maybe she could actually buy some form of transportation, a horse or a cart or something with the prize money. "Besides, a bunch of idiots who decided to hide up in the mountains shouldn't take us that long to dispatch, of course. We'll be out of there in no time." She didn't exactly know that, of course, but bandits and robbers weren't generally the smartest of people, especially if they left enough evidence for them to know where they were hiding, even if it was just a vague area.

Mysaren followed Rimau to the door, and frowned when she poked her head out, and turned back in. Inside the tavern looked bright and well lit, sun streaming through the windows, but outside was overcast and dreary. She coughed as she poked her head out, and looked at the mountains Rimau was pointing at. "Yes, that should be it. Hm, doesn't seem too too far away. Even then, there has to be some form of trail up there if the robbers were able to get up there so fast. Hopefully it won't be that hard to find where they're hiding."

[User]
Naida
Outside the Blue Moon

Naida does not care of Azzrix comes along, but she does care about her share of the reward. Consider that he is a thief, he might wind up cheating them out of their share. But as Sessamaru says that he can come along, she has no argument against it. She begins walking again, looking down at the job. "So it says that the daughter is being held on the island out in the river by the Blue Moon. I know what river they speak of in this job, but I do not know which island. There are three islands on the river." She furrows her brown and looks at Sessamaru. "It doesn't matter anyways if neither of you can swim fast enough to keep up with me. Would either of you like for me to scout ahead see if I can find out which of the islands this poor girl is on?" As she is speaking, she hears the rush of the river and she can't help herself. She rushes toward the sound and stands at the very edge of a cliff that overhangs the water.

She stares down at the water, a little bit of fear crossing over her mind. The last time that she had set foot in the water was three years ago, which was the last time that she had seen her father. As soon as she would set foot in the water, he would know that she had come back. But when she doesn't know is if he will come searching for her. She takes a deep breath and smiles back at Sess and the new fellow. That is a risk that she will have to take. She sucks in a little more air and steps off the cliff.

There is no point in flapping her wings; the best way to have fun at getting turned into her mermaid form is just to drop into it. The icy cold water splashes up around her and she shivers slightly, but the change is imminent. She feels her legs meld together into one form and her wings shoot down her spine to her legs, enveloping her legs in a bluish silvery glow. Before long, she has a long, bluish silver tail flipping around underneath her. She smiles, unable to contain her joy, and she swims as fast as she can toward the surface, which is well a top of her now. She leaps out of the water like a dolphin, giving an excited whoop as she does. She then lands back in the water and floats on top of the surface, smiling up at Sess and Azzrix. "Come on, you guys! The water is amazing!"

[Assistant]
"Well, if we're goin' by the assumption that these dumbasses came from town..." Rimau said, choosing to politely ignore the topic of mountains any further before it became distracting.

"...They prob'ly used this road right 'ere." Rimau stepped outside, into the purely natural, gritty air of the outdoors, and 'sweeped' his pointed hand along the road towards the mountains.

"...I mean, sure, they mighta been the show-off type an' scaled some walls, but roads tend to be the only viable way up mountains. F'good reason."

Rimau proceeded to take a few strides down the cobbled road, in the direction of the mountain gate, and turned back to Mysaren, who he assumed was still inside. "...Unless y'got any other plans, I suggest we get goin'. Uh, no pressure, though. Those dumbasses are prob'ly makin' a mess o' their britches just thinkin' about retribution right now, heheh."

With that, Rimau grabbed the sides of his goggles and slid them over his eyes; the sign that he was now in 'work' mode. Which reminded him; 'must remember to take that medicine when we get there. Last thing I need is a repeat o' the last Plat'num troll hunt... geez, maybe I'm gettin' too old f'this. ...Naaaah.' He finalised that line of thought with another devilish grin.

[User]
Azzrix was glad that the dog-like man was fine with him going with them on their mission and for once it seemed like he didn't have to use a lot of excellent persuasion skills to come along. He now thought of what was to come, if it was a kidnapping that they were dealing with then there was a good chance for combat, which made Azzrix smile a bit as he thought of getting a chance to show off his great swordsmanship.

Azzrix listened to Naida explain the layout of the land and upon hearing that they would have to swim to the island he groaned. Azzrix knew how to swim, but he didn't like having to get his thief clothing wet and who knew how deep the river. He didn't voice any objection and after Naida asked she could scout ahead he watched her jump into the water and looked to be having the time of her life. Under different certumstances Azzrix would have laughed, but right now he was being very serious.

"Is the water very deep and how far are the islands? I don't fancy drowning today" he replied to her, hesitant to jump into the water.

[Assistant]
"You're a good right bloke, aren't 'cha?" Saha said in a saccharine tone, like she had found small animals responded better to a higher pitched, pleasant sound. "You'll make the Boss very happy when you've completed the mission. You'll split the rewards with me, yes?" She had to make sure the ogre knew what the deal was, for Bernard, the Priest or the couple might not care who got the reward as long as it was given out. Saha was in no mood to fight with the dumb Big Guy over some monies.

She took the wrapped up steak and headed out of the Tavern. The sky had darkened considerably. The town wasn't faraway, its rows of short buildings and chimney smoke could be seen from a distance, and without a need to hurry too much, Saha strolled down the path with an appreciation for the humidity.

When her partner had caught up to her, she said, "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. I am Saha of the Era tribe. What's your story, Big Guy?"

[User]
"Hm, hopefully they did. Otherwise this is going to be a bit tricky." Mysaren said, still eyeing the mountains. This wasn't going to be fun at all, and she sighed deeply before digging in her bags to check her supplies. Nothing much right now, but enough for the journey.

Mysaren followed, looking at the road that Rimau was looking at, coughing at the quality of the air. "Yeah, this should be it. So we just... follow this road and hope for the best then?"

"Well, if they were carrying a solid gold mask, I'm assuming that they weren't going to be doing much climbing. Let's just follow the road, it'll be easier for us."

Mysaren followed Rimau's strides, looking around the town. "Nah, leaving right now sounds pretty good. Haha, yeah. They won't even know what hit them." In fact, the mountains were probably the scariest part of this mission. Other than that, she had no real worries about getting the mask. She could do more than necromancy, and she liked to think that her scars and muscles proved that pretty well. She could handle herself, and she was sure that Rimau could handle himself too.

Following Rimau, she flipped up her hood, her face now barely visible, the only part of her that could be seen out of the hood was a few wild bits of hair that she could never really tame. Intimidation was also a pretty good tactic, she learned long ago, and a strange, tall figure wearing robes definitely was intimidating to most folks, at least any with any brains.