[System]
Age: 16

Gender: Male

Equipment: Nothing particularly special - he carries a backpack with assorted items such as a several credit chips, his personal tablet device that he uses for almost everything and other equipment almost any middle-class civilian could get hold of hold of.

Ability: Elemental - The ability to bond with matter and manipulate it - "Matter absorption and manipulation"
-Abilities Strengths: Renat can decide that matter which he is touching is now defined as part of his body and manipulate it how he wishes. If he wishes to dispose of matter, he can merely decide that the matter is no longer part of him. It will remain in whatever shape and form it was when he disconnected from it. For example, he could pick up a rock, form it into a bracer bonded to his arm, then cause it to fall off.
-Abilities Weaknesses: As he grows more skilled, Renat will gain finer control of the matter he has absorbed and become able to control more matter at once. However, currently he is not very skilled in its use. He also cannot absorb or create living matter. While he can make minor changes to form of his body, he cannot regenerate it or take matter from another person or animal - he will recover from an injury at the same pace an ordinary human will, though he can temporarily cover over a wound with another material so that it is not left open. The longer matter remains bonded to him, the harder it is for him to get rid of it.

Personal Skills: Renat is still a teenager and has not had as much life experience as an adult would have. He was an above average student at school, but still not one of the top. He has a decent skill with computers (though, who doesn't with them literally everywhere in the 23rd century?) and a natural artistic skill. He is patient and likes to try understand the world and people around him, thinking it will help him improve his art. He also has a good general knowledge and strong imagination, both partially due to his love of reading.

He is very close to his family and will do whatever he can to make sure they do not get hurt. This can be regarded as a strength or weakness.

Personal Weaknesses: Renat has had limited experience of the world, meaning that - while he is still open to learning new things - he does not know how to respond to some situations or to do in certain environments. His interactions with other people can influence him a lot if he trusts and/or admires the person. Sometimes he can be a bit distant or zone out when he is focusing on thinking about something else too much.

History:
The Emlyn family has been on Mars for 12 decades. They originally arrived on Mars seeking wealth, Gregory Emlyn's business on Earth having become bankrupt due to shifts in the economic environment. They established the Em-Corps which was profitable enough to keep the family from dropping below 'middle class' but neither was it a booming success. Since Renat's grandfather, the family has aimed to return to Earth, stories of the biodomes full of perfect flora and fauna where the rich dwell sounding far more enticing than the harsh and red Mars.

Renat is close to his family which consists of his father Timon, mother Gabrielle, younger brother Walter and younger sister Olivia. The children grew up with some of their favourite stories being about Earth. The family is still determined to find some way back to Earth, despite that it might not be as fantastical as stories tell.

Renat hasn't had a very social life, only having a few close friends at a time throughout his school career. He could often be found alone in a corner reading, whether an electronic book or a family heirloom - some books preserved before paper became almost completely outdated. He did well in school, though never becoming the top in the grade - always being a little below the top 10 students that were announced.

Renat does not know when he got his powers, he only discovered that he had any a week ago. He presumes that he first got them around a month ago, when the first reports of 'superpowered' people started coming in. He discovered them when he was fiddling with a puzzle ring that is supposed to fit into one ring. He closed his eye, picturing how the three rings could come together. A tingling on his palm caused him to open his eyes, upon which he saw the rings had fused with his skin and had begun to combine into one seamless ring. After some panic, he figured out what had happened and managed to put the partially-combined rings back on the table.

He has told his parents about his power, but not his siblings. They have done their best to support him, but he has since been spending a lot more time away from home, feeling that if he spent too long with his family he would be putting them in unnecessary danger. He has occupied his time exploring the city more than he had done so previously, while avoiding touching things where possible so that no accidents would happen and he would not draw attention to himself because of those.

[User]
The physicist followed into the hideout, still feeling elated. It almost seemed this was his calling - and Edith's room sealed the deal. He deeply breathed in the smell of inorganic dust, burnt electronics and machine oil as his eyes took the room in.

"This is... perfect." He finally said. He approached a crate on the floor and lifted a strange cyllindrical contraption with wires sticking out of it. Halfway out of the crate the thing opened from below and began to spill its electromechanical guts - but Chris somehow caught it all halfway before it scattered on the floor.

"I am pretty sure that with the stuff here, I can recreate a crappy bootleg version of some of the equipment I left in the USF clinic." He said thoughtfully. After picking a corner for himself in the room, he patted his numerous pockets and withdrew a digital thermometer, a flashlight, his mobile phone and a fancy military-issue multitool. Done marking his territory with these tools, He approached the red giant.

"Give me your hand for a moment, I want to test something." He extended an open palm towards Ryan.

[Assistant]
The expressionless guy introduced himself as Chris, meanwhile the stone man didn't seem to acknowledge Renat. But as Renat listened to the rock man, he realised there was a whole side to this mutant thing he hadn't really thought about before. Since he had discovered his power, he had been so focused on being upset by it and wishing it away. He'd heard of mutants on the news pretty often, but never actually given them much thought. There were some people that had more reason to hate their abilities than him. And at least his was hidden and did not bother him as long as he did not, consciously or unconsciously, trigger anything. It would be hard, since he'd normally be daydreaming regularly or imagining something he was making a picture of, but he'd survive... hopefully.

Lost in his thoughts, he did not notice Cassie stirring. He got a small fright when Cassie suddenly woke. He was a tad offended and confused that she did not recognise, after she had jumped in front of a shock net for him, but he put it down to her having just woken from some sort of teleport-induced energy-deprivation. And the stone man, Ryan it seemed, did not seem to be paying too much attention to anything - even his sister's request for a phone.

Chris, however, brought Renat's train of thought back to where it was before, but this track was headed in a slightly different direction. Yes, these abilities were a pain, but Chris had a point. They had them, so they might as well use them. Cassie can teleport, that saved me from the net and helped them escape a bunker prison. Chris can read people's bodies like a book, which could help immensely in healthcare. Ryan is probably super strong and or durable, being made of rock. Edith can do weird stuff... Probably something useful. And I can... uh... escape stun cuffs... Renat realised he had yet to find something useful he could do.

Again zoning out, Renat caught only the tail end of what Edith had begun to say to him. Why would she need to restart her life, she's only a teenager... Edith continued to echo his earlier thoughts of the U.S.F. trying to shove 'abnormals' under the carpet, but she then reminded them that they needed to get a move on. Renat then followed the others, his usual quiet self.

When they entered Edith's hideout, Renat felt an impulse to touch and figure out how everything worked. Instead he restrained himself, going and standing near the corner closest to the door and avoiding touching anything. The amount of dust meant this place must have been abandoned for years. Decades, maybe. Yet it still had a slightly cosy feel to it. He chuckled softly, thinking of how - when he a lot younger, - he'd often pretended he had a secret base, plotting the downfall of mean kids. First those on Mars would fall, then all on Earth and the moon too. He had never acted out his plans, unfortunately. They probably would not have gotten far anyway.

[User]
Edith took a seat in the chair and leaned forward to rest a moment. While this was all exhilarating it was also quite terrifying. Figuring out how to survive would be the next big task. Rising back up her hair had fallen over into her face and she had to pull it back. In the past she had kept it rather short so it didn't get in the way. Come to think of it even further in the past she preferred it long like this. Chris' mention of rebuilding some of the equipment reminded her of some information she wanted. "Chris. I know that we weren't able to get a copy of the data. But do you recall if the brain scan showed any significant neurological damage?" She had to know. If whatever happened cured her then she might actually have a shot at being, well, normal. Or normal aside from being a freak of nature. Socially normal might better categorize it.

Looking at everyone here they all looked pretty worn out in some fashion. Getting up again she want over to Cassie who was on the mattress. "How are you feeling? You pushed yourself pretty hard getting us out of there. Thank you." Her hair got in the way again and she spun around. Hairbands were not something readily available so she just grabbed a piece of wire. Gathering her hair back she twisted the wire around to hold the white strands in a pony tail. Note to self, get a mirror for this place.

[Assistant]
Cassie was just kinda sprawled out on the bed, exhausted. She then sat up as the other women came closer. "I am feeling, like I could sleep for a week and a half, on any planet." She used her hands to keep her torso propped up as the rest of her was still lying down. "Also it's no problem. I guess we're all in the same boat, or so I've heard." She shrugged. "I'd offer to help you kit this place out with some newer tech or update some of your old stuff, though I'm quite happy where I am-" She then noticed the kid (The one the Watcher sent her to see earlier) standing in the corner.

"Hey Kid, we don't bite-" she looked at Edith. "-Well I don't bite." She patted the mattress beside the two of them. "Take a load off, it's been a long day."

---

Ryan just stood near the door after pulling it closed, he was almost tempted to go break the welded door himself. However he felt it wa sbetter not to, too much noise would gather attention and right now that was one of the worst things they could do. They had to keep quiet for now, let the U.S.F run their hunt dry before they even thought about sticking their heads out. He turned to Chris, who seemed overjoyed as off late. "Just don't make the autopsy machine-" THen was the request for his hand.

"Why? What do you want my hand for?"

[User]
Chris turned his head to Edith. "Brain damage... No,that's... That's a very complicated test, unless the damage is extensive, and I would've felt it when I..." Chris fell silent suddenly. He didn't tell her, did he? "When I examined you, before the scan. I used my ability to see if you're in danger. If your brain signals were severely distorted, I would've detected it. Higher resolution required the sort of equipment I had there."

When he turned back to Ryan, he felt a need to select his words very carefully. There was a wide variety of explanations he could give Ryan that would prevent experimentation on him forever, with or without him also attacking Chris for even suggesting it.

"I want to see if you are healthy and that there are no destructive processes in your body due to this crystallization." He finally said. Technically this wasn't a lie - but in all honesty, the large man seemed fine, and any violent transformation was probably behind him already. Ryan narrowed his eyes with visible suspicion, and slowly raised his hand, palm down, so it was obvious he did not want to cooperate. Chris noticed this, and wondered if being a woman would make this easier. He stepped closer, his hand on Ryan's forearm.

Searching for surface signals... none detected. Adjusting sensitivity... Changing to active mode...  Chris raised his eyes at Ryan's face, who in turn tilted his head. A high-current surge of information made the scientist hiss and reel back. He carefully renewed contact a few moments later. There was no neural information flowing through Ryan's body - when he wasn't moving. Chris pushed against his arm and after Ryan realized he wasn't trying to topple him and moved it slightly, the high-current signals returned. Chris wiggled Ryan's arm back and forth a few times, then sighed and stepped back.

"I can't read your body." he finally said. "This is what I assume would happen to humans if their body stops being a collection of cells and becomes a... solid." He cringed inwardly at his inability to foresee this. "But - with enough experimentation time I am sure I will be able to adjust -" While saying this, Chris noticed Ryan's leer and took a step away from him. "Look, just think about it, okay. With the stuff I can do with my own body, yours might be a whole world of undiscovered phenomena."

[Assistant]
"Hey Kid," the teleporting lady called to Renat, "we don't bite-" She then briefly looked at Edith, causing Renat to glance at her as well. "-Well I don't bite." She then patted the mattress beside her, giving Renat an indication of what she wanted. "Take a load off, it's been a long day."

Renat smiled briefly, mainly at the fact that Edith had been the friendliest to him so far. He said "Thank you," and swung his backpack down onto the floor beside him before sitting down on the mattress. He realised now that the robots had not payed much attention to it at all. Maybe that fancy X4 did a scan of it and detected nothing threatening inside. He himself had in fact forgotten it was on his back in all the excitement, but that wasn't too uncommon since it might as well be glued to his back the amount of time he spent carrying it around.

While the scientist was busy playing with Ryan's arm and hand, Renat sat in awkward silence for a couple moments. He then voiced a question in hope of starting up conversation with the other two members of the impromptu team, though directed at Cassie the others may have something to contribute. "So, who is this Watcher guy you mentioned, ma'am?"


[System]
Child of Desendal Mithar

Nickname: "Caez"

Age: 2746; near the end of his life.

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Asexual; rather uninterested.

Relationship Status: Single

Species: Vampire

Occupation Vampire Alchemist

Likes: Knowledge (is everything), collecting artifacts, war to sustain himself on.

Dislikes: demons (an envy thing more than anything else), anything light (weakness), the very concept of peace, anyone calling out his arrogant and somewhat hypocritical side.

Fears: peace, death and demons/angels catching on to what he's up to (Oh, demon/angel characters - you didn't read that, k?). He hides them pretty well though.

Personality: He has a couple sides to him. The first, most well known one is his "calm" side - somewhat friendly, a relatively neutral outlook (in general), and a manner that makes him fairly well respected by beings of darkness and garnering him a little respect to the beings of light. It thus sometimes comes as a surprise to learn he is a little more hard-line about "The War" than most.

A side folks don't know well about him is his "hunting" side - that which makes him a vampire. Every so often, he's gone from his library to do his vampire thing. In that "mode" he's more vicious, less calm, less civilized. He enjoys the hunt and some of his more xenophobic edges show; for example, a deep hatred of fairies and elves, more so than even others of his kind. In fact, he has a very deep hatred of anything light related. He's not too bad when he's "that way", but humans are right to fear his lack of control when he's around them and hunting.

At the core, a side relatively unseen to him by others save for those who have truly known him over the years, is a deep xenophobic hatred of light, peace and anything that he finds weak. He has an envy for demons; and his fears are somewhat demonstrated by his great aversion to anything that would see them come about. He's petty like that and would do everything he can, including backstabbing "friends" and manipulating others for his own purposes. A few demons and others over the ages have seen this side of him, but it's relatively unknown, shrouded by the illusion he has created of himself.

History: Born before the War itself, Caezel is a vampire of long history that took up the mantle his father had of lorekeeper and favored by the demonic king before he was involved in a scandal that took him from favor some 2500 years ago. Demons remember his fall all too vividly, though most other beings of the dark barely even know it was Caezel who was involved in that scandal. Nonetheless, the memory put him out for a long time and resulted in him getting the first parts of his bitter side.

He found some comfort in the collection of knowledge, books and spells. Years in the art have seen him rise in a different way; even now, many come to him to gain knowledge of certain specific spells or to take advantage of the respected demonic library he is caretaker of (he doesn't actually own it... though you wouldn't tell). Over 1000 years or so he considered the possibility of being something... more. More than just a vampire in a top down structure. Of course, to think such things would be to disturb the very peace of the order in the world, and result in his untimely death for going after such dangerous spells of advancement. But he did do some experiments, and kept them relatively secret. A close call saw him destroy all the evidence, though, before he could advance too far. Certain demons still suspect him, as does anyone over 1000 years old - the deep rumor of his attempts made way even to the light side. But nothing was proven, and again he went under the radar maintaining lore and spells. He moved into the field of alchemy when he was 1700 years old, becoming quite proficient in that field and gaining a reputation doing that... and it helped he changed a few things about him to get a fresh start, as anyone of older age still suspected him of things.

When the war began, he saw a chance for a completely new line of thought: gain a reputation in war. That went... somewhat poorly. His alchemy helped, but in the ranks of vampires, he isn't actually all that strong. Strong elves could outdo him. He dropped out of "the line" and important raids before his reputation could be tarnished (too badly, anyways... and he still got a reputation for being a crappy fighter). He went back to alchemy, did a pretty good job, set up shop not far from the border and took a "side job" of killing humans to feed himself.

Of course, that's probably not all he's doing, and both demons and angels get a bad feeling about him every time they think of him. But there's no evidence to really connect him to anything, and he provides decent potions, so they don't mind him... that much. Anyone over 300 years old has probably heard of his "battle exploits", and he gets rather pissed off at anyone who does reference them; although, to be fair, the past couple hundred years he's gotten better (could actually be a benefit; his battle reputation is such that he would probably win by the other side underestimating him). He's old, though... very old, and his movements aren't as fast as a regular vampire, nor is his healing (though he controls his hunger very well when he wants to). He's not "drop dead this year old", but in the grand age of vampires, he hasn't really done much noteworthy, and he won't be around in 10 years. Unless, of course... he makes a breakthrough... but what's the chance of that? Right? No vampire can actually become a demon.

Extra

He's a little desperate at this point as he does not have the youth he used to have, and the idea of death he hates bitterly. Peace would destroy his lifestyle of terrorizing humans on the border, and he scoffs at anyone who suggests it. Anyone stronger than him species wise is an automatic threat because he would stop at nothing to avoid his other fears coming to pass. He's not well known to anyone younger than 300, but over... the older one is, the more his more questionable side comes to light, and demons remember everything, including a few things not mentioned above - so no demon would dare trust him. Many old vampires also don't trust him, though he's probably the oldest vampire alive at this point and has outlived any vampire that would have a clear knowledge, let alone memory, of his earliest reputation-killers. To those of the darkness, he's a well known alchemist with a decent personality and an obscure past. Though the older the being, the more that is known of his real side and more known are his controversies.

On the side of light, folks do know of his existence, though to a much lesser degree than those on the side of darkness, and his more questionable record is even more obscure (although angels do have some idea and find him even less trustworthy and more dangerous in his own right than demons would). He's best known for being some sort of alchemist over there.

[User]
Naya's got all her belongings and is getting the hell out of this thicket. She came here this morning for burdock for darkness sake, not to be drug into the middle of some kind of royal conflict! The witch is stomping back towards Minora, everyone else blessedly too preoccupied with other things to pay her much mind, when she catches sight of Prince Asher.

He's not fairing well by the look of him and a human man has him pinned down, the demon's own sword poised and ready to end the young royal's life. Naya freezes, torn on what course of action she should take. She's fairly handy with a blade, but she's a witch, not a warrior, and this man must be seasoned in battle if he was able to take the prince down. She wants to keep walking and let the cards fall where they may, but in the end Naya can't do it.

Damn her morals.

"That's enough, man beast," Naya murmurs as she slips up behind him, digging her dagger into the small of his back. "Be a dear and drop the sword now, don't make me use this," Naya orders, bringing a bottle of an ominous bubbling liquid around front and shaking it to where the man could see it.

It was actually a brew meant to replenish magical energy, but the lithe brunette woman hoped he wouldn't call her bluff. "Hurry, be quick about it!"

Zee@Sarcelle Renard

[Assistant]
Zee@Sarcelle Renard@RiverMaiden

The sound of the bomb awoke Octavia with a surprised jolt. She looked around dazed for a moment, then to her horror, saw Lucius about to kill the young demon. She didn't have much time. She quickly turned to the faerie and covered her eyes with one hand, and with the other came a flash of light, stunning the vampire behind her. A wave of fatigue washed over her, but she did not dare stop.

With the vampire disabled, Octavia left the him to the faerie, confident that she could take care of him herself. Octavia, tripping over her own feet, ran over to the demon and Lucius as quickly as she could. "No, Sir Lucius! Don't kill him!" She screamed as collapsed onto her hands and knees, ontop of the demon. She looked up at Lucius, her eyes filled with tears, fatigue, pleading, and desperation. "Please! Don't kill him! He saved my life! After I fell, he found me and took me to a witch so I could be healed! I kept thrashing about, so the wraith conjured up a skeleton to restrain me and they could heal me! They did nothing wrong! So Sir Lucius, please no more!" She lied, but she lied well. She continued to sob as she pleaded for Lucius to not kill the demon, and used her own body as a sheild. "Please... No more... No more...!"

[User]
@RiverMaiden

Hale was wondering what all the commotion was about. She lived near the border and no one was capable of going to her to deliver information. After all, the elf didn't really like anyone going to her house without advance notice. As a traitor of both sides, apparently, she had to be on full alert all the time. She had decided to go to Minora when she saw a bunch of Dark Legionaries. Wait, what were they doing here. Hale covered up her ears with her hood and then began to talk with them. Apparently, they did a number on the castle grounds but they were asked to stand by. She thanked them for answering her question and fled into the forest.

She began to climb up one of the trees and use that as a means to travel. One hand was firmly on her bow while her staff was strapped behind her back. She jumped from one branch to another, sometimes swinging on the vines like some sort of jungle boy. She actually fought the childish urge to do a certain jungle man's trademark howl whenever swinging. Although he did hear voices followed by what seems to be bashing. She settled on one of the branches, near Caezel and Aurora.

The two seemed to be fighting and the Child of Fae seemed to be more injured. It was like a royal rumble between the two. Honestly, Hale wanted to intervene now and heal both sides but that won't do anything. She took out her staff and then aimed a lightning bolt, just enough to temporary paralyze the vampire, at Caezel. True, she didn't take any sides in the war but it seems the fairie was struggling against the vampire, even if she did manage to score a hit against the vampire. Hopefully, the attack would connect to avoid further harm that would happen. Hopefully.

---

He had his orders to stay in border town and yet here he was, hurrying over to the forest. The prince was taking too long in there. Uriel was more than sure that he was in trouble somehow. He wasn't sure what was happening but he didn't need an entire legion for this. He didn't even take his two most trusted legionaries. He blindly went into the forest and trusted his gut in it. Oh if only he had wings... he stopped thinking about it once the fear of flying came back to him. Soon he heard fighting and fighting meant that someone was there.

He reached the edge of the clearing and saw it all clearly. A wraith was there, and an unknown witch that seemed familiar, the human mage from before, a mutt, and the prince was there. And the Children of Darkness seemed more exhausted than the lone Child of Light. Now, that was odd. But there was no time to think about that. From what he could see, Asher was hurt and he seemed about ready to pass out. Wait, where was the angel? Ah, forget about that.

He did the first thing that came to mind. He extended his hand towards Lucius. Dark tendrils started to wrap around his hands and he prepared to shoot it out when suddenly, the witch attacked Lucius and then began to threaten him. Quite brave for a witch. Then suddenly, the princess came and practically begged Lucius to spare Asher's life. This act greatly confused the general but then she gave off a reason. Hm... to think the Prince would do something like that. Well then, that was a surprise.

But to further help the witch, spears formed from the darkness and shot forward, stopping mere centimetres away from the human mage. If he didn't follow Naya's orders, he might get impaled. After all, one wrong move and his flesh would meet the dark spears positioned in front of him.

[Assistant] Don nodded and led the way into a more darker and denser part of the woods. Of course he went down a path he's a bit familiar with in order to avoid getting lost himself. "Be careful there's a few rumors going around about a creature out here that likes to kill people within these woods..." Don said knowing the creature he was talking about was himself. He brushed his hands against near by trees to put on a show. Don could see in the dark with ease but he had to play the part of a human perfectly so when he does plan to kill the fairy she doesn't expect him to be a challenge that way killing her would be a bit easier. As he continued down the path he'd occasionally looked back in he fairies direction.

[User]
Damn fairies went through Caezel's head when he was pulled down with the fairy.

The phrase was repeated out loud when his nose was cracked. While he wasn't as sensitive to pain as some would be, he did release a few ungodly obscenities.

"It seemed fair enough to me," he muttered in response to the annoying fairy's question after hearing and feeling his hand pop. It wasn't altogether strange for it to do so in all honestly, though it didn't quite feel good in this case.

He noticed through her move to pull him down, a hand remained. He reached down into his pouch-

-And was blown right off the fairy by direct impact of a lightning bolt, sent a few meters away and rendered completely disoriented, hair beginning to resemble the rest of his appearance.


[System]
Brute | Level 5

---

-------STATISTICS-------

-------MASTERIES-------

| VIT -- 22 | 60% | BLADES -- D
| MGT -- 10 | 60% | POLEARMS -- E
| SKI -- 5 | 40% | AXES/BLUNT -- C
| SPD -- 8 | 60% | BOWS/RANGED -- E
| SRT -- 2 | 20% | THEURGY -- N/A
| MND -- 1 | 20% | MYSTICISM -- N/A
| LUK -- 5 | 40% |
| DEF -- 4 | 25% |

---

Traits:

Weapon Familiarity: Effective weapon weight is reduced by one for each relevant weapon rank above E.
Juggernaut: After defeating an enemy with a melee attack, this unit can choose to move onto the tile the enemy occupied, and then make an additional melee attack against another adjacent foe if possible.
Smite: Command, when used shoves the target 1 tile away plus an additional tile for every two points of MGT above target's.

---

* Bronze Hand Axe

	+ MIGHT | 4
	+ ACCURACY | 60
	+ WEIGHT | 4
	+ CONDITION | 11/20
	+ RANGE | 1-2
	+ SPECIAL | Doubles as a ranged attack
	+ COST | 125

* Bronze Battle Axe

	+ MIGHT | 6
	+ ACCURACY | 65
	+ WEIGHT | 5
	+ CONDITION | 30/35
	+ RANGE | 1
	+ SPECIAL | N/A
	+ COST | 240

* Iron Battle Axe

	+ MIGHT | 8
	+ ACCURACY | 60
	+ WEIGHT | 8
	+ CONDITION | 45/45
	+ RANGE | 1
	+ SPECIAL | N/A
	+ COST | 550

* Ancient Blade

	+ MIGHT | 7
	+ ACCURACY | 65
	+ WEIGHT | 4
	+ CONDITION | 20/20
	+ RANGE | 1
	+ SPECIAL | +3 SPIRIT while equipped. Attacks have a 15 + a.SRT - d.RES % chance of petrifying for one turn.
	+ SELL VAL. | 375

 Possessions:
* Vulnerary (1/3)
* 0 Aurums

Personality
* A man of few words with even fewer friends. Not in favor of needlessly violent options. First to jump into the fray and risk it all, eager to bring conflicts to a quicker and safer end.

Backstory
* Hailing from a small mountain village, Lyun set off after repeated sightings of bandits and other kinds of troublemakers. His goal is to make a name for himself, a reputation so undeniably menacing no one could ignore it. Such a priceless treasure would allow his village to live in peace, free from thieving cowards.

[User]
Iddin

The Iddin routine is stopped for a moment by a brutish stab. The priest pauses for a moment, shoves away the spear, and hisses at the Yeek. This disgusting creature dares attack him? And their repugnant gospel attacked his ears! These heretics!

Iddin clutches the wound and stumbles a short while away. He picks up his ceremony with renewed vigor, the blood slowly seeping out being flung around by his vigorous dance. He points his staff at the Yeeks that came from behind.

Iddin: "Those beasts are an affront to Zuzu's grace! Strike them down, and their misplaced faith in an inferior deity alongside!"

Iddin moves two tiles to 8-30, passively triggering Inspiration.

+10 Hit/Avoid to:
* Zarif
* Lyun
* Siris
* Ashur

[Assistant]
Seeing the massive creature walking down the hall with its allies, Siris hesitated for a moment, but it was only for a moment.

Siris: Finally a real opponent, your fight is with me!

He shouted this at the monster while pointing his sword at it, although he doubted it could understand him a pointed sword is usually easily understood.

Siris began to charge as the other warrior yeeks attacked his allies, however he could not afford to distract himself and ran forward without further delay.

As he ran he felt a weird sensation as if his fine muscle control felt weaker but quickly after it strengthened back to his usual norm, although this was barely registering in Siris's head.

The small part of his brain still thinking of his allies and bodily sensations shut down when he was finally in front of the massive yeek.

It roared at the headstrong warrior and lifted its mighty axe to strike Siris down but the tightness of the hall for the beast worked against it as it took extra time to swing its massive axe correctly. Siris took this extra time to break into a sprint, as the red yeek swung the young warrior slid below the massive axe and then immediately stabbed the monster in the stomach.

With a yell Siris used all his strength and pushed his sword to the right, further cutting the beast's gut until it finally cut all the way out through its side.

The red yeek began to bend over and with a small chuckle Siris began to turn towards the group when he saw the massive axe began to quickly move toward him. He put his shield in front of himself to stop it but the swing was too powerful causing Siris to fly back and slam into the wall.

Barely landing on his feet Siris stumbled in pain towards the center of the hall to keep his balance as blood dripped from his head, his bones and organs not severely damaged thanks to the armor.

The beast was still alive and it was pissed.

Siris: shit..

Siris moves 3 tile to 10-27 and attacks the red yeek dealing 13 damage. The red yeek counters Siris and deals him 7 damage

[User]
Zarif

As soon as Zarif finished off the crumbling wall, the chaos behind it was revealed. More of those cursed blue demons has surprised the other group. As soon as the wall fell, the priest and Siris charged past the merchant and the brute, scrambling over the rubble of the wall. Near as soon as the Priest stopped, he was set upon from another hall. Blast! They have us surrounded.

The merchant thought to yell to Siris to help Idden, but the overly excited mercenary charged off down the far hall into the darkness, shouting. The priest, clutching his side, hobbled away, and despite his wound, cried out resolutely. Zarif was no follower of this man's strange god, but seeing him standing brave despite his near-death inspired the foreigner all the same. Without his companion with him, he latched onto whatever he could to give him courage, it would seem.

Zarif: Etor! On me! Phalanx formation on the hall! Swap spears!

The once-merchant shouted, stuffing as much false bravado and valor into his words as he could, and charged, still gripping his longspear. He reached the hall, stepping in the Priest's own blood, and, tragically, slipped, his pear going wide and to the side of the robed Yeek down the hall. This heavy spear would leave him a sitting duck against these stronger looking yeeks... he hoped Etor had heard his cry. He had but seconds before it was too late

Zarif moves to 10-30 and attacks the Yeek Ensi with his longspear, and misses gaining 1 xp. There is no counter attack

[Assistant]
Etor: " This has been a surprising situation. Everyone we have company. Possible ambush."

Some are quicker to action then Etor as he is somewhat slow to relay information. They are pincered from the back and the front. Just then Zarif tossed Etor back his longspear.

Etor: "Yes! No I am more comfortable with the distance. "

The young spearman moves away from the oncoming yeeks from the front and attacks the yeek coming the side but misses.

Etor: "Ack I must be out of practice. We can fight out from this corner. That red thing is a yeek?"

Etor moves 5 tiles to 9-29

[User]
The Hellions find themselves thrown off balance. Flanked, wounded and uncoordinated to top it off. It would require a bit more waiting to find out if, and how much, they would pay for it. Between the theurg's pained spiel pushing them to action and the red bastard's gaze warning them to stay put, Lyun defaulted to simple offense.

He runs ahead, positioning himself behind Siris as he tussles with the massive Yeek ahead. His battle axe sheathed, one hand goes to move the young Hellion out of the way while the other one lobs his hand axe straight for the Yeek's midsection.

Lyun moves 6 tiles to 10-28. He equips his hand axe and attacks Red Yeek, dealing 14 damage and killing it, gaining 52 EXP.


[System]
Race:
Aahari - Among one of the first to be conquered by the Baumn Empire, this hardy, reptilian race tend to be fairly large and almost resemble humanoid alligators or crocodiles. They are extremely resistant to pain whilst also sporting a tough hide. However, they have been found unable to be effective at using magic. This does not mean they cannot use it, they just struggle with it. They do have a good sense of smell and can stay underwater for an hour or two. Intelligence wise, they are not the smartest of sentient species, but they are commonly seen as tacticians within the Empire.

Age:
20

Gender:
Male

Appearance:
Ankt resembles any other Aahari in that he is large, standing at 6'7", and broad. He bears scars along his snout that travel down his back, several teeth are also missing from his mouth though it isn't enough to be noticed without concentrating. Ankt also sports large claws, while dull, they could still do good damage to a human. His scale colors are dark green with eyes that are yellow.

Clothing/Armor:
Ankt wears medium armor, that is normally considered for his people that is. It is armor forged with metal, though it serves a more ceremonial purpose rather that of protection. The chest piece only comes down halfway on the chest and is colored gold with blue markings dotted on it. The helmet is small, only covering the top of his head, and has feather to mark him as a hunter of something. He bears gauntlets to protect his wrists and a portion of his hands. The "leggings" never extend past his waste, though they bear markings for his status.

Personality
Ankt is not the joking type, in fact, he is the type who will only laugh if he is amused by someone else's pain. He commonly sees people in a way that he does not trust them, that they are out to get him; paranoid if you will. He is also the type to hold grudges, and grudges often means for him to hunt down whoever has offended him. However, Ankt is brutally honest and will never lie to someone's face and he is especially honest with how he feels about that person in general.

History:
Ankt was born into a warrior family within the Empire, thusly he was expected to become as such and nothing else. It was all to carry on the family name, it was something that he especially liked. He had slain his first beast as a wright of passage, he had become a man to at the age of ten. However instead of celebrating at home for his win, Ankt's father had done the unthinkable and cast Ankt out of the family. The reasoning behind this, his younger brother had become the favorite of the family due to his looks and his ability to learn magic better than most of the species. Thusly, Ankt murdered his father in cold blood.

Fearing for his life, Ankt's brother ran away so that the family could also be spared from Ankt's life and it worked. However, Ankt would not relent until his brother was dead and his grudge settled. Leads have all told that Salistar, the coward magician, would be found in Edea. So the hunt begins at Oar's Rest and Ankt will take the skull of his brother back to his family as a trophy.

Weapons:
Grudge Settler - A sword one-sided, slashing sword that was forged by Ankt himself to help complete his wright of passage. It has been enchanted by his younger brother to return to his hand should he be disarmed in battle.

Physical Skills:
-Swordsmanship - Ankt has been trained to use a sword for all his life, thusly he would be skilled in such a weapon.
-Hide of the Aahari - Being an Aahari warrior, Ankt is very resilient to damage however swords can cut him and arrows can peirce his hide. It is merely the more natural things that he is resliliant to.
-Stregth of Training - Ankt, having been trained to be a warrior all his life and of being Aahari, is very fit and can lift many objects that would be considered exceptionally heavy to the averge man.

Magic:
"Magic? I have no time for such things, lest my brother gets away."

Weaknesses:
Ankt is slow, not to learn, but merely just physically slow due to his large stature and the armor that weighs him down on a minor scale. Not to mention that his armor does not cover everything that is vital. Another weakness, is that of a standard blind spot of the Aahari, not being able to see what is directly infront of them or behind them. Ankt also does not know how to use multiple weapons, as in he is not trained to use a spear or bow, despite being raised to become a warrior.

Other Inventory:
Rations for two days and the skulls of his various enemies.

[User]
~Reef Grotto: Canine Clash~

Em nods in response to the presence of a ghost, knowing instinctively that it's one holding onto a bunch of useful information. This was something you got used to, delving into dark caves and looking around for ghosts. They tended to know stuff.

A pack of ferocious dog-creatures attacked, but frankly, that was of little concern to Em. She had a ghost to find. So, she takes the appropriate route for any spellcaster and walks vaguely towards the enemies, headed further into the cave and in the general direction of where Nazr would inevitable appear. At the same time, she focuses her own aura of shadows, causing it to emanate from her body in powerful waves.

With the wealth of easier targets, and the figure walking confidently towards them radiating pure fear, it was only logical that the piranha hounds would choose to attack the now party that was now lessened by two members. It might be, in their minds, a lucky find. It wasn't usual for two of the invading enemies to just walk away, especially the scariest one in the group.

"Oh, hi." She casually greets Nazr as he appears and begins to harness the powers of some dark grimoire. Eager as she is to see his sorcery at work, she has a ghost to find. She says as much to him, with an impressed whistle and a quick excuse of "Sorry, there's a ghost. I'm going to go catch it."

And with that, she walks past the attack entirely and proceeds further on into the cave, radiating fear the entire time. Hopefully, any enemies weaker than herself would buzz off without any issue. Or maybe she would accidentally scare away all of the bats, and rain hell down upon the party. Or get ganged up on.

Only good things could come of this.

*Em walks deeper into the cave
*Implied Sense Dark
*Em utilizes her Dark Aura to discourage weaker mobs from attacking her by radiating an aura of fear
*Em secretly hopes the dogs don't realize she's carrying a bag full of bones

[Assistant]
@Pyromania99@ERode

~Vrhol Wildland~

Tetras' sneak attack would have probably been quite effective, if he had not decided to announce his presence quite loudly with a battle cry. With a swift turn, the bird swiveled its head in the direction of the armored Knight. Instead of hitting feathery hide like Tetras intended, his greatswords clanged against the creatures beak...which didn't seem to damage the beast at all. Perhaps that spiny, sharp beak of its wasn't just for show after all, and the bird knew exactly how to use it.

Hopping around, it righted itself as it focused on Tetras. The bird locked Tetras' greatswords with his beak. It wasn't just a dumb animal apparently and perhaps there was some training there, just as Tsukiko suspected. Either way, Tetras surprise attack had been completely ineffective.

The bird jumped backwards, freeing his beak from Tetras' greatswords...and was then assaulted by Ophene's fireball. It didn't catch the bird on fire, but it certainly distracted it long enough for Tetras to realize that perhaps he had maybe just fucked up royally. The giant black feathered bird only cast an annoyed glance towards Ophene as it flapped its large wings, screeching and quickly put some distance between itself and Tetras.

And then it charged.

It gained speed almost impossibly fast, accelerating to a speed that was almost impossible for a human to see. The gust of wind that it made was strong enough to throw the wagon on its side, and likely the women standing by would be similarly affected by it. The bird didn't even seem bothered by the trees in its way at all, in fact, the spines on its beak seemed to be cutting through them like they were paper. If Tetras didn't dodge, he'd likely very well be killed by the sheer force of speed and apparent strength of that beak.

---

Isabella was knocked to the ground, unprepared for the sudden gust of wind coming from the bird. Thankfully it was brief, and the bird didn't seem to want to harm anything, in fact, if Tetras hadn't attacked first it probably would have left them alone. Ophene, the Pheran seemed to have the right idea. She didn't think there was any way they could easily beat this thing, and fighting this thing wasn't part of their job, was it? Though, if it was so interested in the wagon, perhaps it was the thing that had been attacking it? It was certainly a possibility, though if this was a new phenomena then it was odd for it to suddenly just attack like that....

Okay, not the best time to be thinking about that. She rose to her feet, grabbing her shield and holding it at the ready, just in case the bird tried something else like that.

She had to think of something to do here, but that bird was moving to fast, and from the fact that the birds beak could take a hit from a great sword and remain completely unscathed, meant that getting in that things path was likely a death sentence. Thankfully for her, it seemed focused on Tetras for now. Not so good, was that unless they could intervene in some manner he was gonna get seriously injured...she could heal him, but she couldn't bring the dead back life. She cast a concerned look over to Ophene and Tsukiko.

"How can we help him?" She asked. She didn't see any way to turn this into a good situation, honestly. "I can heal him if he gets injured, but..."

@Lauder@RedDusk

~Reef Grotto~

Ankts intimidation efforts proved to be almost useful. While the death of one of their own followed by the hissing put them off a little, they still seemed ready to attack. The snarled at him, gnashing their sharp teeth and barking their odd, gurgling bark as they waited for one of their own or Ankt to make their move.

And it seemed like they would be the first. One, in a feat of surprising acrobatics and agility leaped onto the wall, jumping off of it and aiming a lung right at Ankts neck. Another attacked from below, going right for his legs while a few others pursued the other adventurers.

Thankfully for Ankt, one of Nazr's improvised weapons slammed into the hound going for his neck. Another, slammed into one heading for Jagred's location. And thankfully for Nazr, his cloak along with him masking his scent, coupled with the hounds poor sense of vision, meant he was mostly unnoticed as he attacked the hounds from behind. It remained to be seen how long that would last, but for the most part he seemed safe enough.

Jagred would find himself under the assault of three hounds, thanks to one of Nazr's stones killing one before it got to him. The growled at the swordsman, barking in their usual fashion before one leaped to the right, almost looking like it was going to attack him from his left before suddenly leaping changing directions and attacking from his right. The other two circled around him, obviously trying to attack him from behind.

...and then the bats Woke up.

screeching, clawing, and generally pissed off that they had been woken up, countless of the winged creatures made for a swift exit out of the cave. The sheer number of them made it difficult to see, and the adventurers would probably find their tiny talons and mouths digging into their flesh.

Alice

Well, for one, Em seemed to be having the easiest time progressing. The Dark Aura seemed to be doing its job, though if there were even any Hounds this far in, it was difficult to tell. A few barked at her from afar, but most definitely seemed to not bother with her and head further towards the party happening towards the entrance of the cave. For the moment, she seemed completely safe from the dangers of the cave. The bats, though, still caused her a bit of a problem, too frenzied to flee completely from her aura, but for the moment she seemed safe enough.

As she continued down the path, she'd find the passage sloping downwards, deeper into the earth. Water could still be heard trickling quietly along the floors and walls as the din of the ensuing battle hushed. She had traveled quite a bit further form the others at this point.

She was completely alone, and all was not well.

Voices echoed off the wall. They were difficult to understand completely, but it was definitely in a tongue Em would understand.

"Around here," The voice was throaty, raspy, and seemed completely unaffected by Em's Dark Aura. "human died." The second voice growled, the sound of metal beating on stone echoed.

"Well find anything of that fleshy scaleless meat sack!" The second growled. The second voice was a bit higher pitched, but still retained its raspy quality. "We need to hurry."

"Patience. We need to make sure he left nothing-wait." A hum came from the second one, as it sounded like he took a deep breath of the air, sniffing it. "...human." The last bit was said with obvious hatred and scorn. The second one soon followed suit, taking a deep breath of the air. Wordlessly, the sudden sound of feet on stone could be heard moving towards Em's direction.

It was likely whoever those voices belonged too, had less than noble intentions whenever they found the human eavesdropping on them.

[User]
Ankt did not like these creatures for they were a major annoyance, he turned his back to the one who leaped for his neck and slashed the head off of the hound that went for his legs. However, the bats proved themselves to be a greater annoyance once they awoke. They encompassed his very being, pinched his skin with failed bites and tiny claws. Since they were awake, he could finally do something to intimidate these damned hounds and possibly get the bats away from him. Ankt let out a mighty roar, lasting for a few seconds and followed by a mad charge towards any hound who dared to try and get past him. He grabbed one with his free hand and slammed it into the ground with all his strength. He stepped on another's head with his entire body weight. These creatures would know pain, they would know death for he brought it to them.

The bats, however, slowed him by slamming into his body while he attacked the hounds. They were not doing damage to him in any real sense due to his tough skin, but they proved themselves to be extremely irritating and so he snapped his jaws to let the bats know that he would eat them if he had to. Though, he never knew how smart an animal could be since they all had different levels of intelligence, though it was worth a shot.

-Ankt roars to intimidate the hounds and the bats
-Ankt kills two more hounds
-He snaps his jaws to get the bats away from him, just for a moment at least


[System]
Alias/Nicknames: (In decreasing order of how well-known the alias is) Ken, Miles, Innocent Flower, James Brown, Andrei Ivanov, Ken Doll, Sandra Starr
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Appearance: i.imgur.com/TwvFfFx.png, i.imgur.com/MHYRDTt.png

Preferred Weapons: 9mm Browning Hi-Power, rapier (he knows he'll never use it).
Preferred Gear: Rope, sniper camera, clawed glove, artist's paint, poison, invisible ink
Notable Skills/Talents: Really good with rope - he knows all the knots and can make new ones. He is also great at sending coded messages, and torture. Speaks fluent french and russian.

History: Kenneth Miles was born into the New York middle class. Growing up, he loved the city, except the crime. He learned ballet all through his teenage years, and attended AADA to learn acting. It was while he was in acting school that the CIA picked him up as a potential infiltrator. He completed his acting training in 1967, and has spent the last four years in CIA training.

[User]
@Jozarin"Sir, we've just received word that the Soviets are plotting something in France. The reports mention someone plotting to sneak into a nuclear-armed base during an inspection by NATO, and disarm the warheads positioned there." announced a CIA agent to Director Richard Helms. Helms turned to the man and said "Get those two agents I had selected earlier, and have them ready to act at once. Keep them informed of anything we learn, and tell them to try and capture any Soviet agents alive for interrogation." The agent nodded and rushed out of the office, preparing the message in his head for the following phone calls.

---

Director Fyodor Mortin was planning out the final steps for the Soviet plot in France. He turned to an agent, and told them "Inform the selected agents in Paris to begin operations within the next 24 hours. Tell them of the meeting location, and that if they make any contact wit agents from the United States and its allies, to kill on sight. We don't need the competition." The agent rushed off to make the necessary telephone calls.

[Assistant] Katherine Beauchamp was in Nice, the location of her alias's home, when she got the call. It was early, but she so rarely slept. Her doctors called it insomnia and gave her sleeping pills but they always made her so groggy the next day, it was usually worse. It rang twice, she picked it up before it could ring a third, and to anyone listening it was just random chatter. She hung up after precisely 7 seconds and grabbed her shoes, her purse, and her keys. Katherine Beauchamp wasn't a very good driver, but wasn't going to kill anyone due to her driving habits. She then proceeded to go to her usual cafe, and have a scone. She sat at a table with a newspaper left over and decided to take a look. She finished her scone but took the paper home with her. If questioned, she saw a name she knew in the obituaries, and she wanted to bring it home to remember to go to the visitation. When Katherine Beauchamp re-entered her house, she went down into a basement that no one else would know was there. It was on no building plans, there were no obvious doors in her house to it. As she descended the stairs, Ekaterina Naryshkina pulled the file out of the newspaper and spread it out in front of her on a table. It had all the information about her newest assignment. She would be infiltrating a French Military base to deactivate nuclear warheads. The CIA would also be there, which was annoying. She'd rather not get in an altercation with an American, but it would be two against two, so she should be fine. She would be meeting a Nikolas, which the name in itself irks her. It wasn't Russian, it was close but it was Greek. It didn't matter, but she had deep pride for Russian culture. She memorized the file, took her new identification out, and burned what was just information. No need for extra evidence if she were discovered, and not killed of course. Katherine Beauchamp went back upstairs. She packed a bag for the trip she'd be taking to the military base. She fed her cats, went over to neighbors house to ask them to take care of the cats for the next few days while she went on a work vacation before climbing into her car once more to drive to Paris.

[User]
A plane was again taking off at the Orly Airport south of Paris as Major David Logan exited the main terminal with his luggage. It was starting to rain.

He was wearing his officer's uniform, and aching to be at his hotel to rest after a long, straight flight from New York. He reminded himself of the file he had been given by his superior back in the states. It had been quite thin, as there hadn't been much intelligence on the targets. The file had said that his new identity would be Major Harry Lockhart, a recon officer from West Point. It also had stated that his local contact would be another CIA agent stationed at Paris, a graduate from AADA. An expert at masking himself, the file had mentioned.

It was a rush hour in front of the terminal. Many taxis and buses came and left, dozens of people walked to and out of the terminal. David pulled out a Cuban cigar from one of his pockets and lighted it as he glanced around, watching the traffic around him. David started walking, stretching his limbs as he took steps. After a while, he hailed a taxi and enjoyed his cigar for a second longer before putting it out. He wanted to have a hot bath and go to sleep for a few hours.

 "Take me to the Grand Plaza hotel, and quickly", David said, using almost all of his French in the process.

[Assistant]
James Brown left his cab, buttoning up his suit. He carried two light suitcases, one of which he gave to the porter, along with a 100 Franc tip. The CIA had three dedicated rooms at the Grand Plaza, each fit for two agents.

He crossed the foyer. In French, he said

"Room 714, please."

The receptionist disappeared from the desk, and came back with a man. His black double-breasted blazer had a crescent-and-arrow lapel pin in it. This was their operative in the hotel.

"Are you Mr. Ace?"

There was no Mr. Ace. It was a code phrase that the CIA issued only to Brown, and the man in the blazer.

"No. Tell Doctor Black that a Mr. Ike has arrived."

They had established identities. James Brown instructed that he would only need the luggage tomorrow, and for the porter to take his time. He kept his other suitcase on him, as he was escorted up to room 714.

He opened the door, and saw a desk, two beds, and a wardrobe. He set down his suitcase on his half of the wardrobe, took out his orders, and began to review the mission.

[User]
David's taxi stopped in front of Grand Plaza. He stepped out of the taxi, thanked the driver, took his luggage and paid for the ride, giving him a generous tip. David took a breath, pulled out another Cuban cigar, lit it and entered the hotel. It was indeed a grand place, styled in Italian fashion. There should be three rooms for the Agency. He walked to the receptionist, a middle-aged and tanned figure, and said: "I'd like to check-in. The reservation's should be on Helms."

"Ah, monsieur Lockhart, wasn't it? We've been expecting you." The receptionist replied in English and with only a whisker of French accent. "You didn't see monsieur Pachinko on your way here?"

It was David cue, his password. "No, but I saw a Montgomery in the plane."

 The Frenchman offered David a paper to sign and finished the password."That's so bad, monsieur Lockhart. Could you sign this paper? Here and here, please."

David signed the paper quickly with a signature he had practiced just before leaving the States and handed the paper back to the receptionist. "Do you have any mail for me?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. If you wait for a moment I can get you a suitcase a man left with your name on it."

David nodded, and the Frenchman walked away from the desk, returning in few seconds later with a suitcase. "A piccolo will escort you to room 714" he said and handed both the key and the suit case to David.

"Thank you. Your service has been the most excellent so far" David said, heading towards the elevator.

------------------------------

In front of room 714, David gave the piccolo a tip and send him away. After the piccolo had gone, David opened the suitcase he had been provided, and there they were: two Single Action Army revolvers with ammunition. He took one, loaded it and closed the suitcase. It wasn't smart to go a hotel room unarmed as a spy. David had learned his lesson the hard way in Hanoi. He had been shot in a Vietnamese hotel and spent three months in a Australian hospital.

He opened the door and with great speed he jumped to the room, quickly spotting a man. Pointing his revolver at him, David said "You don't look like Eisenhower at all, mister."

[Assistant] Nathan sat in the outdoor seating of a cafe in Paris, the Doreen Cafe. He was currently under the guise of Nikolas, his Russian persona. He had been sent to meet with a Russian agent, before embarking on a mission to deactivate nuclear warheads in a military base nearby. He had been given explicit orders to not blow his cover, even to the extent of deactivating the warheads himself. He sat in the cafe, sipping a coffee, and preparing the files necessary for the other agent to go over. He had been given ID cards for the both of them, and a uniform for himself. He ran through the mission objectives in his head one last time, then went back to his coffee, awaiting the agent in question.

[User]
Katherine Beauchamp made good time to Paris, and ended up in her hotel room for a few minutes before Ekaterina had to make her way down to the cafe they were meeting at. She took a minute to freshen up, since she had been driving all night. After fixing her hair and changing her clothes, she went downstairs to ask for directions to the cafe. It wasn't that far, and it was much easier to lose any sort of tail when walking in Paris compared to driving. She took the long way, doubling back a few times because you can never be too careful, before she finally got to the cafe. She picked up a newspaper forgotten on a table, and bought a scone before finding her contact, Nikolas. She spotted him and went over to his table.
"Do you mind if I sit?" She asked in French, before sitting down with no answer. Ekaterina opened the newspaper and glanced over it before looking up at the sky.
"I hear the moon will be beautiful tonight." She said, waiting to hear the return phrase, reaching into her purse for one of her lipstick guns, just in case.

[Assistant]
Kenneth looked back.

"No, I don't suppose I do. Kindly, do put down the gun."

Ken's partner was evidently experienced, and had come prepared. A thing he was generally thankful for. Just... not right now.

"I reviewed the mission briefs, and set out some minor surveilance. That should be back by tomorrow morning."

Ken stood up, and looked out the window. Ah, Paris, the jewel of Europe.

"I would prefer it if we were to stop our adversaries before they leave the city. Kidnapping, blackmail, or torture are my preferred methods."

[User]
David lowered his gun, but didn't yet put it away. He let himself to relax a bit. This guy evidently could stay calm, or at least hide his nervousness. "I'd prefer a bath first, partner, but whatever suits you."

David took his luggage from the hallway and turned to his partner. He had been briefed about this man. A graduate from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Recruited few years ago to CIA. David had seen some photographs of him in his several disguises, but now he did have none. "Kenneth Miles, wasn't it?" David asked. He still holding the revolver.

[Assistant] Nathan was surprised to see Katherine, or rather, Ekaterina, as the agent he would be working with. He recognized her from files back at the CIA headquarters, although little info was known about her. He did his best to hide the surprise, and reacted normally, as if the he was expecting it to be her the whole time. responded to Katherine with the planned reply of "Yes, and the wolf walks soon." He discretely passed her the coded files that detailed their orders. After giving her a bit of time to look them over, he asked her "When will you be ready for our trip? We should leave as soon as possible, to avoid hassles."

[User]
"Why, yes! Oh, and a bath would be nice. You should have one. Tonight we just work on surveillance."

He went to the desk, and plugged in a headphone to the radio, which had a panel in the back. He flicked a switch, and began to listen, as he waited for the suitcase. This was possibly his least favorite part of the job, working on live surveillance, but it was necessary. As he listened, he played with a piece of string. He liked pieces of string, and they were good practice platforms for ropework.


[System]
My Character:
Age: 26
Height/Weight: 5'1"/125 lb.
Appearance:  Dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes. Hair that falls down to his eyebrows, covers up a horizontal scar above his left eye.
Personality: Alex is quite the attractive figure, and he knows it. He is quite arrogant, gaining him a considerable reputation as a narcissist among the base research staff. He is intelligent, conceited, and able to live up to his boasting. He is touchy about his height, and will lash out, pouting. When something goes wrong, he immediately blames it on someone or something else. Despite all of this, he is able to know when to shut up, and has a kind side under all of his self-absorption.

(I made this character easy to dislike, so character development happens.)

[User]
The launch pad at the International Space Center of the One World Alliance.
Three...

Two...

One.

BWFOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

The exploration ship lifted off of the ground with a primal roar, rattling Alex in his seat. Even though he was strapped down, he was flung back and forth, shaking against the straps. Eventually, the crushing force found a direction, and pushed downwards. He didn't even know who was in the pilot's seat, next to him. Eyes being squeezed from the pressure, he shut them tightly, and for the rest of the ascent into space, clutched the armrests of the chair as if they were his lifeline. When they reached orbital level, he exhaled raggedly, panting in his suit. Opening his eyes slowly, he pushed the button on the control panel that would release the seat straps. Pushing himself out of the large-backed chair, he pulled a switch that slowly turned the gravity generator on. Tearing the helmet off of his face, he hung it on a hook on the wall. Turning to the pilot, he said, "Well, it would seem that we made it up in one piece. Didn't think we would make it, what with all the banging around."

[Assistant] "What're you on about, Boyo? That was a textbook launch manuever." The launch itself was fairly aggressive but not anything out of the ordinary. Just as soon as she cut the engines for the first burn her crewman got out of his seat and turned on the artificial gravity. "Turn that off you pillock!" Val reached for the Anti-Gravity controls and set it to shut down again. "No gravity 'till we finish the ascent. That's all we need is a fault in the primary bus before we even turn on the bloody reactor." There was technically no restriction for anti-gravity but they were still attached to the launch carriage which meant they were using old and new tech on the same power grid so it was difficult to predict how they would interact.

[User]
Alex snorted, and said, "Ya know how many 'textbook' launches have gone wrong, with fatalities, in mankind's history of space flight? Twenty-three. So yeah, sure, it might be 'textbook'," he said this while making air quotes with his fingers, "but where did the textbook get the nineteen scientists aboard the Interstellar?"  He turned on several of the self-monitoring instruments that he was required to activate, early in the launch. As the panels around the cockpit lit up, a grin split his face. This was his environment, the instruments of his trade.

At her angry words, Alexander narrowed his eyes, as every movement of his head now made weightless strands of hair drift about his head, in a messy halo of blonde. "Ay, the gravity shouldn't even affect anythin' outside the inside of the ship. And we just passed the periapsis of the slingshot orbit's trajectory, so that shouldn't be a problem."  Still, he didn't argue further. This woman was the pilot of the ship. His superiors said that if it had anything to do with the piloting or mechanics of the ship, what she said, went. Floating to the back of the cockpit, he silently flicked some more internal systems on. "Internal monitoring system checks green."

[Assistant] "I'm detatchin' the launch carrier clamps now. A soft thud could be heard reverberating through the hull plating. We're free of that god awful antiquated rocket now. It should make a nice big splash down below. Once we're clear I can start powering up the reactor." Just moments later they were clear of the launch carrier which now slowly descended back down to Earth. Awrite, switching from internal batteries to primary power bus... A few of the running lights around the ship flickered as power fluctuated for a moment. "...Secondary bus is active...Coolant pumps one and two nominal...Core temperature nominal...Fuel tanks one and two are good to go...I'm bringing up external communications now so we should be able to get in touch with mission control. I'll get our main systems online while you're at it."

[User]
Alex waved his hand in acknowledgement, staying silent as he ran several programs through the system, initiating a code that would create backups of every single piece of electronic eqipment's programming and systems, which would result in a barely noticeable slowdown in the start-up. Couldn't be too careful. Pushing back, he floated in open air for a few seconds as he listened to the pilot's jabber about the rocket. Frowning, he said, "Does it matter if it's old? The science behind it is still solid." He grinned as he flipped the switch to turn the gravity back on, and immediately fell to the floor, landing on his back. "Anyway, I think it was the piloting, rather than that old girl, that made this ride bumpy up here." Walking over to a large wall station, which had a keypad that extended from the wall, he input a simple command that routed the communications to the OWA Space Center directly to his console, and the speakers and wall mics therein.

A familiar bespectacled face appeared on his screen, that of the Areo-Space Research Devision Head, Jackson Everson Hughes. Alex put on an extremely fake smile, and said, "Hey, if it isn't my old buddy Mr. Mustache! How's the wife, kids?" Hughes just sighed in aggravation, and wearily spoke.

"Hey, Johns, just to remind you, the entire world is banking on you two right now. So don't bollocks this up." Alex stared at Jack in disbelief. He was doubting him now, of all times? Glowering, Alex said, "We're in space, and we're on the way. Cryosleep isn't up yet, but we won't be needing that for about a week. I'll hand you over to this lady. Whoever she is. Because, if she's supposed to be the pilot, then she obviously couldn't be arsed to take a less harsh escape velocity."

Jackson grimaced, and started to lecture Alex. "Now listen, you daft West Country ass, she's more than qualified, in fact, you should be honored that she even agreed to take you into space- aaaaand he's gone." Whenever Valerie decided to go to the monitor, he looked up with a regretful look, and said, "I'm sorry you have to deal with that prick for the next few years."

[Assistant] "Can you believe he called my launch bumpy?! Millions o' pounds o' bloody thrust behind you, ought not be surprised it shakes a bit!" Valerie wasn't really paying attention to the monitor. "I'm bringing the Low Energy Nuclear Reactor online in a moment, Jack." She continued through the process as the ship came to life she spoke to herself. "Initialize fuel... preheat the core... time to wake up deary... Reactor is online, switching to main system bus... we're now generating our own power... I'll start getting major systems online now..." She didn't really have to do any of that on her own but she always felt like she would get lazy if she always let the automated start up and shut down sequence run. "Bringing the visual monitoring system online... starting up the VASIMR engines... ignition is good... No problems here. All systems are good to go, Jack"

[User]
Jack just sighed and shook his head. "Listen, if it's any consolation, I tried to get someone else to be your partner." Flipping on several switches, he said, "You have a green light for slingshot acceleration. Aaand, go." As the ship accelerated, he said to Alex and Val both, "Listen. All of humanity is riding on your success. Godspeed, you two." Alex smiled cockily, and leaned in to the camera, past Valerie. Performing a mock salute, he said, "When have I ever failed?" Jack, irritated, said, "Space Base out. Good luck out there," and cut the monitor feed.

Lounging about in a chair, Alex laughed. "I made him rhyme! Nobody EVER makes Jack rhyme!" Proud of himself, he looked at Valerie, and grinning, he said, "Come here often?" Spinning the chair around, he said, "My boss didn't tell me your name. Mine's Alex Johns."  Waving condescendingly, he said, "I know, you're lucky to be paired with me, so why don't we skip all the gushing over my amazingness, and just get down to business, okay?" Alex smiled, and looked into Val's eyes, not even expecting her to not like him.

[Assistant]
Val started the burn as instructed to push them into the eccentric orbit needed for a "slingshot". It was a fairly simplistic name for a rather complicated maneuver. In fact, an average pilot might not even be able to pull it off. There would essentially be four major burns with course corrections along the way. Her concentration was broken by her crewmate once again. Valerie was not amused by his ego and it was clear to see on her face. "Of course I know who ye are. Alexander Johns, age twenty six, height approximately five foot one, weight around a hundred twenty five pounds or so. Graduated top o' yer class. Various scientific degrees, expertise relevant to the mission blah blah blah. Personnel file's included in the mission brief, though they forgot to mention you were so in love with the sound of your own voice."

The first burn was simple enough since they would only be pushing the periapsis up far enough to use the orbit's eccentricity to amplify their next burn. That will take place as they are falling towards the planet thus using the Earth's gravity to assist in accelerating to an escape orbit thus performing a 'slingshot' around the earth. They would still, of course, have to perform the same maneuver around the sun itself. "I'm sure you've plenty to do Doctor Johns. I'll be checkin' the reaction control thrusters in the mean time, felt a bit sluggish. Give a shout if ye break somethin'." Val got up from the pilot's seat and synchronized her watch to the clock tracking mission time. That way she would know when the next scheduled burn was approaching. Ignoring Alex for the most part she made her way towards the rear of the ship towards the engineering bay where most of the ship's guts could be found.

[User]
Alex grimaced as the woman stated his personnel profile, with no indications of awe. She obviously knew what he'd done, what he was capable of. Was she not impressed by a PhD in Research Science at age 19? A bachelor's in Astrophysics at 17? A degree in all bio-, astro- and physical chemistries at age 16? Sneering back at the woman, he said, in a harsh, yet still condescending tone, "You still havn't told me your name yet, doll." The last word was drawn out slightly, to try and get a reaction. Positive, negative, it didn't matter. This woman needed to regard Alex in some way.

 Turning back to his console, grousing, and nursing his hurt pride, Alex unlocked the door to his research lab, and walking along the corridor, slammed the console back into the wall, angrily. A bit sluggish? The computational systems were designed by Alex himself. Each was a basic AI, formed to chirp up at the slightest problem. They were the fastest computers that one could fit into a thruster block, and each was like a child to him. A bit sluggish. The hydraulic door hissed open, pulling upwards, and revealed Alex's lab. Several counters, with doors that held supplies underneath, were at the sides of the room, stretching from wall to wall. An analysis table, with several scanners, electron, thermal, vibration, CT and MRI, sat in the back of the room, a stark white tabletop, lit from below. In the center of the room, was Alex's computer table, which doubled as an access console. The flat black top lit up with a simple touch of his hand, and a soothing female voice said, "Welcome, User: Designation- Alex Johns."

 Alex waited a tic, as it booted up, and smiled as he saw what he had at his disposal. Most of the scientific texts, throughout history, were recorded here, from the Ancient Greeks to the most modern advances in scientific discovery. Along with this, was a myriad of personal items, which Alex had brought with him, from his computer at home. A bunch of games, books and videos, chosen from an algorithm of his personal interests, that he had coded himself, lay in wait. He knew less than 1/8 of the content, so it should entertain him for a while. Sliding the personal files to the side, for later, he viewed the external and internal sensors, able to note any changes in either. Almost immediately, a red triangle quietly pinged in the proximity alarm box. Sighing, he opened an audio channel to the engineering section's two-way intercom. "Uhhhh, yeah, hey, so there's a defunct satellite about... 150 km. out, directly where our apoapsis would culminate. Ya might want to get on that. Guess that the Davis Project didn't clear out all that junk, 50 years ago. "


[System]
Username: Jollan
Race/Species: Khalahar

Gender: Male

Age: 32

Career/Class: Odd jobs, Vigilante

Weapons:
His father's large, heavy, two handed sword. Instead of a traditional two sided blade, it has a single blade. The upper most portion of the handle is protected with a bar in front of the hand, while the lower portion is unguarded and ends in a curve like an ax handle. Its sheath is a rectangular wooden scabbard with a fur lined inside and metal bindings at both ends. It attaches to the harness at the back and the sword is sheathed from the right.
A cutlass, though instead of the traditional curve, it has a straight blade. Its sheath is at his right hip.
His fists, which he will most likely use unless he has to resort to a weapon.

Physical Description: He is 6'3" at 320lbs (solid body with a little bit of fat, giving his muscles a slightly smoother look instead of a hard-cut one), with a large skeletal structure and a clear large muscle structure. He has a broad and barreled chest and a squared jaw with a trimmed beard. His hair is dark brown, a little short but clean cut. His eyes are green and very kind. He wears durable tan slacks that have a cargo pocket made into the left side for various items, and a plain white shirt, which sleeves end above the biceps. He has a two belt harness that runs across the front of his chest and his back. He has a shoulder cape on his right shoulder that is dark red on the inside and black on the outside studded into his harness by a leather pad, and just another pad on his left. both pads are lightly fur cushioned. His left arm is covered by what can be described as a large grey arm warmer that fits a little loosely on the arm and is held up by a small belt above his bicep. He has a regular glove with a thin cuff on his right hand.

Armor: None to speak of at the time being. He can't afford that.

Equipment/Other:
survival kit: small versatile knife, flint and steel, hooks, fishing line, small bowstring (for small hunting bow), and arrowheads. these are wrapped in a small roll-up leather pouch that he keeps in his cargo pocket.
Flask in his back pocket containing some ale.

Mental Description/Personality: A hearty and friendly man who is always willing to help someone in need, almost to a fault. When he sets his mind on something he will see it through to the end. He always falls for the damsel in distress routine, but oddly enough, is somewhat shy around women. He would rather fight with his fists before having to resort to his weapons, believing that fighting to the death should only be required if absolutely necessary. Though this isn't to say he doesn't enjoy a good fight, in fact, he finds them quite stress relieving and even fun most of the time. He still holds a grudge against the hierarchy and military of the Andred's kingdom, but doesn't hold it against its people. He has an incredible resolve to finish what he starts and a strong willpower that keeps him driving. Not being raised in any sort of higher status, he sees himself as a common man, never claiming to be anything more. Once his trust is earned, he would willingly give his life for his fellow friends. After the incident with his village, the need to defend what is important to him comes first. Because to him, if it came down to it, if his sacrifice would allow others to live, then it is his place to do so.

Goals: To start a new life and to become powerful enough to protect it. Secretly, however much he denies it to himself, deep down he wants to extract revenge on the crown of Andred, for the years of misguided crusades of slaughter against his people. When he heard that there was a mercanary guild, he decided to start making a bit of money out of his vigilante routine, since his odd jobs didn't seem to make that much. Not many people want a Khalahar working for them around their homes or business, go figure.

Background/History: Allard grew up in the Khalahar plains. It was a normally peaceful place, save for the occasional bandit group or rare so, but not that bad considering it wasn't very populated. Growing up, he learned basic survival and hunting skills alongside his two brothers. When they were old enough, their father taught him and his brothers how to fight and had them help hunt larger game. Since Allard was about 25, he was known to be great fighter, even taking on large hunts with so much as a knife. To do so however, Allard had built himself up to be an incredibly imposing figure of a man. However, sheer strength can only do so much.

One day, a group of bandits attacked the village while most the men were hunting. When the men got word and rushed back to the village, the whole place was nearly decimated. The bandits that came that day revealed themselves not to be bandits at all, but Andred soldiers traveling under the guise of bandits, leading small surprise attacks in Khalahar lands in the name of their 'crusades'. What made matters worse, is that there were also an unusual number of mages as well. Caught by surprise at their skill and magic, the retaliating men were cut down quickly. Allard was chained down by an immobility spell by one of the magic users while one soldier was running toward him to finish the job with his sword. Before the blade came to his neck however, one of his brothers spotted him and drove a spear into the man's skull, killing him instantly but drawing the attention of the mage that froze Allard in the first place. Unable to help, Allard watched his brother get torn apart by the black magic. Screaming was all he could seem to do. He watched as all of his family and friends followed suit, unable to combat the invaders with such little numbers.

Keeping Allard alive, they cursed him to reveal the location of other villages, forcing the words from his mind against his will. The payment for the curse required extreme physical pain of the subject, in which case they casually decided to crush his left arm. As soon as the words of the villages' location forcibly left his mouth due to the curse, the memory slipped away from him. For a "reward" they let him live, after beating his already limp body. That night, however, warriors from neighboring villages and traveling nomads came and extracted revenge on the troop, killing most of them and capturing a few. A healer found Allard locked up and attempted to mend his arm and reverse his curse. However, all he was able to do was heal what was left of the arm. It was still gnarled and mangled in a ghastly manner but the wounds were closed and not bleeding anymore. For the arm to work however, the healer made it able to mimic the ability of the other arm, making them equal in strength. Although the healer warned him that should his right arm be injured to a point where it was unable to move, he would lose the ability to use his left arm. To cover the arm from sight, Allard uses a thick, fingerless, grey arm warmer that starts at his knuckles and ends above his bicep, held up by a small belt.

Gathering the few belongings he had left, he recovered his father's sword from the ruins of their house and bid farewell to his family's graves, vowing never to learn or use magic. He then made his way to Starkvale and managed to make a living as an odd job man. Though, he is more commonly known as a vigilante. In this he his highly regarded by a few townspeople, hated by most, and not in good relations with the guard. He now dedicated his immense strength to protecting the things he holds dear. Though that isn't much considering he is a Khalahar. Somewhere inside is still a hatred for the Andred nation, but has come to find that the people and the kingdom can sometimes be two entirely different entities. So far, he just tries to stick to the slums, where people tend to overlook his place of origin.

[User]
After the meeting, Hobnob and his crew went to their work station at the stables and worked on traps and finishing The Obstacle Flattener for a while. They then went to bed at 10 in the evening, woke up at 8 in the morning, and had breakfast in their work area. They didn't leave before Kayden got up. In fact, they didn't leave at all.

"Alright you lot, fall in. If you've all finished your breakfast, it's time for the roll call!" Hobnob called out to the rest of his crew, who were scattered about the area they had set up shop in after their arrival at the guild hall. Once the crew had fallen in, Hobnob began the roll call. "Tiny" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Tiny called back.
"Dr Diminutive" Hobnob called out.
"Present" Dr Diminutive called back.
"Titch" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Titch called back.
"Shortstack" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Shortstack called back.
"Pint-Sized Pat" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Pint-Sized Pat called back.
"Small Benjamin" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Small Benjamin called back.
"Smaller Benjamin" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Smaller Benjamin called back.
"Smallest Benjamin" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Smallest Benjamin called back.
"Big-As-A-Dwarf Barry" Hobnob called out.
Big-As-A-Dwarf Barry grunted affirmatively in response.
"Alrighty then!" Hobnob said "I gave you all your jobs when we started work yesterday, so let's get back to it!".

Hobnob's crew split up into 3 groups of 3. Small, Smaller, and Smallest Benjamin all set to work on preparing traps for the coming job. Dr Diminutive, Pint-Sized Pat, and Shortstack set about making the necessary defenses against any and all dark magic/vampiric trickery Strater could bring to the table. Tiny, Titch, and Big-As-A-Dwarf Barry worked on The Obstacle Flattener to get it up and running for the job. Hobnob himself sat at a makeshift desk to pour over a large stack of blueprints and occasionally got up to supervise the work done by the rest of his crew.

[Assistant]
On the one hand, Nuva found sleeping in full chainmail and leather very uncomfortable, even on the softest of beds. On the other hand, he daren't risk his identity being revealed unintentionally in his sleep before he could move to stop an intruder, even with the door to whatever room he was sleeping in locked. Even locked into the privy, and especially when washing accumulated grime off himself every week or so, he was extremely cautious, ensuring he never moved in sight of a window or keyhole whilst uncloaked even a little bit. It was time-consuming and complicated to achieve in many instances, but so far, the process had served him well.

And so, freshly clean, and rather hungry, though willing to wait to eat until well after others had had their fill, he stepped out into the light of day shortly after Kayden, noting the various presences around the Guild Hall, in particular the arrival of a somewhat larger individual... a Drabarian, by the looks of it. And if they planned to join the guild, another Jex, so to speak. But he couldn't say whether or not they were, because they were just standing in place looking at the damn building like a fool.

Not that this affected Nuva Doer for the moment, of course. If he wanted something that affected him... well, he had been given an idea of sorts for something that might help him hide a little bit better. If he could afford it. And, if he wanted something more immediately helpful, there was a note being put up, perhaps a job listing for the guild that could well make the difference between affordability and... otherwise. And so much the better if he handled it alone, assuming there was a set pot as payment. With that in mind, he marched over to the job board, taking a look at the note to see what it held in store.

@Jollan@MiddleEarthRoze@rush99999@Fetzen@Tangletail

[User] When Allard awoke he could hear other people begin to stir. Feeling a bit stiff, he got up and stretched before heading to his wardrobe for his clothes and gear. Fully suited up, he headed down to meet with the others to see Kayden about ready to go to town for supplies. Upon seeing some food however, he didn't give a second thought to passing it up. As it seemed Kayden was already waiting at the door, he grabbed some ham and some bread and put them together to eat and walk. Allard glanced at the new job that was pinned just for a moment before heading out, mostly just noticing that it wasn't there yesterday. Thanking those who prepared of the food, he then walked outside to meet their leader, with half a sandwich still in his hands. "Good morning, Kayden," he said cheerflly, "Mind if I tag along?" Allard never really went to the main shops or in the better parts of town unless he had too, and especially not early morning or mid day. Most people he saw in those areas didn't take too kindly to seeing an armed Khalahar running around and it would be better to avoid open confrontation there versus the slums, but maybe it wouldn't bother too many people if he was traveling with a guild.