[System]
Username: NoobCW
Age: 17

Appearance:

Gender: Male

History: Rammus was born from a treetop village that is located near the border of the Empire. It was peaceful village until the Empire made their invasion attempt there, ending up with a lot of casualities in his side. Him, being one of the few survivors, was rescued by the rebels. After that incident, he declined the rebel's offer for a stay in their base, but instead, returned to his desolate home village. He now lives alone there with occasional contact with the rebels & the neighboring villages.

Nation: Krrstria

Weapon/Skills: Wooden Bow - Rammus is adept in his archery from his life of hunting.

Magic Affinity: Chaos, he's unable to use magic yet

Affiliation: Rebels

[User]
Ellison
"Where's your papa? O_O" Rammus continued on his sarcastic reply as he continued, "Right now, I'm just preparing scarecrows against the Empire dogs that will invade here tomorrow, sooo you better stay at your homes tmr O_O"

"Hmm... the scarecrows are done early, that spy suree have reliable info about them~ Ima camp at the borders tonight, check if there's any weird shit happening >.<" He stated, as he finished tying his last scarecrow down the spot. He then hopped up to a tree branch, travelling via tree branches, towards the direction of the borders.

[Assistant]
Wolf
"Huh... don't you happen to be the what, The Wolf of Orbis?" Atticus asked, he got the name correct, but the country wrong. ('The cowboy from Swyn, now another one') He hissed rather impatiently, 'cause he would want to get on the train back to the Empire, and have a good night's sleep. ('there's no need to waste more time...')

"LOOK! A FLYING PIG BEHIND YOU!" Atticus pointed towards Wolf's back, took to his heels at the same time, his speed seemed as if he disappeared in a blink of an eye. Turns out that Atticus is now riding a black pig that he summoned, that is flying like a stupid pig who just learned how to fly, still... a pig can't fly faster than a zeppelin.

[User] Irita smiled brightly. "Then could you please do that?" he asked and held out the scythe towards him. It would be great to finally get it checked up on.

[Assistant]
"I'll stay wherever I want, don't you see this sword I'm carryin'?"

Ellison flashed Aesik at Rammus.

"Greetings" said Aesik

"DAMMIT AESIK! I TOLD YOU NEVER TO SPEAK TO PEOPLE!"

Ellison was furious, giving up Aesik's identity could prove dangerous if the Empire got wind.

She placed her weapon inside the sheath and crossed her arms.

[User]
- Ellision

"Wait, did this sword talk just now? Holy crap O.o" Rammus stopped as he was at the verge of heading off for his home village. Survey mission nearby borders, he changed his mind for that stuffs, the village will be invaded no matter what he does, sooo he's ditching that job just because he noticed a sword talking to him. "Umm... You're Aesik right, Mister, or Madam? O_O" He asked to Aesik, as he stood in front of the sword intentionally. "Name's Rammus, and do you shit? o_o"

@MonsieurShade @Diabolic - Wolf

It was night when it happened, towards the direction of Swyn, gunshots are heard from the direction of Swyn, bringing bright flashes on the night. A huge roll of sanddust was invisible, as neighs of horses are heard. Most likely, the cowboys from Swyn are not there for tourism with their guns flinging around like that. Most likely an attack from the nation of Swyn. In a closer look, they look more like outlaws rather than trained soldiers considering all of their bandit mask, in numbers of hundreds.

"Whew, finally done~" The Mayor wiped his sweat away after completing Rammus' bow. Nothing much seemed to change in the bow's appearance, just that it has a darker appearance. "Your's will be quick, since its already a magic weapon~" The Mayor replied after taking Irita's Scythe, grabbing a orange & black crystal, melting it into a ingot as he hammered it into the staff. After a few minutes of hammering & forging, the scythe got a darker orange shade around it.

"Just made a bit of modifications to your scythe, Since you're of a dual affinity, the weapon bridges the gap between the fire & darkness, and with this, you can draw your flames with it. Moulding your flames would be easier that way. As for that boy just now, its just a bow which eats his raw mana & transfer it into his arrow, that's the only type of weapon I can think of for him, Chaos magic is very hard to control..." The Mayor ended his speech with a sigh, "I don't trust them, those of a Chaos Affinity."

"Yawns, that old ass Hadrain changed his mind, he wants the invasion to start at night." Atticus sips on his bottle of Mineral Oasis water as he looked at the cactuses of Swyn, sitting in his train carriage,"Oh well, Hadrain's rather reasonable a zombie apocalypse should happen at night instead of the afternoon >.<"

"Hello old man, there's a traitor that defected from the Empire, and revealed some info about us, I mean, I heard that person's dead or something O_O, did she turn into a ghost or something? I forgot her name, but please check the death logs of The Houses." Atticus talked to a magical crystal ball, and it revealed the face of a man with piercing & intmidating red eyes, his face with a purple scar on his cheek. Atticus is speaking to the Ruler of the Empire, Emperor Hadrain.

[Assistant]
Jacque glared coldly at the entry point of Payon village as he heard the sound of horses and gunfire in the distance. After alerting old man Adrian of the attack to come, he'd cleaned his weapon, restocked his gear, and then taken to patrolling the outskirts of the village in tandem with the night watch guard shifts to ensure an attack wouldn't come earlier than expected. Call in paranoia, but Jacque couldn't bring himself to quite trust a Dog of the Empire, even if he had taken bounties for the nation in the past. And lo and behold, that paranoia may have just saved his life.

The bounty hunter tightened his grip on the cold metal barrel of his gun, now made slick and shiny thanks to a cleaning as well as a liberal wipe down with a bit of polish. The bounty hunter knew that taking part in this battle would potentially mean the end of any Empire contracts he had. It probably also meant that Jacque himself would end up with a bounty placed on his head, but that was of no matter right now. "I swear to God you owe me for this Adrian. You'd better not die on me you crusty ol' bastard." he hissed over the edge of the rooftop. Adrian smirked from down below as he and a few other men remained crouched, all manner of weapons and shields at the ready. Jacque noted that among the weapons to be found, very little were actually guns, with a majority of long distance weaponry taking the form of compound bows and crossbows. Everyone waited with held breath for the first few of the enemy forces to enter the village, then the assault began. The bounty hunter had to admit that he was impressed with how quickly Payon had mobilized, as well as how rapidly they began to fight: Adrian had barely finished shouting "ATTACK" when the men -ranging from police and soldiers to farmers and even bakers- all rushed out to defend everything they held dear with the ferocity only seen in a desperate man.

Jacque took aim, making use of the flashes of fire casted by a few of the magically attuned soldiers and bandits below him, and fired off a shot. The slug went a bit wide, striking his target in the left shoulder rather than his heart, but it was more than enough to knock him off his horse and allow the bandit's head to be caved in by what appeared to be a blacksmith with a hammer. Satisfied with this, Jacque took aim at another target. This was going to be a long night.

[User] Irita looked really interested in how the mayor worked. He hadn't seen a process like it before so it was a given that he wanted to know how strenghtening of a magic weapon happened. He took a good look at the scythe when it was handed over to him. It had a different feel about it than before, that was for sure. "Thanks a lot!" Irita said, grinning from ear to ear. He was truly happy for the upgrade.

[Assistant]
"Gulp..." Rammus felt a weird vibe. For a moment, he'd felt a strong magical presence, emitted over all the Payon's residents?

The residents' eyes aren't normal, as if being possessed by something. The nearby residents charged towards Rammus & Ellision, instinctively chasing them with their jaws open wide.

"Did they just turn into zombies??" Rammus took to his heels and ran from them, they're definitely controlled by something, there is no way that many people would have the same magical affinity and have such an amount of magic. {'Damnnit I must get to the Mayor!') Rammus shoved aside a zombie, as he burst open the Mayor's room. "Huff... MAYORR! The residents turned into Zombies after some strange magic, and they are aiming for us..." Rammus locked the doors, stuffing furnitures behind it to secure it for the moment... "And my boww, is it done yet???"

"I knew it... it was that brat Atticus..." The Mayor sighed, as Rammus receives his new bow.

"Sooo... Anything to get deal the zombie horde outside? Right now... Payon seemed to be screwed up... hope it stays up at tomorrow dawn..." Rammus asked.

Meanwhile in the entry point, the defence is going rather smoothly, mostly due to the horsemen of Swyn are heading to Payon on a straight direction, without much strategies or something. The invaders don't seem to have much common sense or intelligence, they seemed to be controlled. But, an unnatural vibe of magic is felt from the village center.

"Was planning to sleep, but ima just try play warcraft & Left 4 Dead from here~" Atticus, still in his Swyn's train carriage, his table consists of a chessboard with some Krrstria-like drawings on it, "Heh, the village wasn't going to be invaded, its already been invaded o3o"

[User] Irita listened to what Rammus said and it was quite unbelivable. "So are we going to try to turn them back to normal or are we going to kill the zombies?" he asked. He made it sound like something easy and that he didn't care about the lives of the citizens.

[Assistant]
"The rebels will arrive by morning, or so I heard." The Mayor said, his pair of eyes darkened a bit, letting out a sigh, "But its better to kill & survive, rather than to get killed and then more people killed..."

"Kill...?" Rammus gulped his saliva down the throat, he had this conviction of slaying the Empire, but to kill his own kind, he wasn't sure whether he could do it. "But seriously... the invasion's totally different this time... not like thousands of soldiers marching in..."

"Alright, I will survive until the morning." Rammus held on his bow tightly, his hand shaking a bit from that hesitation.

"The number of zombies are fewer than what Atticus is capable of, so, don't take them lightly..." The Mayor stated, "And, this building ain't build to last something like this, I will split up when they breach, I will head to the watchtower, all your best~"

With the collapse of the door like some explosive burst, the zombies charged in. ('safe time's over...') Rammus drew his bow, firing at the team of zombies that is concentrated towards them. It hit the zombie's leg, and he felt that energy's sapping to his bow, Strangely after hitting, the zombie stood there for the moment, then collapsed by the other charging in zombies.

[User] Irita almost didn't seem to care about killing the people. "To think that I could try the power up already~" He almost sounded happy about it as he slashed down the zombies that was pouring through the door. But just keeping them in the doorway wouldn't really help. He needed to get out to be able to fully test the new power. "Rammus, if you could stop shooting until i've made it through the door that would be great." he said.

[Assistant] The numbers of the invading bandits got reduced by half smoothly, the odds of the battle is towards the Payon's favour. But, At the halfway point of the siege, the horses that they're riding grew black wings conjured of magic, as they started taking off to a higher height point than Payon villagers. The bandits as they went brandishing their set of revolvers and arrows, and with their height advantage, started to fire towards the villagers. Strangely, as the numbers fall, the invading cowboys seemed to get stronger and accurate consistently.

[User]
"Alright~" Rammus felt a bit off when he saw him killing a bit of the villagers, but pretended to ignore at such a situation. "Ima split up too, I will get to the rooftop to have a better grasp on what the hell's going on right here~" Rammus said, climbing up the stairs to the roof. Meanwhile, the Mayor jumped out of the window and hopped onto one of the tree branches, soon disappearing from sight.

Irita's staff emitted a black oozy fire, but it drains more of his mana as a tradeoff for the enhancement.

Rammus reaches to the roof, firing his arrows towards the oncoming, gathering zombies, hitting them on their non-vital parts like legs or arms. The zombies he shot stopped to their heels and fainted on the ground, unconscious. Seems that his bow have a stunning effect, which is essential for reducing casualities... and to make him easier to shoot...

"tskk... and I almost forgot about the villagers." Rammus noticed some zombies nearby some unsuspecting villagers, including the girl he met (and ran away) just now. Shooting and stunning one of the zombies nearby Ellison, he signalled her and the other villagers to approach the safehouse. By then, hopefully, his friend would wipe out the nearby zombies to make it safe enough.


[System]
Vena's Characters
Age: 18

Gender: Male

Race: Mura

Appearance: Ethan is 5'10" tall (177.8cm) and weighs around 160 lbs (75kg).

Element Affinity: Air

Magic: Speed magic - Ethan can use his air magic to accelerate himself, also enabling his strikes to come faster.

Gear: A machina sword he… Borrowed from a soldier passing through his town. The sword is moderately sharp, and specifically designed to handle magic being channeled through its blade. Along his trip he happened across a discarded glove as well, a strong, tensile wire wrapped inside a small compartment on the back of it. By pressing a small button on the palm of the glove, Ethan can release the wire and use it to grapple, and coupled with his Air magic he can propel himself to high places, granting him excellent maneuverability.

Brief history: If you want to find the epitome of a slacker, look no further than Ethan Campbell. All throughout his life he has been more interested in daydreaming and wandering about than dedicating himself to anything, much to the chagrin of his family. From an early age on he was spotted frequently just walking around his home town, and sometimes even well beyond the borders of it. Though his wandering made him a headache for his parents and the guards alike, one could not argue the boy had developed an intimate knowledge of the area around him. For this reason, Ethan was to take up becoming a guard as soon as he was of age; on his sixteenth birthday he was to begin his training, yet things would become complicated when members of the Church would arrive in his town.

From the age of five Ethan showed an aptitude for magic, in particular with regards to air magic. Everyone in the town knew the boy to be a Magi, and having only one other among them they were excited to discover him. He never received training for his magic, as the other Magi focused on Earth, but he and the old man were the pride and joy of the otherwise unremarkable town. That blessing would turn into a curse when, years later, the Church would come by on rumors that the town was harboring a Magi in their midst. Everyone knew precisely who they were asking for, but to the residents' surprise only one Magi was being requested. Not wishing to see a young boy be dragged off, the old man handed himself over to the authorities, being dragged off in chains back to a prison.

Ethan didn't know another Magi, and while he couldn't be trained by the old man he had grown to be fond of him, looking up to him almost like a grandfather. When the man was taken away he was devastated, locking himself away for days on end and forgoing his usual wander sprees. Sulking wasn't really his style though, and the longer he sat the more concerned he became for the old man's well-being. Eventually he grew tired of sitting by idly, and resolved to try and do something for a change. Knowing full well he couldn't do much on his own however he left his home, out to search for other Magi to potentially help him in his journey.

---

[User]
Amuné abandoned the effort of recovering her meal and put the Ethan-pile between herself and the strange men as they approached. She went pale when one of them stabbed the ground before Ethan, and Wyth's fur bristled, making the large cat seem even bigger. Machina? She looked at the boy. He seemed to be Muran. Was he really a machine? She'd had limited contact with them, for her village did not have many. They were simple and rather old-fashioned there, and the Machina she'd seen looked nothing like the other child.

She gasped as Ethan swept her up, eyes widening in surprise, and then unfocusing. "Magi..." she whispered. She twisted her neck to look at his face. "You're Magi." He was Magi, just like she was, and Ydra as well. Maybe she really would be okay with him. Wyth stayed at their side, and people were quick to get out of the way of the group. Those that didn't were easily pushed aside.

And then the nice man was stopping, and turning around. Amuné was confused. The men in suits would catch them if they just stood still. What was he doing? She held tight as the wind suddenly picked up. He had the power of Kedo, the Saint of Air, just like her father. But he was using that power to toss the suited men aside? That wasn't what magic was for. The girl frowned and bit her lip. She supposed that defending yourself was okay, but her father had always said magic must never be used for evil, for it was a blessing. When Ethan set her down she looked up at him and smiled shyly, before looking around. People were scared. Magic was a bad thing now, and they were afraid of it. But Ethan had magic too, so he wouldn't be afraid of her. She decided that she'd stick with him, at least for a while.

[Assistant]
All of his senses were completely thrown off, his sense of balance compromised as he was thrown to the floor by gravity through the influence of an exterior force. What a complete problem this was now and what was worse was he landed against someone and on something too. Slowly pushing himself up he gasped as some squeaky girl thumping against his frame, confusing him briefly before he was instead pushed onto his side. Everyone here certainly was rude around here, even if in his haste wasn't really looking where his feet were going. Not quite understanding what she was trying to say before, he looked down at himself at the strange pressure against his chest, seeing a fish quite clearly stuck to him. "Oh, uhh! I-I'm sorry…" he stuttered, peeling off the fish and giving it back to the girl, smiling for only a second before his attention went to a much more important matter to attend to.

Those men were already there, staring down at him with such authority and hatred. This was awful, he didn't mean to do anything wrong. Raising his hand in front of him he stared at the end of the weapon, his eyes slowly going to the man in full knowledge of what his threat meant. He had come so far, he couldn't go back to that place. There was nothing for him back there and he had learned so much about the outside world, to be taken back and given a full restore would be even worse than death.

"N-No…please, I didn't mean-…" Before he could even begin to explain himself the boy he had accidentally collided with was speaking for him, but the boy just sounded confused. Slowly looking to the boy, the sound of steel smacking stone caused him to flinch pretty badly, his attention going straight back to the man who was full of anger and determination to carry out his duty. This wasn't good; if he so much as tried to move he was going to be shot. This boy was going to get in trouble all because of him. He didn't deserve this, not for his own mistake of bumping into him.

Looking to the boy with a hopeful expression he could only hope that he wasn't like these other people, that he wouldn't end up treating him like he was just a pile of illegal parts. There had to be some way to convince these men that they had the wrong idea about him, but from what he experienced once they knew what he was there wasn't much hope in that; if only he could just grab that firearm the man had, maybe even the sword, then he could make a difference and finally find a way out of this mess.

The boy being threatened didn't really turn out very well, it almost seemed as if he was going to give in to the threat. Getting frightened for only a brief second, the moment the sound of a man slamming into stone he jumped before immediately being yanked up and thrown forward by the boy. Stumbling on his feet he made a sudden terrible error he really should regret, but it was probably his only way out: he started to run. This was definitely a terrible idea; they had ranged weapons, he didn't. Looking back briefly to the boy he saw he was taking the girl with him, immediately thinking it was a bad idea to get her involved too. This was bad and all because of him, but what was worse was he didn't know if they were going to get out of this alive all because of him.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-! Ah! What are you doing??" Skidding to a halt as well he turned to Ethan, almost frightened by what he was doing. He didn't understand what was happening now and could only be worried that the boy was surrendering; however, according to his readings an energy level was rising and it was coming from this guy. Staring at him in an attempted analysis he gasped when it was shot out, watching it before he noticeably started feeling anxious. Opening his mouth to speak, he could only move back in fright as it caused the men to suddenly bounce away with great force into various directions.

Now that was something he hadn't seen before but all he could feel was confusion, trying to get data on what that was. It was certainly different to what he experienced before, but right now that would have to wait until later when he was still supposed to be escaping right now. Just about to turn around again he looked back when he realised the boy wasn't doing too well, barely managing to walk by the looks of it. He could run off immediately and not think about it, but he couldn't leave these two behind. Frowning, he soon went around to his side, looking over him before to the girl. "Hold on tight, okay? I'm just going to…"

Only seeming to contemplate it for a moment he moved around once they were moving, moving his large hands underneath the pair he lifted them over his head before immediately breaking into a sprint. Anybody with a sharp eye could see where he was heading with them through the crowd, but he didn't want to risk being caught by the men while they were out. He just knew where he had to go and that was out of the settlement. While the Machina was in a hurry, he realised he completely forgot one simple custom. Coming to a brief halt he placed both the girl and boy down, panicking slightly. "I-I didn't mean to treat you like that! I should ask first! It's your custom, right?"

[User]
Everything had happened awfully quick, Ethan barely knew what he was doing himself. After he had been nearly run over by the other boy things just moved like clockwork, his body willing itself to get both the stranger and Amuné out of harm's way. It wasn't until they had gotten into the chase itself that he started to recognize what was going on, realizing too that they didn't stand much of a chance at escaping; the men were armed and likely trained, they would need a miracle to get away without trying anything. After exhausting every option he could think of Ethan opted on the one he was most reluctant to use, and the most worried to as well. If casting a spell didn't take the men out then he'd not only be drained, but they'd be livid and everyone would be in trouble for it. That risk was worth it however if he pulled it off, as it would give them at the very least a window to escape. With Amuné in his grasp still he didn't have time to set her down, so instead he clutched the young Ydra to his side, gave her a brief warning and fired off a spell.

The results of his magic couldn't have been better. Not only were the men thrown aside, but there was minimal damage to their surroundings, and he hadn't killed them or himself with it, a win-win. Though Ethan may not be quite dead he certainly felt like it, his body immediately becoming exhausted as he fell to one knee, breathing a bit raggedly from expending so much so quick. It was normally against his self-conduct to attack someone like that, but there was no way he could let Amuné or Wyth be hurt, or the other boy for that matter. Managing to rise back to his feet after a moment's struggle he let out a breathless chuckle, trying to stumble ahead as he gestured for the others to follow. People were in a proper panic now after having seen magic, and no doubt the guards would be on their way; how were the people of this town going to treat a Magi? Would he be taken away like Cedric had been? That was pretty disheartening to think about, especially when he'd gone and pledged to help Amuné.

"Come on, the forest isn't far..." Ethan said tiredly, glancing back at Amuné and Wyth to make sure they were unharmed before immediately looking forward when the other boy approached them. "Hold on...? Hold on to- WHOA!" With strength quite shocking for his size the other boy lifted both of them up with minimal effort, raising them above his head before taking off down the road. Balancing awkwardly in his hand, the white-haired Magi had only just gotten a hold on himself when they stopped just as abruptly and were placed down, feeling lightheaded from the sudden lifting and dropping. Rubbing at his forehead he glanced up at the boy, giving him a confused look briefly before breaking into a smile.

"Hey... It's fine, you're trying to help... All good..." Ethan answered giving a dismissive wave of his hand. Peering past the other boy he made sure to check if they were being followed, relieved to see no one coming after them. So his spell had worked then, though he wasn't likely going to be welcome back to this town any time soon. Shame too, he'd like to at least go back to the spot he'd cast at and clean it up, seeing as he'd made a mess of things. "We should keep moving, if... You don't mind. You're not safe... And we gotta protect Amuné too." He'd get back to his own task eventually, first thing was to make certain these two were fine. Giving a nod of approval to be lifted again, Ethan braced himself and let out a faint gasp at the shift again, being less disoriented however as he was ready for it. Like before it only took a second until they were off again, and in mere moments they were beyond the city's limits, heading down the road that wound back into the forest.

Only once they were largely out of view of the town did Ethan call for them to stop, certain they were safe for now. That and all of the jostling around while being carried was hammering his already battered body, he felt like he'd just ran into a building at full speed or something. Smiling gratefully as they were set back down, the Magi let out a long-winded sigh before leaning back where he sat, placing his hands back on the grass as he let out a short laugh. "Wow... Today sure was busy... Didn't expect to be running this much..." he mused, still a bit short of breath, "Nice to meet you, by the way... My name's Ethan, and sorry if I caused trouble back there... Couldn't just let them do... Whatever they were wanting to do to you. You alright now, uh...?" Glancing over at Amuné and Wyth he smiled, remembering their plight as well as he gestured to the small bag at his side. "There's a bit of food in there... Dried beef and fruit. Take whatever you want, my treat, make up for squashing your fish."


[System]
Age: Appears to be in her mid-twenties

Race: Half-demon

Appearance:
Standing at six feet and one inch tall, Serena towers over most other women from her native Foji. The bangs and sidelocks on her jet-black, waist-length Hime hairstyle frame more olive skin tones and soft facial features that are easy on the eyes, most noticeably her soulful brown eyes, tinged with a hint of red. Her body is slender, but bares the toned muscles needed to both hit hard and stay agile. On her stomach lies an old yet very large and noticeable scar, formed in a way that suggests a horrible, deeply puncturing wound. Though she normally acts and moves in a way that projects a warm, kind aura, the light of the full moon reveals the shadow of a different creature entirely.

When Serena channels demonic power, her appearance changes drastically. Her skin becomes dark as soot, her eyes and hair glowing white, with the former wavering like an open flame and the latter taking on a texture akin to feathers. A very dark and visible aura surrounds her in this form, in a way that can send shivers down one's spine.

Attire: Serena wears a dark green dress made in a style similar to kimonos from her homeland, but with various design concessions made to allow greater flexibility in battle. A sash dyed a darker shade of green is tied around the waist, and she wears high leather boots for travel. When she isn't wearing her plain white mask, it's usually either stowed away or put over her shoulder like a shoulderpad. She wears a golden pendant inset with a curious black gemstone around her neck.

Bio:
"Tell me, child," Serena said as she sat next to her student's nightstand. "What do you know of the tale of how Abadden's nations came to be?" The young girl shook her head.

 "Not a lot, Teacher." she replied. "There was one from Falke, two from the Twilight Fields, one from Tour de Rouge, and one from Foji. They fought alongside one another, and eventually they led the people of their homelands together into their own countries." Serena smiled.

 "So you haven't heard of the tale of Haede, then?" she asked. Her student shook her head once again.

 "Haede was a demon," Serena explained. "The weakest among their sworn family. Even the tales know little of Haede, other than that they turned against their two brothers. Some bicker to this day, over whether Haede was a hero who fought alongside the nations' forefathers or, a villain who was only in it for personal gain. Or, perhaps, even something in between." The young student yawned, before looking up to her mentor quizzically.

 "Teacher," she asked hesitantly. "Do you mind if I ask if you mean to teach me something with this folklore? Are you related to this Haede?" Serena laughed.

 "That's what they say, Veronica." she answered. "But that is not my point. No matter who you think you are, and no matter what anyone else says you should be, you need to do what you feel is right. Do you understand?" Serena's student nodded.

 "I think so, Teacher." Veronica said. Serena smiled warmly.

 "Then make sure to sleep well, Veronica. Your grandmother will be eager to see you tomorrow morning." Serena left the room before her student could gain the confidence to prod with too many eager questions. Perhaps Aegea would not be too busy with her duties to discuss her student's progress.

 For almost twenty years, Serena had stood beside Aegea as her right hand woman, serving as both part of her elite guard and as an agent to take care of tasks unsuited to either The Choir's ranks or Aegea herself. Despite this, few know much about her, save her resemblance to a similar woman who had filled the same position, and her story is even further shrouded. With Aegea dead, only a handful remain who know the truth of her history. What is known is that she has always been a supporter of her student Veronica and her legitimacy as a potential successor. Now, she travels with her student, ensuring her safety in her quest to find the assassins who killed Aegea in cold blood.

Inventory:
* A plain white mask made of cypress indigenous to Foji, possessing no features other than holes for the wearer to see out of. Masks of this type are traditionally used in plays and festivals throughout Foji, meant to represent a faceless youkai. It ironically serves Serena well in allowing her to appear inconspicuous while she channels the power residing within her own mixed blood.
* A sword made in a style traditional to her homeland, though with a weak enchantment that causes the blade to generate heat and greatly increases its power. It can only retain this in the sheath, however; it quickly dissipates otherwise, making it best-suited to quick-draw attacks.
* A naginata of average length, constructed of steel and oak wood. Though it has no special tricks or enchantments, it remains a practical weapon, and its large blade aids in directing wind.
* A wakizashi bearing elegant engravings of a serpentine, feathered dragon on one side and cherry blossoms on the other. Even from looking at it, one could tell that an extraordinary amount of care went into maintaining it.
* A small dagger, balanced for throwing.
* Various supplies, such as a flask, spare sets of clothes, bandages, and a tea set with ingredients, kept in a bag slung over her shoulder.

Skills:

Lady of Battle: Serena has spent many years in both battle and honing her own skills, and as such is both proficient and deadly with any of her weapons as well as her bare hands. She mixes techniques taught to her by others with her own self-taught skills, and can quickly switch between multiple fighting styles to suit the situation. Of these, she prefers to use a low-risk style with her polearm involving quick swipes and deft movement, a fast yet brutal iajutsu style with her katana involving strong advances and devastating quickdraw attacks, a more animalistic style with her wakizashi, and a mix of reversals and throws alongside surprisingly strong blows with her fists. She also commands a small number of miscellaneous talents, such as knife-throwing.

Lady of Embers: Through her connection with The Forno, Serena commands and directs the wind around her as if she were the eye of a storm, using it both to disorient opponents and aid her own movement. If she feels that her situation has grown dire enough, she can increase this connection, experiencing the form and power of her heritage for the briefest of moments. In this form, the wind can be turned into smog and embers, and her strength and speed are increased astronomically, but only for a couple of seconds. Her attunement with this other half increases the closer she is to the wastelands near Nethern Port, though she remains incredibly vulnerable to celestial magic.

Lady of Taste: Serena is somewhat famous in the upper echelons of The Choir for her skill in cooking, and especially in making tea. Though her recipes are a closely-guarded secret, each cup tastes as if it was made specifically to honor a cherished memory.

Languages: Serena is fluent in both Abbalic and Foji, as well as some Neath-scratch and a good deal of language spoken by demons.

Current Location: Tour de Rouge

[User]
Rebecca had eventually gotten tired of the discussion, refocusing her attention towards her book. Even that had turned into something rather frustrating. She needed to do some more research if she was going to pursue her line of thought any sooner. Spells, procedures, mages' scrawlings on the subject.

And here she was. In the middle of nowhere.

She eventually was encouraged and finally convinced to pay more attention to where she was going by the tall grass. Yeah, it was getting more "nowhere" by the minute. Calieo seemed like she didn't even know what it was.

"Um," Rebecca answered dryly. "It's called grass? It grows really tall when nothing's around to keep it trimmed down?" She sighed when Chambala mentioned there might be snakes roaming around in it, too. Another thing to watch out for.

Denise's dance provided an interesting distraction, though. Such displays of magic always fascinated Rebecca. Like the way her grandmother could bring the most soothing sunlight and moonlight into a room with a mere whim. That subtlety that came from sheer power and mastery, that was something she wished to be able to tap into, someday. She raised an eyebrow at Chambala when she pointed out how unsafe it could have been, though.

[Assistant]
[Calieo]

 Calieo listened careful to what explanations had been given, though the way she stomped around and kicked at the earth beneath her suggested she was ignoring what Chambala and Rebecca had to say. She found the simplicity of grass to be somewhat endearing; it was like fur for the earth, and she wondered if it helped to keep the land warm. Chambala spoke of something to be wary of, biting things that may live in the grass, and as if to challenge whatever they may be Calieo hopped around to try and flatten a patch of green.

 The novelty of the grass soon gone, Calieo returned her attention behind her and the display of flames encircling Denise immediately caught her eye. A smile broke out across her face, a mix of wonder and pleasure that the dancing lights invoked within her. Naturally her attention was then drawn lower, and she met the eyes of Denise's mount for a brief moment. Unsure what the blank faced being was thinking, Calieo snorted assertively before turning away from everyone to better observe the valley ahead.

 "Onward then! The guise of day lasts only so long," she announced, raising her shielded arm towards the other end of the valley. She'd only taken a few steps before her foot caught on something, and ungracefully she fell forward and slammed into the ground. As she fell her foot wrenched free the thing that had tripped her; a rusted knight's helm half buried in the dirt, the object flung behind her by her flailing legs. The grass that contacted the ball of her weapon left behind only smoke, no flames catching as anything to burn was incinerated the second it brushed past the caged ball of light.

 "SNAKE!" she screamed, flailing about on the ground to quickly push herself up. On her feet again she whirled around and kicked at the grass around her in blind frustration, confusion evident on her face. She hadn't seen where the helmet had flown, and couldn't see it now as the grass hid it once again, so she made an effort to calm herself once aware that her companions were likely watching. Clearly still a little flustered, she cleared her throat and let out a decompressing huff.

 "Onward," she declared again, less triumphant sounding this time as she started walking again, and now paying attention to her feet rather than where she was going.

[User]
Autumn Bladerunner - Twilight Tower

Autumn sighed and put her fingers to her brow. Today was slowly getting worse by the second. First she was nearly run over, then she dropped the stranger's acorn, and in her attempt to get out of the way, someone had seen her using her shadow step ability. She reached up with both hands and rubbed her face slowly, groaning before looking back up at Serena. She simply stood there staring at the woman for a few moments, trying to see how she'd react.

At first, as Serena tried to help generalize where she thought she'd dropped the acorn, Autumn started to relax. She picked her pack back up and slung it over her back again, staring to walk around and scan the ground with her eyes. Sadly, it ended up being futile and after a few rounds she sighed and gave up. "It... was a... way to contact my employer." she answered the question about what it was. "Sadly I don't know how else to find him. Not that I'm being paid enough to keep doing what I was tasked to do." she shrugs.

As Serena's expression turned sour, Autumn frowned back at that icy glare. She paused in her stance as she started to look the woman up and down. It wasn't a friendly look. One that almost had Autumn's brain telling her to take up a defensive posture. She watched Serena's next moves very carefully, her mouth tensing to a thin flat line beneath her mask. As silence set in, she could feel a breeze roll across the space between them, holding her breath for a moment before she spoke, "Is... something wrong..?" she asked faintly, her accent a bit clearer than usual as she focused on speaking.

[Assistant]
Serena continued to stare down at the woman, her head cocked to the side trying to figure her out as she held her bag and naginata in a way that suggested that she wasn't quite sure what to do with them at the moment. Perhaps she was of no threat? She had proven to be rather… bumbling. The fact that she was apparently being tasked to do something by an employer was certainly cause for suspicion, though. This woman asked her if she had a problem, and Serena frowned in thought before she responded. Perhaps she should just be honest. No need to complicate things any further by dancing around the issue.

"I am simply suspicious," Serena admitted with a slight sheepishness that was almost vaguely comedic. "What is this job? Nothing too troublesome, I hope?" She noticed that she was perhaps coming off as intimidating and tense, and attempted to loosen her own stance somewhat, a hint of insecurity shining through her expression. In addition to often forgetting about the impact her half-demon stature had on other people, she had learned that it was often difficult to drop her mentality of an elite guard, even when it could prove beneficial. She frowned in thought once more.

"Also," Serena said. "If it is money you need, I may have something for you, if you are interested. It could be a rather dangerous job, however."


[System]
Appearance:
~1.8 meters
Variable weight
Primary colors being metallic white for stuff you'd consider 'skin', metallic silver in some spots to give a better overall look., metallic blue for stuff that is cloths, or black in whatever areas don't really matter too much.
A colony of nanobots ran under a single AI. They tend to take the shape of a female robot with obvious robotic looking features such as no nose, no mouth, large black and orange robotic eyes, fairly large head, no ears, small helmet looking hair, ext... all on a body that looks like its made of living metal instead of being made out of components and everything. Said body has a thin frame with thin arms with large hands, tanktop looking shirt thing, legs that end at a point instead of feet, and things coming from her wide hips that look like some sort of long skirt or short dress with the front a bit opened up. Really if you think about it she kinda looks like one of those cartoon robot things from that one planet. You know, the one with the moonspeak stuff(think Medabots, just shes much bigger), except a lot more expressive and energetic since the eyes can actually flex a bit unlike a normal robot.
Due to the nature of being made out of nanobots, joints aren't really a thing for this unit so movements tend to either try to mimic having joints while looking unnatural, or just ignoring that fact altogether and make you feel like the arms or legs are made out of tentacles even while looking vaguely robotic human shaped. Course that living metal thing also means there are bits on the body that do bounce a bit from gravity, a side effect of preferring a female form over a male one. After all, curves look much better in a mirror than boxes and tend to get far, far more attention from the organics and robots alike.

Species Name & Description: Nanobot colony Robot/AI. Basically a robot that is made from a ton of nanobots being controlled by a single AI. And the whole robot is made out of nanobots, no pesky things like reactors or batteries here!

Favourite Side Dish: Matter in general. The tastier the better. Food is really good in particular, especially if its tasty.

Useful Skills & Abilities: Nanobot things. Things like insane regenerative properties, being able to convert matter into other types of matter, stick to things, turn to goop, body morphing, super strength, ext... Lots of stuff you can do when your body is made up of teeny tiny robots that can manipulate things on the molecular level. Course that also means you have a lot of limitations, so no making a nanobot army or making yourself the size of a planet by eating a planet, Magnets are really bad, ext...

Membership Number: 88888888, Eight Eight Eight... Do I have to put a number for every nanobot or...?

An Inspirational Quote That Sums Up The Character's Personality: "Don't be serious. You don't want me to get serious back. Lets have fun instead!"

History: TBD

[User]
"Zane Heron?"

 The lively beat of music came to an abrupt halt, the chatter of conversation fell silent and, while there was still the occasional sound of a glass shattering, it was met not with laughter but polite, awkward coughing. Those who could not politely cough tried their best to simulate such a sound, or used one of the many small devices on the market that played recordings of various useful sounds for social situations. Somebody, far off in the background, began trying to propose a new toast, but was quickly shushed by another guest who was rather more aware of the mood.

 "Well, that sly old dog, he's getting back into the party game, I mean, sure, permission to land granted. There's a clear spot on Pad 87, I'll light that one up, hold up,"

 The Quest for Flavour was briefly put on hold. A brief snippet of the instrumental arrangement of the current national anthem of Ofromia, Ofromia, Oh, Ofromia quietly played. It was an uptempo sort of thing, played by some electronic instrument or other, that was designed to worm it's way into the ear of a listener, wrap itself around their brain and refuse to let go. A new anthem was selected every year, such that the anthem reflected modern tastes, and the Ofromia National Anthem Council made a tidy profit selling "Best Of Ofromian Anthems" compilation albums.

 One of the landing pads just outside of the city-dome lit up, the number 87 having been neatly painted in the centre of it. There was a small buzz of activity going on around it, which could be seen even from this great height, though rather than people bringing things to the landing area, they seemed to be taking things away from it.

 The hold music stopped just before the bass was to drop in Ofromia, Oh, Ofromia.

 "Okay, I've pinged Mister Heron's tower, let them know you're here, he'll have one of his cats meet you at eighty seve- sexy cleaner bots?"

 The people in the Traffic Control tower had tried, ever so hard, to resuscitate the party after it choked on the name of Zane Heron. Life had almost been breathed back into it, the wine was beginning to flow once more, and it looked like something could be salvaged. Then the radio operator said sexy cleaner robots, and the party died again.

 Only to be reborn a scant few seconds later, rising like a brilliant phoenix to the sounds of uproarious laughter. The in-house band, because nearly every business in Ofromia hired the services of one, began to play a jaunty, bawdy improvised tune that would, in the future, be known as the "Sexy Cleaning Robot Neo-Rumba". Once the roar of laughter had died down to something a little more manageable, the radio operator took a deep breath, gave himself a serious look via his reflection in a nearby glass, and tried to carry on like nothing had happened.

 "Anything else we can help you with today, Quest for Flavour?"

[Assistant]
If Toony had a nose, she'd be pinching it right now. Fiddlesticks was not putting her suspicions at ease with his comments about eloping with the cleaning bot. Worse still when she heard lots of laughing over the phone when he made his comment about if anyone was interested in cleaning bots. "Well Fiddlesticks, they might be more into bigger robots." Toony said with a sideways glance "I'll letchya know how many robot enthusiasts I find at this party." she said, ending on a wink.

"So, we just party? If so, you all have my comms channel and can call me if something bad happens. I'm here to get smashed. Well, as smashed as a ladybot can, anyway." Toony said with a laugh.

[User]
The sound of hundreds of tiny hands hitting hundreds of faces was heard throughout the ship at fiddlesticks' question.

"Anything else we can help you with today, Quest for Flavour?"

"That will be all operator"

"No, that will be all. Thank you for your assistance. Have a nice day."

The bee hung up and promptly collapsed from the effort of working alone, she was carried off by bees in nurses outfits to be allowed to get some well deserved sleep while under medical observation. So far nothing bad had happened to the bee after the prior calls apart from exhaustion, but it was better to be safe than to be sorry.

"So, we just party?"

"No, we are here to make a party, you can get drunk afterwards at said party. First we shall be meeting this 'cat' of Zane Heron. Get your stuff together and meet me outside"

The purple glow faded and some of the captain bees buzzed off down to join their fellows down in the bowels of the ship.

There was much hustle and bustle as the landing party was assembled, eventually culminating in something between a school outing and a military expedition coming down the boarding ramp. Of note was the small team of bees carrying a large banner above the group with 'Interplanetary Space Friends Brought to you by Henderson's Ribs' written on it in a rainbow of colors and a small group of 4 captain bees were at the center of the group. The rest consisted of any specialists they thought they might need, a few gaurds and a large amount of general worker bees who where there to do grunt work.

The 100 bees started by seeing if they could find the associate of Zane Heron, hovering up in the air around the ship to take in their surroundings.

[Assistant]
Vanessa nodded to herself as the phone was hung up. As the crew began to shuffle towards the exit Vanessa spoke up and said. "I'll be a little while longer. I'm going to go and get changed into something more fashionable. I know that they said they'd provide clothes, but I really don't enjoy having someone else decide what I'd like to wear." With that out in the open, Vanessa walked briskly back to her room and shut the door. She knew there were at least a few minutes to spare with the ship having to land at Ofromia. Opening up the clothes chest that she kept in her room, Vanessa began to change clothes. When she was done, Vanessa wore a pair of open toed black heels with a pair of black vinyl tights. Along with this, Vanessa also wore a backless black dress with a long skirt. This skirt also possessed a slit on the left side that went up to the top of Vanessa's thigh, and showed quite a bit of her legs without revealing anything too risque. The top of the dress had a fish scale pattern to it that went up to a collar around Vanessa's neck, which held the dress in place. The sleeves of the dress were deteched, and started at just above Vanessa's elbow. They also featured a pair of gloves that repeated the same fish scale pattern. The dress was largely backless, though once again without revealing anything too risque for public.

Once she was dressed, Vanessa shifted her body some, applying a light blue lipstick and adjusting her curves to better fit the dress. It was subtle, but noticeable if you looked at Vanessa's normal appearance for an extended amount of time. With everything in place, Vanessa tugged at the dress a few times to ensure that everything was stable and nodded to herself at the success of such a test. She combed her hair neatly, but left it loose. With everything taken care of, Vanessa returned to her crewmates at the landing ramp a minute or two before they departed, and posed a simple question to everyone with a gentle close lipped smile.

"Well. How do I look?"

Most of them were likely used to Vanessa wearing her suits, and likely didn't expect her to have such a dress. But Vanessa's "previous life" had required all manner of clothes for all manner of occasions and as such Vanessa was quite skilled at picking the right dress for the right event.

[User]
The representative slithered his way across the bridge that connected the platform to the dome that housed the city of Ofromia. Local time pinned this moment as "somewhere in the middle of the morning, just after brunch", but this landing platform currently sat in the shadow of the giant dome and so was illuminated by bright, artificial lights. Further around the dome, other landing platforms sat in darkness, waiting for their opportunity to welcome visitors or bid farewell to friends. Aside from the dome that loomed over everything, and the shadow it cast, countryside stretched out towards the horizon - woolly, lumbering creatures grazed on yellowing grass, monitored by buzzing drones. Crops grew in other fields, with little green bushes neatly lined in endless rows.

 There was something wrong, however, with the representative. This shouldn't be considered a slight towards his species, although many didn't consider them particularly attractive; a flattened out, snake like species that moved low to the ground, only rearing up their front half when it came to communicating, eating, partying or fighting. A single pair of spindly, long arms folded out from their sides, tipped with a pair of unsettlingly long and bony fingers. Few people bothered to comment on their four eyes, or wide mouths filled with teeth, not because they were particularly odd, but because the most striking thing about their faces was the rows upon rows of twitching antennae. They jutted out at almost every angle, waved in the gentle breeze and twitched in response to unknown stimuli. They called themselves Prax Sitharii, but most referred to them as Twitchers. Usually behind their backs.

 So it wasn't the appearance of this bright orange Prax Slitharii that was wrong, but rather his choice of clothing, which was about as ill-fitting as one might imagine clothing worn by a snake like creature to be, if not more so. The heavy grey jacket, made out of some local wool-ish fabric, looked like it ought to be on the back of some high ranking military officer. Judging by the number of sleeves, it ought to be worn by somebody with at least two pairs of arms. The representative had awkwardly folded his own arms through the upper pair of sleeves, but he lower pair hung loosely and trailed behind him as he slithered forwards, picking up dust and grime and the other assorted bits of dirt that plagued the Outside.

 Coming to a halt before the assembled crew at the bottom of the ramp, he caught his breath, standing as upright as he could manage. With enough clean, fresh air in his lungs, he spread out his long arms in a gesture that was generally considered welcoming in many cultures for many reasons. Cultures that valued physical contact saw the open arms gesture asn invitation to initiate physical contact, some liked seeing the open hands that carried no weapons, while some saw it as a polite act of submission, exposing their tender underbellies to demonstrate that they pose no threat.

 "Welcome, it's, ah, I'm Maracun, Maracun..."

 The antennae twitched as green eyes quickly flicked around, taking in his surroundings.

 "Maracun Cropman, here to welcome you on behalf of the Zane Heron Estate. Do you need any assistance unloading? I can send for, ah, some people."

[Assistant] Walking with the others out of the ship, Toony wasn't too surprised to see a snake alien greet them. Shame it wasn't the more elegant snake race she had seen around the galaxy. But a snake was a snake. Toony wondered what the biggest thing it could eat was, she probably had it beat, but it would be a fun contest. Either way besides the guy looking nervous, Toony posed a question, ignoring the question he posed the group. "Yeah so... What was that attire we were supposed to be given to wear?"


[System]
Appearance: A simple human, 6'1", with black hair in a ponytail and grey eyes. Generally wears relatively fashionable clothing - black dress pants, a purple tunic, and a black waistcoat, all often hidden beneath a solid blue-grey greatcoat. Often wears a heads-up monocle, a small radar and other visual indicators dimly floating across the surface in reverse. Facial shape is slightly elongated, with high, shallow cheekbones and a slightly pointed jaw.
Age: 21
Planet of Birth: Coruscant
Species: Human

Skills/Abilities:
- Cold Brilliance: Has extensive knowledge of the world due to regular library binges. Has a remarkable sense of self, and identifies the sources of all thoughts before acting on them. Uses knowledge of the self to perceive the probable actions of others.
- Casual Liar: Misdirects people to further his own goals. Twists truths and, when there's little chance of detection, outright lies.
- Selective Psychopathy: He knows that emotions may betray him, and has spent much of his teenage years working on being able to ignore them.
- Enormous Kinesthetic Sense: Always in perfect command of his body at all times, his agility is restricted more by his muscles than by his brain.
- Melee Combatant: Due to difficulties in acquiring weapons without a very good reason for it, combined with his paranoia, he has learned how to exploit edges, points, defensive structures, and mass balances in any object he encounters. Currently has very little experience with exclusively energy based melee weapons.

Equipment:
- Serrated vibrodagger, cortosis weave. Homemade. ("Science Fair Project")
- Forging and electrical breakin toolkit (metalcrafting supplies, RFID spoofer, unnetworked copies of local databases, etc.) - may temporarily replace images on others' screens and devices (model dependent) with wireless signal.
- Multi-functional portable scanner - EM origin triangulation antennae, configurable sound locator, and low power bioscanner. Screen viewable either on device or through the companion monocle.
- Two magnetic/suction grappler guns, heads nonfunctional against irregular nonmagnetic surfaces (ie: terrain)
- One "borrowed" shock baton

Personality: Arimax is a slight oddity - being simultaneously cold and jovial. He is not angered easily - and when he is, it is generally by an act of pure evil or unfairness. Despite his typical lack of true anger, he is easily irritated by the socially incompetent, and tends to snap at anybody who cannot or will not comprehend what he has to say. Everything he does and says when out of life-threatening situations is an exercise in exploration and manipulation, as he wishes to see and understand more of how the world works. He believes there is no such thing as true freedom, and that everybody is constrained by the actions of the universe and by their own brain structure - but despite this, refuses to accept the world for what it is. He despises most card, board, and rule-based strategy games, because they are limited by meaningless rules and only serve as strategy memorization exercises. In terms of social experience, he absolutely loves being around other people, but can only handle it in short doses, due to his tendency towards emotional exhaustion (a side effect of being able to experience, to a minimal degree, empathic pain). Ending the suffering of his friends is high enough on his priority list that he is willing to forego his own mental health, and will sacrifice his own feelings to ensure their safety.

His only interests are in unraveling the universe and ending suffering - both of which are actively suppressed by the Empire, and thus, he wants the Empire gone at all costs.

Music preferences include Heavy Isotope and Glimmik, despite his typically calm outward demeanor.

History: Born on Coruscant to a middle class mother and an absentee father, he was raised with relatively high personal freedom - much of which, he didn't take advantage of due to his own sense of restraint. He lived a "normal" life, or at the very least as normal of one as he could have with his world views. Only bullied in his early teens by other school children for a short period - they relented after he publicly humiliated them by exposing their actions, their desires, and their love lives, all of which were easily available knowledge to an observer. After his basic education ended, he moved on to live in a small apartment, surviving off of working short term security risk assessment positions and giving sound advice on the street to passing customers for small fees. Many of his older customers said that he would have done well at the Jedi academy at the old Temple.

[User]
Underneath the high rising towers and Imperial insignias and skylines of polished metal shining in the sun, and far beyond the reach of glistening coins of sunlight or the whisper of the wind, to the place beyond the bustling streets of the residential levels, the among streets pressed upon by the oppressing factory heat: angry shouts, hoarse whispers, salesmen peddling their wares, arms dealers, deathstick dealers, harsh glances, swift hands, sultry frames, hidden knives, informants selling every kind of secret, memory wipers, body disposers, cheap jobs, oppressive tight corridors, it was an ecosystem all to itself breathing, self aware and adapting. Somewhere far above the sound of speeders rumbled as the air was filled with a constant barrage of noise, stimulus on the brain always turning and thinking. The glitter of fluids of indiscernible origin shining across crowded walkways light by harsh neon lights. The electric buzz of cameras, and scantly clad projections of females of various races all beckoning for the wanders of the street to enter. Even though far above night had fallen on the ecumenopolis down below the glow of lights give the undercity an event present glow of twilight. City built upon city, building atop of building, and ruin atop of ruin. Coruscant was alive and covered with trembling shadows.

Sandwiched among the crowded tenant buildings, flashing signs and rundown factories, the indistinct little bar sat seemingly at the end of the world. The Royal Bantha was what some people would call a local landmark, the haunt for thugs, gangsters, workers, prostitutes, dealers, buyers and anyone looking for a strong drink. Almost permanently covered in a smoke like haze, with the distinct yeast like smell of wet bodies. The moisture coming from the collective drippings and heat the rises and falls from the myraid of factories in the area leaving the outside in ap perpetual state of dampness. In the corner a rhythm band lead by a Hapan male pounding away on a big drum as sweet poured down from his angualr face. The many voices mixing with the drum beat to create an indiscernible rytheme that was the beating heart that kept the Bantha a foot. More importantly like most places in the undercity the Bantha was not that particularity found of their Imperial oppressors. While on the outside things might of looked the same on the inside the authoritative regime had slowly squeezed the lower levels of Coruscant dry with their security forces and newly enacted laws, curfews and security checkpoints. It was here that it was that those would opposed should rule could speak their mind freely without free of somebody reporting them to the Security Bureau to get interrogated or worse.

It was for this reason that in one of the Bantha's many backrooms two individuals talked to one another causally as they waited. The Trandoshan was sitting at a long table, a LS-150 in pieces as he cleaned it almost absentmindedly his hands moving without thought as they knew the process by heart. His companion was a little more agitated pacing back and forth her entire figure screaming of worry as she mumbled to herself under her breath. The Trandoshan looked up from the table at her and called out to her shaking his head. "You know girl, pacing about like that isn't helping."

The Twi'lek turned her head toward the old lizard stopping in her tracks and she responded. "I'm not pacing, I'm just thinking, and worrying! But mostly thinking!" She muttered before she continued to pace the length of the private room, seemingly not noticing as the lizard rolled his eyes at her.

"Yes, and I'm the Queen of Naboo." He muttered sarcastically as a clawed hand tightened a screw on the trigger release. "They are going to show up, trust me."

"Really? Isn't that what you said about the last three groups? All of which backed down as soon as they realized how idiotic and suicidal this was?" The women responded as she completed another circuit around the room in her pacing.

"Nerfherders, All of them!" The old one replied reattaching the main cycling feed as he did. "I've got a good feeling about these ones, and beside who doesn't want to kill a few Imperials and get paid to do it?"

"Don't say that out loud! You don't know if they are monitoring this room!" The Twi'lek protested as she made another lap around the rooms outer edge. Her hands always at her blasters and never leaving them, just waiting for another group of imperial agents to bust down the door.

"Oh yes the Imperials are monitoring every poodoo invested hive in the damn undercity!" He muttered as he reached out for her as she came around once more his hand grabbing her arm as he roughly yanked her down into the chair next to him. Not waiting for the complaint to come he quickly pushed his drink over to her and shoved it into her hands. "Now drink and calm down girly."

She started to talk for a moment before finally giving up and sighing taking a huge swig of the lizard's drink. It tasted like hot fire as it ran down her throat, filling her insides with a peculiar warmth. "... You really think they are going to show up this time?"

"Yes."

"Do you think they were all able to decode the message?"

"Yes."

"Will they be able to find the right room?"

"Yes."

"Is this really all going to be worth it?"

"... I can't answer that one yet."

And so that is how our tale starts, with two individuals among the seedy underbelly of a living city. Soon the room would be filled with others as they found there way to the designated meeting place. It would be here that a band of thugs and misfits became something resembling a team, a family. It would be in that bar that the rebellion on Coruscant would make its first foothold.
~ Jedi Archivist Melanah Haerch

[Assistant]
Urgop gave a kick to the PLNK droid as he walked. That he was being forced to take the IMPERIAL SPY robot to this rendezvous was bad enough, but the fact that it wouldn't stop trying to tell him about it's day was far worse. "And so then I said, 'I think what you need is a replacement for your thermal exhaust valve', but he wouldn'--" he gave it another kick. If this was a sign of things to come... Urgop shuddered, the thought rolling around in his head.

After a few more brain-cell killing minutes, the pair had reached their destination: the run down and dingy bar known as 'The Royal Bantha'. Urgop reached into the sack hanging from his back, pulling a powerpack bomb from within. He set the timer for three hours, and concealed it amongst some rubbish at the entrance. If he wasn't out in time to defuse it... Well, then it would mean the site had been compromised, and that the detonation would do more bad than good.

"Oh neat, this is the meeting place for that rebe--" another swift kick shut Plasters up. "Yes, this is the place. Foolish spy droid." Urgop did not like speaking out loud, but he had to make sure the droid STAYED quiet. Moving inside, he made his way past several seedy figures. An angry looking wookiee, at least two Deathstick addicts high out of their skulls, and... There, the backroom that matched the description he had been given. Looking around with a paranoid gaze, he hurried in to see a Twi'lek and a Trandoshan chatting casually. Urgop stared for a moment, hoping to be sure these were the ones who hired him. His silent staring was interrupted, however, by another outburst from Plasters. "Are you the rebels?"

[User]
A fairly tall young man was sitting at the bar in the front room of the Royal Bantha, sipping a glass of Gralish liqueur, amazed that such a low class bar would have such a rare drink. At first glance, he didn't look like someone who belonged there - too fancy for a dive like that. Purple dress tunic, black Lashaa silk waistcoat, matching black pants, monocle. He pulled a small PDA out of his pocket and checked the time, then quickly finished his drink and stood up. One minute past schedule - or, perfect timing, by his standards. He liked being slightly late - it gave him a slight edge in judging his company's characters.

He grabbed his coat and started walking towards the back rooms, keeping his eyes out for anybody who might try to pull a weapon on him, and keeping his hand on his own vibrodagger. He knocked on the door mentioned in the message with the other hand, loosening his dagger in its sheath a little bit more, then pushed the door open and stepped in.

A motley band of mismatched figures all were present - along with a droid. Clearly the group he intended to work with. He took a short bow before introducing himself with a smile.

"Ah, hello there. Arimax Lispat at your service."


[System]
Race | Age | Sex

Appearance

Personality

Background
* Profession (Optional)
* Class
* Heritage

History (Optional)

Motivation

Capabilities

Attributes

Combat [0/1]

*
*
*

Intelligence [0/1]

*
*
*

Charisma [0/1]

*
*
*

Health [0/1]

*
*
*

Faculties [0/1]

*
*
*

Agility [0/1]

*
*
*

Mysticism [0/3]

*
*
*

---

Equipment
*
*
*

Money
For simplicity's sake, we're doing 3 types of coinage. Royals (Gold), Lordlings (Silver), and Commons (Copper). They each measure 20 of the previous coinage. 20 Lordlings makes a Royal and 20 Commons makes a Lordling. You will roll for your currency. You will roll a D10 for Royals, D20 for Lordlings, and D100 for Commons.

Languages

Rannic Ulfsson

Human (Thaegar) | 27 | Male

Appearance

Rannic stands at an impressive height (6'3), with a powerful physique and callused hands made for combat. His mane of hair is as brown as a wild oak, his eyes as green as leaves. He's not unhandsome and generally sports a robust beard, had he not shaven once he entered the Blackwood. His adventures in the Northern Marches had destroyed much of his ancestral armor, so he now wears what banded plate and leather he can to maintain protection. With large hands, long legs, and broad shoulders, he makes an imposing figure to face down in combat.

Personality
Rannic is honorable and blunt, though he has a streak of free spirit from having been separated from his home for the last four years. Though he can be a bit gruff, he's earnest enough and tends to keep his word. As with most Thaegars, you'll find him a terrible enemy or a loyal friend given enough time to make his aquaintence. He values nothing more than to be implemented back into Thaegar society, though he's become comfortable with his lot in life. Gold and glory are fine companions for the young man, but it will take more than that for him to forget his father's word or his oath to his the thane.

Background
* Professional Soldier (Optional)
* Lower Class
* Son of the Blacksmith and Basket Weaver

History (Optional)

Motivation
Rannic seeks to slay a Dragon or Giant, and to return either head to his clan for recompense of his previous crimes.

Capabilities

Attributes

Combat [1/1]

* Two Handed Sword [2]
* Unarmed [1]
* Two Handed Blunt [1]
* Two Handed Cleave [1]

Intelligence [1/1]

* Legendry [1]
* History [1]
*

Charisma [1/1]

*
*
*

Health [1/1]

* Strength [2]
* Constitution [1]
* Toughness [1]
* Stamina [1]

Faculties [1/1]

* Resolve [1]
* Perception [1]
*

Agility [1/1]

* Running [1]
* Outdoors [1]
*

Mysticism [0/3]

*
*
*

---

Equipment
*
*
*

Money
3 Royals, 7 Lordlings, 20 Commons

Languages
Drimgoth, Northern Tongue

[User]
"If it'll shut you up." The older rowman replied to Emilio, hacking up something particularly thick and spitting it into the river. He made another rowing movement, the water sloshing audibly. "We're about to drop you both at Varian's Crossing. It's a little inlet, and from there you walk a few hours and make it to Olderin, though some folk who remember the old wizard who used to own the place call it 'Olderin's Refuge' still. It's a smaller town the road'll lead you right to, and probably the safest place in the southern Blackwood, what with the Knights of the Skull making a base there."

He grunted once again as he rowed, clearly tiring from having been at it for hours by this point. "I don't know too much of the land. You got a few towns and castles to the east, though no telling if they're still standing. Just don't follow the river as far is it goes, not that you could. You'll end up in a swamp, with water that burns you alive. Like er...acid, that's the word. Rumor has it a Dragon black as midnight lives there too. Best to just stay on the western side of the river until you reach Olderin. Not that it's completely safe, but it's as safe as it gets in this accursed place."

As the boat drifted closer to the shoreline, Wēlanandaz was deep in thought, recalling the wars of yesteryear. He remembered an old story his uncle told him once, of Gorthaur the Wraithlord, who pulled the Blackwood into the very realm of Morimando, or pulled some of his realm onto the wood, darkening it forever so his minions and wraiths could move freely and with more power. He recalled two Dwarf Virkis within the wood as well, though his uncle never said where they were, only that they were along the western region of the Blackwood. Virki Fenri and Virki Gimle. No doubt he could find out more later, but they were fortified to fight the Wraithlord and no word has reached of their downfall since then.

Soon, a crusty scratching sound erupted from beneath them as they made it to the small bank. The boy leaped out of the boat and into the water, wading to the side to help the bigger man pull it up further onto the shore. Using hooked poles they had stored, they also slowly yanked the service raft closer to shore before it too was banked. The bars were lifted, and the donkey horked and honked as it walked off the raft and onto solid ground, snorting into the sand, with the cargo cart in tow behind him.

The bank, or Varian's Crossing, was wide and easily traversable, though it led up an incline into an opening into the trees. Within the path looked thick with ferns and saplings, not to mention larger birch trees a stride or so away from the path. They had better continue quickly before it became dark.

"Just follow the path, and you'll be fine I think!" The boy said. "Well...I don't know but I'm pretty sure. You never know in the Blackwood you know?"
@Tony Pajamas

[Assistant]
Kyiriniae'aea surveyed the tower with approval, there was much to do to make it a truly acceptable dwelling place, but her minds eye was already hard at work, picturing a fire, carpets and proper illumination. There would need to be some provision for defense of course, the presence of the gundarogs attested to that, but there would be time for that, and she had an inkling of how to go about it. First though she needed to take a thorough inventory of her newfound lair. What had happened to the previous occupant? It seemed unlikely given the disarray of the library that they would return. Well if they did she would deal with that as she always did. There was the human child to deal with as well which was irritating but necessary if she was to persist in this place, it represented to great an opportunity for her simply to kill the creature or let it be eaten.

It was unwise to leave her new found minions alone for too long, there was another task she needed them for before she dismissed them, but the lure of the strange and obviously magical items was too much to resist. She approached the archway first, given its prominence and possible function as a potential ingress to her new home. Circling it she ran her fingers over the stones, attempting to gain some sort of insight into its function, but merely physical interaction did not seem to be enough. Stretching out a thin finger she crouched down and touched the bottom of the arch, drawing the pad of the digit up the stone in a long rainbow like curve, following the arch and reaching out with her magical faculties...

Activating the arch = 8 (5+3)

[User]
Intuition = 4 + 1 = 5

"I could ask nothing else of you fine duo, and I must give thanks to what words you have offered." Emilio would make for a bow as he stepped onto land. Checking on his donkey he'd make sure the cart was on firm ground before looking over it as well mindful of the rocking of the boat had knocked anything loose. An apple that had loosely rolled to the bottom of the cart and bruised itself was picked up and given as a treat to his animal. A hand would follow a growing smile as he stroked his companion's face.

Making sure everything was accounted for he'd gesture an offer for his dwarvern friend to board the cart. "Best for us to get moving and letting the fellows get on their own way then right Wēlanandaz?" Barely waiting for the dwarf's own answer he'd quickly move to set off down the path. There was common enough folk tale and legends of any random place being haunted and dangerous, but the merchant knew well enough that there was at least an inkling of truth to even the most baseless one. Better safe than sorry was a tried and true practice on the road and one he would not stray from now. If any oddity lay in the path ahead he'd trust his base gut feeling for the time at least. He had managed it this far after all.

Deep rooted and wooded forests were not the typical locales the Dre Costan had found himself traveling through before for the most part, especially in these rougher conditions. Obviously the path had been carved and managed to some extent though not enough for their sort to be the most common travelers. The man would keep his eyes sharp and looking about as the clatter of wooden wheels against the path matched the clops of the donkey's own hooves.

"Well, it'll be some hours at least until we see some sort of men again." He'd speak out, though not as verbose and energetic as on the shoreline. "I would wonder your thoughts at times like these, my otherwise stoic and stone-faced colleague." The hint of sarcasm in his voice would at least be obvious in the choice of adjectives used.

@POOHEAD189

[Assistant]
When Kyiriniae'aea activated the archway with her energies, it became horribly clear not a moment later that the elven maiden should have activated the crystal ball prior, for she felt the very energy of her being sucked into what seemed an endless void of nothingness. Her very soul was stretched like a dislocated arm, and it was only mercifully pushed back within her once the archway coalesced energies borne of her magics. To say she felt drained was an understatement, though what appeared next would be far, far worse.

The archway swirled with multicolored energy of pure chaos as the very structure itself sparked with eldritch, purple lightning every few moments that audibly cracked and sizzled. Though the air in the chamber was stilled, the sorceress could feel a strange ebb and flow of magic with her magesight, like kicked up dust from some explosion that served as a portent of doom. It was after five long seconds that the visitor appeared.

At first, one clawed foot stepped into the material plane, for he approached. Then the next laid bare upon the stone, for he approached. A staff of blacksteel crowned with a demonskull materialized before her eyes, for he approached. Scaled skin the color of stained oak mixed with dead blood showed from his entrance, for he approached. His robes were suddenly palpable and colored purple, yet shimmered as if coated with black spider silk, for he approached. It was his face she saw last. A draconic visage, lipless and sunken like skin barely clinging to a vicious skull, with two large, sloped horns framing its snout. Upon his brow were three eyes, the center clearly made of some unknown precious gemstone.

Once fully out of the portal, Kyiriniae'aea saw the thing, fully seven feet in height. If she used her magesight, she saw it was at least two long strides above her in power and knowledge, though there was no telling what it or he was. It was obvious even if she weren't so drained, she had no real chance of bewitching the thing and could likely harm it enough to make it angrier. She heard a low growl emanate from its throat, as if it were the broken engine of some Dwarven machine.

"What realm is this?" It asked aloud, though she could tell it was asking itself rather than her. It's voice was three voices, or perhaps it echoed within its throat thrice, for they sounded very deep and similar. All at once, its three eyed gaze fell upon Kyiriniae'aea, scrutinizing her as if she were a squirrel that had wandered into a living room. "A fairy..." it said, referring to the archaic forms of the Elves before they were gifted larger bodies by the Gods so long ago. "Why did you call Gekir'vash'ni'k'kashnik'ash here?"

Suddenly, the tension was broken when a wail rose up from neither of them, and both saw the form of the baby in the bag, shaking its fists and crying. The warlock, for it indeed had the energy signature of such a thing, tilted its head curiously. It's curiosity was likely the only thing from killing the sorceress at the current moment. "A child?"

Oh FUCK! Well, you can...um, you got a lot of options. Clearly there are no easy ones. You could attempt to unsummon him, though I wouldn't try unless you're feeling really lucky. You could try to lie and bargain with what you have to save your own skin, or you could blink away though he either chases you or you lose your tower. Or you could surprise me!


[System]
Age: 17
Gender: Female

Star Ranking/Goku Uniform: Zero Stars
Fighting Style – Medium/Long range

Strengths
Steady Aim – Jäger has a keen eye and well trained aim that makes her attacks at long range very accurate and precise, with no trouble hitting both stationary and moving individual targets.
Stamina – Jäger has high stamina, allowing her to sustain her speed and mobility for long periods of time before she begins to flag and tire.
Mobility – While not as flexible as a parkour practitioner Jäger is nimble and able to stay mobile, even in rough and treacherous terrain. Her mobility is greatest in outdoor, natural settings, or any reasonable artificial approximations of such environments.
Armour Piercing – While not overly high in offensive power Jäger's attacks are primarily piercing in nature, allowing her to inflict respectable damage against opponents who specialise in defence and/or wear light to medium armour.

Weaknesses
Endurance – Jäger lacks the physical build and training needed to endure melee hits of any substantial or sustained nature.
Unsteady Aim – As Jäger's fighting style is ill suited for melee combat her accuracy drops significantly when opponents enter into close range, potentially causing her to panic and fumble her shots.
Focus – The greater the number of opponents the harder it becomes to focus on any particular target. This is especially true when using long range weapons that require time to draw and aim. It is compounded further if those targets are all moving in a random/chaotic manner.

Favourite Activity: Archery

Personality: Charlotte is generally speaking a cheerful and open minded if not slightly aloof young lady who is prone to the occasional bots of dark moods. Her opened minded nature is a direct result of witnessing her father's countless romantic entanglements and conquests, giving her a live and let live attitude toward life in general. If people are happy and no one is getting hurt then she is usually content to let them be. It also comes as no surprise to find that she is somewhat lacking in personal motivation and drive, especially when it comes to her leadership of the Archery club, a position to which she was elected to in secret by the other members of the club. Despite regularly competing in Archery competitions she shows very little actual competitiveness when it comes to her personality and is far more likely to praise the achievements of others then to laud her own accomplishments. Though she is quick to neglect her own safety she is quick to leap to defence of those she considers to be 'in her care'.

Biography: Charlotte, or Jäger to her friends, is originally from the outskirts of Munich, Germany and is the daughter of the world renowned playboy explorer Anton Jäger Neumann, a millionaire of no small influence on the international stage. An only child, Charlotte had an unstrained and fairly relaxed relationship with her father, aware and accepting of his playboy lifestyle provided that she didn't have to play house with his numerous 'bunnies' and 'kitties'. For his part her father often brought her along on his less dangerous expeditions, teaching her from a young age how to use the bow, just as his father had taught him at the same age. The two of them were close and shared everything, or at least she thought they did. That was until his death.

Charlotte had been with distant relatives when news of her fathers death reached her, apparently killed in one of the many small conflicts that flared up following the spread of the Kiryuin family's influence across Asia. As an only child Charlotte now found herself orphaned. Fortunately her father had been a man of some considerable foresight and had made arrangements several years previously that in the event of his untimely death his daughter would be transferred to the prestigious Berlin High Academy. Charlotte now lives a few miles from the academy in a specially built cottage located in the woods, courtesy of the Academy. As to how this arrangement came to pass the specific details are unknown save to a few individuals, though it is widely thought that the Neumann family's financial resources had been brought to bear. The generous contributions made to the Academy by the Neumann Foundation over the years would seem to bear this out.

During her first few months at Berlin High Charlotte had trouble integrating into school life and making friends, partly due to her own aloof nature and at the time heavily depressed mood. It soon started to affect her grades as well as her health. She even started to skip lessons on a regular basis. In an attempt to improve the situation it was suggested that she join one of the many clubs promoted by the Academy. In the end it was decided that she would join the Archery club. Unsurprisingly she excelled in the club and was thus quickly able to begin making friends with the other club members. This not only brought around her mood but improved her grades as well, returning her to normal, more or less, though she still has the occasional sombre moment. In terms of academics she is somewhat mediocre across the board. She still skips the occasional lesson as well.

With the still growing influence of the Kiryuin family spreading even more deeply into the fabric of European society the headmaster of Berlin Academy, Kenta Sanshiro, approached Charlotte along with certain other individuals at the Academy with a plan to stem the tide. Charlotte had originally been hesitant to take part in such a plan. To win her over Kenta Sanshiro revealed to her the reason that her father had died and how it was related to the Kiryuin family. She has yet to reveal what she was told, even to those she considers friends.

Weapons: Large Composite Bow – A simple but effective weapon constructed from a new carbon-fibre/alloy composite material that makes it more far more durable than any store bought item of similar size and design.
Items: Medical Kit – Her father was a famous hunter and explorer, meaning that Jäger is no stranger to injury and is relatively well versed in a wide variety of medical procedures, many self taught. These range from treating wounds and abrasions to relocating dislocations and broken bones.

Other
She is a universal blood donor and can perform field transfusions should the need arise.
As the current leader of the Archery team she has won several tournaments for the Academy.
She takes regular medication to help her maintain her mood.

[User] "It's only going to be a couple more minutes, but hey I'm fine with doing a quick game even if it is a bizarre idea from the local crazy girl. I'll give it a go and play your game. If only to make sure you don't get out that giant freaking hammer of yours and hit Kageta again with it." commented Disney as he looked over at Eika. She was a pretty girl but that just enforced the stereotype that all pretty women were out of their god forsaken minds. No one just walked around with a giant hammer all day. Then again he spent his time learning how to punch people so who was he too talk really? "And don't worry about taking it easy on me I'm one smooth brother. I like a good challenge so bring it!" Aaron said grinning slightly.

[Assistant] The smile from Kageta's face didn't fade at all, he knew that was just Aaron's personality, and hey, Eika was finally talking. "Hell, I'm down! If anything to avoid the boredom." He didn't care if she was peculiar at the least, this was usually the source of endless, endless merrymaking. He turned to Charlotte who had yet to interact with them. "'Yay-gurl', come over here and have fun with us." He called her invitingly. He also noticed Aaron's grin and thought of the implications of such. Kageta's eyebrow raised and his smile grew sly. "Ohohooo, Disney, bro, if you get that smile any wider you'll tear your ears off." He said as he used his glances to point to Eika.

[User]
Jäger sat staring out of the window, watching the scenery as it passed her by through the bus window. The sound of muted conversation filled the air, though she paid little attention to it, a pair of earphones worn over her ears blocking out the majority of the noise. The playlist had finished a long time ago, Jäger so caught up in her own thoughts that she had barely noticed. She was nervous. They all were, though some more so than others. In Jäger's case it was plain to see as she absentmindedly twirled some hair between her fingers. Anyone familiar with the leader of the Archery Club was familiar with her little mannerisms. For Jäger fear was something that showed not on her face or in her voice but in the way she acted

Even now there was a part of her that regretted agreeing to this plan, however it was far too late to back out now. She was in the country. She was wearing the uniform. 'That' uniform. And on her lap sat the instrument that she would soon be forced to put to use, sealed within a cylindrical tube that sat upright on the seat next to her. She turned and looked down at the tube, staring at it for a moment before suddenly becoming aware of the sound of lively conversation. She turned toward Aaron and Kageta and frowned in annoyance.

"Yay-gurl?" she said in a flat tone with an equally flat expression. She sighed softly before removing the headphones from her ears. "My name is Charlotte. Char-lotte, say it with me, Char-lotte. Or Jäger. But not 'gurl'. I will never answer to that again," she said with no real enthusiasm before turning back toward the window. They would be arriving soon. Then there really would be no turning back. She smiled softly to herself. "Sorry, I'm just nervous."

[Assistant] "Don't worry about it Charlotte things could always be worse. There's always a calm before the storm just imagine the eye and make yourself stay there as long as possible. When I get into a fight I always try to find my inner center. Sounds stupid yeah but it works for me. Finding a place where you can keep calm is important to the process of adjusting to something new. I hope that little bit of advice helps but if not well...do what you want. We can't just force you not to be nervous since all of us are nervous too. At least I am." Disney said as he reached across the isle to pat her on the shoulder if she doesn't let him he just sits and shrugs and looks back at Aika.

[User]
"Oi. Robin Hood! That's not nice."

A small pout came to the acrobat before she huffed and let a small smile hit her lips from the way they all spoke of being nervous. Honestly...She didn't know why there were so twisted up in a knot. To her, it was just a field trip to make a new show out of everything. Just one that was supposed to be a secret until the grand finale came along and she could take part in making a huge commotion with her own skills! Regardless, she took Disney's challenge on and sat up in order to show them her hands. The chord was wrapped around her right arm, four secure crosses around the arm to show how tight they were before she looped it around her middle finger once. Holding it up to them all, Eika held up one finger and grinned as she watched to see if any of them could catch on.

"Now. This is secure on my arm. No tricks, you can tug at if it you want to be sure. Now..."

A flick of her right middle finger, and a flick of her left middle finger, and somehow popped right off of her arm and onto her left arm without a logical reason as to how. Holding her left arm up, the same pattern of crosses and the same loop around her middle finger remained intact as she held it up and showed it to the three nervous kiddos. With a confident smile, Eika leaned in for them to see and pointed down at it before showing through her sleeves and jacket that there was nothing there for her to possible trick it with.

"Tadaaa!~ How do you think that I got it to my other arm? I didn't use any chord other than the one I just showed you. Think you can figure it out?"

[Assistant] "I don't know voodoo magic? Look I can dissect a punch or an uppercut or even how someone moves but not how they can do a magic trick. Maybe our other two are more enlightened than I. Sorry Eika I'm going to have to pass on trying to guess what you did." Aaron said giving up and going back to rolling the tape around his hands. "You know though that was a fun trick nice job with that." He said off handed in an attempt to no seem like a complete jerk. "Bus Driver sir! How much longer? I don't think we can take much more of these rocks bumping on this bus." Disney asked politely. The driver grunted out that they should arrive soon after all they had been driving for god knows how long now so it was only a matter of time before they reached their drop off point.

[User] "Eh, its just a sleight-of-hand trick, no big deal... I don't know which trick though, ehehe.." He laughed sheepishly. He was being falsely cocky again, he didn't really know why he pretended, nor for whom. Kageta sat back in his chair only for his eyes to drift outside. "Well guys, its time to suck up our nerves," he said without removing his eyes from the hill. "Kyushu's right on the horizon." And it was, though not really on the horizon more that it was foreboding just behind the hill. It was huge, Kageta did not expect a school to be this large, or perhaps it was just tall. It was definitely time. "Guys, last minute checks! Things and what have you." His classmates' looks indicated that they had no idea what he was talking about, he himself really had no idea what he was talking about.

[Assistant]
"Oh, it's not that. I'm just not used to shooting at things that shoot back," Jäger said jokingly as Aaron patted her comfortingly on the shoulder. She turned toward him and smiled at him appreciatively before returning her gaze back out of the window. She was not particularly interested in seeing Eika's little trick. The younger members of her club, especially the girls, would often try to impress her with such sleight of hand tricks. And each time Jäger would smile and laugh and praise them. She was too lost in her thoughts to offer Eika the same consideration.

So many things could go wrong with this operation from the get go. And that was assuming that they weren't simply walking straight into a trap. Jäger envied Eika her obvious courage, or oblivious mentality. What she wouldn't give to stop her own hands from trembling in anticipation. Kageta's excited clamouring did not help either. She tried to find the eye of the storm, as Aaron put it. Which was a good idea in principle, except that in her mind she was at sea and she couldn't swim. The mental image of herself splashing about helplessly made Jäger smile and laugh to herself.

But Kageta was right, they needed to get ready. She grabbed the tube and carefully unscrewed the lid. She reached inside and withdrew a complicated looking piece of equipment, a combination of smooth lines, mechanical joints and wire. In the centre there was a grip made especially for her hand. She gripped the centre and with a strong flicking motion caused the bow to open up, like a crabs pincers recoiling. As the bow unfolded fully the joints automatically locked into place. She tested the tautness of the bowstring, nodding to herself in satisfaction.

Jäger turned towards the others and nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be," she said as she began to fold up the mechanical bow. "Let's all try to die on our first day of school," she said, only half-jokingly.