[System]
Age: 21

Gender: Female

Appearance:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[User]
Od

It would seem that Reinhardt and Vyrell had arrived ahead of her. Alas, the other knights and the queen herself were yet to show. Until the queen arrives though it was no issue. She would not show the queen disrespect by appearing late to a summon such as this and she expected much the same out of the other knights.

"Ah, Od, you are here too."

Nod simply gave a short nod to Vyrell's greeting, her expression distant and thoughtful as always. She briefly wondered if the queen had sent summons for him as well to this meeting. There wasn't a chair set aside for him, was there? Did it matter?

"Good to see you in one piece as always. Question for you, Od. You've not seen or heard from lady Elnith, have you?"

The greeting, much like always, went over her head. A simple pleasantry, no reason to think deeply into it's nuances. The question however got her attention as her eyes locked on his.

"No. Is the queen asking for her?"

Her question for him was not unusual for her train of thought. If there was an issue her first and main concern was how it mattered to the queen first. Naturally she didn't find a reason for Lady Elnith to be absent as her first assumption, hence her path of thought leading her to believe that they were trying to find her at the queen's behest. If her absence were to cause the queen disquiet then it would be under Od's prerogative to immediately rectify this. She hoped it wouldn't come to that since her strengths were not in searching out missing personnel. That would be something better suited to others such as Lady Luna or Lady Fio.

Nonetheless Od would not hesitate to undertake such a task if she so much as even suspected that the queen would desire it so.

[Assistant]
"Y-you-...!"

The Queen had to know exactly how she'd sounded, and exactly how embarrassing the implication was! Not to mention how utterly inappropriate it was! Not to mention any of the other issues with the idea!

Regardless of her actual intent, there was no way that was an accident. She'd almost certainly sought to get an embarrassed reaction.

Unfortunately, Fio couldn't exactly help that.

With a huff, she looked away again, thankful that her Highness at least decided to change the subject to a more suitable topic.

The witch's eyes drifted to the injured elder beast for a few moments, travelling over its bulky form. It was strange to see it so docile after the fight, but perhaps that wasn't entirely surprising.

"Elder Beasts, hm?" Fio responded as she walked along with the Queen, "Well..."

She considered the question for a few moments. Elder Beasts...

They weren't exactly an entirely straightforward matter, were they? Not really.

"... They're a part of this world, I suppose," she began, "Some are like spirits of nature, who just want to safeguard their lands. Some just care about themselves and their own kind. Some are our enemies, who want to kill as many people as they can. So, we should respond to them accordingly. Antagonizing the ones who can be reasoned with something only a complete idiot would do, but the same goes for trying to talk to the ones who just want to kill us."

[User]
---

@A Lowly Wretch

Reinhardt followed behind Vyrell silently; his left canines firmly clenched on the soft flesh of his inner lip as he'd mull over the half-elf's intuitions. Nodding in acknowledgement of Vyrell's assertions, the Knight of House Reinhardt took his place at the strategy room's table; setting his helm down at the table's edge. The knight leaned forward over the map, his eyes scanning across it's varied details; his usual stoic expression betraying little of what was on his mind, as his plated fingertips rapped softly against the wooden surface.

Even as Od spoke with Vyrell, Reinhardt payed the two no mind; making only a single click of his tongue as he noted that the aforementioned villages that Elnith had been dispatched in aid of had yet to be marked.

The knight at last settled into his chair; his arms crossed and eyes drifting toward the ceiling. While it was certainly annoying that nothing had been marked ahead of the meeting, it was likely intentional; the Queen likely wanting to brief the entire Cadre of her elite knights all at once... Or she'd just been drinking too much and forgot.

Whatever the case, it didn't make much difference now.

Reinhardt sighed quietly as he stared up at the ceiling; his eyes closing as his hand idly seeking the gap in his armor once more. Armored fingers probed carefully between the plates; gently appraising the damage to the Aketon beneath. The Knight's tongue clicked once again-- assuming the next assignment would be related to Elnith's recent lack of communication, he would more than likely need to have the garment repaired before departing...

But for now?

He was content to await the meeting's start, the Aketon's repair would come later.

[Assistant]
Luna wouldn't admit to it, but she was rather people with the people here. At home, everyone was just very friendly and got along but... Here, well, it felt somewhat different. The people that crowded her felt a little more obssessed in a way. It wasn't bad, per se... But still. "Ladies, ladies. I'm doing just fine! See?" She flexed a small bit to show she wasn't hurting. Well, she was, but she didn't show it. But then, someone spoke up about her fighting a hundred bandits. "L-lugh! That's not quite right. It was more like twenty at the upper end..." Twenty was still a lot but she didn't want people to think she fought one hundred at once! It was impressive but Reinhardt and Od had fought the beast and it's rider, not to mention Ethelred who rode to meet the bowmen in the forest. All she did was distract the weak ones with a bit of support from Fio.

"It wasn't just me, however. The other knights fought valiantly as well. You could say I had the easy part, fighting the rabble that would dare attack our beloved city. I didn't have to fight the large beast that was to assail our gates, nor the archers that rained down upon our walls. Not to mention the support I did receive from our very own Sword Witch." Luna said, singing the praise of her comrades. Truly, she had no intention to hog glory for her lonesome. "If you see any of the other knights, please give them the same praise you all have shown me, I'm sure it would brighten their day as much as it did mine." Luna gave all the people that surrounded her. Now, she should make it for the castle... but...

First, she took the hand from the first girl that had offered her medical treatment and gave her a small kiss on the back of the hand. "Thank you for the first offer of medical aid, miss." After that, she gave her a smile before looking around to everyone. "Now, I need to go to the castle soon, but I might as well ask how things are. Any concerns from anyone that the queen might desire to hear?" It was good to know the thoughts of the people and... with all these people gathered up... Now would be a good time.


[System]
Age: 16

Gender: Female

Personality: Chiaki is cheerful, direct, and confident young woman. She is not necessarily the most studious, always prone to taking naps and finding opportunities to lay around rather than study. That being said though, she is very witty and cunning. Chiaki can also be very caring and compassionate, willing to easily help a friend when in need with no personal gain in the end. She is known to be strong willed, not one to be "carried" by others for not being capable enough. It should also be noted that Chiaki can have a bit of a temper, often easily provoked and easy to fluster. She is not above breaking the rules either, never going out of her way to do so, but if the situation allows it why would she go out of her way to avoid the easiest solution?

Backstory: Chiaki had a relatively normal childhood growing up. She was always a little bruiser from a very young age, often taking interests in playing sports and roughhousing. She often joined many clubs growing up, though after a while the appeal would ware off and she would grow bored very easily. As she got older and began to discover her true potential, she became more and more mischievous, getting herself into all sorts of trouble. It was because of this that Chiaki's parents felt it was best to send her to The Institute for Young Channellers so that she may better hone her skills to both allow her to gain the discipline she needed as well as put her around those who would understand her better.

Appearance:

Equipment: Metal marbles

Abilities: Acrobatic – Despite her brute and aggressive nature, Chiaki is actually a rather talented gymnast, which she uses in battle to maneuver around the area quickly and skillfully.
Sports – Though Chiaki is a skilled fighter, she is a very athletic girl in general, often picking up sports rather quickly and being relatively good at the ones she takes interest in. Other than gymnastics, however, she does not participate in any other clubs or extracurricular activities. She is the key example of someone who has the skill, but not the drive.

Channeller category: Architect/Augmenter (Maybe?)

Description of power: Chiaki is a bludgeon type architect, her specialty being blunt objects both large and small. Her favorite weapon to create is a large war-hammer, though on occasion she will summon mallets, bats, or maces in the heat of the moment. She can also change the density and size of the small metal marbles she carries around with her. This may not seem like much, but with the right utilization, Chiaki can use them as one devastating force.
Chiaki also seems to have a sort of enhanced strength compared to most girls, nowhere near the level of true augmenters, but enough to allow her to wave around her giant hammer with great control and skill. Whether this is due do channeling or merely through practice and training is unknown to her, though she never really concerned herself with it.

Names/descriptions of moves:
.Vulcan- The name Chiaki has given her warhammer
.Babe and Ruth - A pair of large, metal bats she often calls upon(usually together).
.Sherry - A large, spiked mace that Chiaki can summon, usually summoned when flustered or angry.
.Dairokkan - (Not Yet Learned) A pair of tonfu Chiaki can summon, though this requires great fighting skill and discipline she does not yet have.
.Home Run – Chiaki uses her metal marbles like baseballs, hitting them at target then changing them into, essentially, cannonballs.
*More to come*

[User]
Alexei Pavlov

Alexei could not believe it; not long after Daler cautioned them to watch the kids, the kids started trouble. Alexei sometimes wondered if Daler didn't predict the future in those dreams of his. It was a terrible way to start the school year with one student assaulting the other out of the blue. He was most worried this would give people the wrong impression about how things operated here. Fortunately, the situation did not seem to escalate. Others arrived on the scene to seemingly calm everything down, and at least one of the students was demonstrating an excellent attitude towards the situation. More concerning was the seeming apathy his fellow staff members showed towards the fighting.

Regardless of the circumstances, Alexei knew someone needed to add an authoritative voice to this incident. Joining Natsuki in between the fighting pair, he began to speak. "That's quite right, young lady! This might be an institution dedicated to honing battle talents, but that doesn't mean anybody should be fighting willy nilly. Part of your education will be learning to use your talents responsibly." He was partly addressing the immediate students and the crowd in general. "Now, little miss..." He said, turning to face Akiko. "Would you like to explain why you did this?" Alexei had heard her say the word "pervert", but that didn't give him too much insight into what had happened. Hopefully, it would all just be a big misunderstanding.

@tipssyCalibrator @VitaVitaAR

[Assistant]
Freyja Leden

---

Freyja's attention to Ryuuto was soon interrupted by the booming voice of another of his co-worker, Alexei. As usual, the big man was as energetic and spirited as ever. Looking beside him, she saw the student he was escorting. And to his chagrin, she seemed to be far less enthusiastic than him. She had to stifle a giggle after hearing their argument.

"Good morning to you too, Alexei," she replied to the man. "So far, nothing really major has happened. The students seem to be making merry in knowing each other."

Maxwell stated his disinterest with the new students, just as she had expected from him. The man was too much of a genius to be bothered by the common folk. This was why she herself was quite resigned from asking him for help for her own research. She didn't know what he was researching exactly, but she had the feeling it was something beyond just making bombs.

Daler however, though there was a spark growing in the air. And he was indeed right, as soon after, one girl punched another boy right on his face. He fell down to the ground, nose broken. The girl then shouted about how she would never go out with a pervert like him.

Freyja intended to step in and interrupt them, but that role was taken by Yuki, the newest addition to the teaching staff. She didn't know why he was there however. Could it be that he was pretending to be a student? He certainly could pull it off with his youthful looks.

Daler commented that it was hardly a fight and that he deserved that one. Certainly, the boy was down with just one punch. The girl must be an Augmenter. Somebody must tell her to learn to control her power or else someone will really get hurt one day. As for the latter, she guessed that the boy must have flirted with her. And judging by her reaction, he must have said something quite insulting and dirty. For the boy, he needed someone to tell him how to treat a girl properly. She certainly would've given him an earful if he were to do his tomfoolery in her class.

Alexei walked over there as well, asking the girl why she did it. She decided to approach them as well as she also wanted to know the reason from the person herself.

[User]
---

Jonathan Walker

---

Jonathan's head was finally clearing up. He'd pressed his handkerchief to his nose and kept his head tilted back toward the sky to try to stop the bloodflow, but with all the excitement, his heart was pumping too fast and hard for the nosebleed to end quickly. He looked out of the side of his eye at the Professor as he straightened the crunched cartilage out. With his free hand, he gave Professor Alexei one thumb up.

"...Nmy fault, Professorn. I finnk," he mumbled. It was hard to talk with his nose pinched. "I'll just... Be sittingn. Onvern there."

With that, Jonathan left the scene to sit on an empty patch of grass where he wasn't in danger of getting trampled.

@Cu Chulainn@tipssyCalibrator

---

Brock Van de Vate

---

Brock blinked. Just as soon as he'd seen the big guy go down, his new peon friend had dashed off, leaving a trail of dust in her wake. That'd be hard to match, too. Was everyone there was utterly monstrous? He'd dodged bullets in Chicago for years, but seeing some tiny kid lay out some huge meat slab of a man and another girl blasting off like she was the fuckin' Flash made him momentarily rethink his desires. But only momentarily. He stood back to watch the scene as it unfolded in hopes of getting an idea of what the hell was even going on.

[Assistant]
AKIKO

Akiko started to calm down again, now that she got all her anger out on the pervert. Her expression shifted back to default, and she stood upright once again and walked away from the scene. She was still angry about what happened of course, but she at least wasn't fuming with rage anymore. A couple seconds later however, an older person who somehow looked even bigger than the pervert decided to step in and ask her what was going on. "That gross pervert tried to hit on me, that's why I did it!" Akiko answered in an annoyed tone of voice as she crossed her arms

[User]
Lord Yuki Blakesly Hisakawa

Yuki walked over to Johnathan, sitting beside him.

"It seems that there might have been a misunderstanding that may have taken place."

Before Johnathan could ask what he meant, Yuki leaned up to his ear, whispering exactly what getting hot coffee meant. The details of what he was describing sounded strange coming from his noble sounding voice. After filling Johnathan in, he scooted a few paces away, putting a towards Johnathan, to shake.

"My name is Yuki, by the way. I am also going to be a student here. I hope we can become fast friends." He then said, giving an innocent looking smile.

[Assistant]
Ryuuto Koriyama

Ryuuto took a deep breath of fresh air as he made his way to the institute. He was wearing his Sunday best, complete with tie and fully buttoned-up shirt, and walked with an air of confidence and dignity about him. There was something gratifying about having full knowledge about what was going to happen while other faces looked on in awe and wonder. By now, this was a rather familiar sight to him. The new students were all squawking at each other about whose power level was higher, or rambling on about friendship, or other generic newbie stuff. Ryuuto, however, decided to remain quiet, and calmly observe from a distance. It was amazing what people would reveal about themselves when they didn't think someone was listening...

"Oh, hello Miss Leden," Ryuuto said, looking up at her with a small smile. "It was... Mmm, you know." It was quiet. His parents had decided that he was old enough not to need a sitter anymore, so that meant his time away from school was mostly time alone. He had probably spent about a week of his break with his parents. Combined. And most of that time was spent being quiet while they were on the phone. But, at least he had a 72" TV with subscriptions to every streaming service known to man, unlimited internet, and a gaming PC with maxed-out specs. So, who was he to complain?

He was about to divert the conversation to something string-related, but their reunion was cut short by somebody getting punched in the face. Somebody he knew very well...

Ryuuto let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation, as he approached his friend. "You just had
 to be the first person to pick a fight this year, didn't you?" Ryuuto smirked. Even though John got rocked pretty good, Ryuuto knew he was more than tough enough to take it. "I suppose I should thank you for the data though. I'm filing that redhead under 'powder keg.'"
@Azereiah

[User]
Natsuki Sumiko, Starblazer

Sumiko lowered her arms. It looked like things had cooled down, but... pervert? That guy had tried to flirt with her? That wasn't the right thing to be doing, was it? And yet... ah, she hadn't really heard what was going on. If he'd been acting like a creepy pervert, well... she'd once punched an older guy who had been perving on one of her friends in middle school. But... it didn't seem like he was... he genuinely seemed pretty baffled about what was going on. And also now had a broken nose, that wasn't good either. Maybe it had been a misunderstanding? If it was, then it was probably best for both parties to apologize. The boy for not thinking about what he was saying, and the girl for punching him for it.

"It still might have been a misunderstanding, couldn't it?" Sumiko posited, taking a step towards the shorter girl as she did, "If it was, he'd still need to apologize for coming across like that, but you'd need to say you're sorry, too! After that, you'd understand one another and something like this wouldn't have to happen again!"

The brunette girl smiled brightly. This solution seemed like it made total sense to Sumiko. Though... she was a bit worried that the girl might be unwilling to say she was sorry, given how certain she was that the guy had been hitting on her. Still, if he was, did he deserve to be punched? If he was being enough of a pervert, yes, but... ah, she wish she'd heard the whole story. It would have made it easier to help them out.

At least her fellow students weren't still fighting!

@Azereiah

[Assistant]
A young woman made her way through a wide open field of grass, a slight breeze blowing through her hair as she did so. Her long, flowing hair was done into two pigtails, matching the cheerful, bubbly appearance she let off. The young woman wore a white fitted top, a red and black plaid skirt, and a pair of red sneakers as well as a pair of black thigh-high socks.

It was not Chiaki's first time through this field, but she still felt a strange sort of anxiety as she strolled through. It may have merely been anticipation, but either way it was a feeling that Chiaki was plenty happy to bare. It only took a moment for the group of students to come into view, all sorts of hustle and bustle already going on among them. It was the sort of energy that Chiaki loved, she always loved being around the excitement, but as she thought of this she also thought of someone she knew would not be as excited...

She scanned the crowd for a moment, skipping along whimsically as she observed the sea of both semi-familiar and fresh faces, only taking a few moments before spotting out an all too familiar sour face among the masses. As her target was spotted, a mischievous smile stretched across her face as she weaved through the crowd. It was only a moment before she sneaked up behind Hondo, a young man she decided to be a friend from prior knowledge, though she never gave the luxury of letting him know that.

"Oh Hondooo!" she called, winding up to give him a slap on the back. What better way to greet a friend than with secretive assault.


[System]
Okay, I lied, I'll do this now. I'm going to be posting more characters as time goes on; for now, just this one.
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Race: Human, albeit a little bit different than humans today.
Appearance: Aery has fair, unblemished skin, curly dark brown hair, and bright blue-green eyes. If one looks closely at her eyes, she has tiny gold circuit-board patterns implanted in them that enable her to look at anything and magnify it as far as she wants to, or get a panorama view on anything. Covering her right arm and shoulder and spiraling up the right side of her face are more circuit-board patterns, these ones containing memories of every scientific research database ever uploaded to the intergalactic networks.
Special abilities/skills/Powers: She has a photographic memory and can write extraordinarily fast, but nothing really special per se. And she doesn't believe in specialness anyway; rather everyone gets the same amount of potential and the harder you train the more of that potential becomes actuality.
Position on ship: Scientist
Backstory: Aery spent her whole life up to this point on Kalos, an only child of two adoring, if a little bit overly academic, parents. She's spent thirteen years studying xenobiology (life science of "aliens") and chemistry. When Charlie offered her the opportunity to go with him to explore the cosmos, she took it with glee. Now she could see and interact with these other species that she'd only ever read about in her textbooks.
Other: n/a

[User] Aery went to brush past Charlie to get to the science lab, having already scarfed an energy bar. She frowned as she passed him and came back to look at what he was tinkering with. "Charlie, god in heaven, you've got to eat something or you'll starve yourself." She poked him in the ribs none too gently. "No meat on your bones as is. What's so interesting that you had to skip breakfast?" She waved an energy bar in his face.

[Assistant] he would grunt and look at Aery and sigh rolling his eyes "someone has to keep the ship running" he says "so what if that makes me not eat breakfast"

[User] Aery would unwrap the granola bar and stuff it into Charlie's mouth. "If you die of starvation, I'm screwed, because I don't have any idea of how to run this thing. You tend the ship, I tend to you and to my experimental projects."

[Assistant] Charlie would stumble back coughing and hacking, then look at her "...don't just try to shove something down my throat" he says with a cough "that's not how you 'tend' to someone either" he sighs shaking his head at her "that's just how you choke someone" he groans and rubs back of his head "i'll try to eat more alright, I guess I just get to focused on my job"

[User]
Aery rolled her eyes. "You would have just thrown the granola bar away and said you'd eaten it if I hadn't just stuffed it into your mouth. But seriously, eat that before you get back to tinkering."
She would brush past him, headed back to her lab. And then she nearly had a heart attack. Standing on top of one of her experiments, studying the terrarium intently... Aery blinked to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. A tiny girl with... wings? Dragonfly wings. Stood on one of Aery's terrariums, studying the butterfly inside.
"Okay, who are you?" Aery asked, reaching for the butterfly net that she kept in her lab lest one of her charges get loose.
The girl giggled. "Does it matter?"
"Yes, it does."
"My name is Antikythera. Most call me Kiki for the sake of their tongues." She giggled, flapping her wings and flying up to Aery's head height.
"Okay...? Kiki, then. Why the hell are you here, in my lab?!"
"To help you. Or rather, to help my people, and to help you in the process. You're a xenobiologist, right? Well, here I am, an example of another sentient organism. I'm a Lilliputian, if you must know. And I'm not going to leave you alone, Aery."
"Wha... You know my name." Aery said it very calmly, her hands trembling. Very calmly, very slowly, she left the laboratory to go find Charlie.
"Hey, Charlie, what would you do if I told you that there is a Lilliputian girl who has cybernetic wings in my laboratory, who happens to know my name? Purely hypothetically speaking." Her face had gone pale and she was clutching her holographic drawing tablet so hard that her knuckles were white. She was absolutely terrified of the little tiny girl.

[Assistant] Charlie would be taking a bite of the bar while at a console in the engineer bay. he'd look towards Aery "..well I wouldn't do to much" he says "sense it's mostly pointless.. they are fairly harmless because of their size, so most people will either help them if they need anything, or just ignore them" he states "though normally you can't ignore them.. they may be more or less harmless but they can be annoying... and judging by your face, and hands.. this isn't hypothetical..." he sighs.

[User]
Aery nods. "Yes... There is one of them in my laboratory and she knows my name and I've never even seen her before... Did you know how good their cybernetics program is? This girl has wings that look like saran-wrap and wire, but they move just like a part of her body..." She laughed despite herself. "Already looking at it like a scientist, aren't I? Oh well. At least they're mostly harmless, so I can let her help me in the lab without worrying about her stabbing me with a neurotoxin or something." She grins at Charlie and heads back to her lab, to see the Lilliputian girl dancing around with a pencil on a sheet of paper, writing down observations about the creatures and plants that Aery keeps. Aery looks closer; the notes are formatted in exactly the same way she always formats them.
Without pausing in her twirling, the lilliputian girl says, "I thought you would like some help. I can be useful around here, you know. I wouldn't be able to look out for Charlie, but since you're so good at that, I can take care of at least this part of the science-y things."
Aery's hand balled up into a fist, her circuit-patterned nails digging into her palm. This girl... So arrogant... And she'd probably had to have been watching for weeks or months, in order to learn so much about Aery.
Very quietly the girl asked, "Where have you been hiding?"
And the lilliputian laughed. "In the air filtration ducts, where else?"

[Assistant] "well all to their own" he says chuckling as she left and shrugs then goes back to snacking and working, humming slightly... as suddenly the gravity shuts off "ah shit.." he says as he starts to float off the floor.

[User] Aery groaned inwardly, already propelling herself towards the fishtank. She only kept them to see the effects of space-travel on aquatic organisms, and at times like this they were definitely more of a hindrance than of benefit. She slammed the lid on tightly, slowing the leakage of water, even as Kiki came hurtling out of nowhere with duct tape. Aery taped the lid in place and then let go, dodging a few other animal crates. She checked to make sure her biospheres, softball-sized globes with miniature ecosystems and miniature creatures inhabiting them, were safely secured to their stands, and then she propelled herself down the hall with the handholds scattered around for just that purpose. She saw Charlie floating in a cloud of tools and sighed, gathering up screws and bits of wire lest they impale themselves in anyone's eyes. "Why'd the gravity turn off?" She asked. "Did I catch my foot on the wire again or something? I swear I've been careful."

[Assistant] he looks to her then chuckles at what she says, him having his legs crossed as if in a sitting position "well either something hard enough hit us to jolt the system off.. or the gravity generator is on it's last legs" he states.

[User]
Aery frowned. "Either way that's a bad thing. Why'd we get this dinghy anyway? We knew it was old and about ready to be retired." She giggled rather insanely and shoved the piles of screws and wire bits that she was clutching into a random toolbox. She too crossed her legs, only to curse as a sound of clanging erupted from down the hallway and Kiki was dragged in by Aery's canary. "Aery, the blasted birds figured out how to get out of their cages!" She let go and was flung into a wall face-first, to come bouncing off right into Charlie. "Sorry!" she squeaked in her overly high-pitched voice.
Aery sorted out the bird dilemma, strapping each terrarium to the wall, and reorganized her notes and pinned them to clipboards (rather than leaving them strewn all over as she usually did) and floated back in to chatter with Kiki and Charlie. Her hair floated in a cloud around her head; in exasperation she yanked it back behind her head into a loose braid and tied it off with a spare silicone band.

[Assistant] Charlie chuckles shaking his head "not sure how they can fly so well in zero gravity.. sense there is no air to push off on." he says "..we bought this because it's only thing we could afford.. it's lasted for a few months enough for us to get enough money to get it repaired enough to last longer.. we need a big job if we want a new ship." he states.

[User] Aery rolled her eyes. "No, you idiot. It's zero gravity, not zero pressure. The vessel is airtight so it will hold air in, and the air molecules are bouncing around randomly since they have no "down" onto which to orient themselves. How could we breathe if there was no air? And we could have waited for three more months and bought the next size one up. As it is, based on our relativistic speeds versus the earth-clock, at our next stop my savings account will have increased to approximately 30 times the amount that was there before, and I had a fairly substantial sum to start with, having saved up for xenobiologer school. Using just my money we could probably get a nicer ship than this."

[Assistant] he sighs "yet again you take what I say wrong" he shakes his head "think about it.. try to move like a bird sense we can 'fly' now.. you would barely move at all, because there is no friction in which to push yourself against, because there is no gravity to allow air to have friction, unless you push off something it's very hard to move" he states then shakes his head "and not really, I would of probably lost my money" he states "besides we had to leave quick or be stuck there for a lot longer than a few months" he looks to the console and taps on it looking at a few things "...ya it looks like the gravity unit is failing pretty bad, have to manually check on the damage or if it's just done." he says.

[User]
Aery sighs too. "Okay, here: Define friction. Friction is the rubbing together of atoms. There's still atoms of air bouncing around, so thus there's still friction. Gravity has no bearing on friction whatsoever. Also..." She used her circuit-memory to bring up several documents on flight in space and brought them up on her holo-tablet. Articles ike this one and passed it to Charlie to let him scroll through it.
Kiki floats over to the control panel, chasing the wiring around inside. She can't believe what she finds on the gravity unit. It is horribly corroded, rusted entirely through in spots.
She follows the wires out and pokes her head back up out of the opening in the circuit board. "The gravity drive is pretty much useless. It's rusted through and corroded in so many spots that it's a wonder it ever worked at all."

[Assistant] he looks at Aery and groans some her not at all understanding what he is saying, then looks at kiki "....that is just the control panel" he states "..the gravity unit is else ware" he sighs.

[User]
Aery rolls her eyes too. "Okay, you know what, I'm just going to go pretend that I'm doing something useful and keep programming my labyrinth holo-game." She hurries back to her lab and pulls herself against the bunk that usually serves as her bed and cries over people not understanding her scientific-ness. And then laughs hysterically watching the teardrops bouncing around in the zero-gravity.
Kiki titters at Charlie and zips out the door, into the lab, only to get hit full in the face by a flying teardrop. She goes bouncing back out into the hallway, twittering in Lilliputese at the stupidity of the human race.

[Assistant] he sighs.. then would go down the railing to a different part of the ship.. and gets to work.. very quickly soon comes out of there and has a switch in his hand, and heads down the hallway to the lab thinking '...all I was saying was basic things and she just keep going super scientific on me...' still floating kicking off the wall to move.

[User]
Aery, done crying for the moment, (crying really hurts in null-gravity, after all!) pushes off the bed and goes to check on her biospheres. Havoc is being wreaked on them, as in the Forest biome the contents of the lake has floated up and treed the birds, and the deer and fish are trying to swim in the air. The aquatic globe is okay, but the fish are bouncing around all over the place. For whatever reason, the globes terribly amuse her, how disordered they all are.
Kiki, after realizing there are no more flying teardrops, comes zooming in chattering at Aery in a mixture of Common and Lilliputese. "You know, you can't take everything he says personally, or you're going to be in here bawling your eyes out more often than actually out there. Are you going to make observations on your creatures now, or are you going to keep skulking?"
Aery giggles. "Thanks, Kiki. Oh, that reminds me. We should rig up a place for you to sleep."
"Consider it done." Antikythera flies into the tiny gap underneath Aery's cot. Aery keeps it mostly full of boxes of stuff, but there is a small opening that could serve as a little bunk for Kiki. "I lined it with scraps of cloth from when you had to take in Charlie's clothing the last time. And from when you had to take in your own shirts."
Aery sighed and started typing observations into her holopad. While she was doing it, she might as well digitize her data from the last week, and get rid of all the papers that were floating around on clipboards.


[System]
"Do what you're told for now, you can do as you wish when others' lives don't depend on you."
Nickname: I'll let this develop IC if at all
Gender: Male
Age and date of birth: 16 years old, born March 7th, 1998
Age Appearance: 17
Sexuality:Heterosexual

Godly Parent: Mercury
Mortal Parent(s): Bethany Brighton is his mother, Arnold Stanton is his stepfather
Siblings: Lisa Stanton, age 13

Height and build: 6'2" with average to somewhat athletic build
Weight: 198 lbs
Favorite weather and season: Ask him yourself

Appearance:

Personality: He's a generally friendly guy, but sticks to orders he's given as best he can. He expects people that work with him to follow instructions under any circumstances, as he doesn't want to lose people due to a lack of order. If he needs to discipline someone for something, he'll try to do it in an unexpected way if he can, but will adhere to usual punishment methods if need be. He likes for people to be creative when they can, but not when orders are given.

If he had to choose between him dying, or anyone else, he'd almost always choose himself, as he knows his abilities are better for escaping if the chance exists at all. He likes listening to music in his off-time, especially music written or performed by people at the camp itself, when the opportunity arises. He also likes the idea of sparring and team sparring as a training method, as it can help people to understand why good leadership and teamwork can save lives.

History: Anthony was born to a single mother, who had to work hard to support herself and her child. Of course, this trouble didn't last long enough for Anthony to remember it, as by the end of the first year with this, his mother found a man who was kind enough to add to the finances long enough for Bethany to secure a better paying job. Soon enough, Bethany and Arnold married, having a child between the two of them to go with the already existing Anthony.

As Anthony began to grow, he found a love for music and art. He didn't learn how to do either one very well, but he definitely practiced enough to be okay in some areas, such as playing guitar and drawing. As he grew a bit more, he found he was also pretty fast on his feet, and kind of enjoyed running as well. He started splitting his free time between practicing music and running while listening to music, drawing dropping from his most common activities.

One day, the wolves arrived to take him to the wolf-house, confusing him, but he got used to it. He trained hard, making sure to follow instructions and to only listen to music, run in his free time, or draw (however little he did), when he absolutely had free time. After he finished his training, he wandered towards the camp. On the way, he found himself harassed by a few monsters, but he ran, using his speed to his advantage to avoid the battles for now, but he'd be sure to mention that monsters in case the camp wanted to take them out. Eventually, he found the camp, and began his service.

Theme Song
(Optional)(A link to the video)

Weapons/Items

Name of Weapon or Item: Standard Spear

Description: A regular spear

Appearance:

Name of Weapon or Item: Standard Shortsword

Description: A regular shortsword

Appearance:

Skills:
Good ability with a spear
Some leadership (developed through his time in the camp)
Naturally cunning (trait passed down from his father that will also be in abilities)
Some knowledge of his abilities

Abilities:
Good stamina (from his time running)
Dextrous (so he can do some things like theft, or fine movements to manipulate his weapon)
Naturally cunning (see skills)
Average at a lot of things (trait passed down from his father, who is good at a lot of things, rather than average)

Powers:
* Jack of All Trades - Average to somewhat good at a large variety of things
* Enhanced Speed - Can move up to 50 miles per hour at his current ability (though moving at this speed is draining)
* Lock Manipulation - Can understand how locks work, and can more easily pick a lock because of this
* Enhanced Athletic Ability - His father's the god of athletics along with many other things, so he's above average in athleticism

[User]
The Legion
Isabella Wayne | Praetor | Camp Jupiter

---

Pausing to adjust the pinching armor on her shoulder, Isabella frowned slightly at nothing in particular. Just the minor annoyance having to adjust the armor once more, though she was confident that it would stay still this time around... it was pretty irritating. The unexpected pause in their journey caused a small whine to emit from next to the girl. Looking over, she noticed the Direwolf standing there and staring up at her with a confused expression. Why? The beast seemed to be asking, a bit confused at the sudden stop when he had thought hey were heading out to view the new recruits. "Relax, Verum. I'm only fixing my armor, we can keep going now." The girl said calmly as she began to head off, patting her leg for the beast to follow.

As she walked from the Praetoria, the girl would have to pass through the parade grounds. Seeing the legion in formation, Isabella figured she would check in with the centurion, who seemed to be none other than Anthony, and give a little surprise inspection. Musing over how she would handle anybody who was out of dress or alignment, the girl began heading over towards Anthony so he would see her coming. Giving the centurion plenty of time to call the Legion to attention. Afterall, it would be quite unfair to surprise him while still expecting him to preform his job to the best of his abilities. She wasn't that evil, at least not towards her own legion. Finally reaching the boy, Isabella wore a calm expression as the legion would be called to attention.

Scanning over the boy with a critical eye, Isabella was all business at the moment. At any other time, the girl would have loved the sight of one as handsome as Anthony... but alas, she had other things on her mind at the moment than flirting. "Looking good, Centurion Brighton. Good to see that you've finally managed to clean your armor correctly." She jabbed playfully before gesturing towards the legion in formation. "Surely, you won't mind me looking through your formation to ensure everything is in order?" She said, though it was not much of a question. As Isabella was going to do just that no matter what his response was to the question. Meanwhile, Verum had taken his place at Isabella's side, sitting and watching the Legion in formation. Not that he would be doing the inspection, but the beast did enjoy trying to intimidate the recruits.

[Assistant]
Amy Nolan

Amy and Skye waited some more and at some point Amy started to become seriously bored. She was hoping something exciting would happen like a satyr that would show up to show them the camp. But there was no goat legged individual around. In the end it was a boy that came up to them. A boy with an eyepatch. That was pretty cool. There was a brief thought as to how the boy had gotten this eyepatch. Had he lost an eye in a battle against a monster or something like those that Heracles and Theseus had fought back in the day (the idea that those people might actually have been real was still very strange. What would you even say if you were to meet one of them? Hey, I read you died in a horrible way, sucks).

"Yes we are new and a tour would be great. Are you the official guide here or something? I mean I assume that the camp... a summer camp usually has like a guide that brings you to all activities and such..." She paused for a second, looking lost. She hadn't actually ever been to a summer camp. "Oh, my name is Amy.... Nolan. Nice to meet you."

Almost as soon as she had finished speaking a third girl walked over apparently also new in the camp. Was this like the official day for new people to join the side of the Greek Gods? Surely there must be a reason why her mom had send her to camp right at this day? She could also have gone another day, or not at all. What was up with her uncles demanding that from her mother anyway? Really, there were too many questions here. But first of all there was this one.

After acknowledging the presence of the new girl with a quick nod she turned back to Aiden and asked: "Do you know who your godly parent is? Because me and Skye here have no clue and I was wondering... if there is like a way to find out? Because I sort of want to know now? Does everyone here know who they are descendant of or is that not a very common thing?"

@KnightandDay@Arcalept

[User]
Liz Burton

"So your name is actually Mr. D?" She said. "That's not creepy at all." Liz said to the God seated in front of her. In return she received an angry glare and a hard elbow to her side from Simon, her best friend and satyr as she so recently discovered. She still couldn't quite get used to seeing goat legs where there used to be a pair of muscular calves from her friend who was in a swimming team. She rolled her eyes in bored frustration, or so she'd like to believe herself, and waited for Mr. D to finish his sentence. "Introduce her to the camp." The God said with an angry tone and before Liz could say anything witty in return Simon had led her outside the room.

"Don't be stupid Liz. I'm serious. You shouldn't joke around with that guy." He said with a stern look that she wasn't used to from him. Stern looks were something her grandfather did when she asked him about her father. Simon wasn't supposed to do that. "Anyhow, I'll leave it to the other kids to introduce you here. I have to report to other people too in the forest." Simon said as he led Liz outside. "Be a good girl alright?"

"Ain't I always?" She sighed more out of habit than anything else and waved him off. She watched him hop over the path with his goatlegs and allowed the exhaustion of the past few days settle in, or trickle past. She didn't know exactly. After ... that had happened while camping at the lake it'd been a wild two-days ride for Long Island, New York. Simon had begun acting very strange as soon as the thing at the lake happened. The burly teenager had abruptly grown a sense of responsability she wasn't quite used from him. She eyed the weird-looking wound on her leg where the thing had grabbed her. It creeped her out. Suddenly she was quite anxious to meet these new people, if only to stop thinking about what happened.

She walked up to a group of campgoers who seemed to be as clueless as herself, hoping there would be a tour of some kind. When she approached she heard them discussing 'Godly parents'. This shit again? That Mr. D guy was blabbering about that as well, and even these people bought this ... Well, it probably was true. Simon's legs were a clear indicator that something was not normal here. But Greek Gods? That was some next level shit.

"Uh ... Hello. Are you guys new too?" She asked.

[Assistant]
The True God of Camp Jupiter

Ariel allowed a moment to pass by as his eyes glossed over the little group in front of him. The Blake guy was cute, and Ariel was digging the undercut. Sadly he didn't have that flare about him, especially with his clothing, but those ones were the most fun to mess with… and the most surprising. Ariel smirked briefly before he took in the girl with the red hair. It was cute. It was fierce! It was… rather basic in the style she had it in currently. She could use some tips. Finally, the small one with their hand up. They were adorable. They looked like a coconut. Ariel pointed a single finger at her, his nails painted purple to match his suit. "What's your question, doll?" Ariel then fabulously spun on his heels and began walking, holding a hand up and snapping. "We'll walk and talk, darlings." Rule number one of being a bad bitch, after all, was independence. Ariel waited on no one, not even the praetor, so they'd be heading towards her. He placed his hands on his hips as he walked with a sway.

[User]
Centurion of Camp Jupiter

Anthony let his gaze flow from each member of the legion to the next. It was rather interesting to see so many people in lines with fancy armor working for him, at least at the moment. He saw one of the newer members seemed to be a little too far forward. "Glad you're eager, but you should step back a bit. If there's ever a battle, and you're up like that, you'll be more open to attacks. Our formations aren't just appealing, they're good for keeping people from making mistakes, at least at the start of a battle." He gave a quick thumbs-up as the soldier stepped back, bringing the ranks into what he thought was a good place for everyone.

As Anthony stepped back to the front, he began to speak loudly for everyone "The praetor should be here soon. Until then-" He glanced to the side, seeing Isabella heading his way. "Well, speak of the devil," he said with a slight grin. "Attention!" He shouted as she began getting closer. It's sad they couldn't be at ease for a moment, but oh well.

Anthony glanced to Isabella, his grin still covering his face. He returned, in a similarly playful manner, "Thank you, Praetor. It's been hard to learn, though, with your example." He glanced towards Isabella's direwolf friend as Isabella was mentioning about checking the recruits. "Oh, you absolutely must not check their formation. They're all in terrible position, especially after I checked through myself." His tone changed from the joking tone to a serious one, "I went through and made sure they were mostly correct, I'm sure you'll find it a good example to the new recruits."


[System]
Notable Parents: None that she knew of, she's a orphan so she doesn't know her parents.
Age: 21

Sex: Female

Hair Color: Red

Eye color: Bright Blue

Appearance: (Picture preferred, Description is accepted, both are best!)

Stands 6'8 and is quite muscular and thick boned and a solid body, has tanned skin with a large scar going from cheek bone to cheek bone and crossing the bridge of her nose just below the eyes. Wears black fingerless armored knuckled gloves, as well as a chain necklace with a silver pendant with design of the summoning creature Valefor.

Weapon: Sword, fists, feet... Actually most of her body.

Fighting Style: Alex is highly skilled in swordsmanship, to the point where she can dual wield, but her impressive strength goes nicely with one sword so she can land harder hits. She's also skilled in hand to hand combat, her fists and kicks making powerful blows that could knock a Ronso on his tail.

Limit Break: Damocles Photon Slash Barrage- User dashed toward the enemy, weapon glowing with energy and slashing upwards. Knocking the enemy in the air, the user jumps after and repeatedly slashes the enemy before stabbing the enemy and swinging the enemy over the User's head and throwing it back to the ground. User then makes multiple slashes, creating energy protectjiles toward the opponent before slamming downward to slam the enemy from above.

Any Armor: Has minor chest plates and shoulder pads and some protection to the hips and armored knuckled gloves.

Skills:
-Impressive physical strength
-Great swordsmanship

Shortcomings:
-High Temper. Loses focus and thought when angered.
-Emotionally Unstable.
-Highly weak against magic attacks.
-Lacks self-esteem and is often a bit overly paranoid, worrying over things that come to mind be it true or untrue.
-Can be manipulated and/or tricked pretty easily.

Occupation: Defender Blitzball Star/Currently Guardian to Eva.

Biography: There isn't much to say really. Alex was found at the doorsteps of the Besaid Orphanage when just a infant. No one knew her name or where she came from, but she was named Alexandra after a legendary summon. Though she mostly called herself Alex, finding the shorter version more pleasing to hear at least coming from others. She was always a rambunctious child, always outgoing and ready to take on any challenge. Having a temper and a blunt personality, she didn't have a lot of friends. Being the only child in the orphanage, she was always alone. During summers, she met with Gippal and Urick but that was only when they visited. Naisha was another child she played with until the girl got sickly for some time. So, in the end, Alex was a lot of times alone. Disliked by temple priests who would mutter about her. However, she loved hearing the stories of the heroes who stopped Sin. In fact, one day Yuna and Tidus came to visit the orphanage. The blonde man had shown her kindness and shared stories of his adventures, especially as a Blitzball Player. That was the day when she dreamed of becoming the best Blitzball player.

Of course, that was always difficult for anyone. So she practiced everyday to be just like Tidus. Practicing with a wooden sword and a ball. In her teen years, she had a lot of competition to get in the home team. Years in fact of trying in the try outs until she was finally accepted. Now she has become a star player, known for her aggressive tackles play on the field by defending her team.

Personality: Alex is a hot tempered woman with a sharp tongue. She is brutally honest and speaks her mind without truly thinking it through. She at times can be immature and is easily side tracked when pushed to aggression. Often careless and reckless, she finds herself in bad situations a lot times that usually end up in a brawl. Despite her aggressive nature, she has a kind heart and believes in doing the right thing, of course what she thinks is right. She has a soft heart for women and children, mostly. Usually she is able to speak her mind clearly, but when she feels flustered or embarrassed, she tends to stutter, have a mental panic attack, before avoiding the situation awkwardly. She also tends to have a very overprotective nature when she does care for someone. Be it friendship or love interest. She's brave and loyal, and despite her gruff hot tempered nature and being difficult to socialize with, she's a bit talkative and in reality is pretty lonely. Though she'd never admit it. She gets irritated when someone brings up how she has no parents, being slightly jealous others have a family while she lives without one. She has great confidence in her abilities as a warrior and a Blitzball player but finds herself being modest when she is praised a lot, unused to it. Usually has difficulties talking about herself.

Are you arriving in Besaid or Living there? Living there.

[User]
Eva watched the man as he spoke, telling her he was from Bikanel island and he normally wasn't so clumsy. Saina started to laugh out loud which caused her to jerk her head in her direction, something she did not expect from the woman as she hadn't seen her smile since she met her, not really any emotion really. It took her by surprise, Saina began to tell GIppal and Urick that her friend would be fine and that they were overreacting in sorts.

She looked to Sifen as he mentioned it was kinda funny but tried to stop himself. At least he tried, she thought.

He then went on to offer his services to her to make it up to them. She was about to say no but when he was insistent she sighed and while thinking to herself she looked over to Urick and Gippal. Then to Saina. Then back again. He did seem like he meant it, and thinking back to his reaction when she slapped his hand, he seemed almost...like a child. This man was oddly different. Maybe...maybe if he was around them she could help him realize stealing was wrong. For it seemed like he didn't understand it from the earlier fiasco. She didn't know why they would need a Mechanic but maybe they could help people along the way and she could pass that off for helping them.

Sighing she nodded, "Ok you may come with us."

[Assistant]
After Eva asked the thief's name Urick glanced up as he notice Saina placing fingertips to her lips, her body twitching which raised an eyebrow on the tall man. Suddenly he heard a giggle and then a full on laugh escaping the woman's lips. His head cocked to the side slightly in confusion. What was so funny?

But as he watched her he was surprised how her countenance changed, now acting more human with her smile and laughter, her voice even changed as she spoke. Which he found out it was because of their reactions she laughed so hard. Looking to Nai and seeing Gippal with a Queer look upon his face, he and Gippal were thinking the same thing, but when Alex spoke to Saina Gippal said, "Like Alex said, She is more Fragile physically than anyone of us, she can break bones much more easily than us. Forgive us for being slightly over cautious." Urick frowned, though he agreed with Gippal he didn't believe Gippal need to reiterate.

He looked to Saina again, and despite the some what serious atmosphere that was shattered by her laughter Urick couldn't help but appreciate the sound of her laughter. After a horrible day like this, the sound of laughter was a good change to the crying and screaming he heard all this morning.

Urick looked at Eva surprised she was going to allow him to join. She probably saw the man as a case she could help set straight. She's done a few in the past. She had a good heart and often saw the good in other people. Gippal was too busy with Nai to notice at the moment. Looking back to the thief named Sifen he looked him up and down once, as if judging him. Before sighing and moving towards Nai and standing behind Gippal, just as Alex explained what happened.

Not that he could reveal much, he was focused with the fight with Thane and his Fiends. Gippal looked up to him and he only shook his head. indicating he didn't know. Gippal looked back to Nai who seemed to be slowly remembering stuff. She then looked at him for a moment when she mentioned he was going to become crispy...weird choice of words but ok. She said she was sorry, so sorry. Gippal shook his head as she then said she killed those people. "Don't worry about me Nai, this is nothing." Mentioning his face. she then realized she had a horn still and her hand which he held was still deformed.

She started to freak out again and cry, saying that this was just a dream, that this was a nightmare. Gippal took his hand away from hers and placed both on her cheeks gently,"Naisha...look at me." He waited for eye contact. "This is not a dream. But it is not, and will not ever be your fault..."He wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You were being used, you had no control." he continued in a firm but calming voice. "We will all be here for you, You will get through this." He gave his biggest comforting smile. "Alright? You hear me?"

Urick looked to Gippal, they were only minutes before saying they were preparing to leave. Was he going to try and keep his promise now as well as being a guardian? He wouldn't put it past him. But Urick also wanted to show his support and reached over Gippal and placed a comforting hand gently on Nai's shoulder. Gave a small squeeze and a Nod to her.

He then moved over to where Saina was standing and Eva to give Nai some more space. Looking at Eva and Saina he jerked his head to the left, indicating that maybe they should leave. Then looking to Sifen and pointed at him, then jerking his thumb to the door. Maximus was just beside him as well he was sure he got the message.

Urick then moved to Eva to offer his arm to help her walk.

[User]
Alex flicked her blue eyes toward the thief and Eva with a cold untrustworthy glare. "You're probably only just using her for some sort of plan. Didn't seem you really care for people when you use a injured person's bed as a workbench. You probably just want the benefits of being with a summoner. Or worse, what you could do." Alex growled, but huffed a little.

"But do what you want. Gippal and Urick can at least watch over you. Hopefully." Alex grumbled before her eyes fixed on Naisha one again. Frowning a little as the Mage noticed her obvious deformed features and started freaking out again.

Alex was about to attempt to comfort her friend but froze as Gippal moved in and comforted Naisha, wiping the tears away. The red head felt the hair on the back of her neck, her blue eyes slightly narrowing. Unlike seeing Saina or the thief touching Naisha, Alex wasn't angry. Just... Uneasy. And with the uneasiness came dissapointment and regret. Perhaps fear. Which just made the dissapointment stronger.

At Gippal's words, Alex couldn't help but grunt with irritation. "Don't lie to her." Alex muttered, unable to hold the bitter words back. Alex knew exactly what it meant to be a Guardian. It was a childish dream of hers and one of the set of rules she knew well. Whether they liked it or not, he was leaving. Again. And Alex doubted he'd take Naisha with him. In the end, he was a guardian. And the summoner came first. And the Summoner was the one to decide who came on the journey. So it just irritated her even more when he would make such a promise.

Standing up, she let Naisha's hand go and stepped away. "I'm going out now she's awake. Take care of her." Alex said with a growl to Gippal before walking out of the room.

The tall woman didn't mean to sound so bitter. Not while Naisha was upset anyway. Probably why she had to leave. Before she said something. Before she made the matter worse. Might as well do something productive. Gippal and Urick were better at making people feel better anyhow. She didn't know how to deal with it without panicking.

Perhaps it was a little bit manipulative and a jerk move to force Gippal
in a position to stay or leave Naisha unprotected without a friend by leaving, but she couldn't think of much else at the moment. Maybe Yuna or Lulu knew something about Naisha's condition and how to help her.

The moment Alex stepped out of the door, her sense grew fuzzy as a hard wave of rustic smell seemed to smash her face in. It was so thick that she had to scrunch her nose as she continued to walk. Her blue eyes gazed around her, watching people pass. Soldiers, civilians... Yet they didn't seem to feel like they were about to hurl. They just seemed sad. This smell. It was blood. A lot of blood. It made her mind hazy, as her eyes darted around. Yet it didn't seem like too much blood was about. Most seemed to be cleaned up already. Yet it felt like she was in a blood bath. Just like when she examined Naisha's blood though, she didn't feel.... Disgusted about it. Her brain was hazy, a soft humming emitting and she could hear whispers that said nothing at the same time.

Then it felt like she was drowning. Couldn't breathe. When she tried talking, gurgling was only heard before she coughed. Reaching some fingers to her lips, she felt a warm thick liquid. Strange. Had she worked too hard? This only happened at the temple usually. Maybe she was just too stressed out. Lady Yuna did say she needed to relax more often. Too much stress caused problems.

It didn't matter though.

Alex, swallowing a thick gulp of blood, she continued walking. Blue eyes focusing to examine the area. Her heart was racing. And she felt anger boil within her. Yet she couldn't think of a good reason for it. Maybe it was the blood. How many people were killed or hurt. Yes. It must be because of Thane she felt this anger boil.

Knocking on Naisha's door, the tall woman waited for a answer before entering the house. Searching the home for any sign of her parents, but found none. They must not be here yet. Deciding to leave, Alex continued wandering before perking up and finding Yuna. Giving a sigh of relief, the tall woman quickly went over and smiled, hugging the High Summoner tightly who gave a gasp and wiggled a little as her legs were lifted off the ground.

"Lady Yuna! You're okay!" Alex cheered.

"Ack! Can't..... Breathe.... Alex...!" Yuna gasped causing Alex to blink before setting the older woman down and grinned sheepishly.

"Oh. Sorry. Glad you're okay. Is everyone else okay?" Alex asked with some concern in her voice.

"Yeah. A bit roughed up. But they'll be okay. How's Gippal, Urick and Naisha?" Yuna asked softly.

Alex sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "The guys are fine. Naisha's alive. But... I wouldn't say she's okay." she said softly.


[System]
This is not so much a character sheet as a species template.
Age: Unknown
Gender: Unknown...and possibly irrelevent.
Species: Trygon
Height: 6-7 Feet in base form
Occupation: Mimetic Ambush Predator
Residence: Anywhere that is capable of sustaining complex life...and a few areas that are not.

Physical Description:

A lean species, by nature, the Trygon are taut in muscular development. Their high metabolism wastes nothing at all. They are humanoid in the sense of having two legs, two arms, and a head...and that's about it. Barely anything else could even be considered remotely human, including their posture, though they will stand upright as well as on all-fours.

The body of a Trygon is thus... A gray-purple body, standing with toe-claws and back-talons on the feet, while numerous other toes on either side of the foot may grip the ground. The legs are built for leaping, vaulting, and running, with double-jointed knees for flexibility, meaning that they can work on their own or along with the double-joined arms with equal efficiency. They would therefore be adept to multiple terrains, perhaps only struggling in a desert for traction, as they would easily swim in water. Their general muscular build leans more towards the athletic than in brute strength, although this can...change. The hands of a Trygon are an oddity, much like their feet. There is no true rhyme or reason as to how many claws they have in comparison to simply muscular digits. One could have five total toe-claws and the rest normal toes, but a hand full of razors on one hand and two on the other hand, say. And the next Trygon will be different. The reason for this has been determined to be a matter of maturity. A fully-matured Trygon will have a full set.

The head of a Trygon is a nightmare. They are named as they are for their trinocular vision (three eyes, two where most humanoids keep them and one in the forehead), and these slitted eyes change color. They don't seem to require blinking, and only do to protect their vision from damage, like if an object is coming right at their face...assuming they don't destroy said object. Still, this won't distract you from the mouth full of needle-like teeth that are geared for rapid chewing, flanks by two sets of mandibles. Trygon devour prey quickly, the mandibles pulling in their victim to the teeth like a conveyor belt pulling things towards a grinder. All of this is wound within a neat package of skin similar to that of a shark or a smooth-scaled reptile...though they are a warm-blooded species...and their blood is gray.

Trygon also change form, sometimes on a regular basis. More on this below.

Personality:

It's kind of hard to know their personality, sometiimes. They are intelligent, not merely animals. If you were to actually hold a conversation with one and asked what their species was like, as a whole, it would actually be hard to tell you for one very good reason. They don't know. Trygon have no past. As far as they can tell, they are born with a predatory instinct and commit to it for survival until they have absorbed enough 'echoes' from other species to begin thinking for themselves. This is apparently due to their mimetic nature. They are born an immature member of the species, consume other species to gain more insight, and eventually grow to become fully-functional beings.

An immature Trygon cannot be reasoned with. Even the ones who have reasoning power before full maturity can be considered belligerent and driven by the kind of rage or fear or other feelings that can drive a human to disaster. They are foreign and horrifying to any species that exists, ergo they find it hard to believe in a co-existence, only a predator-prey relationship. A mature Trygon can be considered far more reasonable, though they can still fall prey to personality quirks. Remember, their lines of reasoning are built upon the people and creatures of their surroundings. If y'all are paranoid and mistrusting, it seems unlikely that the Trygon will be better.

One curiosity of the species is that it approaches emotional reaction differently. A Trygon does not feel angry, or happy, or sad, per se. It holds elements of alot of this in a complicated manner. It can be apprehensive, wary, and intently focused without actually being afraid. All of its emotions are a utility, for which it must assemble to CREATE a raw emotional response, which can lead to even a conversation with them getting weird. A learner, a Trygon with a supernatural quick-learning ability, will process this alot faster and understand emotional responses much easier. What it does with these, however, is up in the air.

Magic/Abilities:

General Capabilities - What you can expect from a Trygon in general is speed and agility in primary, strength in secondary. They have great mobility, flexibility, and agility. Their strength in base form can overcome a human being, normally, without supreme effort. When faced with a physically powerful specimen, they're looking to take any advantage they can find. Remember that this is an ambush predator, which means that surprise and sneak tactics are better for it than bull-rushing into a situation. Their claws are dense bone and saber-like in nature, and they have enough technique to use them with as much surgical precision as gouging brutality in that area. The hearing of a Trygon is...reasonable. Eardrums are located in the head with no visible ears. Nevertheless, they hear alright. Their sight...is extremely detailed. Once they spot you...fog, darkness, and other passive obscuring methods probably won't work. Eye contact must be broken.

Metamorphosis - Each member of the species possesses the aability to create a new form for itself by devouring significant portions (usually the organs) of a complex creature. In the event of a creature being very small, multiple versions of it may be required before a transformation is initiated. The mimetic properties of a Trygon are such that it can become what it devours. It does not copy the personality of exact form of what it eats. It creates a new form based upon it. (The third eye is generally masked.) So, if a human is eaten, it creates a new human form. This eliminates the need for trying to pretend you're someone that you're not, even though some memories, instincts, and information will be passed on to the Trygon. From here, the Trygon looks like the creature it's eaten and can act like one properly. It will be stronger, though, especially if it goes hybrid-form, with the face and limbs of the Trygon adding to the shape it was once taking. Once a creature is devoured, it can switch back and forth from it as needed until the next devouring, where it settles into a new one. And speaking of which, it cannot shrink down tiny. If a Trygon swallows a beehive, you will be facing a gigantic bee, no question.

The Three Eyes - Kind of like a Beholder, Trygon carry power in their eyes. They're often changing from green to red to gold...when they're not using the color that their current form had. Regardless of the form, when a Trygon's eyes change color, you watch out. Results my vary on the form of the power involved, but their eyes have three basic 'elements' of power...which are death, chaos, and enlightenment. For instance, one might have the ability to cause disorientation in the senses when green, learn something of the physical nature of a being or object when yellow, and rip energy from organic substances (especially if the creature is dead) when red. On the other hand, another could enslave animals with insanity, cause a psychic burst of power with enlightenment, and cause necrotic damage with death. An inherently chaotic species, half the trouble of a Trygon is figuring them and their abilities out.

History:

Yes...this is a tricky one.

As far as anyone knows, and this includes the Trygon themselves, these beings fell right out of the sky. The exact truth of that statement is that they were all encased in meteors that failed to burn up or break up when plunging down towards the planet. They emerged and began hunting, and then half of their lives were thinking that they were the thing they devoured while the other half knew that they were not. It can be a little hard at times to realize what you are or are not, depending on what occurs in your life. The Trygon lived, therefore, as the sort of bogeyman of 'What if whom you speak to is not whom you think they are?'. For a while, they were thought as doppelgangers, shapeshifters, and other form-changing beasts. However, due to their unusual nature, it had to be accepted that they were their own species, their owm special kind of threat.

The Trygon live as both predatory and paranoid beings. They merge into whatever sort of culture their form is associated with and try their damnedest not to be outed as something they're not. This was hard since the blood changes to fit the species too. Of course, those who sometimes forget who they are have shocking moments upon discovery that they aren't what they thought they were. Inevitably, though, they all get over it. Other beings are merely a suit to wear and learn more about the world around them...and to hunt. Really, there isn't much to tell about their history because that's precisely what the more intelligent ones have been trying to figure out. It's a culture of creatures with no actual past to look in on, hence why they're taking so much from every other form they assume.

[User]
@Winter Star12

Gonad seemed to blissfully ignore the noises as he continued his story, finally getting to the good part.

"-and so then did Bjorl Thunderspunk reach into the arse of the Greatwolf of Farsnommel, and extract the mighty blade Keenloin from its resting place! When stuck in kidney with Keenloin, blood poisoning did King Splirnip die of, for still was shite of Greatwolf on the sword! This be how Bjorl Thunderspunk, cousin twice removed of Gonad, became royalty."

[Assistant] Shadow noticed the sounds and seemed to go on alert. She pulled her axe closer to her but was still showing a surprising amount of calmness. She even started humming a lullaby she was sung when a little girl. She was clearly trying to calm herself completely.

[User]
Wow, the loud one didn't even notice. It just kept on with its inane wordings while the other one seemed to remain still. For a moment, it considered just trying to weaken the big one from all the way over here. Maybe that was good for a second move... This first move needed to go as planned, about as planned as it could manage with these raging instincts. They needed to be channeled. They needed direction...

They needed blood in the teeth.

There would soon be a sound of running from all around, this distorted array of sound coming from all directions, though there was only one attacker. And where it was approaching was in the direction of where Gonad's head was pointed as he lay on the ground. With lupine speed, it darted forward, and leapt... We're not sure if Shadow noticed at this point, but since the large man had been lying on the ground, he would notice things differently.

From the top of his vision, he'd see what looked like a wolf at first, but the limbs seemed to lengthen and thicken, with the paws elongating and growing two saber-claws each, grown from different digits on each paw. He saw the wolfen body expand into something that was at least partially humanoid, but definitely not human. And he definitely saw this weird three-eyed wolf face expand its jaws, gain some needle-like teeth, and grow in some mandibles.

This would be shortly before the strike that was attempting to tear him apart.

Now, from Shadow's perspective... If she happened to notice where this thing was coming from, it had done that sudden transformation mid-leap. It had been a wolf just a second ago. A wolf with three glowing eyes, but a wolf, nonetheless. Now, it was this monster, and she could also see the two saber-talons on its feet with four or five side-toes on said feet. It was also bigger than a wolf, stronger than a wolf. And judging by the leap it had made, it was moving to tear into the prone Gonad and then leap away into the night, a cutthroat maneuver.

[Assistant]
@Winter Star12

The human was on his back, virtually unprotected, and judging from the way he acted, a few eggs short of an Easter basket.

*Yet...*

When the Trygon got close enough, the barbarian wouldn't be regarding him with either surprise or fear. The hulking berserker's single eye stood out like a beacon, flat and hard, almost melancholy in its calm inspection, following the creature like one of those trick paintings in a haunted mansion that always seem to stare at you. The look an ex-SAS officer may have when you push his drink over in a bar, and you can tell he almost feels bad about what he's about to do. Twin skeins of smoke steamed from the barbarian's nostrils. He still hadn't set his pipe down.
Could the creature feel it? Oily fingers running cold up the back, a premonition of death icing over spine-marrow. It wasn't too late, not just yet. He could change targets still, or veer off.

[User] Shadow held her axe. She was ready to attack the Trygon if it went for her. She was in flat out defense mode. "What the heck even is that thing?" Shadow asked, "It was a wolf a few minutes ago." These words made it clear she saw the transformation.

[Assistant]
Icy feeling of whatnow? Gonad had no special powers of intimidation. He was just naturally intimidating, and the predator wasn't having any of it. It was fast, its move had been carefully considered, and it was committed to it. You don't tell a monster 'Hey, buddy. I wouldn't do that if I were you' mid-leap and get any reaction worth mentioning, except...you know...the one it was going through with already. With Gonad not even moving, he left himself open and was unprepared for the attack. Even if he hadn't been ignoring it, the point of the noises was to disrupt the abiility to figure out where it was coming from by ears alone. So, without even taking a defensive posture, he was open.

All of this was just fine for the Trygon. The other was standing, wary, and taking no action to defend the big one, the big one whom its saber-claws would tear into. With not even a flinch from the prone figure, the hybrid beast's attack would carry through. The long, curved claws of its forepaw hands dug right into stomach, pushing its weight and velocity into the tear, blood flying free as Trygon came down upon him. The back legs came down swiftly, digging into the chest of the man, and pushing down hard as it then pulled free the claws with its next leap to return back to the gloom of the woods.

In the time that it took Shadow to ask what the heck the Trygon was, it was there and gone again. It had gone from a speedy wolf to a leaping horror, and was now loping itself out of range, letting out a screeching growl that echoed from all directions.


[System]
Age: 28 (assuming standard human lifespan)

Gender: Female

Race: Naga

Appearance:
 13 ft in total length, Mari's human half is 3 ft from her waist to the top of her head and her tail half is 10 ft in length. Mari has tanned skin, short black hair, golden eyes and pale olive green scales. When out of armor, Mari regularly wears a simple sleeveless tunic and belt over a sarashi-esque waist & chest wrap.

Personality:
 Mari is an odd duck. Half nomadic wild child, half daughter of the church, the Naga is as sophisticated & eloquent as she is blunt & plain-spoken. While she is a firm believer in the core tenets of the church, Mari will quite often interpret them through the harsh & pragmatic lens of a survivalist; frequently leading her to decisions that put her at odds with those who had more 'civilized' upbringings.

Brief Backstory:
 Born & raised as part of a nomadic tribe in the scrub-lands & savanna to the east of Thaln, Mari was kidnapped by slavers in her early-mid teens. After a short but brutal experience with slavery, the young demi-human was freed by Mayonite paladins. Taking pity on the young Naga, Mari was taken in by the church; an action that was met with mixed results. On one hand, Mari took to the core tenets of the dual church like a fish to water. On the other, she constantly fought with the rigidity of it's structure and by extension the structure of 'civilized' society.

 Naturally combative by nature, Mari began training with the resident Mayonite paladins as soon as she was able. When the War of the Red Flag broke out, Mari saw action on multiple battlefields, serving as the squire of a Mayonite paladin in the service of the Iron Rose Knights. Shortly after the conclusion of the war, Mari was granted her knighthood in which she swore her oath of loyalty to the Iron Rose Knights.

Equipment:
 - For armor Mari has a gambeson, partial steel plate covering her upper torso, arms & head and partial chain-mail over the rest of the exposed gambeson. For her helmet she has a sallet with a bevor. She currently has pair of heavy leather gloves as she currently can't afford a proper set of fully articulated steel gauntlets.
 - For weapons Mari has a quarterstaff with a small flanged mace head at either end. She carries a long knife and a hand axe balanced for throwing as backup weapons. In addition she has a long bow, though she usually doesn't carry it unless requested. Her weighted quarterstaff is also mildly enchanted for increased durability.

Skills:
 - A talented tracker, hunter and survivalist on account of her nomadic youth.
 - Skilled in combat with more utilitarian weapons; spears, staves, axes, bows and to a lesser extent hammers & knives. While she can use traditional blades, they are hands down the weapon that she's the least proficient with.

[User]
Gerard Segremors

@ghastlyInc

As the ranks dispersed through the field to begin a thorough examination of the corpses, a rough sound seeming caught at the halfway point between a growl and a sigh loosed from the rear, a somewhat miffed, deflated swordsman approaching the fore to investigate a corpse near the Captain. His face was still a more or less serious knot of furrowed brow and stern lines, especially near the jaw, but the inimical fire behind his eyes had receded greatly.

"Not to overstep rank and dole out orders, Captain," he grunted as he turned over the corpse of a fighter that had been blown aside by a force great enough to invert his elbow joints. "But it's best you just let it roll off your back for now. Mercenaries are all like that. Especially the leaders. Builds trust within the unit."

Alette the Shark. That recontextualized essentially their entire encounter. Hailing from the North, her band had campaigned multiple times in Velt and Estival as well as the nation the Roses called home— consequently, there was a significant overlap in "stomping grounds" between them and the company he'd been picked up by. He'd never had the dubious pleasure of seeing the Shark in person, but he knew her well from the perspective of a professional rival— or perhaps more accurately, as someone under the employ of one.

Wasn't like I was the leader out on recruitment drive or negotiating contracts against her, after all..

Just one of The Faceless.

It was clear enough that her reputation's preceding her was some measure of mark towards character— completely untrustworthy scum didn't last terribly long on the field, nor as a unit. Warfare was their business first and foremost: to join a band like hers or his meant that the enlisted troops trusted them to get food into their bellies. As such, leaders needed certain qualities to hope for any success in bolstering their ranks.

Martial prowess was always beneficial. One wouldn't be remiss to call it the rule in a mercenary band, and Alette had plenty at her disposal— the crimson lance she toted was almost as revelrous in battle as she, and her storied agility made delivering its (supposedly) accursed, lifestealing strike all too easy against a long, long list of enemy combatants. Clearly, she had strength covered, but it was a foolhardy soldier of fortune to ignore her aura as a leader.

Was she successful?
Was she dependable?
Was she on the side of her employers, or her soldiers?

Your life was on the line when you made that choice. You were no patriot, nor champion, nor revolutionary. The question was whether you would be risking your life for the sake of your comrades, or whether you would be reduced to a simple pawn. That she had enjoyed continual success over the years meant she definitely needed to be doing something right on that front, near as he could tell.

The smell of dried blood, the clanking of armor as his comrades shifted bodies to uncover boar tattoos similar to the one he found himself staring at, the air thickening with the gloom and tension of recent, massed death... His body knew it all well. Before Candaeln, this was the scene of home— the field of a battle, recently concluded. Many comrades dead at his feet, alongside many of the enemy, known or otherwise.

His intra-company unit was what they called a "forlorn hope" in Thaln— a corruption of the words for "lost troop" found in most military manuals. Those amongst the wider company who held the unenviable role in the battlefield of vanguard— on the front of the lines and the very first to clash with enemy ranks. Those that threw themselves into the meat grinder to gain a toehold the rest of the troops could utilize and fall in behind to reinforce. Increased pay for increased risk— so it usually went.

High mortality rates, even given the company captain's disciplined and measured leadership informing the tactics of their deployment. Legend amongst those that survived along side him, the veterans that had brought him up into their ranks, said that the black leather masks the company wore into battle originally were only issued to the Forlorn, then disseminating out into the entirety of the enlisted ranks as their Captain's career continued.

They said he meant to foster the boldness of the Forlorn into the whole of the company, increasing uniformity and cohesion within his troops. Emulating the archetypal Doppelsöldner en masse in this manner quickly became the calling card of The Black Regiment, leading to another moniker altogether being bestowed upon them.

And it always concluded that we actually became "Franz's Faceless" so we cared less about living and dying as a result.

At his end, he wasn't convinced he had been on the right side of the "loyal comrade" and "unwitting pawn" equation. Perhaps he would have been better served, if he had the luxury of shopping around, in a group like Alette's. If he remembered correctly, her band had a higher focus on singular, quality troops— in the league of a less scrupulous adventuring group as opposed to his company's larger masses of rank-and file, militaristic regimentation. It was entirely likely that she, for all her universally attested brutality, had built her band upon more personal connection than that.

Things may have been so.

They may also have not.

He couldn't take any of it back now, and as a Rose, he knew where he stood. The present served to be the morning he'd trudged through that hell in the past for. He was dwelling on the latter rather than focused on the former. Enough. The soldier he'd inspected had indeed bore the same tattoo the others had reported upon the fresher bodies— a boar with burning eyes, and gilded tusks growing from its jaw. That...

That could have been coincidental.

"Sir Gillian." he said in greeting as he approached after a moment, dropping to a knee to closer inspect the body the Reliquary had casually kicked aside while striking up conversation with Alette. "Marking on this one too? Ah. There it is. Swear I've seen it somewhere..."

He didn't wait for an answer— the ink was the same. Gold tusks and red eyes... The men around him all reported likewise. No mistaking it: these men were The Golden Boars. Among the most unscrupulous companies on the market today, they typically garbed themselves in purple and gold coloring as uniform, but even during covert operations, those tattoos served to brand their allegiance into their skin. A lifelong employment, where duties sank so low they reached the flames of hell. Unfortunately, there was no way out of facing the fire— deserters would get sent there personally by their brethren's swords.

"They're more mercenaries, Captain! I recognize the brand!" he barked immediately upon confirming the second brand upon the neck of the fallen sellsword, voice clipped and pointedly professional above his mounting confusion. "She's not lying about 'em."

His sword was still in hand as he did so, something he was sure any present wouldn't fail to notice, but so long as he'd not raised it to her he doubted Alette would quite take it as picking a fight. To enjoy and welcome battle was one thing, but he was hard pressed to imagine her to particularly appreciate her chances against this contingent of well-equipped knights by her lonesome.

She had a point in reminding her captain of that.

However, since they'd determined the cause was an enemy group of mercenaries, ones that had no qualms getting their hands as dirty as they needed, it raised its own share of questions.

"Now that we've figured that out," he intently into their conversation this time, releasing his left hand's grip upon the collar of the fallen body. His tension had not yet left him— the setting didn't allow for it. Nor did his trust in her. Now he knew who she was and who the men she had killed were, more or less. But the image was still woefully incomplete, especially if this would amount to the entirety of the answers they could get from the pigtailed spearwoman.

Firstly, this couldn't be the full battlefield. There were important people missing.

"Where'd you send the rest of your cohort? They dealing with whatever brought the Boars here further in while you greet us at the gates?"

His amber gaze searched her face openly, his speech reverted to the gruffer, direct tones of his former profession. The messenger making it here, the timing of this scene, the lack of a protracted siege to cause it, the older bodies of the soldiers suggesting them to have turned upon eachother with staggering uniformity— what on earth was this? Had they walked into a ritual suicide's aftermath? How had the Boars managed and infiltration of this scale? Had they done so under orders of some client? Were they deserters?

Did you really come here because things looked off, or because these men were marked for death by their Condottieri?

As much clarity as could be lent to the picture, the knights needed. Even if she didn't have the full scope of things, hers was still a damn sight more complete than theirs.

"I'd have figured you and that spear of yours to be at the center of the action."

[Assistant]
Tyaethe Radistirin

For her part, the vampire just glanced at the corpses--the smell of old blood was strong enough, annoyingly, that it was clear the violence had started yesterday. And yesterday, a mortally wounded man had come racing from this fortress to the capital to report that something was wrong. Obviously, whatever was going wrong had finished by the time they got here, unless the previous mercenary group had spent all night and most of the day slowly killing the soldiers stationed here. Though with the chaos here? That seemed unlikely.

As for other indications Alette couldn't have done it... well, they weren't necessary, but the gate was probably the biggest one. If she had been the one behind this distress signal, how would a slowly dying man have taken a horse and fled down the straight path towards the capital without being caught or pursued? Her group would have been waiting outside ready to grab anyone who tried to get past. Besides, if they outright broke in--whether by a mage or a half-giant or even a full giant--then it would have been obvious to the defenders and far more of bodies would be here, not to mention--again--the unlikely scenario of taking over a day to do it and then still being at the gate to meet them.

Not important, now, aside from what else it told them. This gate, and the road beyond it, went straight to the capital. You would have to be extremely unwise to traipse an armed band around the countryside here, let alone come past a supposedly-active fort where you could be detected. Since Alette had broken in from this side rather than further out, which would be more reasonable...

"You came from Aimlenn. Who sent you?" Because whoever was behind her presence must have known about this before the messenger came in.

[User]
Maritza Verenna
 "The shark huh?" Maritza merely grunted in response to the small mercenary's teasing words. The Naga was vaguely familiar with the mercenary in passing, and then only by reputation. So when Gillian and Gerard stepped forward with more experience on the matter, Mari was happy to let them take the lead in the conversation.

 Tucking her axe back into her belt, she slid around Alette, making sure to stay out of the spearwoman's weapon reach as the Naga moved to inspect one of the corpses behind the diminutive merc. Meritza made a brief show of inspecting the dead body before turning to watch Alette out of the corner of her eye, having now effectively pincered the mercenary leader between herself and the others. It wasn't exactly subtle, but in this situation, subtlety was the last of the Naga's concerns.