[System]
Alias: Flake
Sex: Male
Age: 20
Occupation: Bounty Hunter

Appearance:

His eyes are often bloodshot, his eyelids heavy from sleep, and his body is usually deprived of food. Dirt crusts all of the jet-black hair on his head, the likes of which he never styles and rarely cuts. He never shaves, instead opting to use a dagger to cut hair off when it gets too long for his convenience. Usually, this means he has facial stubble and relatively short hair. His teeth are more-or-less aligned, and are mostly yellow, but he has one missing tooth on the right side of his lower jaw. His jaw is fairly sharp, and his chin is rounded. Overall, he has a rough look to him.

His body is lean and very muscular. He has dense bones, dense muscles, and thick, calloused skin. He is about average height, 5'8", and weighs around 130lbs. His strength is divided about evenly between his upper and lower body, and he is extremely agile. His body is iron-hard from years of combat, and he wears many scars on his exposed flesh, many of which he treated himself.

.

Personality: Harsh and exacting, but seeks moral good. Makes puns and jokes to himself. He has great wisdom and charisma, although he isn't too knowledgeable about much aside from economics and combat. His main personality feature is his control over his emotions - he doesn't like it when people learn more about him than he learns about them, so he takes great pains to blank out his expressions when around hostile influences. In addition, he is a loner, but is very sociable. He likes to play with other people and to learn from them as much as possible. His playfulness is rarely more prominent than a mere mischievous tendency, but he is prone to making games out of otherwise boring situations even when it inconveniences others.

The one most important part of his personality is that he is rarely serious. He jokes a lot so that he can keep himself thinking. When he stops thinking is when he becomes most dangerous, since he defaults to analysis of his surroundings, and consequently, the weaknesses of those around him. He is only serious when he is in a truly challenging situation, or when his life is at stake, and he rarely offers mercy or consideration to others when in this state, despite his tendency for moral goodness.

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Backstory: Flake grew up under the close observation of her father, who was the captain of the Talgot city guard. Talgot was the capitol of Kiodomn, the kingdom in which he lived. Sheckels were the main currency, and thirty were needed each month to provide modest accommodations and enough food for one person to survive. His childhood wasn't very difficult since his father earned enough for the family, but one day, his father didn't return from work. After that day, Flake and his mother tried making a living on their own, but his mother ended up starving herself to keep her son alive.

To avoid squandering his mother's efforts, Flake ended up trying to join the guard force of Talgot. He learned after joining the guard that it was a burdensome job full of ass-kissing and chores as opposed to actual fighting, so he gritted his teeth and bore with it as he searched for another job. During this time, he weighed three options: he could try to get an honest job like a guard, he could join in competitions to make money, like a bar-fighter, or he could get an illegal job, like an assassin. As he searched, he found the perfect role model, and thusly, the perfect job: The Bounty Hunter.

He immediately quit his job as a guard by challenging the guard captain, Drake, to a duel. He ended up winning the duel, then used his fame to march into the Sweeper's Hall and ask for a bounty. From that day forward, his legacy as a bounty hunter began. He would spare many of his victims if he saw it morally right and they let him exchange their lives for proof of their death. He only had to kill a few of his targets, and even then, he never did so by accident. The Sweeper started to respect him quite quickly. But that's when the Hardest Night of Winter came along and he earned his nickname, "Flake."

The Hardest Night of Winter is an event that he rarely talks about due to how gruesome and horrific it was. The word "genocide" would be inadequate for describing the event. A mixture of snow, thunder, and monstrous creatures attacked the town and darned near annihilated the guard forces. But Flake teamed up with Drake and repelled the creatures by analyzing their attacks and telling Drake what to do. Drake himself gave Flake the nickname since he supposedly, "danced through the wind like a snowflake, untouchable, unseeable, heartless, cold, and deadly." Flake decided to keep the name, since it was the first and only accolade he had to his name aside from his successful bounty hunting.

Immediately after getting the name of Flake, the Sweeper of Talgot honored him with the unnamed bounty they had in reserve. Flake eagerly accepted it, completely unaware of the lasting implications of doing so.

And so the story continues...

.

Equipment:
- Armor: He has a set of leather armor that covers his body from the base of his neck to his ankles, leaving only his hands and feet exposed. Beneath the leather armor is a set of thinly-woven steel chainmail and thin cloth padding, and there are metal ribs along the forearm sections of the armor. He wears dark leather boots with iron-plated and cushioned soles.
- Weapons: He uses a straight, 50cm long falchion with a smoothed and ergonomically designed ebony handle and a weighted pummel. The hand-guard on the weapon is minimal. He has three balanced daggers arranged parallel to his oblique. Additionally, he keeps a composite shortbow with a draw weight of 60lbs in his rucksack(unstrung).
- Carrying Equipment: He has a rucksack with 2 cubic feet of volume and 40lbs of carrying capacity, one quiver with 20 arrows, and a bandolier that can hold up to 3 daggers. He also has a coin purse that is almost always empty.
- Other Equipment: Varies. Usually he has a set of spare clothes, a mirror, and at least one day's worth of food and water in his rucksack. Sometimes he carries extra supplies or equipment to carry out a bounty.

[User]
Raine glared at the guard's back as he practically ignored her and continued walking. "Rude, much?" She mumbled to herself but decided that, since he was getting her new armor, the most she could do was keep her sarcastic remarks to herself. With that thought in mind, the girl continued to follow him until he stopped in front of a man, one who she assumed to be a merchant since he had a few items displayed on his table at that time. For a moment, Raine found herself staring at the various items until she heard Derek's voice beside her. He practically commanded the man to put armor on her before walking away without another word. The two watched him go before turning to look at each other.

It was only then that Raine had actually got a good look at the merchant: he was a man who looked to be in his late forties, early late fifties. Dirty blonde hair was pulled back neatly with a leather strap and his face was lined with wrinkles of all shapes and sizes. His hands were large and worn, as if he had been working since he was born. Despite that, his eyes held a bit of kindness in them as he stood up from where he was sitting.

"Follow me, please."

Nodding, Raine followed the merchant as he led her to a set of steps that led to an area below the main part of the building. "Where exactly are we going?" Raine asked the man curiously. "Down to the armory so we can get you a new set of armor. It looks like your current one is a bit worn, don't you think?" He responded with a slight smile and watched as the assassin glanced down at her armor: It was true. The metal plates were covered in scratches and dents while some of her leather straps were hanging on by little strands. The sad part about it was that Raine hadn't noticed any of it.

"Well, I guess you're right…I do need a bit of an upgrade." She said in agreement then fell into a comfortable silence. The silence didn't last for too long, though, as they finally arrived to the armory. The area was actually much bigger than Raine would have guessed. Armor of all kinds were placed upon the walls neatly and in certain spots so that the heavier armor would sit on a stand that could hold its weight without collapsing. Another thing the girl noticed was the merchants. They were busy pandering to the customers' needs and sometimes had to climb ladders in order to retrieve the armor that their customer desired. Raine was surprised to see that even children were being fitted for armor as well but she figured that it was simply for training instead of actual work that would require them to fight. Then again, she was fairly unfamiliar with the area, so who knows?

"This way." The man called to Raine, pulling her out of her thoughts. She followed him once more through the growing crowd of people until they stood in front of what she assumed to be the light weight armor area. The merchant then gestured for her to stand in one spot as he measured her torso, legs and arms. Once he recorded the measurements, he turned and examined the wall of armor behind him. Raine then watched as he scaled up a ladder and looked at the measurement for various pieces of armor before coming back down.

"Unfortunately, we don't have any in your size, so we'll have to make one especially for you. I just need a few more measurements." This time, the measurement taking too a bit longer since the merchant had to measure nearly every part of her arms, legs and torso to make sure that everything would fit comfortably. Eventually, she was allowed to head back up while the merchant took the measurements somewhere else. As she made it back to the main area, she spotted the guard that brought her here and walked over to him.

"So, they didn't have any in my size and now they have to make a new set or armor for me." She told him simply. "And thanks for taking me here, I guess." Raine added under her breath, though her statement was genuine.

[Assistant]
To his delight, Drake saw the lady standing by the front counter once again, thus Drake assumed she had been measured already. "So, they didn't have any in my size and now they have to make a new set of armor for me," the lady declared, quickly adding, "and thanks for taking me here, I guess." Drake nodded, then asked, "Miss, do your weapons need replacement or refinement? There are few blacksmiths in town like John." With this said, the guard pointed over to a man by the entrance who was pounding a bastard sword with a narrow hammer, refining the edge of the blade. The man clearly did not realize that his name was mentioned, for he busily continued his work.

The wall behind the front counter had plenty of daggers arrayed along a weapon rack with other small arms, some models very thin with somewhat wide guards, some fairly flat-tipped, and some very odd models with wavy edges. Drake stood motionless in anticipation of a response, watching Raine closely. Small weapons did not need as much maintenance as his own sword, as he knew well, but judging from the condition of her armor, the guard suspected that her weapons did not fare much better.

---

Meanwhile, a great thud echoed through an open area in front of the mercenary guild hall as Flake landed a jump from a nearby balcony. The bounty hunter quickly opened the large doors and entered the building, his face solemn. Various people passed by him as he entered, giving him no second looks. The bounty hunter walked through the gilded halls and, after a few minutes of searching, found a mission board. Once again, he looked through all the missions, however he did not find what he was looking for.

Disappointed, Flake turned back and left the building, still solemn. Upon leaving the building, he jumped up to a balcony once more and climbed his way up to the rooftops again.*It's a wonder so few people use the rooftops,*Flake thought, pulling himself up by grabbing a hold of a few stable shingles. The bounty hunter then hopped away, venturing to another location in the big town.

[User]
Raine's hands disappeared inside of her cloak once Drake asked her a question about her weapon. Sure enough, she realized that her dagger was nearly in the same condition as her armor, maybe even a bit worst, actually. "I guess I'll be visiting your friend over there, then." It was a shame that the assassin had let her armor and weapon get this worn out without getting it fixed but what could she do? She'd been hiding out for a year now with her only way to gain food and money by stealing it; that was no easy job, especially if she happened to be caught by the person as well. Raine could practically here the angry voices of those people as she made her way over to the one called John.

"I would like to get this dagger fixed please." The assassin said once she was standing in front of John's work area. The man paused for a moment and looked from her, to her dagger, then back to the sword he was currently working on. "Leave it there." He said, gesturing to the table beside him. "It should be done in approximately two hours." Nodding, Raine thanked him before heading back over to Drake. "Is there a tavern around here? I'm in need of something to eat." She inquired; the girl needed something to do while she waited for both her new armor made and dagger to be fixed.

[Assistant]
Drake watched silently as the lady walked over to John and spoke to him about her daggers. As she did so, the guard turned around to find the merchant back at his place. "Your tab, sir?" the merchant asked, raising an eyebrow as he spoke. Drake nodded, then quickly added, "Delta six." The merchant chuckled after hearing this, then quickly walked down the stairs to the armory, shocked more than amused. Drake turned back to see the thief lady walking back towards him. "Is there a tavern around here? I'm in need of something to eat," she asked, looking up at the hulking giant as she spoke.*I wouldn't dare,*he thought with a quick grin.

"I know of a place," Drake responded, walking towards the entrance of the armory, "the Greener Club is the name. I suspect you aren't as wealthy as most around here, so it should suffice." He stepped through the entrance to the armory and back onto the streets of Talgot shortly after this. "If you want to find the place, head to the tax stand I was stationed at, go towards the money-lender stand to the left and continue straight until you see the sign. I'm going to find that devilish roof-monkey," Drake claimed. The guard then walked off, looking around for any sign of the bounty hunter. His dull, blood-stained armor barely glinted in the sun as he walked, the sun still low in the sky.


[System]
Allie /// Tiferet

"Man, y'all need to learn to have some fun. Live a little! Or don't, as the case may be."

O V E R V I E W
A V A T A R
Tiferet.

 A G E
19.

 G E N D E R
Female.

 V I S A G E
In-game, Tiferet stands at about 5'3" and 140 pounds, putting her on the petite side. However, this is far from the first thing one would probably notice about Tiferet, which instead is her rather morbid fashion sense; much of her gear is adorned with bones, crosses, and Day of the Dead-esque skeletons, and her face is often adorned with skull makeup as well. Even her fiddle is black and white. This all stems from Tiferet's desire to know what exactly it's like on the "other side".

 P E R S O N A L I T Y
Allie is an… odd individual. Contrary to what one may expect, she's very lively and gregarious, and absolutely loves trying out everything life has to offer. She's driven by knowledge; specifically, wanting to know everything, including the unknowable, like "what happens after you die", "what's at the center of the universe", and "does Finland really exist". Most of the time, this involves buying (or stealing) anything she considers "neat", exploring every little nook and cranny in a given place, and even doing drugs every so often (though she steers clear of the really bad ones; some things just aren't worth experiencing). Her preoccupation with death is also rather unnerving, especially because she's been heard to make a few nonchalant comments about breaking into morgues. (She's probably joking. Probably.) However, this also means that Allie is really nosy; if she thinks someone's saying or doing something that's worth finding out about, she will try to discover more about the situation, whether through eavesdropping, a bit of petty thievery, or even just annoying someone into telling her.

Despite her strange clothing choices, obsession with death, and general creepiness, Allie is actually quite a nice person. It takes a lot to make her angry, and even then, she's very quick to let things go. Sometimes, the person who attracts her ire will find themselves subject to some sort of semi-harmless prank, but that's usually the extent of her "wrath". Allie mostly plays Pariah for the social aspect, and loves partying up with people and running quests together. Of course, others may not want her around (you wouldn't believe the number of people who get freaked out by the skull makeup), but they usually come around.

 B A C K G R O U N D
Allie's life has always been pretty stable, if not particularly normal. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a Mexican father and an African-American mother. Her mom was a high-ranking executive in a prominent tech company, which brought in enough money to allow Mr. Márquez to stay home and raise Allie, and to pursue his dream - being a musician - on the side. Allie was always a very inquisitive child, constantly pestering her parents with questions, especially about their respective lines of work. "Mommy, whatsa headset?", "Hey Daddy, how d'you play the thing that goes 'BWAAAP'?", and so on. Initially, the Márquezes were exasperated by their daughter's need to know everything about everything, but they soon began to enjoy seeing their daughter taking an interest in so much.

Her school years progressed with little fanfare, and were soon left behind, though Allie seems to have retained a few things from her middle school goth phase - namely, her fashion choices and obsession with all things dark and deathly. At the moment, she's pursuing a career as a mortician, using her violin skills as a backup. Normally, the salary of your average broke college student isn't enough to buy Pariah, let alone a VR headset, but Mrs. Márquez was nice enough to get them both for Allie as a birthday present this year.

A T T R I B U T E S

 R O L E
Support, with a splash of Utility.

 A F F I L A T I O N
Queon.

 P R O F E S S I O N
Bard, but with a definite "necromancer" bent to it.

 W E A P O N O F C H O I C E
A fiddle. It's specially-reinforced with steel to make beaning people with it feasible as a last resort, though Tiferet does also have a short sword on her, making the fiddle a last last resort. Tiferet also considers her voice a weapon.

 B E N C H M A R K S
<<Dexterous>> - Playing a fiddle so much has given Tiferet some very nimble fingers, not to mention some pretty decent upper arm strength.
<<Lung Capacity>> - Singing as often as she does has granted Tiferet the ability to hold a note much longer than normal people. It also lets her really belt it out when she wants to.
<<Midnight>> - Tiferet's always preferred playing at night, and after doing that so often, she's been able to see better and blend in better during nighttime, especially during a new moon.
<<Scream and Shout>> - This simple ability is Tiferet's main way of dealing damage (though she often doesn't need to). By magically amplifying her voice, enemies in a cone in front of her take damage and have a chance to be deafened.
<<Under Your Skin>> - This benchmark allows Tiferet to cause an enemy to feel the very discomfiting sensation that many, many parasites are lurking just under their skin, moving around, waiting to burst out. As you can imagine, such a thing is very hard to ignore, which makes this benchmark ideal to delay spells and dissuade warriors. As Tiferet gets stronger, this ability will actually spawn several bugs from a person's skin after a few seconds, dealing a small amount of damage and creating a few weak enemies.

<<Mobility>> - Tiferet, by necessity (running solo missions is hard for a bard), has practice with playing and moving at the same time.
<<What's Mine Is Yours>> - This benchmark was awarded to Tiferet by virtue of her partying up with people very, very often. It allows her to designate a target, then transfer every buff or debuff - permanent or temporary - from her to that target for one minute. However, any benefit Tiferet had that lasts for less than a minute is preserved; if Tiferet has a boost to her speed that lasts for 15 seconds, and uses 4 seconds of it, then transfers it away, the other person now has 11 seconds of boosted speed to use.
<<Visitation of the Ghost>> - Tiferet summons a ghost to aid her in the fight. Unfortunately, said ghost doesn't actually deal damage to anyone. However, it does terrify an enemy of Tiferet's choice, giving them a fairly potent debuff to both attacking and defending. To compensate, <<Visitation of the Ghost>> has a fairly long recast time.
<<Un-Death>> - This benchmark is an activated ability that Tiferet obtained by sheer luck, having discovered an esoteric questline hidden in a desolate corner of the world map. When she activates this ability, one of her fallen allies is returned to life, and with some extra power to their attacks. However, they die again after about 45 seconds to a minute, so they had best use that time wisely. Someone who's already been raised by this effect can't be raised by it again, either, unless another resurrection ability has been used on them in the meantime.
<<The Headless Horseman>> - This benchmark also takes the form of an activated ability, albeit one that Tiferet uses very rarely. Using all of her power, Tiferet can grant herself or another the Headless Horseman buff, which massively boosts all of their capabilities for a short time. It also gives them the appearance (and speed) of the famous specter. After using this ability, Tiferet is essentially defenseless until her health regenerates, which is why she doesn't use it often.

 R O U G H V I R T U A L H I S T O R Y
The name Tiferet is usually accompanied by a response of either "Who?" or "Oh yeah, the one skeleton chick, right?" She's mostly known for her… interesting getup, which has gotten her a bit of admiration from the more fashion-oriented players. Another subset of players know her because they happened to come upon one of her "concerts", which generally take place in some dark corner or other; a graveyard, an abandoned building, a graveyard, and suchlike. Yet another sliver know her as a fairly dependable support mage, and speak of her fondly. Finally, there are a few rumors making the rounds (mostly from veteran to newbie) about a ghostly woman with a violin, who sang the most beautiful, haunting song you've ever heard, then disappeared into the mist. Were one to ask Tiferet, she'd likely just drop a comment about "It's a fiddle, actually" and then move on. All of these, taken together, make Tiferet known, at least, though she's far from a household name.

[User]
Cɪᴛʏ ᴏꜰ Tʜᴏʀɪɴ [Lᴇꜰɪɢ Lᴀᴡɴ], Pʀᴇsᴇɴᴛ Dᴀʏ, Mᴏʀɴɪɴɢ

Rael let out a loud, exhausting sigh, an audible sign of her own incessant boredom regarding the task at hand. After all, this was one of the reasons she tended to opt for missions away from the big central groups. She could get things done discreetly and with little annoyance if it was limited to a small group of people.

"Now that's a question I can get behind. When are we going to stop wasting time and get to it? T'would be nice."

[Assistant]
---

---

Alex // Vulcan

LOCALE // The Black Crane
TIME // Morning

---

---

Clank... clank... clank... clank... The sound of iron ringing on hot metal resounded through the shadowy room. A man partaking in his work, unflinching. Sweat dripped down his brow, but not a single second was taken to wipe it away. His eyes, with unyielding firmness, gauged the heat and shape of his work. Each strike of his hammer was fine tuned and precise. His rhythm was as exacting as the sound of a bass drum, signalling the beat of his heart as if in sync with his hand, molding the weapons shape. The forge breathed hot steam as if it was the breath of a ravenous beast, ready to take down its quarry. Steam permeated the air every time the hot metal was dipped in the cool, blue water of the slack tub.

The sounds of forge work continuously poured out of the small shop, tucked away in the back alley of the city. A small sign hung above the wooden door, revealed the image of a black crane in relief. The Black Crane, as the shop was so named, was a small, humble, and rarely perused shop. Given it's out-of-the-way nature, most people didn't even know it existed. And that is exactly how the owner liked it. Away from people.

The last sounds rang from the blade as Alex lifted it up to his eyes. Scrutinizing every inch of the short 12 inch blade, he nodded with satisfaction. It was a simple blade, with a few imperfections, but it was leagues above what a normal smith could accomplish. Grasping the blade in his right hand, he walked over to the far wall and set it one of the many racks that lined the back wall of his forge room. While the coals in the furnace slowly began to cool. Alex heard a knock at the window. "Hmmmm? Is it those kids again? I thought I told them to stop playing games near my shop." Drawing the curtain of the window back, the room erupted with light and quickly blinded the sweat and soot covered man. "Crap, what time is it? I must have been at it all night again." Mustering the strength to open his eyes against his body's instinct to keep them shut, he managed to peak out the window. Hovering just outside the window was the small creature known as a feyling. Alex unlatched the window and pushed it open with a nudge.

"What do you want?" he abruptly stated. Completely skipping greetings and getting right to the point. "Vulcan, right?" the feyling chittered to him.

"Yah, like I said, what do you want?" Glaring at the feyling with expectant eyes, he urged it to quickly proceed. "Well, I have a message from Elian..."

"Elian? I don't really care. I'm bout to go to bed and I don't feel like getting dragged into that nagging woman's nonsense so hurry up and tell me what she wants." After receiving the message from Elian he quickly shooed the feyling away.

A yawn escaped his lips as the creature quickly disappeared from his sight. "Man, help a person out once with a seriously weird weapon design and she thinks you and her are best friends. What has the world come to?" Moaning to himself, he reconsidered the message. "A dungeon is a good opportunity to stock up on supplies..." Based on the concept of risk versus reward, he decided that he could benifit from a raid in Thorinn. Grabbing his katana from next to the door, he pushed his way out of the forge and headed to the city's nearest Gate.

---

A zombie formerly know as Vulcan suddenly walked out of the crowd around Lefig lawn and greeted Elian. "Looks like I made it on time, it looks like there's already a big group here, am I the last one to show up?" As he proposed the question Alex looked around at the colorful group of wayfarers surrounding Elian. His darkened eyes gaze left and right seeing if he could recognize any of the others here. However, the answer to that was a solid no. "I was hoping Crow would atleast show up, it would be nice to atleast have someone else I know here." Shrugging to himself, he waited for whatever direction the group would decide to take. All he knew was that he planned on taking the bystander approach. While adjusting his equipment, his mind filled with thoughts of nothing but the idea of sleep.

[User]
Allie // Tiferet
LOCALE // Lefig Lawn

TIME // Midday

---

---

As Tiferet brought her song to its conclusion, she heard Elian's voice whispering in her ears, saying that she'd come find her once Elian had enough people. Tiferet grinned and sent back a one-word message. "Gotcha." In her mind, "If you aren't done when I've got people, I'll come find you" translated roughly into "Keep playing until you hear me yelling at you," so Tiferet took a moment to collect up the bits of change that had been tossed her way before launching into another fiercely energetic number, as much to get everyone pumped up for their impending expedition as to make some money.


[System]
Personal Characteristics
Age: 21
Sex: Male
Birthplace: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, United States

Physical Characteristics
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 206lbs
Hair color: Dirty blonde
Eye color: Dark brown
Other: Right ribcage tattoo; Left shoulder tattoo; Left forearm tattoo

Health and Fitness
Addictions: None
Handicaps: Occasional pain in right knee from running
Proficiency: Great hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and stamina
Skills: Handguns and crossbows

Mental Characteristics
Known Languages: English, some French
Lures: New things; places, people, events, drinks, etc
Temperament: Sanguine
Personality: ESFP-A (Entertainer)

Social Characteristics
Emotional Stability: Relatively stable
Humor: Ingratiating laughter, Satire, Jokes
Reputation: Semi popular and well-liked by others

Philosophical Characteristics
Morality: Mostly black at white with some gray areas
Perception: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade

Spiritual Characteristics
Religion: Lutheran
Virtues: Kindness, liberality, diligence
Vices: Pride, impatience

Hidden Characteristics
Desires: To date a girl who isn't shallow or trying to get something from him
Secrets: History of being used/led on by past girlfriends

Relations
Father: John Gabel (50)
Mother: Jacqueline Gabel (48; deceased)
Younger brother: Jacob Gabel (18)

Biography
Growing up in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Jay Gabel had always been something of a well-shaved mountain man. He spent his days fishing on the lake, hiking in the forest, and hunting in the mountains with his father. As an experienced policeman who believed in the importance of self-defense, John Gabel taught his son how to use weaponry at a young age. He was skilled with a bow at age ten, a crossbow at age thirteen, and a gun at age sixteen under his father's tutelage. It had been a proud accomplishment for both of them.

Overall, Jay's childhood had been adventurous, but also uneventful. His family got along well, Jay and his brother, Jacob, were both homeschooled. They hardly ever travelled, and Jay had never left the United States except for a few visits to Southern Canada, which was only a few hours north of his hometown. It was a simple life, but it was a good life, and that was all the Gabels cared about.

When the news came, none of them were prepared.

During an annual checkup, Jay's mother's doctor noticed a strange lump on her breast. Upon further testing, it was discovered that she had accelerated cancer. It had progressed so rapidly that her chance of recovering was almost zero percent, and she didn't have much time left. The whole family was devastated, but none were more so than Jay's father. Despite being married for almost thirty years, the two were still as in love as they had been on their wedding day. John couldn't imagine being separated from his wife, so he spiraled into depression, drinking the days away to cope with the pain.

When Jay was 19 years old, just six months after his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she passed away. John's drinking grew worse, to the point where Jacob, who was still in high school, had to move in with their grandparents. Jay was just entering his freshman year of college. The upheaval of his life from Coeur d'Alene to the college dormitory, the loss of his mother, his father's alcoholism, and the separation from his brother made for a difficult transition. But Jay had grown up to be a hardy man. After spending summer break in grieving, he forced himself to buck up and move on with his life. He refused to sit idly by and miss opportunities. This was when he got his third tattoo—a shark on his ribcage—as a symbol of proactively attacking his future.

Because of this decision, Jay's first year of university was the most eventful year of his life. He joined the cross country team and a number of different clubs to keep himself busy. He also chose to major in criminology, hoping to get a job in the police force when he would eventually graduate. He kept up an active social life as well, joining a volunteer-oriented fraternity, going to parties on weekends, and making friends everywhere he went.

The only tough part about college was the dating scene. Jay learned quickly that most of it was shallow bullshit when he had his first college girlfriend. She had been a girl from a sorority that was close to his frat. They hit it off at a volunteer event—cleaning trash up around the town—and he worked up the courage to ask her out. Unfortunately, she wasn't looking for the type of long term relationship he was hoping for. She strung him along for free dinners and rides until he realized he was being led on. Naturally, he broke things off with the girl right away, but the pain of the situation remained a scar afterwards.

Jay tried dating twice more since the incident, but unluckily for him, the same thing continued to happen. One other girl accepted his proposal for a relationship and used him for money, and the other just kept him on the hook as a backup plan while she pursued another man in his fraternity. It was discouraging to say the least. So, during his sophomore year of college, he swore off dating. Instead of going to parties on weekends, he went to a local shooting range to practice with his weaponry. He spent his weekdays focusing on his schoolwork and his distance running for the cross country team. It was a different experience, but it wasn't a bad one.

Now, going into his third year of college, Jay has no plans. He began to miss the wildness and spontaneity of his first year towards the end of his second, so he decided to just see where life will take him as a junior. No more avoiding girls, no more avoiding frat parties. He would let himself be immersed in college life once again.

And he would be damned if it isn't a good experience this time.

[User]
Jay went to work right away in the hunt for research topics. He retrieved three notecards and a pen from his backpack, ready to write down his choices, and entered 'Psychology of…' into the Google search engine. Dozens of web articles popped up in response, so he scrolled down the list and skimmed the titles of each as he looked for something to pique his interest. The options were seemingly endless. He whistled quietly as he read subject after subject. He had had no idea how diverse psychology was. It was going to be harder than he thought to choose just three.

Psychology of Sport and Exercise
Psychology of Color
Psychology of Violence
Psychology of Social Status
Psychology of Selfies

Jay paused to laugh at that last one. He found it funny that some scientist in the world took the time and effort to study people taking pictures of themselves. Then again, somebody had to do it eventually. It seemed like everything else had been studied already. He continued down the list:

Psychology of Eating
Psychology of Attractiveness
Psychology of Survival

He stopped again, his cursor hovering over the last title. Growing up in a family of outdoorsy people, he had always been fascinated with survival. He had been camping with his brother and father countless times—like real camping: in the middle of the mountains with no bathrooms and just a nearby stream for water—so he felt like he had a pretty solid understanding of survival. However, he had never once thought about the processes of his brain when he was out in the wilderness. It might have been interesting to study. He wrote it down on one of the three notecards, along with 'Psychology of Obedience and Roleplaying'—he was still too interested in that one to pass it up—and 'Psychology of Tattoos'—he didn't know if Anna had any tattoos, but he had three, himself, so it could have been interesting to study what caused a person to choose whether or not to permanently mark his or her body.

Having picked out his three research subjects, Jay turned the cards face down and shuffled them together with Anna's choices in the center of the table. He watched as she selected one at random, and was pleased to see it was his favorite option: 'Psychology of Survival.' He grinned, excited to come up with a plan as to how they would go about researching the chosen topic. She didn't seem quite as enthusiastic as he was, but he hoped he could change her mind. She was probably just uncomfortable about the idea of survival, like many other girls he knew. But also like many other girls, she would probably warm up to it with time.

"I don't have any specific ideas for it right now," Jay answered her question with a shrug. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. "We have to study each other though, right? I was thinking we could put together some sort of survival situation and see how the other person responds. I don't know what that would look like yet, but it's one option." He offered her a friendly smile. "You don't have to worry. It wouldn't be anything intentionally dangerous, and I have a lot of experience, so I can make sure we stay safe."

[Assistant]
A survival aituation? Once again Anna could feel herself beginning to grow nervous. In a survival situation, her powers were going to be a problem. If she felt endangered or threatened, her powers always just seemed to act on their own, something that wasn't good when she was still trying to hide her powers and her past from people. But, he was saying he wouldn't try to make it dangerous and that he would make sure that they were safe. So, whatever they came up with wouldn't be so bad. Right?

She looked to him and slowly nodded, though there was still a slightly unsure look on her face about all of it, "Well...I suppose if you promise it will all be safe, then we could go with something like that." What sort of survival situation would it be she wondered. It wasnt like there were many safe things to do to go into a 'survival mindset'. But then again, looking at Jay, he seemed like the type of guy that would like the outdoors. So, of course her first thought on the type of survival situation would he choose would have to do with the wilderness.

"Ummm...I can go ahead and do some research while you look for or think about our survival situation? Maybe we could get started on working on the research through out the week and then try the survival situation this weekend? If you've picked the situation by thus weekend that is, or didn't have any other plans?" She questioned, not wanting to intrude if he had already made plans this weekend.

Judging from the way the girls in the classroom seemed to swoon over him and how undeniably good looking he was, he probably had a girlfriend or something to go out with. If he did, it wouldn't surprise her at all. She on the other hand didn't have anywhere to be or anyone to hang out with. It was all about school work for her, so that she could keep her scholarship. Plus, it wasnt like she had anyone to hang out with anyway, "I'm pretty much free to work on the project any time."

[User]
Jay was pleased to hear Anna agree to engage in a survival situation with him, even if she did so reluctantly. Hopefully she'll warm up to the idea later, he thought. 'Survival' could sound intimidating at first, but he knew it could also be a lot of fun. His heart was already beating a little faster with excitement at all the possibilities. They could go camping in the woods with only a bare minimum of supplies; they could take a trip rafting down a river; or they could go backpacking in the mountains. He didn't care what they chose. Anything would be great to him.

He clicked his ballpoint pen in thought when Anna asked if he had time to work on the project with her over the weekend. He was always busy with various events on weekends, but he couldn't remember what, if anything, was going on during the next one. There wouldn't be a cross country race yet—the season had only just begun, so they were still training—but his fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon (ΔΚΕ, or 'Deke' for short), always seemed to have something planned.

"Let me check," Jay said, reaching for his phone. He opened up his calendar to see what his weekend looked like. He was glad he had decided to make note of all the events this time around. He hadn't done so during his freshman or sophomore years, and he had had a wild experience trying to remember when things were happening. This time, it looked like there were two events, one on Friday and another on Saturday. On Friday, Deke was hosting a paintball tournament. He definitely wanted to go to that. However, the Saturday event was a "bad movie" party at the frat house. Having been a part of Deke for two years, he knew how that was going to go down: All of his brothers would get shitface drunk and hook up with the sorority girls they invited. Personally, Jay had never been fond of drinking events. He attended a few of them every once in a while—mostly for the sake of bonding with his brothers—but he preferred to be sober.

"I've got plans on Friday night, but I'm free for the rest of the weekend," he announced, deciding not to go to the movie night. He put his phone back down on the table again. "I know I said I prefer presenting, but I promise I'm not gonna make you do all of the hard work, Anna." He didn't want her to think he was going to leave all of the preliminary work to her. He had had enough lazy partners in the past to know how annoying that could be. "I'll do some research this week, too, and we can meet up on Saturday to discuss what we find. How about we get together again at noon to grab lunch at the hub? Oh, and one more thing," He picked up his phone again. "Do you mind giving me your number so we can stay in touch? Just in case plans change, or we need to reach each other for whatever reason, you know?"


[System]
Age: 42
Gender: Male

Personality: He likes to treat the office interns as his personal coffee jockeys. He's the type of boss that would refer to the company as being "like a family". And by "like a family", he means that he will cut your ass out of the will.

Appearance: A stocky man with a penchant for tweed suits, and hair styles perfectly to hide his receding hairline.

[User]
Lars worked on the lock and threw the cage door open. Lucas wasn't moving. He grabbed the man and turned him over.

"Oh my God," Lars backed away, his face pale. A soft clatter of metal on concrete sounded as a jagged piece of shrapnel fell from Lucas's cold, lifeless hands. He was covered in blood, his own hands soaked in it, his throat messily slit. Lars couldn't process what he was seeing. "He...he...he killed himself," He choked. Lucas, knowing that the cult had something undoubtedly insidious planned for him, and not knowing that he would be rescued, clearly took the only way out he could find.

[Assistant]
Evie couldn't stop the scream from escaping as she saw what Lucas had done to stop the cult. She trembled in shock as tears fell. They were too late. If he had only waited a few more minutes he'd still be...Her hand shook as she carefully closed his eyes, once dark and full of life now just dark with death. "I'm so sorry, Lucas...we were too late." She whispered.

Her head whipped around upon hearing voices and footsteps thundering towards them. "I don't want to know what happens if they find us." She said, standing back up.

[User]
Lars snapped out of his shock when he heard the sound of people coming. He looked around for a way out, but found none. There wasn't even a decent place to hide. He pulled Evie away from the door and stood in front of her as it flew open, several people in dark cloaks filing in. One man pushed his way to the front. He looked at the body on the floor, his jaw set.

"Motherfucker," He growled, then his eyes went to the two intruders. "You two have made the biggest mistake of your lives coming here. Take them!"

"Wait!" Lars stepped towards them. "If you let her go, I'll come willingly."

The man scoffed. "And why the hell do we care if you are willing or not?"

Lars paused. He took a deep breath, then began to unbutton his long sleeved shirt. "Because then you can finished what you started." He tossed the shirt to the floor. His torso, and presumably the rest of him, was covered in the same, satanic symbols that had marred Damien. These, however, were healed and faded from decades of living in the sanctity of holy ground.

[Assistant] "Lars, no!" Evie exclaimed, grabbing his arm as she looked at him. "I'm not letting you become a demon, we can still stop them!" She exclaimed, practically begging him. She didn't want to lose another acquaintance. "Don't do this."

[User]
"I can't live my whole life inside that church," Lars said to her. "This was going to happen sooner or later. I've accepted that." He looked back at the cultists. The man in front was gleaming.

"Well, well. Someone's already done the work for us, I see," He seemed very pleased. "Very well. We let that girl go, and you come quietly. Wherever we tell you to."

"Deal," Lars said, his hesitation gone. "But I want to make sure you fulfill your part. I want to see her let go safely."

"Very well. Someone take these two up top."

The cultists came for them, grabbing their arms and leading them out of the room. Lars didn't struggle as they were taken back out into the station, and up several flights of stairs until the harsh light of day hit them. They were both shoved into the back of a van.

"When you get out, run. Call Isaac. Don't go back home, and don't go to his house. You two need to wait until Lucas comes back," He spoke in a quiet tone, so the driver couldn't hear him.

[Assistant]
Evie winced as the thugs grabbed her injured arm but didn't complain as they were lead back to the surface and into a van. Upon hearing Lars, she gave him a baffled expression. Wait until Lucas comes back? She thought almost wanting to mouth it to him but decided on a curt nod in reply. Once the van had stopped and she was shoved out she ran off, stumbling a little before gaining her footing.

Tears stung her vision as she ran, the harsh reality crushing down on her like a skyscraper. It wasn't until her lungs screamed in agony that she stopped, sliding down against an alleyway wall and sobbing. Remembering Lars' words, she called Isaac still crying. "Don't go home." She said when he answered, voice cracking.

[User] "Yeah, I figured that when I saw the blood covered car in my driveway!" Isaac said over the phone, "Evie, what the hell is going on?!"

[Assistant]
Evie took a shuddering breath before telling him everything; visiting Lucas, finding the car, what happened with Damien and the police, finding the location of the cult. "Isaac...we were too late. Lucas...Lucas is..." She couldn't bring herself to say it as more tears poured out.

She cried for a few minutes before telling Lars sacrificed himself in exchange for her safety. "He told me to call you and wait until Lucas comes back. What does he mean?"

[User] Isaac was silent for a long time. His breather shuddered quietly on the other side of the phone. Then, finally, "Where are you?" He asked. "I'll come get you."

[Assistant]
Evie glanced around before seeing a store not too far away from where she was. She gave him the name of the place before waiting outside it, trembling from everything that happened. Once Isaac arrived, she got into the car. It was in the sideview mirror she caught how horrible she looked, bloodshot, puffy eyes, dirt and a little bit of cobwebs on her outfit as well as in her hair.

"I didn't mean for this to happen. I had no idea Damien would come to my apartment. Lucas is dead because of me." She croaked as a dry sob racked her body, all the tears she had now gone.

[User] Isaac winced when he saw how bad she looked. He, too, appeared to have been crying. But he kept a stony face as he drove. "It's not your fault, and Lucas isn't dead." He said. "He can't die; he's immortal. His body can die, sure, but...he'll be back. The problem is we don't know how long it'll take. This hasn't happened while I've been his keeper."

[Assistant] "Immortal? What do you mean, he's like an angel or something?" Evie asked him. At this point she wouldn't be surprised if he was considering demons were real. "Keeper? You mean he's had others who protected him in the past?"

[User]
"It's...complicated. And don't ask him about it, either. He's really touchy about it." Isaac took a deep breath before explaining to the best of his abilities. "From what I've gathered, he was an angel at one point. He was an angel of song, or something to that effect. Then, when Lucifer did the whole 'creating hell' thing, he made the mistake of leaving heaven. He became, well, a demon. And not one of these little guys that these cultists are calling up, he was an archdemon.

But, he realized his mistake and tried to go back. It took hundreds of years of convincing the Big Guy to forgive his treason, and of course he was never fully re-instated. So that's why he's here: not an angel, not a demon, just something in between. His voice, his weapon, was taken from him. His sole purpose is to hunt other demons now with what powers he has left. So, yeah, he's been around a while. But he doesn't stay if he isn't needed, and he has a knack for getting himself killed. That's why he's assigned to a keeper each time he comes back. I imagine coming back every few hundred years and seeing how much the world has changed is a little jarring, you know? I was the lucky bastard picked this time."

Isaac sighed. "He'll be back. He's still very much needed. But I don't know how long it takes. Like I said, it's kind of a touchy subject with him. It's taken me years to pry this much information out of him."

He pulled up to a motel and stepped out of the car. "Well...this'll do for now, I guess."

[Assistant]
So that's why he's deformed. Evie thought as she listened to the story. She felt sorry for the former angel and his choice which lead him to being on Earth, trapped forever so he was unable to enter heaven or hell. "I won't talk about it." She promised.

She stepped out of the car with him, giving him a slight nod. "Lucas will know we're here, right?" She asked hopefully.

[User]
Isaac shrugged. "I sure hope so. He can sense demons, so I just kinda' assume he can sense where I'm at, too." He went into the office and paid for a room for the both of them. It wasn't a super fancy place to stay, but it was two beds, a bathroom, and fairly clean.

Isaac tossed his suitcase on one of the beds and sat down, running a hand down his face. The stress was getting to him. He could only assume that his best friend was dead by now, and his other friend was somewhere in limbo. He was exhausted, but he certainly wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight without some heavy sleeping meds.

"I've got a clean t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts if you want to clean up and change," He offered. "I expected to be in Florida for a while, so I packed a lot of extras."

[Assistant]
"Thank you." Evie replied with a weak smile as she took the clothes he offered her before heading into the bathroom to clean up and change. She did wince as the water hit her scar, making a mental note to ask him about it later. After a while she appeared, a little refreshed but exhausted.

"Isaac? Have you ever seen anything like this before? The demon that possessed Damien ended up giving this to me." She inquired, showing the scar to him.

[User]
Isaac looked at the scar, his head tilted. "Yeah. Lars has...had, one just like it. He got it when one of the demons he and Lucas were destroying touched him. That, combined with being marked up with all those sigils, is what kept him inside the church. He couldn't leave holy ground at night, and only for a limited amount of time during the day. It's like a beacon to demons saying 'hey, come possess me'."

He paused. "But, there's ways to prevent that. Wearing holy water jewelry for one. Wouldn't have helped Lars with all the," He made a general motion to entire body. "But as long as you don't get carved up, a nice holy trinket should do."

[Assistant] "You...wouldn't happen to have any on you currently, would you?" She asked a little nervously, not wanting to be a beacon for any demons that would undoubtedly be looking for them.

[User]
"I do, actually. I never leave home without it." Isaac dug into his suitcase and eventually pulled out a small vial. "It's not exactly the most fashionable thing, but you can just keep it in your pocket for now." He handed it to her. "Well, my turn to clean up. I'm covered in airport gunk." He was at least trying to make light of the horrible situation at hand.

Isaac took out a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt and went into the bathroom to wash up. When he came back, he dug in his bag until he found his Unisom.

"Want some?" He offered, "This stuff does wonders."

Making a career out of hunting demons certainly wrecked one's sleep habits. He'd had to resort to medication to sleep well on multiple occasions.

[Assistant] "Thank you." Evie said as she took the vial from him, placing it in her pocket. She chuckled a little as he made a joke before heading off to get cleaned up as well. She was fast asleep when he came out, whimpering softly as memories of what happened plagued her mind, specifically Lucas' death.

[User]
Isaac looked over to see her already asleep, and restless. He pondered over whether he should wake her up, but decided against it in hopes that she would settle herself. He took his sleeping pill and tucked in to his own bed.

It was early morning; still dark outside. A bright flash lit up the room before it quickly died. Lucas glanced around at where he was, then went to try and shake Isaac awake. The man wasn't having any of it, still slumbering heavily from the medication. Lucas gave up and turned to Evie. He approached her quietly and bent down to look her in the face before poking her shoulder.

[Assistant] Evie moaned softly as she was poked by something, shifting a little before her eyes slowly fluttered open. She thought she was still dreaming until she realized the dark eyes had life in them. "Lucas!" She exclaimed before hugging him as tears of joy fell. "I...I thought you were..." She choked.

[User] He stiffened at being hugged, his arms held out straight like he didn't know how to respond. When she finally releases him, he took a step back and messily signed to her, "Lars?"

[Assistant]
"He gave himself up so I could go free. I don't think he survived." She replied gravely.

"He told me to call Isaac and wait for you to come back. I told Isaac everything he missed out on. He gave me this after I told him about my scar." She added, showing him the vial.

[User]
Lucas frowned at hearing that his friend was gone, but he didn't seem overly distraught. He knew this would happen eventually, after all. He looked at the vial Evie held up, then at her scar.

Suddenly, he crawled onto her bed and plopped himself down on top of the comforter. He knew it would be a while before Isaac was up, and reincarnation was hard work. He took the extra pillow and fluffed it up to his preference before curling up to nap.


[System]
"The Tengu are looking for a stolen object. Would you have knowledge on this subject?"

"My name? How rude. It is only polite to state your name first."
"What matter is my age?"
Age:
125

Race:
Tengu

Appearance:
Himeko looks to be about her late teens to early twenties though in reality she's lived over a century. She has long brown hair typically tied back into twintails. She wears travel clothes of her tribe's color and she stands at a little over six feet. Other than her wings, that is a good sign that she isn't exactly human.

Personality:
Himeko is a noble in Tengu society. Though she tries not to be, she can be rather pretentious at times. Her normal mode is "guarded" though one can gain her trust rather quickly. She has a rather negative opinion on humans in general, but will work with them in times of need. While she thinks of humans this way, she likely will come to like them quickly so long as they are competent at what they do.

"A mere human cannot hope to match a Tengu, that is just simple. Any longer talk on it is mere sophistry."

Abilities:
Tengu in general have the ability to manipulate wind. Though it appears to be the typical type of magic, it really has a source from the divinity that resides on Tengu Mountain.

Their wings also allow them to fly at high speeds. They are rather large and can wrap around them as a coat if need-be, but otherwise, they can use the same divine power that allows them to manipulate the wind to hide their wings.

As a species, they also have strength far outweighing the average human and wielding their special Tengu Forged Katana that assist them in their wind manipulating abilities.

History: Himeko was born among her fellow Tengu at the supposed height of their civilization. She herself was born among one of the upper rungs of the race and as thus, she was taught many things such as swordsmanship, etiquette and channeling divinity. Soon enough, she found herself among one of the many Wing Guards of the mountain.

She never left the mountain, but she was put in charge of guarding the Vault of Relics. It's name was exactly as it sounds and she liked to take her time examining the many pieces in the Vault. She both guarded and studied them. Soon enough, she found herself tasked with guarding a human to study in the vault. She scoffed at the order, but was quickly ordered to follow orders or else she'd be stripped of her rank. Begrudgingly, she accepted the task.

She was quickly introduced to the human. She was not impressed. They were simply a scholarly type and she was simply surprised that he was able to make it to the top by himself, let alone make it past the constant tempests that masked the mountain. He asked her if she'd like to talk to him about any of the objects and simply told him their name and a very short idea of what they did. She was constantly confused as to why the Elders and the Lord of the Mountain allowed a human up here, but followed orders as loosely as she could.

It took a few weeks, but the man was just about done with his research. In the last couple of days however, the tempest surrounding the mountain disappeared and the mountain was attacked by a small horde of what could only be described as gigantic bats. Himeko was with the scholar at the time, and quickly flew him to a safe space in the mountain fortress.

She quickly made her way to the front and helped eliminate the attackers, however she left the Vault undefended. In her absence, someone or something snuck into the Vault and stole one of the Tengu's most sacred treasures, The Leaf of the Four Winds. A grand treasure that had the power to amplify the power of any wind based divinity or magic.

Many among the Elder Council accused the scholar of stealing the item, or letting the tempest die out. Himeko, however, stood up for the scholar, claiming he was not at fault for this theft. As she was known for her disdain for the human race for their foolishness, her words for a human were held in high regard. On the other hand, her leaving the Vault undefended was seen as the main issue at hand. For her failure at losing the Leaf, she was tasked with retrieving it or never returning. After preparing for a few days and gathering her supplies, she left the mountain and sadly only found solace in human towns. Luckily, she had one clue... An odd sigil...

Other:
-Himeko is actually a master at disguising her disgust at humans. Luckily for her. She deals with humans in villages with a hidden disgust but something better than a frown, but less than a smile.

[User] Himeko looked around. It was a place for the dead alright, though completely different from her home's post-death techniques. The Tengu would cremate their dead and spread their ashes to the wind, letting the Divine carry them to where it willed. She then looked over to Charlotte. "Be at ease Charlotte. You've nothing to worry with me around. I do not fear spirits. And as she said, they are mostly harmless. Just don't make them mad." She giggled a bit at her partner. It was nothing to fear. Spirits were interesting, though her experience they were mostly hostile... Though she had mostly experienced poltergeists so that was something. She just had to believe this Human Livia for now. "So then, Livia, lead on."

[Assistant]
"Ease? I'm walking into a haunted graveyard. I'm not a fighter, I'm an alchemist." She grumbled. Still, perhaps there would be a rare ingredient or something here she could use? That was one of the main reasons she left, after all. To discover and document all the flora and fauna she could find, and document their alchemical properties. Astril had many rare, and ultimately near extinct specimens from what she knew, but they paled in comparison to the numbers outside of the Tower. "I'm not exactly good in these sorts of situations unless you want me to, I dunno, throw a healing poultice at something or another."

"...An Alchemist, huh?" Livia commented absentmindedly, leading them calmly through the forest. And looking for Harena too. Well, she could take a guess as to what she was looking for then. A thought for later, though. "Either way, don't worry too much. If they are restless and violent, I can more than protect us."

"Oh wonderful...let me just leave my life in the hands of a swords woman and a girl I just met."

"Humor under duress." Livia chuckled. "Either way, here we are."

The place looked almost exactly what one might have expected. The thick, large trees shaded a good bit of the light and prevented it from reaching the ground. An old iron fence marked the entrance to the old graveyard, but it had long since fallen into disrepair and disuse. A slight, cold chill hung in the air as the eerie feeling of being watched washed over the trio. Charlotte grimaced, while Livia walked into the grounds in a completely nonchalant manner.

"First things first, we should look for a resident of this place." Livia commented. "A spirit by the name of Odette. She's friendly, but extremely shy. Normally she hangs around the large grave towards the center of the place, but recently..." Livia frowned, a mild hint of concern in her voice but she quickly moved on. "I trust you can handle yourselves. I'm going to see if I can find any more stray spirits."

[User] Himeko just glanced around. There was a large... What was it? Mausoleum? That's what she thought it was called. She got close to it. "So, Odette was it? Hmm." As Livia walked away, Himeko looked back to Charlotte. "We should stick together, Charlotte. Let's just search the opposite way from Livia." The Tengu said, starting to walk elsewhere in the Graveyard. She had little care about the creepiness of the place. "Odette?" She called out. Might as well try. She'd be able to fight off other spirits if they decided to attack her. "Are you there, Odette?"

[Assistant]
"Right..." Charlotte followed Himeko, unable to shake the feeling of them being watched. She rubbed the back of her neck, uneasily looking around the place. She had no idea how Himeko or Livia felt comfortable in this place. This place just seemed...wrong. Or at least, just off. but then, she was a human. Just a normal human. If something decided to attack her and she wasn't prepared...well, chances of something going horribly wrong were high.

For the most part, she stuck close to Himeko. As for the graveyard itself - as Livia said, it was eerily silent. Far too much so. Just a gentle, cool breeze and not even the chirping of insects or birds. As they walked though, Himeko would become increasingly aware of a tiny blue fox like creature observing them from atop a large stone grave. Except, it didn't have fur and seemed to be made out of some sort of ethereal blue-flame.

[User] Himeko walked around almost aimlessly looking for this Odette. She wasn't sure if she'd even meet the girl... Ghost? Whatever. Rather, there was something else that caught her eye. A... Some sort of Fox-Fire trick? It was a little blue flame fox sitting on top of a grave. The Tengu had to move close to investigate. "What's this? Are you a Kitsune trick? I'd not be surprised by that." Actually, Charlotte probably wouldn't know. "Kitsune are fox creatures. Also known as tricksters. I don't know if they'd be out this far though."

[Assistant]
"Fox creatures? We have arctic foxes in Astril, but they're just simple animals." Charlotte replied. Kitsune? She hadn't a clue. Charlotte noticed the thing shortly after Himeko, frowning a bit. That definitely wasn't a normal fox. If she had to guess...made of fire of some sort? It seemed to have fire 'essence' as a part of it. The fox in question merely tilted its head curiously as it was addressed, saying nothing.

Charlotte took a quick look around the area, trying to find anything else out of the ordinary. Specifically the plants in the area. For the most part they didn't look to be anything too different than she had already seen or was used too. She walked some distance away, a small blue flower growing near a few gravestones catching her attention.

"Huh...well look at you..." She quietly commented, running a hand over the flowers. Now this was odd - they certainly weren't like any of the ones growing in Astril.

The small fox, no bigger than the size of Himeko's hand paced back and forth atop the grave for a few seconds, before hopping off and heading off into one direction, taking only a moment to look back at the Tengu before dashing off again.

[User] Himeko just watched the little fox thing, thinking it might be some trick. A Will-o-the-Wisp perhaps. It paced back and forth a few times before hopping off before hopping off and heading in a direction. She looked at it considering her options... But definitely decided that she should chase it considering it looked back at her. Of course, she couldn't just leave Charlotte here... She just got done carrying her not too amazingly long ago but... She did a quick leap over to the girl, grabbed her, and then chased after the fox. "Play along with me here. I feel like we should follow the thing."

[Assistant]
"Hmm, blue petals..." Charlotte tilted her head to the side, running a hand over the stalk of the flower. It certainly was something that was odd. Nothing she had seen yet, at least. Small petals, with a dark green center towards the stamen and pistil of the flower. Shaped like a bell, almost. Some sort of Tulip? Well, she'd take a sample then - "Weh!"

Charlotte protested mildly as she was pulled away from the flower.

"Himeko I was in the middle of research!" She grumbled as she was pulled along. "That's a flower I've never seen before I need to document it." Besides, following a ghost fox seemed to have bad idea written all over it...though not that she could really say no to Himeko in this situation, they had agreed to it after all. So they ended up following the tiny blue fox, the small spirit leading them through the gravestones and deeper into the graveyard until they came to a large clearing of sorts in front of a large, stone pillar that was at least three stories tall. It was covered in moss and vines, with old runes and words craved into it.

In front of it, stood a girl.

Long, elbow length gloves adorned her arms, and her hair was blond and long, hanging freely down to her waist as a purple bow kept her bangs free of her eyes. She was dressed in a long black and red diamond pattered dress, with stockings and heels. The tiny fox ran up to her, poking at her legs to get her attention before running off again as she turned to face Himeko and Charlotte.

"....?"

She gazed at them silently, bright blue eyes studying Himeko and Charlotte for a few seconds before she gazed to the ground.

"....intruders?..."

Her words were quiet, and barely audible. It was difficult to tell from her impassive glance, but she seemed a little frightened.

[User]
Himeko followed the fox out until it tapped on a leg. A rather... Dressed up person. Girl, rather. The Tengu came to a slow stop in front of the girl and set Charlotte down. If this place was suppose to be full of spirits, then it was as abandoned by the dead as it was by the living. This girl was easily out of place. More so if she were living. "Of a sort, I suppose." Himeko answered, looking upward at the stone pillar. It dwarfed the place around it in a way. "It's hard not to think of the word as a negative, if I'm correct about the language. Though I'd rather hope you not think of us in this way."

She turned her vision from practically in the sky down to the ground, towards the girl. "We came with someone from the city to look for someone." She put her hand up to chin, staring at the girl's feature. The blonde hair. The checkered outfit and the heels and stockings. "Pardon me if I am incorrect, but are you Odette? We're here with Livia."


[System]
Vena said to post my CS in this tab. Yay!
Age: 8 years
Gender: female
Race: half-Ydran

Appearance: Amuné looks like a normal Muran child at first glance. It is only at closer examination that hints of her Ydran parentage. She is on the smaller side, lacking the slight chubbiness of most younglings. Her features have a sharp cast, though her ears are not so pointed that she cannot pass for Muran. Her coloring is washed out, with pale mousy hair cut a little past her jawline and light grey eyes. At the moment, her clothes are ragged and stained, her hair untidy and her face splotched with grime. She travels in the company of Wyth, a large moorcat. a younger version of Amuné

Element Affinity: Luminous (Seer)
Gear: Amuné has next to nothing in the way of possessions.

Brief History: Amuné's parents met by chance as teenagers when Baldur's tribe passed near Amira's village. Amira, who was studying to be a midwife and herbalist under the elderly village healer, came across him and a few others while out gathering plants. She had seen Ydra only rarely, as they didn't often come to her town, and she was fascinated by them and their animals. Baldur found her bold curiosity cute, and he enjoyed the energetic company of someone that wasn't from his people. They quickly became friends, and over the following few years, Baldur would make excuses to go off on his own to see her whenever his travels brought him within a day's travel. Eventually romance blossomed, and a tumble in the woods lead to a child. Baldur had moved on by the time Amira found out she was pregnant, but when he received word following Amuné's birth, he went to join her in the town. He was met with some suspicion by the villagers, as they had limited contact with Ydrans. This never completely went away, but his bright personality smoothed things over for the most part.

The pair were both Magi. Amira had minor skill with healing, and Baldur was a talented Air Magus. He also had a knack for woodwork and other small crafts, and his toys and kites became popular with the village children. Amuné was not formally acknowledged as his, as Amira realized this would make life easier for the child, and the girl had enough difficulty already. Even as a baby, the girl was a bit odd. She would react oddly to what appeared to be nothing at all, and at times her mood would change for no apparent reason. On occasion she was even afflicted with fits where she would not respond to those around her, instead focusing on something only she perceived and saying things that made no sense. Eventually it became evident that, among other things, she seemed to know the outcome of calls for her mother's services as a midwife before Amira returned home. Baldur realized his daughter had an unusual gift indeed: Sight. He'd heard of the occasional Seer but never met one. By this time technology was taking hold, and there was talk of the decline of magic, and the start of tension between Magi and non-Magi. As the victim of low level xenophobia himself, Baldur realized that her power could easily be viewed with suspicion, and imparted to Amuné the importance of keeping it to herself. She took his advice to heart, but cannot always control her visions, nor what she says during them, and there were at least a small number of villagers that figured out she had magic of some sort.

Life was good for the most part, but when the Church of the Nine Saints turned to technology and tensions erupted, as both a Magus and an outsider Baldur fell under increasing scrutiny. The townsfolk didn't mind Amira, for though she was a Magus she was one of their own, and a healer besides, but became more hostile towards Baldur, accusing him of stealing power from their Demacite crystals to use, even though he had all but stopped using his magic. The pair discussed leaving town, but Amira had spent all her life there, and while she was curious about outsiders the thought of leaving everyone she knew terrified her, and she couldn't bring herself to agree. The ill temper and seething discontent encouraged by the Church erupted one evening, and a mob came to kick Baldur out of their village. Amuné was outside playing, and she retreated to her father's side as the villagers confronted him. Baldur ordered Wyth to sit, so the cat wouldn't seem to be aggressive, and tried to talk them down and reassure them that he was not trying to cause harm to anyone. They didn't listen, and when a man who shoved Baldur brushed against Amuné as well, it triggered a vision for her. She said only "the village will be in flames", but that was enough for the riled-up townsfolk. They tried to grab both her and her father, over Amira's protests. With his daughter in danger, the generally gentle Baldur tried to fight off those going after her, using fists and his magic. He was not a strong man, and hadn't needed to defend himself in years -- not since he'd come to live in the village. Wyth made a better accounting of himself, but there were too many for a single cat, however fierce, to fight off. Baldur's aim was to take Amuné and Amira, if the woman would come, and flee, but he was unable to break away from the attackers. Following a solid stab to his hip and one to his shoulder, he told Wyth to take Amuné and run. The last she saw of her parents was her mother trying desperately to reach her fallen father as the mob turned on the woman as well.

Additional info: Frightened by the events immediately preceding her leaving her home, Amuné is more withdrawn than she was growing up.

Name: Wyth
Age: 10 years
Gender: male
Race: moorcat

Appearance: Wyth has an appearance typical to moorcats. He is a large feline, standing nearly two and a half feet at the shoulder, with a thick, slightly shaggy coat of mottled gray and brown, with a lighter gray and cream underbelly. His paws are proportionally larger, to help distribute his weight on the often sodden and muddy ground of the moors and marshland. His eyes are pale green, on the yellower side of the hue.

Brief History: Wyth was the kit of another moorcat owned by a member of Baldur's community. He imprinted on Baldur as a kitten, and has accompanied the man ever since. When Baldur fell for Amira and eventually went to live in her village, Wyth joined them. The moorcat is very fond of their daughter, Amuné, and treats her like he might a kitten.

Additional info: Originally the companion of Amuné's father, he now stays with her and guards her.

[User]
Trying to get out of this place wasn't going to be easy with so much attention on him right now, his identity as a machine only hindering his ability to remove himself from the scene. It wasn't his fault that he was attacked and yet he was being blamed for something he couldn't understand, as if he was doing something bad. He recognised something bad had been done but he didn't know why it had to be him. All of these accusations and all he had done was defend himself. He couldn't tell if he was feeling frightened or his sensors were picking up danger. There was always one problem with being a Machina: not knowing if his emotions were real. There could be no danger at all, but if his sensors were correct he would have to prepare for battle.

Making his sudden dash around the large man he was immediately cut off, the man turning around and grabbing at his collar before pulling him back. Stumbling back on his feet, the Machina stared up with concern as the man immediately laughed. "Who built you then, ehh?? Whose face did you steal, little machine?" the man spoke in a deep, gruff voice, moving when the little Machina tried to get around him, "What's your serial number??"

"That's…not information for you, sir!" the Machina spoke before making a brief run around the man, managing to escape his grasp this time. He didn't know who he was but he did wear a suit, probably a bad decision on his part to run if that was the case. The man wasn't a normal man most likely and looking back he saw an emblem on his suit, one that was usually associated with figures of authority. Gasping upon realisation that he might be in a little more trouble than he thought he immediately spun around, seeing how many of them there actually was.

There was the man and three other men with highly visible weapons who had insisted on approaching him about this fiasco, all of them turning to face him and looking like they were about to run after him if he didn't stop. Now he was in trouble, but it wasn't his fault. He didn't start the fight and it was the man who pulled a weapon on him. As far as he was concerned he was innocent, but apparently not in these people's eyes. Was it really true that he was the bad guy here? There was just no sense to it, especially when he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Look, I-…I don't know what I did wrong, but please leave me alone. I never asked for trouble!" Turning around again he tried to head on his way, but with one quick look again the men starting moving after him. Panicking, the Machina instead broke into a run, pushing past the crowd to try and get out of sight again. Already he was feeling regret for his actions but people were quickly trying to get away from him as well, frightened of what he was while managing to give him a good path to follow. He didn't know whether to be concerned that they were doing this or glad that they were giving him a path.

Making one last look behind him he saw the men were following him, pushing their way past the crowd. This was not good at all, he just wanted to leave and disappear from this place. Turning around immediately he spun around again, not really giving a good look at it before feeling a sudden yank at his leg. Someone had stuck their walking stick out at him which got caught on his leg, causing him to stumble and immediately bump into a young man, falling to the stone floor with a hard thump. He didn't have time to register what had happened, but without much time to get up again the guards were already on the scene.

[Assistant]
"Confound it," Asta muttered as the scene was diffused by the guards rather quickly. Her hand fell still before it could even move to make a cast and she pushed her way back through the crowd to find somewhere else to be. Magi weren't trusted, so she chose not to outwardly utilize her power, choosing to hide in throngs of people when she used making an average event into a more exciting one. Still, she had to find some way to stop the church's power-grab over Magi. Her people would, one tribe at a time, abandon this entire plane of existence. They thought that by leaving it they would be safe from the effects of magic gradually ebbing away... But no, as soon as this world faced such a drastic change, their home plane would almost certainly be next. Either the Church would take it too or the Ydra there would have their own issues with the disappearance of magic. It was all connected and her family and friends just wanted to bury their heads in the sand. Disgusting.

As the crowd dispersed, going back to business as usual, she was able to make it more easily down the street. Was everybody in this town perpetually drunk, or was there a holiday she simply didn't know about? Men everywhere were tottering about and shouting at random people for no reason. It wasn't until she saw a crowd and a few guards chasing after somebody shouting about him being Machina. It was hard to tell, he looked like a normal kid, albeit with some strange equipment to just take out walking. This town was full of drunks and interesting happenstance... All day, it seemed.

She furrowed her brow as she caught sight of an older man sticking his walking cane out and caused the boy to fall straight into somebody in front of him, taking both of them to the ground. She laughed at the comedy of the scene, recognizing the boy and the little girl and her pet by the food stand. They were the ones causing a commotion directly outside the bar. A living Machina, a boy with no sense of direction, and a homeless girl toting a moorcat... Three pretty big misfits all in a pile with the guards converging on them.

[User]
Amuné tagged along after Ethan, still keeping a hand on her cat's back for reassurance. The sight of the market made her eyes grow huge. So many things to buy! Her attention zeroed in on the edibles displayed, and she took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment to better enjoy the smell. And she would be able to eat something. The Ydran man lead her to a stall serving fish, and the girl wasn't the only eager party. Wyth's tailtip curled in anticipation of the flaky meat he was eyeing in a calculating manner, as if figuring out the best way to liberate a morsel or two. The line seemed to take forever, and when Ethan finally made his purchase and extended the fish the girl grabbed them hastily, pulling one free of its stick to hold out to the moorcat as she took a greedy bite of the other. "Mmm..." It was simple fare, but to a starving child it was a taste of heaven. Wyth took his fish daintily, careful not to get Amuné's hand with his teeth, and gave a catty sort of smile, whiskers forward.

His ears swiveled as there was a commotion behind them, and the feline turned his head, before suddenly lunging forward and shoving his girl aside, causing her to drop her meal. "My fish!" she cried, and started to snatch it up again, only to have some strange boy hit Ethan, resulting in both of them landing atop it. Cat and girl looked down at the fallen pair, and tears welled up in Amuné's eyes. Having nothing to eat, and then being given something only to have it taken away was just too much. "Hey!" she cried, emotion getting the best of shyness as she beat her little fists against the newcomer, more in anger than in an actual attempt to harm, and tried to pull him aside. "Get up, get off! That's my fish!"


[System]
"I am Lady Maria, of house Vicariis. You though, may call me Maria~"
"My, how rude asking a lady her age...hehe, though, I do like a person with a little...directness"
Age:
Appears in her early twenties. (What? A noblewoman never reveals her age~)

"Hoho, I am definitely female."
Gender:
Female

Class:
Noble, daughter of house Vicariis

Appearance:
Standing at a tall five foot nine, Maria has bright red hair that falls just below her shoulders and amber colored eyes. She wears a thick cloak, along with a lose dress. Her arms are covered with thin plates of armor, though it's not used for much protection. The cloak she wears is cloaked together with a bright red gem. She wears loose fitting, though easy to move in pants. A dress isn't exactly good for adventuring in. She is normally seen with her bow.

Personality:
On the surface, Maria appears to be a fairly friendly person. Amicable, jovial, and a little on the flirtatiously salacious side. She doesn't seem to take many things seriously. That said, as a noblewoman she is used to certain...luxuries and comforts. Most notably, servants and getting whatever she wants. Disobedience isn't something she is fond of, and while she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, it'd be better if you offered to take care of it first if you want to get on her good side.

However, if one were to actually get to know her...well. Lets just say there is a slow boiling anger underneath that friendly exterior. It's not to evident at first, though those who pay attention will notice certain...quirks, she has when speaking to some people. Seems to have a particular hate of Heterochromatic slaves.

Backstory:
The supposed daughter of the well known House Vicariis, Maria has lived a more or less pampered life since birth. Taught in all manner of things such as literature, economics, and other academics, along with the skillful use of the bow. Her life was an easy one. Servants, slaves, and all manner of pampering was given to her. While she never exactly liked such things, she has more or less gotten used to it and has developed a certain expectation that others should do as she says.

However, she has become rather...jaded with the pampered lifestyle of the nobility. So, she is going on the next expedition to the tower whether the others approve of it or not. Not that they'd ever object - House Vicariis is quite powerful, and even if she's not the heir nor the head of the house, she has the political power to make the other people in the house cry like a little baby.

Skills and Divine Abilities:
Bow of Ashes:
An Heirloom of House Vicariis, the bow is able to turn ordinary arrows into ones of fire that are able to burn pierce even the strongest of armored hides. It is said in the past, the bow was burned by a dragon but instead of being destroyed, it allowed for a child to slay it with a single, lucky, piercing blow to the beasts head.

Expert Marksman:
Maria has been trained since she was barely able to walk to wield a bow. Her eyesight is as good as bird of prey, and she can hit a mark from quite the distance.

Light as a feather:
Maria is very light on her feet, and is quite nimble allowing for some fairly impressive feats of agility. Couple that with her expert marksmanship, and it makes her a fairly fearsome fighter at mid to long range. Even close range, if she's careful.

First Aid training:
She has basic training in first aid, and can probably help stitch a wound back together if she has too.

Equipment:
- Bow of Ashes
- Armor plating that covers her arms and upper torso
- Several quiver full of arrows.
- A dagger, though is hardly ever used.
- bandages and other misc. first aid supplies.

-Favorite Food:
Surprisingly likes sweet things.

[User]
[Maria Vicariis]

"I am Albin de Fabrica. Not a literal son of a forge, mind you. Though, it also means craftsmanship, and I most likely come from a line of craftsmen, however, that doesn't matter and I digress," he said, "I have no such idea what house Vicariis is, but that might come more from my focus on metalworking and not people."

This fool didn't know who house Vicariis was? He must have been living under a literal rock to not know such a thing. Well, no matter. She doubted that title would hold much weight to the people out here anyways, not at the moment. She'd just have to make them respect her. Either through hard work and charisma, or fear. Not that it mattered at the moment. She'd have these silly boys at her command in no time. Men were so simple minded, after all.

She watched Albin do something...well, fairly reckless. She couldn't help but to laugh at it, however, even if he had nearly taken off the head of one of their companions.

"My! Certainly confident aren't you." She raucously laughed, moving a bit closer to Albin. "Confidence is good...I like confidence." She offered a smile as she approached. "But save heroics and confidence for when we need them...what would you do if we suddenly found ourselves attacked by a beast, hmm? I suppose it'd be humorous to see you try and beat the thing with your bear hands, but I'd prefer you not die." With that, she walked past him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder as she did so.

"At any rate, we should probably stop fooling around-" Her ears caught the sound of another speaking some distance away. Normally she wouldn't care all that much...if it wasn't for the last part of the woman's sentence. She stopped speaking only for a moment, eyes narrowing at the slave girl, lips curling into a slight frown. What was that...thing doing here? A 'Former Slave'...please. There was no such thing. She realized though, she was staring rather...harshly at the slave though and quickly corrected herself as she turned her attentions back to Albin, also realizing she still hand her hand on his shoulder.

Whoops~

"- Stop fooling around and make progress, hmm? Though, I wouldn't mind...fooling around a bit more when we make camp." She left the meaning of that sentence up to his imagination and left him standing there. She'd retrieve her arrow later. For now, she simply wished to observe the group again for now.

[Assistant]
Lucanas Meretrix
When Kostya responded that he lacked knowledge in the usage of a dagger Meretrix simply nodded. That confirmed the background of the hammerman as a serf who happened to luckily find dragon scale.

"Is it safe for me to assume that you have minimal training in combat? If that is a problem, perhaps we can start sparring by the campfire? I'm sure I can give you some pointers."

Before he could start a lecture however, a cheerful feminine voice popped up in the background. Aisha apparently felt that leaving the city made her free. There were two reasons Lucanas believed that was false.

Firstly, it was extremely obvious she had escaped. The slave didn't have nearly enough gear to suggest she had been prepared for this sort of trip. Secondly, it was in her blood to live a life of submission. Lucanas would consider her free the moment her eyes decided on a single choice.

The servant would make for good company later on the trip when he needed it, and would be a good start for populating his household later. Even if she had been freed, it would be expected for her to carry her weight both literally and metaphorically.

The warrior raised a finger to Kostya requesting a pause in their discussion. He intended to put this girl back in her place, and started heading over to her with a stern look in his eyes.

"You. Over here - NOW!" As he spoke his words went from a firm commanding tone to a loud panicked one. The great axe was suddenly in his hands, the warrior maneuvering himself in between the pair of them and his foe with the precious time he had left, raising his axe to strike.

A massive grey wolf was sprinting towards Eadric and the slave, mouth hanging open, teeth sharp, tongue halfway out as if overly eager to taste their flesh ... and proceeded to jump over all three of them and run away from the party as if they hadn't been there. It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous and sweating a little, but a lifetime of training kicked in.

"Everybody stay calm. Nobodies injured."

[User]
Eadric Sophus

---

Eadric jumped a bit more than he would have liked at the wolf. It may have just been a Grey Wolf, a dwarf next to some of the Direwolves he'd seen, but it had startled him all the same. As the wolf ran away, Eadric's mind returned to what was going on as the warrior saw the Wolf. He had been telling Aisha, the former slave, to come to him.

Damn the fool girl! he thought. If she had just worn an eyepatch, lied about what she was. He sighed. He was going to have to take her side. He had always taken a liking to the underdog, more fun that way. This might just get him killed though. He couldn't beat any of them in a duel, and there were no guards coming to his rescue if he did something rash.

"Friends. That wolf was small compared to what we will face. Deeper inwards, we'll face Direwolves twice the size and likely bigger. We must be more observant if we are to survive this trek." He took a deep breath. "I've seen caravans across the Kingsroad twice this size forced to turn back. As you know, there is no turning back for us. We will need all the manpower we can get." He made a pointed look at Vicariis. "We may not all be high-born, like our...esteemed Ms. Vicariis." He tried to mask the contempt in his voice. "My point is thus. Smith or Noble. Bastard," he gestured to himself. "or warrior. Slave or base-born. It makes no difference to the wolves. Our dear Aisha may very well have been a slave in the city, and if it pleases you, she can be a slave upon our return. Out here, however, she is a comrade. Nothing more, nothing less."

He was proud of the speech, despite the inevitable repercussions. He decided that since he'd already dug his grave, he may as well jump in. He leaned in towards the warrior and whispered. "I trust that I am understood, warrior?"

[Assistant]
Wow. That wolf... he hadn't seen that coming. Luckily for them that the warrior seemed to be way quicker with his situational awareness than he was - and that there was a lot less aggression in the beast's behaviour than in its appearance.

Kostya totally agreed with Eadric's words, but he didn't intend to do this anywhere else than in his mind alone at the moment as he got the feeling that this could annoy Meretrix. And Lucanas had just offered him to do some sparring, something he definitely needed... "I'd be happy to do so." the serf answered the warrior.

Now, there was one last thing to do. A very important thing though...
Kostya loosened the blade from the tree, turned around and headed for Albin. His voice was calm, but filled with tension.
"What would you've done if this thing had hit me ?"

[User]
Albin didn't have much time to reply to her. Before he could say anything, a massive grey wolf leaped from the forest towards Eadric and the slave girl. She half wished it went for the slaves neck, but such a thing was a bit too much to hope for. She had already had her bow at the ready by the time the wolf had deemed them not worth its time, and started running off int the forest. With a frown, she kept an arrow knocked and listened. Something was off, but she couldn't exactly say what.

For now though, she brushed it off, though she still remained wary. Instead, she turned her attention to Eadric.

He was spouting some nonsense about how they should all get along simply because they were no longer in the city. It was a logical argument at least. Strength in numbers and all that, though the slave looked almost absolutely useless as far as she could tell. Still, for now she'd bite her tongue in regards to the slave, but if the woman spoke to her, she'd learn the hard way slaves were not to speak out of line.

"While you are correct in saying that we should at least attempt to get along for the sake of survival," Maria said, bow still in hand as she walked over. "A slave will always be a slave." She didn't get much of a chance to elaborate further, however as she suddenly lost her footing and stumbled forwards, almost right into Eadric.

Well, that was certainly odd. She wasn't even drunk.

She realized quite quickly what had caused the stumble, however.

The earth shook. The trees trembled and a few angry squawks of birds could be heard as their nests were disturbed. The ground shook again, leaves were shook form their branches as birds fled the area. Once more, and Maria quickly came to realize what had bothered her about that wolf.

Why hadn't it attacked them? An obvious question, one that she was fairly sure that the answer was now as obvious.

It was running from something. Her grip tightened around her bow, drawing an arrow from her quiver as she prepared herself for the worst.

"Everyone! Ready your weapons!" She shouted. Whatever it was, it was big enough to cause the earth to tremble before it, and that meant it wasn't something that was going to be so easily dealt with.