[System]
Sex: Misanthrope Motorcyclist
Age: 17
House: Stardust House

Duel Disk RUNNER: Fyodor's duel runner is a sleek, black motorcycle with no rims inside the wheels. When it is running it gives off a faint orange neon glow in the wheels and inside the wheels. His duel runner has an attachable component for his duel disk which Konstantinovich can remove and use separately if he so chooses. The duel disk is black and has a dark orange blade which is shaped like a scythe.

Personality: Konstantinovich is a rather miserable man. He is a bitter curmudgeon and lone wolf. While he claims to hate humanity alongside constantly wishing death among them, he does in fact yearn for people to be near him. This is solely because he wants people to be around to hear his dark and brooding monologues that he is fond of. The only things he truly loves are reveling in the mayhem of darkness and motorcycles.

History: Fyodor Leo Konstantinovich was a 'little miracle' to his family, namely because this was the first time his father was able to properly spawn a child with his wife. The boy who would become The Ghoulish Rider, Traveler of the Highway of Hell, lived in a cold, but not terribly dreary, cozy little town. From an early age Fyodor had a troubling temperament that worried those around him. He was always off on tangents of doom and despair and claiming he was sent by the Devil to make sure the world of man would be cloaked in his vision. In order to help cure this boy's melancholy his father made him work in his garage. For a brief period of time, it seemed that Fyodor was getting better as the boy did like getting to help in the workshop.

This was not the case, as Fyodor was simply biding his time to create a Duel Runner. At the stroke of midnight he rode from his home and across the bleak and snowy landscape to find other settlements of population to torment. He caused mayhem for quite sometime until he got involved in a crash accident, in which police were finally able to apprehend him. While it seemed likely Fyodor was doomed to perish in prison for the rest of his days, a Japanese man showed up out of the blue and managed to get the boy off scot-free. Well not exactly scot-free, because in exchange for freedom from prison he was essentially told that he would go to the Saotome Duel Institute.

Wish: To dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, after ensuring the world was engulfed by darkness and sin.

[SOLAR LEGACY] Dokurorider Heisei, Absolute Sovereign of the Damned
Level 8 Dark type Zombie/Synchro/Effect monster
3000 / 2800
(1 Zombie type tuner monster + Dokurorider)
As long as this card is on the field, your opponent cannot target anything else on your side of the field and can only attack this card. If this card is sent from the field to the graveyard, you can banish 1 zombie-type monster from the graveyard: Special Summon this card.

Monster Card
Mechanic of Dokurorider
Level 6 DARK Zombie/Tuner/Effect monster
1500 / 730
When this card is tributed for the Ritual Summon of "Dokurorider", you can special summon this card and its level becomes 2.

Spell Card
He's Going the Distance
Equip
Equip only to a "Dokurorider" monster. When an attack is declared involving the monster this card is equipped to, target up to three of your banished Zombie-type monsters: Shuffle that target(s) back into the deck. If you do, draw a card.

MONSTERS - 30
Castle of Dark Illusions x1
Pumpking the King of Ghosts x1
Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts x2
Clown Zombie x1
Armored Zombie x1
Dragon Zombie x1
Plaguespreader Zombie x3
Spirit Reaper x1
Pyramid Turtle x3
Il Bud x3
Zombie Master x3
Mezuki x2
Ghostrick Ghoul x2
Ghostrick Mummy x1
Ghostrick Skeleton x1
Ghostrick Warwolf x1
Summoned Skull x1
Dokurorider x1
Mechanic of Dokurorider* x1

SPELLS - 16
Revival of Dokurorider x1
Zombie World x2
Pyramid of Wonders x1
Temple of the Sun x1
Call of the Mummy x1
Foolish Burial x2
Book of Life x3
Pre-Preparation of Rites x1
Everliving Underworld Cannon x2
Overpowering Eye x1
He's Going the Distance x1*

TRAPS - 11
Call of the Haunted x2
Dark Illusion x2
Escape from the Dark Dimension x2
Shiranui Style Samsara x2
Tutan Mask x2
Trap of the Imperial Tomb x1

EXTRA DECK

MONSTERS
Revived King Has Des x1
Dokurorider Heisei, Absolute Sovereign of the Damned x1 [SOLAR LEGACY]

MONSTERS - 30
Castle of Dark Illusions x1
Pumpking the King of Ghosts x1
Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts x2
Clown Zombie x1
Armored Zombie x1
Dragon Zombie x1
Plaguespreader Zombie x3
Spirit Reaper x1
Pyramid Turtle x3
Il Bud x3
Zombie Master x3
Mezuki x2
Ghostrick Ghoul x2
Ghostrick Mummy x1
Ghostrick Skeleton x1
Ghostrick Warwolf x1
Summoned Skull x1
Dokurorider x1
Mechanic of Dokurorider* x1

SPELLS - 16
Revival of Dokurorider x1
Speed Spell - Advanced Ritual Art x1
Speed Spell - Tribute to the Doomed x3
Speed Spell - Brain Control x1
Speed Spell - The Shallow Grave x2
Speed Spell - Acceleration Limiter x3
Speed Spell - Faustian Bargain x2
Speed Spell - Final Attack x1
Speed Spell - High Speed Crash x2

TRAPS - 11
Call of the Haunted x2
Dark Illusion x2
Escape from the Dark Dimension x2
Shiranui Style Samsara x2
Tutan Mask x2
Trap of the Imperial Tomb x1

EXTRA DECK

MONSTERS
Revived King Has Des x1
Dokurorider Heisei, Absolute Sovereign of the Damned x1 [SOLAR LEGACY]

[User]
"Alright." He placed his hand on the monster in his extra monster zone, smiling soundly. "I tribute my Hot Red Dragon Archfiend."

As the form of the fiendish dragon sunk to the depths of darkness, it left Taiyo with a single monster on the field and one card in his hand.

"You know, it's rare to see another Archfiend duelist. They aren't nearly as popular as other archetypes." Taiyo commented, truly curious about his opponent's choice of cards. "Why do you like them?"

[Assistant]
"Okay yes, I er..." grumbled out the Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell as the Night Assailant successfully pulled of its assasination. But of course it wouldn't last all that long.

"Dokurorider Heisei - Absolute Sovereign of the Damned never truly leaves his domain; well at least not that easily. I'm banishing the younger Dokurorider from my Graveyard for Dokurorider Heisei's special ability."

Engines blared as Dokurorider Heisei - Absolute Sovereign of the Damned returned back to the field.

[User]
"My turn!" Carnel declared as he drew his next card. "I Summon Cyber Valley in Defense Position." A metallic serpent-like machine appeared on the field in all its 0 DEF glory. "I also activate Cyber Valley's second effect. By banishing it and another monster I control, I can draw 2 cards," Carnel explained, banishing Cyber Valley and Battle Fader, drawing 2 cards afterwards. Carnel no longer had an optimal hand, and probably wouldn't have one for the remainder of the Duel, but he was not about to go down without a fight.

"By banishing Scapegoat from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Spell Striker from my hand," Carnel said, the little warrior with a wand appearing on the field. "Spell Striker, attack Ojama King!" Carnel commanded, and Spell Striker rushed forward with no fear despite the 2800 ATK difference. The spectators were in a mad chatter, wondering why Carnel would do something so ridiculously stupid. Carnel paid them no mind, instead continuing, "I also activate a Quick-Play Spell card from my hand: Forbidden Lance! This prevents other Spells and Traps from affecting the monster I target while decreasing their ATK by 800, and I target Ojama King!" A lance materialized in Ojama King's hands, and since Ojama King's ATK was merely its DEF reversed by Ojama Country, its ATK was sent straight back down to 0. A pitiful 200 ATK from Spell Striker was hardly any damage, but it was still more than enough to take down Ojama King in that state.

[Assistant]
"I'm the one whose supposed to be master of archfiends! Nobody has this card, Archfiend Reverse, which has won me more games than I can count. Like I said, I'm the one true user of archfiends! You're just some poser!" Tsunozuka bantered.

"Battle!" he screamed. "Archfiend Reverse, destroy his face-down monster!"

Bug

"Because of the effect of Palace of Dark Illusions, my monsters can return to the shadows. I flip Night Assailant face-down once more. Then, I set another card face-down. I'll activate the card Yellow Luster Shield!" he declared. His monsters could not be seen, but there was certainly something lurking underneath his palace of Dark Illusions. Surrounding the castle was a pale, yellow forcefield.

"I'm not done yet! I'll set one card and end my turn!" he said. There was one card in his hand.

Player Killer of Darkness Side Hand: 1 card
ST (empty) - ST (empty) - ST (YL Shield) - ST (???) - ST (empty)
MM (empty) - MM (empty) - MM (???, LZ) - MM (empty) - MM (???, LZ)
(Ghoulish Rider)EM[EMPTY] [LINK PALACE]EM (Panik's)
MM (empty) - MM (empty) - MM[EM/SW] (empty) - MM (Dokurorider Heisei) - MM[EM/SE] (empty)
ST (empty) - ST (empty) - ST (empty) - ST (empty) - ST (empty)
Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of Highway of Hell Side

"Good!" Manjoume applauded with his then empty hand. "Now you have a monster on the field and the only monster I have has zero attack points. After that attack, I'm at a measly 200 life points. If I can draw a monster though, I might be able to turn this one around right? All monsters in this deck have 0 attack. Does that mean I'm cocky? Probably." He bantered.

"Draw!" he declared. "A friend of mine's, he used to always draw the right card at the right time. Well, all but once I can remember, but that's a story for later. I'll activate the spell card, Fusion Recovery. It allows me to add one monster used as a fusion material and one polymerization from my graveyard to my hand."

The duelist apparently swatted away at the air. "Yeah yeah. I get it." he seemed to talk to himself. "Sorry. I discard Ojama Yellow using the effect of Ojama Country, allowing me to special summon Ojama King back from the graveyard! Our attack and defense point values are now reversed. Battle. Snowman Eater, attack his Spell Striker! Ojama King, attack his life points directly!"

"Because of Spell Striker's effect, I take zero Battle Damage from Snowman Eater's attack," Carnel explained after Spell Striker got eaten and destroyed. However, he had no further defenses against Ojama King, taking the full 3000 damage.

"Go ahead."

[User]
"Very well." spoke The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell as he wandered through the dark forest; away from the pale and slight glow underneath the Palace of Dark Illusions. Drawing the card that he placed on the top of his deck earlier, Fyodor knew what to do with it. The enigmatic motorcyclist clad in riddles of black instinctively placed the card he had drawn onto the field.

A monster was Set down into the shadows blending with it. Konstantinovich took this moment to simply listen to these dark woods. After about a minute of nothing but listening, this 'Prophet of Hell' began to sermonize as he clasped his hands in prayer.

"Glorious Old Scratch
I hope you enjoy this match.
Blessed be this hallowed night
Lit only by your sight.
The Everpowerful Morningstar
Beckons despite your form being so afar.
Much strength is yours to command
From both the Orders Old and New
Hell on Earth will be at hand.
Yet only one Priest will make it through..."

"Player Killer of Darkness, I am Lucifer's True Prophet. I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL I SHOW YOU THE ABSOLUTE POWER OF MY FAITH!Alsotoavengethebitsofmydamagedclotheswhichthreatenstorevealmyidentitytoosoon...NOW GO FORTH DOKURORIDER HEISEI - ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGN OF THE DAMNED! Go into the shadows and seek your prey!" Heisei's motorcycle roared as the Absolute Sovereign of the Damned rushed straight through to the pale yellow barrier to find and destroy one of the monsters hiding within. (Feel free to pick the target of Dokurorider Heisei's attack)

Player Killer of Darkness Side
ST (empty) - ST (empty) - ST (empty) - ST (empty) - ST (empty)
MM (empty) - MM (empty) - MM (???, LZ) - MM (empty) - MM (???, LZ)
(Ghoulish Rider)EM[empty] [LINK PALACE]EM (Panik's)
MM (empty) - MM (empty) - MM[EM/SW] (Dokurorider Heisei) - MM (???) - MM[EM/SE] (empty)
ST (empty) - ST (empty) - ST (empty) - ST (empty) - ST (empty)
Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of Highway of Hell Side


[System]
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Religion: None
Sexuality: Asexual
Occupation: No thanks
Abilities

Programming, hacking, circuitry, electrical engineering. If it's a skill involving computers or electronics, Grace is nearly a master at it.

Faults

Grace is an introvert, so much so that almost nobody knows what she actually looks like. She can't cook, or clean, or organize worth a damn, and she has terrible personal hygiene.

Power

Immersion Seed - Grace can transfer her consciousness to any machine or computer, and from there to any connected machine or computer, as many times as she wants. When in control, she has the full abilities and interfaces of the host machine, as well as access to any data stored on it.

Personality

Grace is an introvert in every sense of the word. Her emerging powers only reinforced her already existing personality, allowing her to do almost anything worthwhile from her apartment.

History:

[EXPUNGED]

[User]
Lucy

"LucyAnswer ThePhone"

Lucy stared at the words on her phone in confusion as she pulled into a parking lot. She glanced with distaste to find the coffee shop just down the street. She couldn't help but wonder if the place had good coffee after all. With a glance toward the dog and then back to in front of her, she finally picked up the phone. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to hear. It was evident to the caller that she had picked up but she made no noise. The park in front of her was a large grassy area with trees, picnic barbecues, a playground and a small pond. The dim sound of children's laughter reached her. It was filled to the brim with people she'd never truly be able to fit in with again. The very thought made her sink into her seat. Was she even considered a human anymore?

[Assistant]
Kieran Hishamie

Interacted with @kidd

Kieran was tired. More than than he had been in quite some time. That last few days he had spent angry, having to focus completely on the end goal and not look at the short hand goal. He had spent days thinking he was enduring his worst fear - manipulation then death of innocents. This always takes a mental toll on him whenever this happens, and it has happened more times than he is willing to admit it. Kieran's thoughts drifted towards Cori. She was something else. She was stubborn, and annoying, and paranoid as hell. But none of it was her fault. She was a CIA women through and through. And he didnt exactly make a good first impression.

"I did kinda....kick her ass. Ugh......"

Kieran was walking home still when he heard a commotion.Normally Kieran would have ignored it but....something was forcing him to stop. It sounded like trouble, something he could handle but others cant. Kieran grunted then walke dover towards the comotion.

When Kieran turned the corner, he saw the scenario. It was a standoff of sorts. A group of five men, all wearing leather jackets and ski masks, were having a shoot off behind some cars against cops, about four cop cars worth, who were hiding behind their cars. Kieran took one look at the situation and instantly thought of twenty different ways he could end it.

Kieran chose.....a less common tactic. Kieran walked right up behind the group of criminals. He tapped one on the shoulder, with the criminal freaking out slightly. he wasnt expecting this.

""Hi you dont know me but I am warning you. Cease and desist or I will be forced to terminate you."

The responce to this was a gun aimed at his face. Kieran smacked the gun out of the criminals hand, then stepping forward grabbing the man by his neck using his entire arm. Then he slammed the man into the ground. Kieran still had his silenced gun, which he drawed as he picked up the first criminals handgun. Kieran fired off the rest of the rest in each gun, hitting each criminal in one arm and one leg. He sheathed both guns behind in his pants and then pulled out his phone. Kieran turned on the camera and took a selfie of him and the injured criminals in the backround. He sent it to Cori. As soon as the cops starting walking towards him, Kieran walked away. One cop tried to follow him but he dissapeared. Smiling. He stopped a crime, and he didnt kill everyone.

"Huh....didnt expect that......oh well time to go home."

[User]
Julia awoke to the distant sounds of sirens speeding off into the distance. It was a sound she had grown accustomed to over the past two days. She wondered briefly where they were headed, thinking back to the day before yesterday when she had been wandering the streets of Atlanta and heard gunshots ring out. She had of course ignored it, continuing down her meandering path through the city before eventually finding herself at a local bar. She didn't drink, just had a glass of water and chili cheese fries while she checked out the bartenders.

But in the two days since she had bit of a crisis of conscience, watching the news had revealed that the gunshots were a shootout at a local cafe that left a casualty. She wondered if she could have stopped it, she hadn't been shot since discovering her powers, but she had done things that should have torn her skin apart without injury and she was certainly strong and fast enough. Maybe she was obligated to help stop situations like that from happening. People got hurt, and there was at least a chance she could have stopped it. Her heart sank a little at the thought and she turned her attention to the the nightstand beside her bed. The little baggies were all but empty and she still hadn't found a new source.

Julia climbed from atop the bed and stretched her arms out above her as her hair fell all around her face. Only now realizing she was still wearing her clothes from the day before; a bright green t-shirt, white jeans, and a pair of Adidas hiking boots. Not needing rest had one major drawback, her daily rituals were all thrown out of whack now. Things that she would normally do when going to bed or getting up in the morning now seemed to have no place, and she hadn't yet come up with a resolution for that problem. Still, she had noticed now and decided to set about rectifying the situation.

A warm shower and about an hour of wrangling her hair later she picked out a new set of clothes, a grey cotton blouse, a pair of worn and greying designer blue jeans and a pair of mineral blue Air Jordan VIIs. Once dressed she turned her attention once more to the nightstand, the weed fairy had sadly not come while she was showering so she turned her attention to the motel rooms minifridge instead. Opening the door she found what she was looking for, aside from a few bottles of water it was the only thing in the fridge. A small black mug filled with a sickly green colored liquid. It was a 'tea' she had made the night before, a mixture of San Pedro, water and a whole lot of lemon juice. She pulled it off the shelf and opened the microwave perched atop the fridge. She set the mug inside and closed the door before setting the timer for 45 seconds.

About a minute later she brought the warm concoction to her lips and chugged it down in one go. She grimaced slightly as the liquid her her tongue, it was to put it bluntly bad. The lemon juice added a sourness that made it bearable, but she still tried to avoid tasting it as much as possible. After imbibing the liquid she wiped an arm across her lips and set the mug down atop the room's microwave before scanning the room one last time to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything.

Julia nodded and gave a smile to one of the motel's long term residents as she strode down the stairs to the ground level, she walked past her Jeep in the parking lot and took a moment to consider taking it, but thought better of it. Best not to start tripping and have to leave her car somewhere. Instead she chose to walk, heading for a lower class apartment complex she had noted on her way in, it was a few miles off, but that just meant she'd get to enjoy the scenery and allow the vile concoction she had imbibed earlier to take effect. She looked herself over quickly to make sure everything was right. She was going for a very specific look, a trick she had learned in Pittsburgh the year before. An easy way to find a local dealer, even if they were typically overpriced. You see there was really only one reason an upper middle-class looking white girl obviously not from the area goes to that kind of place. And in her experience eventually someone either brave or desperate for the cash would take note of her and ask the question.

[Assistant]
Things were going well. Everyone of Alan's crew was going to be meeting up later that day where Alan would show them his powers under the pretense of explaining why he was coming back, which wasn't entirely untrue, and then get everyone up to speed on the new heist. For now though he was walking up to Madison's shitty apartment in a shitty part of town. She seemed to like it well enough and truth be told Alan didn't care enough to pester her about it, though many of his crew often told she needed to get out of such a shitty part of town. Even if the crime going on around here was mostly bellow them it was still dangerous. Alan though was okay with just using her for her talents and not going any farther. Which is why he was here. He was going to try and get a copy of any files on promising young criminals so he knew what to look out for if ever he needed a replacement or specialized recruit. Didn't hurt to be prepared.

With him was Wash, who had been an up and coming crew member when Alan was stepping out of the business last and Tyler, who was taking up a position across the street in case things went bad, lot's of things had been going bad lately now that Alan was paying attention. On the way they passed by a woman who looked really out of place in this area and Wash, to Alan's displeasure, stopped her concerned. "Ma'am, are you okay? You look lost."

[User]
Grace waited for a bit after the phone picked up, expecting some form of greeting. When none came, she shrugged it off and plowed ahead anyway. I expected her to be more social. Actually, I suppose that was a bit creepy, what with the message and all.

"Lucy," Grace's distorted voice said from the other end of the line, "I assume that by now, you've noticed the recent string of murders happening around Atlanta. I don't usually talk to strangers, but right now you are my best chance to stop this monster. I have a name, a face, a car and previous residence. You can call down lightning and windstorms. I propose we work together to stop him."
It wasn't the best pitch, she knew, but to be fair she wasn't really a 'people person'. She usually left the talking to whoever she was paired with at the time, but with Lauren dead she had to go by the seat of her pants.

Speaking of working with people...

Grace muted her end of the phone line and reentered a chatroom she had left when the newsfeed had distracted her. "Tony I swear to god, if you fuck this up I will string you up by your toes." She had been planning this raid for weeks now, and everything was going smoothly. She wasn't about to scrap it because this kid couldn't keep himself in line.


[System]
Super Name: Bones

Age: Ancient

Bio: Back in the 1920's, an archeological dig uncovered a sarcophagus sank deep beneath the waters of the Nile River via ultrasound. Hieroglyphs on the outside of the sarcophagus took decades to decipher but were eventually loosely translated as "Good Luck." No one saw it coming when, upon opening the sarcophagus, the skeletal remains, rather unceremoniously deposited without wrappings, expressed gratitude at being quote: "Freed at last from this uncomfortable little box." Several passed out archeologists and government coverups later, everyone associated with the project still believes it to have been just a strange fever dream, blamed on "mushroom spore residue." The Skeleton living in the city graveyard would disagree.

Powers: Undead, but otherwise just your ordinary magically reanimated skeleton dressed in a business suit... or occasionally a party hat, when the mood is right.

[User]
Meme Man sat behind an old desk that was left behind in the building when they rented it in his Tron cosplay outfit (it was cheap and fit his theme well enough), feet propped up, occasionally glancing at the screen to see if any had sent them a message yet. He had made sure everyone and their group was registered at "Superheroes.org", and had their Superhero license from the government, which was useful for both concealing your ID from the beat cops and avoiding problems with them when dealing with villains. The computer was from a school system auction when they upgraded the computer lab at the local high school, and their server was from a washed up website design company.

He was also watching Netflix in his head, because there was nothing better to do. They hadn't yet gotten a call from a client, and they had no sponsors, so they were in desperate need of money. The police radio on the back of the desk piped up. "We have a code 045417 at the ATM at 2nd and 15th." it said. That was the code for a super-villain attack and they were only two blocks away.

"Hey," he said, picking up the intercom and texting everyone on duty essentially the same message. "There's a super villain attack two blocks away. We finally got a gig, though it only pays a small bounty. Whatever, we need the money so go to 2nd and 15th if you want to help." With that he got up, ran out the door, and down the street.

[Assistant]
Tangerine
Sweet Demon

Angie as Ms Rozenbaum the sign language teacher liked to call Tangerine perked up as her cell device vibrated pleasantly alerting her to a text which she read then asked the teacher and her fellow students to forgive her but that she must answer a call. This wasn't the first time Tangerine had to excuse herself so Ms Rozenbaum didn't object or put up much fuss as the other students rushed to the classroom window to watch her fly off on some exciting mission.

She was sure she could sense something in the small bounty lament equating it to sighting small game while hunting for a large family.

Over the trees and slightly above the buildings she flew her senses sweeping all before her with an intensity that nothing short of perfect invisibility could escape notice.

She enjoyed hunting the negatives or criminals as the people of earth called them, they hindered the progress of society, threatened the existence of people like Ms Rozenbaum and others like her that just wanted to live without fear. Tangerine hated people that caused fear; she had been the victim of fear when she was a young one. Her Mistress had caused her to experience intense levels of fear, despair, joy, pleasure and a myriad of others so that she could herself experience them in the intensity…… she almost crashed into a treetop so lost in unnecessary thought.

So she climbed up for a wider view looking for her Team or the Bad guys.

[User]
Pigeons in the park nibbled furiously at a pile of birdseed. A few of them lounged lazily on the park bench and the shoulders, knees, and head of the almighty breadcrumb distributor. Here was Neftet in her skeletal glory, sitting in her usual spot, dressed sharply in a black suit and tie, a rather odd sombrero on her head, and a set of large black shades... taped in place, of course. When her cellphone binged a generic and rather annoying noise, a few of the pigeons cooed in protest to the noise.

Neftet pulled a slim flip phone from her front chest pocket then read the text message. Even as she stood, the pigeons refused to remove themselves from her shoulders, as she told them, "Me crime fightin' must commence, gang." The pigeons cooed anxiously.

Neftet pulled a handful of birdseed out of her pocket and scattered them. Those pigeons of bravery, however, remained in position on her shoulders. The ATM was only a block away so she proceeded toward it at a stroll, hands in her pockets, hoping that someone else beat her to it.

The dietary concerns of pigeons were far higher on her priority list than super villains, after all.

[Assistant]
Sawyer hated school. To be fair, she hated everything, but school had a special place in her stone cold heart, a place more filled with loathing and detestation than any part of her, a place that also harbored her hate for cats, Squirrel Girl, people who do bad shit, and most sequels. Oh, how she abhorred every moment of her required seven-hour school day, which only made it feel longer. But there was one class that she hated slightly less than most: biology. Key word being slightly, as most days it was just reading textbooks and writing out short essays, but, on occasion, the class would have a dissection. It never really mattered to Sawyer what it was they were dissecting, as long as it was alive once. It was a great way to let out her anger.

This wasn't one of those days. It was, instead, a boring day of reading. Halfway through the class, however, the day was spiced up by the feeling of a vibration in her pocket, which she instantly identified as a text from her phone. She slid iPhone out of her pocket and looked at the notification, surprised to see the contact it was from, and more importantly, the message. 'Meme Bitch: Hey, There's a super villain attack two blocks away. We finally got a gig, though it only pays a small bounty. Whatever, we need the money so go to...'

"Fuck!" Sawyer muttered, seeing that the notification stopped there. "Stupid fucking apple device." she then put in her password of 3825 into the phone to read the full message. 'Meme Bitch:There's a super villain attack two blocks away. We finally got a gig, though it only pays a small bounty. Whatever, we need the money so go to 2nd and 15th if you want to help.' Once she read the full message, she shoved her textbook into her backpack and zipped it closed, before throwing it over one shoulder. That was another thing she loved about this class. The teacher, Ms. Prinston, was an extremely old woman, who was half deaf, half blind, and was probably a little senile in some regard. Due to the woman's ailments, Sawyer always had the option to leave.

"I'm checking out, teach. See you next class." she said, swinging the door open and exiting.

"Eh?" she heard from the room as she threw her hood over her head and walked through the halls of the building. It only took a few minutes to get to her crappy sedan outside. When she did, she popped open the back to see her badass costume along with all of her weapons in their holsters. This was going to be epic.

Sawyer grabbed all of her things and got into the backseat of her car to change. And it was in moments like those that she considered what the word "super" actually means. It wasn't all Batmobiles and Fortresses of Solitude. At least Superman got it partially right. After all, that asshole had to get changed a goddamned phone booth. In her case, "super" meant struggling to put on a bulletproof vest while pressed up against a window.

Once she had everything on, she grabbed some duct tape and two black cloth napkins from under the seats, both of which with her and her school's insignia on them. After looking out the window to make sure no one was watching, she opened her car door, went around to the front, taped the napkin over her licence plate, and did the same to the back. Then she got into the driver's seat and put the key into the ignition, before pulling out of the school's parking lot and to the direction of the attack.

[User]
Neftet-- ah, Bones as she was known by to other "Heroes"-- continued her walk into town without incident. People didn't run and flee in terror from the walking skeleton at all in fact, she didn't really turn heads that much. Most people in this day and age, much to her relief, tended to assume she were just in costume and wearing very convincing cosmetics. Sometimes people would stop her for pictures but other than that, Bones was free to walk toward this "Super Villain Attack" without incident.

When Bones turned a corner she was within eyesight of the scene of the crime, still walking casually, still a perch for two pigeons, and still wearing a sombrero.


[System]
* Age: 16
* Gender: Female
* Race: Human
* Appearance: Light skintone, with blonde hair and blue-purple eyes. She is a petite girl at only around 154 cm. Beneath the armor, Fanilly's body is rather slender and lightly-built. The armor, official combat wear of the Knight-Captain, is silver, with gold and blue decorations. Unarmored.
* Personality: Fanilly believes that she must put everything she can into her duty. This is both due to a belief in the cause of the Iron Rose Knights, and a severe insecurity and self-consciousness about her position. She is well aware that she is young and comparatively inexperienced. She knows that she is only in the position she is because of her birth, as she was born under a full moon. This only makes her feel worse about it. For Fanilly Danbalion, captain of the Iron Rose Knights, she can't help but feel that they have a point. She's never fought in a real battle before. And even though the founder was the same age, she was viewed as something miraculous, a literal saint. Should Fanilly truly be leading them? This weighs heavily on her mind, and thus one of her biggest desires is to prove that she is. In spite of her young age, in spite of how this tradition has worn thin for some, Fanilly wants to prove that she is a worthy captain of the Iron Rose Knights above all else. Aside from this desire, the girl is somewhat shy and socially awkward. Due to her noble upbringing she is not completely incapable in social situations and can attend social functions as is expected of the Iron Rose Knights, it is easy to fluster her or cause her to stumble over her own words. In spite of this awkwardness, she is dedicated to the purpose of the order, to defend the innocent and protect the land of Thaln. However, the doubts surrounding her have lead to a lack of confidence in herself. Fanilly has a younger sister and as a result has a somewhat stronger affinity for children and desire to keep the safe, but as someone dedicated to the Iron Rose Knights' cause she wishes to protect all those in need. While she has a lacking in confidence, she retains some pride in her training, as she has proven to be skilled at swordplay in spite of her youth.
* Brief Backstory: Fanilly was born under the full moon, to the noble Danbalion family. While her family had never been known for their participation in battle, the fact that their daughter was born under the full moon immediately placed her under consideration for the role of Knight-Captain of the Iron Rose Knights. Her training was more casual at first, simply education alongside her upbringing as a young noblelady. When it became clear that she was next in line, her training truly began in earnest. While she did enjoy it, at times she became quite overwhelmed and uncertain of what to do. On top of that, as a noble she was often exposed to other members of the nobility, a which exposed her to those who doubted the selection process that had picked her. Of those who had already judged her unfit to be Captain. On one particularly stressful day, she shut herself in her room and cried due to simply being emotionally overwhelmed. In spite of this, Fanilly still kept training, and studying warfare and focusing on the longsword as her weapon of choice(a customary specialization for the Knight-Captain, though not mandatory). During one of her training sessions, only a year prior to her installment, she suddenly had a blackout and fainted, needing to swiftly be attended to by healers. While none of them could determine what happened, as it did not appear to be exhaustion, she was kept under observation until it was certain no such incidents would occur again. Indeed, her health did not falter, and she was able to participate in a goblin extermination that had been selected as part of her final set of lessons. The extermination a success, this bolstered Fanilly's confidence temporarily, though by the time she officially became captain, the doubts had already re-emerged. Now, she is filled with self-doubt, desiring to prove to everyone else, and to herself, that she can fulfill the role she has been trained for...
* Equipment: Fanilly wears the Captain's set of plate armor. Made of dwarven alloy gifted to the knights by a dwarven noble they defended in the past, it is both durable and lighter then it appears.. She wields a fine longsword in her right hand, with a backup dagger stored on her hip if she is disarmed.
* Skills: As soon as her family was informed of potential candidacy for Knight-Captain of the Iron Roses, Fanilly began to train in all manner of combat. She studied military strategy, and came to favor the longsword as her weapon of choice. She is quite capable with the blade, but her experience is almost entirely in sparring, with only a goblin extermination under her belt as practical application. The same goes for her military strategy, while she is versed in multiple legendary campaigns she has yet to put those skills to proper use.

[User]
Lucas stayed in The Lonely Frame for one more quick drink, sharing banter, conversation and goodwill with his comrades. The bartender continued to tell the story of Jeremiah and the griffin to everyone who bought a drink. However, once the alcohol was lightly buzzing the knight's brain - mixed with the tiredness he'd accumulated - Lucas decided he'd had enough, put both hands on the table and rose to his feet.

"Alright, lads," he began. "I think I'm done. Some fresh air on the walk back to the castle should do me some good. I thank you, Sirs, for a fantastic evening."

He patted the knights adjacent to him on the shoulder and gave a nod the man across the table before excusing himself. After winding through the tables, chairs and tavern patrons to the door, he left the building. Before the door even shut, he was laughing as he vaguely heard Lein's voice shouting something 'a peach and Mayon's ass.' When the fresh air hit him, it was like he'd consumed another tankard right then and there. However his gait wasn't too out of whack and he walked back the short road to the western gate of Candaeln.

He should have just gone to bed.

Instead, in the late hours of the evening, he stopped and looked on the moonlit courtyard, then got one of his dumb ideas. Next he was wandering around the castle until he found the wine cellar and pilfered a bottle from the rack, then snuck back outside and managed to find his way up to the top of the castle walls. There he sat and mulled over good memories, fun memories and embarrassing memories of his life before. Even a few recent memories of his time as a knight snuck in there. He sat precariously over the edge of battlements, one leg handing off, leaning back on a hand as he took occasional swigs from the bottle.

He remembered his mother's caring eyes and smile as she stroked his head, one time he'd gotten really ill as a child. She sang 'You Are My Sunshine' - as she was want to do - while he stared at her, knowing that in spite of his pain, everything would be just fine. He was safe.

He remembered a time when he and Gorgeous George were making progress with a couple of female fans after a show and ready to take them somewhere where they could have some alone time, before his father grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and gave him the hiding of his life. Smacked him around in front of everyone - punishment for defying him, shirking his duties and sneaking out with George for the umpteenth time.

He remembered Biff and Kate's daughter, Sally, taking him to bed for the first time. Boy, did the older girl show him what he was missing the first fifteen years of his life!

He remembered being dragged into a mess, in a town in Velt, by Chip and Charlie, two young kleptomaniacs, who - that night - got in way over there head trying to burgle one of the richest houses in town. They couldn't run back to the troupe camp, so they were chased by the militia through rivers and reeds, into the nearby forest and had to camp out, up in the trees, all night to avoid arrest.

He remembered his first training session in Candaeln, after which, he was asked how in the world he'd been accepted into the Iron Roses. In spite of the fear of being thrown out, he was still proud he'd been addressed as 'Sir Lucas' and actually sparred with a real knight.

These memories and more, came and went, the feelings and imagery still strong and palpable in Lucas' heart as they ran through his head. "How did I end up here, eh?" he asked the moon before taking another swig of the bottle. "How does a simple gypsy lad become a knight of the Iron Rose Order? Mayon, you're too kind to me. I didn't deserve this."

...Midnight...

He returned to the ground level, back to a courtyard covered in moonlight. Lucas swayed as he looked around, blinking stupidly. It was deathly quiet, the air cold and crispy. At first he thought about what he should do with the empty bottle. Then he got yet another one of his bad ideas. Inhibitions completely gone, he stumbled towards his new goal.

Ten minutes later...

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" he announced in the courtyard, not too loud and hopefully not waking anyone up.

He'd dragged one of the combat dummies over to the archery targets and leaned the dummy against it. And he'd procured a few throwing knives.

"Introducing to you... The Storms!"

He made his own imitation of a crowd going wild, (which was basically just breathing really loudly, and pumping a fist in the air.)

"Here comes Harold Storm!"

More crowd reaction and then Lucas changed characters to his father and walked over to a point in front of the archery target, then juggled three throwing knives for a few seconds. It was amazing that in his drunken state, he managed to pull it off. More crowd reaction.

"And his beautiful wife and accomplice... Penny Storm!"

He gestured to the combat dummy leaning against the target, then did more crowd reaction.

"Watch in amazement as they frolic and flirt on the edge of death and danger!"

Lucas juggled the knives once over and then launched one, spinning toward the target, burying itself in it, right next to the head of the combat dummy. More crowd reaction. The second of the three knives, he tossed into the air, caught it by the blade and went to throw it in similar fashion, only he caught it wrong and couldn't adjust properly as he wound back to launch it. The knife span rapidly toward the target and slammed... right into the head of the dummy.

"!!!"

Lucas was horrified. Mouth open. Frozen. Staring at the dummy.

All this time, he'd not really had any chance to go through the grieving process properly. The moments after his parents were killed, he was being kidnapped by slavers. Then he was terrified in a cage for three days and nights. Then he was saved. Then he joined the merc unit that saved him and trained to be a soldier. Weeks later he was in the military arm of the church and transferring to the Iron Roses. Then he was training his hardest to make sure he wasn't thrown out. There'd been no time to stop and think.

And now, as he stared at the knife sticking out of the combat dummy, it was like the dam that was holding the grief back suddenly burst.

His eyes started watering and he fell to his knees. Moments later there were tears streaming down his cheeks. "Ma," he called quietly in a croaky voice. "Pa." And then he broke down into full-fledged crying. "Why...? I miss you so much."

There in the middle of the courtyard, head in his hands, sobbing his heart out in the moonlight, Lucas knelt. And there he stayed for some time.

[Assistant]
Fionn MacKerracher

---

Daze@VitaVitaAR

---

Probably for the best she wasn't asking after his idea, Fionn decided after a moment; for all he could guess at or knew, Tyaethe might object to his setting up a mill and press out in the training yard, whether the assemblage served a second purpose beyond just extracting juice or or not. Certainly, he could imagine a few of the non-undead higher ranking knights in the order objecting; hopefully he might be able to get by with asking forgiveness after the fact rather than permission.

Besides, it would be a very simple and effective way to get some of the scrawnier members of the order to start putting on some muscle. The normal knightly exercises were all well and good, but the motivation of getting to enjoy the fruits of their labour was likely to be more compelling to at least a few he was thinking of.

"As you wish," he replied, pushing up from the floor with a grunt. A quick glance off towards the entrance proper revealed the presence of the anxiously-waiting courier, pacing by one of the other windows while waiting for, evidently, someone with some minor level of authority to come and take his message, rather than one of the various servants within Candaeln. "Enjoy your nap, madam."

With the hope that he wouldn't find one of the many cushions adorning Tyaethe's claimed window seat (or worse yet, one of the plates) thrown at the back of his head, he made his way across the hall to the courier, giving a friendly wave once the messenger specifically noticed his approach. Either he was a bit too used to getting ignored like this, or he'd been averting his eyes from Fionn and Tyaethe, though whether from the outset, the moment that Tyaethe sunk her teeth into Fionn's wrist, or when she'd run the risk of blinding any observers, the Veltian knight really couldn't guess. "Good afternoon, lad. Take it you've got a message for one of us?"

Hopefully he wouldn't be too surprised by the Veltian knight's extremely informal address, although it wasn't as though the presence of beknighted commoners in the order was an unknown thing, no matter how much certain benighted nobles would always be surprised at the fact.

[User]
The young man, a royal courier dressed in fine gold and purple, practically jumped with delight at someone finally approaching him.

"I was expecting the Knight-Captain," he began, "but I'm sure a loyal knight can pass this message on to her!"

It seemed he was overjoyed to finally be able to do his job. Clearing his throat, he took a deep breath and pulled a short scroll from within his bag.

"The Presence of Knight-Captain Fanilly Danbalion and her Iron Rose Knights is cordially requested tomorrow at Princess Elisandre Tanetha Falisse's Royal Ball," he began, "The Princess understands that you may not be able to bring every knight, and as such you may choose whomever you desire from your order to accompany you. Please come in your finest attire, though the Princess desires to see Knight-Captain Danbalion in official wear, and eagerly desires to see an assortment of weaponry used by knights."

Otter


[System]
Appearance:

Species: Human, ish

Gender: Female

Skills and standard abilities: Expert tracker, trader and woodsman, skilled herbalist, experienced apothecary and cartographer, proficient archer and fletcher, expert knife combatant (utilises a form of Seheroni martial arts which emphasises fluidity and unpredictability combined with precision strikes and high speed evasion)

Supernatural/ magical abilities:
Empathic: While not always accurate Kismet has a great proficiency being able to read most people's intentions, sometimes before they even know them themselves. This ability comes from both her experiences dealing with traders and newcomers to the realm and a natural affinity to ambient magics. Some say she may even be fae-touched, although as she was found as a child wandering in the woods none can say for sure, not even Kismet herself.
Portal Sense: Kismet seems to encounter newly formed portals far more frequently than most other adventurers and while she dismisses this as mere good fortune others wonder whether this ability is more than she lets on.
Fog Resistance: For whatever reason Kismet seems to be able to survive in the Fog slightly longer than most people. While it dulls her senses and over time can cause her harm she can usually survive long enough to make use of shortcuts and pathways others could not. Some say this is a sign of some monstrous taint within her, while others simply congratulate her skill in tracking.

Job: Greeter, scout, tracker

Personality: Kismet can be a difficult woman to describe to those who've never met her before. On the surface she appears warm-hearted and welcoming, but something in her eyes speaks of hidden, cold depths within her. While some remind naysayers that no-one ever has an unkind word to say of her, others point out that any who do have a tendency to go missing in the woods, never to be heard from again.

Biography/ history: As a babe Kismet was found wandering the woodland paths by a travelling trader. At first he thought the young child had simply wandered away from a nearby village but further investigation revealed the child to be unknown to any of the local families. Planning to hand her over to the proper authorities once he reached a large enough town for there to be any he continued on his path, but when the time came for him to part with the girl he discovered the child's warmth and grace had charmed him enough to instead invite her to stay with him in his travels. Reporting her as an orphan survivor of a caravan destroyed by raider the trader officially adopted the young girl as his own daughter.

Growing up alongside the wandering merchant Kismet soon developed her skill at bartering and trading, although her almost unnatural skill at being able to negotiate and barter even the most hard-hearted of traders soon began to draw attention to her. When she came of age she finally set out on her own, with her adopted father's blessing, and began her own trading adventures. Not long after she happened to wander close to a tear in the world and became the first face the newcomer encounter. Unfortunately for her the man revealed himself to be an uncouth barbarian and decided that a warmer greeting than was first offered was due him. That night, as the man lay exhausted beside his campfire, Kismet slit his throat, leaving him to bleed out as she melted away into the woods.

Understanding that she had best learn to defend herself properly if she was to continue her way of life she sought out a master hunter and traded her company in exchange for lessons in the ways of the wood. For years the two trained, hunted and lived together until finally Kismet had learnt everything the man had to offer. The last time he was seen the hunter left his home alongside Kismet, never to return. Some say he became a hermit, forsaking the civilised company of the town in order to better commune with the nature he loved. Others hint at a darker fate, given to him as repayment for the years of indignities Kismet had suffered in exchange for her training.

Whatever may be true of her Kismet now stands as one of the most proficient scout and hunters in the woods, with the ability to move through the branches unseen tracking her prey silently and stealthily. Often the first on the scene when newcomers arrive she has gained enough experience to help guide the lost on the path to their new lives, or remove them from the world should the need arise.

Equipment: Hunting bow with quiver, waxed cold steel blade, throwing blades, handmade leather armour, concealing cloak (possibly enchanted), bird-call whistle, medicine bundle with numerous homemade elixirs, tonics and poisons, hunter's pack capable of carrying several small animals, coin purse with a small amount of currency, pendant necklace of unknown origin in the shape of a sea-bird held on a silver chain, Ring of True Seeing, compass, mapping tools and sextant

[User]
A portal in the Fog stable enough to support a village? There must be more to it than that. Kis thought. In her experience portals were usually random events, popping up all over but rarely in the same place for long. If the village had found some way of opening portals themselves, or at least attracting forming portals closer to themselves, then it was certainly something worth investigating.

And then there was the matter of the battlemage. Even if his wife was exaggerating his powers, as spouses were wont to do, then a magic user so close to the strange phenomena couldn't be a coincidence. Whatever was happening out in the Fog Kis knew she had to be one of the people to investigate. Stepping up towards the woman Kis coughed politely and turned to look around the room with a warm, friendly smile.

"Hi everybody, most of you already know me, but for those who don't I'm Kismet," Taking a quick bow Kis took a moment to wave to a few of the adventurers she recognised, sharing a familiar greeting with them to renew old acquaintances. When she was done she turned back to the woman leading the meeting and with earnest eyes continued with her introduction. "You could call me a greeter of sorts. I hunt the wastes for newcomers to the realm and help to acclimatise them to our ways and customs." She quickly skipped over the other part of her duties, the part where she made sure the dangerous and unstable visitors never had a chance to 'acclimatise', if the woman needed to know about that, Kis would inform her at a more opportune time.

"I'm a decent tracker and scout, and know enough about the herbs of the wilds to be a fair healer in a pinch. If you'll have me along I'd be happy to accompany you on your journey." With that Kis quickly took a seat in the front row of the chamber, making herself a part of the crowd as she turned and shared some good humoured words with an old friend seated not far away.

[Assistant]
Following Kimset's introduction, Adamar slowly rose from one of the front-row seats. With an eerie aura about him, he strode to where Kimset had stood. Just as before, he clutched his book close to him, and his entirety was covered from head to toe with a hooded robe, mask, leather armor and black wrappings that looked similar to gauze. His dry voice cracked into existence from behind the bronze mask once again.

"My name is Adamar. My knowledge of the supernatural and my skills with magic will be necessary if you wish to survive in the Fog. My reasons for being here are my own, and I care not for any of your motives."

Without waiting for any response, Adamar returned to his seat. Those sitting near him very obviously had faces of concern or suspicion, but none rose their voice against him.

[User] 'Well, he's a cheery one,' Kis thought to herself, eyeing the magic-user cautiously while keeping up her own cherry act with her band of admirers. 'Hopefully we won't need to find out if his skills rival his ego.'

[Assistant]
Siana listened to the various people answer her questions. Most of them were just Adventurers, generally looking to increase their skills or renown, so the money didn't matter. That was fine. If a teenage squire wanted to perfect his sword technique in the Fog or underground, or an unknown mage wanted to become famous enough to be offered membership in a guild, or be rewarded private contracts, she didn't care. They would need plenty of backup if they came across a group of monsters. She also had a vague feeling like they would be needed at the village.

The two that stood out the most, though, were the cloaked man, by his own description a powerful, yet mysterious mage, and a woman with talent in finding portals. While the first person would definitely be worth keeping around in case they ran into any enemies, the second will mostly come in handy once they got to the village. Something about portals, but the memory was still difficult to access.

"Ok, then, you're all accepted. I'll lead you to the cave I used to come here. It's about fifty meters into the fog, about three kilometers north of the city. There's a farm near there run by an old couple name "Lisie". We'll meet up beside their well. If you decide you don't want to come with us, just don't come. We'll leave from there at sunrise tomorrow. Thank you for coming." With that she got up and left, heading north once she was outside. She'd tell them what she really knew tonight around the camp fire. She didn't want them to know the truth now because they would tell the others that left. Adventurers tended to stick together.

---

That night, as the sun set, she gathered everyone around the large fire she had built. They were far enough from the Fog that it wouldn't draw any Monsters to them, though bandits and wolves were both distinct possibilities. "Thank you all for showing up." she said, addressing the crowd. "Now that you're here, I need to tell you a few things. First, I'm not married, or at least I'm not sure if I am. I was found naked by the fog by the couple that lives here. I didn't have anything on me, including a wedding ring, and the Fog erased my memory, so I don't remember much. I do have flashes sometimes, though, in my dreams. An old man and his family, dancing or doing some form of martial arts, stabilizing or creating a portal. A group of warriors taking on a group of monsters, though my mind focuses on one of them, a man who looks to be in his late twenties, hurling fire at the enemy. I know he's special to me, somehow, so he's the one I based my fictional husband on. I also remember coughing and stumbling, the sound of too many legs skittering across the ground behind me.

From my memories I've worked out which cave I exited. It's know as "Red Bird Goblin Cave" by the adventurers who mapped the edge of the fog because the Red Bird clan of Goblins lives in it. They won't be any trouble, though. We'll need to get to the bottom level, where the cave connects to an ancient mine. After that, we just need to make our way to the top. Any questions?"

[User]
Arya jerked awake. A high screeching filled her hearing, like the squeal of ice on metal, like the roaring wind of a hurricane. A spike was driving itself viciously into the back of her skull, an agony so great her vision blurred, as if her skull were expanding from the inside out. She heard a high, keening shriek of pain - her own - and attempted, in a panic, to gather her mental defences, fighting to keep from giving in to the whirlwind.
 And just like that, the presence moved away.
 She shivered.
 Many hours later, she fell asleep again.

 * * *

 The next morning, Arya pulled a parcel out of her bedside drawer, and sat cross-legged on the floor. Out of the parcel, she pulled a small black book and charcoal, of the type used by students and scribes. Taking a deep breath, she chanted through a nursery rhyme, paying little attention to the words. With her eyes closed, she passed the charcoal along the paper. At first, the markings were nothing but loops and lines, but as time progressed, they resolved into shapes, and slowly bent into complex symbols.
 Opening her eyes, she fell silent. Her eyes scanned the page with a scholar's eye. It had not been a deliberate attack, that much was certain. The presence had merely passed within her range while her defenses were down. She desperately hoped it had not noticed her, but it was impossible to say. There were no patterns of aggression, but several symbols were drawn with an odd slant. A lapse in concentration, or a clue? Tracing her finger along another circular symbol, her brow furrowed. It was one she didn't recognize. A name, perhaps? A place?
 Sighing, she replaced the book and charcoal into her bag. Father Roe would have known what to make of it.

[Assistant] Adamar would have blended into the darkness outside the campfire if the light of the flames didn't reflect off his mask. He sat a bit away from the rest of the group, still in conversationally appropriate proximity, but far enough that none would see the contents of his now open book. He slowly turned a page every few minutes as the worn parchment bound in leather rested upon his lap. His head was angled down towards the pages, an onlooker would easily assume him to be reading through the slits in the mask. He made no indications of paying attention to Siana's life-story, but was softly murmuring to himself with seemingly unintelligible words as she described her memories and plans to the group.

[User]
The streets were practically deserted as Kis made her way through the town, nodding greetings to the few locals she passed. Even this late at night the light from the forge lit up the end of the street, promising warmth and safety for passersby.

Stepping through the door Kis waited for a pause in the blacksmith's hammering before calling out. "Hey Clem, how's business?"

The gruff giant turned, his scowling face filling with joy as he caught sight of his old friend. "Kismet, my dear. When did you get back into town?" Laying his hammer down he stepped up to the girl and wrapped his arms around her, lifting Kis off her feet and spinning her around.

"Okay, okay, clam down." Kis laughed, patting Clem's arms until he finally relaxed. "I'm just in town for the night, passing through on a job. Thought I'd drop in and check on that special order."

"You have good timing, finished the work on it yesterday." Clem said, moving over to a large chest set against the wall. Pulling the lid open he picked a package wrapped in rough leather from the pile of others. "Hope it's good enough for you," He said, handing it over to Kis.

Carefully up wrapping it Kis ran her hand down the freshly forged blades, each ten inches long. The inscribed cold steel seemed to frost over even in the heat of the forge, yet as her fingers touched them the metal seemed warm. "They're perfect."

As she stepped back out onto the street, tightening the straps across her chest and straightening the scabbards across her back, Kis set off for the town gate. She still had time to make it to the farm and rest up before dawn, and by the sounds of things she'd be needing a fresh head for the following day.


[System]
Gender: Male

Age: 18

Appearance: Johnathan is a fair skinned youth with a somewhat lanky frame of body. He has always been rather lean and his focus on studies had left his body somewhat underdeveloped but his weeks in basic training have helped bring him up to meet the physical requirements of an enlisted army medic. His brownish/blonde hair has been cut short as required for service in the army, causing it to appear to be a light, fair blonde with few traces of brown mixed into it. His eyes are the pleasant green of watered down lime juice.

Personality:
Johnathan strives to be a caring, helpful person each and every day of his life, observing the world around him as he tries to find little ways to improve the lives of those around him. He is also prone to thinking ahead in order to not only be prepared for when a possible complication arises but also to get an idea of what the possible consequences of his actions are likely to be. He is not afraid to ask the tough questions if the need arises, but at the end of the day he will do what he is ordered to do by a superior officer in adherence to his faith.

He will not tolerate harmful action towards innocent people, regardless of if it is due to actual activity or inaction and while he might fall into line if someone pulls rank, he will make his protests known and he will not be happy about it. He will also refuse to drink alcohol, tea and coffee as well as refuse to use tobacco or illegal drugs for religious reasons.

Background history:
Born in a general hospital of Salt Lake City in Utah on July the 11 in 1924, Johnathan Harker was born as the third and youngest child to the wife of Dr. Joseph Harker. Both his father and his mother Eva were members of the Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints and raised their children in the faith.

Dr. Joseph was a pillar of his community, a doctor who had earned high praise from his fellow man for his efforts to save as many lives as he could during his service in world war one, meeting a young nurse by the name of Eva in one of the field hospitals miles away from the trenches and in the end brought her back home, marrying her soon afterwards.

Looking up to his father and respecting his achievements, Johnathan started studying with the intention of studying medicine himself in order to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a doctor much to the approval of his father, the rest of his family and the local Mormon community. His eldest brother Michael studied to be a politician, believing that he felt serving his community (and god willing, his state) was the best way that he could serve god; While Michael and Johnathan were rather busy with their respective fields of study the two of them got along rather well.

The middle brother Luke was a different story. Luke had originally wanted to study to be an archaeologist, but as the stress of studying and trying to meet the expectations put upon him by his family and his community started to build he cracked under the pressure, often bullying his younger sibling, lashing out at those nearby in anger and going out and night to do god only knew. While Luke's behavior strained his relation with his family, the tipping point came when one night when one of his 'escapades' followed him home... a black girl whom he had knocked up. Tempers flared, words were said that shouldn't have been and Luke walked out without looking back; There has been no contact with him since he left on that awful night.

Walking home from school one afternoon, Johnathan witnessed a horrible accident; The chain snapped on the bike of a middle aged man who was riding home from work, flipping him over the handle bars and resulting in a broken collar bone in the middle of the road. Rushing out in order to get the man off the road and apply some basic first aid in order to try and make the man more comfortable while he waited for proper medical help, Johnathan had a revelation...

Inspired to place his hand on the man's shoulder, both where surprised when his hand started to glow and heal the broken bone. The bone itself wasn't perfectly healed, merely been reduced in severity from a broken collar bone to a fractured one but it enlightened Johnathan to the fact that he had been blessed by god with a healing touch. After the man had been safely loaded into an ambulance, Johnathan made his way back home and spoke to his father privately about what had happened.

Joseph confided in his son that he had long felt the hand of god helping him to treat his own patients for a very long time; Ever since he was a young man, he had noticed that whenever he had looked at someone who was injured he would get a 'gut feeling' about what was wrong with them and what was required to help them. The fact that this blessing had been passed on to one of his sons wasn't as surprising as the fact that it seemed to have grown stronger...

After a few hours, they both came to a conclusion; Johnathan would continue to study medicine while working at his father's office part time in order to help develop his new found abilities in order to get an idea of what their limitations were... as well as get some practical experience to help enhance his studies. Through one question that both of them still had at the end of the day was 'Why now?'

Three years later, they both got their answer when the US declared war on Japan and its allies. Three years was a good amount of time in order to develop his abilities to the point where they would be helpful out in the field and feeling it to be his duty to go and do what he could for the land he called home, Johnathan suspended his education in order to enlist in the medical core.

He didn't stay there for one, quickly finding himself assigned to a special unit shortly after basic was finished.

Superpower and how the character got it:
Johnathan's ability to assess and understand the extent of a person's injuries and condition is super human, his 'gut feeling' about what needs to be done to save the patients life is almost unnervingly correct. It is a trait that he seems to have inherited from his father, through it seems to have grown somewhat more effective then the version his father possesses.

He has also developed the ability to actually heal those that he touches, quickly healing the kinds of injuries that would normally take weeks or even months in a matter of minutes; The process is tiring through and is thus reserved for injuries that would normally be crippling or fatal if not treated in such a manner. There are limits to what he can do... He can't sew on blown off limb and heal it back to life for example.

[User]
Óscar just sighed as he saw Kaneda start to jump down from the top; why even bother? I mean, sure, training is always good and blah blah blah, but without an incentive, again, why bother? He wasn't the kind of guy that did stuff for "himself" or because it was morally good or bad, he thought about the things he had to give up and the things he could earn. For example, he would have to run up the fucking mountain, get tired and more than likely get an asthma attack...for nothing. The Spaniard then looked back as he saw María, not really jogging "Hell, she must either be a pija or even more lazy than I am..." he thought to himself.

Trying to mumble a song, or at least reproduce it on his head, was what he used to do when the PE teacher made the whole class take the Cooper test from time to time. He would always try to energize himself with some swing, you know, Benny Goodman and maybe even some Jazz from Bennie Moten. If he had been born in Germany, the Hitlerjugend would have probably beaten him up like they used to do with the Swingjugend, or Swing Kids. Óscar started to mumble some songs, his jogging starting to go at a faster rhythm and a faster pace, but Kaneda started to talk and kinda ruined it all.

Moving one of his hands to wave at him, he spoke up, his breathing getting slightly interrupted "Well pal, the Germans weren't the problem...the equipo was, who the hell thinks that sending a group of recruits into Axis territory was a good idea? I mean, sure, we have superpowers, but those can't stop bullets." He then made a stop, getting his breathing under control and speaking up once again "I survived because I deserted, I ain't going to deny it, I chose vida over certain death. Our whole squad got killed and I don't even know how these two got out alive..." He looked at the siblings, smirking as he winked at them, looking back at Kaneda "But don't worry compañero, I'm sure we'll be fine, this team is much better and we have even better training..."

[Assistant]
Belasy adjusted her opinion of Kaneda upwards, favoring his choice with a faint smile that wasn't even turned in his direction. "Sure thing," Izkry answered aloud, grinning widely. "Well done on that record. Certainly none of us were going to get it."

The question was one Izkry had honestly expected to come much sooner. He glanced at Bel -- she'd taken the failure of that team hard, despite knowing it was the likely outcome. "Well...most of the Hydragruppen we met died in combat. Bel and I, we didn't see many of them up close. She is a good sniper, you see, so we work better at a distance. One looked to be breathing fire, and another didn't seem to get injured much, but other than that, I couldn't say." He spoke with the words spaced neatly into his breathing rhythm. It was early enough in the run that it wasn't an issue yet to talk.

Oscar mentioned the preparation, and as much as he disliked the guy Izkry had to nod. "That team had very little training. Some barely even knew how to shoot a gun. We had no teambuilding beforehand -- that one is important in particular. You--" he glared at Oscar "--do not use survival as an excuse for desertion. You abandoned your team. If you aren't going to fight you damn well desert /before/ the battle. Don't leave your team counting on you if you can't pull through!" The words came out far more sharply than he intended, but the young man didn't care. "We survived because we had each other, because we fought smart. And not even because we weren't in the thick of things. One of the others survived the fight but died to infection after. The ones that killed everyone weren't even supersoldiers. They were regular men who knew how to fight as a team. But a coward like you wouldn't understand that, would he?!"

Izkry stopped. He was getting worked up, and not breathing right -- dangerous in a long run. When he had his cool again he continued in a lower voice. "This team is better, but still we have issues. Most of the Hydragruppen, they must have been new, and the Westminster folk, we were lucky. There is a training program to take those with powers and train them as soldiers from childhood. I would not be surprised if most Nazi supers are combat experts. We will /need/ teamwork to survive. And we cannot trust Oscar not to betray us again. He should not be here."

[User]
The team ran up and down the Currahee as usual, and David went to Colonel Clarke's office to see if the man himself was there. Clarke had been an intelligence officer, centering on HUMINT, or human intelligence. He had been assigned to the OSS as a contact between the Task Force and the higher ups. An experienced and mysterious man, he was a career officer, who had always something up in his sleeve, and that didn't mean a joker on a officers' poker night every now and then. David had joined them a few times, but he hadn't enjoyed playing for cash.

David knocked to Clarke's door. No answer. He knocked a second time, and again he was met with silence. David tried the door, and it opened. It wasn't Clarke's way to leave it open. David entered the office. It was empty and untouched. It seemed Clarke had left for an errand in a hurry.

Well, I'll see him later, then, David thought. He took a glance at the office, and it was simple. A desk, a couple chairs, a map of northern Georgia and Camp Toccoa. There was a bookshelf, with all kinds of books, a few even in German. David saw the Achtung - Panzer! and Infantrie Greift An.

David left the office, walking to his own office in their own barracks. It had a similar floorplan and about the same size as Clarke's. But there was a small safe. David had the prize for Private Renner. David hadn't ordered them to use their powers, but then again, he had tutored one thing into their heads: use your brains, or at least try. Renner seemed like a potential NCO, or at least to David, but there was the higher ups.

David sat down by his desk and shuffled his papers, organizing them into piles. He wasn't the tidiest of officers when it came to his desk, but he got the done. It had been different in North Africa with the SAS; they hadn't had any desks or formal dresses, only missions, their wit and equipment.

He tidied up his desk, and it took him some time. When he was finished, he went back outside, abd saw that the team was running back from the Currahee. As the first ones came, David ordered them to change back to their normal service uniforms and assemble at the front of the barracks.

"And get ready for lunch! It is a spaghetti day, I hear", David added.

[Assistant]
Johnathan had made a promise to himself that he would be matching the pace of the last person traveling in the job; Partly to try and encourage them to keep going while privately it was to ensure that nobody fell behind during the course of the jog. It was a promise that he kept, through he couldn't help but notice the pace that Maria was going was... well, little more then a walk. After a few moments had passed, he decided to start a conversation up. "I can't help but feel that you're not taking this whole exercise seriously. Something on your mind?"

(To be continued over PM)

...............................................................

Standing at attention at the end of the run, Johnathan offered the Captain a respectful salute before breaking off to go and get changed without a word. He would be in front of the barracks on time if nothing else.


[System]
Gender: male
Age: 24
Appearance:
 Height: 6'3
 Build: average size but muscular
 Hair: dark brown hair that goes just past his shoulders; wears it in a short ponytail usually with his bangs hanging in his face because they are too short to stay in hairband.
 Eyes: dark blue
 Clothes: when working, wears a stained long-sleeved shirt that used to be white but after wearing it so long it has turned tan. A leather vest over the shirt (wears old pins on the jacket) with leather forearm covers and leather shoulder protectors. Dark brown, almost black pants with leather kneepads and shin protectors. Brown combat boots.
 Other Traits: Fairly dark tan, surprisingly even considering he is usually only seen weaing long-sleeved shirts in his older age (because he tries hiding scars on his arms and torso) as a smattering of freckles on shoulders and back from sun exposure. Has a scar about two inches long under left eye where he was hit with a bat in a brawl.
 Skillset: Good at using an array of weapons and using his fists. Knows quite a bit about survival skills, from water purification, navigation, hunting, shelter building, etc.
 Weapons: trail carbine (no scope), baseball bat (the same one that gave him his scar)
 Personality: Well, he definitely isnt the brains of the operation. He is a fighter and loves to brawl any chance he gets. Very protective of the ones he cares about and will do anything foe them, even kill. Frightening to most who don't know him and even when they do know him, some are afraid of him still. Rarely serious unless they are going into a dangerous situation. Has a good sense of humor, sometimes morbid.

 Name: Kaye Delarosa
 Gender: Female
 Age: 20
 Appearance:
 Height: 5'2
 Build: Slender and quite weak
 Hair: Pixie cut with fiery red hair.
 Eyes: Bright green
 Clothing: Wears a merchant outfit that has a bandolier with pouches sewed to it draped on a shoulder. For col weather wears a long, grey wool coat that is worn and shows its use.
 Skillset: Has impeccable agility, great at bartering,
 Weapons(s): 10mm pistol, combat knife, Leith
 Personality: She is typically a nice person...when she Isn't on the chems. Always looking for a good adventure and has an almost childish attitude towards it. Despises boredom and monotony and wants nothing more than to spice things up; this is why she takes chems.
 Bio: Kaye's life growing up was quite simple...and boring. All her life she had stayed in Barrington, a large settlement just outside what used to be called Mobile, Alabama. Though it was large and had a lot of people, life there grew to become an endless routine for her. In order to spike her attention and do something new, she begun stealing things from her neighbors, trying to not get caught. She learned this from her favorite book, the book her father used to read to her every night as it reminded her of their life, "Oliver Twist." When she turned fifteen, that held no excitement anymore nor did anything in Barrington, so she did the most daring thing she could think of...she jumped on a brahmin of one of the travelling merchants, hid under a blanket, and went outside the walls for the first time in her life. This was the start of her new-found career.
 She was found out in first few hours and with plenty of begging, the merchant allowed her to travel with him. When they got to the settlement where the merchant was from, she met with Butch and joined his caravan, receiving her own caravan at seventeen uears-old. And 5his was the story of her life now...until meeting Basil and Jace.

[User]
Jace completely ignored Basil's words and held his ground. He was in a state now where he couldn't think of nothing else but the finish line that was laid before him. "You lie! You tried deceiving us when we first got here; you are lying about this. I know you are." He put a little more pressure on the trigger, grinning slightly. "Do you want to know something? Desperate men make the worse of enemies. Do you know why? Because we have nothing to lose and nothing to hold us back. So you will tell me or we both die."

 Kaye hesitated for a moment before sheathing her knife as well. She didn't know if she could trust this raider, but if Leith was trying to reason with him then she would have to follow his lead. "Just listen to him, alright? No one has to get hurt here."
 The raider stared at him for a long moment, not knowing what to do. He still felt he would pull a fast one on him and still try killing him as soon as he lowered his own weapon and was completely at a loss. He shook his head once more.
 "Give...give me your weapons and then we'll talk. I don't trust anyone outside my own family, you understand?"

[Assistant]
Kate narrowed her eyes, no longer smiling. "Back down, Jace. Listen to your friend on this one. He has sense."
 "Jace, please, listen to me," Basil pleaded.

 Leith sighed, contemplating on the request for a moment. If it meant that there was the possibility of saving a kid's life, then, yes, he'd risk his life; after all, he'd lived through two of them. However, Kaye was also at risk here. She was only a few years older than the boy here, as well.
 Finally, he sighed, and set his gun down on the ground. He then kicked it over to him. "Here. Keep it, too. That one in your hands is liable to kill you just as much as me."

[User]
Jace stared at her for a long time until another thought formed in his mind. Although reluctant, he finally lowered the weapon. Without another word, he turned around and started walking towards the door. As he passed Basil, he shoved harshly into his shoulder. He knew he'd feel guilty about it later but for the moment he was pissed at him. He knew he was being irrational, but they had it in at their fingertips! And he allowed the moment to slip away.

 The raider was in a shocked stupor when he actually slid his weapon over. He quickly scrambled to pick the gun up and tossed his own to the side before taking aim with his good gun. Slowly, he managed to find his feet underneath him and stood up, keeping the gun trained on him.
 'Oh my god, I cannot believe that actually worked by using a gun with no bullets...'
 "Give me all of your supplies and I will be on my way," he said in a little more sturdy voice.
 Kaye's eyes widened and was momentarily caught off guard from what had just happened but when she realized it, she was pissed. She even slapped Leith on the back. "Good job on giving him the upper hand, you idiot! He's a raider, you can't trust them!"
 The raider tried forcing a smile to his face though it turned out to only be a facial twitch. "Just shut up! And give me everything you have!"

[Assistant]
Basil winced when Jace deliberately ran into him, but merely sighed in response to the antagonism. Did Jace think that he was happy, that he was proud, to leave the vault empty-handed? He'd been on this journey, as well, for months now, and he was just as damned tired of finding leads and just as quickly losing them. But if they had found a vault that had one functional G.E.C.K., then he had hope that there'd be another. And the last thing that either of them needed was the Brotherhood of Steel coming after them; this way, perhaps the woman would remain true to her word and keep their own expedition under wraps. That way, they could all keep to their own business in peace.
 "Wait a minute," he murmured, just now noticing that Kaye and Leith had disappeared. Had they feared a worse confrontation and finally decided to take the risk of excavating deeper into the vault? Well, they weren't here for a G.E.C.K., so he couldn't see why not; after all, they were just a couple of dealers of junk. Anything was worth something to them.

 Leith sighed, ignoring Kaye's dissatisfaction with the results of his kindness. He then reached into the smaller bag that he always kept on him, pulling out what appeared to be a miniature first-aid kit; it was nothing fancy, but in times of crisis, it had become useful for hasty jobs of stitching and disinfecting. He then dropped it onto the grimy floor, kicking it forward.
 "You're not getting anything else, kid, unless you put the gun down. I don't want to fight you, but I would also prefer to keep my belongings," he said.

[User]
Jace didn't speak as he made his way through the hallway, putting as much distance between the Brotherhood soldier as he could before he changed his mind and put a bullet through her head. He knew that it would have caused even more unnecessary trouble for the later on down the road.
 "We had it...in the palm of our hands!" he finally said when he was for certain the soldier couldn't hear. He whipped around to Basil and glared down at him. "Do you know the only thing that held me back from killing that pampered bitch? You. If you hadn't been with me, then I would have saved everyone back home." He ran his hand through his hair and started pacing around. "No, I had to worry about you being mad at me and I let you get inside my head like you always do."

 "I'm the one with the gun, ghoul," the raider snapped. He winced when raising his voice shot lightning through his shoulder blade. A little more softly, he continued. "I don't want to have to kill you, but I will if that's what it takes. Give me food and water." In all honestly, he had killed before and it never seized to haunt his thoughts every night. 'It wasn't my fault...I had to do it...just like now...'

[Assistant]
Basil narrowed his eyes, scowling as he said, "Yeah, you could definitely save them when you barely know what a G.E.C.K. even is. And yeah, you could definitely save them when the Brotherhood inevitably slaughters everyone in the town or takes them under martial law in retaliation." He walked past him, clenching his fists. He then paused and turned back around. "Look, I don't care if you like me or not, Jace. I asked you to come with me because you were the only person in my life that ever even cared enough to so much as listen to me. But if you really think that I don't know what I'm doing anymore, then please, enlighten me on how to do better. Because if we're to stay together on this, then we need to agree on something. Otherwise, I'm going on my own. I'll just hire someone. Hell, Leith would probably even do it if I offered enough caps, and he'd complain less than you do to boot."
 Every day, I'm becoming less and less of the person that he remembers. He's coming to hate me. Perhaps it'd be best if we'd part ways, that way I could at least preserve what remains of him.

 Leith sighed, "You don't want to patch up that wound before you eat?" He shrugged, reaching into his bag. He then pulled out a half-empty bottle of water and a bag of old potato chips. "Here. It's all that I have on me at the moment. But come on, kid. Just put the gun down. If I was going to hurt you, then I would have done it already; after all, I'm a ghoul. We don't even need guns."

[User]
Jace winced at that, feeling as if he'd physically punched him. "You would like that, wouldn't you? At least you finally found your match, someone as smart as yourself. And hey, at least he can spell his own name, right?" He turned away from him and fell into a long silence, trying to hide the hurt that he felt. "The only reason I agreed to come along was so I could watch after you. That's what I've always done since the day I met you. You're the only person that ever looked at me like I was more than a street urchin and the bastard child of the town's drunk. But I think you're starting to think that of me, too."

 The raider stared at Leith for a long moment in contemplation. He really did seem sincere in what he said, but then again a lot of them always did. Finally, he slowly lowered the gun and let it clang to the ground. Hesitantly, he walked towards him and carefully took the chips from his hand, feeling as if the ghoul would attack at any moment. After taking the offered food and water, he quickly shrunk away from him.
 "Why...are you so nice to me?"
 "I am wondering the same thing," Kaye mumbled.

[Assistant]
Basil was silent for a long time before he finally asked, "Why is it that you only allow jealousy to be your motivation? I've known Leith for not even two days, yet you keep insinuating that I'm interested in him. That's just ridiculous!" He shook his head, clearly exasperated. "And I don't give a damn about your father or him being a drunk or anything. What I care about is accomplishing our objective in the most rational manner, yet you're making that harder and harder every day. This isn't about me, it isn't about you, it's about something far more important than either of us. So stop being a selfish child!"
 He huffed, turning around and walking towards the exit once more.
 He came here to protect me? Well, I'm the wrong person; that's likely why he feels so cheated now.

 Leith sighed, relieved that he had finally abandoned the weapon. "I don't kill children, alright? If I have an option, that'll be my last resort. And I could tell that you were just scared, so..." He shrugged.

[User]
Jace watched as he made his way to the exit, feeling as if Basil had thoroughly destroyed him and sown his remains in the dirt for fertilizer. This was a side he'd never seen him show before and it just seemed to him that it only began when they met Leith and Kaye. Perhaps he'd only begun to notice it then, but he felt like he was being pushed out of the picture. Perhaps it was selfish for him to think that way, but he couldn't help how he felt.
 Ever since he'd met Basil, he'd always felt inferior in his presence but always tried hiding it from him. He knew he wasn't smart like him, but he thought they complimented each other well, with him being the brawns and Basil the brains. It seemed with each passing day, though, he was growing less tolerable to Jace and he was beginning to think he hated him now.
 'He seems so different from the boy I first met. I think he really is growing tired of me being around. I'm just slowing him down, like he said.'

 "I'm not a child!" the raider said, glaring. "I'm sixteen years-old! And I wasn't scared. Just..." he didn't know what to say. Without another word, he opened the bottle of water and drank half of it in one gulp. He'd gone two days without water while being trapped in the basement and if these two hadn't come along, he probably would have died of thirst.
 Kaye watched him drink the water before turning to look at Leith. "What are we going to do with it?"