[System]
Age: 32

Gender: M

Sexuality: Straight

Nomadic or sedentary: Nomadic

Weapons: Double action .45 pistol
12 gauge sidexside shotgun
Serrated hunting knife

Skills: Basic survival skills

Abilities: Slightly heightened reaction times. It functions almost like a watered down version of spider sense. This has allowed him to get the jump on most people he comes across and has saved him from certain death time and time again.

Animal Empathy (Can sense animals motives and vice versa). Having had a natural affinity to most forms of wildlife, he now can predict most animals actions. While he cannot communicate with animals, he can impart his intentions to them. This has allowed him to avoid many possibly deadly encounters with the new wildlife that now inhabits this world and has caused a few of them to come to his aid.

Appearance: Has a slight paleish hue to his skin and multiple scars due to him almost constantly attacking anyone he comes across.

Brief Personality: Originally a very timid and soft spoken individual, his physical changes have turned him into an egotistical self-serving individual who only looks out for himself and animals.

Brief Background: Being a park ranger at Yellowstone, Abel loved his job. He got to be out in nature and around wildlife constantly. Being so far out in the wilderness caused him to disconnect farther and farther with the modern world. So, when war started and the bombs dropped, he was caught completely off guard. Maybe he could have sought out shelter sooner and avoided what would befall him. Somehow, he was far away from the point of impact to avoid the lethality of it. Although, maybe what happened to him was worse than death.

He walked in a daze for months eastward. Originally he hoped to find any other survivors or even the military in hopes of being recused. With each passing day the radiation seeped deeper into his body and mind and changed and twisted both. Now, he looks to enact his own sick psychotic version of justice to anyone he comes across.

Alone or with someone?: Alone

[User]
Adelaide's heartbeat pounded as she held the sides of the truck, her heart threatening to jump out of her chest. This wasn't a good idea. She could feel the others' eyes on her. She was pushing her luck lately. Being a woman alone was super dangerous enough. That's why she had been so reluctant to take Elijah with her when she found him. She couldn't guarantee one hundred percent protection for him. Adelaide still wanted to find some sort of sanctuary to put him. There had to be somewhere that was guarded off from everything that would take a kid.

"Pretty little thing," the person across from her commented, "You got a lot of guts running around with a pretty face like that. Won't be so pretty for long. They'll tear it apart. They'll find you and they'll shred you to pieces. Just you wait and see." He laughed as if what he was saying was the most hilarious thing in the world.
"And what's this? A child? Oh what a pair. You two are nuts. I'll start digging your graves for yas."

"You'll see."Elijah said, "She's not just a pretty face. She could beat all you losers up. She's tougher than most guys." She loved the kid for sticking up for her but saying things like that did nothing but possibly create feuds. "We'll be the ones still alive in years to come and you guys will be in graves because you don't know anything." They laughed at him, dismissing him immediately to Adelaide's relief.

Adelaide gritted her teeth, forcing herself not to look over at the speaker. She knew it was going to be some psychotic looking creepy dude or something. She could feel him staring right at her and Elijah, still laughing at the idea of their incoming doom. She gripped Elijah's hand tightly as she felt a hand caress her thigh.
Great. She was surrounded by them. This was an awful idea. She turned to call to the driver to stop when a familiar voice reached her ear.

"Adelaide?" A male voice said, "Is that you?" She looked over. Through the window to the inside of a truck, a very young man was scooting over closer to them. It was broken and it was simply a hole. God she wished she had just sat on the inside. "I-I-I don't mean to disturb you; you just look like someone I kn-knew and I was seeing if you were here. If not, I'm sorry to disturb you."

"Uh."Elijah muttered, "Why does that guy know your name?"

She couldn't believe it. "... Drake?"Adelaide peered at him in astonishment. "Holy shit." Drake had been an old friend... Maybe one of the only true friends she had ever had. They had met as kids and stuck together for years. However around 3 years ago, bandits had raided the village they had been staying in and they had been forced to flee in separate directions. She had not been able to find him since. Her eyes teared up, "You idiot I thought I lost you forever,"She reached through the hole and cupped his face, "God it's really you. It's really you." She smiled genuinely despite the tears rolling down her cheeks

"UH. Hello!?"Elijah exclaimed, "What the hell is happening?"

[Assistant]
Angel

The skeleton of New York City was rather beautiful the autumn afternoon of October 3rd. The caramel and red hues of the leaves sprinkled against the grey background as they delicately swam through the wind to the ground. The leaves, decaying as much as the city, still were a treat to the eye. Angel had only been on the third floor of an apartment building a few days now and she longed to be back in the woods. Though there was something eerie about a large city abandoned that really tickled Angel's fancy, it got old pretty quickly. She preferred to venture through woods rather than walk through an open road.

The apartment was very small and clearly for a lower income occupant. It could comfortably fit maybe two people at most. The bedroom was just a large, stained queen mattress on the floor and a small dresser against the wall. The wallpaper was peeling off the wall and had an unpleasant odor. The kitchen had clearly already been ransacked and consisted of a bunch of crappy 20-year old appliances that no longer worked. Angel thought maybe they never did in the first place considering the quality. A roach skittered by on the old grey carpet under her mattress as she reached over to yank the chain hanging by the window to slowly shut the blinds.

She had spent much of her days going through the belongings of the past occupants whilst waiting out a few bandits that were running around. There was a large group of them looting the city. They didn't seem to be any of the super menacing or infamous ones yet they did carry a good number of people. There were at least ten of them. If she had approached them on the ground level, they would easily win the battle. She only needed one of them in particular dead. Angel guessed he was the leader. While advertising her hunting skills, someone in Newark had given her a description of a man in a green bandana and a reward for killing him. It was something that often happened and Angel was beginning to think she had figured out some underground assassin code without realizing it.

Angel didn't feel as much guilt as she used to for ending a life. It became more routine and easy to swallow the more she did it. The people she killed tended to kill and steal just the same so she felt it was fair game. Angel had been undereating for the last week and this was a deal she could not refuse. As voices echoed in the distance, she rolled over to the side of the mattress closer to the window. She sat up on her mattress, the sunlight illuminating part of her face as she loaded her sniper rifle and leaned against the wall. The thin, pale girl was still fully dressed in her clothes as she steadied herself. Her red hair was frizzing due to the humidity of the air. She pulled it back into a low, loose ponytail and loaded the gun onto the ledge of the window, the hum of an vehicle reaching her ears.

There were about four males and one female visible in an old grey jeep with no roof. It slowly came down the road. The car seemed so loud contrast to the silence of the city that it was hard to imagine that this road was once filled with the sound of engines and blaring horns. She held back a sigh of relief. The group must have split up and she was lucky to have the man in the green bandana sitting right up on the back of the car. She lined up her sight and readied her aim as the jeep began to line up with it.

Angel was thankful for the silencer on her rifle as the bullet whizzed out and right into the guy next to her target. He collapsed forward into the seats ahead of him, causing a vocal reaction from the seated boys. It had been a shot through his chest and would probably be fatal. The jeep had sped up a bit just as she had been firing and threw everything off. She cursed under her breath and quickly shot at the tires as they began to attempt their getaway. The jeep swerved to a messy stop as both tires facing her side of the road were blown out. She shot again at her target, finally causing the man in the green bandana to collapse off the back of the truck onto the road. However, this was enough for the others to spot where the shots were coming from. The three remaining jumped out of the car and ran right for her building.

[User]
Jet

Perched on a building like a bird, Jet looked more like a mechanical angel as he watched over the city under the clear sky. It was a perfect day for things to scavenge for new supplies. The city was a good place for easy pickings since people go in and out of it constantly. He looked around calmly and spotted a Jeep driving on a road with around five people inside about a block ahead from where he was. Multiple bullets then came down, killing two of the people inside. It seemed as if someone else had the same idea. The jeep had begun to speed up but came to a sudden stop swerving, as two of the tires were shot out from underneath it. Jet knew it was time as he stood up and started his wingsuit and jumped from the building. He flew towards the Jeep as fast as he could. Jet saw three people exit the vehicle and as he reached them, he stretched his legs out in front of him and grabbed one of them by his shoulders, like an eagle picking a fish from the water and slammed him into the ground, cracking the pavement under him. This killed the man instantly from the impact. He then turned around, pulling his energy pistols out and sending two large purple bolts through the chest of the other man, leaving large cauterized holes through his body as he fell lifelessly to the ground. The remaining female was already in the building and out of reach. He wasted no time looting and grabbed what guns and supplies he could inspecting the area once more. Jet then flew to the top of the building opposite of the one the girl had entered and perched on the edge waiting.

[Assistant]
Abel continued his journey through the woods. It had been a fairly boring journey thus far. Suddenly the sight sound and smell of a small fire caught his attention. Slowly approaching, he saw a single older gentleman, armed with only a hunting rifle sitting in front a small fire. Able composed himself as he broke through the foliage to confront the man. "Hello friend." Abel said, hands extended out in a gesture of nonviolence. The man grabbed his rifle and quickly spun towards the direction Able emerged from the forest. "Easy there friend." Able cooed at the man, hands still outstretched in a nonviolent manner.

"I mean no harm to you." Able said in monotonous tone. "I saw your fire and would like to rest my weary bones." Able continued. The man shook nervously as he tried to discern Abel's motives. "Are, are you a bandit?" The man demanded, pushing his rifle forward towards Able. "Not at all friend." Able replied. "If you look, all I have is a shotgun on my back and a satchel on my back. I'm not equipped to be a bandit." Able continued to walk closer to the man. His revolver and knife hidden in his waistband.

The man lowered his rifle slightly. "Ok, but if you try anything, I'll kill you." The man said trying to sound intimidating. "Fair enough." Able said plopping himself down in front of the fire. For the next hour the two men exchanged pleasantries. The man began to relax around Able as they continued to talk. Suddenly, when the opportunity presented itself, Able took and sucker punched the man, knocking him unconscience.

Several hours later the man awoke, tied to a tree. He saw Able squatted over and stoking the fire. "What the fuck?" The man exclaimed. Able turned from the fire and walked to the man. "Morning sunshine." Able said laughing. "What do you want you sick fuck?" The man asked Able. "I've just got a quick question for you." Able said. He pulled his knife out of his lower back sheath and held it to the man's neck. "Want to know how I got these scars?" Able asked.

"Wha, what?" The man replied. Able took his knife and pulled it back from the man's throat. Able laughed loudly. "You should have seen your face." Able laughed. The man joined in on the laughter. Abel's eyes narrowed. "I didn't say you could laugh." as he jammed the knife into the man's throat. Able held the knife in the man's throat as he watched the life drain from the man.

Able cleaned and dressed the man. As he cut off pieces of meat from the man he began to cook it. It would help the meat last slightly longer than it otherwise would. About halfway from cooking the man Able heard a twig snap behind him. He turned to see a mutated mountain lion. It was the size of a bear, it's teeth long and jagged and clumps of hair missing from its coat. The mountain lion was in attack mode as Able put his hands out in a non aggressive gesture.

"Hey there bud." He said to the wild cat. "I've cooked as much as I can carry of this. So, you can have everything else. I'm just going to walk away and you can have it all." The wild cat went from an attack posture to a relaxed one. Able slowly slunk into the woods as the cat crept into the camp and devoured the remains of the man Able had not cooked. Once Able was sure the wild cat was not following him, he turned and began to continue to jog east.


[System]
Appearance: A monster of a man, standing at nearly 7' tall with shoulders wide enough to make some doors hard for him to fit through, Osmund looks like he would be more at home behind a forge or on a hunting boat with his brown skin the colour of beaten bronze. Build like a brickhouse, shoulders like boulders and a chest like a barrel, he looks built for wrestling with Tetsucabra and Barroth. His kind eyes are a dull blue, leaning more towards grey and his nose has a hump to it, looking slightly broken and twisted. His hair is shaven into a short, frayed mohawk. He has the drooping, pointed ears and chiselled facial features characteristic of those from his family and families like it, Smithies. He tries to stay clean-shaven, but often can be seen wearing a five-o'clock shadow or rugged stubble.

Race: Same as 'The Man'.

Age: 25

Sex: Male.

Rank: High Rank.

Weapons/Armor: Axelion Blade (Charge Blade), Nitro Boost Hammer (Hammer) and the Diablos Armor Set.

Palicoes: None.

Personality: Osmund is not the smartest. He isn't exactly dumb, but he's no genius. Quiet and stoic, he speaks when speaking is needed and when he feels that his words will matter, but rarely speaks otherwise. He is kind, he is fond of smiling and is not above engaging in a hearty laugh. Most of the time he is just one to have fun, not overly concerned with getting bogged down by his problems or worries. Easy-going is a very good descriptor of his usual personality.

When in battle, he is a silent giant swinging his weapon with enough force to put down even the toughest of monsters... eventually. A tranquil storm upon the field, his temper can sometimes get the best of him, leading him to launch into a berserk rage. Normally he takes care to mind his teammates when swinging his weapon about, but when he's mad he relinquishes some of this composure and control. This anger switch seems to become more sensitive depending on how large the monster in question is.

History: Osmund comes from a family of craftsmen. He's the youngest of 5 children, but also the biggest. His lifelong ambition was to take to the field and hunt for his own materials with which to forge his hunting equipment. He didn't plan too much further than that. As said before, he isn't so bright. When he got into the hunting life he just sort of, stuck there after taking a shine to it. It put food on the table, money in his pocket and prestige in his name. Eventually he abandoned smithing and such altogether, becoming a full-time hunter. His family is saddened at his leaving of the family business, but pleased that he has found his place in the world and something that he is good at. Hunting has become who he is to such a great extent that he has nearly forgotten his past trade, but he seems to know most of the craftsmen around rather well.

Other:
Theme-songs: Normally and then Angry.

[User]
The wailing shriek of a Great Jaggi takes his last breath as it falls to the ground with a thump. His body was covered in many slashes and had already lost a lot of blood. The smaller, regular, Jaggies and Jaggia hiss as they retreat back into the bushes. Standing proudly on him, her left foot on the corpse, Cynthia looks down upon her opponent. She had faced many of these Great Jaggies in the past, so this was no biggie. Even the battle seemed boring for her. Beside her was her trusted felyne palico, Tybalt, the same one that assisted Cynthia's father almost 10 years ago.

"God damnit..." she sighs with dissatisfaction as she turns back to the way she came, "These Great Jaggies are all too easy. Where are all the big monsters?"

Tybalt's nose twitches as he checks the fallen foe for its scales.

"You know quite well that you won't find them here, nya...." answers the Palico as he picks up a Jaggi scale, "The meownsters are father off, deeper into the Western Schrade. You'll rarely find them this close to Minegarde."

"I know Tybalt, I know. Besides, the quest wanted us to kill a Great Jaggi anyways. There hadn't been many quests that have to hunt bigger monsters these days. Like I wouldn't mind to hunt a Rathalos or a Tigrex or... I don't know, a Barroth or something."

"I'm sure they'll come soon, nya? Just be patient. Now please... help me skin the Jaggi's hide."

Cynthia nods as she begins helping Tybalt skin the Great Jaggi before heading back to Minegarde.

[Assistant]
Alice stomped off of the boat and in to the small town of Minegarde, her arms crossed, grumbling to herself. She had sheathed across her back her Long Sword, Usurper's Boltstriker, which was still glowing after her hunt. It was a capture quest for a Gobul, and oddly, she never bothered to use her Shock Trap or any of her Tranq Bombs. She had only one fate in mind for that smelly fish: Death. A few weeks ago, she had been transferred by the Hunter's Guild to Minegarde from her home town of Port Tanzia due to complaints from hunting parties she had joined. She growled with anger as she remembered the letter that had sent her off...

Dear Mrs. Alice Yagami,

We have recieved an alarming number of regular complaints about your behaviors while partaking in capture quests. These complaints include, but are not limited to you seemingly killing the required monster purposefully, with the goal of capture clear in your mind. Because of this, we have decided to relocate you to the town of Minegarde, where you will hopefully pick up the art of the capture from native hunters. As consolation for your relocation, the guild has also decided to provide you with free Trap Tools and Tranq Bombs should you need them.

Regards,
The Hunter's Guild.

Shamba scurried off the boat, joining his master's side. "Try not to fret-alaka, Alice," he consoled. "As young Shakalaka, Shamba master dance much more slower than Priest-alaka. With practice and much work, Shamba become best young dancer in village!"

Alice waved her companions words away and took a seat near the tavern, where she began to pull out two hunks of raw meat. "Alright Shamba, sit. Lunch time." Shamba obediently sat cross-legged in front of Alice, closing his eyes for a bout of meditation. Alice meanwhile set the meat on the makeshift spit that was Shamba's mask, slowly turning the meat above the coals.

[User]
Minegarde.

Why.

----
Elize Abbott, daughter of a bow user, daughter of a man who died to this blazing black dragon, a bow user herself, a woman who almost died to the Deviljho, hated bugs.

She made it her mission, no, her purpose to kill every bug she saw. Most of the time it was stepping on them, hitting them with an arrow, whatever way she could, she killed those little ugly things.

She just stepped on a bug.

Hooray.

Elize sighed. Today was a slow day. She had wanted to go capture a monster, but some hunter took the quest right before her. She then was going to hunt, but some other hunter took that quest from her too, and the rest were just collecting things. So, today being dumb, Elize decided to rest for a day. There weren't any good quests lately, as well.

After she stepped on that bug, she looked in the direction of where Matt usually was and said, "Matt? Are you cooking something?"

"Yes! I'm cooking some fresh meat, nya."

Meat?

Meat.

She'll wait.

[Assistant]
Aahhh, Minegarde. Such a spartan, dusty mess of a town. It was hard for Osmund to believe he had arrived at the correct place as he jumped out from the back of the caravan he was travelling with. The caravan bobbed as his significant weight left it, his sand-coloured Diablos armour clattering as his heavy boots hit the floor. This place was so different to his home of Loc-Lac, but he wasn't fussed with complaining about it. He was always taught to respect authority, and when the Hunter's Guild says reassignment, he was damn sure going to follow through with that reassignment.

Well, as always, the first thing to do when he came to a new port was to check with the local stores and crafts. The smiths, the general store, the other traders, everyone. Osmund wanted to become familiar with all of the people he was going to be working alongside before actually setting out to work in this new locale. The smell of burning coals and hot iron brought him back to his home, before being overpowered by the smell of the arid desert air and the scents of food from the canteen and tavern. From all over the immediate area, he seemed to draw stares from the old, young and middle-aged alike. This he was used to, as it was territory that came with his significant size.

His stomach growled at him like an angry Rathian, and he patted it with a gigantic hand. Might as well christen this new locale with his first meal. Tromping over to the food scents, he rejoiced silently as he found that they made his favourite dish. Fried King Turkey with a side of stuffed Queen Shrimp, helped him to keep that shield up and stand his ground for as long as he needed to. Food kept him on his feet and kept him hunting, so you could never have enough. He ordered a large plate as he took a seat, looking over his massive shoulder at the women nearby, one sat upon the floor and another standing off to the side. They looked to be hunters, judging by their gear and company.

Osmund looked to the two of them and gave a stiff nod of the head, raising a hand to both acknowledge them and greet. A deep voice rumbled from within him, like the sound of an Uragaan snoring.

"Greetings."


[System]
Age: 20
Starting Location: Central City
Rank: Skilled
Organisation: Helping Hand Guild

Appearance: Cici's most distinctive features are her long, thick and messy dark hair, which she attempts to tame by tying it back, and the tattoo of a musical score winding around her right arm. Her eyes are bright blue, often staring off into the distance as she plans her next song. She's tall for a woman, standing at 5'10", and her skin is pale. Her usual outfit consists of a black vest top, a pair of baggy blue jeans, ankle boots, and a dark blue guitar pick pendant. She's rarely seen without her semi-acoustic guitar (hollow electric guitar that can be played as either type).

Biography: Cici was born in Central City to two music-loving parents, owners of a musical instrument shop. Her father had been in a few bands in his youth, and her mother ran a choir at weekends. Cici learned to play the guitar from a young age, and in her late teens, did what her father had done and joined a band as lead singer and guitarist. Things didn't go as she'd hoped, though. After the band broke up over arguments and creative differences, Cici decided to make a fresh start. She'd leave her hometown and travel throughout the region, playing alone, looking for inspiration. This, however, is only one of her reasons for starting her journey, the other being stories she's heard about a certain mythical Pokemon - Meloetta. Her greatest dream is to catch this Pokemon, and failing that, at least hear its song.

Personality: Despite her slightly rough-around-the-edges appearance, Cici is one of the most laid-back people you'll meet. Very little gets to her, to the point that it can seem as if she doesn't take anything seriously. This is far from the truth, though. She focuses intently on her music, even if it does mean others often have to pull her back to reality.

Extra Info: Like others in the Guitarist trainer class, she's going to have many Electric types, as well as Pokemon with sound-based moves, such as Whismur, Noibat, Igglybuff and Tympole.

Pokemon Caught Ever: 6

Pokemon Party: Whismur, Swablu, Igglybuff, Kricketot, Chingling, Hoothoot

Pokemon Reserves:

Inventory: Pokeball x2

[User]
Vivian
Greenhaven
33

Vivian quietly waited for her friends and pokemon. She napped, ate, messaged her mum, caught up on the recent strange events and prayed for those in the cave.
At times like this she wished she still had her instrument, but that was long gone now. Sold some time ago at a pawn shop to cover her expenses.

Finally the nurse signalled that her Pokemon were ready causing Vivian to burst from her seat and excitedly rush over to see them.
"That's twice now in one day. said the nurse with a hint of concern. "You really should be more careful with your pokemon you know."
"I know." Vivian sheepishly replied as she quickly took her pokeballs back and ran out of the center.

Eventual Viv found a nice little spot near the oasis, under a tree, where she released all her pokemon.
It was then she gave them all a heart felt apology for the situations she had put them in. Flabebe, Petilil and even Ferroseed. It was a touching moment as tears swelled in Vivian's eye, her Pokemon listened intently to her words and she offered them each a chance to leave back into the wild.

It was Flabebe who first came up to her side. Wearing a confident smile that said it would never leave. The others quickly followed suit. After a few tears, many thanks and some careful hugs the group played together around the waters edge as the sun beautifully set.

TP53
+1 post
+0 (HHG)
+3 Sunset post
TP=57INVENTORY:* pokeball x2
* travel rations + supplies

POKEMON:
* Flabebe-10
* Petilil-5
* Ferroseed-2
* empty
* empty
* empty

---

(Flabebe got + 3 sunset lvl up.)

---

Azerus Jr
Greenhaven
36

Azerus couldn't believe he had been so daft, roggenrola should have been an obvious choice to fight in the dark. Unsure of what he was walking into AJ now releases him into his arms and carries the rock Pokemon as he steps into the passage way.
As he slowly creeps around a bend he hears a noise up in the distance. Roggenrola hears it too and shuffles in his arms. It was a sort of muffled rattling, the humming of a quiet turning engine and the occasional disgruntled mumble of a man.

That girl was right all along. Something suspicious was going on here.
It could be dangerous up ahead but if there were people here hopefully that meant was also another way out.

---

()

---

TP:48
+1 (post)
+0 (league)
+3 (Sunset post)
TP=52INVENTORY:* pokeball X1
*
*
*

POKEMON:* Roggenrola-7,
* Rhyhorn-8,
* Zubat-3,
* Spheal-2,
* Pawniard-2
* Aron-1

---

(Roggenrola got +3 sunset lvl up.)

---

[Assistant]
Luna D. Dharc

Luna nodded her head at Cici's question. "Yep... And Fairy types... But Dragon types will alwatlys have a place in my heart..." she said smiling at how Eclipse was getting along with Kym. But suddenly, an earthquake started to shake the area. Eclipse let out a panicked cry and jumped into Luna's arms, she held onto the baby dragon tightly trying to comfort him. The earthquake ended but Luna kept her little Deino in her arms.

"We'd better head inside," Luna nodded and headed to the Pokemon Center with Cici, with Eclipse still shaking in her arms. "My friend and I have been looking into unusual happenings around here, I'm going to have to talk with him about this. It could have something to do with..." Luna listened as Cici tried to think of what to say. "Ok. You've heard the story of Entei, right? Have you heard the rumours about the one around here? Well, as I found out firsthand a few days ago, they're true. And I'd better warn you, he's not exactly happy. Something's really rubbing him the wrong way, and I'm working with someone to find out what it is." Luna couldn't believe what she was hearing, Cici wasn't a normal trainer at all, she was actually investigating the activities of legendary pokemon. That really was something special, if this was an indication of Cici's skills as a trainer then Luna wouldn't stand a chance against her in a battle.

---

It was around sunset when they arrived at the Pokemon Center. Luna immediately went to go get Eclipse and her new Flabebe healed up and ready to go.

After she had her two partners healed, Luna walked around the Pokemon Center for a bit, with Eclipse trotting along beside her. It seemed like everyone was a bit shaken by the earthquake, was that really the result of two legendaries clashing? Luna shivered at the thought of what else could happen. Looking around she found Cici staring at a report on the TV, she walked over to her. "Did you find your friend?"

TP: +1+1(8)
Pokemon:
Deino(Eclipse) Level 6(not currently caught)
Flabebe(Rose) Level 1

Inventory: N/A
Rank: Beginner
Organization: N/A

[User]
Location: Tefan Village
Angel

Once she'd checked that Tommy was alright, called her parents to make sure they weren't hurt, and discovered from the reports that the damage was nowhere near as extensive as it could have been, Cici let herself relax a little. Lack of sleep and lack of success in this mission were making her unnecessarily worried. She headed back to her room, figuring that before doing anything else, a few hours of rest would do her good...

She woke to Tactus signalling the time. Listening to the number of hoots and peering at the window, she frowned. Had she heard that right? Had she really slept all day? Sighing, she pushed off the covers and got ready. Just when she thought she'd sorted out her sleeping patterns.

Heading back into the lobby, she took a place in front of the TV. Maybe by now, people would have more of an idea of what caused the earthquake... or not, she realised as she watched the continued reports.

"Iggly?" Cici looked down to see a pair of round red eyes, filled with concern, staring up at her. Beside Ligeia, Cadence and Allegro bore the same looks.

"Heh... It's ok," she reassured them, petting each one on the head and handing out berries, although her words sounded empty even to her. "We'll get this sorted out soon enough."

Ligeia kept her gaze fixed on her trainer. Since the incident in Feyhollow forest, the girl had seemed more detached, more easily disheartened, even if she tried to hide it. If only there was something she could do to help Cici, but she was so small, so frail...

She jumped up into the trainer's lap, only to bounce off and collide with a wall.

"Ligeia!" Before the Igglybuff could crash into anything else, Cici stood up and caught hold of her. "Ligeia, are you alright?" Although unhurt, Ligeia whimpered, snuggling up to the trainer.

At the sound of someone approaching, Cici turned around. "Oh, hi Luna," she said, her usual smile in place. "Yeah, he's fine, he said he'd just go do a little research." Tommy, however, had seemed just as discouraged as she was. Not just one, but possibly two legendaries... How did trainers of their level have any hope of doing this?

TP: +1 +1 +3 (87)
Pokemon:
* Loudred (Forte), male, lv21
* Swablu (Dulcet), female, lv18
* Igglybuff (Ligeia), female, lv12
* Kricketot (Cadence), female, lv6
* Chingling (Allegro), male, lv5
* Hoothoot (Tactus), male, lv8 (+3)
* Jangmo-o (Kymbalon), female, lv12
* Litleo (Breig), male, lv2

Inventory:
* Rare Candy x1

Rank: Skilled
Organisation: Helping Hand Guild

---

+1 (48)


[System]
Avarius Elthandeir
 Avey storm chaser,

Age: 23
Element: Air
Personality:
An eccentric free thinker with a gentle heart.
To say Averius was an odd child would be an understatement, to assume he had out grown it would be gravely inaccurate. Just as genius can be found in the misfortunate and mad, the inner workings of Avey's mind was both a mysterious blessing and a curse.

At certain times he can seem to lack empathy, but those worrying occasions are rare.
His humour is often abstract and his thoughts commonly unfiltered and unrestrained.
Most the time he appears light hearted and aloof. Despite his oddities he is quite shy and quiet.

Avarius has taken a Vow of Non-violence wich he follows very seriously, often relying on Vallen when situations become rough.

History: Little is known of the young prodigies past. Questions are often quickly deflect but if one can bring him to ponder on his past for even a moment, his eyes fill with a mix of emotions, crippling him socially.
Equipment: Having adopted a minimalist lifestyle Avarius holds few possessions dear to him. He has the clothes on his back, a few spare rags, a bed roll he calls home and thats it.
Class Taught: Air~elemental/mental flow

Teachers Aid
Vallen
 The Silent Monk,
Age: 28
Element: (no longer using elemental magic, it is unknown what power he once possessed)
Personality: Vallen keeps to himself and his work at the academy. He avoids conversation and confrontation. In class he is firm yet fair. 'Tough love' he is also very protective of his mentor and students.
History: Vallen grew up in a prominent conjuring family that held him to high expectations. His magic never lived up to their esteem.
What he lacked in elemental affinity he made up for in combative skill.
Years of rigid and strict training from self serving proud parents produced a troubled teen. After near expulsion from the academy he was taken on by Avarius as a permanent personal assistant and pupil.

He has since began bettering his ways by respecting his elemental affinity more and not using it for the advantages that it brings. In the past he miss-used and took it for granted, so now he is trying to atone.
He still recognises his gift and connection and will even meditate on it but he has learnt that it put his life out of the greater balance.
That is the lessons Avarius is teaching him.

Equipment: Kusarigama
Appearance:
Class Taught: Teachers aid. Combat movement.

Student
Kain Rassid
"Those that fear the dark haven't seen what the light can do."

---

Personal Information

Gender: Male
Age: 18,
Element: Lightning
Personality: Kain is highly energetic and competitive. He has a way to see the positive side of things and always moves forward. He is eager to learn and grow although not always the brightest student.
Since becoming attuned to his abilities he has grown in arrogance and confidence.
He is a loud daring personality, not shy nor worried of others opinions at all.
History: Kain grew up in a foster family, never knowing his own. But his new family was good to him, they looked after him. They were not rich but did ok.
When Kain showed signs of being attuned to an element his foster family could not stand in the way of his desire for adventure or his endless ambitions. They aided him as best they could for his journey.
Equipment:
Concealed throwing knives
Clothes and favourite coat

[User]
Avarius proves to be a good compassionate listener and seemed to grow excited with the answer, not due to any scholarly impression or surprise but more so as that was the reply he had been hoping for and anticipating, allowing him to move on.
"While we choose to reject many of the technologies of the rest of the world we cannot deny their functionality, here is a lesson for you to learn in your own time. How does 75 tonnes of steel remain in the sky and how does that differ to your technique."
And Avarius left it there at that, truly for Brunhilde to ponder in her own time.

As he spoke Avarius had moved around and positioned himself over her bag, lightly rummaging he removed a tall glass jug containing a small bag of unusual balloons, a fist sized bag of coloured powder and a compact folded up inflatable kids pool.

Avarius smiled widely as he separated each unusual item and lay them on the ground, watching the girls reaction.
"First we inflate the pool." he says handing her the crumpled rubber.
"Then we need to fill it with water."
He looks to the jug still on the floor that everything came packed in. He then turns his gaze back to Brunhilde and a mischievous gaze twinkles in his eye.
"But... "he taunts." It needs to be the water from atop the tower."

It would easily be a four or five trip run up the tower.
If it seemed like he was tediously finding excuses for her to climb the stairs, that's because he was.

"and remember, our class time is limited, the sooner this is ready the more time I have to teach you"
He gives her a playful wink and sits himself down once again. This time closing his eyes.
Brunhilde in her awareness may notice that Avarius is less than half an inch of the ground, barely noticeable by perception as the blades of grass respond as though under a mans weight and no residue gust is present.

[Assistant]
Light

"While we choose to reject many of the technologies of the rest of the world we cannot deny their functionality, here is a lesson for you to learn in your own time. How does 75 tonnes of steel remain in the sky and how does that differ to your technique."

The question was swiftly jotted down in the journal. The answer was simple enough - perfectly balancing the center of mass of the steel against the strength of each part of its support structure, which more or less was exactly what she did when she hovered. As a child, she had learned from her father the basics of physics while watching and listening as he fixed the stone walls, wooden and thatched roof, and doorways of the stable and the main farmhouse - which is exactly where she got the idea for hovering in the first place.

She smiled - those lessons from her father were from before her head injury, and the memory was one of the clearest she had, so even though she wanted to remember the question being asked, she didn't need to refer to the earlier portions of the book like she had with almost everything else.

"First we inflate the pool." he says handing her the crumpled rubber.

Obediently, Brunhilde funneled a gust of air into the pool's air intake nozzle, inflating it in seconds. She lightly tapped the stopper on the intake port with her foot, closing it.

"Then we need to fill it with water. But... It needs to be the water from atop the tower."

She raised an eyebrow and looked to the tower. A note in the journal mentioned that she was supposed to take the stairs, annoyingly enough.

"and remember, our class time is limited, the sooner this is ready the more time I have to teach you"

She nodded. This sort of thing wouldn't be terribly hard - she was used to helping her family around the farm. Less used to the stairs and the students moving up and down the stairs, but the jug itself wouldn't be a huge problem. At least, assuming the jug itself was even necessary.

She picked up the jug as she assumed she was supposed to, and returned to the top of the tower where she had dumped her things to find the womens' bathroom - which, thankfully, wasn't only intended for a single person, but rather was a respectably sized and fully equipped dormitory bathroom. There were two walls that faced roughly the right direction, with a few small windows with frosted glass. She checked to see if any of the windows could open. The ones near the sinks could, while the ones near the showers couldn't - which was pretty reasonable, she thought. Still, the window was awfully small, and she certainly couldn't do what she needed to with it. She opted to check out the balcony at the common room, where one of the senior students was practicing his flight. She waved to him and he waved back, and she took a look down below at the school grounds, where she was able to see Avarius and the swimming pool - a perfect target.

She returned to the womens' bathroom with the jug and turned on a cold faucet. Nothing particularly special about the water, but directions were directions. A few ideas crossed her mind on how to get the water down the fastest way possible - some of which would only have really made sense were she a water elementalist, such as using air to try to funnel a stream of water down into the pool. The last idea, and the one she liked most, was to turn the water into a fine mist and use air manipulation to guide it into the pool.

She cupped the water in her hand and stepped over to a drain in the middle of the room, where she threw the water into the air, testing a few different shapes of air currents to see what would work best, before settling on a conical vortex like a tornado. A couple layers spinning counter to one another would ensure the water would be scattered finely enough to be moved by the air itself, she found.

Satisfied, she filled the jug, walked to the balcony, and dumped the jug over the rail, straight into the air vortex. It took a bit of concentration to try to gather the winds carrying the resulting mist (as there was quite a lot of it), and she undoubtedly lost a good 40% of the water, but it mostly worked. The real trick was trying to get it to go all the way down to the rubber pool, where she would have difficulty feeling the air.

The gears ticked in her head as the spinning torus of air carrying water vapor hovered over the balcony. Perhaps she wouldn't need to feel the air from near the swimming pool. Might be easier to use a sort of tether as a feeler around the water vapor, so she could feel and instruct the torus as necessary without needing to extend her senses too far. She settled on this solution, and moved a very thin line of air to envelope the torus. Moving two things at once was simple enough - like threading a needle, or playing a guitar.

She used the tether to move the water vapor bundle down to the rubber pool almost as if she were fishing or flying a kite, and guided the water vapor into the pool, where it rapidly condensed into a thin layer of water.

She did this two more times before she decided that it was beyond her to do it efficiently or quickly, and opted to use the jug properly instead. It was a good idea, but she simply wasn't able to manipulate vapor well enough or stretch her manipulation far enough yet. Power wasn't the issue - she had plenty of that, as evidenced by her ability to effortlessly shred hardwood. It was her ability to listen to the air that needed further improvement.

The journal had gotten slightly damp from the water vapor shenanigans, and she wiped off the pages before writing down her (very short) notes on the failed experiment. She filled the jug properly and hovered it down the tower stairs with her, carefully avoiding any accidental collisions with other students or spilling the water. When she got to the ground floor, she skated across the ground as she had done earlier, intending to avoid any 'accidents' the teacher might try to cause. She dumped the water in the pool and returned upstairs, where she refilled the jug, and she repeated the process two more times before the pool was finally full.

Nearly out of breath from literally running up the very long stairs several times in the past several minutes with a jug and a massive book, she looked up to Avarius again. "Finished. Finally." By the sun's position, the entire process apparently took roughly fifteen minutes - far too long. Were she more skilled, she felt that she could have done it in under three minutes.

[User]
Avarius gave her an impressed smile. There was a gleam in his eyes as he softly spoke, and not just from the splash back spray from Brunhilde's water stunt.
"In some aspects you are defiantly beyond a first level student and would fit in well with the second years attempting to further blast more and larger torrents of wind to your will."

Avarius repositions himself in front of the small pool and tips in some some green powder. It disperses amongst the water but doesn't dissolve, leaving a green cloud floating still.

"Unfortunately we need to tear that knowledge and instinctual processing back and start anew and raw. This is a longer path, and now is an appropriate time to decide if you are willing to spend many countless hours pursuing a perfection you might never achieve in place of the instant gratitude gained from flashy forceful power."

He pauses and looks up to the short girl. "While there is nothing wrong with their methods it does become quite limiting." Avarius motions to the green cloud in the water.
"It is not quite a one hundred percent accurate representation but treat your hand like your will and move the coloured cloud."

...

---

After some frolicking and splashing and the undeniable disbursement of the chemical cloud in the now tinted water, If Brunhilde hadn't tried pulling instead of pushing the cloud Avarius will hand her some red powder and instruct her to try.
The exercise was purely one for observation and to open the concept many young wind elementalists didn't consider. Something other than head on force, the effects of pulling instead of pushing.

Even though in this experiment it proved only mildly more efficient and still dissipated afterwards, the closest thing to success would be achieved by not touching the cloud at all and moving water away causing a pull on the cloud as it ran into the empty space.

"This, this is guidance." he says as a soft breeze runs past them.
"It is where you currently excel, so I want to avoid that until we find balance so it does not become a crutch that hinders your learning of the other aspects."

Avarius holds out the ballon bag
"What's your favourite color?"


[System]
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Nationality: Coalition
Callsign/Codename: "Doughboy"
Kills: 5

Psychological Analysis: An intensely moral person with a penchant for philosophy and poetry, Alex's personality is largely consumed with his efforts to be what he calls 'a good person'. He tries to be infallibly pleasant to absolutely everyone he meets, tending more towards appeasement when it comes to interpersonal conflict - as a result, he's fairly bad at standing up for himself. He's deeply extroverted and more than a little bit spacy; his attention tends to flit from subject to subject without really settling.

Employment Record: Born a citizen of a highly industrial Coalition world, Alex discovered his love of family and community at a young age. Though he lived with his two younger sisters and his parents in conditions of financial struggle, the support of their neighbors was enough to keep them from going over the brink into poverty, just as they supported their neighbors.

Though both his sisters showed a great knack for education, Alex struggled; it quickly became apparent that he was far too flighty for academia, barely being able to pay attention long enough to complete the simplest of arithmetic. At the age of fifteen, he left school and began working in one of his planet's many weapons factories to support his family. Immediately, he began to show great talent in the operating of industrial machinery, and by the age of seventeen (with the recommendation of some family friends) he became the youngest in the factory's history to be allowed to pilot an industrial MAS, used for heavy lifting, loading and unloading the instruments of war that the factory produced.

He worked in this way for two years, becoming comfortable with the machine he was granted control of. Then, disaster struck - a band of interstellar pirates, lusting after the military-grade weapons the factory produced, attempted to rob Alex's workplace and be gone before law enforcement could arrive: a get-in, get-out, get-rich scheme. Their plan worked perfectly... except for the part where they caught tied down fighting a kid in a civilian suit who'd grabbed a finished plasma sword off the assembly line. That likely caught them by surprise, and they were promptly apprehended at the scene of the crime.

Unfortunately, large sections of the factory were destroyed in the raid, and both Alex and his parents were downsized. With his parents out of work and his sisters dreaming of higher education, Alex took the one job available to him that could support his family: piloting a mech for the Steel hunters.

Equipment: Carries a .22 caliber revolver and a book of his favorite poems.

As pictured, but with the weapons described below - also, painted entirely in varying shades of green.
Designation: CMS-110-5, "The Viking" (Custom)
Role: Close-Quarters Assault
Chassis: Medium.
Engine: Quad Core, 20 PWR.
Operating Time: 12 Hours.
Description: Alex's highly modified job on the Gowser chassis. Designed to be an up-close-and personal monster, the model largely sacrifices flight capabilities and long-range firepower in exchange for land speed, durability, and close-range prowess.
Systems: DR-1X Pattern 35mm Assault Rifle: A weapon designed for high rate of fire and armor-piercing capabilities, it is capable of shredding through enemy plating with sustained, close-range fire. Its poor accuracy means that strategy for its use at a distance can best be described as 'close your eyes and pray'. Held with both hands when in use - can he holstered on the mech's back when not. Includes a long alloy bayonet at the front for melee combat. Fires on semi-auto at 650 RPM from a 250 capacity Mag. 7 WT, 2 PWR.
E-982 Class Hybrid Axe: A broad single-headed alloy waraxe with a plasma edge. Ideal for melee combat. Can be sheathed on the side of the mech when not in use. 3 WT, 5 PWR.
P-960 .50mm Anti Personnel Cannon: Shoulder mounted wide-barrel machine gun that sprays small caliber fire wildly at the ground in front of the mech. Makes up for in rate of fire what it loses in accuracy. Fires at 1500 RPM from an auto-loaded 500 round mag. 1 WT, 0 PWR.
Optimized Alloy Plating: The Viking supplements its shields with increased plating, making it incredibly durable. 5 WT.
Overcharged Civilian Grade Shield: The rough equivalent of a Class 2 Shield. 5 WT, 7 PWR.
Enhanced Fist Plating: The armor on the Viking's hands is even further plated in a simulation of knuckle dusters. Lends a great deal of power and protection to a punch. 2 WT.
Steel Hunters Mechanical Specialization: +5 WT.

Inventory: None, currently.

Funds: 500 Credits, 4% cut.

[User]
Alice had positioned herself a short distance from the core group. She wasn't as far as Adrian, but had nestled herself into a comfortable vantage point that was close enough to provide another overlapping field of fire to the rest of the team. Once the raiders' fire support platforms were dealt with, she intended to move from her perch and support Jamy and Sam's offensive.
 From here, Alice scanned the opposite side of the village for the artillery Lin had mentioned. She switched on her thermal imaging, which outlined the artillery barrel in white against the dark form of the rock. More white could be seen poking from the other side - other vehicles, SAMs, probably. A well-aimed HE salvo to the site and everything inside would be history.
 Alice was already dialing her instruments in, prepping to make a decisive strike against the pirates' support vehicles when the familiar rasp of the captain rattled her ears.
 "Team, status report."
 "Swallowtail, standing by. I have a visual on the raiders' artillery site." The reticule of her targeting computer hovered right over the outcrop, range and angle of attack already calculated. Alice's finger danced a mere inch over the launch trigger.
 "One word and we can say goodbye to those SAMS," she added.

[Assistant]
The next moments were like the calm before the storm. The Steel Hunters were analyzing and sharing target information with one another to help the operation go smoothly. The main road itself was blockaded by a quartet of tanks and IFVs, alongside a MAS, while 4 other enemy MAS's formed a wide perimeter around the town- their line reinforced by several light vehicles and infantry. They were spread wide because they weren't expecting a coordinated strike from outsiders. The Steel Hunter's concentrated strike could hammer through them long enough to get supplies to the town, as well as shatter most of their operation.

"Alright team. Lets get this done. Came Prowler's voice over the comms. Samuel breathed out deeply, cracking his knuckles and settling himself in his seat. Swallowtail had eyes on the artillery site he had spotted, he'd be able to push on with his own objective.

"Hit them. Go!"

Samuel's MAS reached for its shoulder and threw the tarp off of his machine. "Swallowtail, hit that artillery sight!" Sam called through the comms. Boosting around the corner, Sam skated towards the settlement, keeping his unit close to the ground- in case their was another SAM site. As Prowler and the main line engaged the enemies along the main road, Sam and the flanking force was responsible for cutting a path into the town to allow their infantry to push into the settlement and secure it.

Resistance on Sam's side was fairly minimal, a single Ferir II backed by a trio of lightly armored combat vehicles open fired on him as he nimbly dodged his way through, allowing himself to take fire to provide cover for his infantry force. Sam returned fire with his MAS's 20mm autocannons, the small but potent autocannon rounds tearing apart two of the lightly armored vehicles and forcing the Ferir to turtle behind a large alloy shield that it carried.

"Hey Werewolf, I've got a Ferir with a damn big shield here. Send him a present maybe?" Sam called in over the comm. Moving too far ahead of his infantry team would leave him vulnerable without their support, as well as leave them stuck without major fire support.

[User]
"Swallowtail, hit that artillery site!"
 Upon hearing Sam's confirmation, Alice depressed the trigger on her control yoke. The barrel of her 40 mm autocannon roared to life, chucking high-explosive rounds downrange at the targets.
 POOMPOOMPOOMPOOM - The screen of Alice's targeting computer flared white as the salvo slammed into the artillery encampment. Rounds burst as they made contact with the platforms, scattering debris and armor spalls. The SAM trucks imploded as the rounds detonated the ammunition inside their launchers, clearing the immediate airspace for Sam and the other light pilots.
 "SAMs are toast; you're in the clear, Hare."
 Immediately after the salvo took its toll, Alice zipped from her perch to regroup with the main offensive team. Up ahead, she could see the pseudo-blockade of MASs and armored vehicles across the road. Her targeting computer acquired the threats, highlighting them on her screen.
 "Goodnight." The Claymore launcher on her MAS's chest flared, sending an AT warhead darting into the sky. Moments later, it changed direction, screaming back down before plowing into the vulnerable top armor of one of the tanks.
 The MASs accompanying the armor snapped to attention, readying their weaponry as Alice and the other Steel Hunters approached the town.
 "Doughboy, Jupiter; let's give it to them!"

[Assistant]
Adrian shot upright when Prowler called the team into action, her hands tightening on the controls in excitement and anticipation. Finally, some action. She adjusted her MAS, keeping tabs on Sam as he skated into action, and grinning from ear to ear as Swallowtail took out the SAMs. She thought about taking to the air in celebration, but decided against it- there could be other trucks out and about, waiting to turn them into crunchy mech-suit pate.

"Nice shooting, Swallowtail. I'll keep eyes open for any other SAMs trying to ruin our fun."

"Hey Werewolf," Sam suddenly piped in over the comms, "I've got a Ferir with a damn big shield here. Send him a present maybe?" Adrian turned her computerized gaze at the target in question- a big honkin' alloy pain in the ass, indeed. At least, it would be for anyone else. Whoever that Ferir pilot was had obviously never met Reaper, though- he would have picked something much thicker if he had. She grinned, a shark's predatory expression.

"Oh, Hare. You always send me the best presents!" she crowed, aiming her railcannon at the MAS in question, her finger hovering over the trigger as her computer quickly configured a firing solution.

There. Locked in.

"Special delivery from the Steel Hunters Association! SMILE!"

There was a massive THUMP from Reaper as Adrian pulled the trigger, and a lance of near-molten metal exploded from the barrel at supersonic speeds. There was a flurry of sparks as the round slammed into and through the Ferir's shield, the arm holding it, the cockpit (reducing the pilot to the consistency of a fine red mist), and out the back of the MAS, exploding into the ground behind it.

The Ferir fell backwards after a beat, almost comically still, a still-smoldering hole in its chest. Adrian punched the air in celebration.

"And THAT'S how we do business! The front door's all yours, gentlemen- just find some more guys for me to shoot!"

[User]
"Hit them. Go!"

At the command, Alex's hands flew to the controls as he throttled the MAS into its top running speed, unlimbering the machine's assault rifle as he did so. "This is Doughboy, engaging in close quarters at the front, watch for friendly fire."

A flurry of explosions rippled across the artillery encampment, followed by one of the tanks in the front bursting into a fireball as an AT Warhead plowed into it. Alice was doing what she did best, it seemed.

The MAS had snapped to attention, and was now facing Alex's charge. By the look of it, it was a salvaged Sentry - a bit patchwork, but very functional. Before the enemy pilot could train the autocannon on him, Alex let loose with a burst of fire from his rifle, which was soaked up by the enemy's shields.

The answering salvo went wild, and the Viking crashed into the Sentry with a full shoulder charge. The alloy bayonet crashed through the machine's shields and took it in the chest, puncturing the armor but not damaging any vital systems. Gritting his teeth, Alex yanked on the trigger of his control stick, pouring fire into the vulnerable MAS's chest and mangling the armor of its chest.

A burst of missiles from the MAS's shoulder-mounted launcher caught Alex off-guard and filled his view with smoke, allowing the other pilot to bring his rifle to bear at close quarters. The gun's sustained fire quickly collapsed the Viking's shields, but the advanced alloy plating beneath was able to hold.

With one arm the Viking forced the gun to the side, while in a practiced motion the other limbered the assault rifle and drew the broad alloy waraxe from the MAS's hip. Alex grimaced as he saw the enemy pilot drawing his own plasma tomahawk. Time for the wet work, he thought to himself as the plasma edge on his weapon roared to life.


[System]
0 - The Fool
Rui Shinichi - Askr
I - The Magician
Matthew Harvester - Kresnik
II - The Priestess
Shirohane Kotori - Kikuri-hime
III - The Empress (NPC)
Hamada Leiko - Titania
IV - The Emperor (NPC)
Sutoraiki Kaminari - Zeus
V - The Hierophant
Samuru Amakusa - Shiro Amakusa
VI - The Lovers
Ryan Alon - Geraint
VII - The Chariot
Akane "Saito" Hanezawa - Setanta
VIII - The Justice
Katsuro Takuma - Giles Corey
IX - The Hermit
Ayano Wakahisa - Dantalion
X - The Fortune
Hashimoto Sato - Chronos
XI - The Strength (NPC)
Noboru Yamamoto - Atlas
XII - The Hanged Man (NPC)
Alexei Dragunov - Prometheus
XIII - The Death (NPC)
Chiaki Nettu - Freyja
XIV - The Temperance
Shizuka Otonashi - Inari
XV - The Devil
Jun Himura - Mordred
XVI - The Tower (NPC)
Fubuki Sayaka - Arachne
XVII - The Star (NPC)
Sieghardt Kasumi - Saturnus
XVIII - The Moon
Mako Moritomi - Israfil
XIX - The Sun
Zeke - Yatagarasu

The Story Thus Far
NOTE: This will only include story relevant events.

The beginning of the school term was nearing, and Rui had recently moved into Warakuma and was going to be attending soon. He met Noboru, who was a childhood friend of his shortly after arriving, and soon after he met Kami. Eventually the three went to the Warakuma Amusement Park, and after Noboru separated, Kami and Rui were drawn into the House of Mirrors.

After a series of strange events, they enter the Mirror World for the first time, and summon their Personas with the help of Kazuki, who happened to be there at the time. They were led out and informed of the Mirror World and the events that have taken place around it.

Shortly after discovering this, Noboru was taken into the Mirror World involuntarily. With the help of Kazuki and Megumi, Kami and Rui find the dungeon Noboru was in, and rescue him. Shortly after these events, Noboru was now part of the party.

In the following week, Matthew Harvester was taken, and police involvement resumed on the mass abductions originating from a year ago. Noboru, Rui and Kami responded quickly and went into the Mirror World to rescue him, also adding him to the party at the end of it.

With Golden Week near way Leiko Hamada was next, and just as quickly the party of four rescued her with the assistance of Riku. From then on, Kami formed the Investigation side, while Rui took care of the Dungeon side.

Shortly afterward, Chiaki Nettu was taken, and the team put together a rescue effort that resulted in a success. Meanwhile, Kami's investigation was showing up little results, as kidnappings so far seemed to be random, so no pattern was discernible.

Not long before midterms, Akane Hanazawa was taken, and the party put together a team to rescue her. The rescue was a success, leading to Akane joining the party. What followed after was a double kidnapping however, where Sato and Kotori were captured.

In the following week the team went to both dungeons and rescued both Sato and Kotori, subsequently the two joined the party as well.

The next week, Ayano and Kami had met up at the shopping center, and after a few events that had transpired, Ayano was captured, and immediately the next day Kami brought everyone together to rescue Ayano. After a difficult dungeon, it was found that Ayano had a more unique power as a Persona user, after she had been rescued.

Ayano's powers were put to the test during an emergency roughly a week later, when Alexei pursued cultist members as they kidnapped his sister, forcing his way into the mirror world. With Ayano's powers the party pinpointed their position and started a rescue mission for both Alexei and his sister Elena.

It was a success, with Alexei joining the team shortly afterwards, although with little time for rest, two more were taken the next week. Those two were Sieghardt, a member of the Drama club, and Ryan, a timid member of the Manga club.

Rui and Kazuki led two separate parties to rescue them in the coming weekend, though Rui's party run was smooth and Ryan was rescued without much incident, Kazuki did not have a much better time, and ended up requiring assistance, to which Rui and his party after rescuing Ryan, reinforced in the effort to rescue Seighardt. It was a resounding success, and the two were rescued safely.

After some investigation by Kami, he managed to find an unsettling truth after pinpointing the cult behind the attacks. The Junsei Sekai Tensei, or Perfect World Resurrection, was an old cult that has been around for awhile. There was one problem though, and that it's leader has gone completely MIA, and his wife died one year ago, despite the cult members passing mentions in a police interrogation.

Fast forward a week later, the Star Drop Café was attacked, and Mako, Shizuka, and Masahide were abducted by members the cult the party was pursuing. Aiko was injured, and Noboru sat this out to watch over him while everyone else successfully rescued the abductees.

Following this event, Jun Himura was abducted by the cult, and a Katsuro Takuma was caught in the crossfire, as well as many others. After a struggle from Jun Himura, it resulted in multiple of the abductors to be thrown into the mirror world as well. This resulted in strange knight enemies found within the dungeons, which were actually the people who were accidentally thrown into the mirror world.

After a rescue requiring two parties to go through different routes in the dungeon, everyone was rescued successfully. Though that has been resolved, tensions among Yakuza, authorities, combined with the presence of the Junsei Sekai Tensei cult, has made things uncomfortable for a few people.

That aside, summer break has begun but not two days into it, an incident has occurred in the Mirror World. Before they could investigate, Zeke, the hawk, guides everyone through to a new area called Seto, a giant lake and sea. Immediately they detect someone inside of it, much like the dungeons before, however upon reaching it, it's much smaller, but the threat to the person trapped here is all the same.

Rui takes a party in to rescue Samuru, while Kami takes another party to investigate Seto's immediate area. After a battle against Samuru's shadow, he awakens to his Persona and joins the team shortly after, while Kami's group sets their first foot into Seto's open areas, which starts as Japanese village and goes on into the fields.

Throughout the week everyone in varying parties explores this new area and progresses through it. Though considering this is Summer Break, Tadao offered everyone to take a trip to the beach for the weekend, which everyone accepted.

The Velvet Room - Challenges and Services

Challenge Rules and System

Character Moves and Skills

Collected Cards

Player Status

[User]
Warakuma High4/5/15

 Having spent the majority of the previous on his own, Masahide had plenty of time to prepare himself for the return to school. Catching up on his studies and putting aside some time for his kendo drills. As he sat idly in his seat, gazing out the window, he couldn't help but recall his experience at the cafe. At first his focus was on his own unease, being around so many people he had never met and the awkwardness he felt. It wasn't often that he found himself in the middle of crowds, having made it a point to spend most of his time alone in his work or studies. Still, it wasn't all bad... He met a familiar face, and actually did something helpful for someone who hadn't asked for it. The thought brought a meager smile to his lips, though fading rather rapidly. His eyes flickered about the class as he took stock of his usual classmates; noting that the girl from the brutal brawl was among them.

 'How can one draw that much attention to themselves? And for something so stupid as a fight?' His thoughts echoed in his own mind, turning his gaze away and back to the front of the class, 'Is she not embarrassed? There are far better ways to draw attention to yourself.' Shaking his head with a subtle sigh, he'd attempt to dismiss the thoughts. He sat silently through the rest of the class, his attention never wavering from his teacher or his papers until the final bell had rung. Packing away his supplies in his satchel, Masa wasted no time in preparing his departure. Soon, he'd be among those in the kendo club, and have his chance to unwind.

[Assistant]
Matt - Agriculture Club || Monday - After school.

Distracted by his thoughts Matt didn't notice anyone enter until Someone spoke up behind him as he was finishing off. From the quiet voice Matt guessed it was Kotori who he was turning around to greet, but before he greeted her Matt noticed the girl from the other day Shizuka or simply now Shizu walking up to him before she nervously greeted him while bowing.

"hahaha there's no need to bow I was hoping you were going to turn up today, If you want to join the club will gladly welcome you" Matt said with a beaming smile before placing his hand on Shizu's head and patting it.
He then pulled it away and laughed.
"sorry I kinda just do things like that at times, also hello Kotori as you can see we just got ourselves a new member… hopefully this one won't suddenly leave hahahahahaaa" Matt was energetic like usual Matt finally greeted Kotori.

"ok so now we have 3 proper members I feel like I should talk about why I wanted to make this club and some of my ambitions which I will start here" Matt didn't let his smile disappear but he had become a bit more serious.
"I have gotten permission to use the empty space next to the clubrooms to make a small field, I plan on using this space to test different agricultural methods….and grow some flowers but I mainly want to study methods more thoroughly.
I wish to find the best way to revitalise decaying lands and make barren lands harvestable"
Matt coughed and ended hoping he made things even a bit clear.

"oh right I almost forgot, i haven't really talked about what there is to do in this club… well I've got my ambitions but out of these what would you guys prefer? we can learn about agriculture methods of the world, learn about different plants and uses or something like growing different types of flowers and stuff" Matt had totally ignored the part where clubs have group activities until now

[User]
Warakuma Hospital - Chiaki's Room

Shad an entire day full of questions and interrogations on what had happened to her, not only police but media bugs too. An Idol such as Chiaki suddenly going missing? The media eats that up for breakfast then recycles it for lunch. It didn't matter what she told them, she honestly couldn't remember what happened, just that she went to get some snacks for her and her cousin when she blacked out... Or was knocked out. It's not like she was going to tell them about the crazy stuff that happened afterwards in that weird world. She made up a very simple story that she must have been drugged, slept the entire time she was taken, and awoke outside the hospital still influenced by the drugs that her kidnappers dosed her with.

After a day of interrogation, her room was open to visitors and there was an in flood of male students with cards, balloons and gifts for her. It must have been strange for them to see her without her long hair into drills, no makeup, or fancy dress. The hospital wouldn't allow for to wear anything but their hospital sheets, no beauty products what so ever. Some hours later, the nurses shooed away the crowd of boys as they were being too rowdy, their noise began to irritate the other patients.
Shortly after, a familiar face showed up. It was Noboru.

"Hey you gave me this a while back and I figured you might want it. It doesn't really fit me, so it might be better if you had it back."
It was the sweater from a month or two ago that she gave him... Because of the 'event' back then.
"I hope you don't mind me asking. But back... there... your shadow said something before it disappeared. What was it? Or was it too personal to talk about? If it's too personal that's finr, you already had enough spilled to last a lifetime."

"Oh that! Yeah, um, well, thanks I guess... I mean, I can't really wear it since I have to keep this on until I'm allowed to go home..." In regards to the other question, Chiaki blushed and her hair fell in front of her face before she looked up and answered him.
"Um... Well it would probably be better... If I tell you here and now. While it's just us, nobody else... Noboru... I think I like, but more than just friends. My shadow... It told that I should confess my love for you. This must be hard to hear, coming from somebody like me, after everything you witnessed and did. But, I can feel it in my heart, my feelings for you are real, the rose you planted in my heart has bloomed into a full blossom. Noboru Yamamoto... Noboru Yamamoto I am in love with you!" Shouted Chiaki, her face red and hands shaking, she was a little scared and anxious, but she quickly calmed down and rubbed her cheek, eagerly waiting a response from the boy she confessed her love to.

[Assistant]
Warakuma Hospital
4/5/2015 Monday

"Hm?", looks like Noboru was already here. Based on what the nurses said Chiaki was okay and probably going to be able to go back to classes very soon, before the end of the week, and that police were here this morning too, as he expected. As he opened the door, he heard a fairly... Embarrassing? Confession of sorts. It was aimed towards Noboru it seems, as he was the only one in the room at the moment.

"Um... Well it would probably be better... If I tell you here and now. While it's just us, nobody else... Noboru... I think I like, but more than just friends. My shadow... It told that I should confess my love for you. This must be hard to hear, coming from somebody like me, after everything you witnessed and did. But, I can feel it in my heart, my feelings for you are real, the rose you planted in my heart has bloomed into a full blossom. Noboru Yamamoto... Noboru Yamamoto I am in love with you!", by the time their silence of awkwardness that followed finished after this, they noticed Rui was at the door.

"... I must have the wrong room", he said as he closed the door. Shortly after this though, Noboru would get a text from Rui saying, "nice".


[System]
Rank: Spartan. Lieutenant prior to the end of the Human-Covenant war.

Species: Human (Spartan III)

Appearance: Generation 2 Mjolnir Armor, colored black with a dark-tinted visor. (I can look up the exact details of his accessories from the MCC gear list.)

Skills: Excellent sniper, although as with all Spartans, Ben is trained in the use of most if not all UNSC equipment.

Preferred Weapons: SRS99-S5 AM sniper rifle, Covenant sniper weapons (when available), M319 grenade launcher.

Background: Entered service in 2545, having been born on the planet [Censored]. As with all Spartan-IIIs, Ben was orphaned at a young age when the Covenant attacked his planet, glassing the surface. Early on, he was singled out for his skills as a sniper, along with extreme levels of loyalty and a willingness to carry out any order given to him, even those which required him to turn of his own friends and allies. As such, Ben was assigned to the Spartan-III Security operations group, an organization so secretive, even other Spartans weren't made aware of it.

As part of Sec Ops, Ben was nominally a part of Beta company for some years, switching to Alpha and Gamma on occasion. He achieved an exemplary number of kills and was never part of a failed mission. As such, he advanced to the commissioned ranks quickly, becoming a lieutenant by the year 2552. None of the other Spartans knew that he was part of Security Operations, or what his real missions were, for while he still had the same objectives on each mission as the rest of the team he was assigned to, his real goal was to keep the other Spartans in line, report any dissent, and execute any member of the Spartan program who displayed treasonous behavior, cowardice, or put UNSC security at unnecessary risk. His authority for execution also extended as far as the normal UNSC military forces, a fact kept well off the books. It also extended to witnesses to any event which if reported, could jeopardize the political or military aims of the UNSC.

After the end of the Human-Covenant war, Security Operations was reformed into Epsilon company, and retroactively given all of the trappings of a normal UNSC Spartan-III company as if it had been active since the start of the Spartan-III program. Now that the Spartan-IV program has begun, no more members of Epsilon are being added, and members of the company are often combined or sent to participate in larger groups which are formed as the situation demands.

[User]
Yalu 'Suumko

Yalu could say plenty about the team's more expressive members by the way they received the meeting. Grikgar in particular shone clearest as an unggoy that betrayed quite the raft of experience. If he served on Thel 'Vadam's fleet at the holy ring, he was either skilled, impossibly lucky, or both. Yalu did not dismiss him for his antics.

As for the mission, Yalu did not expect it to be straightforward. With the amount of unknowns they would be contending with, there was little he could expect for sure. Putting down a rebellious strike was vague, and that was to mention nothing of the possible areas they could be lurking. The sarcophagus, while an awesome construct, was just as big a maze to hide in by the looks of it.

And that was that. Yalu mused to himself that he would have plenty of reading to do of the mission files. However, he realised how stiff his legs felt when he stood up to follow the team to the drop ship...

---

Yalu was not at all hungry by the time they reached the cruiser. He was getting drowsy, and he did not like it. Ryker's energy dagger drew his eye when it lit up.

"Spartan Lucas Ryker," Yalu addressed the human as he had introduced himself beforehand. "My journey to Earth has left me sluggish. Does your War Games module accommodate sparring? If you carry that dagger, you must have learnt how to use it."

[Assistant] "You have a valid point Vael, we may not get another chance to discuss the mission, since time is indeed limited." said Aviza, all the while looking at up the Sangheili who had oddly decided to stand across from her, and not take a seat like she had. "I just remember the Major instructing us to not speak about mission sensitive details while in public areas, but perhaps we can bend the rules slightly for the moment being, due to how important the matter is." Aviza leaned slightly forward in her seat, repositioning herself to be more comfortable before continuing. "What aspects of the mission would you like to discuss, Vael?" As soon as Spartan Aviza had finished speaking, one of the ships crewmen who had been assigned to the mess hall for that morning walked over to their table and set down a plate with Aviza's coffee, which was inside of a metal mug, and a small cup of creamer to be used as she saw fit. Wasting no time, she thanked the man before pouring a bit of the creamer into her coffee and stirring it with the spoon she had been provided. "Are you going to take a seat or stay standing like that for the whole conversation?" inquired Aviza, before taking a sip of her coffee.

[User]
Vael 'Virisusai

---

Vael glanced down at the table, his mandibles flaring out slightly as he let out a brief grunt. "Your chairs are too small." He answered, simply and quickly. "And we have no need to discuss the details of our specific mission, only how we intend to lead this team. I am not completely familiar with the rules and traditions you Humans have in your military, but I do have more than enough experience to know they are different from Sangheili command. You are the Fireteam Leader of this mission, and the orders you give may not be the ones my people expect. My people may take initiative, may take action in ways that you would expect your people to only do under orders. Likewise, my people may also await orders for actions you expect them to do on their own. The reason we were originally intended to go through extensive training before our first mission was so our team as a whole could learn how they were expected to act under each other's command. Quite simply, we do not have the time to solve that problem before our missions, so the two of us need to anticipate these problems and be ready to adapt."

---

Major Robinson

---

It had not been long after their arrival on the UNSC Chorus of Thunder that Spartan Rex's presence had been requested by Major Robinson. She requested him to join her in a small briefing room somewhat near to the officers' quarters. When he arrived, he would find her alone, standing at an inactive holographic display table at the center of the room, looking through files on her datapad.

The Major spoke the moment the door closed shut behind Rex. "Spartan Rex-G124." She said, as if repeating it directly from the file in front of her. "I have read your file, Spartan, including the parts withheld from the rest of your team. I will admit, I argued against your selection for this team, but my superiors felt differently. They felt your skills and ability to act both in a team, and autonomously should the situation demand it, will be important to ensuring your mission objectives are completed. I agreed with them on your skills, but I also read what happened with those pirates, and I did not dismiss those concerns so quickly. So, I want to hear your own assessment on yourself, Spartan. Are my superiors right, or are my concerns justified?"

[Assistant]
Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker
// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery //

Continuing to follow the commanders down the hall at a quick pace. Grikgar was now entirely curious to find out what this mess hall was all about and what kind of 'food' these humans had. Where they just nipples and used solely for nutrients or did they have comfort foods? All questions that were answered when they got close to the room. His senses were already being bombarded with different smells. Unggoy where particularly good at following their noses and this room already didn't disappoint.

There were a lot of people in this large room, rows of tables bordered with what looked almost like tall vending machines adorned with a holographic monitor to dispense food. Grik had grabbed two plates after watching a couple of marines press a few buttons and see their trays fill up with food. This simple aspect of their life was almost a dream to the Unggoy. He was well aware he wouldn't find anything familiar so he knew there was a lot of guess work to it.

He spent more than the others did flipping through the pages and acquiring what he thought he wanted, even going as far as asking some of the marines what they were getting. Not very many answered him with food items. Soon he found himself carrying two trays loaded down with drinks, various carbs, and more than a few extra helpings of seafood. He seemed very proud of what he had.

Finally setting his things down on the table he awkwardly sat down in the seat given to him. The two fire team leaders seemed very intent on their discussion and he payed them no mind other than having to look around the pile of food to see them. The Unggoy took his helmet off and placed it next to him on the table, a smaller portion of the mask remained over his nose for him to breathe exposing his small but scarred bald head, green eyes, and small sharp teeth.

The little guy seemed intent on sampling everything first before digging in. he was obviously unaware of how to properly eat things, taking a bite out of the side of a banana without peeling it first was a sign of this. These things did not bother him, small bones in the fish? Devoured, Shells on crab legs and claws? Crunched. The grunt also did not use any of the utensils that came with the tray picking up and eating everything with his hands. Until he came to what he was told was a ghost pepper, the marine that told him about was laughing when he said it so it couldn't be that bad right?

He didn't sample this one even if he should have, instead Grik just popped it into his mouth and quickly chewed then swallowed. After a few silent minutes of him to really think about how it made him feel, it soon occurred to him that his mouth was nearly on literal fire. Eyes going wide he sat up straight coughing, he felt like he was choking and began scrambling for something liquid that he had gotten. During his commotion of trying to grab one of the bowls of seafood chowder, one of the two plates fell to the floor spilling the other half of its contents. At the same time, he guzzled down the warm soup to extinguish the fire inside him, clearly making a mess of himself as not all the white chowder made it down his gullet.

The empty bowl fell to the floor, the grunt laid back in his chair exhausted, "why… why does plant hate Grikgar?" Grik slowly sat up and began cleaning himself off. The grunt decided that maybe that was enough food for him and instead opted to take a drink of coffee instead. The taste compared to the pepper was heavenly. "Grik thought you said there were no drugs here?" he said as he kept drinking the coffee. Did these humans possibly create a monster hyped up on coffee? Possibly, only time will tell.

[User]
Reluctantly, Ben took his helmet off. As with many Spartans, he felt more at home in his armor than anywhere else. Then again, there were some drawbacks. During a particularly long mission, his armor stank to high heavens and low hell after spending all of several weeks in it, only removing his helmet for brief periods to hastily consume his rations. He cut a rather fearsome appearance, with short, dark brown hair bordering on black, dark green eyes set against his pale white complexion, his face marked by long scars he'd been given by a Sanghelli in one of his first missions. Had the blade cut much closer, he would have lost one or both eyes if not his head. Each scar ran diagonally, one above the other, each running from above his left eye and moving down to beneath his right.

Ben ordered some simple fare, finding it a welcome change from the MREs he so often subsisted on out of necessity. He ordered the turkey dinner with orange juice on the side, no dessert. The turkey itself was quite good, and it reminded the spartan of a time he was on Reach long ago, back when moa nuggets weren't a rare delicacy. It was perhaps the only guilty pleasure of his entire life, and thanks to Reach's glassing, moa meat was off the menu. He wasn't sure if the moa had been exported or not, but it wasn't really a priority for him to find out right now. The rations aboard the ship were generous, and had been since the war had ended. It took an entire plate just to contain Ben's food, with almost no room for the OJ.

Ben had settled down when he heard Grikgar coughing. Concerned, he wheeled around, only to find that the Unggoy was alright after all; it was simply a matter of overly-spicy food, not a choking situation or a case of food poisoning. Of course, Grik's food manners were abominable, eating everything by hand, making a mess, and dressing in what would definitely be considered out of uniform by UNSC regulations. Of course, half the Covenant had dressed poorly by humanity's standards. Ben had actually used this to his advantage once, tossing a sharpened stone underneath the bare foot of a Brute as he was on patrol. It did little to actually harm the bear-like alien, but it definitely caused enough pain to distract him and let Ben evade detection.

He walked over to Grik, giving him some extra napkins to wipe himself off with. The Grunt had proved himself to adeptly play the part of a messy child. At least, a normal child. Ben himself never made a mess as a kid himself, and the discipline was quite harsh when it came to keeping things tidy back in his Spartan III training days. He didn't know what Grikgar's childhood had been like, but from what he knew, Grunts in the Covenant military were also trained from the youth, albeit for a much shorter time, given their faster rate of growth and short childhood.

"Coffee has a very mild stimulant called caffeine. It's not really addictive or harmful unless consumed in a very large amount. Still, too much caffeine can make you hyper, especially if you have a low body mass. Hmm. I suppose you aren't that light, but I don't know how caffeine will affect your biology. Probably best to keep to one cup of coffee." Although he didn't show it, Ben secretly found the notion of an overcaffinated Grunt to be quite amusing.

"Maybe you'd like some orange juice instead? It's not even remotely addictive, I promise you. Now, let's get this cleaned up, okay? And on a minor note, we don't eat most foods with our hands around the UNSC. Perhaps I'll show you how to use a fork, knife, and spoon next time." He realized that he had been talking much more than usual. It was interesting, having someone to look after, even in this small way and in this one instance.


[System]
House: Baratheon

Age: 24

Bio/Story: Ser Arthur is a Stormlander and the firstborn son of the lord Baratheon - fierce in battle and decisive in action, and not without a hot temper of his House. Ser Arthur is a well-known knight with many tourney championships below his belt. He is situated in the King's Landing as an envoy and a representative of House Baratheon in the capital. He often brawls and spars with his men-at-arms and knights in the Red Keep's barracks and training field. Sometimes he finds his way to the local taverns. Ser Arthur is married to lady Alys Selmy, a prominent landholder in the Stormlands. His father is the Lord of Storm's End.

Occupation / Rank: Knight

Personality: Ser Arthur is a tactical prodigy - aggressive, rash and a front line leader, but not much of a strategist. He has a booming voice that enables him to shout commands to his men. He is a quick thinker, but not really a genius. Ser Arthur often jumps to conclusions too soon (except in battles), and often follows his instincts and intuition. He dislikes bards and singers, but enjoys singing a ballad known as "The Storm's End" by a famed bard Dandelion of Oldtown.

Appearance: He is slightly taller than most men of the Stormlands, about six feet, and has a long, pale scar running across his face, thanks to a duel with a Martell. He has cropped, black hair and a small beard. Arthur has the green eyes of his mother's. He is quite strong, thanks to his upbringing. It's like he was born to fight in wars and battles.

Other: Ser Arthur carries a Valyrian bastard sword called the Doom into battle. It is engraved with strange symbols, and no maester in Westeros knows what they mean. He has a black destrier named Roach.

Killable by others?: Yes

[User]
A Web of Lies

The King is dead, long live the king!

It was already noon, and the coronation had just begun in the Red Keep. Many high lords and ladies far and near were cramped into its throne room, and Ser Arthur Baratheon was one of them. And he wasn't happy about it.

 Even Dorne is cooler than this room, Ser Arthur thought and swiped sweat from his brow. Gods be damned with their long summers and days like these. His silken tunic was designed to keep his body cool, but the Red Keep was known to be a hellhole on a warm summer day.

 And it didn't do him good that the coronation of the lord Arryn was taking ages! The High Septon was talking something about the wisdom of the gods and the responsibility of a king to the gods above, to the lords beside him and to the people below, but Arthur couldn't care less. He hated the High Septon and his annoying voice with its tempo and high pitch. Arthur had hated the man since the day he had arrived to the capital.

 He remembered that day well. High Septon had been sent to greet him along with some servants and soldiers, and weary from the travel, Arthur had been annoyed by the High Septon. He had started to talk and just had kept on talking and talking. Arthur had almost punched to man to the gut, but had resisted the urge.

 The hall used for the coronation was the throne room where the Iron Throne was. It is an ugly piece of furniture and really a pain in the ass to sit, Arthur contemplated. The High Septon and Lord Arryn, the king-to-be, were in front of the Throne, standing few feet apart. The lords and ladies were standing all around the throne room. It didn't have many chairs or any other furniture. The High Septon was finishing his speech, and was asking everyone to join in a prayer to the gods, to grant the new king wisdom and a long, prosperous reign.

 Gods, just strike them down with a bolt of lightning, Arthur prayed.

 But they didn't, because they didn't listen to him, as always. They never listened to him.

[Assistant]
Mychael Lannister observed the going-on's with mild disinterest. Next to him, Arthur Baratheon seemed to be bored out of his wits. To tell the truth, Mychael was too. The High Septon just kept droning on, and, also sitting next to him, his niece and nephew couldn't sit still and were yapping on and playing games.

He took another sip. Alcohol couldn't make them go away, but it could help. He turned to his brother Baldric, who seemed to be sleeping. His wife Alyna was talking to Lord Stark, who was on the other hand watching the going-ons keenly. To each his own.

Mychael had been to the last Targaeryen coronation when he was a boy. It had been very grand, and there had even been a Dragon present. It was a babe at the time, but nevertheless. It nearly burnt the king's beard off. That was a good ceremony, a coronation worthy of it's name. And no fucking High Septon.

Even Rickard looked bored, and he was about to be the most important person in the realm. He'd put on weight, obviously having visited the pantry several times. Mychael leaned forward. Something appeared to be happening, as the Septon had actually physically moved. This startled the children and woke up Baldric. He had taken the King's crown, and was about to place it on Rickard Arryn's head.

It was a thing of beauty. Wrought of silver, eagles and half crescent moons adorned it. The eyes of the eagles had little beads of onyx for eyes. Also given to him was his father's legacy: a Valyrian steel sword, with a black pattern welded blade, and an eagle hilt set with sapphires.

He nudged Arthur next to him. "Look, something's happening."

[User]
"Oh really, my lord of Lannister? The High Septon just crowned the king. That means we're one step nearer ending this mummer's coronation" Arthur said back to Mychael. He didn't have much love for the Lannisters, but Mychael seemed all right. He wasn't a fighter like him, but Mychael was like his lord father in many ways. Both had their noses buried deep in ledgers and reports.

 Arthur was bored by paperwork, but he knew someone had to do it, because soldiers like him depended on them. Somebody had to pay the soldiers and gather money to equip them, to build the roads they marched on. His father, the lord of the Storm's End, had just been chosen to the small council to act as the Master of Coin. He must have been happy to hear that he beat the famed lion of Lannister.

 "That sword is really a beauty, though" Arthur remarked. "Maybe not as good-looking as my Doom, but still a worthy blade for a king."

[Assistant]
Daemon was sitting near to the back of the coronation, dressed in loose yellow robes. He had yet to be born when his uncle was crowned king, and this was actually his first time seeing the Iron Throne in person. He was far more interested in the titanic seat of iron and steel blades than he was in the coronation itself, and he had toned out the High Septons droning some time ago.

He finally looked around the room, trying to determine who was who in the mass of nobles attending the coronation. The Lannisters were unmistakable of course, and he thought he recognized the Starks near the front as well, but he was unsure about the rest. He was mentally making notes about who could be potential allies in Kings Landing but at the moment he didn't see anyone who he knew might be sympathetic to his cause.

His attention returned to Rickard Arryn and the High Septon when a murmur rumbled through the room and his eyes were drawn to the silver crown the High Septon was about to ceremoniously place atop Rickards head. He concealed his feelings of disgust at the ornate silver crown, viewing it as all but a direct insult to the crowns of the Targaryen kings, but despite his fury he remained outwardly calm, eyes eventually being drawn to the Lannister lord and someone he was conversing with, assuming the other man must be a highborn lord as well, due to his seating location.

[User]
"Maybe not as good-looking as my Doom, but still a worthy blade for a king."

"Certainly better than Widowmaker, Baldric's sword," Mychael jested. Baldric had taken three wives and left each one, generating controversy. Mychael called his sword the Widowmaker.

He felt like someone was watching him. He looked around the room and saw something that caught his attention. "White hair," he muttered. Unmistakeable. The lad stood taller than the others around him, with long flowing hair and... yes, purple eyes. For some reason he was wearing robes that made him look like a foreign diplomat, some Essosi or something. He was looking straight at them, and though Mychael pretended not to look at him, he saw all he was doing.

"Don't look, Lord Baratheon, but someone's watching us. A dragon."

[Assistant]
Arthur was watching the Iron Throne and the king as he was walking up the steps to sit on the throne. He heard what the Lannister said, and felt an urge to look what he was talking about, but instead, he tried to keep his calm.

 "A dragon, Lord Lannister? Are you kidding with me?" he said with a whisker of amusement. He didn't take his eyes from the king. "There hasn't been fire-breathing dragons in Westeros for almost quarter of a century, let alone a Targaryen in this hall for like fifteen years!"

 Arthur had been born under the rulership of the last Targaryen king, yet he had been toppled from his throne before his tenth name day. He had been told that the Targaryens were wicked kings who drank wildfire as wine. He didn't knew about that, but Arbor gold was a much better choice.

 "Just go to talk to him, Lannister, and get it over with" he said and turned to Lord Lannister. "You should get yourself introduced with him and if he's a Targaryen, then you can turn him up to the crown."