[System]
Gender: Female
Age: 18

Personality: August is easily excited and gets caught up in the heat of the moment frequently. Passionate and always thinking at a breakneck pace, it's amazing she hasn't gone insane or gotten herself killed. A hopeless romantic with an overpowering logical streak, she's broken more than a few hearts in her life, both boys and girls. Her train of thought, sometimes, makes little to no sense when she's in one of her brainstorms. She's deathly afraid of drowning, and cannot swim. It is exceptionally hard for her to not tinker with something and try to modify, streamline, fix, or enhance it, often with disastrous results.

Appearance: Despite standing at a minimal 5', August is hard to miss. She has wild, vibrant red hair reaching down to her hips, often braided or tied back in intricate designs meant to control it's inevitable frazzles, frizzles, and tangles, but still make it presentable. Sharp green eyes stare over thin circular glasses in silver frames, sitting atop a perky nose. Her lips seem to almost always be pouting, except when they're being bitten in concentration. Often wears simple sweaters with jeans and brightly colored shoes of some sort, her favorite having a nebula painted across the top, alongside a worn beanie with googly eyes sewn onto it, looking like some kind of blob monster eating the top of her head. Weighing in at around 105 lbs, her figure is incredibly modest, with no chest or behind to really speak of. Her voice tends to squeak and crack when it hits a certain volume, especially when frustrated or annoyed, or when she inevitably gets shocked by one of her quick-fixed electronics.

Tether: A near death experience has made August not only more appreciative of life, but also brought her closer to the spirit world. Something came back with her from the other side, and though she doesn't fully understand it, she's desperate to learn all she can about it.

Ability: Empathy - August can read emotions in a given area or object. The stronger the emotion at the time, the easier they are to read. Complex or convoluted emotions, or areas with many different emotions, are jumbled and wild, something akin to a kaleidoscope in her head where she can't settle on one before another shoves it's way in. Particularly powerful emotions, like trauma, can give her headaches and leave her dazed or confused. This can't be used to read emotions in living people.

Talents:
Electronic Repairs - There are few electrical systems that can stay broken under August's fingers. Broken radios, flashlights, fuses, she can fix or at least temporarily jerry-rig almost anything that has wires and a current.
Hotwire - A part of her life she'd rather forget, though definitely a useful skill to have, if she can get into a car, she can make it drive, keys or not.

Recent history: August is a bit of an odd duck in Oakenheim. Shipped to the town suddenly to stay with her brother due to "legal issues", the girl has made a name for herself by "fixing" things that were never broken. Locations the locals actively avoid she seeks out with great zeal, mostly for disappointing results, but occasionally it pays off. She's often seen at night riding her bike to some new location or off into the woods. The local sheriff makes it a habit of picking her up on sight during these runs, since her brother almost never knows about them, and they often end with the power in the town going out from her tinkering.

[User]
Kanoa glared at Jackson due to his outburst. She told him to try and contain himself, and he promised he would. Obviously promises didn't mean very much to him. She ignored him as he tried to explain himself, and turned to Mary. Mary's reaction to the interior of the house lit a match in her head, she forgot for a moment that not everyone was as nonchalant about the paranormal as she was. Apparently the burning vines in particular were fascinating to Mary, even getting a joyful squee out of her. She soon noticed that she was acting out of character, because she stood up and attempted to play off her whimsical persona by getting straight to business. "You want Jackson to guard the door? I don't see why not." She glanced over to the boy that looked as if he were cosplaying Rambo, who was quick to retort to her name calling.

He doth protest just a tad too much...

Kanoa tapped her chin as he asked why a Kitsune would kidnap a young boy. "There are a number of reasons, the main one being a source of life force. They can feed off of it, you see. Even still, the last known case of a hostile Kitsune was over fifty years ago, if I recall correctly." She said.

Danny meanwhile was busy trying to logically explain how any of this could work. Kanoa watched rather amused, wondering if she should tease him and say it was 'just magic.' There was an entire system of magic that explained how these things worked, but it would take a lecture to define all of it right now, and they had things to do.

"Up stairs huh." Kanoa glanced into the other room. "Don't worry about that, if there was anyone in here they would have made their presence known by now, if not from our spiritual aura, then from the noise we've made." As if on cue Orion began to fiddle with the guitar. Filling the cabin with notes that clouded her vision in colors. She blinked a few times, trying not to get a headache. "We probably shouldn't be going out of our way to make noise, however..." She walked up to him and took the guitar from his hands. "August, here." She handed the string instrument to the redhead, hoping she could sense anything from it.

Walking into the next room she was hit with a strong smell of grounded plants. The smell was familiar to her, as her family had a stock of various ingredients for use in casting spells. To her left she saw garden beds, where plants were growing straight out of the ground and kept in square plots by wood. In a corner of the room was a large black cast iron cauldron, the faint scent of what she assumed to be rabbit soup drifted from it. Near it was a table of living wood, on top of which were tools such as a mortar and pestle, as well as various solvents. In the other corner of the room were stone pots full of drinking water next to six wine barrels.

Kanoa walked up to the table and pinched a pile of powder between her fingers. "Odd... I don't know why a Kitsune would bother making potions, some of these ingredients are only good for magical purposes. A Kitsune should be able to use magic on their own..." Kanoa hummed in thought, and turned to the others. "Mary, could you take a look at some of these plants with me, I have a feeling you'd recognize them more easily than I would. August, Orion, Daniel, take a look around upstairs for anything noteworthy. Stay on your toes everyone, just in case this fox spirit does come back." She said to the group.

[Assistant]
Maxwell understood on a basic level the whole concept of photosynthesis, though in truth he was no scientist and until recently he could have cared less one way or the other. Regardless of his own level of knowledge on the subject he could understand why the 'building' was fascinating to behold, especially to the more scientifically minded members of the group. It defied all logic of the 'normal'. Maxwell crossed over toward one the vines that illuminated the room and moved his hand over the 'flame' that glowed at the tip of each. The vine seemed to retract from his presence, the flame dimming in its intensity. Removing his hand caused the flame to return to its original intensity. He was tempted to grab the vine forcefully, just to see how it would react. "Probably not a good idea," he said to himself before realizing that he had spoken out loud. "I guess that's not a bad idea, but I don't think we should split up either."

Maxwell walked back over toward the table and again picked up the violin and turned it over in his hand, before testing its weight. Jackson raised a point that Maxwell had himself avoided thinking about. What do we do when we find it? What do we do if the kid is already...

Maxwell had no idea how he would react if that were the case. As Kanoa tossed out orders Maxwell found himself left out of the equation as it were, which was not entirely undesirable. He really didn't want to go upstairs. In truth he really didn't want to stay in this 'house'. It was starting to feel suffocating, as if the walls were exerting some kind of pressure against his presence. However there was a part of him that wanted to 'push' back. A feeling that maybe he should touch the interior of the structure. Dig his fingers into the flesh of the tree.

"I'll wait outside with Jackson," he said, staring at his own hand as he clenched it to suppress the feeling of strangeness that threatened to overcome him. He stuffed his hand deeply into his pockets and made his way back to the entrance and stepped back outside. The difference in illumination made him winch for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the natural light. It felt better outside. He sighed with relief to himself. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he said to himself as he felt a warm trickle run down the palm of his hand. He pulled his hand free from his jacket pocket and stared at the trails of red running from the palm of his hand. He hadn't realized how hard he had been clenching his fist.

[User]
August had been busying herself staring at the burning vines, trying to figure out if it was burning some form of natural gas, or using electrical sparks, or simply just an illusion, before realizing she was being spoken to. Mary had said something, but it was more an idle reaction to August's mutterings than an actual invitation to conversation. Kanoa was holding a guitar out to her. The redhead reached out to take it, still looking around the room with quirked lips. Considering how faded and weak the emotions in the cabin were, there probably wasn't much the guitar would do

Where am I? Why am I here? What's going on, where is everyone, HOW DID I GET HERE?

August went rigid, pupils shrinking as much stronger emotions hit her core. She had let her guard down! Or had she? That's how it took her here! Where was here? Confusion rocked her as her fingers gripped the neck of the guitar tightly, eyes darting around as she stood completely still. Nothing had taken her, but she had been taken! No, August struggled to regain control as her breathing sped up. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to combat the foreign emotions. Confusion, waking up in a strange place you've never seen...anxiety, why were you here, how were you here? Combined with August's own panic at losing control over who she was, she was starting to freak out something fierce.

How did she...he? I. Who was I? There are so many emotions, they aren't mine, they're...mine!

Deep breaths. In. Hold. Out. August's muscles loosened, her grip on the guitar started to relax. Focus. You know how to handle this. You do it everyday. Take your time. Her green eyes fluttered open, pupils returning to normal as her shoulder suddenly slumped. Dammit, she knew better than to let another person's emotions take her over like that...then she tasted it. Like an aftertaste from diet soda. A furrowed brow as she focused on it.

"Confusion...anxiety...calmness. He woke up here...he didn't know he was taken here...maybe the hypnotizing left that residual calmness...or he was drugged...I don't think this guy even knew what was happening to him even when he was awake."

August set the guitar down, aware that she was sweating. She shook her sleeves out, wiping at her cheeks as she realized Kanoa was once again telling her to do something. Well enough, currently they were all just milling about like gawking children. She looked at the staircase, flitting her eyes to Orion and Daniel.

"Okay, neither of you are really thinking tiny little me is leading the walk to the creepy unknown upstairs in the spirit torture shack right? Cause I'm pretty sure I have a lower survivability rate in a fight than either of you."

The redhead walked to the base of the stairs, leaning over the banister to try and see up without actually walking up. Sure, she had the knife in her backpack. Did she know how to use it? If flailing wildly while backing up was a recognized military tactic, sure. She was never one to play damsel in distress and let a boy do something she was usually far more qualified to take care of, but this was a matter of logic.

Daniel was 6'3", had a law enforcement family, and seemed to be in good condition.
Orion was taller than her, and was known for being athletic.
August was 5' and got winded if she jogged upstairs too fast.

Feminism be damned, the males could take this one first.


[System]
Traveling Thief

Level 4

---

-------STATISTICS-------

-------MASTERIES-------

| VIT -- 18 | 55% | BLADES -- D
(-5 Accuracy/-1 Might)

| MGT -- 3 | 35% | POLEARMS -- E
(-15 Accuracy/-0 Might)

| SKI -- 5 | 50% | AXES/BLUNT -- E
(-20 Accuracy/-0 Might)

| SPD -- 17 | 70% | BOWS/RANGED -- E
(-20 Accuracy/-2 Might)

| SRT -- 3 | 30% | THEURGY -- D
(-10 Accuracy/-1 Might)

| MND -- 1 | 20% | MYSTICISM -- N/A
| LUK -- 5 | 40% |
| DEF -- 2 | 25% |
Secondary Statistics

ACC -- ??
AVO -- ??
WGT -- ??
RES -- ??
CRT -- ??
MVT -- 6+2

---

Traits:

Locksmith: Can open non-magically sealed doors and chests without the required item.
Celerity: Movement +2.

---

EQUIPMENT
* Bronze Long Knife

	+ MIGHT | 2
	+ ACCURACY | 90
	+ WEIGHT | 1
	+ CONDITION | 20/20
	+ RANGE | 1
	+ SPECIAL | Cannot be used while mounted, Halved affect against armor equal to or greater than its grade.
	+ COST | 60

* Bronze Throwing Knife

	+ MIGHT | 2
	+ ACCURACY | 75
	+ WEIGHT | 1
	+ CONDITION | 10/10
	+ RANGE | 1-2
	+ SPECIAL | Doubles as a ranged attack
	+ COST | 45

* Bronze Leather & Hide

	+ DEFENSE | 2
	+ CONDITION | 25
	+ WEIGHT | 3
	+ SPECIAL | N/A
	+ COST | 125

Possessions:
* One spare copper long knife
* Two spare copper throwing knives

Personality
Selfish and single-minded for the most part. He wants to see as much of the world and take as much as he can. Despite that, he gets along well with others. He will share what he finds willingly if he finds entertainment in doing so, but if something grabs his attention he will drop what he has and chase after it.

Backstory
Makeen's parents were part of a traveling merchant guild. He would travel with them seeing many amazing things. At the age of 14 he witnessed his parent's murder at the hands of their guild mates. He overheard that they planed on stealing the rare items his parents had acquired and to sell him to slavers. In despair and fear Makeen hid and ran away in the dead off night. With no where to go, he traveled between cities, stealing and sneaking his way around. In time he joined a band of sell swords who's goals lined up with his.

[User]
Perhaps some need to prove her worth to both her aloof husband, and further perhaps to her father, Lahamu darts from Iddin's side, her hands flurry out from the confines of her thin robes, tracing scorching patterns and divine utterances as she does. Before the brush for which the spearman stands she bellows out a cry, a ray of blistering flame sears through the earth, going wide past the first, but crisping the rebel beyond.

LAHAMU moves to 17-36 and casts SCORCH, missing KASSITE REBEL #1

Standing unfazed by the gouts of fire from the mercenary, the Kassite sucks at his teeth before her. "Hey girlie, that nearly burned my lucky shirt. . !"
 LAHAMU: "Shit!" Was all she could muster, the failure of her spell right beside Iddin after that proclamation flushed her face with heat.

[Assistant]
Siris was shocked watching his leader create and burn the axe throwing man, not enough to kill him. However, that was not a mistake Siris intended to replicate

Siris: "You're looking at the wrong warrior you dumbass!!"

Siris moves 3 tiles to 16-34 equipping his bronze shortsword. He attacks and deals 15 damage killing the Kassite Brigand.

Putting his knife away, he runs between Ashür and the enemy. The Brigand sees the running warrior but it was too late, as Siris unsheathe his sword he quickly sliced the Brigand's head clean off.

As his body falls, Siris takes a look around and notices that they've been surrounded.

Siris: "Damn, I'll take you all on!! "

[User]
Lyun: "We will burn incense tonight, honoring the men you once were."

Everyone around him has been focused on the sounds they hear from over the walls. He has been as well, to be fair, so their surprise isn't unwarranted. The nearby spearman has barely enough time to think about questioning the brute's words before he sees his own leg falling to the side. He follows right after. The second one scrambles to action, however, fast enough to block and attempt to counter.

Anyone with keen senses might pick up the commotion even from further away. Lyun flicks his hand axe clean, then readies himself, the three Kassites around him clearly ready to avenge their ally.

Lyun moves 1 tile north and attacks Kassite Rebel for 19 damage, killing him. Gains 24xp.
Attacks the nearby Kassite Rebel with Juggernaut, but both miss each other.

[Assistant]
Etor's heart was filled with doubt and his spear would not be useful in these scenario. With enemies approaching he takes his chest plate off to be more agile and to catch his breathe. His chest heaves as more enemies approach and lady Lahamu comes to his aid. Her best efforts are rewarded with a devastating blow. The panic intensifies as the runes in his scripture begin to glow. With confusion adding to the panic Etor is at wit's end.

Etor: "STOP"

A black coffin obliterates several trees by the rebel. Etor speaks words previously unspoken. The youngling cannot grasp the power he possess so he can't control himself. He's lost in it.

Etor moves 6 tiles to 18-36 and misses.

[User]
The priest recoils as one of those brutes charges right for him. He is both relieved and embarrassed as Ashur steps in to block the blow.

Iddin: I... well, nothing to say in my defense. I suppose our band only needs one reckless fool.

Soon Lahamu appeared and dashed forward, embarrassing the family. Likewise Etor sticks his neck out and gains nothing from the risk. He mutters under his breath.

Iddin: And we're multiplying...

Iddin falls back in panic, seeing the band's formation and tactics immediately collapse. But his hand rubs by his second, ornate glass staff. Zuzu's staff. Right. Zuzu's guidance will save him from this situation.

The priest, calmer, looks at the situation again. Both Lahamu and Etor can't fend off an attack. But Etor is blocking one angle of attack on Lahamu... The only way to save both of them is to guard Etor. But this will rely on Ashur once again seeing the formation's gaps.

Iddin: Ashur! With them!

The priest holds his staff aloft. He points it at Etor and swirls it around, gathering the particles kicked up in the skirmish. The priest flicks his staff back skywards and slams it into the ground. A sphere of glass forms around Etor as Iddin chants.

Iddin: Zuzu, grant your protection! Let this warrior be guarded in your perfection! He shall be encased in your glory. His foes' strikes will falter before your might. He is embraced by a temporary form of your eternal promise!

Iddin moves 3 tiles to 15-39 and casts Word of Zuzu on Etor.
Etor cannot attack or be attacked for two turns, and has -2 MOV.
Iddin gains 25 EXP and 1 Theurgy mastery.

[Assistant]
Zarif

The archer let out a odd groan as he clutched at the ruin of eye desperately. It took the young man, barley a teen in truth, a whole 5 seconds to realize he was dead. A wet THUNK punctuated the fact, as Zarif glanced over his shoulder, back at that inhabited house he had noticed before.

Zarif: Rats! Damn you Makeen! First that incident with the crossbow, now you steal my... ugh

Salador spat to the side, obviously agreeing with his life-long friend's annoyance. Houses like that, with scared villagers always gave neat prizes. It was how he'd gotten this strangely soft headband! Quickly, he noticed two other foes, one with an axe, the other with a spear. One at a time... get closer to one, then the other. Though he heard a few frustrated shouts cxoming from the other side of the houses, he was just too far away to provide any aid. Salador bounded off to a small patch of Cypress trees, and readied his short spear

Zarif moves 3 tiles north-west to 9-34 and takes up a position in the forest. He also equips his short spear

[User]
Ashür grumbles along with Iddin's frustrations, even if the priest himself presented a delectable target. With Lahamu's novice incantation failing to do more than singe a few trees, the bandit had already begun wheeking about to protect her.

ASHÜR moves to 18-37 and equips SEEP

The desperado's eyes open wider than their average squint, beside him a shadow enraptures the brush through the language stolen from the gods. "When did. . ?" His gaze turns to the young merc, still absorbed in what was perhaps his first foray into the art of Mysticism. To channel divine words through one's self for the sake of altering the tapestry of reality before you -- It takes a heavy toll on the mortal soul, especially regarding what form it takes. And Etor had chosen a particularly powerful word. . . ASHÜR: "Get a hold of yourself boy!" He called out just as the glassen dome of Zuzu had encapsulated him. "It gets easier over time. . ." The bandit speaks, his voice forlorn. Though for certain, the rust on his mysticisms were apparent, long years it had felt since he played uncaringly with those divine threads. "But you don't have that luxury, watch and learn." Though in truth his voice likely couldn't reach Etor behind the glass.

ASHÜR casts SEEP on the KASSITE REBEL #1, dealing 3 DAMAGE, but failing to poison. He gains 2xp and 1 Mysticism Proficiency.

A wave of harsh miasma surrounds the rebel, yet despite his hacks and coughs, the stout Kassite manages to fend it off.

[Assistant]
Makeen walks into the house.

Makeen: Don't mind me.

Makeen moves 1 tile to 12-33.


[System]
Chapter: Unknown.

Chapter Demeanour: Unknown.

Personal Demeanour: The Astartes now known only as Sorrow is quite clearly haunted by his past and now seeks to redeem himself through serving the Deathwatch as a Black Shield. He has stripped his ancient power armor of all marks of his Chapter and leads an existence free from all of the pleasures in life. Outside of combat, Sorrow subjects himself to long hours of prayer, meditation and a grueling training regime that would make even most other Astartes balk at the prospect. He does not shy away from contact or conversation with the brothers of his Kill-team, but Sorrow absolutely refuses to speak about his origins, Chapter or true name. Other than that, he is polite and soft-spoken and very rarely speaks ill of a fellow Astartes. He is prone to moods of somberness and melancholy and declines any praise or compliments that might be directed his way, insisting that he is merely a tool for the Emperor's will and nothing more.

In combat, Sorrow fights with total disregard for his own life, gladly sprinting into the line of fire to save a fallen brother or standing face-to-face with a heinous xenos monstrosity. An honorable death would be the easiest way to find absolution but Sorrow does recognize that it would have to be a good death, not a pointless one, so he is not entirely suicidal. One thing is certain; Sorrow will never wear the livery of his Chapter once more.

Speciality: Tactical.

Rank: Battle-Brother (Black Shield).

Power Armour History: It is an entirely unremarkable suit of Mark VII power armor, the most common variant in use by the Astartes at the start of the 42nd millenium. Its fresh coat of black paint cannot obscure the fact that is dented, pitted and otherwise marred in many places but Sorrow refuses any repairs or replacement parts. It functions reasonably well, though the mechanism of the joint of his left elbow has a habit of jamming in the midst of combat. Sorrow has not divulged any of the armor's history, if he even knows it, but the fact that is Mark VII means that it is unlikely to be very old.

Description: Beneath the plates of his power armor, Sorrow is a gruesome sight to behold. Most of the flesh of his face has been seared away, the remnants fused together beneath a shiny layer of fresh skin. Especially the left side of his lower jaw was severely disfigured to the point where the white bone is visible, and his (fortunately unharmed) eyes are surrounded by thick scar tissue. Sorrow refuses skin-grafts or reconstructive surgery as a matter of principle and considers the hideousness of his visage to be a poignant reminder of the sins he has come to repent for. His physique is neither short or tall for an Astartes and Sorrow is just as muscular as can be expected from the average Battle-Brother.

As for his armor, the whole suit of Mark VII is deep black (save for the silver left pauldron), as is Deathwatch custom, but highly irregular is that this extends even to his right pauldron. That is normally reserved for the sacred heraldry of the Marine's Chapter, but Sorrow has struck that sigil from the pauldron and painted it entirely black. This Black Shield immediately sets him apart from the other members of his Kill-team at first glance.

Skills: As a Tactical Marine, Sorrow possesses a flexible skillset. He hasn't specialized in any particular combat doctrine and is equally capable up close or at range, but he is outclassed in both styles by specialist Devastator Marines with heavy weapons or Assault Marines with chainswords. That said, Sorrow is a crack shot with the standard Astartes Mark Vb Godwyn Pattern bolter and Mark II Ragefire Pattern plasma rifle and is at his most dangerous from medium distance. He also knows how to drive and operate various Astartes land vehicles like Rhinos, Assault Bikes and Land Raiders.

History: All that is known of Sorrow's history is the story he submitted to the Master of the Vigil when he arrived at the Deathwatch fortress. He came to them alone, the sole occupant of a limping freighter vessel, his damaged power armor sandblasted clean of any paint, revealing the gunmetal gray of the adamantium beneath. No Chapter sigil was present on his pauldrons, nor any markings of rank or specialization. All that he carried was a battered bolter and a single frak grenade.

When asked for his name, the Astartes declined to provide one, and instead insisted he was no one. When asked for a Chapter, the Astartes once again refused to answer, claiming he belonged to no Chapter. Not anymore. When asked for his story, the Marine sat down and removed his helmet, revealing the horrifyingly scarred and twisted face beneath. He took a deep breath, and spoke.

Once, not too long ago, the Astartes had belonged to a Chapter. It was a proud one, charged with an important task, and demanded the respect and reverence of the population of the Imperium they protected. One amongst their numbers fell prey to hubris, however, and resisted the will of the Imperium. When asked why, the Astartes refused to answer and remained as vague as possible. He said that they were all blinded by the lies and their own arrogance. To his disgust, the Astartes saw brother after brother turn away from the Emperor's light. The Astartes sitting before the Master of the Vigil said that he resisted, trying to undo the damage, but they would not listen. Eventually he and his brothers came to blows -- a terrible battle in which he nearly perished, the Astartes said, pointing to the wreckage of his face. He escaped aboard a space ship and became adrift for years, which is when he entered a Sus-an Membrane-induced stasis. Explorators woke him when the ship was found. The Astartes refused to clarify how long he had been in stasis, or indeed to provide any kind of timeframe for his story.

The Astartes paused for a long time, the air of the dark chamber heavy with tension. The Astartes continued, saying he eventually learned that justice had been metered out to his Chapter, though he declined to go into details. He said that, with nowhere left to go, he would strip himself of his rank, name and Chapter and submit himself to the Emperor's service in the only way that was now left to him; the Deathwatch. Perhaps, he said, voice full of melancholy, he could find some atonement for the sins of his erstwhile brothers here.

The Master of the Vigil nodded once, curtly, gave the Astartes a new designation out of respect for the warrior's tale, and promised him it would not be repeated to any other members of the Deathwatch. Now his Long Vigil begins as the anonymous Sorrow.

Equipment and Armament: An old and heavily-used Mark Vb Godwyn Pattern bolter, frak & krak grenades, and combat knife.

Miscellaneous: The secrets that Sorrow keeps have been submitted to our GM as part of this CS.

[User]
The impact was relatively cushy as the Caestus rammed into the side of the Dark Eldar raiders' lead ship. Aldaric waited impatiently as the mechanical countdown finished and the doors dropped open to form a heavy ramp onto the floor of an empty lower corridor in the abhorrent xenos' vessel. Heartening words rang over the killteam's vox communicators. Fear however, was not a problem. They had their orders, which were to rapidly ascend to the bridge and dispatch the raiding party's leadership, thus routing the rest of the foolish Dark Eldar who had unwittingly attacked the Imperium's specialized xeno-hunting taskforce mid-space. Educating these xeno scum would be most satisfying indeed.

The killteam that had been sent to this task however, was nacent. The Deathwatch captain was present in communication only, having said nothing of individual responsibilities in the field or provided any hint of on-the-ground organization or tactics. They were all equal now, brothers, and they had to figure this one out on their own.

Aldaric found the lack of immediate clarity in what their individual actions were to be irritating, but there was no time to get to know each other. Quickly, even before they made contact, he considered each of their chosen armaments and began to rationalize their best use based on that and what little he knew of his new teammates. It was a roll of the dice how any of this was about to go.

Draskal had already stepped out to investigate the corridor when Aldaric's suspensory device finally released him. Once freed, the impatient former captain immediately went to work on what he saw was their greatest problem at the moment, the lack of a plan.

"We're clear." Stated the space marine who was more machine than man.

Aldaric noted the floating familiar by his side which he had used to safely enhance his sight. Drascal also had ranged weapons, which would be far more useful on the inside of a spacecraft than his missle launcher, more than likely. A quick glance around spotted a stormshield, carried by Victor Ironmarch, certainly a most useful bulwark. There was Sirren with a mighty chainsword, Zaphiel with a combi-flamer, and Kurt with his much lighter armor and potential vulnerability.

Aldaric's brow furrowed seriously above his mechanical left eye as he scrutinized. The team's hesitation was killing him, the moment of quiet was an inferno of infuriation. Finally, unable to stand for it any longer, he simply, acted. Holding his own sniper bolter at the ready, he turn to those he named specifically. "Victor. Drascal. I want you two to take point. Find their bridge. Sorrow, you're behind them to provide cover as needed. As soon as we clear an area, Draskal can blow up the next door so we can move in..."

Aldaric didn't bother with apologies or any statements of the obvious. He simply did what he had always done. It was his job, his role, and he expected no recognition for it. There was a gap that needed to be filled, and he simply provided the spackle. He had no idea whether or not he would be heeded, or hated, but he went on regardless. "We will be moving fast, so Kurtis, I need you specifically to call 'in-back' if anything pursues us from that direction. As for the rest of us, do what you do best and eliminate all hostiles." Aldaric knew that only experience would show each of their strengths and weaknesses. He primed his weapon and began moving down the left hall, letting the anger at his enemies fill his heart and drive his resolve. "We rally on Zaphiel if we get separated, so keep track of him at all times. Speed is of the essence brothers. Let us show these xenos how a proper assault is conducted."

There was no rational for sneaking around. This would be a guns-blazing, blitzkrieg assault, one that the enemy was hopefully completely unprepared for.

[Assistant]
The orders to prepare for boarding actions had been rather unexpected, but were not altogether unwelcome. Zaphiel had been eagerly awaiting to unleash the Emperor's Fury upon heretical Xenos, but he was certainly not expecting an encounter with the Dark Eldar, especially given the nature of their vessel in question. Ultimately he chalked it up to Xeno incompetence inherent within their races, and prepared for action.

The Caestus Assault Ram was filled to the brim with members of the greenhorn Kill-Team. Zaphiel rested his bolter across his legs, the dim glow of his Rosarius power field emitting blue light across the interior of the small vessel. Zaphiel held the religious charm in one hand, offering a prayer to the God-Emperor, asking for protection and strength to be granted to them all in the coming battle. Though not many chapters viewed the Emperor as a holy figure of worship, Zaphiel spoke this prayer out loud, hoping that at the very least, thoughts of the Emperor would ease any tension in the mind of his Battle-Brothers.

As the doors to the Assault Ram hissed open, and Drascal moved to secure the immediate area, Zaphiel did one last quick check of his weaponry, before preparing to disembark with the others. Aldaric seized the opportunity to take command of the situation, which was a commendable act, given the lack of any real command structure as of yet, and so Zaphiel had no qualms about following his orders.

"Victor. Drascal. I want you two to take point. Find their bridge. Sorrow, you're behind them to provide cover as needed. As soon as we clear an area, Draskal can blow up the next door so we can move in... "We will be moving fast, so Kurtis, I need you specifically to call 'in-back' if anything pursues us from that direction. As for the rest of us, do what you do best and eliminate all hostiles. "We rally on Zaphiel if we get separated, so keep track of him at all times. Speed is of the essence brothers. Let us show these xenos how a proper assault is conducted."

As Aldaric finished speaking, Zaphiel spoke with a firm "Acknowledged." to confirm his willingness to accept the current structure of the unit. Stepping out into the Xenos ship with the others, Zaphiel took his place in the formation, eager to begin his Emperor-given task.

[User]
Victar was quick to exit the pod holding the team and board the ship they had been ordered to purge. Finding the helm would be difficult, given that he was particularly unfamiliar with the ships design and layout, but those were things you learned by experiencing them firsthand. Stormshield in his left, boltor pistol in his right, he took up positon in front of the nearest doorway as the other members of the squad exited. In tight quarters, his jump pack would be detrimental, but perhaps there would be a proper time and place for it. For now it was simply a reassuring weight strapped to his back.

Glancing over at Draksal as the order was given for the two to take point, Victar nodded and kept his shield up and at the ready.

"Understood." Was all he said. When the others were ready, he would march forward. The glory of first blood would be his.

[Assistant]
Sorrow had taken place in his solitary seat without comment or complaint. It was his burden to be a Blackshield and he would carry it silently, even if it hurt to be deliberately separated from his new companions. Memories of previous boarding actions and scenes of combat with his former Chapter flitted through his mind's eye and Sorrow grasped the grip of his bolter tightly. It was an ancient specimen, the least advanced and prestigious of such weapons he had been able to find in the Deathwatch's armory. It would not do to fulfill his journey of penance with artificer gear.

As the boarding ramp opened and his battle-brothers disembarked, Sorrow turned to heed Aldaric's orders immediately. The FFI systems inside his helmet identified his fellows with small nametags that popped up on his HUD, and Sorrow positioned himself to be behind Victar and Draksal, bolter at the ready. He found himself standing next to the Chaplain, Zaphiel. The religious fervor of the Black Templars was a little alien to Sorrow, but he had begun to understand lately that it was comforting to place one's trust in the higher power of the God-Emperor... and, perhaps, a chance for salvation in whatever waited for him beyond the veil of death.

"Acknowledged and in position. The Emperor protects," Sorrow whispered over the squad's vox-comms.


[System]
Essential NPCs

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Military

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Killers' Associate

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Serpent's Lair
Age : Don't you know not to ask a woman her age?
Occupation : Owner of the Serpent's Lair

Background : Mother died at birth and she was raised by a single father who worked on the shipyard at the Docks. Lived between the Slums and the Lower District most of her life, however has done some traveling beyond No Name but has always come back. Opened the Serpent's Lair around the Docks decades ago to never forget whence she came, and has been tending to it ever since. Two years ago she hired a young woman named Andria to help her around the inn in exchange for use of her garage to do mechanic work. Since Andria's been hired Mabel runs the night/graveyard shift at the Inn (6-6am) as this when most of the undesirable characters come around. A very tough woman who doesn't take any shit. Keeps a loaded shotgun behind the counter of the bar on the main floor of the inn and a revolver on her hip. A mother to and respected by many in the community, as she's always looking out for those in need. Not terribly fond of outsiders but doesn't mind taking their money. Good friends with Sloth the Dealer.

[User]
the first chapter of an original story: Urban Creatures

---

Current week: [Nov 1, 2017 - Nov 7, 2017]

[Assistant]
Sloth the Dealer, Nov 1, 2017 - 9th Street in the Slums of No Name , approximately 9am

"and stay the fuck outta my sight, if I ever see you around here again I'll make sure you are pulled apart piece by piece you slimy piece of degenerate shit fuck!"

wide-eyed with fear the sunken face man ran off tripping over his own feet , struggling to keep his balance gasping for breath after being on the receiving end of a deafening stomp to his chest cavity that surly cracked a couple of ribs.

"junkie piece of shit tried to rob me, me?" laughing to himself, "obviously he didn't know who the fuck he was dealing with. prick's lucky I didn't stab em, cuz betty's been lonely.." he trailed off, thumbing the handle of a black blade tucked in his waistband.

when suddenly he erupted into a series of violent coughs that reverberated his entire being causing him to double over, bringing a dark cloth from his pocket he covered his masked mouth, attempting deep breaths through his nose to calm down. Finally he was able to bring his breathing to a steady rhythm, "fucking bullshit" he muttered in between now short controlled breaths. "lung bullshit"

*bzzzz* the pager adorning his waist vibrated, he looked down at the green retro screen of what was now considered ancient technology. the poorly illuminated device read "1 o clock lunch" in fading LED.

1 o clock lunch .. today we'd be going down to the docks to pay someone a much needed visit. I'll head over to the Market District and grab a newspaper while I wait. See what bullshit they've come up with today.

Sloth walked in the direction of the Market District, passing a line of drug addicts slumped together on the wall of a degrading building. Obviously burned out from the evening before.

"Ahh, I love the smell of the Slums in the morning" he said sarcastically turning his head to the left, letting out a sigh. "fucking pussies" he crumpled up a $10 euro note and threw it at the feet of the three bums."go get some food you fucking degenerates" they dropped to their knees and crawled towards the wad of cash, clawing at one another to get their hands on the paper treasure. Sloth rolled his eyes behind his mask and tilted his head back looking up at the bleak sky accented with it's perpetual red haze.

"How am I going to help fix this fucked up hell hole?"

He continued walking towards the market district. Relaxed but focused on the task at hand. Today was important.

"Corrupt Bitch." Sloth grumbled to himself flinging the newspaper on the ground next to the bench where he was sitting near the Market District newsstand. The headline read "Mayor Jess Declares No Name City's Upper District, the Safest Place on Earth"
"Safest Place on Earth my ass, who the fuck comes up with this bullshit?"
"If anyone belie- but right as he was getting into his audienceless rant his Sujo brother appeared in his peripheals and gave a signal.

Right, no bitchin', it was time. Standing up Sloth headed off in the direction of the Docks, someone was owed a visit.

[User] -delete this-

[Assistant]
Andria looked up at the ticking clock on the wall. Sighing, she stood up from her work in the building's garage. Looking around, the young woman began to wipe grease and oil from her hands. Cleaning up the tools she had lying around, Drake made sure that her workplace was left in a clean and neat state. The half-built car that stood in the middle of the garage looked out at her solemnly. Drake had been working on the car for nearly several months now. Ever since she arrived at No Name.

Letting the rag in her hands fall onto an empty table, Drake walked up the stairs into the inn proper. The inn was called The Serpent's Lair, but was more commonly known as the Den in the docks of No Name. The inn was three stories tall. On the bottom story was the pub, kitchen, and garage. The second floor was the guest rooms and the top floor was Drake's living quarters.

Sighing, Drake walked up to the front door. Looking out, she watched as the sun peeked up over the horizon. Flipping the sign that hung in the window to 'OPEN' Drake turned back around. Reaching up behind her head, the woman tied her hair back into a ponytail. Walking up to the stairs she pulled on a rope. A loud thump was heard afterwards, followed by the quick pattering of feet. Paying no mind to the sounds, Drake pulled out a notebook from behind the counter. In it was design after design after design. They were all of different pieces of the car that sat in the garage.

Suddenly, a small, wiry frame came tumbling down the stairs. Tripping, the young boy face-planted the ground. Though, it couldn't have been too hard as he bolted upright with a stupid grin on his face. "Hey, Eric! Stop fooling around and get to those dishes from last night." Drake yelled out to the boy, patting the top of his head as he passed. His thick brown hair was a mess this morning, as it always was.

Drake had met the boy over a year ago in the slums. He had decided to pick her pocket, which was a bad decision for him. However, Drake had always had a soft spot for children and instead took the nine-year old in. When she opened up the inn a year ago, he quickly became her number one, if only, employee.

Roused from her thoughts, Drake's attention turned towards the door as the bell rung. The cold morning breeze wafted into the building as a figure stood, silhouetted , in the doorway.

[User]
Ronan sat in his usual alley, chewing on a toothpick. He had seen those beggars go after a 10 euro after a not so happy looking man threw it at them. He would take it. To him, at this point, it didn't matter about the money. What mattered was the image. He needed people to be scared of him. To throw what he asked for at his feet, terror in their eyes. He would let them keep the money for now. He wanted them to be happy with themselves. Only so that he could take that happiness and smash it into the ground. Ronan might even come back later and rip whatever they had bought with it, probably food, out of their hands. Those two weren't aware of the danger lurking right next to them. For all they knew, he was probably a drug dealer, if anything. He was too well dressed to be much of anything else. Either that or he was a rich person screwing around in the wrong place.

Ronan decided he would let them keep the euro, for now anyway. Hell, he might even let them have it. That is, if he felt the same when he came back to visit the pair. He pushed himself off the wall and made his way to the market. His sister still lived with him, and he still felt a personal responsibility to feed her. She probably wanted soup now that the weather was getting colder. Ronan supposed he would make soup, but in order to do that, he had to go to the market and buy the ingredients.

"Such a chore," Ronan mumbled to himself as he walked away from the alley and into the bright afternoon. The sky was gray, the way he liked it. Soon it would snow. The world would be dark and dead. He preferred the winter over the summer. All of the flowers, bright colors and bright lights were almost always too much for him. And the bugs. Ronan wished all the bugs either left him alone or died off completely, but the rational part of his mind knew that the latter would be impossible without huge environmental impacts. Not that he cared much for the environment, of course.

[Assistant]
Date: Nov 1, 2017.

Available contracts:

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Dqmeaz rad Oazfdmof: Etq oduqp faa ygot mf zustf mzp tqd bmdqzfe iagxpz'f naftqd fa wqqb tqd cguqf. U zqqp yk exqqb
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Duew Xqhqx: Sguxfk Tmzsahqd |


[System]
Age: 21

Weapon: Shura (in picture)

Clothes: The top is in the picture, the bottom is a black hakama.

Other: -

Bushido

[User] Please enjoy

[Assistant]
Hotarubi did not bother to ask the name of the girl who shared her rice ball with her, Hotarubi was too bussy chewing the food.
After eating the onna-bugeisha stood up and began walking through Otemon gate.
Suddenly an Aoto gang thug stood in front of Hotarubi, blocking her way.

"Hey you, new comers need permition if they want to walk around here"
The thug said, his left hand on his katana.

"I need no permition..."
Hotarubi replyed, looking into the thug's eyes.

"Oh are you sure!?"
The thug shouted and pulled out is katana, however Hotarubi was quicklier and cut the fingers of his right hand, making him drop his weapon while screaming.

"First your figers...Next your ear..."
Hotarubi said scaring the thug, who ran away.

Hotarubi shook her katana, cleaning it and the sheathed it.

[User]
Casimir had been travelling for days on end with only his determination to complete his quest to keep him going. But even a strong spirit is not enough to satisfy those of the mortal flesh and so one day Casimir finally collapsed, dehydrated and starved.

Fortunately however a few townsfolk found him while they were hunting for Game in the forest. Casimir finally awoke after a few days and then after a day of eating, gathering back his strength and offering whatever service he could provide to his savours, which was rejected, Casimir gave his farewells and began a slow walk out of the city.

Before he could make any real progress however Casimir came across a most interesting sight, a young woman wielding a sword and quite effectively cut a mans fingers off making him drop his sword and run like a coward. Casimir approached the young lady "You wield a blade well..."

[Assistant]
Hotarubi heard a woman talking to her and turned back towards the man, she was a little surprised at first, the man did not look japanese at all, what's more she found his clothes to be quite strange and his sword even more.

"Oh ..Yes thank you. Being good with the sword in not something people look with good eyes at anymore.."
Hotarubi lamented.
Soon after the female finished talking three magistrated ran to the european man and female ronin.

"We got a report an aoto gang was causing trouble here, you two, what are you doing here?
One of the magistrates said.

"If you don't answer now we will cut you down!"
Another magistrate shouted ashe pulled out his katana.

"Right now you are under suspect of cooperating with the Aoto gang, come with us to the magistrate oficce, we shall interrogate you there. If you are not guilty you wont nothing to fear"
The third magistrate said

Hotarubi sighed, she just arrived and was already in trouble, she looked at Casimir for a few seconds and then nodded to the magistrates, accepting to go with them

[User] "Cutting us down would be a unwise course of action" Casimir said sternly but as he said so Hotarubi had already surrendered herself, it is true he and most likely Hotarubi as well wanted no trouble but he also did not think surrendering so easily was wise. But Hotarubi had already shown she was willing to go and he would have no backup if a fight errupted and so Casimir found little choice but to go "Fine. But if any harm should come to me or my new friend here you will come to regret it, this I promise you"

[Assistant] Haru just happened to be passing through, when he noticed multiple magistrates around two people wielding blades. Of course, not really caring, he approached them. "What seems to be the problem here?" he asked, looking around at them. He didn't seem to care at all that all of the magistrates were carrying blades and that his outfit had a few bloodstains on it from an earlier fight, the ones on his white scarf being especially noticeable.

[User]
Finally out of the forest and reaching the outskirts of a town, Rei collapsed there, in a somewhat rude sitting position unsuitable for a woman. Having gone for days without food or water, Rei felt more parched than famished. It caught her by surprise when she felt a tap on her shoulder. With close to no energy, she slowly looked up, the person proving to be a young girl. The girl held out to her an open container of what looked like water. Widening her eyes, Rei snatched quickly took the container, spilling some drops in result, and peered in it to see that it really was what she hoped for. Alarming her, the girl then ran off, leaving her there. After watching the girl's running figure disappear as she turned a corner, Rei gulped down the water in the container, and pleasingly felt the cool liquid flowing down her dry throat. She then saw that the girl had also left a rice ball beside her, so she took that and ate it.

Rei noticed two men wearing identical uniforms approaching her, and figured that they were a police force or something of the sort. She stood up, brushing herself off, feeling a bit more energy this time.

"You there, what are you doing?" One said.

"You do know that you cannot beg for food or money around here, don't you? The law states that you have to have a job, and begging is not one," The other spoke, as they came face-to-face with her.

"But I wasn't," Rei replied, her voice coming out as a croak as it was still quite dry despite the water she drank.

"Then what was that just now? A girl came to give you food and water?" the other answered.

"Come with us to the magistrate office for this to be settled. And not another word or we'll cut you down!"

And before she could protest, a hand grabbed her left wrist, gripping it tightly, leading her away.

After quite some time, they stopped pulling her, and the grip on her wrist was now not so tight. It turned out that the two men met with another three of their own, and they were talking to each other. Rei saw that behind the magistrates were three other people, presumably ronin. A brown-haired woman who had her sword unsheathed, a tall, European clothed man, and a man with blood-stained clothing.

[Assistant]
One of the magistrates extended his hand to Hotarubi, she understood she had to hand over her beloved bakuzan, with some hasitation she handed her katana to the magistrate, Casimir was asked to hand over his sword too.

Before The three magistrates could take them to the magistrate office a man appeared asking what was going on

"It is not your bussines!"
The second magistrate, the one wielding his katana before and most violent of thethree, said but one of the other too magitrates pulled his sleeve and whispered something into his ear. The three magistrates looked at Haru carefully, indeed, he was covered in blood.

"Hand over your weapons please, you are coming with us to the magistrate office"
Said the first magistrate kindly.

Then again before they coudl resume their march two other magistrates and a woman appeared. Hotarubi looked at the woman and instantly knew she was going to be interrogated too, she sighed.

"Another suspect!?"
The violent magistrate asked quite angry, the two magistrates nodded and so the four suspecs and the five magistrates walked to the magistrate office, the walk took around an hour, no one said a word during that time.

The four suspects were taken to an old jail were they waited. After 10 minutes a magistrate wearing girly colthes, heavy make-up and a sword hich handle looked like a shark fin appeared and opened the jail.

"My apologies if the other magistrates treated you bad, but unfortunally the situation in Amahara is quite serious, we spend day and night trying to stop the Aoto gang and they drug they sell: Soma, so we can't just go on a large scale battle against them, first we have to find the secret of how to produce soma..."

The effimenate magistrate covered his mouth.

"Oh I talked too much... Anyway, My name is Sosuke Nakamura and I'm here to let you go free."
 Sosuke said and stood asaid from the jail door, leaving the path free, however he added some words before the four could leave.

"Say...You could have resisted and fight to escape if you wanted to but decided to surrender and come here...How naive...But it I like that. We need more people like you guys in the magistrate office so, how about it? I can give you a job...Oh My...I'm rushing things too much...Well, if you need a job talk to the man at the entrance of the magistrate office, he is in charge of giving jobs to the people. Well then bye bye!"

Sousuke said and walked away.
Hotarubi sighed
"Man...He talks too much..."
She complained and walked out of the jail, and old magistrate sitting behind an old table gave her her katana back, she did not wait for the others and so walked out of the magistrate office, on her way she saw the man nakamura talked about but did not pay much attention.

[User] Haru yawned as he walked out behind the one woman. "I'm not even going to bother telling them that I had just cut down the group of Aoto gang thugs in that area just before I met them," he said, and just kept walking, not seeming to care at all that he just ruined the magistrates' investigation.

[Assistant] Casimir walked out with the others but they all seemed to now be heading off to their destinies. Casimir knew he should do the same as his quest would not wait forever but he had a feeling his buissness in this town were not wuite finished yet. Unsure what this feeling meant or what to do next he ran a few paces to catch up to to Hotarubi "Milady, may I acompany you?"

[User]
Rei listened to the man in bloodstained clothing. It was actually quite obvious from the now dried blood that was splattered across his clothes that he had killed some people, and she figured they were criminals of some sort. She didn't know before that there were a group called the Aoto as she had just arrived at the town.

"Do you have a job?" She questioned the man in bloodstained clothing. She considered getting one, but reconsidered, because then again, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to stay in that town. She was tired of travelling all around Japan though, so maybe she would stay. Well, she'd have to look around the town first to see.


[System]
* Age: 16
* Gender: Female
* Appearance: Civilian Symphogear
* World of Origin: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
* Personality: Hibiki is a cheerful, energetic girl with a kind heart. She always wants to talk with others no matter how opposite their view points. She wants to reach out, take their hands, and try and understand them. Even if they're enemies, and even if they fight, she wants to understand others. Hibiki's cheerful attitude isn't unbreakable, as things that remind her of less pleasant times can deeply shake her. But she always tries to bounce back and put on a sunny attitude her hardest. Even if she's kind and understanding, she's also very willing to fight to protect those in need, to help her friends, and stop those who would hurt others or threaten the world. Hibiki loves to eat, and loves helping others. However, she can be a little aloof and dense at times, and when it comes to "book smarts" she isn't exactly the best, even if it wouldn't be accurate to call her stupid. Hibiki has a deep adoration for her roommate Kohinata Miku, referring to Miku as "her sunshine".
* History: Over two years ago, Hibiki was the sole survivor of an attack by the Noise, an alien race that relentlessly attacked humanity by converting themselves and their victims into carbon. As a result, she gained a shard of a fragment of the relic Gungnir, embedded in her chest. After three incidents, one of which involved the removal of the shard in her body and her gaining a proper relic fragment, she is still dedicated to helping others using her power as a Symphogear user.
* Abilities: Hibiki uses a fragment of the Relic Gungnir, attuning with it in order to done a suit of power armor known as the Symphogear System. Though she is now able to manifest an armed gear, a weapon based upon the original relic, she rarely does. And when she does, it is only as an extension of her fist. Hibiki fights using the enhanced strength granted by her Symphogear, and martial arts she was trained in by SONG's commanding officer, Kazanari Genjuro. As such, her attacks are her punches and kicks, and she lacks any named abilities. Due to her armor's development, she can now utilize both piston-style movement boosts and rocket boosters on her arms and legs to increase the impact of her attacks or her movement speed. Hibiki can also support the usage of suicidal attacks by bearing some of the burden herself, but only if they run on a system similar to the Symphogears. As Symphogears are activated by music, Hibiki sings as she fights. The Symphogear system also allows for interaction with things that are out of phase with reality, allowing Hibiki to attack targets that are attempting to avoid damage using such methods. Hibiki possesses a supermode that increases her power output greatly, known as Ignite Mode, but it is only utilized when necessary.

[User]
Resident Evil Verse- Compound
Mentioned: @VitaVitaAR @Raineh Daze @PKMNB0Y@Wraithblade6

---

When the bossy girl's radio crackled with a frantic report, Sol had a feeling that the entire compound was about to be on red alert…over one person it sounded like. The group had left to go confront the problem, leaving the mercenary standing there and contemplating whether he felt like following or not. With the silence filling the room, he sighed lazily and followed after them.

I should get paid for this, he mused.

As he arrived at the compound gate, he saw that the giant knight and doll girl were there, facing a man who was as pale as Slayer. Sol stared at Mithias and blinked, seeming unimpressed.

"You want to stop all operations for one guy?" Sol scoffed.

Whatever. He was outside, which meant only one thing. SMOKE BREAK! Reaching a hand into his pocket, the mercenary removed his box of cigarettes and took a seat on the cement barrier that a few soldiers had taken cover behind and had their rifles peeking over top of. They glanced strangely at Sol as he bit the end of a cigarette and slid it free from its box. With his lips, he rolled it over until it touched the side of his Fuuenken. A gray sliver of smoke ascended into the air before he rolled it back to the opposite corner of his mouth and leisurely watched what the group would do with the guy.

[Assistant]
What looked like a giant clad in knightly armor suddenly landed atop the entrance gate, stopping to peer down at the scene. Mithias shot his gaze at it, or him, without otherwise moving, and the two merely observed each other for the moment. Both warriors took in the details of their opponent: size, weapons, the condition of the armor Artorius was wearing, the grace with which the behemoth had made his landing, etc. Any knight in any realm, for any time in existence, all of them, knew that in war there were no rules. There was no beforehand knowledge of what your enemy was bringing to the table and no expectation of honor or mercy from an enemy. As a knight, if you picked a fight, you had to be ready to deal with the consequences.

Goldibanne stepped out from the gates. Keeping Artorius in his peripheral vision, Mithias switched his attention to her. Yet another inhuman being had stepped out of the woodwork of this world. Her voice was bitter and repulsive, filled with arrogance and mockery. It seemed she had not heard the radio report from the guards, and the pile of gift weaponry had also escaped her notice. Still, she would prove herself to be much more of a danger, exposing some sort of magic that looked like liquefied metal, and it was extremely hot.

At the very instant that Mithias recognized a threat, he pulled his two, titanium swords. Upon the sound of unleashed blades, the guard that had been cowering just in front of the vampire's feet suddenly leap to cognition and scrambled to his feet, fleeing with wide eyes back to the safety of the gate, stammering incomprehensibly. He was terrified, having just seen this monster take a bullet and show no signs of injury. His instinct was to gtfo.

Mithias could have held him hostage, using him as a human shield, but he did not. He had let the man go and instead kept his watchful eye on Goldibanne and her pretentious display. Neither did Claire and her rifle in the background escape his notice, as he made it clear that he was ready for her attack. Long black hair wreathed about his chest and back as clawed white hands leveled his swords toward Goldibanne. He wasn't here to assault the compound, but he wasn't going to be taken prisoner either.

Sol showed up, casually late in the middle of a tense stand off. Flippantly, he mocked the others and took out a cigarette. Mithias glanced at him, swords still poised, and regarded him as the most sane character he had seen there yet. Exhaling over pursed lips, the vampire looked again at the doll mage that gleefully anticipated a slaughter. He would make one last attempt to communicate with this Blackwood Circus and said one word, "Lydia."

[User]
Hellsalem's Lot- Coffee Break

With general confirmation from the rest of the group, Satori walked with the others into the coffee shop. Even at this early time, there seemed to be a lot of patrons, which... In all honesty, was actually somewhat useful, if not a very annoying experience for the youkai girl. The strong smell of bitter coffee caused her to recoil a bit, simply because it was far stronger than she was used to.

"Ah... Hrm. This is... Do people here tend to like this sort of drink?" she asked, shaking her head as she looked up at the menu overhead. As expected, there was... A lot of coffee choices, most of which made absolutely no sense to her. Why would there be so many names for a single drink? At least tea had a reason for all its names, but... Coffee? Was a different amount of milk or tea really warrant another name?

Shaking her head, Satori walked up to the counter, where a young woman seemed to be manning the counter. A few other people seemed to be preparing the other customers' drinks, and with surprising speed. Was this...?

"Ah, may I take your order?"

So it was.

"Yes, please. One black tea, please. Nothing else."
"Small, medium, or large?"
"Small will be fine."
"That's fine. Name?"
"Ah... Family name Komeiji, given name Satori."
"No need to be so formal; Satori, is it? Please wait a moment. Next?"

The woman turned around and handed off a piece of paper she had written on to one of the people working on the machines before turning to the next member of the group. Unsure of what to do next, Satori carefully edged away and moved to take an empty seat near the windows, closing her eyes and trying to see if she couldn't filter out anything helpful to their cause.

[Assistant]
Goldibanne, the Face of Innocence(?)

Oh, he was drawing weapons, too? How uncouth, even before saying a word. At least she'd introduced herself. Goldibanne let out a somewhat mock sigh as she raised on hand back... and paused.

"... Lydia?" she cocked her head to one side, and then lowered her hand, "Ahh, Goldibanne doesn't understand why you'd pull out weapons first. Isn't explaining yourself so much easier~?"

It wasn't even like he HAD explained himself. But the living doll understood what he meant to a degree, at least. After all, Lydia was the one who had called all of them here in the first place and given them their mission. It seemed unlikely that some random madman with lots of trinkets would know exactly who she was and to say her name in the face of impending destruction. Really now, what was all the posturing and stuff about if he'd shown up for the same reasons they had? It was silly.

The gold receded back into the joints in Goldianne's fingers and thumb.

"I really would have killed you if you'd just attacked, so be more careful~" she continued, brightly, before casting a glance back up at the knight perched on the gate, "Or he would have. You should have seen what he did earlier. Goldibanne never saw anyone kill that many animate dead in a single blow before~"

---

Saber, King Arthur Herself

Saber had no real qualms with approaching the coffee shop in order to continue planning. However, upon entry, the coffee itself was entirely disregarded. Instead, the blonde girl, still in full armor, approached the counter, her eyes travelling downwards to firmly lay upon the array of pastries stored there and on display. There was, along with the scent of coffee, the smell of these items... and they smelled quite pleasing. Indeed, there was no way she could deny her interest.

But which to choose? She could not buy all of them, the money Rin had granted her and the rest of the money given later was certainly not sufficient for such a purpose...

[User]
Sir Artorias

Artorias surmised from the single word answer that the man had given that he was an ally of theirs: no-one else would have a reason to produce that name when challenged for their presence. Strange that he seemed ready to fight back against a group such as theirs; though he had a sword, without any further protections, to engage in a battle of blades would have been an ill-fated decision.

The knight dropped from the fence, his companion having trailed out of the building after the group and clearing the defence to sit beside their master as the somewhat tense staring contest continued, finally confirming what Goldibanned had implied: "Then thou art an ally of ours, despite this dismal first meeting. Our single trail is to find a 'terrorist' group."

Embedding his sword point-first in the earth to free a hand to point, Artorias began to introduce the rest of their little party, starting with himself--as Sir Artorias, naturally--and finishing with lowering his hand to stroke the oversized wolf besidehim, "... and this is Sif."

---

Kohinata Miku

"It would only be a few words," Miku pointed out, frowning a little at Hibiki's belief that she couldn't keep herself safe despite evidence to the contrary. Yet the idea of being subtle went completely out the window as they moved on and the sound of fighting began to pick up again, though the black-haired girl opted to stay out of her transformed state because running was a lot more useful than flight in corridors.

Then they found one of the fighters; the man stood in the middle of a surprisingly intact room. Despite his clear displeasure and feeling somewhat intimidated by the mask--oversized swords being nothing new after hanging around Tsubasa--there was no reason to assume that he would be treating them as an enemy. Especially if they were polite first.

"Could you please tell us the way out?"

[Assistant]
Tachibana Hibiki, Holding Determination in her Fist

That was true... and Hibiki realized that she kept forgetting that Miku could defend herself now, with a small pang of guilt at her absentmindedness. But there wasn't much time to contemplate this, as moments later they seemed to run right into the tail end of some kind of conflict. Hibiki moved ahead first, because, well... it was hard to let old habits die, even if Miku could defend herself now. When the two girls arrived, all she saw was a man in armor, wielding a huge sword that reminded the girl somewhat of Tsubasa. He seemed pretty intimidating, but he could talk, right? That meant that they could understand one another. When Miku pointed out that they needed to find a way out, Hibiki stepped forward.

"We don't really know how we got here," she began, "But if you knew how to get out, it'd be really helpful."

Hibiki paused for a moment. Maybe she should introduce herself, too! That could only help.

"And... my name is Tachibana Hibiki!"


[System]
Kato is the gray haired boy, Kakra is the blonde girl.

Age: 17

Grade: Second

Biography:
Twins born with powerful blessings from twin gods: Mundas and Celestial. Uniquely, their powers could combine to a degree to be even stronger... but their parents were foolish. At the age of 10, they were cursed by a witch after their parents reneged on a bad deal. The twins were fused together, a large portion of Kato's powers being sealed inside of Kakra... and Kakra was sealed within Kato. Only when on death's door may Kato free Kakra, but if she stays out for too long, the imbalanced powers will caused her to go into meltdown.

Therefore, she must use her powers to heal Kato before it's too late, but in doing so seals herself away.

It's an extremely uncomfortable existence for both of them, as Kakra was always the more dominant personality -- to say nothing of the requirements of Kakra gaining even temporary freedom.

Kato spends much of his time quietly reading, usually occult books trying to find a cure for their situation. Various power users have tried to help them over the years, but so far no one has had a powerful enough ability to counteract the curse.

Suffice it to say, they're also not on good terms with their parents.

Powers:
Core: Sun/Moon Flower
Kakra gains significant power in broad daylight, and vice-verse for Kato at night, and more so under the moon. This manifests as a shimmering field around their bodies that protects them and makes them physically more adept, but if the field is damaged they lose all their strength until they recharge for a short time. While normally their power would be limited only by the length of day and night, due to the curse, even under the moon Kato is weaker than Kakra would be even on a cloudy day, though still slightly stronger than an average person, while Kakra is limited by the impending threat of a meltdown.

First: Overgrow/Shroud
Kakra overcharges herself, gaining absurd healing and increasing strength overtime. She can shed this energy and gift it to others, healing them and reinforcing them, but loses the effect on herself. / Kato creates a null-zone that blocks light and saps the strength of those inside, giving it to himself.

Second: Starburst/Bloom
Kakra creates a small star that grows, becoming blindingly bright and then exploding after a few minutes. This feeds back into Overgrow. She can direct it like a missile when it's ready to burst, or just set it off early. / Kato summons a ring of eight moonflowers, creating a safe zone for all those inside it. Only people he welcomes in can enter it. The flowers slowly shut one per minute until the circle fails. The barrier can be overwhelmed, and weakens slightly as each flower shuts. Is nearly impregnable at full power, however.

Third: Mixer/Eclipse
Kakra can possess Kato to speak for him, but to take control Kato must be effectively dead. When she takes control, she will go into meltdown after about fifteen minutes, but can use altered versions Kato's powers while she is in full control.
Enshroud = Celestial Cloak: She enshrouds another in sunny energy, effectively granting them a reduced but still quite powerful form of Overgrow. She also gains a small portion of the solar energy that person absorbs, further increasing her own growth.
Bloom = Sun Blossoms: She summons a sunflower where she touches. It blooms over the course of a minute and then releasing a fully charged Starburst. She can plant them one at a time, up to only four, and in fairly quick succession.

Eclipse: Kakra can create a singularity that adsorbs sunlight and projects a dark space for Kato. Similarly, Kato can absorb moonlight and then release an orb that acts like a small sun for a short time. This was a much stronger ability when both were free to move at the same time, obviously...

Relationships:
(Assuming it's known publicly to some degree)
Alicia: They've heard she's a witch. Pretty sure she has nothing to do with their problem, but they still kinda dislike her on principle.

[User]
Nidgardt

His initial conversation with Alicia had caused some others to take notice. He had been waylaid and now had to do something about it. Appearantly the loud girl with the rumbling stomach was drawing the lot over. Someone even watching from a bench outside of the classroom.

Good grief...

He thought to himself before turning to Sasha, the girl which was speaking of justice, Ioincloths and by the sounds of it eating. After she had finished talking, Alicia replied. But not only that she exposed her undergarments for all in the radius to behold yet again. It was almost as indeed she wanted attention to be drawn to them, the demondragon took note of them however. They were of black lace by the looks of it. Nidgardt thus came to remember the various kind of succubus types that was working for his father. Most of them did however not wear any garments at all, yet there was a common theme going on. Black cloth.

He had to admit it was not the worst choice in fashion, he wore it himself. Since the more natural colors like green, brown and grey always made him look more monsterous than he was. Then ofcourse there were colors which would never had fitted at all with him, like yellow, purple, blue or pink. Red? No. It was overly common among those whom submit themselves fully to evil causes, generally accompanied by black.

Sasha was speaking of being a crusader of light. Perhaps she too could be useful aswell? A matter he had to look into after his buisness with Alicia was concluded.

But back to the subject at hand. Not the girl's undergarments but the potential of recruiting her for the future Zarkov team. Alicia seemingly refered to him as 'Dragon boy'. It wasn't the first time he heard it, but few dared to say it in the manner she did. Then again she was feared herself. It wasn't untrue, he was draconic, but it was just a part of him.

What the young witch desired was money, and quite a large amount of it, that or being able to meet someone which had it. Nidgardt, whom had draconic blood recoiled abit to it. Out of raw instinct, not that he actually cared about money that much. But his dragon half was screaming in rage at the very notion, one of the most precious things to a dragon is their hoard of treasure. One which they would very seldom share anything from.

Such was the case with his father's vast fortune, enough so that he did very seldom leave his hoard unattended. The times he did, he had placed strong traps around it. And even then, was surely not far away. Just to make sure no one would dare put a finger on a single coin.
But there was just no way the demondragon could hope to pay Alicia for her co-operation, it was just an amount beyond his resources. That's when he felt a flinch from his demonic nature.

He could go with her second plan. He could give her access to meet someone whom is really rich and alone. He could arrange a meeting between her and his father, a being whom was surely beyond her influence. That was he could keep his part of the deal, while not losing anything. The very idea made him want to smirk, but he restrained himself. He didn't take any real pleasure in exploiting others, but in this case he needed members and this girl was by the looks of it very prone to try exploit others.

Nidgardt ponder on it for awhile. It could serve as a lesson for her, to not make deals with demons. Or part demons. And show restraint and humbleness. He finally decided to agree to her second offer.

"I will give you access to meet someone really rich in a one on one meeting, without any bodyguards. But only after the inter-area tournament. I would hate you to not feel motivated to win. Do we have a deal?" He said in a calm manner, as if he had worked it out in his head prior to opening his mouth.

"Not to mention there is usually a prize for attaining victory." He added as a bonus, he wasn't that interested in the prizes himself. He just wanted to advance and challenge alot of different people, to become stronger and watch as others became aswell. The only way to attain a peaceful and lasting future is by understanding and respect. This was what the fights would surely bring.

The demondragon took a couple of steps forwards and reached out his non-monstrous hand to close the deal with Alicia. She was prideful indeed, if she was to advance further on she would have to experience loss. Something she would remember. Nidgardt considered the options and decided on asking her for a deal she couldn't say no to.

"I wish to test your capabilities if they are as strong as the rumors go. Let us make it more interesting shall we? If you win, you can order me around for a week. If I win I can order you around for a week. Ofcourse the exception to this is breaking the Yekaterina laws and binding someone for a longer time. So no contracts, offering of blood or the like. What say you?"

If she wins she wins, I get to become more humble while learning more about her powers. If I win. Then she is going to become more humble. A win-win. He thought to himself.

[Assistant]
Alicia

---

To her surprise, dragon boy actually agreed with her condition. He would only give the chance of a meeting though, not the actual money itself. And he told her he would grant her condition after the inter-area tournament.

Hmm, perhaps she should ask for more details first.

"So, who's this rich person you have access to?" she asked him. "I don't imagine you to be the type that has an influence amongst the upper class."

"The prize, I do not care for. I have no need for a paltry sum of money or some meaningless trophy."

"And as for 'testing my capabilities', I shall remind you that I'm not a fighter in the slightest. If you were to punch me, you would probably knock me out in one hit. My expertise lies outside of combat. I would curse your opponents, preventing them from even appearing at all in the arena. Maybe give them a stomachache. Or, make them wake up late. And if you want something more extreme, I'll have them get caught in an accident that would cripple them to the hospital bed for a good while."

She recited all that with a gleeful look on her face. Here was someone who didn't hesitate playing dirty in the slightest.

[User]
Aegus Reister

---

---

 Aegus raised his eyebrows. A tournament, hmm? He had never been in one, but he had heard of them. And he had nothing else to do - he was smart enough to not attend class - who needed to go to a financial math class when you were in a wealth class of your own? In any case, the proposition of a tournament intrigued him.

He stood up from where he had been eavesdropping outside of the room, while tossing the remnants of his icecream in the trash, and casually strolling over to the door, leaning against the frame of it - directly behind Kato.

"A tournament, you say? he interrupted. "If you less fortunate folk need a sponsor, or perhaps a power-player, I may be your gentleman." he said as he adjusted his canvas gloves, while looking directly at Nidgardt. Despite the fact that the white-haired boy was noticeably shorter than the Foul-breed, his gaze still implied that he was looking down on him. The group as a whole, even.

"I expect no material rewards, of course, you people can keep what gains they award - no, what I want is entertainment. Perhaps Glory - as I already have fame." Well, at least that's how he saw himself - partially famous. Though he wasn't. Most people at the school who had seen what he was outwardly like during his short time here - would likey only see him as the "snobby asshole exchange student".

However, his real motives - while they were somewhat influenced by his own need for entertainment - were to get his parents to notice what he could accomplish without his money. If they thought he didn't need it, they would give it back.

But in Aegus' eyes, he very much did need it.

[Assistant]
Sasha

---

The two dark ones continued in their dark covenant, the she-witch having the gall to thank Sasha in a condescending tone that was much more evil than stealing candy from children. And yet, the Crusader knew that the work was laid before her. There was a tortured soul in front of her, seeking redemption. A most wroth curse indeed, judging by the erratic gestures and the eyes changing colours all the time. He did look like that snake from that Selvatic Book or whatever. It was a peasant movie to be fair.

So she clacked her heel, standing tall (well... the most she could, she was still a young noblewoman, after all) in front of the supplicant."It would seem heartless to just force your punishment upon you given the urgency of your situation. I am one of the Yenin, and I say curses before lunch. But do not think you will be exempted of your debts." Sasha said, as she undid her gloves, and with the clap of thunder, squished Kato's cheeks, as her hands started to glow with her healing light.

"CURSE, BE GONE!" She announced out loud. Well, this time her stomach didn't ruin it with inopportune growling.

[User]
Kato looked very concerned. This was very sudden. He hadn't even gotten the chance to tell her the nature of the curse! They hadn't even left the room!

"Bwuh!?" His eyes went wide as she accosted his face. Soon he began to feel something... strange. Something very cold, as if ice was being drawn out of his veins from deep inside. It all came to a head with a sudden dim, violet glow. Spectral chains suddenly appeared all across his body, as if her touch had revealed them.

They seemed to strain and then, suddenly, one by one the links disconnected from one another.

Wait, was this actually working?!

These thoughts were punctuated by a calamitous boom. The chains blew apart, sending anything nearby that wasn't nailed down flying. Papers, pencils, skirts, desks -- Sasha. The force was enough to send the sacred girl into a wall.

When the dust settled, it was a rather spectacular sight. Chain links hovered ominously, orbiting about the room. Standing in the middle of it all were two people. One was Kato, and the other a girl who shone like the sun and gave off an incredible pressure. It had been midday, but by comparison it might as well have been midnight before.

"It... it worked?" The girl laughed giddily, staring at her own hands in awe. "It finally wo-!"

And then with a startling rattle, the chain-links flew together, reforming themselves and then pulling shut, binding the two back together, and in one last flash it all vanished, leaving Kato there... alone once more.

"Oh..." His face fell. Of course it hadn't worked.

It never did.

And then his eye flashed amber again and he flew over to Sasha, yanking her to her feet and grabbing her shoulders. There was an ecstatic grin upon his face.

"That was amazing! No one's ever come that close before!"