[System]
Race: Human (probably)
Gender: Female
Age: 23 (maybe)
Occupation: Grown-Up Delinquent

Personality/Interests: Kat's always been someone with… flexible morals. She knows how to manipulate and work a situation to her advantage, but lately she's been favoring the straight-forward method of negotiations – that is, outright threats of violence. Though very clever and resourceful, she's never had an official education and tends to ignore other perspectives if they don't suit her interests. Kat is more solitary than social, and tends to keep to herself, finding entertainment in whatever's available to her. She's sarcastic, and can typically be seen sporting a small, crooked grin coupled with a raised eyebrow as she judges the hell out of everyone around her. Over the years, Kat's gotten very good at annoying everyone around her, essentially killing any chance of personal relationships. This sits just fine with her.

Appearance: Short and lithe, Kat's not the most… intimidating figure. What she lacks in size though, she makes up in her striking appearance. With skin as dark as the night sky, silver eyes, and straight white hair cropped in a short, fluffy style, Kat attracts attention wherever she goes. Even more noteworthy than her coloring though, is the fact that she lacks a right arm. In its place is a scarred patch of flesh, cut right where the shoulder meets her torso. Kat has a tendency to simply chop the right sleeves off of her tops to get rid of the excess fabric, though she always wraps her torso in plain white bandages, so as not to let others see her scar. She has a litany of other, smaller scars littering her body.

Details
Body build: Little
Hair: Short, messy
Hair color: White
Skin color: Dark brown
Eye/Iris color: Silver
Height/Weight: 5', 96 lb (152 cm, 43 kg)
Notable Features: Missing right arm, scarring where the shoulder ends

Clothing Description: She wears soft leather boots, brown pants and a green tunic. White bandages can be seen underneath, covering the majority of her torso, especially her mangled shoulder. Kat also has a necklace with a thin silver chain, and an arrow charm on it, far more expensive than the rest of her outfit combined – it's the one thing she refuses to part with, even if it would get her hot meals and a roof over her head for three months.

Hel: Hel is, quite simply, a snow leopard big enough for Kat to ride around – which she does, often. He seems to be tremendously attached to her, and it's not always clear if he answers to her, or the other way around. Nonetheless, he is unfailingly loyal to her, and quick to bear his fangs at anything he considers a threat. While Kat loves Hel, she's worried she's become too dependent on both his protection and emotional support. So far, life's done a fine job of teaching Kat that things she love tend to get taken away from her. She fears that when the day comes that Hel will no longer be at her side, she'll be both too weak and too broken to face whatever comes for her next.

Equipment: Water flask, tinder box, rope, spare clothes, various bandages and herbs for healing purposes, an old warm jacket, extra little glass bottles for anything she finds that she might want to take with her, an ocarina that she can no longer play

Weapon(s): Keeps an array of knives and daggers on her at all times, used for either throwing or slashing. Other than that, Hel's really the only form of defense she needs.

Powers: Connection to Hel

Abilities: None that she knows of

Talents: Expert knowledge of archery, slight of hand, knife throwing, lying through her teeth, pretty decent tracker

Magic: N/A

Sessamaru: Annoyingly polite; difficult to rile; OK guy

Historia Saurvale: Twerp with wings; fun to mess with; nice bow, but doesn't know how to use it properly

Saha Thulaja Era: Do not drink with her; reminds me of Hel

Julio: Other twerp with wings; surprisingly pragmatic

Azzrix Grimmor: Gross furball; easy to mess with; please shut up

Margaret von Eisenberg: Can't decide if I like her or not; seems nice on the surface, but rubs me the wrong way

Naida Marcoon: Don't get along with; can't take a joke

Drubbins: Idiot; another easy target

Mysaren: Too sensitive for someone who robs graves for a living

Tahira Raske: Unsettling; Hel doesn't trust her

Rimau Ekoy-Rimau Eng-Dasku: Ugly, but good sense of humor; sometimes a little too dark

Claire Alexandria: Twerp without wings; can't take a joke

Viggo Malmsteen: Very close to letting Hel eat him

Rouen Fulgur: Go away; too irritating to even snark at

Felan the Wolf: Giant furball; Hel seems cool with him; OK guy

[User]
[Sessamaru]
Katelia's outburst made Sessamaru take a step back, his expression quizzical. Whoa! She's a powder keg! he thought, worried. However, he held his ground as he approached her once more. When she lashed out at him, an expression of pain flashed across his face. It has nothing to do with you, he reassured himself, knowing she wasn't angry at him. He turned to face the man. Sess was no stranger to judgement, and Rouen's eyes screamed superiority. Katelia's reentrance to the tavern was not a beautiful one, and Sess felt the tension between her and the man. The swordmage felt a much larger surge of power, his eyes widening in alarm. Thinking frantically, he took hurried steps back inside the tavern and...

"Ack!"

He tripped. He fell forward into a wild roll and faceplanted into the bar. The swordmage felt great pain in his nose and chin, his forehead very sore. He felt something wet on his head, but he was unsure of what it was.

[Rupert]
Rupert, minding his own wizardly business drinking his magical drink, leaped from his seat with a start, dropping his bottle. The liquid inside poured over a familiar figure's head. He turned, when his near-fatal heart attack ended, and glared at the person.

"Dagnabbit, you pup!" He howled, glaring at Sess who was drenched in Regulus Blue, a liquid that was clear with a bluish glow. "First you unleash a wave of magic due to your own stupidity, and now you're wasting my perfectly good mead? I'll have your ears for this!" The old grump went on, sending his ancient foot into Sess's stomach. Upon impact, both Sess and Rupert howled out in pain, the old man hopping around, crying, "my foot! My beautifully aged foot!" Whilst Sess simply lay where he was, dazed after the initial howl.

[Assistant]
Naida
Blue Moon Tavern

Naida grins as Rouen takes his first sip of her famous drink. She squints her eyes and sees his aura electrify with energy and smiles. That fairy dust was from her own personal collection that she collects off her wings and cleans every day so that she can have some to make this drink with. It was a lot of the customers' favorite drink because it gave them energy. Suddenly, she hears a crash behind her and she whips around to see Sessamaru lying on the ground underneath the bar with Rupert's Regulus Blue drink all over him. Rupert then kicks him and she cringes at the howling. She swears under her breath and flits over to Sess, helping him to his feet. She grabs a towel from back behind the bar, creates an ice ball out of the water in the air and wraps the towel around the ice ball, grabbing Sess's hand and placing the towel with the ball in it. She then presses the hand with the towel in it to his stomach and forces him to hold it there before she flits over to Rupert.

"Here, take this Rupert!" she says over his yelling. She hands him a similar ice ball in a towel before flitting back over to the spill. She takes a deep breath, sucking in her stomach, and holds out her hands. Silvery glitter flutters from her hand and the mead begins to lift up from the wooden floor. Once she has all of the mead from the cracks of the wood, she grabs the glass that Rupert had and puts the mead back into it, making sure that she gets every drop of it from Sess and from the wood. She pours the ruined mead out and gets Rupert another glass of his mead. She sighs and sets the glass down on the back. She looks over at Sess and says, "I can't leave you for two minutes without you getting into trouble, can I?" she says with a teasing tone.

[User]
Historia was waiting for a response from her acquaintances (was it too soon to call them friends?) when she noticed that things were starting to...well, a ruckus was starting again. In one part of the Tavern, the bard was starting an argument with a red head lady, and in another part...yelling already. Historia turned just in time to see something shiny fly over and hit a knight looking man on the head. oh...this wasn't going to be good. Historia wondered if there was something she could do, as noble's were no stranger to her past, so she started to get up. As she did so, so did the knight...while Mr.Sess tripped nearby, hitting his face right on the bar, then having Mr. Rupurt's drink spilled on him to add insult to injury... before Mr.Rupurt added an extra layer of injury onto that by kicking Mr. Sess in the stomach, causing them both pain.

Historia winced a little as she watched Miss Naida start to tend to him, before turning back to the knight. "Oh for the love of..." Not only was he standing there, looking like he was about to kill someone, but it looked like he was going after Miss Kat. Sure, alone, the knight would have probably been too much for Miss Kat, but Miss Kat also had Hel...Historia noticed that the knight took a step forward, towards Miss Kat and Hel and she realized someone had to do something before things got out of hand. Though it probably wasn't the wisest decision she had ever made in her life, Historia decided she would try. "Excuse me for a minute." She said nervously to her companions and quick walked over to in front of (but not too close) to the knight...with her back to Hel. Historia certainly had come full circle when it came to cats today hadn't she...

"E-Excuse me M'lord." She stuttered a bit before taking a breath trying to calm down. "I understand that you are upset right now, but we've already had some problems in this tavern today..." She took another breath, "Starting a fight wouldn't do any good right now, and I am sure that a man of stature would be able to put whatever transgression that has went down between you and Miss Kat behind you for the good of the public." Historia bowed a little "I'm sorry if I come off a bit rude and putting my nose where it doesn't belong, but currently this Tavern is my home and I'd like for nothing else to happen in it today."

[Assistant]
Felan began to tune the lizard out for a bit as the scene behind him caught his attention. Some poor bastard was trying to pick a fight with Kat, the tavern's hunter. He craned his neck to look the offender up and down, an amused smirk briefly gracing his lips. Then the zizz regained his attention.

He turned back to the lizard man, a stern frown reappearing on his face. "A wolf?" He asked flatly. "Yes, I've seen it a couple times." Felan was very clearly not impressed by this information. "And I've never had trouble with it, or any wolf for that matter. Maybe if you keep your ass off my land, you won't either."

There was almost a threatening undertone there. Felan didn't like killing; he figured every life he took was a little more taken from his own. Unless it was a goblin life, of course. But regardless, he only had so much patience. If the lizard kept slithering around his land, Felan would give him a reason to pack.

[User]
Kat was still fuming when she practically threw herself into her usual seat, the tavern's strongest drink in hand. Gods, she was pissed. She dealt with idiots all day and didn't get more than annoyed at them, and now this. Where the hell had her composure gone? That was a silly question. She knew exactly where it'd gone: out the door the instant the knight had the nerve to insinuate Kat was some down-on-her-luck waif, unable to do anything without assistance. (Because really, that's exactly what she was, wasn't it?)

She was ripped out of her thoughts when she heard Hel growling. The knight was up and glowering, taking a purposeful step towards her. The leopard stood between his charge and this new threat, muscles tensed and ready to spring if the stranger made a move. She took in a breath to mouth off again, but that runt with the mismatched wings shot up, apparently feeling the need to intervene.

Kat's eyebrow twitches as she just got more pissed off. Now this twerp thought she needed help, too.

"No," she called out. She forced herself to relax in her seat, once again running her fingers through Hel's fur. He just glanced back at her, a questioning look on his face. "Let 'im try what he wants. I wanna see Bernie throw his sorry ass out." That was probably the one reason she'd yet to draw a knife. Kat'd been at the Blue Moon Tavern long enough to know how bar fights ended.


[System]
Alias: Verity Lund
Age: 22
Height: 5'3'' (1.62m)
Weight: 137lbs
Hair Color/Style: Blond/long and braided
Eye Color: Blue

Appearance:
Verity has a robust body with taut, feminine curves. She's spent her life honing her body, and as such, has a toned, muscular frame. Her complexion is fair, though her shoulders and arms are riddled with long, faded scars from years past. She puts hardly any effort at all into her appearance, caring only that her hair is out of her face while she works. Bathing frequently is a habit foreign to her.

History:
Verity was born in the northern highlands and raised as the daughter of a lord. Her people had barely any written language to speak of, instead adopting dialects of civilizations they had conquered in ages past. Her family did, however, have a love of music and art, and even considered combat to be a form of art. As the eldest, Verity was trained to be the perfect image of Northern nobility, taught multiple forms of dance, music, and combat. Because of her small stature, she was forced to work towards speed and finesse with the spear, but she was still never able to best her instructor.

In her late teens, the civil unrest due to famine and a brutal winter ultimately led to war. Revolutionaries breeched the family castle and her parents were captured. She managed to escape with her sister and former nanny, but sustained serious injury that made the venture almost impossible. Her left foot never fully recovered, but she was able to receive refuge from her nanny's family in another country. Her nanny's relatives took the motley group in, and in return, the three of them became farmhands.

Verity adopted the family name of her nanny's as well as a new name, forgetting all connections to her country as she learned how to care for a farm and its livestock. In an effort to return the mercy and kindness given to her, she took every opportunity to help others, doing extra work whenever possible as well as going so far as to help neighboring families during harvest season. This left little time for hobbies, and she found herself implementing her own kind of training into everyday chores.

Eventually, however, Verity decided that she could not spend the rest of her life as a farmhand. She sought for better work, but had no valid references to back up her desires. She felt she had no choice but to falsify herself further, claiming to have worked at other wealthy estates in order to gain the position of a working maid at the Burkes' estate.

Personality:
She is best described as overbearing, ceaselessly worrying about her sister and the state of their steading. She strives for excellence and continually falls short of her own goals, forever handicapped by her own people in the northern lands. In many ways, her goals to become a true warrior and leader are impossible, yet she pushes herself beyond the breaking point to achieve nearly inhuman stamina and reflexes. She is easily embarrassed, harsh on herself, and for this reason, is frequently labeled as a masochist.

Basic Traits:
Masochist: She only feels fulfilled and functional when she is pushing herself beyond her own limits.
Artist: She enjoys culture and revels in what few opportunities she has to engage in arts and study.
Passionate: Whenever she does something, she is nearly incapable of holding herself back.
Guardian: She finds fulfillment in becoming a better fighter and uses her abilities to protect others.

[User]
Leon was taken aback, not even noticing Arthur clambering up his arm and perching himself on the young noble's shoulder. Almost every servant, beyond those who had to interact with the nobility in their official capacity, were cowed by their presence. Nobles were no different from any human, but reputation was a powerful factor. This girl herself had spirit, muscle and a bit of scruffiness as well. Leon had never seen her before, but he could not name any of the maids to save his life.

"Who are you?" he asked, matter-of-factly, though his face showed how stunned he was by Verity's blunt attitude. Arthur purred once, then started pawing at Leon's face in an attempt to get attention.

Leon looked up and down Verity. She dressed the part of the maid, yes, but there was something in the back of his mind that nagged at him. Something about this girl was off.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Leon grinned internally as he asked that, finding a moment to scratch the chin of the attention-seeking dragon upon his shoulder.

[Assistant]
Of all the nerve! It was Verity's turn to be taken aback. Was the man accusing her of trespassing? If he was, he certainly didn't look upset—no, those wide, soft eyes were full of surprise. How a man could have no qualms with a drake pawing at his head but stare at a maid like she was a ghost was well beyond her.

"My name is Verity Lund. I was hired this morning to 'Look after our tenacious and very troublesome master.' You can go and speak to the housekeeper if you don't believe me. While I haven't visited the Burke estate before, my family has a steading some thirteen leagues or so away." There was some bitterness in her tone, as if she resented the fact that the Burke family rarely seemed to even look at the people they taxed on a monthly basis.

"Now, if you don't mind, I need to fix this mess you've so graciously made." Verity all-too-happily turned her back to the man and began sweeping up the flour on the floor. They'd just have to go without scones tonight, so the cupcakes that Lettie had come up with would just have to do. Thankfully, the frosted pastries were still untouched on one of the tables, each with a decadent cherry on top.

[User]
Wordlessly, Leon backed up and out of the kitchen his drake had so ungracefully wandered about. He glared at Arthur (who was looking around from his perched position with cat-like interest, none-the-wiser to his master's displeasure) before his eyes lit up with a gleeful realisation. This Verity had spirit, but her role, in her own words, was to: 'look after our tenacious and very troublesome master.'

He could just fire her, and everything would go back to normal. With a grin and a little scratch to the tiny dragon's chin, Leon made his way back to his little corner of the estate. Maids and other servants, normally only cowed enough to avoid his gaze, gave him a wider berth throughout the hallways of the mansion. Leon glanced towards the ever-ignorant Arthur, who just looked towards his master for a moment and chirped. He chirped back, and allowed himself a little grin. He should bring out Arthur more.

Kaz was still sleeping when he came back. Plucking the dragon off his shoulder, Leon placed the little beast in its cage and gently clanked the door shut. Arthur sniffed the ground of the cage for a moment, and contented himself to stare placidly at a bowl of water. Leon had insisted that the cage Arthur was housed in be brought back, despite its size and the cost of transportation. However, familiar environments allowed the adorable little monster to calm down.

He would accompany the beast, but Leon had to go back to making the next pistol. That, at least, was a little better than the tiresome affairs of nobles.

[Assistant]
With the dragon finally out of the kitchen, things more or less went back to normal. The scones were a little late in coming, but there were still plenty of other desserts to occupy the guests with—creamy custards, blueberry Danishes, and of course, the daintily frosted cupcakes that had somehow escaped the invading dragon's attention. These were brought out tray by tray as the footmen took them out for the guests, and the maids were able to take a breath of relief. Well, at least most of them.

Verity was still cleaning up after them, wiping off flour dusted countertops, sweeping away crumbs, and washing the dishes. So many pastries meant lots of annoyingly stubborn pans, so half of them were soaking as she worked on the dirty plates from dinner. It promised to be a long, long night with all the stacks of porcelain awaiting her, but it wasn't hard work, and her mind was free to wander.

At least it was until the housekeeper's voice was barking in her ear again.

"Verity! You neglected the young master's meal, didn't you! Drop those dishes right now and prepare a plate for him before the food gets any colder!"

Verity cringed, feeling like she was being blamed for yet another chore that'd been ignored in favor of the other work she'd been tasked to. How was she supposed to know exactly when to stop and switch between kitchen duties and the eclectic master's needs? Ah well, I'll forgive her for tonight. It's been stressful with so many guests. If the master is accustomed to being so irresponsible, though, I don't think it should matter if his dinner is late. Serves him right for the trouble his pet caused. Even so, Verity did leave the dishes in favor of preparing a plate.

When Lettie saw the poor maid slapping on food on a plate, she scurried over to help. As it turned out, the food apparently had to look nice, too. The pair of maids re-heated the roasted chicken in the oven for a minute or so, then set a healthy amount of roasted rosemary potatoes next to it. They added a bed of Brussel sprouts with chestnuts, then some sautéed mushrooms with butter and garlic to complete the dish. There also was a strange order to setting the tray.

"The placemat goes first, of course." Lettie set down a lacey white cloth, flattening it ever-so-carefully across the tray. "Then you fold the napkin in half and place it on the left side. The plate has to go in the center, overlapping the right side of the napkin just a bit. Then we put the dinner fork on the left—not quite touching the plate, then the salad fork next to it…"

The whole process was a little too complicated the first time around, but it sort-of made sense. With a tray laden with dinner, forks, a small dessert plate, and a goblet topped with wine, Verity finally stepped out of the kitchen. The halls were still busy with the footmen going back and forth between the party and the kitchen, but things quieted down almost immediately after she passed the ballroom. She wasn't sure what she was expecting of the rest of the house, but some part of her had expected to hear the growls of a dragon.

It wasn't hard to find her master—she had Lettie's instructions, after all. The kind maid had also informed her about the master's 'bodyguard,' some strange, frightening woman she was urged not to speak to or make any threatening gestures towards. After the dragon incident, she honestly wasn't that surprised, though she had no idea how a tiny little thing like him could have gained the respect of such a frightening woman.

The door was ajar when she arrived, so she stepped in without asking permission. She was met by a truly strange sight: there was an assortment of cages, a strange workshop-like setup along the opposing wall, and oddly enough, a woman sleeping in the corner of the room. On the floor. Verity perked up a brow, but decided not to question the master's bizarre tastes: she just wanted to deliver the dinner and finish her work for the evening.

"Master Burkes: your dinner." Verity approached from behind, lightly setting the immaculately prepared meal on the table where he worked.


[System]
Lords & Heroes
Title: King of Korczyn and Grand Duke of Astarac
Powers: N/A
Short Bio/Personality: Ladislav IV is the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth, having inherited the throne six years ago. He has recently celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday – still young in many respects, but he has shown himself to be a shrewd military commander and a well-learned scholar. His tactful demeanor has kept him in good graces with parliament and the nobility. However, he has not yet taken a wife. His delay in marriage and securing himself an heir gives his peers cause for concern; even an illegitimate son would be better than none.

[User]
The Tomb-Empire of Harri'Kan

The Grand Pyramid of Rimal-Mutaharrika

The Grand pyramid of Rimal-Mutaharrika was an imposing sight over the citadel of bone on which it overlooked, a monolithic building built from carved and etched sandstone, and topped with a solid gold cap. The building had been commissioned some thousand years ago, and had stood tall despite the intrusions of the savage tribesmen of the deserts, or worse, upon these lands. The interior was equally as lavish, upon all the walls were etched and coloured hieroglyphs denoting the ancient history of the Harri'kan people, from the earliest days as rock-flinging savages into their current, damned, existence as undead. In each corner of the main hall, wherein the throne and thus the Lich-King himself sat, were immense sandstone columns etched with ancient runes and lined with gold, all the most lavish of luxuries from a millennium of unending toil.

The main hall itself was a huge subterranean design, first designed by Sottom the Perfect, though perfected by the hand of the Lich-King. It was easily the size of any living-creature's throne room, and echoed with a history, a discernible past of which it's builders still remembered. The room was dimly lit, save for several braziers that spat out an ethereal, ghostly-blue flame, and it had relatively few occupants today.

Upon the main throne, a lavish marble design that was fitted with red velvets and silks, was a robed being, monstrous in size and possessed of a most strange aura. In his hand was clasped a staff of gold and of bones, that gave off that same ethereal blue light as the braziers did. His face was a foul imitation of life, as dried and gnarled skin barely clung to his skull, his eyes replaced with a foul, flickering fire. Upon his head, he wore a crown of Obsidian and bone, shaped like an immense effigy to some, undoubtedly, dark gods. This man, this poor imitation of life yet so vastly powerful, was Horsophkekh Ekochen Fashke Anos, the overlord of this Empire.

Flanking him on either side, were immense stone statues – clad in ancient, guided plate armour and wielding immense halberds many times the size of a man. They didn't move, nor breathe, but the haunting life that echoed across their existence was enough to send shivers down s lesser man's spine.

Several other undead stood tall in the room, some dressed in fineries and lounging around while others were clad in full armour, some several were even in the attire more fitting to a Hierophant, all of them had their attention upon one man, however.

Before the Lich-King, however, was a living man, dressed in simple tribal clothing and currently kneeling as if in prayer. The man's face said otherwise, for it spoke of untold levels of terror permeating across his very soul, he felt the steely gazes of the undead fixed firmly upon him, and they indeed found him wanting. Abdul Maalik Farhat, was his name, first born son of the Chieftain, Jaarallah Anwar...and currently, a tribute to the Lich-King in order to spare the father's own mangy hide.

The relative din of the room continued for several more minutes before an immense commotion became audible, and an undead messenger appeared, his alabaster skeleton and ragged clothing a start contrast to those around him. He walked, with some anxiety despite his undeath, towards his master before kneeling and delivering.

"Grand Lich-King Horsophkekh, I bring you word from the stronghold of Amini and their currently progress. The Overseer Mourad reports that his task is nearly complete, yet the ranks of this living-one's tribe do harass his workers..."

The mortal in the room protested and pleaded against this, arguing that his people were peaceful and would never be so foolish. His outcry was cut short when his entire body was flayed alive by a casual flick from the Lich-King's hand as he arose from his throne.

"Then inform Overseer Mourad to obliterate them, just as he shall do to any of the savages dwelling with my Empire."

The messenger nodded at this, before delivering his second message.

"The Master of Horses has reported strange creatures at the northern borders, towards the forested regions and presumably past that. Strange red-furred humanoids with tails and lupine snouts. No conflict has come, yet we fear that they may try yet to establish themselves further."

The Lich-King almost chuckled at this response, but instead his response was a muted scoff as he dismissed their existence entirely.

"This continent, our continent, is changing it seems. No longer are the races of Man, Elf, and Dwarf dominant...and yet interlopers come to claim the carrion corpse. This will not be allowed, send them a warning informing them that any intrusions into this land will be met with their death and subsequent reanimation into corpse-subjects. No exceptions, am I made clear?"

The messenger nods before scurrying off back into the streets of the capital city, however one of the more lavishly dressed herirophants approaches the Lich-King, his staff creating a soft tapping as he went.

"Lord, should we not be more concerned with the recent expansions of those monstrous Greenskin creatures to our west? After all, they do border us...and their dead would make a fine warrior caste. Finer than whatever fiction the Master of Horses spouts, that is..."

Horsophkekh was not amused by this, yet responded with some respect for the ancient.

"They would, yet you tell me this numerous times. We understand their ranks, yet we do not understand the ranks of these...new creatures... in any case. We shall await to see who acts first, the long war is our ally, after all..."

[Assistant]
The Under-Republic of Rodents

---

The Commonwealth's Northern Borders

Rattus Regius Ignatius Fell-Eye had issued orders to the Ring of Rodents, the Under-Republic's campaign plan was simple, they would divide the Vermintide into three divisions, with four members of the Ring commanding each one, and Ignatius himself commanding from the central force as a fifth member and supreme commander.

Having left the mountain pass in which Petrus' Maw was located in, the campaign could begin in earnest, with the first target of being the Northeast plains and farmlands and various settlements of The Commonwealth. Ignatius intended to cut a swathe through the soft and rich underbelly of that fertile region, clearing the path not only for the Vermintide to march clear to the Empire of Yore, but also to the Dwarven Kingdom of Thundrim Kadrin. That would be the point in which the Vermintide separated, but for now, all three arms of the Vermintide would cast their might against the Commonwealth's frontier regions.

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of rodents marched, the sea of fur going from fur, to clothed, to ironclad, to steelclad, and punctuated by the units of Rattus Giganti the further back one got in the massive army.

The outlines of farm houses and human settlements could be seen in the distance, and Ignatius then called over one of his Steel-fanged bodyguards.

"Call for a full stop and break camp. Have the troops setup a trench line all along the army's southern flank, make spikes out of whatever trees you can find, and set up foraging and scouting parties, we're staying here for a week."

One of the Ring of Rodents members, a Aurus Goldclaw overheard these orders as the call was made along the line as trumpets and officers for miles along relayed the orders to the massive swarm. He, like many others in the army, particularly the non-Vermin units, were confused and perturbed by the Rattus Regius' sudden order.

"Regius Fell-Eye, you do your own bold words at the Maw discredit! How exactly can you defend calling a stop to the army before we've even begun? And within sight of Human settlement!?"

Ignatius flicked his whiskers in slight irritation and tapped his claws upon Retribution's grip as he thought of his next words.

"Aurus, I didn't become Rattus Regius merely because I was born of a clan with wealth, I earned it through martial might and the boons that came from it. We may be camped here, but don't be so foolish to think that we'll be idle just doing trenches and spikes."

He signalled for another bodyguard again to come over.

"New orders for the Bubonic Philosophers, have some of them go to our slaves and Commeni packs. They're to pick some choice specimens and send them off to our neighbours in the Commonwealth frontiers bearing "gifts". They are to herald our coming. I want the Commonwealth to know that the Vermintide has come again to their lands, and to make them fear our name before they've even seen our forces."

Ignatius then started to turn before making one last remark.

"And notify the clan levies, within three days they will have liberty to launch raiding parties if they choose to within 20 miles of the camp, no more, no less. All slaves, loot and material are their for the taking, but all food supplies are to be given to the army stocks. All Vermin will remain in the bounds of the camp and ensure order."

The orders sent, within an hour, several members of the Virulent Academy had set about their task, and several packs of Rattus Commeni were released to scatter in various directions south, with slaves "released" and thrown out south as well. Both were loaded with a particularly gruesome pestilence that had become iconic of the Rats, the Black Death would come again to the Commonwealth, and it would be the harbinger of the Vermintide, whilest the army itself sat along its massive lines, tens of miles long, setting to work preparing the ordered rudimentary defences, pitching lean-tos and tents, and lighting campfires. Within three days, some of them would have liberty to raid, and all were anxious to fight their enemies, and more than a few perplexed by Ignatius Fell-Eye's odd strategy so far.

[User]
Benas shook his head. There was hardly enough room for them all inside the walls, and the line stretched far beyond the gates. Benas watched from his window as they trod the road to the city. They carried what belongings they could from their homes, some guiding carts drawn by braying oxen. They looked like one, writhing snake in the drab colors of peasant's clothing. With so many refugees close together, disease would run rampant through Krychnov. And with the Vermintide on the Commonwealth's border, it would play right into the ratmens' hands.
Earlier that morning, a lone scout had made a beeline for Krychnov, and sputtered the news of a massive vermin host amassing in the north between panicked breaths. The rest of the north seemed eager to follow suit, abandoning their villages and seeking shelter within the closest city. Already, Benas had dispatched men to relay Krychov's plight to the south. He just hoped that help could arrive in time.

"My lord," a voice said from the doorway, and Benas turned to regard his steward.
"Ignas. Krychnov's walls will strain to keep them all inside. The city wasn't built to accommodate the entire countryside."
"What are we to do? It will be impossible to feed every mouth, and if we are besieged, then our food stores will not last a week."
"The rest will have to make camp outside or make for Prostějov. Tell the Guard to cut them off. It's for their own safety as much as ours."
"Yes, my lord. And what of our defenses?"
Benas sighed. He'd played the vermintide's attack on the city hundreds of times in his head now, and it always ended in disaster. What was one city to do against the force of a horde?
"We can only pray word reaches the capital before the vermin decide to attack. I won't sugarcoat it, Ignas. The survival of Krychnov hinges on time."
The steward's head sagged for a few seconds, before it bobbed back up, and there was a light his eye. "What of the dwarves? They are not so far. A threat to the Commonwealth is also a threat to Thundrim Kadrin."
Benas regarded the thin man, fingers prodding at his beard. "Very well. It can't hurt to try, not when we are this desperate. Send a courier to King Bagrick. Hell, send one to Yore as well. The Empire won't suffer an incursion on its doorstep. We'll take what help we can." His quill danced on parchment, and he handed them to Ignas when he'd finished.
"As you wish, lord." The steward turned with haste and disappeared.

Benas leaned back in his chair, wiping a hand down his face. His eyes drifted to the suit of black three-quarter armor at the far side of the room and lingered there. He would have to don it very soon, and possibly for the last time.


[System]
* Age: 23
* Gender: Female
* Appearance: An tall young woman with short fair hair (apparently cut by herself or otherwise cut badly by someone else), a pale complexion and dull blue eyes. Her build is angular and muscular, with any fat that might have gone towards a charming feminine physique ruthlessly utilized elsewhere.
* Personality: Louisa (or 'Lou' as she is more commonly known) is approachable, straightforward, and rational in her demeanor, but internally she is haunted by a constant feeling of malaise and dissonance with regards to the path her life has taken, as if her mind has never quite caught up to the massive and traumatic changes of the last five years (i.e. the world ending, moving to the other side of the world, and becoming an experimental bio-weapon), or as if by some vague yet terrible mistake she has ended up living someone else's story. As a result, she can appear distant, or uninterested, or forgetful, and it can take a while for others to make an impression on her. In a practical sense, this resulted in her scoring below average on the psychometric tests of leadership and psychostability issued during her induction to the mechframe programme.
* History:
Louisa grew up in an utterly unremarkable and featureless housing development somewhere in the English midlands. At 18, she was working part-time as an agricultural worker, whilst her few friends had left to attend university elsewhere in the country, and looking with anxiety towards a decidedly uninteresting future. Needless to say, her plans of small-town angst were cut short when the Warped appeared, and disaster after disaster after disaster followed.

Her family was not among those lucky enough to be at the front of the queue of evacuees awaiting resettlement, and after almost two years of delays and confusion they ended up stuck in a temporary housing settlement when an outbreak of Warped swept through.

Louisa was seriously injured, but not fatally, and with the queue of evacuees infront of them substantially shortened by the attack, within a week her family was abled to receive settlement inside the Greater London Fortified Zone. With the medical services under massive strain, Louisa was given rushed and largely inadequate triage surgery for her wounds, and kicked out with little more than a dose of antibiotics and a prayer. Almost miraculously - or, in hindsight, suspiciously - she seemed to recover successfully with incredible speed, and disappeared into the obscurity of the desperate millions clining onto civilization.

Two years later, whilst receiving an X-ray for a fractured rib she received whilst working as a labourer on the city walls, she was surprised when a squad of men resembling a SWAT team in business suits unceremoniously black-bagged her and tossed her into emergency military quarantine. It turned out that whatever doctor had triaged her two years previously had not noticed, or at least not considered, the Echidna parasite well-established but apparently dormat in her body.

The following months - was it a year now? - passed as a blur, as after threats of jailtime, medical experimentation, and exile were thrown around, Louisa met with a woman representing a Japanese organization launching some kind of scholarship programme targetted at rare parasitized but stable humans. She offered protection, evacuation and specialist training to Louisa, with apparently no strings attached. With weeks of isolation and a lifetime of boredom pressing on her mind, it was the easiest choice she had ever made.

---
* Skills: Louisa does not have many party tricks. She had few hobbies before the end of the world, and fewer after. Her main penchant is her raw physical potential, possessing a strong naturally frame trained by (at this point) years of labour and occassional contact rugby with her local evacuee community team. In a professional capacity as a mechframe pilot, this makes her a reliable and competitive training partner. In an everyday capacity, this means she can... get the lids off jars with ease, carry heavy bags, and move furniture without any trouble.
* Chi-Mechframe: Grendel

	+ Appearance:
	+ Abilities: The Grendel Chi-Mechframe was developed using a core taken from a monstrous, heavily armoured wyrm-like Warped, inspiring a bulky design with high-density plating. The frame is not designed to be maneuverable or fast, instead opting for sheer mass and defensive capabilities, allowing the user to pull off a high impact charge once or twice to insert them into the center of combat, and then giving them the protection to endure staying in place afterwards.

	In line with this, Louisa has trained in a static, highly defensive style of combat, opting to tie down enemies, get in their way, and otherwise provide openings for her teammates to do their thing.

	Grendel comes with an attuned heavy glaive, that can be thrown at short range and recalled to the mechframe. The glaive itself is configurable, extending either to its default glaive-configuration or retracting to form a cleaver sword.

	In essence, Grendel is uncomplicated and elegant, harnessing the Warped power of a Chi-Mechframe into a classic suit of frontline armour.
* Other:: N/A.

[User]
Elise KimThe Horizon — Dining Area
If someone was to ask Elise about how life as a Frame Pilot would have been a year ago, 'surprisingly comfortable' would not have been her first answer. The skybase that she and the other Pilots lived on was essentially a flying cruise ship, as far as she could tell—and all the luxuries that came with that were just so subtly uncomfortable to her at first. Even now, after a year on The Horizon, things still didn't feel quite right. Regardless of if a lot of the cities across the world had returned to something barely resembling normalcy, being able to sit up here with a clear view of the skies as she ate after spending the four before carefully rationing out rice with her father...

The only thing Elise could really do now was to accept that her current living situation was both a blessing and a curse, if anything. And so here she was, about to start eating a bowl of ramen in the middle of the skies above Tokyo. The base had made the rounds around the world more than a few times over the course of her time here, and it felt just as fitting to eat local cuisine while they were present anyways.

Not like they couldn't while The Horizon was elsewhere in the world, of course, but it was about the principle of the matter... Or something like that.

Of course, it wasn't as if working as a Pilot was all about this sort of life—doubly so, given how she was supposed to head out later today on a hunt. A joint effort with the Japanese government in Tokyo to attempt to reclaim parts of the Saitama prefecture, if she recalled correctly; something more important than the usual small skirmishes with weaker Warped to help get them more used to fighting, at least.

Hopefully the taste and warmth of the broth would calm her nerves instead of letting her stew in her thoughts any more... Or that the others would finish getting their meals before briefing. A nice chat was always nice to help break the tension in the air, and they did have some time to themselves for the moment.

[Assistant]
--Calm Before The Storm--

High above the sky of the Japanese archipelago was none other than the Horizon, a massive sky fortress serving as the mobile headquarters of the stateless organization of the same name, one of the most active contributors in the training and field of Frame Pilots in this bleak apocalyptic era of human history. Although Frame Pilots were the spearhead of the counterattack efforts, a spear wouldn't be complete with its shaft, and thus the skybase was crewed by tireless men and women of various ethnicity and origins all sharing a collective goal of ending the Warped threat and restore order to the ravaged Earth.

One of the aforementioned Frame Pilots was Pyralis Constantina, a girl of Japanese descent who was rescued from a Warped attack by a Greek soldier and subsequently adopted by him. It had been a year since Horizon scouted her out as an asymptomatic Echidna carrier and inducted her into the intensive Frame Pilot training program. Although she missed her adoptive father, Pyra knew that she possessed a boon that few others had and she wholeheartedly believed that it'd be grossly irresponsible of her to not use this power to help humanity push back against the Warped menace. Besides, for all the destruction those monsters had wrought, civilizations weren't cut off from each other; global communications endured, and that in turn alleviated the brunette a bit as she could simply contact Papa whenever she wanted.

Speaking of Nikolaos, she was just done exchanging text messages with him via her gadget-glasses when a certain person entered; Pyra knew her, how could she not? She was Elise Kim, a fellow Frame Pilot and one that possessed a Chi-Mechframe suited for long-ranged engagements just like hers. Since FPs were so few compared to the whole crew demographic, everyone tended to know everyone else. Seeing - and smelling - the finely-cooked Ramen prompted Pyra to partake in the same activity as she stood up to get herself a bowl of rice topped with thinly-sliced beef, boiled egg, and onions, a gyudon to be authentically accurate.

Her order done, she approached the pink-eyed albino, "Hey, Elise, can I join you?" Once the older girl replied, Pyra would sit down across from her then began enjoying her meal. The Japanese comfort food soothing her anxious excitement for the upcoming mission; this would be her biggest operation yet and she needed to perform her best.

[User]
Louisa wasn't sure a person's buffet selection was a particularly fair judge of their character, but as she stood examining her plate of beans (plain), rice (plain) and as much tuna (plain) as she could convince the kitchen to give her, she couldn't help but feel like it said something about her character relative to the other Pilots. She wasn't sure how food worked beyond 'maximum carbs, maximum protein', and as one of the oldest Pilots onboard (or so she was told), she felt asking for help would be too embarassing. As a result, her usual approach was to eat when no one else was around.

Unfortunately, today that wasn't an option. She had woken up late, spent an extra hour in the physical training facilities, and had only half-changed out of her workout leotard before realising she barely had time to eat before the briefing. Mechframe sortie days were always like this. She got in her head - probably the nerves - and sleeping or working out was all she could do to keep her mind steady. So, now there was no alternative than joining the others.

Still... given some of the awful examples of human beings she had to eat with back in the evacuee camps, and given in a few hours they would be fighting tooth and nail with aberrant alien lifeforms... having lunch with her pretty smiling team-mates in the luxury dining lounge aboard The Horizon didn't seem so bad.

Walking over to the table where Elise and Pyra were sitting with her plate in-hand, she sat down quickly and smiled.

"Good mor-..."

Wait, what time was it?

"...-I mean, what's good, guys?"


[System]
Race: Cat girl - Beast Folk
Class: Warrior Mage

Blessings:
 Immortality - She doesn't age.
 Partial vampirism - can drink blood and draw power from it.

Inventory:
Magic vault bag - has the storing capacity of 1x3 meters chest.
Many random trinkets
Gold and gems.
Amazon clothing.

Necromantic bone scepter – boosts dark magic.
Vampire necromantic robe – boosts dark magic.

Adventurer's clothes - sturdy set of comfortable clothes, suitable for every adventurer.

[User]
Naisha couldn't help but hug the redhead as she was comforting her. In this world, the necromancer has only Alex. Without her, she felt so completely alone, that everything felt empty. Suddenly the mage was torn away from her perfect world in Alex's arms when the door burst open and a bunch of rude amazons barged in… led by the one Nai wanted to tear apart the most.

 "Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?" Nai screamed as she was suddenly dragged away from the bed along with Alex, since she was hugging her. Neonia had pulled away the redhead so suddenly that Nai had not the chance to react and let go of Alex, not that she wanted to… The necromancer fell right beside the bed with a thud.

 "What's the big idea!?" The necromancer screamed as she was rubbing her right elbow on which she fell. In difference than before where she barely felt any pain, this fall she most certainly felt completely… it bloody hurt!" I have a name you know!? Also stop calling me 'Bloodsucker' I'm not your backstreet forth rate vampire!" Nai hissed comically at the amazon, her arms stretch downwards. Her posture was just like that of a hissing catgirl… if she wasn't so pissed at Neonia, Nai was probably going to feel embarrassed acting like this, but at present she didn't care.

[Assistant]
Alex blinked a little as she listened to Naisha yell and watched her, screaming in that cute manner she did and looked like a hissing cat. The tall red head covered her own mouth with her right hand in order to keep from laughing. Or even founding over how adorable her lover was being. Even if she was angry, Naisha somehow managed to be cute about it. It was a wonder how the vampire did it. Still, swallowing the laughter, she quickly pried the arms away, before going back to Naisha and helping her up.

Neoania blinked a little before not hesitating to burst into amused laughter. Snickering at the scene before her. The blonde Amazon then moved up behind Alex and wrapped her strong arms around the undead's neck and rested her head on the left shoulder with a cocky smirk.

"Oh? Coulda fooled me from what happened earlier." Neoania sneered before yelping as Alex shoved her right hand over the blonde's face and pushed her away.

"Just knock it off. Her names Naisha okay." Alex said firmly before once against being grabbed and dragged off by Neoania who hummed and sang, seeming to not care of the firm words.

"Hey where the **** are you taking?! What's going on?! Hey?!" Alex shouted.

Not too long, the Queen herself entered, mildly watching Alex go before approaching Naisha, her tall figure towering over the vampire. "Come, you need to ready too." she said before turning, cape fluttering a little as she walked.

[User]
"Why you....!!!" Naisha was about to explode when the blond amazon wrapped her hands around Alex and began insulting her." I will show you who could fool you!!! Just because the defensive magic from where we came from wasn't greatly developed, doesn't mean I can wipe the floor with you at least!!!" Nai hissed once again. This amazon was really dancing on her nerves ever since they met her." Hey leave her already!" Nai screamed as Neoania once again pulled Alex away, this time straight out of the room. Naisha only now noticed the queen herself had entered the room.

 "Seriously what's with this?!" Nai finally said in defeat as she followed after the Queen. She felt tiny in comparison to her. Sure enough Alex herself was tall and all, but somehow that didn't seem to bother the vampire in the least, in front of the queen though, she felt so tiny and weak in comparison. Was it because she loved Alex and had lived their entire lives together?" What are we getting prepared for? Also why is that woman so clingy at Alex... grr..." Nai asked as she followed suit after the amazon. She suspected it was about the dinner the queen mentioned earlier when that witch broke her body, but was a dinner such of a great event to the point where they had to literary drag them away to get ready. Both her an Alex could have prepared on their own!

[Assistant]
Queen Karette glanced down toward the much tinier female as she made her little outbursts. For a small one, she was quite loud. Not a bad trait to have for someone small. Makes one known and stand out. Though it was amusing as well. At the questions she received, the Queen turned her sharp calm piercing gaze more toward the vampire. "Banquet or dinner. Her current attire is considered cowardly. Yours shows not enough skin but it isn't quite as bad. And let's say I'm a little curious over you two." The Queen answered, pausing in step to turn on the mage and raise a large right hand. Brushing her fingers under the woman's chin before gripping it in a firm but ginger manner for a amazon. [color=plum]"You're quite attractive as well though."[/colro] she said with a amused grin before releasing her grip and continuing her stride. Giving a slight amused smile as Naisha questioned about Neoania's actions.

"Your lover is attractive for various reasons. Red hair is usually rare and considered a blessing of the blood of our ancestors. The scar on her face is also a attractive feature. But I'm sure you can handle competition mhm?" The Queen said before entering the dining room. Or what looked like one at least. Another throne was there for the Queen, warriors on either side as there were cushions on the floor for people to sit on, while the center had what looked like a pair of amazon's fighting. It was, but it was more traditional fighting. Like a dance of power, skill, and in a way grace.

Motioning with her hand for Naisha to sit by a cushion near the throne so they could be closer to speak. It wasn't too long until Alex was brought out who sort of stumbled and was stiff as a board as she was shoved out, arms wrapped around herself and bristling like a cat that just thrown out. Wearing Amazonian style armor. Which wasn't much. It was a firm leather and fur, trimmed with gold colored metal trimming. Wearing some bracers to cover her wrists, boots, armor enough to cover her more private bits and a necklace of sphere shapes hanging over her chest.

"This is weird and insane!" Alex shouted, glaring at the snickering amazons.

[User]
"Right... I forgot, it's about your rules and traditions..." Nai muttered as the queen explained why Alex needed to change clothes." Well I have her dressed like that for a reason you know... I already lost her once, won't be able to take it I lose her for good, she is all I have left..." The vampire stated quietly, thinking about her lover. So much had happened while Alex was frozen in that mountain. So much she was never going to be able to tell to the redhead, for there were things that shouldn't be spoken about." Well those clothes are already quite revealing in most parts of the world." Nai said, looking at her short skirt and white shirt, that had it's top buttons undone. The vampire did almost jump as she felt the amazon's fingers on her chin and then something completely unexpected happened as the amazon turned back and started walking. Nai blushed! Her body was really starting to act alive again! Concentrating really hard and using a few deep breaths to calm herself, she quickly continued after the queen.

 "Hmphhhhh... next time I see her going all around hugging her, I'm going to beat the heck out of her." Nai stated with annoyed voice. The skirmish with the two amazons in the woods earlier had reminded her how much she enjoyed close combat from before she fell ill. Now that her body was healthy once again, she could do it with no problem.

 The dining room was what the vampire expected actually. She even liked the amazon traditional dance that was going in the middle of the seats. Those women really do embodied wild power. Back in their world rarely did one see someone with such primal strength. As she was taking a sit on a seat near the throne, Nai wondered where Alex was. Well her jaw dropped when the redhead entered the hall." I take my words back, it was totally worth it to have her change into that..." Nai said suddenly to the queen, as she watched Alex feeling totally uncomfortable being this exposed." You are gorgeous! You look soo cool in that!" Nai chirped as she jumped from her place and moments later was by her lover." We are soo keeping this one too!" Nai smiled widely as she couldn't help her admiration of how well Alex fit that 'armor'.

 "I'm feeling out of place now..." Nai suddenly said, realizing she was the only one wearing 'normal' clothes. As she said that, her gaze was suddenly attracted towards another person who was entering the hall, it was the witch from earlier. She wasn't wearing her black dress from earlier, this time she was wearing a very tight fitting robe made from leathers and furs. It was clearly of amazon design... especially how form fitting it was. The necromancer couldn't help but throw an angry glare at her at which she just smiled, before taking a sit directly next to Karette. The only last thing Nai was expecting to happen any moment now, was that pesky woman Neoania, to show up hugging Alex again. Well if she did, she was going to get punched, as Nai was already waiting for it to happen, prepared.

[Assistant]
The Queen gave another small smile at the vampire's words. "Perhaps. But, even immortals, all life eventually will end. What matters is how. I'm sure, a woman like that, died trying doing what she thought best. Fighting for you, as I'm sure you would as well, as you have shown by returning her to the land of the living. Death may part you, but true loss is not caused by it." Queen Karette spoke before taking a seat in the throne, chuckling in mild amusement at Naisha's threat before watching to see Alex appear in the Amazonian garb. Watching as Naisha spoke in awe before practically bolting over the undead amazon. Quite amusing.

"Had a feeling there wouldn't be too much complaining." The Queen mused, glancing to the witch as she came in and sat directly next to Karette, whom draped a arm around her waist.

When Naisha spoke to her with such enthusiasm and gave her compliments over the garb, Alex shifted in place a little shyly before giving a soft confident grin as she placed her strong hands on her well defined hips and stood straighter, posing a little for her lover. "Yeah? Well if you like it I guess it's fine.... Do I look like a great amazon now or what? Despite ya know, my kill wound and pale skin?" Alex said with a soft smirk before chuckling and wrapped her strong naked arms around the necromancer.

"Mhmm maybe, but I dunno I think I'd get jealous if all these people got to see more skin on you." Alex assured as Naisha spoke of feeling out of place.

As expected of course, Neoania was soon right behind Alex and drapped her arms around the red head's exposed waist, touching against the cold skin. Making Alex stiffen and give a yelp at the sudden touch, instinctively freezing before shoving the blonde away. "Stop touching me!" Alex barked.

Neoania stumbled a little at the surprising strength Alex held, but unlike normal people who would have fallen from the shove, she managed to catch balance and stand straight again with a amused smirk. "Sorry, couldn't help it." she snickered, looking to Naisha, almost annoyingly confident.

[User]
"I have to admit those two are amusing~" The witch said with pleased voice as the queen wrapped an arm around her waist." Of course there wasn't going to be much complaining, that vampire girl is clearly head over heels towards the redhead… Maybe I should just go and mess with her some more, she acts so cute in defiance…" The witch smiled deviously as she leaned on Karette.

 "Hmm… I think we may as well have you dress like an amazon all the time except when you need your own armor. People already think you to be one, if you look the part, they may just try to not get near us even more. Amazons are know to be very dangerous to approach, especially by men." Nai said with a smile." Well, we can always do something about the wound, I can fix it and I think its also possible to do something about the skin color without the use of illusion magic… we may have to ask the witch about it though. She seems like she may know something about that."

 The vampire smiled at the knight's comment about being jealous if she showed much skin here." I'm feeling jealous myself for having them see you like this… I suppose it's only proper you feel some too right?" Nai replied with a grin. She was so going to have to try on some amazon clothing, she was probably going to fit right into some for younger amazons…

 And just as Nai expected, Neoania appeared, wrapping her arms around Alex. The vampire was about to punch the blond, but luckily for her, Alex shoved her away. Naisha liked that, she liked it a lot. Her eye twitched at the obvious challenge that Neoania threw at her." ALRIGHT THAT'S IT!" Nai shouted loud enough to be heard in the whole hall." I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU AND YOUR CONSTANT CHALLENGES! FINE I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU THE BLOODY CHANCE TO BEST ME. STATE YOUR TERMS!" Nai really had it enough with that woman. If she wanted to rumble with the vampire, she was going to rumble! It was obvious duels to the death weren't going to probably happen, but everything else was fair game!


[System]
@JELDare
Photo:
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Abilities: Able to transform her body into a body of water. In this form she can control bodies of water without spells at all and at faster speed then most specialized water mages. This mastery of the water element does have some weaknesses. She can not control any magic until she turns into her water form which requires a chant for focus. In her water form she is also weak to certain elements like ice and lightning in exchange for a large resistance to physical attackers.

How you could work in a team: A mix of most elements in a team. In her water form she can use water both offensively in the form of whips and concentrated water blasts and defensively by creating high pressure water barriers that would slash flesh which would make contact with it. Liz can also be a decent front line defensive against physical attackers who can do little damage but would not be able to take this role against element attackers.

Personality: Cheerful and outgoing most of the time, Liz tries to talk and get along with everyone she meets though has given up with some people or those who have upset people she cares about. She is also quite hard working on her magic training trying to work on her water control most of the time.

History: Grew up on a small isolated island somewhere out in the ocean, she never reveals quite where when people asks. The people on the island saw how Liz had at a young age had a strong connection to magic, back then she could use all the main elements of magic though she was always strongest at water. Though one day something changed when the village did something to her permanently sealing away all other elemental magic apart from water and giving her the new form she can enter. There is more to it but I don't want to go into it right now.

Other: Shes left handed and loves chocolate.

[User] Deus began to emanate an Evil Aura that if taken lightly, you could be consumed by it. A Dark Flame and A Purple Flame appeared in each of Deus's hands. The Flames were the purgatory flames of Hell, able to burn anything. He began to shoot a barrage of the flames at Meruin. "Shut Up, Shut Up, Shut Up! I don't wanna hear it anymore! Me, Pathetic..Ha..Hahaha!" Deus stopped attacking, his soul had been almost completely taken over. He looked at Meruin, with his eyes filled with nothing but Darkness. "Hello There Mage, I don't believe we have met before. My name is Lucificus, I have been Imprisoned in this Boy's body for eternity, all because of that Dammed Merlin! It all began the day this wretched boy was born." Lucificus looked at his surroundings, A boy consumed by Darkness, A girl with outstanding Magic Control and another girl that appeared to be a water elemental. The white magic circle grew bigger, and began to envelop Deus (Lucificus), and binded him in place. "Damm Merlin, Even dead he continues to pester me...I'll see you all soon..." The white Magic Circle disappeared, along with Lucificus and the Dark Aura surrounding Deus. Deus began to free fall from the sky.

[Assistant]
Liz watched Meruin talk as she easily got rid of her clones and was obviously pondering a new way to beat all three of them "Heh, if you think you know everything about me now Meruin you forget I had 10 years myself to try and get myself stronger. I can almost read your mind on this one, to beat me you plan to use the same Arcana Chase uses, destruction!" A smirk came on the girls face as it transitioned from water back to her normal solid body. She took off her jacket she had kept on the whole time during her fights so far revealing the water seal she had 10 years ago and now 3 new seals could be seen on her back "Terra that holds this planet together grant me your strength!" Liz shouted and the blue water seal turned grey like the other 3 seals on her back and instead the seal on her right shoulder turned from grey to an orange colour.

Quickly her body started to transform but unlike normally where it would turn to water it instead turned to a body made of rocks "Get it?" She spoke her voice not matching her now earth body at all "I will just keep swapping if you try and counter me with a specific arcana!" Liz shouted and summoned a large amount of rocks from the ground and threw them at Meruin not showing any mercy while at the same time sending a platform to catch Deus and lower him to the ground.

[User]
Ryan landed on the platform of air and sighed. "I must end this. This has gone too far. Grimoire Deactivate." Ryan deactivated The Fool as he looked up in the sky. He flashed his aura and saw it was mostly fine. He got up and created a platform of water. Deus landed on it and it quickly enveloped him. "Drown." He increased the water pressure in the bubble in an attempt to kill him.
observed Liz and shook his head. He created more water bubbles and shot Liz with them. If they hit they would freeze and start expanding.
then looked at Meruin. "Meruin, we need to end this. Everyone is going out of control, and I opened up the Gates of Hell for a bit. If this continues, we may scar our souls." Soul scarring was one of the worst possibilities for any mage. If a soul was scarred then their power would be crippled forever, even in death.

[Assistant] "Meruin."  Marcus looked at the young girl.  "At some point you'll be weakened to a level you thought to be impossible. In the end you'll have to die or choose a path that you regret taking in the future."  He pointed his index finger at Meruin. Having the same lifeless look in his eyes.  "Besides. Don't act like we're different from yourself or anyone else. Everyone has a bad side ,some can compress it, some can't. Not every heart is pure."  Marcus took a deep breath as a bunch of wind was sucked into the tip of his finger and was released within seconds. A countless number of wind shot at Meruin as if they were bullets. "....Liz.... move. You're important to me but I'll not reframe from firing upon my oppent to save you.  He said although he had already fired the countless number of wind bullets at Meruin.

[User]
The boulders Liz threw at her got caught in the air by Meruin's barriers, and were promptly shot back at her. Meruin unleashed her spell, which took the form of a sheep that floated around her. She stared in amazement at the seals of Liz.

"That's . . . I am impressed Liz," she said, genuinely astonished. "Sealing multiple elementals into yourself? I'll admit that this is the first time I've ever seen something like this! I can see that you've been busy over the years. Don't think that it will make it any less harder for you to defeat me though."

She drew more runes in the air, and several bolts of lightning came down at Liz. Rock or water would not suffice for a defense - the rock would burst into pieces while the water would boil into air.

Her eyes went wide as a bubble of water appeared around Marcus. "Ryan! He's already unconsious, leave him," she said, "and can you not shut the Gates? The situation is not as urgent as you think. I can do something about this, I just need time."

Meruin listened to Marcus as he spoke, and frowned. "It seems that everyone here is bent on making me talk a lot today," she muttered, even as she prepared to respond. The barriers of Meruin held fast as they were bombareded with bullets made of wind.

"The one's who can't repress their own evils are, again, pathetic, Marcus," stated Meruin calmly. "Saying you can't is an excuse that the weak make to feel better about themselves, and besides, I make no claims to being pure - I have my own flaws, but what makes different from you is that I can stop myself from being dominated by them."

"And Marcus, if ever there comes a time where I should have to choose between death and regret, I would choose death every single time."

Meruin brought out another magic book, ripping out a several pages from it that began to glow brightly. "Divine Purification Seals," she intoned. The pages folded themselves and came out looking like paper cranes, which launched themselves at Marcus.

[Assistant] Tony sighed, it seemed as if Meruin had everything under control. The teen sat down on the ground and watched the battle unfold with his chin in his hand. He was a aware that there were other teams but this seemed to be the main fight. Lucy appeared from what seemed out of thin air and sat next to her brother. "We're going to have to train some more aren't we? she asked with a sigh. Tony nodded, "definitely."

[User] Ryan nodded and left the Gates of Hell open. They continued sucking energy into them while Ryan released Deus. "I hope you have this under control. As of now this situation seems to be going FUBAR." He commented as he checked his power. He was at about half power at this point.

[Assistant]
A fuzzy and warm light filles the room. There were two people besides Deus, A man in a black Leather jacket, and another man wearing a white cloak with a cane. This was the crossroads of powers. Deus looked around himself. Once he saw the man in the jacket, which seriously needed to keep up with the "trend", he tool a big leap backwards.
"Hello there Deus."
Deus stares at the figure with a Blank Stare.
"It's about time you told your old son who I am, Isn't Merlin?
The other man walked forward and touched Deus's shoulder.
"I believe it is Lucificus. Hello Deus, I am Merlin, your father. You may not remember much of me because I put a seal in your memories and powers, After all You were the only one who inherited My Magic after all. This man is Lucificus, an Ancient Demon, and one of the Demon Lords. I sealed him inside of you in hopes of you gaining control over him."
"Which He never Will Merlin, Remember even you weren't able to control me, how could this child be able to control me?"
"Quiet Lucificus, He won't be able to control you know but soon he will, I've seen his growth, and sooner than you think, he will be far stronger than me."
Deus looked around himself again, as a blank stare spread across his face. He attempted to speak but was unable to. Merlin then proceeded to look at Deus.
"My child, you have grown into a splendid man with a vivid Imagination, you've got nice friends to, such as that mage, she is powerful...It is nice to see that you are fitting in..One more thing before I leave, You will have to make a choice soon between darkness and light, and I won't be able to help you then...It was nice seeing you son. Come on Lucificus, let us go."
"Already, But I want to know about this kid, he's an interesting one, You raised him well Merlin..Alright then let's go."

Deus: Town Center
Deus awoke to water. Literally he was in a buble of water and was about to pass out if he didn't wake up sooner. He was back to normal and he had his abilities back. He had to be quick on his feet, so he activated Projectile Body, as it was covered by an intense aura. He quickly broke free out of it and began to fly towards Meruin, he needed to tell her something.

[User]
".........Ughhhhhh, why can't i figure out what she used to control those swords.....goddammit..." Alex shouted in frustration. All this time, he had been brainstorming, trying to find a way to disable her spell and completely missed all the chaos that had been ensuing around him, "Huh..What the..." Alex said when he realised that Meruin had completely ignored him and had proceeded to cast another spell, "Great, more Meruins. Just what kind of spell is she trying to cast that would need so many copies of her" Alex thought when suddenly, all of the Meruins dissapeared. Alex shot a glance back at the original Meruin and, surprisingly, the swords hovering above her head had also dissapeared "Oook, well that solves one problem...but now it seems we have another one" He was obviously referring to Marcus and Deus, who had apparently gone crazy.

Alex stood up and turned towards his, now seemingly possesed, friends "I'm afraid I'll have to join Meruin on this one. The fact that you two let yourselves be consumed by your own powers speaks for itself. No matter how much one has gone through in their life, no matter if your goal in life is to exact vengence upon those who did you wron, falling into the abyss in exchange for power is the absolute worst thing one could do. You know why? Because you lose all sense of self, everything and everyone around you is an enemy. Then, after you destroy everything, when you come to your senses, you will have nothing. Do you understand what nothing is? Do you want to know what nothing is? I bet you don't, but I will give you a glimpse of it..."

and with that there was sudden increase in the electromagnetic force fields around Alex, slowly building at first before circular shockwaves exploded outwards. Black mathematical symbols started appearing, flying around Alex, a strange dim green aura enveloping them. Alex raised his hands, his palms facing Marcus and Deus before bringing them together in front of his chest, as in a meditative position.

"Arc of Numeracy: Nihil!" Alex shouted and instantly, Marcus would be stolen from his emotions. Well, stolen is not exactly it, more like, his emotions became nothing. What Alex had just done was to divide his emotions by zero, which in turn made the concept of emotions equal to nothing. What Marcus would feel would be something that could not be explained with mere words.

Alex turned his attention to Meruin, "This spell isn't something I can keep for long. Quickly, put him out of his misery" he told her, already the signs of fatigue showing on the form of sweat dripping from his forehead. Maintaining the equation was tiring and Alex hoped for Meruin to be swift.

[Assistant] Liz dodged the lightning bolts by sinking into the ground with her now earth body and letting the ground instead take the whole barrage before coming up "Eh, I will take you on another time Meruin, it wont be fun unless it is a 1 v 1 for us to settle who has gotten stongest over the 10 years." She turned back to her human form and walked to Tony "You though, lets fight for a while." She pointed and pulled out a knife not swapping to an elemental form yet to see what sort of stuff Tony could do.


[System]
Age: 20 (physically), 35 (in years).
Gender: Female.
Breed/Species/Type/Lineage: Poltergeist.

Physical Description:

Talents:Intangibility – That walking-through-walls thing. Spirits eventually achieve the ability to switch between being tangible and intangible at will. A sub-benefit of this is invisibility to mortals.

Telekinesis – This is what makes throwing furniture so easy. Requires emotional instability (i.e. mood swings, anger, and grief).

Possession – The ability to take control of a mortal body. The mortal usually suffers memory loss from the moment of possession to their release.

Spiritual Energies - Beth can perceive a variety of these and as such is not immune to the affects of other dead.

History:One randy night between a local girl and an Irish immigrant in 1980 led to the birth of Elizabeth Callahan. Her mother wilted under the pressure of raising a newborn and her father, never intending to stay long in the United States, developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol before she reached the age of three. To say Elizabeth grew up independent would be an understatement.

She never bothered attending high school. The "real world" taught her everything she needed to know. By the time she should have been a junior, she was a skilled thief and hung out with low-level thugs in youth gangs. Around this time her mother went missing. It was assumed, due to her mother's lengthy history with depression that the woman had left to commit suicide. With this and the fall of the gang, Elizabeth abandoned her father and moved with the crowd to another city.

Settling in New Camden, she started from the bottom again. She stole from other gangs, working her way up to the most powerful, until she wronged someone too high up for it to go unpunished. She tried to flee the city under the protection of the millennial celebrations. She took shelter in a trinket shop and pocketed the most valuable of the items for sale, hoping to pawn them off for a plane ticket.

The owner confronted her but Elizabeth pushed the woman aside, but not before she heard the woman utter what would later turn out to be a curse. Elizabeth made a final bid for freedom and was cornered by those she'd wronged. She was beaten and shot, but "awoke" later with an incorporeal body and one of the stolen trinkets, a pendant, hanging off her neck.

Learning the ropes of the supernatural world took years. Gradually she developed a new set of skills, along with an understanding of the curse: she was to be kept in the realm of the living as punishment. Her mortal life taught her not to be so reckless in this new world, and she lived—or rather, didn't—in civil servitude to the Court, awaiting her chance to earn favour as "Beth".

Over the course of twenty years, she attained a vague familiarity with Count Caradoc, a place in his court—possessing the right people offered so many opportunities—and a reputation, especially among the dead. She took the pendant to a small town outside New Camden and buried it beneath the coffin of a grave marked "L. P. Withers". Should anyone discover its purpose she knew the curse could be undone in order to vanquish her. Several years later, the aftermath of the Count's death threatened to mirror Beth's mortal life. Betrayed by her undead associates, she sought out those who would rally against Nemsemet.

Psychological Profile:In life, Elizabeth strived to be recognised and, sometimes, feared. It gave her leverage over those who would hurt her, and growing up with the relationships she had, she understood no one could be trusted. Everything she did, she did to protect herself. She fashioned a new identity for herself whenever it was necessary, and it was necessary so often she tended to forget who she started out as. The façade became habit.

Death provided a learning opportunity and a new beginning. The addition of new threats meant she retained her old intentions, but new abilities meant Beth didn't need to work so hard to protect herself any longer. She became calculative instead of reckless and spent more of her time strategizing than outright fighting. Age, even in death, has proven helpful in creating a wizened Beth. After so many years she recognises the need for a system, but one that is fair and just. She is particularly sympathetic towards the poverty-stricken.

She does nothing without reason, even if that reason is simply to enjoy herself. Which she does happen to do. She considers some things to be naïve or fruitless, such as loyalty to anyone other than yourself, and control; anything you try to cage will inevitably escape. Beth's strongest belief is in ambition and perseverance: with this, you can achieve anything.

Possessions:
* The cursed pendant (buried).

Yes, and:
Beth met Rikive, through Parael, when investigating different strains of magic and all but interrogated the deity to tell her everything she knew about otherworldly spells.

[User]
Flint was driving now, the back of his car packed with some of the others, Parry was talking and Flint was on the brink of smashing the car into a nearby tree. The only solace was the fuzzy, dazed feeling he was having from the alcohol consumption, the adrenaline was wearing off and Flint began to feel things slow down. That was until he realised he had nearly just missed the entrance Tony was talking about and slammed on the breaks, snapping out of his half dazed state.

He entered the place behind Tony and parked up, following the others as they entered the underground bunker. Flint realised that this was a far better place than his cramped apartment complex and sighed at himself as he had to admit Tony had done something better than him. OF course he would never say it out loud. After taking a quick walk around the place Flint realised he still had equipment back at his own hideout. He decided to slink into the shadows and, without drawing attention, began to leave. As he was taking the long walk back he heard what he could only assume was Parry. Probably seeing his new nose. It reminded him about when his nose was first broken.

It was the twenties, the economy was booming, chicks where shedding clothes, and despite what the laws where saying the booze was still flowing. Flint was with a gang of mobsters known as the 'Booze Hounds'. The name came from the gang's main business. Alcohol. The hound part came from how they killed people, it looked more like an animal attack rather than a mass shooting.

Flint was just learning his magic, and it was little more than lighting fires and keeping beers cold. Flint's most destructive power was his use of a Thompson sub machinegun. He could rip a car in half so the legends say. It was that kind of power the gang needed on a job, it should have been simple. Walk in, scare a few people into paying their dues, then walk out feeling satisfied. The job was far from what was planned however, who would have known the place was set up like a fortress? Who could have known they were waiting for them? Ten guys vs Flints five wasn't very fair, and the whole place was lit up as soon as they walked in. Flint was left alive, the other members of the gang a bloody pulp against the wall. He will never forget the words the man said, the one who was stomping on his head and busting his nose.

"No matter how strong you get, there is always a bigger dog".

Flint snapped out of his daydreaming as he got to his car, thankful it hadn't been towed to 'safety' yet. He hopped in and briskly began to drive to the apartment complex, taking a few casual swigs of his flask. When he got there, it didn't take him long to grab one of the large wooden trunks, and throw it into the boot of the car, making sure he had the key for the padlock on it. Smudge had also joined him and curled up in the passenger seat of the car. On the way back to base, he contemplated just how long it would take before everyone he knew died, he had little hope for the others and as the thought of leaving town crossed his mind, he instead lit up another cigarette and continued driving.

He returned back to the bunker, saying the secret code to Tony's guy. It was such a stupid code and he felt stupid saying it. He was dragging the trunk as he slowly made his way into the main compartment of the complex. Smudge was quick to follow, she was a timid cat but was happy as long as she stuck by Flints legs, making dragging the suitcase even harder, especially as her black fur made it hard for Flint to see in the dark.

Flint returned to the group just as they where mentioning vampires, he panted heavily as he lit up another cigarette, the last in his packet. He began to talk through mouthfuls of air.

"I know a few of the hang outs" He inhaled a puff of smoke. "Of some of the local vampire gangs, id suggest the Rusty Steak knife. Some sort of speak ea... night club" Flint awkwardly caught himself as he took another drag from his cigarette, his breathing returning to normal soon after. Smudge still clung around his feet, afraid to move more than a foot away as the strange smells of the place attacked her nose.

[Assistant]
Rikive made a face, her nose wrinkling her freckled skin, when the lawman returned and put in his own two coins. "The Norns hate me." She muttered, reaching behind her to tug out the ribbon that contained her braided hair. Or it had attempted too, with all the excitement the braid had started to come undone. A nightclub, the vampires had to operate out of those...places.

Running her fingers through her chestnut hair to act as a brush she couldn't help but think of the times Parael took her to nightclubs. They...had not gone very well. To top it off they wished to go to a nightclub where vampires liked to frequent. She knew from Parael that celestial blood was highly sought after by their kind. It did not frighten her, but if she punched a vampire through a wall for getting too close to her...Then it would likely give them away if they were going for a plan with subtlety.

"I am not needed for this plan." She declared, jumping up onto the kitchen counter to sit on, taking off Winterthorn to lay across her lap. "I don't do well in nightclubs." She kicked her legs back and forth, running her finger over her swords black sheath. "If we are attacking it head on with weapons drawn then I will gladly lend my aid. Outside of that, I will be a liability rather than an asset."

[User]
Beth let out a snort at Flint's wording, but she left the teasing for later. She considered his words while brushing a hand through her tangled hair. Other "gifted" beings were the most difficult bodies to take possession of, but she had never tried a vampire before, nor had she spent very much time in their preferred businesses. No doubt an elder would be impossible to possess, so that was ruled out. Someone else within the elder's circle, though, someone less powerful, she could use them. But what for? Beth huffed; at this rate, she would be good for nothing but the attack.

It seemed the same was true for Rikive. For different reasons, of course. Leaning back in the chair, Beth began to rock on its back legs absent-mindedly. The movement created a soft creak every so often. She watched the other people in the room, propping her elbow on the back of the chair and rubbing her temples. Her mind ran a number of simulations, plotting the course of future events in as many different variations as she could think of, and each ended the same way.

It was almost amusing. Without knowing what Nemsemet's equivalent of her cursed pendant was, they were doomed to failure.

She refocussed on the task at hand and a thought occurred: any elder vampire would have an army of lessers and thralls to guard them, especially in their own territory. To take him out, they'd need an army of equivalent size or, since they were lacking in one of those, an assassin.

Beth dropped back onto all four legs with a thud and sat forward. "If we're going to do this and take on Nemsemet, which by the way is insane, then we're going to have to send someone in to confirm this big-shot vamp's involvement with the thralls before we go avenging Parry's wardrobe." Beth hopped to her feet and turned on her heel in a slow circle, eyeing each of the people in the room. "Someone who would conceivably enter such an establishment and can fend for themselves. Alternatively, with some form of back up. You're familiar with that term, right, Flint? Oh, no, you like to work alone." She spun to face Tony and Parael. "If the elder isn't behind those thralls, fucking him up's not going to send the message you're trying to send. Get information first, then act on what we learn."

Finally, she stepped aside to see everyone and folded her arms across her chest. "Volunteers?"