[System]
Age: 3000 and more. She quit counting.

Race: Darkling

Faction: Her own. Literally the only being who can play both sides.

Appearance: Sarafine is tall, for a woman by her standards, at 5'11" and has a deceptive weight at roughly 140 pounds.

Her face is stunning to look at, with full lips and a force behind her dark eyes that are borderline black. When using magic her eyes seem to become bottomless holes that could swallow you whole.

Her eyebrows are curved sharply, a Raven jet black like her shiny hair that reaches to her shoulder blades.

Her body is lean, but shapely. Sarafine's hips give her lower half an almost harp shape, while her breasts are just shy of large and instead are considered full and perky.

For clothes, Sarafine always wears a black plated skirt and knee high red and blue striped socks and comfortable shoes. Her shirt of choice is a button up that she can roll the sleeves up on.

Personality:  Simply put? A bitch. She's unpredictable to an extent, and very prone to violence.

Background:  Sarafine hails from ancient times, being the third Darkling to be created. Being forced into the ritual by the men in her little village near Ancient Egypt, who sought the power of the gods themselves, she became connected with Asmodeus, the Arch Demon of Lust, and she promptly slaughtered her entire village as soon as she was able in revenge.

Since then she's seen the rise and fall of empires, people, wars, and even the creation of the Council not long after her Turning back in the times of Ancient Egypt. She was present, in the background, when Caeser was assassinated, whispered sweet temptations into the ears of Jack the Ripper, and helped start various other calamities upon humanity.

In recent times she's become incredibly bored, and essentially does whatever strikes her fancy. As such the Council and the Rebels allow her in, for none want her ire against them. Any who know of her in detail are terrified, with few exceptions, and everyone else feels the faint terror when her name is mentioned or she appears.

Skills/Equipment:  Standard Darkling abilities, as well as knowing how to use every weapon and fighting style. It's amazing what thousands of years can allow you to learn.

She carries two small, curved daggers hidden on her thighs of enchanted steel, which she stole back when enchanted steel first was discovered. After killing several of the original makers she took off with the daggers, naming them Curse and Purge.

Other Information: Asmodeus' and Safarine's relationship is interesting, to say the least. They're not as openly loving as Jackson and Lilith, but they definitely have more than a 'work' relationship. They often joke around, as they share the common ground of lustful temptations and the massacre of many.

Asmodeus often takes the form of either a young man with short brown hair, or a young redhead, depending on how they feel at the moment.

[User]
Conall

Introductory post

---

It was a long and uneventful journey to the city for Conall. The worst part was trading the forests of Éire for a concrete jungle. For a time, he will have to reside with… others. Solitude will be a thing of the past. The fact that most of them were not human did not improve the situation. While being in a group was not bad in itself, it was the fact that he knew no one else. He did not know what his 'allies' could do. He did not know if they would be useful. The second thing, this war has been in a stalemate for a long time. Would his arrival even alter the situation? Even though he is a capable warrior, he was not foolish enough to believe he alone could take on the council, and would not expect they would honor his right to single combat. Instead, he would need to find a way to isolate and whittle them down one by one.

As for his allies, he would need to know them. Why they fight, and if it could align with his goal. He would also need to find a way to control them, ensure his goal will be realized. Some might fight merely to have free reign over humanity, to prey on them in some way without worry of angering the council. Those would aid him well, for they will expedite the time for the next war. The others though, the ones who genuinely care for humans or otherwise do not actively wish harm on them would become obstacles later. He will need to find methods on controlling them or eliminating them outright as convincing them to aid him after this war will be difficult.

As for the city, he found it amusing that the rebels were located in the middle.  I could walk any direction and find something to kill. Looks like finding fresh meat would not be an issue. Conall thought.  Maybe this place isn't all bad. I will have to be careful but I will find prey here, even on one of my 'allies' should it be necessary. Being surrounded on all sides will likely prove to be beneficial, desperation is one of the strongest allies. For now though, I should observe the environment. Figure out effective paths in each section for sneaking in and around. Stealth will need to be my greatest asset followed by my strength… and with that in mind, he set off

[Assistant]
Lancelot waited nervously for Jackson to show up. He was in the bar again, but he knew Jackson would appear eventually. It was one of his favorite places and a common place to meet him. He sipped at his drink, the alcohol warm and pleasant. Jackson showed up finally half an hour later. Darklings were said to be rare, even though there were at least two taking part in the War that Lance knew of. Jackson had an air about him. A pulsing power that promised death and destruction to all who offered him violence. In his experience most Darklings had an air of violence about them in some way.

Jackson ordered and Lance walked up to him nervously. The Darkling's gaze flicked over to him, a startling shade of blue. His eyes assessed him and then flicked back to the side of him, suddenly filling with a kind of desire and admiration. Lance cleared his throat, "There's a matter I should bring to your attention." Jackson's gaze seemed to reluctantly tear away from what he was looking at to settle on Lance again. "I'm listening. Make it quick though. I just killed a fuck of a lot of Warlocks and I'd love a shower."

Lance pulled the letter he had gotten from on his pillow earlier and handed it to Jackson. Jackson read it, his intense blue gaze skipping quickly over the words. Finally he sighed, "I had hoped this wasn't true." Then he scowled, "Of course I suspected as much, love." Lance wasn't sure who he was talking to, but it made him slightly uncomfortable. Finally Jackson seemed to address him again after a fond smile crossed his lips, "Right. Go find me a few Dark Worlders and bring them back here tomorrow. We're gonna check this out."

Lance nodded and hurried off to carry out the Darklings request.

[User]
Nora had heard the rumor about vampires possibly being infected with some sort of virus. That had actually been the next thing she had planned to investigate, once she had figured out if everyone guarding the boarder was indeed dead. She sniffed the air as Sarafine asked her if she could smell the infected close, she indeed could. There was a faint smell of decay that made her nose wrinkle up a little. She hated the smell of rotting flesh and blood, it seemed like it was even worse now that she was a darkling. This was more than likely just because her sense of smell was a lot better than it was when she had been human. She probably wouldn't of even noticed the scent had she not been a darkling.

"Breath through your mouth," Asa said with a smirk on his face. "Though, you look really cute with that look on your face."

"Shut up.That is ridiculous, then I'll just be forced to taste it if I do that." She unwrapped her chain of fire as she spoke to Asa in German, knowing for once she wouldn't thought of as crazy for talking to herself. There was no doubt that Sarafine knew who she was really talking to, after all, she had a demon whispering in her ear as well.

"I wouldn't dream to get in your way, but no, I haven't dealt with the infected before. Just heard whispers about it at the rebel base. What shall I expect?" She asked, reading her weapon for whatever fight was coming their way.

[Assistant]
Zeiss Calavan

---

Zeiss giggled at the vampire's notion that she would stop him from rambling; of course she'd like to get as much information as possible. She looked around to get a bearing on where they were within the Rebel Sector; it seems as though they crossed a few blocks to find themselves closer to the Lycan border than she liked. The buildings here were simple apartment buildings made of worn concrete and brick while convenience stores and small shops that sold an assortment of food lined the sidewalks, still operating as the night was still young and sundown had just happened a few hours ago. People were out and about, chittering about the latest news about the warlocks that had intercepted whatever it was at the border; apparently, they were killed and eviscerated. She could sense the stream of magic that flowed from the warded barrier in order to keep the rebels safe, though in war these things usually break like tissue paper just from the amount of force that was pushed on them. It was at least dented in as noted by the disturbance of mana a little to their northwest.

Maybe I'll have to work on the inscriptions for those as well, though I should probably just leave it up to the people actually trying to finish this war. I'll definitely have to tell the Runic Department when I get back to my office, but hopefully they don't plan on me bearing the responsibility for it just because I gave them the info, she thought.

Outside the center of the city she was no longer safe, she understood, but if she stayed here too long then she might want to see what was happening purely out of curiosity. Maybe it was about time to head home. She looked at her companion and eyed him as if to try and sear his visage into her memory; the wirey man had definitely been a good amount of entertainment this evening. He almost looked as if he was drawn like a cartoon with how expressive his eyebrows were as he talked about himself in detail. He was bold, and a little cute with how she felt like he was dancing to her tune; always nice to be in that position of power. He wasn't really her type, a little too lanky, but he was a good man by being a nice change of pace for the great Zeiss Calavan. She took the cigarette he offered and with a quick scratching of the 'Ansiz" rune on the tip the smoke alighted.

"I'm sorry, chronicler; your stories were too enrapturing and I felt I got lost in its rhythm as well. It actually gave me quite a few things to think about, maybe you'll let me try them out on you." She walked up to him while taking out a small piece of thin paper. "I had a good time tonight because of you; here I thought that vampires weren't so keen on witches like me. You are a fascinating man, but I must cut our time together short; if I'm not working during the day, my employers always want me to get it done in the night. I don't want to leave you empty handed for what you've done for me, so have a little reward."

Gracefully, she pulled the cigarette out, putting the piece of inscribed paper on her lips and leaned in to kiss him through it. The paper was thin enough they it might well not have existed, and she felt the man's thin lips on her full ones. Two fingers kept the paper in place as her left held rested gently on the back of the man's neck, feeling through his straw-like hair as she made sure the cigarette didn't fall out of her fingers. It was five seconds before she broke their kiss and pulled the paper away from her mouth, it alighting with a sigil and hardening into what appeared to be a business card. Zeiss smiled at it before presenting it to him, the bold font on the top of the card stating her self-proclaimed title: 'The Witch of Isa'.

"I don't do home visits, a little too risque for me after one little outing. If you'd like to see me again, come to the address on the card, give this to the front desk, and ask for an 'Abigail Aesir'. They will teleport you to the front door of my workshop."

A pseudoname, an alias; something she had been using while within the Rebel Sector as to alleviate the little witch hunt that almost followed her from her former home in the Magic Sector. There was no need for them to know who she was right now; she'll announce to the world once she showcased her magic for all to see. For now, she is distrustful of others with her personal life, but only time will tell if that notion remains a fact. She slipped the card into the vampire's coat pocket before giving him another peck on the cheek.

"If a young girl opens the door for you, don't worry; it's just my assistant. Could be more if you'd like. I'd love to see you again, my dear chronicler; I'll be waiting for you." She put the cigarette back into her mouth, turned, and faded into a group of people as the crowd grew around the man she allowed into her refuge.

[User]
Sarafine - Infected Apartment

---

Sarafine nodded slightly at the response. "Mhmm, German. Nice touch," she muttered. "They're savage. Faster, stronger, and feral compared to normal vampires. Deformed features. You'll see what I mean. Kill some."

With that Sarafine set off, blasting a bolt of demonic energy that looked like red lightning into the building, blowing open the side of the building across from them. Infected started streaming out, about twenty in all, racing forward at the two Darklings.

Sarafine pulled out Curse and Purge in a whirl, beheading the first to reach her in the same flourish of movement. Tearing open reality, she stepped through to appear behind the group, making short work off five more in seconds.

"Finish them. Let any escape and I will remove your head as well," Sarafine called over, striding into the building.

Downstairs there were more. And they lasted just as well as the six Sarafine had already killed.

By the time she was done inside, there were about forty bodies ripped apart.

With a casual flick of her hands, Sarafine started to bring the building down, blowing out support beams and walls.

As she walked outside, the building fell in on itself in a thunderous crash.

  That was disappointingly simple.  Asmodeus complained.

"Hush, luv, I brought down the building just for you. Perhaps I'll burn the wreckage, if that would make you happy."

 You know me so well, my beautiful Sarafine.


[System]
Lady of Clan Yalla

Age: 20

Physical description:
* 5'6", 125#
* Physically fit, strong.
* Beautiful hour glass figure with modest, firm breasts and ever-pert nipples; as are the women of the Noble and Royal Classes, her body is free of hair below her neck, carefully and frequently shaved from her by a trusted slave girl.
* Stunning, green-hazel eyes.
* Brunette hair, nearly always worn as in the image (except private and/or intimate moments).
*
* Tattoos:

	+ Face: the pattern designates the Tribe from which she came.
	+ Body: a Snake-Dragon tattoo, the Holy Symbol of the Faithful of Tella-Un; it begins as a thrice-forked tail just above her right ankle, encircled that leg twice as it climbed upwards, then cut across her belly to wrap around her torso and finally cease as a magnificently detailed and somewhat frightening, fang-bearing head just below her sternum.
* Various scars (to be described later).

Personality:
* Strong, confident, driven.
* Intelligent and well educated.
* Sexually? Not yet stated.
* Compassionate but also willing to kill, punish, enslave, etc., when she finds it necessary.

History:
* Coming.

[User]
As ordered, Broon reported to his Lady's tent to make his report; Melody had ordered that the Sedents be giving freedom of movement between it and other locations of need, such as the now-destroyed village's well or the shit pit, and the four guards stationed outside the tent and conspicuously watching these comings and goings had been giving the Captain frequent reports on what they saw.

But it was a mix of men, women, and children not officially on guard duty but who were inconspicuously keeping an eye on the barbarians who provided Broon -- and through him Melody -- with the best intelligence on the group.

"There are reports of a great deal of secretive chatting between Kengetar's people," Broon told her, "and on a couple of occasions, the perimeter guards have had to turn back Sedents who were ambling toward the forest."

"Were they trying to escape, Kapiten?" Melody asked, looking for clarification. "Or were they simply wishing to hunt fresh food ... or, perhaps, find a private place to take a shit?"

Broon smile and even chuckled a bit. There were, in fact, two Shtëpi muti ... 'shit houses' on the perimeter of the former village, away from the residential buildings such that the smell didn't wash over the town during high winds. The nearest of them had caught fire, though; the other was now off limits as it was on the other side of the community's ruins and, therefore, out of sight of the Yallan Guards.

"I believe they were likely testing the perimeter established by my warriors, m'lady," Broon said. Then he smiled, adding, "Or perhaps looking for a private place to shit." He donned a more serious expression as he continued, "We dug a pit and put a tent around it to replace the Shtëpi muti. I will make sure that the Sedents are informed that they, too, may use it."

"I will go with you, Kapiten," Melody said. "I have other business with Kengetar and his people."

She rose from the pillow bed on the tent's carpeted floor where she'd been resting to step into her boots and donned a heavy cloak; a chill was becoming ever worse with each passing hour that was uncommon for this far southern region. The two of them headed for the biggest of the Yallan tents, and upon reaching it, Melody immediately noticed several unfortunate things about it:

First, it was far too small for the number of Sedent survivors. There was virtually no walking room between the clusters of people, who she presumed were grouping of families or friends.

Second, there was only one fire -- below the smoke hole in the center, of course -- and it simply wasn't sufficient to keep warm all of the tent's inhabitants. Melody knew it was only going to get colder, too, and she feared that those sleeping near the tent's wall might become too cold during the night and, quite possibly, die from hypothermia.

Third, despite having supplied food and water to the Sedents, Melody saw none of either now; the group had already devoured and drank all that her troops had delivered to them.

And finally, throughout the tent, Melody could see and in some cases hear the suffering of those who had been injured during the attack. Broon had reported earlier that an old man and a young woman had already perished from wounds inflicted during the fight, and less than 10 hours had passed since the first blood had spilled.

She turned to her Captain and the two men with him, Broon's Oficerë më të vegjël; there was no real Common Tongue translation for the Old Language phrase, with the closest meaning being Lesser or Junior Officers, sometimes simply called Juniors. After some quickly dictated orders, the Juniors immediately hurried off.

"M'lady, please," Broon said softly but with obvious concern when Melody began to enter the tent. When she looked to him for clarification, he glanced at the Sedents -- some of whom were looking at Melody with dagger eyes -- and said in whisper, "I'm not sure you should be here without more security."

Melody looked to those crowded throughout the tent and wondered if perhaps Broon wasn't correct; Kengetar hadn't broken her neck when he'd been alone with her, but he'd had a reason for not doing so, which had been to learn if maybe there wasn't a good reason for delaying such revenge until later. He had delayed, of course, but would his people have the same restraint?

She caught sight of a squatting woman clutching an obviously cold toddler in her arms, and she knew she couldn't simply turn and leave the tent without making some sort of attempt to help the situation. She unhooked the chain that held together the collar of her cloak, peeled it from her shoulders, moved to the woman, and -- after asking, "May I?" -- draped the thick, war, fur-lined cloak over her. Melody tucked the garment around the woman, smiling as she said, "You keep this as long as you need it. It is now yours."

One of the Juniors who'd rushed off returned now, leading two slaves who carried a goat carcass between them on a pole; it still smoked from having just come off from over a roasting fire, and while it was missing one entire hind quarter, the rest of the meat was there for the consuming. The slaves jammed the ends of the pole into the dome-shaped tent's supports, letting the animal dangle over the dirt floor at about chest high.

Melody gestured to the Junior for his knife, and after slicing off a hand-sized chunk of the remaining rear leg, she offered it out to the nearest child. "I uritur?" she asked the boy, and then unsure if she was using his Tribe's language correctly, expanded on her question in Common, "Are you hungery? Eat. Please."

The boy took the meat and eagerly sunk his teeth into it. Melody cut free another chunk of goat and offered it to a little girl who hurried up to her with a smile and outstretched hands. Melody laughed at the child's eagerness, warning, "Është e nxehtë ... it is hot."

It only took a moment for a line of hungry Sedents to begin forming. Melody had other tasks she wished to pursue, so she offered the knife out to one of Kengetar's female neighbors. She hesitated, uncertain; Melody used it to partially cut another chunk of meat but left the blade in the animal's carcass, gesturing to the woman while telling her, "You cut."

As Melody backed away, the woman moved in, and soon she was cutting slices of delicious, red meat. The Clan Yalla leader turned to the Junior and ordered, "Bring me chickens, ducks, and geese ... five each. And bread. And water.." When the young officer gave her a look that she interpreted as For them, the enemy, the prisoner? Melody growled, "Do it ... or I'll feed you to them instead."

Melody looked for Kengetar; when she found him, she found herself taking in his once-again scantily clad body, reminiscing on the view he'd offered her in her own tent earlier in the day. When they were together again, she said, "My tent is warm and dry with a carpet floor. I want all of the children moved there, where they will be protected from the cold. Send which ever women feel they need to go as well.

"And my Healer and my Kirurg are both on their way here to tend to the wounded." She didn't know if the man knew the Old Language word for surgeon, so she translated it for him. She continued, "I am having a floor and a second layer of tarp put over another tent to make it warmer and cleaner ... for the injured. They should not be here, Kengetar."

She gave him an opportunity to respond to what she'd done so far and to either accept or refuse what he offered before finishing, "My Kapiten tells me that survivors have been seen by our scouts in the woods. Sedents, I mean, of course ... your people. You are welcome to invite them into the camp if you wish. Or, if this frightens them ... if they won't trust me like you do--"

Melody looked for Kengetar's reaction to her presumption that he trusted her but continued without waiting for a response, "--you may feel free to venture to the forest's edge to speak with them ... to make whatever arrangements you wish for them. They may stay in the forest ... join us ... built a camp of their own on the other side of the village. I will provide them with food if they need it."

She smiled to the man, hoping that what he had to say after all of this would only strengthen what she thought was becoming a bond of sorts between them.

[Assistant]
Kengetar nodded. His face was no longer in a perpetual scowl, and something of an imperceptible smile crept onto his lips. He began relaying her words to the chief. He assented that those with children would be kept in the single tent, and said he would allow healers into this one. Kengetar took a few people who were uninjured with him to the forest outskirts of the town. They all gave out the coded cry for safety, hoping that any survivors who had fled into the woods would hear it and return. They could do no more.

Kengetar returned to the large tent. The healers had arrived, so he allowed one of them to clean the wound at the back of his head, and apply a salve to it. Finally feeling exhaustion from his wound and the day's events, he laid out on his side in the tent to rest. He wondered idly where that woman was going to be now, since she had donated her tent.

[User]
"I will sleep here, of course," Melody told her Captain when sometime later he asked her the same question Kengetar had been thinking. "I will be safe, Kapiten. They are just children."

"How old were you when you took your first life, m'lady?" Broon asked, his tone respectful. She didn't answer. He said, "I'll post guards in the tent to ensure--"

"You will not," Melody cut in. She smiled to her Captain: "I will be fine."

Broon left with several end-of-day orders, and Melody made her way about her tent, reassuring the children and the women watching over them that all would be well. Some returned her kindness; others did not, their faces showing their fear, hatred, or both.

Eventually, with torches extinguished and only candles lighting its interior, the tent fell into near silence as its occupants fell asleep. Melody had given up her own bed to several children orphaned by the morning's attack. She herself laid down in a corner with Haanya and one of the Healers; she rested her head on a pile of clothes and -- having distributed all of the bedding -- wrapped herself in her cloak, which was insufficient against the cold that would deepen through the night.

Melody's last memory of the evening was hearing a soothing lullaby being sung by one of the Sedent females. Hours later, she awoke with a start to Haanya shaking her at the shoulder. In the low light, Melody eventually focused her eyes on the issue: a Sedent woman pointing a knife at her chest.

The woman growled in her Tribe's dialect, and while she didn't understand all the words, Melody understood that she was being blamed for the death of the woman's mother in yesterday's attack. Melody slowly rose to a sitting position.

"Please ... before you kill me ... will you let me give my cloak to one of the children?" Melody asked softly. "I do not want it to be soiled with my blood as they sleep in it ... for warmth."

The knife wielding woman looked confused. Melody pulled the cloak from where she'd been using it as a blanket and handed it to a second Sedent. Melody continued, "My mother, too, was murdered. I want revenge on the woman responsible for my mother's death ... just as you want revenge on the woman responsible for your mother's death ... revenge on me."

Melody was fully sitting up now; the blade's tip had made physical contact with the flesh of one of her breasts. "I will not stop you from getting your revenge ... here, now." Melody glanced toward Haanya, then the healer, directing, "No one will try to stop you, and no one will harm you for doing this. It is justice. Do you know this word...?"

A Sedent woman who was watching the drama unfold translated, "drejtësia."

"Yes, drejtësia," Melody repeated. "You may have your justice now, here. Or ... You can let me live long enough for me to get my own revenge first. And then ... you may kill me without any harm coming to you or your people."

The knife-wielding woman glanced downward to find a slow rivulet of blood running from the point of the knife down the Yalla Lady's bosom. She pulled the knife back, and after a moment, she turned it, offering the hand end to Melody; the Yallan moved slowly to take control of the weapon, then handed it to the second Sedent, who hid it in her own bedding.

Haanya pressed a cloth to the wound on her Lady's bosom as Melody herself was telling the Sedent, "You will have your justice, and no one will harm you for taking it ... if you will allow me to get mine, too. I promise."

The former would-be-assassin broke down in tears and sobbed. Melody took her into her arms, and after a long moment they laid down together; the second Sedent covered them both with Melody's cloak, and after some time had passed, the tent returned to its calm as if nothing untoward had occurred.

Somewhere in the near darkness, a southern lullaby was again being sung softly...

Morning:

Outside her tent, Melody found Kengetar and told him to pick those who would be feigning enslavement for our mission. She could see the confusion in his eyes and clarified: only those willing to volunteer to pretend to be captured would be going to the Capital, while the rest of the tribe would remain here. She explained that most of the captured stock animals -- the ones not killed, roasted, and eaten last night by the hungry Clan Yallans, obviously -- were being returned to the Tribe; she also tossed Kengetar a small purse of mostly silver, telling him with a solemn tone, "It cannot make up for what happened here yesterday, but ... nothing ever will.

"I want to be moving within the hour," Melody told Broon. She looked to Kengetar, asking, "Are you ready?"


[System]
Age: 101
Race: Dwarf
Alignment: Neutral Good
Class: Cleric (War Domain)
Description:

Biography:
Bjoric was born into a large family within the halls of the small dwarven city. They were considered pillars of the community, his eldest brother practically ran the mine that was the lifeblood of the city. Even his uncle boasted that a third of all the craftsmen in the city had Stoutsmith blood in their veins. As a young man Bjoric was the first in his family to take vows and join the clergy, but it wasn't long after that the mines fell. Having broken into a vast network of caves they had awoken a swarm of giant insect like creature that had crawled out a nightmare. After the many who had died at the swarms arrival, they fought back to reclaim livelihood. Bjoric and the rest of the clergy worked to heal those who were wounded in the fighting, many falling ill to their poisonous bite. Soon they were unable to keep the fighting contained to the mines and taking up the hammer his father had made for him, Bjoric fought to keep the monstrosities away from the wounded while they escaped. This was when Bjoric found he was able to call for Moradins aid in battle far more easily than the other clerics.
Aiding in the escape, Bjoric and the rest of the dwarves were forced to abandon the city with the few who survived. Few of his family were among those who survived, they and the other survivors made their way to neighboring towns or cities trying to make new lives. The pain of losing so many family led Bjoric to decide that a life of wandering the world would lead to his finding peace.
Demeanor/Attitude:
As with any proud dwarf, Bjoric has a passion for ale. Again being true to his kind he can be seen as gruff to those who don't know him well but is fiercely loyal to those he calls friend.
Other:
Since beginning his adventures he's developed the habit of shouting curses and insults at his foes.

[User]
"I failed you, father..." Varis stated as he slumped down in the cell once more, destructive rather saddening thoughts entering his head of his. Intrusive as they were, they were mostly accurate. Varis had a fortnight, or fourteen days, to murder his innocent target -- which was some type of merchant -- but because of this horrendous disaster, chances were, he wouldn't be able to kill the target in time.

Not like he actually needed the gold anyways. He had enough gold saved up over the years to live out a rather prosperous life, but he took on this assassination contract because simply, he had nothing else to do. Varis already tried living out a normal life, but it just wasn't for him.

"I failed..." Varis said once more, his head down, his gaze set on the metallic floor of the small cage. "I failed," Varis slammed his fist into the metal cage. "I failed, I failed, I failed," With each two words, he continually slammed his fists into the metallic floor. This was the first time he had ever failed a mission. The only thing he was good for, the only thing he was ever made for and trained for, he failed at.

After a few more punches, he stopped, raising his head as his eyes darted around once more before finally settling on one person.

"VIVIAN!" Varis instinctively shouted out as his eyes finally found her, clutching the bars that were in front of him, keeping him trapped in the damned cage like some sort of bird. He allowed for a few seconds of silence to fill the air before he finally realized what he was doing, causing him to recoil backwards and place both of his hands over his mouth just as the cocky marksman had done once before.

He had found her, and he didn't exactly know why he searched for her. Perhaps it was because he had interacted with her the most, perhaps it was caused by this unholy disaster that's occurred to them just this instant, or perhaps it was due to some other reason. Whatever it was, Varis had no idea what the reason was. It was the first time this had ever happened.

Slowly, Varis removed his hands away from his mouth just as the marksman once did, only to be interrupted by the sounds of the cocky marksman being dragged away herself.

"SANA-" Varis stopped himself before he could finish, absolutely mortified at himself as he raised his hands towards his face, looking down at them with eyes of sadness rather than anger. Why was he calling his allies -- his "teammates" -- by their names now? Why did he suddenly care for them, even if just an ounce?

"DONTCHU FUCKING DO IT," Varis could hear the anger issues man -- Hugh was his name, Varis believed so -- screaming out, causing Varis to stare at him in awe.

[Assistant]
Bjoric woke with a snort at the sound of Sana screaming as she was being dragged by the zombie. He began reaching around for his hammer but found it missing and that he was now in a cage. As everyone began screaming at the zombie, Hugh especially, Bjoric reached under his shirt (now finding that his armor was gone too) to pull forth his second holly symbol. But by the time he had it free of his clothes, Sana has been dragged through the door.

"GRAH!" Bjoric shouted in frustration and kicked at the metal cage, the old but thick bars barely shaking. That's when he heard Hugh break the bars to his cage after sounding as if he'd gone mad. Hugh grabbed Ellis' pack and threw it to the halfling, telling him to free the other before charging through the door after Sana. Bjoric could hear him shouting like a madman as he charged, his screaming almost blocking the sounds of heavy crashes bones breaking.

"Ellis, that maniac is going to need my help. Be quick!" He could hear Hugh pummeling the undead, but if what he suspected was here...

Moradin help us.

[User]
Drizzak

---

The goblin, now thoroughly derobed, awoke within his cage with a start. His paleness was easy to pick out between the bars as he hopped to his feet and attempted to walk out of the cage, only to meet with its wall with a resounding CLANG.

It didn't take long for the goblin's cries of pain and distress to turn into frustrated growls of annoyance as she rattled at the bars. His arms shook with rage as the bars rattled to and fro. They did not move much. Finally, Drizzak slumped against the bars uselessly. Yet again he is reminded of his goblinoid limitations. Bound to this shell, he was easily contained and stripped of the belongings that he held so dear.

The dragon, once proud, had been caged. This saddened Drizzak. For but a moment. From within him rose a noise. Small at first, but it grew in intensity to become a terrible cacophonous shriek of rage.

The small goblin, in all his impotent rage, began to pound and scratch and claw and bite at his confinements. No one cages the dragon. No one stops the dragon. He began to chant, powering himself on as he rebelled against his surroundings. Blood was beginning to trickle from his hands and he bashed again and again.

"RIP. TEAR. KILL. EAT. RIP. TEAR. KILL. EAT."

The little white horror ran back and forth, rebounding off the walls of its cage in a show of self-destructive force. Were the bars beginning to bend? Was the lock beginning to creak? The screams from Drizzak sounded out above all other noises as his attempt to escape surged on. His cage rocked back and forth as he threw his caution to the wind and flung himself at the wall again and again and again.

The dragon was angered now. There was no stopping it.

[Assistant]
Ellis caught the pouch and saw Hugh run off. He was about to say something ,but after what he saw. Fuck it. You work your way down that hall as much as you can big guy. While I get everyone out. He took out his tools and began to go to work on his cage. In not time flat he heard a click. He then pushed the gate open. He couldn't get these open in time though he feared. So he would pick three cages that belonged to the three who could help Hugh the best. He moved to the pile picking up their belongings. Well as much as he could. The magus's sword, the dwarf's hammer, and the goblin's vials. He even tried to carry pieces of their armor. He stopped at the dwarf's cage first. He dropped the stuff and began to pick at the cage's lock tell once more he heard a click. He opened the cage and nodded. "Go help him get Sana back,... I saw that figure for only a second before I crashed. I never felt a rush of fear like that." He said.

 Ellis then went to the goblin's cage. He tossed one of the vials at Drizzak hoping he would catch it. He then began picking the goblin's lock and once he did he swung it open. "Get your stuff, their in the corner. No time to stop, bring the fight to that hooded bastard." He then ran over to Artos's cage. He began to pick the lock and did so in a fast manner. "You too, there is your sword and stuff. Get going..." He then began picking the locks on the other cages, one by one. Vivian's, Varis's, Garekk's, Ellyn's, and then the newcomers. What ever her name was. He then moved to the pile of stuff and grabbed more that was his. His short sword and dagger in hand. He charged through the door way. He could see Hugh from a distance and he kinda rose a brow. The man was beginning to glow....

 Hugh's armor began to vanish from its place in the corner and placed on him on piece at a time with a shining light that began to blind the undead around him. He would feel a boost in strength as well. He was no longer just punching the heads off the skeletons. They were shattering under his might. He was slamming zombies to the ground with enough force to shatter their bones. They were still a danger though to the others for the zombies could still crawl.

 Ellis saw one crawling at him. Snapping its ugly face and Ellis out of instinct lunged forward his short sword piercing through its head and skull dropping the zombie into a lifeless state. He sighed and looked about waiting for the others to join him.

 Vivian heard the click of her cage and staggered out of it as the gate opened. She still could feel the ringing in her head. It had lessened now. Must have been the fall down the stairs that did this... or something dropped me on my head. She saw that Varis's was unlocked and few others as well. She smiled and simply decided to take it slow. At least her eye sight had returned. Now if only the headache would go away. I swear if I got a concussion from this I am going to be pissed. Once she made it to the pile she began to get her things. Starting with her swords, then her hand crossbows. Next came her vials. Which half of them were broken and she just tossed them down to the ground discarding them. I don't need those anymore. I got people to look after me when I need it.

 She wondered if Ellyn had a remedy for this headache. Like some rejuvenation song spell or some shit....

 Garekk the orc climbed out of his cage. He wasted no time grabbing his sword and his other stuff. He then grabbed the hammer belonging to Hugh as well. Putting his weapons in their respected slots. He decided to put one of the many things orcs do in situations like this. He decided to let the blood rush to his head and go beserk. His targets where the undead. He put the face of his greatest foe on them and proceeded to use Hugh's hammer to crush them into oblivion. He didn't stop swinging until they stopped moving. Once he got close enough he would toss the hammer to Hugh.

 Vivian was a bit happy that the others were able to get right into action so fast. She cursed at her weakness. Her frail weak body and how a simple fall caused her this headache. It had reduced some ,but it would just have to do. She decided she would take a few of the vial's unbroken. Realizing that they could benefit the group as well. She only had three left though. The poison wouldn't work on the undead though and that she knew already. She tried moving to the door but she only managed to sit beside it. Yup,... great job Viv, you got a concussion from falling down stairs.

 She looked to see if she could see Ellyn or Artos. "You don't know any spells that could fix a concussion do you?"

[User]
Bjoric took the hammer from Ellis, he didn't have time to don his armor. He knelt with his hammer resting vertically in from of him, the head of the hammer at eye level. Bowing his head he began speaking in the ancient words of his people once more. "Moradin, I ask that ye guide our hands against our foes, that their weapons may break upon our shields, that they may know your might through ours!" As he yelled out, he felt the wave of energy flow from the glowing symbol in the hammer wash over him and flow out in a wave, giving strength to the other while causing the undead in the corridor to falter.

Ellis had finished releasing the others and ran to join Hugh, stabbing one of the undead the Hugh had broken, finishing it off. He moved to join them when he saw Vivian stumble from her cage. She asked if Ellyn or the magus for help. He moved to her, "Here." placing his hand on her shoulder he spoke in ancient dwarven again. Warm healing energies flowed from his hand into her, he would have taken all her hurt away but the channeling of so much divine energy in the last twelve hours combined with the lack of sleep was beginning to wear on him. He helped her to her feet, saying "If ye plan on getting hit on the noggin again, ye should really get a helmet." With a wink he moved to the doorway.

Hugh had done a great deal of damage, crushed skeletons and zombies lay strewn about the floor with what fluids remained spilled out onto the floor creating a suffocating stench. Hughs armor seemed to be appearing back on him and Bjoric knew what it meant, but the hallway was too wide for him to hold it on his own, he was in danger of being surrounded. Fighting through them was going to take too long and Sana would likely be dead by the time they reached her.

Bjoric stomped into the hallway, bone and gore crunching under his heavy feet. He took a breath, focusing on the mass of undead before him, he poured all of his will into a single word. Thrusting his hammer before him he bellowed "BEGONE!" A bright flare of energy poured out from his hammer once more, cutting into the undead. Those that lay broken on the ground and some of the more damaged ones still standing were burned to ash, the others that could screamed in agony while they fled, those who could not flee cowered from the light. As the light faded Bjoric suddenly felt dizzy.

"Shouldn't have done that. I should not have..." Feeling his strength leave him he sank to one knee dropping his hammer, the wall being the only thing keeping him from collapsing.


[System]
Gender: Male

Pokemon: Mudkip

Backstory: Before all of this started, Dylan grew up in a suburban community, and lived a relatively normal life. However, being young and foolish, he tended to procrastinate various things (or at least try). Homework, chores, family obligations; almost anything was fair game to pushing back. His grades and motivation quickly decreased, and was frequently scolded. He valued his time with friends above all else. What he lost in procrastination, he made up for with general care for his friends He often was afraid that he'd lose his friends, so he tried to make them happy whenever possible. However, when one of his small group of friends had to move away, the group started to fall apart. Dylan slowly grew depressed, and with nothing better to do, stopped procrastinating. He worked with little emotion or enthusiasm. Only when he found a new group of friends did he become happy again. He continued to do his work (though still tried to get out of it here and there) and found a balance in his life. Currently he has no memory of his human life, only knowing his name, and knowledge of Pokémon.

Personality: Dylan tends to be wise for his age, due to the world wide web, as well as having to deal with some stress. He also puts others before himself mostly, however, he leans on those he trusts or absolutely needs help from. He tends to keep his true feelings and issues to himself, not wanting to bother others with his problems. Dylan enjoys to play games and has a competitive side to him when he plays. He makes friends fairly quickly (if they seem nice to him, that is), and once he considers someone a friend, he'll hold on to that title for as long as he can.

Team: N/A

Moveset:
Mud-Slap
Water Gun
Growl
Avalanche

Special Features: Nothing too different about him, besides his eyes being a silver/gray instead of black.

Memories: Only remembers his name and the fact that he was human, nothing more

[User]
Devon the Totodile
Tranquil Forest, just outside Valiant Village

Next to a tall oak tree, the crumpled form of a small blue reptile lay on it's back unconscious in the grass. The moonlight slightly putting the creature in a bit of a spotlight as it twitched slightly. After a few moments, the Totodile of odd coloration finally came to. It let out a groan, and cracked open it's eyelids to stare directly at the starry sky. In it's mind, it attempted to process the situation as it's large jaws hung open.

Ugh.....What....What happened? I think I was.....No...I-I can't remember what I was doing....Or what...What's my name? Who am I!?

The alarmed crocodile sat up fully, and it's head shot to every angle in a panicked frenzy. .....Where am I!? I don't remember being in....A forest? I think that's what this is..Trees and stuff....And...I swear I was with others....Are they here?

Putting it's tiny clawed hands to it's mouth, the Totodile called out in it's raspy, clearly young masculine voice. "Hello? Is anyone around?"

The nameless Pokémon would frown deeply as he sat just staring off into the void of darkness beyond the trees in the clearing. ....That Didn't sound right. It's my voice but....It just doesn't FEEL like my voice. Like I'm speaking differently than I'm used to....Maybe I heard it wrong?...I dunno.

Finally the Totodile stood up, and began to wobble as he almost fell over onto his butt before wildly waving his arms and tail to regain balance. Huffing, he stared down at his little blue toes and narrowed his eyes. Ok...This REALLY doesn't feel right. But why? They're my legs. I've always been a uh....To..Totodile? Yeah....That sounds right.

Staring ahead of him, he took a few steps forward. He was than hesitant for a moment before he continued towards the tree line. Shuffling along at a slow pace, the Totodile awkwardly wobbled every which way. Thankfully he was able to catch his balance every time thanks to leaning back on the tail dragging behind him. Making it to the edge of the trees, the Big Jaw Pokémon looked behind him and grinned at his progress. "Hey, that wasn't so bad! Tail helps alot...But I don't remember using it much before? Huh..."

A cry rang out from beyond the trees in front of the little Tototile. Causing him to stare blankly for a bit before snapping out of his daze. "Who was that? Is it one of the guys I was with? Whoever it is, sounds like somethings going down. I should check it out." With a straight goal in his mind, the lizard wandered off towards the sound of the plea for help while slowly picking up the pace as he hobbled around on his oddly unfamiliar legs.

The Totodile had eventually jogged his way to the edge of the crevice, and scanned the cliffs before looking down into the darkness once the cries continued to sound off. A bit of worry was on his face as he shouted down into the void. "Hey! What's going on!? Who needs help!?"

Keldeo

[Assistant]
Lord

Rico and Lulu the Riolu Twins, Tranquil Forest Crevice

Rico was beginning to lose hope, when he heard the raspy voice from the darkness. Granted that voice nearly sent a chill down his spine, but he was just happy that someone was out here. "W...Who's there? Please... I need help..." He contemplated whether he should trust this random stranger that he couldn't even see... but his instincts were taking the place of his rational thought for once.

"My sister... she fell from one of these trees, she's hurt bad... she won't respond to me either, I'm... I'm really scared... I don't even know why I'm saying all this... I'm stuttering... I can't get her out of here myself..." He was hurriedly scanning the top of the crevice, looking for the Pokemon who had called out to him, and for any kind of way up. Sweat was beginning to bead down his face, he was caught between a rock and a hard place... "I'm gonna ask again... who are you? Where are you? And please, help!"

His rational thought finally started coming back to him, what was he doing?! For all he knew this could be some kind of outlaw who would save them then mug them! Then again, he could be truly helpful, but he definitely didn't come from Valiant Village, he'd never heard that voice before in his life... Whatever it was, he could be their only chance to get out of there.

[User]
Devon the Totodile
Tranquil Forest crevice

The Totodile put a claw to his chin as the clearly terrified voice echoed out from below him. Nope....He doesn't sound familiar.... I don't think he's one of the people I was with before....Doesn't matter much now. They still need help, and from the looks of it, I'm the only guy they got.

Finally, the blue reptile replied to the scared Riolu's questions. "Uh...This is gonna sound weird, but I don't actually know who I am. All that I know is that I'm a Totodile, and I'm up here above ya on this cliff. But don't worry! I'll try to find a way to get down there to help you guys! Hang on!"

As soon as he said that, the Big Jaw Pokémon looked around and unfortunately spotted no way down into the deep hole....Except for a bunch of twisted trees growing out of cracks in the rock. The Totodile's brown eyes locked onto a wide branch that extended across the width of the crevice a few feet down, and seemed to provide a way down via its ridged trunk. The tree only had the one fat branch however, as all the ones below were much tinier and most likely would break with a little weight.

The miniscule blue Pokémon blinked a bit as he slowly shuffled towards the branch. Well, if I'm gonna break my neck, might as well do it trying to save these guys.

Carefully the reptilian would step out onto the fat branch. Yelping as he nearly slipped off of it, but thankfully fell forward onto the branch still clinging to it. His claws dug into the bark deeply as he let out a nervous laugh. "Ooook. Almost fell there, but I'm good! I'll be down in a sec..."

The Totodile slinked along the branch on his stomach, pulling himself forward with his arms and snout squished into the wood. After a minute of agonizing crawling, he made it to the trunk of the tree. Gazing down he could spot only one branch below him that might take his weight. Key word being 'might'.

Oh crap...Here we go...

With a deep breath, the Water-type reeled back, and flung himself towards the branch deep in the crevice stomach first. He landed on the thing with a loud snap, and soon the weak branch broke completely to make the poor reptile plummet to the earth.

A shrill scream could be heard for two full seconds until the Totodile landed at the bottom of the crevice with a loud thud. A groan could be heard as the little blue Mon lifted his bruised snout up from the floor to stare at the Riolu sibling standing over his sister a couple feet away from where he lay. A pained toothy grin came up on the lizards face. "I made it, and I'm not dead, so that's a plus."

The Totodile stood up completely and rubbed the end of his nose as he wandered over beside the two Riolu and looked over them. His dark brown eyes focusing on the female twin as his face drooped in a concerned frown."How's your sister? She still breathing?"

Keldeo

[Assistant]
Lord

Rico and Lulu, The Riolu Twins, Tranquil Forest Crevice

Rico felt a wave of relief wash over him when he heard the Pokemon's voice again. However, he wasn't sure what to make of him... he couldn't remember his name, but he knew he was a Totodile... a few moments later he said he was coming down. Rico probably would have laughed at the attempt if it weren't for the given situation. At least this Pokemon seemed nice, and honestly caring about his sister's well being.

"Yeah, luckily..." Rico said when he asked about her breathing. "I think she's just knocked out, but I don't know how bad she's hurt..." Rico was still shaking a little, he was still unsure whether or not to trust this stranger. "I could have easily gotten out of here and gotten help, but... but I'm not leaving my sister's side! If something happened to her... I'd never forgive myself..."

He started shaking a little more before saying and while saying his next words. "As... as much as I don't want to... I need my dad... maybe you can help..." He made his decision, he had no choice in the matter. "Just through this forest is a small village named Valiant Village. We live there with our dad, a Lucario named Spirit. He runs a Guild there, it should be easy to spot, biggest building in town. Could you get back out and find him? Please?"

[User]
Dylan the Mudkip
Tranquil Forest

It was an odd feeling, floating around in a void, no sensation of one's body. It was peaceful, if the situation could possibly be described, yet oddly foreign. Almost like the state of mind in-between dreams, but... different, somehow. However, the sensation was quickly cut off, the void fading with a small snap.

"Ah, my head..." Dylan's conscious, spurred on by a small, shrill sound in the distance, returned to him in a rush, the force of it all overloading his poor unprepared brain. As his eyes slowly opened, the soft moonlight trickling through the forest's canopy greeted them, helping to shake off the cobwebs in his mind. As he gradually woke up, the sight greeting him made him recheck his thoughts. ...Forest?

His mind's sleepy shackles loosening, Dylan came to the realization that the scene he was in felt off. He didn't recall falling asleep in a forest... As his brain went to double-check this notion, he came to realizing something even worse. He couldn't remember anything at all.

"W-what the hell?" He couldn't help but mutter those words, his body groggily being forced into action. However, in doing so, even more alarm bells went off in his mind as his attempt to stand up failed, body thumping to the ground. Two red flags thrown, he began to panic slightly. He tried to scramble up to stand once more, more hastily than before, only to receive the same results. His legs having failed him, he frantically looked around for something, anything that would help him. The sight of a small, blue leg in his sight effectively made him stop his search, answer found.

That... wasn't a human leg.

His brief moment of panic over, Dylan took time to assess his current situation. A thorough self-inspection assured him he hadn't been crippled somehow, beaten to a sorry state. No, the answer was much more far-fetched than that. Or Farfetch'd, he supposed in this instance. Without any explanation, he was now a Mudkip. A Pokemon. Not only that, but he still was pulling blanks on his memory. Well, besides the fact he was a human, or used to be, at least.

The small patch of grass beneath Dylan shifted as he tried to stand once more, more cautious than before. First a kneeling position, then a shaky stand. It was odd, standing on all fours. However, he was still standing, which was better than a few minutes ago. Not that standing still would really help him. He needed to look around, search for anything that could help him. Right leg... er, legs forward, left legs forward... Slowly but surely, he began getting a rhythm going, able to move around freely. It wasn't as hard as he was expecting to be honest, as he quickly got used to it.

As the Mudkip grew confident in walking, he turned his attention to his surroundings. Mostly trees and lush earth, small rays of the pale light managing to break through the green cover. Everything felt bigger, to put it simply, his change in perspective coming into play. The lack of sunlight left quite a few parts the forest unknown, darkness concealing most of it. However, upon further inspection, there seemed to be a clearing off in the distance. Seeming like a good bet to bid on, he headed towards it.

The moon's light began to peer more through the canopy as the water type walked, until the canopy disappeared entirely, showing him an unexpected sight. A village of sorts filled his vision, initially filling him with ease. Civilization... at least he wasn't left alone in the wilderness to fend for himself in an unknown body. At night to boot. However, his initial reaction faded as he looked more, not seeing anyone at first. Chances were the people, or pokemon, living here were all asleep. Regardless, he began walking towards the village, looking for any sign of life, softly calling out all the while, "Hello...? Anyone here?"


[System]
Age: 22 years old

Appearance: Isaac is 6' tall and a wiry but muscular-tone 155lbs. He has bright blue eyes, messy blonde hair, a boyish face and a bright smile. Out on the road, you will usually find him wearing a plain tee shirt, maybe some combat armour strapped over, combat pants and hardy military grade boots. Often carries a backpack too.

Above: Isaac aged 15 years old - Stood outside New Brooklyn settlement, posing for the camera

Background: Isaac Storm was born Isaac Carson, in Vault 118. He'd always had a knack for getting into trouble, but one particular escapade had gotten him into so much trouble, it changed his life forever. You see, Vault 118 was deathly scared of the outside world, and believed New York to be completely poisoned by nuclear fallout. They had a strict rule that the vault door was never to be opened, and anyone who tried to do so would be sentenced to death by the overseer. When 11 year old Isaac snuck up to the main entrance of the vault and released the seal that'd been shut since the very bombs dropped, the Overseer commanded that Isaac pay with his life. His mother begged for her son's life, and she managed to negotiate one final option. Her and her son had to leave vault 118 for good.

It was an option she did not relish, but with her son's life on the line, she took it.

Luck was not on their side. Mother and son were not long out of the vault when they were hunted and set upon by a pack of wolves. Isaac's mother sacrificed herself to give her son a chance, screaming for him to run. And run he did. With tears in his eyes, and a nasty bite wound bloodying up his arm, he fled the scene. Moments later he ran into help in the form of a trade caravan, whose bodyguards were led by the boy back to his mother. But they moments too late.

The wolves were slain and a hysterical young Isaac was taken to the nearest settlement, New Brooklyn, where the first words of Sheriff Luca burned themselves into the memory of Isaac and marked the man he was to become...

"You're mother died so you could live, son. Make sure you live a good life, to pay her back."

He would live a good life. He would save lives. He would become a wasteland hero. He would pay his mother back.

[User]
Zara wasn't near a good enough shot like he was, though it was to be expected at her first round of actually shooting the pistol. She had no idea how to properly aim or how to actually brace for the recoil it gave her. This was not something she was eager for but it did have to happen. He needed to know where to start with her and where she was already skilled so he could properly teach her.

First shot - missed. Went no where near the mole rat she was aiming for. That poor rock now had a dent in it's side. Second shot got close but only because the mole rat had jumped towards the raging bullet. Third shot wounded one in the rump as it attempted to flee from them. Her next three shots were way off mark again, the recoil of the gun actually hurting her arms. It wasn't a very big pistol, the recoil wasn't actually that much. She just wasn't used to it at all.

Once every single one of them were did, she holstered the gun, swung her legs down and dropped out of the tree. Oddly enough, the sound of her feet touching the ground was fairly silent, as if someone had put her feet on mute. She smiled up at him nervously. "I think you got that one. I need to work on my shooting skills, though I can fight melee just fine." She blushed softly.

Slowly she began to make her way up to the den. She wanted to make sure there was none left and see what goodies they had taken. Maybe one of the mole rats had stolen some good weapons or armour. It had been known to happen once in a while.

[Assistant]
The molerat's head blew up with a spray of red, it's body skidding and tumbling to a stop before Isaac's feet. The wastelander looked at the corpse dispassionately for a moment, before thumbing the safety back up on his Taurus and holstering it. Then he knelt down to grab his things off the floor and resumed reloading the Beretta, sparing a glance up at Zara as she spoke while he did it.

"Hey, don't sweat it. That was the dumbest shooting lesson in the world. Besides..." he sharply pushed the magazine back and jerked the slide to load a round, then looked at her properly. "...pretty sure you hit one," he told her, his eyebrows raised as if daring her to be proud of herself. "Not bad, huh?"

He accompanied her to the den, Beretta in one hand and knife, reverse-grip, in the other. There might be one or two more defending the nest, but if he could get away with it, he wouldn't waste any more bullets. The Sheriff was going to shit a brick when they came back so quickly to report the job complete. Isaac reckoned he would just give directions to the den and then wait around while someone from town went to go and see the evidence that the job was done. Even so, they'd be back on the road in record time, thanks to the tracking skills of his new buddy, Zara Singh.

Pulling her weight already, who'da thunk it.

When the coast was clear, he waited on guard while she checked for loot. "Anything good, emerald eyes?"

[User]
"Hit one? I'd be surprised if I did. I didn't kill any of them. All of them were fallen by your skills. I may just stick with sharp pointy things and my own two hands." She smirked as she glanced over to him, shaking her head as she felt warmed by his pet names. They were mildly infuriating, seeing as he only seemed to compliment her looks but they also made her feel seen. He wasn't complimenting her chest size, or her slender waist, or how much he'd love to bend her over. He was actually complimenting over looked parts of her.

Turning said emerald eyes back to the task at hand, she nodded softly. "A few caps, a couple decent knives actually. Stuff we could sell for caps to merchants. Though I don't know how laden we want to be with random junk. I could patch up this teddy and sell it for a few caps." She picked up a stuffed bear that had a missing eye and a few patches where the mole rats were digging for it's fluffy insides. She kept moving around the den to see if she could find more. There was a small pile of canned foods that they hadn't figured out how to break into yet, though her attention wasn't there.

"Hell, we could even set up shop here for a couple nights and rest our heels if we needed to. Though I am rested enough right now." She added to her own thoughts, thinking about moving away from her captors.

[Assistant]
At Zara's report of the goods in the cave, Isaac commented, "Score." He checked both ways for danger before walking into the cave to stand beside her at look at the teddy bear. "Cute. Yeah, see what you can do with it."

He appraised the knives they'd acquired, testing the grips and looking down the edge of the blades for nicks and rust. Zara was right, they were decent indeed. They took everything of value, including some choice canned foods that would make a decent meal on the road, then exited the cave together. "No need to stop here, the day's still pretty young. We can still make some distance to Liberty Point before dark. Let's get back to the Sheriff. Tell him job's done."

And they did.

A deputy was sent down to the molerat den to confirm the job while Isaac and Zara hung around in the Sheriff's office. Isaac was sat leaning dangerously far back two legs of a chair, his feet up on the windowsill as he looked out at the sky.

"You two drifters?" the Sheriff suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had fallen on the room. Isaac looked at him. "Which way is wind takin ya?"

"Over the ways to Liberty Point," Isaac answered the second question. "Got some people that way."

The town's leader nodded a few times, sticking a pinky finger in his ear to dig a little wax out, then flicking it on the floor. "Good folks up yonder. Good folks." Isaac agreed, then the Sheriff continued. "Colour me surprised you got our little pest problem solved so quickly."

Isaac pointed at Zara. "You can thank her for that," the wastelander replied.

The Sheriff raised his bushy grey eyebrows in approval and tipped his hat in salute to Zara. "That was your handiwork, was it?" he said to her. "I had a couple men take a look for where those pesky rodents were coming from. Musta been half a dozen times I sent them out. Couldn't find anything past their noses. I thank you for your service, young lady." He then asked, "You do this kinda thing often?"

Eventually the deputy came back, then Isaac and Zara got paid. When the Sheriff asked if there was any loot at the den, the deputy looked at the two wastelanders and said that everything had been taken. Isaac smiled and shrugged at the Sheriff who conceded a shrug back. First come first serve, as always in the wasteland of New York.

[User]
Zara had taken to sorting out a pin that she could use as a needle to stitch the bear together. She remained silent throughout most of the conversation, only giving a slight shrug or nod where appropriate. At the comment of it being her doing, she gave a small shrug. "It is a group effort." She spoke, though didn't indulge how it had been. She didn't want to give away that she was useless with a gun in her hands.

Just as the deputy arrived, she managed to separate the pin from the front of it. It went flying off with her force. She blushed bright red as she scurried over to pick it up. Maybe they could trick some poor person that it was a rare cap or something. With some weight to her own change purse, she followed him out of the office. "A job well done. Do you think we will actually make it there by dark?" Zara inquired, her hands going into her pockets as she walked next to him. The adrenaline of the hunt was over and now she was back to being bored.

[Assistant]
"A pleasure gentlemen," was Isaac's farewell as he and Zara left the office and rolled out of town. "Nice work, Zara. You cut the time on that job in half with those tracking skills of yours."

"A job well done. Do you think we will actually make it there by dark?" Zara inquired.

"Nah," was the answer. "We should make it the old Manhattan area, but we'll have to hole up in some ruin for the night. Should make it by the end of tomorrow though." Off down the small roads they went, heading for main road that ran from Grasscroft westward to Liberty Point. "You ever been in the old Manhattan area of New York?" he asked her. "Buildings there are so tall. I've never seen anything like it anywhere I've been in the wasteland. New York must've been something special in the Before Times."

...

When the orange-tinged afternoon was showing signs of drawing to a close, Isaac and Zara reached the edge of the skyscrapers that'd had been on their horizon all day. The two checked buildings, one after another, looking for one that was defensible from critters, raiders, the wind and the rain. They eventually found a good place with a decent view of the surrounding area and went up to the second floor to drop their stuff.

Isaac walked over to the window and put his hands on the sill as he looked out on the surround, squinting a little as the orange light of the sun shone on his face. There was no sign of danger, but he did sight some tin cans and bottles in the yard below, which pushed him to the decision of redeeming himself as a teacher, and giving Zara a proper lesson in shooting.

"Hey, let's go outside and get some real shooting practice in," he said to her before leaving the window view. "If you're not too tired. I could set up some cans, show you the Weaver Stance technique properly. Wha dya say?"


[System]
William NorthCharacter Summary
Aliases: Beserker, Will
Age: 24
Place of Origin: Unknown
Gender: Male
Speciality: Melee
Roles & Rank: Knight Commander
Physical Attributes
Height: 6'3
Weight: 205
Build: Lean, Well muscles
Eyes: Red
Hair: White
Skin Tone: Pale
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: None
Day To Day Attire: Normally he be found with a full suit of armor on, as he has to always be prepared for battle.
Strengths: Agile, Strong, Good Reflexes
Weaknesses: Susceptible to concussions, Requires a lot more sleep than others to properly function, at least 10 hours or he will be incredibly fatigued
Psychological AttributesHonest Caring Protective LoyalSexuality: Heterosexual
Relationship Status: Single
Personality: You'd never guess William's personality from how he massacres anyone he runs into in battle. William does his best to be friendly with everyone, and does whatever he can to protect those around him, to the point of where he has taken multiple arrows for some of the Knights in his company (although he could have healed them.).

He also has very firm beliefs in what's right and wrong, and does best not to compromise his moral code, this tends to make him very stubborn on some aspects, and he may cause him to be somewhat abrasive by accident.
Habits:
Cracking his knuckles
Stretching his arms above his head when he gets nervous
Talking too much
Sleeping too long and missing things
Hobbies:
Training the Knights under him
Reading
Horseback Riding
Sleeping
Swimming
Painting
Fears:
Spiders
Millipedes
Venus Fly Traps
Fire
Likes:
Reading
Oranges
Sleeping
Any activity with others
Sparring
Helping people out
Dislikes:
Large Animals
Bugs
Having to kill people
Heat
Having to stay awake for prolonged period of time
Bad food
Skills
* Swordfighting(Master): William is nearly unparalleled in sword fighting
* Acrobatics (Expert): William can flip, recover easily from falls, and is very flexible
* Ambidextrous (Master): William can do things well with either hand

Talents & Powers
* Healing (Power)(Major): William is able to heal all types of wounds, big or small, the more he heals, the more tired he gets.
* Horizon (Relic)(Major): A sword that's capable of extending on command, it only extends when Will wields it. Will doesn't know where he got it.
* Beserk (Power)(Minor): William will fight, not feeling any injuries or pain during this. He still takes the injuries. This 'mode' ends when he becomes too tired to continue, or gets knocked out. The issue is, when he enters this mode, it becomes hard to distinguish enemies from friends.
* Right back at you (Relic)(Minor): An unbreakable boomerang that always comes back, no matter what!

HistoryParents: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown
Childhood: Unknown
Adulthood: William woke up about six months ago laying outside of a caravan, blood all over the ground and dead bodies littered around him, suffice to say, it was a bit jarring. The more noticeable thing however, was that he didn't know who he was, who the people around him were, or what he was doing here. He did however have a sword and boomerang on him!
He wandered to the nearest settlement, which just so happened to be this very Queendom. William realized he had Skill with a blade, and enlisted as a knight. Over a span of six months, he had taken down multiple small bandit organizations scattered about the queendom, enough to get him recognized,and promoted to a Commander
Special Moments: Waking up in a field of blood is something not easily forgotten. He also remembered when he first saw the queen, she was pretty pretty, and gave him a nice promotion. Current Events: William normally spends his days patrolling the area. When the queen summoned him however, he was asleep.
Relations* ☠ Enemy * ⚜ Unfriendly * ☯ Neutral * ☮ Friends * ღ Ally * ♥ Crush/Significant Other *
* Willow ☮ William doesn't know her, but he figures since he only hears good things, she must be nice.
* Locket ☮ He's a pervert, no doubt about it, but he's friendly, and funny. Perverted, but not a liar
* Queen Celosia ☮ She's nice, pretty, and gave him a promotion. He'd probably die for her.
* Arthur ☮ A pretty loyal dude. Wears nice outfits.
* Name:Eliza☮ William respects her dedication. Plus she can change the weather? Pretty cool gal.
* Kolburn ☮  One of the few people William believes could take him on with ease, although that terrifies the bajeezus out of him, it excites him way more. He wants to fight her so bad! And then be friends.
* Adelina ☮  William also believes Adeline has the potential to beat him, but doesn't really fear her like Kolburn. She's loyal though, and nice. William wants to be friends with her too!
* Samuel ☮  Scary dude, but strong in his own way. William hope the queen never gives his name to Samuel.

* Paladins: William picks his Knights on two things. Skill, and behavior. His Knights aren't based solely on their strength, but also on how many of them tend to go beyond the line of duty to help others. They respect William, and he respects them. They number 50 strong and are all capable of at least minor healing.

[User]
Arthur Vastria

A bit winded, Arthur slows his run as he arrives at the road following the castle wall. He was a fair distance away from the main gate, which he would probably be let through if he said he was there to see Sophia. However, he thought that lie might be a bit shortsighted if both the Woodwraith and Storming Queen were in town. Something big must be happening, and his both his sisters would more than likely be involved in recon, surveillance, or conflict depending.

I don't believe they've found this entrance yet... I don't use it that often— is it even considered an entrance?

"Doubtful." Arthur mumbled, beginning to think aloud as his thoughts drifted a bit. Any excuse for being within the castle walls that might be enough to save his hide. "Only if caught... right?" Arthur looked around briefly before making his way across to the bushes in front of the castle wall. Behind them, just out of sight, was a small crawlspace leading to the other side; into the royal gardens. Arthur tugged at his collar, loosening it a bit and calming his nerves slightly, before crawling through to the bushes beyond.

A soft melody echoed through the garden, adding a nice ambiance. Arthur took a few moments longer than he intended to stand and dust himself off. He still remained out of sight, at least he believes he's out of sight, admiring the beauty and delicacy of the harp in the distance. Arthur might have simply left afterwards, his heart and mind put at ease due to the music. But it stopped abruptly, snapping his attention back to the reality of where he was.

It stopped? Wh— I was smaller before, but I was caught then. How to get to the castle?

[Assistant]
Celosia Serafine

The meeting, for all intents and purposes, had concluded and Celosia was ready to see to the other matters that required her business. There was often a misconception that all Celosia did was sit on her, admittedly fit, ass all day but there was more to it than that. In truth Celosia only sat on the throne when seeing visitors or delegates from other countries, when matters of the realm's safety needed handling, and, in some exceptions, hearing reports from knights and other agents. Most of her duties were done elsewhere in the castle, be it the stack of letters and writs in the corner of her chambers or the meeting of her advisory council regularly or even just sitting in on her children's lessons just to make sure they were retaining the knowledge.

But though her position was full of duties and responsibilities, she always made sure to set time aside for personal time. With news of this illness reaching her ears more and more frequently she needed a moment to unwind now more than ever. A queen that let the burden and stress of caring for a country build up was a queen that meets an unfortunate fate. As her commanders dispersed Celosia moved to remove herself from the throne room - but was called to sit back down as a late arrival bowed and made his presence known.

Ser William North, another of her Commanders. A young man - some questioned the decision given his relative youth and non native birth - a decision she defended time and again with the simple fact that his service speaks for itself - but a good man all the same. If a bit...lethargic, but who among the court didn't have their eccentricities? Celosia certainly enjoyed how unique her Commanders were - a cadre of knights all cut from the same cloth would be very dull indeed.

"Commander North, your suggestion for remodeling will be considered, however it is not why I had summoned you. There have been talks of an infection in Azure's Gate - black eyes and enhanced, dangerous strength. I have other Commanders looking into these claims - I would have you and your Paladins see if you can't offer those infected some comfort. And I do not mean simply a cure - but if you CAN cure it then by all means. But...if need be...you have the authority to...handle their suffering." It was a grim order, but often it was a necessary one. She did not give the command loosely, and even now she said it with no small amount of concern. Trepidation. "That will be all, Commander North. Dismissed.

Now the meeting was over and Celosia waited until she left the throne room to let out a long sigh. It was times like this that she didn't envy her position. How many little girls had dreams of being a princess? Being a queen? Even Celosia was eager when it dawned on her that she would one day rule. But she had been Queen for nigh on twenty years now, when her mother willingly transferred power to nurse her illness. Celosia was not prepared then but she was excited. Now...now she still felt unprepared. She still felt powerless at times. Little girls wishing to be queens were so...beautifully naive.

Celosia made her way to one of her favorite locations in the castle - the outer gardens. Often she could be found there, sitting near a fountain and a hedge of roses. Just five minutes. That was all she wanted right now. Five minutes to clear her head...to forget the burden of the crown...and to just enjoy the beautiful scenery around her. The most important lesson she ever learned was to stop and smell the roses. It was a lesson she held dear even now.

[User]
William's eyes grew hard, and he stiffened at the order to kill those who were once regular people. He hated killing, and did whatever he could to avoid it. In his eyes, very rarely did a person deserve something as harsh as death. Many a times he had even spared those who had attempted to take his life, just because he believed that despite the actions one chooses to take, they still have the chance of being a good person, and he had no right to decide if someone deserved to live or die, after all, he was just some powerful idiot that had an unhealthy obsession with sleeping. However, an order from the queen was absolute, he'd kill if need be, but if it was at all possible, he would heal anyone and everyone who was infected. "As you wish, my Queen. I promise you however, I will save whoever I can." He stated before standing up and leaving, walking out of the throne room significantly faster than the stumbling that brought him in.

William walked through the halls, his mind still trying to comprehend the news about the strange ailment.How many people have it, and how did those who have it contract it? If we don't know these things, who's to say the Queen herself may fall ill and nobody will be able to prevent it. I have to figure these things out. It's about time I summon the Paladins . The thoughts swirled around his head until he reached the exit. As he exited the castle, he was subsequently met head on with a knight, sprinting inside, almost causing William to wipe out. Upon further inspection, it was one of his own knights, Brom.

"Commander William, something is wrong with Lucius, we heard a sound of things being knocked over in his quarters, and either he's been turned into some sort of demon. You have to come to the quarters!" Brom said hastily, pulling William along as he spoke, the Paladins quarters was just outside of the castle gates, it was William's person residence , but he used the money he received from the various jobs he had done to make a sort of Quarters for his knights.

William climbed onto his horse, snapping the reins and flying off towards the residence. Arriving there in about 10, he recognized what the infected were capable of. There was a large hole in the wall that if William's memory was correct, was the room that Lucius bunked in. The more pressing matter however, was the rampaging figure William could tell must be Lucius, seeing his eyes caused shivers to run down William's spine. Other Knights were scattered about around him, swords drawn.

"Men, I command you all stand back, I'll be dealing with this. If something is to happen to me, Christopher, inform the Queen on my behalf." William commanded, jumping off of his horse. He walked towards the creature, throwing his boomerang at its head with all the force he could muster. Suffice to say, the creature just moved out of the way and the boomerang missed. William drew his sword and charged Lucius, planning to knock him out, he smashed the hilt of his sword into Lucius's face, it did absolutely nothing. Lucius delivered a heavy punch directly to William's gut, winding him as well as causing him to fall back a few steps.

"If you don't want to take a nap, I suppose I'll have to nail you down." William charged forward with his sword as his boomerang came back, hitting Lucius in the back of the head, and making him lean forward enough for William to impale his side. William carried his momentum from the lunge and smashed his full weight into Lucius, knocking him down, and causing the sword to go through his side and embed in the ground.

"I'm really sorry about this." William said, although he doubted Lucius understood. William put his hands onto Lucius and began attempting to heal him, and he found it was one of the very few times he was unsure if he could fix it. However, if he couldn't abandon a stranger, he sure as he'll wouldn't abandon a knight under his command. He poured everything he had into healing Lucius. To his relief, he watched as Lucius's eyes reverted back to normal.

William proceeded to pull his sword out of Lucius's side(lucky for him William knew how to avoid hitting vital areas), and subsequently collapse onto the ground unconcious. Christoper immediately rode off to inform the Queen that William 'undemonified' Lucius, despite the fact he had no idea what was going on. Fellow Paladins proceeded to heal Lucius, and then carry William to bed, as they have had to do many times before.


[System]
E I L E E N /// T E S S A

"They say if you bring science into a fantasy setting, God kills a catgirl. I hate catgirls."

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

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Ailanthus Altissima

A G E

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32

G E N D E R

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Female

V I S A G E

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Under a dark suit of magical armor is the small, frail frame of Ailanthus Altissima. Though she could have been her ideal self, her PARIAH appearance is (other than being free of blemishes) unremarkable, normal, and bland. That is how she sees herself. She appears slightly younger than she actually is because society reminds her constantly that she hasn't matured because she's not married and still plays games. Her glasses form a very core part of her identity and followed her into PARIAH. When out of armor, she wears a white robe that acts as a closest approximation to a lab coat. She has no desire to 'stay in-character' or preserve 'immersion' for others, intentionally commissioning crafters to make her scientific- and futuristic-looking gear.

Below is her face, 90% of the time:

P E R S O N A L I T Y

---

Tessa is a single, middle-aged woman whose work- and social-life has her stressed to breaking point, causing her to indulge in escapist behavior with the aid of electronic media. In some circles, she might be called an 'otaku', which would be true; while others might call her a 'fujoshi', which would be technically incorrect. High-strung and irritable, Tessa has difficulty keeping her stress from flowing into her leisure activities, and is often accused of 'spoiling the mood'. Some question why she even plays games as she has a tendency to become frustrated easily, a trait that stems from performance anxiety.

Though Tessa has difficulty enjoying a game if things don't go her way, she is addicted to the rush of things going right. Despite her thorny and at-times belligerent behavior, Tessa has a deep sense of responsibility, a need to not only pull her own weight, but to go above and beyond. However, she not only holds herself to this level of perfectionism, she expects the same from anyone unfortunate enough to be her teammate.

B A C K G R O U N D

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Urban China was all Eileen ever knew, from the robotic and highly-competitive educational system to the robotic and highly-competitive high-tech industrial work environment. She never stood out when it came to academic excellence, but she did stick her neck out just far enough to warrant being bullied and socially sabotaged by her peers. She went through life with jaded bitterness and social awkwardness.

She retreated daily to social media, illegally downloaded anime, manga, and games, becoming addicted to MMO's in particular. She was known as a rage gamer, logging on alone, joining teams of people she didn't know to participate in dungeons and other party activities. She even attempted forum RP once but only ended up arguing with others, pissing people off, and finally, rage-quitting for good.

Living in the high-tech center of ShenZhen, Eileen is an engineer in a bloated company that produces and sells cheap, barely-functional healthcare devices. Her life is a wreck and she was so caught up in securing her place in the world that her nearer relatives are now suddenly concerned that she will never get married and have kids. Her daily routine has not changed since school: wake up, wash up, commute, attend class/work, commute home, eat, leisure, sleep, repeat.

One day, the company's R&D division wanted to play with the idea of therapeutic VR, and got several PARIAH headsets for the researchers to toy around with. But due to lack of a perceivable market, the project was dropped and the headsets were put in permanent storage. Eileen asked to take one home and the lax inventory manager gave her the OK. She wasn't that interested in VR, but figured she'd give it a go. She figured that the worst that could happen was that she'd lose interest and leave it in a corner to gather dust, which it would have done anyways if she didn't take it.

A T T R I B U T E S

R O L E

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Control Mage

A F F I L A T I O N

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Queon

E L E M E N T A L D O M A I N

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Metal

A R C A N E D O M A I N

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Auras

P R O F E S S I O N

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Enchanter

W E A P O N O F C H O I C E

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Chains

R O U G H V I R T U A L H I S T O R Y

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Ailanthus Altissima, the scientific name for a plant commonly called the 'tree of Heaven'. It is an invasive species with the ability to clone itself through its roots in a technique called 'suckering', and is, like the mythological hydra, difficult to exterminate. It is considered a noxious weed due to the foul-smelling odor it produces. The tree also resprouts vigorously when cut, making its eradication difficult and time-consuming. In many urban areas, it has acquired the derisive nicknames of "ghetto palm", "stink tree", and "tree of Hell".

No one knows, or cares, why Dr. Eileen Fang chose this name, and most refuse to say it in full, earning Eileen the nickname 'Tessa' from Altissima. Since logging on for the first time, Tessa has been like her namesake, invading parties and raising a stink. Her initial desire had been to party up and quest with others, but her belligerence always got in the way.

Eventually, she turned her focus to enchantments, seeing a need in the community for those who only had access to crafted gear to attain gear that could compete with rare drops. While her enchantments aren't that good, properly crafted and enchanted gear at least had a fighting chance against Rares and Epics, and sometimes, a fighting chance was all some adventurers needed. Tessa found her niche, but still needed to satisfy her urge to actually adventure, so she would take enchanting commissions, find out what materials she needed for her enchantments, and then demand the ones who commissioned her to take her with them when they went to farm said materials.

Due to forcing herself into parties in this way, Tessa adopted a flexible, albeit lazy, playstyle: a confusing, semi-immobile walking disaster area, essentially claiming a large portion of the battlefield as her own and manipulating the positions of her enemies, doing some status effects and some damage, while still survivable enough to hold her own.

Tessa has not achieved fame for her enchantments; she instead draws clients by under-sellng other enchanters, a practice that has gotten her in trouble with guilds on more than one occasion.

[User]
---

 • Tʜᴇ Dᴜɴɢᴇᴏɴ •

---

A barrage of flaming arrows, explosive bolts and fireballs exploded against Arnaakus like the tide crashing against the side of a cliff. Fire washed over the demon's frozen exterior, sending wave after wave of steam billowing up as the slimes were turned to vapor from the sheer heat. The dozens of flung projectiles made the demon's exposed arm their target, burning through that thick build up of ice with surprising rapidity. He gave an angry, pained howl in response that shook the very foundations of the crypt.

"Cooonsuume!"

With strength only it's titanic arms could afford, the monster took hold of the bent steel and splintered wood of the great doors and tore them off at the hinges. A thunderous crash resounded as the mangled remains hit the floor of the chamber. Arnaakus had to duck down to pass through the vaulted ceiling of the hallway, his eyes burning with an intense desire to feed upon the souls standing before him.

He gripped his claws into a tight ball, six razor-sharp shards stabbing forth from the interior of his arm. Icy growths like the spines on an animal's back covered the top portion of Arnaakus's limb, their menacing, jagged tips glimmering in the light of the dungeoneers' pyre. Each was roughly six feet in height and one and a half in width, their crystal-like forms cracked and fragile looking even at a glance.

The titanic boss flung his arm around, sending the spines scattering across the field of battle- targeting three toward the back row of fighters and three toward the front team. The shards shattered on impact with the ground, creating a barrage of hundreds of tiny shards that were sent soaring in every direction. Too small to cripple, maim or kill, the shrapnel was meant more as a particularly painful distraction than anything else.

Arnaakus's primary method of murder came when he held up one of his arms above his head a few seconds later. He took a number of seconds longer to bring it slamming down against the stone, cracking it in the process. The creature grumbled as he brought his limb sweeping from one end of the hallway to the other with the intent to smash anyone caught in his way up against the wall. Only those closest to it- namely the melee fighters and Tiferet- were in danger of being squashed flat.

[Assistant]
Ailanthus_Altissima• The Dungeon •

---

Tif almost died, Tessa thought to herself. In the back of her mind, she blamed herself for letting her guard down and not getting her spells back up in time. But it seems Rael had got there just in time, while Graves was capturing the creature's attention. He called out to the party to concentrate damage on the limb, but for someone who specialized in area control, concentrating damage was not her strong point. She did have one spell available though. Since all her spells were hemispheres centered around herself, she had one spell that required quite a casting period that converted all her spherical spells into cone spells. The spheres would split behind her and open up, angle by angle, much like Pac-Man's death animation. At this point, she had got all her spells up, so Arnaakus was being hit by period lightning strikes, slowed by a gravitational field, and slapped by chains; while a protective shield surrounded her allies, reducing their damage taken. if she converted her spells to cones, the damage and intensity would increase substantially, while the shield would block more damage, but was she willing to leave their backs exposed? Sure this brute looked like the boss, and often, for dramatic reasons, boss battles did not involve a random party of monsters suddenly coming in from behind. But did the game still work on such mechanical logic? And didn't Tiferet almost die partially because Tessa hadn't been paranoid enough? Yet the group seemed to be struggling.

"Hold on, I'm going to concentrate my spells!" Tessa called out, and began channeling her concentration spell. The hemispheres reached quarter-spheres (halfway to completion), lightning struck Arnaakus with higher frequency, the gravitational pull became more intense, and the chains started attempting to bind various parts of the creature, when suddenly it shot out exploding ice shards at the party. Tessa winced as the shrapnel hit her, feeling actual pain, and losing part of the channel. Fortunately, Tessa specialized in being able to muscle through interrupts, so instead of canceling her spell completely, it only set her back (to about 25% completion). "Give me just a little bit more time!"

[User]
R a e l

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 • Tʜᴇ Dᴜɴɢᴇᴏɴ •

---

The red-headed rogue jumped backwards, twirling her polearm in her fingers as she channeled the magical energies in her body as a loud 'crackle' filled the air around her. As a visible flash of lightning magic traveled from her weapon into her small body as she looked immediately to Tiferet whom it was her responsibility to protect. It was a tiring spell-like ability, but it would get the two of them away from Arnaakus's attempt to render the bulk of them pancakes. She just hoped Graves had a plan to get himself out of harm's way because she wasn't going to be able to help him get spacing from the attack from the gigantic creature. The only thought in her mind as she moved at blistering fast speeds toward Tiferet and away from the creature was the distinct hope that he wouldn't be so dumb to die here and now when everyone in the party needed his bullheaded ass.

"Ngh." She uttered as she gritted her teeth, grabbing and pushing Tiferet away from harm's way. For the second time since the "battle" had started. Tiferet would at least recognize the ability -- it had been the exact same one Rael had used to rush in and block the monster's strike at the beginning of the battle after all.

When they had cleared the space, Rael had let go of Tiferet, immediately turning around and barking orders.

"Spread out! Outmaneuver him!"

[Assistant]
Ailanthus_Altissima• The Dungeon •

---

"S-spread out?! Tessa called out in surprise, "NO! It's now or never! Concentrate!" Tessa, had, unfortunately, over-committed. By narrowing her spells forward into a 45 degree cone, she was unable to move, and leaving their backs wide open. Still, all the crowd-control now being piled onto the green skeletal being was having a marked effect. Electrified chains slapped at, and wrapped themselves around the boss' limbs, while intense gravity attempted to drag it down. Damage to allies in front of Tessa was also being significantly reduced thanks to concentrating her shield spells as well. She'd never done this before, holding such a behemoth in place for so long, and her mana had drained at such an alarming rate that she had gone through several mana potions just to maintain her hold. "Someone better kill that thing already...!" She called out, knowing that despite concentrating her spells, her damage output was only chipping away at the creature.