[System]
Age: 15
Magic: Solar Magic, Lunar Magic, Eclipse Magic.
List of Abilities
Solar Magic - Solar Magic is a type of fire magic that uses the sun to make it more powerful. Most of its abilities can only be used during the day. Its strength varies with the time of year, usually.

Solar Flare: A sudden burst of fire and heat that can cause 3rd degree burns on a direct hit.

Solaris Divum: The caster draws in the power of the sun storing it inside the body. If enough is stored, it can cause the caster to glow. Cannot store power of the Sun if the caster is storing the power of the Moon.

Solar Wind: A warm wind whips around, carrying small objects as well as draining opponents of their magic power slowly.

Shine: Emits a blinding light.

Summer's Dream: Causes the sun to shine as if it was a midsummer day, cutting through any clouds, heating up the air, and powering up other solar attacks.

Beam: Focuses light from the sun into a single beam that can cut through most things without problem.

Stellar Calling: Allows Serma to use Solar Magic at night, drawing from the power of the stars in the sky, but the magic is much weaker.

Blade of Sol: The Caster summons a blade, of any shape, made of pure sunlight. This blade can cut through or burn almost anything.

Lunar Magic - Lunar magic is a type of utility magic that draws from the light of the moon to power itself. Most of its abilities can only be used at night, and its strength varies with the phase of the moon.

Lunar Light: Calls upon a ball of energy that gives off a dull white light.

Lunar Beam: Focuses a beam of light from the moon that can freeze most things rapidly. Can use the light created by the Lunar Light spell for a weaker effect.

Lunaris Divum: The Caster draws in the power of the moon, storing it within the body. If enough is stored, it can cause the body temperature of the caster to fall some. Cannot store power of the Moon if the caster is storing the power of the Sun.

Lunar Armor: The light of the moon becomes armor for the caster, protecting them from all but the sharpest of blades.

Luna: The Caster calls upon the moon to give the caster power. causing a temporary full moon in the area near the caster, and cutting through the clouds. This takes massive amounts of magical energy to sustain.

Lunar Seal: Coats something in solidified moonlight, sealing it and preventing it from being opened again unless the seal is brought into the light of the sun.

Gaze: The Caster can use this spell to look into a pool of water and see anything the moon can see. This spell only works if there is no sunlight being shown on the pool of water, and the energy cost is proportional with the distance trying to be seen.

Blade of Luna: The Caster summons a blade, of any shape, made of pure moonlight that can cut through or freeze almost anything.

Eclipse Magic - A combination of both Solar and Lunar magic. It works best with both the sun and moon are in sight, and is nigh-unstoppable during an actual eclipse. Otherwise it can be used almost any time of day. It is uniquely resistant to dispelling magics.

Ecliptic Glare: Allows the Caster to creates or absorb light.

Corona: Creates a field of searing heat and light around the caster.

Light of the Eclipse: Creates a field of darkness and ice around the caster.

Ecliptic Armor: Creates platemail armor from both the sun and the moon's light, allowing it to either be freezing cold or burning hot at the will of the caster, and its strength has been compared to a dragon's scales in the past.

Tumult: Creates harsh winds from both the power of the moon and the sun simultaneously, freezing and burning the caster's opponents at the same time, as well as draining their physical and magical energy.

Eclipse Blades: Creates both the Blade of Luna and the Blade of Sol simultaneously, but gives them both the abilities of the other, and renders them nearly unbreakable and undispellable.

Blackout: Causes the sky to go completely black, can only be used at night and when the moon is less than half-full.

Horizon: A weaker version of Ecliptic Horizon, it causes the target to see and feel as if they were drawn into the Ecliptic Void, but not actually be sent there.

Ecliptic Horizon: Draws the target into the plane of the eclipse, trapping them forever in a void. This spell can only be used during an eclipse.

This is an incomplete list. There are many more spells than I can name or want to write. These are just the most powerful/commonly used.
Magic Level: S
History: Serma is one of the many "Generationals" in Iron Enigma. Born into the guild, she had the powerful previous generation of mages' magics to learn from. It quickly became clear she was highly talented in magics involving the sun and moon, and she eventually combined her talent in the two to be able to use what she calls "eclipse" magic. As soon as she passed the minimum age to be officially part of the guild, she was put through the S-Class Exam and was promoted. She is now considered one of the most powerful wizards in the entire guild, and is currently also the youngest member.
Personality: Quiet, and follows orders to the letter.
Team Members: N/A
Three Strengths:
1. Her Magic is highly versatile.
2. She can patch up most injuries with ease, so long as it's not in the daylight.
3. Due to her size, it is easy to underestimate her.
Three Weaknesses:
1. She is physically weak.
2. She follows any order given to her from people within her guild, even if they're to her detriment.
3. She can fall into bouts of depression easily.
Greatest Love: The Sun and Moon.
Motivation: Seeing moon from far above the earth.
Appearance: Serma is almost always dressing a robe that covers her entire body and uses her eclipse magic to keep her face in the dark under the hood. The robe itself changes color with the time of day, turning white during the day and a deep black during the night. She has two pendants, one of the sun and one of the moon, around her neck that hang outside of her robe. When she takes the hood down, she has pale skin and black hair. Her hands are perpetually covered by gloves that continue up her arm a bit, and her robe has an emblem on the back that changes between the moon and sun on the same cycle of its colors. She only comes up to about 5'2" and is very frail.
Additional Details: Her guild mark is on the back of her neck.

[User]
Amelia Averyonna

Amelia didn't make it far down the street once the animal noises started before he came across some of the animals. A pack of female lions, three in total. She frowned as the creatures turned towards her. She knew that lions where fierce creatures but beyond that, she knew nothing. However, she also knew animals hated the dead and could sense them for what they were. Still, she didn't see how either of those facts would help her. She didn't get to think much further before the animals began moving closer. Sighing, two magic circles appeared in front of her, from which two of her spirits rose.

From the circle from came a cowboy armed with a rifle and two pistols.
"Houston." She said to the spirit

"Ma'am." The cowboy replied with a tip of his hat. He didn't waste any time. Raising his rifle, he pulled the trigger, taking down one of the lions with a bullet to the head. The other two let out roars before charging the spirit. Dropping his rifle, Houston drew his pistols and quickly downed the second lion before the other got to him and pounced. The cowboy managed to raise his arm in time to stop it's teeth from sinking into his throat, buying him enough time to shot the animal in the stomach, pushing it off, he quickly put the poor creature down before turning to Amelia.

"Will you be okay?" She asked, looking at his bleeding arm

"I've suffered worse, you know that. I'm good enough to keep going, if you wish." Houston said.

"No, go back. I'll call again if I need to." Amelia said. The spirit just nodded before sinking into another magic circle, his rifle vanishing with him. Sighing, Amelia set off again, wondering what could be next.

Delsin Jones

Delsin's approach to the animals was to simply avoid them. He quickly got to the roofs of the buildings surrounding him, keeping him out of reach of most of the animals. He was also able to keep an eye out for is competitors from a height advantage. Running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he came across a pack of gorillas on one, though he quickly dispatched of them with a bullet that released knock-out gas on contact with a solid surface. Once they were out of the way he continued on, wondering what else would be thrown at them.

[Assistant]
Ammy Silver|Streets of Crocus

Ammy had taken the field with the rest of their competitors for today, her dual scythes hanging from her waist as she walked. A maze with the only point being to overcome any obstacles thrown at you was a simple enough game, one that she could do well in a number of different ways. She stood silently. observing her opponents as they talked among themselves and deflected any attempts to socialize with her by drawing a scythe and absentmindedly spinning it around in her hand. This was more than enough to discourage the two who approached her, and she was ready when they were teleported out of the stadium into the city. Her demeanor changed slightly as she walked, drawing her other scythe and spinning it in the opposite direction of the one she'd had in her hand when they teleported. She then started singing a song to herself

"Ring around the rosy
A pocketful of posies
"Ashes, Ashes"
We all fall down."

As the song finished, a nursery rhyme to those who had bothered to pay attention to her over the flamboyance of the other mages, her scythe blades gained a purple glow and she smiled to herself. "Reaping Wind." The two blades continued spinning, but a pair of purples cyclones shot out of both and shot forward, slamming into a large bear and putting it against the wall. It was clear it was still alive by it's growls of anger, but every time it tried to get up, it's legs wouldn't cooperate. She kept walking, right past the bear, even as the announcer said none of the other guilds had started yet. Well, if they had favorites, let them watch them. Dragon Fang would be the guild to come on top.

As she walked, dispatching a group of wolves in similar fashion before the encroaching darkness settled in. Her smile never wavered though as she kept walking in the direction she'd determined for herself. "Eyes of the Reaper." Her eyes glowed purple and she watched the confused animals wander around, their essence revealed in the darkness thanks to her spell. Under normal circumstances, she'd hunt down the source of this spell of darkness and defeat them, but in this case, she could use it to her advantage. And she continued on her way, humming Ring around the rosy to herself.

[User]
Serma "Luna" Cathris -- Streets of Crocus Once Luna had made sure all of the Hyenas were now coming from one direction, she made sure that they weren't going to bother her anymore. She hated hurting animals like this, but she was sure that these weren't real animals. Just magical constructs meant to test them. Taking a breath, Luna made sure her hood was still on correctly as she continued down another alley and towards the Castle. She estimated it'd be at least a twenty minute walk to get there, but she figured the game would last at least half an hour, but probably closer to a full hour, or even two. Long enough for there to be clear winners, if anything.

Luna was surprised at how pretty the city looked when no one was around. But it also looked foreboding all the same. Danger lurking around every corner as well as other contestants that wouldn't hesitate to beat the snot out of each other. She made a note to herself to avoid other contestants if at all possible. They were a drain on her magic energy, and would make this entire challenge all the more difficult. She bit her lip, and looked up at the castle again. She could see it clearer from here, it was a lot closer than she had first estimated. But then again, she didn't have crowds to compete with like she did every other day she's been here.

Her next challenge came in the form of some sort of magical construct. It was made with a set of plate-mail armor that was colored such a deep purple it was almost black. On it's back was a long cape that would've looked kingly if it wasn't in tattered ruins. The helmet was spiked, but was dented and scratched terribly, and there was nothing visible under it. Held resting on it's shoulder was a massive sword that looked like it could cleave through a solid rock or a person without much trouble. However, it seemed stationary, standing in the middle of the road as Luna approached it carefully.

She thought about going down an alley and avoiding it, but that would mean backtracking a fair distance, as the stretch of road she was on didn't have very many alleys, so she decided to approach it head on, and fight it. "Blade of Sol." The girl held her hand up, and a long sword made of fire a light formed in it. She held it in a way where the tip was almost touching the ground as she approached the construct of Armor and Magic, but she wasn't prepared for its sudden attack.

When Luna was about fifteen meters away from the armor, it suddenly launched into motion. With speed unbecoming of something its size, it dashed forward and sliced at Luna with its massive two-handed weapon. The young girl barely managed to jump far enough back that the attack missed her, and she brought up her sword to stop an overhead swing downwards at her. Her opponents blade would slide down her sword and off to her left due to the angle she was holding her sword of fire, and she took the moment she had to attempt to stab the blade through the haunted armor. While the attack succeeded in piercing the plate mail, the foe was not vanquished, and she leaped away as it made another slash for her. It attacked with such speed and ferocity, if she didn't know it was a magical being, she would think her attacker a berzerker. It moved and sliced without seeming to care about protecting itself, though it's offense was deadly enough that one wouldn't dare to move in to attack.

Skirting around it, Luna looked for an opening. It continued to do fast, mobile strikes at her that would cleave her in two if one landed, but the girl managed to dodge or deflect her opponents attacks well enough to not be killed. Every single strike she managed to get in back left gashes in the ghost-warrior's armor, but that didn't seem to do any real harm to it. Fighting this was wearing her out quickly, and that wasn't good. If she met more of these later, she wouldn't be able to fight them if this one exhausted her too much. She jumped backwards after the armor did a heavy downward strike that she had learned left it open for a moment, and held her hand out. "Beam!" A white magic circle would appear in front of her hand, and a beam of sunlight would focus through it, quickly melting a hole through the armor. She then used it to cut her opponent in two diagonally, causing it to finally stop attacking, and dispel into magic dust. Taking a deep breath, Luna dispelled her sword and returned to her trek to the Castle, hoping that wasn't an enemy she'd be fighting again.


[System]
Alexander Zangief, but once he joins the the fists, he will be referred to as Ivar.

Age:18

Gender:Male

Rank(Disciple, Master, Bully, ECT):Bully

Martial Arts Style(Unless you're a disciple): He is a trained boxer.

Gang Affiliation(If any): Ragnarok, soon to become one of their most elite members.

Looks:

Height: 5'6"

Backstory: I'll work on this later, guys. <_< >_>....

All I know right now is that scaling up the ranks of Ragnarok, until he becomes the sole leader. He is obsessed with this goal, and will do anything to meet it. Perhaps he has a control problem. I don't know. I'll figure it out.

Crush(If any):

Personality:

Other:

[User]
Kiro was blown away by the utter force of the mighty clash of kicks. He flew backwards, going straight through the dojo building behind him.

Bakusa held up his guard, as his clothes flapped in the wind created by the two. "You idiots! Get a hold of yourselves, act your own age for once!" He shouted angrily at them.

[Assistant]
(later)

Niijima walked into a dark alley, his face and body covered by a fedora and trench coat. He stopped just in front of Shaz (who had agreed to meet him), as he kept his face downward so it would be hidden by the shadows. "I understand you're looking for a certain someone, an old pal of mine, actually." He tried to conceal his voice, but it still had that annoying tone to it. "I already have all the proper strings pulled for you two to meet, and I can tell you exactly where to meet him, but of course..." he paused for dramatic effect. "I'll need something in return." Even in the darkness, his creepy, evil smile could be seen.

[User] Shaz grabbed Niijima by the collar lifting him up making is fedora fall off," You think this is a game just tell me where he is already or your buddy will find in the bottom of the river now tell me where he is," Shin demanded Niijima being tired of his foolishness. Shin then let go of Niijima making him fall to his butt as began to crack his knuckles as he began to get impatience.

[Assistant]
"Don't you even think about it, buddy! You beat the crap out of me, and you'll never know! Just follow the plan, my friend, and everything will go just fine!" Niijima laughed, as he reached into his pocket for a smoke bomb, just in case Shaz tried to do anything funny. 'C'mon, c'mon, just go along with it, you fool!' Niijima angrily thought, as he took a slight step back.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(DAYS LATERRRR.)

Kiro and Ally sat on top of the school's roof together at lunch, as Kiro tried his best to dodge Shaz, at least, until he was sure he was ready to face the bully. "You know, you didn't really have to come up here with me." Kiro awkwardly laughed, as he pulled out his bento from his bookbag. He looked down at the various scratches and bruises on his hands and arms. "It's almost been a month since I joined the dojo." Kiro had only just came to the realization, as he looked up at Ally. "I can tell I'm getting stronger each and every day, but,"

"compared to the masters, and even you," Kiro sighed, as he looked down at his unopened bento. "I'm nowhere near your guys' level, and I have no natural talent to help me out. Even now, I'm hiding on a roof top because I'm not strong enough to defeat that Shaz guy." He looked back up at Ally with hopeful eyes. "Do you really think I'll ever become as strong as you guys?" This question had been hovering in Kiro's mind for a while, as most people who entered such sports or arts already had a natural talent for such thing, and if they didn't, then they'd quit before they got squashed by the people who did. He, however, had no natural talent for fighting, and so, was starting from the very bottom. 'An ant couldn't become a lion if he weren't already born one.' Kiro thought with a sigh, he sighed a second time, as he imagined it was something Rekin would probably say to him.

[User] "Of course!" Ally replied, no doubt in her mind about Kiro's abilities. "You've been pushing and pushing yourself and that isn't easy. If anything you have the potential to be greater than all of us. Most of us started training when we were younger than you so it wasn't as bad when we got older. You on the other hand started at sixteen!" Then she thought for a minute, "You're sixteen right? Yeah." She thought about talent for a moment before pulling her lunch out of her bag. She placed a couple fruits into her lap. She didn't feel as hungry right now and knew fruits would give her nice energy. "I don't think what people say is true," Ally said, "about people being born with gifts. Yeah, some people are born with better hearing or seeing, but no one just picks up a violin and can play it like that!" She held a green apple in her hand and tossed it in the air, catching it in her palm before taking a bite. She thought carefully about what she would say next. "When I started training with Shin and Bakusa in reaction timing, like avoiding kicks and punches, I was terrible. I kept getting hit and hit. It took me a long time before I finally got good at evading. Before then, I remember this time Shin roundhoused me in the side of the head. He didn't mean to hurt me, it was an accident, but still, I wasn't good enough." She placed the apple back in her lap and pulled back her hair to reveal her ear. The earlobe was permanently damaged, misshapen and slightly swollen. "I don't really pull my hair back too much because of this. I wasn't good enough so I got hurt. What I'm trying to say is, Kiro, that it takes work to get good at anything, no matter who you are. We all have our flaws and weaknesses but once you improve on them, you'll be as good as gold," she turned to reveal her other ear which was perfectly fine, "See?"

[Assistant]
"Oh, wow, I see what you mean now." He took a bite out of his messy meatball sub, as bits of sauce spilled onto the cloth of his bento. "It just seems like I'm moving so slow." Kiro sighed. He appreciated her sharing the story, but even so, it was hard to imagine Ally once had trouble fighting.

Niijima slowly climbed onto the rooftop, via ladder, as he smiled once he located the pair. He clothes were ripped and ragged, and he was covered in dirt. "Kiro, you need to come quick!" He exclaimed, as he tried to catch his breath. "There's a couple of guys down in the Newspaper Club's room! They didn't like the story we were printing, and trashed the entire place! I tried to stop them, but I just wasn't super-strong enough like you and your karate girlfriend!" Even Niijima himself was impressed with his acting skills, as he chuckled to himself on the inside. It really was the perfect plan.

"What!? What do you expect me to do!?" Kiro quickly shot up, accidentally spilling all of his lunch face-down on the rooftop. He didn't feel so bad if he had Ally to back him up, but he almost didn't even want to help Niijima and his friends' out. They were the ones who had been printing all those stories about him.

"Please, Kiro! You're the first person I thought of! I've seen your crazy-strong masters, all you have to do is show them a little kungarate, and they'll be down in no time!" Niijima cried, as he hugged Kiro's legs, looking up at him with puppy dog-like eyes. Niijima had been practicing this whimpering technique for over a decade. "I think they really hurt Saitama!" He continued to lie, as tears began to stream down from his face.

Kiro growled angrily, as he thought for a moment. He looked down at his watch for the time, as he then turned his attention back to Niijima. "If people are really in danger, then I suppose I have no choice but to help your friends." Kiro bravely thought, as he clenched his fists. 'I just hope I don't run into that Iron Grip Shaz guy on the way!' Kiro whimpered in his head, as this was the first time since he had heard about Shaz that he was going to leave himself completely vulnerable by coming out of hiding.

"Quickly, we have no time to waste! The crowd is-," Niijima started to run off, but froze, as he turned to look back at the two. "I mean, my newspaper buddies are waiting for you!" He quickly covered up his slip-up, as he turned back to the matter at hand.

"Right, let's go, then!" Kiro responded, the slip-up going straight over his head, as he followed Niijima with haste.

[User]
Ally didn't believe Niijima's made up story, but she wasn't going to convince Kiro. Niijima was such a good actor that there was part of her that believed him, but living at the dojo taught her not to believe people like this. Besides even if she told Kiro she didn't believe Niijima's story he would be too stubborn to believe her since innocent people could be in danger.

"Alright, two things, one, I'm not his girlfriend and two, I'm still keeping your jacket," she said, straightening the jacket and then she followed them. If anything goes wrong I have Kiro's back, She thought, thinking of Niijima's slip of the tongue.

[Assistant]
(Small time jump here, just so no one is confused.)

"This way!" Niijima hastily exclaimed, as he darted down another hallway. The boy was a lot faster than both Kiro and Ally, even with their training, as he was a master in the art of escaping.

Kiro turned another corner, as he finally found Niijima stopped in front of a door. Above the door, a sign was posted, reading: 'Newspaper Club!'

"Here it is, old buddy! Right in here, my friends really need your assistance!" Niijima lied, as his tongue slithered around out of his mouth like a snake's own. Niijima couldn't contain himself, as he laughed evily, slowly turning the doorknob to let Kiro in. Once the door was fully open, Niijima gestured him inside.

Kiro heard the cheers of a crowd, as he hesitated slightly before Niijima completely shoved him inside the room. The club's room had been completely redecorated, as the space was completely cleared out of all computers, printers, and most furniture. Thick red tape had been placed on the center of the floor, creating one giant square. Outside of this square, perhaps a hundred people sat in folding chairs, as they cheered Kiro on as he came in. An enormous banner hung on the back wall, as it read the following words:'Iron Grip Shaz VS. Weak-Knees Kiro'. Just below the banner, standing just on the other side of the redtape arena, was a rather tough looking figure.

Kiro's face went pale white, as immediately realized the situation. It was Iron Grip Shaz! Kiro's legs started to shake again, as he gulped, looking down to only now realize that he stood on the inside of the tape.

"Alright, let's get ready to rumble!" Niijima exclaimed to the crowd, now dressed up fully in a referee's outfit. "Just try to keep it clean, will ya', fellas? We still have to use this room later, after all." Niijima chuckled evilly, as he stood in between the two.

Kiro clenched his fists, as he looked up to stare Shaz in his face. "No!" He exclaimed angrily to his 'opponent', along with the rest of the crowd.

"Huh, what?" Niijima questioned, as he looked over at Kiro. "Hey, come on buddy, you're sort of ruining the mood. Just put on a good show for the crowd, will you?" Niijima whispered into his ear.

"I refuse to fight someone without a reason. I won't just battle because you ask me to." Kiro wisely spoke, as he turned back to the exit. It may have seemed like a cowardly move, but if he fought Shaz like this, without any good reason, then in Kiro's eyes, he wouldn't be any different than any other delinquent on the streets. He started learning martial arts so he could defend himself, and the people he loved, not so he could fight for others' entertainment. "Thanks for wasting my time, Niijima." Kiro angrily mumbled, as he started to take a step out of the square.

[User] When Ally saw the whole setup she frowned. She knew Niijima was up to no good! How could bullies just rip apart the Newspaper room without teachers finding out? Of course no one would rat out an entertaining fight like this. When Kiro refused to fight Ally smiled and said, "Good." The masters didn't teach him so he could entertain people who has nothing better to do. They taught him to keep him safe.

[Assistant] "So your running all ready coward I guess the rumor's were false you really didn't beat Iigima," Shaz said as he began to walk towards Kiro. "Or are you walking away because you think I'm just a waste of your time huh you damn bastard," Shaz continued to walk while he cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass," Shaz said to Kiro as he then gave a glare at Ally. "So you brought your girlfriend to watch how sad that she going to have to take you to the hospital after this!" Shaz yelled as he sprinted a bit to Kiro what seemed like an ordinary a right straight at Kiro. Shaz would believe that he would go for a block and as soon as that happened he opened his hand him mid swing to got for a grab.

[User]
Kiro had frozen in place, just before he left the 'ring', as he heard Shaz call him a coward. It angered him greatly that the bully would stand there and say such things. Kiro quickly whipped around once he heard Shaz rushing at him, quickly putting up a mid-block. It was a quick defense, and would've worked too, if it wasn't a faint! Kiro's eyes widened, as his left arm was caught by Shaz's amazing grip. The boy had paused in fear, as memories flooded back of precisely what everyone had said on the matter.

'This is exactly what they told me to be careful of!' Kiro cried internally, as his face turned pale white. Kiro was so busy dreading the next attack, he had missed his split-second opening to counterattack. By the time he started hesitating, the chance had already escaped him, as he had psyched himself out into thinking that his opponent's hands really were inescapable.


[System]
"The Tengu are looking for a stolen object. Would you have knowledge on this subject?"

"My name? How rude. It is only polite to state your name first."
"What matter is my age?"
Age:
125

Race:
Tengu

Appearance:
Himeko looks to be about her late teens to early twenties though in reality she's lived over a century. She has long brown hair typically tied back into twintails. She wears travel clothes of her tribe's color and she stands at a little over six feet. Other than her wings, that is a good sign that she isn't exactly human.

Personality:
Himeko is a noble in Tengu society. Though she tries not to be, she can be rather pretentious at times. Her normal mode is "guarded" though one can gain her trust rather quickly. She has a rather negative opinion on humans in general, but will work with them in times of need. While she thinks of humans this way, she likely will come to like them quickly so long as they are competent at what they do.

"A mere human cannot hope to match a Tengu, that is just simple. Any longer talk on it is mere sophistry."

Abilities:
Tengu in general have the ability to manipulate wind. Though it appears to be the typical type of magic, it really has a source from the divinity that resides on Tengu Mountain.

Their wings also allow them to fly at high speeds. They are rather large and can wrap around them as a coat if need-be, but otherwise, they can use the same divine power that allows them to manipulate the wind to hide their wings.

As a species, they also have strength far outweighing the average human and wielding their special Tengu Forged Katana that assist them in their wind manipulating abilities.

History: Himeko was born among her fellow Tengu at the supposed height of their civilization. She herself was born among one of the upper rungs of the race and as thus, she was taught many things such as swordsmanship, etiquette and channeling divinity. Soon enough, she found herself among one of the many Wing Guards of the mountain.

She never left the mountain, but she was put in charge of guarding the Vault of Relics. It's name was exactly as it sounds and she liked to take her time examining the many pieces in the Vault. She both guarded and studied them. Soon enough, she found herself tasked with guarding a human to study in the vault. She scoffed at the order, but was quickly ordered to follow orders or else she'd be stripped of her rank. Begrudgingly, she accepted the task.

She was quickly introduced to the human. She was not impressed. They were simply a scholarly type and she was simply surprised that he was able to make it to the top by himself, let alone make it past the constant tempests that masked the mountain. He asked her if she'd like to talk to him about any of the objects and simply told him their name and a very short idea of what they did. She was constantly confused as to why the Elders and the Lord of the Mountain allowed a human up here, but followed orders as loosely as she could.

It took a few weeks, but the man was just about done with his research. In the last couple of days however, the tempest surrounding the mountain disappeared and the mountain was attacked by a small horde of what could only be described as gigantic bats. Himeko was with the scholar at the time, and quickly flew him to a safe space in the mountain fortress.

She quickly made her way to the front and helped eliminate the attackers, however she left the Vault undefended. In her absence, someone or something snuck into the Vault and stole one of the Tengu's most sacred treasures, The Leaf of the Four Winds. A grand treasure that had the power to amplify the power of any wind based divinity or magic.

Many among the Elder Council accused the scholar of stealing the item, or letting the tempest die out. Himeko, however, stood up for the scholar, claiming he was not at fault for this theft. As she was known for her disdain for the human race for their foolishness, her words for a human were held in high regard. On the other hand, her leaving the Vault undefended was seen as the main issue at hand. For her failure at losing the Leaf, she was tasked with retrieving it or never returning. After preparing for a few days and gathering her supplies, she left the mountain and sadly only found solace in human towns. Luckily, she had one clue... An odd sigil...

Other:
-Himeko is actually a master at disguising her disgust at humans. Luckily for her. She deals with humans in villages with a hidden disgust but something better than a frown, but less than a smile.

[User]
Himeko relaxed a bit, removing her hand from her katana. There was no reason to worry not. Probably at least. It wouldn't be good to drop her guard until out of the city. Still, she hated acting so friendly with these humans that have yet to prove themselves. She looked to the Fiores then. Making a studied gaze at all three.

Katherine of course, noticed quickly. "Oh my, are you trying to figure which of us you'd like to take first?" She teased. She was most likely talking about in a... 'Romantic way' if one could call it that. "You sly girl, you." She teased.

Himeko was tired of this family sans the eldest. Did they have to be this annoying? "Hardly." She replied, looking to Marise. "Thank you for your assistance Miss Fiore and... Miss Fiore?" She asked, looking toward Katherine, unsure. She hardly said a word to Livia, though she did give her a glance. She hadn't done anything other than what she said earlier. Paying their meal should have sufficed enough for that.

Katherine nodded, "Just Katherine is fine. I'm a Fiore in name alone to be honest." She said bluntly. "Now then, how to make you all pay for our help..." She added, giving a sly look over to Marise.

[Assistant]
"If we're done here, I'm heading back to the estate." Livia replied coldly. For the most part, she remained completely disinterested. She had better things to do than waste her time with this. "I have my own studies and research to deal with rather than watch these two blunder about on their own." Marise frowned, watching Livia leave with a mildly disapproving expression, but there wasn't much she could do to stop her. Besides, they were heading to the same place now, hopefully.

"I apologize for her," Marise said with a sigh. "She's a good, honest girl I promise. She just doesn't have much patience for people, especially dishonest people." She fixed both of them with a smile and a friendly gaze that masked a very analytical look she was giving them. "Anyways, I believe introductions are in order. I am Marise Fiore, and the scheming philanderer next to you is Katherine, my younger sister. The one who is currently walking away is Livia. Despite her attitude, she's the one who alerted us to your troubles."

"Hm...I see. Thank her for us then." Charlotte replied carefully. "...Charlotte, if you need a name." She pulled on her cloak lightly, straightening it a bit.

"And despite what Katherine says, I want nothing for aiding you. You paid for our meal, so I say we are even in that regard." She smiled. "But I am sorry to trouble the both of you further, but I must insist you come to our estate. I can use my authority to help you so much, but it would raise questions and if I overextend my bounds...well, my mother might get curious to your presence herself and I can certainly say that you'll be here for months if that happens."

Perhaps, they could use this family to their advantage in some regard?

"Perhaps they could help us, Himeko." Charlotte said, glancing over to the Tengu.

[User]
Himeko looked over the two "siblings" with a bit of skepticism. "Yes, Himeko. Perhaps we can help you. It's hard to find better friends in this town as it is. I'm happy as long as you stay entertaining." The Puppeteer girl said, giving a little giggle. "It's not all the time, but what I'm saying is the truth after all. For now."

Himeko gave her an odd look, wondering what the deal was with her. "Is that so? Perhaps we should find solace in your aid them." There was no need in introducing herself now was there? They knew her name. "Very well then. Charlotte, if it's fine for you, then it's fine for me." She mentioned, looking to her partner.

[Assistant]
"Wonderful." Marise replied with a smile. "It's been awhile since we've had guests." She began walking at a brisk pace towards their estate, Charlotte, for the most part remained neutral. This could be a good opportunity but she wouldn't get her hopes up for now. She'd reserve judgement for now, and wait to see if they could actually help or not.

The trip to their estate was a thankfully short one. Once they had gotten out of the main city and headed to the more well off parts of the city, it was clear that the Fiore's at least, had quite a bit of wealth compared to most people. First they'd see a large, extremely well taken care of yard in front of the estate, walled off with a large iron gate and complete with a stone road for carriages or other such modes of transportation. The building itself was three stories tall at its tallest, with several chimneys extending from the roof, though only a few seemed to be in use.

"Here we are," Marise led them to the front door, opening it and motioning for Himeko and Charlotte inside. "Katherine, be a dear and show them to my room would you? Livia ahem, probably wouldn't like them intruding on her privacy." She gave a mildly nervous seeming chuckle but otherwise walked in behind them.

"Ah...Marise, we have guests? Young Miss said we might have company, so she had me prepare some tea. I've already put it on, and it should be done momentarily."

"Oh, thank you Nynette. I must speak with mother about something, so Katherine and you are in charge of the guests." She teased.

[User]
"Very well, dear sister." Katherine said with a slight bow. "See you in a little bit then Nynette. You are looking beautiful as always." The girl teased. She was always ready to flirt with a pretty girl and all. She wondered why she was like this once, but well, she gave up wondering why a while back. She just loved to tease people, but she never really felt like going beyond that with anyone one. Maybe a kiss on the cheek, but that wasn't too odd. Overall at least. "Alright you two, let me lead you through the place."

"So, that Livia had her prepare tea? Perhaps she is not quite so bad as I though." Himeko said as she looked somewhat surprised. In the culture of Tengu, it was only proper to make tea for guests so this resounded inside Himeko a bit.

"She's a bit of a grump most of the time, but she's not that bad really. She just likes to act like she doesn't care. Well, I think that at least. Can't see in her head. Truthfully, I think she gets a little jealous when I dote on Marise too much. I can't really tell if it's because she wants me to dote on her, or she wants to dote on Marise..." She said, realizing she might have said a bit too much. Well, whatever, it didn't really matter much in the end. As she showed the girls through to Marise's room, she noticed one of the maids. "Good afternoon, Lily. Lovely to see you today." The girl said as they passed. The maid smiled and bowed.

"Good evening, Miss Katherine." The woman that looked to be in her mid-to-late twenties said. Katherine liked to think she was in good with the help. Sometimes when she wanted to practice her motor skills with her dolls, she'd help them with their tasks... Specifically, the ones where there were tighter areas to clean or maneuver.

When they passed, the woman went back to her work. Soon, they arrived at Marise's room. Katherine opened the door and entered. "Welcome to the room of my elder sister, Marise. 'Please make yourself at home.' At least, I'm sure that's what she would say."

[Assistant]
"Tsk, oh please Katherine dear." Nynnette gave a playful smirk towards Katherine, but otherwise said nothing else. She had the other young miss to attend too.

For the most part, Charlotte followed in silence, taking in the decor of the place. Not exactly any different from what she had expected. Gaudy and ostentatious. She herself, didn't like tea so much or wasn't one for needless displays of wealth, but it was at least refreshing to see some courteous behavior for once. She could understand Livia's sentiments, at least.

Marise's room was...well, as one might expect. Plain and not too much out of the ordinary. A doll made to resemble Livia and Katherine were laying on the bed, and the shelves of a bookcase lining the wall were filled with simple item and the floor was covered in plush, comfortable carpet.

"Hmm...I take it you are someone of importance here." Charlotte commented coolly as she ever did. Hmm, how did one go about being...'friendly and sociable' again? "So what exactly do you want?"

[User]
"What do I want?" Katherine asked in return. What did that mean exactly? Maybe she meant personally. "A harem of women to call on whenever I please?" Katherine teased a bit. "But if you mean why we have you here... Well, that was my sister's call. It's hard to say no to her beauty though, isn't it?" She said, complimenting Marise in the process.

"I could do it rather easily, actually." Himeko mentioned, electing to stand instead of sit. She took a peek around the room and felt it was both grand and rather bland. The only sign of character were the dolls that seemed to resemble Livia and Katherine.

"Oh, hush you." Katherine said to Himeko, relatively unconcerned about her doings. Instead she turned to the other girl, Charlotte. "As for who I am... I suppose I am fairly important. Being a daughter of the most powerful family in the city is not laughing matter. Even if I was only adopted, but try not to spread that too much. That aside, you are looking for something? What pray tell are you seeking?" She was just playing nice for now until Marise returned, and she rather hoped it would be soon.


[System]
Sex: F

Age: 17

House: Dark Magician House

Appearance: "Very well. Please, show me something amusing."

Duel Disk: Ayami's Duel Disk is shaped a bit like the section of a snowflake, with a design similar to this one. It is a light blue bordering on white, and reflects light similarly (and thus shines when in use).

Personality: Ayami is a bit of a cold person and often comes off as somewhat emotionless at times, causing people to tend to not wanting to interact with her more often than not. As a result, she spends much of her time reading books and stories or watching duel replays online, which only furthers her image as a 'person who acts as if she is higher than everyone else'. That's not really the case, though; while she does have money and does seem like she is disinterested in most things, it does not affect her opinion of people. As a result, Ayami does not hold back against any challengers, for that would not only be disrespectful, but also quite irritating upon herself.

History: The child of an investment banker and a writer, Ayami's life was spent in relative solitude and luxury. She was always surrounded by books and stories that her facter (the latter) would always read to her, planting a deep-seated respect for literature that would keep fast into her adolesence. While her family did have enough of an income to purchase whatever they decided on (within reason), Ayami never desired anything. While her mother was perfectly okay with that facet of Ayami's personality, her father was thoroughly confounded and sought to figure out what his daughter wanted (because it was admittedly difficult to obtain gifts with more variety than 'book' and 'foreign book'). His problems came to a close when he saw Ayami holding a Yu-Gi-Oh card one day and seemed to be looking at it with some degree of intrigue. Taking this as an opportunity, Ayami's father quickly got to work buying cards to assemble his daughter a deck that would work well with the card she seemed to be so curious about.
Years came and went, and Ayami continued to refine that deck ever so slowly before her father suggested she try enrolling in the Saotome Duel Institute, which itself was a sugegstion of one of his old friends. With no real reason to decline, Ayami accepted the offer and has been studying there ever since.

Wish: To find life more 'exciting' than it is now.

Deck: * 2x Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands
* 1x Ariel, Priestess of the Nekroz
* 1x Dance Princess of the Nekroz
* 1x Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz
* 1x Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit
* 1x Effect Veiler
* 1x Nekroz of Decisive Armor
* 1x Nekroz of Trishula
* 2x Nekroz of Valkyrus
* 1x Nekroz of Gungnir
* 2x Nekroz of Brionac
* 3x Nekroz of Unicore
* 2x Nekroz of Clausolas
* 1x Hira, Light of the Nekroz*

* 1x Night Beam
* 2x Reinforcement of the Army
* 3x Preparation of Rites
* 2x Nekroz Mirror
* 2x Nekroz Kaleidoscope
* 2x Nekroz Cycle
* 2x Twin Twisters
* 1x Pot of Dichotomy

* 1x Storming Mirror Force
* 1x Solemn Strike
* 1x Dimensional Prison
* 1x Bottomless Trap Hole
* 1x Nekroz Altar*

* 3x Herald of the Arc Light

Hira, Light of the Nekroz [Solar Legacy]
Level 2 Spellcaster type Effect Monster
500 ATK / 1000 DEF
While this card is on the field, all Nekroz Monsters on your side of the field gain 200 ATK.

Nekroz Altar
Counter Trap
When a Monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck would activate it's effect; negate that target's effect, then you can add one Nekroz Monster from your Graveyard to your hand, except a Ritual Monster. If this card is in the Graveyard: during either player's turn, you can banish this card from your Graveyard; Tribute Monsters from your hand or your side of the field, then Ritual Summon 1 "Nekroz" Monster from your hand whose level exactly equals the total Levels of those monsters. You can only use this effect of "Nekroz Altar" once per turn.

[User]
Ayami glanced over as Matt seemed to walk over and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment towards his presence as she drew her cards. If his comment of 'brickdude' was any indication, then the person in front of her was, in fact, the culprit behind yesterday's incident.

All the more reason to handle this quickly, then. Buying cards could come afterwards.

"I wouldn't think that someone who was dense enough to attempt injury and vandalism would be a fan of theatrics, but I guess you need some outlet for your desire for attention," she said, drawing her cards and staring at them for a moment before acting. Her words were vitriolic today--understandably so, given the information she had just learned--but

"My turn. I activate the effect of Nekroz of Clausolas from my hand to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope in it's stead," she said, sending the Monster to the Graveyard and adding the respective card to her hand. "Next, I shall activate Preparation of Rites to add Nekroz of Unicore to my hand."

After a few moments of silence, Ayami followed the move by quietly activating Kaleidoscope from her hand.

"I tribute Herald of the Arc Light from my Extra Deck to summon Nekroz of Unicore from my hand. By Arc Light's effect, I can add one Ritual Spell or Monster to my hand; I'll retrieve Nekroz of Trishula," she continued, watching as the spellcaster materialized in front of her. "Battle Phase. Unicore, attack Mezuki."

Assuming the attack went through, Ayami would end her turn there. Now, it was a matter of seeing if Matt would jump in or not...

[Assistant]
Matt Ronwell

"Zombies versus Ritual monsters. Interesting. That was a neat little combo with Arc Light, I wonder what other tricks you got up your sleeve. " Matt said. From what he knew ritual monsters were generally harder to use than other monsters because they required the appropriate spell to summon. But Ayami had been able to use her cards to search for the appropriate ones as well as prepare for next turn, either pressing the advantage or recovering from a setback. Matt drew five cards simply for fun and imagined what he would do in either players situation, still sitting on the ground casually.

[User]
The one who broods menacingly

~~Rise and Shine, Edgelord~~

An alarm buzzed through Drake's dorm as he got up in a slow and exhausted manner. Today was orientation day, a day likely filled with annoying interactions no doubt. Sighing at the thought, Drake got dressed into his school uniform after finishing the rest of his mourning routine, got his deck and gear ready, and set off. At the Utopian house, an uninteresting opening with their housemaster led into him grabbing a small substantial breakfast, before making his way into orientation

~~Oh no, weak opponents!~~

Drake's cold expression made it clear he wasn't fond of this type of battle. Though life points were doubled, players were expected to go through a gauntlet of battles with no recovery of life. Instead of wasting time and energy finding others to battle, Drake stayed in the corner with his arms crossed, waiting for the opponents to drop and instead having his challengers come to him. By his calculation, this meant that his odds of being the last one standing were high as it seemed most if not all of the other students engaged each other immediately. While they would waste valuable life points, he would reserve his for the survivors and pick them off easily.

[Assistant]
Gabriel shook as he drew his last pathetic card. He dropped to his knees defeated. In his hand: a spell card, Silent Doom, which he had just drawn; and his pride and joy, Great Swallowtail Moth Urania. "I'll activate Silent Doom, special summoning Petit Moth back to my side of the field in defense mode... I-I... I END MY TURN!" he shouted, accepting defeat.

Gabriel dropped down to his knees. "My moths... they've failed me..." he lamented quietly.

[User]
"Draw!" Carnel said, drawing a card from his deck. Examining his card, Carnel nodded. "I'll make this quick," Carnel said. "I Summon Cardcar D in Attack position." A thin blue car appeared on the field, as if driving up from the card.

Cardcar D
Level 2
ATK 800 DEF 400

"Battle! Cardcar D, destroy Petit Moth!" Carnel commanded, and the car was quick to make Petit Moth into roadkill, popping it into yellow sparkles as the car drove into the poor bug. "Stratos, Plasma, direct attack on Gabriel!" Stratos fired his double cyclone, followed up by Plasma's Bloody Fear, both headed straight for Gabriel.

Gabriel: 3900 LP -> 2100 LP -> 0 LP

WIN: Carnel!

---

As the monsters faded, Carnel went over to Gabriel and extended a hand for a handshake. "That was a good Duel," Carnel complimented with his usual polite smile. "Maybe we can Duel again some time."

[Assistant]
600 Life Points were removed from Fyodor's own as the offensive blast from the bishonen sorcerer sent the dutiful zombified manhorse shattering into the boneyard below. The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell stumbled back and rattled some bones. He popped back in his squatting position as he stared at both that scene, and then briefly hatted man who clearly wanted to intrude in the duel as seen by him playing around with his cards.

Fyodor drew his next card.

"Far too dry and clinical, you're no fun.
Witness the construction of the Temple of the Sun." spoke The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell as he performed the move.

In the foreground the Egyptian Temple arose as more decor for this world of rot and bone. Fyodor then activated the Spell Card Foolish Burial.

"From my deck a creature I send to the grave. But despite that cruel and cosmic joke, that isn't the punchline."

Konstantinovich waited for a dramatic pause as he enacted a series of events which led to a rumbling that shook up the bones below.

"Mezuki I banish you to pardon the one who received that execution. Bring forth Il Blud."

Emerging from the grave and near the Temple arose the shadowy headed and gargantuan prisoner Il Blud, with his outfit zipped shut.

"Empowered by the Temple of the Sun vitalizing his revival, he has gained 300 attack for a new total of 2400 Attack Points." Fyodor casually pointed towards Nekroz of Unicore.

"Kill it." Il Blud rushed towards Nekroz of Unicore to slam down upon it. Fyodor, still squatting, watched to see how the scene unfolded before preparing to move on to the last bit of his turn.

[User]
Ayami winced as the attack went through, her Life Points going down by 100 as the Unicore was destroyed by the unsightly creature. Rather than overreact to the situation, though, Ayami began to think of how to handle the situation in front of her. It was within expectations, though; by this point, she had already begun to formulate plans to deal with the situation at hand. Of course, what she drew next turn would affect that, but until then...

"...Continue. I have no response for the moment," she responded curtly, shaking her head. "You're not done yet, are you?"

Ayami's comment was one part needless provocation and one part half-hearted curiosity; if this was all that occurred this turn, things would be kind of... Lackluster.


[System]
Behind the Avatar
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Bio: He enjoys the competition and teamwork that comes with PvP Warzones and small team Arenas. Competition has really been in Warrick's blood. First he found it through sports. Now through video games. Outside of the game he barely scrapes by while working as a convenience store assistant manager.

The Avatar
Name: Vander "The Watcher"
Appearance

Race: Elf
Gender: Male
Character Level: 100
Alignment: 0
Job Class: Ranger 15 | Scout 15 | The Watcher 5 | Sniper 10 | Trapper 15 | Tracker 15 | Battlefield Tactician 10 | Bounty Hunter 15

Fighting Style: Long Range Nuking and Tactics

Strengths: Being a long range fighter puts the Watcher in an excellent position to observe enemy movements and grants the opportunity to change his party's tactics as needed. His skill with a bow is very high meaning he can hit all but the most agile of opponents. As a scout his base movement speed is increased above that of most others. He is also incredible with tracking and hunting with some powerful camouflage abilities for specific terrain.

Weaknesses: Focusing in long range combat makes the Watcher a formidable force until he enters into melee. While he is capable of fighting in melee with his dagger, Whisper, the combination of a lack of reach and melee power he is only strong as far as normal standards for this new world. While he can move faster than most opponents can run he has no ability to dash instantly making dodging a challenge if he is not expecting it.

Equipment/Abilities Worthy of Note
The Watcher's Longbow: This longbow was earned from the epic story questline, "The Watcher's Final Days" resulting in the unique title "the Watcher" being earned along-side the longbow as a weapon. This quest was known to be one of the hardest to complete in Yggdrasil's hayday, and Vander rose to the challenge simply to test himself. The bow has excellent stats, however they are not the most powerful in the game. The bow has a powerful unique effect especially for a tracker: for an entire day so long as an arrow has been fired from this bow the Watcher knows which direction the arrow is at all times. Distance still needs to be calculated through basic trigonometry or just walking towards the arrow.

The Replicating Quiver: Once a day this quiver fills itself with 24 arrows so long as there is one inside. These arrows have the same effect as the original not counting ointments such as poison.

Whisper: This curved dagger is a crafted reward from a player-run guild vs guild tournament run by the server's biggest merchant and crafting guild. They ended up barely winning in a knock-out drag-out battle. The blade was best suited for assassins, however with the Watcher's active camouflage ability and lacking a decent melee weapon at the time he ended up with the blade.

Active Camouflage: While in natural terrain when using his active camouflage ability, the Watcher is nearly invisible to the untrained eye while not moving. Movement causes a slight distortion as it adapts to the new surroundings. It does work in more urban environments, however it only works when he is not moving at all and it takes longer to activate.

The Watcher's Eye: Earning the Watcher title also granted Vander the unique ability known as "the Watcher's Eye". This is a passive ability that highlights the best trails to traverse that a even a trained eye would have some difficulty seeing. He can also see the trails of all creatures that traversed a natural environment and even detect how old the trails are. While it does not directly let him see invisible opponents he can without too much trouble track their movements as long as they cannot hide their movements at a high level.

How a normal human would view me: He appears to normal humans as a very focused and calculating elf. He also has a constantly combat ready stance giving a slightly paranoid feel about him.

[User]
Selena

---

Selena continued to drink on her own, having no one to talk with. She enjoyed watching the others, if purely for nostalgic reasons as they would all disappear soon. Her character was always like that, watching people from the sidelines, coming and leaving as she wished. And so far, she still wished to stay. Might as well stay here until the very end, she thought. She had a thought of casting her hexes to the people here silently, just for... what's the term again... ah, "shits and giggles". But that would probably end with her being attacked back, and she preferred to enjoy her last moments at peace. Well, at least there was that player who summoned a Beholder for target practice. She silently cast her hexes to it from a distance, just because she could.

And then, she was interrupted.

"You know, drinking alone is usually frowned upon I think. Don't see anyone ya know? Aside from an annoying pixie neither do I. Might as well use the last minutes we have to get a little friendly. Just call me Sen."

She looked to the person now standing beside her. Hmm, a demoness. Unlike some players, she didn't really care about whether you're a heteromorphic or not.

"Selena. Call me Selena," she responded back with a smile.

@Lugubrious

[Assistant]
— Apocalypse Now Guild Hall —

This was what the Death Knight had been dreaming of all these years. The End, the Death of everything. Even the vile undead abominations could be, not exactly forgiven, but looked past at a time like this. In just a few minutes time all life would cease and be given its reward. He looked forward to it after granting it to so many.

He sat and nursed a drink, sipping it slowly to make it last until the very end. Kallahar stood with his back to a wall, not going to meet his fate sitting down. This was a celebration, of course. He was only here on a whim, the original plan being to dive once more into battle, to go out fighting and bringing Death.

Behind the avatar Katelyn wondered what she might choose next to fill her time and break up the monotony of life. Perhaps that shooter Dive game. It was a shame to lose all of the progress carefully earned since the games launch.

He recognized an individual with armor that he recognized as being that of a Death knight. He possessed a set of his own before adopting the profane Plate of the Dark Knight class. Kallahar walked closer with his drink. The drink of choice had a mild healing effect and his amulet left a trail of blood drops behind as it stored the excess HP.

"So this is the way that things end. Perhaps it is better this way than to have a lingering, suffering death."

Cruiser

[User]
"the end is nigh! Repent, sinners! the mechanical angel, Lexus Dominiel declared.

IYamWhatIYam burst into laughter. Sure, he had programmed that particular phrase in, but seeing the awkward looks and general discomfort that this uptight, religious bigot caused to anyone within earshot was exactly what he wanted. "Sorry, December, but you'll only have to put up with it for a few more minutes," IYamWhatIYam half apologized, "as for myself, I think I'm going to log off early. Guess I'm getting sentimental, but I don't think I really want to stick around to the end. You never know with this virtual stuff anymore. Anyways, I'll see you and Khang on the upside." With a wave, IYamWhatIYam vanished.

Lexus Dominiel stood there next to December. "Our father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen." It was...praying.

[Assistant]
The Watcher chuckled at the thought of turning enemies on themselves. It appealed to his tactical sense. He certainly appreciated what Illusionists could do to change the tides of a battle especially chaotic large scale battles. Only the most organized of guilds could handle an Illusionist's spells without too much trouble. Even then they were annoying to deal with. He had the pleasure of working with a few on occasion and the trouble of handling a few. The Watcher's Longbow allowed for him to figure out the right target with some level of attention.

"I imagine they were really happy," he responded with a smile. "I went hunting for PKers a while back. I found a small camp of four of them and stalked them for a good day just to learn their behaviors and patrol patterns. They felt safe enough in their forest camp, but they weren't expecting me. Picked off the first two while they were alone before the other two realized what was going on. They walked right past my hiding place without seeing me. Sniped the third one and then used Whisper on the last one: a necromancer." He produced the custom-crafted dagger and showed it off. "Just felt right even though I'm not really made for melee."

He found himself sizing everyone in the room up, even the NPCs. Even if they were not always as powerful as a player, NPC followers - especially well built followers - were an intimidating force. He remembered watching a solo player using followers cleverly in high end PvE content. He wondered just how well this group would work in an arena or battleground. He shook those thoughts out of his mind. The game was over. None of that mattered anymore.

"Damnit!" He slapped his hand down on the table before him. "Old game or no, I don't want to leave YGGDRASIL."

He grit his teeth and clenched his fist slowly before taking a deep breath and recollecting himself. "I'm good now."


[System]
"Broadsides" Captain Cedric D. Boone - Captain/Navigator/Marksman
Bonesword "The Mushroom Kid" - First Mate/Swordsman
"The Wolf of the Blue" Caesar Inu - Fighter
"Black Hood" Dirk Messir - Scout/Thief
"Oilburn" Slick Drake - Cook/Weapons Engineer
Lilliana Merrycure - Scientist
"Fitness" Feya Nelson - Doctor/Nutritionist
Wafer D. Kite - Shipwright

---

---

Enemies
Shrimp Brigade, Division A
The Vice's Strongest attack force
Specialize in teamwork, coordinated strikes, and ballet dancing.
First encountered in South Blue when they boarded the Rum Runner via torpedo designed for human transportation. Displayed supernatural levels of teamwork and awareness, when sufficiently injured would vanish and reappear from another member. Discovered to be one man that ate a devil fruit.
Quirks: See themselves as superheroes, protectors of the innocent, rather than bounty hunters. Have a flair for dramatic poses. Never go anywhere without theme music.

"Shrimp Brigade" Shotaro Saban
The Vice's first mate
Fifteen foot tall goliath of a man, ate the waru waru no mi, turning him into a split man.
The true form of the Shrimp Brigade, a single man that ate a devil fruit allowing him to split himself or any object he touches into multiple copies, at the cost of each copy having a fraction of the original's power/ability/intelligence/all other traits. While relatively friendly and balanced when split into the Shrimp Brigade, Shotaro Saban goes crazy with power and egomania when all together, a trait not entirely unearned. Displays insane strength and durability, once he took his "prime" form, he alone requires the entire Red Rum crew to defeat. Turned on Krabbe's crew, declaring his assault as the judgment of Justice, and that only the innocent would survive. Is ultimately defeated by the Red Rums and John Krabbe teaming up, but escapes and reveals he has other body copies out in the world.
Quirks: Sincerely believes he has the muscles of a god and that his wrath is divine judgment. Anybody he kills is justified because only the wicked can be harmed by his "godly might." Has an incredibly tiny head for his massive body. Is very self-conscious about it.

Shrimp Brigade Pink Mizu Shikihara
Cipher Pol 8 Agent
Agent of the World Government that had signed up to be part of Shotaro Saban's Shrimp Brigade, now shadowing the Rum Runner
Little is yet known of this government agent, but he is a master of disguise and expert spy, as well as proving to be extremely fast.
Quirks: Overly flirty with women. His immense pride causes him to think he's god's gift to the world, so everything he does warrants a "your welcome."

---

Allies

Bartholomew K. Runch "The Cereal Killer"
Captain of the Krunch Krew
User of the Bori Bori no Mi, the Crunch Crunch Fruit
33 million berry bounty

"Flying" Smith Smithson Smithington III
First mate of the Krunch Krew
Master of Ninja Arts

Hachirou H. Hachirou "The Beast King"
Navigator of the Krunch Krew
User of the Neko Neko no Mi: Model Lion, the Cat Cat Fruit: Lion

Wutong "Malpractice" Ken
Doctor of the Krunch Krew
Master of Drunken Boxing

Joanne Schrodinger "Trickshot Jo"
Sharpshooter of the Krunch Krew
Strong Independent Black Woman Who Don't Need No Man

---

It's Complicated
John Krabbe "The Vice"
Professional Bounty Hunter
Last captured pirate worth 25,000,000 Belli
First encountered in South Blue aboard his ship, the King Crab. Battled Red Rums to get their bounties using his customized warship the King Crab, incredibly strong and resilient, battles with both a sword and special armor with a crab claw vice. Engaged primarily with Fitness Feya until his first mate went mad with power. Battles alongside the Red Rums to defeat Shotaro Saban, losing his trademark armor and weapon in the process. After the battle, let's the pirates go without further conflict, even giving them a log pose.
Quirks: Though devious and with legitimately sound plans, always ends up accidentally telling the enemy what the plan is, either by monologuing or forgetting the microphone is still on. Frequently forgets about his claw and tries to use it for things only a normal hand can do.

[User]
"Oilburn" Slick Drake
Amsterdam@yoshua171

Slick had followed along without saying much, mostly marveling at the cannons and guns all over the island as they made their way to their arena. When they finally made it they introduced to their opponents, Slick scanning all of them to see how worthy they were of being art. The one in the gas mask intrigued him the most, Slick wore a gas mask while making his art. Maybe he was an artist too? He would have to be looked into further. Doggy went off to grab some popcorn, Slick didn't bother following. He was going to get whatever Doggy left behind, he would be the first to fight just so he could get it out of the way as soon as possible.

Food Pyramid lady tried to rope him into exercise, but Slick just ignored her this time. The game of dodgeball that was about to happen was much more interesting. Sure enough, a few seconds later Doggy had tossed his popcorn to Slick and was the first up to bat against the dodgeball lady. Slick spread a bit of butter across the popcorn and began chowing down as the match started. Wrench man tried to nudge him towards Feya, but he smoothly sidestepped it without even taking his feet off the ground. On an unrelated note, the ground where he had been was suddenly much more slippery then it had been.

And so the match began, once the orchestra of explosions sounded off Slick suddenly knew that Doggy was about to lose. It didn't help how lazy Doggy was being about it, only beginning to try halfway through the match. If he had gone full force from the beginning he might have had a chance, but the motion of the ocean was just too strong once he had let it get going. As the match continued, if anyone bothered looking at Slick they would have noticed something very concerning. He looked serious. For the first time since he had joined the crew, he looked like a sane person who was taking a situation seriously. As Mag crawled around etching arrows into the ground, he threw the bag of popcorn behind him and sighed. "Lilliana. Caesar is going to need medical attention in a minute. Get ready."

Sure enough, Caesar wasn't able to account for the powers of the beku beku woman and was destroyed by the erratic pattern of the cannonball. As Caesar slumped forwards Slick shook his head quietly and looked at Mag neutrally. "Not bad, but you're a one trick pony." Slick walked towards the hole that had been left when the ball was lost at the beginning of the match, returning after half a minute with a cannonball in hand. The cannonball still had an arrow etched into it. "In a real fight you would have been demolished. You need to be able to leave a mark on the cannonballs you want to affect with your Devil Fruit." If anyone bothered looking at Slick in shock and awe, he would just smirk. "What? I'm not completely insane. Just enough so that I can make my works of art."

Slick walked towards Mag with a grin on his face as he dropped the ball at her feet, looking her in the eye as he cracked his neck. "You're going to be my next work of art. And I'll even paint in your style. Dodgeball."

[Assistant]
Oof.
Lifting @Old Amsterdam and talking directly to @Spiffy

Bonekid stayed silent as he watched the dodgeball game go down, with the occasional chuckle occurring because he heard a funny insult whether it was aimed at Caesar or Mag. He had to hand it to both sides, they knew how to give a serious insult. Bonekid had assumed eveything was going fine until he heard the same crunch that indicated Caesar's arm snapping, following up with a heavy wince. By the Gods, that sounded like it hurt once the pain set in. Bonekid stood up as that happened, but he didn't walk over onto the field and cause Caesar to immediately lose.

Well, he did walk onto the field when he saw Caesar slump over in the end. He ran over to Caesar's side and patted the man's back softly before placing his hand on the ground. "Kojo-Kojo-Lift." He calmly said as vines lifted up from underneath Caesar, carrying him upwards off the ground and slowly weaving their way towards the stands with him, specifically towards Lilliana. Bonekid walked beside his makeshift stretcher.

"We were bound to lose one match. Let's not this one loss discourage us. Caesar's loss proved that we must keep our guard and expect the unexpected."

"Feya is right. If we let this discourage us, we won't be making it out of here with any losses under our belt. Caesar did his best, and we need to treat him like he did. The odds were stacked against him." With that, Bonekid turned to Captain Boone and unsheathed his blade. "Cedric, we're ready to go in if need be." Bonekid placed his sword on his shoulder as he spoke to his captain, the over sized nature of the blade really standing out against the rest of the kid. Then he noticed Slick. "Err... Slick's got this first, then."

[User]
Smith kept an eye out whilst walking alongside Dirk atop the fortress wall. Well, at least he presumably was keeping an eye out. Kind of hard to tell behind that black face mask. Actually, was he keeping an eye out? Honestly he could just be sleep walking. No, no he definitely wasn't sleep walking. Smith pulled out a small snack, an energy bar, and ate it right in front of Dirk... Through the mask... Without taking it off... What the fu

"Down!" Smith harshly ordered, spotting a Buccaneer pirate rounding the corner. The ninja had practically vanished into the shadows cast by the wall. Meanwhile the pirate strolled about nonchalant, whistling while he slung a rifle over his shoulder. He passed by the door to a tower on the corner of the fortress, when... Clunk! Smith emerged from the shadows and clocked the man in the back of the head, knocking him out cold. "Need to be quick and not make any sound," the Krunch first mate commented. "So we don't alert the place that there's more of us not with the group. So are you going to do something about that guy behind you?"

Oh. Oh there was a guy behind Dirk.

---

---

"If I'm not mistaken, that lad was one of your strongest men," Runch commented to captain Cedric. "That ability of hers is quite formidable. It makes her chosen contest blatantly unfair." The cereal man had no sign of his usual jolly nature. He was taking this deadly serious.

"Agreed." Hachirou grunted. "But Caesar injured her. Further performance will suffer."

"Boomboomboomboom! First victory for we, the Buccaneer Pirates! Go ahead and take a break, Launcher! You've earned-"

"You're going to be my next work of art. And I'll even paint in your style. Dodgeball." Bullet Bill turned his head to stare at the Red Rum who had interrupted and stepped onto the game court, even retrieving the lost cannonball. He ruffled his mustache in annoyance. "Ye'll be needin' t'wait until 'er round comes up again. Launcher is deservin' o'a good rest after all tha'."

Launcher was next to speak up. "I'm good for another round," she announced to the whole hall. "The undefeated dodgeball queen doesn't turn down a challenge! If I took a little rest just because of a little internal bleeding, how would that reflect on you, captain?"

Bill grit his teeth and groaned, but ultimately agreed. "Fine. It'd be a pain to setup a new challenge only t'put up the dodgeball court again anyway."

"Taking bets! Place your bets here!"

"Popcorn! Peanuts! Drinks!"

The Buccaneers hollered and cheered for another game, eager to see their beloved navigator take on another of the newcomers so soon after beating her first opponent. Launcher grinned at Slick, then spat out some more blood. "You're pretty astute, but you're not entirely correct." Slowly she lifted her right index finger, before letting it dramatically point to the cannonball in Slick's hands. "I don't need a mark to affect objects with my devil fruit at all! That was simply a 'return' vector! Anything I touch, anything at all, I can imbue with a vector to send it flying in any direction I like! At any speed I like! And anything that I touch I can remove that vector to cancel its speed! So you figured out how I returned the ball back to my hands, so what? You have no hope of dodging my throws and you have no hope of hitting me! Not when I can instantly stop its motion to count it as a catch! You're nowhere near as strong as the little puppy I just sent to the pound, so what hope do you have?" Launcher reached into the bosom of her bikini and drew out a pair of sunglasses, placing them dramatically on her face before taking a pose. "I am Mag Launcher! The Dodgeball Queen of the Buccaneer Pirates! Marines far and wide fear my abilities, crushed to paste beneath my powerful spikes! Those pitiful recruits that come to me for training run away, screaming for their lives! Now! PLAY! DODGEBALL!"

A whistle sounded across the hall, signalling the beginning of the game. One of the refs called out. "Match 2, Launcher vs. Slick! Possession, Slick! Begin!"


[System]
Guard Corporal
◤≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡◥24 | Reformed Human | Female
◇Physical Description◇
 Thundering Cloud (Cloud to her friends) stands at 5 feet and eleven inches tall and with a build that looks like it may have been softer once. Nowadays, all the softness has been chiseled away, and while she isn't flat by any means, her build leans more towards boyish. Her skin is a light coffee color, topped with neck-length curly black hair that she usually keeps in a tight bun. Despite her build, her facial features remain soft, and she has expressive green eyes that always seem to be slightly widened.

She has a small scar that runs alongside and above her left eyebrow, as well as a gunshot scar just a few inches above her navel.

◇Personality Elements◇
* Loyal to her friends and superiors.
* Open-hearted and minded.
* Still believes there's good in the world.
* Distrustful of those from outside the Equestrian colonies.
* Haunted by memories.
* Light smoker.
* Terrified of centipedes.
* Has conflicted feelings about the re-education programs, however she understands it's the only solution so far.
* Secretly a bit of a sadist. (There's just something about pulling the trigger and dropping a threat that brings her a measure of peace.)

◇Biography◇
 Cloud was born into a military family, to a mother that worked at ONI (US Office of Naval Intelligence) and a father who was stationed in Florida at the time of The Rending. She spent most of her time with her father, living and going to school wherever he was stationed. She had trouble making friends, and as such was mostly withdrawn and more concerned with being independent. By the time she was 13, she could cook and clean for herself, and her father had given her an M1911 handgun for her 14th birthday for her to own when she "got older."

She only knew of her mother because her father had told her. Apparently, she'd chosen a career at ONI over the family life.

Cloud had just turned 13 when the Equestrians made first contact, and her life became a blur at that point. Her father was redeployed every few months as US Command struggled to address the novel issue that foreign entities could now teleport directly into their cities. Unsurprisingly, she found herself fascinated by the Equestrians and their magic.

She was 14 and home alone when the world was plunged into terror. When the screams died down enough outside, she waited for her father. For anyone, really, but nobody came, and after several days of hiding indoors, she was forced to leave the house to survive. She took the gun her dad gave her for her 13th birthday and braved the horrors of the outside world.

Cloud could never have prepared herself for what she'd witness. She kept to herself, spending most of her time hiding and scavenging when it was quiet. She avoided other kids as well, but she couldn't stay hidden forever. a month before she was found by the Equestrians, her little hideaway was discovered by a band of looters. She managed to escape with her life, having to shoot one of the deranged adults to escape. The rest of the group vengefully pursued her for a couple of weeks before giving up the hunt.

When the Equestrian search parties looking for survivors found her, she was in depressing shape. Malnourished, traumatized from months of a living nightmare, and desensitized to the horror.

After reform and re-education, Cloud decided she wanted to help the Equestrians reclaim her world. At least, that's her goal. She managed to get into the Guard and not a single step higher.

Cloud's 21st birthday rolled around and she joined the Guard and started training. Initially, she didn't quite take to fighting head-on with a spear, but in time she got the hang of it and started her service. She quickly found to enjoy the few times she was deployed outside of the settlement, even though she came back with a bullet in her stomach the last time.

Over the years, the memories have started to trickle back in. She remembers "Charlotte" but she doesn't know who's name it is yet. She remembers she had a family, but she cannot recall anything about her mother. She knows, at least, that her father was a soldier. She doesn't remember why a handgun was among her possessions, but she's also inexplicably fond of it. She deals with the memories as they come.

Currently, she has around three years of service in the Guard, and has some experience fighting mutated horrors and bandits, although she's more used to helping keep the peace. Overall, her service record is quite good, although she has made the occasional slip-up in the past.

◇Skills and Talents◇
 Thundering Cloud is a soldier above all. She knows how to read a situation and make the right call, and has a solid mind for tactics. She's proficient with the use of the spear and her handgun. She also knows how to survive outside the settlement for extended amounts of time, an instinct retained from before her reformation.

◇Relics, Spells, and Techniques◇
 Cloud has her "survivor's endurance." She survived The Rending and the months after by her lonesome, and just when things seemed bleakest and death seemed to call her name, she pulled through and survived. In dire situations, Cloud can keep herself extraordinarily calm or tank through serious injuries (although she has her limits), and if pushed too far she might do something irrational in her desperation.

 She also retained small bits of her paranoia from the time of The Rending, and many can attest to how difficult it is to catch her by surprise. She has a knack for noticing things at the last second or catching particularly small sounds.

◇Gear◇

-Guard Armor sized for a human.
-Respirator
-Worn belly rig (She uses most of the pockets and magazine pouches for random stuff, but she is also currently carrying two magazines for her M1911
-Sturdy spear
-A Trusty M1911 Handgun chambered for .45 ACP.
-Pack of old cigarettes (currently has four)
-Slightly rusty Ka-Bar bayonet (Usable as a backup weapon/utility knife.)
-Soldier's rucksack for whenever her duties take her beyond the settlement's boundaries (Bedroll, compass, weapon maintenance kit, journal, water canteen.)
-3 pairs of adjustable cuffs. (Usable on humans/ponies)
-1 Unicorn horn-dampener (for apprehending those dang unicorns)

Sorry for jumping the gun on you like that. I had these unshakable assumptions that there'd probably be a decent amount of human military stuff left over but I was wrong and it's fixed now hopefully.

[User]
Beeline | Bellbrooke --> Bellbrooke Reform School

---

A pale green earth pony watched as Beeline fiddled with the straps on his armor, repeatedly tightening and loosening the bindings holding the plates in place. "Where ya headed so soon, Bee?"

"T'the reform school," Beeline grunted after a few seconds, satisfied with the fit of his armor. It wasn't until he was deep into his coat that his roommate asked a follow up question.

"What for?"

"A job." He looked up from his coat's zipper. "Didn't say what fer, jus' told me the pay was good. Kinda job only a pony o' my caliber could perform." He slung his rifle over his shoulder, the hunk of mismatched metals fitting into a pair of loops on his saddlebags. "Figure there ain't nothin' wrong with havin' a look, right?"

"But what about the artifact? You know, what we all came here for? You're still going to help us, right?"

"Look. Fer all our sake, this magical, wish-granting whoozimawhatsit'd better be hearsay some merchant cooked up ta drive business out 'ere," he said as he adjusted his hat, "'Cause I reckon if it is a real artifact, that can grant wishes..." With a derisive snort, Beeline stepped backward, through the doorway and out into the hall. "I don't want any part in it. How do ya surmise Earth got the way it is?"

Beeline left while his friend was still distracted. He knew nothing he could say would dissuade the scavenger. The Artifact as he, and many others he'd come in contact with, had begun to call it, dominated every conversation. It was an obsession. Beeline could sense every ounce of it, and the simultaneous desire to feed upon and distance oneself from that gross mass had bred nothing more than resentment for his host.

He needed somebody new to latch onto. Preferably, somebody that wouldn't lead him into a pit of greed and betrayal.

It didn't take long for Beeline to cross the gap between the walls of Bellbrooke and the reform school. "Hello?" he called into the lobby as he shook the snow from his legs, "I'm here to see the headmaster."

[Assistant]
Crepuscular Rays
Location: Bellbrooke Reform School
Interacting with: (Following Beeline @Ramzam

---

After the tip, Rays set off again, this time headed for the old human castle that had been re-purposed into a reform school for reeducating human youths. He cast notice-me-not once he was outside the adventurer's hall and kept it active as he traversed the city streets and the path to the school.

He reached the front door just as a brown unicorn called out into the entryway, "Hello? I'm here to see the headmaster."

"What a coincidence, so am I."

Rays allowed his notice-me-not spell to fail as he approached the other unicorn from behind. After a quick prestidigitation to clear the snow of his legs, he joined Beeline in the old castle's entry hall. Spotting a bench, he pulled out a book and sat down to wait for their presence to be noticed by the school's denizens.

[User]
Cloud's eyes remained on the snowy horizon, not allowing herself to be distracted by the climate and general sounds of merriment coming from the town behind her. Unlike a few of her fellow guards, Cloud relished in her position, and found a sort of solace in pacing the walls, making sure that all of those behind her were safe and free to go about their day.

Her quiet observation was interrupted, however, when the speakers on the wall crackled to life and a gentle, mechanical voice called out.

"Guard Shift 2 will commence wall duty. Sections 3 and 5 will report to castle walls for patrol duty."

Cloud shouldered her spear, and then heard a groan from her left. One of her fellow guards, a maroon unicorn who held his spear to his side with magic, had a rather sour expression. He turned to her, frown turning slightly upwards.

"Is that us, Cloud?"

Of course, Cloud already knew what section she was on, but she smirked, making it a point to motion towards a sign on the guard's side of the wall with her spear. The sign hidden from outside view by the crenellations on the wall, and displayed the number "5" in neat, black paint.

"You already know, Battlement. Off to the castle we go."

The unicorn groaned again, although he did it as he got moving. Of course, Thundering Cloud knew Towering Battlements well. His groaning and moaning was more for humor than actual complaining.

And so, they, along with several other guards, a mix of reformed humans and ponies, a group with a drastic slant towards the equine persuasion.

Secretly, Cloud enjoyed patrolling the castle walls the most. Sure, the Reform School was behind her, but to her, the school held mostly positive memories. She hadn't been one of those problem children, and she never quite understood the desire to run away from the safety of the castle walls.

Whether this was a testament to her prospects as a city guard or to the Equestrian mind-clearing spells, she'd never know.

Another half hour passed, and she was happily looking over the town from the castle's high walls. From here, she could see the whole town and the forests past it, gaze into the ocean that Bellbrooke was nestled against. She sighed, leaning against her spear slightly, eyes captivated by the constant rhythm of the waves.

Someone tapped her in the side with a spear, and she jumped slightly.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," came the voice of Battlements, smirking like a bandit.

"Stuff it, you know it's beautiful out here."

The gates at the castle walls opened to receive someone, and immediately she snapped back into attention. She did her best to look "guardly", hoping the helmet would hide her flustering for being caught at ease like this. Curiously, she looked to see who had entered, and when it was a brown unicorn, she looked back out. He was an adventurous looking type. The kind of individual she'd seen enter the Reform school before.

For the life of her, she couldn't understand why the headmaster was so keen on bringing those kinds of people into the school.

And so she remained on watch.


[System]
Rank (If applicable): Commander

Species: Sangheili

Appearance (for his armor, at least):
Height: 7'10"

Skills:Vael bears the title of a blademaster, and with good reason. He also has general combat experience befitting his many years of experience, and has a long history of leadership.

Preferred Weapons/Equipment:
* Type-1 energy sword
* Type-25 plasma rifle
* Type-57 carbine
* Active Camouflage

Background: Vael 'Virisusai is an old and experienced warrior, having already held the rank of major at the start of the Human-Covenant war. For him, the war had been an opportunity both to strive for the honor and glory of victory, and to serve the will of the gods. Early in his career, there was nothing that had set him apart from other ambitious Sangheili warriors. He did not have any particularly exceptional skills, nor an enlightened strategic mind. What he did have was the ability to survive, and to learn every lesson he could take in from every battle and skirmish.

Over the course of the war, every facet of Vael's skill as a warrior was honed to a fine edge. From simple aim, to his ability to keep a calm mind in the chaos of battle, Vael became a more and more deadly presence on any battlefield. Victories, and especially defeats, shaped his judgment and leadership ability just as much as his personal combat skills. Like many of his kind, he preferred to kill in close quarters, especially with a blade. In both fighting against the Humans and countless hours of training and sparring among other Sangheili, he learned the intricacies of using a blade in a variety of contexts, and against different opponents. Given his people's respect for swordsmanship, it was this accomplishment, perhaps more than the others, that most helped him to ascend the ranks of the Covenant. In the end, it was not accident, nor fate, nor genetics bestowing natural talent that created the warrior Vael became. It was pure, earned experience.

In the closing years of the Human-Covenant war Vael had ascended all the way up to the rank of Zealot, and in the final months, he had remained on High Charity after accepting an even more honored position. He was present when High Charity arrived at Installation 05…and present when the San'Shyuum wholly betrayed the Sangheili. Being stationed on the Covenant Holy City, he was a part of some of the thickest of fighting against Jiralhanae-led Covenant forces, then later the Flood as it infected the city. Ultimately, he did escape the parasite and went on to join the Fleet of Retribution to cleanse Earth of the Flood. From there, he took part in the Battle of the Ark, which finally put an end to Truth's Covenant.

Following the end of the war, many Sangheili returned to their homes, to their clans. Many of those allied with one faction or another, but Vael did not do so immediately. His life had been one of honor and war, but most of all service to a faith he now knew to be a lie. Shortly after the Battle of the Ark, he secured a small ship and simply…left. He was not seen in Swords of Sanghelios space, nor that of the UNSC. With the exception of a single re-fueling run on Squala, it was as if he had vanished from civilized space.

Then, after a year's absence, Vael suddenly returned to Sanghelios itself. He pledged his service and loyalty to the Swords of Sanghelios. Given his history, he rose quickly through the ranks. However, those who knew him before the war would have saw some changes in him. He was more reserved, both in terms of speech, and in a more cautious, calculated style of leadership. Perhaps the most notieable change is that, while he still kills his enemies without hesitation, he no longer shows the same eagerness to take glory in battle. He no longer demonstrates his pride in his kills, nor intentionally seeks the most challenging of foes. Despite all of this, his effectiveness has not diminished. He continues to be an honored warrior among the Sangheili, but for those who knew him before, one cannot help but to wonder what else has changed within him. Despite this, he has been chosen for the Aegis Team as a Sangheili warrior with enough skill and experience to be comparable to a Spartan.

[User]
For the last two days, Aviza had done what she could to make use of the free time upon the Mammoth that they had all been granted. During this time, she had ran a full inspection on all of her gear to ensure it was still in top condition, or near it. Along side this, she also spent time with her fellow squad-mates, conversing with them and getting to know them better, beyond the soldiers they were. During the day she would patrol the exterior of the Mammoth, occasionally stopping by the interior to inquire on how everyone was doing. During the night, she would run system checks on the Mammoth and gather detailed information about their surroundings for future reference.

It was on the second night that Spartan Aviza had decided to actually allow herself to rest, she had found a dark area of the Mammoth that was away from prying eyes. Propped up against a few pillows, and some bags filled with something soft. Aviza had managed to drift off into a deep, relaxing, dreamless sleep that was held for many hours before being jolted awake from the sudden stop of the Mammoth. The message about unidentified Covenant ships being spotted on the horizon drew Aviza's full attention.

Once fully awake and ready for any trouble ahead of her, Aviza assumed that the squad would gather upon the command deck of the Mammoth. With a quick pace, she headed through the Mammoth, heading towards her destination. Once she arrived, she found that a few members from Aegis had already gathered, Vael being among them.

"No, there have not yet been any additional orders given, Ben." said Spartan Aviza as she approached the group that had gathered around Vael, only now appearing in the entryway behind them. "I am here to change that though." Aviza maneuvered past the present members of the squad and was now positioned next to Vael, upon his immediate right. "At the moment, I assume we do not know if those those ships and their crew are hostile, but we should assume so until proven otherwise. Everyone that is not part of Team Aegis is to stay inside of the Mammoth and hold position until we give the all clear. We should head in the direction of the ships on foot and use the cover of night to our advantage, do not engage any targets unless absolutely necessary. Let's move out, keep your head on a swivel."

Without wasting any time, Aivza would head in the direction of the nearest exit of the Mammoth, and would shortly there after be out on the desert sands.

[Assistant]
Spartan Lucas Ryker

During the interim between their escape from the initial swarm of Sentinels and their sudden stop, Lucas let his old Black Ops cell training take over. He had claimed a space on top of a couple of longer crates and spent the time he wasn't training and cleaning his weapons sleeping, catching every extra wink of rest he could. This had the capability to turn into an extended operation without any warning depending on how well they moved up on the rendezvous point for the Rebels and Brutes undetected and he wanted to be able to stay awake for as long as he could should the need arise. He spent a lot of time working on his form with the wrist mounted energy dagger, familiarizing himself with the fastest way to both activate it and deactivate it for maximum stealth and surprise.

When the Mammoth halted without any prior warning, the seemingly dead-asleep SPARTAN-IV rolled off the side furthest from the entrance, an energy dagger coming free of it's sheathe and his silenced magnum coming up as he rested his pistol-holding wrist on the dagger one. However, he stood down and holstered the magnum as he sheathed the dagger as the driver made their announcement, retrieving his gear from where he'd stowed it nearby along with a few extra clips before joining the others. He arrived after Aviza, but he was able to hear her orders as he walked up, so he simply nodded and then turned and jumped off one side of the mammoth. A flare of his jumpjets slowed his landing and he drew his DMR and started sweeping. "Fire Team Lead, recommend moving in pairs. Keep everyone honest and keep us all covered."

[User]
Vael 'Virisusai and Shih

---

Vael moved down through the Mammoth, heading out down the vehicle ramp one he acquired his weapons. He took his usual loadout, though this time carried one of the sentinel beams in his hands as well. The battery would not last beyond a fight or two, but it would be effective while it had power.

For a moment, Vael regarded the pair of warthogs on the magnetic rail at the top of the vehicle bay. On foot, it would likely take hours to get within range to observe the ships, and anything beneath them. Though, since the entire team could not make use of the warthogs, bringing them along would not improve that pace unless they were willing to split up. To send the warthogs ahead to scout was a potential strategy, though the drivers would need to make sure not to get so close that their engines could be heard. The heavy guns would be useful when the fight did break out, but to go on foot would ensure the best chance for stealth. There were strong advantages and disadvantages for both choices. Aviza had ordered to move on foot, and Vael did not have any strong reason to disagree with that order.

Vael moved out alongside Ryker and turned his gaze towards the horizon. In contrast to the heat under the daylight sun, the night in the desert was actually fairly cold. Although, Vael could not help but to spare a thought for how Sarcophagus, which was a complete shell around its star, could even have a night cycle to begin with.

At the same time, the voice of the AI, Shih, came over the team's radios simultaneously. "From the Mammoth's sensors, I can detect an SDV-class corvette and a second CCS-class battlecruiser , in addition to the one we can see. These are almost certainly the Brutes our rebels are supposedly dealing with them. I can also say that the ships are holding over some sort of structure, but I can't say what just yet. We'll need to get close enough to see it with our own optics."