[System]
III: The Empress
Age: 16 (Starting Second Year at Warakuma High)

Appearance: High School Drama Queen

Leiko's sense of style radiates a potent aura of sophistication and rebellion. Eschewing her school jacket and ribbon, she chooses to wear an expensive, imported apricot coloured Angora sweater, along with the standard Warakuma skirt, and black stockings that reach just to her skirt's hem. She also wears specially customed rosewater perfume, the fragrance of which is noted by many who meet her for the first time. Her auburn hair is naturally wavy, but she tames it with straightening products every morning before school. Her use of makeup, whilst minimal, is effective in giving off an air of class.
Her wardrobe is mostly influenced by European fashion, and with the sage advice of her fashionista friend Saya.

Arcana: Empress

Personality: Brash and outspoken, Leiko has a powerful aura that few people can deny in her presence. For this reason, she is often found to be the ringleader of her group of friends, and with her confidence, is also the self-proclaimed star of the Drama Club. She is either sweet, or very sharp and scathing depending on who she speaks to, and due to her snobby nature, many classmates are either afraid of her or try desperately to fall in her good graces. However, with power comes a price, as Leiko sometimes doubts that the people close to her really care about her at all...

Equipment/Skills: Wooden Spear (A prop from drama club, later upgrades to real spears.)

Background: Born and raised in a fairly affluent family, Leiko had always treated other people like they were different from her. Beneath her, in a sense. For this reason, she was met with hostility from her classmates, and for a long time, Leiko was isolated from her peers. However, in her middle school years, Leiko finally snapped when she was confronted with a particularly vicious school bully, and rather than suffer in silence, she fought back, to the surprise of many. This caused her popularity to soar, and soon enough, Leiko had gained a group of friends and the reverence of the school, which then carried her forward into High School. Now, she is considered one of the most popular girls in school, but only accredited through her wealth, and her intimidating demeanour and reputation. Deep down, she suspects that her 'friends' aren't really her friends at all, but she chooses not to dwell on it, instead focusing on her studies and her acting hobbies. She is also currently engaged via her parent's wishes, and she is set to marry when Leiko graduates from High School.
She has heard about the new rumours circulating around school, but pays them no mind, and merely thinks its a case of delinquents playing too many violent video games.

Since the start of The True Self, Leiko has shown her enthusiasm and commitment in her role as Drama Club President, going as far as leading the recruitment campaign by herself, with some relative success from the male demographic. She has a strong work ethic in regards to the club, but shows doubt in her leadership abilities, particularly whilst under the scrutiny of her fellow clubmates, such as an arrogant male named Masatomo Owada.

Bonus fact: She absolutely despises the name Leiko, and insists on being addressed as Hamada by everyone, with the exception of her close family.

Persona: Titania

Appearance:

Abilities: Diarama
Garula
Tentarafoo
Non-Persona Users
Name: Ueno Saya

Age: 16

Appearance: "Stop frowning so much, Hama-chan!"

Saya is considerably tall for a girl, standing at 5"9, with long legs that are the envy of many fellow female classmates. Both her eyes and hair are an amethyst colour, and she has a creamy smooth skin complexion that she maintains with a strict beauty regime. She is highly fashionable and as such, always wears the latest brands, and is considered as something of a trendsetter amongst her friends. She sports the standard Warakuma uniform at school, and wears a silver necklace with matching silver loop earrings.

Arcana: N/A

Personality: Saya is upbeat, cheerful, and quite playful in her mannerisms, always finding a good excuse to make light of a situation even in the darkest times. She is a very active and sporty person, vastly preferring to keep herself active over being stuck in a room with musty books. She is easily flustered by members of the opposite sex, and even more so by figures of authority, but she tries not to show it.
She is notorious for being the only girl in school to be able to tease Leiko Hamada and get away with it.

Equipment/Skills: Saya is surprisingly quite a good cook, having learned from her mother who owns one of the oldest-standing restaurants in Warakuma. She is also athletic and rather gifted over quite a few sports. Her academics are rather lacking however...

Background: Born and bred in one of the most traditional families in Warakuma, Saya has never known life outside her hometown, nor does she care to. She is expected to work at her family's restaurant, and finally take over when her parents retire, but Saya has other plans, a fact which she makes known to her own flesh and blood, as well as the people who know her well enough. Still undecided in her path in life, she chooses to take it easy and see where her whimsy takes her.
Growing up, Saya was quite the insecure girl, which made her an easy target for bullying. When she entered middle school, she was particularly targeted by a gang of girls who made it their mission to make her life a living hell. She became increasingly depressed and socially withdrawn, leading to the point where she almost gave up on life altogether.
However, after one certain incident with her tormentor, she inadvertently got pushed into Leiko Hamada, a notoriously aloof and socially awkward rich girl. To the surprise of herself, and the growing audience around them, Leiko confronted the bully, which culminated in the girl infamously fighting them off.

Since this incident, Saya has stuck to Leiko like glue, inwardly desiring to pay her back for what she perceived as saving her life that day. At Leiko's side, she was no longer picked on or hated, which gave her the confidence to allow her true personality to shine through. Leiko is entirely unaware of the depths of Saya's admiration however, barely remembering that Saya was there at all doing the confrontation, but Saya chooses not to be bothered by it.

Since the events of The True Self began, Saya has shown an interest in Archery, going as far as joining the club despite her lack of knowledge or talent in the sport. It has also been established that she has feelings for the Club President Rokoru Ishiara, and is determined to win his heart, no matter what.
Character Themes
Leiko's Theme
Shadow Leiko's Theme
Shadow Dungeon Theme
Shadow Battle Theme
Saya's Theme
I'm just gonna be stealing all these from Touhou

[User]
Noboru Yamamoto-A Crushing Blow

Noboru nodded to Rui's suggestion and ducked down, dashing forward and around the throne. He kept ducking, avoiding all the hits. Twisting his feet, he turned and ran in towards the back. He drew back his fist.

Haha! This is gonna be really really fun. Ready.. set, Hoo! Ha!

Noboru turned 360 degrees, driving his fist in towards the Machine. He twisted it in further, digging in. He yelled out to Kami and Rui.

 Hey! How was that? Any response from that sweet blow?

[Assistant]
The Kingdom of Me - Town Centre
19/4/2015 Sunday

The engine on the back of the Shadow exploded, causing it to scream in both anger and agony. The arms on the back were no longer moving, the villagers were being crushed under the throne. This was their chance.

"It's time we strike", stated Kami.

All-Out Attack
> Yes
> No

> Yes

On Rui's orders the team charged down the Shadow and did as much damage as they could, creating a skull-shaped dust cloud. Pretty soon it was sent flying back and the entire throne broke apart, leaving the 'king' laying on the ground in the ruins of his own throne... If Matthew had anything to say, this was his chance, they had a good minute or so before the shadow would recover.

[User]
Shizuka Otonashi || Warakuma Mall || April 19 SUN
Upon Alexei revealed that he was indeed a student from Warakuma High, the timid female flashed a gentle smile towards him and giggled ever so softly, which was barely audible. "Fufu.. I suppose you're right. And that's alright, I-I tend not to stand out in school so it would not be a surprise to me. I-I'm only a first year student, after all..." This was true, while "Shizu-chan" may be quite known to the regulars of the cafe she works at, Shizuka on the other hand had a small circle of friends, her simple appearance doesn't draw attention, and she wasn't involved in activities such as clubs at the school. But Shizuka was contented with her life currently, at least she thinks she was contented.

"Go-Goodness..! That's quite a number of skills you have, I'll be sure to keep this card for future reference." After a glance at the card she was given, she picks out her wallet from the purse on her shoulder to slip the card into one of its compartments. While her house was in a tip top shape due to the heavy maintenance by her servants, having someone to call in case of repair emergency would be pretty handy in the future.

"..., where is your workplace at? Maybe I can drop-by and help you with stuff if you need it." Another generous offer from the larger man but this time, the raven haired female became full on panic mode internally, but if one were observant enough, they could see how awkwardly smiley she was and her eyes widened behind the dark strands. Her hands swiftly moved this time to make sure the bags of fabrics were all cradled in her arms as she responded, "T-Th-That's an awfully generous o-offer, Dragunov-san bu-but I mustn't trouble you a-any further... A-Ah! I-I must be back home be-before sundown, I-I apologize for my sudden leave but i-it was pleasant to be a-acquainted with you." Shizuka offered a quick bow of gratitude before she brisk walked away from the scene, tripping slightly, and towards the taxi station. She truly appreciated how much of a gentleman Alexei was, but she couldn't afford to risk anyone to know her other self at work.

[Assistant]
Accepting the Fool King

Matt had no idea what was going on anymore, heck he didn't understand what was going on in the beginning but now there were people fighting the thing that claimed to be him. Wait wasn't one of the guys Noboru? and the others were at the hospital with him… No this wasn't the time to think about stuff like that, they were fighting because of him… because he couldn't… wouldn't accept who he was.

The thing they were fighting was no imposter was it… But how could he admit to being so terrible anybody would want to deny being like that. No thats just running away.
As if it was all predetermined the group knocked down the shadow in an all out attack, it was down for the count and the perfect time to confront it, no that isn't the right word.

"stop it damn it." Matt said as he got up.
"I….your not… damn it" Matt started to mumble "i'm so ashamed… to admit it… I don't want for it to be like.. damn it" Matt walked over to the shadow as it reverted to its human appearance.
"I never thought i'd have to face myself so literally…. I've been lying to myself and others all this time" Matt took another pause and deep breath.
"Everything you said is true.. at the beginning i just wanted to be accepted… but being a country bumpkin i couldn't live it down… no matter how good i was at things it never changed how people looked at me… like some fool, so i lied and pretended to be fine with it… pretended it would all be ok as long as i was accepted by others and people would listen to me"
biting his lip Matt continued.
"But it wasn't enough… I wanted more.. i wanted to be more than a fool… I wanted to be something greater so I came to Japan where I would be a smart foreigner and use it as levi"

"I admit it ok… you're me and i'm you… but this is wrong.. we can't dominate people to be accepted, after this lets find a real way to be accepted by others." Matt finally fully accepted the shadow. no himself.

and the shadow smiled as it faded and took on a new form.

Matt fell down to his knees again and turned his head to the group that rescued him.
"sorry to cause you all so much trouble"

[User]
-Sunday 19th April 2015-

Leiko Hamada: Warakuma Mall

As soon as Leiko turned her attentions on the new guy, Kasumi was quick to excuse himself from the situation, making some halfhearted comments about missing the next drama session before swiftly leaving, to her own chagrin. Here she was, standing up for him and this was her just reward: left to pick up the pieces.

Exit: stage left, she thought dryly as she watched Sieghardt disappear into the crowds before once again focusing on the one that caused all this interruption. It wouldn't be long however, before yet another zealous Drama candidate appeared into the fray, leaving Leiko absolutely exasperated. It was like she was being hounded by her own club today.

Maki Moritomi was most definitely a lively fellow, everything from his mannerisms to his speech, and Leiko couldn't tell whether this was a virtue or a curse. She forced a pleasant smile when he arrived (although her eyes hardened slightly at the careless use of her name), and met his carefree question with blunt honesty. "Not particularly. I was purchasing materials for Drama Club, but luck appears not to be on my side. One of our members has been left quite upset from the comments of this person, and quite frankly, I want nothing more than to go home and run myself a hot bath. Perhaps then, I shall have the chance to enjoy myself."

Leiko let out a sigh of relief once she was done with her tirade, and true to her word, left to finish her purchases and collect her friends before returning back home.

---

Saya Ueno: Warakuma Mall

Saya was relieved to hear Rokoru's indifferent response, the expression evident on her face as she felt the tension release from her facial muscles. "Oh no, no I don't mind at all! I was worried you might mind, since you know, you're the Club President, and I'm you know, nobody. Well, not nobody, but compared to you, I'm-"

Saya was well aware that word vomit was pouring out her mouth at terrific speed, so she quickly refocused the conversation with an easy smile. "Yeah, I'm gonna get these and maybe some other stuff. You won't mind helping me carry these after I buy them, right Senpai? After all, it's in your contract~" She reminded him with a teasing wink before heading over to checkout, positively glowing. It was entirely possible that people from Archery had seen them but she didn't care. Senpai didn't care, so neither did she. Let them talk.

If this is what came of winning, Saya needed to hit those bulls-eyes more often.


[System]
Gender: Female

Age: 16

Appearance:

Weapons:

Personality:
 Lillian's the last person you'd ever expect to be a hunter. It's a miracle Lillian can even walk, considering she falls over air every ten minutes. While she tries, Lillian tends to ruin everything her small fingers come across. That art project you spent weeks perfecting? She probably broke it five minutes ago. Disasters seem to haunt her every moment, whether it be bad luck or the fact that she's just a complete klutz. It doesn't stop her from trying incredibly hard for everything to be perfect though. In fact, she spends every waking moment of her life focusing on making things go by smoothly. Lillian's determination and will to keep going are two of her strongest assets.

 A complete goof ball, Lillian has no trouble getting people to smile, the only talent she seems to have. Beaming with positive energy, Lillian alway tries her best to turn any depressing moment into a cheerful one. People often find themselves annoyed with her because she constantly tries to make everyone happy, especially when they want to be alone. She genuinely cares about other people though and wishes the best for them. To Lillian, even if it's pretending, it's better to be smiling than frowning.

 While she may see all rainbows and cupcakes, Lillian too has a bad side lurking deep underneath thousands of mountains of sugar and dreams. She can often be overprotective of the ones she cares about, which frequently leads into trouble. Lillian doesn't know when to stop talking either, an issue she never seems to be able to fix. However, her bad side rarely comes out, and she will try her best to compromise on everything so both parties are satisfied.

 Lillian isn't afraid to learn new things and will gladly work hard to accomplish something as well. No matter how poor the situation looks, Lillian will keep working until the breath is sucked out of her or the job is completed. She strongly believes that if you start something, you should see it to the end, no matter what. She's a loyal Hufflepuff, who will follow you to the end.

Bio:
 Lillian started off born from two loving parents, surrounded by caring friends, just a perfect, average life. There was nothing holding her back from being her cheery self. All memories of her life were completely stripped as she slowly fell to the Wasted Dream. She knows she lived a happy and passionate life but that's as far as her memory can recall. Flashes of a white hospital room constantly haunt her mind, although she can't remember why.

Other:
 -Lillian is very uncomfortable around blood, often passing out at the sight of it.
 -She also has a huge obsession with cake.
 -Painting has become a passion of hers and she loves artwork as well

[User]
Paul Delacroix - First blood

Smiling still as the spear-wielding gentleman from before decided to assist him, the man provided the perfect distraction. While only one of the God Hands turned away to face him, the brief glance to the side from the other two was all that Paul needed. Breaking forward into a sprint, Paul slashed at the hands that held onto the poor woman. Cutting them deep enough to gain their attention, the two turned to focus their gaze on Paul just in time to be greeted by the shaft of his blunt cane. Soundly thwacking them across the eyes with the blunt cane in his left hand, Paul wasted no time. Sheathing his cane and twisting it locked, Paul ducked forward and wrapped his arms around the waist of the woman who was still in the middle of danger.

"Pardon me, my lady. Excuse me for my trespasses."

Ignoring the twinge of pain in his back as he lifted her up with leg strength, Paul back-stepped a few times until he was pleased with the safe distance. Nothing against the woman and her body weight, Paul just had his medical issues. Setting down the woman as gently as he could, he held eye contact with her as he spoke. "Stay your distance but please, do not run off. We cannot guarantee your safety if you leave our presence. I have some questions I'd like to ask you once we're done with the task at hand." Straightening up, Paul faced the two angered God Hands who had brandished some gruesome looking cleavers from their cloaks. Dusting the front of his vest off, Paul smirked.

"Hmph."

Leaving his cane-sword sheathed, the two God Hands charged at him. Walking towards them, Paul's eyes followed the cleaver of the first God Hand closest to him. The motion was easily telegraphed and Paul ducked under the cleaver, dodging it. As he side-stepped the first God Hand, he stuck his leg out ever so slightly and tripped the first God Hand causing the creature to fall face-forward onto the ground. These creatures seemed neither intelligent, nor graceful it seemed. Watching the telegraphed cleaver-swing of the second God Hand, this time Paul raised his cane and knocked the attack away by striking at the wrist that held the cleaver, parrying it. As the second God Hand glared at him, snarling, Paul rammed the end of his cane into the creature's chest in a stunning blow. The second God hand coughed and doubled over for a moment as it struggled to regain its breath. Paul looked over his shoulder just in time to see that the first God Hand had gotten up and was preparing a large overhead slash to end his life. Dashing to the side at the last second, Paul watched as the first God Hand ended the life of its partner. Its cleaver burying itself deeply into the skull. The second God Hand dropped to its knees, sputtering and gurgling as it died. Pivoting and pressing his back against the back of the first God Hand, Paul looped the shaft of his cane across the neck of the last remaining God Hand and pulled against it tightly to suffocate and trap the beast. Using his own body as a fulcrum, Paul then rolled the monster over his back and slammed him to the ground. Turning to the kneeling and dead God Hand that had his friend's cleaver resting in his brain box, Paul grabbed the handle with his free hand and kicked at the dead creature's chest to rip it loose. In one final, fluid motion Paul brought the cleaver's edge down on the grounded God Hand's neck and severed it. A gout of blood spurting out from its decapitated neck and speckling Paul's face.

With a few tugs and yanks, Paul removed the cleaver and casually tossed it aside to discard it. He hadn't realized it, but he had been breathing heavily and took a few moments to calm himself and steady his breath. Dabbing at the blood that managed to get on him, Paul squatted down the rip off a piece of cloth from the dispatched God Hands and used it to wipe off what blood he could remove. Standing up, he then walked over to the woman from before and knelt down in front of her. A warm smile on his face.

"My lady. Are you quite alright?"

[Assistant]
The creatures did not disappoint. Before Highball's eyes, Paul and Kenji joined the battle to assist Donny, and a few of the monsters met the challenge. When it became apparent that the 'God Hands' were not human but in fact men with dog heads, in the manner of some twisted Egyptian divinity, Highball remained remarkably unfazed. All along, she had expected that a dream world's inhabitants would not make sense, and in truth the fact that the vast majority of the people she'd met so far were normal surprised her more. Sitting upon her well, Highball pondered the significance of the beasts' name. If the calls from the neighboring houses a few moments ago constituted anything if significance, these 'God Hands', despite their monstrous appearance, seemed to be performing a service for the people. Of course, Highball could neither envision nor want to find out more about whatever ritualistic savagery awaited this woman, but the event created a unique idea of perspective. Either this woman did indeed have crimes of a spiritual nature to answer for, or she was the lone spot of light in a town lost to darkness and corruption. Given what Highball new of the World of Wasted Dreams so far, she admittedly anticipated the latter. Plus, it stimulated her imagination to think of what kind of lumbering, vile god these freakish monsters could serve as peons for.

Unfortunately, the semi-canines also came through for Highball's other guess: they offered no challenge to the newly-minted hunters. For a moment it appeared as though Donny might be in some sort of peril, pinned beneath the noteworthy might of the God Hand that assailed him, but Kenji's spear negated the threat. After getting to his feet, Donny sprinted away while Highball watched, wondering if a single foul-breathed beast was enough to break his will. Only a moment later, the man's acquisition of his rope answered her question. Kenji's struggle with the impaled monster came to an abrupt end thanks to the end of Donny's brick flail, and Highball raised her hands to salute the frothing fiend's passing with a soft, though somewhat sarcastic, clap.

Highball's mock celebration was interrupted by Maria, however, who presumed to needle her with patronizing suggestions. A look of incredulous indignation flew the mannequin's way, saying without words What? Waste my energy on these worthless things? They're pathetic. How much value is there in those flea-bitten hides? Especially to go at them like piranhas in a shoal. They're not even attacking. Barely stronger than an adult male, not large or intimidating, and not keen to attack as a pack even while their numbers dwindled. Did Maria also think it would be worth it if five poachers worked together to shoot a single passive deer? Highball would fight when she saw a worthwhile take, or a chance to have some real fun.

Still, she deigned to watch as Maria assaulted one of the God Hands herself. Highball observed through half-closed hazel eyes as the thing failed to land a single hit on Maria, who taunted all the while. The mannequin's quips brought a smile to Highball's face. Wow, really sticking it to that brainless dog, tough girl. She looked away when Maria began to use the dying thing for pleasure. No kill like overkill, I suppose—especially for psychos. The next thing she knew, a rotten head sailed her way like some grotesque sports ball. Not pleased with the prospect of touching it, Highball quickly maneuvered her cane into the object's path, switching it to rake form as she did. Upon the nasty tines the severed head snagged and hung, odious and odorous both. The only thing that displeased Highball more than the object was the pity that had sent it soaring. With the slightest of efforts, she tipped the rake and let the viscera plop messily to the cobblestones. Not just pity, but a pity loan. I'm not lazy or gutless, lady. I'm discerning. After rejecting Maria's offering, she leaned on the upright rake and looked back at the other group. Kenji and Paul had already dispatched more foes. Highball decided that in short order she'd strike out on her own to find her own prey.

[User]
 A woman's voice broke Lillian concentration on the beasts as she glanced back to find Maria. Although she was stunning to look at, Lillian's gaze drifted beyond her, in search of the man who had helped her. He was okay, right? Lillian nodded to reassure herself he was fine and could probably take better care of himself than she could.

 Directing her attention back to the task at hand, she took a few practice swings of the sword in her hands. Swing diagonally? Lillian's eyes scrunched up in determination to wield the sword correctly. Following Maria's directions, she held it parallel to the ground and swung the small sword. Although she improved slightly, Lillian still managed to look like a blind man attempting to paint. With practice though, she was sure she could master it!

 One of the hooded things stepped forward, leaving the other three to continue dragging the poor thrashing women away. Before Lillian could blink, the hooded creature suddenly had the head of a ferocious, infested dog and attacked Donny. Why couldn't there just be a giant squirrel? A hint of fear tingled within her, telling her to run far away from this but nothing could persuade her determination to leave. She clenched the hilt of the sword and marched toward the beast on top of Donny, ready to slash at it. Breath escaped Lillian's entire body as the hooded creature trapped within Donny's ropes, broke free and revealed the face of another horrible dog. It made eye contact with Lillian, whose hands were slightly shaking.

 I can do this. Swing diagonally.

 In mere seconds, the beast blasted at Lillian, who was so focused on Maria's instructions she barely had enough time to scream in fear. As instructed, Lillian slashed out diagonally at the creature with all of her strength, weak though it was. The sword, to her disbelief, made impact with the dog creature, but all she managed to do was make the creature even angrier. That was more than enough to send Lillian sprinting to find a better position. Hundreds of ideas flashed through her head, most of them including some sort of jump in the air. Instead of doing anything at all, Lillian tripped over a rock she hadn't noticed before and fell for the second time that day, flat on her face. Lillian's entire body cringed, waiting for the snarling beast to eat her entire body. Maybe now it was time to wake up and return to wherever she had come from.

 Instead sharp teeth biting into her, a guitar ripped through the air and crashed right into the creature's legs as it readied to attack her. Lillian gasped in shock. She had been saved by Donny! A wave of relief passed over her and she quickly stood up from her fall. A disgusting muck of dirt covered part of her face but she payed no attention to it. Gripping the sword in her hand, Lillian took a deep breath and swung at the dog's head. A spray of blood splattered across her face as the head of the dog was ripped off. Lillian froze, the sword in her hand clattering to the floor.

 Blood. No matter how hard she tried to not see it, the smell of it still filled her nose, suffocating her. Lillian's stomach screamed with sickness. So much blood. She looked down at the dog, a pool of blood where its head had once been. Behind her, blood covered the ground at which Maria stood. There was no escaping it. Lillian's entire face turned pure white and the last thing she saw were the other hunters finishing off the beasts before she collapsed into even more darkness.


[System]
Age: 400

Personality: Proper, Compassionate, Manipulative.

[User]
Skylar could feel the blonde girl struggle against her hold. As if that would make her let go, but instead with each struggle it made her grip better. Perhaps if she had better control of her thirst and urges, Sky would have thought to warn that her reaction would make this hurt worse. But then again she was just a meal, so why should it matter? She felt the girls body tighten as her fangs made contact with her neck. The sweet candy tasting blood running down only to be licked away quickly. Though it was almost ruined be the chemical after taste that the drugs girl had licked, shot, smoked, eat, or whatever she fucking did with it. It was such a shame really, if she wasn't so thirsty.

Skylar felt the blonde stop fighting all together. She pulled her hands from around the girl. Hands moved instead to where one was on her rips and the other come to lay on her hip. As she moved where she was even closer to the girls body pulling the blood to get more a small moan coming out as she got more. Skylar had every intent of drinking the girl dry. At least until she heard the girls heartbeat start to slow down.

Pulling her fangs from the girls neck, she licked the bite once more to heal it. Skylar sighed softly against the girls skin, unable to bring herself to kill her. "Invite me inside lovely." She whispered the order softly and sweetly into her ear knowing she was still likely high. "You need to lay down."

[Assistant]
As Grace felt the woman pull away and lick her neck she moaned softly. She looked at this woman through hazy eyes. Her vision was a little blurred now and she felt weak, but still really good. It was a strange combination. As the woman spoke her ears pricked to her voice.

"I.. Is that true? That you cant come in unless invited?" She questioned curiously. Her voice soft and gentle as she felt high as a kite. She stumbled away from the woman a little as she crouched to go into her boarded up doorway. She stepped through and over almost falling over. She peeked through the planks of wood to see her stood outside still.

"You are welcome to come inside, miss... I don't even know your name" She laughed a little.

[User]
A smile spread softly on Skylar's lips as she heard the moan keeping from the blonde whom she had finished drinking from. Before telling the woman to invite her inside. She nodded her head a little at the woman's question. "It is true, at least for the first time." She answered smoothly.

When the woman turned and headed inside Sky let her eyes wash over her body quickly. She was really rather pretty, it was a shame she had to put those nasty things in her body. Sky could still taste the after taste on her tongue. Sky once again had to stop herself from chuckling as the girl almost tripped. This woman was entertaining, maybe it was a good thing she didn't drain her dry as she had planed.

She peeked through the boards back at her, for the moment it took for her to invite Sky in. "My name? Oh how very rude of me." Sky spoke before climbing through the boards. "It's Skylar Ravensblood. But you can just can me Sky if you wish. And ours?" She said before looking around the old abandoned house.

Her hand reached out and touched a wall before looking back at the blond. "This is where you are living?" She asked before looking around them a little more, she had hoped it would be a little better on the inside. It was not. "How very...rustic. It is older then even you."

[Assistant]
Grace watched almost in awe as the vampire gracefully made her way inside her little hovel. She suddenly felt embarrassed as she looked around herself as she could only imagine the luxurious place she came from. "I'm Grace...Grace Smith...B-but you can call me...whatever you want really..." She said softly, still the feeling of embarrassment flooding her. That and she was still pretty damn high.

"S-sorry it isn't much... It's not actually my house, I...I just squat here..." Trailing off, looking down as she poked at the dirty floor with her equally dirty boot. There was empty and smashed bottles around the place. On the walls where there was still paper, it was peeling off. The floorboards showed through the extremely thinning carpet and rugs. Its smelt of damp and decay. "It's... A shithole I-I know..." She trailed again as she continued to avert her gaze from the beauty that was in front of her.

[User]
Skylar looked to Grace as she told her name. It was a very nice name, a lot easier to remember than some of the odd names that seemed to be thrown around a lot more those days. "A pleasure Grace." Sky said looking around the dirty and drift house. Before looking back at the still high blonde, tilting her head slightly. She was squatting in this place? Part of her wanted to ask if Grace was homeless. That was what squatting meant, yes? But no, asking such a thing was rude.

Skylar hadn't even noticed how dirty the floor was until she looked down to see what Grace was staring so intently at. There was broken bottles everywhere and part of her worried about whatever had been in them getting on her shoes. What Grace said next made her face soften a little, Sky was being a rude house guest. If you can call this a house still. She pursed her lips at her own thoughts. What made it worse was that the beautiful blonde was now avoiding looking at her.

Skylar clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth a couple of times. "Now, now child. One of my coven members lived in a half burnt cottage before he was turned. It could be worse." She said softly trying to make her feel better, her fingers coming to the girls face and pushed some hair from her face but also wanting her glaze. "Do you have this place to yourself or are there others whom stay here? I'm not sure what squatting means exactly." She asked before looking around. "Perhaps a tour? I have a while before sun up."

[Assistant]
Grace looked rather shocked as the vampire lady asked for a tour of her ...to put it lightly... shit hole of a 'home'. "E....Err... Sure okay but... its not anything special." She said then did a small spin with her arms out "This is the living room slash entrance." She said shrugging then moved past her to the hallway and pointed into the kitchen. "That's the kitchen ... its not that great really. I mean it has running water but no gas or electricity... in fact the whole house doesn't have gas or electricity. Running water though... That's a plus, toilet and all." she said sighing.

She was hating this. Showing such a beautiful creature around such a hovel. She probably came from a grand home full of the finest things and here she was, avoiding stepping on broken glass and empty syringes. She made her way up the creaking stairs that faced the wonderfully not clean at all bathroom. Turning a sharp left they were then faced with her 'bedroom'.

It consisted of a dirty moth eaten mattress, a bin which was full of old dirty needles (she always made sure hers was all in one place, the others around the house were her 'friends'), empty liquor bottles littered the room though. She turned and looked at the beautiful brunette and had a slight wince on her face as she spoke "This is my room... if you could call it mine" She said softly. "I do have 'house mates' of sorts, they are probably out of it though in their rooms... Sometimes I find them dead from overdose, so new people move in. I don't really know them that well. They are messy though, leaving their empty dirty needles around. I have to go pick them up and put them in the needle bin..." She trailed off as she sighed looking down at the floor.

[User]
Skylar gave a slightly reassuring smile as she started the tour, before starting to follow behind her. Perhaps the fact there was no gas or electricity would have been a much larger thing to the newer vampires or humans. Though it didn't seem as much an issue in Sky's mind. For she was old enough to remember a time before electricity was not owned by anyone other then the rich. That being said, this place was truly a shit hole wasn't it?

The needles littering the parts of the floor that not covering in empty and broken liquor bottles. Making her walk carefully despite how graceful her steps might have seemed. The stairs creaked as they walked up them, and Skylar didn't even look into the bathroom as they reached the top of the steps. For if the bottom floor was this bad, she didn't want to know what the bathroom would look like. There was a part of her hoped that Grace's room would be better than this.

Sadly though her hopes for a better sight was let down by the view of even more empty liquor bottles and the old mattress, if you could even call it that. At least there were no needles on the floor here, even if there were some in a bin, still at least they were picked up. By this time her eyes didn't even glance much over the room, but stayed on Grace. She had mostly asked for the tour because she wanted to spend more time with the beautiful blonde woman before her. Sky's eyes widened at her words about finding the others dead from overdose, a tisking sound coming from her mouth.

"Such a sad way to lose a life and blood. At least you clean up after yourself." She said before looking over Grace again, and what a waste for such a beautiful thing to have to live in such a place like this. When she made Grace her human, she would no longer have to live like this. She would be bring to live with the others of her clan in the mansion. She could have whatever she wanted other than drugs. She wouldn't have to hang her head in shame like she was now.

"Oh come, come now child. You could live in a worse place then this." She said, though she truly did doubt that. Walking over to Grace, Skylar hooked a finger under the girls chin, trying to softly make Grace look at her as she stood close. "Your face is much to beautiful to look so ashamed." She said softly as she leaned in and kissed the blondes cheek softly.

[Assistant]
Grace nodded as the vampire commented on how she cleaned up after herself. She saw it this way. It was her addiction. Her life. Her mess. She had to make sure no one would get hurt by her life choices. She was an addict. She used a ton of different drugs. To get over the fact that she was a dirty 'druggie' she drank. She drank and drank til her problems were no more. She did start to clean her room from bottles but there are just so many that it was hard to keep on top of. They aren't as small as needles that could just be tossed in a bin. She kept them out of the way, they littered pretty much all four corners of her 'bedroom'.

As Skylar kissed her cheek Grace felt her face go red. Such a beautiful being would kiss something so dirty? The fact that she drank her blood must have been... disgusting for her. She must have been pretty damn desperate. Maybe that's why she didn't drain her. Her blood was too gross. Shame. Would have been a cool way to go. Killed by a vampire. Not many can say that!

Graces eyes locked onto Skylar's as she continued to blush. She soon looked away and down at the floor. She wasn't good enough to look at such a sophisticated being like her. She was street vermin. And the vampire in front of her was almost like a Goddess. "I'm ashamed because of how far I have fallen... I used to have a job, friends, family, but I got fired, my friends and family turned me away when I needed help and now I'm just here... Nicking whatever I can to get my next fix, not caring about who I hurt in the process. I have gone to clinics and they don't help they just judge. I've tried going cold turkey and I cant do it. I just cant seem to kick the habit. Its like when I need my fix, my brain isn't even thinking, my body just does what it needs for the next dose." She sighed as she looked at the floor. She felt her cocaine in her pocket. Its strange. Since she had been bitten her craving for drugs went away, like it was as though she had got her fix.

[User]
Skylar couldn't help but smile at the blush that grew on the cheek of the blonde human that stood in front of her. Sky's eyes rather soft as she looked back into Graces eyes. Though Grace soon looked down at the ground and she frowned at the mention but let go of her chin with a sigh. She listened to the words that Grace said intently a sad look showing on her face. Though she didn't understand how in te world eating cold turkey could help someone get over drugs, in the first place. Still she felt a whole new level of sympathy for the pretty young human. How horrible it was, to be without someone to help her when she hit rock bottom. What kind of friend or family would do such a thing? And what use was it to have these clinics if they were to judge instead of helping. They were put here to help the humans yes, but also to help clean blood for drinking.

Skylar didn't say anything for a few moments after Grace finished talking, what could she say? There was nothing that could make things better. Though she didn't have the same story as Grace as a human, even she knew this. Skylar let out another sigh from her lips as she shook her head. "There truely is nothing I can think of to make your past better child. That is the worse part of the past." She said her words slow to her even if Grace didn't hear it, the uncertainty as her words left her lips. "But the person that bit me once told me that my past only happened to make me stronger, it was I that wouldn't allow it to." She finished not looking at Grace as she did but around the room. Oh goodness I wonder if that sounded as horrid from my lips as it did in my head.

"Granted you are not broken in the same way as I was, but I believe you shine brighter than you wish to see." She said looking at her with a smile now, she moved quickly and took the powder from her pocket handing it up in front of Grace with a disgusted look on her face. "And this is the dust that hides your glimmering." She shook her head but gave it back with a disapproving look. "I could give you a home better than this with my family, you could be with the head of the Ravensblood House, given a cleaner drug." She said her hand gesturing down her body as she said cleaner drug, she was indeed the drug of which she spoke of.

"Or you could be with your dust." She finished before looking at the window a little bit of light starting to show through the dirt, the sun would be raising soon and she had no choice but to leave. "I will give you time to think about it as the morning forces me to leave. And the choice is yours to make." She said before leaning in and kissing Graces lips softly before whispering in her ear. "Thank you for the meal."

With that she turned and was gone, already on her way to her house. In the morning the news would be all round town, the bodies found drained of blood, some that had their throat ripped open as they had tried to fight the attacks off. For her family members had not be as easy as Skylar was. They were not looking for a new mate as she had been, they had been making a statement to House Darkcrest.


[System]
Age: 30

Sex: Male

Appearance: 6'2" with black hair and blue eyes. White skinned. Noticeable facial hair at the chin and finely trimmed. Sporting a more Westerly appearance with a short and thin leather duster coat, white button-up shirt with a popped-out collar and a loose scarf-like tie, dark faded blue jeans, and boots.

"Shh, I'm focusing...And trying to look intimidating."

Like many of the Societas Academia, Travis has a very good understanding how magic functions and how certain spells are performed. Being an Untalent however, much of what he has learned is unfortunately outside of his realm of implementation and only gets by with the bare basics of each aspect. But to him, this is perfectly fine; the spells Travis can produce by himself are considered useful survival tools in order to help him get by.

His real prowess is through the deciphered tomes and runes recovered throughout his journeys, capable of extending his abilities beyond his current potential. Though if anything, they too are yet another means of allowing him dissect and better understand their magical functionalities and eventually reproduce their effects in more manageable and efficient methods.

Funnily enough, given his recent and occasionally perilous encounters, Travis has been seen to be a rather surprisingly athletic runner.

"Magic is simply another form of science that is growing and evolving as we continue to discover and learn more about it."

Being an Untalent amongst a rather social community of more capable Talents can definitely be rough. Condemned to a lesser status because of one's natural inability to coordinate with magic fluidly was the fate many Untalents within the Societas Academia faced almost daily. Travis however didn't seem to be bothered by this too much. In fact, he was perhaps too busy studying and discussing theories to really care at all.

While as an Untalent and indeed had higher expectations set against him by his self-deserving peers, he enthusiastically conceptualized these endeavors as welcomed challenges in order solve rather petty societal crises to stress about. Though Travis was no ace mage and was more likely a magician as far as skills go, his main strength was his constructed knowledge base with a fierce understanding of the architecture of mana and magic implementation.

After years of hard study and grueling practice, Travis eventually achieved the rank of Aspect trainee and began the next phase of his training. Without any particular proficiency found in any particular set of spells, he would then opt-in into the Aspect of Scholar. As one would expect from his intuitive personality, Travis had felt right at home with his new position and became eager to set out for new discoveries.

What he didn't know was how cruel and horrifying the world could be outside the Societas Academia. The concept of death was something many students were well versed in, some more than others, but to experience and its many forms was something rather undesirable. Thus for Travis, now a Scholar, would soon come to know and witness this concept on more than one occasion as he pursues his quest for knowledge.

"So I spoke to an ebony dressed lady from the Cult of the Enlightened. We actually had a pleasant conversation until I asked about the concept of soul weaving. She laughed. Her fur coat cried. Suffice to say, I left in a hurry."

Despite his humble demeanor, surprisingly as an Untalent, Travis is certainly not afraid to speak his mind and express his views when necessary, sometimes comical or sarcastic if it benefits the mood. Being an easily fascinated and curious sort, he takes his role as a Scholar by heart (if not seriously) and seeks knowledge whenever he can find it; until it gets him into trouble. Nonetheless, he does show great pride and devotion to his line of work, atypical as it may be.

Travis can sometimes be described as a pacifist or "pass-the-fist" as he himself describes it. He sees no need for violence and certainly rejects the notion of killing but acknowledges the need for self-defense if he cannot negotiate his way out of a troubling confrontation. Of course said confrontations are usually created by something he may have said or done without any harmful or insulting intent.

"When the going gets tough...See to it you're not where the tough goes."

[User]
After a short amount of time, Travis slowly came to the realization that the skeletons had become more hesitant in approaching him. While as first the thought of his repulsion spells influencing a moral sapping effect with preventing his undead adversaries from getting close to him, I was soon more apparent that the skeletons were encompassing a more practice sense of the situation. A surge of mana spiked Travis' attention behind him to which he turned to face. One of the skeletons with its fragile arm raised was in the process of casting what appeared to be large and powerful spell.

"Uh oh," Travis helplessly said aloud, just as he felt the spell's surge of mana reaching its peak; the point of imminent discharge.

The best he could do was frantically bringing his arms up and pool as much mana into a defensive spell in an attempt to safeguard himself from the attack. It was when the skeleton's vanished did Travis brace himself, anticipating the worse kind of pain and damage to occur. Few seconds passed before Travis was curious of his well being and why it was still intact. He peeked ahead of him to see the skeleton that was engaging him had stopped short of casting its spell, likely due to a icey spike lodged in the skeleton's cranium before eventually its entire form crumbled to the ground.

Speechless about the sudden turn of events, and luck for that matter, Travis turned to see Arto lowering the bow within his hand after facing the now dispatched skeleton. Before he could thank his cold rescuer, both turned to the sound of more coffins releasing more skeletons to replace the ones defeated. As Artos voiced, the situation was hopeless at this rate if the skeletons were allowed to overrun them with their immense numbers unless there was a better, more efficient method for dealing with them. He then proposed the idea of using the spent coffins as cover before immediately assuming the role as a distraction, keeping the skeletons attention set on his powerful spell of growing ice.

Travis acknowledged the sound plan and quickly grabbed and pushed down the coffins lined up against the walls. It surprised him how light the coffins actually were as he took them down, especially knowing that they were made from mana crystals. Just as he tossed down a fair number of them, he was about to start forming the downed coffins into a barricade before Nemo came into the scene seeking to provide his assistance.

"Yeah, help me with racking these up as makeshift cover," Travis requested.

[Assistant]
Raiya dodged out of the way of a large fist the size of her body, seemingly the millisecond before the fist came down upon the ground where she once stood. She had jumped backwards a few feet, making sure the fist would whiff past her just enough. She then used her electrically enhanced body to jump in the air ten feet, and used an infused Iaijutsu slash to sever the large ogre's arm at the elbow.

The arm fell down with a crash, crushing a few skeletons as it did. The Ogre's head turned down, as if to look at the severed arm with his red glowing hollow eyes. The arm on the ground seemed to lift itself up, and reattach itself at the elbow.

It can heal? Raiya thought.

Then she looked behind herself to see the path that she had cleared, dismembering the skeletons, had filled back with the same skeletons she dismembered.

That was when she had glanced Nemo firing off some shots of his revolver, popping each skull as if it was amusement park game.

"That's it!" Raiya shouted in a tone of epiphany.

The ogre raised it's skeletal fist to the sky, it's eyes began to glow deeper shade of crimson, and mana began to collect around the fist. It was clear the ogre was looking to wipe everyone out in one go. But Raiya moved swiftly.

She launched herself up ten feet onto its rib bone and up another ten feet until she was level with the skull. She charged her mana inside the odachi, and before releasing the odachi from the scabbard, she shouted, "DENKI NO KENJUTSU: SEN HEBI NO KIBA (Electricity style: thousand snake fangs)"

In an instant, what looked like a flurry of blue crescent shaped lights consumed the area surrounding the skull of the ogre. Immediately the skull fell to pieces, including fragments of a large red mana crystal. Raiya stood on the shoulder of the still standing, but now fully lifeless, set of ogre bones.

"THE SKELETONS ARE BEING ANIMATED AND USING MAGIC THROUGH THE MANA CRYSTALS IN THEIR EYES! TAKE OUT THEIR HEADS!" Raiya exclaimed out to the others who were stacking coffins, probably in an attempt to provide themselves cover from any magic attacks that may come their ways.

---

The legion of skeletons moved towards the group's barricade, a few of them launching themselves at it, and crawling up it. Others walking around it at flanking them from the sides.

[User]
Nemo thought about what Felix asked as he began to fire off shots from his revolver into the heads of the skeletons that made it past the barricade. A small grin appeared on his face, signalling that he had come to some sort of conclusion.

"Do you want to see something cool, Travis?" Nemo asked, clearly having something else in mind.

Nemo shot off one more round into the skull of one of the skeletons before he holstered the firearm. He placed his palms out in front of him, and from it a large clear-white manashield sprung fourth. The curved shield wall had more than enough surface area to protect both Travis and Nemo from a danger still uncertain.

Raiya's announcement caught Nemo's attention. He looked to her on top of the bones of the Ogre and called out. "You said I'm just as bad as rumored to be... Well, do you remember some of the things I was rumored to be capable of?" Nemo asked as he covered his right eye with the back of his gloved hand, the X on his palm shown right where his eye would be. He grew a rather malicious looking smile and then answered. "Mass destruction via explosions."

Nemo turned away and then crouched down, placing his palms on the floor. A long white line made of mana sprawled itself out from his hands, across the floor, under the shield, and ended over by below the mana crystal coffin barricade. And from that a giant glowing white X appeared under the crystal blockade. At this point Nemo's intentions seemed to be crystal clear to the rest of the group. It would likely be wise for the remaining two to retreat behind his blast shield.

The magic X began to glow brighter, it etched it's own magic circle out around it, the floor began to noticeably vibrate and hum, and a rather unpleasant but musical screeching noise was emitted from the X as it reached it's apex charge. Nemo figured the buffer time would give the group enough time to prepare

"Eruptio Maximus."

With those final words a chain reaction was set in motion. The magic line trailing from Nemo's palms to the spell began to rapidly fizzle out like a line of gunpowder. Once it reached the giant X a enormous explosion befell the room. The screeching instantaneously stopped and was replaced with a deafening boom and massive amount of glass shattering. Or in this case: crystal.

The mana crystal coffins shattered into countless pieces and fragmented at high velocity throughout the room in a devastating fashion. Even Nemo's blast shield was pelted with crystal shards. As the smoke and dust began to clear Nemo raised back up from his crouched position.

He had a rather pleased expression on his face. The mana shield dropped afterwards allowing Nemo to view his handiwork clearly. The sheer force from the blast was enough to crush the skulls and tear apart any of the skeletons nearby, and the indiscriminate shrapnel would shred the remaining ones. The devastating amount of shards would almost guarantee at least one would rip through their bone craniums.

Nemo calmly stepped a few feet forward and bent over to pick one one of the mana crystal shards. After leaning back up he examined it; about five inches long and one inch wide. He looked up and dangled it over his mouth before dropping it down his gullet and swallowing it whole.

Nemo then placed his hands in his pockets and viewed the carnage left behind. Skeletons, bones, and parts of were strewn about the room everywhere. Accompanied by the remaining shards of crystal, most of whom were stuck into the wall. He figured a few of them might have survived. But trusted the rest of the group could take care of the stragglers.

[Assistant]
"Thanks for the tip!" shouted Travis as he acknowledged Raiya's new bit of information

While setting up the coffins as a makeshift barricade had bought them time, the legion of skeletons continued their assault without slowing. After repulsing a bone-walker that attempted to crawl over the barricade by dislodging its skull, Nemo once more queried Travis, this time for his attention to something fascinating.

"As long as it saves us." Travis replied without turning away from repelling another skeleton.

He then observed Nemo cast and projected a mana shield around them before speaking to Raiya regarding his previously discussed infamy and stated that he was liable for his crimes via overly-destructive explosions. Travis gulped as he heard this.

Perhaps to make his point as clear as the architecture around them, Nemo summoned a large X into the ground, encompassing them and the barricade too. Like a jet engine starting up, the X began to make a notable humming sound that slowly grew louder as it became brighter as well. Travis didn't need those symptoms told to tell him that this spell gathering mana as he felt the massive surge of mana spiking all around them.

Upon Nemo saying the trigger word for the spell, everything then erupted outside the mana shield in an explosive blinding light. Though the shield prevented the destruction from including them, Travis could feel the sheer blast shaking and thundering throughout his body. As the resulting haze cleared up for the most part, Nemo had dropped the shield in order to allow its occupants to survey the destruction. The makeshift barricade that served its purpose in dispelling the skeleton's magic was was comply obliterated with pieces of man crystal shredding the skeletons close-by and away from Nemo's powerful spell and those shrapnel that missed anything were practically lodged into the walls and floors with potentially little hope to remove by hand.

While a few, barely moving skeletons still remained, it seemed for the moment that Nemo had wiped the majority of the horde out through his torrent of destruction. Travis could only stare in awe at the ruination before turning to and finding Nemo gulping down a mana crystal with little care. As unusual as that appeared, Travis was willing to let him have the moment for the time being.

"That was cool." Travis openly admitted.


[System]
Alias: "First-Degree" Donny
Age: 36
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 160 pounds
Race: Human
Alignment: Evil Neutral
Accord Compliance: Donny complies with nothing.
Eye Color: Green

Appearance: A slight but sturdy man with no eyebrows, a baby-face, emerald eyes, a porn stache, and slicked back ginger hair. He almost always wears black pants and dress shoes with suspenders and black gloves, though commonly hides his equipment and features beneath a trenchcoat and hat. He always wears a tie, though the color and design of it frequently changes. He speaks with a nasally Downeast accent.

Weapons and Equipment-

-Customised Model M513 Raging Judge Magnum revolver with a titanium firing cylinder and a Mernickle quick draw holster worn on the thigh. The rifling of the barrel, the cylinder tapering, and the frame are modified in a manner reminiscent of the Smith & Wesson Model 460XVR, to accommodate high speed .460 Magnum rounds. Put simply, the most powerful six round revolver on the planet. Donny carries three .45 Colt 325 grain Buffalo Bore moon clips, one .410 bore clip, three .454 Casull XTP Hornady clips, and three .454 Hornady jacketed hollow point clips, and three .460 Magnum 200 grain DPX Cor-Bon clips. The hammer is modified to allow for fanning as a faster alternative to the double-action function.

-Unfiltered Camel soft pack cigarettes.

-Zippo lighter.

-A roll of quarters.

-Fake police inspector badge.

-A custom high powered 28,000,000 volt, 10 milliamp Runt stun gun holstered at his left side.

-Set of handcuffs and two spare keys. One key is stitched into his overcoat on the right side and the other is stitched into his left pants pocket.

-Trench coat with holes in the pockets.

-A plain white van fitted with an 800 hp 3.5-litre RS5 V10 engine. Goes from 0-62 in 2.8 seconds. The paneling and darkened windows are bulletproof.

-A modified X800 ShadowHawk flashlight secured to his belt on the left side. It has a custom tactical rail attached, and can be connected to the top of the Magnum's barrel or to the MP5.

-Heckler & Koch MP5 with three 100-round beta feed magazines, utilizing .40 S&W hollow point rounds and a silencer. This is carried in a satchel.

-.950 JDJ rifle with one round, loaded. This 85 pound gun is kept in the back of Donny's van, which is usually nearby. Comes with a scope.

-Four pull-pin grenades with optional tripwires on his belt. Two are MK3 concussion grenades, and two are M67 fragmentation grenades.

-Six inch switchblade in his pocket. It has a ring clip at the hilt base.

-Claw hammer holstered at his belt.

-A white handkerchief and a one ounce aerosol bottle of cyanide, disguised as nose spray.

-Customized retractable high-density golf club made just for braining folks holstered at his belt. It has a ring clip at the hilt base.

-Twenty-five foot razor sharp microfilament garrote wire reel concealed within a wristwatch that can be withdrawn via clip ring. It's almost invisible to the naked eye, as light as a spider's web, sharp enough to cut through bone with effort, and can withstand up to 2,200 pounds of tension without breaking. Donny can control how much is extracted and retracted with the interface of his watch.

-Spring loaded five-inch knives within the heels and toes of his shoes that will jut out when a switch on the instep is triggered.

-Pair of insulated quarter-pound S.A.P black combat gloves weighted with lead. They are fashioned from a high density polymer that can resist being cut by the garrote wire.

-A heavy duty bullet proof vest that can stop even the largest of slugs.

-Can of FOX military grade pepper spray holstered at his belt.

-Portable six inch shaving mirror on his belt.

-Four adhesive bombs in the same satchel as his tommy gun, which can be remotely detonated via digital watch or set with a timer. Each bomb contains enough TNT to scrap a minivan.

Physical Abilities/Skills: Donny looks like a geeky dad, the kind of embarrassing adult that could be found doing jumping jacks in neon dolphin shorts down at the local YMCA. This is a strength. Hardly anyone ever suspects just how obscenely dangerous he really is. His physicality is comparable to that of a highly trained marine, as he consistently trains to stay in peak condition. He has world class gunslinging abilities in addition to a level of manual dexterity and slight of hand most oftenly attributed to master street magicians. He is extremely deceptive, excelling in both acting and psychological warfare, in addition to having a photographic memory combined with a formidable spatial sense. He has over seventeen years of experience in urban combat as an elite professional killer, with at least 172 confirmed kills. Though he is a capable hand-to-hand fighter, he by far prefers mid-range firefights. He is a true "dead eye" with his selected firearms, and can hit a fly at ninety-one meters with his Magnum revolver, the weapon he favors above all others. Such is his skill with the gun that he can fire off all six shots in less than a second by fanning the hammer, whilst still maintaining near-perfect accuracy. For reference as to the revolver's power, the .45 Colt slugs can put a one inch hole through a steel cooking pan at mid-range. The Casull rounds travel at Mach 1.7 and need but a single shot to take down an African bull elephant. The Casull hollow points can reduce a wild boar's innards to custard. The .460 Magnum rounds travel at Mach 2, easily faster than even .500 and .600 bullets, and can vaporize a human head as if it were a rotten cabbage.

At close range with the .410 rounds, Donny can empty the chamber and turn a human into hamburger in less time than it takes for the body to hit the ground. His secret weapon, the .950 JDJ rifle, fires a bullet with over nineteen tons of force per square foot.
It can literally shoot through schools.

Personality: Donny is what would be called an ubermensch. He follows his own code and does as he wants, believing only in his own will and the in the cold steel of his revolver. He follows orders only because he likes having something to do, and what he likes to do is kill. As long as there is violence in the distance he will allow others to give him direction, for a price.
He's outrageously crafty and as mean as an Arizona rattler, albeit with a nigh unbreechable calmness some would decidedly call detachment, though it isn't. He's an adrenaline junkie that gets his fix any way he can, primarily by way of murder, but also by driving like a complete maniac, playing games with law enforcement, and committing acts of terrorism. He's socially passable by modern standards, but has no qualms about being a public nuisance. He's quite skilled at being annoying, and uses it as a tool to pick fights. He enjoys smoking, but only does so before and after a kill.
He likes taking first-class rides at the airport, drinking black coffee, making faces at children, and visiting strip clubs.

Background: Donny had a typical psychopathic childhood. He was born in Bangor, Maine, his father a U.S Marine, his mother a sickly stay at home wife, and his uncle a bastard rapist. He was often unsupervised, and frequently engaged in less than moral activities. He bullied other children, killed animals, and stole from the local supermarket on a regular basis. In his youth he won several national marksman championships. As soon as he got his driver's license, he stole his parent's van and hit the road, moving to Las Vegas and with nary a penny in his pockets after using up the rest for gas.
There he found quick work as a crime syndicate hit man that dispatched anyone who filched on their gambling debts, seizing their assets for himself along with 20-40% of however much money they owed to his employers, plus expenses. He not only impressed the crime bosses as a lethal and merciless efficient bookie enforcer. Obviously his reputation decreased business, but it was a simple matter for the higher ups to conceal his involvement in many of the deaths. The consistency of his work easily made up for any gamblers he slew or scared away by proxy.

Whenever he wasn't popping filchers, he was taking up hits. Assassinations of all kinds were welcome. He grew into the role of an underworld grim reaper, dreaded to such an extend that even the Mafia dared not to double-cross him. Even the local police, to avoid mass casualties, decided to simply stay out of his way. The way they saw it, no possible confrontation with him could result in anything less than a catastrophe rivaling 9/11. The Feds were only called in once, and never again after having eight dozen of their own slaughtered in an incident so brutally embarrassing, it was wiped from the records and in Donny's place a patsy was tossed to the dogs, the failure so complete that a cover-up was the only way to preserve the public's respect for the government. Whenever the hitman comes roaring by in his big white van, with its souped up engine and screaming, fiery tailpipes, no cops dare to try and pull him over. They've been warned well about the fella known as "First-Degree" Donny. They also avoid investigating too deeply into any murder scene where unfiltered Camel cigarette butts are found. He seems able to kill anyone, anywhere, within a week regardless of their location or importance. Since then he's moved his business to Ankora and has taken up a hobby on the side. he stalks and kills prostitutes in alleys and subways with a claw hammer.

Reputation: Mob bosses and police chiefs alike would wet themselves in his presence, if only they knew what he looked like.

Theme Music:

[User]
Donny nodded, and followed several good paces behind her. Usually at this point, the bad guy would start rattling off his brilliant plan. Instead, the killer gave short and specific orders to Lily, one step at a time as they went.

"Yuh think yuh can give me thah slip bah reachin' the bottom first an' dartin' intah an alley? Do yahself a favah an' don't think no thoughts of thah like. They'll getchah kill't, missus."

If Lily climbed down the ladder, Donny would follow suit a safe distance above her, continually staring down at the heroine. He wasn't aiming, but he'd probably be able to point it at her faster than she could jump up to grab at his feet or sprint away.

Once on the ground, if all went as planned, Donny would lead Lily to his van and tell her to open the back doors.

"Ayuh, and now turn yuh back an' close yuh eyes fah twenty seconds. I need tuh load somethin' that ain' fah yuh eyes tah be seein'. Yuh might speak 'bout mah lil' secret weapon when yuh free, if yuh see it."

[Assistant]
"Come on now, do you really think I would risk my life for such a desperate move? In case you haven't noticed," she continued, bringing up her hands in front of her so that they were visible to the man, "I don't really have the advantage here. You're bigger, stronger, have a gun and who knows how many other weapons on you, and all I have are a pair of handcuffs restraining my wrists. In all honesty," she sighed, "if I were to try anything, then I deserve to be shot."

Lily turned away from the man before carefully stepping on the fire escape to head downstairs. She moved slow, descending one step at a time to avoid any accidents. Lily wasn't necessarily scared of heights, but given that she didn't have much use of her hands, she couldn't help but be extra careful. As expected, the man was following her downstairs. He wasn't too close to her, but he kept a reasonable distance just in case she made any surprise attempts.

Once downstairs, he guided her to his van. She was asked to open its back doors, and she casually obliged as if the man had been her best friend for years. "You know, if I'm going to be doing favors for you, you should at least give me a name to work with." She turned around, but she didn't close her eyes. "I don't think anyone likes to be called Ginger, not all the time at least."

Doctor

[User]
"Call me Fuhst-Duhgree Donneh."

The next thing Lily knew would probably be a white flash of pain, and then darkness. When she turned around, Donny pulled out his high powered stun gun and attempted to jam it into the small of her back. It made police tasers look like joy buzzers. The brief shock could be compared to sticking a fork into an electrical socket. She'd live, but would be rendered absolutely senseless. Only for roughly thirty seconds though. Donny would aim to shock her twice more before he'd have finished bundling her into the back of the van and strapping her into a wooden kitchen chair with nylon cording, after patting her down for equipment of course.

If this all came to pass, Lily would wake up with sore muscles and a headache in the back of the van as it cruised through the night. The vehicle stank of smoke and blood. In fact, there appeared to be rusty dried blood staining much of the big, nearly empty back. The rear seats had been removed to make room for whatever it is that freaks like Donny needed room for. Taking hostages, torturing for information, performing executions...

Cigarette stubs and bullet casings littered the floor and rolled haphazardly about as the psychopath steered sharply from side to side, weaving through traffic. By far the strangest thing though was the front seat radio, to which Donny was listening. It was simultaneously tuned to the chatter of police in conversation over their walkies, and to some ridiculously unfitting Bobby Brown song that had been used in Ghostbusters. There was no accounting for taste with maniacs these days.

At least it was more interesting than going to the dentist.


[System]
General Information
* Gender: Female
* Sexuality: Heterosexual
* Age: 21
* Home Nation: Half Hearing, Half Touch

Appearance
Penetrating green eyes, a delicate and elegant face and immaculately white skin and hair give Karina quite the unique and exotic appearance. Her body although small and apparently delicate hides a surprisingly agile, dexterous and flexible frame, fruit of her training. Usually wears an military style uniform with her hair tied and a cap. On formal occasions she unties her hair and prefers to wear dresses.

Bio
Karina was born out of the unusual union of a scholar from the Nation of Hearing and a general from the Nation of Touch. By the choice of her father, she went to live on together with her mother on her home nation as he wanted her to have a peaceful life, away from the chaos of war. On the Nation of Hearing, Karina would show her love for knowledge as her and her mother often passed their time studying together.
But unfortunately, having a life away from the was wasn't something that Karina would be able to enjoy for much longer... When she was only 10 years old, her mother fell ill with a very serious, contagious disease. Without any other option, Karina had to go to live with her father on the Nation of Touch.

There on the Nation of Touch, Karina's father became cold and even more distant, dedicating his entire time to his work trying to forget the pain from losing his loved one. Karina on the other hand was literally raised amongst soldiers and other high patent officers. Her education was already very good, in fact, it was better than most people, since she was herself the daughter of an scholar, but there were some things that her mother couldn't teach her in the pacifist Nation of Hearing. It was only natural that being so instructed and intelligent, she would learn certain military knowledge fast as she heard her father talking with other officers. But another one of those things was Fencing. After seeing two high patent officer sparring, she immediately fell in love with the Rapier. It didn't resemble violence, it was almost a dance. The way the officers moved almost effortlessly through the room, their rapiers singing as the edges kissed themselves... It was the perfect balance between violence and art. Since that moment, fencing became another one of Karina's hobbies, other than studying and debating with other officers about military strategies & etc.

As she grew older, as the General's daughter and after proving herself to be knowledgeable enough that not giving her a patent was deemed an absolute waste of talent, nobody dared to mistreat her. Known as the 'flower' of the military due to her beautiful looks and because she was always walking around the headquarters, either reading, talking with seasoned officers (often surprising her due to her intellect) or practicing her fencing, her influence grew both by her father's position and her patent.

Maybe because of her mixed blood or maybe due to her spending half of her life on the Nation of Hearing and the other half on the Nation of Touch, when Karina turned 15, a very unique magic awakened on her. Completely the opposite from the usual Tempraisionism magic that was common to the Nation of Touch, Karina was able to use the humidity and the cold on the air in various forms. Incredibly dangerous against other Tempraisionists due to her strength being their weaknesses, it was almost an irony that an officer from the Military of Touch having such magical talent... After that fact became known by the others on the Nation of Touch, she started being referred by some people as "The Ice Flower of the Nation of Touch".

Personality
Despite her nickname as 'The Ice Flower', Karina is actually not that cold when around friends. Enjoying a good conversation and often seen with a mysterious, but enchanting smile on her face, she is a real treat to look at.

Despite her quiet demeanor, she certainly has a very strong personality, maybe due to her father or to the fact that she was raised in the military, but her enchanting smile can turn into a real cold stare when angry and her cold but firm words are famous around the army for being able to frighten even a seasoned soldier.

When amongst other soldiers or in a combat situation though, Karina is almost a completely different person. Really living up to her nickname as the Ice Flower, she is practical, logical and cold both regarding strategizing or fighting herself.

Quirks:
Karina has a soft spot for sweets and hot beverages such as hot chocolate.

Skills
* Fencing: Karina developed her own style of fencing. More agile and elegant than the normal fencing, it's characterized by it's high mobility, deadly lunges, feints and extremely fast movements. While it lacks brute, raw strength, it more than makes up with agility and dexterity. Hence why the Rapier is the perfect weapon for her.
* Adept of Hearing: Just like her mother, Karina is an adept of hearing. Unlike her who used it for music and to distinguish the small difference in musical notes, Karina uses it in a much finer and complex way. By concentrating herself, she can go as far as hearing someone's heartbeats or their movements in order to be able to react much faster than she normally could.
* Natural Resistance to cold: Due to her magic and the fact that she trains so much with it, Karina developed a certain resistance to cold. Enough to allow her to use her magic for some time before she needs to stop.

Magic
Cryomancy:

Using the surrounding air temperature, or even her by lowering her bodily temperature, she can create ice in a myriad of ways. Be it creating blades made of concentrated ice to control through the air and cut her enemies, lowering the air temperature in order to counter Tempraisionists or even by lowering another person's bodily temperature in case she hits them with one of her ice blades or with her rapiers. Coupled with her fencing, it is incredibly dangerous as she can overpower opponents much stronger and tough than herself by lowering their bodies' temperature with each cut.

The drawback is that if the air temperature is high, she will have to resort to lower her own body's temperature and depending on how much time she does it, she can even pass out with hypothermia. Using clothes that preserve the bodily temperature like gloves, coats & etc. can allow her to use her magic even when the temperature of the air around her is a bit higher than the necessary for her to use her magic. In the other hand, when the climate is cold, Karina can use her magic almost freely.

Weaknesses
* Heat: Exactly the opposite from normal Tempraisionism, if the air around her is too hot (for example... if she is around a fireplace or something like that) She will need to use much more energy than normal to use her magic.
* Brute Strength: Karina is not that heavy or tall. In a contest of brute strength, she will most likely loose. This also means that if someone pins her down, she won't be able to get out by herself without resorting to magic.
* Too many blades: When creating concentrated ice blades, Karina can only create and maintain a maximum of 4 blades at the same time.

Equipment

Almost a piece of art, this rapier's blade was forged with an special method. It's dark red colored blade has an intricate pattern, formed naturally due to the way the steel was forged. It was a gift from her father when she became an officer. A little something he did trying to redeem himself for being such a distant father.

[User]
Sil, The Magnificent

Sil giggled in delight as she watched her filthy looking friend mop the floor with mean looking people. Numbers are easier when thing you're counting is fast asleep. This would definitely be helpful with the mission! And what was the mission again? It was something super important, wasn't it?

Sil frowned. Head cocked. Finger to her lips. Hmmmmmmmm. Sil thought trying to recall what her mission was.

Feeling bored, she began rotating her form clockwise in mid-air, contemplating her thoughts. By the time she reached the upright position again, she was thinking about puddles and how humans sometimes make puddles when they think nobody is looking. She idly wondered if that was how the big puddle from yesterday came be. Perhaps the big puddle didn't eat it's mommy puddle and... How did she get to this train of thought again? Something important that she was trying to remember, right?

Sil Shrugged. Oh well. She thought. Must not have been that important.

Just then, her dirtied friend, came up to her asking about why Chres sent her down here. "Hmmmm... something to do with saving the world and puddles, I think. He's a silly human, you know?" Sil explained smiling happily.

Her friend didn't pay her comment much attention it seemed, for he moved on to the fat old man who lived here and started talking to him.

"I don't understand." The old man said, with his eye so wide that Sil thought they would pop out of his face. She giggled at the thought of it. "I humored Hark. I slept in the light of the Crystal Jade Candles. That was supposed to protect us from the damned cultist, right? Why are they raiding my place of establishment? Why are they attacking my family? What do they want from us? What did we ever do? Why are people going crazy in the streets? I don't understand."

"I don't understand either." Sil said absentmindedly. "Why do humans eat puddles? It's a mystery." Sil nodded. A serious look in her eye. The old man stared at her blankly. Sil returned his blanks stare with a friendly smile. She opened her mouth to say more, when a voice from outside interrupted.

"Hello my friends. My name is Sightless Syella. My fellow Clansmen and I have come in search for the ones who formed the Unspoken Pact with the abnormality the night before. Perhaps you know what I'm speaking of..." Sil fluttered over to the window to take a look outside.

[Assistant]
The man stood there attentively as he kept watch over the family, while also listening to Sil. It was just as he presumed, which was good of him. He kept wondering what to do now. He was still tied between going upstairs to get people downstairs ASAP, or to stay down here. He then smiled, the choice was simple. But the endeavor afterwards would be tricky. He was going to stay here and fight what comes in. The presence of the owner, his family, and himself no doubt would be attention grabbing to these cultists and their plan for mayhem.

Suddenly a voice. It was feminine, but very odd. He followed Sil a little bit to the window. "Now it starts..." He thought to himself as he saw this particular cultist out the corners of his eyes. This was totally one of the cult's head honchos coming after them. His hands began collecting some objects that he placed to the side. There was a grin of mischief as he executed his plans.

"Sil come here. I'm going to need you to a task for me and then we can play a game together. Go find your master and tell him to get down here, there's a mean lady. Now if you do this fast enough we can do this game. See that mean lady over there? For this game I'm going to want you to do things to make her distracted and annoyed, like getting her to fall, throwing things, you know fun stuff. Now hurry up and find him and bring him here, so we can have some fun!"

As Sil flew back he could only hope the promise of the reward would motivate her to hurry up and go find that guy and hopefully the others. His intuition told him this would be a tough fight to do alone and help would definitely be appreciated. He really didn't care if she ended up getting overwhelmed by the urge to play, because she would be of some use howe3ver dubious it would be. Plus her owner should be alerted at her delay to go back. "Whatever, it's not my problem he carries such a ditsy summon with him" He said to himself.

After fiddling with the bottles some more he then popped up to "greet" the Sightless woman. The sound of a glass breaking filled the tense air. Shards of broken of glass and a shiny liquid coated both the cultist and the now destroyed window. The man just stink eyed her and waited for her incoming attack to dodge.

[User]
Karina raised an eyebrow when she heard Chres saying that he had already heard about her. His claims weren't false, seen as how not only did he knew her nickname as the Ice Flower, but also about the fact that she wasn't just any high ranking officer, but she was really the daughter of the general.

While what he said about being dangerous go out on the streets be true, they still had only a few options, but when he mentioned making heat constructs to go from building to building, Karina let out a small smirk. It would be incredibly flashy, but it could work... Especially if they burned the whole building down to cover their tracks just as Chres said.

"The town is already plunged in chaos. Escaping this living hell is our only priority. " Karina said, looking to Chres. The smirk on her face, albeit a bit dark, was a rather refreshing change from the cold and calculating expression from before. Even though she didn't completely trust Chres, that smirk was a signal that she approved his way of thinking at that moment.

Hearing the fighting sounds down the stairs, Karina held her rapier once more, looking to Chres.
"Their numbers are a serious threat..." Karina said as she slowly walked towards the stairs, stopping just in front of it as she waited for Chres, looking down as she carefully heard the sounds of fighting coming from below them.

But before she could say anything more or even Chres could answer her, a strange, female voice came from outside.
"Hello my friends. My name is Sightless Syella. My fellow Clansmen and I have come in search for the ones who formed the Unspoken Pact with the abnormality the night before. Perhaps you know what I'm speaking of..." The strange woman said. While it would be interesting to at least try to see the extent of her abilities, as she was the first 'sightless' Karina saw, they didn't have time to spare. The cultists heavily outnumbered them and every second they spent trying to fight a couple of them, more would come and now with the sightless, their chances to get away were disappearing every second that passed.

"We're out of time, Chres. We need to do something right now. Start working on our way out. I can help you once we get out with my ice. Be it defending you while you complete your heat constructs or making our own path." Karina said, with a hard and cold expression as she walked down the stairs.

When she got downstairs, the first things she saw were the lowlife, whom if she wasn't mistaken, was called Dirty Bastard, or DB for short, a family he was trying to protect and Sil, flying around.

"Don't try to fight them. Their sheer numeric superiority is enough to crush us no matter how skilled we are." Karina said in a serious, cold voice, looking to DB and the family.

"We are probably already surrounded. Staying here isn't an option. Going outside is equally dangerous. Using the rooftops is our only choice." Karina completed. There was no doubts on her voice or her eyes. By the way she talked and looked to DB and the family, it was almost like she was giving them no choice but to follow her orders.

"GO! NOW!" she shouted to the family as she held her rapier, pointing forward to where the cultists were as the humidity in the air started solidifying into three blades hovering over her shoulders and her head, pointing forward on the same direction her rapier was pointing.

"I can just hope the guys at the forward camp realize that something went wrong and send a small team to rescue us..." Karina thought to herself, sighing, with the cold air going out of her mouth visible.