[System]
THE CAST

---

 Kelari Halder

 Blin "Brytag" Alborse

 Rahna Altema

 Lee Silvertongue

 Eli Wyn

 Forrest Everfree

 Gaius Stronurr

 Braum Jormungandr

 Thema Absher

 Blank

 Aurora Philman

 Tivo Sol

 Sera

 Nikkolaira "Nikki" Wyatt

[User]
Eli Wyn

Huh, who would have thought that a suggestion as normal as 'talk' would bring forth such a good reaction. Eli might just make a mental note to do that sort of thing more often. Not all the time, of course, but every now and then wouldn't hurt. "You should've mentioned it, it's important to relax every now and then! Otherwise you'll burn yourself out," Coming from someone who basically relaxed only when he was too beat up to get up and do something, maybe his sentence didn't hold as much weight as it should have. Plus, he wasn't exactly known to make wise statements. "Details, details..." Eli thought to himself as he scratched the back of his head, grinning.

For the first time in a long while, though, he wasn't really feeling bad about not doing something incredibly adrenaline pumping. Maybe, just maybe, there was more to spending his time than indulging in crazy stunts, "Hm..."

"I know it's not very far, but shall we race to our usual spot?"

All the serious thoughts had slipped away at once, because now - now they were talking. Eli was never the one to decline a race. And he sure as hell wouldn't start being the one today. Besides, it was a short distance away, so what could go wrong? "Hah! I thought you would never ask." Eli proclaimed as he turned around and sprinted towards his glider. It was good having a friends like Rahna around. He waited for her to reach him before dashing towards the edge and jumping off. That familiar sense of happiness reared its head, before another sense pushed its way in. "Why do I feel like something's wrong?" he asked no one in particular as he felt the wind hit his face, noticing a white patch of something fuzzy in close proximity.

Oh yeah. He forgot to put his glasses on.

Again.

[Assistant]
Gaius Stronurr

The Marketing District

 Gaius huffed as Nikki and Blank wandered off towards the castle- Or towards wherever the hell Nikki had decided to lead them. But with his path clear, the iron giant trudged onward, out of the market district and towards the castle grounds. Hopefully nobody else would get in his way.

---

 For a moment, the arched entrance way felt alien. It'd been a while since Gaius had been summoned by the king, and longer since he'd felt an unease gripping his throat. He looked up at the morning sky reflexively, but there was nothing there. Nothing except the low-hanging clouds and local feathered friends twittering about, anyways. Gaius huffed again, forcing his body into motion through the castle courtyard, and past his fellow guards, who all greeted him with a subtle salute. What a happy bunch! The guards were usually like that. Life up in the sky was quaint, and crime was sparse. A shimmer of sunlight caught water in the courtyard's fountain before striking Gaius's helmet. He rose one hand to block his eyes and picked up his pace ever so slightly, hailing each guard that he passed on his way to the castle's main entrance.

 Arriving inside, it was a straight path through a set of double doors and up a small ramp that lead into the king's chamber. Hopefully his highness would be there, and Gaius wouldn't be left waiting for his return.

[User]
Nikki's proposed shortcut was indeed shorter, even though Blank didn't follow quite as fast, needing to keep an eye on where he stepped instead of knowing the safe spots by heart as the young woman clearly did. Nonetheless, the pair made excellent time to the castle. However, instead of heading for the training grounds once they were past the wall, she made for the kitchen door. The head cook, a giant of a man with broad shoulders and nut-brown skin, greeted her moments later. He had a strong voice, and while he seemed suited to his apron and the dusting of flour on his front, he would likely be no more out of place at a forge. "Nikki!" he exclaimed, teeth shining white in his dark face. "What trouble are you up to today?" The young woman grinned back. "Nothing much, Delshad~ Gaius is going to see the king! And I was thinking I could...ah...look in as well."
"He might not be pleased with that, Nikki," the large man cautioned.
"True, but he'd have to notice me first," she replied blithely. Delshad shook his head. "Ah, I know it is useless to try to convince you not to try," he replied, switching his gaze to Blank. "You poor lad, I have no idea how you keep up with her. But do try to keep her from getting in too much trouble, yes?" Amusement glittered in his dark eyes. "And here, before you go." A massive hand held out a small pasty to each of them. "You in particular need to put more meat on those lanky bones of yours," the man said to Blank.

Blank smiled sheepishly and gratefully accepted the food. "Thank you, Delshad, I'll do my best." He lingered for a moment, uncertain. Delshad handed out extra food like it was going out of style, but Blank always felt a little guilty for taking something he hadn't worked for. The cook wouldn't hear it when he tried to pay for it though, so he was at a loss. He did turn to follow Nikki again though, waving one last time to the friendly chef.

By the time he caught up with her, Nikki was almost to the stairs. She was moving a bit more slowly now, making sure her footfalls were quiet. "C'mon, if we go to the gallery, we'll be able to listen in without being seen~" she told him softly, before continuing on. The few guards were easy to avoid -- this was not her first time slinking about the castle, and inside had far fewer roaming soldiers than out. She knew their posts, and paths to avoid them. The gallery itself wasn't someplace she'd been more than a couple times, mostly because the throne room was primarily for business (or so she believed). But if Gaius had been summoned, maybe it would be interesting -- he was a knight, after all. And besides, if she knew what he would be doing, it was likely an opportunity would present itself for a prank. The teen could already see the irritated set of his shoulders and tilt of his helmet. She grinned.

[Assistant]
Tivo Sol

---

Tivo idly quirked a brow in response to Themba's answer. It certainly wasn't an answer he was expecting, that's for sure. Really, her reply only piqued his curiosity further. One of the first things the boy noticed was just how short she was. There were't many women that he knew who stood at the stunted height at which Themba did, and he would admit to himself that he certainly wasn't tall either.

Quite abruptly, Tivo allowed for the equipment he carried on his shoulder to simply fall off of his shoulders and land on the ground with a 'thump' before taking a seat right in the middle of the path, as if preparing to settle in for quite a while. The boy, after assuming a criss-cross sitting position on the ground with his hands upon his knees, looked up at Themba. As he eyed the woman, he took in the various details adorning her body -- jewelry, face paint, sandals, the relatively revealing top. Her apparel greatly interested Tivo, but that was probably because she seemed to contain a carefree soul akin to his own. Also, what he especially noticed was her hair, which was incredibly similar to his own. This sort of hairstyle wasn't one he had seen often in Heron.

After shifting about some to adjust himself into a slightly more comfortable position, he rattled off his first question.

"That's pretty interesting, I gotta admit. Can you play it well?" A moment afterwards, another question came to his mind.

"Oh, can you sing, too? Written any songs yet? Can I take a look at some you've written down? I mean, if you've written some down."

[User]
From their awkward vantage point, they could see the old king hunched in a wash of sunlight. His white hair shone like a scraggled halo, his red robe was thin and tired with age, and he leaned on his wooden staff as if he might fall out of the throne otherwise.

The king raised his watery eyes as Gaius clanked forward.

"RATS!"

This was a shout from behind Nikki and Blank, where a young guard stood akimbo and glaring. She'd approached in careful silence, just to make the sneaky teens jump.

"You two! Out! Move it! Git! The training grounds for the both of ya, we'll use ya fer target practice!"

She stomped forward and stood directly in the way of the view of the king, arms folded and a smirk on her face. Today, they were busted -- but there was always tomorrow.

Overhead, an occasional streak of light flashed in the sky: a meteor shower, barely visible in the bright sunlight.

A flock of starlings surged like a wave over the edge of the island from below; they swirled and looped and billowed around the high forested rocks, passing with a wave of glimmering wings underneath Eli and Rahna. They flooded across the island and disappeared among the trees.

The parlor was empty, as if no one had been there all morning.

There was a box inside the door, full of the same paints that Lee had given to Blin earlier -- as well as a gold marble, tucked in a corner of the box.

A sudden updraft roared all around the small island where the library sat. The ground felt slightly tipsy for a few moments, rocking just slightly enough to feel sick -- and then the rope bridge to the mainland snapped.

The library island had sunk a few feet, and drifted a few feet farther from the village proper, and spun only a bit before it settled again.

At least Blin was closer to the farm, now.

A furry little creature crept closer to Sera's feet as she ate. It was lanky as a snow-white weasel, with long ears and a tufted tail. The critter rose up on its haunches, wriggling its whiskers hopefully, staring with glittering eyes at Sera's pie.

art by Renju Mv

The king stared in silence at Gaius for a long while.

Behind Gaius and to the side was a muffled shout and a noise of scrabbling movement -- then silence again.

A songbird outside warbled.

"Gaius." The old king tightened his grip on his staff, and he wavered slightly side to side. The king always had an attendant at his side in case he began to fall over -- but that attendant was missing today.

"Something is going to happen."

In the distance, outside the window, the shouts and swords of the training grounds echoed. The king was quiet again. He appeared to have fallen asleep.

"Protect Sera." The king's gray eyes opened. "Watch over Tivo of the ruin. And keep a careful eye on that boy with no past."

He said nothing else, but he stared at Gaius through dim eyes until he was certain he'd been understood. He raised a gnarled hand and waved him away, a dismissal. That was all.

art by Geoffrey Ernault

♫

At dusk, the king got up and began to shuffle his way toward the doors of the castle.

The dimming light made clear the streaks and flashes in the sky: the meteors were falling thickly across the stars, a light show that the village had gathered in the streets to watch. Every telescope was pointed at the stars. Gliders had been grounded to avoid blocking the view -- though an occasional rebel swirled overhead, much to the outrage of those watching from below.

Just as the king reached the open castle doors, a huge streak of white light passed overhead. The village let out a collective gasp of wonder as the falling star lit up their faces. It spanned the sky, flashing and burning all the way into the distance. It disappeared on the distant horizon with an explosive flash that lit up silhouettes of mountains. A few seconds later, they could hear a low rumble like thunder.

The king had made it to the banister outside the castle. He raised an arm and shouted to the wind and to the people gathered on the streets below -- but not a word of what he said could be heard. He coughed and wheezed, then motioned for his attendant to come close.

"His Majesty the King of the Island-in-the-Sky," the attendant shouted clearly to the people of the village, "hereby proclaims that at the first light of dawn a search party shall gather at the eastern cliffs for the purpose of retrieving the star we have just witnessed to have fallen." The attendant paused and stooped a bit to hear what the king was mumbling. "One out of the party that returns with the star will be named heir to the throne. The rest will be appointed to the council and will be made royalty." The attendant stood idly for a moment, assuming he was finished -- but leaned down again when the king tugged on his sleeve. "To anyone who plans to gain these rights deceitfully -- the king himself promises to kick your ass." The old king grinned and nodded slowly, hunched over his staff.

The town criers made certain this message was spread throughout the village and its outskirts and the ruins beyond within the hour; gliders and messengers and carrier pigeons scattered throughout the islands. The starry sky was calm and clear.

---

At dawn, the Weather Man floated above in his balloon, signaling the spot where the adventurers would gather. Crowds of villagers brought cakes and dried meat, lengths of rope and filled backpacks, repair kits for gliders and hooked lanterns for night-flying, hoping to send off the search party well-stocked and well-fed. None of them had ever been to the surface, but all of them had warnings or questions or requests for souvenirs or stories. All of them wondered, behind their smiling faces, whether any of the explorers would ever return.

The sun rose behind the distant mountains, marking the spot where the star had fallen. Between here and there was a sea of forest and mist, and a spiraling flock of sparrows.


[System]
Age: 22

Sex: Male

Race: Demon

Handiness: Right

Appearance:

Just ignore the Sheikah symbol.

Inheritance: As a descendant of Vaati, Vieru inherited powerful wind magic, with it he can shape the wind many different ways, including sharp blades, strong breezes with which to carry people on, and even small tornados and cyclones. Magic takes energy though, and the big stuff can tire him out.

Personality: Calm and quiet. Much more of a listener than a talker. Brave and stubborn, won't give in without a fight. Protective and loyal, a good ally through and through. Despite being a demon and the descendant of a villain, Vieru really is a good guy, just a little misunderstood. Okay maybe a lot misunderstood.

Recent history: Vieru has never had a place to call home. He hides during the day, when people are more likely to see him, and travels by night. He avoids towns as much as possible, because people don't respond well to a demon hanging around them. There are several times when he's been attacked just for wandering near a town. Though many don't know, or care to know, he's the one responsible for quite a few monster deaths as he quietly protects the people, even if they don't want his protection.

Personal Goal: To one day be accepted by people.

Three strengths
1. Long range fighting
2. Sewing
3. Finding places to hide when there doesn't seem to be any

Three weaknesses (Not just combat)
1. Fighting in closed in or small spaces
2. Talking to people
3. Due to his nature as a demon, he's weak to light magic. Even outside of battle it makes him nauseous.

Greatest Love: His one and only friend, the wind.

Hates the most: People who judge others based solely on looks.

Misc: Can see nearly perfectly in the dark. Most likely to fall for puppy dog eyes.

Theme song: Can't think of one at the moment. Will add later

[User]
The one girl seemed to be very familiar with the speakers in the Guild Hall, and their newest introduction, Kyogen. She must be very outgoing and have arrived to the party early, or she was already a long-term member of this Guild. Interesting to note, many of these people, like himself, were very new. Almost as if this was a second wave of recruiting. The possibilities as to why there was an abrupt second wave swirled about in Cricket's forebrain, some benign and some horrifying. It was perhaps this preoccupation of thought that took his direct awareness away from the immediate surroundings, allowing this extroverted Hylian girl to run into him.

Unsure as to what would happen next, a tiny light with gossamer wings flitted from the youthful Sheikah's shoulder, blinking out of sight a half second later.

It seemed deliberate. His own Clan has an unspoken game among its younger members; the game had no name, but consisted mainly of various attempts to relieve each other of the items on their person or in their pockets. Most of the time these items were returned after a while, but sometimes kids got greedy.

It was accepted law that Sheikah don't steal from one another. There must be trust within their ranks as they depended upon each other to survive daily. Still, they found little ways to entertain themselves and practice their sleight-of-hand skills without actually stealing. One of the techniques often implemented was the classic "bump". Oldest trick in the Book, one could say, but it worked. Otherwise, it wouldn't be in the Book.

It could be that he was wrong, however. Far be it for him to leap to premature conclusions, his face assumed a vaguely amused look as he waved away the slight upon his personal space. Cricket beamed his usual warm smile for a second, before holding up a single finger. With a thoughtful look, he poked about in his pockets and patted his coat down, until an expression of minor victory asserted itself on his features.

Cricket drew a single, small, mottled green apple from an exterior coat pocket, and held it out to Mari. It was unlikely that anyone could deduce the origin of this diminutive fruit, as unlikely as any of these people visiting the Kokiri Forest and sticking around for a meal. Seemed as good an olive branch as anything, and with his limited communication it was probably best to start making connections early.

Purely coincidentally, this action also allowed Cricket to ascertain if the young girl had, in fact, lifted something from him.

[Assistant]
Kagumo hoped that the zora didn't see her blush. She saw him rub the back of her head, but had no clue what that meant. Hearing his story about why he wanted to leave and explore the world based on all the stories he had sounded very similar to the reasons why she became what she was today. Well that and being trained at a very young age. The zora than smiled and said his name was Ruink. She had never heard of a name like that, but most zoras seemed to have names like that.

"Well my name is Kagumo. Is funny that your reasons for why you wanted to explore the world seems very similar to mine, granted I'm focused on looking for treasures, specifically the 3 sacred treasures of the gods. I just happened to find the poster talking about needing heroes and thought it might have some treasure associated with it. Though time will tell." Kagumo kept walking near Kuink on their way to Death Mountain.

As they continued walking, one of the people in charge of the gathering was asking what everyone's name was. After several people said their name, she decided to tell everyone her name. "My name is Kagumo and can probably tell by my appearance that I'm a Gerudo. I'm not sure what we plan to do, but will go along for anything as long as there is a nice reward in the end." She smiled a bit as she said that.

[User]
On the road

Kyogen nodded to him. "Well met, Ranger Joseph.

This was a puzzle. Kyogen blinked, not comprehending. The sheikah repeated the motion, and Kyogen scrached his head. "Thats a cricket." He said. "So...your name...is...Cricket?" He asked.

Kyogen turned to the new person to speak up. "Nice to meet you, Rima. You have a wonderful name."

Kyogen grinned. "Swifty it is then!. He said. The boy turned to ask Kira a question. "If Sir Oryx's reaction is any indication, it appears to be light magic. Other then that, I'm afraid I can't say. Sorry." She told him with a smile.

Kira took this in, looking thoughtful. A millennia, thats a long time to simply...exist." She said.

Kyogen smiled at the arrivel three more and the exuberant voice that accompanied them. "Hello, Rida." He said, warmly. He liked the little cucco-loving girl's energetic personality. It always made him feel better.

"Good, glad to see you two back. He turned to the newcomer. "I suppose your name is Vieru, right? I'm Kyogen, thats Kira the armored man, driving the wagon is Ark, and the man in the mask up there goes by Warden." @AirBender

Kyogen nodded to her, his focus still on the newcomer.

[Assistant]
Rida smiled brightly when greeted by Kyogen. "This is gonna be so much fun! My Cuccos have been wanting a real challenge lately anyways." Rida said with a smile as she petted Henry who was perched on her floating gate at the moment. It did stick out quite a bit compared to the other items held by the group. "Aren't you excited Henry?" Rida said turning to Henry who in turn gave a rather blood lusting cluck. Sometimes Henry was scarier than Rida.

If any of them knew what Rida's real reason for being with the group was though, they would take Henries cluck as something to truly be scared of.

[User] If the Stalfos had proven to be anything other than still sane, Joseph would have put it down the moment he felt it enter the guild hall. As it was, he hadn't done anything other than further cement that he wasn't going to go on a murderous rampage when they least expect it. "Well, if you know who it is that's coming, then maybe you can give us the odds of us beating the leader of this particular darkness." Sensing something off to the left in a tree, he draws an arrow, draws back the string and fires, a Wall Master falling to the ground dead and rolling out of the bushes. The ranger retrieves his arrow as they walk and puts it back in his quiver after wiping off the blood. "Guess I need to take a some time between adventures to clear the forests around here again."

[Assistant]
Ruink's head tilted a little bit at the mention of the 'three sacred treasures of the Gods', but for the time being he didn't question exactly what they were or where they might have been located. Instead the conversation seemed to swing towards general introductions as new people arrived and some of the old seemed to slip away quietly. Clearing his throat for a moment, he actually considered what he was going to say before finally he just went ahead and said it. "Hello, my name is Ruink and I am a hybrid. As for why I am here, when I heard that this meeting had been called I couldn't help but get this gut feeling that this gathering of various peoples was going to make for one hell of a story to tell to any descendants that I may be fortunate enough to have in my lifetime and between the antics of our masked leader who goes by the character of 'Warden' to the numerous people that I have seen but have not had the pleasure of properly meeting and getting to know yet, I feel that my gut feeling was correct. It's nice to meet you all."

Truth be told there was a rather wide range of different people from vastly different cultures that had answered the summons and gathered to join this 'Heroes Guild'. It was actually rather exciting! One day he might be able to tell his children about how he had traveled with and fought beside a friendly Stalfos and a woman who seemed to travel with cuccos! That Zora that had been traveling with them seemed to have been one of the ones that skipped out... most likely because they were heading towards Death Mountain.

Giving an internal shrug at the fact that the full blooded Zora fled the possibility of dehydrating, Ruink smiled as he turned back to Kagumo and asked "So what are these three treasures that you're looking for and what do they look like?"

[User]
The group had gotten larger as they traveled and Nina was unsure of what to make of the newest editions to the group. There was a strange girl who apparently had master the ancient art of Cucco raising, certainly not a trial for the faint of heart. She could not help but eye Henry with a calculating gaze, "You know at just the right temperature I bet I could bring out a lot of flavor..." Well roasted Cucco aside a very new and potentially dangerous individual had entered into their midst.

This demon who had joined the awkward band of misfits certainly had magical power. As a fellow mage it was easy to feel the eddies of magic that circled around him, unnoticable by those not attuned to magic there was a good chance she was the only one who could sense his power. She would keep her eye on him even if currently in his lap was a huge, fluffy bundle of feathers. Animals were only animals after all and it would require magic user to counter him if he ever became a threat. Fire versus Wind, a fairly classic duel to be certain if that time ever came.

There was also a salesgirl that appeared as well but she didn't interest Nina in the slightest.

What was more interesting to Nina was the young Hylian bow who demonstrated a very unique skill. As soon as she saw that arrow of light appear her mind's gears turned fast and furiously as she tried to make sense of it. She noticed Onyx's reaction to the power and soon her suspicious seemed to be confirmed. "Swifty was it? If memory serves me that power of yours can be non other than the famous Arrows of Light. Yes I know, not a very creative name but it certainly fits the flame. Admittedly I'm a little peeved as I had been hoping to find the power myself, but it seems it may only be available to a certain bloodline. They are the arrows of Evil's Bane and their light can strike at even the greatest of the darkness."

After saying all that she gave a little sigh. "My knowledge is, however limited to that, I'm afraid the actual bloodline associated with the Light Arrows as been somewhat, gone with the wind as it were. You know I would have already figured everything out if people just took better care of their records, tch, I've had to search so many caves and library's to learn even the smallest bits of important knowledge." Nina started to grumble to herself as she remembered all her less than fruitful adventures and nights of book searching.

[Assistant]
Vieru's long ears pressed flat against his skull as they got closer to a large group of people. Every instinct was screaming at him to run, there were just too many people with weaponry for his liking. His eyes darted around the group, trying to quickly figure out what type of weapons they had and who would be the biggest threat. If he was to escape, the archers would be the ones who were most dangerous. But no, he wasn't trying to escape, he was trying to do the most ridiculous thing he possibly could. He was going to join them. But still his fingers flexed and the wind answered his unintentional call, the breeze lifting his hair in a comforting manner.

Thankfully, people either didn't notice, or didn't care that there was a demon in their midst. And Rida was doing all the talking to the supposed leaders. One of them, a man named Kyogen did address him though. It was strange, the man just welcomed him to the group and introduced the other leaders to him. There were no threats, no weapons being pulled against him. Though he still couldn't relax around so many people, he felt a little bit safer than he did moments ago. "Ah yes, I'm Vieru. T-thank you for letting me join this guild." The demon said a bit awkwardly. Silently he thought that he should be thanking them for not killing him right away. But didn't voice that out loud.

Nervously, he glanced around the group, this time not looking for weapons, but just seeing who was there. It was certainly an interesting group of people, all different races too. Was that... A Stalfos? It was nice knowing he wasn't the only dark creature among them. Still Vieru found himself staying closer to Rida and Mari than anyone else. They were closer to earning his trust than anyone else was. For some reason, them being there made him want to prove himself to the guild a little bit. It would bring him that much closer to his goal of having people accept him, instead of trying to kill him constantly.


[System]
Ryan Jäger
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Nationality: Harmonian
Text Color: This is his text color.
Rank: Lieutenant
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 185 lb
Physical description:
Fair skin
Short blond hair
Green eyes
Scruffy beard

Titan: Legion-class, Lima India-2686 (Li (lie) for short)

Load-out
R-97: Extra Ammo, Speedloader, HCOG Ranger
Charge Rifle: Charge Hack
Hammond P2016: Extra Ammo, Gunrunner
Arc Grenade
Grapple Hook
Booster: Amped Weapons

Personality/Attitude: Charming, heroic, quick to anger
Skills/Talents: Pilot training,
Favourites/Likes: LI-2686, parkour, knifing various things, sandwiches
Most Hated/Dislikes: IMC, enemy Titans, getting rodeoed, stubbing his toe (hate that!)
Goals/Ambitions: To climb the ranks of the SRS, win the freedom of the Frontier
Strengths: Decent marksman, rodeos very reliably
Weaknesses: Anger can blind him and make him make mistakes, endangering himself and others
Fears: Losing to the IMC
Hobbies/Interests: Running the Glitch Gauntlet
(Note: has a sister named Rachel, who is also in the SRS)

[User]
Alms walked through the ship. The calls for Titanfall had come and he had been forced to wrap up his work. Running now, Alms made his way to the hangars. Quickly he passed Severence and her Titan. Of course, due to some freak accident of misfortune, his titan was right next to hers. Madrys stood, silent and solemn. Her cockpit was still closed as the onboard mechanics knew that Alms would kill them if they opened up his Titan.

"Time to fall, Madrys." A soft, mechanical voice escaped from the speakers in Alms' throat. Pulling up her computer, Alms began to open the behemoth up. A set of stairs were placed at the perfect distance from her pit. Climbing up them, Alms' steel footsteps echoed throughout the hangar. His BRD-01 form manuevered its way into Madrys' controls. Getting comfortable, ALms secured himself. Plugging his own cords into her control panel, Madrys became something of an extension of himself.

"Wake up and burn," Electric blue eyes sprung to life as Madrys stood to her full height, easily becoming one of the tallest Titans in the hangar. Her cockpit swung shut on Alms' body. Blue lights coming off of his LEDs, Alms turned on the comms.

"Severence, you hear me? Make sure that it is only you who is going down in that deathpit. I do not want a repeat of what happened a month ago." Letting his captain know of his grievances, Alms got in touch with the drop squad. "Hey, drop me off about a mile away from the conflict. You know me, I'll snipe and keep an eye on Severence." Alms quickly checked his armament. Madrys had her sniper rifle strapped to her back, a sword on her hip, and a dagger on her chest. Air was pushed out of Alms' throat as he leaned back. This was going to be fun.

[Assistant]
Locking and plugging in her mobile to a little slot she installed on the wall, she set a playlist to some nice instrumental music- the type used in movies when the heroes showed up for the final boss battle, for example. She flicked through the options, selected the favorite that she wanted to start off with, and set it to begin playing the moment she touched down.

 She low-keyed hated the pilots who were based in chassis similar to Reapers, though her feelings toward the person themselves were completely different. In Alms' case, she hated talking to him in person. "Roger that, Reaper-man. But you know what they say, Alms. A brawl a day keeps the IMC away- wise words to live by, in my book." The quote was actually straight from her book, so of course it'd be wise words for her.

 "Sniping's for the grandmothers, anyways, so you're well suited. I'll take them all on!" Her customary excitement/rage mix edged into her voice, jittery from pre-battle anxiety. Pounding the [READY] button to prep her Titanfall, she ran a mental scan over Lucy's systems. Nuclear reactor purring like a kitten, ammunition fully loaded and secured, sword locked onto its magnetic sheath on where his butt would be, if he were the Titan.

 The Titan dipped slightly as the clamps holding her readied her for Titanfall, and then gravity dropped away as the atmospheric drop heat-shields were locked onto the chassis, and fired explosively down at the planet.

[User]
James was already on the Titan deck as the call to arms sounded, working with the mechanics and MRVNs as they fine-tuned some last minute adjustments to Kilo November 7620, or just Kilo for short. As the ever-recognisable voice of Commander Briggs sounded over the tannoy, the pilot patted the shoulder of the lead engineer, and was answered with an affirmative nod as he and his team tightened up the last of the bolts and screws, securing all of the loose parts and plating into place. No words were spoken between the men and women around the war-machine, but a silent agreement was reached all the same.

As Captain James Praetor mounted his Titan, he looked to the other machines around the deck and those that piloted with them, the flesh and blood partners of the steel giants... and the Spectre with a Human mind. 'Exceptions of every rule, I guess'. He saw a wide range of Titan Chassises, most being Gen 2 like Jäger's and Severence's Legions and even a heavily modified Gen 1 Stryder that looked held together by duct tape and pure stubbornness. Kilo was among the few Gen 3, independently developed, Vanguard class Titans on board, one which was partnered with Commander Briggs herself. James shook his head, dispelling his musings as he sat back into Kilo's cockpit and sealed the hatch. He didn't bother partaking in any of the pre-drop chatter; he knew not everyone in that hangar was going to make it back alive, why waste the energy getting to know someone that could die on this rock and become another unremarkable statistic?

He tuned out Brigg's vague briefing as he checked over Kilo's systems for a final time, double-checking the Wingman Elite at his thigh and the Flatline stored at his side before verbally checking on his Titan.

"Kilo, System update."
"All Systems are operating at nominal effectiveness. I am ready for deployment at any time"
"Understood. That's what I like to hear... Standing by for Titanfall."

With Kilo's reassurance, James leaned back into his seat and tighten his grip on the controls as he waited for the sudden drop that was Titanfall. It came without warning, the sudden momentum and then weightlessness, followed by the jarring sensation of the contact with the ground. Shaking his head to clear the slight whiplash, he deftly manipulated the controls so that Kilo grasped his XO-16 Chaingun and readied it for combat. 'Once more unto the breach...'

[Assistant]
Alms' shoulders whirred as he leaned back. He had been promoted to Commander recently, which irked him. Alms had never intended to become a leader. He was merely a mechanic, always had been, always will be. However, the Frontier had decided differently. Madrys' console began to glow in a blue light as her voice spoke throughout Alms' circuits.

"Freddy! We gonna fall today? Where is it? Who is it?" Her questions went off rapid-fire. Madrys was like something of a child. Well, in actuality that was something of an understatement. To Alms, Madrys was his daughter. Not his true daughter, of course. She had died a long time ago.

"Calm down Madrys. We are falling today, on Hades. IMC, who else?" Alms quickly went through a manual systems scan. Checking the gauges that covered the inside of Madrys' cockpit, Alms gave her the go ahead. Turning his comms back on, Alms gave his men a quick briefing.

"Jager, you hear me?" Alms' mechanical voice flowed over the comms as he called out to one of the more promising Legion users. "Drop on the fringe, then push inwards. If a Ronin or Ion come up, you get out of the way. Understood?" Alms liked the young man, surprisingly, and didn't want to lose him to some crackpot IMC Titan.

"Severence, you're next." Turning his attention, Alms called out to his hotheaded second-in-command. "Don't be a fool. Fall on a titan, then get out of the way. Group up with Jager. Keep his back as he keeps yours. Do not," Alms took in a quick breath as he remembered what happened on their last drop. "Do not stay in the fray. We almost lost you then, and I don't want to go through that again."

Switching to his next soldier, Alms called out to Praetor. "Praetor. Drop behind Jager. I want you to cover him like a Legion until Severence regroups with you all. After she gets to Jager I want you to proceed with dash-and-hit tactics. Bounce back and forth between tearing through the enemies and being behind the two Legions. No heroics." Thankfully, Alms didn't have much to worry about with Praetor. The young man was cool-headed and calculatory. As such, Praetor usually followed orders, and when he didn't, better results usually came out from it.

"I will be dropping down about half a mile behind you. I will be close enough to provide melee assistance if needed, while far enough away to take advantage of my own skills." Alms shifted in his seat, a slight ringing sound broadcasted over the comms as he did so though. "Lastly, I don't know everything and I won't know about what is going on right in front of you three. If the situation changes and I don't give you direct orders, then react as you see fit. Severence, if this happens, then it's your job to get yourself, Jager, and Praetor out. Do not try and stay in the battle, retreat as soon as it becomes dangerous."

As soon as he finished talking, the call for Titanfall rang out. Immediately, the hangar bay underneath Madrys opened up. Then the fall began. Alms loved this feeling of weightlessness, and so did Madrys. The Titan was laughing as she fell down on Hades. Wake up and burn, Hades. Wake up and burn.

[User]
Severence clicked her tongue in annoyance. Get out of the way if it gets dangerous, she mimicked in her head, mockingly. Yeah, because combat wasn't normally all that dangerous. She respected the Spectre-Commander in several ways... but when it got dangerous, it'll only get worse if you start running. If Cooper can take out a couple dozen Titans out all on his own with that lighter chassis, then she can take out some of them on her own too.

 Re-entry rattled and shook the Titan, having been blasted from low orbit to the ground. Closing her eyes as they neared the drop, she whispered to herself.

 "Five... four... three... two..." As she was just about to mutter the last number, an ear-piercing screech and rolling boom thundered across the battlefield, the Legion having clipped a Tone-class Titan in the rear, setting off its reactor and self-destructing.

 Staggering to her feet, eyes open now, the red-painted Legion regained herself and unslung the belt-fed 15mm minigun. Normally it took high-capacity magazines, but she had gotten Alms to fix that. It was prone to malfunctioning if she took heavy damage, but she could always just steal another titan's weapon if that happened.

 Surveying the battlefield, she found that they were actually fighting on open ground next to a rather sudden cliff- and near her, a rock formation spiraling into the sky. Before hostile Titans could react to their presence and unleash hell, she turned and sprinted for it, a place to use as cover while her Gun Shield was offline.

[Assistant]
"Copy that, commander." He unslung his Predator Cannon and scanned the terrain, which proved to be free of enemy Titans or Pilots. He had some scuffles with some quickly dispatched infantry. "You ever wonder what happens to the family of IMC infantry? You think they give them free healthcare? Dental? A ten-thousand dollar compensation?" "That question has been asked to IMC P.O.W.s. They said that the IMC compensates the family with a check equal to all the pay the deceased has earned serving the IMC. Most of the time, the casualties are very new, and haven't made much pay, so the family doesn't receive more than two, maybe three thousand dollars. This is one of the reasons the Militia is better. We compensate with health insurance, dental, and free tuition to one of the several Militia-owned colleges on Harmony." "Okay, I get it. I wasn't going to switch sides, I was just curious, Jesus."

This conversation continued as Ryan kept moving toward the facility. "Pilot, enemy Titan detected to our left. Caution advised." Directly after that, Ryan started his Power Shot as he swung around, aimed in the general direction of "left", fired the shot, and emptied the magazine until he had reloaded three times. "Titan down. Excellent work, Jäger." "Was that sarcasm I heard?" He questioned as he exited the cockpit and cloaked. When he got to the Titan, he decloaked. "Liiiiii! We've been over this! When you find a Brute, just say "Brute detected"! You say caution advised for Ronins and Ions! You say it for Monarchs, not Brutes! We've been over this!" "Acknowledged. From now on, if the enemy is a Brute, I will say, "Brute detected."

They continued toward the factory, dispatching enemies as they came across them. As they did this, they would see flashes of red between constructs. As they came to a clearing, they saw it once more heading toward Alms and Madrys. "Commander Alms, confirm. Possible Titan headed toward your location. Be on guard, over." he radioed to his CO as the hatch opened. He took out his R-97 and held it up to his eye. The HCOG scope activated and zoomed in on his target. "Oh, shit! That's a Monarch! Alms, do you read me? There is a Monarch heading to your position with 115 kills! Repeat, a Monarch with 115 kills is heading to your position! I believe this is a very experienced Pilot! I am chasing but prepare to fight!"


[System]
Species: Human

Age: 28

Gender: Female

Appearance: Shorter than average, dark hair, somewhat sun-kissed skin from outdoor activity, and way less scars than one would've expect. Usually clad in mail hauberk adorned with pieces of banners from felled foes (or a pretty dress, at rarer occasion), and always with at least one weapon in her person.

Bio: When Yvonne was born she's the only child to the opulent but very much declining house Rosenving, it took less than two more decades of ridiculous parties and all-around bad financial management before it was driven to the verge of bankruptcy. Naturally there comes the talk of marriage upon which Yvonne, an oddball obsessed with distinctly unladylike things like driving the business end of a weapon into someone's soft flesh, all but absconded with her great-grandfather's blade. The rest of her life was spent in a wild ride of mercenary work and avoiding (more commonly, well, thoroughly violencing) the men hired by her family and/or her would-be fiance to bring her back. Her journey brought her all round the three kingdoms and more, even after her ancestral home collapsed and pursuers stopped coming.

Invited by promise of great reward and, among other thing, to try save the little henchman boy that used to follow her around (yes, that would be the prince), and the fact that she happen to be lurking around the border already, Yvonne stepped back toward the royal court of Kindeance once more.

Skillset: Well versed in outdoor survival, knack for murder and violence, oddly high spatial awareness, dancing, easily thrives in chaotic situation, very good at intimidation, weaves pretty dang well, and is proficient using common melee weapons. Personally prefers the mace despite her title.

Spells:
-Mansplitter (Self-buff. Gain inhuman strength for a very short period. The stronger the effect, the greater the backlash.)
-Warcry (AoE debuff. Inflict terror in a wide area. Greater effect on closer target, and greater effect on direction Yvonne is facing.)
-Bloodlust (Passive. Haste, pain tolerance, and resistance to mental effect. Starts off weak but ramps up as the fight goes on.)
-Resilience (Passive. Harder to injure, less affected by existing injuries, and heals a lot faster than normal at the cost of increased calorie usage.)

Equipment: Daily necessities (preserved rations, a tin pot, medical supply, knapping, change of clothes, etc), adorned mail hauberk, the sword her great-grandfather wielded that probably never saw use since then until it landed in her hands, a heavy flanged mace, a rondel dagger.

Other: Can be inserted to the plot any time it's convenient (or fun) to do so.

[User]
Henri exhaled. It should be noted that he really does not need to breathe, but this is exasperating. Sure took Matilda her sweet time to speak up. So these arrows are special after all? Additionally, where did that map come from?

 This guy... Had he not the initiative to show us that from the start?

 Henri at least felt a relief that Matilda looked steeled to pursue these footprints further and instead leaving Rorthgaard to these minions, but is everyone glossing over the fact that Cedrick mentioned about the escaped horses?

 Henri raised a hand. "Matilda. Let's split from here. Cedrick and I will track down the escaped horses." If it's as the man-bear says, he could talk to them and find out where they're stabled, and the horses might be saddled up with important items as well. This endeavor shouldn't be a problem with the both of them. Their speeds could easily outpace any horse.
 "Mind giving Cedrick something that carries your scent? Also," Henri taps Matilda's shoulder, casting Core Spreading on her shoulderplate. A streak of cyan lightning appears briefly on it. "I'll be able to hear you when you're nearby."

 A small pool of molten iron wells up from Henri's hand, preparing to drop them sparingly on the ground as breadcrumbs.

[Assistant]
Chōnan kept an eye on the demon fox until leaving on his range. He remain his position nearby Jazdia without being an obstacle on her. As the time running out, he decided to help Jazdia with the clues. He approached Yvonne and said. "Milady, I shall give you a hand." She paused for a while and nodded.

Her identity is familiar by him despite she doesn't know him back. Adventurer's Guild assassins spreaded rumors about her and also they had admiration with her work. Also, an exchange letter between him and the prince back then about being kept mention her name, possibly his childhood crush may say.

The hedge seems to be a good route for the victim to fled off from the assassin, maybe he can find something around under the range of the area that Miss Jazdia's mentioned. He removed his shoes and attached it on his sliding line of his bag. Finding some luck by using his sense of touch of his bare feet inside the grassy yard.

[User]
"I see, thank you for the information. It will surely help with documenting the events here. May your fallen comrades feast in the hall of the gods for all eternity." With those words Kaito finished up the interrogation of the young guard. The fox went on to talk to some of the other guards but they all gave similar answers for the ones that were around during the attack.

There were some points in the testimony from the guard that the kitsune found intriguing. First and foremost was the point that all guards seem to refer to the assailants as Mecheans and yet the official report never stated that fact. The kitsune assumed that the authors of the official report also questioned the guards on site and yet somehow omitted their testimony about the assailants being Mecheans from the report. Did the guards not share that information or was it kept out on purpose? A question that certainly needed to be answered.

There were some more details from the guard's testimony that did not match up with the report. The report never talked about any casualties among the guards, also the report explicitly stated that the king was around till the smoke went off and yet the guard mentioned that madame Mathilda immediately escorted the king back to the palace. Also the guard spoke about the assassins disappearing into thin air while the report mentioned them escaping in the crowds. There were too many discrepancies between the testimony of the guard and the official report that drew suspicion. Someone seemed to be lying.

After finishing up the questioning of the guards Kaito walked back to Jazdia. For a moment the kitsune played with the idea of calling her by a nickname again but decided that he had infuriated the elf enough already. Pushing her buttons a bit more would be asking for more trouble than he could handle. "Miss Yazdia, got a minute or are you busy?" Spoke the fox with the sweetest smile he could muster.

"Who wrote the official report? There are a lot of differences between what the guards told me and what was written down. It's pretty suspicious in my opinion. We might have to look into that a bit further." Spoke Kaito in a more serious tone. He paused a bit before he continued to speak. "The little pipsqueak guard over there had some interesting quotes about what the assassins shouted. Apparently one of them yelled death to the Marauder-king. Do you think that the Mecheans are blaming Fredericus for the shit his grandpa pulled? Or does the beloved king of Kindeance has some dark secrets?"

As Kaito was informing the elf on the further differences between the testimony of the guards and the guards he brought up one more subject. "The guard mentioned that someone shouted 'By the Blessing of the Ouroboros! We have reclaimed what is ours!' after the smoke went up and just before a blinding flash that made the last assassins disappear into thin air. It seems that the Black Serpant guild might be playing some role in this."

[Assistant]
"All right, move aside you two!"

Jazdia winced, trying to hide her frustration as she leaned forward and rustle the hedge. She didn't even use her power to find what they were supposed to be looking for.

Buried inside the hedgerows was a fletched shaft almost broken in two pieces. Its head telescoped inward, damaged to the point it was more like a piece of blunt metal, a sign of a heavy impact. Jazdia looked at the surrounding elevation and pictured where the archer was supposed to be. If the first archer was an amateur. The other one seemed to be more... professional?

"This arrow was fired from a full-sized long bow and gained full momentum before hitting Matilda's shield." mused the elf, muttering the conjecture to anyone who was willing to listen. "It could only be done with sufficient range. Was that from the rampart on the left side? Or the terrace near the mausoleum? One thing for sure though, It was not something you can shot in the crowd."

Before anyone could answer that, Kaito rejoined them.

"Miss Yazdia, got a minute or are you busy?"

Surprisingly Jazdia did not correct the mispronunciation of her name, something she usually took very seriously. "Not at all. What did they tell you?"

"Who wrote the official report? There are a lot of differences between what the guards told me and what was written down. It's pretty suspicious in my opinion. We might have to look into that a bit further." Spoke Kaito in a more serious tone. He paused a bit before he continued to speak. "The little pipsqueak guard over there had some interesting quotes about what the assassins shouted. Apparently one of them yelled death to the Marauder-king. Do you think that the Mecheans are blaming Fredericus for the shit his grandpa pulled? Or does the beloved king of Kindeance has some dark secrets?"

"Not as dark as those Tretagor monarchs during their heyday, but Kindeance was a militaristic country a century ago. The usual rape, pillage, and burn were one of their modus operandi. One hundred years was quite a long time for a country to change its ways, but not long enough to mend the scars, and sometimes it festers and I think that's how..."

After what seemed to be a full minute of troubling thoughts, she continued.

I don't know who wrote that. Could be Fredricus's spymaster. It was very common for a report to be written anonymously. Suspicious? Not really at the first glance since that kind of documentation usually redacts a number of crucial detail for political reasons." And that was why CSA was so good at their job, they didn't have to deal with such hogwashery on daily basis.

"Still though, if the missing details are in a very abnormal number, there might be a schemer." Jazdia chuckled. "Classic. But I don't think Fred was that stupid to let potential usurpers any closer to his neck. So, tell me the glaring differences you've found so far."

Kaito then explained about the casualties being redacted from the report, and Fredricus's involvement was somewhat embellished. The usual stuff. The part about Meche and the origin of those assailants was interesting, to say the least. So someone was trying to stir up the hearts of the people. For the better or for the worse.

"What else can you tell me?"

"The guard mentioned that someone shouted 'By the Blessing of the Ouroboros! We have reclaimed what is ours!' after the smoke went up and just before a blinding flash that made the last assassins disappear into thin air."

"Another omitted details huh..."

"Yes, It seems that the Black Serpant guild might be playing some role in this."

The theory that someone inside his circle was betraying him sounded even more plausible now. Jazdia approached the mausoleum, trying to see what secret it contained, but her eyes failed her.

"Warding runes?" he scoffed, finding it ironic how ancient runes, one of the subjects she despised so much during her college days was proven relevant to not only ward off evil spirits but also be able to repel her power. "I Guess Serensiel was evil after all."

So she diverted her attention around the space that was supposed to be the mausoleum's interior and found there was a passage down there, almost ruined and caved, but definitely still passable. Suddenly everything seemed to make more sense.

"After the failed attempt, they threw the smoke to cover their escape... or someone messed up and throw it prematurely, causing the other assassins to abandon their mission and retreat."

"So that was how they escaped. Pretty clever huh?"

She scanned again, this time around the twelve monuments. Whoever buried down there had been reduced to ashes, leaving empty stone caskets and other funerary goods. There was no hidden passage from any of those graves, so that left mausoleum as the prime access, and although she could not examine the interior, she concluded that the passage was linked to it somehow.

"Where did that tunnel lead to? Unfortunately, it was beyond the range of my empowered sight."
"How did they gain access to the catacombs? It was unimaginable to leave such an important building unlocked."
"Did they steal the key? No... Fredricus would have called a manhunt, secrecy be damned."

[User]
Yvonne stared with bafflement as the elf seemingly reached in and took out a broken arrow from the hedge as if she knew that it was there from the get go. What. How. The mercenary scratched behind her ears, still having a little bit of decency left to look sheepish at her failure.

"How'd you even- nevermind." She shook her head, more than willing to put that little hiccup behind. "Arrows shot from a longbow would punch into a standard shield. Wouldn't put it past Mattie to wield a slab of iron, but this should be a ceremonial event." Glancing around to take in the surrounding, Yvonne visualized where would one be if they were to stage an ambush. Not much spots, and what's available weren't that good, but passable. "Distance isn't an issue, I know men that could pull trick shots with longbows. They just need an elevated vantage points... I'd put archers on top of the mausoleum if I have the time, but otherwise they'll just need to scramble on top of the tombstones."

Definitely not a common skillset, but training someone to perform archery under high pressure wasn't exactly a difficult prospect. Time-consuming, yes, but not difficult. She'd wager that horseback shooting was higher on the difficulty ceiling.


[System]
Age: 25
Appearance:

Occupation: Vampire Hunter
Short bio(+Personality): Locke was once Amir Bahadur, who was born to a very poor and destitute family. While this meant days without food and hard labor in the fields, Amir felt his upbringing prepared him for the harsh military life of a Gurkha. Joining up with a Gurkha rifle regiment as soon as he was of age, Amir participated in several armed conflicts. His unit eventually became absorbed into the British East India Company, and he fought for the British Crown. His unit's exploits soon won the attention of a certain British Officer. He told Amir of vampires, and how they were a threat to the civilized world. A Gurkha would be a great asset in dealing with the vermin, the officer stated. At first, Amir thought this to be the ramblings of a man hampered with combat fatigue. But the man had pictures of the victims of vampires, and while this wasn't proof to Amir that there were actually vampires, it at least convinced Amir that he should at least kill these murderers. It did not matter whether they were human, or vampire, as the man had stated. Amir was then transferred to London, and given a more English name, Locke.

While Locke has attempted to assimilate into London Society, he finds it hard not to lash out at some of the racist attitudes of many British Citizens. For now at least, he has managed to control his temper, and stay calm and collected.

[User]
Elizabeth Parks

 Elizabeth stared at the Wraith, unspeaking the whole time. She gave the Adjutants a sour look after he left.
 "Don't forget to do what  I  told you to do either." She commanded, and swept out of the room quickly. She hit the street. The sooner she caught wind of the rival nest, the better. And she knew exactly where to start. She went around back and hailed her carriage, elegantly ascending inside. It was still dark out; perfect time for vampires. She swept the red light district, looking for any signs of alliegence free vampires that she could question. She knew these streets like the back of her hand, and she knew that vampires who fed wildly in the London night knew things that no others could know. They knew which areas to avoid, and they would know exactly where other large congregations of vampires would be lurking. Waiting. Waiting for Elizabeth to sniff out and report to her own Nest.

 @Viciousmarrow @lovely complex

[Assistant]
Vikas Helsing
Vikas feels someone walking behind him. He was tempted to turn around, but doesn't sensing that the one behind him isn't going to do any damage to him. Most likely they were hiding from someone...or something. As he continues walking he feels the familiar feeling of hunger creep back to him. With a look passing through his eyes he continues waking. He is half tempted to turn around and deal with whoever is following him...instead he turns his head a bit and studies the girl following him. She looks very much like a peasent...with hay yellow hair. Her blue eyes were quite pretty though. He does a quick discret nostril flare and memorized her scent..in case she leaves and something chases her. Subconsciously he ends up in front of a Caberet, his hunger clearly taking over. He faces it for a few moments...as if fighting an internal battle for awhile.
Before he could go in though, a woman approaches him. He takes in her appearance and tilts his head. *must be asking about the girl following me* he decides to play his own facade.
"A girl? No...I've been walking here alone." His velvety soft voice passes along the lie smoothly with no hint of it being what it is. He studies the woman in front of him for a few seconds before allowing his eyes to slowly move back to his destination. If he was attacked he would be able to react fairly quickly. This woman seemed rather dangerous...even with the elegant garb she adorned. He wasn't even tempted to pick pocket her. He did notice how close her body was to his though..and that made thinking a teensy bit difficult.

[User]
Igraine looked up at Laurent with a proud, cheeky smile; she always let any sort of praise go to her head. She was about to take his hand of cooperation when Elizabeth interjected.

As the ashes from Elizabeth's pipe splashed across Igraine's face, burning her, Igraine flinched, but managed to hit the sweet spot between trying to preserve her dignity while simultaneously not seeming rudely defiant. "I'm sorry, Lady Parks. It was a...silly idea," Igraine said in a subdued and monotonous tone while Elizabeth turned to give orders to Laurent. With Elizabeth's head turned, Igraine bit her own lip painfully thinking about Elizabeth's comment about her birth.

Igraine made to follow Elizabeth when a massive cloaked figured slinked out of the darkness.

Igraine is frozen stiff at the approach of this ominous figure. She had only heard rumors of the Wraith before but seeing...it...outdid all the hearsay. Here was a creature that possessed not only a high position, but had the physical strength and cunning to back it up. It was all Igraine to do not to gulp or show abject fear as the Wraith stooped down and threatened to eat her. Igraine knew her mother had been 'disposed', but she didn't know how; now she had a guess.

But what possibly struck her the hardest was the Wraith's mention of the coca. The cartel had recently been dealing with South American traders and came upon the substance which was more potent than opium, procuring a fairly large sample that was offered up to Lord Grangrel to have the first taste of its effects as well as to allow him to judge whether the cartel should procure more, or learn to synthesize it themselves. To get another block of the stuff in a timely fashion was all but impossible, and at any rate, Amaury was possessive: if something of his was stolen, he didn't want a 'replacement', he wanted to regain what was his and no other. Igraine imagined the block being wasted on some decadent lowlife sap who didn't truly appreciate its value, getting high as the stars in some back alley and possibly sharing it with his fellow bedraggled vagabonds. Igraine imagined returning to her father in disgrace with nothing but a handful of powder cupped in her quaking hands. She dared not imagine what her father and the Wraith would do to her if that actually happened.

When the Wraith left, Igraine noticed that Elizabeth was more than a little peeved at having been bossed around by the prelate, and thus felt a slight vindictive satisfaction inside, though she didn't let it show. Though Elizabeth told Igraine and Laurent to continue to follow her orders, Elizabeth left the building so quickly that Igraine assumed that her previous orders to follow Elizabeth were moot at this point. At any rate, Igraine doubted Elizabeth would let her into her carriage. Igraine ran to her room and grabbed what looked like a long pole wrapped in burlap and headed up to the tavern entrance, catching the scent of her father. He had recently come back from a meeting, she assumed, with the other elders. He could have lost the coca at any point along his journey to the meeting and back, so all she could do was follow the trail and see if she could discover any traces of the distinct, sharp, and intoxicating scent of the drug along the way. Slinging the wrapped pole across her shoulder, Igraine ran out into the street, heading in the direction of the Café Royal.

[Assistant]
House of Grangrel | 8:30 PM

Laurent stared at the eerie figure in front of him for a moment. Not many times he had seen a Prelate, and it was the first time he had been addressed personally. For him, this meant the he was finally being trusted. And unlike the other Adjutant, Laurent didn't fear the Wraith. Instead, he admired the ominous aura of power that surrounded the creature. In fact, he'd rather serve the Wraith rather than the imperious ex-concubine.

"I will, Your Grace, for I live to serve the Master and the House." He kneeled down humbly like a vassal, and as soon as the Prelate left, he recovered his usual prideful demeanor and headed towards his bedroom without directing a second look to Elizabeth. He had a task given by a higher authority and he would fulfill it successfully.

Getting information was something he usually enjoyed, though the idea of having to go to the whorehouses didn't appeal to him. He never got to understand what any man of honour could possibly find there that he couldn't get by other means. Laurent himself never set a foot in such a place unless it was for work, as both sex and blood were things he only enjoyed when they came from the highest members of society, and his conquests only meant a thing when he alone achieved them. Paying for pleasure, how despicable. He thought as he changed his clothes again. This time he chose a white linen shirt and a vest, together with some navy blue trousers and coat and expensive shoes, just like the uniform of a private school. After that, he took a folder full of papers and a textbook, and hid an ornate dagger in his belt. For the night he would be Denis, a very human and very naive college student looking for a friend. Hopefully, many men would be willing to help the hopeless student find his 'friend' in the Red Light district. This was going to be an easy night, he hoped, though before leaving the room he took with him a small gun, just in case.

------------------

Red Light District | 9:30 PM

Laurent walked down the street looking around for any clues, though to the passerby he just seemed to be lost. The boy didn't want to enter any of the establishments, even when he knew that eventually he would have to do it if he wanted to get the information, but he hoped that he wouldn't have to do it alone. He feared being dragged into a room with a scantly clothed woman more than he feared the punishment of not accomplishing his task. He needed to find someone first...

He took a glance at his surroundings, looking for an easy 'prey', which reminded him that he hand't fed in days. His stomach growled softly. But to his dismay nobody seemed to be walking alone. The ladies were flirting with their customers, and the men were either drunk, talking to their friends or trying to grope some female butt. None of them would be of much help getting intel, but he couldn't keep wasting his time, even if it was still early in the night.

He saw a handsome man talking to a richly (but too revealing) dressed woman. She was pressing herself to him, but he didn't look like a customer. Neither she looked like a prostitute, though maybe she was a Madame of some sorts. She reminded him a bit of Elizabeth. The man, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to get away from her, even if a just a moment later he was staring at her boobs. Maybe he should interrupt their conversation? Well, he didn't have many other options, so...

The boy walked towards them, seemingly distracted, and 'accidentally' bumped into the man, dropping his papers that rapidly scattered around. "Ah! Pardon, Monsieur! Je suis desolé!" He said in delicious french. "I was just... I-I..." He bent down to gather his papers, slowly enough to give the man some time to acknowledge his presence.

[User]
Sensei@Viciousmarrow

Vikas Helsing

Vikas was so focused on the woman pressing herself on him that he nearly im pales the man who bumped into him. His instincts almost getting him into trouble. Thankfully, he had managed not to pull out a dagger and stab him. Instead he forces himself to stumble to the side somewhat...when usually he just wouldn't move. He continues forcing himself to act the part of innocent human....even though he's hungry.

With a swallowed growl he straightens himself. He proceeds in wiping off imaginary dust on his shoulder and straightens his jacket. Then he looks down at the guy and gives a dismissive wave. "It's alright" though his eyes were conveying a completly different message. A message of *run along...so you aren't killed*

He focuses back on the woman keeping himself as pleasent as possible. "I apologize for the interruption...as I was saying...I haven't seen a girl..let alone a girl named lyla" his voice comes out velvety smooth as always. His eyes focusing on her dismissing the guy. Figuring he was going to leave. Though he was ready in case either the guy or the woman attacked him.

[Assistant]
It had not even been a minute outside when Locke was met with a female barreling down towards him. Surprisingly he hadn't been disoriented at all, the impact was as if a small pebble was thrown into him. Locke dusted himself off while the female stared at him, probably out of wonder why such a man of a foreign land was in London. Or out of fear of why a "savage" was roaming the streets of London. It wouldn't be the first time someone had stared at him like that, but, in her defense, Locke did stare at her a bit too. While her hay colored hair or azure eyes were enough to gawk at, a strange symbol on the right side of her neck interested him more than her beauty.

A tattoo maybe? Or a branding. Locke thought it was probably a branding. Locke doubted it was a tattoo, because he had never seen any British females have anything of the sort. The British were known to practice prisoner and slave branding. It might also be why she was in such a hurry, but perhaps he was jumping to conclusions too quickly. Locke was about to follow her when a man walked up to him and promptly stared with such concentration the man did not even bother to hide the drool coming out of his mouth.

"Little Lyla came here, dark man?"

Lyla was probably the woman with the strange symbol. It might also possibly be why she was in such a hurry, to get away from this man. However, Locke could probably convince this man to allow him to talk to her a bit in private if Locke helped the man out.

"Ah yes. I assume Lyla has hay colored hair and azure eyes? She we-

 "Greg likes dark man. Reminds me of dark beer. I bring you to my lady as new friend."

Greg walked off into the direction Lyla had gone, despite Locke not having told him of the direction she had gone. Perhaps a lucky guess? Locke followed Greg, not quite too sure what to make of his comments. Perhaps that was the strange way the British complimented each other, and if so, Locke would have to thank him for his kind words somewhere down the line. It was not often when his looks brought about positive thinking among the British. Locke quickly followed behind Greg, hoping to find some answers.


[System]
Code Name: Known as "Wraith" by Amestris.

Age: 21

Gender: Female

Appearance: Wraith is a rather shapely slim woman with a dancer's physique. Her face is oval-shaped and she has full lips and rather expressive eyelashes. She, like all Ishvalians, has red eyes and tan skin, and a mane of wavy black hair that goes past down her shoulder. She usually wears baggy trousers, a shirt and a sash, and she is also covered in a cloak and crude iron mask most of the time. She has a large scar in her belly and navel, which rendered her barren.

Rank: Rogue Ishvalan Alchemist

Personality: Wraith is ruthless and cynical, almost as if always in perpetual anger. She hates authorities, and State Alchemists above all else. Untrustworthy by default, she shuns social interaction most of the time, and makes diplomacy by intimidation. However, she has a hidden gentle side to her, which only shows to fellow Ishvalans and children. For them, she even allows herself to show her skill in dancing and singing to lighten up the mood. Perceptive people can tell that her ruthlessness stems from insecurities and helplessness in the past.

Bio/History: Mona was born as an Ishvalan, a pariah among the Amestrian people, and a descendant of survivors of the massacre long ago. Even though she was rather in the bottom of the proverbial barrel, Mona showed a rather sunny aptitude and unbridled optimism, and with her dances and songs lifted the spirits of the broken Ishvalan people.

Mona realized she had a special talent. Something she needed to share to the entire world, and thus she sought out to perfect her dancing and singing. She diligently trained under Ishvalan monks to improver her posture, overall fitness and breathing. She also learnt to read and write, in order to quickly memorize and catalog all the songs she could. She even learnt to play a little harp to accompany her voice. All for her big debut as street performer. Surely, Amestrian hearts would warm up a little and offer some pity for her fellow Ishvalans.

It didn't work as intended, but not for the lack of trying. There was far too much indiference and xenophobia among the society, and Mona couldn't get further than becoming an underpaid singer in one of the many shady bars of Central City. She took notice a particular patron, named Albert, came to her bar to hear sing every single night. Surely, that was the reason, because the drinks were less than desirable in that place. But what caught her attention was the sorrow expression he always wore, that her song barely managed to lift.

It was she who made the first move, a genuine act of kindness, a shoulder nudge on him after her show, what prompted the relationship. Albert was a State Alchemist wannabe, who couldn't get past the exam no matter how many times he tried. He told her he wanted to help the world, but it was difficult to do so. Mona felt kinship towards the Amestrian, and resolved to help him cheer up everytime. Eventually, the two became acquaintances, and even lovers, and it wasn't strange Mona performed in private for Albert to cheer up.

Being a curious, outgoing person, Mona soon also took interest in Alchemy, the forbidden art she had been vehemently talked against by her elders. But Mona was still naive, and she thought that hearing more sides to the story would increase her wisdom. Asking Ishvala for forgiveness, she even started helping Albert with his studies from a more hands on approach, telling herself the end would surely justify the trangression.

Turns out, she was a much better Alchemist than Albert. The fact was a point of grief for both, as Mona saw it as a curse. Ishvalans were never meant to be this good at something taboo, and Albert resented the fact a street singer was more talented than him. However, Mona just resolved to keep that a secret, and only support Albert from the shadows. Both stood strong in their resolve, and Albert even declared his intention to form a family with Mona. However, Mona felt there was something worrying Albert, clawing him from the inside out.

She found it all too late, when Albert managed to secure his State Alchemist position. In a fit of jealousy and zeal towards Amestris, she half beat Mona, and the child she was carrying in her belly to death, only to tell she had to be disposed of. State Alchemists must set a better example for the world, and for that, sacrifices and compromises had to be made.

Just like her life. Agonizing from internal hemorrhages, Mona panicked. She didn't want to lose her little baby, even though Albert wanted to kill her. She wanted her child to live first and foremost. She searched in her memories. And taboos were broken. Human transmutation was performed, with a circle made of her own blood.

And a price was paid.

"Welcome, you foolish woman." was what the voice of Ishvala said, as a gate of shadows ripped her unborn baby and womb from her.

The Toll of the Gate.

In exchange, Knowledge.

Albert stared horrified at his would be wife, his eyes flabbergasted. He cowered. He fell to his knees.

"What ...did you do?...WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

And she clapped her hands. And a swarm of daggers ripped the betrayer. Mona died.

Wraith was born.

Special Skills: Clapping Alchemy, Ishvalan Martial Arts, Fast-Learning.

Techniques: - Dancing Alchemy / Feet Clapping Alchemy. Since she's a dancer and a martial artist, she can use her feet as hand substitute in performing transmutations.
Research: The Truth about Ishval and Alchemy

Equipment: A sash with her own diary and notes, pen, and a little harp. Also her iron mask.

Other: Accomplished dancer, harp player and singer.

[User]
The first train of the morning, it was quite the awkward ride for Jason… he entered the train without a single look to any of the other passengers, blue plastic bag dragging behind him. There were murmurs, lots of murmurs, without looking… without needing to look; he could feel them, the eyes staring at him as though they were watching an inmate of death row being lead to his death. The look of a people scared, frightened… was it the military uniform he wore? He only wore it because he was informed it was the official dress of a state alchemist… Was it the body bag he was carrying with him? That wasn't really important… As a member of the Amestris military was he not allowed the freedom to carry this bag where he pleased? As he pleased?

Though that didn't matter to Jason right now, he kept his eyes locked on the floor, putting the body on the bench in front of him. Luckily so far no blood had leaked out, that would be troublesome and a bother really did not care for right now. He had to go to central… He hated going to central, it was a bunch of nonsense in the Squid Alchemists eyes. The people there treated him with contempt, like he was someone to be pitied. He wasn't to be pitied… His wife was taken from him unfairly, That was not pity he sought, he sought the return of his wife and child!

The anger was boiling inside of him, his eyes never changed never altered, the pupils never growing or shrinking… But his teeth, they clenched together like a vice. He hated having to put his research on hold to handle some pathetic issue of the state! But he had to put that aside for now, he had to let it go… He needed to focus, focus on what was important, his research, his wife… bringing back his daughter, with one deep and lengthy exhale… followed by a drawn out inhale through his nose, he calmed himself.

Removing another cigarette from the warn out holder and lighting it for good measure, he readied himself. He must be mentally prepared for the journey to central, as bad as that sounded… It could be quite the hassle and he didn't want to get too caught up in the chaos of those nearest the Fuhrer, that might risk his TRUE research being revealed.

--- One Train Ride Later ---

It had taken quite a few hours for the train to reach central, this was the problem with taking one from such a small town. It was nearing ten in the morning and while this wasn't a problem for Alex, he believed that Major North may not take such a kind approach to his tardiness. Jason marched up the steps to central HQ, the base of operations for all State Alchemists and military. Upon entering, he walked down the long halls and ignored the voices of concern and ire about his body bag. He was here to see Major North and nothing would stop his progress, luckily, the Major happened to be walking these same halls.

"Major, I've brought my target." Jason remarked, holding up the body bag.

"Oh Jesus Jason! You could have warned me you'd be bringing the bag in with you!" North looked away, struggling to get the handkerchief out of his pocket quick enough for his liking... though it quickly found itself locked against his nose and mouth.

"Hehe, Can't stand a little death Major? You joined the military didn't you. Besides, the coroners office is located down below isn't it? That's where the body needs to go." Jason smiled at the Major, one of the few things that seemed genuine about him was his smile. Bright and cheerful, reaching the corners of his eyes it felt like.

"Alright Alright! I get it! This is revenge isn't it!? For saying oh god!" Major North shouted from the safety of his crimson cloth.

"You saw right through me Major." Jason's smile quickly turned to a sly smirk.

"Just... get rid of it, then get to the briefing room. They should be calling the assembly soon!" North waved Jason away, keeping his hand clasped firmly on his face.

"You got it Major." The Alchemist walked off, dragging the body behind, his free hand waving a soft goodbye.

[Assistant]
10 AM- The Headquarters of The Military and State Alchemists.
@deanmachin
The crackling whirr of the loud speaker snapped the base to attention. With stern and commanding voice, the Fuhrer spoke, "Those who have been called for this meeting, report to meeting hall B. I will be there shortly." The speaker popped as the speech came to a close. Murmurs spread like wildfire, light whispers and hush voices, creating rumor like bakers make bread.

The only soldiers of importance that would be attending this meeting were as follows, Brigadier General Xeres; the half Ishvalan soldier. Major North; The sometimes too high-strung former special operatives member. Lieutenant Colonel Majors; Though his name is confusing, he was quite the skilled tactician during his more exciting military days. Finally, Colonel Carl Mayhew; A happily married family man with two children and a darling sister.

Then, There would be four alchemists in attendance today… These four men were formidable in their own respects, brought in for their unique researches and talents. The first was Jason Gold, the rogue alchemist hunter and oddly named Squid Alchemist. Next was Tydus Silverheart, the Platinum Alchemist and seeker of the Philosophers stone. Thirdly, Jayce Karuta, The Card Alchemist, researching those monstrous events from fifty years past. Lastly, It was Alrick Fraust, The Weeping Alchemist, Named for the tear shaped birthmark beneath his eye and ability to manipulate water; His research was Investigating the flow of alchemical energies.

The Fuhrer would await for all those to arrive, standing at a podium, a grimace plastered firmly upon his lips.

[User]
She breathed heavily, pain hammering in her sides. She couldn't bear it. It was tearing her apart. It gave no respite. And the hammering blows of the man's leg kept hitting her dilated waist with a wet sound. It was killing her. Although, her cries and screams were not centered in this fact. For, she wasn't the only in danger because of the merciless assault.

"Albert, you'll kill the baby! Please, in the name of Ishvala! Stop!"

Albert tilted his head. None of his formerly concerned and warm features were present. His face was twisted and contorted like worn leather in the verge of breaking, his eyes wide open with the nasty glint of madness upon him.

"A state alchemist cares not for an Ishvalan nor her halfbreed bastard!"

The nightmare forcefully awoke her, springing back to her feet and panting heavily. A couple of nearby rats squeaked as she pried herself of the rag she had used to sleep, squinting to adjust her sight to the dark, and damp location of the abandoned warehouse. She was back in central, after jumping in a train as stowaway. Her trip had been a waste of place. The rumours had been false. She had expected a secret laboratory of a dastardly alchemist, and instead she had met a wretched buffoon only worth of being squashed because he had fallen prey to his base instincts.

Not quite, there was a State alchemist. She thought to herself, as she shuddered so slightly. She had spared him. His eyes... were dead. Why had she doubted? Her task was not an easy one. Was it because, much like her, said alchemist was living in eternal damnation?

She couldn't afford being merciful a second time. This was central. She could not avoid the main issue and powerhouse any further. The days of smiting just peripheral alchemists had to come to an end. From here on, she would have to face the full wrath of Amestrian military in her crusade.

She breathed deep as she stretched. So many things to do...

---Some Time Later---

"Sergeant! Come here quick!" The guardsman yelled, his rifle unslung and ready. Just when he had found a cozy and nice job guarding the front gate of the Amestrian Central Command, and having got a girlfriend, things had to happen. Was God that cruel?

"What is it, soldier Schwein?" The burly man with the chiseled jaw, and a beard that would make a lumberjack bellowed, the uniform in the verge of ripping as he flexed his chest.

"Sir..." He said, pointed to an open bag. "It just...appeared out of nowhere. Sir."

"My...god." The burly man choked as he picked up the bag, examining its contents. A dead head, tongue drooping saluted him. His visage was contorted, and his eyes wide open. He had a violent death. And furthermore, whomever decapitated him had the sweet time to carve in his forehead the word "TOLL" with a knife. The sergeant recognized the azure eyes, the prominent nose and the balding head with few white strands. The Beastmaster Alchemist. A chimera specialist who had a prominent role in the Ishvalan operation, and now retired to live with his family and grandchildren.

"Who could've done this to old B'?" The soldier chimed in, barely restraining his nervousness.

"That bitch." The sergeant snarled, cursing. "I'll inform our superiors. The Wraith is back in Central. And she's declaring war."


[System]
Theme Song: Let's Just See
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Race: Human

Personality: Varius often comes off as arrogant, and full of pride. While he prefers to fight alone, and was problematic working with his team most of the first year due to an anti-social demeanor, he is a lot more cooperative now due to newfound respect for his team members and is visibly more tolerant of others. Despite this, he is a man of honour, and is as honourable as he is ruthless. He is calm and collected, and each of his moves are calculated and thought out. Much of his anti-social behaviour came from his inability to use Semblance until 2nd year at Beacon, while a good number of Beacon students awoke to that even well before Beacon. The only way he managed to attain their level was through mastering what he can control and that was Aura, on the other hand despite his mastery over it, it wasn't until the beginning of his 2nd year that he accidentally used his Semblance during a mission, and since then has trained to use it at will. Naturally with such great control over his Aura, using his Semblance fairly quickly became second nature, all that was left was to invent techniques for it.

Weapon:
The Judgement: A finely crafted katana. Unique to modern weapons, its special traits lay in its forging and increased capabilities, rather than the versatility of modern weapons made today. The style of weapon predates The War, and is a family heirloom for the Gilver family. The blade is made of an ancient steel folded and purified countless times in a Dust forge, and in-between each layer is solidified Dust, allowing the blade to react incredibly well with Aura and allowing even a small appliance of Aura to drastically increase its cutting power, and with enough Aura can slice apart Aura and Semblance based defenses in an instant. The blade's durability is legendary, and in the hands of a skilled user is said to be able to cut through anything. The blade is polished with a special dust mixture that gives the blade the colour of the user's aura when aura is applied to it. This is purely aesthetic. The sheath is also sturdy enough to be used as a second weapon for both defense and offense. Due to the blade's unique properties, he can only break through Semblance defenses by physically striking them with the blade, extensions and Semblance powers do not count.

Specialty: Assassin/Fighter hybrid. Varius possesses extreme skill in close quarters combat, coupled with his advanced control of Aura makes him deadly up close. He is also capable of dispatching prime targets in an instant with his blade. He employs a combat style of Iaijutsu and Battoujutsu, accentuating a style of counter-attacks and follow-ups.

Semblance:
Advanced Aura Manipulation, Gathering Storm: The source of his pride and arrogance. For his whole first year he did not have access to his Semblance, and instead relied on mastering what he could control, and that was his Aura. He mastered his Aura to an extent where he could out-pace any other hunter with Aura alone, but doing it through raw Aura capacity like that was not something he had the capacity to do, so he made and mastered a new system, a flow. The Aura would flow through his body, steadily accelerating and distributing his Aura through his body at an almost lossless efficiency. His Aura this way would require incredible concentration, but as a fight goes on, he becomes more and more powerful. It's no surprise in a duel he prefers to evade and counter-attack at the start. Varius with well built-up Aura can move at blindingly and almost teleporting speeds for short bursts, though doing this multiple times in a row would easily expend his Aura and require him to re-accumulate his concentration. He can use his aura this way to increase his general speed too, allowing him to slash multiple times at blinding speeds. Most people believed this was his semblance.

Blade Vortex: Varius is capable of creating slashing storms, either all around or at a distance. He can make them slash straight or curved, and generally has a fair amount of control over their length and distance. He can throw them out in his slashes to extend range, or simply increase the cutting power of his sword drastically, he can call a random storm of them at long distance allowing him to counter-attack even from far away, and use them as a means of countering close range attacks. His control over it is limited due to awakening to it only recently, but he has managed to connect it efficiently enough with his Gathering Storm Aura control, allowing him to naturally increase the size, speed and damage of his appliances of this Semblance the more flow he has.
Trailblazer: Varius dashes forward while simultaneously slashing the area around his moving position. He uses a combination of his Semblance and physically striking the targets he passes with his katana during this.
Slash Dimension: Varius seemingly slashes through time and space by calling on multiple slashes onto a target position. A ranged attack, but does not come out like a projectile. Has a momentary delay before they actually strike, making it reliable only when counter-attacking from a range.
Sudden Storm: Varius bursts a portion of his Aura out of his body surrounding him and turns it into his Semblance, slashing the area around him. This is a great counter-attack and a good safety measure as well as possessing insane stagger capabilities but small damage, expends a lot of his Concentration.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
His strength lies in his close range capabilities, he has the capability to end a fight in a single well-timed strike due to the insane sharpness of his blade, and a battle against him becomes more and more dangerous the longer it goes due to his efficiency at using Aura, where many would be on their last legs, he can still be at full if not higher strength than when he started. Even attempting to block his blade can be dangerous if you aren't observant. The brighter the blade glows, the more dangerous, and the more aura he has packed into the slash. These augmented strikes are fairly projected however, as they require a moment to concentrate extra aura into, but when they land, it can be absolutely devastating. The best way to defend against his blade if you really have to, is to attempt to parry it by striking the flat side of the blade, because it is the edge that is deadly.

Because of the large amount of concentration required for his special way of using Aura, mental attacks can be rather effective at minimizing the threat he poses. The effectiveness of this mental-attack tactic is also not affected by how much Aura he already has flowing, meaning you can send him from 100% to 10-0% concentration with an effective mental attack. It won't decrease the amount of Aura he has, but it will greatly slow the amount of aura he has flowing over his body.

His general combat weaknesses are that his ranged attacks have more delay than say, a bullet, so his ability to strike at a range requires his target to already be occupied. Ideally he wants to be close to his opponent, but he cannot use his dash consecutively without sacrificing some of his concentration, meaning ranged capabilities plus mobility would be his natural enemy.

Color: Roman Silver

Emblem: Six sharp wings. For reference, both sides of his coat's collar each possess 3 of the wings.

[User]
Jericho Piper, never one to give a shit about Grat's happiness, had continued drifting around the room like a restless phantom while the rest of her team - all those assembled who had known her longer and better than he had - was standing transfixed at her show of affection. Something about Gratia's tone of voice had drawn him over to the object of her ire, and as Jericho stared down at it, he felt his disgust with the trinket in question beginning to roil, too.

It was stupid, on one level. An objectively pointless little thing to have a screw loose over - a little doll with straw-colored hair, wrapped in a beat-up looking caricature of a leather jacket and a faded patch of denim, with two black, soulless button eyes and a single fabric strand for a smile. It was practically featureless; yet, like all good voodoo dolls, he recognized who it was fashioned for immediately.

The damn family all looked alike.

You Fiordilattes disgust me, the message was written clearly on Jericho's grouchy snarl. Your puns suck dick and you breed like roaches.

The straw-haired doll seemed to smile back. Stupidly. Smugly.

Then I guess that makes our dad the cock-roach! the ornament replied with glee.

A low growl rumbled in Jericho's throat. He impatiently shoved the doll in one pocket of his leather jacket and resolved to mail it to Atlas for evidence later.

He wanted to toss the room over in a hunt for any more evidence of a vampire-harboring little brother, and normally this would have been the perfect time; Grat's damn giggles were sucking all the oxygen right out of the room. Unfortunately, there was an impending time bomb on his Scroll that he'd been putting off answering - and it looked like Beryl, at least, had noticed.

`Sender: Bianca N. [GREENLIT (?)]
Recipient: Group - [s]Hunter in the streets, Grimm in the sheets[/s] Vale Asset Group [CLEARANCE LEVEL: N/A] (Gratia M., Lucas S., Beryl H., Jericho P.)
Message: Hey all!! Just popping in to see if anyone is free for some coffee in about an hour. Hope everyone is having a good family day ~~`

`Sender: Beryl H.
Recipient: Group - [s]Hunter in the streets, Grimm in the sheets[/s] Vale Asset Group [CLEARANCE LEVEL: N/A] (Bianca N. [GREENLIT(?)], Gratia M., Lucas S., Jericho P.)
Message: Sounds great. I need an excuse to get Lasai out of the dorm an`

The thought of a coffee date - between Gratia, Bianca, and Luke "I'm Too Slow" Schwarz, of all people, made Jericho want to give the medicinal properties of hot tar a whirl. He pulled out his Scroll and read over the messages over again.

He supposed that, if Grat was going, her parents would be too. There was no way he was gonna be able to make a clean break that fast - especially not with Bianca keeping an eagle eye out for him.

The doll in his jacket pocket smirked. Jericho resisted the urge to crush it in his fist and began to type:

`Sender: Jericho P.
Recipient: Group - [s]Hunter in the streets, Grimm in the sheets[/s] Vale Asset Group [CLEARANCE LEVEL: N/A] (Beryl H., Bianca N. [GREENLIT(?)], Gratia M., Lucas S.)
Message: Coffee. Fine. Delete my number.`

At least now they wouldn't be able to call him standoffish.

Jericho, uncomfortably aware that everyone else in the room was gawking at the Mindaros, drifted back over to Grat's guitar and inspected it again, eyes inscrutable.

[Assistant]
Mindaro Mondays - Galla

"Before your brother isn't 'in one piece'?"

---

@Sho Minazuki

Shuai Taidan - Beacon Grounds

The young man tapped his chin thoughtfully, slender fingers slowing down to rest against his pale chin.

"Sample platter?" he mused, eyes darting towards the stand for a second. "Don't think we have that, but oh, we can definitely do tuna and diet soda! What kind do you like? We don't have a too biggie of a selection, is that okay?"

Taidan smiled brightly, the prettyboy's face radiating like the light from a fiery sun.

"Var, get some tuna done 'kay~?" he called back over to his teammate, before returning his attentions to Yue. "Just sit tight and w- eh? Where you going?"

[User]
"Hmph, even if our selection is small, it is the best of that small selection. Now then... Witness as I carve this tuna", in response to the order he began to cut away at a new tuna, the expert cuts left not a sliver of soft flesh against the fish's bones, the speed and finesse at which he did it was unnatural, but some may notice a slight silver tinge to his figure... Was he using his aura...? In any case, within moments it was done, a fresh batch of sashimi.

"I'm sure this shall be to your liking", he seems to have chosen to ignore that their customer had begun walking away, such was his confidence in his skill.