[System]
Age: 19

Race: Half Drow, Half Human.

Elkko is a young adult in between two worlds, or should I say a half Drow, half Man. Elkko lives on the streets, eating whatever scraps he can muster, there ain't nobody to help him, but himself and he understands that. Especially on the streets of Coven, a shanty port town right up to the ocean waters. Though a bit emotionless as all Drows tend to be, he is mistaken quite often to be the apathetic sort which is not true.

Elkko as a half-breed does indeed showcase a caring side for certain things and shares his true emotions, although rarely. He is the clever sort, pulling mostly, sometimes harmless pranks on people or swindling them for the amusement of it and the gold he could muster them out of. Though he's trapped on the streets, he strives for more, for truly greater things, that of which, he doesn't quite know yet.

[User] If you would like to join, PM me your interest with a brief character description, any form or template.

[Assistant]
Alteria is a beautiful country off the coast of Tian, filled with many a mystery, and many denizens call it home. Many a race, many an odd species of creatures come prowling around, some with evil intentions and misdeeds. Though Alteria looks beautiful, it houses many dark and ancient secrets, some even involving old magics that have been discarded and long forgotten. Most of these magics should never be awakened on fear of the very destruction of the world itself. In-fact, any kind of magic is feared, not praised, hence it was outlawed, in castles and in walled off settlements around the land.

Any form of the use and death could very well serve you if you were to be caught. Dark evils are plotting everywhere, currently trying to release said magics and letting it free to tear up upon the very soil in which they even stand. Even the most peaceful creatures of the land are acting up, sometimes turning violent. Nowadays in Alteria, the once beautiful and peaceful country is slowly turning more and more violent and chaotic... even the shadows seem to move at night.

[User]
Elkko sat, leaned up against an old wooden building in a neighborhood full of old wooden buildings, looking up at a spire object from what appeared to be the middle of the city. The sun was out and as bright as ever, so bright, Elkko found it almost odd but today seemed like any other normal day for him, which was a day spent trying to con money off of the local denizens of the port city of Coven. He watched as an unobservant women walked slowly by him, leaning forward as she came close. He outreached his hand, sliding it into her pocket with a sly look. Before she even felt a thing, his hand was out with a light bag of coins, he opened it wide, only to see nothing but a few gold pieces.

"What an awful start." thought Elkko as he slipped the tiny amount of gold he retrieved into his thinly lined pockets. He looked unamused as he rose from his seated position, wrapping the hood of his brown robe around his face and headed off towards the spire which marked the center of Coven, where most of the business and transactions of many kinds went down.

[Assistant]
Claudia sat at the edge of a large fountain in the midst of the city, quietly humming to herself and fiddling with the tuning knobs of her lute, searching for just the right sound. Twas a lovely day she thought. The sun's golden rays reflected off the rippling waters of the font, culminating in dazzling speckles of light dancing across the crystalline surface. In the open, children laughed and played while their parents were busy crowding the many market stalls and booths. From such booths, a delectable myriad of scents, fresh baked loaves of bread, exotic spices and herbs, savory, roasted meats and fish, and sweet strawberries and apples ripe from the orchard.

Such a lovely day indeed, and one that was perfect for music. Once she had found the right pitch she desired of her instrument, she cleared her throat and began to sing. Gracefully, her frail fingers danced across the strings of her lute, every note, every sound of her siren voice weaving a tapestry of a tale of brave heroes long past. Not long had a small crowd come to admire her work, some dropping coins into the floppy hat beside her feet. Each clink of the gold brought a smile to her face, yet Claudia resumed to play. Once she had finished her song, she stood and took a bow. The crowd applauded with thunderous joy. "One more!". They cried for.

"Ah, one more you say?" Jovially Claudia answered. "Why not!". And with a beaming grin, she took up her lute and played once more.

[User]
He paced himself slowly towards the center of the city, his ears tuned to a new sound, the sound of singing. Elkko made his way, closer to the city, only to see a crowd of people gathered around in a group. This was odd to him, having grown up here, he hadn't quite seen just a gathering put together before. Looking towards the sound, he squinted, scanning for the female voice in which he heard, only to just make it out through the sea of people standing around her. Elkko studied what seemed to be a bright and cheery women, well at least in comparison to his typically dull attitude. Suddenly a smirk and an idea dawned upon his face, she was giving him the perfect distraction in order for him to pick through some pockets, all these people grouped up, not paying any attention to their surroundings.

Through the sea of people, he stood directly besides them, a figure in a brown and hooded robe, acting like he was just another normal person listening to the musical spectacle. Elkko used the opportunity to quickly slip his hands in and out of any random citizen's pockets who looked like they would carry wealth with them. If anyone did notice such a movement, it was a quick one, his hands were in and out and filled with gold in mere seconds, he'd clearly been doing this most his life.

"What beautiful music, what a spectacle!" Elkko exclaimed to a nearby male of the human sort, acting like he didn't just rob him.

The male smiled back at Elkko, nodding in agreement. "A spectacle indeed!" He exclaimed in response, none the wiser to Elkko's misdeeds.

[Assistant]
With her last song finished, Claudia bowed with a curtsey of her dress and a glowing smile upon her lips. The crowd cheered her on, tossing more coins into her hat and clapping their hands in rancorous applause. "Thank you! Ah, thank you good people of Coven!". She laughed stringing her lute over her shoulder. "You've been a lovely audience, and if you wish to hear more, please stop by the tavern tonight where I'll be playing. As for now, I bid you all a fond farewell and may the gods bless you!". And with that, Claudia gave another bow before picking up her hat and placing the gold she had made into her coin purse.

"Quite the killing I've made off these people.". She mused with a wry smirk. After the crowd had dispersed, she went along her merry way, but as she did so, she couldn't help but notice the strange fellow garbed in dirty brown rags skulking about. He was of a nefarious sort to her, perhaps a brigand she thought. Instinctively, her hand rested upon the hilt of her rapier as she looked at the man once then turned away, momentarily glancing over her shoulder.

[User]
Watching as she wrapped up her little musical performance, Elkko had a sly smirk on his face as well. His pockets were heavier and he had her to thank for it, sometimes even the God's seem to bless a poor soul with a fortunate opportunity now and then. Scanning the area once over as everyone dispersed he planted his eyes on the women yet again, noticing how she looked towards him ever so briefly. Elkko looked downwards at her hand, that was resting on the hilt of her rapier, scoffing a little under his hood. Was she really scared of him? She seemed to be at the very least weary, which Elkko couldn't blame her for, recently he did carry a bit of a menacing aura with him, though not on purpose.

Elkko called out to her, speaking outwards without a care in the world. "Don't think I don't notice that look, I've seen it a hundred times over, it's nothing new to me, are you scared of something?" He pulled back his hood, revealing his cold, greyish face.

"Lovely singing by the way, very well done." He complimented her, monotone in nature.

[Assistant] A warmth overcame Claudia when the hooded man spoke to her, her cheeks glowing a bright shade of pink. Perhaps she was too harsh to judge so quick she pondered, letting her hand fall from her rapier. "A woman can't be too careful now, can she?". Claudia replied with a sincere look to him. Quite amazed was she as well to discover the man was a Drow. "Forgive my rudeness earlier, my dear. It's just a force of habit when you frequent these large cities. You never know who or what is lurking behind the corner. Ah, but thank you for lovely compliment. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Maybe you would like to hear me perform again, tonight at the Gilded Tankard?"

[User]
"Not much different than anywhere else I suppose, as long as your the observant type and keep your eyes open, you should be alright." exclaimed the Drow, giving her a brief look over.

Elkko took silent notice of her sudden change of perception towards him, his eyebrows raised. He cleared his throat before proceeding to speak to her again. "It's nothing, I speak the truth is all, you do draw quite the crowd and... I do suppose I have the coins, my purse is much more fortunate tonight, the singing is quite pleasant, to the ears I mean." Elkko spoke to the women like he was some kind of nobleman or a higher class figure but he was little more than a street urchin.

"I'll stop by, should be quite the spectacle indeed." He added, sort of mimicking the male he had talked to and robbed so little ago.

[Assistant] For a street urchin, he had a rather charming persona Claudia thought, and quite the handsome face. She was indeed wrong to think he was a dastardly brigand. She had to wonder though how he had aquired so much wealth. Nevertheless, Claudia smiled and bid him farewell, but as she turned to go the other way, she stopped, turning around briefly. "Pray tell, Drow, what is your name?" She asked of him.

[User]
He gave her a brief farewell in response, giving her a very short smile as she began to walk away from him. Facing upwards, he studied the clouds surrounding the upper city sky before looking back down towards Claudia, who had asked him a sudden question over her shoulder.
Elkko thought on this for a moment, he supposed he could trust her with his name, after all, what harm could this women possibly do? "The name is Elkko, do tell if you don't mind me returning the question, whats yours?"

[Assistant]
"Claudia." She returned with a soft smile. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Elkko. Oh and..." A rather cheeky grin formed across her lips. "Do be careful rummaging through people's pockets next time. You wouldn't want to get on the bad side of the town guards now. Fare thee well." She turned once more to leave, humming to herself as she strolled down the cobblestone road gracefully, her green shawl fluttering in the soft sea breeze.

Elkko, what a fascinating name to a fascinating Drow she thought. A scraggly pickpocket, yet a refined young man. As she tarried on down the street, she thought of him, who he was, where he had come from. She was hoping possibly tonight she would see him again.

[User]
How did she know? Elkko thought right as she said those trying words, his lips curling slightly in disbelief.

He had been doing this sort of thing all his life, how did she spot him? Stepping back, his eyes lowering briefly, he shot her a short farewell as she walked away, stunned. I've gotta be more careful was all he could think, as he headed back to the shantytown he called home, waiting for night to come around.

As night did strike eventually, Elkko made his way over to the Gilded Tankard, ordering himself a quick mug of Stone Cold Ale, a specialty ale at a slightly higher price. He never did care about saving up his money anyways, it's not like he was going to be able to leave this old shantytown anytime soon.


[System]
"Dia duit núíosach!"
Age: 18
Race: Dathia ("Colors")

---

Appearance
Standing at just beneath 5 feet, Caitriona has several common features for her people - her hair has multiple colors, the deep red of the roots moving into a transitory orange and then a yellow as if her hair was like fire itself. Depending on when you meet her, it may range between extremely well kept or completely ragged as if she had been running through a forest. Her body is lean and thin, and she tends to wear short dresses of a simple cloth comparable to linen or of various gathered plants woven into each other. Her face is fair, and sometimes she will apply various bits of paint to it as some sort of makeup.

On her back usually is a sack of linen, with strings wrapping it around her shoulders so it doesn't have to be carried. Attached to it is a wooden flute that has various engravings running up and down it's length, as well as a small porcelain flask for water and a finely crafted knife of some sort of white stone.

Her shoes are dissimilar to the rest of her selection, looking like something charlotte may be more familiar with in style. Additionally, one of her bags has the slight raddle of some sort of coin.

Abilities
It will only take a few minutes of meeting the girl to figure out a few things about her: she can find anything within a forest, she can music that can enchant the hearts of the hardest to break. This is not to say there is some sort of magic about it, but rather that it is simply really good. Her appearance lends to some sort of tribal lifestyle, so it isn't surprising that the girl knows her ways around nature - she can read the stars, she can find water, and she can find food and even unique plants used in medicine or for other various purposes.

Additionally, her hair glows at night like a fire, and will change color to blue when a powerful magical presence is around, such as a VERY large predator.

The hair has magical properties as well. Caitriona is able to burn it in a flute and allow anyone nearby to speak to animals in a literal sense.

Personality
Fickle, fun, and pun, this bard knows how to enjoy herself with others, often playing minor pranks or teasing them for the fun of it. She is kind, but not ridiculously self sacrificing: she has herself, and the people that raised her. While she believes that teaching others is important, she eventually expects her students to have learned for themselves.

However, she has always been very curious even among her people, which has led to her interacting with other cultures more than what her people would consider normal, and sometimes they even consider it too much.

History
Will Fill in as we go along.

The Uaimh
You don't know shit.
Other
Will fill in as we go along.

[User]
The native frowned slightly as the other woman simply insisted on napping, but refused to comment on it. Unless these people from the tower were different, Charlotte needed to sleep at least a third of the day like everyone else. Still though, the girl listened as Charlotte commented on the 'Great Mothers' and visibly gulped as it was obvious such an idea made the orange haired girl nervous. "Charlotte ... it may not be wise. At least for a few weeks, but preferably after two moons pass in the night sky." Especially for herself, and Cait didn't want to be responsible if Charlotte went to her people on her own. How would they react to such a wolfish person who felt compelled to eat the strong creatures of the world?

She could always ask, but then the initial problem was run into once again. Caitriona eventually came up with an explanation for the other woman. "Our people ... are affected by the season like many other creatures." As the native spoke, she gave the other girl a cursory look. From a certain standpoint, she was attractive. Obviously intelligent. With time, even strong too. Perhaps she was a bit too tall, but overall Cait wouldn't mind enjoying a ...

A blush ran across the girl's face before she shook it off. It would be much worse with one of her own. "Can you afford patience?"

[Assistant]
~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Affected...by the seasons? What that even meant, Charlotte had no clue. With a frown, she studied Cait. She had no reason not to trust the native, but...waiting made her annoyed. Always did. She could never sit still if there was something to be done about something. Its one of the reasons she disliked sleeping. Time could be better spent doing something else productive. This, was worse though. Made her annoyed. More than a little irritated as well.

"If I wait too long," Charlotte replied with a sigh, shaking her head. "I might not have a reason to be impatient. But fine. You know your people better than I." She looked towards the ground, frowning. Arguing likely wouldn't get her anywhere. If this was back in Astril she'd just waltz up to the deacon himself and make her demands easily enough. If that failed, she'd do it anyways. But perhaps she was being impatient. She was content to take her time, if a little once she had landed here. At least, enough to make a few things and get acquainted with the weather here. Sturdy rope, things to help her keep warm, illuminating fluid, preserved food...things like that. A few...specialty items to deal with any threats. She had all of that by now.

Another...month or so wouldn't hurt, but the waiting was going to kill her regardless. At least one could never be too prepared.

"I'm going to look for some plants." She needed to take her mind off things. Something, anything as long as she wasn't doing nothing. She started to walk off. Constantly being around this native was starting to become a drain, just a little. She really needed some alone time with some of her books or...well...

She missed the both of them.

[User]
Narrator
Cait would pout slightly as the other woman left, but used the time to clear her own mind as she walked back into the cave for a bit. Charlotte would find herself moving through the local area, finding various herbs and plants blossoming through the season as she cut them down for ingredients. A few animals seemed to come nearby her as if curious and would give her a surprisingly small space as they seemed to observe her before hopping or running away.

A mile went by as Charlotte continued to look around as the forest grew thicker near a stream, where various prime ingredients were in various stages of growth nearby. As she reached down for one of them however an object swung straight towards Charlotte's face before stopping only a few inches away.

"It's Aislinn!" Less than a foot away from the front of Charlotte was a woman with hair similar to that of Caitriona, although slightly lighter in tone overall. The girl had a slightly more youthful face, and a linen dress dyed pink fell downwards as the girl was inverted. Like Cait, the girl wore a small pack on her back likely containing various useful items that the girl required for day to day usage.

The girl seemed initially disappointed and then surprised as her eyes ran up and down Charlotte's form, as if some outlandish tale she had been told had mysteriously come true. The girl swung forwards slightly, sniffing the air around the black haired woman as a smile crossed her face. "Hello stranger! What brings you into the domain of the mighty Aislinn, Queen of all the lands you have ever seen?" It was hard to tell if the girl was being serious, but her arms gestured to the wide world as if she was claiming her domain.

[Assistant]
~Charlotte LaChance~

---

At least the walk helped her clear her head a bit. Being away from everyone - and everything - else always made clearing her head easier. So much easier to think without so much useless noise buzzing around. A few plants were picked up, placing them in her satchel with care after examination. For the most part, she ignored the animals. Fuzzy, little balls of fleas. At least there wasn't any dogs. She hated dogs most of all. Large, furry, mongrels...that liked...licking everything. Ugh. Eventually, finding a small stream she hadn't been to before she found a few plants. As she reached down to pick one up, something quite unexpected happened.

And whoever this 'Aislinn' was, was quite lucky she left most of her self-defense concoctions back in the cave. One does not simply 'surprise' someone out in the middle of a forest! Queen? Of all these lands? While not impossible, this particular queen didn't look very...queenly. Not that she didn't exactly have ever met any queens, but the barbarian tribes sometimes had queens, and that one nation to the south had an 'Empress'.

Standing up, it was clear from her look she didn't entirely believe her.

"I don't have time for you." Charlotte replied, ignoring this...woman completely. She was younger than even Cait, was, wasn't she? No way she could be queen, and even if she was, wasn't like Charlotte had any obligation to be overly nice to her. She walked past her, walking over to a fruit bearing bush nearby and plucking a few berries from its leaves.

[User]
Narrator
The native watched as the black haired woman simply ignored her, pouting as she swung around on the branch and landed behind the other woman with a backflip displaying amazing agility. "H-heyy! You must have time for the Queen! Bow before me!" Aislinn seemed frustrated as the other woman continued to ignore her however, and after tapping her foot on the ground impatiently for a few seconds the girl practically jumped over Charlotte and landed before her, once again demonstrating her impressive agility.

If the other woman bothered to look, she would see an additional detail the short girl seemed to have: painted markings running along her body the same color as the 'average' hue of her hair. And as the girl landed, they seemed to maintain that color for a few seconds until they faded to almost being the same pale as the rest of her skin. "The great mothers told me of an alchemist in the woods who had the teeth of a wolf! That's you, isn't it! Awww, they are so cute!" Aislinn was close to the other girl's face, seeming to peer into her mouth as if this was the strangest thing in the world. "They said you had Cait with you, right? Can you tell your Queen where she is, please?"

The girl was practically bouncing up and down as she asked again though in a rather childlike and excited manner - if she was royalty, Cait's people had a strange expectations for it.

[Assistant]
~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Charlotte stopped walking as Aislinn spoke. It became increasingly clear that perhaps this person was at least being somewhat serious, or at least she believed herself to be queen at the least. Cute comments and odd markings aside, a few things here were certain.

1. This 'Aislinn' was of the same people as Cait.
2. She was looking for Cait
3. Cait said returning for a few months might be a bad idea
4. She had no clue what this Aislinn was capable of.
5. The rabbit...said someone named Aislinn had started a search for something.
6. Conclusion: Aislinn was looking for Cait for some reason, and Cait likely didn't want to be found.

"First, you're not 'my queen', so I have no obligation to do anything for you." Charlotte placed both hands on her hips, leaning over slightly to put herself more on level with the smaller woman. Blue eyes stared at her in a somewhat cannoyed manner as she spoke. "Secondly, I don't know where Cait is." She continued. Not a lie - she didn't know where she was that exact moment. Lying completely about her would be bad though, since she seemed to already know. "Thirdly, I am busy," She poked Aislinn on the forehead with a single finger. "So I am not entertaining you." That said, Aislinn did mention the great mothers that Cait did. Maybe there was something she could do here? And if she went off wandering again, she might find Cait. Hm...Charlotte started walking again.

"Maybe if you help me though, I could finish earlier."

[User]
Narrator
Not ... not her queen? How could this woman? A look of frustration crossed Aislinn's face. How could this woman see through her disguise - didn't royalty just declare themselves 'divine privilege' or something like that to rule? Had she done it wrong? The native contemplated for a moment as the other woman told her to buzz off, earning a sad pout from the fire haired girl as her head was forced backwards slightly by Charlotte's forceful finger.

Help though? It wasn't as if Aislinn had much to do aside from search, and if the other woman went back to her place Caitriona would be there too, right? The short girl placed a single foot ontop of a small rock, smiling off into the world. "As Queen, it is my job to help with my subjects troubles! Especially if it guides me further on my valorous quest!" Did Queens speak like that or the heros? She wasn't really sure, so she just continued going with it. "Tell me my lady what you require so I can aid you!"

[Assistant]
~Charlotte LaChance~

---

This girl.

Was ridiculous.

In a somewhat charming and endearing way, but also annoying.

Well, there was something she could do here to alleviate all problems.

"You want to help, then? Fine." Charlotte said with a huff. "You probably know these woods better than I. So go find me some things. I need a basic fire-based solution. Some sort of red colored flowers should do nicely. Some of those purple berries that grow around here should be useful for the second. Lastly bring me some," Well, normally she'd ask for meat but considering what would likely happen if she did. "One of those coconuts from the beach. For an ingredient and something clean enough to use as a mixer."

[User]
Narrator
The native listened to the lady's requests, taking note of them. Of course, those things were easy to find for the queen of the forest! How could she deny such an easy task?

Puffing up her chest slightly and standing taller than before the supposed monarch simply nodded. "Wait here my fair maiden. I shall return from this quest as swiftly as possible." With that the girl's hair bounced as she began to skip into the woods as she looked around for the various ingredients. The tattoos on her arms lit up, giving her a slight guide in the direction of the various plants as she looked at a compass-like tattoo on the back of her right hand.

After about thirty minutes, the ingredients were gathered into her backpack aside from the coconuts which were in her arms. Beads of sweat dripped from her brow as she had practically jogged around the entire area, but if it meant getting to Cait it would be worthwhile, right? As she went around a tree back to the stream the girl made an announcement out loud. "I've completed your quest, my damsel in distress!" She seemed fairly excited about it, feeling like as if she had made good time on the task.


[System]
Age:23
Alignment: The Beacons (The New Templars)
Profession: spy/hacker/tactician

Appearance and Personality

A bit more than 5'8'' tall, Eirwen's height is just enough to stand out, but not enough to make those around her uncomfortable. She has rather large eyes which change colour from light grey to deep blue depending on her surroundings, clothes, and mood, and are a great contrast to her pale skin. Her hair is white naturally, but she dyes it frequently, both because she finds white hair quite boring and because it reduces the possibility of her being recognized, even if such is quite low. She talks in clear voice, usually in casually polite manner suitable for her standings. While at work she goes straight to the point and doesn't like adding any details which don't stand in immediate connection to the topic. Overall, she can make her presence noticeable, if she wants to, but she prefers to remain in shadows, close enough to see everything, not close enough to draw unneccessary attention.
Eirwen's personality was reshaped so many times, that even those close to her are not sure she actually possesses one. While being a Templar, she follows their code of honour and justice, and has inherited all traits of her noble family. However, no one can say with certainty that her nobility comes from heart and isn't another mask she wears out of the sense of duty.
What remains unquestionable is her ability to control herself without a flaw. There is no such surprise that would make her change her forever calm expression or light a sparkle in those cold eyes. The code name "Ice Queen" wasn't an accident, and Eirwen wears it as if it was her given name.
Since she spends most of her time pretending to be someone else, she doesn't mind being alone when there is such a possibility. Her interests rotate around art, music, and literature. She is gifted in singing.

Special skills

Eirwen specialises in intelligence gathering. She has remarkable knowledge of technology which allows her to hack into various systems without a trace. She is a skilled actress capable of performing any role which only contributes to her value as an undercover agent. Her combat skills are corresponding to both the New Templars' and the Beacons' highest standards, although usually she stays out of battles as tactical support. She is especially proficient in 1 vs. 1 combats, but being surrounded by a dozen of enemies she has much better chances to get away safely rather than to bring them all down.

Armour

Eirwen prefers light armour which is designed more for swift escapes and keeping her alive rather than direct clash with the opponent. Due to the nature of her work she is always cautious and has to take care of herself not being caught unaware. The custom-made design allows her to move with as little sound as possible and doesn't hinder the smallest of her movements. It contains a lot of hidden pockets where she stores weapons, supplies, portable devices, and data units. Her armour is strong enough to take several blows, but it is definitely not enough to survive in the middle of the battle.
While not wearing it, Eirwen's clothes of choice are practical yet elegant. She pays a lot of attention to her looks, having all her garments carefully selected and matching her style.

Weapons

Following the traditions of spies for thousands of years, Eirwen's weapon of choice is a dagger. She carries a pair of them in her sleeve pockets, easy to hide and easy to slide in her hands, if needed. As any Templar, she is capable of wielding a sword and possesses one, but since the time she has been dispatched on an undercover mission, it remains in her room. Aside from daggers, Eirwen's usual set includes a medium-sized riffle and a syringe gun. She carries mainly two types of syringes, one with deadly poison, another with short-term memory erasing medicine. The first kind is used mainly for assassination of strategically important targets, another to make the enemy forget ever meeting her. The effect can be delayed, giving her enough time to take care of her alibi, if necessary.

A.I.

Eirwen's A.I. "Athena" serves mainly as information provider. Aside from life stats, weapon and armour condition, Athena can scan the area around Eirwen for present life forms and hidden devices, and calculate possible courses of actions. Although A.I.'s possibilities are quite broad in defining the best options, Eirwen prefers to use it only for data input while making the decisions on her own. She thinks that using A.I. for decision-making can cloud one's mind and reduce the sharpness of reactions. Upon approaching someone without armour or other special protection, Athena can provide information about their life stats, helping Eirwen to understand what kind of emotions the person in front of her is experiencing and, most importantly, if they are telling the truth.
Athena is also planted into Eirwen's headset, which she wears most of the time when not wearing her armour. While hacking the A.I. helps to determine the loops and holes which can be used to access the system. Eirwen can communicate with the New Templars only through Athena and its unique signature is required to allow the communication through a secured channel. While talking through any communicator, Athena automatically modifies Eirwen's voice each time using a new modification pattern to avoid any possibility of suspicion.

Biography

Eirwen Dailon belongs to a prestigious family of Dailons who have served the monarchy for generations. So when the New Templars were formed, Dailons promptly supported the organization. Since all the members were already engaged in one or another kind of service, they had to wait a few years before the youngest daugher of the family could join the Templars as a "knight".
Eirwen has received the best education and training possible, excelling in everything she was taught. During her early times within Templars she served mostly as a scout and intelligence gatherer. However, after discovering her skills in hacking and her ability to play any role given, she was appointed full-time as the member of secret intelligence service. She was one of a very few who were dispatched to infiltrate the Free Men.
The secret intelligence department developed several cover stories, one for her infiltration legend and the rest distributed between the actual Templars. Most of them suggested Eirwen being relocated to far-off units, where only the higher-ups could access her. Her code name "Ice Queen" is known to almost every soldier of the units she was providing information for, but only the chief of secret intelligence department and the commander of New Templars know her true identity.
To successfuly infiltrate the Free Men, Eirwen was willingly sedated with memory erasing substances. Before it happened she was hypnotised to recover her memory under influence of particular outside triggers. It took her three months to recover completely and be able to actually do her job. Agents already within the Free Men took care of her equipment to enable her communication with the New Templars.
Eirwen started in data analysis department. Recently she has been promoted to the chief tactician for the Beacons. During her years within organisation she rewrote most of the software used by her department, planting her own points of access for future uses. While having access to all the information about the Beacons' operations, she delivers it directly to the Templar units affected, however, only after careful consideration in order not to ruin her cover. She also provides information about past operations for the New Templars to analyse. Her ultimate mission is to make a career within the Beacons and reach close enough to their leader. She takes orders directly from Jason Bellhan and him only, and those orders are quite rare, anyway. She has a leave to use any resources available that can serve her purpose, as long as civilian population isn't affected.
After being promoted Eirwen reports only to Isaac and his closest generals. She uses her real name "Eirwen" she has "remembered", but she denies remembering her family name. Her cover personality is an odd mixture of a technology geek who pays no attention to other matters (regretfully for many male and some female members of the Beacons) combined with a surprisingly easy-going person when it comes to daily communication. She constantly impresses those around her with new ideas of system optimisation or original tactical manoeuvres, so they would not forget about her. All the tactical "fails" happening because of her leaking information turn out to be the mistakes of other tacticians, with undeniable evidence behind their actions.

[User]
"Be it known that it is the year three thousand four fifty three. "A male voice said in his helmet. A young man sighed and looked down at the world beneath him. He was in geostationary orbit over the Alps. He sat inside a small pod in a reentry suit. It was old fashioned but it was a rush to do. The voice chimed up again. "Please explain to me why we are here instead of training?" The voice said clearly bothered. "Oh come now Durendal. This is fun! Also jumps like these may be needed should things go wrong during a mission. These suits can survive reentry from high orbit. "The young guy said as he looked at the planet. The pod door opened and a chime played. He got up and looked down. "Well fortune favors the bold. "He said as he pushed off the pod and the gravity kicked in.

"My sensors indicate that we will arrive at the hold in two minutes. Ben we need to activate the propulsion systems. This suit is so bulky..." Durendal complained as he fell. Ben saw the heat coming off his suit as they entered the atmosphere. After a minute he began to settle out and began to land. He fell past the hold into one of the valley's nearby. He landed with a thump.

"Hell yah!" He said as the reentry suit came off revealing a smaller less bulky suit. "We are to report to the War Room. The commander wants us there. "The AI said as Ben got to the hold. He walked in, his face bright red from the thrill. "Sorry for being late Boss. "He said as Durendal materialized on his shoulder. The AI had the form of a young man wearing an laurel crown. Ben sat down still smiling. "You guys have to orbital jump. It's a rush!" The young man said smiling.

[Assistant]
Jason

At first, Jason didn't glance up from the floor at Klaus and Ben's arrival, lost in thought as he was oft prone to be. But, eventually- At the sound of Adam clearing his throat- he looked up and nodded to the pair.
"Klaus, Ben. Glad to see you both made it, I was beginning to wonder if you'd slipped on some ice."

Apparently, he didn't even register the fact that he'd kept them waiting for his response for a solid ten minutes, making Ben's lateness... Rather redundant. He straightened with a crack of his neck, gesturing for Ben to stand and giving a meaningful look to the holo-table in front of him, directing all of their attention to the space-station imaged there.
"We lost JCS again, and this time the Free Men are looking to make it permanent. Our entire garrison was killed and spaced, and all communications with the station have been severed, excluding internal Free Men messages. Somehow, in the week it took us to find out, they had -this- installed."

He tapped a point on the image, blowing up the turret and its surrounding space again for their viewing.
"Anti-craft turret. This scan is nearly three days old- They probably have more than one of these now. But one is bad enough. With that turret functioning, no ship bigger than a civilian leisure boat is getting within ten thousand miles of that station without turning into a bunch of floating scrap metal... Which, of course, means we're being sent almost to the moon. In a civilian leisure boat. Hope you boys brought sun-screen."

Ah, the dry humor of a man not pleased with upcoming tasks.

Isaac

Isaac glanced over his shoulder to Mcdougal, shrugging slightly at his comment and turning away from the window.
"I'm always expecting trouble, Mcdougal. That way the only surprises I have are pleasant ones."

He hardly had his favorite phrase out before the rather... Impressive form of Cesare made it into the room, smaller brother on his back as always. Unlike most, Isaac had never been intimidated by Cesare- Nor had he found Julis strange in the slightest. He liked both of them, found them interesting- But he expected Cesare, at least, had agendas outside of helping the Free Men. Until those came to rise, however, Isaac would always continue to treat the two as he treated everybody else- Like friendly equals among free people.
"Cesare, Julis. Glad to see you both. Excuse me if I get directly to business on this, but Julis, I had a job specifically for you, after this meeting. I need you to suit up and go outside, help the engineers with the turrets. I want the numbers perfect, and nobody does them better than you. And where the devil is Eirwen? She's usually here first."

He glanced about with a slight frown, speaking rather rapidly compared to his usual easy-going manner. He either had one too many coffees, or that chill running up his spine was beginning to grate on his nerves. Either way, it was rather amusing to see.

[User]
Immediately, Klaus' AI, Rommel, spoke up.

"Wie ist das möglich? Die Logistik für eine solche schnelle Änderung... Zu denken, dass wir es nicht erkennen..."

Klaus nodded.

"Rommel brings up an interesting point, Commander. The rebels must be utilizing considerably more advanced equipment than previously known, in both the transportation and construction fields, in order to have set up these guns undetected within the span of a week. Just shipping the parts for it must have taken a few days, and it probably had to be welded on site. The fact that this scan is three days old is only more disturbing."

Klaus glanced at the holo projection, rubbing his chin.

"Don't we have an agent on board that station?"

[Assistant]
"I believe the devil won't be able to verify my location," Eirwen spoke entering. She approached the room just while Isaac was commenting on her absence. "However, according to my AI, there are still 12 seconds before the official meeting, so in fact I am too early. Unless there was a system crush, and then I need to rewrite some of the modules, time calculation included". She was serious about both the 12 seconds and the rewriting part. Everyone knew that their tactician hated mistakes and foggy data. She preferred flawless exactness.

"My systems work perfectly fine, my lady," said Athena in somewhat sulking voice materialising on her owner's shoulder. Usually Eirwen didn't have her visible, but in front of the others it was kind of a custom to show off with their AIs. Athena was shaped as a lean young woman with long curly hair reaching her waist, part of which was sealed with a comb. She was dressed in a long chiton, clothes popular around four thousand years ago, and in her hands she was holding a large sphere. Eirwen wrote her model design herself, to make her more or less fitting for her name.

"I checked the time using the exact location coordinates, planet movement map, and the distance to the Sun at this point." continued the AI. Eirwen chuckled at such report.

"Looks like I am still too early, chief," she said looking at Isaac.


[System]
Age: 15

Appearance:

No scarf, eyes are blue, no glove, and no bag.

Element: Ice

Personality: Dia is aloof, distracted by the details that make things. Like how ice is made up of crystalized water, buildings of overlaying stone, and the details of nonliving materials. The living interest her less, making her slow to notice people and as such come off as rude and antisocial.

When not involved in a conversation, or project, Dia is quiet and prone to inner monologuing on what she sees. While involved in something, Dia often becomes highly animated. Anyone who spends time around her would argue that she holds two personalities.

However, if you get Dia to become involved in the conversation you'll discover she has a great love for life and cares for others deeply. The problem is just coming out of her daze.

This love of life is blatantly obvious when she's more animated, and she becomes prone to overstating what she's thinking.

Dia is not entirely quick to open up about her deep inner fears and hopes, though, at least not until she feels comfortable around those present.

History: Dia came from two water elementalists, living nearby to the elemental school her parents had attended. She started displaying odd elemental abilities around the age of twelve, a chill around her persons. After she started becoming obsessed with details, her parents wanted to try and help her gain control (afraid that the abilities were affecting her head) and grow as a person.

In the future, Dia personally hopes to become a kind of defender with her abilities, protecting others and objects from harm. Eventually she'd love to be able to provide medical aid as well, and maybe even use her powers to help in that field (numbing and freezing, in other words).

[User]
Felix Williams
Amsterdam

Still a bit stunned from the unexpected kiss, Felix processed words at an all-time record of sluggishness. Who wouldn't when one minute you swear you saw an angel and just a bit later you're locking lips with one.
This day had gone completely off track from how it was supposed to go. How Felix had expected it to go. His roommate wasn't in a fist fight with him, Manilow had a chance to get through the stubborn hate of the boys soul, and this young lady had found his heart by accident.

How could it all have happened so fast.

"Too fast.." he whispered, shaking his head as he slowly rose to a sitting position.

"I've.. never kissed a girl before. You don't have to apologize since.." getting to his feet and confidently, if you looked close enough you could recognize he was anything but, grabbed Dias hand in a firm but caring hold. "Since I think I know.. what it is you feel."

Felix wanted to kiss her again. To feel her soft lips on his and forget the world outside of that singular moment but.. Such things werent meant to be rushed. His body craved it but his mind could not forget her words. Saw the light..

"B-but! We barely know each other. If its ok with you I'd like to take.." lifting her hand, fingers intertwining with each other. The cold of her hand fought the warmth of his. "This. What we feel.. if you would have me by your side I can't promise light every step of the way."

[Assistant]
Dia nodded slowly, feeling the warmth of his hand as she slowly stood again. "I..." She paused, struggling to find the words, before continuing quietly. "I don't care. We'll learn more about each other with time. But there's not much to learn about me."

She passed her free hand over herself. "I'm no star, like you said. I'm flat and cold and..."

With a sigh she shook her head. "This is crazy. I need controls and structure, because I lack it. But with you here, I don't feel so... Stupid? I don't know. I feel like it's worth not knowing the pattern with you. Like maybe I'll be okay."

Dia tugged gently on his arm. "So, a walk in the creepy forest?" She asked carefully. "Maybe talk and walk and learn?"

She held his hand tighter, slowly and deliberately leaning up and kissing his cheek. "Please?" She murmured in a small voice.

[User]
@Pseudo Stygian

As cold water sprayed ShiZhen and Lyra, ShiZhen let out a shriek. But the terror of being hit by something cold dissipated quickly as her brain caught up and reminded her that water was harmless, and started figuring out any number of explanations. At least they weren't going to catch a cold; fogs had high heat capacity, the high humidity prevented evaporative cooling, and the fact that there was a fog meant that there wasn't any wind to induce wind-chill. What it did mean was that they were going to be very wet with little chance to dry as long as they remained in this fog. A bit of anger crept into ShiZhen's voice, "It's probably just some upperclassmen playing a prank on us, in fact, this whole thing might just be one big joke." Getting sprayed with water was such a juvenile, non-horror thing to happen that the creepy mood was more or less spoiled for ShiZhen. She might have been a little antsy before, but now she was just drenched and peeved. "Did you want to keep going, Lyra, or dO you want to just go back to our dorm?"

---

Catherine hovered silently through the forest, mainly to keep a watchful eye on any students to make sure they stayed safe, and to make sure they didn't take this as an opportunity to get hot and steamy. Of course, she could care less if her students were banging, but rules were rules, and she had to give off some semblance of enforcing them. Besides, she knew all too well how an immature romance could ruin a life.

Still, she carried a rope with her that she would occasionally tie to a tree and stick the free end down her shirt behind her neck. Then she would hover in place limply, pretending to be dangling from a noose when students approached. In the darkness it was impossible to tell that she wasn't really hanging and the subtlety of the scare was often more impactful than something that was immediately threatening or openly dangerous. And so she drifted, looking for students to scare as well as catch or aid.

[Assistant]
Jideh saw the wall rush up from the ground, looming in the darkness. At the same time her heard the scuttling thumps of the spider contruct, and Kanako's prompt all assailed him at once. His idea fell from his mind as though it had never existed, and he began to laugh manically while brushing a hand through his hair. The nervous energy bubbled up through his chest and he felt the gurgling cackle reverberate in his chest. He locked eyes with Kanako and grabbed her wrist.

"No ideas! Just action!"

And true to his word, Jideh stabbed his other hand into his jacket pocket, and as though the goddess of the harvest herself, Demeter, had placed the seed he required in his pocket, Jideh found himself holding a climbing breed of rose. Tossing it at the base of the earthen wall, he surged the plant with energy. His stomach growled loudly, but the creeping vines surged up the height of the wall. Half-dragging, half-climbing, Jideh led Kanako on top of the wall. Once they reached the top, Jideh muttered an apology before using his spade the hack the vines so that they fell back to the floor.

And finally, Jideh dropped back onto his rear, sighing. Almost at his limit. The boy dug deep and pressed his fingers to the edge of the wall. Where there had been soil and dirt, there was now smooth polished stone. At least, that was the idea. The surface actually ended up resembling more of a rough and brittle igneous formation.

"I got you... Up... High," Jideh gasped. "Your turn."

---

Jordan traipsed through the brush, wandering far afield in search of more children to spray. As he scanned the environs, he heard a rustle. Freezing, Jordan turned his head carefully. His squinting eyes spotted a...

A WOMAN HANGING FROM A TREE? Jordan yelped and sprang back, dropping his water gun and clanking loudly. He blinked and saw who was actually hovering, not hanging, above him. His fear increased, and Jordan gingerly felt for his water gun. Luck was not on his side. His seeking hand brushed the heavy waterarm and sent it spinning OUT of the bushes that concealed his lewd graffiti and out into plain view of its referred party. A party whom was carrying a great many dangerous looking sticks and a NOOSE, even if she was currently wearing the rope as a macabre practical joke.

Jordan wasn't laughing. Although he was shaking. Violently. His mouth tried to form words, and yet all that came out was a sad sort of "Gurrrgh?"

At long last his severely impeded brain kicked in and on the decidedly unlikely chance she had missed his gaffe, he hurriedly swept the gun back into the brush with a blast of earth. At the same time, he choked on his spit before croaking out a pitiable "Hullo Cathy. Fancy meeting you round these parts."

@Hammerman @Stern Algorithm

[User]
"No ideas! Just action!"

"W-what? B-but you said--"

Before she could finish her sentence, Kanako was already dragged along by Jideh, a reverse of their original position. Jideh used his power to grow vines that he soon used to climb at the wall, dragging Kanako along with him. Kanako could only lift herself awkwardly with her free hand and her legs as Jideh was still grabbing her wrist as he climbed.

When they finally reached the top, Jideh said that it was now her turn, as he rested from the heavy work he just did.

"R-right," Kanako replied, turning her attention back to the spider. She wasn't sure if her wind would have any effect on the spider, but she had to try regardless.

"Haaaaa!"

She gathered all the energy she could muster. Wind began to form around her, creating a miniature tornado that blew everything around her. Her hair began to fly wildly, and the branches of the trees around her shook and trembled. Unfortunately, this also meant the flutter of her skirt also, exposing her panties to Jideh who was sitting behind her. She didn't notice however. She was too busy concentrating against the mortal threat in front of her.

"Take this!"

With one movement of her arms, she sent all the wind she had gathered and sent it all towards the spider. She didn't hold back at all with this attack. She doubted her wind could lift and throw the spider, and she hadn't mastered her power to the point that she could create sharp blades of wind. She just hoped that it would do something. At the very least, she hoped it would buy time for them to escape.

@Zelosse

[Assistant]
@Hammerman

"Do you think they'll break it?" Asked the boy controlling the obscuring darkness.

"They'll be lucky to make it stumble." Responded the handler. His assessment was quite accurate considering what the elemental was using as its body.

Both students watched in silence to see how it played out.

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

The Walker recognized what was happening on the escape plan hatched by Jideh. As a plant elemental, it felt the roses growth. The boys keen loss od energy. Recognized they intended to continue on throigh the wall and then transform it into stone to impede its path.

It couls have halted the growt of the roses and trapped them. It coild have, and still could, collapse the wall. But all of those options were not acted on.

Instead it rumbled forward on its stone legs towards the two. Turning its attention upwards it caught the blast of concentrated wind directly in its 'chest'. The thick dirt and soil surrounding the roots was hit hard enough to dislpdge a good portion of it back to the ground, but the damage was minimal. Perhaps a 6 inches of dirt had been peeled off the constructs front end but the tree perched atpp it was unharmed, its thick roots still holding up the constructs being.

Slowed but not stopped, it advanced on the wall yet again.

---------

"Not bad for first years. But it looks like they haven't realized its weaknesses yet." Snickered the darkness student.

"They will, eventually." Smirked the handler.

----------

Amsterdam

Frlix just smiled at the honest admissions. Control was something he lacked too and not just in terms of controlling the dangerous flames. His own temper could turn into a fightquickly, and that was something he simply didn't want. It would happen of course..

"A walk sounds perfect. If you'll be with me on it." He smiled, taking her hand. Together they exited the roof.

----------

The midnight run had already started by the time Dia and Felix got to the forests edge. Instructions had been clear enough as they walked hand in hand to their starting point. Don't get caught, don't wake up any teachers.

"So all we have to do is go through the forest and make it to the fountain, then come back?" Felix piped up to their escort. A tall fifth year with a ball of dim light in his hand serving as a lanter .

"Correct. First to get back wins a prize." The boy responded, waving the two off on their journey.

When the student was gone, and the contest officially begun in his head, a hungry grin took to Felixs face. The way to winning wasn't a blind rush, it was much simpler. Even as the obscuring fog rolled in he smiled.

"I got an idea. Lets just walk along the tree line. Takes longer but something tells me the forest proper is a warzone. What do you think?"

[User]
Dia nodded stiffly. "And it's scary in there," she mumbled, tightening her grip on his hand. "But I might be able to, I don't know... Maybe I could freeze stuff if it came at us. I'm not very reliable yet, though."

She glanced back at the forest. Maybe her ears were playing tricks on her, but she could swear she could hear yelling and odd sounds coming from within.

"A-are you s-sure we'll be safe, Felix?" She stammered. "I just don't w-want to be a, uh, a burden."

She drew closer to Felix unconsciously, his warmth like a safety net for her nerves.

Dia jumped at a likely imaginary sound. "Can we get moving, please, Felix? I think I'm going to die from fright if we stand here any longer."


[System]
Age: Unknown

Gender: Male

Species: Human

World of Origin: A version of Earth where the only difference was that some people have special abilities. The abilities are countless, but they always come with a drawback. An organization was created to remove these people with abilities from the world: Beschutzer, shortened to Bes

There was another organization that was created to protect these people. It is know as Wehren, These two organizations have been at odds with each other for years.

Are you a member of TRIDENT? No

Are you one of those seemingly normal people? No

XIII stands at about six feet tall. He has brown hair that goes down to the base of his neck on the side of his head that isn't burnt. His body is covered in scars, the largest one being a Y-shaped scar that goes from each shoulder to the bottom of his ribcage. His namesake is in the form of a tattoo on the back of his left hand. Usually, he dresses in heavy clothing to keep him from getting any kind of chill. Unfortunately, he was sleeping when he was taken, so he is only wearing light clothing.

Abilities and skills: XIII has the ability to control, create, and not be harmed by fire. or extreme heat. However, the drawback to that ability is that the moment he gets cold, he can't create, control or be immune to fire or extreme heat.

Combat wise, XIII is competent in hand to hand combat, and he can shoot a gun alright.

Strengths and Weaknesses: The ability to control fire can be quite useful in most situations, as well as not being able to be burnt. Anything he wears also seems to be immune to the fire. If he gets cold, he starts getting sick and is unable to control his abilities at all.

He is quite level headed, and it takes a lot for him to get angry. If he does get angry, pity the poor soul that did that.

He is also afraid of sudden fire he did not make or cannot control

History: XIII can't remember anything prior to his captivity at a Bes holding facility. He was a part of a program that was to break the prisoners and force them to work for Bes. It would be labeled as a success considering the other twelve subjects were broken. XIII was the last holdout, and he would have broke as well had an extraction team from Wehren not freed him from his imprisonment.

After that, XIII joined an extraction team and helped rescue people being chased from Bes, or helped free them from holding facilities like the one that had held him. The last mission he was on, however was an utter failure. XIII and his crew were led into a trap by someone they thought of as an ally. This trap lead to the death of XIII's close friends.

That wasn't where it stopped, though. While they were able to rescue everyone from the facility that once held XIII, Their own facility was attacked during the mission. There were countless deaths. With no where to go, they went to the mansion of a man who helped fund Wehren.

It was during the night when he was torn across the rift.

Personality: XIII is a serious man, but that doesn't get in the way of his dry sense of humour or the smart remarks he makes.

[User]
Vata woke up, energized and for the first time since he arrived in this world, he felt safe. While he couldn't remember much of what happened between the last thing he could remember in his home and waking up in this bed, what he could remember was not very pleasant. None of that mattered now, since he was warm, safe, and comfortable. Not even stopping to examine the room he got up in, he strolled right out of it. He noticed that he was in a hallway with other rooms in it, with all of their doors open for some reason. It was only then that he realized that the rather comfortable clothes that he was wearing were not his own. While that was somewhat concerning, more concerning was how utterly unfashionable they were. If it wasn't for how comfortable they were, he would consider going back into the room he was in to search for his clothes.

Putting aside that thought, it occurred to him that he had absolutely no idea where he was. Being the incredibly clever person that he was, Vata turned left and walked into the first open door he saw. He was greeted with the sight of a rather unpleasant-looking man lying down in a bed of unfamiliar design with an outfit similar to his own. Shocked by the man's appearance, he was tempted to turn around and leave the room, but perhaps this person would have some idea of where they were.

"Uh, hello. I don't know if we've met before, but my name is Vata."

Vata fidgeted nervously for a moment. He was terrible at introductions, and this was definitely not his best. Trying to salvage the situation, he decided that it would be best to just get to the point.

"Would you happen to know where we are right now, by any chance?"

[Assistant]
The man was shaded in the doorway, the lamp barely reaching that far, but even still Herbert could see he was dark-skinned and gaunt. Suddenly self-conscious, Herbert straightened out his nightmare-crumpled blanket and sat up slightly straighter. His face was all angles, with a flint jawline and a bold nose. Clearly, this man was no doctor; he had flannel pyjamas quite similar to Herbert's, but he held some fleeting familiarity that was gone before it gained too much traction and stumbled upon a grim realisation.

"Hello Vata." The name was ridiculous, but Herbert had already placed him as an exotic and figured his name was probably quite common wherever he came from.

It was the question that caught Herbert off-guard, his eyes briefly widening, before he regained control of his face and restored the outward calm façade of everyday. He studied Vata briefly, a fidgeting man with apparent short-term memory loss. Too young for it to be dementia surely, but perhaps Huntington's disease. Regardless, he likely was already receiving treatment, and Herbert felt rather selfishly that neither party would benefit from each other's presence; he had no desire to speak to the mentally impaired. Best be rid of him as quick as he could.

"We're in a hospital my good fellow," Herbert began cordially, a thin smile upon his lips, "Your doctor will no doubt be along soon. Be a good chap and get back to your room. He will want to see you for sure."

[User]
XIII had followed Twain down the stairs into the room with the burn woman. He winced at the sight of the woman. Those were some bad burns. He'd be surprised if she made it. When Twain put his hand on the woman's shoulder and told her to sleep and she did, XIII raised his eyebrows. Usually people had only one ability, but this man seemed to have more than one. It was strange. The next few minutes were a blur. XIII remembered making a makeshift torch out of kindling by the fireplace and lit it with his ability as subtly as he could, and then being taken by helicopter to someplace and then getting tired and falling asleep.

When he woke up he was in what seemed like a hospital room. His hands were bandaged up and he was dressed in pajamas. The fact that he couldn't remember getting there made XIII suspicious. He got out of his bed and left the room. He was in a hallway filled with doors that looked like his. As quietly as he could, he went to each door and opened them slightly to look inside. They were all hospital rooms that had someone in them. He did this until he had checked all of the rooms along the hall. There was a room at the end of the hall he had yet to check.

It was a rather large meeting room. Whoever made it must have really liked fish. There was no other door than the one that he had entered through. Wherever they were, they were stuck there until the people that put them there decided otherwise. He left the meeting room and saw someone wandering the hallway before entering a room. XIII shrugged, might as well get to know the other people he was trapped with. He made his way to the room that the person entered in time to hear someone say they were in a hospital.

"That's not entirely true" XIII said as he entered the room. Both people here were at the castle before. "I believe we're in a holding facility. I'm not exactly sure what for, but I think it might be because we were at that castle in Russia." XIII had been surprised to hear that he was in Russia. Considering he was in sleeping in the states before he woke up. He frowned as he thought about it. "Actually, I curious. Where were you two before you woke up at that castle?"


[System]
Age/Race/Gender: 31, Human, Male

Appearance: Kotze is unassuming enough; 6'0 with a lean build, clean cut, eyes a little sharp, but who isn't these days? Beneath the loose-fitting clothes is a different man. His flesh is a twisted mess of knotted keloid scars, patchy burns, and the occasional missing chunk of meat sometimes replaced with black biomechanical muscle grafts but other times simply absent. It's a miracle the man can even walk, let alone live, with the extensive damage done to his body. A keen eye can detect ink interspersed between mangled flesh and bionics, once bright and vibrant but now coated with raised scars. Whatever the tattoos once represented are now lost to all but Kotze.

Occupation: Intelligence Operative

Weapons: Kotze carries a simple AAC Model 9 pistol with an inbuilt suppressor and double stacked magazine for a maximum capacity of fifteen .45 rounds. The weapon is easily concealed in his jacket or waistband. Kotze also typically has a standard 9 inch combat knife from hilt to tip somewhere on his person, because hey, ya never know.

Armor: Kotze's only "armor" is the Kenshiro Systems Stealth Suit, a lightweight catsuit interlaced with duraweave to protect him from only the smallest caliber weapons. The suit's real function is the mimetic polycarbon installed in the fabric, which is connected to Kotze's subdermal implant that allows him to blend into his environment like a chameleon. The suit fits comfortably beneath the civilian clothes he typically wears.

Items:
Plastech Deck VI: Kotze's data pad is inconspicuous enough, appearing to be a 6"x3" transparent piece of glass with a typical neon interface. However, the device has been heavily modified to jack into and hack simple electronics like doors, computers, and low-level security systems. The readout is linked to Kotze's cybernetic optic nerve, and the screen can change to display more "innocent" material while his eyes pick up the pad's true content.

Alpharotec (2 bottles): A prescription medication that functions similar to an immunosuppressant given to patients to prevent their body from rejecting transplanted organs, only Alpharotec stops Kotze's immune system from rejecting his cybernetics. The drug must be taken once every 24 hours to prevent rejection, which leads to fever, loss of control over implants, and in Kotze's case, that results in death. Additionally, the drug is rare, since so few are afflicted with rejection, so the dependency is expensive.

AAC Smart Mines: A small circular metal disk, about three inches in diameter and half an inch in height, these little mines don't pack much of a punch, but do well in a pinch. Kotze can carry about three on his person without drawing attention to himself, two stun and one fragmentation.

Skills:

Tradecraft: Having approached his previous occupation with a sort of "jack-of-all-trades" mentality, Kotze has a laundry list of covert abilities with which he is reasonably acquainted, including hacking, trailing, stenography, cryptography, interrogation, and so on. He is a professional liar and skilled wordsmith as well, able to pump targets for information without them ever knowing. Though not an expert in any of these fields, Kotze's versatility often gives him the needed edge.

Cyborg: Kotze's clandestine abilities are further enhanced by his cybernetic implants. His left arm is replaced entirely by a prosthetic, a Blackhammer Bionic Muscle Graft. Kotze's muscles on his left arm has been completely stripped away from the bone, replaced with a corded black synthetic muscle that weaves into his torso. While the replacement is slightly tougher than human flesh, the real advantage lies in the quick-twitch neuron receivers that allow Kotze to move his left arm with increased dexterity and speed. The synthetic flesh still relies on Kotze's blood to operate and can be difficult to repair. Kotze is also equipped with an OptiNerve Mk. III Targeting and Identification Unit, a simple optic nerve replacement that hooks up to a Net chip in Kotze's brain. The tech features a facial recognition system which then accesses the individual's public (and private, if available) records on the net. The OptiNerve has two other features, a simple zoom and a night-vision modification. However, this is older tech, and his left eye will noticeably glow neon blue when the features are in use. Finally, Kotze is the proud owner of the Kenshiro Systems Subdermal OctoCamo System Version 5.3, a thin, transparent layer beneath his skin and over his muscle grafts that, when activated, mimics the color and pattern of his surroundings. Kotze possesses a stealth suit wrapped in the same material as well, and has embedded microchips that link the two together. The system can also hide his thermal signature for short periods of time as well. Overall, the camouflage is only convincing from a distance or in the dark. Additionally, Kotze has had many major organs and much of his nervous system swapped with cybernetic replacements, though they function almost identically to a normal human body. All of these systems run off of a neural chip in his cerebral cortex, making him extremely vulnerable to EMPs.

Well-Travelled: Kotze's seen much of the universe, and he's picked up a few friends and tricks along the way. He's skilled enough in most of the major Federation languages to navigate their planets without issue, and is well-versed in their customs and traditions. In his travels, Kotze's also accumulated a fair amount of friends and people who owe him favors, though the line between the two is often blurred.

Powers: Once upon a time, Kotze had the ability to bend another's will into his own with powerful mind control. However, his extensive cybernetic nervous system has reduced this power to practically nothing, and he has little agency over when it is activated. The "mind control", if you can call it that, manifests itself as intermittent spurts of intense charisma or low levels of feeling of trust and attraction for longer periods of time.

[User]
Tibulass listened closely as Stryker spoke, if only because her ears were forcing herself to due to the sensitivity. It was about halfway through another sip of coffee that Stryker brought up how the door was apparently open. The sudden admittance of that was enough to cause Tibulass to choke on her coffee. A few moments of brief panic passed before Tib placed the drink down, taking one deep breath before she looked at Stryker with a darkened scowl. "... I always close that door... did you... sneak a peak?" Tib tilted her head to the side jokingly, but the red on her face was enough to convey embarrassment. She knew the door was closed, for certain, or she knew it was closed when she walked in.

Then again... she did use his shower.

After the panic and such was aside, the rundown of the next few hours was given. It wasn't much time, but it was most certainly enough to go and buy more clothes for her. All she bought last night was a toss-around set, she still needed a fair amount of clothes. Tibulus had tons of old clothes, but they were all for small-sized men. Except for the bomber jacket, though. That was way too good to get rid of, even without the fact that it was a size or two too large.

As she was walking out of the Revenant, Tib pulled her communicator out of a small bag she carried on her. Sure, it was a throw away and cheap one, but it was reliable before then. Dialing up Stryker, the girl walked towards the nearest department store while checking the bag for the cash she carried around.

"I'll be back before long. I need to go grab a few more clothes and other things." The viking paused hesitantly, finally exhaling as she spoke again. "Don't... leave without me. Please." Ugh... those words felt awful. They were too genuine for the viking's taste.

[Assistant]
Stepdad

Varrus turned his gaze away from his equipment and toward Kotze. Just an examination on the shoulder? Are you sure? Varrus tilted his head downward to mimic disappointment since his face couldn't really give others a reading. That's a shame, the potato scooper really would have help bring out those pretty eyes. He said as he slowly put away an actual potato scooper. He walked over to Kotze and then stepped behind him to examine his shoulder. Did you dislocate it? That's what it looks like. I'll pop it back in place. Just relax. It's your first time with me so I'll be gentle....sorry. That came out wrong.

Varrus bent the affected side's elbow to 90 degrees. He began to grip the the elbow with both hands and apply a traction away from Kotze. Taking one hand off the elbow and placing it on the forearm. He slowly externally rotated the elbow. He continued to maintain traction on the elbow with his other hand. He listned for a popping sound and felt the shoulder. He waited to feel the ball of the humerus back in its socket.

That should do it. Varrus took his hands off of Kotze and walked over to his table. I'm required to document all the injury and the procedure taken to fix the injury. I also need to document if any medications are administered. Would you like for me to pescribe you something? I could give you something simple for the pain though it won't be unbearable. On the other hand, my specialty in the medical field was augmentation and biochemistry, I'm always looking to test new chemicals I have developed. I could give you something I created and see the results.

Varrus walked over to one of his cases and opened to reveal several syringes and vials of strange liquid. You don't have to if you don't want to but I'm sure I could pay you back. I'm a doctor, I do have a fortune that the alliance never got their hands on. I could pay you for the time. Varrus then turned to face Kotze. I could help with other things as well. For one, those weak exercises you do to keep us out your mind won't do. My specialty was forcefully extracting info from someone's mind during interrogation. Also, as Illtihids, telepathy is our main form of communication. Keeping us out is always more difficult. I could train you to strengthen your mind if you wish.

[User]
Kotze couldn't tell if the doctor was joking or not, but he chuckled regardless. With most species, the agent saw right through them; that skill went out the window when the subject had a mass of tentacles for a face and spoke directly into your mind. No, he couldn't gather enough from body language alone either, so Varrus remained an enigma for now. That made him nervous. "What makes you think I ha-" Kotze started with a raised eyebrow, but was cut off by his own harsh grunt as the shoulder returned to its socket. As far as pain went, he'd had worse. When the limb slid back into place, he felt a sort of grim satisfaction, like a missing piece returned to the puzzle. If that were the case, though, Kotze was missing more than a few pieces.

"Thank you, doctor. If I tried that myself, I'd be needing another one of these," he said, nodding to his prosthetic. Kotze rotated his shoulder gingerly, the arm still significantly limited in mobility. He relied heavily on his cybernetic, born with the curse of left-handedness, but going without the flesh wouldn't do. Varrus displayed his collection of experimental drugs, arousing Kotze's curiosity. This ship certainly didn't skimp when it came to personnel, especially on a so-called suicide mission.

"You don't have to convince me to be your guinea pig, Doctor Varrus," he said with an easy smile, standing up lazily.  "But I might take you up on the lessons. First one's free of charge, though." Kotze despised the thought of spending any more time in the medbay than he had to, but he couldn't spend the next two weeks with the arm dangling limply by his side. A telepath poking around in his head was somehow even more unappealing, a trained interrogator no less, but learning to block psychic attacks would be invaluable. Then again, maybe he could just find a back-alley surgeon to splice some new tech into him, something that would mask his mental presence to telepaths. One more implant wouldn't hurt. Kotze wondered if the Illtihid could see the cracks spreading in his mind, or if the internal façade was as effective as his external one. No, he couldn't trust the doctor yet. Hell, Kotze felt he'd spend the rest of his time aboard the ship avoiding him. "And I hate to rush you doctor, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. I think we're missing breakfast," he added, yet another smirk punctuating his sharp features. The mask never faded, even when he knew the telepath could see through it. Perhaps he'd worn it too long, and it was simply part of him now. Fused on, like so many other bits and pieces of his body. He couldn't give a damn about breakfast, only escaping the small white room.


[System]
Age
30
Occupation BT
Ambrosia worked as a park ranger for the Yosemite National Park before the tragedy struck, and was in the front lines when the animals began mutating into horrific beasts. She barely escaped, and has scars – mental and physical – to show for it. She is exceptional at identifying animal tracks and edible plants from her years of working in Yosemite.
Personality
Ambrosia can be bossy, overbearing, and sarcastic. She has a deep seated sense of loyalty and responsibility for the other members in her group and assumes a self-appointed "protector" role, though she may never say so outloud. After all, she doesn't trust that druggie, Cash, with a bunch of young adult girls as far as she can throw him (though she often tries to look out for him too, in a roundabout way).
Weapons
Her crossbow, two machetes, and a couple of smaller knives.
Short Bio (optional)
To be discovered via roleplaying.
Other

* She makes her own arrows, and can often be seen carving and fletching new ones even as she walks.
* She has a fondness for candy, and will search for some pretty avidly whenever they venture close enough to gas stations, grocery stores, etc.
* Will be speaking in this amber-ish color.

"Your nuclear weapons don't scare me - The only thing I need to fear is fear itself."

[User] Spencer grinned and laughed. Actually talking to Yuki was his way of winding her up. He gently slid his hand over her wrist and tugged her hand away from her mouth. "Hey," he said gently "you're really really cute when you're embarrassed. Still you want to 'ramble' I'm all ears, m'dear. What I really want to know is what are you going to do with it?" If there was one thing he learnt from the world off law, it was keep them talking. You do it to witnesses they slip up and share the fact that they know to much and you can convict them. Do it to the defendant they will slip up and they may as well write 'I did it' on both barista's benches. Do it to the other barista, you can find holes in their evidence. He used it in everyday life, so he could wind people up a bit. He felt he took it to a new level with Yuki but, he had an good reason fo doing that... @yukisaa

[Assistant] noticing Spencer gently slid his hand around my wrist and tugged my hand away from my mouth. "Hey," he said gently "you're really really cute when you're embarrassed. Still you want to 'ramble' I'm all ears, m'dear. What I really want to know is what are you going to do with it?" i stop and looked up at Spencer, wondering what he was doing. being around my father all the time, i really didn't understand the men styles of body language. nodding my head, trying to understand him.

[User]
Ambrosia had been in her tent, grabbing her machetes and a few other odds and ends for her rounds. Hearing Yuki shout for her and Punch, which was a rare occurrence indeed, caused her to rush out of her tent, her machetes drawn as she prepared for trouble. When she came out, however, she had a front-row seat to watching Spencer harassing Yuki. "What... are you doing to her, Spencer? Seriously? First Cash is causing trouble, now you?" She sighed, mistakenly thinking that this was why Yuki had called her name. She re-sheathed her machetes and stomped over to the two of them, having just about enough of the shenanigans, and put a hand on Yuki's shoulder reassuringly. "Mosey off, Spencer. I don't know what you did to her, but I'm taking her with me on rounds – if you want to come?" She directed the question at Yuki, peering down at the girl. Ambrosia's tone of voice was once again softer than it was with any of the men.

"Actually... fuck, where is Jay? Has anyone seen her!?" Her gaze swept the campsite frantically. She let go of Yuki's shoulder and turned in place. "JAY?" Ambrosia shouted, her voice suddenly hoarse with emotion. They had left Jessica behind when they went on their hunting trip, but she hadn't seen hide nor hair of the young soccer coach since they returned. The worst things imaginable flashed through Ambrosia's imagination. Mutated creatures ripping Jessica apart, limb from limb, or... bandits. The latter was worse than the former, as humans had still proved themselves to be more abominable than the monsters they feared. Ambrosia shuddered at the thoughts swimming through her brain.

Ambrosia looked Spencer directly in the eyes, sure that he knew what it was that she feared might have happened. He was an incorrigible nincompoop, but he was also smarter than he let on. Surely even Punch and the rest might have some inkling as to what could have transpired.

[Assistant]
Ved
 As he walked onto the camp, he saw Cash was still in his tent, hopefully sleeping and not causing any trouble. Perhaps he would apologize once things had calmed down, try to explain why he thought it was a bad Idea for a boy so young to be armed with anything more dangerous than a blade. He also noticed Spencer and Yuki, Yuk seemed rather flushed, and Spencer was looking rather flirtatious. Good God, he thought to himself, The last thing we need around here is ANOTHER womanizer. He watched as Ambrosia rushed out of her tent, machetes drawn, and chuckled to himself, she was so protective of the girls here, Definitely a den mother. He began to approach when he heard her yelling Jay's name, then he looked around himself, come to think of it, he hadn't seen or heard from Jay since before they had returned to the camp, he had simply assumed that she had been with them and was just keeping quiet in her tent. He quickened his approach to Ambrosia, once reaching her he put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Calm down Am, I'm sure she's fine, I'll look around the camp for her, you see if she's in any of her usual spots outside the boundaries. If we can't find her, stay calm, the last thing this group needs is something to scream about."

 He moved away quickly, stopping first at her tent, he opened the tent flap and did a quick once over, seeing that she wasn't visible he checked her cot to see if she was sleeping, finding that she wasn't, he left the tent and looked in both directions, before going in the direction the truck was in. He looked around and between each tent, as well as checking inside and checking the cots to see if she was anywhere present, searching all but Cash's tent of course.

[User]
It was the next morning and Cash was still a little high from the Androchroma he had taken last night and he was currently regretting taking it, for right know he couldn't fin his sunglasses "Ugh" was the only sound that cash could give out at the current moment as he searched for his aforementioned sunglasses. "Fucking finally" said Cash he placed his sunglasses on his face he suddenly began taking notice of an unfamiliar sound inside his tent so he turned around and he went stiff with fear because there was an animal in his tent but specifically a Bat (for those not in the know Cash is really afraid of bats mutated or not)

And it was the size of a small child so perhaps its a child but he didn't really care for the bat charged at him, Cash dogged and he began looking around for something to use as a weapon, Bat flew at him but Cash grabbed his briefcase and swung it at the animal. The hit sent bat flying out of his tent Cash followed it out of the tent still armed only with a Briefcase he found it attempting to stand up Cash ran at it and hit it over the head sending it back towards the ground. Cash bashed it over the head again and again until it stopped moving he looked it over, it wasn't even twitching "Fucking bats"

he said as he opened the briefcase, grabbed a cigarette out of one of the packs he kept in the case. He placed the case on the jeep so he could look for his lighter, he placed hand on his front pocket only to realize he wasn't wearing his shirt looked down and noticed he wasn't really wearing much in fact he wasn't wearing anything he was as nude as the day as he was born. he looked to the side and saw that rest of the group had come out of there tents due to the commotion that he had caused Cash looked at the group and said "Anyone got a light?"

[Assistant]
She directed the question at me, peering down and put a hand on my shoulder reassuringly. nodding my head to show that i wanted to go with her, and trying not to get in between the two adults that where fighting with each other.

shaking my head to the left, then to the right. to show that i didn't know where she was. after saying what Ven said to Amber i decided that it was better for me to go with Ven, i watched as he moved away quickly, stopping first at her tent, opening the tent flap and did a quick once over, seeing that she wasn't visible he checked her cot to see if she was sleeping. moving to the other tents and looking in both directions, before going in the direction the truck was in with me close by him, looking as well.

@hagroden

[User]
Jay sighed She was done with all the boys messing around and decided to take a walk to avoid starting a fight. She was kicking a rock that she had seen about a minute ago and was just kicking it into tree's. She missed playing soccer and hated how people would sometimes joke about that. She sighed as she kicked the rock again "I wish that we could all just get along for once." She mumbled lightly as arguments were common around the camp. She decided to sit down under a tree for a second and finds herself almost drifting off after a minute or two.

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

"Urghhh" Jay murmurs waking up with a pounding headache. She opens her eyes and looks around blinking. She couldn't see anything. "What's the time??" She asks herself looking for her cell phone that she had rescued ages ago. She searches in her pockets while lying down before deciding to sit up to search for them. As she slowly sat up the pain got worse. She decided to stay lying down to not put herself through anymore pain "Hello??" She lightly shouts hoping that she was just at the camp and hit her head while walking around or from Spencer's driving and had just dreamt about walking out and was just passed put the whole time.

[Assistant]
Sucker looked back and forth, unsure of exactly what to make of this. More people were making commotion--and not just any people, Amber, who he'd praised as a guardian angel of non-drama not thirty minutes ago. He scratched the back of his head, thinking back to the last time he'd saw the young woman.

"Um..." His voice started off as its usual small mouse-squeak, so he tried again: "Um. Jay was with us when Cash told me to ask her about...er, that thing, and she didn't seem all too happy about Spencer's song about her."

He blinked, and then rushed to add, "But, but I didn't see her after that, I was looking at..."

...Titty. He didn't say that, of course. Rather, he bit into an apple that he'd snagged from a pack to hide his rattled nerves.

[User]
Ambrosia took a deep breath in to steady herself. Ved was right, panicking would not solve the fact that Jessica appeared to be missing, nor would shouting. And Punch had seen her since they arrived back, so she couldn't be too far from camp. Ambrosia slapped her own cheeks hard enough to leave red marks as she prepared herself for what was to come.

Without further preamble, she fetched her crossbow from her tent and her quiver of arrows. "We're going to sweep our boundaries, just like Ved said, but we don't know what's out there so stay within earshot of each other. Every moment is time we lose in finding out if Jay is okay." She counted Cash out of the running, considering that he had a pharmacy worth of drugs in his tent and was probably on something at this very moment. Having somebody blundering around in the forest while on drugs, not to mention somebody as gun-happy as Cash, was asking for disaster so he'd have to stay here.

She assumed whoever was going to follow her would as she made her way into the forest methodically. There were many tracks that their group had left in their usual patrols, but she was looking for signs of something more unusual having been in the area. It wasn't long, perhaps a minute or two, before she bent down next to a tree. "Somebody sat here recently. Probably Jay." She announced, but the rest of the information she found was concerning. If anyone else were to look, they'd see the obvious tracks of something being dragged through the grass and off into the forest, not hard to miss. Oddly, the fish-line trap she had put up in between the trees in this area was intact, meaning something had managed to circumvent it while taking Jessica. "The trail leads this way. Be careful."

She ducked under the fish line and peered ahead. The path had broken branches, and the grass was flattened where Jessica was being dragged but something seemed off to Ambrosia. The tracks of whatever had Jessica were not readily apparent, save for three odd indentations to each side about five feet away that would sometimes disappear altogether when the gap between trees became closer together. The only thing she knew of that could make tracks like that were usually … much, MUCH smaller in size, at least before the calamity of the mutated monsters made earth a living hell. The thought made her insides churn uneasily.

Her fears were confirmed when the trees ahead became laden with a sticky white substance. She turned to whoever was following her, and held out a hand for them to stop. "Don't touch the webs. Do not shout. I assume our shouting and arguments led them to our camp where one of them got Jay." The webs seemed to lead directly to a large cave about fifty yards down the path, where the density of the webs made the area into a large cocoon-like structure instead of a dirt and rock. She put a hand to her chin, analyzing the situation.

"Anyone got any ideas how to deal with giant mutated spiders? ….And what appears to be a nest of them?"

The whole trip took perhaps eight minutes tops, yet she was surprised they had never noticed the infestation here. "If anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself." Ambrosia whispered as she stared at the monstrous nest of webs before them.