[System]
Age: 36

Role&Kingdom: Regent King of Hiertania

Skill and/or Weapon: As the younger brother to the former king, an adolescent Adrian found himself with few duties to occupy his time growing up. To satiate his ever growing boredom, the younger prince pursued a number of interests such as riding and reading, but nothing captivated him quite like the sword did. Before he knew it, people were saying that he was "Loved by the blade," due to how he took to the discipline as easily as breathing. And his time in the military would only serve to further hone his talent and make word of his prowess spread outside of Hiertania.

Despite all appearances, Adrian is surprisingly well informed on a number of issues, but inattentiveness to his lessons on statecraft has led to his rather unambitious rule. However, when push comes to shove, the regent king has proven time and again to be rather charismatic and capable of rallying those around him, both peasantry and nobility alike, with his words and actions.

Personality: From the way he carries himself to the way he speaks, Adrian exudes a frightening amount of confidence in himself. And while this makes him seem painfully self-involved at times, his genuine nature helps him come off as charming rather than insufferable more often than not. Yet that honesty of his has a bad habit of landing him in hot water, as his bluntness and lack of subtlety has not won him many favors at court. Not that Adrian concerns himself with such matters, as the opinions of others have never held much sway over the wayward royal.

And contrary to what some may think, Adrian is unquestionably loyal to both his people and his family, caring for both dearly even if he isn't that great at showing it. To him, his duty is to be an unshakable pillar to support others, which makes the otherwise honest man hide emotions he deems weak, such as doubt and grief, from others. His position has also made it difficult for him to develop too many close bonds with others despite his easygoing disposition, not to mention rumors regarding his love life are all but nonexistent. But for those he cares about, he cares fiercely and would willing go to the ends of the world for them.

Biography: Adrian had never wished for kinghood, even when he was a child. To him, his older, more responsible brother had always been the ideal fit for the role. But sitting patiently and watching from the side had never been his style, so from an early age the royal made it his mission to find what it was that he excelled at. Swordsmanship found him at the age of twelve and has been his constant companion since then. Unbridled by many of the responsibilities his brother faced, Adrian was free to pursue his calling in the military, which he entered as a talented boy and emerged a confident man.

Never afraid to get his hands dirty with his fellow men, the second prince quickly earned a name for himself in the eyes of the people. And although he wasn't a tactical genius on the battlefield, his ability to make quick decisions and inspire his men made him a force to be reckoned with. Success after success helped shape the brazen man that he is today, but as peace took over the kingdom Adrian set his sights on home. Almost two decades had passed since he had joined, which with his always far too short visits had made him become a bit of a stranger in his own home.

His brother had married during his long absence and already had a small brood by the time he returned. Adrian was by no means the perfect uncle, but he did what he could for his little relatives and in time grew fond of them. The king also brought him into his inner circle, becoming one of his brother's few confidants. While they by no means agreed on every topic, Adrian still cherished the time they spent. Which made his brother's death and his ascension to regency all the more bitter of a pill for him to swallow.

Appearance: By all accounts, Adrian is every bit the dashing individual that he is unfortunately all too eager to proclaim that he is. Standing at a lofty 6'4" and with a physique that has been honed by a lifetime of swordplay and military service, the regent king has never had a reason to blush when caught without a shirt. His light brown hair is kept slightly long and swept to one side, while his eyes shine an equally bright brown with small hints of gold mixed in. And together with his ever present cocky grin, it's easy to see how he got his reputation as a lady killer.

(The picture is a pretty accurate reference, except he has golden brown eyes and he actually appears to be in his 30's)

Recoloring provided by our awesome @AAB. You're a rock star!

[User]
Waking up to the sound of rustling papers and ink bottles clinking was a morning ritual for the third prince. Balthazar liked to say he kept his room tidy without the help of servants. However, in reality, it was just so the staff would stop going through his stuff while they were cleaning. He had severe paranoia to the point where he trusted no one, and to the extent, he keeps the fact he's paranoid to himself. He also knew that most of the staff gossiped about him and minimizing their exposure to his private life was considered the best course of action. So when he woke up in his bed and spilled an ink bottle in the process it was a surprise to no one. What was a surprise to Balthazar was that he woke up in his bed. He usually tried to sleep, couldn't, and wrote poetry until he fell asleep on one of his three desks covered in parchment, quills, and ink bottles. However, this morning he woke startled by the fact he was sleeping in his own bed, leading him to fall out of his bed, covers and all, and knocked over an ink bottle in the process. His entire room is covered in writing supplies except for the fireplace and his piano because he doesn't want any of it to burn and he is fond of his piano. Before he goes to breakfast he washes his hands in his basin (to avoid getting ink on the keys), and plays his piano a little. Although he cannot read music, he knows exactly how every key sounds. He plays two songs leaves and brings his breakfast to the garden. He finds a part of the garden with a tree (that has the least amount of bees) and sat down to eat his omelet. After finishing he pulled out some of his poetry to review for spelling and grammatical errors. After finding only a few missing commas he decided to go back inside. There he found servants bustling through the halls and thankfully not giving him the time of day as he hummed through the halls avoiding his brothers and fathers rooms completely while heading towards the library to finish reading all of the owned fantasy books again for the fifteenth time. This was much to the bookkeeper's dismay who repeatedly stated,
"If you would stop rereading those fantasy books you would have read the whole library by now!"
Which was true but that didn't mean that his highness was going to do it.

[Assistant]
Rowan de Hiertania
It shouldn't be too long now.

For the third time in a row, Rowan read through the section of the thick and dusty book. He hadn't been able to find that many books on alchemy – certainly not in the royal library – but this one had served him well since he had begun learning several years ago. It was rather worn-out, with the occasional tear in a page or stains from an ingredient, and covered in his own hardly intelligible notes. It was preferable that he be the only one who could understand it, anyway. For months now, Rowan had been creating a serum – a poison meant for his father. There was no poison like the one he had desired in the book – the ones listed in his book were for potions that would kill quickly. But he needed one that would take some time, one that would require many small doses and make the death seem natural. So a fair bit of experimenting was required, which had concerned the young prince immensely – after all, this wasn't something that could be done wrong. No, everything had to be perfect. It would be perfect; he was growing increasingly sure of that now. His father had reacted perfectly to the serum, appearing to fall sick just as an older and no doubt stressed man would do. And the reason that Rowan was so riddled with nerves and excitement was because, according to the research he had done, it was almost time for his father, the King of Hiertania, to perish. And after that, Rowan could begin to take care of the other issues standing in his way. Most importantly, his older brother.

Though perhaps such a strong emotion was unfitting for a ruler, Rowan hated Luthier. He was naïve, foolish, and yet he was the one who was to be given the throne? To rule an entire kingdom? Not just any kingdom at that, the mighty kingdom of Hiertania. There was simply no way that his brother could handle that responsibility – Hiertania would certainly crumble. Rowan knew that by getting rid of his brother, he would be saving Hiertania, and that thought alone drove him on. With his skills and his passion, Rowan was absolutely certain that he could bring the kingdom into a new Golden Age. And if he had to make some sacrifices along the way for the greater good, then so be it.

The book slammed shut. Rowan stood up, feeling the familiar mix of confidence and nerves rattling in his stomach. He knew that the next few days would require the utmost precision and thought. There was no room for error. After putting the book back into its place, he left his quarters to begin his daily weapons training outside. As he walked down the stone corridor, he overheard the voices of a couple servants.

"They burned the whole village down last night, that's what I heard anyway!"

"How awful! What if something as scary as that happens here?"

They quickly ceased their conversation as they passed by the prince, but Rowan's curiosity had been piqued. He looked towards them sharply.

"What happened?" he asked tersely. The servants looked bewildered that he was speaking to them.

"Um...What is it you mean, my lord?" one of them asked awkwardly. Rowan suppressed a scowl. He never really spoke to most of the servants; they always seemed so slow and ill at ease. Though a few of them at least were more tolerable - his own personal servant came to mind.

"I heard you speaking of a village that burned down. Where was this?"

The servants looked rather surprised. The other one piped up, "Bandits trying to cross the border of Tiadan, my lord, they attacked a village!"

Rowan frowned. "And why wasn't I informed of this?" The two didn't answer, instead just shifted awkwardly. With a curt nod, Rowan dismissed them and walked away briskly. He felt himself brimming with anger again – a not too unusual occurrence. He resented the fact that he was never kept updated on the happenings of the world, especially events that could influence Hiertania. His father, or anyone else for that matter, clearly didn't care enough to inform him – clearly didn't believe that his thoughts mattered. Rowan gritted his teeth as he entered the courtyard. He was sure Luthier had been immediately told of this raid. And if Luthier was king, what could he do if something like that happened on Hiertania's soil? He would be too weak to handle a situation such as that.

Rowan's sword slammed into the wood target – his vigor had increased with his anger. Perhaps it wouldn't be long until this sword was buried into the chest of his dear older brother.

[User]
Regent King Adrian de Hiertania

---

Even from the doorway, Adrian could clearly see the unbridled fury his brother was quite literally shaking with. Nobody else in the castle dared to aggravate the king, as his temper had only gotten worse as his sickness did, but Adrian refused to let Adhemar's childish tantrums continue without reproach. So with his usual swagger, he approached the foot of his brother's bed. The room was dimly lit, as if to try and hide the king's declining health from onlookers. Not that it helped much, as there was no concealing the unnatural pallor his skin had taken on or the weariness that clung ever so tightly to his eyes. Truly, the man before him was a sad, empty shell of the brother that Adrian loved and respected, but still, in his own way, Adrian refused to give up on him.

An eyebrow was raised at the king's declaration of Adrian's discipline, a silent challenge that went unnoticed as Adhemar descended into one of his awful coughing fits, but the regent said nothing about the matter. Galeran would no doubt be overjoyed to have royal permission to get Adrian fitted for a tighter leash, but his ability to enforce such a thing would be quite amusing to see. All of the poor servant's previous attempts had been so far thwarted, as Adrian had gotten quite good at derailing him with long, pointless tasks. But still, this time Galeran just might have enough support to actually pose a challenge. And Adrian enjoyed challenges.

A look of genuine surprise colored the regent's face when his brother continued speaking though. It was obvious that the king was not going to lose any sleep over the loss of Lutairi life, in fact Adrian suspected that he actually enjoyed the thought in some sick way, but it was somewhat odd for Adhemar to ask him for his thoughts on the matter. For a long time now, Adrian had been under the impression that his dear brother equated his insights to that of a mule's, so for him to be seeking his input now… 'What is he playing at?' he quietly wondered to himself.

"Truth be told, I find it quite perplexing," he began, scratching the back of his head in feigned bewilderment. "Time and again I have tried to rid us of these disgraceful bandits, in keeping to my promise to you for a 'quiet and peaceful kingdom for Luthier to inherit,' yet time and again my men keeping returning to me empty handed," he said, his tone becoming rather pointed. "And now it seems that you are even better informed than me, the acting regent, on the various identities of these walking disgraces that seek to shame us." Adrian allowed whatever implications could be derived from his conjecture hang in the air for a precarious few seconds before continuing, making sure to cut off whatever interjection his brother might think to spout. "Some individuals might even come to the conclusion that you are purposefully letting these men make a mockery of our kingdom by letting them run out of your control," he said, his voice dropping quite low but with the steel of a man that had commanded authority for decades. As he spoke, Adrian had circled around the bed to stand next to his brother, all but towering over the sickly man.

His face took on a seriousness that was normally reserved for the battlefield and his eyes pierced straight into his brother's weary ones, looking for any hint of guilt in him. Adrian was well aware that he was playing with fire here, but he knew that all the evidence he would need would be found in his brother's expression should his suspicions be true. It was simply unnatural for the various groups of bandits to have eluded his men for as long as they have without outside interference, but none of the other suspects aside from Adhemar made sense to the regent. And if there was any way to infuriate the king into a confession, it was to insinuate that he was disgracing his kingdom. Of course, if taken even a step too far, Adrian ran a very real risk of recieving a rather intimate introduction to the headsman's block, but he couldn't think of any other ways to know for sure if his brother was indeed responsible.

"But of course, I am no such man," Adrian sighed nonchalantly, all of the challenge in his voice and expression instantly replaced with his normal carefree self. "I am merely a second rate regent doing his best to fill in his dear brother's rather large shoes." With that, his trap was set. Now all he could do was watch if Adhemar would take the bait.

Well, that and pray to anybody listening that his neck wouldn't have to give his head a teary goodbye later in the evening.


[System]
Gender: Male

Age: 26

Appearance:
Soft face features adorning tired turquoise eyes, accompanied by a mess of permanently unkempt blonde hair. Freir stands at 1,73m, sporting a modest slender physique. Save for his eye colour, nothing about Freir would stand out in a crowd of northerners.

A blue tattered wool cowl rests over his long-sleeved tunic along with fingerless gloves. His brown leather pants accompanied the light leather armor strapped to his chest and covered the shins of his thick boots. Like any sensible person who grew surrounded by unending landscapes of snow, he wears layers of fur underneath his garments. Strapped to his belt is a small axe and resting beside the axe are the two most curious objects that often accompany Freir. A triangular relic containing four Soul Stones, one in each vertex and another one in the center, and a one handed sword, that features a finely decorated hilt embedded with a final Soul Stone, which no one has ever seen out of it's scabbard.

Bio:
Freir hails from the northern lands, where the cold is a constant presence and the borders between humans and the shadow creatures remain tense. Specifically, the land he came from had come into political instability when he was young as it's Lord and successors had been ambushed by the demonic creatures during one of their religious pilgrimages, leaving the land to be disputed among the remaining nobles. Lacking order in their upper ranks, the local armies and militias have found themselves in a constant tug-of-war with Humanity's old enemy, recovering land one day just to lose it the following week and while peasant villages live in fear of the common shadowy demons raids.

Some time after his family perished, Freir found himself stumbling into a local priest's care along with several other children clutching in his hands the only mementos left from his family, a one-handed sword and a relic containing Soul Stones. Despite being an ordained member of the clergy, Brother Byren knew that most of the children under his care would not follow the path of faith. His bleeding hearth, fearing that the kids would meet their end at either a dark creatures claws out of misfortune or at the gallows for picking the wrong noble's pocket, found it best to teach the children how to run and master the use of shadows.

However, our sky-eyed orphan would not get along with the other boys and girls, preferring to sleep, bathe and eat by himself, rarely uttering a single word outside of brother Byren's confessionary. His confessions would often be of how he was almost caught stealing from either the property of the recently appointed Lord or how he was again humiliated and beaten on the street by young nobles and guards after mouthing off one time too many. Freir, more than the others, blamed the incompetent lords and ladies that would rather squabble among themselves instead of uniting against their common enemy.

After coming of age, the priest who gave him a roof tried one last time to knock sense into his head, suggesting him leaving his homeland in order to make a fortune for himself and try to establish a home, away from the nobility he hated so much. Following his advice, Freir left the snow covered lands behind. His expertise however could briefly be resumed into thieving and fist-fighting. As for what he was to do with his life, after briefly weighing his options he decided it would be best to join a mercenary company, at least until he got enough money to buy himself into nobility and return to oppose the corrupt lords of his cold homeland.

Fighting Style:
Freir fights is a close range fighter, preferring light weaponry and armor in order to outmaneuver his opponent and finish the fight in the least amount of blows possible. For the most part he will fight either hand-to-hand or with the aid of his short-axe in a nimble yet savage manner. In order to aid him he uses various small magic tricks in order to confuse and deceive his opponent.

Equipment:
Light leather armor, winter clothing, a short-axe, a one-handed sword with a Soul Stone embedded into it, a Relic containing 4 Soul Stones and basic supplies

Skills/Abilities:
Very nimble on his feet yet discreet. The classic case of a burglar with a preference for finishing off his adversaries before his presence is noted. Initiated into swordplay but not terribly good at it. Can tap into Soul Stones in order to cast simple yet effective tricks on his victims. Especially fond of simple misdirection spells, smokescreens, voice projection and creating temporary hallucinations.

[User]
"You're late, Jing." A high pitched, tiny voice said from the midst of the crowds, herself struggling to break through the tide of worries and flesh that was escaping from the vanguard and the orcs, where a line of Knights still valiantly stood. Thanks to her nimbleness she was not trampled, but she managed to reach the frontlines, a bag in her hand.

She eyed the crashing waves of the horde, as she mysteriously pulled something from the bag. Maybe something that could change the tide of war? Some kind of secret weapon? No. Just an apple, which she promptly and greedily bit, filling her cheeks with sweet and crunchy apple pulp, much to the incredulous stare of knights and several people who surrounded her.

"What is a kid doing here?? Shoo shoo!" Someone said.

"Fancy an apple? Well, I guess not. Alright." She said to herself as she pointed a dainty little hand to the Orc columns, behind the lines of Shields. Arcane words were whispered, and a small giggle came from her lips.

"This is going to smell...a bit." She said, as out of nowhere, sizeable orbs of fire appeared from her hands, and flung in an arc, burst and scatter aminds the thick of the Orc horde. Being so many cluttered together made such easy targets, weren't they?

[Assistant]
Xia

With the tides of battle quickly changing with the elemental ferocity of fire and ice, Xia saw no more glory to be gained here amongst these sorcerers, merely cleaning up their mess. She did what she did well and slipped into the ever looming shadows, instead focusing her attention on finding those that in light of recent events might no longer wish to be found. She would not let the enemy cowards flee or hide from what they had started. She began hunting and tracking in silence.

[User]
@dark light

 Volux

The stomping of feet alerted Volux to the orc's arrival, their lumbering physique making the boys heart skip several beat. "Ah" he exclaimed, a wave of fear breaking over him like rocks. But like rocks, he stood his ground, waiting for the water to retreat. The orcs stepped closer, much to Volux's dismay, and drew their long crude swords; vicious grins spreading across their ugly mugs.

A warm feeling overcame him. Was it bravery? Courage? Or was it just a reckless side effect of whatever magicks had been lain upon him? Either way, Volux did not care. After seeing Arden melt into the crowd through the corner of his eye, he urged Sereph to go find him, "I've got this" he whispered with an unusual fire burning in his eyes.

Stepping forward he drew his rapier, and wiped it, almost as if cleaning dust from the blade, on his cloak. Drawing it again, albeit this time from between the folds of his mantle, it seemed to glisten with a green liquid, and a grin started to spread across his own face.

The first orc charged on it's own, seemingly believing that the medic would be no challenge for someone of it's stature and battle prowess, knocked over a merchant cart in it's eagerness to reach it's 'victim'. Splintered wood and goods flew through the air, but Volux held his ground, side stepping at the last second as the oaf ploughed through. It seemed to slow slightly before tripping over itself, seeming almost... dazed? On closer inspection however, dead seemed like a more fitting term, as the brute seemed to have a deep gash in his left side, narrowly missing the ribs and directly piercing the heart.

Volux stood between the corpse behind him, and the two remaining orcs, a look of disgust on his face at the sight of his gorgeous blade bloodied once more. Sending a filthy look back towards the orc, Volux knew that the other two wouldn't underestimate him, or his companions, next time.

[Assistant]
-=Northern Gate=- @AtomicNut

Jing was not surprised when Sybille showed up at the gate the "Young" half elf had been following around the Irregulars for the last two months attempting to join them whenever she could. But Jing had held back on the idea, although she was a talented mage and had more training than most of the current Irregulars she still looked so young and had the maturity level to match her looks. But this was the first time Jing had actually saw Sybille in actual combat and so far she was a bit impressive although he wouldn't say so out loud.

The defense of the gate was going well Jing with the Knights covering the entry way and Shion, Gwen, and Sybille giving covering fire the gate itself seemed impenetrable. That was until a bell started to ring from the gatehouse, it seemed that the knight captain had decided that enough of the civilians had been evacuated and was now calling for the knights retreat. It only took the knights beside Jing a moment to decide if they were going to stay or flee and soon enough Jing stood alone at the city gate as the Knights themselves fell back to the Gatehouse.

In an instant the battle changed from defense to survival "Shion we're leaving too, give the signal to retreat" Jing yelled as he continued to fight at the gate trying to give Gwen, Shion and Sybille a chance to retreat back a bit before he let the Orcs stream into the gate. Shion nodded at Jing's command and readied an arrow which he shot strait up into the air. The arrow made a loud whistling noise as it flew up into the sky before going off like a little firework signaling for the Irregulars to retreat as well. Then as Shion started to make his way back jumping from rooftop to rooftop he suddenly fell, impaled by a spear thrown by an Orc who had made its way inside the city from another point. "I got one boss!!" the Orc yelled before getting scorched by a fireball launched by Gwen as she made her way to Shion in an attempt to save the boy.

By the time Gwen and Jing had made their way to Shion it was to late Jing took a moment to look around knowing things were bad before turning yo Sybille. "Sybille, I need to ask you a favor," He said in a serous tone, "Take this letter and find Xia. She will be making her way to Blackrock Village. Please deliver the letter to her." he said as he pulled a sealed envelope from his shirt. "Actually this isn't a request it's your first order as a member of the Bloodrose Irregulars," Jing added while pulling out a wooden token with the Bloodrose Irregulars' symbol on it and adding it to the letter. Jing then turned to Gwen and gave her a nod to leave as well. "You're about to do something stupid and you expect me to leave? Fat chance boss, Someone has to make sure you get back home." She replied before turning to Sybille, "Run along now I'll make sure he gets through this, ohh and welcome to the Irregulars." Gwen said to the half elf before turning her gaze at the main gate with Orcs now pouring through. With a small chant she created two walls of flame that seemed to make a funnel with Jing taking his position at the mouth of the funnel.

-=Western District=- @Dark Light@stoneString

After his moment of rest Alm moved to return to the Knights and Freir for the moment the battle was in their favor the current group of orcs on the run but the next group had yet to make its way through the walls. "Good job," Alm commented to Freir, "Thanks to you guys I didn't have to worry about anything but Ugly over there." He continued before looking around a bit. "Where did Xia go? wasn't she with you?" Alm asked noticing that the girl seemed to disappear during the fighting. "We have to find her Jing will kill me of anything were to happen to her after you two were sent to help me out..." Alm added, but before he could start to move to try and find Xia it happened. The bell at the gatehouse rang the knights who had fought beside them left leaving Alm and Freir by themselves. ".... We really need to find her now..." Alm said looking around. "If the knights are retreating it won't be long before we get that order" Alm said knowing the obvious route of the battle. Then as if on Que another group of orcs started to come through the opening in the gate as the whistling arrow was released signaling the Irregular's retreat aswell. Alm readied his weapon and took up his stance. "Ten on two, maybe three, think we should take them or make our retreat?" Alm asked ready for whichever action Freir decided because he would not leave an ally alone to fight these creatures and he didn't want to let them roam free so in his conflicted state Alm left the decision to his team members.

-=Eastern District=- @MojaveCourier@Dark Light@Cherrywitch

When the Bell sounded nothing changed in the Eastern District, most who wanted to flee already had and there were no knights around to retreat anyway there was just the few orcs in the area wanting to destroy all and the members of the Irregulars there to save those who were left. The small skirmish would continue on until the Whistling arrow was released And although it was the Irregular's sign to retreat it also seemed as a call to the Orcs as after the arrow was released A swarm of orcs appeared at the end of the street charging almost as an incentive to retreat from battle.

[User]
As the smoke started to settle and the signal for retreat was heard, Alm's words ringed true in Freir's head. As his brain started working a mile a minute, he swiftly scanned their surroundings. Xia was either still hidden somewhere near or, most likely, had taken off at the thought of gaining other glories in battle. Alm and himself, good warriors as they were, had already been fighting for some time while what seemed like fresh endless hordes of orcs made their way to the center of the city.

"Holding our ground is out of the question," Freir retorted. "Both retreat signals have been made so we can't count on backup from now on and I have the feeling that this is just the welcoming committee. Besides, there's probably a good reason why we've been called back."

Despite having arrived at the Irregulars as an insolent troublemaker who made a mockery of the chain of command, the northerner had learned, rather painfully, that in battle you're more likely to live longer if you do as the more experienced soldiers tell you. If it had been anyone else, Freir would have left the company a long time ago but Captain Sanada was a man he could tolerate taking orders from.

"There's a good to fair chance that Lady Sanada might ignore the call for retreat in order to raise her body count," the blonde haired thief mused. "We'll look over the area for 10 minutes and try to run into her. Any longer and we risk getting caught under the orcs' swords ourselves." Freir strapped his axe to his belt and readied himself to start running. "Stay near me and don't engage them directly. Tracking is not my strong suit but I know a thing or two about staying out of sight."


[System]
Gender: Female
Age: 24

Abilities:
The curse the fey placed on her is something of a double-edged sword. It gives her monstrous physical ability, being able to match most fomorians in strength blow-for blow, and generally outlast them even in battles of stamina. As well, it also generally makes her mostly immune to other curses of similar types, being able to naturally resist them. However, it also has the rather nasty effect of occasionally causing her to fly into monstrous fits of rage and once the curse as completely run its curse, turn her into something resembling a Fomorian herself.

Her sword, pilfered from the corpse of a fomorian has the ability to 'Always reach its target' That is to say, it possess a rather unique ability to warp space around it so that it is always able to reach that which its wielder attempts to strike so long as its within her line of sight. The armor, while maybe not being the most practical, is of giant make given to her as a gift by some of the giants of Llobrokr after befriending them. It protects the wearer from most magical effects that would cloud the mind or the body and restrains the curse placed on her so its less potent.

History:
Elnith has a rather nasty and quite honestly - terrible reputation in the land. Born to some parents whos faces she can't remember, some years ago that she can't exactly recall, in a village that no longer exists. Elnith has not had a happy life for the simple reason that at birth, she was cursed by a Fairy. A curse that would 'Turn her into a beast that slaughtered her own kind'. Needless to say, knowing Fey magic carries real consequences and fearing for their lives...the parents left her in the forest, unwilling to kill her and too cowardly to even attempt raising her. If it hadn't been for a passing hunter that had took pity on a defenseless baby, she'd probably have just died.

Her life from there to now is fairly colored. She spent her days training, figuring that a stronger body could resist the curse. That a strong mind could withstand it - its certainly helped, but there are times when she simply can't help herself and gets lost in the thrill of battle whatever it is. Not to say the rumors that surround her - that she slaughtered entire villages of people, that she's simply a fomorian wearing human skin, and other such things.

Well, all rumors have a kernel of truth to them...

Rather than her finding the queen, the Queen sought her out on rumors of a 'demon knight slaughtering humans' but upon seeing a girl that looked like and as the queen stated 'just needed a hug', she made her an offer. Elnith accepted, elated that someone saw something in her other than some...cursed individual.

Despite her reputation and such, Elnith is surprisingly friendly with people, though often gets into bouts of depression and a bit of self-loathing if left alone for too long, believing that one day she will turn against her fellow knights. Doesn't help sometimes she'll blackout at night, wake up in an entirely different area with only hazy memories of what occurred. She tries to keep a positive outlook, and since meeting the queen she's certainly gained a somewhat more mixed reputation.

[User]
Niall winced and let out a small gasp when he realized he had underestimated Annagan. That monster of a man was tougher than he thought, still on his two feet after the knight's flurry of attacks and now about to hit him. It was lucky then that this was when Fio strike came causing the bandit to miss his attack and sending Niall falling on the ground further. The knight caught his landing, hand on the side as he immediately straightened himself back into a combat position.

The man's insults didn't seem to affect Niall at all, who elected to just ignore them. At this moment, Niall hesitated between going for the men leaving or Annagan, but ultimately figured that Fio and Luna could handle these ones and that keeping Annagan busy here was the most useful thing to do for now.

"You sent your men to die." he simply said looking straight at the bandit as he approached. Right then, a thick, dark mist emanated from Niall's Lance as they were plunged in the dark. Niall dodged the hammer barely due to his wound, and jump up and back onto a nearby tree branch. There, in silence, he Annagan while recuperating a bit of his own stamina.

He is stronger. Going at him straight on is not the way to go. Fortunately, I happen to be well suited for this...

Annagan would hear a whistling sound coming from the trees, but Niall would already have moved by then. Gwdihw, his pet owl familiar, would fly by the bandit's head to disorient him with the flaps or it's wing first front, then from the back. Eventually, Niall would go for an attack. Taking his words at heart, the knight elected to do the exact opposite  than stand and fight; hit and run. He would dash in from the darkness and deliver a quick, precise hit to his enemy and keep going, out of reach. Every time the knight passed by him, Annagan would hear his cape in the wind like the flapping of a bird's wrings, and Gwdihw would then pass from another angle to confused the big man.

If he didn't die from a thousand cuts, then he would be at least stuck here until his companions dealt with the lesser bandits.

[Assistant]
She could see many of the other bandits fall, but at the same time... that huge, monstrous man was still standing, still brandishing his hammer. And it seemed as if he had sent some of his men to pursue Luna, as well. The Sword Witch certainly couldn't see any other reason that the other bandits would suddenly break off of their fight.

Thrusting her sword forward, Fio took a deep breath. She'd thin those reinforcements out. Then, she'd focus her attention on the biggest target.

"Ten phantom swords. Form them, create them, give them the edge that takes life."

At her commands, the magic circles in the air spun, and as they did ten more of her ghostly weapons emerged, tilting slightly to take aim at the bandits that had gone to reinforce the enemies fighting with the Luna's group.

"Kill."

With a whistling sound they tore through the air, bearing down on the bandits as they began to move.

And now, she would be able to try and take down that monster of a man with her next blow.

The bastard wouldn't take this one so lightly.

"Sura. Open the way."

The magic circles she had already constructed drifted towards one another, lining up and expanding, creating a multi-layered circle of light.

"Form it. The edge of death. The piercing tool of destruction. That which slaughters the wicked. That which purges evil. Create it and give it form."

As Fio spoke, the enlarged multi-layered circle began to grow brighter. She could feel the air around her practically vibrating, the intensity with which the magical energy was being gathered causing a weight to develop on her small frame. This would take up her whole being until it was complete, but she had to do everything she could to strike down the most monstrous of the bandit forces. To be honest, she didn't particularly enjoy using a spell like this to kill trash like that, but at the same time she couldn't allow any more of her allies to be harmed.

She'd seen what that monster had done already.

Fio couldn't let it happen again.

And so the murderer's sentence would be delivered.

"I shall take the role of the judge who dispenses the sentence. The one who bears all wickedness in the world and carries out the order of execution. This shall be a day of blood and a red sky."

@Pyromania99@FrogRFlowR

[User]
Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Bandit camp, early morning.

---

Another shield to block the arrows. Even if friendly fire might have been an issue, the bandits didn't seem concerned as arrows would pierce their flesh as they continued their frenzied assault without a care for their own wellbeing, but Luna too, continued her own assault. Another fell to her blade, as the rage-fueled knight slammed her shield into one of the small groups, just in time to prevent one of her men from being beheaded and knocking back their numbers as her blade pierced the flesh of a second bandit.

A momentary lull in the fight ensued as the three remaining lightsword knights regrouped around Luna.

Shouts from the east.

Luna watched as some of Fio's blades rained down upon the land there - awfully close to her own men and position. Seconds later, two of the knights she had sent with Niall burst from the treeline, followed shortly after by a small group of bandits themselves numbering about eleven.

"Lady Luna!" One of them shouted. "T-heir main force was at the other gate-" The man was quickly cut off, an arrow through his throat. The men with her hesitated just slightly, gripping their swords with a questionable amount of determination as the bandits went from six, to at least seventeen in number now, and with Fio's support seemed to be focused elsewhere…they were clearly outnumbered.

Something, odd would happen as the battle would begin again, whenever Luna decided to tear into the bandits once more. The edges of her vision started to go white. The beating of her own heart resounding in her head like a drum of battle or war. Adrenaline surged through her body, her muscles aching to be moved and used.

A single word would surface to the front of her mind.

fight.

…of course, she could resist whatever influence this was. It would be easy right, just take a moment to recover her breath. Assess the battlefield…but the shouts and cries of the bandits and battle made it difficult to focus on anything other than the battle.

---

"Gahaha, we'll see!" Annagan replied with a laugh, seemingly none too concerned about the darkness enveloping him as he'd remain fairly still as Niall would begin his assault. At first, his familiar seemed to have the intended effect - Annagan would make an attempt to strike at the owl, only to hit nothing, followed by another swing to nothing, allowing Niall to land a fairly heavy blow…but such tricks could only work for so long. Nialls lance would hit the mans hammer, Annagan managing to deflect the blow as he'd start to learn the owls tactics. He showed no signs of slowing down or getting tired, either.

"What's the matter! You're barely making me bleed!" A ferocious bellow as his hammer caught Nialls' lance, the impact sending the knight clean out of the cloud of darkness that he had trapped Annagan in, the large man barreling out after him and aiming to bring the hammer down on Niall's body.

Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Bandit camp Overlook, early morning

---

More ephemeral blades appeared in the sky, a crown of swords adorning the air above fio. Seconds later, a second barrage fell, the blades launching themselves at the bandits. Now that they were aware of a threat from above though, the bandits were able to dodge, avoid, and dive out of the way of the large blades. Ravenously following after the two soldiers who were barely managing to keep them at bay.

Still, any of their numbers that lessened would make things much easier for Luna below. The Sixteen bandits were cut down to twelve, but that was all she'd have time for as long as she wanted to focus on Annagan next.

Magical energy surged from her body and blade. A single, massive blade, gargantuan in size began to manifest over the girl, the ephemeral blade shining brightly above the battlefield. If the bandit below seemed concerned, he didn't show it though it was difficult to really tell thanks to the shadow Niall had cast over it…though with the sheer size of the blade, accuracy wasn't much of a problem.

It seemed, as though, her spell would be completed without issue-

Fio would be alerted to a very strong, very curse ridden magical energy quite suddenly, nearly instantly appearing behind her. Cursed energy began welling up from the ground under her, forming into a point behind her as it began to coalesce into a more solid form, the magical energy solidifying into a slightly more familiar form. If she didn't change targets or end her spell casting, she was certainly going to get jumped by whatever this thing was!

"Hey, hey, hey!" A large, toothy grin in the shadowy mass as it began to properly take shape and form. It was…a fomorian? A rather mundane looking one, if one were to judge by looks but Fio…well, Fio could tell she really shouldn't judge this woman by looks. "I was gonna play with that lightsword kid, but I found something muuuuch more interesting! You can't just throw around that much magical energy and not get me all excited about it! You even made me do something I wasn't gonna show anyone yet." A toothy, excitable grin. "That's a pretty cool sword you've got there too. How about…you let me take a swing with it? No? I'm not actually asking. Hand it over and I'll be nice when I'm using your body for experiments."

More figures began emerging from the ground under her, the cursed energy taking shapes of grotesque bodies, perhaps, experiments of this particular fomorian as they in no way should be living in the traditional sense. Extra arms and limbs sprouted from their necks and in other places, some even had extra torsos or even heads.

About five in total, but something told Fio these were not going to go down easily.

Location:
Harzel Border Fort
Paladin

---

"I see…Ethelred," Elnith began, voice pleasant and even. "I might get carried away. If I do…please don't let me hurt anyone, okay?" As she'd lift her blade, the frozen knight could see blackened veins creeping along the woman's body, starting from her extremities. It might be a good idea to find Elnith's armor sooner, rather than later…but regardless, the assault would begin. The Wyvern roared as Ethelred's lance impaled the creatures eye once more, the beast thrashing in pain as the frozen knight made an effort to yank its neck to expose it.

The beast though, had other plans as it'd lunge forward with its talons in the same instant, trying to pull Ethelred towards it and grab him with its talons…though this, proved less than effective.

Elnith quickly leaped on the opportunity, blood red blade lashing out to cut the Wyvern's neck. The magical blade easily cut the scales.

"Tch…shallow." Elnith hissed as the Wyvern would break itself free from the Ice Knights lance, beating its wings as it righted itself, roaring furiously as the entire right side of the beasts face was now covered in ice and frozen blood. It lunge towards Ethelred with its talons, making another attempt to grab the knight.


[System]
Race:  Snapjaw (AKA Bayou Hound)

Race Abilities:  Snapjaws have high endurance, able to run at a decent speed over land or swim for sustained periods of time. They have extremely powerful jaws despite their size, and can crush bones should one get a good purchase. Sadly, they can't do much else. Snapjaws are most at home in warm, moist environments

Gender:  Female

Personality:  In the previous world, Otsune was compassionate, quiet, poetic, clever, thankful, considerate, gracious, and highly spiritual. Given a new lease on life in this place, however, her natural, real-life traits are commonly masked her new sense of self.

Otsune is energetic, outgoing, willful, ready to hurt and kill if need be, and greatly assertive. She is a huntress who prefers to act rather than think, a thrill-seeker and competitor. When fighting, she shows a merciless and savage side, perhaps imagining her enemies to embody all the immorality that her spirit strove against before. With her fellow monsters, nothing pleases her more than to mock, irritate, enrage, and humiliate. All of this, however, doesn't so much mask her previous self as it does filter to the top of it. Otsune still doesn't talk much, preferring to embarrass and annoy via gesture, traps, counters, turning foes' strength against them, and the like. She will never steal and won't often lie, and those that do not deserve to be hurt will not only be spared, but receive her protection. She never takes a blessing for granted, and always appreciates help and camaraderie. If the situation calls for wits, her keen intellect will bubble to the surface. At her core, she strives to act with the sort of grace and professionalism she thinks befits someone serving God.

History (Pre-Mortem):  No amount of hard work, love, or previous fortune can prevent an ordinary woman, working alongside her husband in religious ministries, from dire misfortune. At the age of 26, Otsune found herself afflicted with a fast-working cancer. For a while, the spiritual woman wondered why God might allow such a thing to happen despite the blamelessness with which she lived her life, but ultimately, she did not lose her faith. Gradually, she embraced her coming death, and with the time she had left found more meaning and love in her life than ever before.

Nevertheless, when her husband found out that a place of healing in a far-off land might be able to save her, the two journeyed across towns, hills, and plains to see if God might provide for her after all. After her arrival at the hospital, Otsune underwent conventional treatment, but nothing availed her. Saddened but unbroken, Otsune bid a tearful but smiling farewell to her grief-stricken husband, and lay down for one last procedure -a blood transfusion- before the world went dark.

Appearance:  About a foot tall and three feet long, snapjaws are amalgamations of dog and crocodile, with both scales and fur. The most prominent reptilian characteristics are the tail, head, eyes, and lower legs, while the rest is mostly dog. They come in a variety of colors and subspecies, but Otsune is light brown with cream-colored scruff and chocolate-colored patches on her back.

Other:  I have something really cool in mind for an evolution, but it's pretty strong. I think that having Otsune be the late bloomer would probably be the best way to accomplish that. Of course, I could introduce a middling form, without a picture to help things along.

[User]
Unknown to Simba his attempt to get away from the two tailed cat failed rather miserably, evidenced by the fact she ran over to him. He was sneaking around when he heard a female voice come from behind. Excuse me, do you know what's going on? After he turned around,he quickly figured out who it belonged to.

 "Can't help you there, but at least I'm not drowning so it's an improvement." Since the two of them were talking now the best thing he could hope for was that he wouldn't make a fool out of himself.  "Honestly I don't think anyone here has any idea what is going on, and while I could be mistaken I have no intention of asking everyone." It wasn't that he didn't care about what was going on, he just reasoned that if someone figured it out he would hear it eventually.

[Assistant]
The brief spell of panic was broken when the snake... talked back. Snakes didn't talk. That was one of reality's normal rules: snakes hissed at you at most, maybe poisoned or choked you if things went really bad, but they didn't strike up a conversation and tell you that you were small. Wait, she was small... she was...

At this point, Saffron's attention was turned to her new body. Those... odd feeling things... they were wings and a tail now that she looked. Well... with how many monsters were around, that didn't seem like too big a step down. But... her hair... her fashion... why was she all cute and innocent? With her size, how was she going to cultivate her awesome metal reputation again if she was this tiny cute thing!

At least part of her stage name would work... she could hardly use her original one now, and she'd have to build up an impressive monster reputation instead! Hopefully find some dolls with better clothing, too. "You can call me Saffron!"

[User]
~Neix~

Well, her first thought was that Mox was hilarious. Probably would make for fun company at least, if she wanted to make fun of someone. But getting out of here, though? Well...that wasn't exactly her first thought at the moment. While leaving was a pretty fun idea, she was content to stay here for the moment. It seemed safe enough, and it was a good place to get their bearings at least. Still if everyone else left, she'd follow. Safety in numbers and all that.

Still, so many people were freaking out. Understandable, really. She'd probably be freaking out herself if she opened her mouth in any capacity that wasn't going to be mocking someone. Her head turned to the second one who was freaking out. She looked...surprisingly human compared to some of them. Ignoring Mox and the spider, Neix walked over to Hyng Saffron, and the other Kobold. Might as well introduce herself to the other Kobold. After all, they were the same race! Might as well get all friendly and buddy buddy so she can mooch off of him~

"Hyng and Saffron, eh? Well, aren't you too just adorable, heh~" She chuckled lightly. "Neix, if ya didn't hear. Guess we're all in the same boat here. At least I've got another Kobold friend~" She gave Jeff a smile, though her voice was full of obvious sarcasm. "Say, you got some food on ya...Jeff? What kinda lame name is that, anyways?"

"Whatever...I'm kinda hungry, actually."She then turned to look at Saffron...a mischievous, toothy grin appearing on her face, before it failed, and she shook her head. That was...well, kinda mean. A little far, even for her. "Before ya get scared again, that was a joke..." She fell quiet after that. Ugh, her mouth wasn't going to help things here, so she'd resign herself to silence for the moment. At least until she cleared her head a bit.

@Raineh Daze@Lugia

[Assistant]
"...Wow. You sure got yourself together fast. I'd think that shrinking to the size of a snake would be pretty rattling. Well, then again, I AM a snake now, so... Fair's fair," Hyng said, shaking his head. If he had arms, he'd at least shrug his shoulders, but, well...

Yeah. Snake problems.

With that problem solved at the very least, Hyng turned his attention to the two kobolds hovering overhead.

"...Damn, we're pretty short, aren't we?"

Shit, right. He was speaking though telepathy and not an actual voice. Had to get used to controlling that.

"A-anyways... Er... Yeah. Jeff and... Neix, was it? Alright. I'll keep those names in mind. Saffron, though... You know, in retrospect, if you're THAT small and naming yourself after a spice..."

He trailed off as Neix made her own bad followup joke.

"...You open yourself to jokes like that. But hey, what works, works, right? Though... Assuming you two kobolds won't suddenly go feral and eat us, we all still need to find some sorta food. Right. All in favor of finding a way out once spider-girl over there stops freaking out like someone-"

Hyng stopped his half-venomous remark when he heard the ever-so-slight sound of someone else introducing themselves. Well, the more people that could communicate, the better... Right? Otsune... Sounded Japanese. No matter.

The snake turned his attention to the source and found himself staring at some bastard child of a dog and a crocodile (or was it an alligator?). Wow. Chimeras, too? Did that even constitute as one...?

...

Well, whatever. No point questioning the weird shit that seemed to have happened to all of them.

"Otsune, was it? One more to the party won't hurt."

With that invitation out of the way, Hyng realized that he had... Forgotten the ending to his first remark. Damn.

"...So. All in favor of waiting for spider-girl to stop wailing before we head out?"

[User] Thankfully, both the psychic snake, named Hyng, and Mox managed to calm some of the others down... why was it that the ones that still looked remotely humanoid freaked out the most? I supposed Mox was the exception, but still... I tried to get a word in more than once, but our group just kept talking, and, now apparently included a croco-dog... dogodile? Some bizarre mixture of those two things, named Ostune. We also learned that the tiny, flying girl was named Saffron, and her learning that she was tiny seemed to calm her down... and then Neix decided to make fun of my name, leaving me to only reply with "Well, I dunno, ask my mother, she gave me that name, and I'm even WORSE at naming things... but, no, I don't have any food on me... we should get out of here as quickly as we can. I have a feeling there's nothing to eat in this dark, wet cave unless you feel like gambling on eating wild mushrooms," I chuckled at remembering the last session I had in D&D, which included several varieties of mushrooms... and one character who decided to sample them all. Long story short, it ended hilariously for that character. The psychic snake had the right idea, asking if we were all in favor of leaving this place. I shouted "I am!... and yeah, name's Jeff," Pretty much as soon as he finished his question... of course, it was still very weird to me that a snake could not only talk, but do so telepathically. Of course, since I assumed he was in the same boat as everyone else, he also broadcast some random chatter to all of us, which may or may not have been intended to just be thoughts, and nothing else.

[Assistant]
Following her introduction, Otsune expected at least some sort of acknowledgment from the other little monsters –such an act would definitively prove them sane, and on her level- but instead, a small girl who appeared to be half spider went into a noisy, stuttering panic. While she sympathized with the girl on some level, given that it proved her to be just as baffled by the situation as Otsune, she found herself irate with the drider's high-pitched gibbering. Wah-wah-wah-wah, why!? Wah, wah, wah! thought the snapjaw, derisively. It's not that bad. I'm not even half human, and you don't see me complaining. Of course, she said nothing. In a time like these, venting her veiled stress on an easy target would help nobody. Otsune did her best to focus her attention elsewhere, as she felt that any attempt on her part to calm Ariana down would only exacerbate the problem, and listened to the displeasure of the kobolds. They, at least, didn't seem averse to getting heated. The one who named itself Mox -Special snowflake, huh?- demanded that the others forgive him for his verbosity before trying his luck with the spider girl. Though he made a halfway decent attempt to take charge of the situation, pretty much nobody seemed to be paying attention to him.

Another critter, this one a blue snake, joined Mox in an attempt to bestill the bamboozled drider, calling himself Hing. Perhaps he was Chinese? Even if it's only names, having a trace to the world I know is welcome. Otsune found herself distracted by the imp, proclaiming her name to be 'Saffron'. Uh, okay. It seems to me like people would be wanting to preserve whatever ties they might have to the real world, not reinventing themselves at the first opportunity. Well, I guess this is a pretty big shift. Makes sense that some people would want to embrace the change.

Only a few seconds passed before one of the creatures noticed her for the first time. Given her tranquility, it didn't really surprise Otsune that she might sink into the background, but receiving no attention until now caught her a little off guard. "That makes at least two of us with a level head," she told him in reply. Her eyes wandered over every member of the ragtag bunch of misfits. In addition to the shrill drider, Mox the goblin, Saffron the demon kindergartener, Hing the snake, Jeff the lizard-goblin, and Neix the other lizard-goblin, there were two odd cats and some kind of bird-girl. Something else lingered at the edge of the cave—a dark, sinister, hunched-over shape that put the snapjaw on edge. Some sort of gooey thing with a ribbon sat nearby as well, silent thus far. Otsune informed whoever was listening, "This cave is quaint and all, but I am ready to leave."


[System]
Rank: Spartan. Lieutenant prior to the end of the Human-Covenant war.

Species: Human (Spartan III)

Appearance: Generation 2 Mjolnir Armor, colored black with a dark-tinted visor. (I can look up the exact details of his accessories from the MCC gear list.)

Skills: Excellent sniper, although as with all Spartans, Ben is trained in the use of most if not all UNSC equipment.

Preferred Weapons: SRS99-S5 AM sniper rifle, Covenant sniper weapons (when available), M319 grenade launcher.

Background: Entered service in 2545, having been born on the planet [Censored]. As with all Spartan-IIIs, Ben was orphaned at a young age when the Covenant attacked his planet, glassing the surface. Early on, he was singled out for his skills as a sniper, along with extreme levels of loyalty and a willingness to carry out any order given to him, even those which required him to turn of his own friends and allies. As such, Ben was assigned to the Spartan-III Security operations group, an organization so secretive, even other Spartans weren't made aware of it.

As part of Sec Ops, Ben was nominally a part of Beta company for some years, switching to Alpha and Gamma on occasion. He achieved an exemplary number of kills and was never part of a failed mission. As such, he advanced to the commissioned ranks quickly, becoming a lieutenant by the year 2552. None of the other Spartans knew that he was part of Security Operations, or what his real missions were, for while he still had the same objectives on each mission as the rest of the team he was assigned to, his real goal was to keep the other Spartans in line, report any dissent, and execute any member of the Spartan program who displayed treasonous behavior, cowardice, or put UNSC security at unnecessary risk. His authority for execution also extended as far as the normal UNSC military forces, a fact kept well off the books. It also extended to witnesses to any event which if reported, could jeopardize the political or military aims of the UNSC.

After the end of the Human-Covenant war, Security Operations was reformed into Epsilon company, and retroactively given all of the trappings of a normal UNSC Spartan-III company as if it had been active since the start of the Spartan-III program. Now that the Spartan-IV program has begun, no more members of Epsilon are being added, and members of the company are often combined or sent to participate in larger groups which are formed as the situation demands.

[User]
Tar 'Mdalak
Paxopolis Broadwalk

---

Her mind was still racing from the Sim and the confrontation when Tar passed the train centre's double entry doors. The cool morning breeze of Paxopolis whispered through her armour. The base's clean, wide streets were starting to fill up with people on their way to work.

Tar's stomach complained; she realised she hadn't eaten yet today. She set off for one of her favourite places, courteously waiting for a pair of ONI analysts to cross her path. Tar had never fought Humans during the war. She'd wanted glory in battle like all her brothers, but hadn't been allowed to enlist on account of her gender. As a result, she'd never even seen a Human until her flight to Paxopolis almost half a year ago.

Although comparatively puny, they were generally quite clever and resourceful. A lot of their behaviour was dishonourable by Sangheili standards, but mostly they were at least civil around her. There had been a few insults, but they were quickly pounced on by superiors who seemed under orders to make the co-deployment a success.

Tar was particularly impressed by their weaponry. Considering they hadn't been blessed with reverse engineered Forerunner technology until recently, their ground armaments felt powerful. She was particularly enamoured with their M90 shotgun. The pump action seemed inconvenient, but it had the stopping power of a Gravity Hammer. She'd used a variant with an extended trigger (to accommodate her large Sangheili hands) on a few exercises already.

She crossed the street from the training centre, walked a few hundred metres down one of the main thoroughfares before heading down a side street. She saw the neon sign which read 'Refreshment Area #0259', and the smaller, homemade sign underneath which read 'The Kel 'Darsam' in Basic Sangheili.

Two Sangheili conversing outside the large front door moved aside to let her enter. The interior was high-ceilinged and surprisingly spacious. It had been designed specifically for Elites by sympathetic builders. A bar separated an open plan area with chairs and tables and space for activities from a full kitchen. A stairway off to her right led to a mezzanine level where she could hear a group meditation being guided. Several Sangheili sat at tables nearby playing complicated games with dice and other small objects. A group of older hands loudly discussed epic poetry in the corner.

Tar moved to the bar, where an attractive young cook took her order for a mixed bowl of meat and vegetables along with a nutritious shake. She stood at the bar with her eyes closed, following the instructions of the meditation guide upstairs.

The Major had managed to push her buttons earlier; she'd almost been compelled to fight him for her honour. Perhaps she should've done - It would've forced the other traditionalists on the base to respect her, at least for a while. The meditation helped, and she slowly felt her battle reflexes quietening.

After a few minutes, she heard the door behind her open and close. He was right on time. "What're you eating?" She called out, opening her eyes and turning round.

The Sangheili that approached wore his full, crimson-colored armor, with the exception of his helmet. He was a Ranger, so a vacuum-sealed helmet was not particularly convenient attire for breakfast. "Roasted colo, I think. I need proper food to get this foul taste out of my mouth of a fruit a Human gave me. I cannot conceive of how they stomach such things."

The Sangheili stood alongside Tar, repeating his order to the cook. His name was Kryu, and they had known each other for about as long as they had been stationed on Sarcophagus. They were both crew of the same cruiser, and though they served different units, they did often have cause to be deployed together.

[Assistant] Spartan Aviza observed the current situation at hand, weighing her options on where the best location would be to gather information about the compound in the distance while remaining undetected. It was obvious at the moment that the team was currently not set up for any stealth missions, they would be identified almost instantly then obliterated shortly there after if they tried anything besides keeping their distance. "It's never that simple is it.." said Aviza under her breath before she came to a conclusion on to where they could best view the point of interest and its surroundings. "It appears that our best option on observing the compound in the distance without being caught from the patrols would be to move to the Mesa in the distance, Shih, could you please ping that location for the team?" Without waiting, Aviza would start moving out towards their destination, and would be the first to arrive. When she did, she would quickly go prone and enable her Argus armor to start scanning the surroundings in great detail.

[User]
Vael 'Virisusai and Shih

---

Vael, on his part, agreed with Aviza's decision. While it was more exposed, nothing they had observed so far suggested that the phantom patrols would range that far from the structure. Moving closer would only worsen the risk of detection. As for actually reaching the mesa, it was not an entirely easy climb, but it was nothing the team could not handle. There was no path leading to the top, but there was a steep, but traversable, hill that led most of the way up. They would only need to climb the very last section up to the flat up of the mesa. For Vael, he tossed his sentinel beam up ahead of him so he could get a firm grip on the rocks for the final climb.

Vael did not need an order to follow Aviza's lead. He kept himself low to avoid silhouetting too much against the sky, laying prone to observe the structure in the distance. His HUD did allow him to zoom in on objects in the distance, though it could not compete with the many specialized sensors built into Aviza's armor. It was those that Shih was making the greatest use of to scan the area.

Even without such sensors, Vael could still see the activity around the structure, and it was, unfortunately, not encouraging. It was not just Jiralhanae occupying the structure, but he could see Humans as well. Far more of them than Jiralhanae, in fact. Most of the Brutes Vael could see seemed to be moving closed crates to and from the interior of the structure. This was the insurrectionist base, and the Jiralhanae they were dealing with were holding directly above it. Together, the two factions would present far more forces than Aegis team ever expected to face at once. The structure itself was a fairly large compound, with multiple buildings and other obstacles that would slow any approach to the central tower. He did not see any way for them to reach the center before Jiralhanae reinforcements could overwhelm them. Not alone, at least.

"The Jiralhanae are holding too close to the rebels. They will be able to assist them should we attack. I believe we will need reinforcements to deal with them. Perhaps then we can surround the central tower and prevent their leader's escape." Vael suggested.

Shih soon chimed in over the team's radios. "I'm afraid it might not be even that simple. Now that we're close enough, I'm getting better readings on the structure. I'm detecting evidence of an underground tunnel system beneath the central tower, leading away from the compound and into Sarcophagus' superstructure. I can only begin to guess at the purpose of the tunnels, but the point is that the rebels may have an underground escape route planned in the event of an attack. If we want to stop them here, we'll have to get into that tower quickly."

As she was giving her explanation, the AI highlighted the relevant sections of the compound on their respective HUDs, though she soon also highlighted the Brute cruisers above them. "Luckily, I don't think the Brute ships are going to give us much trouble. Based on everything I can get on sensors, their ships are in pretty poor shape. I'm not even picking up shields on anything but the corvette. I guess the Brutes haven't had access to proper maintenance these last few years. If we call in the battle group, they should mop the floor with them."

[Assistant]
Spartan Lucas Ryker

Having moved with the rest of the team to the plateau, Lucas scoped up on the structure, or structures, as it had turned out, and watched the movements of those below. The Jiralhanae were definitely patrolling the outer area of the crater-like area but the interior was being patrolled by the Insurrectionists, which provided the team a potent advantage. "Before we do that, myself and a couple other members of the team are outfitted with active camo. If Grikgar is outfitted with enough ordinance, and I brought some grenades that we can jerry rig some charges out of, we can sabotage some things before calling in the battle group, particularly things that Shih marks as important. And while the rest of the team pushes in at lightning speed to take advantage of the confusion, we can sneak in and find the URF leader."

Granted, they were still a fairly small team to split up in such a way, but if things played out right, then they could maybe even get the two groups to turn on each other. "Let's face it, these are greater numbers than we were expecting and we don't necessarily have the time to come up with too many more ideas. Plus, maybe the two groups will turn on each other when there are plasma charges destroying critical URF infrastructure at this base."

[User]
Ben had followed the rest of the group to the plateau. He saw Grikgar following him, and turned to the Unggoy briefly when he heard the reason he was following so close.

"Shadow if you want, but be careful." He listened to Ryker's speech, then realized something rather embarrassing. He turned off the coms on his suit for a moment as he quickly conversed with his AI.

"Phong, does this suit come with active camo?"

"Yes, it most certainly does. Don't tell me you forgot about it."

"I haven't actually used it in- never mind. Can you create a shortcut command for it so that I can activate it on eye contact with the symbol in my HUD?"

"Processing request. Compiling program. Rendering icon. Done." No sooner than Phong had spoken did an active camouflage symbol appear on his helmet's screen:

"Thanks." Ben reactivated his coms, knowing that too long of a gap in communications might give cause for an inquiry. Unexplained outages in communication could serve as cover for and a sign of unauthorized contacts with rebels and enemies, after all. If there was no cause to hide one's discourse, why turn off the mic? Fortunately, Ben knew the cutoff point after which the UNSC would find such a thing to be suspicious; one minute and seventeen seconds exactly. Anything less could be seen as a hardware failure or a momentary software glitch.

"Sounds like a good plan. What type of infrastructure are we talking about?"


[System]
Age: 22
Gender: M
Vampire(Yes or No): No
When You Were Turned(N/A if not a vamp): -
Clothes: cargo jeans, a bright purple shirt with a disturbingly weird drawing of an elephant on it, a heavily damaged white jacket of fake leather, a white long wool pointed hat with a large copper bell hanging from it, professional mountain climbing boots heavily modified to have hard plastic protection, climbing spikes and heelys.
Weapons:(One main, Two support, One hidden, Max) An ultraviolet flash light with strobe function and fresh batteries, a canister of bear repellent pepper-spray (3 uses before depleted), a battered riot shield with a signature on it that is nearly impossible to read.
Hair: light blond dreads, most of it concealed by the hat, one sticking out on each side of his face.
Eyes: dull grey
Personality(Optional): Overall perky and confident, loves a good joke, compulsively investigates and analyses anything new to him, ambitious (and not aware of it), fairly intelligent (but not nearly as intelligent as he thinks he is)

aside from that he owns an old 2nd hand car. It's completely filled with camping equipment, spare clothing, tools for things like repairing the car or breaking and entering, 2 spare batteries and 2 spare canisters of gas, a microwave, a laptop filled with videogames, a box of jewelry (questionable orgin), a digitally locked suitcase and 300$.

Lastly in his pocket a large smartphone, with a slender wire wrapped around his arm and shoulder, trailing up to the microphone in his right ear.

themesong

[User]
HANK

Hank was a bit shocked, by a few things actually. One, Mithias actually seemed too care about Hank. Maybe what he was saying was actually true, though he called Hank child again. He even offered to help kill the vampire that murdered his family. Even said he would stop pestering him about joining the vampire army. "Thank you... But stop referencing me as your son, I had a dad. You ain't my dad. I would be open for any other term other then Father."

Mithias asked about the nuclear codes. This... confused Hank a bit. "Fergus O'Brian, mentioned something about the vampire cause before I snagged the codes from him. Not sure how far he got but he seemed to have an idea of what he was doing." Hank stopped. "He's the one that killed my family. But we're even now, he knows the pain he put me through. The only thing I am worried about is if he already made a copy of the codes." Hank held the launch key in his hand. "O'Brian is crazy, that's an easy one too spot. Though what he didn't seem to get at first is launching a Nuke at humans isn't going to stop them, one nuke will just piss them off." Hank stopped again. "He's smart though, if one nuke hits another country, that country will respond with Nukes as well. Then the country hit with the second will respond with a nukes." Hank trailed off. "I get you are at war with the Humans, but I hope you get that a nuclear war could kill all of us. O'Brian I think just thinks it will wipe out Humans, Maybe he's right. But I don't know what Nuclear radiation does too a vampire." Hank put away the codes and slowly grabbed a lighter. "What I do know is vampires burn easier then Humans. A lot easier. Would have killed the fucker when he woke up, he woke p pretty fast though. Got away well I was finishing some things."

Hank walked over to Mithias. "I hold some respect for you, you're a lot more... Human, then many vampires I have talked with. You give a shit about things. What sucks is you're more human then some humans I have met." Sat down and grabbed his beer again. "I get you guys are at war, but there is a difference between war and extinction. Truth be told I do think something needs to be done, maybe war is the answer, maybe not. What I do know is that no matter what side wins last thing I want too see is one side getting wiped out. I may have a personal issue with most your kind, but I have met some... reasonable vampires over the years. Some I even trust. Some just were at the wrong place at the wrong time." Hank took a sip of the beer. "Some things I can't forgive, I think we can both get that. But I get where you are coming from in this war. One thing I wont forgive you for is the fact that drinking anything is like drinking water now, I will never forgive you for that asshole." He drank the beer again. "But something does need too be done, Especially about O'Brian."

Fergus O'Brian

Fergus lay in a ditch, like he had hundreds of years ago when he first turned. The same dead feeling he had felt all that time ago, his body was weak, his spirit crushed. The Hunter had found him? How the hell does a Human that has gone off the grid do that?! No... not Human, the force Fergus felt when his body went weak was not Human, it felt like a truck. Or two. Was he turned in the last few years?

Fergus remembers the day he and Hank met, It was a massacre in the airport, Hank and the rest of the men in his unit were sent in to kill Fergus and a few other vampires in the area. The unsuspecting Marines were ripped to shreds, sometimes getting shots on a vampire, but rarely hitting a useful target. Then Fergus went for a man with a strong build, one of the only ones still focused. As Fergus lunged at him, he felt great, he had killed Three of them already. But this one reacted faster, the M16 in his hands quickly face Fergus, the three round burst nailing him in the shoulder, grazed his neck, and took a chunk of his eye out. The Marine then fired again. Fergus ran, not before spotting the name tag on the uniform. Took only two days too track the man down, He wasn't home but everyone he cared about was. He was going too make the Human who humiliated him pay.

Now Fergus lays in the ditch, watching that same Marine kill his mother in front of him, severing her piece by piece. Fergus was too weak too fight back in his current state. All he could do was watch, and think about how he was going to kill this... Fergus actually had no idea what the Marine was now.

Fergus walked into his old home, His mother lay in pieces int he kitchen still. "I'll make the man who did this too you pay mum." Fergus walked into his basement and had to scavenge for anything that still worked. The former soldier had destroyed a lot, might as well have set the place on fire. But he had a back up plan in case something like this happened.

Too several hours but Fergus had set his equipment, his computer was still usable, which meant he still had the codes, and no one was left to change them before he finished what he was doing. He had a long range transmitter set up, it could reach hundreds of miles if power was held, there was a short range transmitter hooked up too it as well, this one could only reach a few hundred yards though. It was part of a two piece set, one giving the transmission codes to the Silo, and the other plugged into Fergus's head. What ever had been done too the soldier, Fergus knew he couldn't fight him directly. So he set the transmitter to stop sending the hold signal if his brain waves stopped. In basic words, insurance. If he died, the hold signal would stop, and the nuke would launch to it's destined coordinates. "You want too fuck with me? I CAN FUCK A LOT HARDER MATE!" Fergus was ready, he was ready too end the human race, and everyone that got in the way.

[Assistant]
Mithias took his chair again after Hank did and listened. A smirk crossed his lips at Hank's jest about the taste of beer, but his frown resumed as he returned to seriousness. "Hmm. It does not surprise me that we have such a rogue vampire among our ranks. Never before have vampires attempted to work together as a collective, to my knowledge, and our leadership has been tenuous at best. This Fergus sounds like the kind of vampire that Magnus would employ." Mithias spoke the last words with audible disapproval. He sighed, doubts beginning to overwhelm his optimism. "My father saw this coming. He warned Magnus and the rest that we were doomed to failure, but of course no one would listen.... Ah, I need to speak with Bedivere."

Mithias furrowed his brow as he thought. "A nuclear holocaust is also not in our interests. Hank, you will have to get those codes back into human hands. Take them to Soldier. Show the humans that their security has been compromised, and they will invalidate the codes before Fergus can use them. So you must go immediately, and you must go alone. Soldier thinks I am an enemy, and they would likely execute me if I came with you, but they should still trust you. I need to find Bedivere and see how Hale is doing, and I will certainly speak to Magnus about Fergus O'Brian. We will find each other later. Hopefully we are not too late."

Getting up from his chair, Mithias headed for the door to begin his plan. He stopped before leaving to speak once more. "You can call me whatever you like Hank: sire, maker, savior... asshole, but nothing will get my attention faster than my name. My name is a bell in my heart. The sound of it could wake me from a coma."

[User]
So despite the fact that they were on different sides of a war, the two seemed to have a mutual understanding. Hank respected Mithias for that. "Hopefully next time we meet war is not on our to do list." Hank grabbed his bag and started to head out. "Now we go our separate ways, On the bright side, the worst case senario is we all die getting burned by nuclear radiation." Hank did a joke smile. "Glad we finally talked Mithias." Hank turned and left for his storage room, He knew under normal circumstances he could take Fergus, but now the maniac was holding the planet at gunpoint.

Hank walked to an old boxtruck outside, it had been acting as a replacement for his RV since... it burned to a crisp. The truck was in poor condition so traveling wasn't an option unless it was somewhere close. But it gave him something. He entered and looked at his gear, he had a lot of options to pick from to kill Fergus. Shotguns, Magnums, Machine-guns, High powered rifles, Machetes, Knives, Explosives, and much more. Hank knew which silo was under O'Brians control, he only had one problem. He had no idea what SOLDIER units were still left alive. He figured his best chance was to go to the Silo and hope that the lack of communication would be enough for someone to show there faces.

Hank had no idea what to expect, he knew he had to face O'Brian, and he had too find a way to stop a nuclear missile from launching. He also had no idea of knowing if Fergus was working alone. Working with SOLDIER well he did he was able to stockpile some gear. He could carry anything he needed, and if Fergus was smart, he wouldn't take on Hank alone. Or he'd have some back up plan. Other then the nuke hopefully, if the nuke was the back up plan Hank would just have to kill Fergus and figure it out from there.

Hank grabbed Two .45 colts, with silver point Hollow tips, His machete, The retractable hatchet, A sawed off pump action, A small homemade flame thrower, and a bag full of explosives. Many home made, but their were some that SOLDIER wouldn't miss. He grabbed his old armor, it had taken a beating since he was turned, but it still gave him an edge, the thing could withstand some good sized bullets, and any blade that tried to slash it would get stuck relatively easily. Giving him the chance for the kill.

He was about to leave when he looked around one last time, he walked to a shelf in the back of the truck and grabbed a photo album. He opened it up and grabbed a photo, on the photo was a woman, and her two kids. This was the photo his family had taken for him when he was deployed his last time. He put it in his vest pocket, It was his motivation now to end what was started all those years ago.

[Assistant]
After a long and tense silence Ashlynn spoke.
"I think I do want your help, so I guess I will take you as my child. If that is what you want, there is no going back."
Martin nodded. "Then I want to do one small thing first." Ash looked surprised and slightly worried. "What is it?"
What could it possibly be that this strange man wanted now?

Martin stood up and walked to the hall. He silently strolled to the reception and took the old corded phone to his ear.
Ash followed him and wanted to ask questions but Martin interrupted her with a finger to his lips.
He dialled a number and waited for a response on the line. He whispered.
"Agent 2327... Extra Dimensional Fish. Connect me please."
Another long silence during which Aslynn wracked her brain trying to figure out. Who was this person?
"This is Martin with my last report. Contagion is still in possession of the group of elder vampires, possibly in possession of either Varomere or Bedivere, though they have no intent to use it... yet. Further investigation is required. The tablet is used as predicted. Results are nothing of note. No further investigation is required. There was an attack on the vampire compound in Kilo Point, unknown assailant, I suspect SOLDIER. Results unknown, worth investigating as Varomere and a few others are involved. I have a... gut feeling they may have launch key. Lastly I have to make a report of the death of an agent. Agent 2327 will be terminated. No further investigation is required... It was a pleasure working with you."
Solemnly he put the horn down and looked at Ashlynn who had been listening intently.
"I'm ready."


[System]
Nickname(s): Dan

Gender: Male

Age: 12

House: Ravenclaw

Appearance:

A rather fit looking boy. He has matted, long brown hair. He has smooth, kind brown eyes. He normally appears with a bright grin, and clean white teeth to go with it.

Wand: An 10 1/2 Inch Dark Oak wand, with a core of Dragon Heartstring.

Pet:
Arrow, a Bared Owl, bought for him at Diagon Alley. It was named after his last name.

Strengths: A good climber. All he needs is a few bricks, rocks, or tree branches, and he's at the top of it.

Daniel always talks with a clear voice. This may make his incantations work better, producing better spells.

He has eyesight like a hawk, which combines with his good climbing, to make for a good scout, or lookout.

Weaknesses: Has a fear of snakes.

Personality: He is always the kind one in the group. He always has a kind word for everyone (except for slytherin) He is passionate, and a friend to the core. He is always the one to make friends. He is interested in girls, but is shy to tell them so. Because of this, he is very nervous, and tongue tied when around them.

History: Daniel lived in California, with his muggle mother, and wizard father. Because of his personality, he made many friends. One day, in elementary school, while he was sitting under an apple tree, he made the branch lean down, and he picked off an apple. ,any saw him, and called him 'a freak'. Because of this, all the friends that he made, were gone. No one liked him, and he was lonely.

When he was eleven, his mom got a job as the director of a major fashion company. But, it was in Britain. So they endured the move away from family, and made it work.

On his twelfth birthday, a letter was sent to him. An invitation to Hogwarts. He would finally be with other people like him, othe witches and wizards. He was excited, to learn the wizarding ways, and make new friends.

NPCs: Mathew Arrowmyner - His father, and his biggest influence. He taught him about the wonderful ways of magic, and all about Hogwarts.

[User]
He saw it, in the shrubs. The moonlight caught it in such a way, that the flower glowed. He was about to walk over and pick it when he felt Roze's hand clutch on to his, and heard her squeal. He stood upright in glared into the direction Roze was staring at. It wasn't to far away from his flower, but he didn't see anything. Now that Roze saw something move, he didn't want to pick the flower, so instead he stayed with the rest of the group and watched a another girl pick up what would have been his.

"I didn't see anything. Do you think it's safe to be out here right now, I mean, it could've been anything."

Daniel gripped his wand tighter, just in case it was something worth worrying about. In all the commotion, Dan was so focused on what Roze had seen, he forgot focus on casting the spell, and his wand light flickered out, and Roze, Dani, and him could only see the light emitting from the others wands a little ways away.

"Lumos. Lumos. Lumos!" Dan was getting more frustrated by the second and felt a cold hand on the back of his robes. His wand ignited with a jumpstart and illuminated the area around him to see that the hand on his back belonged to one of the teachers.

"Come along now, you wouldn't want to fall behind from the group. The forest is dangerous, especially at this time of day." Dan started walking forward with the feeling of relief that there was a teacher waking behind them in case anything did happen. In front of him he noticed one of the flowers. With barely any effort he was able to pick the flower from the dirt, and put it in his bag. Whatever this thing Roze saw was, he hoped it wouldn't come back again.

[Assistant]
Charlotte was disappointed by the mundanity of the task at hand, but, she supposed, it was a punishment. She had gotten her hopes up about it being some kind of fun adventure, but no such luck. Life was not fair after all. He held her wand like some of the others, and tried to summon a light by copying another boy's incantation. She didn't get the silver light you were supposed to, but when she shook her wand she could make purple sparks rain gently out of it, and it at least shed some light onto the ground.

The new Professor was the Transfiguration Professor, Richard Nothing his name was. He was as yet an unknown quantity to the students, as most of them had not yet had his class. And just now he wasn't giving much away. He walked quietly along the far edge of the group, every once in a while ushering a student who was wandering away back toward the mass of students.

[User]
"Come along now, you wouldn't want to fall behind from the group. The forest is dangerous, especially at this time of day." Cassandra had called out, looking on as Dan cast a light spell. "Not bad for day one." She smiled. She meant to urge the group along when he students seemed to spot the flower in question. "That was quick." She would stand back and let the students inspect and collect these specimens then move them along through the wood. There was not likely enough there to provide all the students with their samples.

Caelum, as observant as she was, did not notice anything amiss. She looked up from the fistful of silver blossoms and in the direction of Richard Notting, the transfiguration teacher. Caelum hoped he would be impressed with her find... Well... It was really Roze that had found the flower... Yet, perhaps since Caelum was the first to pick it... Richard would be impressed...

She didn't notice what lay behind the patch of flowers lurking between the shadows in the forest...

[Assistant]
Roze sighed quietly in disappointment, and then let go of her friends' hands with a murmured apology.
"I wasn't talking about the flower..." She muttered, moving along uncomfortably with the rest of the group as the teacher behind them ushered them along, still glancing over her shoulder to stare at the spot where she had seen the shadow. However, as the group passed on, the darkness consumed the trees behind them.

Roze's hair was now much lighter than it had been before - and it certainly wasn't due to happiness.

Moving along with the rest of the group, Roze pondered silently over whether or not to mention it to the Professors. Would they just laugh and not believe her? What if they thought she was just making up stories and she got into more trouble? And what if the rest of the class heard and just laughed at her?!

Roze felt as thought her insides had all twisted up, knotted together in her anxious indecision. Not only that, but there still remained the feeling that they were being both watched and followed.

As the group moved along, she tensed up everytime someone let out a tell of triumph when they found a flower - and her unease only grew as the trees thinned out into a wide clearing. The moonlight shone through the light cover of the branches above, casting a pale light over all of them. It was bright enough to warrant turning their wand light out, but Roze did not put her wand away. In fact, it was raised in the same defensive way she'd seen her brother raise his own when practicing spells at home. There was something seriously amiss in this forest.

As the group came to a stop to dither over which way to go from the clearing, Roze began slowly inching her way to the closest Professor, ignoring the strange looks she received from Daniel and Dani. The closest teacher turned out to be the newest one - Richard.

"Sir," She began in a quiet voice, not daring to tear her eyes away from the treeline. She was sure she had seen more movement. "I think there's something following us."

As Richard looked down at Roze, probably to tell her that she was just seeing things in the dark, or had an overreactive imagination - a hoarse voice from the shadows uttered a curse, and the pale clearing suddenly lit up with bangs, screams, and the terrifying light of dark magic as the attack began.

And from the shadows, their leader watched with a content smile... waiting for the perfect moment to strike...

[User]
Had he not stopped to reassure a student, Richard might have gotten a counter attack as well as a shield, but distracted as he was it was all he could do to intercept the incoming curse. He caught it on the tip of his wand, and twirled it over his head, redirecting the curse back into the woods. It flew wild and high, and Richard lost track of the source.

The night was exploding, and Richard shoved Roze back roughly toward the bulk of students, and lifted his wand. A bulb of light, brighter than the moon shot from it and hung just below the canopy of trees, casting both light and shadow over the forested landscape.

"Charlie," he called urgently, not taking his eyes off the tree line, his wand raised in a dueling position. "Trouble." He shot another curse of his own back, but refused to move from his defensive position.

[Assistant]
Charlie Weasley heard Richard and drew his wand. He was near the head of the group still, and dashed forward on long limber legs to shield a small penguin-like student who had wandered aimlessly ahead of the group. He brushed her aside, countering the curse, he thought he saw a cloaked figure in the forest... Charlie yelled 'Stupefy!' with his wand outstretched to the enemy in the dark... Were these some older students playing a prank? Charlie thought of the train-car incident... The pranks this year seemed to lean the side of extremism. He would attempt to stun these attackers and determine if they were students or outsiders interfering in Hogwarts business...

Charlie Weasly defended Hogwarts once before, he would gladly do so again if called upon to do so.

Moirah shrieked, nearly struck by a glowing red glob of magic. Charlie knocked her out of the way just in the nick of time... But he also toppled her straight over and she rolled off the path and into the briers. She wriggled and whimpered as the thorns bit through her robes and into her skin. She watched Charlie and a strange wizard begin to duel...

Cassandra turned about as the trouble came upon them. She brought her wand arm up and her lips began to move, but before any words came forth she was struck in he shoulder and she crumpled to the ground. Red blood bloomed from her shoulder and the stain spread down her sleeve. She didn't' move for awhile...

Caelum was blinded by the lights and deafened by the noise. She dropped all the little silver flowers that she held in surprise, then crouched against the tree by self preservative instinct. She was still well off the path collecting flowers where Roze had spotted them... Or had she seen something else? It seemed so.

She wanted to dash back to the group, but hesitated. She saw the crossfire of spells in the air and was afraid of being hit. 'Do they know where I am?' She wondered if in the chaos they would forget her and run away...

Then she felt something grip her ankle, she gasped looking down. At first she thought it was the silver flowers that were the culprit. For they rose up from the earth toward her, the flowerbed undulating angrily. Yet, it was the roots of the tree beneath. The spell-animated root grabbed her ankle, then wrist, then began to drag her away from the path away from the school group and into the dark forest.

"R-RICHA--!" She called the first name that came to her mind, the new teacher. Then felt a spell hit the back of her head, her mouth suddenly felt like it was... was... full of something like peanut butter that tasted foul. She was unable to call for help. She had one free hand left, she clawed at the ground ripping up dirt and silver-flours as she was dragged away.

More roots might threaten to grab the ankles and toes of any students to far on the outskirts... The attackers, for the moment, stayed beyond the tree line...

[User]
Daniel dropped his wand in panic as the calm night air illuminated with flashes of bright light, followed by bangs and screams. Daniel was only able to find his wand by the bright light that he was able to will to stay lit. He waved his light around in the dark, hoping to catch some sight of Dani or Roze, who's hair was turning white when he last saw her, but it appeared that he was separated from them. Dan could feel himself shaking, taking in sharp breaths, and exhaling.

He could make out dark shadows in the outskirts of the forest, running around and emitting bright flashes. His eyes started tailing one, and he snapped back into it when a flash of red light flew past his face. Where the bright light came from, a foot appeared, and another, each taking long strides until a body, cloaked in black came fully into view. Daniel started backing up, internally panicking, but attempting to appear brave against the cloaked stranger. Dan eventually backed up into a tree, and was cornered by the attacker. An arm rose from the cloak, the hand gripping a wand, pointed directly at Dan. The stranger started moving his lips, when a jet of red light hit him square in the chest, and he fell to the ground. The source of the spell, one of the teachers, crumpled on the ground, with blood seeping through their robes.

As Daniel went over to help, he felt he couldn't. Though it wasn't fear holding him back. The roots of the tree started creeping up his legs, binding them together. Dan struggled with all his might, but no matter how hard he tried,meh couldn't break free. He reached for his wand on the floor, and with effort, managed to grab it. His shaking hands held the wand, and pointed it at the base of the roots. The roots had closed in on his throat, and though he had trouble breathing, he managed to sputter out, "D-d-diffindo!"

He felt the grip on his throat loosen, and he was able to free himself from the bindings of the roots. He then went over to the injured teacher, and kneeled by her side.

"I-is there a-anything I can do?"