[System]
Photo:

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Abilities: Arcadius is a master at all elemental spells, proficient in others such as time and healing. He can cast most magic thanks to his families ancient Grimore, and enhance them further by channeling them through his staff. He can summon his Grimore at will, more often than not he is seen carrying the massive book studying it's arcane pages. He is much stronger than his frail figure makes him look, the book he is carrying weighing nigh 100 pounds. The book itself was enchanted with a spell to make it weigh more so as it would be MUCH harder for a thief to make off with it, should they live long enough to incapcitate any member of his family.

How could you work in a team: Support, Heavy Infantry, You name it.

Personality: Arcadius is one to keep to himself, a mysterious and silent fellow. He is not known to speak much outside of casting his magic, and if he did it's not more than a few sentences before he's back to studying his families Grimore and ignoring the hell out of you. It has been known in the rare occurances where he allows you to be his friend that he will actually talk to you like you exsist, and that he is a pretty funny guy.

History: Arcadius grew up around magic, his entire family powerful magic users for hundreds of years. His families Grimore consisting of thousands of pages of magical knowledge over the years, his family name something of a legend amongst magic users. Ever since he could walk he was made to learn magic. His parents died when he was 16, at which point he enrolled in the Mana-Script academy to hone his magic skills as well as so he would have a decent place to live. Ever since his parents died no one could get more than a few words out if him, save for the rare occurances of him having a 'friend' who turned out to be nothing more than a thief after his families rather valuable Grimore. And now here he is, 20 and still at the academy.

Spare Gear: None

Schedule:

First period: Arcane Arts
Second period: Physical ed.
Third period: Artifacts
Fourth period: Elements Class
Fifth period: Combat Training
Sixth period: Summoning
Seventh period: Rituals
Eighth period: Sealing

[User]
BGM: Beautiful Days

As the last person left, the boy bite his own tongue. He was really nervous since he was really not good with being social like that. Even so, he stepped on the stage, looking at everyone.

"H-Hello, everyone. My name is Agni Blackheart, but you can call me as Flare. That's... uh... a nickname that a friend gave me and that I'm proud to have.", he said and thought about everyone back at the Hidden Realm of the Technomages. The dimwit, yet famous diva Pamela Armellia... the rowdy and uncontrollable hermit Lynda "Lyn" Hermit... and his best friend Cruz Meister. He sighed that no one would be here with him, but he wouldn't give up studying on Mana-Script just because of that. "In any case, I hope we get along... I think...", he said, scratching the back of his head and finally leaving the stage.

[Assistant]
Chen glanced at Agni while he had the High Priestess activated and immediately wished he hadn't. He covered his eyes quickly and yelled. "Ah god! What was that? So many numbers!" He fell out of his chair and activated The Fool in order to deactivate his other powers. He looked around and glared at a few others. They were weak, not worth his time. He got up and reactivated the High Priestess, careful to not look at Agni again. It was now when he caught sight of Azrael and reanalyzed him.

"You... Azrael." Chen walked over to him and stopped a few feet away. "Did you come here to grow stronger as well? To further your abilities?" He asked as his eyes glowed a bright emerald green. Azrael was quite the intriguing fellow. At a cursory glance he appeared to be pathetic. But upon closer observation... "I'm going to enjoy fighting you."

[User]
Kenney walked to the podium and stood there for a good minute or so to let everyone enjoy there little ice breakers amongst them self's. He quitely opened his palm and a pistol appeared in his hand. Continuing to keep a calm posture he pointed the gun into the air and fired it once. Hopefully that got some of the students attention.

"Hi everyone the names Kenneth Belle but you can call me Kenney!" He shouted unequiping his gun and then equipping a M24 Remington sniper. "To continue with your attention I'll be calibrating my sniper." Kenney pointed his rifle into the crowd looking through the scope in some the students direction. Once he believe it was adjusted enough he cocked it back and continue to motion back it forth toward the crowd.

"Now this sniper is my prize weapon at the moment besides my favorite pistol but that is for another day." He said releasing his grip on the rifle. It quicly vanished when he let go of it. "I hope we all get to know each other better!" He shouted walking off the podium quickly shoving his hands into his pocket.

[Assistant]
Apollo nodded as he attempted to ignore the Aura. He then looked up at the stage. The other two semeed quite interesting, also the man in the back and to the front of him, was it Chen and Sloth..yes they were very interesting to him. Apollo then looked at Agatha. "As a matter of fact yes I do...Also, Pendragon? As Arthur Pendragon? Or no relation?"

Just as he finished asking the question, Agni walked past him he felt a burning sensation in his chest, making his Aura flicker in many colors, that was the sword Ascalon wanting to get out. He started sweating but stayed calm and collected.

[User]
Azrael was slightly unnerved by the spectacle Chen had made of himself, why had he seemed in such pain? He positively jumped out of his own skin when Kenney had fired into the air. He'd never heard such a loud sound outside of thunder and the roar of a dragon! Once his heart had resumed its normal pace, he noticed Chen approaching him. Oddly enough, the boy's eyes seemed to be a different color as well. "What magic would do that?" Azrael thought to himself.

He stood when Chen stopped and said that he would enjoy fighting Azrael! What could make the students so hostile? The boy wasn't sure if the challenge was made in malice or competitive spirit so he answered. "Well yes, I did on request from my Masters and my own wishes... but why do we have to fight?.. Chen, right? I hope that we can be friends, since I see only strangers." Azrael took a step forward, bridging the gap between the two enough to offer his hand for a greeting. Commune with the Spirits had always taught him manners and respect, yet this boy made his hackles rise like a rabid mountain lion would. Chen thirsted for combat and Azrael could practically smell it. Yet, a want for confrontation meant he was sure of his abilities and therefore more powerful than the usual student. Az could learn from such a person.

[Assistant] The movement of Kieran's former headrest had him flop over onto the chairs, the stirring woke him as he sat back up in the chair and yawned, stretching his arms up as he did. He rubbed his eyes and looked around seeing that everyone was mingling. while there was still time to make an introduction he didn't want to draw any attention to himself and figured there'd be time for that later so he got up out of his chair and walked over to a side wall. He took out one of his sword handles as a straight blade formed on it, he then leaned on the wall and propped himself up with the sword to keep from falling over as he tried to keep himself awake.

[User]
"There is a distant ancestor by the name of Arthur Pendragon who was a king and his father Uther Pendragon. Arthur would be my 3 great grandfather and Uther would be my 4 great grandfather. I am not at all sure about the amount of greats since they are so distant.
What about your family? Apollo is a god and so was Eros. There must be an interesting story behind your name." Agatha spoke calmly. She no longer had an aura surrounding her body.

[Assistant] Flare (Agni) went and sat not too far from everyone, but not too close at the same time. He saw how Chen fell upon a gaze at him and predicted that it was thanks to Undefined Fate, his weapon. Since it was made by a Technomage, it was made with Data, so many numbers and other symbols could be inside the eight cards. He excluded that it were his dark fire, since he left his position as a Devil Lord for a while. Still, Flare took the cars out of his pocket and started to play with them in the air, while paying attention at the rest of the introductions.

[User] Aleksa slowly started to relax until the next person up brandished a gun from thin air 'keep an eye on him' she thought to herself as he walked off the stage. When he was off it she began to relax again, feeling the individual magical energies in her body meld into one and her aura, which is usually focused and coiled tightly around her, began to run wild lashing out at those who it deemed "weak". After a few minutes of this Aleksandra reeled it back in having forgotten about the fact that it did this, Her aura acts like this because she was exposed to beast blood early in her childhood and the fact that her mother had been a guard for her village which meant she was constantly covered in it even while pregnant with Aleksandra didnt help the case. Her aura is similar to that of multiple mountain beasts rolled into one and acts like it too though Aleksandra has never seen her own. Aleksa focused on the students in the room and how they were moving around the area without letting the introductions finish "everybody should just sit down" she said to herself.

[Assistant] Apollo frowned and looked downwards. His aura color turned gray. She just touched a theme that he would rather not speak of. "My real fater Merli- uhh, Merlot had a specific way of picking names for his children..." He lied, about the name of his father and about his name. There was more behind it. He then quickly drew Miss Agatha and gave her the drawing, as a sign of friendship. That was his way of showing it. He began twirling his fingers, trying to make the leftover pain go away. But then more pain came, all of this pain would be unbearable to anyone else. More people, and their Auras lashing out and such.

[User]
"Yeah... I know what you mean about names. I am the only person outside of my family who has two last names.........." Agatha spoke in a near whisper as a small blue cloud began to form over head.
"Parents simply don't think about how it affects the children. It was a decision that they made for the child and the child grows up either hating the whole name or at least a part of it. It just doesn't seem fair somehow." Agatha spoke of her own dislike of having two last names not knowing about Apollo's family at all.
When Apollo gave her the picture that he drew of Agatha, the cloud disappeared and a soft warmth flowed from Agatha and her Aura began to shine around her in a soft yellow haze.

"Apollo, this is a beautiful picture! It is like looking in a mirror but a bit prettier. You are very talented. Thank you very much......" Agatha spoke as she gazed at the picture.

[Assistant]
Apollo just nodded and nodded to Agatha's response. Even though some of it was unrelated to what he had said. He then saw her expression, cheering up people sometimes was worth it. "Thanks.. Drawing is like this hobby of mine, and my way of communicating some times..." He said, containing his pain. He then jumped up spontaneously, like if he was a different person.
"Oh! Now that is fascinating, complete recovery from all of that, only that the aftershocks are still in place."
He began to stretch his arms like if he had just come out of a cocoon. He then looked at Agatha,"Right, Miss Agatha, I see he already gave you a picture...Well allow me to introduce myself, I'm Apollo's alternate Personality,You can call me Ephilates, I am the opposite of Apollo." He then looked around the room and sat down.

"Whew, wow, now I see why Apollo was overwhelmed, i'll just leave this to him, Nice to meet you Miss Agatha." Ephilates said as Apollo's eyes went from purple to blue.

"Oh god, please dont tell me you met him...Ephilates, My Split Personality..." Apollo said in embarassment.

[User]
Arcadius sat in the corner of the room studying his massive grimore. He'd look up momentarily when someone decided to trudge up to the podium and introduce themselves, then there was the man with the gun. Startling him he dropped the book, a rather loud whump followed after. He'd moved his feet out of the way in time at least...

He stood and picked it back up, now would be as good a time as any to introduce himself. He sighed and weaved through the crowd. He made his way to the podium and dropped his book on it in an effort to get peoples attention, if he was going to bother taking time from his reading people had better listen.

Clearing his throat he spoke, "My name is Arcadius Innocenti, four year student, perhaps you have heard of my family. My father Ulric Innocenti being one of the most well known in my family, adding around a hundred pages to the family grimore..."

"Well...now is not the time nor the place for family history, and I doubt any of you are interested. I'll make the ending brief. Don't interrupt me when I'm reading and don't try to steal my Grimore if you value your life."

Finishing with a bow he retrieved his staff and book and walked back to his seat. He absent-mindedly resumed reading its pages, he could tell several of the new students had potential.


[System]
Quality: Relaxed
Description: Harry 14 years old and is five feet and seven inches in height. His body is skinny but still has a bit of muscle. He wears blue overalls and wears a striped t-shirt underneath. His hair is short and curly. On his hands, he wears brown gloves made of leather. He usually wears a straw hat to keep the desert sun off his eyes. He has very bushy eyebrows.

Harry isn't likely to take people very seriously. At times, he can be very skeptical and untrusting of other people. He is very confident in his skills, yet is the sort of person that just goes with the flow. Only danger can snap him out of this casual mood. He doesn't care too much for rules and is very fond of exploration. He loves his grandfather, but he doesn't really respect the old man. He doesn't care about the authorities very much and ignores his grandfather's attempts to make him a gentleman.

Main Weapon/Fighting Style: Staffs/sticks

Skills: * LifeUp α: Heals an ally by a slight amount.
* Healing α: Cures sleepiness, sunstroke, or cold.
* Telepathy: Allows him to speak to animals and other non-human life forms.

Stats:
* Speed: 2
* Strength: 3
* Guts: 2
* Wits: 4
* Sophistication: 1

Pockets:
* Weird Poster
* Sandwich
* Straw-hat (equipped)
* Stick (equipped)
* Cookie
* Cookie
* Binder
* Seeds
* Spade
* Trowel
* Small jug of liquid
* Green Thumb Ring (equipped)

[User]
After handing Stewart the key, Isaac gre restless. There wasn't really anything to do. Pacing the room, he contemplated climbing the ladder back up. Isaac grabbed the rung when he noticed a doorway behind the ladder, one he hadn't seen before. After thinking a little, Isaac decided to tell Harry he was going.
"Hey Harry, yell if you need me. I'm off to explore." He called down to the Harry.

Isaac stepped around the ladder and entered the new room. What might he find here?

[Assistant]
As Isaac stepped into the semi-circular room, he saw tons of flashing lights and screens on the wall, test tubes and jars held upright by suspended platforms with unlabeled knobs and a switch with a power icon on each platform's sides, white pipes and multicolored cables tangled all over the floor and ceiling connecting the lights and screens (imagine this, but on the floors and ceilings), and a counter running the entire length of the rounded wall. The counter was littered with broken pottery, dirt, paper either stained by many different colors of liquid or burned, plants in various stages of life seemingly torn out of their shattered pots, and directly across the room from the door, was an open 3-inch red binder next to a vacuum-sealed container. The binder was open to the exact center of its contents, and from the looks of the stacks of paper inside, it was completely full. Apparently it was so heavy that it had not moved at all during the crash. The vacuum-sealed container (like this but bigger and not a light bulb) had a tiny glass pedestal inside, and on top of the pedestal was a seed that looked just like a corn kernel.

Beneath the counter were a series of 4 closed lock boxes evenly spaced. Looking directly right after entering the door, Isaac saw a neatly wrapped present on the counter against the wall separating this room from the previous room.

By the way, this room, like the rest, was made entirely of plate metal, and it was only lit by the flashing lights and dim screens on the walls.

[User] Harry stood there with his mouth gaping widely, completely unresponsive to Isaac's words. This turn of events only served to bring up more questions, what kind of creatures lived here? What the hell was in the green liquid? Harry took small steps backwards, his eyes glued to the plant as it searched for him. He was starting to think that maybe he should have listened to Ronnie when he had the chance. The plant appeared menacing, but maybe he could do something with the Green Thumb Ring? Harry slowly walked in the plants direction and pointed the Green Thumb Ring at it, hoping that it would calm down.

[Assistant]
The leaf on the Green Thumb Ring started to glow with a dim green light, and Harry could feel the ring getting colder. As it glowed, the plant slowly turned to look at him and visibly relaxed. It sat(? It's hard to tell with the tendril-like roots for feet) down with a thump, slightly swaying as if to some unheard music.

Behind the plant, Harry could see that Ronnie had struck a one-legged pose, bent over with his arms over his head, unmoving and noiseless except for his occasional trembles and wimpers.

From above, Harry heard his grandfather cry down, "I say, are you quite okay, Harry? What's going on down there?" He apparently couldn't see the gigantic plant now swaying on the ground.

[User]
After a couple minutes of stunned silence from the humans and swaying from the plant, the plant suddenly shrunk back down to its tiny, mossy shrub of a self that it had been inside of the terrarium just as quickly as it had grown. The little plant lay on the ground unmoving.

Ronnie slowly peeked out from behind his arms to see that he was cowering for nothing. Embarrassed, he walked over to Harry, still sure to avoid the previously threatening plant.

"What in the world wuz thayut? Did you do sumthin' ter it, or did it jus' grow awl on its own?" Ronnie was still trembling. He looked down and saw the jug of green liquid still in his hand and his other, outstretched hand with the ring on it. "And what's all this? Did you do sumthin' ter that plant? Is that—is that a Green Thumb Ring??" Ronnie's voice raised in pitch with each question.

[Assistant]
"Calm yourself, Ronnie! We've managed to escape that complication unscathed!" Harry paused for a moment, fully registering what he had just said. "Er, I mean...calm down!" That damn old man was rubbing off on him! He coughed loudly to clear his throat and started speaking again. "By the looks of things, I guess this green stuff is supposed to help plants turn into...whatever that was. But I never thought I'd find Green Thumb Ring here of all places." Harry was visibly starting to calm down, he had been embarrassingly panicky for a bit. Harry pocketed the green jug of liquid, he was still curious to find out what it was. It'd be best to leave before he gave Ronnie a heart attack.

But there was one thing that he wanted to try. While he generally didn't use his skills in front of others, it was possible that he wouldn't get another chance like this. He slowly walked to another terrarium containing a plant. He used his telepathy to try and communicate with the plant. Judging by how the other plant reacted, these things seemed to have minds of their own!

[User]
As he used his telepathy, he felt a small surge of excitement, like a refreshing rush of cold through his mind...Harry Leveled Up!* Sophistication +1 → 1
* Wits +1 → 4

Be sure to update your stats on your character page.

Harry heard a high-pitched, crystalline voice dance through his mind: "What's that? Hello! You can hear me? Hello!" The voice sounded sweet and innocent, happy and curious, but it didn't seem to have much else to say. Just as you might expect from a plant that size, it was young, babyish, and not really aware of its situation.

"Well if you say so..." Ronnie tried to calm down, but Harry could still feel that he was a bit tense. "Come on, let's get out of here and explore the rest of this ship so we can get the heck outta this place!" He was already halfway up the ladder as he finished saying this.

Ronnie got the rest of the way up and Harry could hear his grandfather admonishing him with phrases like, "Hop to, old bean!" and "Tut tut, it's not so bad!" and then calling down to Harry, "Let's get going then, I say! The young Isaac has gone ahead!"

[Assistant]
Isaac looked around the room, having no clue what to do. Wires hung from the ceiling and there were glowing lights everywhere. Hmmm… Isaac thought. He didn't know what to really do. He walked over to the control panel. There was a switch, a red binder and a curious object. The object appeared to be a vacuum sealed container, which sat next to the red binder. What was even more curious was the fact that the binder had apparently stayed right where it was.

Isaac paced warily around the room, stepping over the wires. At last, he arrived at the cluttered desk. He was cautious of the switch, as he didn't know what it would do if he activated it. Probably for the best, he decided not to press it. For now.

Instead, Isaac studied the page that the red binder was currently on, hoping to see something that would reveal some answers.

[User] The open page in the red binder read:

[Assistant]
Isaac had no idea what the page meant. There was no context for him to understand from. What he did understand was that it was some kind of musical score, and the score did... something. And if he didn't do it right, it'd be reeeaally bad. Wondering what he should do, he turned around and saw a neatly wrapped present by the door, where he hadn't seen one before. Isaac pocketed the vacuum sealed container and decided to go for the present and analyse the book later.

Treading carefully over the wires again, he arrived back near the doorway. Isaac looked back and saw that there were 4 boxes under the counter. Might want to check those later. Isaac noted. Isaac opened the box, curious as to what was inside.

[User]
Inside the present, there was a Strong Hunting Knife.
Underneath the knife, there was a strange device that looked like an electric megaphone with no microphone on the end, apparently programmed just to make a sound when its trigger was pulled.

Ronnie walked into the room followed by Stewart.

"Boy howdy! Whatinneh world is all this?" Ronnie drawled in awe of the mysterious room.

"Oh, be careful with that device, Isaac. We don't know what it does! We wouldn't want anything bad to happen, I say!" Stewart tutted.

The trigger on the megaphone was lit up, glowing, as though crying out to be pulled, almost irresistable to human nature...

[Assistant] Harry raised his eyebrows as the plant spoke to him. But there wasn't much time to concern himself with that, he had already wasted enough time in this room. Harry climbed up the ladder and entered the room that the others were in. "What's up with all this stuff?" Harry asked curiously as he stepped into the room. He eyed the megaphone Isaac had gotten from the present. A few minutes ago he would have just used it for fun, but now he wasn't sure if that was a good idea.

[User]
Isaac opened the present to reveal a hunting knife and an electric megaphone. Well, this might be handy. Isaac said, taking the hunting knife out. He did a few short, experimental swings, trying out the weight. It's good. Isaac thought. It was a little heavier than his kitchen knives, but it swung well and the grip felt good. Putting it in his pocket, he turned his attention to the megaphone.

Isaac picked it up, examining it. It didn't appear to have a microphone part, so Isaac wondered what it was for. Maybe it only played one thing? The trigger was glowing, almost begging Isaac to press it, but he resisted. He had no idea what this thing could do. It was a risk, finding something strange in a strange place that you found in a strange way. But still...

"Boy howdy! Whatinneh world is all this?"
Isaac jumped as Ronnie's drawl resounded around the room. He relaxed as he realised that it was just the investigation team.
"Oh, be careful with that device, Isaac. We don't know what it does! We wouldn't want anything bad to happen, I say!" Stewart said.
"Yeah, I know. Good timing." Isaac said, pocketing the megaphone. He'd find out what it did later. "There are 3 boxes under the counter there. Could you check them out? I have to read a bit."
Isaac told the group to explore the contents of the lock boxes, but he was curious about the rest of the red binder. Crossing the room once again, he re-arrived at the red binder and flicked to a new page.

[Assistant]
The binder flipped several pages and landed on an informational resource page.

The binder continued on like this for several more pages following this, but one of the pages Isaac saw before this as he flipped through the binder was a full page diagram of a megaphone-like device just like the one he had picked up. He flipped back to the page and examined the diagram:

[User]
The curiosity was really killing Isaac right now. But he still couldn't be too sure about what the megaphone did. Logically, though, he assumed that it would impact on the vacuum sealed container with the seed inside. Hmm... Isaac thought.

There were a few things he could do right now. The first was activate the megaphone, but he didn't know what that would do. The second would be to explore the contents of the lock boxes. The third was to flip the switch, but he didn't know what would happen if he did that either. So really, there was only one thing to do that was less likely to go up in flames.

Isaac bent down and inspected the boxes under the counter.

[Assistant] Harry wondered what all the technology in the room was being used for. Although, he got a bad feeling from being there. If his experiences from the room below told him anything, it was that even the most innocuous of the things could be potentially dangerous. But he searched under the room's counters to further inspect the boxes below them. While they appeared to be locked, there wasn't any harm in trying, right?


[System]
UserName: Konan375
Age: 25

Mageblood type: Aqua

Favoured Magic Class: Hydromancy

Previous Magic training: None

Race: Naerse Human

Appearance: Leith was born with albinism, so his skin is about as white as it can get. His eyes are a very light blue, and he has no hair. There is a scar that runs horizontally across his right cheek to almost his ear. He stands at 6 feet tall and is very skinny. He usually wears dark green pants and a hooded cloak of the same colour. The cloak has a clasp on it, and it was given to him as a gift. There is a silver ring on his left index finger and he currently has a gauntlet fused to his right hand that goes up to his elbow. It is roughly five times the size of his left hand.

Short Bio: Leith did not have a nice childhood. the other children were afraid of him. They had heard stories of vampires and what they looked like, and in their minds, Leith was a vampire. He had learned quickly that fear could turn to violence, and had gone home with bruises, and one time, a black eye.

As he got older, the fear disappeared, and he made some friends. He discovered his ability to control water, and started to try and figure out what he could do with it.

When he was twenty, Leith Heard about Twilight College and decided to go there and get a better grasp on his hydromancy. He figured it wouldn't take that long. A few weeks at most.

He got there five years later.

After a few days of travelling, he encountered two men who immediately apprehended him and tried to kill him because they'd "be doing Eania a favour. The only good vampire is a dead one, right?"

Leith tried to explain that he wasn't a vampire, and that the men were making a mistake, but they wouldn't listen. The men took him into a small clearing off the road. He stumbled and fell into puddle of purple liquid, which disappeared almost as quickly as he landed in it. His head was buzzing when the men picked him up, tied him to a stake and one of the men went to set him on fire. In his panic, the buzzing increased, and Leith felt water nearby and pulled at it. He was splashed by something warm and lost consciousness.

He was found by a herbalist who was restocking his inventory. When Leith woke up, he felt like he needed to repay the old man, and decided to become his apprentice. The buzzing in his head didn't go away, and his hair started falling out days later.

Near the end of Leith's fourth year of being an apprentice, the old man got sick, and quickly died. After burying him, Leith stayed at the little hut in the forest that they lived for a few more weeks, and then started out for the Twilight College for a second time. Fortunately, the second time was uneventful, and he arrived the day they were accepting a bunch of new mages. And who knows, maybe somebody there might know what's making his head buzz.

Good Attributes: Very knowledgable. He has a love of learning and can learn more quickly than other people would. He is a very kind person, and will try to help people when he can. After working with the herbalist for four years, Leith knows quite a bit about Earnia plant-life and can usually tell which ones are harmful, and which ones are helpful. He has a good sense of humour, and he doesn't let what other people say to him bother him.

Bad Attributes: He never was a strong person, but after his encounter with the men, he was weakened physically, and when he feels that his weakness stopped him from helping someone, he can get very depressed. There is a constant buzzing noise in his head that started when he was almost killed, and it can get to the point where it is distracting. Sometimes the buzzing gives him insomnia. He also trusts people too easily. He doesn't like to let other people know if he has a problem because he doesn't like to bother people with his issues.

Secret Word: Fade... wait a second. Rebirth

Yellow Ring
Name: Illuminating Ring
Description:
Type: Non-Combative/Combative
Range: Individual to up to five meters
Duration: Depends on the mode
Other information:
This ring, unlike the other two, has three different uses depending on how many taps you give the gem. One tap actives the first mode called Search, two taps active the second called Illumination and three taps actives the final mode called Flash.

Search mode is just as it sounds where the ring casts a soft, nightlight like glow to locate hidden items. The ring will flicker off and on when something is close by that the user is focusing on finding. When hot, the flickers increase rapidly to give a general and foot by foot area it is located within. However, when cold the blinking will cease into a steady, faint light much like a firefly would cast making it useless for a light source.

Illumination creates a light strength much like a campfire, lighting up several meters from the source. It is useful to see in most dark caves not affected by magic or unnatural reasons. Though unlike Electromancers who can increase and alter their light source, the ring is set at one level only at all times making it possible to be seen by others easily.

Flash is a sudden, blinding light that can affect both ally and foe alike if the user isn't careful. When tapped, it makes a small hum for a warning to the user to protect their eyes then pops, shrouding everything within the scene in bright, white light. This will stun enemies, or allies, for a brief time unless they are knocked out of it prematurely by outside influences.

[User]
The woman wasn't expecting for this to happen. In a way the young woman had a feeling something would go wrong. After all who steals something in broad daylight that? They must have known they were coming. They must have known there was a vampire with the group. With this factor in motion the young woman was literally forced back into a human. Fine with her considering this manageable. The chest might have damaged her knee but this wouldn't stop her. Only death would stop the girl.

"You and your friends," his tone held a smug and cocky tone in each word, "should never have followed. Now you will not live to see another day!"

" We do seem to pop into situations like this a lot do we? Hmmm... Honestly I never thought about this before. It felt so natural considering these people are my friends and family. Perhaps we will have a long talk about learning each other's fighting styles after this mission. Then again I would die for each and everyone of this people. So if today is the day I'm killed for those I love and care for then so be it. Though I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this isn't the day." The woman remarked placing her hand into the bag at her side. Some of them had broken do to the impact earlier. Fair considering she hadn't completely thought the movement out completely. The limb grabbed four candies out, popping the sweets into her mouth, the other gripping the shield tighter. " Since you're my opponent I'm wondering if I should just place the shield and sword on the ground. Then again I can't guarantee you won't fight fair so I'm leaving the choice up sir. After all we're one semi-equal terms."

[Assistant]
Diplomacy at Yarosmere

Aramir was slow to follow the group, her bow still out. She kept her eyes on Yolin, the only living threat in the room that she could do something against, and followed. She didn't trust them to not do anything, but much to her surprise, the King merely held a hand out to Yolin and they were allowed to leave. She barely heard Darius as they entered the parlor, immediately destringing her bow and going to Mar's side. "Hey." She said softly, standing next to the Naga and putting hugging her. "We'll make this right. The college won't stand for this, and we'll fix it. We can't undo what's been done, but we can bring justice. I'm sorry Mar. We need to go though." She reached into Mar's pocket, fishing out the stone. In an instant, she had cracked it in her hands. A moment later, Resistance Members were leaping out of the shadows, armed and ready for a fight.

Much to their surprise, there was nothing to do. Rather than waiting for an explanation, they hurried everyone back through the shadows and out of the Palace, not feeling safe at all.

Once back into the Resistance Headquarters, the College students informed the leaders what had happened. Sahra cursed quietly and the man merely shook his head, moving deeper into the Headquarters. Thanking the students for trusting them, giving them the pick of recently stolen weapons for the trouble they had been through, and beseeching them to get the aid of the College in the ongoing rebellion in Yarasmere, Sahra opened more portals, quickly sending them outside of College grounds. They had much to tell the teachers.

MISSION OVER.

Back in Yarosmere

Yolin looked at the King, confused. "Why did you let the hereteics go, my lord? They were aligned with an abomination." The King smiled slightly, shaking his head. "The Sand God has plans for everyone, Yolin. Even Heretics and abominations. They have not yet achieved their purpose. They will though. In time."

He walked back into the palace halls, calling back to Yolin as he did so. "Clean up the mess, and make the army ready. War is coming."

[User]
The strategy worked. Leith couldn't help but smile as his attacker staggered away from him. He had time to rip himself free of the confines of his cloak, though it pained him to do so, and untangle the ropes that tangled around his feet. Once free, he got to his feet and looked at the Wood Elf in front of him. She looked ready to block any attack he threw at her. A smile tugged at his mouth with that thought. What if he threw something at her? He grabbed a nearby barrel, the sharp tips of his gauntlet sank into the top of it, and hurled it at the elf.

If only it worked that well.

The top of barrel ripped off the barrel, sending it spinning horizontally over the elf's head. The liquid contained in the barrel spewed out as it spun coating Leith and quite possibly the elf in the fluid. The barrel hit the wall several feet behind the elf with a tremendous crash, sending its contents everywhere. Leith didn't notice any of this. He had stood frozen in place the moment he was covered in the liquid. He couldn't see what it was in the darkness of the warehouse, but he could smell it.

It was lamp oil.

For a few moments, he wasn't in a warehouse, fighting an elf. Instead, he was in a burning village, its inhabitants recently dead, and he was watching a different elf burning alive. The heat, the smell, the screams, they all came back to him in stunning vividness. It was the screams that rooted him in place. He could hear them as if it was happening in right in front of him.

Leith shook his head. He couldn't lose focus on the fight at hand. Harder said than done, though. Each shaky breath he took brought him right back to the village. He was starting to get light headed, but he wasn't sure if that was because of his suddenly labored breaths, or because of the oil he was doused in.

One thing brought him rushing back to the present. A lamp that had been hanging on the wall just above the spot the barrel hit had one of its moorings knocked loose. It hung awkwardly on the wall, teetering from side to side. Leith watched as the lamp fell off the wall and fall towards the now spread out lamp oil. With a cry of alarm, he shot his arm out towards the lamp, and a ball of water coalesced around the lamp and snuffed the flame inside it. As he set the lamp down gently, a wave of vertigo washed over him and pain lanced in his skull. He stumbled backwards and bumped into a nearby crate. He looked at the elf across from him and chuckled.

"We wouldn't be able to try and talk this out, would we?"


[System]
Age: 15

Wish: "I wish to sacrifice my life, to bring my family and friend back to life, and then use my death for others."

Soul Gem Color: Black, with shades of dark purple.

Powers: Her strength and speed are among the best. She can raise the dead (including, animals, and people) as mindless servants, however, human undead take a blood sacrifice (Not much, and she only uses her own.) There are a few limitations and rules regarding this. She cannot raise anything permanently. The closer to human the undead is the more of it's original spirit can be called up. The older the undead, the harder to call up, and bind, but they are more powerful and easier to control. She doesn't have to summon up zombies, semi-corporal spirits work as well. The big drawback is that she needs the remains to summon any sort of zombie. Her most powerful ability is to bring spirits inside herself and use their strength and knowledge, but only with the spirit's permission. She can also talk to spirits and gain knowledge held in dead brains. She can calm agitated sprits and lay then to rest.

Weapon: Due to her lack of armor, her bones are harder than iron. She can summon scythes, in just about any form her favorites are:

She can summon two of them

Personality:
 Amara is a lot of things, passionate, quick tempered, and caring are three good ones. She is one of those people that always wants to do everything herself. She hate people getting in her way or trying to help her. But, at the same time, she is fiercely loyal and protective of those she calls friends. She can be overbearing at times and, despite trying to hide it, she is very socially awkward. She always trys to help, although she sometimes does more harm than good.

 She has never had many friends, which is why she is protective of the ones she has. Because of this, she often goes out of her way to help even strangers, originally hoping to make a friend, now its become more of a habit or a reflex. She hates people trying to help her, preferring to be more self-sufficient. She is not afraid to come out with her thoughts and say what she wants, which isn't always a good thing. She can be a little rash, charging in without thinking things through first; she is anything but timid.

Bio:
 She was born with death. Her mother died giving birth to her. She was raised in the big city by her wealthy, loving father, who taught her to put others over herself from a young age. She did very well in school, being one of the top students in it. Despite this and her looks, she never made many friends, most of the people around her she saw as shallow and conceited. This lead to many painful and lonely times. Her one joy was her little half-brother. But one year changed everything. Her half-brother died from an strange illness. Her stepmother died, and her best friend moved away. After that, Amara got even lonelier. Her grades dropped, she spent more time alone, she argued with her parent, she just withered.

 Eventually, her father tried to help by contacting her best friend's parents for a get together. They had a fun day at an amusement part and Amara finally came out of her shell. But, on the way back, all of them stopped at a small store to pick up some stuff and stretch their legs. They were on the way out when a man with a gun came in to rob the store. The obviously psychotic man got impatient and decided to shoot her friend. She saw his intent and attacked trying to stop him. He kicked her away and pointed his gun at her and pulled the trigger.
 At the last second, her father jumped in front of her and took the bullet. The unbalanced man got angry and went on a rampage. He killed everyone there except her, because by the time he got to her, the police had arrived and shot and killed the man. a day after that indecent, Incubator came to her and offered a wish and a contract. Heartbroken, and her entire world shattered, she eagerly accepted. She became a Magical Girl, and she soon became known as the Death Seraph.

Theme: Life is like a boat

Other: She loves music of any type.
She is very tomboyish.
She has been a student of martial arts from a young age.
She is an accomplished violinist and she carries one on her at all times.
Her catchphrase is "You cannot stop Death."
She uses foul language often.

[User]
Elise spoke of Kasumii's poker face, "Your poker face is pretty good. Have you been training that, or does it just come natural?", however, Kasumii felt no need to give a proper reply. The two girls then spoke about Akame, and a nickname for her. "Well, I guess Emiri could be Goldylocks, she was a blonde, but that would mean Akame is Arcane. She is good at magic, and I can see how that name is a pun off Akame, but wouldn't something Fire related be better."
"I know, I was just bored. And hey, if you think of a better one I'm right here, listening,"

Elise spoke after Kasumii asked about the strange situation of so many magical girls in one city, "Of course it doesn't. With a professional slayer like me around the block, magical girls won't have enough killing to share around. We'll soon have to fight for the prey,". Kasumii felt like rolling her eyes. A battle hungry fiend, explains the biting from the fight she thought before Rose began to answer Kasumii's questions.

Kasumii nodded with closed eyes, listening to Rose's answer. She had already known about the penetration trauma and that she let her guard down. But then she mentioned the lack of a soul gem. Soul gem? Wait ... did any of them still have their soul gem with them ... Now that I think about it ... But why ... the soul gem ... I just don't understand why. Maybe I should talk with Yuna about what she has found out. Kasumii thought, pondering deep in thought about the missing soul gem.

Rose then sat beside Kasumii, mentioning a nest for Primordials. A nest ... Is there such a thing? What if ... no, I must be overthinking this. This could make things easier for all magical girls ... It is probably not a trap ... right? Kasumii could not shake this sense of doubt in her mind, but she did not show it, smiling at Rose and bowing her head politely, she replied "Of course, it would be my pleasure. Please take care of me and let's get along." She then returned to reading her book, still alert in case anything were to happen, although unlikely. She took notice of her soul gem, a tinge in it's clearness. She was different from other magical girls, since she did not technically exist. Forming a body, coming into "existence" and maintaining the body, required some magic, not much, but over extended periods, it could turn her soul gem black. It had been a long time though, so it was still safe to say, she could stay for a week in this form if there were no fighting involved.

@Ariamis

[Assistant]
Rose smiled and respectfully bows her head to Kasumii, "I am glad to hear that. I would like you to meet up with our leader Akame or as Elise puts it Arcane, But it is getting late. If there was a fight, I might have been willing to stay up all night, but I am tired. I hope I get the chance to speak with you tomorrow, Ms. Kasumii. You know know of us and we now know of you. I am certain we could contact each other if we desired. Farewell and good night." Rose stood up and took her leave of this new magical girl. She still wondered about the power of this new girl.

Before she left sight, she turned back, "Elise, If you still have not made arrangements to stay in this city, you are welcome to accompany me. I have an apartment not far from here. It isn't Tuesday, but it should be fine to crash there if you want." Having completed what she meant to say she left the library.

@Ariamis

[User]
Elise threw her neck at Rose in response."I do want to retrieve my clothes from your pad, Razor. As pretty as your dresses are, they aren't my style, really. Covering up blood ain't the only reason I wear red." She then strolled by Kasumii when she started following Rsoe, but stopped. She took a quick look at the stoic girl. "You should, I dunno, speak up, or something. You aren't much of a presence as you are." She then left the building, and teleported back to Rose's little Rosecave for a night's rest. A lot did happen that day, and she did make a new friend the only way she knew how. The next morning she would change back to her own clothes, but for now she decided to spend the night in Rose's garb.

@MarsAdept

[Assistant]
Miyako arrived back outside the warehouse to find everyone gone, the Primordials having long since vanished and everyone else having long since fled. Which was annoying, given that one would assume that other magical girl might be courteous enough to stick around. Well, she would just have to warn the others the next time they met, so they could be on the lookout for her. She wouldn't allow this mysterious figure to use anonymity to benefit off of their hard work, not if she could help it.

In spite of this, she did a once over of the place anyway. Who knew if there might be evidence that could help them track down this primordial nest they were supposed to find and kill. The sooner they got on that, the quicker things could get to normal. At least in her mind anyway.

Sadly, that came up for naught. Which probably wasn't that much of a surprise anyway, since she wasn't even sure what sort of clues she should be looking for in the first place. She did, however, find a bag cast off to the side, as if abandoned in a hurry. Given the location, it most likely had been.

"HM? Who's this belong to then?" Miyako was quick to inspect it, opening it up and looking inside, and her eyes widened in surprise as she found that it belonged to Sora. No way, she'd been here? What kind of stupid luck was that? Well, it didn't seem like she had contracted, so that was good. But now she had to worry about keeping her secret. and wasn't that just swell.

She shrugged then, picking the bag up after she had stuffed everything back inside and closed it. "Well, I'll get it to her tomorrow," she said to herself, fully intending it. She didn't know where Sora lived, and it was late. Showing up with the bag now would be something of a hassle, and invite even more questions that she wasn't ready to handle at the moment.

With that done she headed off, taking to the rooftops as she moved towards home, using her powers to make up for lost time. She didn't want to be too late after all, and if she had to walk then it would be a practical guarantee of that. She'd change back before making it there, but for now she ran. It had been something of an eventful day, and right now she was merely glad for the powers that let her run along the rooftops as she headed for home. Who said that being a magical girl didn't have it's perks?

[User]
Night soon turned into a new day and with it, more promises to come for the future. It was Friday meaning tonight would be beneficial for Primordial hunting. A perfect opportunity for any sane Magical Girl. But school came first and Akame quickly got prepared for the last day before the start of the weekend. She had offered to give Amara a place to sleep in her apartment, an obvious sign of trust on her part.

Whether the girl had accepted, Akame couldn't quite remember given that she had headed straight to bed after the events of last night. She had made a quick stop to Emiri's apartment, putting a flaming barrier invisible to human eyes around her friend's corpse until her and Rose could deal with it indefinitely tonight. If any Primordial or Magical Girl dared to move around their friend, they would get more than just a burned hole through their soul.

"Akame Natsuko, I'm glad that you're awake."

"Contractor? Is there something you need?"

Usually the fluffy creature would be their physically at the end of Akame's morning routine but today it chose to contact her via psychic link. Raising an eye to this, the flaming Magical Girl quickly got her bags and headed off to school.

"I just wanted to inform you of great news! I took a look at all of the Primordials slain last night and none of them seemed to drop any of the black stones."

"Really?"

To be honest, she hadn't even noticed. Well maybe that was a sign that the Primordials would be destroyed permanently then. Or maybe it was a clue to finding the Primordial nest. Whatever the case was, she was interrupted in her chat to find Yuma waiting for her at the front of her school's gates.

[Assistant]
As the two other magical girls said goodbye, Kasumii nodded and waved, keeping silent. With the two leaving, she continued to finish reading her book before retiring for the night. Fading into an invisible mist, loomed over the city, without presence, and became unconscious. And with that, night passed and soon the day came.

With the sun rising, the consciousness of the non-existent magical girl started to come back. Looking down on the city, she could see students leaving for school, and adults leaving for work. A part of life she could never truly be a part of, not that she ever technically was. And even if she were, she would bring misfortune to those around her, as evident before she stopped existing.

With not much else to do, she decided to head back into the library and read some more books. It was a pastime she could enjoy, as it was peaceful, and did not involve getting close to others.

[User]
Amara declined Akame's offer and headed to her own apartment. She hailed a cab and gave him directions to her place. The cab pulled up in front of a big, century-old wooden boardinghouse, which was divided into several apartments, and in a quiet neighborhood. It was made almost entirely of wood and creaked and groaned with the wind. Amara loved it. It was a place with a history. She walked down the stairs to the basement, unlocked the steel framed anti-burglar door, and slipped inside.

 Once inside, she flipped the lights on and surveyed her apartment. It has one larger room used as the general living room, which holds a small kitchenette and a fireplace. A door lead to a bedroom, which had an adjacent bathroom. In the floor was a hinged door that leads down to the subbasement. It consisted of one room. Her T.V. and furniture were second hand, but still in good condition. The carpet that covered the floor was worn, but clean. The whole place was relatively tidy. A small, calico, fuzzy kitten, curled up on top of a bookshelf, got up and stretched at her entrance. It jumped down and started to rub it's head on her leg and purr. Amara bent down to pet the kitten.  "Hey, Sebastian, been holding down the fort while I've been gone?"  The kitten mrowed and padded over to his food dish.  Yeah, yeah I get it.  She put food in his bowl and gave him fresh water. Suddenly tired, she quickly changed and went to bed. She was asleep almost instantly, with Sebastian cuttled up behind her knee, purring like a car motor.


[System]
Ritualist

Age:31

Gender: Female

Species: Human(ish)

Appearance:

Lenya is a tall Germanic woman with straw blond hair. She is pretty, although her high cheekbones and angular features seem to conspire to rob her of true beauty. She has a hiker's lean trim build which bespeak many years of alpine life in her native Austria. Although her eyes are a piercing blue, they are usually kept behind the half moon glasses she wears to aid her with her reading.

Lenya dresses conservatively in stylish but expensive clothing with a particular affection for tailored suits. She is frequently seen carrying a small leather briefcase in which she keeps her research notes and ritual tools.

Despite having lived in the United States for several years, and her best efforts, Lenya has been unable to eradicate her crisp Austrian accent.

Background: Lenya grew up in wealth and privilege in southern Austria with her sisters, mother and grandmother. It is no accident that her family was one of the few to avoid destruction and ruin in the turbulent years following the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire. At some point in the dimly imagined past Lenya's ancestors gained magical powers through a bargain of some sort. Ever since that day the women of the family have been blessed with certain occult powers. Over the centuries they have grown in power and sophistication through careful training and research.

The female members of the clan stick together in order to create an effective coven for protection and the use of rituals. Men in the form of husbands and lovers are occasionally associated with the coven but rarely remain in the picture for long. Each member is taught the lore of the clan from birth and encouraged to experiment and add to the knowledge of the group.

After receiving an excellent education by the traditional means of expensive private tutors. Lenya attended the University of Innsbruk and earned first a bachelor's and eventually a PhD in Anthropology. During this time she traveled the world, particularly to the old German Colonies in Papua New Guinea and Micronesia to conduct field work. This field work provided an excellent opportunity to gather lore about ritual traditions in far flung corners of the world to add to her family's impressive collection of grimoires.

After a scandal involving the disappearance of certain valuable cultural artefacts, Lenya left her post at the University of Innsbruck to conduct field work amongst the tribes of the Penobscot in Northern Maine and Southeastern Canada. During this research she first encountered Wells and Raich.

The firm sought out the Penobscot regarding a troubling Wendigo which had been transgressing cultural taboos. Intrigued, Lenya joined the investigation and helped to lay the beast to rest. Since then Wells and Raich has frequently employed the Austrian both for her ritual skill and her knowledge of far flung magical traditions

Current Life:
Lenya had been a guest of the Penobscot for over a year before she began to work for Wells and Raich. After this association became more formalized she purchased a property on nearby Islesboro. She has spent an enormous amount of money, wire transferred in euros with no questions asked, to rebuild the ancient stone cottage into a modern dwelling. Many of her particular requirements, including floors inlaid with strange silver designs, windows at precise spacing and angles, vast skylights and oddly but precisely carved doorways, have set tongues wagging in the small island community.

Lenya spends a good deal of time socializing with other Wells and Raich employees and is always eager to add more to the voluminous notebooks she keeps in neatly handwritten German.

Personality:
Lenya is a driven and professional woman and approaches every situation as an opportunity to learn. This occasionally backfires when people get the impression that she is looking at them like a disector looking at a specimen.

She has a natural caution and tends to underrate the ability of others while overrating her own. She is friendly and personable and willing to help other people out, particularly if this leads to them falling into her debt. The coven mentality means that she is willing to do what is required to help the team succeed and tends to view morality as a luxury to be consumed after survival is assured.

Lenya is almost obsessed by the development of arcane knowledge and power. Her goals usually line up with Wells and Raisch but there is little doubt in her mind that she and her sisters take precedence over any other allegiance.

Lenya has a close relationship with her sisters and frequently calls on them for advice and support in her enterprises.

Following a childhood accident in a hayloft Lenya has a fear of fire and of being burned. She is also somewhat uncomfortable in the presence of men, having spent most of her life among women and then in an adversarial academic environment where her gender counted against her.

Schools of Study: Ritualology/Alchemology

Specialization: Thaumaturgy, Hexes, Arcane Artifice, Brewing.

Spells: Most of Lenya's arsenal is ritual based and cannot be produced on the spot.

Fortune's Favorite: Lenya has access to certain hexes which can be quickly produced. These twist probability and chance in her favor or against others. This temporary alteration in probability has to be balanced out later, either by careful ritual dispersal or by a catastrophic equalization of bad luck.

Upon a Starry Mountain - Lenya can cause localized intense wind and storms, particularly if the weather is already bad.

Abilities:

Swiss Army Witch - Lenya has a truly impressive mastery of ritual magic, particularly Thaumaturgy. All of these rituals take time however and thus are not always useful in a crisis.

Arcane Artificer: Ritual craft requires the creation of ritual tools, as such Lenya is well aquainted with the construction of certain classes of enchanted items. She is also able to use these to 'macro' rituals for later use. She is reluctant to share these items with team mates without great need.

Coven: Lenya is one of five sisters and can draw on their knowledge and occasionally their assistance in her endeavours. This works both ways of course which occasionally causes problems for her teammates. Only one of her sisters is currently in the US however and they have their own projects to attend to.

Old Money: It is probably better people didn't ask where it comes from, but Lenya has substantial private means.

Academic Alchemist: Lenya has an interest in alchemy and maintains an extensive lab at her property on Isleboro. Her interest is in understanding her rituals in this new medium. As a result these potions are a little unreliable and have an unhealthy experimental dimension which is not always appreciated.

Trust Me: Lenya is naturally engaging and can augment this by the use of simple rituals and glamors.

Total Recall: Lenya can use her ritual skills to achieve a near eidetic memory of past events.

Combat Virgin: Lenya has no particular interest in or aptitude for physical combat, and much prefers to boil someone's blood from the comfort of a ritual circle. She views guns with a europeans suspicion and will require significant instruction from her teammate to become proficient in any kind of face to face combat.

The Lure of Knowledge: Lenya is fundamentally motivated by a quest to gather arcane knowledge for herself and her coven. This has in the part led to some questionable tactical decisions.

Equipment:

Little Briefcase of Horrors - Lenya carries a briefcase with a variety of ritual implements including knives, blood, incense and other equipment.

There Aren't Many Like it but This One is Mine: Lenya carries an athamae which was custom made for her on the day of her birth. It's exact origin is a carefully guarded secret of her coven and she keeps it concealed within an expensive fountain pen.

Rings on Her Fingers and Bells on her Toes: Lenya wears hand crafted jewelry of silver and polished copper. She uses these as vehicles for rituals performed earlier. The materials are expensive and time consuming to prepare.

Point and Shoot: Lenya has recently purchased a glock 9mm because the internet suggested that this was the best choice. It is currently considerably more dangerous to her than to the enemy.

Make a Note of It: Lenya is never seen without a notebook and pencil. She keeps notes obsessively.

[User]
Brushing the last few specks of ice-crystals off the metal knob, Coal twisted the handle, unaffected by the cold metal, as he swung the door open, flinching as it hit the wall with an unintentional bang.
Cerberus' first instinct was to leap off Coal, and scurry up the rickety stairs, the creaks and moans of worn-wood echoing throughout the home. Taking slow and careful steps as if the place might fall down on their heads, Coal's dark eyes wandered into and between the gloom, the light that filtered through the door was pinkening quickly and night would soon be upon them, which would without doubt cause the temperature to drop drastically. They would need to work fast if they wanted to come out of this with all their fingers.

"Luz Bruxa", Coal murmured through tight lips, a flare of golden light filling his open palm. The yellow light pooled onto the floor, casting long, dark tendrils of shadows across the knotwood-ridden walls, that coupled with the utter stillness and silence giving the place a strong foreboding mood.
But Coal was now headstrong, determined to prove himself as a capable witch, and proudly strode into the room. "I'm heading into the kitchen, everyone else, help along and look for clues with me" Coal ordered the group, "Imagine that, Coal thought to himself, "I just gave my first order!". A sense of pride swelled in him as he dug his non-glowing hand into his bookbag, drawing out what looked like a small little brown bag, tied together with string.
Undoing the knot, he sprinkled out what seemed to be glitter all over the floor that vanished as soon as it hit the floor. "Rainbow Dust, detects the presence or making of magic. Better safe than sorry," he replied to one in particular, before stuffing the bag of Rainbow Dust back in his bag and heading off into the kitchen. The Rainbow Dust he left behind remained undisturbed, whatever being was behind this spell was long gone, at least now they'd know when the caster would come back.

Entering the kitchen, Coal was hit instantly with a pang of uneasiness, there was no life in this room. No mice or cockroaches scurrying away, no cobwebs with half a spider's meal, the place was by no means tidy, just sterile. A carpet was haphazardly spread onto the floor, the cupboards were shut but cans of frostbitten beans and broken packs of instant noodles littered the floor, a fridge door was left open, with stacks upon stacks of ice melting inside the malfunctioning fridge. The whole place smelt of ice. Dry, stings the lungs, and utterly unpleasant. The only thing in half decent condition was a table laid out in the middle of the room, with no chairs around it. The table itself was old, made of rotting wood and a shorter leg held up by a phone book, but on it were bits of paper, decorated with ink and small, neat handwriting.
Wishing he had taken the second floor with Cerberus instead, Coal raised his arms again, his fingers dancing in complicated strokes, spreading his arms in a grandiose manner, he bellowed "Baaz".
Cuboards banged open, cans flew out, chunks of ice ricocheted across the room, and the stacks of paper fluttered about like cooped up birds, struggling to arrange themselves neatly. By now, everyone in a one mile radius heard him. "Sorry!" Coal's voice quipped from inside the echo chamber disguised as a kitchen. What was supposed to be a simple spell to show everything in the room was taken too literally. Every object not nailed down was now neatly organized in a grid like pattern on the floor.
Sometimes, having a lot of power can be a nuisance. "Wild magic is witch magic," said Coal, a frequent line he used to excuse immense screw ups such as this.
"No need to dwell on mistakes," he assured himself, "There's a mystery we need to solve!".
Taking deep breaths, Coal approached and looked over the neat mess. Nothing he hadn't seen before.
Soup cans, cans of peas, cans of corn, cans, cans, cans. One might think the owner was preparing for an apocalypse (well he or she wasn't far off). More dry food, newspaper clippings, and..

"Oh, what's this?"

[Assistant]
The stomping was now very audible to even a normal person's ear. Jaklo sheathed Legacy holding his shotgun with both hands. The blizzard was letting up, the eye of the storm was getting close to them. The group was pretty much in empty countryside. There were a couple farm houses and woods a few hundred yards away. Standing over it all there was a being of pure ice. It rivaled the size of the nearest trees clearly putting it at about twenty five to thirty feet tall. There was a dark mass in its center probably the catalyst of its creation. The best guess Jaklo had was this was a golem, a giant very angry ice golem. Jaklo's eyes dilated and he grinned with monstrous glee.

"Lock and load. Hunt's on." Jaklo laughed sprinting to the right of the creature.

He kept moving unloading into the right shin of the golem. The dragon's breath let out a roar just like its namesake as it sprayed a bright orange flame. The golem's leg had huge chunks blown out of it, but within seconds the spaces filled with snow and then turned into ice. It began swinging at Jaklo, but it was pathetically slow. At the same time Jaklo knew one good hit would likely break his visage, and a second was death.

[User]
Lenya concealed her horror behind the practised calm of a ritual practitioner. It didn't do to show shock or fear in the midst of a ritual which might take hours to complete. Coal blundered into the house without as much as a hesitation. She held her breath for a moment and was vaguely disappointed when no explosion, spell or demon tore from the building to shred the young witch.

She ran a number of 'kids these days' style comments through her mind. There were few schools or institutions of any kind when it came to magical learning. It seemed depressingly common for youths to be reckless and full of their own power, convinced that their magic made them invulnerable. There might easily have been something as mundane as a hand grenade or other explosive trap on the other side of that door. Mundane enough to get one or more of them killed. Perhaps it would be best to view Coal as a sort of forlorn hope, like in Napoleonic times.

Reluctantly she followed the others into the house. Briefly she touched Azai's shoulder.

"Let's hear it," she concurred with Max, keeping her eyes on the house.

"If our reckless friend there hasn't already ruined whatever you had in mind," she added dryly, pulling her coat tight around her slim body.

"If there are any watchers or alarms, they are certainly triggered."


[System]
Dragon Steel Wand
Enchanted Steel Magic Wand (+5 MP)
Steel Dagger (1d6 + DEXmod)
Leather Armour (+1 DEF)
Ragged Black Robes
Moldy Wooden Staff
Gender: Male
Species: Aves
Class: Black Mage
Level: 2
EXP: 0

Stats:
HP: 8
MP: 10
Defense: 3 (+1 from Leather Armour)
M. Defense: 7

Strength - 10 [(6)3-1 + 2]
Endurance - 3 [(1)2-1 + 1]
Stamina - 4 [(3)1-2 + 2]
Agility - 15 [(5)5+2 + 3]
Dexterity - 12 [(5)4+1 + 2]
Magic - 14 [(4)3+3 + 4]
Wisdom - 13 [(3)4+3 + 3]
Spirit - 13 [(6)3+1 + 3]
Intelligence - 17 [(6)3+3 + 5]
Luck - 13 [(6)2+1 + 4]

Bio: Trey was born and raised in a village up in the mountains. It was built at the top of one of the highest peaks. This, of course, made it almost impossible to reach for those incapable of flight. Because of this, most of the residents were Aves. Any other species would probably fall to their death trying to get there, including humans. For years, the village remained untouched, and was almost completely safe from human attacks.

Eventually, the village elders started to get wary of the humans passing by below them. If one of them found a way to scale the mountain, it would spell disaster for every single one of them. They decided that they would have to be prepared for these attacks. They began training the young Aves in the village, so one day they would be able to fight back against the humans.

Trey hatched shortly after the elders made this decision. He was taught the basics of black magic at an early age, and as he grew older he began to improve. He was far from a master, but he could hold his own in a fight. He eagerly waited for the day his training would be put to use, thinking he could handle whatever the humans threw at him.

One day, his training was interrupted by the sound of a horn echoing through the village. He instantly stopped, knowing what it meant. Humans were attacking the village. He flew out to the outskirts of the village, along with several others that had been trained to fight humans. It was a small group, so he thought it would be an easy fight.

He severely underestimated how strong they really were. One by one, the humans picked off the Aves that were attacking them, until only a few remained. As soon as Trey realized that the humans were winning, he tried to fly back up to the village to get everyone to evacuate, but it was too late. A human archer spotted him, and shot him out of the sky before he could get there.

He lied on the ground for what felt like hours, barely alive. He only survived because he happened to get lucky. The humans didn't notice that one of the Aves lying at the base of the mountain was still alive. Then, a little while after they left, a group of trolls that were passing by decided to examine the wreckage. Luckily, one of them noticed that Trey was still breathing, and rushed him back to their camp.

As far as he knew, he was the only one who survived the attack. After thanking the trolls who saved his life, he headed for the nearest village. It wasn't nearly as secure than his original home, though. The humans tore it apart within a few months, forcing Trey and many others to re-locate. This cycle was repeated many times. He never tried to fight the humans, since he knew he wouldn't be able to do it on his own. Before he could even think about fighting back, he needed a group.

Abilities:
Phoenix: When at 0hp or less (though, must have more than -10hp), has a 5% chance of revival every three turns. Once revived, remaining health is determined by a d20 roll, with 20 = 20hp. Can be used once every long rest.

Skill : Focus - May randomly increase INT for duration of combat.
Ability 1 : Magic - Cast Medium to High level Back Magic. Cannot cast ultimate magic.
Ability 2 : Bluff - Lower all enemies defense by 5% and Increase Intelligence by 2%. Stacks up to 5 times in battle. Can be used twice per turn.

Wields: Wands, Daggers, Bows/Arrows.

Spells:
Fire: A basic fire spell that starts a fire underneath your opponent's feet, can cast it up to 30 feet away, but must be able to see an opponent you're casting the spell at. Cost: 2MP. level: 1/1. Damage: 1d6 + (stat modifiers)

Thunder: A basic lightning spell that sends sparks at your enemy's location, can cast it up to 30 feet away, but must be able to see an opponent you're casting the spell at. Cost: 2MP. level 1/1. Damage: 1d6 + (stat modifiers)

Fira: An improved fire-based spell that causes a fire within a 10-foot radius from the point where it was cast. Can be cast up to 30 feet away, and doesn't require you to see who or what you're casting the spell at. Cost: 6MP. level 2/4. Damage: 2d6 + (stat modifiers)

Helper Mote: produces a small magical ball of floating energy to assist in fetching or sending objects up to 10 feet away from the caster. Mote lifts up to an object weighing up to 2lbs at maximum range, with up to 5lbs at close distance (1 foot away). Cost: 1MP. level 0. Damage: 0

[User]
Soon after my rude encounter with the brown bear I found myself thinking straighter, my tongue stopped stumbling in my teeth. The reason was clear, acquiring a class seemed to enhance my capabilities. Testing my new found prowess towards bows, I found that my accuracy and damage would drastically fall beyond 20 feet even against my immobile targets, trees. After a series of tests I came to understand my basic strengths and weaknesses, but lost several arrows in the process.

As I didn't want to end up as my unknowing benefactor, I decided against hunting into the forest. Looking in the vicinity of the perished hunter I managed to find a small path. Hoping it would lead me outside of the forest , and lead me it did. Some twenty minutes later though music could be heard and a few minutes later the smell of alcohol and food filled the air.

At the cover conferred by the dwindling light of dusk I drew nearer to the camp. Keeping his bow in hand he peered from a bush at the people gathered, multiple races, most if not all of them considered nothing but monsters by humans. In the camp I could distinguish mostly civilians, there were but a few that were armed somewhat better than novice adventurers.

Taking a leap of faith I carefully backed away from the bush and after a brief detour I made it seem that I came from the same direction as they. Making sure to make my self visible and not seen as a threat. Thus I hung my bow over my shoulder and looked for someone I could ask about the caravan. A yellow scaled Kobolt seemed to be in charge of this whole transmigration. He was dishing out orders about setting camp.

Thinking it would be best not to disturb people at work I decided to talk to him as soon he was less busy. Until that moment arrives I sat down at the edge of the camp.

[Assistant]
Dorisma simply grunted and began getting to work. Though her tribe did not use tents she herself had used them several times while traveling and was rather experienced with the whole process. She grabbed a pile of them from one of the carts and set them down on the ground. Them she grabbed one and began the rather admittedly slow, process of setting them up. Dorisma had little in mind for plans of organization instead simply planning to set them up next to each other until there were no more tents.

She did not ask for help nor did she require it. Dorisma sniffed her nose disdainfully at those getting drunk and singing, and they wondered why the humans found and killed them... "One watch humans and one watch girl." Dorisma said bluntly to no one in particular while setting up the tents. She gave an inward sigh, she really did sound stupid when she talked, perhaps she should practice tonight by herself.

[User]
Deravan looked at the group and sighed softly. He looked at the mayor and shaked his head.
"Asking us to work to make tents as well as guarding you guys... and the smell of alchool... now you wonder why humans find you and kill you easy..." he says in a low tone, looking at the mayor with a annoyed look before starting to work on the tents, helping the others out, getting the materials needed for this. He shakes his head. He looked at Robert.
"I know we are suppose to save them, but with what little we received and how we are threated..." he says, shaking his head.
"They need to learn to have a bit more respect and be able to work for themselves a bit more." he then says. continuing to place the tents up. He hoped they would arrive soon and that there won't be lots of trouble.

[Assistant]
Most of the civilians were getting drunk and singing, which posed a problem for the group. It could easily attract some unwanted attention, which, considering their limited defenses, wouldn't end well. Unfortunately, shutting them up wouldn't be an easy task. It had to be done, though, otherwise they might not make it to the stronghold in one piece.

 It was starting to get dark, and the mayor ordered them to set up the tents. As much as he didn't want to take orders from the mayor, Trey obliged, since most of the townsfolk were too drunk to do it themselves.
"I hope you all realize how much danger we're in." He said to the rest of the group as they set up the tents. "Just listen to them. Anyone who comes anywhere near our camp will know exactly where we are. As soon as we're done with this, I'm going to try to quiet them down. I probably won't be able to do it alone, though."

[User]
I was about to volunteer to watch out for humans, but before I did, the mayor called out for the some of the guards to take the first watch, I then tried to help Dorisma, but by the time I got there, the tents were already set up, albeit somewhat haphazardly placed. After that, I looked for the princess, who was already being watched by two more guards. I then finally take notice of a new goblin in the camp, an archer, apparently, and I introduce myself "Oh, hey there, new guy, my name's Robert, and apparently everyone around here thinks I'm some sort of hero because I helped save the town from a human knight, or something," I then ask "So... who are you?" after that, I start looking around for yet another party member, R'lyeh, who I couldn't locate. I stop one of the citizens who followed us, a drunken ogre who was complaining about something in his native tongue, and ask him "Uh, sir? Do you know where the fish man went?" he laughs and says "Fish man leave while ago. Said something about 'swelt-ring heat', and 'drunken nin...something or other'. Probably back at sea," unfortunately, that seemed like something he would have done, especially if the drunkards were picking on him for not wanting to or not being able to drink with them... as well as being what he was.

The mayor seemed to actually listen to Trey, and he called out for everyone to be quiet, and oddly enough, most of the civilians did... well, sort of, they seemed to be mumbling and whispering to one another like younglings whose mother told them to shut their mouth. Of course, that was still preferable to the loud singing (if you could even call it that) and shouting that happened earlier. I then wondered exactly WHY there weren't already humans around here, after all, this seemed like one of their paths, and we weren't too far away from it, as unfortunate as that is. The ogre from earlier started stumbling towards Dorisma, and he started mumbling something in their native tongue again, of course, even I could tell from the tone of his voice that what he was saying was probably some sort of pickup line. I already knew that she wouldn't do anything with him, after all, I could smell his beer breath from here, and it wasn't what I would call 'pleasant', or even 'bearable', considering how much closer she was to him right now than I was.

[Assistant] Dorisma sighed, not this again. Just because you were an ogre didn't mean you had to act stupid and be drunk all the time. Smiling she sauntered towards him and hugged him somewhat roughly with one arm. Then proceeded to sharply rap on his temple with her other fist, probably harder than she should have. Assuming that the orge was knocked out, after all she was rather confident in her own strength, Dorisma pushed him to the ground lightly and grabbed one of the tents, lifting the whole thing off the ground and moving it further away from the group of tents and placed her stuff inside. She checked outside briefly before going inside and setting up her bedding, then laying down. Doubtless the majority would go to sleep in a couple of hours without setting a watch and then she would go outside and make sure they stayed safe during the night.

[User]
As I was waiting for a chance to talk with someone in charge, a kobold donning red armour took it the chance to greet me instead. Not sure what to take from his phrasing, since he seemed to have great disdain towards the title. "Sorry, to have bothered you with my humble presence," I retorted to his self introduction with just a hint of sarcasm. "Name's Rou and as you've probably guessed I'm a Ranger..." as he turned his eyes from me and started speaking to someone else I could feel I was being ignored. Thus I as well turned away from him, in order to walk away.

'That went pretty well' I retorted to myself. I don't think highly of my capabilities but the way he acted really got on my nerves. Wandering where I could find the kobold that was ordering the red mage around earlier.

[Assistant]
Thankfully, the mayor heard Trey, and got the townsfolk to quit down.
"That honestly was easier than I expected." He said. "Anyway, we've got a long journey ahead of us tomorrow. Don't hesitate to wake me up if you need someone to watch the camp."
Trey went into one of the tents they'd just set up. He tucked his head under his wing and began to drift off to sleep. After a rather eventful day, it felt good to finally get some rest.


[System]
Username: VKAllen
Age: 216 (appears to be 24)

Gender: Male

Race: Elf

Origin: The Xacrines

Profession: A member of a Sacred Order of the Xacrines Forest, "Nightbird's Sentry"

Weapons:
Hand-and-Half Sword, "the Visceroy"

A bastard sword crafted from the finest metal of the Nightbird's Sentry forge named 'Xespurium'. It keeps a balanced and agile weight level while maintaining a keen edge with optimum flexibility and excellent rigidity. The tang is surrounded by ancient oakwood scales wrapped in red silk braids and half bronze wire wrapped to its round, pear shaped pommel. The scabbard too was of fine craftsmanship. It is a wooden core scanbard wrapped in leather with beautiful silver fittings with carvings that depict the Nightbird's Sentry sigil and the deity in which they align themselves with, the Owl.

The blade itself, fullered to an acute point across half of its full length was grinded by hand from coarse to extra fine levels. While the entire body of the blade remained satin, the edge was polished finely that it practically is able to reflect light that makes the sword "blink" under the sun.

Longbow

Quiver of Barbed Arrows

Appearance:

Airdan stands 6 foot and 2 inches adorned with raven black hair and eyes belonging to a pair of beautiful amethysts. Like any elf, he is tall and lithe with muscles trained for endurance and quickness of foot rather than brute strength. His profession has also earned him many scars from wild beasts or sometimes monstrosities as a result of dark magic. The most prominent of scars is a long thin scar on the upper sode of his right cheek and diagonally across his left cheek. Other scars are hidden beneath clothing.

Personality:

"What's the meaning of life? Drink and be merry. Maybe bedding many women too! I've still got many many years!"

If you had believed that elves were the stoic and headstrong kind of individuals, it certainly would've broken every stereotype that is not Airdan. The lighthearted trait had come as a blessing in disguise for Airdan during his travels for many years. Most of the Order had the mysterious and silent tonality was outshined by his seemingly friendly and open attitude that opened unexpected doors at times that their pride would obstruct their advance. This is not to say that he doesn't follow the Order's Code-- in fact he does.

Short Biography:

The Nightbird's Sentry's task was simple; to keep the balance of the Forest. Guided by the Owl's immense wisdom, they traverse the thick bushes and dense forestry to carry out their tasks. Their abilities to blend into the background was unrivaled to the naked and untrained eye of typical outsiders of Xacrines. This level of camouflage was necessary to take down the anomalies that dare threaten the forest.

Airdan is a member of such Order. Operating close to 200 years mastered the path of tracking the forest and also becoming the forest. His achievements within the Order were not notable but consists of smaller ones such as adhering to the Order's Code.

He also traversed outside of Xacrines often, visiting the Solarian capital Estiala to pay their respect to the King and also as a holiday zone for many elves taking a break from their duties.
Other Notes:

[User]
She remembered the first time she had fallen in love.

Her lover's embrace was as gentle and lulling as a babe's lullaby; she could never get enough of the soft hymns being sung close to her ear, and how the warm feelings flooded her stomach when she saw her beloved's first smile of the day. It was so bright that not even the strongest storm could make her emotions disappear from her memory. Jocelyn could never imagine a single hour without her sky. It was there since her birth and was watching from above as she grew into a full woman. And when she finally got the opportunity to join the Valkyrie, she felt overjoyed. It had always been her dream to fly on the back of an eyrie-- she imagined soaring close to the soft, fluffy clouds on a beautiful blue day, and raising her hand so that her fingertips could touch the sun.

It was more difficult than she thought, being part of the Valkyrie. There was always something to do; scouting, hunting, spying, charting some distant, unknown, and possibly nonexistent land... the work never finished. But Jocelyn loved it. There was never a day where she would drift off to sleep in her own boredom, or idle around Loralis while waiting for work. And, if the time came where she would finish her duties ahead of time, she would fly.

Jocelyn grinned, her fingers curling into the cotton-like, downy feathers of her mount. The dappled, black eyrie soared the skies with her atop his back. His wings did not beat as often, as Sirus had found a wonderful tailwind to glide upon. But her eyes did not rest on the overcast skies just above her, as they always did. No, they looked below, at the stretch of wasteland underneath them. From above, Ecros appeared nothing more than an ocean of dry sands mixed with patches of dead grass. Sadness hung heavy in her chest as she remembered the days where Ecros blossomed with travelers and the grassy expanse of land was as gorgeous as ever. But after the Astrax-Estialian conflict, it all changed, and it was destroyed... along with legions and legions of Xororian men and women.

But she was there not to gaze upon the charred corpse of a once beautiful country, but to find the shady and slimy desert town that was known as the Far West's capital. The general of the Estialian Valkyrie had told her that there were rumors of revolts being whispered in the dusky taverns of Ecros; it was to be thought that people were disgruntled with their King Cassius, and wanted to rid of him. Jocelyn didn't know why she was sent alone. Usually, there would be a group of two or three members of the Valkyrie, and they would all protect each other on a mission.

Jocelyn and Sirus made a landing close to the town's borders. It didn't take long for her to dismount and gather her belongings before making her way towards the rickety cluster of civilization. Her eyrie knew not to follow that closely; instead, Sirus once again took to the skies and flew low. She could feel her trusted mount's eyes bore into her, making her relax a significant amount as she entered the city. She did have someone to protect her, after all.

Dust and dirt darkened her plated boots as she rested a hand on Dawnchaser. The blade was extremely useful while she was on Sirus' back, but now that she was on the ground, it was difficult to protect herself with it. Fortunately, Jocelyn considered herself adept at swordsmanship, and she believed that she would be able to defend herself rather well if she had to.

The sight of the town's infrastructures made chills crawl up her spine. Most of the buildings were created with sturdy wood, and many of them towered over her head like some sort of beast. Well, I'm here, Jocelyn thought. Now, where do I even start?

[Assistant]
Wren had arrived in Ecros long before the sun had risen as to not startle many people with his large tiger form pulling his cart. He knew his kind was not the most welcome of races in many places but most seemed to tolerate him if he had a decent amount of goods to sell, which is why he still traveled from city to city. This was his life, the one he had left his tribe for just after completing his right of passage. He was in love with traveling, he was fascinated by all the races, especially those he would never have any chance of meeting back home. He held no fear of the orcs or hatred toward Solarians. Everyone was a possible customer in his eyes. He had to make money somehow and he couldn't do that by limiting the amount of people he sold to. So he did not discriminate and instead treated every race with the same amount of respect he would toward his now tribe members.

By the time the sun began to rise and the city began to wake Wren had already found a decent place to set up his cart, sticked with preserved meats from many of his hunts, something he was sure would sell well here. He also had furs though he limited his display as this was a hot area and he was sure his furs wouldn't sell well here, they sold better in cold areas but most likely not here. Of all his traveling he had never come to Ecros, he had to gather more items to sell through trade before he could come to the wasteland or far west as many called it. Because of this he had a decent amount of other supplies such as yarns, dishes, leathers, and weapons. Most of which he was sure he would be able to sell here for a fair price.

He stood alone in the hot sun a while as people wondered by him, some inspecting the items as they passed and others ignoring the cart all together. It wasn't until the city really started to wake up that he started making sales and trades. It seemed people were slightly weary of him first but the more people started to come over to his cart the more they seemed to get comfortable with him. He smiled and bartered all the while, loving the interaction with the people. His ears twitched at every sound, constantly moving so he could hear better, and his tail twitched in response to his mood. It was a good day so far with Wren and he hoped it would stay that way. He wasn't looking for trouble and he certainly didn't want to be forced to do something to scare away his customers. He would stay here until his cart was mostly empty and move on, if he had not trouble here.

[User]
12 years ago

Octavian ran through the streets of Loralis, ducking and dodging passersby and market stalls as he explored the labyrinthine structure of the streets. His clothes, ragged and baggy had picked up so much dust and dirt throughout their time in his possession they had turned an unsightly shade of beige, a stark contrast to his pure white hair that draped down his shoulders and back.

He clambered up an empty fruit cart, using it as leverage to ascend one of the shorter buildings in the city. Minutes past and he had finally reached his destination atop the local church. He peered out over the city, watching the people milling around like ants in a maze. He raised his head, staring almost agape at what he had come to see. The many beautiful castles of Loralis. His eyes changed from a look of awe to one of determination as he vowed to one day own one of the castles and sit in amongst the nobility.

Present day

Octavian's pale white horse trudged over the final dune of the journey as Octavian removed the keffiyeh that had protected him from the harsh heat and sand of the Ecrosian borders. Earlier on in the journey he had traveled in a much lighter attire, but that proved unwise due to the bandits that stalked the desert day and night. His armour glimmered in the sunlight, becoming almost incandescent.

He stabled his horse at a nearby inn after arriving at the town, catching many stares from the poorer folk wandering the streets due to his noble appearance. His hunt began now, for once not for someone to kill or capture. A friend of his had informed him of good job opportunities within the city and had urged him to travel there as soon as possible. Now that he had arrived, Octavian suspected he was just trying to get rid of him.

[Assistant]
The equine snorted the dry air into its lungs, feeling its coarse heat by the tip of its hairs and trampled the sands uncomfortably while its rider shaded his amethyst eyes with leather covered hands looking farther into the desert's seemingly-never-ending course. He too snorted the dry air and felt its coarse heat by the tip of his hairs. It didn't help that he was pale and sweating heavily underneath the hooded garments he had donned. The saddle of the equine contained empty waterskins... Obvious that he had traversed the deserts for more than a day and found little signs of direction for where he needs to go. All he knew was the direction he came from amd that he needed to go the opposite way. "Ssshhh..." He stroked the mane of the horse as it gently calmed down. "Not long to go. We've been at it for days, Ecros should be near."

The two continued to travel at a normal pace, drinking few gulps of water as they traversed the desert eerily alone. Not a single soul could be seen across the vast sands. The sword was uncomfortably sitting in the scabbard. It moved and grooved along his waist as if it too was begging for a bit of water to cool itself down; though he didn't. The air was still coarse, felt by the tips of their hair.

Finally! As a sigh of his deepest relief, he was able to see Ecros. Or at least, what's left of it. The equine felt the relief it needed as well, hearing its rider squee happily it picked up its pace into a small gallop and circled towards the entrance of the town-- deserted. No guards or any gatekeepers. He was reminded of the coarse heat that he felt by the tip of of his hair. The shimmering sun that penetrates the skin and dries the eyes. Nobody would want to be barbecued by the sun. At least not in Ecros. He passed the main entrance and gently rode himself towards the nearest saloon where he quickly dismounted and landed with both boots kicking a dust cloud, dirtying the elegant elven craftsmanship and threw the rains over a pole with a trough filled with water. Or so he thought.

He pushed open the saloon doors and darted quickly and jolly to the bar bearing a grin and a puch filled with coin. "Bartender! Hurry and bring forth cold ale! Tis a day to celebrate the ridiculous travels of one to arrive here in Ecros!" He sat by the stool nearby and turned his back to see the people around him; weathered and tanned in appearance with some wearing very light and white attire. He threw down his dark green hood to reveal pointed ears and thoroughly wet with sweat and greased raven hair; features typical of an elf among the midst of solarians. The people's eyes scowled at him as talk begins to arouse. Of him, or his kind.