[System]
ABSTRACT: A painfully creative young woman that has a tendency to get along better with inanimate objects and materials than people.

APPEARANCE: Twenty-three years old, 5'8''. Pale with thick,short, wavy black hair that just touches her jawline. Dark eyes and a lean physique. Scars along her fingers and hands.

DETAIL:
History: Currently, she helps out at her Father's shop and maintains her own on the side. Lee works with precious stones and gems for the most part, polishing, cutting them and engraving them. She's very good with her hands, using her skills for a variety of jobs that range from decorating the hilts of weapons to cutting the smallest gems for jewelry. Her own shop has more to do with the art she creates with paints and her thread, trinkets she makes out of colored glass and sits out for people to see.
She rarely goes outside but if she does she tends to either spend the time alone of with her two younger twin brothers and teaching them about their surroundings or collecting materials for her new project. Her father is almost always busy and her mother passed away of an illness shortly after the twins were born, so she takes on the maternal role in their home.

Personality: Lee isn't against being with others or conversing with them but she is soft-spoken and worries too much about what people may think of her. She prefers to stay in her or her father's shop, singing to herself as she works through the day. While she's a hard worker she doesn't mind to throw the occasional afternoon away to just laze around under the warm sun. She's caring and fairly intelligent, but can be very protective when it comes to her family.

[User]
It wasn't long after she joined Blank on the high bluff above the meeting point that Nikki spotted a distinctive glider. Eli, flubbing the landing as usual. "C'mon, we should get down there," she told Blank, but the young man outright refused. The cliff was a perfectly good launching place, and it didn't have all those people. She pouted but to no avail. "Well, fine, you stay up here if you really want to. I don't want to miss it if there's an announcement or something. But you better not go too far without me, got it?"

With that, the excitable woman pulled out her glider and opened it, plunging off the edge of the bluff and sweeping downwards toward where the crowd waited. She aimed for Eli -- the younger boy would doubtless gravitate toward Blin and Rahna, if she'd missed their arrival. A grin spread across her face as she noted where her shadow lay -- approaching her friend, it trailed behind. Perfect if she wanted to give him a scare -- and why not? Nikki chuckled to herself and changed her angle, dropping down a few yards earlier than her initial intention. The rest of the distance she covered in a quiet dash, until she was /right/ behind Eli. "Yaaah!" With a shout, she jumped him, completely disregarding the backpack in the way. It'd mean finding purchase for an impromptu piggyback ride would be difficult, but knocking him over would work just as well.

[Assistant]
Sera got up and leaned on her self-made halberd and then stuck out her tongue and made retching noises and motions. "Byah! You're disgustingly obnoxious with your insufferably chipper morals..." Exasperated Sera huffed and turned her back on Gaius and walked away.
The short girl didn't get very far before greeting Rahna, who had just arrived as well. She knew that girl had the heart of an adventurer, but her knowledge of medicine, even if she was only a trainee, would certainly come in handy.
She was in the process of waving her over when she spotted something happening.

The girl that perpetually had annoyed her, to a degree, when she was scavenging for salvageable items in the ruins from time to time pounced on a boy she had seen around Rahna a lot. However, he didn't seem to be able to handle the impact and toppled over and both, boy and girl, fell into a heap of limbs.
For a second, Sera managed to control her self, her hand pressed onto her mouth, but she just couldn't stop it for long.

"Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha bwahahahhahah!" With a loud clang her halberd landed on the ground, because she just couldn't physically hold it anymore and Sera went down kneeling over in laughter.
"Gahahha! You two look so stupid! Bwhaha!"

[User]
Blin "Brytag" Alborse

Blin shook the sleep out of his eyes with a quick shake of his head, it wouldn't do to be this late especially as he got up in the middle of night to be here. A quick look still showed him that gliders were arriving around the area where the balloon was floating. He checked his glider and gear, giving them the quick once over and took off to join the launch. He hoped it wasn't too late, almost wishing his glider was sleek and swift like Eli's, but then it wouldn't be able to carry the goods he would normally transport.

Still out by a good five minutes, he spotted a crazy glider taking off from a buff and speedily heading straight into the gathering crowd. Just at the last second the glider folded, Blin hoped no-one was hurt, but it looked like that Nikki's glider. The girl could be so much more nicer if she wasn't always cusing trouble to those around her. He hoped the were no injures there, that would be a bad omen for the quest start. he took a slow descent, landed well clear of the people gathering, tethered his glider (since it didn't collapse) and made his way to see who else had gathered.

[Assistant]
Gaius Stronurr

The Meeting Point

 Gaius shook his head with a faint smile. You can't win 'em all! Not immediately, anyways. Surprisingly, not everyone was a fan of Gaius' do-gooder attitude and charismatic demeanor. He thought it was preposterous! Why would anyone find him obnoxious? Well, aside from the ever present 'clanking' of his armor, and his deep, hearty voice- Hmm... Maybe he wasn't as charming as he thought.

 Moments after Sera told him off, two guards approached the meeting point and alerted Gaius to their arrival with a pair of loud shouts. "Sir Gaius! We've brought it!" They uttered, heaving what appeared to be an oversized glider. Except, it wasn't really a glider? No, it most certainly was, but not in one piece. They each carried a disjointed wing over their shoulders, with a strange pipe-like latch that bent front their undersides. This was it! A pair of wings stretching a full 3 meters when assembled! The ultimate heavy-duty flying appendage, aptly named the 'Gaius Glider' for its hardiness! What a stupid name.

 Gaius waved the two guards over with a creaking swing of his right arm. "Ah, there you are!" He called out. The both of them positioned themselves behind him and began the preparation to make their over-sized captain airborne. The glider he used was far too hefty for most to handle, given its sheer size. It couldn't even be carried around properly without splitting it in half. "Careful around my pits, fellas!" Gaius warned, raising his arms up. The soldiers folded the under-side bars out and attached them to Gaius' shoulder joints until they clicked into place, tightening them with several bolts, both at his shoulders, and where they met the wings themselves. "E-Easy!"

 When they were finished, Gaius was fully equipped with a massive set of iron-set wings that sprung from his soldiers, turning him into a variable Gaius plane. His personal glider was far from agile, and he fell much quicker than most others, but the fact they he was able to get off the ground at all whilst in his bulky set of armor was a feat in and of itself. "Thank you kindly, gentlemen! Now-" Gaius turned towards the edge of the cliffs and made his way over. "I don't suppose everyone is here yet?" He roared, turning back to the crowd behind him.

[User]
Lee was just waiting for Kelari to respond when she heard two men approach the group with a large metallic machine. Her brows lifted at the sight of such a large object. But then she realized it'd be carrying Gaius and it all made a little more sense. It reminded her that soon, they'd be heading off to the surface and she licked her lips nervously. Stepping away from Kelari with a soft smile, Lee padded toward the man, disregarding the loud shout. She didn't answer the question because she assumed he was competent enough to see who was here for himself. Rather, she approached him wanting to ask a question. Seeing as her own glider had been collecting dust in the back of her house in the shed for the past three years, she was hoping Gaius would provide knowledge of a different way of getting to the surface.
"I'm sorry, Gaius? I don't have a glider and I was wondering if perhaps you could--"

[Assistant]
Gaius Stronurr

The Meeting Point

 "Give you a ride down? Of course, Lee!" He blurted abruptly, quickly positioning himself in front of her and bending forwards. Before she had a chance to react, he'd already grabbed hold of her calves, and yanked them up towards his waist. Hopefully she had the mind to latch on to his shoulder-guards, lest she fall backwards and crash head-first into the hard ground. "This sturdy contraption can surely handle a few extra pounds! Besides, I could use somebody to help me scout ahead of everyone else, I reckon its dangerous down their with only one set of eyes," He inferred, immediately turning towards the cliff-side once again. He smiled under his helmet, almost too excited to restrain himself from hopping ahead of everyone else without warning.

 "We're heading out first!"

 Gaius shouted his announcement with intense vigor, not even turning back to confirm whether or not anyone had heard him. He slowly backed away from the cliff-side, preparing himself for a running-start...

[User] The minute Lee heard those first few words come from Gaius, she felt her breath hitch. About to politely decline Lee opened her mouth and tell Gaius that's not what she wanted, she got the breath knocked out of her as he just grabbed her. If her instincts hadn't kicked in, she would've bent backwards at this point and cracked the back of her skull on the hard ground. Possibly killing her. Lee's brain reeled, not understanding what was going on and what Gaius was doing, her nails scratching against armor and her fingers barely finding purchase at the man's shoulders. There was a thin sheet of sweat already forming on her brow and along her neck, her heart beating loudly in her chest as she tried to understand what was going on. Her voice seemed trapped in her throat when she made an attempt to call out to Gaius. To anyone for that matter. Her anxiety only increased as she realized that the man was going to jump off the edge. Jump off the edge with her in-tow.


[System]
Appearance: Emerald is a light-green-skinned Gem that is only about 4 feet tall. He wears a plain dark green tunic that doesn't have any decorations or faction-identifiers (Like the star for the Gems or the Diamonds for the Homeworld Gems so far revealed in the series.) This is because his development was cut off and he was awoken without aesthetic completion. Has glowing circular light green eyes that emit beams of light similar to a very bright green flashlight beam.

Gem: Emerald

Gem Location: Right below where the neck meets the torso.

Emotional Strength: Rather determined.
Emotional Weakness: Sadness/Depression.

Power: Can turn into a statue made out of grayish rock with green shiny speckles. It looks like however he does the second before he became a statue. Is incredibly durable and might make for a decent weapon in Amber's case. The statue CAN be broken, but it is many times tougher than rock. It is similar to retreating into a gem in the case that it can be used for healing, but it is likely to exhaust Emerald if used frequently. When Emerald comes out of the statue, gradual chunks fall off of the statue until it reveals him.

Advanced Armor: See the above, but moldable into armor shapes and, instead of having to dismantle it, he has to keep it into it's formed shape. Emerald currently can't do this.

Terrakinesis: Can control his special rock that is statue is made of. This is set aside from the others because he can make things out of it. VERY VERY LIMITED. Not practical in any battle situation whatsoever, better for making long-term structures or just very tiny things.

Weapon: Curved saber with a pommel that can switch between a full hand-guard or just a handle. It is the color of healthy grass, the handle/guard being the same color.

Weapon Power: None

Other: Uses male pronouns. Was grown in Earth's Kindergarten (the big one) but not influenced by anything, due to the site being abandoned before he was "finished". Also, likes repairing or tuning/tinkering with things as a frequent hobby.

Can't handle being insulted, even as a joke, and tends to start crying. A lot. The reason could be potentially blamed on the possible side effects of making a gem that isn't finished. Also, he doesn't really know what anything is. This isn't a deformity, he just hasn't been outside of his hole in the Kindergarten.

Door:

Normal Emerald^

Warning: teh falwining b much very importnents
On the states: Normally, these are triggered by these emotions being present, and these states hold onto them as well as reflecting the emotion. More than one is possible at a time, in which case the personality and appearance are a mix of both, but ones that directly conflict are not possible.

Happy: Appears to have lighter clothing, with a faint glow. This state is one of perpetual optimism.

Holding a Grudge (For lack of a better word): Has a yellow stripe on his left arm for each person he is holding a grudge against. This often combines with:

Paranoia: Emerald's eyes emit a blinding yellow beam of light, which at it's dimmest is still very bright. Very jumpy, scared of things that aren't there, very suspicious of anyone he doesn't trust.

Sadness/fear:Emerald turns a dark turquoise, with his clothing turning dark green. A bit depressed. Easily frightened.

Anger:Emerald turns dark green, and his teeth are sharpened. Highly unstable and vicious, even towards friends. Thankfully, this state is also extremely unlikely to occur, and if it does appear it usually doesn't last.

[User]
Soapstone - Kindergarden

Soapstone almost sighed in desperation, it was interaction after interaction! Listening to all of this talk was just getting tiring for the gem, he just needed to get away from these people and their insistent way of greeting new people. So, the gemstone tiredly watched as another stranger seemed to get even closer to him! The small marbles surrounding Soapstone seemed to almost melt against the rubble, dripping into the cracks of the rocks as it almost seemed to go towards nearby gemstones. Though, Soapstone was too busy staring to notice the development from under his feet.

He tried to back away, one foot moving backwards, climbing one step up the rock pile instead of going down. He still stared, disgust almost filling his eyes before the gem began to speak in a rather rapid succession with enthusiasm in his voice. It seemed that the person knew what was obvious, his distrust of anything else was apparent to everyone. However, the rest of this strangers speech did slightly interest him. Being alone was always something that he liked, though the catch was that he would have to live with two people, this enthusiastic gem and some other stranger named Chromite. Soapstone grimaced, he was only recently 'born' into the strange planet for only a few minutes and it seemed that he was already berated with questions of who he was supposed to live with! His mind was racing with decisions, what was he supposed to do with all these people talking to him!?

The voice behind him began to speak once again, his mind seeming to halt to listen closely to this new information. Names was something weird to him, he had only been listening to one name and that was his own... Soapstone actually sounded really weird to him due to how many times he had said it within his mind. The gemstone within Aquamarine's hands seemed to interest the other newborn gem with a sight of curiosity with the thought, "I wonder if I can do that to myself to get away from all these people." However, their seemed to be yet another important bit of information, the strange beings that didn't look like gems seemed to be called... Humans? That's a stupid name, but being the dominant species means that they had something powerful within them, wonder if they have any powers like themselves... Analysis of humans shall begin soon. The last of the words seemed to worry Soapstone, the world is not safe? What kind of ominous quote was that!? Was that supposed to make him feel better about this cruddy situation!? The fragile gem felt pretty tired at this point, the energy draining from his body from all of this new information hitting him like a train. What shall he do?

Soapstone's body began to loosen up, and as his body seemed to relax the material that was released from Soapstone reacted to his mindset. They became less defensive, ceasing to move their way over to nearby gems to attack and now moving over to the gemstone from where they had originated. The material seemed to latch onto the clothes of Soapstone, absorbing back into the gem as he continued to think about the situation at hand. One option, live alone with this Bloodstone and Chormite and hope that they will not bother him too much. Option two, live with this Aquamarine, the seemingly wiser one, but choose to most likely interact with more than two gems than just herself. Option three, ditch option both options and try to live by himself in this strange world... Decisions, decisions.

The gem looked at both Bloodstone and Aquamarine, he could tell that Bloodstone was an emotional type while this Aquamarine was the motherly type. He made his decision.

Soapstone turned his head over to Bloodstone, analyzing him once more before turning to go over to Aquamarine. The deal sounded nice, being left alone was always something that warmed his gem, but he needed answers that this gem obviously seemed to pertain. However, he wouldn't stay with them for long. All he needed was the knowledge of this world from this Aquamarine, and after he is done sucking out the knowledge from her mind than he shall be able to protect himself from the world that he has been living in for so long. When he managed to get down from the pile of rubble, his true height was shown to be an actual 4'6, he wasn't very tall. "Hurry up." He said in a monotone voice, feeling rather fresh now that the little marbles had been reabsorbed into his body.

[Assistant] -Deleted-

[User]
Candice Ghoste and Carnelian

Carnelian and Candice watched Aquamarine and Bloodstone talk to the new gem, who seemed defensive and as though he wanted to get away from all of them, from the edge of the crater. Candice easily spotted the green substance that was coming from the new gem as a sort of defense mechanism. However, Candice was immediately caught off guard by the fact that Aquamarine knew her name. How did she know?! Was her cover blown?! Did one of the Alien Leaders know why she was there in Mohs Town to begin with?! If that was the case than that would mean that she would have to either leave immediately or....

She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw that Aquamarine had turned and walked towards her. Candice didn't move a muscle as the blue woman approached her, never daring to show any sign of the anxiety or tension that steadily increased with every step that Aquamarine took towards her. She didn't tear her hands out of Aquamarine, and allowed her to carefully place the snowball in her hands. She looked to her as she spoke, her suspicion about where Mars was confirmed, and yet she was relieved to hear that he would be alright. After she made her request, Candice nodded and promised "I will," She lifted her second hand off of the snowball, worried that her body heat would melt the snowball and adversely affect the healing that Mars was going through.

So it didn't seem as though the blue alien was suspicious of her still...So maybe her cover was still intact? She didn't ask as the new gem approached them and made his demand to Aquamarine. Carnelian, who had been watching and listening to the entire thing soon spoke up, "Dahling, that was quite rude! There's no need for that kind of speech," She then pointed out "You haven't even introduced yourself yet. Speaking of which, My name is Carnelian,"

[Assistant] Bloodstone was honestly, dumbfounded. This gem that seemed to hate interaction, decided to go with Aqua, where there would be tons of people. Why, why her Bloodstone just couldn't wrap his head around it. "Wait, wait... What? I offer you a safe and quiet place to live, perfect for a gem that seems to want peace, and yet you chose to go where there will be 9 to 12 gems not including any humans. I get that I didn't give you my name but I assumed that wasn't something you would worry about. So, if you don't mind me asking, why her? What makes her option better? Blood looked down at the small gem and couldn't help but wonder what was going through this gem's mind.

[User]
Aquamarine was in complete surprise when the newborn gem told her to "Hurry up" and it wasn't at the rudeness as Carnelian had put it. She was just utterly shocked that the gem had even decided to come with her or wanted to follow her in any way. Bloodstone had what she thought was the better offer, seeing as she was offering a place to go with many Gems and she offered that route out of the worry that he would stay in the Kindergarten, not because she thought the Gem would choose her over Blood. She never believed the Gem would pick her straight off the bat if ever so she was puzzled and apparently she was not the only one. Blood spoke up, asking the newborn why and she found herself just as curious to know the answer. The newborn gem didn't know that he would have his own room to be way from the others if he pleased and as far as the Gem knew they could be packed very close. She hadn't said anything worth while that she knew of.
She remained silent, wanting to hear this answer clearly.

[Assistant]
Soapstone - Kindergarten

As Soapstone barely listened to Carnelian, he responded to her opinions with a rather harsh statement. "I don't care to give out my name to any random has-been, and introductions to strangers are pointless. If you stay away from me, then we'll just be fine." The gem didn't even move his own head to face Carnelian, his attitude was already pissed due to the amount of people surrounding him, and the constant struggle of people talking to him. Flexing his shoulders, still trying to get used to this physical form, Bloodstone seemed to announce his own misgivings about Soapstone joining the other side. For this one, he decided to look at the confused face of this gem, he guessed that him offering that pretty decent plan made him have a light respect for him. Although, Soapstone was still for the plan to learn about this world, and most likely find a spot to hide once again in the earth.

"To be honest, I liked your plan of leaving me alone. It sounds nice, but I have other things to worry about rather than being secluded for now. I need to know certain things to better my chances of being left truly alone, and this lady seems to know something about this world that will allow me to better my goals. If you have something better, than I will surely join with you, but you have shown me nothing to change my mind since I had been 'born'."

Crossing his arms with a raised chin, Soapstone knew that if this Bloodstone truly wanted to him to join than he would do something, but if he was only some half assed attempt to get him to join than this man would just be a waste of time. So, he was waiting for Bloodstone to make his move.

[User]
Information, the newborn wanted information. And he still went with Aqua. "Kid, I have an entire battleship filled with gem technology, logs dating 10,000 years back, and I have personal information on this world since I'm the Commander that led the gems here in the first place. I'm the one that organized your very creation. If info is what you seek, and training on how to handle the creatures of this world then I am the best bet for you. I'll do my best to leave you to your privacy but all you have to do is ask and I will lead you through every bit of history this world has. This one doesn't even know what happened the last 1,000 years since she was in her gem." Blood backed away while explaining this, making arm gestures the entire time.

Blood looked at Aqua and then at the others in the area. "If you want friends and love and affection and all that, then go with them, they can offer that. But if you want information, or survival skills, or a higher understanding of who and what you are, then come with me and I'll show you everything you want."

[Assistant] Emerald opened his eyes, waited a second for his vision to adjust, and sat up....inside a...bubble? What? He easily burst open the bubble, which was no real surprise, and stood up inside.....a room in the temple. Hold up....how did I get here? Well, apparently Aquamarine somehow transported you back here. We've been listening while you were sleeping. Oh great, you guys.... Emerald tried to ignore the fact that the voices were back, and glanced over towards the door. Who's back? I guess I-WE could check. He walked over towards the door, opened it, and noticed...half of the group. He mumbled quietly to himself for a second. "Err.....Amber, Zircon, Spinel, gray shield person..." "Hey guys, where is everybody else?"


[System]
Waldo Maria'Shante Du Blanche
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Animal: Human
Height: 5'10" (178cm)
Hair Color: Walnut Brown
Eye Color: Mocha Brown

Personality:
Boisterous: A loud exuberant man with a constant hunger to be admired. Being a narcissist he absolutely loves talking about himself and showing off his luxurious wealth and power to any who are able to listen.
Collector: Waldo is a collector of all the fine things in life; from paintings and sculptures, to tea-sets and beastkin. He's extremely fond of all things that are his, but in exchange is quite immature and hostile towards those who don't provide him with what he wants.

Background:
Waldo Maria'Shante Du Blanch is a proud nobleman, and is the current sitting head of the prestigious Du Blanche family. Renown amongst his peers as a rambunctious man with a huge appetite, and a lover of the fine arts, he's not quite liked amongst nobility circles, but the amount of political influence he wield combined with the immeasurable wealth he owns makes him a presence which simply can't be ignored.

According to rumours, Waldo was one of the key figures who drafted and supported the idea of Beastkin attending schools. His enthusiasm was so great that he offered himself as both a caretaker and an instructor to the lesser races. Despite his passionate actions, he perceives beastkin to be nothing more than pretty trinkets which would make a fine addition to his personal collection. No one really knows why such a selfishly arrogant man decided to propose equality of beastkin, but those who know him unanimously agree he has ulterior motives.

Kuon

Name: Kuon
Age: 16
Gender: Ambiguous
Animal: Cat (Black)
Height: 5'1" (154cm)
Hair Color: Pitch Black
Eye Color: Bright Gold

Personality:
Discourteous: Sharp tongued and highly critical of everything and anything around them, Kuon has an undeniable tendency to look down on those around them, and has no reservation against making a quick quip to make someone feel foolish or even insignificant. Blatantly frank and uncaring of the consequences of their own words, their only redeeming feature would be their relatively innocent looks, and sense of humor… even if it does come across as mocking and slanderous most of the time.

Competent: Kuon is highly competent in almost anything they attempt; from simple academics to household chores, they proudly boast that there isn't much they can't achieve once they put their mind to something. Unfortunately it usually takes awhie for Kuon to get serious about anything, and like most cats tend to spend their time lazing around unless something absolutely must be done.

Background:
It is not uncommon in Almaston for Beastkin to be owned and traded amongst the wealthier families. In Kuon's case they were the product of two prestigious families wanting to breed their reluctant pets. Though when Kuon was born, neither of the families wanted to adopt the ominous black kitten with an eerie stare. Auctioned off and bought as a kitchenhand for the Du Blanche family, Kuon quickly showed a high aptitude in every task they were assigned, and quickly made their way up the ranks at the young age of eight.

Unfortunately being bossed around by a demanding child wasn't received well by many of the other servants of Du Blanche, and Kuon's relationship with the other servants of Du Blanche quickly became strained to the point they were ostracized from humans and beastkin alike. Despite they're tragic little sob story, Kuon remained largely apathetic to the developments around them. Though the behaviour of their peers, and the irresponsible action of their parents have led Kuon to be quite sour towards fellow beastkin.

Kuon has absolutely no interest in attending the academy as they're quite content with their occupation as a high ranking 'maid' to the Du Blanche family.

Kuon has absolutely no interest in attending the academy, as they perceive equality to be a luxury unworthy of beast-kind. Content with their role in life, Kuon would still be working at Waldo's massive estate had their peers not nominated Kuon to transfer to the Rotting Wheel. While stationed as a servant to the beastkin students, they also serve as the live-in landlord when Waldo isn't present.

[User]
The enormously large human in a painfully garish green tunic that sudden waddled out, throwing things about and speaking far too loudly, was a bit of a shock and Torao stared at him for a moment. I had no idea humans could get so big! He thought. He was slightly alarmed when the human advancd on the smaller of the two bird-girls - she looked so delicate he was alarmed that the human would accidentally crush her. The human's name caused his ears to tilt slightly. Waldo Maria'Shante du Blanche. This was the human who had agreed to lease out the inn to the beastkin who had been chosen to study for the year. I hope he's not staying with us, he thought. He looked at the inn. I'm not sure the floor would be able to withstand the weight.

He glanced at the other beastkin, to see their reaction to this gross human. He caught the rabbit's eye and was slightly taken aback when he flicked an offensive gesture the tigerkin's way. Affronted, he managed to supress his immediate response - screw you too, long ears! -  although his tail lashed furiously. Did the rabbit think because he was so damn tall he could insult predators with impunity? Torao remembered a favourite saying of his grandfather's about large prey animals: the bigger they are, the more there is to eat.

Not that he would try eating a fellow student - after all, that wouldn't impress people, and there was no way he would give humans more so-called proof about the barbarity of the beastkin. He made a graceful formal bow to the human, hand touching forehead, lips and heart as he bowed from the waist. "Master Blanche; I thank you for your hospitality." He spoke politely and formally, with a very slight accent.

[Assistant] Ozzy's attention quickly focused on the large man that spoke a bit oddly especially to the women. He was not fully sure about how he liked this human. He seemed to be more of a dictator than a supervisor. To make his first impression even more not so enjoyable was the circle man's name. It was far to long and confusing for Ozzy to remember or speak. There was a good chance that he was gonna forget or say his name wrong each and every time it pops up in a conversation. Ozzy noticed the small feline approach him. The feline's appearance by their self made Ozzy grin. They were small and cute just like Barnaby. Speaking of Barnaby after the feline confirmed Ozzy's question they questioned him about the living situation on Barnaby and Ozzy simple replied with. "The thanking you and yes Barnaby will be staying here with me." Ozzy gribed largy and put Barnaby down on top of his suitcase. "I am the sorries but I can't help myself!" He shouted reaching out and giving Koun a bear hug and then letting them go. Ozzy even patted the felines head after a few brief seconds of hugging them. "I've never seen such small cute animal before." He stated smiling big and picking his suitcase and Barnaby back up. "I do hope we will be getting in the soons."

[User]
The faint smile that formed on Kuon's lips were barely noticeable, but if one were to pay enough attention they'd notice an unmistakable change in the felines features. The bored narrowed eyes opening ever so slightly, and the empty stone-like expression softening to accommodate a touch of engaged interest that seldom came to the surface. "Good" were the only words that left the feline's lips as Ozzy confirmed that Barnaby wasn't here just to see the larger bearskin off.

Though that quickly changed when the golden orbs noticed Ozzy staring down at him with keen interest. A look of alarmed disapproval immediately blanketing the feline's features as they shook their head furiously in denial.
"Not that I care or anything… I just thought it'd be a pain if you couldn't sleep at night… or something" Kuon blurted, although his tone of voice hadn't changed all that much, the way in which the words clashed together indicated a slight, but definitive moment of chaotic confusion within the cat's mind.

While Kuon was accustomed to much larger men looming over him… thanks to a certain Waldo. the feline couldn't have possibly expected another creature within the realms of the living to act in a selfish fashion much akin to that of Waldo. The booming apology, coupled with the abrupt grabbing knocked Kuon into a state of startled confusion, before the feline immediately began to struggle against the vice-like restraints wrapped around them.

Kicking and flailing and best they could, Kuon even attempted to yell at the bearskin in protest, but the sound was completely muffled against the others form. And despite the ferocious expression of disapproval, Ozzy didn't see fit to put the feline down until they themselves had enough of physically assaulting the furious cat.
"Good, cause it's the last thing you'll see before I claw your eyes out" Kuon grumbled, almost inaudibly as he swiftly scooted out of the bearkin's reach range. The supposedly cute ears pressing flat against the ebon dark hair, while the frizzled dark tail bristled unhappily in an upright position. As loathe as Kuon was to admit it, they'd been after a bear hug… though for starters the wrong bear was involved, and in Kuon's mind the feline had been the one administering the embrace.

---

A ridiculously wide grin also formed upon Waldo's lips as the cast of characters around him began bathing him with gratitude and praise. It had barely been a few minutes and he could already sense how humbled they were by his regal presence. Just one look in their eyes and he could tell the men and women alike admired him for his wealth, power, and of course good looks.

"Nonsense, nonsense my dear little friends" Waldo shook his head dismissively, the curved layers of skin beneath his chin wobbling furiously as he did so.
"And what place does such formalities have between friendship like ours? Please dear children, call me Waldo" he insisted, clapping his hands loudly together suddenly to divert the attention of the remainder to himself. Anyone with a keen eye though would have noticed the delighted twitch of ecstasy in the moose brown moustache, when Ozzy referred to him as "Master."

"I do believe we are a few short, but I shan't keep you beautiful creatures waiting any longer… Kitten!"

---

It was almost as if Kuon had disappeared and then reappeared several feet away within the span of a split second. They're sudden appearance by Waldo's side seeming almost magical, one would almost be forced to consider the possibility that there were two Kuon's… though the hostile glare of disapproval shot in Ozzy's general direction indicated there was none other.

"Pleased to be of acquaintance" Kuon started, bowing their heads respectfully at the group, as they lifted either side of their maid-skirt in a polite curtsey. "My name is Kuon and I have humbly been tasked with the role of making your stay here as pleasantly comfortable as possible."

Taking a quick breath, there was a hint of practiced ingenuity in the feline's voice, but the tone wasn't disrespectful enough for others to immediately pinpoint that the feline didn't mean a single word they were spouting.
"The Rotting Wheel Inn as you may have noticed consists of two floors. The first floor consists of a leisurely lobby area, dining and kitchen… When you enter the building you'll noticed a flight of stairs taking you up to the second floor. There are four… ensuite rooms here at the Rotting Wheel, and my benevolent whale of an overlord… ahem, has allocated you all with a room and a roommate."

"As you climb the staircase;
The first room shall be shared between Sir Lapis, and Lady Yennifer…" Kuon paused, glancing at the two mentioned individuals in turn as Kuon had already looked over photo-attached application papers, memorizing the names and details of each resident had been the first task they'd busied themselves with.

"Room two shall be shared between Sir Torao, and her Highness Nixie… who appears to be running late." Kuon added, not even giving the first pair a chance to argue being arranged into mixed gender rooms.

"Room three shall be shared between Sir Barnaby, Lady Tenne…. and Sir Ozzy… I suppose" Kuon continued, the façade of politeness cracking completely for a moment as golden eyes glanced over at the bearskin with evident distaste.

"The final room shall be shared between Lady Leda and… another who has yet to arrive…. If there are any pieces of luggage you would like me to take up to your room, please leave them in the lobby, and I shall take them up within the hour. I sincerely hope you all enjoy your stay here at the Rotting Wheel, and look forward to serving you will patient diligence… as I'm sure I'll be needing it." The last part was whispered, but stated loud enough for all to hear.


[System]
Age: 19

 Magic: Trinity's Magics -

Energy Make (A Rank) - Caster Magic. Lost Magic. Taught by her father. Trinity molds energy into a state where it can interact with matter. She can manipulate the qualities of this energy-substance to be immaterial or material, and what kind of discharge contact with it will give. She can create a discharge of force, electricity, heat, and light. Pain is something she achieves through heat, electricity, and moderated amounts of force in odd directions. Unless she employs a special technique, she can only vaguely control Energy Make objects she is not within five feet of. She can cheat and create wires, though.

Energy Make can absorb energies, though this may render the energy 'substance' difficult to contain.

Bard's Legerdemain (A Rank) - Caster Magic. Taught by her mother. She can use this magic to play any instrument within 100 feet of her without touching it. It will float as needed, and may even move with her as she moves, but she cannot control an instrument expressly to move it. On its own, this magic must be used to perform. She can do something like play a single note and it counts, though.

She can cheat this a little bit and combine the magic with Energy Make to make an instrument. She creates a blueprint of the instrument and uses Bard's Legerdemain to give it a shape. She doesn't really understand quite how it works, herself. She describes it as imprinting something within the magic of Bard's Legerdemain onto the Energy Make. Trinity can conjure into existence any instrument she knows how to play. She can even create unique, custom instruments, though these creations require more magic power than a generic instrument.

Arrows Magic (B Rank) - Holder Magic, using a magic quiver. Taught by her uncle Weigraf. Trinity can use this magic to conjure arrows to fire as projectiles from a bow. The arrows can take on a wide variety of effects, from exploding into a chunk of ice on contact or becoming a bolt of flame, to bursting into a net, carrying a homing signal, or homing in on that signal.

Fire Arrow ★★+, Ice Arrow ★★+, Lightning Arrow ★+, Wind Arrow ★★★★
Love Arrow ★★★★★ (Energy Make Combo) - Love Arrow is an arrow made from Trinity's magic power (with a little Energy Make), and she can shoot it to give strength to an ally. The power of love bolsters and purifies... or something?
"They say loves heals, right?"
Beacon Arrow ★★★ (Energy Make Combo) - Beacon Arrow turns an arrow into a magic beacon, which can be used for a number of things, such as a homing beacon for Homing Arrow.
Homing Arrow ★★★ (Energy Make Combo) - Homes in on the Beacon Arrow.
Net Arrow ★★★★ - Fires an arrow that turns into a net.
Ringing Arrow ★★★★ - Fires an arrow that makes a noise.
Bright Arrow ★★★★ - Fires an arrow that emits light.

Requip (D Rank) - Trinity was taught this magic for the convenience of it, which was the motivation for the woman who taught it to her, her aunt Vivian. As an act of disgust with the woman's purpose, Trinity doesn't actually use it much, but she does use it for certain important items.
Rainbow Quiver - Necessary for Trinity's Arrows Magic.
Midnight Alloy Crescent Moon Staff - Mysterious. Gnarled. The night sky sparkles in the metal of the crescent moon that adorns the top of this staff. It asks for something...

 Magic Level: A

 History: Trinity was part of a minor noble family in Minstrel. She learned music, of course, and found a preference for the harp. Her father taught her Energy Make. She lived a calm, peaceful life, playing with and learning her magic, until a Guild (that was, at the time, a Light Guild) attacked her home. She was rushed to the basement by servants, hiding her away in a shelter below. They later emerged to find her father missing, her mother tearful but strong.

Her mother had instructions from Lord Stratos, and met their daughter with a staff, made from a gnarled branch, with some crescent resting on the end, made of some mysterious metal. She was to take the staff with her and go to her second uncle's home in Midi, where she would learn archery with her second cousin. There she stayed for two years. After, she moved in with her great aunt Vivian in Stella, who showed her how to Requip items, and some "finer points of being a lady," though such phrasing made Trinity scoff. Neither of her parents had been very intent on teaching her manners, so she never saw the importance.

After almost one year with Vivian, Trinity then took to wandering. Living under someone else's roof was too stifling (particularly Vivian's...), and she wasn't used to these people, as nice as they were.

She went west, across Bosco, and into Fiore.

 Personality: Though a bit of a drifter, she's a carefree, sweet young woman.

 Guild: Phoenix Wing
 Team Members: Karn, Fleo, Ariel

 Three Strengths:
 1. Music
 2. Physical Science Savant
 3. Agile, Dextrous
 Three Weaknesses:
 1. Physically meager
 2. Idealistic
 3. Rude? There's a word I can't think of...

 Greatest Love: Life Music
 Motivation: Step 1, find dad, Step 2, bring Metal home
 Appearance: Trinity wears her white hair short, framing a soft face and heterochromatic eyes. One is gold, the other purple. She dresses in cropped and tailored red robes.

 Have we met before...?

 Additional Details: Likes exploring ruins and old magic stuff.

Theme(s): Main Theme, maybe?

"アアチェリのまほう！" [Archery Magic!]

"エエナギ・マアく" [Energy Make]

[User]
Jarvis

Jarvis didn't say anything further. He hadn't meant to make Amelia feel bad, merely, he had meant to help her understand why he cared. He wondered if he was making a mistake, or if Amelia just hadn't had a male figure who cared.

As she grabbed his hand, and asked if he would take her down stairs, he nodded, and gave her a smile, and led her back downstairs, "hopefully things have calmed down somewhat" he said, glancing about the hall, but things did indeed seemed to have died down.

But something had changed.

Sasha

"It isn't the time Lord" Sasha said softly, looking to Lazarus, her expression blank, as she added softly, "He might be testing us, but I doubt he'd look to kill one of us. And he wasn't on the train" She said with conviction, "this is something else" She looked to Trinity, and asked "What else did those people from the magazine say, did they see what he ooked like? Have you seen what he looked like?" She hadn't thought to ask that, until now.

Master Jamie

At Jack's moving movement, Jamie smiled, and nodded. "You do not need to worry. I won't be far. And you may find that you need me, before long" And Jamie was out the guild after that before turning to the magic council woman. "Janice, is it? You can go and tell Masahiko that things are going to get bad. Now, shall we continue? What do you think will punish me, more then I just punished myself? I've already put into motion payment for a better, and more stable council building. Oh, I get it, you're a stickler for the rules. But the thing is, I don't give a damn fabout the rules, if they mean loss of life. I did what was needed" Jamie shook her head, and then leaned in towards the council woman.

Janince leaned back, as if afraid of Jamie, and Jamie grinned. "You won't find me" And Jamie shifted forms, to the little boy, and walked off. By the time that the council woman had reacted, Jamie had disppeared, shifting again, and moving through Magnolia easily.

[Assistant]
Lazarus

His eyelids twitched, before opening. He remembered yelling at trinity, before collapsing from exhaustion. His head felt funny, that was right, Prince had whacked him over the head. His face was white as a ghost, and sweat covered it. "Drink. I had a drink." He croaked.

Shujin

He listened to what was going on. It appeared the group were in trouble. Nothing he could help with as far as he knew. "Sasha... Look at me." He she trying to ignore him but he wouldn't let her. "I know this is a difficult time for you, but he'll be alright." He said softly. "As for him." He looked at Lazarus. "I saw nobody tamper with his drink on the journey here, and I watched for the entire journey."

[User]
Prince
Fiore || Balsam Village || Train Station
@YipeeXD @CirusArvennicus@Lugubrious

Prince flicked his ear toward Sasha, indicating he heard her as called to a stewardess, asking for a glass of water. When he got it, he sniffed at the rim of the glass to double check it, briefly taking a sip himself before humming in satisfaction and started grinding up a purple rose's petals into bits of pieces with his claws. Gingerly sprinkling them into the glass of water.

"Good, means we don't have to run all the way to Mt. Hakobe." Prince hummed as he lightly stirred the water with a spoon while sprinkling some other green cut up herbs he had in his pockets, turning it into a light purple color.

As Lazarus woke up and croaked, Prince hummed. "Oh good you're awake and not yelling at people. Good sign. Drink this, it will help dull the symptoms." he instructed the white clad man on his lap, helping him sit up a little so he could drink.

[Assistant]
Tamashii

A coward" Angelo repeated with a smirk thinking to how many times he got called trash, thief, urchin, coward doesn't seem to be that bad anymore. "I don't know what you want to hear, you weren't the one their dealing with an angry father day in and day out who would beat you almost to death because he was drunk. My mother wanted me to be safe so she took the punishment most of the time is only recently that I paid back my father for what he did. If you ask Sasha she would tell you. You telling me that magic is a curse just seems idiotic to me, without magic we wouldn't even be talking cause I would still be on the streets being for coins. Call me what you will but don't assume you can judge me simply by a few minutes of conversation." Angelo said calmly not getting angry at Josh for anything because anger wouldn't do him any good or prove any point. So long as they worked together Josh could hate Angelo for all he cared

[User]
Wes
Location: Phoenix Wing Guild Hall -> Magnolia

After passing his room key to Jarvis, Wes was about to leave until Penny said her what was on her mind about him. He just stood there and listened as Penny, a guild member he hasn't seen before. There wasn't much that he can say except. "I can understand what you and everyone is saying, and probably can feel the same way. But it's better if I just left the guild. All I truly done to the guild was accidentally help lead it to the wrong direction. For the entire time that I've been with the guild, I would usually enter and leave right away, because I didn't want them to eventually carry my problem if I stayed too long or grew too attached. But even then, I still seem to pass that trouble. It's better if I just leave now before I make things any worse. So for now, I have to be alone."

Right before walking outside, he stopped with his hand pressed against the door. It's better if I just left now, for everyone their sake.

"Good luck Phoenix Wing, it was nice being a member." He said as he walked out and closed the door behind. As he walked towards Magnolia, he noticed a woman pass him and entered the guild hall. No matter how curious he was, he can't be around the guild, not anymore, especially with their recent events and how he left.

[Assistant]
Amelia Averyonna

Where: Phoenix Wing guild hall, central area
Interacting with: Jarvis, Elyse, Rose

Amelia followed after Jarvis down the stairs to the central area, remaining silent the entire time. When they reached the central area, things seemed to have calmed down at last. The woman the guild had been fighting was leaving with someone she didn't know. The woman with black hair was treating herself as a child watched from nearby. And the air in the area was still tense but also had a feeling of sadness in the air she didn't like.
"Something happened." She mumbled.

Elyse meanwhile had spotted Amelia and her wings.
"Mommy, mommy look! Pretty." She said, pointing at Amelia, causing Amelia look at the ground in embarrassment.

Joshua Tamashii

Where: Train
Interacting with: Angelo

Joshua laughed at that.
"I guess the people here are a little soft. Near death beatings? That was a constant in my life too. In the far north, you fight to survive. You learn to fight from an early age and are put in near death situations. If you die, you were not strong enough, though your death would still be mourned." He said, standing up." You must remember this Angelo. A gift is nothing more then a appreciated curse, while a curse is nothing more then an unappreciated gift. It all lies in the eyes of the beholder. To me, I have seen magic give me much and yet strip it all away. So tell me, was it really a gift to obtain it? Or was it a curse for everything that it took away from me?"

[User]
Train
Trinity looks to Nero, away from her harp, and she smiles gently. His perspective on Time Lord was nothing new, but that wasn't what she was focused on. "We all have our masks, Nero. You should find people you can remove it to." When Nero asks her for her wish, she pauses her playing and considers the question for a moment. Her fingers resume their movement after a moment, absentmindedly plucking out a melody. "A wish?" She breathes, taking a moment. "Well, there is someone I'm looking for. I thought that... maybe by looking around on my own, I might find something, but that just got me into trouble. So then I thought... maybe if I join the right guild, I'll find something. What better country to start looking for that in, than Fiore?"

The train began to move, and Trinity stopped her playing, listening and then switching instruments quickly. She begins to play. When she's done setting it up, she ends with the guitar in her hands, turning to Sasha to answer her question.

"I didn't have a chance to ask them, before we had to go because we thought we were endangering them. But, no, I didn't see him at all. He kept himself veiled in a cloak. There was a mark on his hand, I thought... Nero, did you see it?"


[System]
Age: 17

Gender: Female

Race: Faunus (Cat)

Weapon:

The Aurora Ravager is a weapon of two identical energy swords powered by a dust core. Engineered to provide excellent movement speed both swords are able to slice through the air at incredible speeds. Combined with that, they can also fold the first two thirds up to be two energy pistols, which are quite useless in long range combat and are mostly used to penetrate weak spots.

Specialty: Skyra is fast. Very fast. And agile. Both of those features together make her seem like a dancer on the battlefield. Her trademark move is slashing upwards with both blades launching herself into the air, flipping back around, then striking downwards at lightning speed.
However she is absolutely unusable at long range engagements and against flying creatures, not from the ground anyway.
Due to her cat Faunus heritage, she is able to sneak up on her targets without making a sound, which makes her a decent assassin when needed.
In short: If you need a striker, who can quickly dispose of targets in a flash, call Skyra. If you have flying beasts or monsters not reachable by close combat, don't call her.

Semblance: Blade Storm: Skyra channels her aura to manifest around her which starts levitating her two swords and swirls them around herself creating an absolutely deadly whirlwind of blades, which, when cancelled, sends a shockwave out, knocking close enemies off their feet. With her weapons modified to fire arrows, Blade Storm is able to be channelled into the bow to accelerate the arrow to blistering speeds.

Personality: At first glance Skyra seems pretty easy to categorize. An energetic, sometimes pretty mean spirited, tomboy. That is mostly how she will behave in public. In private, however, she will open up a lot more, even to a point where she will constantly hug and snuggle those who are close and dear to her. Don't get her mad, though, or she might go into berserk-mode smashing everything that is not nailed down. When she is in that mode, only a hug will get her out of it before she loses steam.

Colour: Sunrise orange  (Colourcode: F02100)

Emblem: A whirlwind of orange swords

Appearance: Pretty much like this, just her hair should have sunrise-orange coloured tips and black-white furred ears. Also she is rather small, at 155cm ~5'1"

[User]
Delta Snow - "Is this really alright?"

The question was still up in the air. A part of him was grateful that he could finally experience the possibilities of youth, but was it acceptable to move on from the now faraway days which embodied his past? He could have turned back. He could have never boarded or stepped off of that dropship and duly returned to service just like that. A slew of options which would result in him not winding up here presented themselves in his mind. The boy fell out of his trance at Robert's response, it caught him off guard, the last thing he thought the guy would answer. He was expecting something more personal, maybe a quirk people found really odd but he instead viewed it as a positive point.

"Intriguing." Delta internally commented, his interest only grew when the team leader spurred on the conversation. He left it to Eve to formulate a response, waiting on standby to chime in. "Oh, Delta has served in the Atlesian Military for two years. His father's in the higher echelons of the armed forces command hub, so his starting at a young age was inevitable, and delved into arduous training throughout the entirety of his childhood." It sounded a bit cruel at first, the image of a fifteen year old serving alongside men twice his age, some relatives even considered it inhumane.

"He may look like a walking twig, but he'll have your back, even when it's against the wall. I don't mean to brag, but he's hopeless without me~! Like a lost puppy drenched in the rain!" Eve began to chuckle at its own pun without remorse, until it slowly turned around to face a blank stare. "Heh...heh...pleasehavemercy." It was at that point did class finally dismiss, a signal denoting the next one soon to proceed, which he would hopefully be introduced and fully grasp the concept of. Delta tilted his head at his familiar, a minute gesture notifying his companion that it was time to go. Eve took a few moments to wallow and pout before it trotted its way across the desks and finally leaped into the pouch.

The boy stood up from his seat and slipped on his hat in one fluent motion, savoring the chance to stretch out his arms. "Eve went a bit off track and forgot to answer your original question. I don't have any clinically proven phobias." Except for being flung into some social interaction where he had no footing whatsoever. He could already see the windy and contorted road ahead of him. "In requiem, I'm a sniper. At least on paper I am, but I can take vanguard any time you need. You can gauge me at your own leisure, you're the leader after all. I'll go on ahead and snag us a few seats. Who knows, maybe Eve'll get to know to know a few others students?" He briskly stated all of this without the slightest peep of emotion, only making a slight shrug at the last sentence before descending the flight of stairs leading to the exit.

The grey-haired student suddenly came to a halt at the last step and turned on a dime towards his two team members. He briefly glanced at the two and opened his mouth again, "I guess the proper thing to say here would be… The best of luck to us in our future endeavors?" Delta peered down at his familiar, as if he was asking, "Did I do that right?" Eve gave the boy a warm smile and nodded in affirmation. Rather than saluting, he gave the two a sluggish wave before proceeding to the class ahead of them. Hopefully they would chat a bit among themselves, since Grane barely took part in the whole conversation.

After grabbing another can of coffee, with the guidance of Eve, the boy trekked on to his next class. The question still echoed in his head, ceasing to incessantly repeat itself, hoping for a clear and resolute answer out of the very mind it originated from. A hailstorm of words could perfectly describe Delta right now. Uneasy. Uncertain. Anxious. But he also felt glad that he was at ease in these halls. He never had to factor in these emotions prior to his enrolling at Beacon. Upon entering the classroom, his ears already picked up gossiping of the event which occurred more than thirty minutes ago. Delta didn't get to bear witness to it first hand, but he would probably end up asking Eve to project it once classes were done for the day. History had been a cinch to him in the past, so he wasn't very perturbed about his current standing in the class. The only difficult part was finding a few empty seats, but there was a row lying completely vacant. He set his luggage down out of the way of inbound traffic and paced his way over to one of the seats, then treated himself to a sip of his drink while folding his arms over on the desk. "Wonder what's on the agenda for today?" He quietly asked himself, a way of practicing for an actual conversation.

[Assistant]
Cobalt Chideta- To History

Cobalt walked towards History and nodded in agreement. "Whoever did that will pay for their crimes. I'm no man of violence, but I can make an exception when it comes to people like that." A crown had grown on Cobalt's face but he shook his head and smiled.

"Anyways, I wanted to get a few things out of the way regarding our team. I feel like we all got off on the wrong foot after the incident last night, super sorry about that by the way." Cobalt frowned and looked at the ceiling. When he looked down he continued. "I don't know who your last teammate was and I don't think I can replace him. But I'll try my hardest to not screw anything up." Silence followed his words as he tried to think of what to say next. "I haven't given the best impression I'm sure but I'm not a screwup, I'm really not. I'm just a guy who puts way too much thought into things and is a bit softer on the inside than out. So let's start over." Cobalt stopped and reached out his hand to Oswald. "I'm Cobalt Chideta, newest member of team CODE. It's nice to meet you." He grinned and rubbed the back of his head with his other hand.

[User]
Krysthane, Yay learning.

Krysthane wrote down the required homework in her planner and quickly made her was to history eager to see what the lesson was today. As usual it looked like everyone was bored before the lesson even began. Krysthane at the very least enjoyed history, and honestly most of her classes. Looking around for a seat she didn't really see anyone she recognized, Sephia was here but she was sitting with someone else and Krysthane didn't want to intrude so she found a seat by herself and set up her desk for the lesson, notebook already out, the music incident already forgotten.

[Assistant]
Skyra sat up directly facing Mokuren.
"You are pretty unique, yeah. To be honest, at first I thought of you as a pretty strange girl. I couldn't figure you out, but that was exactly what was intriguing for me. Until now, I was always able to figure people out, just by looking at them, but you're different. When I saw you the first time, I felt the need to explore you, to get to know you because you were different. That's why I even noticed you in the mass of people.
Up to this day, I still don't understand you, but that is okay, we don't know each other very well."
Yawning loudly Skyra stretched herself showing the entire extent of her flexibility and fitness.
"Emotions are something awesome, aren't they? And you never really know what emotion it is exactly. Is it just friendship or is it love, is it just disdain or hate and so on. That's the appeal I feel towards emotions. But at the same time, I try to hide them from others, you know. To not be found out that my perceived bashfulness is not really all that real and stuff. That I might be a lot more girly than I let pass."
She giggled.
"Especially when I'm with you, I feel a lot more girly." A hearty laugh escaped Skyra's lips and she gave a quick hug to Moku again.
"I think we should head back for classes again, shouldn't we?"


[System]
Age: 7200 moons (600 years (Looks about 20-30ish))

Species: Vampire

Appearance(s):

Equipment: A large, heavy scythe made of black magic, plate armor

Weaknesses: Photosensitivity, bravery in others

Phobias: Light, holy or blessed items, like crosses

Skills: Ancient weapons (i.e. swords, bows axes, scythes, ect.) hand to hand combat, modern weapons

Levitation: He can float/fly at will, regardless of what form he's in

Vampire: He can drink blood to heal/feed

Nercomancy: Self explanatory.

Shapeshifting: He can change form on a whim, but it takes concentration to stay that way. If it's disrupted, he goes back to his true form

Darkvision: Sees better in the dark then he does in light

Limb regeneration: If given enough time, and enough blood, he can grow back missing body parts

Magic theft: Can drain blood of magical beings to copy their powers. This makes him unstable, and his body will violently eject the powers out of him until he fully incorporates into his form.

Psychic control: Can hold creatures in place with his mind, as long as he stares them in the eyes.

Thrall: If he completely drains the blood out of a living creature, it becomes a zombie under his control. He can choose to make humanoids a vampire instead, but they would be released from his control.
Personality: He is haunting. The kind of monster you'd find in your worst nightmare. His bright red eyes bore into the soul. He is hungry. Always hungry. He must feed. On any living creature he comes across. He smells like blood. Like an ocean of it. It's choking stench follows him around like a second skin.

Other/Backstory: He's searching for someone to fill the void that is his heart and soul.

[User] He holds her.

[Assistant] Mary allowed it.

[User] "What other books do you like?"

[Assistant] Mary blinked. Her eyes soon landed on the twilight series and she turned red.

[User] He follows her gaze, and smiles. "That book is the product of the emotions of a hormone riddled teenager. Werewolves make terrible companions."

[Assistant]
"um....the male lead is a vampire. The werewolf was merely second leading male."
Mary frowned.

[User] "He resembles a vampire, but he is no vampire. We do not, 'sparkle in the light', we burn."

[Assistant] Mary frowned. She looked away.

[User] He sighs. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

[Assistant] Mary nodded once.

[User] He stands up, and walks deeper into the library, searching for a book.

[Assistant] Mary blinked. She sighed and walked up to the shelf nearby. She was soon holding a copy of Cinderella in her hands.

[User] He comes back. "You find a book you like?"

[Assistant] Mary shrugged, glancing at him.

[User] "Want to read it together?" He looks at it and chuckles to himself. "The clean, child version. A much better choice then the originals. Which I have. Original copies, from the Brothers Grimm."

[Assistant]
"um.... I've read both."
Mary looked away.

[User] "What's wrong?" He sighs. Am I scaring her? He begins backing out of the library. "I'm making you uncomfortable. I'll.....I'll leave you alone."

[Assistant] Mary quickly grabbed his hand. She was blushing.

[User] He looks at her and smiles gently, squeezing her hand. "Yes?"

[Assistant]
Mary sighed.
"I....liked the other version....a bit better."

[User] "The original, or the recreated version?"

[Assistant]
"....brothers Grimm."
Mary muttered.

[User] He smiles and nods. "They have such a interesting element to them, but they're so much darker."

[Assistant] Mary simply nodded

[User] "Want me to find them? I keep original manuscripts in display cases, but I'm sure I have a copy around here somewhere."

[Assistant] Mary simply shrugged.

[User] He smiles, and walk deeper into the library, searching for the copies.

[Assistant] Mary was tempted to follow him again but she stayed put.

[User] He finds the copies he made, and picks them up, still in their folder, and walks back.

[Assistant] Mary sighed and waited.

[User] He walks back, and places the folder on a chair. "Found them." He opens the folder, and begins flipping though it. "Which one did you want again?"

[Assistant]
Mary blinked.
"...the...original."

[User] "Which tale?"

[Assistant]
"...grimm."
Mary shrugged.

[User] He chuckles. "Here's the copy I had made." He holds out a thick, bound book, The Tales of the Brothers Grimm embossed on the cover, and he puts the folder into his cloak.

[Assistant] Mary blinked. She nodded once.

[User] He opens to Cinderella.

[Assistant] Mary watched and waited.

[User]
He smiles, and begins reading it aloud. "A rich man's wife became sick, and when she felt that her end was drawing near, she called her only daughter to her bedside and said, "Dear child, remain pious and good, and then our dear God will always protect you, and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you." With this she closed her eyes and died.

The girl went out to her mother's grave every day and wept, and she remained pious and good. When winter came the snow spread a white cloth over the grave, and when the spring sun had removed it again, the man took himself another wife." He rubs her hand as he reads.

[Assistant] Mary sighed and listened. She stayed quiet as she did so.

[User] "The woman had brought with her into the house two daughters, who were beautiful and fair of face, but vile and black of heart. Now began a bad time for the poor step-child. "Is the stupid goose to sit in the parlor with us?" they said. "He who wants to eat bread must earn it. Out with the kitchen-wench." They took her pretty clothes away from her, put an old grey bedgown on her, and gave her wooden shoes."

[Assistant] Mary sighed and frowned at that part.

[User] He glances at her. "'Just look at the proud princess, how decked out she is', they cried, and laughed, and led her into the kitchen. There she had to do hard work from morning till night, get up before daybreak, carry water, light fires, cook and wash. Besides this, the sisters did her every imaginable injury - they mocked her and emptied her peas and lentils into the ashes, so that she was forced to sit and pick them out again."

[Assistant] Mary bit her lip. She continued to listen.

[User] "In the evening when she had worked till she was weary she had no bed to go to, but had to sleep by the hearth in the cinders. And as on that account she always looked dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella. It happened that the father was once going to the fair, and he asked his two step-daughters what he should bring back for them. Beautiful dresses, said one, Pearls and Jewels, said the second."

[Assistant] Mary closed her eyes.

[User]
"And you, cinderella, said he, what will you have. Father break off for me the first branch which knocks against your hat on
your way home. So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls and jewels for his two step-daughters, and on his way home, as he was riding
through a green thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat."

[Assistant] Mary nodded and still listened.

[User] "Then he broke off the branch and took it with him. When he reached home he gave his step-daughters the things which they had wished for, and to Cinderella he gave the branch from the hazel-bush. It happened, however, that the king gave orders for a festival which was to last three days, and to which all the beautiful young girls in the country were invited, in order that his son might choose himself a bride."

[Assistant] Mary simply nodded, etc.

[User] "When the two step-sisters heard that they too were to appear among the number, they were delighted, called Cinderella and said, "Comb our hair for us, brush our shoes and fasten our buckles, for we are going to the wedding at the king's palace." Cinderella obeyed, but wept, because she too would have liked to go with them to the dance, and begged her step-mother to allow her to do so."

[Assistant] Mary frowned. She hated the part that was coming up.

[User] ""You go, Cinderella?", said she, "Covered in dust and dirt as you are, and would go to the festival. You have no clothes and shoes, and yet would dance." As, however, Cinderella went on asking, the step-mother said at last, "I have emptied a dish of lentils into the ashes for you, if you have picked them out again in two hours, you shall go with us." The maiden went through the back-door into the garden, and called, "You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to pick the good into the pot, the bad into the crop."."

[Assistant] Mary frowned upon hearing that part, eyes narrowed.

[User] "Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen window, and afterwards the turtle-doves, and at last all the birds beneath the sky, came whirring and crowding in, and alighted amongst the ashes. And the pigeons nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick, and the rest began also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good grains into the dish. Hardly had one hour passed before they had finished, and all flew out again. Then the girl took the dish to her step-mother, and was glad, and believed that now she would be allowed to go with them to the festival."

[Assistant] Mary took a deep breath.

[User] He looks at her, but keeps reading. "But the step-mother said, no, Cinderella, you have no clothes and you can not dance. You would only be laughed at. And as Cinderella wept at this, the step-mother said, "If you can pick two dishes of lentils out of the ashes for me in one hour, you shall go with us." And she thought to herself, that she most certainly cannot do again. When the step-mother had emptied the two dishes of lentils amongst the ashes, the maiden went through the back-door into the garden and cried, "You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to pick the good into the pot, the bad into the crop.""

[Assistant] Mary narrowed her eyes.

[User] He smiles softly. "Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen-window, and afterwards the turtle-doves, and at length all the birds beneath the sky, came whirring and crowding in, and alighted amongst the ashes. And the doves nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick, and the others began also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good seeds into the dishes, and before half an hour was over they had already finished, and all flew out again. Then the maiden was delighted, and believed that she might now go with them to the wedding. But the step-mother said, all this will not help. You cannot go with us, for you have no clothes and can not dance. We should be ashamed of you. On this she turned her back on Cinderella, and hurried away with her two proud daughters. As no one was now at home, Cinderella went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel-tree, and cried - "Shiver and quiver, little tree, silver and gold throw down over me."

[Assistant] Mary frowned. She always felt bad for her.

[User] He smiles slightly. "Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She put on the dress with all speed, and went to the wedding. Her step-sisters and the step-mother however did not know her, and thought she must be a foreign princess, for she looked so beautiful in the golden dress. They never once thought of Cinderella, and believed that she was sitting at home in the dirt, picking lentils out of the ashes. The prince approached her, took her by the hand and danced with her. He would dance with no other maiden, and never let loose of her hand, and if any one else came to invite her, he said, "This is my partner."."


[System]
Species: Human

Gender: Female

Age: 34

Nationality: Outreman, previously citizen of Angjusk

Occupation: Deputy head of department - Cradle Research & Development

Cybernetics:
* Cradle quick-access implant - Allows access to and from the Cradle environment without additional hardware. This advanced module also reduces fatigue caused by the process, allowing power users multiple entries in a single day.
* Tier 7c 'Cradle Builder' suite - Grants access to the programs created specifically for 'terraforming' the Cradle. Tier 7 out of 20 allows Freyr to auto-build a variety of specialised equipment and propose-build mid level structures.
* Ilyes Brand communication and productivity module - Standard implant for access to Outremer's communications network. Also integrates with many well known productivity tools like a personal assistant, as well as more bespoke scientific tools.

Backstory:
Freyr was born on Angjusk, an older colony than Outremer that was renowned for its military materiel, particularly star ships.

Her mother was an innovations tsar assigned by the government to a consortium of the planet's largest ship manufacturers. During most of Freyr's childhood, her mother's sole task was making sure Angjusk battle fleets were the best money could buy in the Diaspora.

Before she was born, her father owned and operated a series of protein farms across Angjusk. After a chance encounter at a lobby meeting, he was headhunted to co-ordinate the military industrial complex's entire food supply chain. He also met his future wife, as it was Freyr's mother who had recommended him for the job on that fateful day in the lobby.

Freyr was born five years later. Her early life was a whirlwind of schooling, snatches of intimacy with her parents (when they weren't busy) and extended periods with friends. She discovered a natural capacity for learning and excelled in her studies. So much so that she received offers from universities across the Diaspora to come and develop with them.

Her mother and father both pressured her to consider diplomas like Interplanetary Relations or Agrarian Policy. However Freyr was not interested in pursuing a career in politics. Angjusk has been involved in at least a dozen small conflicts since Freyr had been born. She had seen how politicians would destroy entire cultures for the sake of influence, and wanted none of it.

In her first act of defiance, Freyr accepted a position at a school in Babylon, the main city of a far away frontier colony called Outremer. Driven more by the desire to have time away from her planet than by the subjects on offer, she researched what Outremer was known for. It was here that she first discovered the object powering this section of the Diaspora - the Cradle.

She quickly became obsessed with its untapped potential and seemingly unknowable past. She decided to pursue Xenobiology and Machine Intelligence as her subjects of interest, voraciously consuming the knowledge gathered so far on the Cradle.

It was here at the university that she met her future partner, David, who was studying art history. Isolated from her family and friends, alone on a strange planet, Freyr was glad of his unassuming company and kindness. They grew very close over the course of their degrees, and moved in together after graduation. Their daughter Amy was born a few years later.

After Uni, Freyr was picked up by an Outremer administration outreach team and placed in a government career fast lane. Her obsession with the Cradle made her an obvious choice for the Cradle Research & Development department. Once there, she quickly proved herself capable. Several breakthroughs in her first five years meant she was allowed to hand select a team of dynamic young individuals to help pursue her work. A couple more catapulted her into a deputy head of department role, to the ire of some of it's older and more entrenched members.

It was on her 34th birthday that the Cradle abducted her family. It had been acting strangely for weeks prior, rolling back years of terraforming. Freyr had been working round the clock to figure out why, practically living at her field office by the Border. David had bought sweet treats and had Amy with her.

What can only be described as creatures emerged from beyond the Border and overran the camp. A panic spread through the mostly unarmed workers, leading many to flee for their lives. Freyr's last memory of her family was being propelled across the camp by one of the creatures. She could only watch from her position immobile on the floor as they carried off her husband and little girl.

Security forces conducted a sweep of the immediate area beyond the Border, but found no sign of them. So Freyr began looking by herself as soon as her broken bones were reconstructed. Months went by. Her work stopped and her mental health deteriorated. Eventually she was placed on sick leave and her access revoked, after she attempted to use her influence to organise an armed excursion deep into the uncontrolled zone.

[User]
Upon getting their orders, the Tindrel and Qalian-Vosh immediately started complaining.

"This objective is not worthy of the might our fleet brings to bear."

"You'll never be able to hold off two fleets at once!"

"That large object could be their central command node. Destroying that might fold their entire force!"

"We are spread rather thin, Admiral Matir. Not much margin for error." Admiral Stentz added, as the Outreman cruisers assumed a helical formation around each of the core ships and support elements.

---

Aboard the Magnificent Horizon, the science team waited eagerly by their equipment. Freyr stood on a raised platform where she could see almost everything. "Give me topography on Psi-Helios as soon as you can." She ordered.

"Yes ma'am."

Dr Lang looked over at Vreta, who usually seemed to be nearby.

"How are you feeling?"

[Assistant]
"Did you think this was going to be easy?" Admiral Matir answered. Being that they did not age, it was always hard to tell just by appearance how old any given Rothian was. As long as they were an adult, a Rothian looked about the same at a hundred years of age as they did at a thousand. Of course, the personnel files that the others no doubt had would identify Matir as one of their most experienced naval officers, but even without that, the firm confidence he had with every word he spoke gave him a commanding presence.

"We know nothing of our adversary. Should you be wrong about the primary target, then the secondary objectives shall fail, and the civilians we are sworn to protect at each shall perish. We will complete all stated objectives, and we will do so with the resources we have available. Complete your objectives quickly and efficiently, then regroup on my position for the final attack on our primary target. If your ships are truly strong and your crews capable, then show me what you can do. You have your orders."

---

Vreta shrugged, tilting his head towards Freyr. "Well, I've given my speeches. I don't have much else to do but watch at this point. I have to admit, I am a bit excited for what we might find, though. If we find another one of these objects here, on another species' homeworld, then I guess that is pretty strong evidence in favor of the life-seeder hypothesis."

Crossing his arms, Vreta paused for just a few moments. "Have you wondered how many places this might have happened? How much life is really native to the Milky Way? Maybe there is another one of these on Earth?"

[User]
With the gauntlet well and truly laid down, the newly formed battle groups set off in different directions.

The Tindrel planetoid capital ship quickly began charging toward the asteroid belt where their objective was located. Instead of using FTL to jump straight into the battle, it used powerful sub-light drives to gradually build up unstoppable momentum. A helical formation of Human, Rothian and QV ships orbited around it.

The enemy fleet currently besieging the densely packed asteroid belt and factory complex quickly picked up on the incoming hostiles. There were many more individual enemy ships than the joint battle group, but they were spread out across a large area. Closest to their approach were three battleships and a carrier. The battleships launched dozens of plasma torpedoes with bright blue trails. The carrier turned to face the aggressors and fired its primary energy projector, sending a long stream of plasma through space to burn through any ship it touched.

The QV supercarrier adopted an entirely different approach. Its target was surrounding an enormous ring-like installation, the surroundings of which were relatively open. The QV battle group jumped to maximum firing range as a stationary mass of weaponry, then unleashed a barrage of energy projections and plasma torpedoes before the enemy fleet had a chance to bring their own guns to bear.

The gas giant was obviously of strategic value to the invaders. In addition to glassing settlements on its largest moon, they were deploying dozens of orbital rail cannons around the other three moons. They all opened fire the minute the Rothian battle group appeared in range.

The central grouping of enemy forces was staggering. A dozen troop landers were supported by two dozen cruisers and even more smaller ships. The centrepiece was a vast circular command ship, which began launching drone bombers by the dozen.

[Assistant]
Among the Tindrel's battle group, the Rothians had just three capital-class ships, along with some smaller support vessels. All were cruisers, which were the main ship of the line for the Rothian navy. They were general purpose ships without particular specializations, but in keeping with Rothian naval doctrine, still exceptionally capable, high quality vessels. All Rothian ships had to be fitted with the most recent upgrades in order to be approved for service so that they could continue to utilize their technological edge. Such measures were necessary, as it was generally expected that their ships would be outnumbered in any given engagement.

On the approach, the cruisers launched their fighters and positioned themselves in the formation to be able to intercept incoming fire. Both capital ships and fighters utilized lasers in point defense roles. They were short range, low energy, and not suited to deal with armored vessels, but torpedoes could not outmaneuver a lightspeed beam. The Rothian cruisers were among the first to be able to open fire, as their fusion cannons had greater range than most other energy-based weapons. Strictly speaking, the projectiles themselves were also composed primarily of superheated plasma, but they were high enough every to maintain sufficient coherence for a longer period of time, and therefore, over a longer range.

One of the Rothian cruisers positioned itself to trade blows with the enemy carrier. Rather than allow the plasma beam to potentially damage any allied vessels, it accelerated to intercept. It positioned the front crest, by far the most heavily armored portion of the ship, to take the brunt of the hit. The shields flared, glowing almost as brightly as the beam itself, but for the first hit, it left no effect on the hull. The ship returned fire with all forward batteries focused on the carrier, sending out a barrage of blinding white energy projectiles. Though for the other species in the fleet, there was something notable about the ship's weapons. All weapons fire from both sides was, of course, simulated, but the power output they would register from the cruiser's fusion cannons were higher than their intelligence reports would suggest a Rothian cruiser should be capable of.

While all of the ship captains in the battle group were expected to be able to act on their own initiative moment to moment, their overall strategy was meant to be driven by the Tindrel commander in the core ship. All Rothian captains would follow their orders and defer to the Tindrel's instructions, once given.

[User]
"You could run and get me some more coffee?" Freyr smiled sweetly, before continuing.

"Joking aside, if we can find something concrete here, we'll be in a much stronger position to scan other populated worlds. Dr Hou was working on a theory that Human DNA contained clues about another location, because he…well."

"Ma'am, topography is ready."

One relic of Earth's dominion over the Diaspora was Outremer's planet classification framework. All of their software still compared the new planet being scanned with the cradle of Humanity, rather than the world all of the Human scientists present were more familiar with.

Psi Helios was 12% smaller than Earth, and had a broadly similar evolutionary journey too. Larger planets like the gas giant stopped it from growing too fast and being pulled towards the red giant star, rendering it uninhabitable. It had a circular orbit and a stable axis, with a tilt of 17.9 degrees. There was a higher degree of tectonic activity, and about 20% less water, but still enough to make this planet an attractive place for organics to develop.

This was evidenced by the tangled mangrove-esque root system covering 75% of the planet's surface and rising miles towards the sky.

"They sure pick good places to hide." Freyr breathed, putting her AR glasses on as data began flooding the lab.

---

"Ramming speed! All units, close for battle! Tindrel elements, prepare to disengage!" The Tindrel commander of their planetoid ship shrieked over battle group comms.

The group's capital craft was now moving frighteningly fast towards the middle of the three battleships and a cluster of smaller craft coalescing to face the threat. It became obvious a few seconds beforehand that it wasn't going to stop, and planned to smash straight into the fray. If it looked like they might miss, they had the option to enact a small warp jump to adjust course at the last moment.

At the same time, Tindrel cruisers and destroyers were unlatching from the double helix structure protruding from the back of the planetoid and fanning out to begin fighting. The biggest hitters would time their disconnection until they were right among the enemy, so they could attempt a devastating broadside. Outreman vessels had to make emergency adjustments to their attack run to avoid a catastrophic pile up, meaning they lost speed and their tight helical formation.