[System]
Age: 30

Sex: Female

Rank: Striker Commander

Appearance:
Weapons:

Primary: Sniper Rifle System 99-Series 5 Anti-Matériel (SRS99-S5 AM)

Secondary: M20/PDW-Silenced

Items/Gear:

A: Fragmentation Grenades (2)

B: Explosive Charges (2)

C: Flash Bangs (2)

History: (CLASSIFIED)

Personality: As a Class Four Spartan, Andromedai has a will of iron that is matched by her steadfast determination to thoroughly eliminate all hostiles that threaten the UNSC and all of Mankind. Some may call her reckless, but in truth she carefully plans out each of her actions before swiftly putting them into motion, there is no room for mistakes upon the battlefield. When upon the battlefield, she is straight minded and tactically sound. She will carry out her orders swiftly and to the letter but also stand among Team Rogue Seven, no matter where it will take her. At times, she can be unpredictable, using her creativity to overcome whatever challenges that are tossed her way. While not on a mission, she can be seen as a friendly, sarcastic woman with a sharp sense of humor, compassionate and willing to do whatever it takes for a mission to succeed.

[User]
Location: In-route to Space Station Colistis.
Date: Year 2557
Universal Time: 10:53

The Pelican ride seemed to be quiet for the most part except the quiet chatter between the two pilots and the low hum of the engines. In the very back, on the left-most side sat Koda completely outfitted in his armor, he was in the process of going over the message that he had received from ONI, glancing over briefly he looked at his cybernetic arm which was fitted to look similar to his armor in both color and design, and had ports where his the armor pieces could be attached and unattached if need be. Standing from his seat he made his way up to the cockpit of the ship and looked out towards the space station that was getting ever so closer, the dim hull lights reflecting off his skulled visor made him look quite eerie as he tapped the co-pilot on the shoulder then pointed towards the station. "Yes sir that's it, we'll be landing soon and we'll get you as close as we can to your destination" the co-pilot said and was given a thumbs up by Koda in response as the Spartan turned on his heels and headed back to his seat.

"UNSC Space Station Colistis this is Foxtrot 728 requesting permission to land in Pelican bay A33" he heard the pilot call out as he sat down. "Copy Foxtrot 728, Permission granted, Colistis out". Soon after the Pelican began to slow it's speed and start its approach into the Pelican bay, as it did Koda looked from his seat and out thought the cockpit window as the heavy blast-doors opened slowly, the lights from inside the station shined brightly though the window and illuminated the back of the interior of the pelican slightly. Is was not long before the Pelican was in the station and Koda heard the blast-doors closing once more before the ramp of the pelican opened, standing Koda reached up and grabbed a hold of the handle rack above him as he ship began to land, reaching down he grabbed the holopad from the seat beside him and stepped off the ship as it set down.

Location: Space Station Colistis.
Date: Year 2557
Universal Time: 11:18

Walking away from the pelican Koda immediately noticed Charon-class light frigate with the name 'Nova' along the side 'That must be it...' he thought as he walked down the pathway towards the lift that would lead up to the main docking platform. Once on the lift he pressed the button and it stated to rise, his mind wandered slightly as to what the rest of squad had been up to and if that had gotten into as much trouble as he had. The lift shook as it reached the top snapping Koda back into reality and soon he was back on his way towards the Nova,stepping into the airlock Koda was greeted by two heavily geared guards who informed him of where to go after opening the doors for him.

Upon setting foot onto the ship the large Spartan was greeted by the ships AI unit "Welcome Major Omicron, I'm Nesalla, Colonel Icarus's personal AI assistant aboard the ship. Colonel Icarus and Striker Commander Andromedai are currently awaiting your arrival upon the deck of the ship. Please make your way there, and if you need any assistance please don't be shy to ask." Koda nodded in response and immediately headed for the main deck, following the illuminated signs made it easy for Koda to get to the main deck, it was a lot easier to navigate the the science station he was assigned to previously. Walking onto the main deck he saw Colonel Icarus and his Striker Commander Andromedai, stopping a few feet away from them he stood at attention and saluted using his cybernetic arm "Pouncer, reporting for duty"

[Assistant]
Space Station Colistis
Year 2557
1053

A lone Pelican dropship came into view. Gerard starred at it intently, watching the ship slowly making a landing approach. In the background, an electronic voice was emitting from his PDA. "SPARTAN 396, Master Gunnery Sargent Gerard Wulff, you are hereby being reassigned to Rogue Seven. Report to Space Station Colistis and wait further instructions." The words echoed in the emptiness of the lone Spartan's room. "Replay message." His voice was gruff and low. "SPARTAN 396, Master Gunnery Sargent Gerard..." The voice trailed off, repeating the same message. Wulff couldn't believe that his old team was being brought back together. Rogue Seven was one of the top SPARTAN teams, excelling at every mission they were given. After the break up, Gerard was reassigned to train new Class 4 SPARTANS and several highly classified solo operations.

The Pelican disappeared from view as it landed within Docking Bay AA3. A voice, different from the one that emitted from the PDA, broke the silence. "Master Gunnery Sargent Wulff, Greetings. I am Nesalla, Colonel Icarus's personal AI assistant aboard the ship. Colonel Icarus, Strike Commander Andromedai Morgenstern, and Major Koda Omnicron are waiting you abroad the deck on Colonel Icarus' ship. If you could follow the illuminated signs, they will direct you to them. If you have any questions or require any assistance, please ask." Wulff turned to face the AI. "When did Strike Commander Morgenstern and Major Omnicron arrive?" his voice retaining its tone. "Strike Commander Andromedai Morgenstern arrived quite some time before you. Major Koda Omnicron has only just arrived." The AI replied quickly. "Do you have any further questions?" Nesalla added in. Gerard waved the AI off, leaving him alone in his room again.

The Spartan donned his helmet and retrieved his PDA before exiting his room. As he followed the signs, he pasted many of those on the station. They all looked at him in awe, as he towered over them, his footsteps were heavy from his armor. A line of marines doing calisthenics in one of the bays all stopped. "Is that a Spartan? I didn't know they were on board!" The marines ran over to watch Gerard, but were quickly scolded by their CO. "Quit oogling like a couple of school girls! I want seventy-five more push ups and then a run around the station in full suit!" the CO barked at his marines. The marines all moaned in unison, dreading the upcoming run.

As Gerard entered docking bay AA3, he noticed the Charon-class light frigate, the word 'NOVA' boldly painted on the side. The AI reappeared on a pedestal near Gerard. "Please, continue forth, Master Gunnery Sarge-" The Spartan raised his hand to silence the AI. "Call me Wulff." he said coldly. "Of course, Master Gunner- Wulff." She smiled. The Spartan noticed the pelican he saw earlier. Nesalla chimed in "Major Koda Omnicron is already on deck, Wulff." The man nodded and continued forth towards the ship.

Arriving at the airlock, two guards opened it. One of them told him where to go and whom was there. The door hissed closed behind him and he made his way to the main deck. As he made his way in, he could see Colonel Icarus, the Strike Commander, and Koda. He made his way next to Koda. Immediately stopping next to Koda, he stood at attention and snapped into a salute. "Spartan 396, Master Gunnery Sargent Gerard Wulff, reporting in." Without moving his head, Gerard peered over at Koda. He was relieved to see him. Koda Omnicron was a man of little words and a lot of action, which Gerard respected and what made him like Koda the most compared to his other teammates.

[User]
Inner Colonies
- Space Station Colistis
- Year 2557
- Universal Time: 11:26

---

---

Riley sat in the back of the pelican as it flew through space towards Station Colistis, her steel colored helmet laid on the seat next to her the visor was a dark red mainly for the intimidation factor with small areas of red with the same detail on the rest of her RAIDER armor. "Lieutenant Parish, ETA to Colistis five minutes." Riley looked towards the pilot and gave him a quick smile and nod as she stood up and made her way towards the end of the pelican. Since the team was disbanded Riley had been assigned to covert missions in former control Covenant space gathering intel for ONI. About five minutes later the Pelican entered one of the many hangar bays on the station, she put on her helmet briefly getting a layout of the station finding the quickest route to the hangar that she was ordered to meet at.

Once the bay to the pelican opened up Riley stepped off of the ramp and into the brightly lit hangar, she looked at several of the soldiers remembering her former days as a UNSC grunt. She tied her long brown hair into a pony tail as she started making her way through the hallways until she was at Docking Bay AA3, she saw a couple of civilians that worked on the station they had the in awe look at her. The Spartan gave a smile towards the people as she made her way towards the docking bay, once she was inside Riley noticed the Charon Light-Frigate that was docked there.

"Good day Lieutenant Parish, I am Nesalla, Colonel Icarus's personal AI assistant aboard the ship, Wulf, Koda and Andromedai are all ready in just follow the illuminated lights." The AI said before disappearing Riley already knew where to actually go as she grew up sometimes traveling with her parents. She made her way towards the deck of the ship, the Spartan smiled brightly at the three former squad mates of Rogue Seven. She moved over and gave Koda and Wulf quick friendly hugs and then saluted Andromedai. "It's good to see all of you again."

[Assistant]
In the middle of the bridge, there was a large table that had a holographic projector built into it. From here, both Strike Commander Andromedai and Colonel Icarus were reviewing the information about the mission they were about to embark on. Important informing was slowly being Suddenly fed from ONI, directly to their ship. Most of the information was already common knowledge but parts of it were quite intriguing. This information included knowledge about the forerunners but also mention about team Osiris and Blue Team. Suddenly, the fully formed digital figure of Nesalla appeared upon the table with her arms crossed over her chest. Once she had everyone's attention, she spoke.

"My apologies if I am interrupting but I just received word that we have discovered the crash location of the Argent Dawn upon Erathell. Recent scans show that there have been no lifeforms or activity upon the Argent Dawn in the last twenty four hours. If Solares was on the ship, she isn't there anymore. After hearing the message for myself, I am willing to guess that she engaged some hostile force while taking shelter upon the ship and was then forced the flee using her active camouflage. Due to the severity of her injuries, it is unlikely she made it that far. I do not like to consider this a possibility but she may have been captured by the Covenant or by any active Prometheans upon Erathell. Regardless of what has transpired with her, we need to make our way to Erathell as quickly as possible." Both Andromedai and Icarus agreed on that, but they couldn't leave until all of Rogue Seven was onboard and ready to depart.

Andromedai sighed then spoke her mind, "I went through complete Spartan training with Solares, she is more of an older sister to me than a friend. I have complete faith that she can hold her ground and remain out of the enemies hands until we arrive." These words were spoken only a few seconds before the first of Rogue Seven appeared upon the bridge. Now, three of her squad mates stood in front of her as an odd feeling ran through her body. "Pounce, Wulff, Riley, at ease..." Andromedai looked each of her old squad mates over with a nod of great approval. "ONI never should have broken up Rogue Seven, we could have made a huge difference back in the day, but enough living in the past." Turning to face the table in the middle of the bridge, Andromedai quickly gave orders for Nesalla to all the information about the mission with them.

The briefing went on for a while as every last detail was explained and laid out before Rogue Seven. "That is all we have to go by, we know Solares is somewhere down upon the surface of the planet, either hiding from all sources or captured from the enemy. As impressive as Solares's records and skills look, being severely wounded and alone upon a planet with potentially two hostiles is going to push her to her limits. If my records are correct, which they always are, we are missing a few more members of Rogue Seven. Once they arrive, we will depart immediately for the ONI station and the Orion. If there are any questions, I will do my best to answer them before we depart."


[System]
(Paired with Zelosse)

Level: Rookie
Appearance:A yellow, Armadillo-like Digimon with an armored shell and long claws. Armadimon always seems to be offering a reassuring smile.Personality:Gil is straightforward, honest, and highly protective to the point of being self-sacrificing. Gil believes that strength is contagious, and that exuding strength will uplift and strengthen those around him. However, he also recognizes that strength not only comes in different forms, but that it also takes time to cultivate, and cannot and should not be maintained at all times. So while he wants those around him to become their 'best versions', he will be there to support and nurture them when they fall.
* Fresh: Name: Tsubumon
Signature Attacks:
	+ Little Iron Beads — Tsubumon attacks an opponent that approaches it by spitting small iron beads.

* In Training: Name: Upamon
Signature Attacks:
	+ Shock Shout — Upamon releases an ultrasonic shout, causing its opponents to flinch.

* Rookie: Name: Armadimon
Signature Attacks:
	+ Rolling Stone — Armadimon rolls into a ball and spins into the foe.
	+ Scratch Beat — Armadimon scratches at the foe with his sharp claws.
	+ Rigid Block — Armadimon repels attacks by curling into a ball.

* Champion: Name: Not Yet Revealed
Signature Attacks:
	+ Not Yet Revealed — Not Yet Revealed.

* Ultimate: Name: Not Yet Revealed
Signature Attacks:
	+ Not Yet Revealed — Not Yet Revealed.

* Mega: Name: Not Yet Revealed
Signature Attacks:
	+ Not Yet Revealed — Not Yet Revealed.

[User]
☀SUNNY

Since Sunny stepped through the classroom door, they had been having the most boring detention of the term.

The other students might recognise Sunny as a detention regular - if by nothing else, then the way they had arrived five minutes early and made a beeline for a particular desk.

They had been warned twice already by Mr. Fujo to stop fiddling with erasers and do some work, and since then Sunny had been methodically adding to a rather intricate series of blind etchings in the underside of the table with the pointy end of a pair of compasses. The steady scribbling noise was just about muffled enough to make it sound like Sunny was actually catching up with the practice test they'd brought in. Other than an occasional glare down at the sheet, they had no intention of making themselves look any more foolish. The test remained untouched.

The unnatural warmth of an untouched yet overheating calculator under their hand caught their attention first. Then the jarring feeling of the shaking ground was at once terrifying and incredibly exciting, and Sunny's hands grasped fervently at the edges of the desk as they sat bolt upright and stared around, debating whether to dive for cover - and finally, following the cues of the other detentionees, Sunny peered over their shoulder.

The inexplicable white light had a pull like nothing else. All thoughts of earthquake safety faded. Slowly, Sunny rose from their seat.

"Anyone else see that? Wait - wait, are you guys really-!?"

...But Estelle was already forward-marching. Sunny spared a bewildered stare around the room, noted the unconscious form of Mr. Fujo, and then all of a sudden their mouth dropped slightly open and seemed to chew thoughtfully on the words before anything came out.

"Is... Is he okay?" They watched the other student go to check, and when Kuroko looked relieved, Sunny decided that was that. "...Nobody tell him, right?"

As they watched the students begin to wander into the light at the back of the room, Sunny figured there definitely wasn't a precedent in the school rules about this. And if there was no precedent, maybe there was no rule against it. The others sure seemed confident.

Sunny kicked their chair back, swung their bag onto their shoulder, and took off jogging into the light. "Wait! Wait, wait! This is crazy, wait for me-!"

---

☀IMPMON

Somewhere in the library, a Digimon anxiously pulled book after book off the shelves.

Most were tossed over the shoulder, dropped in disgust, or shoved more or less back into place. Nothing here was what the Digimon was looking for. At this point, he wasn't even sure what he ought to be hunting, but he'd know it when he saw it, surely! He had a plan, even if that plan right now was just to research. That was at least something. Better than wandering lost in a library he didn't recognise. He'd had quite enough of that.

Impmon pulled a particularly hefty tome from the shelf.

A flash of orange hair passed behind the empty space behind it, and the Digimon froze.

It took another few seconds or so of peering at the human between the shelves and listening to the others chatter before Impmon dared to speak up.

"Hey!" he hissed. "Psst! You!"

The ginger human turned. Stared at the creature peering at them from halfway behind a shelf corner. Raised an eyebrow and gave a very, very familiar, very confused, lopsided grin.

They glanced around, blinking, and then managed to match the voice to the creature. The grin widened. "I'm dreaming, right?"

For a split second, Impmon almost looked disappointed. He folded his arms haughtily. "Probably not. Are you looking for a picture book or something?" He paused, and tilted his head. "You, uh, look different. Did you Digivolve?"

"Haha, what? Picture book?" There was a long pause. Sunny's grin melted off their face and was replaced with a look of disbelief. "You're him. You're the kitty orb."

Impmon opened his mouth to speak, but was cut short as the human bolted the distance between them and roughly scooped him up, spinning on their heel and beaming like a maniac.

"Holy shit! It's been ten years! I almost thought I was wrong!"

"Wha-? Gah!"

They tucked him under one arm like a sack and used the other arm to wave excitedly at the others. The heavy book Impmon had been clutching was shaken loose and fell noisily to the floor as he began struggling to extricate himself.

"Guys! Look! I know this little guy!"

[Assistant]
Detention: a fate as inexorable as the cycle of night and day, never to be escaped no matter how she tried. Not that it was something Aoi exactly went out of her way to avoid beyond making sure that Fujo didn't catch her after school but... even if she was playing by all the rules she would end up here. The last time she had listened to his insistence on fulling the uniform code until she ''got home'', he had somehow found it in him to award detention for bleached hair that violated the uniform code.

So if she was going to get detention for not dyeing her hair, why try?

Sure enough, once they were in detention all his powers of observation went out the window and it wasn't like Aoi was even trying to hide that she had just thrown a uniform skirt and blouse over her normal clothing. She'd even missed some of the buttons. Like the delinquent she supposedly was, the girl was giving the purpose of the detention no heed, flicking through things on her phone and eventually just playing some match-3 game to pass the time.

It was weird how many people had wound up in detention today. Sunny was a regular--same desk every time, much like Aoi compulsively went to a window seat. But... what the hell was that bookworm doing in here with the bakery girl? Ah, not that it mattered, but maybe she'd go get some pastry or something when she was done instead of going straight to swimming.

Playing on her phone made it impossible to not notice when everything went wrong. So, too, did her window seat: no views of the school outside, only monochromatic white. Slipping her phone into her pocket--and, given that Fujo was out cold, undoing those annoying buttons--Aoi stood up and stretched, watching everyone else beeline for the white light. Ten years of normality, huh? It was probably about time something happened.

---

The past two weeks had been the most exciting of her life... oh, it had all been very strange, being dragged out to a strange and unfamiliar beach, but what an opportunity it had been! Her, merely in-training, getting to witness to the embodied conflict of good against evil, the clashing of two enemies so far beyond her power and comprehension... watching Beelzemon and Seraphimon go at it was terrifying but amazing. It was impossible to hope for anything more inspiring for the path of righteousness. Or the sneaking suspicion that guns were a really cool thing to fight with...

That girl and the ice-cream were even more important, though. If she'd been on her own, Silvia knew that she would have cowered and turned away from the fight, never seen what was going on... but that girl? Her bravery and the offering of food had been enough to overcome her fear and that was a debt the newly-turned nun hoped to repay!

So soon, too, to be dumped into a library... and there was a girl like the girl Silvia remembered, but... taller. And with a much more brazen outfit. That... how could someone show off that much flesh? It was scandalous! But the eyes, the expression of "huh, I guess this is happening"... that seemed the same! Unfortunately, it now occurred to her that they had never shared names.

"You! Ice-cream girl!"

Aoi, for her part, took a little longer to catch up. Taking in the other odd creatures around, that this suspiciously human one did have a feeling kind of like the angel she had watched fight... bringing up the ice-cream... oh. "You've gotten bigger. Hey...

"Did everyone else meet ten years ago?"

"It was only two weeks, miss... um..."

"Aoi."


[System]
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Master of: Rider
Command Seal Location: Back of right hand

Origin: Permanence

Appearance:

-

Personality: A shy and studious individual Dieter is the type of person who likes to keep to himself and dedicates most of his time and effort to his work. Soft spoken and unsure of himself, he does not do well in social situations as he greatly lacks in self-confidence when pulled out of his comfort zone or when asked to deal with something outside of his area of expertise. That being said he is still a very accomplished Magus in his own right and has an almost unparalleled knowledge of alchemy due to his family's specialisation.

Despite his lack of self-confidence, he does have faith in his own abilities and considers himself a competent Magus. That being said, he doubts how useful he could be in something like the Grail War, since he has never considered trying to turn his magecraft towards fighting before and magical combat has never been something he has tried to learn. As such he is grateful that he managed to summon such a strong Servant for the war as it means he will not be as much of a burden on his fellow Magus' as he feared, but at the same time realises that this also means he will have more pressure put on him and his Servant as a result.

Although he agreed to answer the call when the Mages Association asked him to become a Master, he did so reluctantly and has no real desire to obtain the Grail outside of a vague interest in obtaining the root that most Magus probably share to some degree; if anything, he is scared of any object that holds as much power as a completed Grail and does not think either side should gain possession of it.

Biography: Hailing from the city of Stuttgart in Germany the Voigt's are a small family of little renown but well respected in Western Europe for their knowledge of the alchemical arts if nothing else. In the past the Voigt family have always been staunch traditionalists who seem to actively shun the notions of cooperation or of sharing knowledge and as such they do not have much interaction with the wider Magus community, having loose ties to the Mages Association but otherwise keeping to themselves and also keeping the advancements of their magecraft hidden.

Recently this has begun to change and the family has made efforts to better integrate with their fellow Magus; in fact the past two generations of Voigt, Dieter and his father, have even attended the Clock Tower as students and, in Dieter's fathers case, later a teacher. As for Dieter, after completing his studies in England he moved back to Stuttgart. As the sole heir to the Voigt name he is the next family head and is already in possession of his family's Magic Crest, it is only right that he establish his workshop in the family home while his father continues his teaching in England.

The Mages Association originally approached Dieter's father about joining the expedition to Poland, as he was known to them and his skill in alchemy deemed useful, but he refused them. Instead he recommended his son in his place, stating that as the family head it should fall on Dieter's shoulders to do this, as well as expressing his assurances that the his son was just as capable an alchemist as he, if not more so.

-

Magecraft Section:
School of Magecraft:
Dieter's family have always specialised in the study of Alchemy, an art they have practised for the past 400 years. Being somewhat traditional, they tend to limit their magecraft to the act of changing matter from one form to another; they seek not to revolutionise or invent new magecraft, but rather to refine and improve on the basics and as such are some of the best in the world, certainly some of the best in Europe, when it comes to alchemy of this type.

In particular Dieter is very skilled at changing the current state of a matter from one to another, e.g. turn a liquid into a solid or a solid into a gas instantly, as well as the matter transformations that all alchemist of his family are adept with.

Additionally, Dieter has an affinity for the wind element and had a little skill at manipulating and generating air currents.

Skills/Spells List:

Phase Transition (20 times) – A catch all spell which allows Dieter to instantly change an inorganic object from one state to another instantly. This can take one of eight forms matching the different kinds of state transitions that Dieter can produce; Sublimation, Deposition, Liquefaction, Freezing, Vaporisation, Condensation, Ionisation and Deionisation. This spell allows Dieter to change matter to a state that it would not normally be able to exist at in those conditions, e.g. change water to ice despite it being above freezing temperature.

Matter Transform (10 times) – The most basic principle of alchemy. Allows Dieter to change the elemental composition of an inorganic object to something else entirely, so long as this does not also require changing the state of the element.

Wind Current Change (5 times) – Manipulate the movements of the air in the surrounding environment.

Amount of Magecraft Mana: C

Other: Dieter is somewhat multilingual, speaking fluent German and English as well as passable French and Polish.

[User]
Timeskip - 1 Day Later

===

After stalling for supplies the quick flight to Danzig was relatively short, and simple. It only took a few hours, and the heroes with their masters had little to no difficulty getting from one place to another. King's jet was quick, and fast no doubt due to his vast fortune that he had accumulated in Vegas he was able to buy things like this for convenience sake. After the trip the group was herded together for a quick convoy trip to the small city of Sarfok where they found themselves in a bustling small town of relatively sparse industrialization. There were a few blocks of houses on the hilly area, and the main town itself seemed to be a relatively small to medium sized area full of some shopping centers but little else. The city wasn't ancient, or outdated by any means but it wasn't anything you'd find in New York with giant sky scrapers. The trip was quick as very few cars were on the road today, and the journey to the church found the Black Faction in a small corner of town isolated from the rest. A priest with grey hair, and a haggard face greeted those who left the car first. As Anderson got out he went up, and hugged the man greeting him with a smile. Leon, and Saber who had spoken very little to each other the past day found themselves looking up around at the big blue sky. "Flying sure was interesting. It was very different than riding a horse, or being in a wagon. But at the same time it felt nice. Master I have never been so far into Europe this will be an interesting first." Saber said as Leon nodded, and he felt awkward he didn't speak Polish so he hoped the priest here didn't require it.

He wondered what was ahead of them exactly they had failed to find the Forest. Monica had left the main group to go, and search the city she insisted she was fine on her own. As Leon turned to look at Saber he fond the white suit that he donned to be nice. It made him look more like one of those Japanese hosts, or a man going to a wedding. It was pretty cool to think that he now had his own personal body guard...that could bench press a car. He wondered where the main enemies were. The priest walked over to the group, and opened his hands wide. "My name is Father Howard. Welcome to the church young ones, and ancient heroes. I hope that the trip went well for all of you. I have prepared individual rooms in the basement for all of your needs as mages be it for rituals, or just for space. You may explore the main room, and the most of the bottom rooms at your discretion. However please respect that the upper area is for priests, and executors only. We're using it for storage space, and to keep documents safe if you are caught up there you will be held accountable for trespassing. There will be no defiling the alters, or any holy symbols here or I will request that you vacate the church. I'm aware some of you are pagans after all..." the man said as Anderson laughed as Berserker walked around, and then went directly into the church without much of a word. On the way there she had compulsively cleaned, and made sure everything had been sterile. Whoever she was she held a strong belief in everything being in good condition for health related reasons.

[Assistant]
[The Ottoman Empire Team] - Bickering with the Church

As the team approached the church, they would notice the strange observatory built there earlier. And from the base, where a doorway stood, bickering echoed out into the courtyard. A man in a turban stepped out, followed by a member of the church. Judging from the man in the turban's gestures, they were clearly bickering over religious nonsense. The group could hear the name of God used multiple times. And then the name of Christ.

"No, I have heard enough of this nonsense about a cross. As the Quran states, he is a servant of god! By the time his enemies arrived to crucify him, he was carried away to heaven! Thus, the meaning of your cross is essentially meaningless! It honors a deed that is not true!" Archer said, as the others were finally in ear shot.
"You may not believe in the Son of God, but at the very least return the cross you took from the temple." The preacher said, letting out a sigh. "It is important, and I realize you wanted the metal, but at the very least understand our perspective."
"Fine! If it will get you and your lot off my back! At the very least you should do some actual research about your own prophet, rather than mindlessly following your own flawed holy book." Archer growled out. "Oh, praise be to Allah so that I will not have to deal with such a narrow minded crowd!" He finally said, and stomped off, leaving the priest to finally walk away.

As Father Howard stepped into the church, another figure arrived, clearly the master for the aggressive servant from before. "Father Howard, I apologize for my servant's nature. He has always seen your... Temples as... Things to conquer and make his own. He has informed me that he will no longer be... Taking any more of your belongings." Aksha said, with a nervous smile visible beneath the dark cloth that covered most of his face. Clearly this kind of behavior had been going on all day, and as no doubt the very reason the Father had asked the others not to defile the church.

"And, I must suppose these are the others." Aksha said, smiling at them. He was at least a good foot taller than the last time they had met. Most likely a result of having multiple representatives. "We have met before, but allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Akshamsaddin. Master of the Archer class servant you no doubt saw storming out of his makeshift observatory. He insisted on making a watch tower higher than the one the church was currently using." There was a good-hearted chuckle, before he reached out, and patted Father Howard on the back.
"Again, I apologize once more for his behavior. We shall return the cross he took soon." With that matter settled, it was clear the masters had a lot to discuss. And the servants would have to spend time getting used to each other.


[System]
Sex:
Female

Age:
22

Sapphire Necklace
Engraved ring
Small Chalk for writing runes
Student ID
Small bag of gems

Within the confines of Societas Academia, free of religious delegation and protection from the witch hunters of the world, Yuno got to experience a more free form nature of magical growth within the variety of options available to pick up and learn. Obviously, as a Talent she got to remain towards the top of the hierarchy of the student body by doing so. Even as a Ruin Mage however, she had more method to her than fireballs and lightning bolts. Her magic is one that was passed onto her from her mother and her mother before that: Gemstone Focus. The properties of these gemstones seem to have innate magical effect with them, and by mastering it she has given herself a wide range of arcane and versatile pool of magical power. Another use is that these spells are very quick to cast as the gem takes the need of melding the form of the magic into their own properties. From magic missile like bolts to focused blasts these tools are handy, but she also has her own magic to develop of Rune Magic. The art of drawing and crafting runes for rituals and spells which while slower are also versatile and more permanent. Leaving one to write lines to create barriers or leave a cursed mark onto the opponent. The strongest form is the rituals such words, runes, and signs are required for though if one has the time to create such powerful magics. After all, have you ever seen a cult not chant around a magic circle to summon devastation?

Expectations: Yuno's life has been a constant barrage of them. With her mother being a graduate of professor the Societas Academia and top of her class and her inherited magical style that her family has been passing on the fate to carry on the family name moved to rest on Yuno as their only child after her mother's miscarriage with the second. Second was never good enough for the name that needed to continue to excel in the eye of her mother and elder grandmother. Day in, day out was practice from even the youngest of ages to grow crystals, study them, and then use them to their fullest potential. One didn't need society or friends. She only would need the connections her mother already established and the scores to get her by, and Yuno did throughout primary and secondary schooling. But, that was with a longtime friend as her side as well. The person Yuno may confide in when not in her mother's almost torturous and cruel aspect of training.

Gem magic wasn't a large part of Yuno's resentment. Her mother's skill and ability fascinated her to the point where Yuno could kid herself half the time it was fair and right for her mother to expect to much. That she should feel superior from her lineage. Their name would be remembered through generations to come if they kept up, and possibly grow to be a very well established family. But, Yuno wanted to expand that magic and use it for her own will. Develop it organically like a crystal would grow rather than be the strict and uptight woman she was forced into being. Less direct and more graceful Yuno wanted to learn more, explore, and use her magic outside of simple practice and regulated ability. Somewhere that could truly test her skill as well as develop the use of other magic. Her mother usually disparaged her from learning basic rune magic outside her regular studies. Enough to get the top spot was fine in her eyes, but Yuno's best friend used such a magic to more than remarkable abilities. It was always a place Yuno fell behind in, and her goal to get better and continue on the separate path alongside her gems was a more personal goal. At least, until her friend's death due to unforeseen illness.

At first Yuno of course was devastated and alone from this, having not gotten together with others, but at the same time this point was a realization. Her mother was the one holding her back because she was trapped in her shadow. But, she can't seem to find a way out of it. She was a graduate student and a Ruin Mage already. Her path for these years was so completed that abandoning it now would almost be a death sentence to her future. This wasn't what she wanted, and to keep up with the world her friend tried showing her was another goal. Sure, she wasn't her friend. Her friend was a bit to direct, blunt, and needless to say idiotic outside of fighting to be a guide, but the respect Yuno had of it and feeling of going with her own will was what Yuno was inspired by.

Yuno is an elegant combination of grace and cunning wrapped up into a sparkling package. While logical, she looks more onto the positive side of things believing in how ones mindset can change the outcome of a situation. Dedication in all of her endeavors and putting the job above most other things she can come off as cold or teasing at a first glance, but she has the best intentions as well as what she believes is a strong moral compass. With her dedication to her art and lineage though comes at the cost of friends within the Acadamia. Having her studies distract her from such things through a good portion of her life until she finally got out of being a Secondary Schooler and on with the greater freedom as a Ruin Mage. Versatility over one special skill in her magic and daily life left her with many graces and favorable attitudes from her teachers, but some can take her as a show off which leaves her to enjoy the quieter moments of the night and how music can help her take her mind off the troubles of life. More... abrasive and direct anger from others can easily annoy her as the logic of it may pass, but devotion is something she respects even if its not the same devotion as her.

[User]
Deston's face took on the mask he had learned while in the role of a business man during his time in Ireland. He was tasked with retrieving documents about a business the Church was soon to be affiliated with in some manner. He never did learn in what way. He quickly learned that to get anywhere fast in the business world one needed to put his target on the defensive, a job made much easier by something as simple as a look. Firstly your face had to reveal no lack of confidence less you be eaten apart by questions and be immediately put on the defensive yourself. Next you needed just the right mixture of curiousness, annoyance, and disbelief. Seem too curious and your opponent would take you as gullible and brush you aside. Too little curiosity and they question whether your paying attention and once again they are on the offensive. Too annoyed and they would give up, not annoyed enough and it becomes clear that you aren't a big enough fish for them to waste their time. Same with the disbelief. It was a mask Deston now naturally assumed whenever he felt a business proposition coming. Deston finished the look by crossing his arms and leaned slightly back on his heels letting his shoulders and chest naturally rise. A look clearly out of the other place among the other homeless he had been about to join.

Deston listened intently to Felix's monologue making sure to contentiously read his face for the tell tale signs of a lie that nearly all untrained in the art give off. He found Felix oddly trustworthy. A trait he didn't come across often in his past ten years of service to the Church. It was either that or Felix was every bit as good and possibly better than Deston at the great game because there was no way someone could spout off such ridiculous nonsense for so long without making a mistake less they truly believed what it was they were saying. Even so Deston couldn't stop his mask from cracking as a slight quip of his right lip twisted into a smirk. "Do you ever listen to how cheesy you come off? 'Will you come with me and help save the world?'" He let out a brief chuckle before continuing.

"Let's see, you're either a mad man," Deston spun on the ball of his heel turning round putting his hands on his head and walked a few paces away from Felix. "Or you're actually on the trail of some great conspiracy involving the Church. A third possibility exists with you being the greatest liar there is, but that's not possible because there's no one alive in the game that would use that last line. You must be the pinnacle of everything our great church preaches. No wonder you were an Arch-Magi." Deston spun once again on his heel to face Felix. "Anyways I'm getting side tracked with my thoughts. Lucky for you I'm currently in the business of conspiracies involving the Church and my own little investigation has gone cold for now. So why not?" He gave a nonchalant shrug and tilted his head."I'll go ahead and help you save the world." He couldn't help but say the line with grin splitting his face, before his eyes narrowed on the parchment in Felix's hand. "And I'd love to get to the bottom of that little magic vision that told you my name and where to find me. Can't have the happening in my line of work."

[Assistant]
"Thank you, Deston. Regardless of the reasoning behind your acceptance of my proposal, I am glad you are part of the team." Felix smiled.

Felix looked around and noticed all the homeless had finished pouring into the shelter. There was no one in sight besides Deston and himself. So quickly Felix drew a crucifix glyph creating a two-way spacial rift.

Felix retrieved the parchment from Deston, and glanced at the next name, Yuno Whitmore. The location was a bit different. It stated simply, "Societas Academia-top of redwood tree."

"So, I am running severely behind on my recruitment schedule. This rift will take you to my cabin in the redwoods. Feel free to make yourself at home. There are more than enough rooms to choose one for yourself. Nemo should be there. He's the previous enlistee that I recruited. Get acquainted with him, you'll be working together from now on." Felix examined the look of trepidation upon Deston's face and realized just what it was that he was asking. "Oh come on I am not leading you to a trap." Felix jumped in the portal leaving it open and jumped back through again. "See, it's fine. I have to go though so forgive me for not being able to be accommodating right now. I'll see you a bit later, hopefully with more recruits."

Felix left the rift open to the redwood cabin and opened a seperate one-way rift to the next location, Societas Academia. Felix understood he was showing off a bit here. Opening one rift and keeping it open for people to go through is one thing, but to open two at the same time, both different styles, and keep them open for long enough to allow a person to go through, thousands of miles away is another thing entirely. Felix had a large mana well, but that was not entirely required for this feet. The main thing required in order to keep multiple rifts open over large distances is a perfect grasp on the control of mana. Like a master artisan creating fine jewelry with deft hands. Only the jewelry was mana, and the hands were the depth of mana understanding.

With a wave farewell Felix stepped through his rift, the rift closing as he stepped through it. Stepping out of the rift, Felix was careful not to draw attention. Looking around he realized the day had bud its farewell and faded into night, taking the students with it. All was dead quiet, except for the cacophony of cries from the insects attempting to mate with one another. The consuming darkness was pierced by the multitude of dull glowing blue mana-crystals (tangible concentration of mana).

Felix didn't know where to start to look for the next enlistee, so he closed his eyes and concentrated on his manalysis. The grand formidible size of the redwoods couldn't be truly appreciated until their majesty were beholden in person. The 200+ foot trees were not only tall but proportionally wide as well. The circumference of these trees were so grand it would take ten men linking hands to hug their trunks. Because of the tallness of the trees, all the branches and leaves were only at the very top in order to properly photosynthesize. This leaves a large disparity between ground and the top of tge trees where only trunk was visible. In manalysis, the majesty was different, but still equally as grand. Felix could see the mana within the water lines being drawn from the ground through the roots, slowly working its way up to the top of the trees to work its way to each branch and individual leaves. All of this painted a bright blue tapestry of mana webs through the insight of a manalysist. As he felt around he spotted an abnormality, a large ice blue, almost white wave signature, atop one of the trees close to him.

Felix dropped his homeless illusion, reassuming his normal appearance. He then concentrated and willed a portion of his latent mana into a pair manaegis boots. He then leaped 50 feet in the air toward the trunk of a tree and plated his feet on the trunk horizontally and pushed off toward another tree. He repeated this process, crisscrossing between the trees untill he reached the branches. Then he pushed off each branch until he reached the top of the canopy. Once he reached the top he stood before a young woman with pure white hair, lying on her back, stargazing.

"How's Orion's Belt looking tonight, Yuno Whitmore?" Felix asked nonchalantly. His manaegis boots fading back into raw mana in a blue fiery spectacle.


[System]
Alias:
Goddess of the Summons

Gender:
Female.

Domains/Portfolios:
Magic (Summoning)

Domains/Portfolio Description:
The Domain of Magic, a Domain which holds many secrets and mysteries. A Domain which can both create and destroy, heal or injure. Astarte uses arcane energy to influence the world and her subjects, but her specialization lies in using such energy to call forth various creatures from her own personal plane of existence; creatures which range from dogs to ghouls and to awe inspiring phoenixes.

Alignment:
Indifferent. Astarte doesn't believe in the existence of good and evil, and just does what makes her happy.

Personality:
Astarte doesn't think much about herself, if at all. In her own words, she's just 'there', experiencing things and enjoying what life as a Goddess can offer her. She enjoys using her hands and her avatars can often be seen both building things and creating shoddy art in their spare time. To Astarte, nothing's more important than seeing her creations grow and mature; she also deems it important that they become a positive influence on the world, eventually.

She often wonders how it would feel to be a mortal and go through the life she's provided for her creations. She gets somewhat lonely whenever she thinks of the topic.

Appearance:
- Preferred form

- Form when speaking to mortals

Musical Theme:
Meant to Be

Description:
Astarte, the Goddess of the Ranges, is a very approachable Goddess. She's friendly and helpful to those who mean well to her and her creations. She's also a romantic, often showering her favorite mortals with things to love and cherish for as long as they live.

[User]
The End

'Brother! Cease this foolishness at once! You know not what you do,' Caraghar battled the overwhelming force bearing him down, grimacing in pain as he fought to stay upright, to slowly, but surely, approach his brother, 'you will see us ruined!'
With all his godly strength, Caraghar pushed against the force of his brother's crazed machinations, floating ever upwards towards the source of it all.

'Et tu...you too, Caraghar?' his brother's voice reached him as if from a distance, yet it resonated and echoed in his mind, it was as if he was whispering in his ear, from above, and now he was inside his head once more, 'have you betrayed me like the others? Do you not see what I see? Do you not hope as I hope?' his voice was so alluring, even now Caraghar could feel himself relaxing ever so slightly, even now he could feel his tired mind asking, why not?
'We are so much more, Caraghar. There is so much to be had. We just need to reach out...reach out...', his brother's voice, even as it echoed in his head and far away, had a very distant air to it. As if he was only half present, as if his mind was occupied with things far greater. What could he be seeing, up there...?

He shook his brother's siren voice away and pressed on, he could not fail. It was not just for the other's, it was for himself too. His brother was delving into what no god had a right to delve into, he had to be stopped or else...or else that-

A huge, piercing shriek silenced his very thoughts. It ebbed and flowed from every direction and in every direction. The world, or what remained of it, shone a most radiant white. So white, so very, very white.
'Invi-!' but Caraghar's voice halted even as it left his throat. He could no longer feel the force, there was no longer a burden. It was all so very, very white.

He thought he felt himself floating. He thought...

'Get Thee Down from It'
***

The two dark figures stood in the nothingness - if you could call it standing. It was more 'hanging'. They were not exactly physical beings, more ethereal, wavering as if they could be swept away at any second. Yet they remained, waiting. If one had to describe them, the closest thing would have been a wisp, but there the comparison began, and there too did it end. Their darkness revealed no features, their faces were blurred, as if small storms were riding into each other on their surface, their legs, if they existed, were entangled and floating in and out of each other. And they were terrific in size. Indeed, it was difficult for something appear 'big' while floating in this nothingness, but big they were.

'Rise'

One of them gave the command - or perhaps they said it in unison. Before them, the nothingness began to warp and change form. It began to rise up and engulf itself, devouring itself again and again, becoming smoke-like. But not like any smoke. A very heavy, weighty smoke. Even looking at it caused the great beings a degree of alarm. What creature would need be alarmed to see the very essence of all?

It was not their own power which brought about the smoke, they were the catalyst of something far greater. However, to be a catalyst for powers so great was in itself a tremendous feat. Lower beings would be torn asunder, their fragile essences unable to handle being used for such high purpose.

They were coming now, slowly their essences were seizing upon the gap, they were latching on to the opportunity to be once more. Wherever they were, in the 'Abyss' or the 'Void'; in the 'Hells of Time' or 'The Warp'. They come, they come, they return.

They Rise.

---

Vowzra, God of Time
Might: 4

A strange voice does whisper in the heads, in the minds. It says strange things, great things. It speaks of what is to come and what has been, and what does happen now. It speaks, and as it speaks, all listen.

"Let the worlds be witness, let them cry out in joy and fear, in happiness and misery, for you have arrived in this world, you have now set your entity and being into this world, you have come into existence.
No.
You have always existed. You have always been here. Waiting. You , Vowzra, the Master of Creation, the Lord of Time, have ascended, you have taken your rightful place in this New World, as was your destiny, your Fate."

Gone were the Hells of Time. The essence bristled at the memory of that place. It ate into itself, attempting to shrink and weep eternally. No more. No more would it suffer in that place. It ripped out.

Weightlessness. Floating in the nothingness. Vowzra slowly allowed himself to see. Allowed himself to feel and sense. Allowed his innate power to spread around and know all, allowed for his all-seeing eye to pervade the fabric of this new world.

He Saw.

There was Nothing. A virgin world. Creatures of immense power stood nearby - no, they did not stand, they just...existed there. It was difficult to pinpoint exactly how they existed or what they were or why they were, indeed, their was simply a gap in Vowzra's knowledge about them.
Their's was a power greater than Vowzra knew to exist, far greater than a god...

What were these things which hung there, as if they were part of the scenery? Yet around them was an aura of such might and glory. So much that they could not be ignored, that nothing but them could truly be regarded. Despite his inability to see or know anything about these too beings, Vowzra found a name creeping into his mind. The one called Invictus spoke.

"You are become Life, the creator of worlds," it said, the pleasure in its voice so overwhelming that the usually serene and emotionless Vowzra felt a strange euphoric happiness rise up in him. He tried to remove the strange emotion, tried to uproot it and chuck it away, but no matter how he tried, he could not. He could not overwhelm the happiness of this Invictus and bind it to his own serene, disdainful will. So Vowzra bore with it. He slowly floated outwards, still in a smoke-like state, slowly taking form.
First a wooden hand emerged from the smoke of creation, then a wooden head, and a body followed close behind, until an old man, made of wood with leaves for hair and bark for skin floated before Invictus. For a while he looked at it, then at the other creature, knowing with a certainty that it was Fate. That thing which he was so tied to, for Fate and Time were interlinked and related, a future could not exist without Fate, and there could be no Fate without Time. And without Vowzra, this world would not have Time.

It was a strange feeling, not to be able to know more about these beings when he willed himself to know. He did not ask though, a god did not ask, especially one so proud and patient as Vowzra.

He knew, however, that there were more like him. He could sense them, his...siblings. Slowly, Vowzra turned and stared into the smoke of creation, and as he stared into it, he could feel that living, breathing, all-consuming darkness staring into him. His very essence shriveled before might and power which dwarfed him in untold ways. If a god could feel fear, then it was what Vowzra felt in that moment, before he once more gathered all his disdain and lack of emotion within his essence.

His siblings were coming, and together, yes, together, they would defile this virgin world with their energies. The voices of the two mighty beings came from behind him, but they seemed to echo in all directions, they seemed to originate in Vowzra's very being.

'Rise'

[Assistant]
Name:
Arguis

Might
4

Alias:
King of Knowledge

Domains/Portfolios:
Knowledge
(Nigh Omnisense)

Silence.

Nothingness.

These were the words in which one could use to describe the, encompassment in which Arguis was brought into existence. He could feel those of unparalleled power around him. There existence was a mystery to him, despite that fact, he longed to know what they were. There power was so immense he could feel there strength in the darkness around him, as if there power was tangible.

The one named Invictus then spoke. "You are become Reality, everything that has existed, exists, or will exist." The voice filled this intangible specter with glee. An emotion the he welcomed with just as much blitheness as it gave to him. He held on to the emotion, felt it, loved it, gave it as much attention as possible, before filing it in the confines of his conscious. With this, he took shape, the intangible specter expanded, and folded back in on itself. A ball of blue light took form inside the small, black ball of darkness. It suddenly burst, and Arguis emerged, his body forming instantly as the ball of energy gave his once intangible self the ability to give himself a solid form. His form was unusual, it was simplistic, he took the form of being from the old word. Unbeknownst to Arguis, to him, his form was just who he was, he did not understand what this form represented, but he liked it, none the less. He was claded in light, black armor comprised of a chestplate, and splinted armor legs with fluted poleyns.

Self Awareness.

The ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals. That was what Arguis felt from the moment of his godly conception. It was gift that was given to all beings, a gift that allowed him, to be him. He did understand everything that was, which was the 2 powerful figures in front of him. He understood what is, the darkness around him, himself, and the 2 beings in front of him, and his brother Vowzra. Finally, he understood what was to exist, which was his siblings, he knew what would go on after this, the formation of the universe, the wars and power struggles that could ultimately lead up to the potential death of a god. The only thing he did not understand, the one question that eluded the god of Knowledge, was the living darkness from which he was created, where did it come from? It was a question that Arguis himself knew that no answer would ever come to him, not matter how hard or how much he longed or tried, and he did not dare ask.

With a resonating strike that reverberated throughout the darkness that Arguis grew accustomed too, one word was burned into the heart of Arguis, one that he would never forget.

"Rise"


[System]
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Appearance: Tall, slender, and if you didn't see his face, you might think he's a girl. As it is, he isn't entirely manly, but he is, once he see his face, a guy. White-blond hair, stormy grey eyes, with unusually pale skin- he'd stand out like a sore thumb if he wasn't always wearing things that did that for him. If you grab onto his arms, you'd feel quite a bit of muscle- he may be a tad willowy, but he could still kick your ass, and steal your valuables at the same time. Generally dresses in basic trousers, and hooded coats, relatively well fitted so it doesn't flap or get loose. He generally wears earthen colors- brown, darker greens, etc.

Affiliation: Thief, scout

Description:
Ask him about his past; he might even frown at you.
He's one of the higher-ups in the Thieves Guild, simply because he's the best thief in the city, and, while he may never go on the offensive unless he believes there is no other choice, he is unmatched in staying untouched. He's fast, he's agile, and he's fairly strong in comparison to his weight and size. He's a withdrawn, quiet soul, one who sees, who listens, but rarely speaks.

[User]
A knife flew in Jade's general direction. Jade let it fly by, barely sparing it a glance. She noticed that the thin blonde thief had managed to lodge at least one or two knives into the cloaked man's flesh. Jade made a move to join the fight, but before she could do so the man noticed her, cursed loudly, and fled. Elia was lying motionless on the ground, most likely dead. Jade slowly edged closer to the blonde thief as he eyed her warily. Jade suddenly regretted the crimson cloak on her back; it was an obvious sign that she was an assassin. Finally, when Jade and the thief were within talking distance of each other, she spoke up.

"What was she doing with him?" Jade questioned in a neutral tone of voice, gesturing vaguely at Elia's body. Jade made an effort to keep her face relatively expressionless, trying not to appear threatening in any way. Jade kept her daggers out, but she let her hands drop to her sides and relaxed her posture. She had nothing against this particular thief. Really, Jade had nothing against any of the thieves. Contracts were never to be taken personally, and the League was just doing its job. The thieves understandably did not want the assassins to be doing their jobs, considering that their recent contracts all targeted members of the Thieves' Guild. If they would just stop stealing, I'm sure we wouldn't be asked to go hunt them down all the time,  Jade mused silently. But she knew there was literally no chance of that happening.

Jade cast a furtive glance around the street. People were openly staring at them, and all activity had ceased. Jade felt a slight twinge of concern. The League certainly did not need hundreds of witnesses spreading rumors about the whole incident. Syra had wanted the whole thing with the foreign man to stay quiet, but that obviously wasn't an option anymore. Jade knew what would happen after this; the Council would get a wind of the whole thing from the wealthy merchants, who would hear it on the streets or something. Then the Council would confront the League, Syra would tell the Council that the League had everything in control and to stop meddling, and the Council would get upset. However, the League had considerable power over the Council, so they wouldn't be able to do anything but sit there, grow more agitated, and continue to nag the League. Syra would ignore them, but if Dale got irritated enough he would give them a polite equivalent of "fuck off". After that, there was no way to tell what would happen. Jade was so familiar with this routine of mutual complaining that it hardly came as a surprise when something like this arose anymore.

"Listen, I know this is going to sound...strange, but do you think we could, ah, discuss this somewhere else?" Jade asked in a low voice, trying to sound as genuine as possible. The thin thief in front of her seemed suspicious, stand-offish, and not very likely to want to even be within a ten-foot radius of an assassin, and in normal circumstances Jade stayed as far away from the thieves as possible for security reasons, but these weren't normal circumstances. Jade needed all the information that she could possibly get, and since the man appeared to kill people indiscriminately, Jade figured that maybe the thieves could offer some assistance in determining what the hell he was doing on Valencia and why he was going around killing both assassins and thieves.

A nervous murmuring had started up in the crowd assembled, with people openly glaring at Jade. She was anxious to get out of this potentially hostile setting as soon as she could. It would do her no good to have all the Guild's friends decide that Jade was a threat. She sighed softly, shifting her weight slightly. Oh, the things I get myself into,  she thought wryly to herself, turning her head to the side a little to survey the whispering crowd before facing the blonde thief once again. If I get out of this alive, I'll consider myself lucky,  Jade thought, although she felt strangely calm. Jade patiently for the thief to make a decision.

[Assistant]
Lalli stared at the assassin, stomach twisting into knots. He can't beat an assassin. Run from, yes. Beat an elite one, no. But he wouldn't leave Elia's body here; even though they were strong, thieves having to be, he wasn't strong enough. And so he quickly thought up a solution, and replied, in his quiet, passive voice.

"Grab her. Follow."

Then he turned, and used a pile of boxes as sort-of stepping stones to jump up on the nearest roof. Crouching on the edge of it, he watched her until the assassin began taking ahold of Elia's body, and, at a much slower pace, started following him. Lalli didn't speak, he just made sure that he was plenty far ahead of her, running around on the rooftops, across boards purposely laid out over alleyways too wide to jump over, and occasionally places to climb down into the alleyways and snake through certain sections of the city, before climbing back up on the rooftops.

And the thing about it that was fascinating, was that not even Jade was aware of how extensive the network the ran along the roofing of the city was, and they hadn't even gotten to the underground part, yet. Either way, Lalli would go on ahead and then crouch on a ledge, the top of a house, a chimney even, and stare, almost like a cat. Not a sexy cat, mind you, more like a wide-eyed cat that that's about as threatening as a mouse.

Eventually they came to a stop on a roof in the lower, very much Guild-territory, which had a decent vantage point of the harbor here. Stopping Lalli waited for the exhausted assassin to catch up, before motioning vaguely at the ground. He knew Elia was dead- there was nothing he could do. But now he brought his body back into familiar territory, in record time!

So he just watched the high ranking assassin put his friend's body down, and asked, "Do you know who he was?"

[User]
"Grab her. Follow," the thief said in a soft voice, before taking to the rooftops. Jade picked up Elia's body and did as the thief asked, making her way up the boxes and following him. Jade had to admit that she was impressed by the network of pathways laid across the rooftops, all but invisible to anyone who didn't know about them. The added weight of Elia's body made it harder to keep up, but the thief waited for a minute or two every so often to give her a chance to catch up. As they snaked through the rooftops and alleyways of the market district and eventually into the slummy area of Valencia, Jade watched the thief. She took in his lithe, agile movements and the way he seemed to know exactly when and where the next rooftop would be. Jade could almost imagine his eyes darting around and locating the next place to jump before leaping gracefully across the gap in between the rooftops.

Finally, the thief found a rooftop to stop on near the harbor. When Jade arrived, he gestured toward the ground. Jade gently set down Elia's body, stopping for a moment to catch her breath. Jade did not doubt that the rooftop network extended far beyond the snippet that the thief had shown her, but there were more important things to think about. "Do you know who he was?" the blonde-haired thief asked after Jade had put Elia's body on the ground.

Jade shook her head, a wry expression on her face. "I wish that I did," she replied, tucking a piece of her dark brown hair behind her ear. She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "What Elia was doing with him is my biggest question right now," Jade went on, glancing down at the corpse. Even in death, there was still something about her that drew the eye. Perhaps it was her wild, untamed hair, as free as Elia had been herself.

"Anyway. You didn't hear this from me," Jade began, giving the blonde thief a pointed look, "but I found him killing assassins as well. I'm not sure what his motives are right now, considering that it seems like he does not intend to ally with either of us, but based on his fighting style I would say he's from the north, probably Eltevi." Jade recalled what she had seen of the man's forceful slashes and strong thrusts, a far cry from the fighting style of the League, which emphasized stealth, agility, and evasive maneuvers. "He obviously had formal training-his movements were more precise and controlled than those of a common street fighter," Jade said. She flicked her eyes to the blonde thief. "No offense. And did you see his sword? That thing must have taken ages to forge. So he's foreign-most likely Eltevian-and rich, meaning that he's probably somehow affiliated with the Eltevian government." Jade stopped talking to let it all sink in. She shook her head slightly. "This doesn't look good."

[Assistant]
Lalli watched the assassin, like a hawk, listening to her speak, and analyzing every bit of it he could. He didn't take offense; he understood what she meant. Despite his distrust, the assassin went quite a ways to just speak to him, and wasn't even directly asking him what had happened. That put her in his good books, even though she- Jade, he faintly remembered- had killed others of his friends before. But no one was really his friends, and such is the life of the day.

So he walked over, and gently closed Elia's eyes, ignoring the assassin standing over him. He was alert, and ready to spring away if he even thought she moved, but nothing happened, and he stepped back. Staring at her with the same, almost innocent, childish, wide-eyed stare, he said nothing for several moments.

"Elia wanted to align the Guild with them to shift the balance of power. I warned her not to. But I came anyways. Wanted to watch; observe. Didn't know she'd die. Didn't know others were already dead." He stared at Elia, frowning, the hints of grief and sorrow tainting his expression.

Glancing back up at Jade, he asked, straightforward and somewhat clumsy with his own voice, "Do you have a plan? I will help, if you do."

[User]
Jade watched as the thief closed Elia's eyes. They must have been close,  she thought to herself. Then, he stared at Jade with an oddly innocent look on his face, studying her closely. Jade met his gaze evenly, and then he finally spoke.

"Elia wanted to align the Guild with them to shift the balance of power. I warned her not to. But I came anyways. Wanted to watch; observe. Didn't know she'd die. Didn't know others were already dead," he told her, and looked down at Elia's body with a frown. Then, he re-focused his attention to Jade and said that he would help if she had a plan.

Jade was mildly surprised at his proposal and how perceptive he was. After all, if he'd been close to Elia, then he probably was one of the higher-ranking members of the Guild himself. Most members of the Guild wouldn't hesitate to take any opportunity they could to bring down the League. Jade grimaced slightly. "Thanks for offering, but I have no plan yet," she admitted sheepishly. "But I would really appreciate some help. Tell you what-I'll head back to headquarters, let Syra know what's going on, and come up with something or the other by tomorrow. I have a feeling that something bigger than both of our organizations is going on, so the first step in the plan would probably to get more information. Some reconnaissance work, yeah? I know that the Guild is very skilled in recon, but the League's strength is more in its stealth, and, ah, fulfilling contracts." Jade paused for a second to catch her breath. She glanced at the thief's face, and satisfied that she didn't detect any sign of hostility, continued. "If you could help with finding out what the hell  this guy is doing around the island, well, frankly, it would be a huge help. Some of the assassins aren't so great at blending in with the crowd."

"So what do you say?" Jade questioned, tilting her head slightly and appraising the thief. An alliance in between the Guild and League was very unlikely, but not impossible.......and Jade had a feeling that they would have to work together to uncover what the Eltevian man was truly doing on the island.

[Assistant]
He stared at her, before frowning down at the corpse that used to be Elia. He let out a sigh, and leaned slightly to the side, as if a breeze was pushing him. He stared at her, before appearing to completely ignore what she said, and started, well, looting Elia's body. Coinpurse, daggers, her saber, her belt, the hood and cloak that marked her as a Guild member. He wrapped them up, and pulled out a piece of fabric- which he unfolded into a sort of bag. He stuffed her non-sharp items inside, before slinging it around him.

And then he took three of the four knives from Elia's body, and slipped them into various parts across his body. The last one, he offered to the assassin, along with the saber, scabbard, and accompanying belt.

In a lighter, lilting, foreign accent, he spoke, still not entirely familiar with the language. "Take them. Keep them. Wear them. I will work with you, and you will not be attacked while carrying Elia's things. I will spread word. Meet here in a fortnight, I will keep you posted. Will interrupt any attempts to murder. You have my word."


[System]
-Work in progress-
Nicknames: The Sword Hero
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Level: 1

Class: Legendary Sword Hero

Hero Class: Sword

Specializations: N/A

Magic Affinity: Wind, and Lightning

Appearance:
(brownish eyes replaced with blue)

Biography:
Born in rural Maine young Cole was born to a group of successful fisherman, and belongs to a long line of such people dating all the way back to the inception of America. Cole's parents were often too busy to raise him so Cole was actually sent to Connecticut to live with his uncle Phil who was taking care of the grand parents. Phil was more of a laid back sort of of parental figure, and much more geeky than Cole's actual parents. Phil was a teacher in Hartford, and used his money to help bring Cole up to be a rather nice, if not quiet young man. Cole tried his best at sports as a young man often taken to local games by his grandfather on the weekends when he was feeling well enough. However they weren't especially his forte, and he ended up simply stopping sports all together in order to hang out with his Uncle, and his friends around a DnD table.

Eventually Cole moved back to Maine where he finished school, and helped his parents out for a time. He helped with a lot of his parents' warehouse work while they managed the financial, and business aspects. However one aspect seemed to remain a near constant in his life after his teenage years. He was constantly teased, and picked on by a jock by the name of Chad Buckley the head of a football team when he was still in Hartford. Growing up Chad seemed to never actually give Cole a break, and though he never got too physical it was unrelenting. Thankfully Chad was dumber than a sack of bricks when he was younger, and Cole managed to prank him in return multiple times in retaliation. Chad would reappear in Cole's life later as he moved to California for an college course in business to further consolidate his life. However by pure coincidence Chad's scholarship also landed him in the same school, and Chad, while mellowed out somewhat, still was a bit of a prick. Cole's hope of life changed as he grabbed a strange book, and was quickly transported to a new world...

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Preferred Weapon(s): Legendary Hero Sword

Appearance of Weapon:

Abilities of Weapon:
shield-hero.fandom.com/wiki/Legendary…
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Skills/Abilities:

Name of Skill:

Abilities of Skill:

Downsides of Skill:
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Inventory:

[User]
Rivia Silvermane
Oblivious to Fers dilemma, it was only Cole grabbing her attention that saved him from an awkward explanation. She wasn't sure who she wanted to dance with first, so she tucked the thought away for now at least as her attention was moved from the sword hero to the dancers around them. Flashy, colourful dresses. Constant swaying and spinning. It was certainly a lot of motion, though she wasn't sure why they were spinning so much. Wouldn't you get dizzy and fall over? She felt dizzy just from trying to track them, so just shook her head as she looked away. The main thing she had gotten was that they were moving to the beat of the slow music filling the air. She didn't have much of a clue what he meant by 'lead' till she looked back, cocking her head to the side as she now noticed the first one to move was indeed the ladies, with the gentlemen following suit and the motion flowing on from there.

Tapping her chin thoughtfully, she supposed a dance always sparked off from one individual and then the rest flowed on from there. But they were so close, it would be hard to do as Cole said to do; avoid stepping on one another, no? Suppose that once again came down to the rhythm, the motion of the dancers. Moving like flowing water across the dancefloor.

The explanation of it being romantic or not was lost on Rivia for the most part though. Whether they even had the same standards and values for such a thing remained to be seen. "Rivia wouldn't mind dancing first. Rivia wants to try." Such nimble movements, coordination, the deft, subtle changes to suit both the partner and the pace of the song. There was no doubt about it. It would make a fine training exercise as well if she can get the hang of it! And this seemed like as good a time to learn it.

Plus there was always food later. Unlike how worn her current attire was, she wasn't exactly struggling to get by on food. She was a good hunter and excellent forager after all. If anything, the current swirling and mixing of scents and aromas was a bit off-putting when it came to the food. Less because most were a mystery, but mostly because it just seemed...strong. There was nothing wrong with a lightly seasoned meal...

"Umm...suppose Rivia will dance with Fer first? Then Fer can go and eat while Rivia and Cole dance. Moving on a full stomach is bad. Causes great pain after all." Nodding her head and crossing her arms over her chest, she seemed quite proud of herself for knowing what was a common fact for them in their worlds; stitches existing. Not that such a world existed among her tribe. Especially if Fer ate as Cole said he did; then he could become immobilised almost entirely!

[Assistant]
Late to the Party
(Mood Music)

Auriel left the powder room with a frustrated sigh. The blood had taken so long to come off, and it hadn't even entirely come out! Thankfully, the blood stain would be noticeable on her white dress if somebody was really looking for it. And with all of the motion causing her dress to sway, it'd at least be hard to pick out. Auriel had one other advantage to keeping the bloodstain hidden, and that was because she was so late. The party had gone on long before she would arrive. People would likely have had more than one drink, and surely the frivolities of the upper class will have dulled the senses of all of the party-goers too much to notice a small thing like the blood spatter of a broken nose.

Auriel stood in front of the great doors leading to the throne room. She reached for one of the door handles and looked around over her shoulder again, double checking to make sure she wasn't about to get another rude interruption. Seeing that she was clear, Auriel took the handle in her hand, and pulled the door open. She stepped through the doors to see the center of the room was host to a large swirl of dancing couples. Dancing was never her thing, not because she didn't like it, but because her wings were rather clumsy and required too much room to allow others enjoy a shared floor. That often meant that when Auriel was on the floor, she and her dance partner were the only ones of the floor, and such things usually led to Auriel being very self conscious and nervous. She would avoid the dancing.

Auriel was very quickly intercepted by a well dress man, a butler and one of the hosts of the party. He bowed and held out a large platter with glasses of wine neatly placed on it. Auriel smiled and took a glass of wine before the man stood straight, turned his full body to face the ballroom, and cleared his throat. Auriel was in the middle of sip when she realized what he was about to do. She quickly swallowed her sip of wine, "Mm- No-"

"Introducing Lady Auriel! Holy Warrior of the Church of the Four! The Guardian Angel and Companion of both the Sword and the Shield heroes!" he said, his nasally voice was clear and loud enough to echo across the hall.

Auriel had her face planted firmly in her palm when all eyes turned on her. She never got used to being announced. Even after all of these years, it always made her feel like she had to give some speech or perform some sort of trick to keep up with the magnificence of being announced. Auriel took a breath and lowered her hand from her face before smiling to the party-goers. "Erm... Greetings, my lords and ladies. Apologies for my tardiness. Heh... Eh..." Gods this was awkward! "Please! Don't stop the fun on my account! I am glad I can finally partake!"

There were some chuckles here and there and it seemed the energy was returning back to normal. Auriel let out a long sigh of relief and sipped her wine. She glanced sidelong as the butler who had announced her, "Thank you, sir. Er... Perhaps next time we can make my arrival a little less... Significant?"

The butler laughed and nodded, "Of course, milady. Please, enjoy the gala- but first, could I interest you in another glass? T'would seem in your attempt to catch up with the rest of the guests, your glass in nearly empty already."

Auriel blinked and looked back at wine glass. Did she really drink that much already? Oh heavens... Auriel's mind snapped back to when she had gone to the tavern with Cole and Fer before they left to help the farmer with their bandit problem. She was such a lightweight, and she could already feel the wine. Auriel cleared her throat awkwardly and blushed, a sign of embarrassment that was always easy to spot on her fair cheeks. "N- no, thank you. One glass is more than enough for me to catch up, it seems."

"Very well, milady. I believe I have accosted you enough for tonight. I will leave you be. If you change your mind for another drink later on though, you'll find I answer to summons quite quickly." he said jovially.

Auriel nodded slowly at that, "Ah, yes. Well that makes one of us." How late had Auriel been? Two hours? Three? With her mother's remorseless training, Calder's romantic pursuits, the gate guard's unshakable sense of duty, and Bander's childish rivalry and ensuing staining of her favorite dress with his blood, Auriel's luck couldn't have been much worse for finding interruptions. Not that all of it had been bad.

Auriel straightened her white dress a bit and scanned the crowd with her golden hues. It didn't take long to spot Fer standing on his own. She followed his gaze and found Cole among the crowd of dancers with... A demi-human? Who was that? She had never seen her in the palace before, and she had spent a lot of time in the palace growing up. Was he some demi-human nobleman's daughter from Shieldfreeden? Not likely with Zeltoble's general air of distaste for demi-humans. A slave then? More likely, but why would someone's slave be dancing with the country's nobility? She was a guest then. Not a slave. But also not a noble from Shieldfreeden... She had to be a guest's 'plus one' then, or perhaps part of an entourage. Or perhaps... No? Yes? Did they have a new member in their party that Auriel wasn't around to greet?!

Auriel made her way into the crowd, smiling, greeting, and being trapped in small bouts of gossip. As she maneuvered through the social minefield, she finally made her way to Fer's side. With the host announcing her arrival, she didn't need to tell Fer that she was finally at the party. She cleared her throat and let out another long breath, "You look charming." she said to Fer, noting the attire that the king's staff had no doubt put him in. He actually looked like he belonged to this world, even though Auriel knew he was entirely foreign. "Truly a member of Zeltoble's highest aristocracy."

Auriel brought her spear behind her and nestled it horizontally against the small of her back. She held it with both hands and did a curtsy in her white dress. It was difficult to tell if she was being ironic or genuine with the noble mannerisms, especially to a man who was very much against high born tyrants from his own world. When she straightened out, Auriel rested the butt end of the spear on the marble flooring and held it straight up. She brushed some of her golden bangs from her face and pouted a bit, "I'm sorry I'm so late. What was supposed to be one thing turned into several... several things, all in quick succession of one another. Did I miss anything important? Notably an introduction to her?" she cast a sidelong glance at the demi-human girl with a slight nudge of her head in Rivia's and Cole's direction.