[System]
"Hey, you wouldn't have seen any flower around here that has a yellow petal, would ya? I need one for, uh...'flavoring'."

"Charlotte LaChance. Now, if you don't need anything I really should be watching this beaker before it explodes."
"Nineteen."
Age:
19

Race:
Human

Appearance:
Charlotte stands around five foot six. A pale complexion with messy, somewhat unkempt dark brown hair and cold blue eyes adorn her face. She has a slender frame, with no obvious muscles as she's not entirely one for physical activity, often time spending her days reading or practicing her chosen craft. She wears comfortable clothes that look like one might expect of someone born from high-society. Short pants, held up by a belt with a golden buckle, adorned with various pouches to carry items. Comfortable shoes with long, knee-high socks. Over her upper body, she wears a thick cloak with a hood, designed mostly to protect the wearer from the cold. Rarely takes it off, even in the warmer lands she finds herself in.

Personality:
Insatiable curiosity, confident, stubborn, a bit on the childish side, doesn't like not getting her way, and has a bit of a one-track mind. As such her alchemy can sometimes suffer a bit as a result. Though indeed, she is talented, and if she doesn't let her one-track mind focus on something else after she starts something, she'd be fairly successful. She prefers to spend time outdoors with her plants and other alchemy reagents than in the company of people.

She tends to come off as rather serious and no-nonsense, and sometimes a sarcastic grump. Often time she wears a serious expression when people first meet her, though its only because she tends to have a one-track mind about things, and really doesn't like being interrupted. She's often thinking about various things and what properties plants might have.

That said, she is fairly friendly to most, and isn't hostile by any means. Just don't interrupt her work unless you have a really good reason. Aside from this, she's fairly intelligent and knows about a great deal many scholarly subjects. Mostly dealing with Magic and Alchemical pursuits, but she's read a great many number of books so she might surprise someone with her knowledge every now and then about something.

"DAMN YOUR EYES DON'T TOUCH THAT BEAKER-Argh, this is sensitive equipment!"

Abilities:
Aside from the obviously impressive physical and mental abilities that humans possess, Charlotte is adept at potion brewing. Meaning, alchemy and making useful concoctions out of herbs, remedies, antidotes and other items found in the natural world. She's pretty much a savant when it comes to everything relating to it. Add that to some beginner interest in Botany, she could probably make quite the living selling and brewing potions. That said, she is still fairly young and has a lot of room for improvement in the field. Plus, almost all the flora and fauna on this new continent has yet to be documented. Meaning, until she goes around documenting and doing some trial and error, she's gonna be somewhat useless.

Not something a lot of sleepless nights watching beakers and flasks bubble can't fix, however.

A neat little list:
-Good at alchemy
-Fairly intelligent
-Beginner Botanist
-Cold tends to not bother her so much, since her home country was notoriously cold.
-Not so good with animals, unfortunately. They tend to like using her as a chewtoy.
-Physically speaking, she's a wet noodle strength wise. Fairly average stamina due to her fairly active lifestyle.

History:
Born in Astril, Charlotte has been brought up around science, logic, reason, and even the odd magical related things most of her life. Aside from that, its not particularly interesting. While she herself wasn't born into the magic-using citadel of Astril, and was instead brought up in a small farming community near the border, she has always held an interest in magic, alchemy, and scholarly pursuits herself. So in between farming duties and helping her parents run the farm, she studied all sorts of books. Ones about history, magic, and otherwise.

And when she was fourteen, she was accepted into Astril itself as a student. And as confident as she was, she was sorely outclassed by a lot of the students there who had been training formally since their birth. She spent quite a few years there struggling to keep up with the other students, and quickly found herself as a bit of a loner and outcast among her peers. Not that she particularly minded, she'd rather have her books and studies anyways. Eventually she was labeled a bit of an eccentric.

It was when she was nineteen, she had to make a choice. Leave Astril and set off on her own, or effectively become a test subject. She doesn't like talking about the events that transpired leading up to that event, but she will say she killed about five scholars and blew up a lab.

Nation of Origin:
Astril. A small, somewhat isolationist country known for its heavy delving into intellectual pursuits of all kinds.

Nation Lore:
Astril is a small nation located far to north. Most of the country is cold, mountainous, and cold tundra and thick pine forests make up most of the climate. Over time, they have tamed the lands somewhat and built a thriving city located high in the frigid mountains. A tower like citadel, simply named 'Astril' over their first leader, that later became their small city.

In the past, they were a small group of intellectuals, scholarly types, dissatisfaction with their own cities. They traveled far to the north, seeking land unclaimed by others they could call home themselves. Eventually, they found their land in the cold north.

Overtime, they built a thriving city, founded upon not on diplomacy or military might, but on science, magic, and logic. When it was first founded, they welcomed all inquiries into the arcane and scientific nature, and shunned no question or line of research...no matter how 'unethical' it might have been perceived to be. Human, animal, and all sorts of experimentation was, and still is quite common. Of course, they don't exactly advertise this fact these days. If you're going to be doing something somewhat unethical, then you are expected to keep it under wraps and deal with any unintended consequences yourself...

Eventually, the city began withdrawing from the outside world, and though they still welcome intellectuals and those who wished to pursue arts of science and magic, they had developed a bit of a mindset that those outside their walls were somewhat...barbaric and uncivilized. Typical mage superiority mindset, really. Mix that with a somewhat reactionary mindset with a healthy dose of Xenophobia, (anyone considered an outsider and not born there, not racism per say. There are a variety of races that live here) you get some pretty narrow minded individuals.

Of course, it wasn't all easy for them. With their small numbers and generally small sized city, was almost taken over quite a number of times, if it wasn't for the quick thinking of their leaders. They maintain uneasy peace with any other city state in the area, but for the most part keep to themselves, and any outsiders are turned back at the border.

Misc:
-Not everyone pursues magic theory or science here. Not everyone has the aptitude to perform equally well with magic, after all. As long as you make yourself useful, you'll probably fit in well.
-A bit of a Meritocracy
-Ruled by the 'Deacon of Astril'

Other:
-Can be somewhat socially awkward at times, and has trouble holding a decent conversation about anything other than alchemy.
-Makes some questionable potions sometimes. You really shouldn't get curious about some of the stuff she makes.
-Don't bring up anything regarding an elixir of life or philosophers stone. You have been warned. If you do, bring ear plugs and make sure you don't have anything to do for the next hour.

[User]
~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Good news, was that the terrain was fairly easy to walk through. Even better news, was that there was a plethora of plants and animals here she had never seen before. Granted she wasn't exactly keen on being friendly with any animals since she and them had...less than amicable pasts, but even animals could have useful alchemical properties if used correctly. Bad news was, she apparently had a stalker now. She really couldn't fathom as to why the shorter girl was following her, but she couldn't rule out suspicious activity of some sort. At least the music she was playing from her flute was oddly calming. Or at least, Charlotte didn't mind having it in the background as she examined the various plants.

She really needed a journal of some sort. She needed to sketch images of the fruits, plants, and even their roots. It'd be good to reference something by, since many plants of the same family had similar root structures. It'd be easier identifying foreign plants if she had something to reference instead of memorizing everything. At least she got to enjoy some rather interesting new berries, fruits, or anything else that bore something edible. Even the ones that tasted terrible could possibly even have something interesting if used correctly.

It wasn't until the ground started sloping upwards that Charlotte started taking note of the area and the change of scenery. She hadn't noticed the small mountain when she was on the beach or she'd have picked any other direction to walk in. Well, no matter. She was used to trekking the mountains occasionally near Astril. These were a lot warmer, though just as rocky. With a little help from the native and a brief thanks in her own language, they found themselves at the top of the rocky ridge overlooking the beach. Charlotte didn't sit. Instead, she simply gazed over the landscape.

The hill offered a fairly good view of the area. The beach seemed to be fairly temperate in climate, though still much warmer than she was used too. On the other side a temperate looking forest that started about halfway down the ridge. She sighed, placing her hands on her hips as she looked over the sea, setting the sack she was carrying on the ground. Well, she was here. She found the continent, and now if she was lucky she'd be able to find what she had spent her short nineteen years looking for without the fools at Astril looming over her shoulder and hindering any attempts she had at actual progress.

But that, was for later. She needed to set up somewhere. Have some manner of base to work from for a bit. 'Home' if you will. Setting up on the other side of this little ridge wasn't too bad of an idea. It was close enough to the beach, and likely she could spend her time gathering her thoughts and planning what she was going to do next. Just one little problem. The native that was stalking her. Charlotte turned to face the girl, giving her a somewhat harsh and questioning glare as she was being watched. Words would be useless here, so telling the girl to go away without some sort of physical violence would be difficult. Not that she even wanted too. If there were more of...whatever she was around here, then that might get her lynched.

Ah, what to do? Finding a cave or making a small, makeshift shelter shouldn't be too difficult for her. She read books on that sort of thing. She'd know what she was doing.

Probably.

For now though, Charlotte took a seat on the rocky ground opposite of the native girl, as she reached into her cloak and pulled out a tattered, almost ancient piece of paper that seemed ready to fall apart at a moments notice. The paper, was an incredibly old, but fairly well preserved map. It showed the same beach that she had arrived on, and in a few ancient foreign letters were scribbled notes of some sort - some she hadn't been able to fully translate. A few alchemical symbols decorated the corners of the page. She'd have to work on that later, but she could at least tell if she was going in the right general direction...

[Assistant]
The native watched as the other girl pulled some sort of paper out of her cloak, unfolding it and seeming to observe it intensely. The orange haired girl tilted her head somewhat curiously, and after waiting for a bit headed over behind the other and looked at what was quickly identified as a map.

Ah. So she WAS lost. A little giggle followed as the green eyed girl found herself searching the sky, looking at the position of the sun and the beach. There weren't any fine landmarks around besides the cliff, and a river ran a half hour's walk to the north of their location. Still though, she decided to make herself useful.

A delicate finger pointed at a spot on the map where Caitiona believed they were. "Tá muid anseo." It was slightly off, and the old parchment had some obvious inaccuracies on it, and much of it lacked any sort of significant detail. Still though, it was a good outline of the overall terrain.

The look at the sun had suggested something aside form direction though - it also told a story of them running out of time. They needed to find shelter within the next two hours, and she had no idea how to communicate this.

The shorter girl poked the other's shoulder several times to get her attention, and possibly in the nose if that was required. The orange hand girl then sent the best symbols she could to make it obvious what she was saying.

She pointed at both of them, then pretended to fall asleep on the ground before standing back up again. Caitriona pointed off in a seemingly random direction, taking a few steps towards it and beckoning with a single hand to follow ... "Teacht chomh maith!"


[System]
Age: 18 (undead for 3 years since the infection)
Appearance: Ash is 1.78 metres tall.

Backstory: A student who recently graduated high school and was considering her college applications, she ignored the rumours floating about on the internet about a new rabies virus. Ignorance was no cure, however, for the infection, and Ash was one of the many names that died or turned into the undead on the first day.

The virus mutated inside her, eventually turning her hands and feet into claws. One day, she eventually realised that she was topless (her shirt was either torn off or slowly decayed to the ravages of time) and used a spare roll of bandages to cover herself up. Her mind slowly returned, and from outright hostility and hunger for the living, it become curiosity. She would watch, safely hidden, as soldiers and other survivors raided former living areas for food and supplies.

3 years later, Ash knows how to speak, read and write English, even if she finds hardly anyone intelligent to talk to.

[User]
Three years ago

Ash twiddled her short brown hair and stared at the computer. She had gotten into the dreaded cycle of refreshing. A few of her favourite tumblrs, Twitter, Reddit and the forums she frequented were all the tabs she had open. Yet none of them were updating. Well, some were, but there was this hashtag trending on Twitter.

"Hashtag outbreak. Well, let's see what's going on." Ash clicked on the link provided by the user. It led to YouTube. "Ugh, another viral marketing video?"

The cursor hovered over the close button of the tab as the video played. From the poor aspect ratio, it was definitely recorded on a smartphone's camera. To make things worse, the recording was shaky. She rolled her eyes a bit, but the next image drew her gaze. A man was on the floor, crawling away. He looked up at some woman, and screamed and begged.

"Don't eat me!"

The woman fell onto him anyway, and she sunk her teeth into the man's face. Ash just stared, slack-jawed. The grainy footage was hard to see through, but Ash guessed that it might have been poor special effects. The door knocked, and she sighed. Her father had come back from work, most likely.

"Coming! Stop knocking so much, dad!" she yelled. Picking up a white shirt, she slid it onto herself (her father disapproved of her walking around the house topless, but she was so flat a bra wasn't necessary) and walked to the door.

"Look, stop knocking, I'm..." As she pulled the door open, what standing there wasn't her father. It was a man. Ash would have said that it 'is' a man, but men didn't have their guts hanging out in front of them and still be standing upright. His glazed-over eyes flickered to look at Ash, and the thing roared.

Turning around, she tried to run, but the dead man's hand was faster. He grabbed onto her shirt, and tried to grab onto her. She heard a loud rip of the shirt she wore, but the momentum from his jerky grab was good enough.

"Nonono— NO!" Ash screamed. The zombie, now with a proper grab onto her, sunk his bloody teeth into her. She screamed, and the pain brought upon her by his second ironclad bite sent everything to darkness.

Minutes later, the corpse of the tomboy on the floor shook violently. With a quiet groan, Ash sat up, and slowly got to her feet. Her torn shirt slid off her body, reducing her modesty to naught, but she didn't care. Her mind, previously filled with the ambitions and dreams of an 18 year old girl, were now filled with instinctual hunger. Stumbling out of the room, her dazed zombie instincts looked up into the sky to the sound of a helicopter. Just like the mindless horde of the walking dead, she followed.

-----

Modern Days

"No, c'mon, don't mess this up..."

Her claws held the USB cable nervously, as she gently eased it into back of the computer. A few damaged cables were scattered beside her. When Ash heard the click, she grinned.

Hopefully, the internet was still working. The power was. And if there was one thing that Ash remembered recently, there were such things called computers. As she eased up the battered office chair to the computer, she heard the sound of a vehicle. The army was here. They would usually scavenge for supplies. Food, spare parts, gasoline, and the like.

That was their way of living their life. This was her unlife. Ash looked out at the room she made. A bed (she didn't need to rest, but it felt unnatural for her room to be missing one), a mini-fridge (filled with choice cuts from the local supermarket, and a few from unlucky passers-by. The meat had already went bad by human definitions, but she kept it around. Eating helped stave off the worst effects of being a zombie.), and a computer that was already in this room. A first aid kit, stuffed to the brim with bandages (her choice of clothing today), sat beside the computer.

The windows were boarded, and the door was barred. Someone else was here earlier, but she shot herself. Ash just took over.

With a grin that showed bits of meat stuck between her teeth, she clicked on Reddit. There were certainly less users, but it was still active nonetheless. Even if humanity would still shoot to kill her at first sight, she still wanted company of some sort.

[Assistant]
Three years ago

"How is he doing, Mom?" She spoke through a cellphone. Her eyes were looking at the things that were going around her. The soldiers passing by, their faces and whatever they were doing. Her free hand was fiddling with the buttons on her navy green jacket. She listened at the voice on the other side of the line.

"He's doing better..." A voice of an older woman sounded. "That doesn't sound very promising." Rose said and sighed, leaning back against the wall of a hallway. "Has he said anything?" - "No, he's seeing a therapist, because he's having a lot of nightmares". The woman spoke. "Tell Daniel I said Hi, okay?" Rose asked her mother.

Daniel was her older brother. He was 5 years older than her, and he joined the US army before she did. But he got in an accident a few months back and lost his leg. He was in Afghanistan, and so far Rose heard, they were attacked. His brother was close by a grenade when someone threw it and it went off. He lost his leg and was sent back home.

It was busy at the military base here. People were always busy, some soldiers had just gotten back from a mission or a practice. Rose stayed here when her brother was sent back home. Even though her mother wanted her back, she felt she needed to be here. Rose felt she had a purpose here, serving her country.

"I have to go. We have to check out some things going on in Michigan". Rose spoke through the phone. "Oh honey, be careful. Have you been following the news?" - "Yes, I have mom. Don't worry. It's probably nothing to worry about." Rose said. But she had no idea what was going on or what to expect. She pushed herself off the wall and ended the conversation with her mother and left with a group for Michigan.

Modern Days

What she saw 3 years ago in Michigan wasn't something to not worry about. It wasn't something that would be easy to fix. It was a virus that was spreading more and more. It brought the dead back to live, and they were hungry. Rose wasn't exactly how or why, her mission was to get people in safety. She and other soldiers had been busy finding survivors and fighting off zombies for 3 years now. They were losing people almost on a daily basis. It was sad, but they didn't really had a choice. Rose didn't really else had a choice. The army offered them food and in return they would do as they were told.

People said hell was full, and that's why the dead were coming back alive. Or that it was humanity's own fault. If we did believe in God and lived according the bible, this would never have happened. Most people didn't know what was trying to kill them, so they just made up lies...

"We're almost there!" A voice yelled at a group of 6 soldiers. Rose was one of them. "We'll be back in exactly 3 hours!" The man who was flying the helicopter mentioned. Rose got her helmet and put it over her short brown hair. In the military long hair wasn't ideal.

She felt the helicopter going down and eventually landing on a big intersection, in the middle of a small highway. Rose and the other soldiers jumped out, holding their rifles, running away from the helicopter, and off to a place where they couldn't be seen by others so they had a moment to discuss how they were going to this.

"Clear!" Rose said out loud after they had entered a small store. Bart, another soldier closed the blinds, and used two fingers to peek between the blinds. So far, there were no zombies to be seen. "How are we going to do this?" Bart said in a heavy voice. The reason they were there because someone had called for help through a radio. They said they were in this city, hiding in a mall.

Rose took out a big city map. And pointed at a red circle drawn on the map. "The mall is here. We are here" She pointed to a small spot on the map. "It's about 2.5 kilometers away." She said, and looked at the 4 male soldiers, who were listening. Rose looked down on the map, and her fingers moved over the map. "This is the shortest road. And probably the safest road too" She spoke quickly, and put the map back in her pocket, before she turned to a blond soldier. "I've talked it through with Mason, he leads the way". Mason nodded, and they left the abounded store.

It was halfway their trip when they were attacked by a big group of zombies. They were only with the 6 of them, and there were just too many zombies. Shots were fired and heads were bashed in. It looked like there was no way out and they weren't going to make it.

Bart was the one who sacrificed himself. He managed to get the zombies attention and pulled the trigger from a grenade when Rose and the others were far enough not to get hit by it. The soldiers kept on running, until they were safe.

"Rose..." Mason said. "You're bitten".

Rose her heart skipped a beat and she got this feeling of desperation in her stomach. She looked at her body, to see where she was bitten. With the adrenaline rushing through her body during the zombie attack, she hadn't noticed that one got to her. It was a big bite on her upper arm. "F*ck" Rose cursed. She knew what this meant. She couldn't go any further with the guys. "Well, go on already. I'll be fine. I promise" Her right hand covered the wound on her left arm.

She watched the guys leave, and she was all on her own now. Rose knew she wasn't going to make it on her own here.

[User]
Ash grabbed a pistol in her claws. It was more for threatening the living at this stage, and maybe a few potshots at the other intelligent dead. The army seemed a bit more proactive in her sector today. If they broke down the door, she'd return fire.

A grenade explosion rocked the building slightly, and Ash frowned. They were messing up her building. With a tired sigh, she plucked off the boards on her door with her bare claws. (Claws can work like a hammer in a pinch.) She plucked off a kevlar vest from the bed (courtesy of a few of the undead soldiers) and moved out. She used the vest as a shield against her head, holding her pistol in the direction of the little gunshots of a pistol. It must have been an individual soldier, or a survivor, or the rest were sticking to melee weapons. Sticking behind the reanimated corpse of a young woman wearing a female business suit, she slowly edged her way to the source of the gunshot noises.

A young woman, looking like a soldier with the mishmash of body armour she wore, sat in a corner. Her right hand grasped tightly onto what looked like a wound on her other arm, while her left hand held a pistol. A few zombies fell as she fired at them.

Ash counted the shots. When the second-to-last bullet fired, there was just the zombie left that she took cover behind. Well, Ash was a zombie, but a nice one.

"Save your bullet." Grabbing the zombie woman, Ash tripped her to the floor and smashed her head in.

Holding the kevlar vest to her head, Ash peeked behind it to see the soldier she had temporarily rescued. A black-haired, caucasian woman. Too young to die, but here she was, infected. Ash was infected once, but she got lucky.

"Don't shoot," stated Ash.

[Assistant]
Rose fired again, but this time she missed. It took her a moment to realize that she just fired her last shot. But Rose didn't lower her gun yet. Maybe whoever was talking to her wouldn't know and keep a save distance. Zombies didn't talk right? They wouldn't back down for a gun, unless it went through their head.

Rose was looking at the thing that was holding the kevlar vest to her head. Her hand was shaky, but the gun still aimed to whoever was talking. Blood was dropping down on the floor and she knew that would only lure more zombies towards her. She needed to get out of here if she wanted to stay alive for a few extra hours.

"Too late." Rose said.

Rose was starting to become a bit light headed from the blood loss. It wasn't a small wound and she didn't had time to take a look at it and find some bandages. Thinking about that, she realized that bandaging her wound had little to no use. She was going to die anyway and come back as a zombie. She couldn't shoot a bullet through her head any more, because she wasted her last bullet. There were still a few options left: throw herself off a high building, have someone else bash her head in. Rose could be creative, maybe she would even see the fun in it soon?

"Who are you?" Rose asked in a demanding tone. "Lower that stupid vest" She wanted to see who she was talking to and how that person looked like. From what she could see, Rose wasn't sure what she was talking to and she was dying to know.


[System]
Namesake:
N/A

Age:
Young Adult

Gender:
Female

Species:
NightWing

Appearance:
Dreamseeker's scales are jet black with a very dark purple undertone, while her underbelly, claws, and horns are ivory white. Her eyes are the same dark color as most NightWings', though in the right light, one can see they are a very, very dark violet. The spines on her back are as dark as her scales, though the stars that speckle her wings are bright silver. Silver scales also line her neck, sides, and tail. She's known to constantly press her wings close to her sides in an attempt to be as small and overlooked as possible.

Personality:
Sweet, kind, and gullible. Dreamseeker tries to be the best dragon she can be towards others, and has a strong sense of empathy and sympathy. She's a bit nervous, especially when she's asked too many questions or is suddenly thrown into the spotlight. She loves the arts and prefers to draw, write, and read rather than becoming involved in something "greater than her", as her mother would put it. Though, she has a vicious streak of curiosity at times, and will often get in trouble for sticking her nose into business that isn't hers. Dreamseeker also has a small ego, though she tries her best to hide it.

Short Bio:
Dreamseeker was born in the Night Kingdom, alongside two brothers and a sister. Her father was never around, and so her mother had much disdain for her dragonets-- especially Dreamseeker, the least intimidating of them all. Her siblings often fought and bickered with one another, and she was much often the butt of many pranks and a victim of teasing. When she was old enough, she left home in the dead of night, and has been roaming Pyrrhia since.

Other:
- Dreamseeker can read minds.
- Her favorite form of art is painting.

[User]
Eclipse opened his jaws to respond to her comment before snapping them shut. He didn't remember saying she might be responsible out loud. That was a problem for later. Just add it to the long list of problems he needed to deal with. "I don't know why you'd want to kill her, I don't know why the dragon who did kill her wanted to," he could feel that same rage bubbling up, not at Dreamseeker, but just the situation as a whole, "I just know that someone killed a member of my family, and for all I know there was no reason at all!" His voice grew to a near shout towards the end of the sentence as all the frustration of the day finally overflowed.

He turned away from the NightWing for a moment, regaining his composure with an angry huff and a deep breath. He turned his head back towards her at her rather hot comment; noticing her favoring her leg and made a mental note that, in the event she proved trustworthy, to help her out with that. "I value peace but I know the one who did this definitely doesn't," he frowned at her as she asked about trust, "You haven't exactly given me a reason to trust you. You were sneaking around my home in the middle of the night. That's not exactly trustworthy behavior."

He took a moment to just sit down and think; gazing up through the trees as if the stars above him might have the answers he needed. They knew nothing, not who did, not how, not why, and no one had even started anything else. What were they waiting for? The weakness that came with Ember's death would be enough for another tribe to attack them, yet nothing had happened. Maybe they were waiting for another moment of vulnerability.

He sighed, the anger he felt giving way to a deep sadness. He hated the fact that this was what he had to be concerned about. If the next coming dawn would bring even more death to the people he cared for. He looked back towards Dreamseeker, "Did you find anything?"

[Assistant]
Dreamseeker flinched a little at the waves of anger and frustration that flourished from Eclipse's mind. It surged through her own mind, nearly giving her a headache as she fought to maintain her composure. A little shudder flowed over her spine. She didn't know how it was like to suddenly lose a family member, but she did know how it felt to have an empty gap in the family picture when it should be filled. She felt for this strange, weird, half-noble-blooded hybrid. She wanted to walk up to him and brush his wingtip with hers, even if she hadn't known him for long. Her claws scratched into the dirt, lowering her head.

So he didn't trust her. He didn't even need to tell her that. "I'm sorry," she admitted. "But I couldn't just walk up to the palace and ask to be let in, could I? I wasn't planning to stay for long. I just wanted to see the weapon that was used to kill her, nothing else." Her voice drifted off in a sigh, and she shifted slightly. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't able to completely block out Eclipse's thoughts. Some of them filtered in, all of them being worried and depressing and absolutely soul-wrenching. Yes, this meant war. Yes, this meant there would be more death, more suffering and fear and tears.

"I didn't find anything," she admitted. Dreamseeker hesitated as she mulled over her next words. During her time sneaking around the palace, she was able to catch the thoughts of several guards. All kept wondering about poison... poison, dark, black poison... just like... "Oh!" she suddenly shouted, her head snapping to attention. "I... I heard some guards talking about poison? Like, black poison. No one knows what it is, but I might have read about something in a scroll recently," she explained. "Apparently, it comes from a creature in the rainforest to the very south of Pyrrhia. I'm not sure what, though."

[User]
Eclipse shrugged, the last of the anger fading away just leaving him feeling exhausted, "I suppose not unless you had a good reason. Everyone is bit on edge as one would expect." It was in this kind of situation he wished his other friends were here, they'd definitely know what to do or say. His thoughts continued to run in circles as his claws dug into the dirt underneath him and his tail flicked slightly with nerves.

"It was a dart. I went up and saw the healers with it. I had like a thick, black fluid on it." As Dreamseeker trailed off he let himself just rest for a moment. Dropping his head and sitting down with his wings resting on the ground. He felt way too tired to keep up the proud and intimidating facade that he had put up at the start. He continued to stare at the NightWing, he never was the best when it came to judging character, but she definitely didn't seem like a threat. He knew Skua would probably scold him for deciding something like that so quickly, but he was too tired to care.

He jumped slightly at Dreamseeker's exclamation and his jaw dropped slightly. She knew something about what this poison was, that gave them a lead! He sprang to his feet, a rush of energy coursing through his veins, "That's brilliant!" he resisted the urge to rush forward and wrap his wings around the smaller dragon, and instead settled for grinning widely at her, "That's more than we had to go on before. You have to come and tell someone, I can vouch for you getting into the palace." He would also make sure she got her leg looked at by one of the healers.

He flexed his wings, getting ready to take off once again back towards the palace.

[Assistant]
Dreamseeker couldn't help but smile a little at Eclipse's excitement. She was glad to be able to help him out a bit, even if she had no direct business in what had happened. Though, her next suggestion made her flinch a little. Tell someone in the palace? Was that a good idea? She trembled a little. She never went into a palace before, not even in the Night Kingdom. The palace there seemed like a distant dream, or something of myth. How nice it would be for her to actually step foot in the SkyWing palace? But then everyone would be staring, whispering, wondering why a strange NightWing, whom they've never seen before, was in the palace the night after the assassination.

But Eclipse was already ready to take flight. "O-oh, alright," she mumbled, lifting herself off the ground and spreading her wings in turn. It was far too late to start sputtering "if"s or "but"s. That, and she felt that this whole thing was more important than some butterflies in her stomach. "Lead the way."

[User]
Eclipse could see a bit of nervousness from Dreamseeker as they both flapped their wings and headed back towards the palace, "We could tell my mother, Brightstar, or my friend Skua, he's one of the guards. Both of them are trying to figure out what happened to Queen Ember." His mother would certainly want to hear about a potential lead, she could get the researchers at the palace to look into it, and she might be more receptive to another NightWing than his hot tempered friend. He figured Dreamseeker might have an opinion one way or the other, she was the one who knew the information after all.

He kept his pace slow enough so the smaller dragon could keep up, but he couldn't help the excitement that added a bit of power to his wings. Soaring up the side of the mountain he landed on the familiar balcony that lead into his room. He passed through the doors using a light flame to ignite some of the lanterns that hung from hooks on the walls.

He turned back to Dreamseeker, "I figured it'd be easier to come in through my room than trying to convince the guards to let us in," he frowned slightly, "Who do you think we should tell?"

[Assistant]
As Dreamseeker flew after Eclipse, she listened to his words. Brightstar-- his mother. Oh, right, he had told her that his mother was a NightWing. And Skua was... what was he? His name sounded like it could be SkyWing, IceWing, maybe both? She tried to scan his thoughts again, and she caught the sight of pale blue and fiery scales. Oh, so another hybrid. She mulled on the thought a little as she followed himself, landing a little clumsily as she tried to keep her injured leg off the floor. She couldn't help but peer around the room in interest. It sure was neat and clean there.

"Good idea," she huffed at his explanation. She had been worried about what would happen if the guards at the front door didn't take well to her presence. Dreamseeker blinked, flicking her tail. "Well, uh, how about your mother, Brightstar? Like you suggested, maybe she would be more willing to listen because I'm a NightWing as well."

[User]
Eclipse gave a nod, paused for a moment, he remembered thinking that, but not saying it out loud. Weird. He shook his head slightly, his mother was of the reasonable sort, so hopefully she wouldn't jump to any conclusions. He walked towards the door, past neatly packed shelves of scrolls and racks of knick knacks that he'd collected over the years, and opened it; peering out in either direction down the halls of the palace to make sure their weren't any guards immediately nearby. He could see a few at the ends of the halls, thankfully their backs were to them, at least for now. He knew that he would be able to tell the guards to simply leave them be given his status, but he'd rather get to his parents room without too much trouble.

"Once we go see my mother she can come with us to see the healers for your leg," he winced slightly, "Sorry about that by the way. I really didn't mean for you to get hurt." Apologizing wasn't really his strong suit so he was glad to get that over with. He took a deep breath before flicking his tail towards Dreamseeker to follow him a short ways down the hall.

The walls were lit with torches held in neat sconces and neatly made tapestries hung in even intervals down the length of the hall. Thankfully his parents room was only a short distance away and he was able to push the door open and slip inside. The room wasn't lit but he could see the forms of both his mother and father wrapped around each other, sleeping soundly. He felt a pang of regret at waking her, but he knew she'd want to be told about this as quickly as possible. "Mom," he whispered into her ear, gently poking her side, "Wake up."

Her large black head immediately snapped up and focused on Eclipse, before quickly falling on Dreamseeker standing behind him. "Eclipse? What's going on?" She gently untangled herself from Storm, "Who is this?" She pushed herself to her feet, dark eyes fixed on the smaller NightWing. Her gaze intense and questioning.

"This is Dreamseeker," Eclipse whispered, as his mother's eyes flickered to him briefly, "She knows something about what happened to Queen Ember."

At this, Brightstar's eyes immediately snapped back towards Dreamseeker.

[Assistant]
Dreamseeker realized that she might have been a little too brazen with what she said, but it was too late to correct that mistake. Luckily for her, the other dragon didn't press the strange happening. I have to be more careful with reading minds. He almost caught me there, she told herself as she followed him. There wasn't an issue with telling him that she could read minds. It was just that now wasn't the time or place. If she suddenly told him that, maybe he wouldn't trust her anymore. Maybe he would hand her over to the guards when he got the chance. I'll just tell him some other time. No harm in that, right?

She perked up when he tossed an apology her way. Ducking her head, she smiled sheepishly. "No need to apologize. It was sort of my fault," Dreamseeker murmured, glancing down at her foot. At least it wasn't turning discolored or swelling more. It was probably just a bad sprain. Nevertheless, she was very careful not to put much weight on it as she continued to follow Eclipse down the hall. Her eyes scanned the walls and flickered to the nearby guards at the end of the corridor before she found herself slipping through a door. It was dark, but she could see two dragons entertwined deeper in the room.

Luckily for them, the NightWing didn't seem to mind being woken up too much, and Dreamseeker dipped her head in greeting. "Hello," she whispered politely. Her eyes wavered to the SkyWing that shared the room with her. That must have been Eclipse's father. She shifted uneasily, trying to keep her mind on track. "I heard that the dart that killed Queen Ember was covered in black poison. I read a scroll that said that there's a creature in the southern rainforest that spits black poison, so the assassin might've gone there to gather it. I'm sure that if we check the rainforests, we'll get a lead sooner than later." She glanced at Eclipse, hoping that he'd give her a sign if she explained her well enough.


[System]
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Species: Slime

Appearance: Normally a floating black and grey and opaque bubble with a diameter of 2 meters, though if needed can take on a solid form (solid for a slime).

Said form is a drake, roughly normal size for a regular standing drake. In his solid slime form Vermont has a snake-like body but with limbs and the head of a dragon, with 6 horns extending from forehead to sides of head. He is anthromorphic as a drake, though like an Eastern dragon his legs are further down his body, his limbs and quite short. His hands possesses claws (though as a slime and without spells they are purely aesthetic) and his feet are similar to those of a T-Rex's. Vermont's membrane is black, though his underside, belly and chin are dark grey.

Bio: Vermont was born as a slime in the capital of Zephyre, a bloke with two parents who always seemed to work and rarely tended to him. They weren't negligent, but he did spend a majority of his time by himself when young. Vermont's parents were citizens of Zephyr, a family with heavy associations with Zephyr. Despite this, being a slime in Zephyr was not unheard of but quite rare, so to be born in Zephyr immediately earned him some queer looks. Especially was odd was his primarily dark colouring, leading to some of his own friends to suspect whether or not his family belonged to a cult; as in, studied dark magic. Dark magic was shunned throughout the world of Gaia, being seen as the traits of evil and those with black hearts. Yet, Vermont was very kind and polite, clearly more than the people who would always ask questions and badger him. Disturbingly, his parents had distinctly white colourings, yet they treated Vermont as their own child with no problems.

For a long time, Vermont was somewhat resentful of his parents for always leaving him alone. He would always have to feed himself, clean the house and spend a majority of his time alone. Despite this, he did have a soft spot for them, since just about anyone he met would be rude and condescending in some way. Not just because he was a 'parasitic slime', but of his dark colourings. All this while he was young and still in school, only being able to afford education through his parents. He was certainly grateful for that. However, his experience in school was... checkered. As explained earlier, most pupils ended up teasing or fearing him for his possible dark magic associations, the latter he hated more. He wasn't even experienced with air magic, let alone knew anything about darkness. Even his teachers seemed to alert the principal from time to time over certain incidents, even if they were minor infractions (associated with wind magic). Vermont was never proud of his experience at school, even refusing to celebrate over excellent grades. He would occasionally experiment to see whether or not he had dark magic within him, though anything he did which was supposedly related to dark magic just made a longer-lasting 'air' blade.

Vermont left school with very little friends (good ones anyway) and a sense of regret. He began to maintain more of a solid drake form, something he liked in case of assault and self-defence (which would occasionally occur). It was at this point his parents began to retire and he had to start caring for them, asking them from time to time over his possible condition. All he could manage from them was acknowledgement that something may be off, and ignoring everyone would be the best option. Vermont worked as an apprentice, working to keep Zephyre as stable as possible to avoid turbulence and allow for precision on the capital's grounds. Though, he faced harassment from his own colleagues, who would occasionally pop him and mock him for his 'Air/Null' elemental combination.

One day, Vermont discovered from his parents a tale of a mage who was experienced with dark magic. He was shunned from the world due to Gaia's beliefs that he was evil, when he was as kind as Vermont. He would always try to help farmers by manipulating the darkness away from their crops, but they were convinced he was terrorising them and drove him away. Vermont's parents possessed the mage's old books and scrolls after his death, as they were his only friends at the time. Vermont, interested in the mage's own history decided to go through his books, inspecting them in his attic. At first, all he could understand were a few words in the book and nearly tossed it away, believing it to have cursed him a long time ago. He gradually became accustomed to the book, reading a few more words he could understand until eventually he was able to read full pages. Before long, he was going through all the mage's possessions, without his parents' knowledge.

Vermont became convinced he was somehow related to the mage, considering how he was able to manipulate shadows and realise what his 'air' blade was actually made out of. He was able to dim all the lights in his house, until even daylight couldn't be seen. While excited, he knew the implications of such knowledge - revealing his second element would be dangerous to him and his family, and he realised he wasn't able to go outside in the daylight anymore unless he had a cloud over himself. Even more shockingly, the last of the mage's possessions revealed him to be his uncle. He was definitely sure he wasn't born illegitimately since even his own father wasn't aware of any siblings in his family.

Regardless, Vermont became more interested in his uncle's teachings, almost... addicted to this sudden knowledge. He was very proud of having a family member stand up against the rules of the world, but he was desperate to find out more about darkness magic. He also had a lot of spare time, as Vermont was made redundant due to intermittent power losses, causing Zephyre to enact stricter conditions on electricity - such as stability. Packing his bags and preparing to leave Zephyre, Vermont was going to find out more about his uncle and therefore himself. Where would he start, however? His old uncle's house. All the way in the nation of Natura...

Skills/Abilities: Air/Darkness - most spells and abilities are going to be generalised and made up on the go, though certain skills stick out from others. Some abilities are unlisted due to being species abilities (ie being a slime allows you to get anywhere)

-"Air Blade"/Shadow Blade - as a starting attack, Vermont can summon a blade of "air" which can be used slash through enemies. Strangely enough, it doesn't work well in light, and lasts MUCH longer than a typical blade of air. Said blade can be used without actually holding it, though for maximum potential holding the blade is the best option.

-Airblast - depending on the strength of the Airblast, this can either push enemies and projectiles away or be so powerful that you can expect bones and bodies to break.

-Black Ooze - being a dark slime, Vermont can infect and lace enemies with poisonous slime. Said enemies will continue carrying the slime and be prone to hallucinations and delusions unless healed. If no attempts are made to resist the effects, Vermont will actually be able to absorb enemies infected... though, this is usually frowned upon and never affects self-aware enemies.

-Dark Disguise - bending air and light using darkness, Vermont can attempt to shapeshift and appear differently to himself, usually in the disguise of an enemy. This doesn't work well against enemies who are alert or up-close, however.

-Swamp Daze - using the power of both air and darkness, an area in a certain radius will be covered by fog and haunting darkness. Whilst the size of the field can change, the general rule is that the bigger the field gets, the weaker the effects are. The effects are worsened with Black Ooze however, almost becoming a living nightmare for enemies.

Weaknesses: Vermont has a weakness towards Ordinary/light magic, which counteracts most of his spells. This may also include other spells associated with light, i.e. fire and lightning. Pure daylight will weaken him, though he usually casts some clouds over himself.

Other: 'Anything else you'd like to say about your character, or the RP in general? No. Well, where's the stuff on the accents and description of regions, eh?'

[User]
Palythius

---

I looked around as we entered the store. "Well, there weren't any witnesses, and I've only been in town for a day or two, so we're partially safe. A bunch of sky racists... sounds like an interesting concept," I say, murmuring the last part to myself as I grab a new pair of goggles, and I search through a bunch of the flight suits but find none my size. I grab a few granola bars, and find a pocket with a zipper on my jumpsuit to put them in. I paid for everything real quick, then went outside. "Maybe we'll meet again. If you're going to Natura, that is," I said to the slime before leaving, and I walked around the edge of the town to find a cloudless spot, and then the side with the biggest forest on the ground, and when I did I walked back a bit, took a few deep breaths, and used my sprint to jump off the side at a good speed, spreading my wings and gliding towards Natura.

After about twenty minutes post-takeoff I had hit a nasty bit of turbulence, making me stall and begin to plummet towards the ground, gaining speed as I tried to get my wings to catch air again. As soon as they did, I saw that I was in fact near Natura, and now that my wings sorta hurt, that I should probably land soon. I found a nice clearing near a river, and I circled around it until I was able to touch down, and I looked, seeing a few people. "Oh! Er... hello!" I said, waving at them. They were comprised of a dragon, two phoenixes, and a gryphon. "Just taking a breather... you're not village people, right? I don't fancy being near Naturian village people," I said, looking at the gryphon as I sat on a rock. The swan-like one stared at me. "... What?" I asked, and she walked over, and grabbed my snout. "Hey, what're you--" I began to say as she used some sort of healing magic to fix the cut. I rubbed where I was healed. "Er... thanks."

[Assistant]
To avoid being accused of loitering, I quickly moved on into the store with Palythus, who was still talking quietly. He even commented on the matter while I wandered around, looking above and below shelves while catching the eye of the store clerk, sitting idly at the cashier. Apparently he assumed I didn't need such fancy gear, sneering at me before digging himself in some newspapers beside himself. I made no attempt to notice and grabbed a few cubes of protein from a bag (mostly used for emergencies and soups, but for me it was just regular old energy). The store itself was pretty dark, removing the need for my cloud as it dissolved while I continued moving around. It was pretty cluttered and cramped, forcing me to shift form occasionally to move around. The other dude took a few bars near the entrance while I took a flash-stick (so that I could see in the dark) and some large folded cloth (for temporary shelter), heading over to the register and letting a few coins spill. Understandably, the clerk stared briefly before processing my order, sliding the shiny coins to himself and giving me some change.

I met with Palythus outside again, stuffing all the things down my bag. He was intent on returning to the land of Natura, seemingly unaware of the fact I was in fact going down there. "Of course I'm going down to Natura. I got an uncle down there waiting." I... messed up my sentence. Before I could correct myself however, Palythus had already started walking, before almost leaping off the side and down into oblivion. "Blimey." I turned left and right before going over to where my new acquaintance had just left, now a winged speck to the world above. I ended up shuddering somewhat because... it was so far down. Regardless, I took my own leap of faith, holding onto my bag as I jumped off the balcony and down into the land of green.

I opened my eyes to see that I had transformed into a bubble, holding my bag inside myself. Though, all the weight ended up making me fall anyway, much to my dismay. Never before had I had the air screaming past my airs and everything bracing for a rough impact. Sure, I left the city a few times, but NEVER to this damn depth. Unsurprisingly, I was almost shrieking.

[User] Before I could head off in any direction or another, two newcomers just randomly decided to crash in. One was clearly from Magma, but the other... was some sort of black bubble? Honestly, I wasn't sure if the bubble was even sentient, but I did notice that it didn't pop within twenty seconds of existing, so, it might be magical in some way. "Uh... hello?" I ended up saying to the Magma drake who wore some sort of special fire-proof jumpsuit who decided to actually say hello to everyone after basically crashing into this place. I then decided to add "Uh... my name's David... I guess and yes, I'm from Natura, specifically, Terra. What do you have against Naturians, huh?" He seemed to just say that he hated the 'villagers' of Natura just randomly and before I even said two words to him. Of course, I've heard that there are stereotypes of Naturians being very closed-minded, stubborn in their beliefs and their traditions, that they occasionally physically attack those who disagree with them. I... was not this stereotype, however, I was almost tempted to become this stereotype just to attack the drake. Of course, Ganymede wouldn't have any of that, no, she'd just heal him up, and tell me to stop attacking 'potential allies' or something like that... besides, a few words about something some outsiders are probably legitimately worried about wasn't really worth attacking someone else over. I honestly hoped he wouldn't try my patience, though. Oddly enough, the bubble remained in the air, and I finally had the temptation to ask "So... what's with the bubble? Is it some sort of Magma experiment, or something? Sentient bubbles of smoke? If so, then... that's kind of a weird thing to experiment with, isn't it?"

[Assistant] I was dead silent after whooshing through the air. I did manage to feel a bit lighter though, having exchanged a few gases within the atmosphere through my bubble. Seems to me that dragon managed to land perfectly, something I probably wouldn't do so well in. Why? Because, for one, I was talking to some strangers. "Hello lads! Greetings from Above! First time I've set foot down onto soil, actually." Sure enough, I still wasn't touching the ground until I popped my bubble and basically melted onto the grass and dirt. I reformed myself into a drake, dripping somewhat and in fact requiring the assistance of a rock to keep me up. "Oh goodness! The stillness of this land..." You see, I used to all the turbulence on Zephyre. However, we NEVER had a time where things were absolutely still. As a result, I wasn't used to feeling so... still. I felt like everything was still moving, but that was just myself. Lord, help me against all the grass and dirt that would cling onto me, something which made me shudder. Regardless, I maintained a straight face and began taking faces of everyone, with apparently mixed feelings.


[System]
"Sorry, if I needed help from commoners like you it would be to empty my trash bin."

---

---

Masashi is a fair-skinned, 21 year old man. He stands at 5'10", with jet black hair and crimson eyes. He often wears various black suits, usually with red or white variations. This is mostly to keep up appearances wherever he goes. When he can afford to not expect as much attention, he will sport a more simple and comfortable approach of black shorts with a white t shirt. Secretly he enjoys wearing pajamas within the comfort of his home.

When he transforms, Masashi wears a mostly black suit and tie with gold trimmings, along with lightly armored pauldrons, Light knee plates, black gloves, a shoulder cape, fedora, and face mask

---

Personality
Masashi is incredibly prideful and flashy. He enjoys having the limelight, and is more then willing to save those innocent peasants for the image it gives him alone. Unsurprisingly shallow and arrogant. He enjoys taunting foes and rivals, believing himself to be superior to most, and deserving of the powers he was given more than anyone else. Due to his overconfidence, he isn't easily provoked until one starts to prove that his overconfidence is misplaced. He loses his cool façade when he realizes he doesn't have the edge he thought he had and will start getting more desperate and aggressive. His inner hobby as a wanna-be actor tends to let him be overdramatic at times.

---

Background
Masashi was raised in a strict but wealthy household. Growing up, his parents did little more then encourage an insecurity upon his self worth. At first, this made him a meek and quiet kid. But there was a turning point in his later teens when he had one last fight with his parents. He left on his own, given a generous sum of money as a form of 'take it and leave' from his father, and lost all communications with his immediate family. He was desperate to spite his parents, prove he wasn't a deadbeat, and tried to make a name for himself. His pursuits as an actor didn't get very far, and at his lowest point, that was when Hades contacted him, and made him a deal.

Masashi had thought he'd won the lottery, power and fame. What more could a man like him want? All he had to do was to keep this territory safe, and spread Hade's name. Taking his image seriously, he quickly grew to see others territory owners as his immediate rivals.

---

Patron: Hades, lord of the underworld.

Patron Tool: Ring of shadows. A silver ring with an onyx gem encrusted on it. He usually wears the ring on his right index finger.

Patron Aspect: Shadow Manipulation

---

Aspect Magic
Dark energy is pulled from his shadow towards his ring, which can manifest in various forms. The shadows weaved can take on various properties, such as a flowing liquid, dark lightning, black explosions and fire, or a solid plexiglass-like mass.

While initially he can only generate shadows around his ring, he can create a liquid-like surface of shadows to expand his range of creation, typically in the fashion of of a circle beneath his feet, or a mass above him like a cloud. Creating an expanded mass requires a building up time and continued connection to maintain, along with a lot of energy to maintain.

He can attempt to 'mimic' attacks, or rather copy the form of said attacks by shadow manifestation. Such as someone's fire wave with a black fire wave, granted this 'copycat' strategy is solely based on his shadow manifestation ability. He's still limited to his own power, and can't create something that his shadows can't do, or mimic some conceptual or status effect.

The strength of his ability to create shadows is strongest at dusk and dawn. During the day between is at its weakest, and the night between is strong but not as much as dusk and dawn. Light-based abilities and magic can 'petrify' his shadows to some extent, limiting his ability.

The general range of his creation is limited to the ring's general surroundings, though he can expend energy to create a shadow mass to further his range.

One of his favored techniques is creating a katana that he dubs 'the Umbral Blade.'

The arm that the ring is worn on can be transformed into various shadowy-shapes. His primary tactics in this regard is a stretching/retracting serpent, a shadow-made minigun arm cannon, or a claw.

He can disperse into his own shadow to move around quickly, though the moving shadow can be hit with an attack to force him out of it.

He can substitute an attack with a shadow clone, but can only perform this once every night.

---

Other skills
 Acting (Supposedly), and Video-games (Though he's ashamed of letting anyone know that he's really just a nerd).

[User]
---

Had it not been for the strange appearance of the gate on the frozen bay, the magical girl of the sea would probably be enjoying what snow there was on her way to work. Alas, it would seem fate had other plans for. Atheni texted her supervisor just a bit earlier in the morning, claiming she was feeling ill from the sudden cold weather. Somehow, it didn't seem like the man in charge took her seriously, which was strange because she made sure to include mistakes like she was too sick to even type on her phone.

Oh well, it doesn't matter, right? This gate needed to be investigated. It was located close to a territory she remember was unprotected by any specific person. Will there be others looking into this strange appearance? That would be fun. If anything bad happens, it's her duty to make sure all is good and safe. For after all, she is the God of the Seas' incarnation! Even overlapping on another territory, the bay should be under her protection, for her command over water should make her the ruler of any bodies of water.

Atheni's home wasn't too far from the river, which was a fortunate blessing considering how much she relied on it for transport. Even frozen, it still remains water. Eyes would recognize the magical girl standing next to the river by her out-of-season beach-themed outfit. Early risers would cheer for her, some would try to call out to her, but all they would receive would be the wave of a hand before she was seen zooming across the surface of the river. She was standing on a thick platform of ice, propelled by a jet of water goin in the opposite direction.

It did not take long for the inheritor of Poseidon's powers to find herself at the bay. Already, she could see monstrous entities pouring out of the gate, some were already this far as traveling on the frozen bay to go to other territories. She'd pick up the stragglers at least.

Attention undivided to the youkai in front of her, Atheni pushed her platform to reach maximum speed. Trident in both ends, she basically bisected the monster when she rammed into it at full speed. It knocked her off the platform, but she was quick to brace herself by planting her golden weapon into the ice.

Enraged, another youkai came charging at her. Silhouette of a black lion with bat wings, it jumped high and tried to crash into Atheni while she was recovering. The magical girl had already planned on her defenses for this one. A thick layer of ice erupted from the bay to form a wall between her and her attacker. Cracks formed into the wall from the heavy impact of the beast. Spikes erupted from the wall of to thoroughly impale the monster as Atheni slammed the butt of her trident into the wall.

The third straggler on her way was easy picking. As soon as she saw it, she rose a hand towards it. People would take she's been shooting laser beams, but in reality the water around her shot into extremely high-pressurized streams to pierced the monster in various places. One last stream would have decapitated the monster entirely.

That took care of a few stragglers. Three down, way more to go. Let's see if she can get close enough to the gate to crash this whole party into the sea floor. Should be no small feat, but definitely something that could be done to stop this.

Atheni continued her march, heralding the fury of Poseidon with a vast array of ice sheets and water streams floating around her.

[Assistant]
♫𝄞 𝄪 Amélie Renard 𝄪 𝄞♫

 Somewhere on one of Taito's ward building stood Amélie, her gaze turned towards the giant Tori Gate that had appeared on the waters. The building in question was a theatre which had housed Amélie's latest performance, which unfortunately was cut short between two pieces when she received bad news and had to leave in emergency. The popular piano player Miss Renard was well known, and so was the Magical protector of the ward but the young prodigy never intended to have both identities become one and the same. More so out of convenience than fear. Fame...was not something Amélie desired. Her musical career and dream led her to own some of it, but it was a byproduct of her chosen passion - not something she set out to obtain.

Already changed into her Magical counterpart, Amélie slowly let herself fall forward from the building and began running down the wall until, in a long and graceful jump, she propelled herself to the next rooftop. Each of her steps was met with some ripple effect that also produced different musical notes that, somehow, fitted with one another into short but precise melodies. While she seemed to be able to launch herself great distances, when compared to a regular human, she still sometimes stepped on seemingly thin air. On these occasion, the ripple effect still appeared as some sort of platform, allowing her to gracefully skip through the air like a ballerina.

It was not long before she had reached the area around the bay. As soon as she landed on a nearby rooftop, Amélie paused. Down on the water's edge she spotted one of her 'peers', so to speak. She seemed under attack, be plenty able to handle herself. Surely, more were on their ways. More interestingly, some Monsters seemed to have been faster than the rest and already passed the front liner and were reaching the streets.

Down below, two Yokai found preys. They bore green, thick skin and messy hair as well as a shell on their back; Kappas. They had found human preys in the form of two children, whom they were now dragging towards the water where a third Kappa was trying to break the ice, or find an entry, to quite possibly drown their victims. A quick fall and a flip later, and two of the Kappas would look behind them as their companion could be heard letting out a loud screeching sound and fall the the ground. Or rather, it's headless body did.

Landing, slashing, body to the ground and, finally, head to the ground~ All of these produced a musical note that ended in a crescendo when the head finished rolling near the two others, Amélie standing between them and the two children.

The two monsters charged. Lunge, trust, jump, spin, trust, slash - the monsters died to some magical piano melody as their blood was wiped from Amélie's ebony blade, who was standing straight, regal. The woman turned to the two children, her long, white hair following her movement perfectly. "You are safe now. Take care and leave as far as you can for now, please."

There was glory and fame to be had in being a magical girl, but there was also lives to save. Down here, in this remote street far away from cameras and views, Amélie had long since made her choice.


[System]
Age

164

Gender

Male

Race/People

¾ elven and ¼ normal human..

Appearance

(I don't like taking pictures off the internet of folks, so I rely on description)

Desalith is tall, roughly in the higher average on the terms of elves. His body is weathered from use of magic and his age, although he can still pass off to be in his 50's when on a good day. When he is tired, his age is more apparent - He looks to be more in his late 60's and 70's. He has grey hair on top of his head with a small beard and fuzzies around his face. Overall, he has kept himself up well, so he looks clean (save for the fuzzies on his face that he refuses to take off). He walks around usually in his robes provided by the order he is in and has light brigandine armor underneath, just in case.

Traits

Skills
-Lightning Affinity: He is very good at controlling matter in the form of energy, and can with ease make bolts of energy (large ones require more concentration and energy; he stays with ones roughly the size of basketballs or short streams of electricity). If the weather is right, he can make lightning bolts with a high amount of concentration (he is not strong enough to make them come right out of thin air).

His power manipulates the air around him for the most part. The longer the range, the more energy it takes.

 Manipulating the weather is beyond his means, but if circumstances are right he can direct lightning bolts to specific areas. The more opportune the area, the easier (it is harder to strike against bricks than an enemy wearing full metal armor, for example).

Orbs: He is also very skilled at creating Orbs for various purposes. The most basic attacking ones and defense ones are his specialty, but he can also create elementally based ones (an orb of ice) and utility ones (for scouting) as well. These also are created by manipulating the energy around him, but some orbs are easier to make than others and others impossible (he won't be making balls of ice fly around in a hot desert, or ones that rely on nature to function in a wasteland).

Energy Efficiency: Extensive training has made him able to use shortcuts to operate his spells (at the expense of capabilities depending on area, as described above). These "shortcuts" allow him to cast with lower energy cost. Along with this comes his ability to know when something will be too much for him (based on experience as well).

Mind Self-Control: He is extremely difficult to breach due to specialty training from his order for protecting the sanctity of his mind.

Flaws
Despite the powers he has, he is not good with brute force and in a fight requiring such brute force in his spells, he will not survive without outwitting his opponent. The efficiency of his spells mean that he is limited based on situation, and is a bit less effective in all out spellcasting than, say, an ice mage that has not dedicated as much time as him finding "shortcuts" to make his spells cast easier.
His human blood cuts down his life expectancy and overall energy. Both are limited, and his age means he is not as flexible or good in reflex as he used to be. Sleep is essential; too long periods of no sleeping make his powers useless. The Tellandoric blood in his veins also reduce his overall affinity with normal magic, since Tellandor magic is very incompatible with the norm.

Personality
He is somewhat reserved to others, but friendly enough to be normal in most eyes. He is hard to make friends with, but when he does, he sticks by them. He isn't one to hold long grudges but is more than capable of hating someone who greatly offends friends or Desalith himself. He is open to almost every culture, being aware of his own mixture.

Background

Human Roots

Desalith's grandfather, Harthon was from Syrim.
The town his grandfather was born in has long been lost to evil, but it was fairly prosperous for its modest size in the past, being on the coastline along a profitable trading network. It specialized in fishing. It is now referred to as "the Doom Town" for an extremely high concentration of dark magic; it is speculated that it was touched by a being more evil than the Necromancer.

The speculation comes from the fact that any who enters the town immediately begins to doubt their companions, friends, family and themselves. Those who have been lost to it are nothing but wandering shells that attack anyone who does not wallow in their misery.

Elven Roots

All other known family members are of pure elven blood. The roots are in a country of elves that ruled the Northern forests for many centuries before splitting up following a revolution. Since then, Desalith's family line has been based in Arakdin.

City of Arakdin

Arakdin was founded by a division of northern elves who revolted against their king, and joined the noble elf Natashia to start a new, open town in defiance of the war to control the northern forest. The town is open to all cultures and has a majority mix of humans and elves, with some other races having presence there. It is a trading city of good size, and specializes in exotic goods and fishing. It is not far from the academy of the Järjestys Magi. It is roughly 200 years old.
It is lead today by Vesivial, an elf of somewhat shady reputation but also high political influence.

Family History

Desalith's grandfather, Harthon, was a hunter from a northern town called Syrim. He met Desalith's grandmother (Natashia) during the wars between humans and elves over authority of the northern forests (eventually won by elves, which pushed humans further down south). It was the single greatest scandal in elven history when the relationship between the man and the elf was discovered - love between two enemies. This love resulted in all future men of the family having a portion of human blood, Natashia being banished, a sect of elves splitting off to live scattered in human society (Natashia was part of the nobility, with a sizable following, before being disowned by her father, a close advisor of the king). Harthon was known to be a friendly man, just a hunter caught in war and saved by Natashia, who had lead the raid that caught him.

Natashia and Harthon had a son named Julius. His life and that of his parents were relatively quiet, although the family founded and became the roots of a mixed race community by the sea called Arakdin. Julius married a pure blooded elf who was the daughter of a family of elves that followed Natashia after the split, and had Desalith.

Early Life

Desalith was born to relative luxury, his family being the undisputed highest rank in Arakdin. He grew up being the one person who was capable of magic in his family. He discovered this when he accidentally electrocuted a group of three brigands tried to rob him… in public, where just about the entire city saw it.

At the time, people who displayed tendencies of magic were expected to join an order or academy to learn how to use the powers right. Pulling some strings, his family managed to secure him a spot in the esteemed school of the Järjestys Magi. After Desalith left left, he did not return home, even when he had the opportunity. Although he had a comfortable life before then, he found it a boring one where his parents honestly didn't care.

Joining the Magi and Battling the Necromancer

He went through 5 years of certification to become one of the order's Ritari, a rank that indicated him to be a fully qualified and trained wizard. He spent many years exploring until the rise of the Necromancer.

Desalith met up with the group of heros taking down the Necromancer when he became involved in one of their missions. He helped the group out; there was no excuse not to fight an evil as great as the Necromancer. He joined them and fought all the way to the final battle.

The final battle changed him, in ways. The Necromancer had tried to attack Desalith's mind and in that attack exposed some of his darker secrets; secrets with Desalith had no way to understand and interpret. They have haunted him in his nightmares ever since. he anchored down in a small town for ten years, when he set out for the reunion.

The Järjestys Magi

The so called "Order of Mages" is a very old and established organization that has trained and sent out many professional wizards into the world. Its mission is to teach as many people as possible safe and proactive use of magic while optimizing the abilities of its students. It is open to almost all races; excluded ones are demons, dragons, and some other special races/evil based races. Entry is extremely difficult; it requires pulling strings or an obvious display of qualification as decided by the leadership. There are two levels of order certification - Ritari and Masteri.

A Ritari is one who goes through what would be normally known to be advanced training. They are professional wizards who are trained based on their skillsets. Dropout rate is moderate; those who don't pass this training are simply known as trained wizards who do not have the luxury of the Magi's support. Those who do pass, in addition to receiving a very useful education can have the advantage of being known as certified. After training, their duty is to be peacekeepers who work on their own terms and are expected to take out threats of evil. The Necromancer was easily strong enough to defeat many Ritari who went after him alone.

A Masteri is a special qualification that takes 10 years of additional training. It is brutal and can result in death during training, and is only taken by the most dedicated of students. There are currently only 6 Masteri who have completed the course on record (one of whom is the leader of the Order). There were rumors, which have been aggressively denied, that the Necromancer was trained as a Masteri.

Items

He carries a single staff that would otherwise look like a normal log; however, it is charged with energy and is critical for him to focus and draw energy from so he isn't relying on just himself or the reserves of potentially unfriendly surroundings.

He wears dark robes (think of, for lack of a better example, something Gandalf would wear) that do not have a hood. They are worn with use but pretty well kept up with.

Other

(Might have more, just getting something up for the night)

[User]
There was not much left of the goblin. In fact, it was hard to determine what was goblin and what was not. The creature had, in the face of such a massive discharge of power, promptly exploded. The nearby pine had also caught on fire. Whatever items or secrets the fell little beast might have had seemed forever lost.

Meanwhile, Martox's contition was detoriating rapidly. The venom not only spread through his body at an alarming pace, it was also corrosive and causing mortal damage to his heart and internal organs. He had minutes, maybe less. He also seemed quite unconscious, probably from the enormous trauma of getting his heart pierced.

[Assistant]
Oryx rushed to Martox's side got immediately to work without a word. He would not let another friend fall with his gifts in hand. The Undead Vanguard placed his hands on the open wound and allowed his allies blood to muddy his hands as holy magics did their best to heal.

Oryx had gotten better with time, healing the wounds swiftly and locating the poison. The toxins were not rushing at a breakneck pace, but never the less it was a distrubing situation.

"Damnit," the old skeleton muttered to himself, "really didn't expect to be right back in the action like this today. Not like this."

[User]
Oryx could only do so much for the wounded wizard. The poison had already done too much damage, and his pierced heart lacked the strength to keep its body alive. In the cold embrace of the starlit night, beside the roaring fire of the former cottage, Martox's life came to an end. He passed silently, the pain dulled by Oryx's healing energy.

There were many questions now needing answers. Who had attacked the heroes, and why? What was the strange mark on Celestes neck, and could its magic be undone? Just what the hell was going on? These thoughts echoed through the minds of the heroes, tempered with anger and grief.

Before they could be answered, however, Martox had to be buried. They would then have to find their way to the nearest settlement to regroup and come up with a plan - someone was responsible for all this, and that person had to pay.

[Assistant]
Oryx could do nothing but stare at his bloodied palms. His friends blood covered every crack and crease of his bones. Martox was dead. Another friend dead, and all his fault. Why couldn't he ever do more? He was raised by the gods to kill evil, but could never seem to save the good around him.

Oryx just felt empty, his light dimming in sorrow. Shame wretched at his being and grief engulfed his soul. All he wanted to do was weep or moan somehow, but he was sure that whatever tear ducts he once had were shriveled long ago.

"Not again," the skeleton mumbled, "I can't believe this. Not another damnit. Not another!"


[System]
* Age: 17 years old
* Gender: Male
* Race: Human
* Appearance: Standing 5' 11" and a sleek 155 lbs, Lucas carries himself with the graceful posture of both an athlete and an artist. His smile is polite and unassuming, his eyes are bright and steel-coloured, and his hair is as white as snow.
* Personality: Although a little withdrawn in light of the relatively recent death of his parents, Lucas is slowly but surely returning to his old self: A warm and friendly young man who will always seek to raise his friends spirits, whether it's with an unfunny joke or an arm around the shoulder and an open ear. He also has an odd quirk of being fearless. Not courageous, no - courage requires the presence of fear - but complete fearlessness. Danger simply does not move him. He has somewhat of a darker side that went undiscovered until he started weapons training... he does like to 'talk a little trash,' seeking to press the emotional buttons of his opponent and get them off their game. It is a little jarring to witness, for anyone that knows him, to see him in this arrogant and malicious state. Aside from that, he likes card games, climbing trees and reading books about heroic deeds, adventure and rescuing princesses.
* Brief Backstory: Lucas Storm was born to Penny and Harold aka 'The Storms' - a double act in a travelling circus troupe that lived on the roads of Thain. They were not quite the main event, but between Penny's acrobatics and Harold's knife-throwing expertise, the two had their act down to a tee and made a good living at the top of the card. Lucas however, had shot into stardom as a gifted trapeze artist and worked with his parents friends often as the main event. Every night he risked his life to entertain the audience, and strangely the dizzying heights or the danger had never even slightly bothered the boy, not even the first time.

Life was good. Simple, yes, but contented and full of love. Living on the road meant one was always an outsider and so the troupe had a trust and loyalty between them that went beyond community. More like family. They looked out for each other, lied for each other (certainly when thieves and pickpockets in the troupe began to make their extra money off the current town,) and they would no-doubt die for each other... something many of them eventually did. This circus life would indeed come to an end when they were assaulted in Velt by slaver unit. The troupe resisted as best they could, but were no match for amply-armed slavers. Many of them died, including Lucas' parents, Penny and Harold. Lucas was taken prisoner and caged, ready for sale.

No more than three days after Lucas was thrown into a cage, the slaver encampment was set upon by a mercenary band who captured the place after a bloody battle. Lucas was awestruck as a hero straight out of one of his books, fought evil men valiantly and freed him from the cage. That man, he would find out, was Gerard Segremors. From that day forward, Lucas Storm wanted to be a hero, like in his books. A hero like Gerard Segremors. His first act a free person again, was to go to the quartermaster of the mercenary band and request to be recruited. Perhaps the quartermaster took note of the young lad's strong body and graceful gait. Perhaps it was the look of determination and fearlessness in his eyes. For whatever reason, Lucas' request was accepted and he began training under the quartermaster.

This life as a mercenary did not last long however, as no more than some weeks - maybe months - later, the mercenary band was dissolved and folded into the military arm of the Church. Lucas didn't care, he simply waited to see what Gerard would do, and when his idol joined the Blades of Iron Roses, Lucas followed him into the order.

Now, Lucas finds himself training under a real regiment, in an order of knights where he might truly become a hero from his books - a hero like Gerard Segremors. And he works hard to make it happen.
* Equipment: A set of battered plate mail. A longsword. All standard basic Order issue. He likes to carry several daggers on his person, preferably balanced for throwing or using in a tight situation.
* Skills: Free-climbing. Juggling. Dizzying acrobatics. Knife throwing. Hold Em Poker. Pickpocketing. Cheering friends up. Sneaking.

[User]
Hope's Theme
Hope's English Voice
Hope's Japanese Voice
🌹 "This light is a ray of hope." 🌹

---

🌹 Time: Morning 🌹 Location: Inside a dark forest 🌹 Interaction: Griggs the One-Eyed Knight (NPC), Yasha (Special NPC) 🌹

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Hope's eyes traced the movement of his angelic spirit Yahoel as the being hovered over the knights like a feathery star and shimmered under the moonlight, its eyes trained across the tree line for any signs of bandits and other mongrels who wish them harm. Before Hope had a chance to call on this angel for a report, someone shoved him in the back, causing him to stagger. It was a thick knight, seemingly missing an eye. Hope recognized him, one of his harrassers of no notable notoriety.

"You fool. You don't do anything until the Knight-Captain commands it. With this spectacle of magic you put on..." he said, motioning toward the angel in the sky with a look of disdain, "...you might as well have exposed us to the enemy. You pretty little mages don't belong in the Rose Knights anyways."

Hope looked at the man, startled. "I'm sorry. This is my first..."

"I don't give a damn if this is your first masquerade, princess, you wait until you're given the command to act."

Stunned, and ashamed at the reprimanding, Hope remained silent, looking away with a clenched jaw, uncharacteristically hardening his delicate features. The one-eyed man stepped closer and shoved him again, in the chest this time. "You got that beauty queen?". A heavy silence fell between them, only angering the knight further. Hope flinched as the man moved in to shove him again. But before he had a chance, someone grabbed his wrist. When the shove never came, Hope's eyes raised slowly and landed on a tall slim figure. Another knight, a man with features like snow; white hair framing a pale face under his helmet and piercing silver eyes.

"That's enough Griggs." the silver-haired knight said. Hope looked at him, perplexed. He'd never seen him in Candaeln before.

"Piss off, Yasha. He don't need your protection." Griggs barked, jerking his wrist loose from Yasha's firm grip. "I'm not..." Yasha responded, voice cold like ice, "...but your causing a bigger spectacle than the angel. Move up the line before you sully yourself."

"You..." Griggs growled, and the two men glared at each other for a brief moment. Eventually, Griggs relented, shoving past Hope and Yasha. The latter turned to the Hope and they shared an unusual gaze, though, despite his prior actions, Yasha's look toward him wasn't very friendly. "Your charms won't save you out here. Try not to get killed." And with that, the silver-haired Yasha moved past him as well.

Hope stood absolutely motionless, stunned by the interaction that just transpired. Eventually, he was shaken from his perplexed countenance when the Knight-Captain, Fanilly, began preparations. Hope admired her resilience and will to command an entire army. Despite her age, she took up the mantle and it was truly awe-inspiring. Hope nodded when she mentioned the support that his winged-spirit Yahoel would provide to Dame Cecilia's mission. And as they finally entered the dark forest, Hope's angel kept to the canopies, illuminating the darkness in a way that the moonlight just couldn't reach.

When they came to the shocking scene with the abandoned broken caravan and the bleeding person on the ground, Hope's spirit immediately flew back to him, knowingly. It expanded it's wings in a way that partially surrounded Hope's lithe frame. It took a battle stance, as did he. Hope looked at the scene, his stomach dropping. He only wished that Fanilly had been more careful before running to the body so haphazardly. But, once others took position around her, he felt a bit more relief. Still, enemies loomed in the darkness, waiting to pounce. Yahoel had seen something, which is why it flew back to protect him so quickly.

"My lord, danger lies within the shadows." Yahoel said.

Hope nodded. "I understand. Remain on guard. We must provide support to our comrades where we can." He stepped closer to the angel, leaning into its protection and familiar aura. Hope understood that his role was not on the front lines. Charging in with silver and brawn was not why he had been invited to join the Rose Knights. With his defensive magic, he could save a lot of lives tonight. He steeled himself, ready to protect his compatriots from any vagabond that tried to strike them.

[Assistant]
Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri heard the captain's orders to split and encircle. This told Fleuri two things- first, Fanilly believed they were close to the bandits, second, she had received some instruction in battlefield tactics. Still, they've have to wait and see how well she could command in the heat of battle. During the war, Fleuri had once been told that even a brilliantly laid battle plan could falter once combat actually began. This would be a pretty big deal for her, because as far as he knew it'd be her first time actually leading a battle, and how they performed during this battle would reflect on how the nobility of Thaln would judge her worthiness to be the captain of the Iron Roses, and her ability to hold onto the position.

Not being one for defensive fighting, Fleuri took up a position at the front of the knights' left flank. His two-handed sword and Reonite mindset favoring aggressive combat would suit him here much more than the center with the captain. It would be difficult to outmaneuver these bandits in the woods, but he figured Fanilly's goal was to catch them when they were all in their base. Thus once the base was found, it'd be imperative to move quickly to prevent them from being able to flee or regroup outside of the encirclement.

As they advanced, the knights spotted something in the middle of the road. Fleuri didn't get a good look because of the trees and brush in the way, but he saw an overturned cart. His first assumption was that this was a bandit trap for travelers and caravans- an overturned cart would force them to come to a halt and maneuver around it, and when they did, the bandits struck. The captain rushed ahead of her center group towards it, seemingly oblivious to the danger. Ordinarily, a group as heavily armed as the Iron Roses wouldn't be in any danger- any intelligent bandit would simply withdraw and opt not to spring the trap. However, they weren't dealing with ordinary brigands- they were up against fanatics and war veterans that might have ample tactical experience.

As several of the knights in the center followed Fanilly, Fleuri glanced around the woods surrounding him, looking for any signs of movement that might suggest an ambush or counter-encirclement. There wasn't much he could do for the captain at this point, the knights at the center would need to keep her safe. It'd truly be a tragedy if she were to perish in her very first battle, so soon after having been appointed to the position.