[System]
Age: 143
Alignment: Lawful Good
Race: Elf
Class: Cleric/Barbarian
Appearance/Clothing:

Vaeri is an innocent looking elf, standing at about 5' 7" (170 cm) with long, straight raven hair that extends down to the base of her back, pale skin and bright blue eyes. At a glance she's quite beautiful with full lips, a small button nose, thin eyebrows and high cheekbones, when one takes a closer look, several tiny scars are visible all over, disfiguring her otherwise graceful looks. Likewise, Vaeri's exposed flesh, the rare times one can see them initially appear smooth and untouched, but upon closer inspection are covered in scars and barely contain wiry muscle below.

Vaeri dresses as a lady of the cloth should, with a dark blue full body cloak. The fabric is adorned with intricate patterns in white to provide visual contrast and indicating her status as a clergywoman. Around her neck and outside the cloak, Vaeri wears a necklace bearing the holy symbol of her god. However, underneath the cloak is a full set of leather armor, battle ready and kept in top shape at all times.

Skills: Concentration, Sense Motive, Knowledge (Religion), Knowledge (Nature), Climb, Jump, Sleight of Hand, fletching arrows, surviving out in the wild
Natural Abilities: Keen senses, the ability to see better than humans in low light
Magic/Spells: Heal: @Afina can decide how good this is
Tongues: Allows the caster to speak any language for the duration of the spell
Turn Undead: Vaeri can attempt to make Undead flee from her presence temporarily. Powerful Undead can resist this.
Divine Might: Holy power infuses the caster, temporarily making them more powerful and resilient
Flame Strike: Smites foes with holy flames
Additional Information: Vaeri worships Menhit, lion-goddess of War. (Fun fact her name means She who massacres)
Weapons: Vaeri carries a composite shortbow and a two-handed battleaxe
Possessions: On Vaeri's right ring finger is a ring of protection. One her back she carries a backpack that can hold more than you think it would and what Vaeri wants from the bag will always be at the top (the item in question must have been put in the bag beforehand for this to work). Inside the bag are her necessities (tent, rope, bedroll, tarp for the tent, soap, cooking utensils, oil, a lamp, flint and steel), holy texts, 8 vials complete with cork stoppers, 3 vials of Inflict Wounds potions, a Scroll of Gust of Wind, and about 2 weeks worth of rations. She also has a coin purse with about 20 gold pieces in it. On her hip is a quiver with 20 arrows.
Personality: To strangers, Vaeri appears to be a gentle elf, always keen to help those in need and be a travelling force of good in the world. However, as you get to know her, slowly she morphs into an entirely different person, brash, head-strong and a braggart, this true face of Vaeri shows exactly why she worships the goddess she does. The elf loves battle of all kinds and will gleefully jump into battle whenever she can.
History: Vaeri grew up in a forest village mostly populated by other elves to a carpenter. IN her childhood, she began learning the bow as all children did. Her prowess with weaponry was admired just as much as her excessive enthusiasm for using them was worrying. One day while out hunting alone she was overcome by a vision of the lion-goddess Menhit who commanded Vaeri to go out into the world and find a man with two right hands. After this experience, Vaeri began following the goddess of war and has dedicated her life to this mission. The cleric has been following this notice for strong adventurers as a possible lead for locating this mysterious man.

Name: Kazuo Blaide
Age: 22
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Race: Human (with slight traces of elven blood)
Class: Samurai (Ronin)
Appearance/Clothing: Image WIP
Basic description: 5' 11", lean muscular build, tan skin, long wavy black hair, slightly pointed ears thick arched eyebrows, hard brown eyes, stubble from forgetting to shave last week. Wears common street wear (no armor) but with his sword at his hip and sandals instead of more conventional close-toed shoes.
Skills: Katana Specialization, Daikyu Specialization, Punching Specialization (3), Etiquette, Riding (Land-Based), Reading/Writing, Navigation, Weather-sense, Blind Fighting, Mountaineering, Weapon Smithing
Natural Abilities: N/A
Magic/Spells: Focus Energy - With a loud yell, Kazuo focuses his ki to temporarily boost his strength to the absolute limit of human potential for 1 minute.
Additional Information: * Father: Ukon Bootsnatcher (Wandering Ronin)
* Mother: Mira Blaide (Master of the Blaide School of martial arts)
* Uncle: Hiron Bootsnatcher (Funnily enough also a martial artist)
* Family Friends: Mazon Rohtar (Half-orc Warrior Singer; married to Hana)
Hana Rohtar (Gnome Bard/mage; married to Hana)
Elincia Nartolia (Human cleric)
Kanti Dryearurdrenn (Elf Ranger who is coincidentally Vaeri's distant cousin)

Weapons: A Katana, his fists
Possessions: A black horse named Trombe whose saddlebags carry a tent with a tarp, a bedroll, 10 days of trail rations, a fire starter, a mess kit, 4 pints of oil, a hooded lantern, a waterskin, a straight razor, a utility knife and 50 feet of hemp rope.
Personality: Kazuo, like his mother is a quiet person, who rarely speaks when he doesn't need to, and like his father, has a habit of getting easily bored. Unlike either of his parents, Kazuo is a rather forgiving man, able to let insults and slights against his person pass. One thing that runs strong in his blood is a love of conflict and competition. The variety and outcome of the competition does not matter, the rush he gets from giving his all against somebody doing the same is what he lives for, and he'll seek this feeling out even if it proves to be self-destructive in the long run.
History: Kazuo's mother was a Half-Elf monk and his father was a human samurai. He did not get to know his father very well, only able to meet him a few times during his life, and his mother would tell very little about him. Apparently they knew each other from some running tally they had of dueling to the death and somehow that ended in a tryst that produced him.

Kazuo's mother, Mira was a harsh woman who commanded strength and grace that was almost otherworldly. Her beauty was undercut by rage and bloodlust barely kept under wraps. Her bloodlust was so great it seemed to almost materialize in combat and it colored her ki, a normally invisible force a dark purple. She did her best to raise Kazuo as gently as possible, but even her smoothest side was like a cat's tongue. When he grew old enough, Mira tried to teach him the ways of her school of martial arts. She had been the last member of the school, and had dedicated her life to rebuilding it from the ground up. Kazuo's body was able to learn the physicality of the art well, but he lacked his mother's talent to utilize ki, only able to boost his strength with it.

Kazuo's father, Ukon was a wandering samurai, a Ronin. His skills with the quickdraw technique allowed him to cut down all but the hardiest of men with a single motion of his blade. Brash, perpetually battle-hungry and a bit dull-witted, Ukon did not even know he had a son until Kazuo was 15. As a kind of apology/gift for reaching manhood, Ukon bequeathed upon Kazuo his spare katana, but left without teaching him how to use it. Mira knew the basics of swordsmanship, so seeing her son's attachment to the weapon taught him what little she knew, leaving the rest to him.

Upon reaching his 18th birthday, Mira grew tired of trying to teach him to properly use his ki, and remembered how she had grown when she traveled the countryside. So she kicked him out and, "Come back when you're a successor I can be proud of." Since then, Kazuo has traveled the lands trying to become strong enough for his mother to accept him.

[User]
Vaeri woke up early and prepped the wagon and horses for the journey. Everything seemed alright, and although the jasmine spell was odd and somewhat obtrusive, it was rather simple to ignore. Jasmine was never a scent that really stuck in the nose like rosemary, rotten egg or skunk. Now that she thought about it, yesterday had been the first time a day passed out without something cataclysmic occurring. Maybe this pattern could continue. It was a faint hope, but at least it was a hope that wasn't unfounded. After helping with preparations, she spent a good half hour in prayer as she waited for Lob to return and lead the way.

For breakfast, the cleric ate a humble meal of some of the rations she had in her bag while she observed the town idly. It did not really bother her that the townspeople were avoiding them. She just adjusted the hood of her cloak and kept her gaze down. The snout of a black stallion entered her field of view, she turned her head to see the horse of one of the new travelers, his name was Trombe if she remembered well enough. On his back was his owner, the swordsman, Kazuo. Cautiously, she pet the horse's head a few times before he walked off, apparently satisfied.

Kazuo did not wake up until the group had been traveling for a couple of hours. An annoyed Trombe did most of the legwork of keeping up. Kazuo could tell because his entire body felt like crap. It took him a good minute to wake up and observe his surroundings. There was a green guy crawling around sniffing the ground in front of the group.

Kazuo rode up to the man in armor and leaned up close to him.

"What's with the green guy?" he whispered at a volume he was sure the elf chick wouldn't hear. Growing up around a half-elf got him pretty familiar with the enhanced senses of the Fair People.

[Assistant]
Fiona felt better after sleeping, though it wasn't the most comfortable in the back of the wagon. She'd slept on worse, though, and while she didn't feel fully restored, she felt functional again, and that was enough. She ate lightly as well, once it was apparent that this village wasn't interested in providing them with anything. She helped prepare the wagon with Vaeri, and made her sure her horse was fed and watered for the day's ride. After that, it was a matter of simply accompanying the group, and remaining silent.

Zoe did so on the edges, often changing positions, her eyes bright and awake. She was energetic seemingly by nature, though it was unclear just how much sleep she'd gotten the night before. She giggled a bit to herself as she watched Lob enthusiastically smash his weapon against a tree.

[User]
Derrix chewed on the inside of his cheek as the moon rose high, he blunk, and as his eyes opened, he was greeted wit the flush pink of dawn. It almost felt like he had slept, almost. Or at least he thought so, he wasn't too sure what sleeping felt like anymore, but he remembered it being quick like that.

 He was sure he was awake though, he could feel the magic coursing through him, perking his skin into goosebumps and riding along the trenches the scars dug into his skin.

 Slowly people woke up and slowly he watched them like a sentinel.

[Assistant]
The group traveled and they traveled, ever following Lob as the scent grew stronger. Jasmine began to mix with the smell of salt in the air as they traveled north and west from the last village. Three days of travel and nothing happened, thankfully for the group. It seemed things were going in their favor but the group grew smaller. Lack of excitement seemed to push others away or perhaps they had something else to do. Shela however kept on, at least for now. They were looking for someone while searching for what they needed for what they needed for the cinder sickness. Evening began to fall when they approached the port city of Trien. Large stone walls surrounded large city and the sounds were loud as people spoke and traded and worked and fought.

 "Let's get something to eat, to drink and settled in," Shela suggested as they rolled up to a local tavern in the heart of the city. If Sana was here it was going to a take a while to find her with so many people, so many buildings and they had been on the road for days without a proper place to sleep. Shela was getting tired of pulled splinters out of her rear end from sleeping in the wagon.

 "Any takers?" she asked as she looked at the remainder of the group.

[User]
Lob was worried, three days of tracking jasmine and... that was all. No other horses, no other campfires, no other people to blend the scent. He had never tracked a smell like this for so long without it breaking or mingling with others. Time distance and weather didn't even seem to effect the strength of the scent.

"Alpha smell, magic smell."

He tracked by day, slept by night, over the next three he found himself sleeping closer and closer to the dwarf, using the hedgehog as a pillow more than once after draping his hide armor over her as a blanket then curling up beside her. He still kept the glowing crystal in his loincloth with whatever bits of food he was foraging for the others.

Part of him worried how many cubs were dying because of this search for the alpha, three days with no other parts for the sickness. Not even a gnoll bandit, a scent he knew too well as he rubbed his scarred forehead. Oddly, as the scent of salt passed his nose, he started getting an idea as he pulled out the paper of ingredients. He held up the apothecary notes with two of five scratched out. This was a big place with a lot of traders, surely someone had to have what they needed.

"Let's get something to eat, to drink and settled in. Any takers?"

"Food, yes. Bed, yes. Buy parts?"

[Assistant]
Vaeri rode out the three days of travel mostly in silence. Sure, it was worrying that nobody else turned up and Lob didn't seem to be very comfortable with the fact that his tracking wasn't turning up any results, either positive or negative even after 3 days, but there wasn't anything she could do but rest her faith in the gods to clear this up. She would pray, but ultimately, her survival skills would not really help out, especially since Lob never really had trouble keeping a good grasp on the scent of Sana.

Vaeri took in a breath of sea air, the first she had had in about half a decade. The sea was nice, but not really her thing. It was too large, chaotic and blank for her to have a connection with it like she did the forest. Deserts and Plains may also be similarly expansive and unchanging, but they were not quite as much at the mercy of weather that oceans were. Perhaps she just preferred dry land.

"Who wouldn't take up the offer of food and rest?"


[System]
Age: 19

Race: Lizardman

Gender: Male

Appearance:

Lizard Fighter seems like your typical lizardfolk, huge, muscular, and intimidating. Except instead of browns and greens he's ruby red with a cream colored 'underbelly'. He stands at seven feet tall and has the build of a long time laborer, muscles rippling under that naturally tough hide. Some scars do litter his body, focused mostly in the arms and shins, except an obvious quadruple line running diagonally across his face. Barely missing his eyes.

His garb is strange for a lizard man of the deep swamps. Fingerless gauntlets that retained the fur underneath and floofed out at the elbows. A thick hide vest with a fishnet shirt underneath with the same fluffy visibles like his hand protection. Strangely made pants of leather and canvas that left open pockets at his upper thighs, probably due to his tail. Digigrade leather wrappings that had connecting iron kneepads. To hold his ensemble up is a coarse leather belt with a pair of leather bags, one at the hip the other at the small of his back for his stuff.

Height: 7'7"
Eye Color: Emerald Green
Hair Color: None

Personality:
Unlike what Lizard Fighter's gung-ho body looks like, his personality is very laid back. Preferring to lounge and watch others instead of actually doing extra activities with others. Maybe it was because of his reptilian nature, watching and being a lethargic behemoth. Although when he does interact, it's in almost a deadpan manner and incredibly blunt. The reptilian man never sugar-coated what he was saying or thinking. This lack of tact didn't earn him many friends back home.

Despite his supposed laziness, he does get riled up. It's also very easy to do so, a lazy giant with a short fuse isn't very good. This probably ties into his animalistic tendencies, at the hint of aggression or provocation he returns it in force and forcing others to restrain him from going ballistic.

Likes: Warm and Humid Climates, Exotic Foods, Wrestling and Tests of Strength.
Dislikes: Cold Climates, Physical Weakness, Being Provoked.
Hobbies: Trying New Foods, Basking in the Sun, Making Atlas Stones.

History:
Lizard Fighter had the typical upbringing of a lizardman. He was raised in the swamps to the South, learning to care for what the village had as soon as he could walk and speak. He quickly developed a deep seated need to take care of everything he earned considering certain things were harder to come by in a swamp than on dry land. Like quality metal, iron bacteria was plentiful but produced little of that hard metal. Although his people never wanted for food since they knew what to look for.

Unfortunately Lizard Fighter wasn't adept at tracking, or hunting, or gathering non-poisonous substances for the younger tribe members. Eating so much poison gave him a big boost in his resistance to it, it tended to taste good dammit...

He did excel at combat though, each member of the tribe when they reached eight started to learn basic weapon usage. It was here that he took up the lead, wrestling other youths into submission or disarming and knocking them to the ground. His people practiced with clubs, wooden spears, and claws. No metal until they were older so they didn't kill each other by accident.

Of course accidents happen. L.F's rival raked his claws across his twelve year old face, leaving deep cuts that developed into the scars he adorned today. Training and real combat were different however, so he had been sent out years later to experience the world gain the experience needed.

It was at this point L.F received an old knife and a buckler from his chief before being sent on his way. His people weren't blind to the world though and he had heard about Adventurer's. How often they fought and how far they explored. What better profession could there be for the 'savage of the swamp'. He followed rumors and directions to Palisade town, a place of beginnings for Adventurers or so they said.

Adventuring Rank: Porcelain

Equipment:
* Studded Club: A hefty piece of wood with a simple leather binding at the tapered 'grip'. In the bulky head of the club are iron rivets to help concentrate the bludgeoning force into smaller areas for higher damage. Or so the shopkeeper said...
* : A surprisingly huge blade, more like a small beefy sword than a knife, that protects the knuckles of the user with a sharpened guard. It has several cracks along the blade denoting its heavy usage along with a slightly rounded tip.
* Buckler: The smallest of all of the shields, this is strapped to his forearm to leave his hands free. It's a thin piece of iron, dinged up and slightly rusted, with the typical bubble in the middle to ease impacts.
* Leather Attire: Adorning the man were basic leather clothing. Albeit thick and much more crude than what humans normally made. Essentially it was hides turned inside out so the fur was inside, except the collar and hem of the vest.
* Porcelain Adventurer's Tag

Skills:
* Athletic: Living in a swamp has its benefits. You learn how to move through tougher terrain, build strong muscles, and learn how to climb good. Lizard Fighter can perform long leaps, swim easily, climb where others can't, and traverse muddy terrain as if it were a dirt road. Of course the deeper the muck the slower he goes despite being used to it.
* Toughness: Given his reptilian nature he has a tougher physique thanks to his scaled hide. Also thanks to taking many a blow back in his home while growing up. He can shrug off minor hits and mitigates some of the damage of stronger attacks. Either by changing the angle of how they hit or flexing to lessen the impact.
* Poison Resistance: Due to living in a swamp the majority of his life he has become highly resistant to poisonous substances. Prolonged exposure will still affect him but it takes longer than the average human.

[User]
Lizard Fighter kept circling the overgrown sow as she shook her head. Seemingly not caring that he had purposefully flung dirt and sand at its eyes to blind it. Well physically she didn't react, but he could see some sort of insult in its eyes. Stupid boars, to big and smart for their own good some times. He readied himself as she squealed and reared up before the guards voice rang out to use something. A flick of his eyes and he saw the burning branch, which got that long tail to scoop it up before it dropped into his free hand.

Wild animals weren't keen with fire. It was the brightness and the heat that scared them, nevermind the pain of getting toasted. But it was day time, so no brightness. Holding the burning branch out he kept it between himself and the female boar. A twitch and he shifted it so the flames roared a bit and sent a wave of heat at the enlarged porkchop. Another voice range out as he leaped to the side, avoiding the boars charge at the last second, assuming the fire hadn't made it change direction. The druid had freed the piglet that had caused this whole damn mess.

Slowly he began to back away, keeping his blade up at the ready and the rather large torch between himself and the pigs. "A winged spear would be too circumstantial to keep around, but it would have been handy here. Maybe next time just silence the young?" He called out, some grumpiness lacing his tone while he kept those vigilant eyes on his opponent. Making sure she wouldn't charge again.

[Assistant]
The bigger male boar continued his mad dash towards the tree, up until the point that he could nom longer feel the clamp-like sensation across his back. Skidding to a halt and turning about, snorting loudly and grunting like a ... Well, pig! The enlarged slab of ham watched as the unwanted rider now scrambled away from him, apparently terrified of his overwhelming might. Not that the boar thought this, of course, he was a boar after all. Still, seeing his assailant flee gave the large critter a boost of confidence, and a taaste for revenge... Scraping the ground with a hoof, he lowered his head to prepare for a chase...

But was suddently interupted, as a much lighter, shriller squeal caught his ears and caused his head to perk back up.

Over by the lizardman, the mama piggy was busy grnting and stomping her hooves as well, furious at the overgrown reptile for avoiding her charges. Narrowing her eyes, she almost seemed to try and anticipate where the large, red, gore-covered pile of stink would move next, but she was also wary of the new, smoking stick he held in one hand... The fire from the torch was enough to make the sow cautuious, though not enough to frighten or intimidate her. With another grunt, snort and hoof-stomp, she too lowered her head in preperation for another mad dash! ... But stopped in her tracks as soon as the squeal of her young was heard.

Both parents, in a fit of parental love - or instinctual desire to preserve their species - rushed to the side of the tiny, tumbling piglet. The mother brushed against its side and began leading the tiny morsel away, quickly heading for the bushes from which the parents had sprung frombefore. The male stayed behind, covering the sow and his child as they escped, slowly backing off, bit by bit... Until he too, with a loud grunt, turned and dove into the underbrush, scurrying away amongst leaves and foliage with clopping, thudding steps. The crisis, for now, was averted.

The druid let out a long-held breath of relief, using her sstaff which she had picked up earlier, as a means to steady herself and lean on. She wasn't sure that the boars would back off or give up the fight when their piglet returned, at least not both of them - but things had turned out for the best this time. She also didn't notice either of her companions suffering any major injuries during this scuffle, which waas even better! Calming down a bit, she walked briskly up to the lizard first, looking him over from top to bottom, from claw to tail-tip, from front to back.

"You're not hurt anywhere, are you? It didn't look like the mother managed to land any hits with he tusks, but... I was standing a ways away,a nd I didn't see your entire fight with her." She asked and stated at the same time. Turning her head towards where their fierce, boar-riding friend was, she raised a hand and waved, putting on a happy face as she called out. "Hey! They left! Come over here! Are you hurt anywhere?" She yelled - but in a friendly and warm manner.

The guard, who had been keeping his distance from the whole mess, finally came sauntering over - chin held high and looking surprisingly energetic, at least when compared to when they first met the lout. His step and posture were rather arrogant though, as if he had beaten off the boars himself and contributed no small effort to the battle.

"Well, I guess even porcelains can do it if there's enough of 'em!" He said, condescendingly friendly. "This'll give you lot something to yap about and brag to your other adventurers about tonight, huh? Hah! I might even tell the boys back at the garrison about this!" The man puffed out his chest and looked unwarrantedly chipper. "Still though, you didn't kill 'em, and the quest was for cleaning the ditches, not chasing off boars. Don't be thinking you'll earn any extra from this, alright?" He wagged his finger annoyingly.

With that said, the guard turned to look at the bushes where the boars had run off into. After which, he turned his head towards the sun, which had sunk a fair bit in the sky, though was not yet at the horizon. There were still hours left in te day, and hours left to clean the ditches. Once the trio had gathered themselves, rested and talked amongst their own, the guard wouold make sure to remind them to get back to work. He was such a helpful fellow after all.


[System]
Been far too long guys, hope I can kinda jump in here.
Age: 14
Hometown: Lumiose City (Kalos)
Appearance (pic preferred):
Starter: Squirtle (Now a Blastoise)
Bio: Chuck lived with his parents at their Day Care, helping them take care of various different Pokémon owned by trainers from all over the world. This helped him become knowledgeable about Pokémon, which made it easier for him to get his trainer's license. He decided to go to Kanto, since he used to hang around the Professor's lab and got along with the Kanto Starters he kept there. His goal is to capture and train many different Pokémon, and make lots of friends. However, during his original journey, he got a call from his mother that his father was terribly injured trying to defend the daycare from some evil team known as Team Flare, so he had to return home and help out at the daycare while his father recovered, and helped defend it with Zeni and his other Pokemon, evolving into a Blastoise in the process. Even after his father fully recovered, Chuck decided to stay behind and continue to help with the daycare, and take care of the Pokémon he caught in his journey, until one day he decided to give it another try, and go back to Kanto. He took Zeni and a few of his other Pokémon with him, and kept going from where he left off, ending up at Cinnibar Island, finishing the battle as his old friends finished their contest.

And here is the list of Pokémon he has with him.

Party:
Blastoise - Zenni (M)
Golem - Titan (M)
Clefable - Nissa (F)
Alakazam - Azriel (M)
Dodrio - Tri (F)
Jolteon - Tesla (F)

[User]
Chuck was up next, facing off against Virgil. They shook hands and went to either side. Chuck started off with Azriel the Alakazam, while Virgil sent out Espeon.

ChuckvsVirgil
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Virgil started off by calling out "Psybeam!" The Espeon's jewel glowed as it let out a beam of psychic energy. Chuck said "Azriel, deflect it with your own Psybeam, and counter with Shadow Ball!" The Alakazam held up both it's spoons, one letting out a similar beam of psychic energy, which collided with Espeon's and held it back, while the other released a ball of ghostly energy, hitting Espeon square in the chest and knocking it back. "Another one!" Chuck said, and Azriel sent out one more, hitting the downed Espeon, blasting it into a wall behind Virgil. Virgil recalled Espeon and sent out his Umbreon next.

ChuckvsVirgil
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"Umbreon, use Dark Pulse!" Virgil said. Before Chuck and Azriel could react, Umbreon fired off a blast of dark energy, hitting the Alakazam, and sending it crashing into the wall behind Chuck, knocking it out. Chuck returned him and thanked him for his hard work, then sent out his Clefable, Nissa.

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"Nissa, Moonblast!" Chuck said, right away, and the Clefable threw a ball filled with moonlight energy at Umbreon, hitting him and knocking him back. "Umbreon, use Iron Tail!" Virgil said, and Umbreon charged at Nissa, his tail turning to steel and whacking her, knocking her back as well. However, hearts suddenly appeared in Umbreon's eyes, as he became infatuated with her, due to the Clefable's ability, Cute Charm. Chuck and Nissa smirked as he said "Fire off another Moonblast and finish it off!" Nissa nodded and sent anoher ball of moonlight energy at the infatuated Umbreon knocking it out. Virgil recalled him and sent out Flareon next.

ChuckvsVirgil
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"Flareon, Smog into Iron Tail!" Virgil said, as the Flareon let out a poisonous cloud from his mouth, blocking the Clefable's vision, and also damaging her. Flareon's tail then turned to steel as he jumped into the Smog, and hit Clefable from behind, knocking her out of the gas, and also out in general. Chuck returned her, thanking her, and sent out Zenni, his Blastoise.

ChuckvsVirgil
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"Zenni, use Water Spout!" Chuck said. The Blastoise fired off a torrent of water from his cannons, dealing maximum damage, since Blastoise was at full health. The Flareon couldn't react in time and got hit with the full force, sending it flying. While it was helpless in the air, Chuck said "Aura Sphere!" Blastoise aimed it's cannons, and blue energy orbs appeared in front of the cannons, launching out at the Flareon, and it came crashing down, out cold. Virgil returned him and sent out Leafeon.

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"Leafeon, Sunny Day!" Virgil said. Chuck hit his Keystone and said "Zenni, Gyro Ball!" His Blastoise Mega Evolved into Mega Blastoise, and curled into his shell, shooting straight for Leafeon, as the sun started shining brightly in the arena. Zenni scored a hit, knocking back Leafeon. "Leafeon, Solarbeam!" Virgil said. "Zenni, Ice Beam!" Chuck said. The Mega Blastoise fired off a beam of ice, however the Leafeon's ability, Chlorophyll, had kicked in and it vanished from sight, appearing directly behind Zenni and unleashing the full power of the sun's rays in one attack, point blank. When the dust settled, the Blastoise had reverted to normal, knocked out. Chuck returned him and thanked him, before sending out Tri the Dodrio.

ChuckvsVirgil
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"Tri, Drill Peck into Brave Bird!" Chuck said. The Dodrio ran at Leafeon, her heads spinning like a drill as she rammed into him, then jumped back and dashed in once more, speeding up faster and coated in a blue energy, crashing right into Leafeon, sending it flying and damaging Tri a bit as well. "Finish it off with Hyper Beam!" Chuck said, and all three heads fired off a massive blast of energy, which hit the Leafeon in midair. When Leafeon landed, it was out and Virgil returned him, sending out Jolteon in it's place.

ChuckvsVirgil
Alakazam-1-Espeon
Clefable-2-Umbreon
Blastoise-3-Flareon
Dodrio-4-Leafeon
?-5-Jolteon
?-6-?

"Jolteon, Rain Dance into Thunder!" Chuck could only stand there and watch, as Tri stood motionless, recovering from the Hyper Beam, and Jolteon danced around, turning the extreme sun into a torrent of rain, then firing off a massive blast of electricity When the dust cleared, Tri could be seen falling down, and smoking. Chuck returned her, thanking her, and sending out Titan the Golem.

ChuckvsVirgil
Alakazam-1-Espeon
Clefable-2-Umbreon
Blastoise-3-Flareon
Dodrio-4-Leafeon
Golem-5-Jolteon
?-6-?

"Titan, Earthquake into Rollout!" Chuck said. The Golem curled into a ball and slammed into the ground, causing an earthquake, dealing damage to Jolteon, and giving it unstable footing, as he then rushed in, rolling and knocking Jolteon into the air. As it came back down, Titan turned and hit it again, knocking it down and out. Virgil returned him and sent out Vaporeon, his last Pokémon.

ChuckvsVirgil
Alakazam-1-Espeon
Clefable-2-Umbreon
Blastoise-3-Flareon
Dodrio-4-Leafeon
Golem-5-Jolteon
?-6-Vaporeon

Titan spun around and headed straight for Vaporeon, picking up speed, however Virgil had planned for this and said "Vaporeon, Surf!" As the Golem headed straight for it, Vaporeon summoned a giant tsunami, hitting the Golem with enough force that it was knocked back, crashing into the wall behind Chuck, knocked out. Chuck returned him and thanked him, then sent out his last Pokémon, Jolteon.

ChuckvsVirgil
Alakazam-1-Espeon
Clefable-2-Umbreon
Blastoise-3-Flareon
Dodrio-4-Leafeon
Golem-5-Jolteon
Jolteon-6-Vaporeon

Chuck breathed deeply and smirked. "I'm sorry Virgil, but you're done for now. You have no hope of winning. Jolteon, use Thunder!" Jolteon smirked as well and unleashed a massive blast of electricity. As it was still raining, and Vaporeon was not only a Water type, but also standing in a puddle of water left behind by the Surf it just used, the blast hit it's mark, and dealt an massive amount of damage, knocking it out in one hit and giving Chuck the win.

ChuckvsVirgil
Alakazam-1-Espeon
Clefable-2-Umbreon
Blastoise-3-Flareon
Dodrio-4-Leafeon
Golem-5-Jolteon
Jolteon-6-Vaporeon

"And with that, we have our last Semi-finalist, Chuck North of Lumiose City!" the announcer said, as Chuck recalled Jolteon and shook Virgil's hand, after he recalled Vaporeon. "You've got a good Jolteon, Chuck." Virgil said, before going off. Chuck thanked him and went off to heal his Pokémon, returning to see who he would face off with next.

[Assistant]
* Harrison vs Nando
* Mike Featar vs Paul
* Liam Coleman vs Conway
* Chuck North vs Virgil

With the top four listed they were shuffled into the following match ups:

* Chuck North vs Harrison
* Liam Coleman vs Mike Fetar

Liam saw that he was facing Mike. With Mike being a Champion himself, Liam would make an adjustment to his team. This would be the hardest match he has had in the tournament, possibly as tough as Pyramid King Brandon.


[System] Appearance:

[User]
"Eilis, all my life I have had a simple reason to live. I felt that I needed a reason to be alive. I felt that by being useful my life was not a waste. However, I did not know that I actually needed someone to live that life with. I am glad you are still here and that I got to meet you. This world would have lost too much with you gone." He squeezed her hand.

"Oh I don't know about that...The world was fine before I was born and I have no doubt it will continue just fine without me." Eilis said rather self-deprecatingly. She looked down at his hand as he squeezed hers. Her smile returning at the gentle and kind gesture. This man had the strange capacity of making her feel good about herself.
Maybe it was the fact that he was frankly one of the few who was consistent in his regard for her and treated her with actual decency and kindness.
If there were hidden motives behind his actions, they weren't malign. So she further silences that ever doubting voice inside her head.

"I will be by your side as I have already promised. It will be my honor to be your shield. Not as a disposable item but as a reason for my existence. I ask that you allow me this. I ask that you live this life with me?"
He held his breath awaiting her response.

Eilis listened to his words, his voice and his reponse. Whether it was the slight choked sound to indicate his carefulness or uncertainty in how to respond or the fact that he had held his breath at the end of it, made Eilis worry she had upset Arn somehow.
She raised her hand and placed it over his chest.
"Breathe Arn." She requested before she took his hand in hers again, a thing she had done earlier but this time she placed it over her heart.
"I'd rather not have you refering to yourself as a shield, so how about this? Bow and Arrow, if you must use a weaponry analogy." She spoke teasingly, as she looked up at him with a glint of misschief in her eyes, the corners of her lips slightly upturned.
"For one is not complete without the other, depends on the other and if I may ask so selfishly cannot find its way without the other guiding it. And your light is guiding me through a dark maze I could not manage to overcome on my own." She cast her eyes down again.
"I still doubt whether or not I am doing you wrong by tainting you with association, but I can't do this on my own..." She frowned.
"All I wanted was a quiet simple life, it seems Fate has decided differently, but thankfully it allowed me to meet you." She stated looking at him again with a look of hope. "I want to stay with you. I feel safe with you. I trust you....gods I sound like a child." She chastized herself before wondering something.
Did he see her as one? A helpless child in need of protection? Not that she could blame him, she hadn't exactly offered him anything remotely resembling a woman's ettiquete in being proper and demure. She had been as inconsistent as the weather, Arn probably thought she was unpredictable.
And she was hardly a prize, tattoed from head to toe, some plain refugee with a bunch of mad Tahjai after her. She was more trouble than she was worth and that was her own evaluation. She wondered what Arn saw in her that made him so invested.
No, she knew, she had felt it too. Their connection. His innerflame, the light of his soul touching hers, warming her.
"Forgive me, but I can't seem to let you go." She whispered before she leaned forward and closed her eyes placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

[Assistant]
Arn shook his head slightly at her self deprecation. How could she believe that? How could she not see how important she was? There was literally a group of high powered individuals who were looking for her. This may not be a very amiable point but it was logical. Also, his world had been turned upside down due to her. Had it not been for her, his life would continue to in the same straight and clear path that he was on.

Despite him being a collected and always composed person, the turmoil and uncertainty that she had brought in just the mere moments of knowing her stirred some deep need in him that he did not know he had. The mystery of her, her life, and the future was very appealing to the master mage.

His logical mind posed many questions and he wanted to follow each one but at this moment, he wanted to give her his full attention. Even this inner reflections, which he was used to doing all his life, seemed somehow in appropriate with her being next to her.

"Breathe Arn."

He smiled and he took a deep breath. His lungs filled with the air in the room and with something else. A slight hint of something else. Was it Her? He chasticed himself for the thought. It was not clear wetehr the feeling that she had arose in him were romantic. But he did feel drawn to her, connected to her, and he very much felt that not being with her would somehow be a great loss.

Yet, despite even the interactions which have brought them close and even opened doors into his soul that had been stuck shut, he still felt like a creep imagining that the sweet scent was somehow related to her.

To deviate his mental train from the current track which would only bring red flush to his face and quicken his heart, the battlemage decided to analyze the analogy she had presented.

"Bow and arrow?" He spoke the question softly more to himself. He was sure he had heard the words before but as the current world's technology had more efficient and deadly munitions or projectiles, they had not been used in actual battle for millennia.

His quick mind searched through the archives of his mind for the reference in an over eager way to compensate for his previous thoughts. Immediately, his mind raced through references of military weapons. Putting all pieces together he understood what she meant. Alone, both were not very efficient. However, together they could be quite deadly. These were simple instruments and Arn liked nothing if not simplicity.

He smiled down at her and chuckled, this time more easily, at her mischievous glint on those eyes of hers. He could see his reflection in them and wondered if she would feel just at ease once her Dark Sight had passed. The master mage was not a vain person or even cared about looks but he felt that perhaps she may have an image in her mind that would dissipate once she actually beheld him.

He sighed in understanding. His own life was not something that he would gleefuly wish on somebody else. There had been many times in his young life when he wished him and his mother could live in a small house, she would wake up and make him breakfast and he would run along with his friends to some imaginary school.

He wondered if strife and challenges was all that people born with an affinity to magic could hope for. Here was a lovely young lady that had seen more pain that some soldiers and only those who had gone through similar circumstances could understand.

What he could not understand was the sudden concern in her face. Arn was glad she felt him trustworthy and safe. Was she perhaps doubting her own conclusions? What else could he do to reassure her. He wondered if he had said something wrong or something to bring up doubts in her. His own face morphed into one of concern.

"Forgive me, but I can't seem to let you go." She whispered before she leaned forward and closed her eyes placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

The place where her lips touched his skin was the epicenter of a warm wave that spread outward to his whole body. He smiled at that. A warmth that was obvious radiated from his body. He felt a joy in hearing that. Eilis seemed to enjoy his company and not because of his destructive and weaponized potential. In fact he had done nothing more than be a human heating pad. Some part of his mind wondered at this phenomenon.

Normally it took concentration and tapping into the Aether to produce these thermal changes. Instead, the connection with her seemed to naturally cause a reaction that surpassed understanding. That analytical side of his brain wanted to study, to question, and to test. He wondered if their connection could work both ways and he could provoke changes in her.

His other side wanted to just stay still in the moment between them for eons. This side of his brain saw their connection as inevitable. Arn was not very familiar with this side. It made illogical and outlandish arguments. Yet, despite their definitive fallacy, the mage could not say they were wrong.

In the fraction of a second that the battle for control and command raged in his mind a truce was finally called and was embodies by a simple

"Nor I want to let you go either."


[System]
"Why hello ladies. You need some help paying for those drinks?"
Species:Human/Mandalorian
Age: 25
Appearance: Ruggedly handsome with a five o'clock shadow, crystal blue eyes and sweeping brown hair. He stands at 1.7 meters tall and weighs about 68kg. He typically wears tan pants, dark brown boots a dark red shirt and a lighter red jacket over it. He also wears his Mandalorian armor for when he knows there's going to be a fight.

Faction: None/Freelance

Equipment:
* Beskar'gam: While many Mandalorians wear the armor of those that came before, part of Elias's proving of himself was to forge a suit of beskar'gam for himself, something that was neither quick nor easy. Having been forged from scratch, the armor takes on some of Elias's personal preferences and is much more rounded than traditional Mandalorian armor. It's helmet is outfitted with a full 360 degree viewing camera as well as infrared and magnetic sight modes and a built in long-range communications device. The left arm bears a wrist launcher and wrist mounted flamethrower.
* JT-12 Jetpack-A compact jetpack allowing for high amounts of mobility. It also features a MM9 Rocket System, which Elias only uses in emergencies, as he's typically paid to get the shipment to a location in one piece.
* Wrist Mounted Weapons-Elias packs a single wrist launcher on his left wrist, which is armed with a rocket launcher, flame thrower, and dart launcher. He only uses knockout darts.
* Black Nebula Heavy Blaster Pistols-Elias always carries his twin Black Nebula Heavy Blaster Pistols, no matter what he's wearing. They're heavily customized to allow for a quick draw and decent penetration, along with uncanny accuracy for dual wielding.
* Vibrosword-Elias picked up how to fight with a vibrosword long before Clan Ordo adopted him and it's his weapon of choice for close quarters combat, especially when faced with a lightsaber. It's core is black when activated.
* Various Equipment-On top of his stable pieces of gear, Elias carries a variety of other odds and ends in pouches on his belt, ranging from spare power packs, of which there are about twenty, to a couple of fragmentation grenades and cryoban grenades.
* XS Light Freighter-While this particular model of ship, which is called the Nightengale Eclipse, is considered highly outdated, the previous owner, a Kel-Dor who lived far longer than he should have, kept it in tip-top shape and upgraded it as needed, making it one of the fastest ships in the galaxy. Elias has kept it in top condition as well and it even has room for extra crew should he ever want it.

Skills:
Between being on the hyperspace lanes from a young age and being adopted into Clan Ordo of the Mandalorians, Elias has picked up a wealth of skills:
* Mandalorian Training: Since joining Clan Ordo, Elias has learned numerous forms of both hand-to-hand combat and ranged combat, along with advanced training in sword combat. He was no slouch before, but now he's a lethal weapon, armed or not.
* Charismatic: Due to the nature of his original and current profession, Elias has learned how to speak with such a silver tongue, the people listening sometimes wonder if THEY'RE the ones lying or mistaken. It's also helped pick up beautiful women and relieve the rich ones of their credits. All the same, this man can talk himself into and out of trouble in the same breath.
* Ace Pilot: Having been in space for so long, flying a ship is something this smuggler can do with their eyes closed. He's survived firefights with Imperial Star Destroyers and outmaneuvered entire squadrons of TIE fighters.
* Quick Reflexes: Being a smuggler, sometimes negotiations go wrong. When this happens, it pays to be able to pull your own blaster faster than the other party and be able to find cover in a short time. Elias has mastered this to the point where he could probably do it in his sleep (not really but exaggeration is a smuggler's tool).
* Luguist: Due to the nature of smuggling, he speaks and understands a number of different languages, but is still learning how to speak Mandalorian, so he's not the most fluent at it.
* Swordsman: Elias was taught by the old Kel-Dor to fight well with a sword, just so that he wouldn't be helpless if someone kept him from drawing his blasters. He actually enjoys it, unlike most other smugglers.

Weaknesses:
* Overconfident: Due to a number of things, namely how successful he's been as a smuggler, Elias is overconfident and approaches every situation like he's already won.
* Anti-Slavery: Elias might be a smuggler, but even in Hutt Space, you find people with morals and this smuggler can't stand slavery. As a result, there are a few less than satisfied customers who've put bounties on his head for the loss of Sentient Cargo.
* Core World Accent: Despite spending years in the Mid-Rim, Outer Rim and Hutt Space, when Elias talks, it's not hard to know where he's from thanks to his accent.
* Distrusting: Having been a smuggler since he was young, his capability to trust anyone who he doesn't know well is basically non-existent. The numerous double crosses he's had to deal with growing up hasn't helped any to fix this either.

History:
Elias Joranis is the son of two no-name industrial workers on the planet of Coruscant, the famous "center of the galaxy". What the people who advertise Coruscant as this wonderful place don't tell everyone else is that if you live anywhere but near the top levels, life is hell. His parents worked long hours to and earned crap for money while their son was forced to live as a pickpocket and con artist to pick up the slack. However, he found that swindling the rich to provide for his family was not only fun, but it felt right. All the same, at age six, he felt a strange urge to find something more to do with his life, but his parents had no desire to help, content with where they were, a sentiment he could never agree with. And so he began to search for a way off Coruscant and into the wider galaxy.

He managed to achieve this dream at age eight with the help of a smuggler, a Kel-Dor named Zorn Horu,where he learned all the tricks of the trade, and learned how to understand Wookies, Jawas, argue with astromech droids who thought they knew better, and numerous other languages so he wouldn't have to rely on a protocol droid for translation. By the time he was 16, Zorn had all but given ownership of the old XS Light Freighter, dubbed the Nightengale Eclipse, and helped the young man hone his natural skill for blaster pistols and piloting into things that would help him survive. However, about a month after his seventeenth birthday, an unhappy client put a bounty on Zorn's head that a Drunk Dug came to collect on, claiming to need the credit payout to feed his Gambling Problem. The Dug had brought some hired help and though the pair escaped, it was without harm to them. Zorn had taken a shot to the gut and with his last words, passed on ownership of the Freighter to Elias.

The young man, heartbroken, buried the Kel-Dor on his homeworld before hitting the hyperspace lanes again, and for two years, buried his grief in jobs of all kinds, any drink he could afford, and every human and Twi'lek woman he could get his hands on. Before Zorn's death, Elias had been sending chunks of his share of pay to his parents to help them improve their living conditions, though he had a hard time talking to them as they were still content on Coruscant, though they did have better jobs that were less likely to kill them now. But during that two year stint of grief over the loss of a man who had been more of a father to Elias than his blood father, he didn't sent as much and they almost lost their home because of it. The young smuggler managed to snap back to reality shortly after his nineteenth birthday and three weeks later, met Eldor Ordo, a member of the Mandalorian Clan Ordo. He spent time speaking with the man at length, learning more about the Mandalorians and, after some internal debate a couple of drinks, he asked to join the clan. Eldor took him to the Clan Leader and spent the next six months preparing to join. He succeeded and has been a member of Clan Ordo since, proudly displaying the clan emblem on the shoulder of his jacket and the chest, shoulder, and vambraces of his armor.

During the course of the Galactic Civil War, Elias found he did plenty of work for all involved parties, though the Rebels often paid the best as they were more in need of his unique services than the Empire. The Hutts paid well as well, but the cargo was often much more unscrupulous and require more careful planning. With the end of the war came new opportunities, and while the New Republic certainly had a bright outlook for the future, a better understanding of the galaxy at large had Elias remaining freelance and picking up more work for various clients in Hutt space, despite the Hutt Civil War and the shift in leadership within the Council.

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[User]
Elias Joranis|Did Someone Say FUBAR?

Elias grunted as a bolt struck his armor, ricocheting off of it into a nearby crate as Sirka said to run to her. Glancing around his cover, firing three shots at the pirates ahead, and noting that the giant lizard was already closer to them than he was. "Yeah, no, you come to me." If she were to turn around, she'd have spotted his twin blaster pistols making pirates and others dive for cover, because if a bolt found it's mark, they didn't get back up. When the flashbang went off, Elias fired off another rocket into the area, not aiming for kills so much as effect as it detonated and added more bang to the grenade's.

The giant lizard then moved to Elias's location and the pair made a break for it, vanishing into an alleyway with blaster fire peppering the area around them. Once he was sure they were out of sight, he began to lead them towards Docking Bay c-12. "Just gotta pick up what Koren sent me here for, and then we can argue about why your sister is on Circumtore with me. Now's not a great time."

[Assistant]
Circumtore

Between Sirka's powerful legs and Elias' jetpack, the pair were able to put quite a bit of distance between them and the remaining pirates rather quickly, particularly with the pirates having been stunned by the flash grenade. They weaved between crates to keep the line-of-sight broken, then tried to keep their path unpredictable once they were in the city. Sirka was absolutely not someone who could hide in a crowd, so their only option to get away from the fight was to simply keep distance from the pirates. Hopefully, with all of the confusion that had been stirred up at the warehouse, the pirates would not be effectively following.

Eventually, Sirka and Elias were able to holster their weapons and continue to walk somewhat less conspicuously towards the docking bay. Predictably, Sirka was none too happy about much of what Elias had to say to her. There was a low, rumbling growl from her throat while she stared him down with her black eyes. "I'll argue whenever, and wherever I damn well please." She asserted, though despite her words, she did not immediately begin to shout at him. "I just want to get my sister back home, but for reasons I can't comprehend, she was adamant that I stick my neck out for you. She insists that it would impress Koren for me to help his interests here, so against my better judgement, I'm going to get you and that package back to your ship. Even if I have to drag both of you there myself. Then, we can have a nice, looong chat, just you and me." As she finished speaking, Sirka reached out and placed her oversized hand on Elias' shoulder. She did not squeeze tightly enough to harm him, but at the same time, she kept her grip firm enough that he would absolutely not be able to remove her hand on his own.


[System]
Quinn Peterson

Character Quote: How fascinating is it to look at what has been and see what could be?

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Character Summary
Aliases: Quinny
Age: 26
Birthday: May 3
Ethnicity: British
Birth Place: Birmingham, England
Place of Residency: New York City
Gender: Female
Education: College, Majored in Anthropology and Criminal Justice
Occupation: Forensic Anthropologist
Languages: English (Fluent) and French (Fluent)

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Appearance
Height: 5'9''
Weight: 125 lbs
Body Type: Slim with slight curves
Eye Color: Light Brown
Hair Color: Red
Skin Tone: Pale White
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: Scar along left wrist up towards arm, tattoo of brother's name on right hip
Personal Style: Quinn isn't picky about her clothes, but she prefers clothes that make her feel comfortable, otherwise what would be the point in wearing it? To that end, she will typically wear jeans and a sweater more often than not, but she will branch out with a dress, or blouse, or skirt if she is in the mood. For her job, she wears a lab coat and often dresses professionally. She will wear boots or sneakers mainly, but owns some heels if the event calls for fancy attire.

Quinn tends to go for darker tones in reds, oranges, purples, blues, and grays (her favorite color is scarlet). She wears her hair down unless on the job where she wears it in a nice bun. Jewelry is limited in her profession, but she wears a necklace given to her by her brother, a silver chain with a heart. Make-up is neutral in tone, but she wears color on her lip, usually red or pink. Her nails are never colored, but she will occasionally splurge for a french manicure.

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Psychology
Humble * Suspicious * Intelligent * Impulsive * Kind * Repentant

Sexuality: Heterosexual
Relationship Status: Single
Personality: Quinn has often been called the brainy one, especially when compared to her twin Quinton. Where Quinn was smart, Quinton was adventerous. Quinn prides herself in her intellect, finding new ways to question and learn. Despite this, she is humble in her opinion of herself. She beleives her accomplishments are due to hard work and hard work alone. Quinn can be impuslive most times, leaping before she thinks and often landing hard in return.

After losing her brother, Quinn has become suspicious of most other people. She isn't without friends and acquaintances, but she doesn't allow others to get too close to her less she be hurt again unless they can show they mean it. Quinn feels responsible for her brother's death and is repentant on most things, even when they are truly not her fault. Quinn is very kind, often putting others before herself, especially in the workplace where she feels the most when she is able to help piece together the after effects of someone.
Habits:* Chews on the ends of her pens

Hobbies:* Writing
* Jogging
* Dance

Fears:
* Seeing her father again
* Drowning
* Snakes

Likes:
* Riddles
* Strawberry Shortcake
* Scarlet
* Dogs (of any kind)
* Taking Walks
* A good book

Dislikes:
* Being looked down upon due to her gender
* Politics
* Traffic
* Seafood
* Bullies
* Unfair treatment of children

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Skills
General Skills:
* Computers
* Anthropology
* City Knowledge - New York City
* Writing
* Criminology
* Biology

Combat Skills:
* Athletics
* Self-Defense
* Stamina
* Strategy

What Do They Carry On Them:
* Clothing - Scarlet Sweater Dress, Black Jeans, Black Ankle Boots
* Purse - I.D., Passport, $50 (American), 2 Credit Cards, Various Rewards Cards, Pepper Spray
* Silver Heart Necklace
* ID For Job
* Apartment Keys
* Cell Phone

Possessions at Home:
* Personal Laptop
* TV
* Pictures From Home
* New York Subway Map
* Files From Work
* Chess Set
* Various Books (Fiction, Science, Psychology, Criminal Justice, True Crime, etc.)

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History

Biography: Quinn and Quinton were twins and as close one could be with their sibling. They were very close growing up, but that may have had more to do with their home life than anything else. It's hard to say where their father's anger came up. Quinn believes to this day that he was angry at them for killing their mother in childbirth, leaving him to raise two kids almost alone. Despite him having his own parents to help babysit while he worked two jobs, he was still angry. He would lash out at them, abuse and neglect was a common occurrence.

Things didn't escalate until the two of them were 14 years old. Quinton had been growing tired of being harassed by his own father and he was getting sick of Quinn being hurt as well. So he stood up to their father and fought back. No one could have predicted that their father would lash out like he did when he threatened Quinn's life. Quinton had enough and fought their father, despite Quinn's pleas. It all came to a head when their father pushed Quinton off the balcony in a fit of rage. Quinton did not survive. In her grief, Quinn threatened her father and called the authorities. Their father was arrested and she lived with her grandparents.

Quinn threw herself into her studies as it allowed her to not think about her brother. She continued through college. As much as she loved England, it had too many memories for her, so she packed up and moved to America, landing a job in New York through references. Here, she plans to live, hoping to have a fresh new life over here.

Discovery Of Your Power: Quinn didn't enjoy physical activity, but she was pretty good at it regardless of training. She chalked it up to genes. However, she noticed that she was quicker than her peers. She had better reflexes. She had better stamina. It was scary how good she was with little training. She decided to test herself and discovered she was unnaturally agile. She kept this a secret, even from Quinton. Something she regrets to this day.

Ability & Powers: Superhuman Agility: Quinn is far more agile than the average human. Due to this, she is quicker as well as more able to control her body movements, balance, strength, and endurance better than the average person. She is able to move effortlessly, dodge, flip, do gymnastics, and martial implements with little effort.

Ability & Powers Weaknesses: Quinn gets tired more easily with continued use of her power. Quinn's joints become sore and inflamed with continued use. Due to her power, Quinn must also eat constantly.

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Additional Information

Theme Song:
Extra Information: Link, Favorite Superpower is Telekinesis
I agree to follow the rules for this RP and understand that if I do not follow the rules, the GM or Co-GM may kick me out of this roleplay.

[User]
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@rivaan@Morose@BlueSky44@Natsu@Jasonhero

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Saturday, August 18th, 2018
New York City, New York

(You are on current medical leave, since your hand is hurt but Claire will be able to make it to Olivia's apartment this round with no issue for whenever your hand is healed better so take your time.)

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Saturday, August 18th, 2018
Seattle, Washington

@Morose Isley crossed her arms over her chest and gave Scott an evil look calling her a princess again, and just rolled her eyes a bit towards him. "Well at least I don't look like a troll that lives under some old shitty bridge." Isley said back towards Scott, as she eyed both Jason and Janelle for a moment. She raised an eyebrow towards Scott when he said that they were going to be leaving now, which she didn't really like the idea of right now. "Just because some guy named Trevor spooked you or something, you want to take these two with you to who knows where?" Isley asked him, Scott however would be able to see a figure in a nearby alleyway, it was really hard to see but it had a manly like figure.

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Olivia Johnson

Location: New York City
Interacting With: @FantasyChic Quinn Peterson

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"Nah i'm fine." Olivia said, as she moved over towards the couch and pulled out her laptop and started to do some research, again and smiled slightly. "I guess it's a good thing I bumped into Claire first then." She said looking over at Quinn for a moment as she started to do some researching on the internet. So far she wasn't really getting that much on the lines of searching, or even the one story over at Seattle either. She ran a hand through her hair and cracked her neck a little bit as she started to make herself alittle bit comfortable on the couch.

"Need anything yourself? A beer or something to eat?" Olivia asked, as she felt her phone going off and then quickly looked down at it seeing that it was a text from Claire. "Claire is on her way, stuck in New York traffic though so should take awhile." Olivia said softly, as Quinn did her search on the internet for the twins social media she would end up finding Jason's Facebook Page. Olivia would occasionally check a few of her own personal work emails as well in between.

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Riley Ridgeway

Location: LA
Interacting With: @rivaan Amelia Payne & @Jasonhero Fumiko "Kuīn" Nakamura

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Riley walked over and leaned herself up against the sink seeing Amelia jump slightly after her touch, she didn't want to scare the girl any further right now. She nodded slightly towards Amelia she could feel like she was forcing her roommate and friend to do somethings that she didn't want to do. "You know we don't have to go out if you don't want to." Riley said giving Amelia a slight smile, as she rubbed the back of her neck slightly. "Truthfully? I don't let people get to me, I just ignore them just don't pay any fangirl or fanboy of mine or Fumi's any attention if they give you a look." Riley suggested. "And I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to either if you want to head back to the apartment we can." She said smiling at her slightly.

The waitress smiled at Fumiko and squealed slightly as she nodded and quickly took out her pen and handed it over towards her and then sat down. "Thank you." She said happily as she took out her phone as well, and started to take some selfie pictures of herself and Fumiko before looking at her. "You are awesome."

---

---

Emmie Adams

Location: New York City, New York
Interacting With: @Natsu Adalene Jones

---

---

The waitress nodded towards Adalene. "Sure thing i'll be right back." She said as she turned and headed off to grab the check for them, as Emmie looked over towards Adalene for a moment. And mentally slapped herself and sighed slightly she could easily teleport them out without any kind of confrontation. "Porting out would be preferable." Emmie said softly as she ran a hand through her hair and looked over towards the front of the restaurant. And indeed the man was waiting outside for them, and looked over at Adalene, as the waitress came back with their check.

"Lets get freshened up then." Emmie said as she started to make her way towards the restroom and leaned herself up against the wall once she was in the bathroom looking at her. "So where do you want to go then?" Emmie asked Adalene figuring that she'd like to go somewhere else or back to her apartment.

[Assistant]
---

---

Scott Rydzynski

---

Location: Pike's Place - Seattle, Washington
Interacting With: Isley and the Kids

---

---

 "Yes, you can kid. If you stay here, you're dead. If Trevor can find you so quickly, what's to say that murderer won't do the same?" Scott reasoned. He couldn't care less what Isley was saying and basically was flat out ignoring her. If she wanted his protection, he would protect her - but otherwise, he couldn't care less what she decided to do. However, his attention was caught as he saw a figure nearby. "Damn it. Wait here - if I'm not back in a few minutes, leave and get out of town."

 He then ran in the direction of the alley, hoping to catch the figure and he wasn't about to take any chances. He pulled one of his pistols and got off a shot, but he missed and by the time he was there, the figure had vanished into thin air. "Shit!" Scott cursed, not putting his gun down as he looked around, wanting to see if anyone else was there or if the figure would reappear. He had a gut feeling that he had just seen the killer.


[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~

---

Charlotte listened rather intently to Cait for once. Well, after Cait's initial teasing that she glared at the other woman the entire time through.

An...all-female race of people? Then how did one even get pregnant? The scientist in her was incredibly curious. How did two women - naturally, without the aid of alchemy - even have a chance at doing such a thing? It wasn't exactly unheard of considering some of the things she had made with Flora, but...curious. Still, she managed to keep her curiosity to a level that wouldn't be visible to Cait. No need to ask about that part in particular since she wasn't interested enough at the moment to have first hand experience. She had other things to be curious about.

"Not at all. So many questions come to mind that break the laws of nature that I know that I'm just not going to ask." Charlotte replied with a small frown. It barely scratched the surface, really. "Though...for starters, what...power is it you speak of?" She asked. "I noticed some...glowing markings on Aislinn and your hair seems to be a bit different, but you don't seem any more...powerful."

[Assistant]
The native blinked at Charlotte. Breaking the laws of nature? How? It seemed to be a very natural process to Caitriona. "My strands? Our hair can be applied to various artistic means ... Remember how we spoke to the animals last night after I sung? That is one example of what I can do. Aislinn is a painter and can use a sort of paint to ... enhance ... a person's abilities somewhat. You should ask her if you want to know more." The way Cait spoke about such things indicated a degree of nervousness about Aislinn's powers, although not out of some sort of reverence.

Instead, she pointed to her own hair. "It absorbs the energy of latent spirits in the world around it. Didn't I give you some to work with?" The girl with multicolored hair looked over at the black haired girl curiously, wondering how much she'd managed to figure out or do with it.

[User]
~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Enhance a persons abilities? Now that was something Charlotte was very interested in. Hrm. Now she was wishing Aislinn had been a bit more forthcoming about her reason for coming here. Maybe she could have made a trade of sorts. Got Cait out of her hair and maybe her mitts on something that she could use for research. Too late now though, but she was going to make sure Aislinn knew of her annoyance just to make herself feel all warm and fuzzy. She'd ask after speaking with Cait. More importantly...spirits?

"Spirits? As in...ghosts?" Charlotte said with a frown, having to stop herself from laughing. "That's...completely absurd. Spirits and such do not exist, at least after all the years of research at the tower nothing has suggested that they do." She walked back over to the table where she kept her things, moving a few containers around until she found one with a pink-ish colored liquid that was all that was left of her final test. "The things I learn from testing are purely science related, not theoretical. For example, your kind lacks testosterone completely. Or at least, it has traces so small that I can't detect it with my limited equipment here. Secondly, your people tend to be much shorter than mine. Could possibly create some sort of shrinking serum from it...oh, and your people essence, or at least your hairs, is closest to fire. It would be fairly good at using in some more...unstable potions. Explosives and such, as well as a few heating aids." She swirled the liquid in the container, before setting it back down. "I could potentially detect something else with stronger equipment, but for the most part Alchemy does not deal with spirits or the occult."

Walking back to the entrance of the cave, she looked over to where Aislinn was still tied up.

"Though, I have read that perhaps there's a form of it that could deal with such things, but I've never seen it." Charlotte said with a shrug. "Don't plan to...at least, not anytime soon. Now, if there's nothing else I have work to do and I want to talk with Aislinn a bit."

[Assistant]
Cait frowned as the other woman talked, calling her beliefs absurd and hardly even considering their existence. The native let Charlotte finish talking without interruption, and although the woman moderated towards the end of her rant she still seemed to discredit the idea of the world have life aside from that which could be viewed. The orange haired girl eventually responded to the other woman as she left with a joking voice. "A-animals do not talk!" A bit more cheerfully she wrapped up her words as the black haired woman left. "Enjoy your conversation, but try to keep an open mind and you won't be surprised." With that, Cait would leave the cave for a bit and go for a walk in the forest.

Aislinn sat on the ground trying to get comfortable as she leaned against the tree that she was tied against. The position of her arms behind her back made that nearly impossible though as it was difficult to balance in her predicament. As Charlotte left the cave however, the tied up girl looked at the meat eater with wide eyes, backing away slightly as a little panic washed over her. Cait was leaving as well, which didn't make her feel any safer in these circumstances. Instinctually she whimpered like the trapped animal she was, but eventually she collected herself by the time Charlotte arrived.

It wasn't as if the other woman was going to kill her or something ... right? Despite Charlotte's promises, she was still tied up against a tree in front of someone who consumed friends. It wasn't exactly a comforting combination.


[System]
art by the magnificent Tervola
Abstract: A masked Traveller with a permanent grin

Detail:
When Spook stands still and quiet, he is a most menacing figure: the mask and hood and well-used sword give passersby good reason to avoid crossing his path. He looks like something that might spend his free time summoning dark hellions or snatching children in the night.

This, according to the Travellers who know him, is a hilarious idea. The very thought of Spook doing something as productive as summoning a beast of any kind is simply ridiculous. Spook is best known for being cheap, for his endless sense of humor, and for taking nothing at all seriously. He couldn't pretend to be evil if his life depended on it.

The Travellers have asked him why he knows the rare magic runes of the Magi. They've asked him how he learned to fight so well when he barely had the discipline to stand up straight. They've tried, time and time again, to see what he was hiding under that mask -- but to this day none have succeeded.

[User]
The old map was drawn with meticulous care, in sepia ink on aged paper; it had been folded and re-folded, bore tea stains and small margin notes scribbled in a runic code. Much of the map was forested by clever penstrokes, while plains and desert were noted by the sparsity or scraggle of trees.

Cogswall was most prominent, with its moat of barren burned wasteland -- and Enn, half-hidden in the forest, smaller and inconspicuous. There were others -- Lune, Kestrel, Raskiln -- and the temples: An'Dast, the ruins that Spook had called the "Temple of Spring Whistling"; and An'Hiket, which appeared larger and, according to the drawing, slightly more impressive.

North of Cogswall there was -- nothing. Only Sorrow's Deep lay to the north: a round craggy bay crowned by mountains.

The old man shuffled behind Meryn to peer over her shoulder. "Sorrow's Deep, eh?" He scoffed. "Dangit if that damned crater doesn't keep comin' up. You an' the Prophet and Spook -- the temples an' the lot of the crystal-skins, all you all gosh-dang care about is that gosh-dang crater." He worked himself up to exhaustion, and he creakily lowered himself into a chair.

He set his beady eyes on Meryn and pointed a knobby finger at her. "I'll tell ya somethin' 'bout that crater, missy. Leave it alone. Let it be. Boats sail in and don't come out. Birds fly out over it and don't come back. There ain't nothin living in that water -- not a fish or a scrap of weed. It's been dead and death always, and it'll be dead and death after we're all gone. Don't you believe the fairy tales -- the creature sightings or caught fish, or people returnin'. They're lies told by the temples to bring in new recruits, see. Spook hisself swallowed that garbage line and sinker. We wouldn't be in this mess."

He huffed a sigh and leaned on his bony knees. "The best thing is to just leave it be. Leave it all be. And if the temples are right, and somethin's comin', then we'll just stay out of its way."

Machinery elsewhere in the tower whirred down, and pipes clanked. An uncomfortable silence draped over the room. The old man turned his head, listening -- then shuffled over to a sink and turned on the spigot to find only a few short spits of sludge. "Dangit now the water's out, too."

The hooded man stiffened, and slowly he turned, his eyes blazing. He was either furious -- or terrified. "Get out," he hissed, his voice deep and trembling, mad with diseased insanity. "They're coming. Too many here. Get out. They're coming." A crystalline hand suddenly snatched Ronken's shirt, his fist like stone. "They're in the waaaalllssssss!"

Below, a small circle was forming around a big hooded man and the smaller man he was holding up by the shirt; heads had turned to see the source of the crazed voice that echoed in the wide chamber, and some recognized the gleam of black crystal that grew on the brute's exposed arm.

The boy, however, was undeterred. "It's okay!" he assured Feela with a pat of her hand. "We're all refugees. C'mon, let's get some grub, yeah?" He encouraged Feela down the stairs, holding onto her wrist, and waved over his head at a few friends who had spotted him from another side of the room. "That's my sister, Glinny, and her friend, and that's Bobo and Tizzy. They're saving a spot in line for us, it's okay!" He pushed his way through the crowd, skirting around the fight in the middle of the room to reach his friends who were calling over the crowd's murmur.

"PEOPLE OF COGSWALL!" a man's voice bellowed.

Up above, a man in a white hooded cloak stood at the mouth of one of the drainpipe entryways, at the top of the stairs. He had his arms outstretched. His nose and mouth were covered by dark cloth.

"THE INFECTION HAS SPREAD, AND IT IS DEADLY."

Somewhere behind him, faintly, came the choked sob of a woman.

The man who restrained Ronken was trembling. "They're coming, they're coming, they're coming for us.

"ALL OF YOU HAVE BEEN EXPOSED. BUT YOU'LL ALL BE JUST FINE -- A CURE HAS BEEN FOUND!

A ripple of excitement spread through the room. Murmurs whispered in the crowd.

Water began to trickle out of one of the four drainpipe entryways. Then a second began to drip.

"A MEDICINAL WATER HAS BEEN MIXED. EVERYONE HERE MUST ONLY SUBMERGE THEMSELVES MOMENTARILY, AND ALL TRACES OF THE CRYSTAL-SKIN WILL BE WASHED AWAY."

The third drainpipe began to leak water.

"WE WILL BEGIN TO FLOOD THE FLOOR WITH THIS MEDICINAL WATER NOW. PLEASE DO NOT BE ALARMED, AND HOLD UP YOUR VALUABLES. SOAK YOURSELVES IN IT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!"

"They're coming, they're coming, they're coming, they're coming . . ."

Water began to flow freely out of the drainpipes, splashing down the stairs to the floor. People rushed to it to rub the water on their skin, splash their faces, scrub their hair.

"GET OUT GET OUT NOW!" This screech was not the man in the drainpipe, but it was Switch's voice. She pushed her way through the crowds, shoving people aside with a blade withdrawn, raced up the steps to get at the man in the white hooded cloak.

SLAM

A metal grate slammed down between her and the man in the white hooded cloak.

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

Each of the four drainpipes closed off just before the water began to surge. Frothing water surged and roared out of all four pipes, and waterfalls spilled down into the crowd.

The boy tugged on Feela's shirt while water rose at their ankles. "C'mon, we gotta get wet to get cured!"

The crystalline brute at the center of the room was still shaking. Whispering. "Get out. Get out. Get out."

[Assistant]
Stay away. Stay away. STAY AWAY!

Feela's mind was already in full panic when the water started streaming in, and her fear started turning to anger. She just wanted to leave now. She had no intention of letting these people confine her in an unnatural place like this.

Slam

Feela whirled around as metal bars crashed down over the way she had entered, sealing her in with the rushing water. She swiftly ran back and slammed her shoulder into the obstacle, bouncing off and falling to the floor. Now well and truly angry, Feela decided she had had quite enough of this place. These bars were in her way, and she would not let them remain so.

She thrust her hand out to her side, feeding that rage into the symbols tattooed into her right hand. As always before, her blade extended without a sound, ready to slice apart anything she needed it to.

She brought her hand across in front of her, swinging her hand with all her might through the bars that blocked her.

[User]
Meryn's eyebrows drew together as the old man grumbled. Some of his words flew right over her head (what the heck was a
crater?) but others were old and familiar. Sorrow… death… lies…

She felt her breath catch in her throat like it did when she stood at a precipice, still and waiting. The promise of pain just out of reach, taunting her closer. She stood at an edge now, muscles begging for action. To fall or to fly. Meryn pressed her lips together and looked back down at the map. The old man had shrugged his way back to his feet and made his way to the tap. Her fingers twitched at her side.

Finally she forced herself into action. Meryn hurried to the man, grabbing his arm in both her dirty hands and tugging him back to the map. Meryn pointed to Sorrow's Deep. Then she grabbed a long rectangle of charcoal and held it up to him, tapping it with her index finger. In a quick, brutal motion, Meryn brought the flat of the charcoal down to the map and smeared black over Cogswall. She looked back up to the man, urgency in her eyes. Without waiting more than a breath, she picked up Spook's mask and cut the charcoal across the intricate design over the eyes. She held the dirtied mask again up to the old man. Meryn lowered it, her motions slowing again. She bit her bottom lip as she glanced back at the map.

Enn

Meryn brought the charcoal to the city's edge. But she couldn't bring her and to move. She looked back up at the old man, fingers still poised to ruin Enn. But Enn wasn't gone. Not yet.

The old man thought that Cogswall would be safe if they just kept their heads down and stayed out of the way of whatever was coming. But to Meryn it looked like whatever it was… was already here. People were already sick and dying. Spook was already gone. But he'd given her the mask. She didn't know what it meant, but it was clearly something important. And out of everyone, he'd trusted her with it. Didn't that mean… he thought she could do something?

Maybe the old man was right and there was nothing but death at Sorrow's Deep. But Meryn had never let fear of death stop her.

Meryn dropped the charcoal and put on the mask. She turned from the old man and moved to the spiral staircase.

[Assistant]
The roaring water pressed against her, surging waist-high, threatening to fling her any moment off the platform and into the splashing crowd below. The blade of light shimmered at Feela's wrist, ripe for violence, and effortlessly sliced through the bars that separated her from the outside world. With a few more strokes, neat sections of the bars suddenly launched outward with the rush of the water and flung down among the screeching people, sloshing hurriedly through the water to avoid being hit by the projectiles. But Feela had opened a way out, even if it was a narrow passage filled with rushing water. There was no way the children or the elderly could hope to traverse it without being overwhelmed -- but Feela would have only small difficulty scaling the slick rapids alone.

Not far along the passage there was a ladder that led up to a manhole cover and the empty street above -- she would be free. If she were to emerge here into the street, she might glimpse a small group of people in white cloaks -- like those of the people who had condemned the refugees below to a watery grave -- rushing northward, to disappear around a corner.

Should she continue against the water in the dark, thus letting the white-cloaks get away, she would emerge at one of the four tunnels that opened onto the reservoir and invited an endless torrent of water. At the mouth of the tunnel was a thick metal door which could be sealed with the turn of a huge wheel-crank.

---

The old man watched her back, and he stared down at the map again. Cogswall was gone. Spook was gone. Hope was . . . on her shoulders, it seemed. The one who didn't speak understood far more of what was going on than most of the people he'd known. His eyes traced the black line toward Enn, glanced at the other towns that dotted the continent in the path of the blight, and he thought that he, too, might understand. His dreams took on a solemn and deep-blue appearance, sharp and firm in shape.

He laid his gnarled hand on the drawing, stared at it intently -- then huffed a defeated and frustrated sigh. After yanking the map off the table he strode angrily after Meryn, to grasp the back of her shirt and shove the map into her hands. "Don't be stupid," he admonished her. "There's nothing you can do alone except get yerself killed. Get help. The Prophet's up in An'Hiket, it's a sanctuary for the crystal-skins and the best place to find allies, if you're going to Sorrow's Deep like a lunatic." He let go of her and grumbled to himself. "Don't say I didn't warn ya."

Outside the bell tower, the city was eerily quiet, gray and still. Broken mechs and robots whirred and shifted endlessly. Steam hissed out of broken pipes. Fires burned quietly where buildings once stood. Bodies smoldered. There was no more sign of people, cloaked or otherwise.

The low clop of hooves echoed through the street -- a horse or two might be found wandering the wreckage among the dogs and rats that had escaped the disease, having broken out of their stables.

If Meryn were to listen carefully, she might hear rushing water underneath the street, and the echoes of screams.