[System]
Real: Skadi Türkis
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Nationality: Atlesian
Color: #6ecff6
Emblem: A clipart of a brilliant cut diamond
Voice actor: Shirley Manson

Themes:
Main - Neutral - Happy - Angry - Sad - Semblance - Fighting - Victorious - Defeated
Appearance:

Diamond is a rather tall woman with a lean build, being 178 centimeters tall. She's only as strong as she needs to be, having developed a physique for slipping into tight spots and blending in with the crowd. The woman weighs around 62 kilos with slightly lower than average percentage of body fat.

The dominant feature of her face are her eyes, which are sky blue and have a turquoise glow to them due to her dust implant. Her hair is golden in color and cut short, styled into backwards facing spikes. As a northerner from Atlas, Diamond's skin is very pale.

The dust implanted in her caused a blue pattern to develop on her back and an overuse left a crystalline blue weblike pattern on her right arm. If she uses her ice spells, these along with her eyes glow blue, and her eyes flash into white when casting a kinetic spell.

She doesn't wear a battledress in the traditional sense, preferring not to be hindered by armor of any sort. With her semblance and dust implant she also prefers to leave her arms exposed, usually wearing a pair of sturdy boots, pants and a vest.

Diamond carries herself with pride most of the time and makes good use of nonverbal communication, having learned the meaning of various gestures and being able to use them to convey a different meaning from what she is actually saying. In combat she moves with the fluidity of a gymnast.

History:
During a particularly nasty winter, a child was born to an uncaring mother who barely had enough mercy to leave the girl on the doorstep of the first house far enough. As it so happened a rather poor elderly woman lived there and upon finding the crying newborn took her in. She gave the girl the name Diamond due to her blue eyes.
Unfortunately, five years later Diamond's adoptive mother died, leaving the girl to fend for herself on the streets. A crafty little thing, she quickly found out that instead of begging for the food, it was easier to simply take it when no one was looking.

Living in poverty, the girl has had enough after two more years. Growing stronger, nimbler and bolder, Diamond started rifling the pockets of unsuspecting passer-bys. It didn't take long for the gang whose territory she was on to threaten her into joining. Having nothing to lose and all to gain, Diamond was happy to accept.

In the next few years, Diamond slowly but steadily became great at her craft, rising through the gang's ranks nicely. It all came to an abrupt end however when another gang made a move on their territory. During the fight her semblance manifested and gave her the means of escaping the brawl without getting hurt. Afterwards, she went solo again.

After honing her skills for several more years and nearly getting caught a few times, Diamond made a reputation for herself in the underworld. Finally, she got contracted to pull an art heist for the first time. She started working as a hired gun, taking items of opportunity for herself along her jobs. For the next year, she lived quite the luxurious life and amassed significant wealth for her age.

Growing careless, Diamond got caught by an undercover cop while pickpocketing for change. Having nothing on her other than the pickpocketing, her sentence was just a year in juvenile detention.

Coming face to face with several less than pleasant experiences and generally starting to understand that when she barely survived a month of Atlesian Juvy, she would die in a lifetime in an Atlesian prison, Diamond started working her hide off to make something of herself, moving to Vale and paying herself a crash course to drastically improve her combat abilities.
A year later, she made it into Beacon.

Personality:
In one word, Diamond is a bitch. Sarcastic and cynical, she has nearly no moral blocks and will happily relieve you of money you didn't guard well enough just to show you she can. The concept of friendship is something new to her and it shows in her opinion on people swinging easily. Diamond can feed you complete garbage without losing a serious expression on her face. If you piss her off, prepare to suffer a thoroughly planned humiliation.

She might be a criminal, but she is a classy one. Violent crimes are a strict no-go unless something has gone horribly wrong. She quite enjoys the thrill of sneaking around and defeating various obstacles like motion sensors and locks. In her mind, every moron can rob a dust store at gunpoint, but it takes skill to do it in a way that makes the owner notice only a day afterwards.

Apparently she is not past redemption, because after Juvy, she decided to do something with herself and applied to be a huntress, even though her main reason is to hone her skills rather than to protect the people.

Skills:
* Combat
	+ Hand-to-hand: Average
	+ Short blades: Expert
	+ Long blades and polearms: Proficient
	+ Firearms: Lacking
	+ Dust: Beginner, talented
* Common
	+ Leading: She has what it takes to do well enough, but lacks self-confidence
	+ Lockpicking: Expert
	+ Hacking: Skilled with older systems, haven't kept up with recent advances
	+ Pickpocketing: Proficient
	+ Cooking: Wizard
	+ Drinking: Practice makes perfect

Powers:
* Inborn
	+ Shadowshifter - Diamond absorbs her shadow into her own being, gaining the ability to alter her own body much like the shadow before. She can turn any part of her body into a shadow form. In such a state, she is more resistant to physical damage, although her senses are somewhat dulled. The true ability is that Diamond can alter her shape within some bounds. Her shape has to remain humanoid in essence, but her limbs can stretch, sharpen or bulk up, for example she can grow talons or change her entire forearm into a blade. She can also turn flatten herself into a shadow to pass through small gaps like under the door.
* Acquired
	+ Ice dust implant - Diamond had Ice dust fused into her nervous system, giving her the ability to cast spells through her fantasy alone. This kind of dust allows her to create and manipulate ice. It comes with downsides though - too voluminous or quick casting will damage her nerves, or other tissues in later stages.
	+ Kinetic dust implant - Same as above, granting Diamond telekinetic abilities. Other than moving things with her mind she can also use this to project physical attacks over distance.

Relationships:
* Cobalt Chideta: "A passive lad. I don't mind him, but I also fail to notice he's in the room half of the time."
* Oswald Connoly: "Ugh! His attitude can be infuriating, especially when he's not much better than I am. It's in his eyes. He's seen - and done - some nasty things."
* Emerald Felicia: "Lovable goof, infuriating airhead. Just friends."
* Esther Vanhomrigh: "Just benefits."
* Träd Oak: "Smoking and drinking buddy. Quite possibly the only person in this school that I can stand without any reservations."
* Sapphire Rode: "Someone from an entirely different world than I. She has the right to her opinions. They're mostly wrong, of course, but hey."
* Kuhaku Shiro: "Infuriating klutz, comedic relief. Generally harmless and epically innocent."
* Skyra Dawn: "Very recent acquaintance. Dunno. Seems to follow the general feline faunus trend though."
* Amaranth Desire: "The reminder of the past I want to forget. Business, that's all it was."

Trivia:
* Diamond is left handed.
* She is afraid of deep waters.
* A quitting smoker.
* She likes red meat and high quality alcohol.

[User]
Trad couldn't help but laugh at Amy's remark about his pouting, "Don't worry, I won't make it a habit." He said giving Amy a light pat on the back.

While they were talking, Sangue let her claw drag on the floor, causing an extremely annoying sound. Trad wanted to say something, but Sangue still had a grumpy look on her face, and the last thing the team needed was for two of them to get in a tuff.

Finally, the moment of truth arrived, they had reached the lunchroom. Trad couldn't help but notice the sea of students all chatting and acting as if they had known each other for year. Trying to avoid eye contact, he moved along to get his food. He ended up with some sort of pasta, not exactly the best food for his nerves but he got it anyway.

Unable to find a seat, he simply waited until one of the others sat down and joined them.

[Assistant]
The red-haired woman felt hungry at a perfect time.

Missing breakfast proved to be an unwise decision, but it also made lunch seem all the more appealing to the normally idle Sangue. Sangue's right eye opened a little wider than before as her claw continued to follow her.

She finally seemed to notice the noises her claw was making. Making a small motion with her shoulder, the claw slowly retracted until it was fairly away from the ground. The claw no longer dragged itself across the ground, but now it ominously swung itself around like a hypnosis clock moving at multiple directions.

A few seconds later, the claw retracted more, finally causing the contraption to hide itself within her clothes.

"..."

Sangue finally walked her own path, heading over to get some pasta. She seemed to have trouble holding her own tray, though she seemed confident with holding it on her own. The woman sat at an empty table, staring at the pasta for some odd reason.

I don't know what I just picked up.

Funnily enough, she never ate pasta before. She simply stared at the food and the utensil she could use to eat it.

Her brain began to process how to eat pasta.

[User]
Ben set his tray down with a quiet tap, sinking into his seat. In the interests of efficiency he'd picked the first food he found, the result a heaping pile of spaghetti. A drink had proven much easier, as he nabbed a milk on his way to an open seat. He, after a moment of thought, placed himself in the same vicinity as Sangue without getting too close. His team member seemed to desire a little space, and he didn't think he knew her well enough yet to take a seat opposite or adjacent to her. She didn't seem a particularly bad sort, but she was quiet, and more than a little... Unapproachable. He wasn't sure if it was intentional yet, but it didn't seem like a matter to test so soon after being christened a team.

He twirled a fork with one hand, loading it with pasta, but eyes idly swept the lunch room. He wasn't particularly surprised by the sheer diversity of students, but it was a touch of culture shock nonetheless. Not just the students themselves, but the way they carried themselves. He saw more than a few weapons tucked away on their owner's person, and many of his new peers carried themselves with a sense of pride. A few seemed to verge on arrogance, if he was perfectly honest. No one seemed to have paid attention to his team's arrival, so they either didn't know about them, or didn't care. Either was possible, but he found the former a little more likely. The odds of absolutely everyone ignoring a team of washouts was pretty minimal.

Then again, he admitted to himself as he took a bite of his food, he was probably over-thinking it.

"Food's decent, at least." BAST's leader commented to no one in particular.

[Assistant]
Priscilla didn't really want to talk to Rayna or anything.. ever since that last performance that she did with Priscilla wasn't a 'haha it's okay. no worries' nope. She wasn't going to forgive that girl that easily. Priscilla may be looking sweet and always happy, but she had a different side... a side where most people won't see for a while. But it's not the time to talk about what kind of side she has, it will soon be showed upon the citizens in the academy.

As she was walking away somewhere that wasn't here, her stomach grumbled.. yeah she was hungry but she threw away her food angrily because she didn't want to speak about what happened. Clearly Priscilla wasn't in the slightest mood to be talking about herself being raised upside down and her UNDERWEAR SHOWING!

"Huh...?" she turned her head hearing a voice getting closer, a very smoothing geeky voice. It was Robert, she smiled at him grateful that she had someone like him because he was always there for her and he even stood up for her so that was nice of him. As soon as he asked her about going out just the two of them.. her face suddenly blushed, was she just asked out on a date by Robert? Dreams come true! Priscilla bit her bottom lips looking away trying to hide her face from being exposed and Robert seeing her blushing.

But she suddenly shook it away, clearing her throat and getting back to seriousness but yet adorable! "Yeah...I would love to go out with you sometime, Robbie.~" her smile was still there though as she wrapped an arm around Robert walking with him and looking at his lunch tray. God.. she wanted some food..!


[System]
CHARACTER SHEET (Midnighter)
Age: 28

Height:

Gender: Male

Appearance:

Occupation: Currently a barman, unable to settle down he often jumps from one casual job to another.

Personal Interests: Adrenalin sports, bikes, tattoos, leather, whiskey.

Fears: Tyler is claustrophobic, He fears being trapped.
He also fears being helpless or considered weak.

Power: Acrobat,

Misc. Info:

Sample:
A firm breeze sails the cloudless, star filled sky. A single droplet of sweat accentuates the chill as it falls down the burning warm skin of a bare exposed chest, hiding away a heavy beating heart.
His muscular half naked body, a sillouet against the bright full moon cascading down upon the cliff which they stood atop.
Tyler or 'Ty' for short impatiently checks his watch. He breathes slow and heavily, watching his warm breath forming clouds in the cold air before him.
Meanwhile Kiera, his latest fling, struggles up the steep hill and finally catches him in her sight.
He rubs his bloody and bruised knuckles as she approaches behind him.

He knows she is there, he can hear her but can't bring himself to turn around. She continues to near.
Even as he stares down over the edge of the sheer cliff into the abyss of the darkness far below, he can't shake her from his head, the hours spent fantasising over her dreamy forbidden body were not so easily forgotten.

His mind was racing wild, it was a blur of untraceable thoughts. 11:59, close enough. He spins around,

"BANG!"

The sudden sound shatters the silence and repeats out echoing as it travels the open distance.
Ty's ears scream with an echoing ring.
Looking out in shock Kiera was not in sight, instead there stood the hulking bearded giant known as Carl, his nose still crooked and dry blood stained his messy long beard that surrounded his gap-tooth grin. Only he wasn't grinning now, panic filled his bloodshot eyes and he drops the heavy metallic device that was in his hand.

A gun.

Ty looks down to his stomach, he could feel the warmth of his blood spill into his cold hands already clutching the wound. Struck by a sudden dizziness, before he could look back up, he fell.

And fell.

And fell.

The roaring wind around him slowly becoming a gentle breeze as the darkness softly embraces him.

'That'll teach you for playing with another mans woman' he thinks to himself as he floats down the last few meters to meet the waiting dirt landing with a soft thud. A smile breaks his lips, as he groans 'nah it won't'.

[User]
"See the thing about me Tyler, is I've dealt with so many like you. Call me a bleeding heart. I do have a spare bedroom that I'm going to insist you take. Come on, I bailed you out of jail. You owe me." She said, standing up as well, placing herself in between him and the door.
"Don't make me use drastic measures." She said, although she probably looked as imposing as a puppy. She uses this to her advantage, a lot of people don't like to cross her because she looked so innocent.

[Assistant]
Tyler replies with a chuckle then a groan, "alright alright, just stop acting tough ok" he teases as he hobbles over to a wall to lean against.

"If you're gonna be keeping me prisoner you have to at least let me use your shower." He jokes as he looks around the apartment trying to guess which way leads to the bathroom. "And here I thought I was an individual, So just how many other guys like me have you kidnaped?" He tries to lightly pry a little.

His voice softens and goes serious, "But seriously thankyou so much for everything you have done."

[User] Echo chuckled at the Seer's apprehension over Darklings. Wayfinders are the best! She thought, imagining herself running at full speed, Darklings in tow. A drop of adrenaline rushed through her at the thought. "You guys might need to be scared of a couple Darklings," Echo teased the group, "But I have nothing to worry about." The thought of ditching them to save herself scared her, she'd grown a sort of attachment to each of them in the year she was here. Echo glanced at the clock to take her mind off of things. 9 minutes to midnight, or at least on this clock. She knew that Brisbane High's clocks were 5 minutes fast and midnight would appear to arrive at 12:05 there. She hoped Danielle knew what she was doing when she sat the clock. Speaking of Danielle, Echo noticed that she was missing from the Cafe. "Did anybody catch where Danielle went?" she asked, getting up from the table she was at and going over to a booth to half-lay half-sit there.

[Assistant]
"What? You think I can't be tough?" Danielle laughed softly, shaking her head. She opened a door near her which was a cupboard, filled with towels and things. She grabbed a towel, a washcloth, and some of those hotel shampoo and body wash things and handed them to him.

"I figure you don't want to smell like fiery passion." Danielle smirked at him, before leading him to the bathroom. It was small, but it had a decent sized tub and that's all she really cared about. When he asked her how often she did this, she shrugged.

"You're the first one I've kept prisoner at my apartment, most I keep prisoner within their own home, or down in the cafe while I try and figure out what's going on. You're just too big, and too injured, of an engima to let slip through my fingers." Danielle explained, as opened her shower curtain to explain the shower controls.

"So, pretty easy just turn the knob until it's warm enough for you and you change the pressure on the shower head, just turn the dorsel thing to the left or right." She explained before turning back to face him.

"Think you need anything else from me at the moment? I'll try to dig up some clothes that might fit you because I doubt any of my clothes will." She laughed, eyeing him up and down.

[User]
"Haha, I'm sure you're very tough, hell I wouldn't want to mess with you."
"Fiery passion, so that's what that lovely smell is?" Tyler says with a flirty laugh.
He takes the things handed to him and listens to the instructions.
Afterwards he looks down at his shirt, it had become quite the tattered mess, blood stains, beer and who knows what.
"If you had anything that would be great, thanks." He gives Danielle a final nod, "actually I could probably use some help in here." He jokes just before closing the door and the sound of water rushing through the pipes ensues.

[Assistant]
Ved
As most of the others, he had his own rituals for preparing himself for the extra hour. He had been waiting quietly in the time being, but exactly 13 minutes before midnight he went to work, starting from the feet up. He undressed down to his underwear behind the cafe bar, then removed 13 white cloth wraps of varying thickness from his inner hacket pocket and began to work. 13 wraps on each foot, calf, thigh, around his waist/hips, up his torso/chest, hands, forearms, and neck. Stepping from behind the counter, he slipped in his pure Malachite plug gauges, which finished his ensembale. Earth stones and 13 layers of 13 wraps. He would be safer that way, and more flexable. And frankly, the protective clothing was more than a bit flattering to his naturally lean form.

[User]
@Ryuzaki

Aslynne rolled her bright blue eyes with a snort. "Can you at least not think so loud then? You're going to make me paranoid about Darklings. I'm already crazy enough, I don't need to start hallucinating." The images his mind screamed out all but smacked her in the face. Making her head pound all the harder.

'Wayfinders are the best!' She heard from Echo making Aslynne scoff out loud. "Yeah sure, the best until a Darkling figures out a way to match you in speed." Aslynne could imagine some of the old ones doing that. They never had a solid form and those freaky tendril things... she shivered at the thought of being touched by one of them. Her fears couldn't have been something normal like spiders or bugs, no she had to be afraid of fire... you know painful stuff.

"Danielle left to go pick up Tyler from jail, I can taste them, they're at her place, but she pushing it too close." Aslynne spoke up about Danielle. Nine more minutes until she could breathe without feeling like her head was about to explode. Aslynne got up to pace the floor of the cafe anxious like she always was about the impending blue time wanting that silence. Checking her watch literally every thirty seconds. "I'll go up and escort her and Tyler down if they're not here before Midnight. Best go check on them now though. Don't wait for us." Aslynne stood from her seat and grabbed her back full of weapons to climb the external staircase to Danielle's home, she could feel the relief of the acrobat's shower washing over him and she shuddered at the image it forced into her head. Rubbing her arms against the chill she took the stairs two at a time until she was before Dani's door.

Knocking and shifting the backpack over her shoulder she said loudly. "Hey! Dani, you're pushing it close let me in!"

[Assistant]
"In your dreams!" Danielle called to Tyler before she went to go find him clothes. She managed to find a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from a previous boyfriend that looked like they would fit Tyler. She set him in front of her bathroom door, just as she heard Azzy knock on her door.
"It's fine Az, I still got a couple minutes." Dani opened the door regardless, letting her friend into the apartment.
"You know me, I'm the pinicle of caution. I just have Tyler in my shower and it would be weird if I opened the door and left as he's in the shower. I figure the closer I get to midnight, the safer I am there. Besides, it's not like I'm miles away from my safe place." Danielle said, as she checked her clock. All of her clocks were exact, as she didn't want to be caught unawares of the time. She still had seven minutes left, and there was no need to be hasty.
"Is everyone else down there?" Dani asked, peaking outside to where her parking lot was.

[User]
"Yeah, we're all downstairs. Ved is even all dressed and ready to go. For what I'm not sure exactly... Darklings and Slithers are at an all time low." Aslynne's eyebrows shot up to her hairline as if she had just remembered something. "I brought something for you." Her bag hit the floor with a light thump and Aslynne quickly pulled out the black steel Maglight. "I know you don't like going outside during the blue hour, but this should help in case you have no other choice." Aslynne held it out to Danielle, the weight of the cold steel was heavy. It would make a good weapon just to hit something with, but in the hands of the Fire Bringer it was life saving.

"In case I'm not around to beat those damn Slithers into submission." Aslynne's lips curled up into a silent snarl that could rival a Darkling Panther's at the thought of zapping those damn blood thirsty creatures with the sparkly blue fire metals seemed to give off. "Anyway, I don't think we're going to be going outside for a while tonight. We have a new member to 'initiate'." Aslynne did a pretty good imitation of Lee when she wanted to. It was almost scary.

[Assistant]
"I'll try to think of things less...darkling?" He said unsure how to calm the focus he had now for her. She would just have to deal with it for now.

Lee was glad to hear that the two missing were on their way now. And he trusted Aslynne to go get them with little trouble. The hour grew closer and Lee could feel his eyes twitching a bit. The hour made his vision more sharp against the darklings. Everything appearing more clear as well as the Midnighters. There were a few here he hadn't met yet so he offered his introduction while he waited.

@Prints Avoid
He noticed Abel and Ved aside the counter. He walked over to greet them. "Hey there fellas. It's nice to know we have a polymath and metallurge among us." He said. "My name is Lee. Seer. I see and read things clearly that you cannot." He told them.

[User]
Danielle smiled at Azzy as she took the maglite and put it on top of her tv stand.
"I'm surprised everyone is already here." Danielle said before she processed that there was a new midnighter in town. The only new person she knew of in town was currently in her shower.
"Well...he's currently in my shower. How do you propose I tell him he needs to get out so and that we need to meet in my cafe?" Danielle asked, with a raised eyebrow as she glanced at the clock.

[Assistant]
@Dark Light

"Let me handle this." Aslynne said, briskly walking over to the bathroom door. Knocking loudly, and all but yelling, "Hey! Badass McGee. Time's up." Tyler's flash of fear tasted bitter on her tongue like vinegar before it ebbed to the sweet cane sugar taste of relief. "The shower is the worst place to be caught in at midnight around here."

Turning back to Danielle she said, "I'm a little surprised too, I don't think we've all be in the same place at the same time since we were kids. I don't even think Lee has met Ved and Abel and he's been here for four years!" Aslynne's strawberry blonde hair was braided down her back to be kept out of the way. A habit after a Darkling had almost killed her with it's grip on her hair when she'd been a child.

Blue eyes brightening at the thought that Midnight was almost here. "Three more minutes." She said to Danielle stepping over to the window that faced the street below. "I was hoping you wouldn't have to make a mad dash down the stairs."


[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~

---

This was her coconut, and she was gonna keep it warm and safe and that crazy native couldn't touch it, oh no she wasn't. She, Charlotte LaChance, was gonna eat it herself and that native could go starve in a fiery pit...something burning and evil. Yeah. She had little chance to enjoy her brief victory, though. As she thought of the many ways she could possibly make the coconut much more appetizing with the right herbs, spices, and such, Cait had decided to waltz over and once again, invade her personal space. By the stars, the similarities to her and...

Charlotte simply glared up at the shorter girl, wishing desperately she could tell her she was in fact, not a cat or some sort of pet. Alasm her words would fall on deaf ears that didn't understand the words being spoken. For a few seconds, this continued until Charlotte realized the other girl was not going to stop without a bit of encouragement. So the taller girl finally sat up, holding the coconut in her lap as she glared coolly at Cait.

She was running out of patience for the other woman's shenanigans.

[Assistant]
The fire haired girl continued petting Charlotte as she sat up, only stopping when it was obvious that the other woman was starting to become hostile. Sighing slightly in disappointment, the girl skipped over to her bag briefly and took out a looped piece of cloth, then twisted it to be in the format of an eight. "Mar seo!" After ensuring the other woman had been paying attention with a quick nose poke, Caitriona scaled the same tree using the piece of cloth as a powerful anchor to leap up from. Compared to the other woman's time, she was done easily within a minute. Grabbing the rest of the coconuts and dropping them onto the sandy ground, she scaled back down the tree as quickly as she had risen up it.

Tossing a spare white strip of cloth from her bag to the other woman, she pointed at another tree and then at her own bare feet. While she owned sandals, they were far more slippery and dangerous because of it. With a bright smile, she gave Charlotte an encouraging look to try it the right way this time.

[User]
~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Oh, now what was she doing? Pulling out some sort of rope or something? What was she going to do with that? She was quite curious, as it didn't exactly seem to be something that was used for any sort of practical purposes. Some sort of slingshot or something? Charlotte huffed, rubbing her nose as she was poked by the other girl. What, did she think she wasn't paying attention or something? She always paid attention to something, thank you. Bah, this girl was starting to get irritating.

After seeing what the girl was using it for though, Charlotte's thought process came to an abrupt halt.

Was...that was what it was used for? Then why didn't Cait tell her or show her how to use it instead of letting her fumble about on her own? Granted, there was nothing wrong with learning on your own when you had nothing else - that was the only reason Charlotte even attempted it. She was ignorant of such plants or how to harvest them. With time and enough thinking she could have come up with a simple and effective way of doing it, but...why? It would have saved them both time and her more than a little bit of irritation if Cait had just showed her how to use it.

The only reason Charlotte could think of, was that she was purposefully making fun of her. She watched Cait work dispassionately, only interested in how to use the simple contraption effectively. It would be easy enough to replicate one and easy enough to use it from watching Cait use it. When the other girl tossed the contraption to her, Charlotte didn't even catch it. Instead, she simply grabbed her coconut, and gave Cait a cool glare as she turned and walked away.

She had enough of being made fun of in Astril. She wasn't going to put up with it here.

[Assistant]
The woman blinked a few times as the woman turned away, dropping the cloth. Cait frowned slightly. Had she done something wrong? She had only meant to teach to foreigner ... and a little practice was necessary to understand how things worked, along with some failure.

After a brief look at the black haired girl, the native realized that she couldn't let the other person just leave like this. They wouldn't survive - at least based on what she knew about this area and the other woman. After a quick glance to the ocean and the woman wondering away on the beach, Caitriona went after the other girl after quickly picking up the strip of cloth up off the beach.

"Fan suas, amaideach!!" Soon enough, the flame haired girl had caught up, breathing just a little heavily from having scaled a tree and chased someone down. As a sign of piece, the woman showed both her hands as she walked next to this strange and currently irritated person. If the other girl didn't respond, the bard would start playing a quick little cheerful tune on her flute, offering the other woman a nice rock for the coconut beforehand.


[System]
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Class: Sanctioned Psyker

Psyker Power
Divination & Telekinesis are her main fields of psychic talent, but she also possesses two other abilities such as Smite and Storm of Lightning, as well as a rudimentary form of mental communication. Does not possess any noteworthy healing abilities, and she is just as likely to send someone to the warp as she is to heal a minor scratch.

Appearance:
6.6ft tall, pale skin and snow white hair. Sturdy and heavy frame, but still retains her feminine figure despite adhering to a strict physical training regime.

The base of her outfit consist of a simple yet elastic skin tight jumpsuit in dark brown color that is capable of withstanding the vacuum of space as well as provide a decent protection against the elements, though offers little protection versus physical threats. Overlayed on top is a series of armaplas plates that form a chestguard, cuisses, knee-high boots, shoulderpads and gloves stretching back and up to her elbows where they form into a sharp point. They offer good locational protection, especially from the front, but leave her jumpsuit exposed in other places, particularly from her lower back and down to the back of her knees where her boots cover both sides of her ankles. The plates are polished to a light gray color, and almost look like silver. The surface is covered with a series of intricate design and artwork in typical imperial fashion, featuring numerous flutes and ridges across the plates, as well as a couple skull imprints. Above her armor she wears a satin blue silk cloak that hangs down from the back of her left shoulder, as well as a silk loincloth hanging from the front of her belt of similar color. Thrown sideways around her torso is a series of books and scrolls attached by chain.

Running up along the spine of her chestguard is a refractor field generator built into the plate itself, taking form of a small generator emitting a series of horizontal, blue lights up along the back of the chestplate, and shaped much like a human skeletal spine. When activated, a faint, blue and almost invisible barrier appears around her figure.

Her helmet is made out of the same material as that of her armor, and it takes the form of a gothic plated helmet, with a narrow but wide blue glass visor and a longer neck guard extending out behind her helmet. Two plastic tubes are attached to a rebreather device at the bottom mouth piece of her helmet, that stretch out on each side of her neck and down into a small, highly pressurized air tank built into the back of her chestguard.

Her boots are magnetic, and her entire suit when worn enables her to survive in space, and also provides immunity to most chemical and biological attacks. She carries enough oxygen to last for almost an hour.

Equipment:

Main Weapon: Her primary weapon is a two handed power-weapon in the form of an oversized saber with a sleek blade and an extended handle which doubles as a psyker staff, and adorned with sigils, trinkets, technological gadgets and inscriptions. She often uses her weapon in conjunction with her telekinetic powers to amplify its destructive potential.

Calisto. Plasma Pistol.

Ceremonial Dagger. In essence, just a normal albeit flashy dagger with an adorned handle. Typically only carried for show, but is sharp enough to slice through unprotected skin with ease, and small enough to be concealed without much problem.

Refractor Field. Description under Appearance.

2x Servo-Skulls: Familiars. Mostly used to store events, data, recordings and scrolls and provide reconnaissance.

Savior – Saved an influential nobleman by foreseeing his assassination, tossing him out of the way of the sniper's bullet with her telekinetic powers and into a big wedding cake instead.

Guide – Saved a band of arbiters from the underworld of a hive world during an uprising by using her powers of divination to avoid the roaming mobs and gangs and reached safety without incident. Not a single shot was fired during their escape.

Hates Surprises – Accidentally electrocuted and sent three of the arbiters she had saved above to the infirmary when they tried to surprise her with a party later. Being so used to foresee danger before it happens, she is prone to freaking out over minor surprises that eludes her farsight.

Fireteam – During an Ork incursion, she helped a fireteam of six guardsmen hold off a much larger band of orks after their sergeant was injured through using her powers of divination to guide their fire, turning what had been originally green recruits into seemingly crack shots. Any Ork that left its cover was immediately put down from long range, and when they mounted a frenzied charge together, they didn't make it more than halfway across the field to the trenches before they were wiped out by precision fire.

Warpstorm over Mordran V - Adrianne was assigned to aid the planetary imperial garrison with culling a lesser greenskin uprising, assisting local Imperial Guard and Sisters of Battle forces with the purging when a warpstorm suddenly appeared over the otherwise peaceful colony world of Mordran V. Trapped on the planet, Adrianne found herself fighting for survival alongside her imperial guard as Chaos Ships appeared in orbit, and unleashed a ferocious invasion of the planet! Though the warpstorm only lasted for two weeks, by the time it had lifted, Mordran V had been transformed from a lush, promising garden world into a lifeless, daemon-infested hellscape, with most of its original population killed except for a few imperial strongholds that managed to weather the storm. Her experience from Mordran V would change Adrianne for ever. What had been a cautious girl that had stepped onto the planet would instead emerge a seemingly reckless with little to no restraint on her powers!

Time With the Inquisitor: W.I.P.

[User]
His footsteps thudded as he strode into the armory, full face helm still upon his grim visage. Herold was still unused to such talkative companions, but he guessed he was getting more used to it as time went on. At least they had good tastes in weapons, and a knowledge of them from what he heard.

Speaking of weapons...He was very much impressed with the stockpile of munition platforms here, not to mention equipment and sheer ammo this facility held. It unnerved him, to say the least. He'd been on this planet for only a few years, but he had no idea such a place existed. He lifted up what he knew to be a Power Sword, and examined the blade. He was sorely tempted to take it, but in the end he shook his head. He'd keep to his trusty Shock Maul. All he'd need to do would be to turn up the power in it and he could blow off limbs if need be. The Power Sword was simply overkill.

However, his Combat Shotgun was notoriously short ranged. Not as short of a range as many thought, but firing over 30 meters was sometimes needed. He doubted his Autopistol could fire further. His eyes next fell onto a Mark II Ragefire Pattern Plasma Gun, and picked it up. He let out a grunt as he held it in his hands, feeling its weight.

"Not bad..." he breathed. It was at that moment the sound of fire outside reached his ears, just as the tall Psycher and the Guardsmen were walking by him. He eyed the Grenade Launcher on Ansgar's back, then looked to his Plasma gun, and then to the Grenade Launcher... He'd rather hold a weapon he was familiar with, and decided to go with the Guardsmen's choice. He grabbed more than a few Frag and Krak Grenades, loading his own Grenade Launcher as he hustled to catch up.

'Likely an uprising ma'am' he heard Ansgar say as Herold fell in line with them. "It's bad luck for them we're here," he muttered as the Guardsmen continued to speak. To emphasize his point, his weapon 'snapped' as soon as he put all 6 Grenades in place. Frags this time.

[Assistant]
Vala's skills as an engeneer seemed to be in question by the Krieger, but she chose to not say anything. 'Unreliable? Jury rigged!? You are a god damned brainwashed moron...' Were her thoughts underneath her helmet though. Her skills at assembly and crafting electronics and machinery were far superior to anything she's seen on the average within the Imperium... especially within the guard where everything was made in huge mass to be easily distributed, but tended to malfunction. Her gear only malfunctioned in case of critical damage! They'd see eventually, for now it was best to not get into annoying stuff.

 Finally after some more events they were led by Solaris to a armory of sorts and as luck would have it fighting erupted outside not too long after." Yep... there we go." She mumbled, pulling her rifle and releasing the safety. The rifle came to life with a low hum as a light ammo indicator on the side flashed. Her rifle hit like a truck considering the standard rifles, but it had a low ammo capacity in magazines. Still it was a solid slug projectile weapon that basically ran on energy since it was a gaus rifle more or less. It could fire perfectly underwater, in vacuum and pretty much everywhere without a single spark! Hell she could fire it in a room filled with explosive gasses and it won't go off. She wanted to see some of the imperium jury rigged weapons do that... while retaining the penetrative&raw kinetic power, silence and reliability. Ohh yeah since it worked without any explosions or ignitions of any time, this thing could outlast a whole shipment of Imperium standard rifles combined....

[User]
(Andromedai's Squad)

Celestian Andromedai motioned with her left hand for Adrianne to continue lowering the large crate from the upper row of the racks they stood next to, and onto the ground. "Be careful Adrianne, that weapon was given to me from a friend who is no longer with us. A weapon of such craftsmanship is very rarely seen these days." Andromedai felt her muscles tense as the box suddenly plummeted to the ground, hitting the ground with a loud thud, followed by a cloud of dust rising into the air around it. With a sudden movement, Andromedai would smack Adrianne on the back of the head. "Get ahold of yourself Adrianne, what if that had been an explosive? This warehouse would have gone up and killed us all."

Andromedai sighed while kneeling down, opening the box. What she pulled out was an advanced sniper rifle that looked like nothing Adrianne had seen before. The rifle could be disassembled and reassembled very quickly for quick use and transport. "Alright, let's get out of here and find out what is causing the civilians to be so rowdy." Quickly, they moved to the front of the warehouse and met up with Solares and the rest of the retinue.

(Solares's Squad)

Solares nodded her head at Ansgar, "These civilians sure are feisty, wonder if they are our cultists or just the common people needing to be taught a lesson." Turning around, Solares gave Ansgar a thumbs up at his new weapon. "Nice find, watch where you use those though, CQC with impact frags could be messy." From behind them, Celestian Andromedai appeared with Adrianne by her side. "Shall we?" asked Andromedai as she walked towards the main door of the warehouse which was open just enough for someone to slip through.

Outside, a large group of civilians had gathered, and they were armed. The guardsmen that had been keeping watch around the warehouse had been killed, their bodies now being trampled by the mob. "I count at least thirty armed civilians, they are trying to get into our Rhino and are clearly armed." About half of the civilians broke off from the main group and were now heading towards the warehouse. "They are heading this way, shall we greet them when they open the doors or flank them from behind?" asked Andromedai. By now, Solares had vanished, climbing up a ladder to the top of the warehouse and exiting through the roof. Clearly she had her own plans and were about to put them into motion, "Ambush it is I guess, take your positions and get ready to fire as soon as the doors open." said Andromedai.

[Assistant]
"Ambush it is I guess, take your positions and get ready to fire as soon as the doo,-"

"I GOT THIS!"

Adrianne would suddenly interrupt as the Psyker came marching past both Solares and Andromedai as she put on her helmet, stopping in front of the old iron door to raise one leg and kick it open with a loud bang!

*Crash*

"STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!"

The tall Psyker would shout out through her voice box as she marched out of the door and onto the large, open pavement area outside of the warehouse. Her metal boots clanked against the cement below her feet, and her ragged cloak flowed out behind her freely as she took ten more steps towards the mob that was gathering outside. High above in the sky, the light of day had grown dim as ominous clouds were gathering above, an unusual quiet felt on the wind as if heralding a coming storm...

Adrianne eyed the situation from behind her mask.

A mob, about thirty or so individuals in civilian attire, most of them wielding a wide variety of weapons, from simple stub guns to las guns in both rifle and pistol variety. Some looked like simple thugs or runaway factory workers, whilst others wore decent but tarnished clothes as if they came from the lower middle class. They were all clustered relatively closer together, around the Rhino vehicle positioned outside. An ideal position... for a Vortex of Doom!

Stopping, and slamming the bottom of her staff into the pavement in front of her as if you make a point, Adrianne would point out towards the mob.

"Hear me you filthy, ignorant masses!" She called out!
"You are trespassing on Sanctified Imperial Property, a heinous crime against the Emperor of Man! Throw down your arms and yield, or be torn apart by the violent powers of the warp itself!"

Adrianne called out through the mechanical crackling of her voice box, forming her left glove to make an arcane, alien gesture as suddenly the air around the loading area outside of the warehouse grew unnatural still, a strange sense of static energy filling it! It was an unnatural sensation that could be sensed by every living creature around, even all the way back to the door to the warehouse where the rest of the group stood, as a mysterious sense of weightlessness temporarily flowed past them, and even made breathing unusual as occasional breaths didn't seem to inhale any air at all!


[System]
Age: -11110- *binary screech* -29-

Sex: Female

Appearance:

Position within The Imperium of Man:Tech-Priestess : Magos Errant

Armor: Sanctified Customized Mechanicus Power Armor

Weapons: Omnissian Power Axe, Hecate Pattern Chainsword,Hesh Pattern M38 Mark II Boltgun

Equipment:
 -Mechadendrites: Usually the pseudo arm-esque variety, allowing for more workhands or... weaponhands.
 -Servoskull(Customized to appear like real human head very similar to her own visage): Has a modified sonic weapon type that let's out
 a horrifying banshee like wail. Not much on the lethal factor, but really darn disorienting and unsettling.
 -Grenades: Good old Frags
 -Wires(lots of wires): Can never have enough
 -wireless sound emitters: To Listen to music or to create ambushes via sound baits.
 -Music and Sound Data device: A variety of music and ambience noises.

Personality: A Magos Errant by title, Medaira's a wandering tech-priestess usually on vessels of dubious directions and visiting many a great unknowns in search of shiny tech to send back home. That is Medaira's only official task she ever had... Now as for what Medaira really is like, she's an energetic, friendly, sly and mischievious bundle of fun. Rather friendly by nature, especially weird for a Tech-priestess, Medaira likes to hang around other people. She's always one for a good fun time, no matter what form this fun time takes. Be it just a regular party with music and booze, a jolly good fight or the coveted and most sought after pranks. To her greatest regret, pranks are not something she can freely indulge into, but that doesn't stop her from sneaking in one here and there whenever the chance presents itself. Admittedly even the most black hearted imperials would agree that a great prank pulled on heretics or xenos is always a good thing though, so she had long since figured out that weaponizing pranks is a good tactic to use on enemies, so she rediscovered the art of making traps. Not as good as pranking friends, but beggers can't be choosers.

Characters Theme Song:
Characters Voice: (Optional)

[User]
Cole Cerus
Cole stood there like a statue as Andromedai spoke to the women. Keeping an eye on the man in the back, just in case he decides to do something. He was confident that his comrades could handle the women if things go that way. Cole slowly unholstered his lasgun and brought it into a relaxed position but held on tightly to it. Ready to keep his weapon to bear if the pair try anything.

Cowards they are, Cole thought as the information came out. So a demoness appeared to them in the open and spoke of endless wonder to them. Not speaking a word of it to anyone for fear of death or worse and carried on their day as nothing happened. Stupid and cowardly, nothing ends well if Chaos is involved. Especially if two of the Chaos gods are involved. Letting the matter go and no letting some kind of authority know of this. They might as well dammed this planet, and death normally comes to those that keep the activities of Chaos a secret.

Cole was surprised by Andromedai's decision to have them arrested rather than execute them. He might have said something about it but, Cole knew his place with Andromedai. Keeping his opinions to himself over this. Guess, Andromedai is feeling merciful today with these two. He mentally shrugged, but the rest of the suspects may not be so lucky since he doubted that all of them were as scared as these two. Might have one of those suspects considered the offer from that demoness. However, they will find out today if the is the case. If they do not flee, that is.

As the group walked to their next target, Cole listened to what his comrades had to say about the whole thing. To the shape the demons may take and how much trouble this is going to be. Meanwhile, Cole started to scan their surroundings as he walked. Just checking if anyone looked suspicious while on the way to their next target.

Then Cole saw the statue of Khorne. That should not be here, and why is it out in the open like this. Why did no one report or allowed this to be built. Cole thought to himself as to why in the Emperor's name was this here. He was focused on the statue that he did not notice the black eye woman before it was too late. It was lucky that Adrianne managed to get a barrier up to shield them from the blast. Though not so lucky for Andromedai, who got lanched into a tree that almost snapped in half. Cole quickly readied his weapon, and without any orders from Stukov. He chose to cover Stukov while he moved up to the statue. While scanning the surroundings for any sign of trouble or movement. You do not just leave a bomb like that in the open if you were not expecting someone. If he did not have a bad feeling before, he does now.

[Assistant]
Well it was all actually rather interesting development! Medaira was inwardly beside herself with giddy enthusiasm and anticipation. This was turning out to be an event of even greater amusement potential than she initially expected it to! This was glorious! The info revealed by the first victim… target, was useful! So at least two separate chaos forces factions present, but if there were two, chances were there were more, was it not?" Who can ensure there are only those two though? We should assume the worst and that we are dealing with a full mixed group here." The techpriestess mentioned, having to stop herself from calling the possible situation 'most entertaining' instead of 'worst'.

 The fact that the woman had apparently panicked out of fear for those around her wasn't surprising. It was a common Chaos tactic after all, besides Medaira was rather certain that somebody sometime at some point must have made a comment that to fell target, first strike those by their side.'… well if they hadn't, they should have!'

 Still smiling underneath the breather, she followed as they made a direct line for the next target which turned fun real fast. A statue of a chaos god, not something to see every day. A woman with dead eyes, possibly a cultist going ballistic as in literally by exploding and sending their glorious leader into a tree. Not a thing to see every day either, but it was priceless to witness. Now they needed Adrianne psyker friend to be rocketed into a ceiling and Medaira would be happy with a nice new collection in the making.

 Her grin turned extremely wide at the psyker's order to see to the possibly downed inquisitor. Medaira's eyes had this distinct chesire mischief glint in them as she dashed over to the woman with glee." Helping~!" She chirped happily as she went to their leader and the tree that stopped her flight. Emperor bless the tree, who knows how much further she would have traveled otherwise! That said, Medaira's mechadendrites were already armed and ready to fire and a gun was in her off hand.

 "Leader Lady Adrianne~ are you in functioning operational status~?" Medaira chirped as she began inspecting the woman's state. She asked the token question just to check to see if the woman would make any clear reaction. That said she brought her hand to make sure to keep the woman laying down flat just in case. A power armor might take the most of the blast, but hard impacts had the tendency to go through armor. Dropping armored targets from very high places was a good way to kill armored targets. Same with blunt weapons. Impact easily transferred THROUGH hard armor, so depending on the exact force of the impact she made with the tree, they were looking at anything from simple shock to internal injuries, so better not move her much until they can confirm she's ok. Though this was Andromedai, she was likely fine. Medaira suspected they could hit her with a speeding Valkyrie and she'd likely shrug it off.

[User]
"Celestian Andromedai, can you hear me? are you injured? Do you need medical assistance? Your armors life support systems seem to be rebooting after the living warp bomb, I can't get a reading on your current condition." Aivza's voice came though Andromedai's coms, at first sounding distant but then clearing, returning to what was considered normal. The HUD within Celestian Andromedai's helmet was informing her that the conversion field emitter from her Rosarius had absorbed most if not all of the energy from the explosion, though still warned that she may have received slight injuries. After a few seconds of gathering additional information about her current condition, she responded to the first person that had reached out to her, Celestian Aviza. "I am thankfully uninjured Aviza, at least from what I can tell. Be it due to Devine intervention or pure luck, I am unsure. What I do know is that my Rosarius absorbed most of the energy from the suicide warp-bomber." Aviza responded quickly, thankful that her fellow Sister of Battle was still in one piece, "Yes well, I am going to thank the Emperor for your protection from the blast. You should check in with the rest of your, I mean our squad and ensure they are still alive."

While slightly dizzy and disoriented, effects from the living warp bomb detonating and her short trip to the tree that stopped her from flying further into the distance, Andromedai found herself still lying upon the ground when Aviza made her suggestion. "I'm in the process of doing just that, once I am able to stand on my own." Celestian Andromedai then attempted to move back onto her feet, though the hand being firmly placed upon her left shoulder stopped her. Standing before her was their Techpriestess, Medaira who was now inquiring if the Sister of Battle was still functioning and operational. "I am Celestian Andromedai, not Psyker Adrianne. Or did I get knocked into a different dimension where Pysker Adrianne is the leader of this Inquisitorial retinue?" The last comment was in made in jest, though she was unsure if anyone would have been able to catch that. Carefully, she grabbed onto the Techpriestess for stabilization and pulled herself up off of the ground and back onto her feet.

"I am fine, thank you for your concern." said Celestian Andromedai, who would then lightly pat Techpreistess Medaira upon her head a few times before stepping forward, towards her retinue. "Is everyone alright? Are there any injuries? I see that Pysker Adrianne..." Andromedai would stop mid-sentence, pointing back at the statue. "No longer Khorne, but of the God Emperor." The statue had indeed changed back to what it should have been, no longer representing the God of blood, war and murder. "What little remains of the woman who abruptly exploded are scattered around the area, and with her the effects of the warp bomb still linger." Celestian Andromedai considered the fact that they were most likely being watched at that moment, and switched to her coms so only her retinue could hear her speak. "It is likely we are being watched, why we have not yet been attacked since the Warp Bomb leaves me to assume they are merely toying with us." Turning to Adrianne, Andromedai continued speaking. "Or maybe they just want us alive? Do you still sense anything out of the ordinary?"

[Assistant]
Stukov kept an ear on the situation, though the statue seemed to revert back to what it should have been, one dedicated to the God Emperor. That was...peculiar, but not completely foreign. The warp was deceitful and tricky when not properly controlled, and he lowered the shotgun from aimed to a low ready, scanning the surroundings carefully, looking for the slightest thing out of place or otherwise wrong. He'd rely on gut instinct as well if it came up, though he much preferred trying to pick out trouble on a ship. Urban wasn't too bad, though this was a far cry from working through a hiveworld or the like as well. Moving back away from the statue, he would turn after satisfying himself that he couldn't spot any impending trouble and nodded to the soldier. "Thanks for the cover, mate. Let's regroup and figure things out, that blast probably spooked anyone too stupid to run from the sound of us touching down."

 Moving back, while continuing to do regular glances around, waiting for the sudden crack of weapons fire to finally open up after the explosion, he moved to the rest of the group, offset enough to hopefully avoid clustering up into a nice, juicy grenade target. Seems that Celeste was alright, her armor soaking most of the blast, though the comms seemed to have indicated her systems fluctuated. Might want to get that checked, he thought, but didn't say it out loud. Though once she was done addressing the psyker, he chimed in, turning to scan while he spoke to the Celestian. "You were closest, but my gut says that was meant for lighter targets. Smiles foiled that one, but given what it did to you, would have wrapped me around a tree. No doubt there's eyes on us, but I have a feeling there was an expectation that would be enough. Now that I said it, watch, they'll open up..."


[System]
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Personality: Rather curt and blunt, but not entirely devoid of good humor. Fairly superstitious, but also courageous and practical-minded enough that it's not a crippling concern (IE, he's willing to try and kill his superstitions, literally). Fond of a good drink, perhaps overly so, and loyal even to a fault at times. Is most definitely not queasy. Is a passionate admirer of firearms.

Appearance:

Russ is always dressed in his guardsman uniform, which consists of a hardy blue coat, tough leather boots, white breeches, white gloves and a pointed cloth hat. His coat isn't quite as long as the one in the picture and he wears it open, which looks sloppier but affords more mobility, means less heat and looks cooler. Along with his well-trimmed beard, his uniform makes for an immediately recognizable figure in his homeland.

Abilities:
As a man and a soldier of Anviek, an inhospitable frozen tundra where life is harsh and often cruel, Russ is quite hardy. He's generally athletic, leaning more towards agility and dexterity rather than sheer strength, and has an extreme tolerance for harsh conditions, hunger, thirst, and other debilitating effects physical or mental. Russ has extremely good eyesight and has trained himself into a degree of ambidexterity as far as weapons handling goes.

As part of an elite corps of guardsmen specialized in the handling of muskets, Russ is a ridiculously good shot, which counts for a lot when you consider old firearms are really inaccurate. He is also familiar with handling a saber, daggers, a pike, heavier polearms such as halberds and hand to hand fighting, as well as riding on horseback and some general level of equipment maintenance.

Equipment:
-Nat: A custom smoothbore musket, covered in runes to allow its shots to work as well against the mystical as they do a common man. Nat's most remarkable feature is its breech-loading system, an innovation that allows a shooter to set up premade "cartridges" of paper with black powder and a shot in firing position rather than having to go through the annoying and cumbersome muzzle-loading process. This advance in technology allows it the fantastic firing rate of around 10 shots a minute in Russ' expertly trained hands, a marked improvement over the typical 2.

The musket is also bizarrely hardy thanks to a combination of top notch craftsmanship and possibly its runic enhancements. It can be used reliably essentially anywhere but underwater, and will continue to function properly even if dragged through a mire or used to club someone to death. It also has a bayonet mount to allow for some manner of close range combat. Russ typically carries it wrapped in cloth.

-Bayonet: An addon for Nat, a tough knife that can be mounted under the muzzle to turn it into a polearm of sorts or used on its own if necessary. It's similar to a rondel dagger, being stiff blade with a needle point, it's very good for thrusting through gaps in armor, though it can still be used to cut. As a companion to Nat, it is also tremendously hardy and capable of harming things that a knife should not.

-Pistolsx8: Eight standard, muzzle-loaded, single shot pistols. It wasn't rare to see someone carry several considering reloading them takes so much time it's practically a death warrant in combat. He carries two openly on belt holsters outside of his jacket, while the two on the thighs, two under his armpits on shoulder holsters and two crossed on the small of his back are hidden by it.

-Pocket pistol x2: Essentially a pair of miniature flintlock pistols Russ hides in his sleeves. They lack a good deal of stopping power, but in case of an emergency they're better than nothing.

-Saber x1: A nondescript curved sword, carried around just in case and more a sign of position than a favored weapon for Russ.

-Jack of plates x1: A garment made up of plates of armor, often recycled from damaged breastplates and cuirasses, sewn between layers of felt and canvas in the form of a vest. Lighter and more comfortable than a solid piece of plate armor while still providing excellent protection, Russ wears his under his coat.

-Backpack x1: A reasonably compact soldier's backpack which contains what typical assortments of the type such as some rope, flint and steel, rations, a waterskin, a flask etc. It also includes tools to keep his weapons and clothes in good working order and a kit to create more of the disposable cartridges he uses, meaning black powder, paper and loose shots. Russ carries three different types of ammunition: Solid lead balls, small lead pellets for spreading shots with less killing power and smaller lead balls for use with his pistols. He keeps a good deal of pre-made cartridges handily set up on a belt pouch for ease of access.

-Bankert: Not exactly a piece of equipment, yet oft treated as such. Once a dangerous creature that would lead others to their doom in the wilderness, he was captured, stripped from most of his devilish powers and made to repay the crown by being bound to one of its servants as a familiar. He is compelled to obey Russ, who can also kill him with a word as way of incentive, but hates him with a passion and does nothing unless directly ordered, which rather limits his usefulness.

He takes the form of an emaciated, rat-like humanoid with very thin, raggedy fur, an oversized head, long bony fingers, no tail and small, leathery wings. Though typically about 15 inches tall, he can shrink himself to fit inside a gun barrel and that is what he is most often used for, loading Russ' guns while he is otherwise busy. He is deceptively strong, enough to handle Russ' pistols himself with some difficulty, hard to kill and very fast, but their mutual dislike means he's not often called upon.

Backstory:
Anviek is a sprawling land, vast and inhospitable. Biting cold, lack of sunlight and harsh soil make growing food difficult, and the size of the territory means no one central power has ever held real claim to unified power. Authorities tend to be local, or loose confederations at best, and while there is an imperial dynasty with some sway it constantly flirts with disaster. A strong claim to a good chunk of the most fertile lands, however, has allowed the current Empire to hold itself aloft and establish a strong military base with which to defend itself from threats both foreign and domestic.

Key to this military might are its famed guardsmen, some of the deadliest gunners known to the world, and Russ is one of them. However, the shaky standing of the Empire and its constant spending on reinforcing itself means its subjects often go underpaid and its guardsmen are no exception. While allowed to farm and ply other trades to supplement their income, the discontent of the guardsmen is palpable and whispers of rebellion abound, supported by smaller powers looking for a piece of the pie. At the very least, distinguished captains have begun maneuvering their way into politics and positions of power, making for an unstable situation.

A career soldier born to an equally dedicated father, from whom he inherited his position in the corps, Russ holds no lands and knows no other trade that isn't warfare. He is also politically daft and equally unwilling to betray his lord or engage his former comrades in arms in a massacre. Sensing the coming tide, and seeking a way to avoid going hungry, he took the permission to find alternate ways to supplement his income as an out and left his homeland to work as a mercenary.

[User]
The peasant stood as the sole vanguard of the pyre. It was the peasant who was standing on the front-lines awaiting the creature. It would be the duty of this peasant to attempt to reason with the creature by providing it with a proper tithe. Fortunately, hidden away he had the barbarian as his ally preparing for an ambush.

But surely the offerings of the pyre would surely be a worthy presentation that would cause the creature to leave without any bloodshed! Well they would remain worthy, as long as everything was kept prim and proper for when the creature arrived. Geoffrey stared incredulously at the drunkard bard who decided that the best course of action would be to steal from a tithe that was to be delivered to a dragon. The peasant was stunned, and simply stared at the man before he decided to enter the woods to procure something that could serve as a stake. Well, it could be useful, if the vampire wasn't already ablaze to stop its unholy resurrection.

Soon came the furious howling of the beast, which incited his sheep to run towards the tavern while bleated out in terror. Quaking, the peasant felt a distinctive sensation alongside the fear he was feeling. "Shite." Geoffrey cursed under his breath, as he clenched his hands together and quivering as the beast arrived. He had to offer this tithe properly so that the dragon would accept it and leave. But this was not dealing with a human sovereign, no this was a bestial lord the peasant had to bargain with. And just to make matters even more frightening, the creature brought an enforcer that rode upon horseback. Geoffrey's focus shifted between the armor clad goon and his commander.

"Aha-errraah" The peasant stumbled about with his words, as his body shook. Geoffrey knew he needed to collect himself. So to gather his wits, the peasant snorted loudly, and spat out glob of phlegm. The edges of his mouth twitched with trepidation.

"Greetings oh, mighty lordship!" Geoffrey bellowed, clasping his hands together as he gave a small bow towards the dragon. It was a fairly small dip, due to the fact his chickens were trying to peck at him during this gesture of submissiveness. His eyes darted towards his pig to reconfirm to his worried psyche that it was close enough to grab if things were to go awry.

With a plastered grin, Geoffrey tried to subdue as many convulsions that broke his smile as he could. However the peasant found himself unable to keep a fully and seemingly worry-free smile. "I erm, h-hope thy travel t' thou, erm ah, holdings 'ere went well."

The peasant gestured towards the burning corpse of the unrising-vampire, and the meats that were alongside it. "Lo, thou hast a most bountiful tithe to take! Behold the dead vampire, and tha tasty vittles that are served with it!" The peasant took in a deep whiff from the pyre, and continued to speak to the horrific dragon, and presumed lord of this land. "Eat, be merry! Your humble servants labored hard to provide thee with such offerings."

Geoffrey gave another bow towards the dragon. The peasant stood as both bait for a plot to keep the dragon's attention distracted from the strike the barbarian was sure to deliver, and the peasant stood as a negotiator to try to get the dragon to simply leave the lands away. However the events unfurled, Geoffrey knew that he had to do his part to solve against this breed of trouble.

[Assistant]
Ludmilla strolled out the back of the tavern, using it as cover so the dragon wouldn't see her right off. She was a bit put out at the creature's apparent ability to phase through trees, seeing as it would make her plan that much harder.

Saddling her broom, she kicked off into the sky, out of the dragon's reach. Unsure of how large the creature's breath range was, she simply rose high enough that she had ample time to dodge should it aim for her. Satisfied, she conjured a batch of head-size pumpkins and allowed them to drop onto her thankfully large and easy-to-hit target, aiming for the head. They were hard, hearty vegetables, and magically reinforced on top of that. Altogether, being hit with one at terminal velocity would be like taking a hit from a biodegradable orange cannonball.

She watched patiently as they descended, landing several seconds later and tragically cutting short the lives of a trenchcoat-wearing teenager with two katanas, a man dressed in nothing but a green tracksuit, and some sort of hairy, axe-wielding barbarian-type person. Yet another caved in the tavern's chimney. Ludmilla stuck a finger into her mouth and held it up.

"Oh, a headwind."

Well, that was three less people she'd have to pay when this was all said and done. She moved forward, hovering directly above the dragon's center of mass and conjuring another vegetative barrage.


[System]
Gender: Female

Age: 21

Career/Class: Courtesan/Duelist

Physical Description: Camilla is a medium sized woman around 5'5. She possess the slightly bronzed skin, angular features and dark hair common among Tileans. She has the smooth clean lines of a classical statue and the lean musculature of a dancer. Every part of her seems artfully contrived, as though she stepped from the canvas of a master painter. Camilla moves with deliberate grace which is appropriate to her profession.

Mental Description/Personality: Camilla is a fiery impetuous young woman. As a child she was selected from among orphan's for her physical beauty and raised to fill the role of Courtesan in the decadent courts of her native Tilea. Among her studies were poetry, dance, repartee, song, politics, literature, art and sword play.

Camilla is out of place in rough and dangerous situations, and although naturally adventurous and curious about the world she is no heroine. She has a fiery temper and has a tendency to act rather than to wait if given the chance. While technically trained with the sword, Camilla's education is that of the stylized art of the sword rather than the rough and brutal style of real combat, while she is perfectly comfortable fighting a duel to the tough for the entertainment of a crowd, she had little experience with real killing.

Camilla has a passing devotion to Randald and Shyalla, although she tends to focus on the world in front of her rather than the world beyond.

[User]
Emmaline lifted her face from Amal's lap as the rug settled onto the grassy hillside. Sir Brenly hopped from the carpet with evident relief, nearly tripping in the ankle length grass of the stony hillside. Emmaline stepped off somewhat more gracefully as the rug settled to the ground in what they had come to recognize as exhaustion. The elegant decant was somewhat spoiled by the assemblage of small twigs and leaves that had tangled in her hair and the sudden gust of wind that momentarily lifted the tails of her stolen silk shirt up around her waist. Fortunately Sir Brenly was still scanning the nearby treeline for any sign of imminent giant attack, a reasonable concern as far Emmaline was concerned.

"Do you have any idea where we are Sir Brenly?" Emmaline asked as Amal rolled up the carpet. The knight turned and started to see that Emmaline was holding her staff in her hand.

"Where in the name of the Lady were you hiding that?" the knight demanded incredulously, having spent the past several hours watching her unconscious body. Emmaline shrugged uncomfortably, explaining about her strange connection with a foreign Goddess and the staff she had found in forgotten shrine in the Arabyian desert, especially when she didn't understand it herself. Sir Brenly regarded her for a moment then seemed to put it down to yet another oddity with the two foreigners. Like most inhabitants of the Old World the Knight had exaggerated ideas about the capabilities of wizards. Emmaline had learned early on in her career of scamming the gullible that almost no claim was so outlandish as to be completely dismissed.

"I'm afraid I do know My Lady," the knight said with an axious glance back at the trees.

"I'm old enough to remember the last Errantry War, and unless I am very much mistaken..." the knight paused and sighed mournfully.

"Unless I am very much mistaken, we are in Albion."

[Assistant]
"Albion?..." Amal echoed, clearly at a loss as to what land that was. Never having formal education would do that to someone. Luckily for the moment the rain had subsided, but Amal had a feeling it would come back momentarily. Hopefully the Giant didn't follow in its wake. That thing had been as large as the statues overlooking the Pyramid of Settra the Imperishable. Amal had seen an Ogre once or twice on the market-coasts of Araby, not to mention the one they had stumbled upon when he had first met Emmaline, and those brutes likely reached only that thing's knee!

"It's an island," Emmaline explained once she regained her composure. The confirmation of where they were had shocked her for a brief moment. "Large enough to be a small country, off the coast of the Empire. I think it's below Norsca though?"

"Close enough, my lady." Sir Brenly said, stalking over to them. He stepped lightly for one so stout and old. Satisfied the giant wouldn't return, he seemed now afraid of ghosts or an imagined threat looming all around them. "Tis a land of savage men and Orcs, and a haunt of...well giants. There might be more giants here than even the Drakwald, I dare say!"

"The what?" Amal asked incredulously. "I am sorry, but your northern lands are very strange and foreign to me. Lustria was more homey than here."

"The Drakwald is a big forest. I had the privilege of escorting the Queen to Middenhiem on a diplomatic mission in my youth." He explained, blushing slightly at what must have been a good memory. Their small reverie was interrupted by a sound of stamping hooves not a dozen meters away, the sound having been muted from the boggy, moist earth. A horse whinnied loudly and four horsemen made it over a crest of land past the nearest copse of trees.

The men looked savage, but there was intelligence in their eyes. Despite the cold they had bare torsos save for wolfskin pelts that clung to their heads and backs. Odd tattoos in blue marked their face, arms, and chest, and the tattoos danced rhythmically as the horses trotted. They each bore spears and shields, with leaf shaped broadswords sheathed at their sides. One of the men cried "Airm réidh!" and the spears were leveled at the three foreigners. Luckily the carpet had rolled itself up onto the ground.

"Och! Who the bloody 'ell are you and wha' are ye doin' 'ere?"

[User]
Emmaline exchanged glances with Amal as the savage looking horsemen approached. The craftsmen ship on their weapons and saddlery was crude but looked effective. The fact the men spoke Riekspiel in addition to what was apparently their native dialect meant they must have come into contact with the men of the Empire at some point and that buoyed Emmaline's spirits considerably.

"We were ship wrecked," Emmaline called to them, I am Emmaline and these are my friends Amal and ... Brenly," she said, omitting his knighthood after a slight hesitation. She didn't know what an Errantry War was, but if Brettonian's were enemies of these people there was little point in drawing attention to it.

"Shipwrecked? How did you climb the cliffs?" the leader asked suspicously.

"We came ashore..." Emmaline made a vauge guesture but all directions were essentially the same with the fog and the trees.

"That way somewhere? We wandered after that, we don't have any notion of where we are," she explained. The leader said something in his own language and his companions roared with laughter. Though she couldn't understand the jest Emmaline's face colored slightly.

"You will come with us, you will be in a giants belly before morning if you are out here when the sun goes down," the leader pronounced patting his horse. Emmaline exchanged looks with her companions and then climbed up into the saddle, sitting forward of the leader so she could grip the horses neck with her arms. Her companions did the same with the other horsemen and a moment later they were cantering off the grassland and onto a well worn trail into the woods.

"Best to be behind warding stones before the sun goes down," the leader said, seemingly watching in all directions as they rode.

[Assistant]
The three of them were escorted northeast out of the forest bog and passed a land of fens, finding ground along encroaching low hills where rocks dotted the ground ubiquitously. Amal was so used to sand, it was difficult for him to tell one green from another, but after a long time of riding he found to his susprise they were on a beaten trail leading up into the hills, where another wooded area grew. Across their path they passed a cairn of piled stones, with a strange magical symbol writ in blood on its face.

"Are those the waystones?" Brenly asked, on his haunches at the sight of it.

"Noo, these are th' restin' places of oor dead." The lead woad raider answered. "The waystones are no' close to ar village, but we live behind the line of one. I cannae tell ye moor. Ahm no' supposed tae know such things. The truthsayers are the ones we speak tae."

A fog had fallen over them once more and behind them Amal could hear rain, but it soon disappeared to his relief. It didn't seem to be chasing them, or it seemed to have been but gave up once they passed the cairns. The thought was not pleasing to him, as if the very rain had a mind of its own. He still felt some relief, as he couldn't handle such cold much longer. He couldn't understand how these men, if they truly were men, could ride upon a horse shirtless among such chill and wet.

A palisade wall of well carved timber rose before them over the next rise, the fog giving way to reveal the large village that lay across a rough, green plateau amid the rolling landscape. Gnarled trees clung together in copses without and within the wall and a small moat had been dug around the entire perimeter save the entrance walkway. The lead rider barked a command in his tongue, raising his spear and the two large timber doors swung open for the scouts.

"If the stones keep giants out, why do you build walls?" Amal asked. It was a sensible question but truthfully he never did like being enclosed in anywhere.

"They keep th' giants oot aye. But no' the greenskins, or other clans fer tha' matter, ye ken?" The horseman in front of him said.

The group cantered into the rustic village, an utterly alien place to Amal but something somewhat like what Emmaline might have seen before in poor Imperial villages. Children played or clung to their mother's skirts as the women walked along with baskets on their heads filled with fruit or vegetables. Some women chatted among themselves and their husbands or brothers chopped wood or fixed roofs that looked in disrepair. Looking further, it did differ from the Empire manner in a plethora of ways. Various stones were dotted about, and they along with the sides of homes had weird symbols of nature and trees, entwined in a way where Amal couldn't tell where the symbol began or ended. Very few homes were made of timber in any fashion that resembled your average house. Most homes were low huts of stone, their roofs skinned branches and hay and clay mixed together. Warriors similar to the horsemen watched them warily, armed with stone clubs and spears with heads of brittle iron.

The villagers watched with open curiosity and some didn't hide their distrust. Amal had never seen so many pale people. Perhaps that was what happened when there was little to no sun, or maybe it was because of how wet the land was. Either way, they seemed even more fascinated with him. He hoped they didn't see his skin as a sorcerous sign of corruption. A few women of red and blonde hair boldly admired him, smiling slyly and smoothing their wool skirts.

A flap was shoved away from a hut across the center of town and out strode a large man, red bearded and adorned with a strange skirt-robe of red, green, and brown colors. Behind his back, a massive axe was strapped to him. He had a bulbous nose that grew even wider when he scrutinized the newcomers, who had just dismounted with the riders.

"Laird Mcdougal..." A rider said.

"Who 'ave ye brought 'ere Douglas? Ye do remember we're in the midst of a bloody invasion, aye!?"