[System]
Captain
Hugh Talbain - a Knight, played by Lugubrious. While before he merely pretended to be a knight, Hugh now lives and fights as one, though his time as an actor continues to bleed through. The most dramatic pauser.

Front Line
Lilith Merdox - a Mercenary, played by Crimson Raven. Though a painful past has left its mark on her, she is all the tougher for it, and not forgotten where she cam from. The lustiest for riches.
Jakobe Russenfalt - a Cavalier, played by Multi_Media_Man. A soldier through and through, he doesn't let dreams of honor distract him from a reality that needs his help. The most knightly.
Sanguin - a Myrmidon, played by Lugubrious. An alternate persona of hers -the wolf- developed to handle the stress of battle has blended too well with her normal self. The biggest drinker.
Ronin - a Fighter, played by nobody. Wielding a near-impossible to use Imposing Axe, Ronin is unfailingly bold and totally convinced of his own fighting prowess. Beneath the confidence, however, he is painfully aware of his own faults and flaws, and has dismal self-esteem. The faintest after long walks.
Franky Lonnas - a Barbarian, played by Xan the G. This sarcastic, thrill-seeking pirate met his match with a run-in with the Bravuran military, and now atones on the path to freedom. The bravest gambler.

Second Line
Nickolas Rienbach - a Dark Mage, played by TentacleLord. Though at times disturbingly familiar with death, this roamer can boast a genial nature and heroic intent. The lightest dark mage there is.
Kuur Salcair - an Archer, played by TentacleLord. Hyper-competitive yet oddly stoic when it comes to socializing, this venturous young lady wishes to see the world. The most gullible.
Habeen Nocta - a Dark Mage, played by Toadropes. A traveler from lands abroad and a Plegian by birth, this wanderer's only constant is her unflappable good mood. The most unnervingly cheerful.
Syrena - a Mage, played by Prince of Seraphs. A fire burns inside this sweet young girl, one that expelled her from her broken home and into the unforgiving world. The likeliest to repeat syllables.
Taene - a Manakete, played by Cinderella Man. A stoic thrill-seeker, seemingly only vehement when challenged or given the chance to experience something new. The one with the coldest breath.

Variable Position
Gaius Secundus - a Tactician, played by Crimson Raven. Just now officially beginning as a battle strategist, this mellow young man is anxious to do his father's teaching proud. The lightest sleeper.
Jeane Robina - a Thief, played by Toadropes. No mere petty brigand, she sustains a unique set of morals paired with dashing charisma. The first one to steal from the rich and give to the poor.
Kel - a Wyvern Rider, played by Experiment 249. Though flippant, slow to respect authority, and oftentimes lazy, Kel is a man with powerful bonds, be it with his sister or his treasured dragon. The smokiest-smelling.
Dylan Caercot - a Pegasus Rider, played by Burthstone. A courier who blames himself for his sister's death, and whose aspiration to join the Reclaimers came true in a lucky break. The least tanned.

Support
Marcus Ambrosias - a Priest, played by Prince of Seraphs. Few know that this worldly, social, selfless monk once practiced the black arts as a Dark Mage. The one with the most pockets.
Timothy Wolfe - a Priest, played by nobody. Still shy even after the bullies trouble him no longer, Tim diverged from his magical background to heal instead. The most beloved by animals.

Ex-Members
Arkhant - a Mage. Heir to a grand lineage of magicians, Arkhant is determined to uphold the family legacy through learning and adventure. After a grave wound on Mission 1, Westroad Village, he lost his fire to be a Reclaimer and left for home.

[User]
Kuur Salcair - Westroad Village

Six.

Kuur had counted just as Lilith had. While the archer doubted that the swordswoman had any intention of competing, it still stirred her fighting spirit. As Kuur hauled herself up the side of the house she'd taken cover behind, the memory of Lilith's carefully kept sword sprung to mind. The other woman was a fighter, and a good one at that. There was no shame in loosing to someone like that. She grunted as she dismissed the thought. That was weakness. She wasn't going to lose to anyone, much less a woman who barbarically carried around what amounted to a cleaver.

The green eyes narrowed as she glanced up at the top of the flaming guard tower. The distinct form of the bandit leader stood out even behind the wafting smoke that obscured the features of the assaulting Reclaimers. The bow creaked as Kuur lined up her arrow and kept her breathing slow and steady as she waited for the time to finish the man. A smile played on her lips as her breath stirred the taunt string. She only needed a moment, an opening. When he was wounded, when he was overconfident, when that guard dropped and she had the perfect shot.

She'd win.

Nickolas Rienbach - Westroad Village

The dark mage barely blinked as Marcus skillfully removed the remains of the Mire curse from the downed dancer. While his old master had been a healer of rare skill, he'd always assumed that was the base for competence. The Reclaimers were in good hands.

"Thank you, good Sir Marcus. For both my leg and the girl." He ruffled his hair, glancing up at the burning building where he could just barely catch figures moving around. "I'm no help with actual healing, I'm afraid." His features suddenly twisted in pain as he tried to stand, falling onto his rear as soon as he tried to move his wounded leg. The dark mage gestured to the tower. "Sir Marcus? Can you help me up, please? I have to help them up there."

[Assistant]
Kel was caught off guard with the mention of having a sister, but wasn't in shock. Anyone can have a sister, a warrior sister is rare but that wasn't Jace. Couldn't be, since she was such a bookworm and the letters she sent seemed like she was doing well for herself in some village, working in a shop baking breads and such. Nothing warrior like about her. "I'm sorry Dragon, my sister is no warrior. But your surrender is nice. Now you're gonna land ok?" Kel spoke, he wasn't happy to let this thing live but the fact he almost had his face taken off minutes earlier weren't giving him his old confidence.

"Her name is Jace, by the way. My sister." He continued his descent, trying his best to hold his ax ready to swing, maintain eye contact with a dragon and keep Druug from acting out. It was a handful and a very stressful situation. He saw something else flying out of the corner of his eye and just hoped it was something friendly, as opposed to actually checking who it was. He flt Druug hit the ground and before dismounting awaited the dragon's next move, ax still ready to swing, Druug still in battle mode. Nothing around him could break his focus. Not the lightning crackling in the distance, not the bandit leader ready to kill the two soldiers he had barely known. Not the remaining forces that were distracted by being killed by his fellow soldiers.

The fact nobody had stepped in to help with this dragon gave him a confidence boost, helping him focus more. Druug was still ducking his head, spreading his wings and generally trying to be threatening. A familiar smell exited his throat as a plume of smoke shot out. Kel Blew his hair out of his face in sync with the smoke. The flight mask was now thawed on the ground in pieces, not even salvageable. "Now, I don't know how this works. Dragons don't fit in caravans. The only way I see this working is if either I ride you or you just flap your wings on that-a-way." He didn't motion a direction or even look a different way. That-a-way could be anywhere, but it was for sure not here.

[User]
Gaius Secondus

 Gaius cursed as his magic went awry, startling the pegasus, and Malboro charged Syrena. "Hey! Ponyboy!" He shouted at the pegasus knight. "Change of plan, grab the girl and get out, we will let the fire finish him! Or, if he makes it out, we can set a trap of our own. Gaius thought. Then he realized that Dylan needed help and after he nearly killed Syrena on accident. Gaius sighed as he drew his sword, and charged forward, thrusting at Malboro without breaking stride. He followed his strike with a backhand slash.

Lilith Merdox

 Satisfied that that rest of the scattered bandits were taken care of, Lilith walked over to the healer and his patents. On the way over, one of the people lying there grabbed her boot. She looked down with dispassionate eyes at the woman with an arrow on the inside of her upper arm. Lilith studied the wound for a moment, before raising her sword and finishing her. seven. She strode over to the healer and said "Nickolas, right? You're awake, good. That was quite a show you put on back there. So, Marcus, how is the girl?"

[Assistant]
Habeen Nocta--In Which the Folk Magician Discovers that Running Into a Burning Building is Probably a Terrible Idea

Habeen, upon reaching about a quarter of the way up, felt a hot blaze in her face. It was then that she realized that running into a burning building is probably an awful idea, and that she ought to offer support from a distance; she did have Mire, after all.

Habeen wheeled around and whistled as she walked back down the stairs. She didn't intend on suffocating via smoke before she reached a higher state of understanding, after all. She wasn't quite that well-traveled yet.

Habeen walked right out the watchtower to a scene laden with corpses. "Oh, gee, that's pleasant to walk out to," she said.

Jeanne wasn't quite sure if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Whatever happened to charging up the building and Fluxing that brigand's bloodied behind?" Jeanne asked.

"Eh, I thought better of it. Turns out that running into a tower that's just been lit ablaze by a stray Arcfire or something isn't the best way to stay alive," Habeen replied with a shrug.

"So... you turned tail and ran?"

"I certainly turned tail, but as you can see," Habeen said, casually flipping her book open and eyeing the window of the watchtower, "I'm no deserter."

She snapped her fingers and the white circles reappeared around her forearm. Habeen then pointed at the window just as she saw Malboro flash by, and loosed the tome. Mire has VERY good range, though it is difficult to control by virtue of its status as dark magic. Habeen crossed her fingers and hoped that it wouldn't hurt anybody other than her intended target, Malboro.

Though given the general rotten luck of dark-magic wielders...

[User]
Jakobe Russenfalt

Grunting in reply to Sanguin, moving towards her attacker with a look of anger in his eyes. "Since you've been so rude as to refuse our generous terms of not killing you, and you've hurt one of my allies, I have no choice but to destroy you utterly." Raising his halberd, Jakobe brought it down, severing the spearman's forearm from the rest of his body. As his weapon curved down towards the ground, Jakobe redirected it, bringing it forward into a one-armed stab, the spear-end of his halberd driving several inches into the other's chest before coming to a halt.

Pulling his weapon out of the now-deceased bandit, Jakobe held tight as Thunderclap moved away from another attacker, but not without sustaining a long wound to his flank. Thankfully, the damage wasn't serious, but it would definitely become dangerous if left untreated. Glowering at the offending bandit, Jakobe grabbed his longsword in his off-hand as he replaced his halberd on his back. The attacker leapt backwards, trying to draw Sanguin and Jakobe apart, but the cavalier wasn't about to be fooled, sticking by his battle partner. "You gonna be alright, there?"

[Assistant]
Malboro, Hero turned Highwayman

The electric display from Gaius caused, much to Malboro's delight, pandemonium. He didn't even care too much about the fact that his own swing hadn't been effective, since Dylan had courteously hit his teammate for him. He took a step back and waited as the Pegasus Rider transitioned to the offensive, heading straight for him and attempting a lance thrust. The former hero smirked and raised his axe to defend himself. Even still, Dylan's lance struck him, but with not nearly the effectiveness that he had hoped. Instead of running Malboro through and ending the fight with a single move, the lance slid off-center courtesy of the axe and landed a paltry, glancing blow. It was clear that Malboro had some experience under his belt—that he was fighting at an advanced level, just as Hugh had cautioned.

Next came Gaius's melee attack. As the tactician charged him, Malboro switched out his axe for his sword, neutralizing the weapon advantage. He took the first slash from Gaius's blade, though the cut it left behind did not seem to faze him much altogether, and blocked the second. "No way you pups are going to be able to beat me." Now able to counterattack, Malboro stepped forward and performed a rising arc slash aimed at Gaius's head.

The next instant, the air began to heat and ripple. Having already fallen victim to a corrosive, painful Mire once, Malboro was not about to let himself be humiliated in such a manner again. He dodged backward out of the caustic spray; while its range was excellent, Mire's accuracy left a serious something to be desired. Mercifully, the acidic spew did not come close to any of the other Reclaimers currently in the guard tower roof. Beneath them, the roar of fire was growing. There wasn't a lot of time left.

Sanguin, Westroad Village

Sanguin looked around. Thanks to the efforts of Kuur, Lilith, Jeane, Jakobe, and herself, the remaining soldiers were now wiped out. All that remained was the guard tower itself, burning like a beacon of destruction, with the sounds of clanging metal and impassioned yells echoing from the top. As much as Sanguin wanted to race to the pinnacle and help, it seemed like a bad idea to scale a rickety ladder in the midst of a fire.

Instead, she turned her attention to Jakobe. "Yeah, good work there, I guess." Her metal mask reflected slightly the raging inferno. All around, the ambient temperature had risen. "They need our help up there," she decided. "But I dunno how we can get up there. The only flying guy is already up."


[System]
Clan: Shima Clan, originally of the Ueno clan

Title: The Shima Knight

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Race: Neko(mimi)

Height: 5'8" (176cm)

Weight: 146 lbs

Appearance:

Occupation: Lord's Guard, painter (albeit not very good).

Notable Skills: Having studied swordsmanship from both within Baji and abroad, Tetsuya has command of a few different styles of swordplay. His most readily used, as indicated by his typical garb, is that of a "knight". He employs both a longsword and a shield in battle effectively, and can use the latter even as a weapon if need be. Likewise he is able to wield a katana if need be, but to far lesser success than with a longsword.

Magical Abilities: Tetsuya has the ability to use his magic as another shield as well, forming a slight barrier around himself. Using this renders him immobile however and does not provide a complete 360 degrees of protection; flanking him is the best way around this.

Familiars: N/A

Ki Techniques/powers:
Push; Using his shield, Tetsuya can make an extension of himself and, while pushing his shield forward, creates a small force to knock away anything in front of him. Used namely to put distance between himself and the enemy when he needs to catch his breath. Not very useful on larger enemies or anyone who's strong enough to withstand the hit.

Weapons: Steel Longsword, Steel kite shield

Other Gear:
- Water pouch
- Small pack, containing a bit of bandages, some herbs to help relieve pain and a broken compass -- a memento of his parents.

Personality: Tetsuya is a soft-spoken boy, when he rarely does speak. He is perceptive, and while he may not voice his opinion on something he watches what is around him diligently. Above all else he is loyal to the Shima Lord, and does not take slights to the man kindly. Determined to fulfill his Lord's wish to protect Shima, perhaps to a fault, he is unwavering in his position to do what is best for his clan. In most things he views the world as black and white; good and evil. His ideology of the world living in peace pushes him ironically to fight, and he argues that the only way to achieve everlasting peace is to put aggressors in their place. In some views an ideal guard, he is not without faults.

Tetsuya's black and white view of the world leads to naivete, and he can be a bit brash in acting. While he is well versed in swordplay he's never bothered to learn much else, leaving him a bit clueless in some other respects. In a way, being a guard is all he knows. He also has a slight discontent towards more modern weapons, thinking they are a cowardly, inhumane way of taking a life. If one is to take a life in war then it should be personal, not from dozens or hundreds of feet away.

Brief history: Tetsuya is the son of a Neko fisherman and a human woman. His mother, a resident of Shima, would meet his father Umenka during a routine trading in the city; Hidori worked for a trading company, helping to maintain catalogs and keep track of inventory. The two eventually hit it off and, inevitably, Hidori would become pregnant. During her pregnancy she was brought back to Umenka's place of birth, and in the village Tetsuya would be born.

For the first few years of his life the family remained in Umenka's village, with Hidori picking up the same profession only for a Neko trading company. Their settlement, consisting of nekos and humans alike, proved to be an excellent raising ground for their young child. Being a Nekomimi may well have seen Tetsuya be made fun of quite a lot elsewhere, but here he was accepted. In lieu of everything working well for the family they would eventually move, as the company in which Umenka was employed wanted to open a foreign post, and they meant to send the family there to help.

Almost immediately upon arriving and settling down, Tetsuya and his parents noticed an immediate change of atmosphere. Whereas the Neko homeland was relatively untouched by war this place reeked of it, with soldiers passing through and the occasional news of a battle breaking out being commonplace. Fearing for their child's safety the two deliberated upon sending him away, wishing to send him somewhere to be free from the threat of war. With very few possibilities they near gave up, until a trader from Shima passed through and learned of their pleas. Seeing their only chance, Umenka and Hidori begged the man to take their son, and with a bit of convincing he finally relented.

Tetsuya had little knowledge of anything going to Shima, having never been taught any kind of trade or receiving a real education. He could write, read, knew some basics, but that was about it. Seeing the difficulty in assigning the boy to any real job the trader offered him over to the Lord's men, suggesting they train him as a guard. Even at a young age, now seven years old, he could appreciate what was going on around him. Having little personal say in the matter he was brought off to train, eventually learning the way of the sword from the Lord's guard. Through the years he worked to refine and personalize his training, and today he's become a perfectly capable, if somewhat inexperienced guard.

Other:  Learned some magic from other Neko, but not very well versed in it at all.

[User]
Gin didn't know how to negotiate something like this, knowing it was right out of his field of expertise. He had no idea how to deal with other people regarding these situations, seeing them as pretty impossible to get right. Blacksmiths weren't exactly sociable with people they didn't know and even if he was adopted he still shared that trait with his guardian. He never knew who his parents were but it was obvious he didn't belong with them, even if they never outright told him. It was just obvious that someone like him didn't belong with a pair of humans who had obviously been together for as long as he could remember.

Looking to Metou when she asked him a question he gave a quick look around the inn, curious to where they all might be himself. He didn't know where they went off to but they were probably somewhere, seeing how they wouldn't leave either of them behind. Just checking to see if they possibly ended up in the inn he gasped when he heard someone else in their conversation, turning to the strange man who was rather rude to Metou. Showing his teeth at the man he soon let out a huff, folding his arms as he looked back to Metou. That was rather rude and a bit silly too, seeing how they were visitors and threatening them like that didn't give this place a very good name.

"Uhh…charismatic? I don't think I'm that word", he spoke as he looked around himself again, "I guess so, though…uhh, what do you want me to do? I don't do good without guidance…" He didn't join this quest to end up trying to make decisions that could probably end with him being left behind, that was the last thing he wanted. He knew he might end up getting separated if he so much as looked away from the others for two minutes. "Maybe we should just ask a guard…besides, they would probably notice another half-Oni walking around, right?"

[Assistant]
From what Kenji could comprehend, the conversation about who was to meet the leader of Ru turned into a rather sour argument between Jiang and Yuudai, the former not liking to be accompanied and the latter having a problem with that. The Neko tried to calm the situation down but Kenji could only stare and keep quiet, not knowing how to exactly defuse the heated argument. In the end, Yuudai stormed out of the room and left the three men in the Neko's room.

Jiang continued the discussion and told an edited truth to Tetsuya regarding the dark future all of Baji were to face. While Kenji could see the reasons for secrecy, there was a flaw that might bite them in the future. "Secrets kept may ensure safety, but it kills trust. And trust is something we will need in the future, yes?" He voiced out to no one in particular... or maybe everyone in the room.

"But enough about these secrets, Mister Tetsuya has already talked to Lady Ru about Shima. If so..." Kenji turned to Jiang. "I'm sure Lady Ru takes her job seriously and will do more than keep an 'eye out' despite her words." Kenji said. "However, if you insist on meeting her then I recommend you take Mister Tetsuya since he has already met Lady Ru and so will likely smooth out the meeting." He continued.

"But... that is just what I think. Feel free to ignore it entirely." From where things were going, Kenji had a feeling things were not going to be peachy. Perhaps this was the reason his Lord Oja was not very proactive?

[User]
Metou was a bit unsatisfied with Gin's response, as he didn't really confirm or deny Metou's plan as a good one, and the old lady didn't think Gin's suggestion was very practical either. Metou felt guilty about dragging Gin around everywhere, but if he wanted guidance, Metou had no choice but to provide some. "If we rely on the observations of anyone we pass by, we'll be asking random people all night," Metou said, "We know where two of our fellows went, so I think we should start searching there, even if I'm sure they've left by now. Just give me a moment to look outside."

After exiting the inn, Metou looked at the sky to see how much time they had left in the evening. It was already late enough in the day that merchants were calling it quits when they got to the town square, and that was before they walked down a few streets to get to an inn and look for the musician. Not only was it too cold for Metou's comfort, and would only get colder, Metou didn't really want to be out on the streets at night when it was just her and Gin. Metou stepped back into the inn and walked back to Gin and said, "On second thought, I think we should just stay here for the night, and look for them in the morning." Metou was about to ask Gin for his opinion on the matter, but figured he'd just give a neutral answer again. "I'm going to go ask if they have any free rooms," Metou declared, and she walked up to the front counter to do so. Even after buying that cheap bauble to win the merchant's favor, she figured she had enough money for a room and some food at least.

[Assistant]
Maybe doing this alone was a better approach, at least then he didn't have to hear people argue over things. There was probably strength in numbers or something like it, yet where he'd managed to go and speak to Lady Ru alone he didn't see any need to go and visit her yet again. Maybe he was thinking too much into things, but he worried if they pestered too much they might lose what little support they had. If they lost support then they failed Lord Shima, and that was the one thing Tetsuya absolutely refused to accept. Watching as Yuudai and Jiang went back and forth for a bit he couldn't help but groan, wondering if it was at all possible for them to cooperate. How were they ever going to chase down the criminals responsible when they couldn't stop fighting amongst themselves?

Tetsuya might have been a bit naive in hoping that these two could work things out, and so he was disappointed to see Yuudai leaving the room. Just because he didn't want to be coddled by the Oni didn't mean he disliked her, and he rather hoped she would stay and at least go over the plan with them. The comment she made about his groan made him feel a little guilty, even if it hadn't been made solely in her directions. Ears folding down he frowned, lowering his gaze as Yuudai left them alone, taking a bit of air out of the room with her. A fine start to this group of theirs, he couldn't even imagine what the others must be like. Looking over at Jiang as he spoke, the young Neko let out a sigh, kind of wishing they could just drop the matter now. "If you won't condemn me or judge me then don't press for information. If I felt it was necessary to tell you then I would," Tetsuya replied, frowning as he looked up at Jiang. If this one thought he was going to be the leader in all of this just because he liked to talk then he was wrong.

It seemed there was more of a story to share, and Jiang was only to happy to be the one to do so. He had no idea that they had been attacked on their way in, or that anything quite that foreboding had happened. Sure, Shima losing her relics was foreboding enough, but hearing other villages might be at risk too only made the situation even worse. Though Jiang surely meant no harm by his words the Neko still felt offended, like he was being slighted in a way. It was a childish thing to think, but in his mind it was almost like this man was trying to look better in front of their Lord. "Don't talk to me like I'm just some child, I know what we'll have to do. And we can't well leave the villages alone, not when we're asking them for help. If something happens we'll help them in turn, we have to." It's what Lord Shima would want them to do, he had no doubts about that.

As if it weren't troublesome enough that Jiang was preaching to him, now Kenji saw reason to do so as well. It felt like he was being undermined here, and where he had been working alone up until now that wasn't a very fun feeling. Expecting more of the same out of Kenji, Tetsuya was pleasantly surprised when it seemed the argument was being made for him, not against him. It was a tad odd being called 'mister' seeing as he was probably the youngest one here, but then he wouldn't make a fuss about being shown some respect. Smiling gratefully he nodded his head to Kenji, turning his attention back over to Jiang. "Look... We kind of got off on the wrong foot there. I am happy to work with you, but I don't appreciate having someone trying to push me aside for this. If you really want to help then you can, but we're doing it together. No one is going solo here." At least, not anymore, that had ended when these three had shown up.


[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]
Since he hadn't really been paying attention to the clock Victor was slightly surprised when it came time for the next set of classes. Still feeling the strain of his spar, coupled with the injuries suffered during his trial, a restless night and a highly active scavenger hunt, Victor was exhausted. With the appearance of a dead man walking Victor entered the Maths classroom.

Sitting down next to Rayna Victor payed the utmost attention to the lesson, he was more adept at the economic side of mathematics, but found that the basic skills were largely transferable and had little trouble keeping up. Victor didn't blaze through the assigned work like others seemed able to, but he took his time, making certain he had made no errors and that he understood it completely and then continued. As long as it continued to make sense to him, Victor continued with the work, stopping occasionally to ask Mr Fullbuster for an explanation. Eventually he stopped, not because he had trouble understanding, but because he saw Rayna occasionally struggling. Victor hated to see that his Captain was having trouble and went about explaining the parts that had tripped her up. Conveniently it was good practice for him as well, since being able to teach the work meant that he completely understood it, which gave Victor some satisfaction.

By the time class had ended Victor felt somewhat refreshed. He had a little more spring in his step and he didn't have the face of a man on death row. Entering History class Victor was almost immediately exhausted again. Just watching the energetic Mr Oobleck was tiring. The history that was taught gave Victor a new insight into the past. Victor now learned that he was taught a history from a different perspective. Everyone here seemed to know history based on select key moments and politics, Victor was taught history from how money changed hands. How trade empires managed to prevent wars by denying aggressive countries enough supplies to stage a war effort, or how a city became strategically indefensible due to a single new trade route. There was some useful overlap, but a surprising amount of this knowledge was relatively new. I'm going to have to do a lot of reading, I doubt I will pass any tests if I answer my way.

History done Victor made his way to lunch where Rayna decided to pay for Lunch hinting that she had a decent amount of funds. Well it is nice to be served I suppose, but isn't it improper for who is basically my superior office to do such a thing? Well all I can do is remember this debt I suppose. Let's see what she brought. Chicken and fries? Not bad, but what else was there... apple? Hmmm... "Guard my stuff, Victor, I have something to do."
"Okay, go do what you have to Captain." while that was happening Victor helped himself to one of Rayna's apple slices and slumped down in his seat That was disappointing. They aren't as sweet as I'd hoped. This day is just full of disappointments isn't it? still slumped Victor craned his neck to see how Rayna was doing. Well no one is metaphorically biting her head off which is a plus. as he thought this another member of team Rampaged arrived and immediately started metaphorically biting Rayna's head off. That didn't last long... a Captain should show strength at times like this. If I go over now and try to help would I be insubordinate? Rayna did tell me to guard her stuff... I wonder how proactive I can get away with "guarding"? standing up Victor picked up Rayna's stuff with his right arm and did a slow walk around the lunch room ending up behind the aggressor. Leaning in Victor whispered in the kindest voice he could manage.
"Please treat Captain Rayna with respect, sir."

[Assistant]
"Ugh, naïve idealists..." Diamond rolled her eyes. If the cops were ineffective - which she could testify to - then they should be laid off and replaced. It's a job to protect the people, not charity! Somebody should have thought of a hunter going rogue by now and recruited a few equal fighters to the force the. But that'd be too much to ask of someone paid from taxpayer money. Not that she paid much of those thus far, but seeing how it would have been spent, she had no regrets.

Swinging her legs over the bench, Diamond got up. "Too much everything nice and not enough spice around here. I'll go see how boss is doing lest I start to have positive karma by exposure." she said, summoning her cane and giving the table a tip of the had before turning on her heel. She had to turn back to see what the crashing sound was, only to see a guy on the table. "I didn't know the school provided strippers, plus ten points!" She said, gave the people at the table a tip of the hat and promptly left the room before she caught the crazy, heading towards the infirmary to see whether Marcus was discharged yet.

[User]
Treatment of Marcus' concussion had taken some time. One of the staff had a semblance that let her slowly 'move' injuries at the cost of making them worse. Thus instead of a scrambled brain Marcus now sported a thoroughly battered arm that he had to get treated for. As for his broken trio of ribs, there was nothing that could reasonably be done about those other than a little something to take the pain away. It hurt to laugh, it hurt to sneeze, it hurt to breathe too deeply.

The school staff had been kind enough to give him a work packet for what he assumed was elementary basics. At least, from a brief glance through the maths was so easy that he couldn't imagine it was anything else. For a brief moment he considered that maybe he was simply good at maths, then the sneer on his father's face appeared in his mind. No, it was impossible he was good at something. The problems he encountered perfecting Unsubtle ranged from mapping stress and strain effects to compensating for the Corioliseffect caused by Remnant's rotation in space, and obviously if Marcus could do those anyone could.

The history material was slightly more complex and would require some study. It was not his strong suit though he enjoyed the stories of the exploits of past heroes and generals.

He would have continued to rifle through the paperwork some more but by then he had reached the cafeteria. Well, it could wait until he had something to eat. To his suprise the door opened for him as Diamond stepped out.

"Oh hello. Lunch is done already?" he asked.

[Assistant]
"I was just about to go look for you. How are you feeling?" Diamond asked, noticing the careful breathing. She wished she trained her aura to heal others, but alas one could only learn that much in a year, and prior to being thrown into juvy she didn't really care for the wounds of others. "With the way this is going, there won't be students left to fight in a few days." she noticed, before answering the leader's question.

"No you still have time, But some guy just wrecked everything that was on the table we were at, so you might wanna take an umbrella or something. The place is minutes form a food fight." she rolled her eyes, "Unless you're happy with vending machines. I'll treat you! Need to go get a new carton anyway." she noted, addressing her yesterday's lack of smokes. Diamond noticed it would be difficult getting a break to get outside during the classes. Maybe it was just as well though, she should cut back on those. Allright, one in the evening and extra if someone pisses me off. Let's try sticking to that. she thought, wondering how long she can keep that drastic of a reduction up.


[System]
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Weapon: Hand axe [similar to hatchet, but more specialized in beating the crap out of something than chopping firewood]
Specialty: Party Tank [Boxing, Wrestling]
Semblance: What Is Hype May Never Die - Grows stronger and more durable in the presence of positive, giddy, or nervous energy. It's not like she turns into the Hulk in a social setting, but if she's with a friend or two cheering her on in a fight, she'll find that her blows come easier and the blows that hit her back seem like more of a dull ache than anything else.
Personality: A hot-blooded young girl with a zest for life, nights out, and a good scrap, Lauren is the epitome of a born leader with no resources to actually do anything. Growing up in a poor (poor poor) family taught her to make due with whatever help friends could offer, but in the end, only she could make what she deserved in life. Thus, a young girl who was more than happy to get loud in her parents ears grew into a bold, determined young woman who could feed off the energy of people around her and settle a situation as quickly as she could escalate it.

Quick to laugh, quick to zone out, quick to get riled up, and quick to forgive, Lauren naturally tends to be fidgety and addicted to energy. This makes her an exceedingly average and dreamy student until a team exercise rolls around.
Color: Hot white [effervescent, glossy white]
Emblem: A stick figure young woman with devil horns, twirling an axe between her stick hands.
Appearance:

When outside her uniform, Lauren gives the illusion of being an inch or two taller than her natural five foot eight, with a perpetual pep in her step and a brash loudness that seems to slightly puff her up.

Naturally dark-complected and built like a fighter, her favorite casual jacket emphasizes her build - long-sleeved, smooth white leather with a supportive gold-trimmed collar, cutting off just south of her diaphragm and exposing her (usually topless) rib cage and waist. On the back of the jacket, printed in similar burnished gold, is the word "WALLAHI" in jersey-block text. The word "BRUH" is written in the same text underneath it, where the number on a jersey would usually go.

Occasionally, when she wears it around her waist, she'll sport a black tank top in its stead.

Otherwise, her accessories are limited to half a dozen hemp bracelets up her right arm, a hair band worn around her left wrist, and an amethyst ring on her right ring finger.

[User]
75% GLAD

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I knew you were still a good guy deep down, Nii-chan!"

"AAAAARGH WHAT THE HELL GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!"

Picture this scenario, if you would.

A young man of a slight build is trapped in the position of leaning against the edge of a table, where there sits a very intricate piece of partially disassembled machinery. He is trapped for reasons twofold: one being that the necessary force to free himself could send something, like a small and difficult to notice gear or widget for instance, flying.

The second is what he is trying to escape: In this instance a little sister. However, she is no normal little sister. Struggle and squirm though he might, with all of his available might, he is at a distinct disadvantage in three areas.

Firstly, and most simply, size. Despite being her elder by 3 years and male, the young man is actually shorter and only mildly stockier than his sister. Her longer limbs give increased leverage on her squeeze, making his advantage in mass nearly useless.

Secondly, positioning. He is leaned, practically seated upon, the edge of the workbench, which thereby leaves his body in a suboptimal position for force generation in relation to it's base and center of gravity. She is fully clinging to him, and squeezing tight leaves her no need for such stability in the base.

Finally, skill. She is a girl who regularly trains her jiujitsu with black belts, and is herself at the upper end of a brown belt level. He is the result of some slapdash cross-training in many arts for a mere six months, with an emphasis on getting skills up and running as fast as possible since the time for refinement was lacking.

All in all, it's a desolate scene for him, isn't it?

"April, this is seriously starting to freak me out!"

Even as I thrashed and tried my level best to extricate myself from her clutches, the most dangerous thing to wear bumblebee colors since nuclear waste held fast, giggling happily. Giggling! Happily!

Call hell, tell it to stop freezing!

"Heeheehee, it's been so long since I've given you a big ol' hug like this..."

"I know, that's why it's creepy! What's with this sudden 180 in personality?! We've fought since middle school!" I demanded, trying and failing to pummel for an underhook. What happened to the mutual antagonism from five minutes ago?! I mean, I could understand if my offer had simply gotten her off of my back, but how the hell did glomping enter the equation?

"Well... To be honest, Nii-chan," she began, calming down but still not letting go. P-Progress, right? "I was actually really hoping I would get to use those gauntlets one day. Like, super hopeful about it."

"...Is that right?"

Well, it wasn't as if that didn't make sense. April had always been the one we all agreed took after our mother the most, and not just because she inherited all the height. Though it's tempered with age, I've heard stories of Mom being a similar firebrand who loved brawling when she was younger, and it's not hard to see where all that heat in April's blood comes from.

If you choose to believe it, that is. But it's reflected in Dawn too, if more subtly, and therefore I'm fairly sure it's my only option to believe that the unbelievable woman that was my mother was once a crazy kid too.

"Mm. It's right." April affirmed, somehow finding space to casually use me as a springboard when she finally let go. What a mind-bendingly understated handspring... Forget martial arts, she even made gymnastics seem like a cakewalk. You're that Ninja...

...Or maybe I'm just stiff, slow, and unathletic.

We are Huntsmen-to-be.

"I was pretty down when I learned they were headed off to Beacon with you, but I've been making sure not to show it. Whining about your own misfortune isn't justice, right?"

I blinked, plopping back down into the chair with a thoughtful "hunh".

"So then, you've been holding out for me to not use them anymore?"

What kind of plan was that? For someone who could make due with just her fists and semblance, I suppose it was more feasible than it would be for most.

But even so, she herself admitted that it wasn't going to last her for much longer than it had. If I weren't planning on giving up the gauntlets, where would that have left her aside from shit out of luck?

"Of course not, stupid." she scoffed. "Like I said, I was beginnin' to think of other options... But none of them would have felt as right as taking up Mama's mantle. So I'm really happy you'll let me, is all."

"Wow, so you guys actually made up? Impressive!"

I was fairly sure I had not heard that door open.

In walked two young women, one I instantly recognized and the other I had the vaguely familiar feeling about that, in hindsight, should have told me who she was. Dawn Schwarz was very distinct in her colorful yukata, feminine and subdued demeanor (comparatively [in regards to her sister]), and family resemblance to me, being my little sister and all.

The other was a girl about April's age, maybe a bit older, with dark hair and all the expressiveness of a particularly joyful rendition of the Thinker statue. Very familiar, but I was drawing a blank at the moment with the whirlwind I was going through.

"Oh, Hiya, Dawn an' Galla!" April chirped in greeting, raising a hand. "Sorry for running off on you guys like that, but I found Nii-chan!"

"...Hi. I'm Luke."

I didn't really know what to think or say beyond that. It wasn't like Galla was giving me much to work with...

"Aw, drat, I wanted to handle introductions..." Dawn groused momentarily, before returning to her prim smile. "You look well, Onii-chan! In one piece and everything!"

"Don't say 'in one piece' like that's exceeding expectations. I'm not porcelain."

"Yeah, but like I was telling Galla here, April was trying to rip your head off..."

A very poorly, "innocently" whistled tune from my left cued a flat look aside to my bigger sister before I continued to address the littler one.

"Alright, fair point. And yeah, I am managing, more or less, but the year's just started and it's about to kick in. As in, kick in in full."

And kick in my teeth.

I refused to delude myself whenever I appraised where I stood in life. And, to speak of appraisal, I shifted in my seat to face the stoic girl alongside my sly little sister, and inclined my head in a small gesture of supplication.

"I'm sorry if they've been dragging you along on their hijinks, Galla. These two don't understand the concepts of 'personal space' or 'leaving well alone', so it's alright to let me know."

Galla.

GallaGallaGalla.

...Was that Central Mistralese?

Hm.

I just had to know the answer to this...

I knew this. I could figure it out.

[Assistant]
Mindaro Mondays - Galla

She took in the scene before her with lifeless, hazel eyes. It was immediately obvious from the physical similarities and a lack of other options that the messy-haired young man on the chair was the same big brother that Dawn had spoken of. And, taking into account the droop of the cowlick on his head, the likely object of her sister's curiosities. It seemed like it really did run in the family. It also appeared to be the only indicator of the struggle he must have overcome mere moments before their rival; the rest of him, a few scuff marks aside, appeared to be entirely unharmed, as if he had managed to successfully avoid the supposedly-inevitable assault that the elder of the Schwarz sisters had promised.

The healing-based semblance he possessed was clearly effective.

"Hi Luke," she replied immediately.

He appeared to recognise her. If he was familiar with big sister, then that was expected; it was Family Day.

"I'll consider your offer."

Her tone, patient and unnaturally calm, did not change an iota.

[User]
:

And Geni held Gratia's unyielding gaze without wavering. In her demeanor he found a mixture of laxed professionalism and apathetic intrigue. It was an off-putting duo, but Geni held no qualms against it and he in fact welcomed it. Her ever-searching gaze was nothing compared to that he had held in the past. It paled in comparison.

"Pre-arranged during my absence. I'm officially apart of team Vignoble."

[Assistant]
Minazuki
Cian Kuze

"Sounds like a plan if any" Cian said as she headed out if anything it would be a quick and easy thing since no one had any plans this was probably the best solution staying in school and getting cheap food was always a plus if you asked her. "Tristan let out a sigh as he took of his hat and rubbed his head it was good she was opening up but at the same time he kind of wished it wasn't with the opposite sex is this what fathers felt when their daughters started dating? If so he was never having children period there was no if ands or buts about it. This was hell and he knew it and he did not want to go through it a second time that was for certain.


[System]
Age: 24
Appearance:

Powers:
- Manipulation of heat and fire: Ruby can create heat or fire, but only in an extremely uncontrollable fashion. As such she hasn't so much learned to use this as to supress it. Anger and fear in particular make it harder for her to keep control, so she works hard on not becoming angry or frightened at all.
- Impervious to heat, and to a lesser degree, cold: Ruby is pretty much comfortable at whatever temperature, and she can handle hot things without hurting herself. This is the only part of her power that she makes use of in day-to-day life.

[User]
Ruby blinked a few times at the unexpected turn of events. She'd always thought she was good with people, but that was when she was in familiar territory, with people who knew who she was and what they expected of her. This woman didn't recognise her even after being told her name, and Ruby felt a little stupid for not having anticipated that possibility. Sure, she knew intellectually that there were a lot of people who's lives were almost totally unconnected from the gods or the church, but that thought was so far away from the reality of her own life that she'd never really taken the time to consider what it meant. Though she doubted she would ever have imagined that it would fall to her to explain to the daughter of the moon that she was... well, the daughter of the moon.

"Um, yeah, I am," she said, playing with the ends of her dreads in an unintentional nervous gesture. She new it would be best if she just got some priests to explain and show that the paper most definitely didn't work for everyone, but something stopped her. This woman was supposed to be her chance to finally not feel alone any more, and she wasn't about to fade into the background while the priests did all the talking.

"I'm on the news at least once a year, on the summer solstice. My mom is a priest in the Celestial temple of the Great Pyramid, and my mother is the Radiant Sol." She said it as casually as she could manage. This wasn't some great declaration, after all, just a statement of fact to the only person who might be able to understand how she felt.

"You do have divine heritage. It's not your family though, just you. No one but a demigod has enough divine spark to light the fire like that, and if you want to see others try there are people downstairs who can touch the paper as well. The seers of the twelfth hour have spent the last couple of weeks pouring over a set of divinations that eventually led us to your apartment block. A set of divinations that all pointed to the same thing: a child of the moon living right where you lived up until a week ago. They assumed we were looking for a child, but apparently they were wrong..." The woman's earlier insistence that she didn't have any divine heritage sprang to mind, and she quickly kept talking before she could be dismissed out of hand.

"I know it must be quite a shock, but have you never felt like you were different? Did you ever catch a cold as a child, or any of the other diseases others seem to catch every year? You must be gifted, right? Everyone always talks about drawing the power out, nurturing it and learning how to use it, but that's not how it works for you, right? Wasn't it more difficult for you to turn it off rather than turn it on? Surely you must have felt as if you were... different from the people around you. Well, it was because you are," as Ruby talked, the desperate edge creeping in around the words audible even to her own ears.

[Assistant]
Tsuki rolled her eyes when the woman began playing with her dreads. Was she supposed to take this woman seriously? The situation felt more and more surreal with every passing minute. At least she'd finally gotten her to stop sidestepping the issue and explain it straight to her. It was easy to see why she might have preferred to not be that honest though, as what she was trying to explain was unbelievable at best.

Once Ruby told her that she was on the news once a year at the summer solstice, Tsuki felt like she should have recognized her earlier. She had never been all that interested in religious topics, but she'd heard others talk about the sun goddess' daughter. That had to be who she was, or claimed to be. It'd be very easy for Tsuki to find out if she was telling the truth or not. A few steps to the computer on her desk and she could search for photographs of the demigod. If the woman was telling the truth, the photographs would be of her.

Tsuki's breaking point arrived when the woman told her that she was a demigod as well. One of those powerful beings who had both a human parent and a divine. She burst out laughing. A laughter that was sincere and mocking at first. She had to steady herself with the door again, leaning her back against it and crossing her arms across her stomach. Her parents loved each other and would never cheat, even with a goddess. Her father adored her mother, and her mother felt the same way… right? She knew that her mother had decided Tsuki's name for her, but that was a silly coincidence… surely? Tsuki's laughter soon took a more strained and uncertain tone, until it was more coughs than anything. It was as if she wanted to keep laughing to convince herself this was all nonsense.

Despite her laughter, Tsuki had listened to the rest of what the woman had said, as much as she had wanted to drown the sound of her voice out by laughing. Some of it had hit a bit too close to home. She'd rarely been sick like other children, but her father had always bragged about her good genes, even when her brother and sister fell ill. She couldn't really deny that she was gifted either. It had gotten her a job that made her plenty of money while others with skills went unemployed or underpaid. The worst realization was that the moon goddess was the deity of death across the entire world.

"I'll be right back…" Tsuki said and stared intently at Ruby's features to memorize them. She went inside her office, left the door open and walked over to the desk. She moved the mouse to shake the computer awake, logged in and soon found herself staring at photographs of Ruby the demigod after a quick image search. She had no idea how to feel, but she supposed she should keep up her scepticism. It only proved that Ruby was who she claimed to be. Maybe the best proof she could get was to ask her parents.

She left the gun on the desk and went for the bottle next to the sofa. A stiff drink might help her, she didn't care with what. There were some creepy coincidences between Ruby's explanation and Tsuki's reality, but hopefully that was all it was. As she stood there drinking straight from the bottle, she remembered she'd left the door open and Ruby could clearly see her.

"Uh…" Tsuki said, unsure of how to continue the conversation. She sighed, resigning herself to telling the truth about her abilities. "I can speak to the dead, and predict how someone's going to die. You've got a bunch of symbols floating around your head that'd normally let me do it." She waved her hand dismissively in the direction of Ruby. "Yours are clouded like… my own." Another realization, which made her take another swig straight from the bottle. It was better than sobbing.

[User]
The laughter had been bad enough, but at least she had been able to talk over it. When the woman went back into her office without even deigning to answer any of Ruby's questions, though, she could do little more than watch from the doorstep. She still had a gun after all, and Ruby didn't want to provoke her any more than she'd already did. At least she could take the opportunity to quickly peek at the nameplate on the door again, so she would be able to put a name to the woman. Aizawa Tsuki. Was that in western or eastern order?

When she looked back into the room Aizawa Tsuki was gulping something presumably alcoholic down straight from the bottle. Ruby stared in shock for a moment, which morphed into embarrassment when the moonchild caught her eye. At least she put the bottle down for a while to talk, and the words were interesting enough for her to try and ignore the next swig out of the bottle.

"You're a natural seer?" she asked, a slight note of awe in her voice. The priests loved to let people know that they were really good at predicting the future, but Ruby had seen how much preparation, ceremony and, well, guessing were really involved with comparatively basic divinations. And no one she knew would even want to come close to suggesting they could tell how people died. That was the domain of the moon, after all, and not something for mortals to guess at. Well, except for the woman across from her, obviously.

"That's…" she paused at the stricken look on Aizawa's face. This was probably not the time to talk about how amazing she thought her gifts were.

"That sounds like it could be a bit much for one person," she instead said softly. The gun was nowhere in sight, so she carefully stepped into the office that seemed to double as apartment.

"I'm sorry if I startled you, I never meant to. I just… there isn't really a way to bring new like this gently, I guess," her voice was low and soothing as she approached the woman as she would a frightened animal. Her powers might not be very… subtle, but other than that caring and soothing came easy to her. As excited as she might be to have discovered her equal, at the moment she only felt for the hurt she was obviously feeling.

"Are you okay? You never told me your name." She had read it from the door, of course, but right now they needed to have something neutral to talk about.

[Assistant]
"Mhm." Tsuki grunted, an indifferent response to the question. She'd just said she was a seer after all. Why did Ruby repeat the information she'd given her back to Tsuki? If she truly thought she was the child of a goddess, why would it even surprise her? It seemed like a rather weak ability compared to others that she could imagine. It was rather difficult for her to prove that she could do it too, unless someone could get a mortally ill or wounded person in front of her. There wasn't any great lack of those, she figured, but anyone could tell those were dying.

She shot Ruby a quick glare when she almost said what she actually thought of Tsuki's natural ability but stopped herself. Tsuki sat down on the couch, took another swig from the bottle and put her feet up on the table. Ruby's next comment was obviously constructed to be empathetic and less offensive than the one she'd swallowed. Yet it unnerved Tsuki, perhaps because she was aware it wasn't what the woman's original thought had been. The way she suddenly spoke made her strangely aware that they were alone, and that Ruby was entering her office slash home without permission. She let her do it, mostly because it was her office and she had people enter it all the time, but not quite this late.

Tsuki turned to observe the other woman slowly moving in her direction. Maybe she still thought that she had the gun and wanted to be careful, not make any sudden movements and all that. The way she was acting made her a bit nervous, but somewhat less eager to shoot her as well. There was something genuine to every comforting word she said. She wasn't sure whether it was the alcohol or Ruby's words that made her feel at ease. Perhaps a combination of both.

"I never said I believed you. There's just some coincidences that adds up to something strange." Tsuki said, slurring more now than she had before. "I still require more proof. I'm a detective for gods' sake. I can't trust the word of a wet woman showing up in the middle of the night, only because she happens to be the daughter of a goddess and worshipped." She laughed as an indecent thought passed through her head. "I wish it'd happen more often though, could be a more pleasant experience." At first, it didn't occur to her that she had said it aloud. When it did, she acted like she didn't care, but blushed with her face turned away.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Nothing solves my problems like alcohol. The name's Tsuki, so I suppose if you're right my mom had an interesting sense of humour." She decided to add an explanation. "Tsuki means moon if you didn't know that." Tsuki stretched the bottle in her hand out towards Ruby. "You want some? Or did your mom said you couldn't?" She grinned, but pulled it back before Ruby could turn her down. "Nah, it's mine." She took another swig. "Does the moon goddess agree with your view on alcohol as well?"


[System]
Basic Information
Tier: Moderate Powers
Age: 33
Titles: Desert Wanderer (prefix, replacing surname - Desert Wanderer Saddaj)
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Occupation: Traveller, Shaman
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 167lbs - mostly muscle
Build: Medium (athletic)
Skin tone: Dark
Eye colour: Brown
Hair: Deep black, shaven almost completely
Details and Background Information
The Ashen Steppes
Saddaj lives and lives off the Ashen Steppes, a vast desert on the southern borders of the Ellorien Empire. It would have been conquered long ago, were it not for the desert's grim reputation. Whenever other armies have attempted to conquer it, mysterious sandstorms have struck them, usually within the first day, with the entire army missing when the storm has cleared. Wise travellers in the Steppes know to respect the desert, and make material sacrifices to it, for it is powerful, and those who take without giving will not survive their journey.
Aside from the harshness of any desert and the literal harshness of the Steppes, there is more for travellers there to be wary of. The desert is home to many dangerous creatures, both mundane and magical, that would have little difficulty killing those who fail to pay attention, think carefully or react quickly. Any of these would be easy in other circumstances, but at the end of a day spent walking through incredible heat, with a parched throat and blinded eyes? That is a true challenge.
The people of the Steppes are resourceful and independent, but have no trouble relying on others when necessary. Generations of time spent in one of the harshest climates in many worlds has taught them they will often rely on each other, but there will be times when there will be no one able to help them. Strangers to their lands suffer no mistrust - if they've made it this far, they mean the land no harm and they have the skills to be helpful. However, no stranger can expect simple charity. You do not get help from the people of the Steppes if you are unable or unwilling to work for it. Resources are scarce, and if can't earn your keep you don't get your keep. No questions, no discussions, that's it. There is no law and no central government in the Steppes. Law is not necessary, because anyone who would commit a crime finds themselves without food, water, or shelter. If someone ever does commit a crime (which is not clearly defined anywhere), there is only one method of trial - trial by ordeal. The criminal spends three days outside human settlements and caravans, with no help from anyone and a tattoo on his forehead to mark him. If he returns alive, the tattoo is removed through strange "desert magic" (more on this later). If he does not, the tattoo becomes permanent, or he is dead. Though it is rare, it is not entirely unknown for a criminal, consumed by guilt, not to return even if he can, as a self-inflicted punishment.
There are only a few permanent settlements in the Steppes, all of which are centered around Oases. These are the only reliable supplies of water in the Steppes, so they are the only places you can make a permanent settlement in the Steppes. One of these, Tal Djirad, is much larger than the rest and the only one you could really call a city. Though there is no capital of the Steppes, this is close enough for most people. Bands of nomadic traders also travel the Steppes and surrounding areas, surviving through the movement of goods. In "civilised" areas, including the border of the Ellorien, they pick up materials that cannot be easily gathered in the desert, primarily basic metals such as iron and copper, and trade it for exotic skins and artwork made in the Steppes. Monster hunters in particular can make a fortune from the Steppes, though they must be particularly generous with their sacrifices to get away with this.
Magic of the Steppes
There is an old, mysterious form of magic that comes from the Ashen Steppes. Certain Ellorien scholars suggest this has something to do with the desert's supposed consciousness, and the almost religious way its people treat it. Though the idea that a desert could be self-aware is dismissed by most, those few who agree are correct.
Every one of the nomadic groups that travel the Steppes have a Shaman, as do all the permanent settlements. Tal Djirad even has multiple. It is the Shaman's job to brand criminals, to predict sandstorms, and to protect against dangerous creatures. They wield a form of magic that is unclassified by the Ellorien (where definitions of the Books of Magic come from). Initially, Ellorien authorities even denied its existence, but there have been too many reports to maintain this any longer. The truth is, they are scared. The Ellorien's effectiveness is legendary, but no army has even gotten close to capturing the Steppes. If the Steppes decides it has a problem with the Ellorien, there'll be little to do but surrender, if the Steppes will accept even that.
Saddaj - Psychological Description
One of the most prominent features of Saddaj's personality is his devotion to the Ashen Steppes. Just as with most Desert Shamans, the Steppes are to him what a god is to his clerics. However, most Desert Shamans have a caravan or settlment both to protect and to rely on, Saddaj has neither. Saddaj's relationship with the Steppes is much more personal, as it is rare he speaks to anyone human, but he communes with the Steppes twice daily at least, more when in danger. He feels guilt for leaving his home, something the Steppes cannot understand.
Saddaj - Brief History
Saddaj had a strange connection to the desert ever since he was a child. He found little comfort around humans, and preferred solitude. He spent a lot of his spare time (which wasn't much - in the Steppes, you work or you leave) alone in the desert surrounding the settlement of Tal Sara, where he lived. While Shamans often displayed similar characteristics during their childhood, these were especially... severe. Many of the current Shamans expected actions of great significance to take place in Saddaj's life, though whether for better or for worse was not yet clear.
As Saddaj grew up, his Shamanic training began. Needless to say it went very well, his natural talent in the magic was truly unique. For these years of his life, Saddaj was happy, though it was doomed to end badly. On one of Saddaj's last days as a boy, a horrible sandstorm swept through Tal Sara. In truth, no one but the eldest Shamans in Tal Djirad had ever seen one like it, or would ever again. Saddaj, who had been going through his final training at the time, felt a voice speak to him, coming through the wind. It claimed to be the conciousness of the Ashen Steppes. It told him of how it had felt its enemies' hatred, as well as their strength, growing. Of how it had created him as a warrior to destroy them should they dare to challenge it once again. Of how it was now his turn to fight. It told him to kill his teacher to prove it could trust him. He did.
In doing so, Saddaj confined himself to a life wandering through the desert, speaking to no one living inside its borders. The desert sustained him, and made sure he would never give up. He even tried to end his own life once, the desert wouldn't allow it. So he walked. He walked until his feet were bleeding as the sun was setting over the cruel bright hills in the South.
Arena Information
Weapons and Gear

* Ancestral Spear-Stave - Saddaj's weapon is a spear-stave from the Dakoren familial tomb. Saddaj comes from a long line of great warriors, and is skilled at using the spear-stave in both short-hand (holding the stave close to the head, in one hand) and long-hand (holding it near the blunt end, with both hands) techniques, as well as being able to swiftly transition between the two. Saddaj prefers to use the stave as a defensive tool in long-hand, but attack with short-hand. It is enchanted so that it may release a strong gust of wind. This is enough to stagger, but not knock down, an approximately human-sized opponent. There is no limit to the number of times it can be used, but there is to how often. Ten to twenty seconds are usually required between each use.
* Desert Clothing - This is unarmoured, unenchanted mundane clothing. It has no particular use besides protection from sunburn and blindness. It can be used to hide Saddaj's face when necessary.

Skills and Special Abilities

* Desert Magic (Weather Control) - Using his Shamanic talents, Saddaj is able to change the weather to his liking, even regardless of the time of year or day (yes, he can make it blindingly sunny in the middle of the winter at midnight). While this rarely has a significant effect on a battle, he can use it to make a battlefield more like his home ground, and it could certainly have an effect against strange creatures such as vampires, or fire elementals, for whom particular forms of weather can be debilitating if not fatal.
* Desert Magic (Sandstorm) - This spell allows Saddaj to create powerful gusts of wind while summoning a cloud of dust, and maintain this so that in a wide radius it is very difficult to see, and creatures without protection may suffer from having sand get into their eyes mouth, or other orifices. While these happenings may seem trivial, a loss of focus in a battle can be devestating.
* Desert Magic (Transmution and Manipulation) - Some of Saddaj's most powerful magic, he is able to transmute any kind of stone or brick into sand. Besides the potential to remove structural integrity, causing landslides, Saddaj's other ability described here works remarkably with it. He is also able top telekinetically move up to several cubic metres of sand at once. The potential for this is varied, but when a smaller contact point means more pressure, how much damage could a fast-moving object deal, when it is the size of a grain of sand?

[User] Chinoki groaned has she took the hit but we rebounded by quickly placing her hands and the spear and lifts herself up so she was balancing on it. She looks over at him and giggles before pushing herself off and throwing one of her knives at his neckm she lands to the right of him and quickly slashes at his shoulder and hand hoping to wound him enough that he would not be able to use that arm. She groans at the pain in her stomach area where he hit her.

[Assistant] Saddaj was glad when he finally managed to hit the woman, even more so that his risk had paid off. He had stabbbed her around her stomach, hopefully the pain would slow her down a little. He reacted quickly to the thrown knife, ducking under what could have been a fatal attack. However, while he was righting himself the woman created a deep wound across his bicep. It was painful, but he got his spear-stave into his left hand, in a short-hand position, before it fully settled in. He couldn't be expecting to use that arm for much in the near future. Being right-handed, Saddaj's ability with his spear-stave was diminished, though he had trained for situations like these and was highly skilled even now. Still, he'd prefer to keep his distance and focus on ranged attacks. He retreated a few steps, then all at once the sandstorm froze and drew in to a cloud above his head. He formed it into a column and blasted it towards his opponent. A direct hit with the rough sand would be horribly painful for her, unbalancing her and potentially knocking her off her feet, while ripping her skin all over. While Saddaj knew she might dodge it, the potential of the attack was too high to ignore.

[User] Chinoki growls and jumps up to dodge his attack but ends up timing it wrong causing her left foot to take a hit. She lands on the ground and groans but she lets out a small giggle at the same time, "Okay let's what you van do about this!" She then summons a bunch of knives and begins throwing then at multiple different soft spots. By doing this she was hoping that she could distract herself from the pain and inflict pain on him.

[Assistant] The woman had been hit - not badly, but Saddan would take it. However, she was now throwing a flurry of knives at him. Too many to be particularly accurate, yes, but enough that even without presicion they posed a threat. It was now that Saddaj was thankful for the enchantment placed upon his spear-stave. He could let loose a short-lived but powerful gust of wind. Typically he would use this to unbalance opponents before performing the coup de grâce that would finish them off. This time, though, he had a different use for it. He thrusted the spear-stave, in his left hand, forwards towards the knives. The wind blasted a few a short distance backwards, but most were not caught head-on by the gust due to their spread. These were instead knocked off-course, some being pushed downwards, to the left or right, and many were knocked upwards, flying over Saddaj's head.

[User] Chinoki growls limping slightly trying to figure iut something that would work. Sge just need to get a few fatal hits. Once she came up with something she bit down on her teeth before summoning three or four new knives. She rushes towards him at half her normal speed because of her foot and stabs him with one knife in his leg before running around behid him and stabbing him in between his neck and shoulder hoping that he wont block and dodge one of her attacks. This was a risky move because of her foot and how careless her movements probably was.

[Assistant]
With one arm out of action, Saddaj's main form of defense had been broken. He was losing blood - and his consciousness. If he didn't end this fight now... too slow. He had lost focus, and recieved another wound in his leg. Making an effort to concentrate, he lifted the sand he'd attacked the woman with earlier and, while turning to face his assailant, created something of a shield to block the knife attack. He expected it was risky, but he tried to plug his wounds with the remaining sand, to prevent further blood loss. He'd never heard of someone being hurt by sand in a wound, and he hoped there was a good reason for it.

The attack deterred and the blood loss stopped, Saddaj had bought himself a split second to sharpen his thoughts. Even now, it was only a matter of time before he would be defeated. Only careless agression, something completely uncharacteristic of Saddaj, would save him, and he knew it. So he used his split second the only way he could afford to - he ignored his pain, gripped his spear-stave in both hands and dropped the shield. He stepped forwards, raised the spear-stave high and brought it diagonally downwards towards the right side (Chinoki's right) of his enemy's neck. It was an all-or-nothing move that would, if perfectly executed, cut through her trachea, causing rapid asphyxiation. If not, he would be leaving himself wide open to her own, potentially fatal, attack.


[System]
Male
Age 31
Appearance
6'2"
Blue eyes
Long neat blonde hair that reaches down to the shoulders.
Bangs can easily cover his face if Felix doesn't keep them pinned to the side.
Felix has a rugged face with scruffy patchy facial hair (constant five o' clock shadow)
Felix wears glasses only for reading, and heavy arch-mage robes.

This is what Felix basically looks like.
I'm
Magician Savant: Felix is well versed in virtually every magic style the Catholic church is aware of. He is a master of both combat and defensive magic, as well has healing magic. Felix has always been exceptional at magic, to the point of even creating his own spell and combat style.
Manaegis: At the age of twenty he created Manaegis, his flagship ability. Manaegis forces latent mana within the user out into a physical manifestation of a bright blue full suit of armor and a weapon. Both the armor and weapon are essentially weightless, but are slightly stronger than steel.
Manalysis: Due to Felix's mastery and large mana reservoir, he has an ability known as manalysis. Manalysis allows Felix to comprehend mana in a way most people cannot. First off, Felix can physically see the auras of other Talents. These auras each have colors unique to the individual's aura. This color has to do with the type of magic the Talent has a mastery in, as well as their personal morality alignment. The size of the aura is directly correspondent to the size of the Talent's mana well. Manalysis also allows him to feel small shifts within mana waves in the air. Nature exudes its own mana waves, which are disrupted by other mana users who have their own magic wave radiation. Felix is able to feel this discrepancy and interpret use it to sense others. He can use this in combat to predict his enemies moves, as well as out of combat to detect mana users. Manalysis while not rare, is very difficult to master to the degree that Felix has.

Felix also has a mastery of spacial magic allowing him to levitate and teleport on a whim.

Felix was born in New York City, New York. When Felix was an infant, the Catholic magi scouts detected a large amount of mana residing within the Felix's household. Knowing about the newborn and the massive reserves of mana held within him, the scouts approached Felix's parents telling them of the situation. Felix's parents, having seen small displays of magic from Felix decided they were not equipped to raise the child and relinquished the custodial rights to the Catholic Church. Throughout his childhood, he studied and lived at the NYC Catholic cathedral. At around the age of sixteen, he showed such prowess and proficiency with magic, that the NYC cathedral had nothing left to teach him, so he was sent off to the Vatican to learn from the best of the best. After studying at the Vatican, it wasn't long before Felix achieved the status of Arch-mage and earned a seat in the inner council. At the age of twenty Felix developed his own magic style, manaegis. After developing this magic style, he was asked to become an instructor at the Vatican and teach others to master the magic style. This is where he resides to this day.

Armor looks essentially like this
But is completely smooth without bolt marks and bumps, and is also a bit transparent as well with a blue ethereal glow.
The weapon looks like this
but completely blue with the same transparency and ethereal glow as the armor

Felix is headstrong, intelligent, and very wise (although only 31 years old). Felix does his best to be passive, but has no problem fighting if he deems it necessary. Felix hardly ever gets angry, and when he does it is always justified. Stuck in his ways, he can be a little too headstrong. This resulted in him not leaving the Catholic church until recently, even though he knew some of the problems the organization had. Felix loves music, and is very musical himself. He carries with him at all times a Hoener Marineband Special 20 B♭ harmonica. He knows how to play the harmonica, piano, and guitar. As a professor, he is very instructive, and is a great mentor. Felix is very friendly and tends to think of everyone he meets as a friend. Even when Felix has a problem with someone, he will not hold any ill-will toward them.

[User]
"You're very welcome," Travis kindly smiled as Zuri accepted his congratulatory response. With that, Felix had then announced their mission was now starting over the mansion's PA system as the three of them left the laboratory. As he left the basement, he turned to the both of them, "allow me to prepare a few things. I shouldn't be long."

Without waiting for an answer, the Untalent separated from the group and hastily made his way be to his quarters. He certainly was not properly equipped to participate in the mission and he rather avoided a fight in his perfectly good morning robe. Of course, he mostly wanted to avoid any fighting if it could be helped. Upon accessing his room, he immediately cast away his robes and dressed into his trademark trench coat and checked all of its compartments to verify his current inventory. Once he looked the part, Travis then wrapped a couple of cargo belts around his waist and around his chest and back before taking an array of small items and placing them within each pouch.

Once the small things were done, he then walked to his mythical chest of untold deepness, opened it and reached into is infinite confines. He retrieved several tomes and a few larger items before taking out along horizontal long box whose physical dimensions betrayed that of the chest it was recovered from. Opening the box revealed a row of greyish capsule-shaped items all lined in their slots up in a perfect row. A small tab inside the lockbox produced a low green hue, illustrating the sub-text below it that the contents were charged.

"Perfect," Travis said to himself as he pulled several of the capsules and housed them each within the inner pockets of his coat. Each of the objects he retrieves had the texture of a smooth but foam-like make-up as if it was intended to act a sort of an encasement.

He soon stored the closed box within the chest before sealing it and began making his way to the door. Just before he could get past his desk, he then realized that he still had with him the runic plans that blinded their Paragon earlier. Travis quickly took out the parchment but eyed for a moment as he was nearly ready to place it on his desk. He then began to ponder about its other applications as Felix announced before, speculating on what it also capable of doing. With a small groan, he opened up the plans and grabbed a crystalline case from his desk before imprinting the rune's design into the hexagonal prism. Chanting a quick incantation over the case, he then stowed it too within his trench coat, before leaving the plans on his desk and hurried out of his room to join the rest of his team.

[Assistant]
Nemo sat at the table by himself now. He flipped his balisong knife closed and placed it back into his pocket and then started to de-spawn all the weapons he brought out, finishing it out with the two tumbler glasses. He picked up the bottle of umeshu, the medium sized bottle only had about one fourth of the liquid it started with left. Nemo checked to see if the coast was clear before unceremoniously chugging the rest of it.

Eventually he appeared in the living room and sat down on the same sofa Raiya did. Nemo leaned over onto the armrest and looked to his manadial to glance at the time. No other members had reached the room yet, so Nemo figured he had time for at least one more question while they were still on their way. "Have you ever done something that you really regret?" Nemo asked, quieter than usual. He only looked over to her once he had finished speaking.

[User]
Zoey simply melted through the shadows in the corner of the room, flopping in an arm chair like she'd been there for hours. She felt a bit like she had, and she was glad to finally be getting out of this cabin. For some reason, it vaguely reminded her of a large fire. But maybe that was just another nightmare.

She noticed instantly that the room smelled a bit like alcohol. Fantastic. Stealth mission, lets drink. Solid. If she gave a damn, she'd probably be able to tell which drink. But she really didn't give a damn. At this point, she would consider just getting on the boat without something going horribly wrong a successful mission. She eyed Travis and wondered if he was coming. She assumed he was, but she didn't really see him as a stealth operative. In fact, he reminded her a bit of the guy Cyril from that TV show... which was it? Archer, that's right. Capable of maybe doing something good, but more likely to be a punch line. She was so positively astonished by this line up that she started thinking of drinking herself. She had a small vial of moonshine. After all, she might need it for when his all goes horribly wrong. At worst, the damn thing would make her drunk enough to find the humor. At best, soaking in the moonlight of a few nights might help give her a boost. Either way, she was already coming to grips with the fact that this mission might already be majorly boned.

[Assistant] Raiya tilted her head to the side, "Something I regret? Do you mean besides making a drunken bet with you that essentially chained me to a team of misfits and vagabonds...?" Raiya pursed her lips and put her index finger up to them. "I regret putting my faith into an organization that would betray me and toss me aside. I regret ever thinking of Felix as a brother. I regret not being strong enough to take down Thadeus myself when I had the chance. Other than that, no I can't say I have any major regrets." Raiya replied.

[User] Travis had only spent a few minutes preparing and arming himself upstairs before returning to the main lobby and into the living room where most of his team had gathered, "I hope I didn't keep everyone waiting. Is there anything we need to go over before departing?"

[Assistant]
Something seemed to be on Nemo's mind, but he jumped on the opportunity to change the subject once it presented itself. "What history do you have with Thadeus?" Nemo asked. "It seems he'll be a recurring cockroach in our journey, so I wouldn't fret too much about not defeating him. I'm sure you'll get another chance."

"You're just in time Travis, we're almost all here now." Nemo responded. "There isn't anything I can think of to discuss now, but I'm sure that will change once this show gets on the road." He added.

[User] Zuri follows Felix over to the living room. She looks around at the others as more people started to show up. Listening to the things Travis and Nemo said, she has no idea what was going on, but all she knew was to try to help her team in any possible way in order to recover a dangerously powerful relic.

[Assistant]
Raiya's ahoge began to vibrate with energy as her anger surged. Thinking about Thadeus irritated her above all else.

"Cockroach indeed... He is the lowest of the low, and the one responsible for me being excommunicated. He experimented on villages, razed them to the ground with agnes spheres for no logical reason. The worst part is that he wasn't all that powerful for an arch-mage. It was nepotism that got him the position he holds. Because of his family ties, he was given access to a high seat and all the political power that it comes with. The funny thing is, he could not stand Felix, because Felix was the genuine article, a real powerful mage worthy of the title of arch-mage. You should have seen his face when he first saw Felix's manaegis. A mixture of jealousy and rage. The thought still make me smille." She finished with a grin

---

Felix entered the living room where everyone was gathered.

"Well, if there is not anything else to keep you... allow me to open the portal." Felix drew the cross glyph in the air in the middle of the room, opening a rift to what looked like an alleyway between warehouses near a harbor of some sort. "Off you go." Felix finished.