[System]
Age: 211, to his best estimate
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 192 lbs
Race: Vampire
Birthplace: England, circa 1667 (Elizabethan era)
Short Bio: Born in the Elizabethan era and surviving into the Victorian, Vail has seen the rise and fall of two centuries' worth of dynasties—not just human, but supernatural as well. As a member of the Hygrace family, he was raised in the wealth and prestige of the most powerful vampire clan in London. His uncle, Lord Reginald Hygrace, was a respected leader, known across the nation for offering protection to any vampires who needed sanctuary from The Order of the Saints: an influential group of men and women who tracked down and killed the "demons" for a living.

For nearly a century, Reginald's efforts kept both his family and the rest of the vampires safe. However, around the year 1750, he made the mistake of taking in a man named Lord Elias Wynter. At a glance, Elias seemed like just another refugee seeking sanctuary with the Hygrace family, but in truth, he sought to overthrow the ruling dynasty completely.

Unbeknownst to the Hygraces, the Wynters had been plotting for quite a while to take over and change the way that vampires lived in England altogether. They believed that as "superior beings," they should fight back against humans instead of hiding from them in fear. They saw the Hygraces were weak and cowardly, unfit to lead their kind, and so started a rebellion.

When he commenced his attack, Elias managed to kill Reginald, but his attempt to finish off the rest of the oldest generation was cut short by his victim's younger brother—Vail's father—Peter, who went on to take over as the leader of the Hygrace clan in his sibling's stead. Unfortunately, the Wynter family refused to give up after just one defeat and has continued to fight for power against the ruling dynasty ever since.

For Vail, the following century of his life was spent predominantly in hiding. As the son of the most powerful vampire in England, he had to look out not only for members of the Saints but the Wynters as well. With such a large target on his back, he learned how to fight and wield a gun in order to protect himself. Both skills have saved his life since.

Of course, he can't spend all his time in seclusion without going stir crazy, so he finds time to attend parties and other large gatherings put on by other aristocrats in London to get out of the Hygrace manor on occasion.

[User]
Vail was learning quickly that the Moncourier clan was much more brazen than most of the vampires he'd gotten to know in his lifetime. Comparatively, only Sylvia was as loose with her tongue around people she didn't know well, and even she was careful not to offend. His own family was usually quieter and less involved in each other's personal lives. It was a change that he wasn't sure how he felt about yet, since he wasn't used to other people knowing about and commenting on his relationships, but at least it was better than the scorn he'd received from his parents. If giving up a little privacy meant they would have some support from the French clan, then he could put up with the occasional cheeky comments from Francois and James.

As he left the lounge and walked to the bedroom with Victoria, he quirked a brow at her remark about Sylvia. "'Wise' isn't a word I would have expected to hear you use to describe her. Now I'm very curious to know what it was that she said to you during your talk." Despite his frequent jokes at his old friend's expense, he knew that Sylvia could be a gifted advisor. She'd counseled him on more than one occasion, even when she'd learned that he'd fallen for someone that his father didn't approve of. The Macey heiress with bold and level-headed, but he didn't know what Victoria would have asked her about that required her advice. Apparently she wasn't going to tell him either, because she was quick to chase her first comment with a question that changed the subject.

"No, but I am a little worried that she told you more than she should have," he returned her smile, enchanted as always by the way her lips pulled upward and brightened her face. It was good to see her so expressive after a week of lifelessness.

Following her into the bedroom, he closed the door behind him and began unfastening the top buttons of his shirt. In a week of veritable isolation, he'd reverted back to his nocturnal rhythm and was usually wide awake at night, but he cared more about making up for lost time with Victoria than he did about keeping himself entertained with activities until dawn. Even if she spent the entire night sleeping, he planned to stay by her side, dozing or perhaps reading a book by candlelight so she wouldn't be alone.

"Of course," he said when she asked for his help untying her corset. Abandoning his partial work of unbuttoning his shirt, he stepped over to her and loosened the straps at her shoulder blades. As the dress came away from her body, his hazel eyes slid over her ivory skin. If it was possible, she seemed even more flawless than she had been when she was a human, and he couldn't help but trail his fingers over her smooth hips. During their time together, he'd grown addicted to more than just the taste of her blood. Although they were not yet married, he was also hooked on the sight of her bare body and the sweetness of her pheromones.

"I must say I agree with your mother," he said softly, taking a step closer to hover by her ear while he wrapped his arms around her midriff. "Becoming a vampire suits you, Victoria."

[Assistant]
Victoria chuckled at Vail's quip about Sylvia not being considered wise. "Don't be so paranoid. Nothing bad was said about you." She explained as he helped her out of her dress. She didn't feel as cold from the colder air as the fabric came away from her skin. "I was just curious about the female vampire breeding cycle and what to expect. After all, I wouldn't want to have any surprises in the future. Well…not until I'm married at least…" She mused playfully. Then thoughts about a wedding crossed her mind. How his father would not give them his blessing to wed. That was even if Vail wanted to, he had many other things to think about.

Even though they were unmarried, they had shared a lover's embrace for a while now and had sinned with the matters of the flesh. She didn't really let that affect her faith. She knew it felt right and it was because she loved him so she felt like they didn't have to justify being wed in order to make love. "We also spoke abo-…" she was cut off the moment his fingers traced her curves. Her body still reacted the same way as when he had first touched her.

She exhaled deeply and enjoyed his voice near her ear and arms around her waist. His voice always sent tingles down her spine. His hands no longer felt as icy cold now that her body was the same temperature as his. She leaned her bare back into his torso and her head against his shoulder, sinking further into his embrace. She found him irresistible still. "You really think so?" She smiled warmly as he complimented her new vampiric form. "How do you feel now you can no longer drink my blood?" She enquired curiously and nuzzled the top of her head underneath his chin.

[User]
"I see," Vail mused contemplatively when Victoria finally confessed what she and Sylvia had been talking about. It was a valid thing to be concerned about, and even he had no idea what a breeding cycle would be like for a human-turned-vampire. He knew enough about females of his own born kind to consider himself at least decently educated, but he didn't want to assume that his lover would operate the same way when he had no evidence to back it up. The tome he'd left in London would be a valuable asset to them if James was able to find it and bring it north. With any luck, it would contain some of the answers they were looking for within its many pages.

At the mention of marriage, he planted a kiss on her cheek. "That shouldn't be a hang up for much longer," he murmured in her ear. Despite his parents' lack of approval, he knew what he wanted, and he wasn't going to allow them to be the reason he didn't propose to the Crest heiress. He was still planning to speak with them in one last effort to change their minds, since he did desire their support, but ultimately, it was his decision to choose who he would marry. Plus, he already had her family's consent. Her mother had made it clear that she just wanted her daughter to be happy, and even her estranged relatives were obviously in favor of their union. They weren't on an island of their own without anyone on their side, so he felt confident in his intention to ask her to be his wife as soon as the timing felt right.

Addicted to the way she responded to his machinations, a smile formed on Vail's lips when Victoria leaned into his chest. "It's a relief," he answered her question honestly, idly exploring her bare body by touch while he spoke. "I enjoyed drinking your blood, but I enjoy you more for your company. Now that I'm not distracted by the urge to bite you, I can focus on all the aspects I like the most…" With the sultry remark, he swept an arm behind her knees to pick her up and carry her over to the bed. There was a part of him that knew he was going to miss the effects of her blood when he came down from the high of draining her completely one week ago, but until the withdrawal hit, he was glad that he could be with her without the nagging desire to sink his fangs into her neck. For now, he only cared about celebrating the fact that she'd come back to him from death.

Laying her down, he hovered over her and pressed his lips to hers, eager to take advantage of the fact that they were finally alone. He'd been waiting for most of the evening to have her to himself, and he wasted no time unfastening the rest of the buttons on his shirt and tossing the garment onto the floor.

[Assistant]
Victoria swooned in Vail's arms as he kissed and caressed her body. Even though she was now a vampire herself, this man still had the power of seduction over her. She smiled as he kissed her cheek and reassured her that she wouldn't have to wait too long for the subject of marriage to crop up more seriously. It gave her hope for their future. Maybe he could still get through to his parents? If they could only see how happier she made their son.

But now was not the time to worry about such issues, not when they were finally alone together after Victoria had come back from the dead. Leaving her mortal life behind. She had a long life with Vail to look forward to. She was glad he was honest about her blood no longer being a distraction. She was concerned, in part, that Vail only wanted her for her blood. However, with that worry set aside, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She loved the way he explored her body as if he had really missed her.

His sultry remark only emboldened her to tease him back. "Oh? And what aspects of me do you like the most, Vail?" She mused playfully as he picked her up and carried her bridal style to the bed. A four-poster bed with purple drapery surrounding it. As he hovered over her and planted his lips upon hers, her hand swept to the back of his head and ruffled through his blonde hair. She kissed him back passionately as he unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it aside. Finally, skin to skin again and eager to show each other love.

As they broke the kiss for air, she smirked up at him. "You do know it is frowned upon to have sex before marriage?" She teased and pulled his head back down so he could meet her lips once more. She didn't care much for tradition right now though, she had missed him whilst she slept and revelled in the fact it was a miracle that she was even here. And she intended to enjoy her new found life with the man she loved.


[System]
Age: 45
Race: Human
Description:

He stands at 6'2", a tower of years of built up muscle. He wears a dark earthen blue tunic over a white linen three button pullover shirt. He wears a pair of black shorts(under his pants) and a pair of dark gray hosen(medieval style pants). He'll wear a chain mail shirt and these pauldrons

additionally he'll wear leather knee and shin armor.
He wears a small gray hood and a bear fur cloak.

Weapons: He wields a large crude looking war hammer and a falchion. Additionally, he has one small crude throwing axe.

Biography: Hugh was once part of a great order of paladins. They had much land and ruled with wisdom. Their lands were prosperous and fertile. Many were jealous of their lands, but no one had the courage enough to take on the great and Noble order. Their paladins were fierce and formidable fighters. They all stood higher than 6' and were towers of muscle. They were truly terrifying men. But they were brought down under scandal. Fabricated accusations about them stealing their riches and enslaving other groups of people for labor. The scandals kept growing until they were set upon by every surrounding nation. They stood no chance. Many were killed, only a few escaped.

They have been long since forgotten, after being hunted for almost two decades, and killed off, until it was concluded that they were finally extinct. Hugh hid among tribes of barbarians to survive. The tribe was good to him, making him one of their own. He had built a life of simplicity. Some warring between other tribes would often end with them being brutalized and then integrated. Hugh had found the love of his life among one of the taken tribes. He had a few sons and lived very happily, until they were set upon by a purge of the "savages".

Hugh's tribe was wiped out and he was orphaned once again. He had brutally killed all the "civilized" army he could, but it was too late. His tribe was all gone, along with his family.

He became a wanderer, and left to find life as a mercenary.

Demeanor/Attitude: Neutral Good. He mixes the bearing of a barbarian and a paladin. He fights like a barbarian and a demon, but talks and has the manners of a paladin.

Other: I'll add stuff as we go on.

[User]
The night seemed to go on forever, until finally light began to break from the horizon. Giving a golden hue to the sands as the sun began its climb. Vivian shifted her gaze from it and away. Her eyes could never get used to that kind of light so suddenly. Hopefully as she traveled on the surface her eyes would some how get used to it. Ellis saw this as he sat next to her on the wagon.

 "Let me take over for awhile until your eyes adjust." He said. He took the reins form her hands letting her rest awhile. Oddly dispite the orb and everything she began to drift into sleep. She let her head rolled to her right. It rested upon the halflings head her silver hair flowing around him. Ellis, with a hand brushed the hair from his face and he looked over at her about to say something. However, with her angle and his he could almost see down through her cleavage and he looked away instantly. He sighed and decided to let it go.

 "Well aint I in a pickle..." He said, mostly to himself. The sun gave the observer a better look at her face. Drow were no different from their surface cousins. Each one just as beautiful as the last. The darkness often hid these features due to their skin being so dark. Ellis shift and tried to position Vivian in a way it wouldn't be uncomfortable for both him and her. "Of all the times to sleep she picked this one."

 His thoughts lingered on the orb though. It was almost a emerald green and too bad it was evil. He would have loved to stuff it along with belongings. However, he doubted it was actually valuable, unlike the actual gem. He sighed and looked back to see the others were rather concerned with it. What made it more concerning though was when both Bjoric and Artos practicly said it was evil. He then turned to look back towards their destination only to see something in the distance. He could see something sparkle, a red kind of sparkle.

 It looked like they were not the only ones hit by the Gnolls it would seem. As they got closer he saw one figure sitting against a rock. Blood all over the place, whether it belonged to him or not was yet to be determined. Every inch they got closer his features were more and more detailed until finally it was revealed. It was an orc. Judging from the weapons laid about he did fight some body. Ellis turned his head around to the others.

"Something up ahead, looks like a orc. He looks like he was in a big fight, no other corpses can be seen ,so I think that green orb sucked up what foes he had." He said.

 There were only six weapons strewn about the small battle field. Blood covering the sands. The weapons were three war axes and three long swords. The orc was holding his left side, his helmet right beside him. He was covered in the blood himself. Some of it was his, some of it was whoever he fought with.

[Assistant] Upon seeing the Orc Ellyn rushed to him, she felt sorry for him and wanted to help him badly. She tripped up in the process of running and got up, spitting some sand off her mouth and stuck to following the wagon untill the group reached him (looked like a him to her... can't tell because she was more focused on getting the rest of the sand off the mouth) she was worried about the orc... All she could hope for was that they would all reach him in time to treat his wounds.

[User]
Sana looked over at Bjoric and pursed her lips. "Well ain't that peachy," she said as she climbed up into the wagon and resumed her position. That was all they needed, something running around the desert harvesting corpses. Placing her hand on the rail she kept watch, wondering just what they had gotten themselves into. Sana remained quiet and kept a vigilant eye out around them; her bow gripped tight in her hand. After a couple hours her watch was over and she resigned to let Hugh and the rest watch things. Hopping out of the back of the wagon she began to walk aside it towards the front. She wanted to see what was coming at them now straight on. She was tired of looking behind.

 Glancing over to Elis and Vivian, she chuckled lightly before turning her attention back before them. As her eyes fell on the Orc and the blood, she pulled an arrow from her quiver and knocked it into place, keeping the bow low for now. Perking a brow as Ellyn ran off towards the creature and face planting into the sand. "She's gonna get herself killed," she grumbled as she kept close to Ellyn. Taking a look at the missing bodies but the remaining weapons she looked over at the Orc, still keeping her arrow in place but the bow lowered for now.

 "Gnolls, orb, bye bye corpses?" she asked in a flat voice as she stood there.

[Assistant]
Hugh nodded to Sana, not all to familiar with gypsies, he didn't react to what she said, but she seemed rather worried about what he thought. When she said all this, the orb took flight overhead, interrupting the conversation for the time being. Hugh felt as though he knew what it was, but something was keeping him from figuring it out. Something that he was missing.

When Ellis cried out, remarking that an orc lay on the ground ahead of them, the bard took foot and ran towards it. "No, that could be a fucking trap!" He yelled, as he too gave chase, his hand tightly gripping his sheathed falchion. He was angry for a little before laugh snorting when she face planted into the sand, which sounded more like he coughed. He shook off his amusement and shouted, "Are you okay?!" right before she got up and continued. "I guess so." He muttered, continuing his run, kicking up sand, and slogging through it.

They finally came to a stop, the bard being the first to reach the presumed dead orc. When Hugh finally skidded to a stop, he drifted a little in the sand, and drew his falchion from its sheath. He began checking around the area for anything, like traps, or enemies ready to pounce. There wasn't much to check, just kick the sound around a little and look behind the rock. "Does anyone else see anything? We can't risk being surprised again."

[User]
"Well, least we know something for certain." he replied to Sana. "Something is gonna be waiting for us."

Bjoric continued along with the cart, keeping a warry eye on the sky in case the orb decided it wanted fresher bodies. He couldn't help but feel some hint of memory in regards to the orb. Probably a passage in a book he'd read decades ago but hadn't paid attention to. He silently cursed himself for not reading it more closely.

The sun was on the rise when Bjoric began to feel the lack of sleep getting to him. He almost didn't notice that the halfling had spotted something and most of the party had taken off from the wagon to investigate. Unable to shake the tiredness from himself, he climbed into the front od the wagon to pull on the warhorses reins.

"What are ye durned fools yelling about now?" he called out, taking a standing position on the wagon bench to try and spot any that may be waiting in ambush.

[Assistant]
The bard looked to the marksman and the human and smiled as they approached her, in her opinion, they seemed cute together. She kinda got jealous at that because she wanted to act cute like that with someone. Sighing softly she tilted her head to the presumed dead Orc, wondering if she was still in time to try to heal him somehow.

'E-excuse me...?' Ellyn directed this at the Orc, although it appeared to be a bad time since she felt too intimidated by his body build and by his facial expressions. 'c-can I help you??' Ellyn stuttered that out in a worried manner... yup... Ellyn loves helping others yet she appeared to have no sense of danger.

[User]
After the dwarf had corrected him, it appears the the orb absorbs the corpses rather than life energy as he predicted. Normally he would feel a tad stupid, but the large green orb was all he thought. "Dwarven cleric are you sure about that?" he asked towards the Dwarf, who looked a tad fearful. The elfven woman who appeared to be a bard suddenly got close after his wrong theory, and she looked a bit frightened. The woman reminded Artos of a childhood friend whom he was very close with, he was about to comfort her but Artos had no idea how to.

Continuing the trek, Artos' mind was wrapped around the floating orb and when the wagon suddenly stopped he landed face first into the rigid wooden frame. Falling unceremoniously to the ground he was about to say something until his eye caught an orc, the smell of blood and iron suddenly plunged Artos' nose. Aftermath of a battle? The elven woman suddenly darted off, with Hugh following behind her. Artos had gotten up already, nose slgihtly red due to him hitting it on the wagon. He began slowly and warily walking to the seemingly dead, or most likely unconscious orc. The running elven bard suddenly tripped and fell face first into the sand, Artos chuckled but covered it with his hand.

Reaching the battered and beaten orc, "I can try healing him, but I am not sure if it'd work." Artos offered, standing over Ellyn and beside Hugh. "As for traps, well, I could also activate Mind's eye, but I don't think there's a trap."

[Assistant]
'you can!?' Ellyn seemingly smiled as she heard that from Artos. Even though she knew it might not work she would be glad if everyone did what they could instead of not being able to do anything at all. She looked down from Artos and chuckled to herself softly, thankful that the young man offered his healing services.

'please try... sir...' was all she said to him, knowing that the newcomer may be friendly towards her afterall...

[User]
"It seems clear Hugh," Sana said quickly as she kept close to Ellyn. Turning around and looking at Bjoric she sighed slightly, thinking he must have been asleep.

 "Oh just about a lot of blood and the body of an Orc, nothing special," she said quickly before turning back and eying the Orc.

 As Ellyn asked Atros to heal the orc, her brows furrowed deeply as she resisted the urge to drop her arrow and cover her face with her palm out of disbelief. "I swear woman, you'd take in a lost Necromancer," she half teased.

[Assistant]
'if he can help then I will do anything... I'd die to learn how to heal others... but I was never taught that...' She giggled at Sana and smiled, possibly showing a bit of a flustered look from Sana's teasing. 'meanie...' Ellyn muttered, still smiling. She glared back to the orc with her worried expression returning.

'I wonder if they will have any song books in the ancient ruins... might not be but if there is there may be a song to heal grievous wounds or something... hehe'

'I want to help him... if nobody can then I will myself...' Ellyn thought long and hard about that decision but she will do it. Even if things came push into shove.


[System]
Gender: Female
Powers, if any: An encyclopedic knowledge of anime and, you know, science stuff.
Appearance: Clicky! A dorky, yellow, reptilian monster. Wears glasses. Usually wears a lab coat.
Other: Instant noodles are okay.

[User]
Without a word, and with her eyes glued firmly to the floor, Alpyhs entered the laboratory, trying to sneak in behind the lost student and the other scientists. She knew she was running late and so tried as hard as she could to make herself smaller than usual, hoping at the very least to make it to her own, cluttered desk before having to face anyone else.

Her cover was blown as one of the other scientists smiled, and wished her good morning, as she attempted to sneak by.

"G-good morning, um, just going, going to my desk, um, s-sorry about being late," Alphys stammered out, scurrying the last short distance between her and the relative safety of her desk.

[Assistant] Hearing the shaking voice of Alphys made him look up, finding himself actually glad she had decided to show up even if she was late. Making his way over while the other scientists was looking at the changes he had added for their reusable power source. As he got to Alphys's desk Gaster glanced over to the human scientists, making sure they were to busy with what they were doing before talking to Alphys in a soft whisper so not to get over heard. "Good to see you Alphys. Glad you made it. Your not the only one who was late though, they were too." Nodding to the two humans who was still scratching their heads looking at the changes to the foundation that Gaster had added, wondering if it would even work out. Finally they seemed to want to try it out as they started adding some changes to their battery pack giving Alphys and Gaster some time to talk freely.

[User]
After clambering up and settling down on the chair at her desk, Alphys offered a thankful smile up towards Gaster, before peering around him to watch the two human scientists fussing over... something. The little smile turned into a bigger grin as she sat back in the chair. It span slightly, much to her apparent delight.

"What did you do to make them s-so excited? It's n-not," Alphys kept her voice low also, even if she wasn't entirely sure why she was doing so, but it generally made sense to follow Gaster's lead in this sort of thing, "you know, um, I mean, n-n-nothing is off-limits to scientific inquiry, but, it's not going to get you in trouble, is it?"

[Assistant]
Shaking his head slightly "Not this time...I just added some changes to their plans, their way. If I had it my way I would have their battery just like the core I created within hotland. These humans dislike any talk on our ways though." Pausing just to glance over his shoulder at the two, watching them remove their original power outlet and started to add some things to the outlit as he had written down. Turning back to Alphys as they worked "It's not going to work though, making a reusable source of power the human way. Maybe they will learn at one point that our magic can become highly useful to them and not as dangourous as they like to think."

Hearing his name being called Gaster glanced up and turned his head only to see one of the scientists make his way over. "The changes in the plans, you think it will work?"

Pausing a moment, he knew it wouldn't, finally he said "No, isn't that why we are still in the testing stage? you never know if you don't try it out. Just cross the wires and change the flow of the current and it may recharge the power that it used up. It is a better possibilty of working then it did before Paul." Paul nodded and left the two alone, putting a shoulder over his partner. Gaster watched as they made their way to the testing room before turning back to Alphys. "One of two things is going to happen...one we will have to start over due to their battery exploading or two the power outlit will just sizzle up and die out completley..for what they asking for the use of magic will help greatly." Sighing a little again.

[User]
Alphys sat in silence, and almost perfectly still were it not for the way she nervously fidgeted with her own claws, as Paul approached Gaster and the two of them engaged in a brief conversation. Once he was safely out of earshot, Alphys started breathing again.

"M-maybe it'd be, um, not that I'd suggest going behind their, um, backs, but maybe, we m-make it right, and then let them have a g-go at reverse engineering it. L-like in this one episode, they couldn't work out how to get past the alien force barrier and then one of their fighters crashes in the desert and then they took it apart and their lead scientist has this bit where he finally notices the frequencies in the alien engine resonate with the force barrier and he also realises his feelings for the half-alien fighter pilot and then they make their own missile that can resonate at the correct frequency and then in the next series the half-alien fighter pilot..."

She blinks, and pauses in her rather long-winded and spoiler heavy explanation (that barely explained anything save for the plot of the first series of Star Saga 3030), to look over towards the testing room. She didn't want to meet Gaster's gaze, or even look up at him, because she could imagine how he might be looking at her right now. Suffice to say, in her imagination, it wasn't a good look.

"...well, um, so, c-can we go watch it explode?"

[Assistant]
Half smirked as she started talking about Anime and started to make absulutly no sense to him whatsoever. He had expected this, has grown used to her obsession of anime by now. "Come on, I honestly hope it wont explode to be perfectly honest. I'd hate to start this project from scratch while taking orders from them, and if it does explode then I will get the blame for this by the boss of this place. Then again, if their battery does go boom, then with a bit of luck we can start a new project though I doupt that."

Leading the way over, looking down through the glass down in the testing room. Folding his arms he watched as Paul and the other human he failed to remember the name of started the battery, using it to power up a small computer. Things seemed to be working well at first but then the newly build battery started to smoke before finally true to Gaster's word it did indeed explode.

"You better get back to your desk, I'm going to get an earful when the man in charge finds out who's idea all that was." Gaster watched as they left the testing room and turned in the direction of where the one in charge had his office.

[User]
Alphys watched the portable, reusable power source explode from behind the safety of the reinforced glass; it wasn't a particularly impressive explosion, but there were bits of battery scattered all over the testing room floor and a cloud of smoke hung in the air. As the scientists filed out of the testing room to file a report to their superiors, Alphys ran back over to her desk, clambered up on to her chair, and tried very hard indeed to act like she was working.

After a few seconds of pretending to work, she looked back over to Gaster.

"W-w-well, if the battery won't work, a-and they move us on to a new p-project, perhaps, um, we c-can make something that's supposed to explode? Like, um, one of these," Alphys carefully pulled out one piece of paper from a teetering stack of them on her desk and laid it out. The paper was covered with designs that looked suspiciously like underwater mines, the paper itself was titled A System For Distributing Culinary Sauces, and various doodles of different monsters were dotted about the edges of the paper.

[Assistant] @Overlord24 sans eyes flickered out as chara said that he was trying his hardest to stay calm. Sans was visibly sweating. He only nodded to frisks question in response.

[User] Lies stood by a river. His father took him here once as a child. He sighed at that memory, before sitting under an apple tree. As far as he knew, nobody else had come. It was at the foot of Mt. Ebott, which was enough to keep most away. He'd also made it a bit hidden, digging up a bush and making a makeshift wall from them. He sighed, and sipped from a cup of black coffee. He could spend all day here.

[Assistant] Chara chuckles and sticks out her tongue playfully. "So Sans. Will you be joining us at the river? You look like you could use a bone chilling dip," They say chuckling giving him an intimidating grin.

[User] "sure" sans said quietly having a mental conversation with himself. He was still afraid of frisk undoing everything.

[Assistant] Chara softly chuckles and sticks her tongue out at him before finishing up the chocolate bar she was eating, "Heheh Oh sans. You shouls be afraid of Frisk resetting because I'm back around."

[User] ignored chara as he was still thinking to himself. He was also wondering how chara even came back anyway.

[Assistant]
Chara then lays on the ground bored has they waited for Frisk to finish up her petty conversation with the human trash so that they could leave already she huffs and looks up at Frisk, "Dear Asgore I'm bored! Frisk can we leave already! Let's ditch that Human trash ling already!"

Frisk just ignores Chara and continues on with her conversation.

[User] "how did you come back chara?" Sans asked eventually. He was genuinely curious.

[Assistant] Chara sits up and closes her eyes trying to remember how they did come back because they honestly didn't know. "Ummm good question Sans... I actually don't know... I was just here one day following Frisk around but of course I stayed silent and Frisk didn't notice me. But I think it was just maybe 3 months ago did I actually start talking and showing physically slightly... I think it has to do with her Love for living with the monster of the surface and stuff," They tried to explain even though most of it came out has a mumble but could still be heard by Sans.

[User] "heh ok then well are we gonna go to the lake?" Sans asked standing up. He was still curious but oh well time and a place.

[Assistant]
Offering a smile down to her "We dont have much of a say in what we do here. Remember, the humans are in charge and we agreed to work for them to help them." His name was called angerily from the distance. Paul with the other two was looking at him. Gaster sighed and braced himself making his way over. The other two went their way leaving him with Paul. "My office....now!"

Paul sat down in his office behind his desk looking up at Gaster "because of you the whole thing blew up!! they said you made changes to the plans, thought it be an idea to cross the wires!! This isn't the first time either, well I had it! I want you and your dinosaur friend to leave!" Gaster had expected to get told off but to get 'fired' as well was something he didn't expect though he wasn't 100% sorry he was leaving. Without a word to Paul he walked out of the office closing the door behind him.

Making his way back over to Alphys still in a somewhat good mood he spoke to Alphys "We're off the programme. I guess the boss has had it with me changing things and he wants you gone as well. Anti monster all over gain, I say no real loss anyway. Let me know when your ready...Sans and the others might still be home right now." Glancing up at the time.

[User]
"M-me gone too? I, um, should... hold on, let me get things tidied up," Alphys looked at her rather cluttered and messy desk, then shoved everything off of it, sending papers and discarded candy wrappers and the other detritus that had accrued on her desk onto the floor. Feeling particularly proud of herself and this rather petty and inconsequential act of rebellion, she smiled up at Gaster.

"Done!"

She glanced at the mess on the floor.

"W-w-we ought to get going."

[Assistant]
@Hylozoist@The1Rolling1Boy

Chuckling at Alphys a little putting his hand on her shoulder and teleporting back to his house with Alphys. Looking around he saw Frisk was still present with Sans as well as the human. Letting go of Alphys with a nod he made his way over to the others. "Seems I am back earlier than planned, though that means I have more free time on my hands now. Seems I altered things too much in seeing what works and what does not work too much and they dont like it when things don't work out." Half shrugging as he was just happy enough to be back.

[User] "welcome back g" sans said as he looked over seeing alphys. "Sup alph" sans said waving slightly.

[Assistant]
@The1Rolling1Boy @Overlord24

"Hey, Sans," Alphys stepped a little out from behind Gaster, her claws buried deep in her lab-coat pockets, as if she was trying really hard to seem nonchalant about the whole getting-fired-and-running-away thing. "And, um, hey, everyone. Hope we're not interrupting your..." she sniffed at the air curiously, before trying to hazard a guess about what the smell of burnt food was supposed to be "...spaghetti?"

[User] "your not interrupting anything we all actually where gonna go to the lake." Sans said as he looked up at the clock on the wall. "We should get going if we're."

[Assistant]
@Blueflame
Frisk shakes her head and smiles cheerfully. "Actually it's a river that runs into a lake. I think the rain water runoff made it and its the river bottom is so smooth and slippery," Frisk signs out and giggles, "Sans right, though. Alphys, Gaster do you wanna join? You might has well since yiu got off early and all."


[System]
"I make the finest steel"

---

---

◾ Name:
Tiras Sky-The bastard blacksmith

◾ Age:
18

◾ Gender:
Male

◾ Sexuality:
Heterosexual

◾ Origins:
Unknown-raised in Mount Promonon

◾ Residence:
Hyland's keep

---

---

◾ Loyal ◾ Outsider ◾Honest◾Short tempered ◾

◾ Personality:
Tiras is passionate about black smithing and an honest man. However, his short temper gives him the reputation of one not to short hand. He is not one to speak loudly unless enraged or, if one were to get close enough, emotional. He is rather average in smartness, but quick enough to survive. He is kind to those that earn his friendship and respect, which is not many. He is often silent, speaking only occasionally...the feeling of being an outsider shaped that quirk.

◾ Role & Career:
Tiras is the royal blacksmith. He does work for lords and ladies along with his own family. If one can get enough money, then he will create a piece for those not of royal blood.

◾ Hobbies & Interests:
-Black smithing
-Reading
-Falconry
-Horseback riding
-Jousting

◾ Likes & Dislikes:
-He enjoys being outdoors around animals and the open air
-He enjoys molding steel and other metals into other things
-He enjoys participating in jousts along with watching. (He has gotten quite good)
-He dislikes being lied to
-He hates cruelty toward animals
-He hates being short handed for his work

◾ Other:
-He owns a falcon who is often seen without a cover. This is odd and can be attributed to him training the bird well
-He is quite tall at 6 foot 1
-He tends to wear all black. Forgoing any colors and usually the attire is somewhere between Royal and blacksmith. He does have a ring with the house symbol on it. This allows him to be treated a bit better in some places.
-When he enters the mind of his fox his eyes change from green to a feral amber.
-His fox is named kit since the fox has a very puppy like personality.
-Kit weighs 30 pounds and is more then capable of using weight to his advantage....and teeth.

---

---

◾ Family Members:
-Edwin Hyland
-Juliana Hyland
-Maria Sky

◾ Biography:
Tiras' beginning is not fully known. He was brought home with his sister by his father from travels and does not know whom his mother is. It is rumored that his mother is a lady of the desert.
He was raised alongside his family, treated not quite like a royal, but not quite like a regular towns person especially since he was living with the royals. He did not have to learn the same exact things the rest of his family did, but sought out books of history, archery, falconry, and black smithing. He particularly found a knack for training animals and black smithing. His unusual ease around animals was perceived as odd, but Tiras and others did not think much of it.
When Tiras was 10 years of age, he found a reddish fox kit. It seemed that it was either abandoned or the mother had died. Tiras took the kit in and raised it with the help of his sister. He felt an odd bond form with it and discovered a few months later that he was having dreams typical of a warg. Not long after that, he figured out that he could enter his fox's mind and control him. He kept his abilities secret, but is never seen apart from the fox. His sister had found out about the ability when they were young, but she has kept the secret.
Many assume the fox is always there due to Tiras not having many friends, so he has the fox and that works just fine for him.
He was trained to blacksmith by the previous Royal blacksmith and since their death has taken over that role.

[User]
Lady Grey Coulbourne

Lady Grey Coulbourne had been sent to the capitol to represent House Coulbourne of Vaernin Forest at the Princess Madeline's coming of age festival. As she was a daughter and not a son, disgraced within the forest, and not even the first born child of the house, this had not been meant as a polite gesture. But at least she wasn't the only person being used by her family as an insult – instead of sending one of her brothers, her distant cousin, Nyle, was being submitted to the tourney for the princess' hand. The people of the forest had never thought much of the Ainsworths' so called 'divine right' to rule. They made it known at every opportunity.

But whatever her family thought of their's, Grey couldn't help but be awed at the sheer scope of the festival. It was a rare occasion that she left the forest boundary (there was a pang in her chest at that – she was being sent away from her home, her family, her girls) and she took in each new sight with a breathless sort of wonder. How the sunlight shined on the city, unfiltered by a forest canopy. How cobblestone wrapped around buildings and covered the earth. The multitude of colors and smells and people crowding around, all reveling in the festivities.

It almost made it worth suffering through several hours of servants dressing her in a tight, heavy, restrictive forest green gown, and tugging and pulling at her hair until long, wild curls were forced into an intricate series of braids and knots at the nape of her neck.

Nothing was worth the guard breathing down her neck, though.

Lord and Lady Coulbourne knew their daughter. The guard, a noble, middle aged man named Sir Jory had been a loyal servant of the family for years. He knew better than to take his eyes off Grey, lest she escape.

And so he ushered her through the gates, past the throngs of people, and to the designated Coulbourne area, bedecked in the blues and greens of her house. The weight of his stare forced her into a lavish seat overlooking to crowd, and he took his position by her side, ramrod straight and the picture of vigilance.

Grey was unimpressed. And restless. If she had to suffer through this, then she at least wanted to be given the chance to enjoy herself and explore. Maybe she'd even find her betrothed. She watched the laughing, happy, excited people milling about, going this way and that. She lasted a whole three minutes of silence.

"Sir Jory," she finally spoke up. The old knight didn't react, but she knew he was listening. "I must relieve myself." She could practically feel his weariness.

"You had ample opportunity before the festivities, my lady, and you will have opportunity after."

"Yes but I didn't have to go before, and I doubt I'll last until after." The old knight remained stil. "You could escort me," she offered, knowing how easy it would be to lose him in the crowd. He, of course, knew this too. He remained still. Grey screwed her mouth to the side in displeasure as she looked at him. Then she schooled her expression into one of wide-eyes sincerity.

"Sir Jory," she said, her voice earnest, "if I am not allowed to relieve myself," she took a pause, waiting for his eyes to meet hers. "I will explode." His eyes snapped forward immediately. Grey had to fight to keep her face straight as she watched color tint his cheeks. "I'll make such a mess in this lovely festival, all over my lovely dress and these lovely people. I imagine your armor will rust after and–"

"As my lady wishes," he finally conceded, cutting off her growing voice. Grey couldn't help the triumphant grin that broke across her face. With a sigh, the guard  waited until she stood from her seat and trotted forward towards the crowd. He followed close behind – but not close enough.

The moment she was in the embrace of the buzzin crowd, she ducked and ran. Grey heard Sir Jory give a spluttered start behind her as he began trying to push people out of the way to follow. But Grey was smaller, younger, and far more agile, even in her heavy gown and pinching shoes. A delighted smile grew on her face as she weaved between festival gowers like they were clustered trees in the forest. She glanced over her shoulder to see if she'd lost her guard–

Only to run straight into something tall and hard. Grey stumbled back with an oof! and looked up to see a tall, handsome man, fair skinned, dark hair, and with the most striking blue eyes. She was stunned for a moment from the impact before glancing over her shoulder again to see Sir Jory looking this way and that. The she grabbed the tall man's wrist and tugged him behind a wide, marble pillar.

Grey pressed her back against it, a breathless laugh escaping her. She looked up at the man, smile full of mischief and excitement.

"Could you tell me when he leaves?" she murmured conspiratorially.

[Assistant]
"Why am i here?"  Emerin thought to himself drinking some Ale, it was nice but nothing like they had at Hyland's Keep, too fruity. He spent an hour talking to bumbling fools seeking his approval, since his Brother was sick he was forced to attend the Princess' nameday, hopefully his Nephews were here for the tournament later so he could talk to somebody not wanting to kiss his boots.

Suddenly he felt an bump and looked down to see a woman lying on the floor, before words were exchanged she got up and dragged Emerin behind a white pillar, she looked at him and smiled with mischief in her dazzling eyes,  "could you tell me when he leaves?" .

Emerin wondered who she was talking about and if in fact she wasn't deluded, but he looked round to see an old Knight looking distressed as if searching for something that was lost. He ran into the crowd with an expression of fear in his eyes and face.

Emerin looked at the mysterious woman in her beautiful dress and elegant braids and raised his eyebrows.  "Ok He's gone m'lady, now why were you trying to escape from him my dear and don't spare me any details or i shall call the old sod back."  Emerin looked at the woman with both intrigue and excitement, it looks like he is going to have fun.


[System]
Age: 18

Gender: Female

Race: Human

Appearance: Her Armor. Juliana stands at 5'7" and has a smaller bust than in the picture XD. Also when not wearing her armor, wears clothing much more suitable for nobles like dresses and such.

Personality: Her loyalty to her family is absolute and she would do nearly anything to bring honor to their name. She is also a firm believer in the Iron Rose Knight's duty to protect and serve. The weak are to be protected and it is the strong's duty to be defenders; therefore, when someone who is weak is trying to protect the results can be disastrous. This belief makes Juliana feel that the inexperienced Fanilly is unfit to be captain and so someone more suited to the task should take her place, like herself.

Raised in a noble household Juliana knows the art of 'masks' yet is not afraid to let her feelings be known. Her distain for the old traditional way of choosing a captain is hardly veiled, but she will not let those feelings get in the way of her knightly duties. She can seem full of herself at times but she genuinely wants what is best for her country and wants to protect people with all her heart.

Brief Backstory: Juliana was born to the noble household of Silvern, a very prominent family in Thaln. Their noble 'stock' grew after the rebellion of Phoran Cal as they were one of the greatest supporters of the Iron Rose Knights. The Silvern household has kept its affairs close to the Iron Rose Knights and while they support the knights fully, they also are very staunch supporters for doing away with the old tradition of choosing the captain from young girls born under a full moon.

Her family had planned to give birth to her under a full moon but due to some complications in birth she was born as the moon started waning again. The idea had been to get a girl into the position first; making it rather easy to change the system from within, but this was not to be the case. Still her parents were not about to give up and so started to raise her up to be the next captain despite the fact that by tradition she was no longer eligible for the position.

Raised with the best tutors nobles could buy, Juliana was molded into a great warrior and noble. Being devout followers of Mayon Juliana found herself gravitating toward the paladins of Mayon and incorporated their more defensive type battle style into her own. While her training was focused on the battlefield she did not neglect her noble daughter duties and is accomplished in the political field as well. Her parents made sure to give their daughter the opportunity to grow socially as well so as to gather favor with the other nobles to strengthen her position.

Equipment: Juliana wears ornamented plate armor with chainmail mesh underneath to increase mobility and reduce friction. Her standard equipment is a large shield in her left and a long sword in her right

Skills: Juliana has been taught the traditional art of sword and shield with an emphasis being on using the shield effectively to punish her opponents while defending herself. Bashing, parrying, or even just pushing her opponent with her large shield are integral parts of her training then using her sword to finish off her opponent.

Outside of combat she is an accomplished dancer, socialite, and rider. Essentially skills designed to make her look like the ideal noblewoman and captain material.

[User]
Christina dropped her shield with an audible sigh, staggering half a step as the pressure of the spell dropped off her shoulders.
"I cannot move while maintaining the barrier," She explained, taking a place at the Princess's side. She scanned the crowd intensely as she watched for any hint of another attack, determined that nobody else would get anywhere near the Princess as long as she still breathed. She spared a half glance toward Fanilly as she did, making sure the captain was safe as well.

"If we're to move, it should be quickly, preferably somewhere with metal in the door. I'll feel better once you're behind a barrier again."

[Assistant]
Marianne Delacroix

Seeing the guard captain crossing his arms and address her in such an informal way was enough to amplify her ire ten-fold. Her electrical aura surging along with her heightened emotional state that as she neared, the same hand that pointed a sharp finger at the mustached man opened wide as she viciously swiped her palm across the man's face with a resounding SLAP!. The force of which was empowered by her electrical mana, making the action sting and hurt just that much more. A small part of Marianne's mind worried when her open-palm slap of the man drew the attention of the other guards and nobles, but his crimes were far too serious and egregious to ignore. To go unpunished and unaddressed would be madness. Right now, Marianne was more focused on embarrassing the man and to chew his ass out. And chew him out she would. Only the Princess herself, Captain Fanily, and the Holy Immortal wherever she was, could reign her in and stop her.

"How dare you!"
She was inches away from his own face, her's quickly reddening as her blood pressure rose.
"You will uncross your arms when speaking to one of higher station and rank than yourself!"
Even if Marianne was shorter, she somehow appeared to tower over the guard as she placed her fists on her hips.
"You will stand at attention and you will address a lady by 'ma'am' or 'miss'!"
Now that she got that out of the way..
"What were you and your guards doing at this event to allow such an attempt on the Princess' life!?"
With each rise in her voice, her mana surged more and more. She dared the guard captain talk back to her and do anything other than speak in the affirmative. She challenged him to by her body language.
"Were you checking and screening the guests!?"
Her aura loudly crackled and snapped, kissing and biting at the mustached guard captain as they stung him.
"Were your guards roaming the grounds properly as they should have to keep eyes on matters?!"
Her hair of course levitated and floated in the air behind her, again only adding to her intimidating stance.
"Had we, the Iron Roses, not been here what would have happened then? On whose head would the executioner's axe fall for such a potential disaster? For such a failure had the Princess sustained a wound or even worse?!"
She and most everyone else should already know the answer to that.
"YOURS!"
Her voice boomed especially loud, to punctuate the message she was trying to get across with emphasis.
"Thank the Goddesses that the Iron Roses were present and took action swiftly to prevent injury and loss of life!"
Her eyes were locked on to the guard captain's as she focused on him, giving him her full attention as she blasted him.
"If it were up to me, if you were a Knight of the Delacroix, I would have you stripped of your position and rank for your obvious display of incompetence!"
Marianne stamped her heel as for the next minute or so she spewed a string of profanities in her native tongue in the guard captain's face. Veiling her nastier words and curses with her foreign language.
"What excuses do you have to say for yourself? Whatever it is, save it as you would be wasting your breath and our time. Leave our presence as you disgrace us all by merely standing here! Complete the tasks you were assigned if you could manage that and begone with you!"
Pointing a sharp finger in his face, she finished with one last line.
"Remember this for future reference and do better next time. For if you do not, there will not BE a 'next time'. Fix yourself, sir! And your men!"

[User]
Tiral watched in silence as the rest of the knights took action, moving off to apprehend the culprit as the barrier went up. The 'arrest', though, ended a lot less chaotically than he had expected; after all, with the assassin having just given up and collapsed on the floor... Well, there wasn't any particular reason to knock out the panicking nobles anymore, now was there?

The ice mage's expression turned to one of mild disapproval as the context of the situation came to light... Or so it seemed. Though the possibility of blackmail and coercion was there, the instant conclusion that the other knights seemed to jump to (namely, the innocence of the assassin herself) wasn't anything that he came to. He'd refrain from making any concrete objections for the moment, at least, but until everything came to light, he would at least remain wary. That was the plan, at least.

"Ah... Well, seems like my research will have to wait..." he sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "An attempt on the princess' life, a mission to try and smoke out the culprits in the making, and guard duty for whoever's left... There seem to be a lot more important things now, aren't there?"

Musing to himself a few more moments, Tiral realized that he was still in the company of the Court Mage and bowed his head.

"My apologies for that; I have a tendency to verbalize my thoughts on occasion. In any case... I'd assume you'll be having a little bit more to do in just a short while, what with the incident just now and all that. Though... Having some more knowledge on wards and the like might be appreciated for the coming battle. If it isn't too much of a hassle, may I borrow any notes on anti-magic wards and the like? Though I would prefer a more in-depth study, time seems to be of the essence as of right now..."

[Assistant]
Sir Garrett stood watching the interrogation. It was funny really they were all playing at trying to get information from the girl. Threats were so meaningless. Only actions mattered. As they extricate the information about the sister Sir Garrett snorted. clever.

With that Sir Garrett backed off the group of Iron Rose Knights. Frankly he wasn't needed anymore with the end of the whole charade. Intelligently they had decided to proclaim the Princess dead. A small number of Knights would go with her. Not this Knight  taking a seat from one of the tables on the edge of the ballroom. Flipping the seat around he settled his weight on it facing the back off the chair as he watched the end of the drama unfold.

Dame Marianne left the group and started walking towards the captain of the guard. She really does have incredible legs  Garrett allowed himself the small Leer as she approached the Captain what happened next made him raise his eyebrows in surprise. She really is a spit fire. I think I'm in love.

As Marianne continued to get more and more angry her aura threw sparks. No way am I getting in the middle of that.  He'd caught her nervous fidgeting with the bottom edge of her dress. Taking off his long coat he folded it over the back of the chair continuing to watch the reaming from a safe distance; clear admiration in his eyes as she got louder and more shocking.

Settling in Sir Garrett let his eyes wander keeping a close eye on lingering nobles and others who were not Knights. This had all seemed so. Convenient.

The loud Crack of Marianne'scurried hand brought him back aND he chuckled to himself. Damn she has an arm. I didn't know Thaln had women like this.

[User]
"Sure. Take as much as you need." Gillian says, noting the shaking. For a brief moment, his arm feels like it was being trampled by a boar….again. He rubs it as Ian makes his suggestion. It wasnt a terrible plan, were he honest, but it was short sighted. Christina was largely immobile, it seemed, while protecting the princess. And if an assassin had managed to slip through the entire royal guard, he'd want as many eyes on the prime target as possible. "I Uh…never was much one for fired up vengeance seeking my friend." He says, gently stretching.

He watches as Marianne begins her explosion, making note not to make an enemy of her anytime soon. The woman's vocabulary of vulgar phrases was as expansive as she was dangerous. "And at any rate…" he begins, astounded as the dark haired woman rapid fired curses. "Dear lord…" He whispers, understanding maybe a third of them. "At any rate, there seems to be enough stoked flames without me adding to it. Moreover, we're looking for an assassin in a city. I'm more of a 'band of orcs in dense forest' sort of hunter." He nods towards Christina, "And with Chris providing the barrier for her highness, there would really only be one free guard. I appreciate your offer, but I think it best we stick together."

[Assistant]
As Nero gave his response back to Theodore, the big noble could not help but give a chuckle as he appealed to him. The man had both appealed to him and to his daughter while slipping in his station in life. The son of a Duke was certainly not a bad person to have on one's side after all. As he watched him go Theodore could not help but think that perhaps in the future there was something they could work out, but at the moment there were other things to take care of.

"Humph, well I can assure everything pleasant the Silvern family will not say anything on this matter until it is settled by the knights." Theodore took one last good look around and then gathered his two sons together with him. "As this is now a matter for the Iron Rose Knights it is time we depart."

Theodore gave a nod to his sons, who nodded in return and gave a bow to the knights present. "We will now take our leave, may the Goddess Mayon guide you in your pursuit of the culprits." They stood back up and then started to leave, their father soon following behind them.

As they left Theodore could be heard saying, "How many times do I have to tell who don't talk at the same time! You're not twins for goodness sake!" Before long the only Silvern left was Julianna.

Julianna was glad Nero had went his own way for now, considering the present situation it was best not to be distracted from what could still be a danger to the princess's life. While Marianne dealt with the guard captain in a rather amusing manner what was more important was the culprit's information. While the assassin herself was effectively taken care of there was still a group out there who planned harm and had taken over quite the interesting location. As a member of one of a family that had done direct combat with that rebel, it seemed rather ironic that the Cal Family Mausoleum was where they were holding up.

"That such filth would be holded up there of all places, seems rather too coincidental." They had certainly chosen that place for a reason, if they were actually there. Julianna could not help but think that perhaps this was the actual trap; however, the plan fact of the matter was they needed to go there and try to stop this plot. Also the assassin had not actually seen her sister according to the message and had only heard her breathing, meaning they actually had no idea who was in that chamber, maybe it was all a ploy. Even if things turned awry however, certainly they needed to go there and quickly if they wanted to settle the matter before the lie of the princess's untrue demise could blow up in their faces.

"We had best decide our course of action as quickly as possible, as we no doubt have a very short time frame in which to conclude this matter." Julianna said her piece and took a look around to see if she missed anything. Well the Nero take down had been amusing at any rate, also if she was not mistaken...

Yep, Sir Garett was rather enjoying a certain bit of live entertainment. She considering bringing Marianne's attention to his little peeks but such small amusement would have to wait, the Iron Rose Knights had a princess to protect and maybe even a person to save, if the assassin's report was accurate anyway.


[System]
Age: 18

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Weapon:
Two metal tonfas, Artorius and Gwenhwyfar (formerly Lawnslot). Both are identical, visually, save perhaps a few differences in internal mechanism. In the traditionally held position, the longest part of the body aligning along the forearm, the forward facing post is actually a shotgun barrel; though standard shells are the usual ammunition, dust rounds can be loaded instead. The storage area expands along the spine of the weapon. The recoil is often used for propulsion when useful. The primary length of each tonfa actually has a blade running along it, resembling one half of a sword, to be specific.

This is because both weapons are capable of combining into a large, long sword; Caledfwlch. The two weapons reconfigure in such a way as to create a long, straight two-handed sword with a straight crossguard. The shotgun barrels are reoriented as the crossguard, one pointing to the left and the other to the right, used to enhance the power behind his swings.

Artorius and Gwenhwyfar both have one other unique attribute; high capacity batteries built into their frame. Each battery continuously siphons a supply of Aura from Benjamin, building the energy up so long as they are, in some way, upon his person. This energy can be released with a button built in below the shotguns' triggers, on the handle of the combined blade, or on the handle of the smaller tonfas. The release of this energy usually is used to power his Semblance, and must be replenished over time when discharged.

Joyous Guard
Expansion Calibrated for Ultimate Resistance
B. Lloyd #8 of 7

An expansion device manufactured to work in conjunction with Artorius and Gwenhwyfar. In its default form the Joyous Guard is a tower shield, large and incredibly heavy. Two racks are integrated into its back side for holding the two tonfa when not in use. It can be held in hand, affixed to the forearm (vertically or horizontally) or stored on Benjamin's back. The top and bottom sides taper off into wedges, enabling it to be used as an offensive bludgeoning weapon when affixed horizontally to the forearm. Its connection to the forearm is carefully designed to ensure that both tonfa are compatible in use when the shield is in play, though Joyous Guard is primarily intended for use with Caletfwlch. The shield is manufactured from dense, durable metals, making it even heavier than it looks. For this reason Gravity Dust was used in its construction, making it nearly weightless in Ben's hand. Notably, however, it is Aura-coded to Ben's Aura; in the hands of anyone not on its whitelist, the Gravity Dust reverses and makes it too heavy to be lifted.

Joyous Guard's secondary configuration requires the use of Artorius and Gwenhwyfar. The shield unfolds, incorporating the transformation mechanisms in both tonfa to provide the necessary components for the configuration. Namely they provide part of the edges and part of the hilt of the immense two-handed sword Joyous Guard becomes. The effects of the Dust carry over in this form, ensuring that Ben can swing it almost as easily as he would Caletfwlch. In fact, due to the nature of F=ma, a swing from it will be many times as devastating with a fraction of the effort. Like Caleftwlch, the shotgun barrels incorporated into the hilt aid in granting increased force to its swings.

Finally, in a tertiary configuration, Joyous Guard can convert while affixed to Ben's forearm by splitting down the middle and orienting the magnetic racks used to hold Artorius and Lawnslot along the two horizontal halves. The Lightning Dust used to generate that magnetic field, in this form, cranks into overdrive to turn the shield into a forearm mounted electromagnetic cannon. Slow-firing, but incredibly potent in its offensive power. Artorius and Lawnslot are absolutely necessary for this configuration, as they provide the additional structural stability needed to let Joyous Guard withstand the considerable forces exerted. As a bonus, however, this makes their shotgun barrels useful in this configuration.
Specialty: Benjamin is a highly adaptable fighter. He lacks dedicated defensive capabilities, but his weapons serve very well as augmentation to forearm blocks. The lightweight nature of his weapons, however, also means that he is a highly agile fighter. His preference is to move as quickly as possible, landing strikes when opportunities present themselves and evading blows (blocking if absolutely unavoidable).

Use of both his Semblance and Caledfwlch is exceedingly rare, to the point that they have not yet been used during his career at Beacon. Both are abilities and options he keeps to himself, aces up the sleeve. Ultimately, his style permits him to act as the situation demands, though the drawback to the continuous siphoning of his Aura, as well as his lack of any dedicated defensive tools, is that his personal defenses are noticeably lower than others'.

Semblance: Deinamig: Benjamin is capable of using Aura to fuel an individual section of his body to well beyond its usual limits. Fueling his legs, for example, will drastically increase both speed and power of his legs, and fueling his arms will do much the same. This can, theoretically, be applied to any section of his body. The Aura for this is usually provided by the resevoirs built up within his weapons, but that supply is not infinite. If a situation arises where he is unable to tap into it (or it runs out) he can directly fuel his Semblance with his present Aura.

Personality: Benjamin is a friendly guy. He also, at first glance through his performance in school, nothing to write home about. Average or slightly above in all his classes, with the only oddities appearing once one takes a closer look. His homework assignments represent minimal effort, while all examination scores actually place him near the top of the grading scale. Between the two, depending on how the class is run, they average out to roughly average grades. In short, Benjamin doesn't bother to do his homework until the last minute, if at all. He conforms to a decidedly nonstandard view of what is important, and what is not. Things he views as "busy work", such as most homework assignments, are treated with at best casual disregard, while things he views as important (tests, examinations, practice, getting to know people) works at. His strange views actually are rooted in a single opinion; if it isn't something he needs to do in order to do well in his life, it doesn't really matter. People skills will be important, combat skills will be important, all of the knowledge he amasses will be important. So he takes his tests and exams seriously, but at the end of the day… Who's going to care, once he leaves Beacon, whether or not his did his vocabulary flash cards?

This practical viewpoint extends to many aspects of his life, but he will always make an effort to get to know people. His wit might be a little sarcastic at times, but anyone who he views as a friend will find that few will go to greater lengths for their friends. Aside from his practicality, which more than a few teachers might instead term "laziness", Ben has one other notable quirk. He seldom fights at full capacity. He believes it is always best to have an ace or two tucked away up the sleeve, so that if a situation ever arises where he simply can't handle it, or needs just a little more power… He has something to draw on.

Color: Steel Gray

Emblem: A single inverted sword set behind a shield emblazoned with a crown device.

Appearance: Benjamin is a few inches short of six feet, making about average height for his gender. He has an athletic build, obviously necessary given his school, but he isn't overly muscular.The fighting style he prefers requires nimble movements, mandating that he maintain both a reasonable muscle mass as well as his agility. A faint grin is his default expression, blue-gray eyes bright with life under slightly messy light brown hair. He wears the Beacon school uniform completely unmodified, though it isn't at all uncommon to see him take the coat off and carry it around. When not attending class (and thus not required to wear his uniform), he tends to default to jeans paired with a black or gray long sleeved shirt. Light but durable boots are his footwear of choice, as his usual field attire simply adds some lightweight gray armor over his torso, and perhaps greaves to his shins. Artorius and Lawsnlot are carried at his belt, one on either side.

[User]
Gratia Mindaro - Towards the Dorms

"Vega Venetia and Napoli Fiordilatte," she rattled off without missing a single beat, her purposeful stride continuing to carry her towards the dormitories where Team VGNB would be staying for the duration of their time at Beacon Academy. Her tone was restrained and flat, the former somewhat surprising when the subject matter included the irksome fool that was her cheese-eating acquaintance. "They are currently in the middle of class."

She stopped, the pit-pattering of her shoes against the floor fading away into the air as they arrived before the doors to the dormitory. Gratia reached out and grasped the door handle, turning it slightly clockwise and pushing open the wooden gate with a light click. This was where she and the rest of Vignoble would be staying, now joined by the Otter faunus standing behind her. Bianca's scent ... the smell of feathers ... that was still present, but she knew that their previous member was already heading back to Mistral for family business, leaving them with a new teammate who she was only barely familiar with.

"Leave your things here," continued the Mistralese Huntress. "Will you be attending class immediately?"

[Assistant]
Cobalt Chideta - Just outside the Infirmary

Cobalt nodded as he absorbed the information given. He knew how to carry and injured person now, this was useful knowledge. He saw Sapphire roll her eyes and frowned. There was no need to be nasty, he was establishing information in order to figure out what was going on. However it seemed as if he was missing something as they started talking about some guy named Pops.

"Mind filling me in on this Pops? I don't believe I know what you're talking about." He asked politely as he looked towards the infirmary. The kid would tell them everything that happened to him, so maybe it was pointless to be speculating like this. Then again, maybe the kid wouldn't make it. That was a worrying thought.

[User]
Oswald Connolly-Outside the Infirmary

"I've seen people with good intentions do a hell of a lot worse than...that...believe it or not. But that's not really our problem. I think there's a connection, but you should check with Ozpin. Report on the situation, what you saw at that facility, and let him put it together. I'm sure there's a hundred variables we have no idea about." His chest was still pounding like a drum, but Oswald was at least a bit more calm than he had been a moment ago.

"This is probably something well above our level. Nonetheless, I'd love to get the chance to break some skulls if we ever figure out where the psycho who did this is. Give them a little taste of karmic justice. Just a taste, though." Opening and closing his fists, Oswald fidgeted uneasily as he tried to push the mental image from his head of the kid.

[Assistant]
Grane Blauer
"I will try my best...Sir."

Grane wasn't sure how to greet the headmaster, so he assumed it was like meeting any other superior. Even if the headmaster turned out to be casual with his students, Grane didn't want to run the risk of making a bad impression, especially if the Headmaster was one of those types who cared about proper titles. He merely followed suit with his teammate, Delta. The Headmaster's demeanor in Grane's opinion, was scholarly. Yes, while the headmaster did seem to have an air of authority, it was unlike those in the military. He was not as forceful, nor did he flaunt much power. For a headmaster of Hunters, he'd assumed that the headmaster would be extremely authoritarian. Grane quickly swiped the scroll and inspected it to make sure it was in proper working condition.

A scroll was oddly alien to him. Was he supposed to use it to find their supposed leader, Robert Fallson? Turning it on only led to more questions than answers. Mail, search, home? Grane threw the scroll into his bag; He'd figure out how to use the blasted thing later. Maybe someone from his "team" could get it sorted out. Perhaps Delta could. Unlike Grane, Delta seemed to navigate the scroll with ease. Humans were good at technology, though he wouldn't admit that out loud.

But the academy seemed eventful today, with who he assumed was a student rushing into the office.

"Sir, Whatever you order, I will follow to the best of my abilities. Basically what Delta said."

[User]
Diamond was watching the processing. Unlike others she was in no hurry to go help the person, fuck no! What if whatever he was dying of was contagious? She was all for helping people, but she always came first. If Oswald and... Manganese guy fancied growing black eyes, good for them, she'll be right here. Other people can get creepy sick, people actually paid for it. Emerald seemed to have a similar idea, kissing the floor right after returning her hat. Note to self: No horror movie nights unless planning revenge. the thief though as she bent down, loading the unconscious cat over her shoulder and heading for their dorm.

Once there, she put the faunus on her bed and went to fetch a glass of water for when the lights turned back on. Sitting at the edge of the bed, she gave Emmy a look: "You know, this is the second time in two weeks you were out cold and I had to haul you here. I'm thinking maybe a scary night is in order to make you a bit resistant to things." She chuckled, "Not taking you out drinking agin though, you're hopeless there and a mean drunk."

[Assistant]
"Little stress is part of the job." Ben's neck cracked quietly as he stretched, making him wince internally about the last time he'd heard that sound. Still, he felt marginally better than he did when that fight ended. He wasn't actively bleeding, and the Tylenol was doing wonders to at least keep him from noticing how sore he was. The young man looked over at his teammate, relatively focused (more than he was, at least) on her paper, with a half smile. "Thanks for the concern, though. It's not too bad. Might actually be good for me, all things considered. Forces me to goof off a little less. Work ethic was always my weakest point."

"And of course we're friends." His half grin widened, replaced by a bright, friendly grin. "Not just friends, either. You're my teammate. Means I trust you to watch my back, and as much as someone else'd probably do a better job, you can trust me to watch yours."

His grin expanded to rival the Cheshire Cat. "Though with the egos in this room, even I'm better than the alternative."

The music had been an increasing volume in the background for a while now, but one he'd been trying to tune out. When it finally grew loud enough to overcome his attempts to ignore it, half the class was already vacating the room. Amy's hearing was making things much worse for her, and his eyes narrowed.

"Any chance Amy can move?"


[System]
Age: 45; roughly 18 for a human

Bounty: Currently bountyless

Gender: Female

Appearance: Roughly 12 feet tall. Her sword and shield are as seen in the picture.

Personality: Hertha is best described, in many ways, as a typical Elbaf warrior. She is a bit rowdy at times and jumps at the chance to test her metal in both friendly and unfriendly combat. She enjoys the kind of fun one can find in a tavern, though finding a tavern that can fit her much less provide enough booze to get her drunk can be tricky. She has always and will always be fiercely loyal those she respects, doubly so if they respect her in return. But despite that hot-blooded nature that colors her actions, she is a very determined, focused girl at her core. Her goal is to be recognized as the true Elbafian warrior that she knows herself to be, to live up to her father's warrior legacy. In all things she does, she gives 100 percent, expects nothing less of others, and woe to those who get in her way.

Backstory: Hertha, though many don't seem to believe her, is a Giant from Elbaf. You may be asking why is she less tall than even some 'giant human'? Well, Hertha is a victim of a rare Elbafin birth defect that really doesn't have a proper translation into the common language. The closest approximation is 'Dishonorable Stature'. Superstition has it among the people Elbaf that those born with this condition are cursed to be 'failures' as Elbafin warriors and would misfortune and doom to those around them. As such, most born are either killed by their parents or left to die in the wilds. Her father and mother scoffed at this old superstition and chose to keep their daughter all the same. Hertha's father, a pirate himself, was captured and killed by marines before Hertha turned 1. Tensions quickly began to rise in her village, people began to whisper that any of them could be next to be caught up in the children curse. Her mother had always been of poor health and was more a civilian than a warrior, she knew she couldn't protect her daughter from the fearful superstitions. She took to the east blue with her infant child, even for a 'weak' giantess such as her living in the calm territory of the East Blue would be a fairly simple task. She settled in on a somewhat remote island town, making her place among their farming community; The locals greatly appreciated the immense strength of the giantess on their efforts so their lives were fairly easy.

Hertha took deep pride in her Elbaf heritage, as well in her father's legacy. her mother telling her stories of their history as a people or her father's adventures. She decided she wanted to train to be a great warrior and carried the Redrivers name back to the seas and prove her blood wasn't truly a curse to her and her family. Her mother, despite everything, supported this wish. Sickly though she was was, she still an Elbafian who honored valor and courage above all, and seeing her daughter spit at her 'curse' and deciding to walk her fathers path gave her great pride. She wanted nothing more than her child to shove their stupid superstitions down their throat. Hertha spent many years training on her own, eventually seeking out a master to aid her in her training in the east blue. Finding someone who could teach her a style suitably close to the traditional Elbaf fighting styles was difficult, but she eventually found a 'giant human' who specialized in fighting techniques for people of their size. She adjusted them accordingly to better imitate her mother's descriptions of Elbaf combat.

Since leaving her mother's side in search of honor and glory she has grown a reputation as a mercenary. Working for anyone who had the coin to buy her blade. Funny enough, she would often lower her price a great deal if the job was 'difficult enough'. This was a tactic to help her more likely to attract 'glory' winning jobs. Though it had the unfortunate side effect of giving her a distasteful Alias.' Hertha the Cheap'. Some even dared call her 'Hertha the Runt', as the ruffians who do mercenary work out in the east-blue don't tend to know about Elbaf and those that do certainly don't know enough about them to know about a condition that would make a full-blooded giant so small. Most think she is a delusional 'giant-sized human' and use the moniker to taunt and make fun of her. Though they often regret it.

While dabbling in pirating she was never directly associated with any captain or crew so has yet to be labeled as anything more than a troublesome sellsword known for immense strength and tenacity. Her ultimate goal was to become a pirate like her father, But she had trouble finding a captain and crew who's met her liking. She has worked for just as many merchants as pirates and has been offered full-time jobs plenty of times.

Abilities:
Combat: Hertha is a well-trained swords/shield woman. Her style, like that of many young Elbafian warriors still forging their skills, is simple but effective. She leverages her great reach and strength to her advantage in combat. She has yet to evolve her style very far out of the basic form of elbaf sword play, but her personal flair is starting to bud in the form of her being very nimble and dexterous for her size, making her effective at both fighting groups of normal-sized foes and troublesome to single ones larger than her, much less anyone in her own weight class. Shes seems to be about twice as strong as most giant-sized humans of her size, a trait she attributes to Elbafin heritage.

General:
She is actually quite the handy girl. She forged her own blade , helm, and shield. She put her size and strength to many uses around her village. Construction, ship-repairs, farming, you name it she probably did it for a decade or two. Put that with the better part of 8 years she's been at sea and she's already a very versatile 'jack of all trades' sailor to have on board. Besides being able to deal with most strength-based problems, she can perform minor and emergency ship repairs. Though her greatest skill is Blacksmithing, she spent a great deal of her free time among the village blacksmiths. Had she not preferred swinging a sword rather than making them she could have likely made a living at metal work. To that end, she is handy at fixing a great deal of weapons and devices, as well as crafting new ones if you give her the blueprints for what you want and don't mind her maybe having to make a prototype or two before getting it right.

Relationships: She doesn't know the crew or captain yet, save for what she's read in the papers. But that has given her a good feeling about this crew, she thinks she may have finally found a ship worth calling home.

Dreams: She wishes to be recognized as not just a true warrior by all of Elbaf, but one of the greatest that ever lived.

[User]
"Hey Alesia wait up!" Flint would shout as he chased after the girl. He was mildly annoyed as he really wanted to get his shopping done, and Alesia was the one carrying the money. Sure he had the reward money, but that was to be supplementary to their funds. Luckily for him, the captain would give up on chasing after that suspicious dog and head to a Tavern. He'd follow her in and get chewed out for losing her "pet". Now was a good time to get the money for supplies. "Sorry about losing Scruffy Cap'. I thought someone had him tied down. If you want I can try and find another pet while I'm out getting supplies. Speaking of them, could you try and keep out of trouble long enough for me do to that?"

As he looked around, his gaze stopped and lingered. It was that man! He looked just like the description the mayor gave him. Well, at least he wouldn't need to spend too much time to hunt him down. He also noticed there some people coming in. He chuckled as he heard her discuss the spread of the treasure they took from the Shade pirates. He didn't mind it being generous, but if they needed a new ship. Well those weren't cheap. Flint would definitely add his share to that new ship reserve. "Seems like you're quite charming cap. If we get more people you might need to trade in the Sloop for a larger ship or at least buy one if it you're unwilling to part with it. Of course we probably shuffled out some old crew since I could have sworn some of them just disappeared into the crowd. Anyway I'm going to take some money and get some supplies."

Flint would get up and take the money and then moved to the fortune teller's table. He'd take a close seat to the man and then slide him the cash and the letter. "You mind if make this fortune private or at least close to it as possible? I was told to deliver this letter to you, by a certain someone." He tried not to draw too much attention from the crew. He had no clue what he'd end up getting involved in by delivering this letter. But it would be for the best to keep other people's involvement to a minimum unless he really needed help.

[Assistant]
Tavern Corner - The Great Fortune Telling @Jerkchicken
"Not even a sign of tamperings, to think that you would deliver this letter," The fortune teller gazed at the seals of the letter, then pushing the letter back to Flint," A surprise that you pirates are so honest. But I already figured out what this letter is about, something regarding Duke Benniad."

The fortune teller drew out a sign form the deck of cards. The symbol of the Marshes. "Should you want to challenge the man that hides under another name, it won't be an easy voyage for you and the crew."

Breaking the waxed seal, the fortune teller pulled out a small letter, placing it at Flint's side. There it reads:

I'll skip with the formalities as you requested, I've confirmed this from the Rumours of the Brown Isles. Duke Benniad of the Kingdom of Argin is indeed the pirate Rel'chunk.

A letter as short as it is, yet it conveyed what it needed. Rel'chunk the 'Lord of the Evening', one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

The second card that the fortune teller drew was the card of the Wilted Feather, then the sign of snakes, the sign of an oasis, and lastly the sign of a ghastly old man with a sword.

"Allow me to explain further, your captain has a liking to animals," He pointed to the card of snakes, "And I can see that you have raised an Arctic Wolf. Seems like it escaped recently."

The fortune telling was accurate, as he pointed on the wilted feather and continued, "Your Crew have a few interesting people. That is in the news, but you fought a Marine Lieutenant, one that is stronger than his own rank. The other two cards are more relevant to your crewmates. So any further questions to ask?"

---

Tavern – Alesia @Genon
Another person, a man in a black suit joined the table. Alesia felt that she had been getting all the unwanted attention lately. She should've gotten a copy of newspaper beforehand, as she pondered on what the news wrote about. Perhaps not of something pleasant. She replied without showing much expression, "Sure, go ahead."


[System]
Gender: M

Age: 26

Career/Class:Soldier / Ex-Soldier

Weapons:
* Basket Hilted Broadsword
* Imperial Dagger
* Norscan round Shield (Took from his first felled enemy)
* Aged Pistol

Physical Description Cyrdic is tall and lean, but solidly built, standing an inch over 6 feet in height. His eyes are reminiscent of shaped wrought iron. His face is ruddy and echoes a youthful appearance, though battles and training had roughed him into the look of a mature soldier. He has quite the rugged quality about him. Two scars mar his face. One parallel to the bottom of his left eye, and another scraping across his right jawline. His legs are long and his his facial hair is only a coarse, 5'oclock shadow thanks to his knife. He's clad in fine and tough leather over a chainmail hauberk, with sturdy traveling shoes and a worn belt.

Mental Description/Personality: Cyrdic isn't a fool. He spent a year apprenticed to a Quartermaster (as punishment for recklessness) and learned how to read and write (to a degree). The best way to describe him would be a hardened, rough soldier at the brink of his youth. He'll use what he can in his disposal to win, though half the time it turns out he'll need to fuck someone up anyway. His fierce independence and rough nature can only be matched by his determination to survive. He's not tactically intelligent, but he has a sense of how battlefields shift and can command smaller troops with his powerful voice. He tends to have a take-no-shit (unless it's from a superior officer) lookout on life. He's amiable to certain people however, and will have a dry wit around those he enjoys (or to people he wishes he could be more honest with). While fighting and killing and marching has been his entire life, he's not particularly fond of being thrust into impossible situations and doesn't lack a healthy sense of self preservation. He's gotten quite tired of working for corrupt officers. He's a devout Sigmarite thanks to his upbringing, and has a hammer chained necklace upon his breast to signify this.

[User]
Amal blinked, aghast. He took the strange runic knife and the advice, though it took all of his willpower to not free himself then and there to go and find Emmaline. He glanced at Sir Brenly, the old codger staring in shock at Amal and the snake, and for good reason. The others in the slavehold seemed to pay very little mind except for one or two, and they looked more curious than alarmed or animated in any real fashion. They'd likely given up on freedom days ago.

"Sir Brenly, I've a confession to make." Amal said in riekspeil as the storm roared over them, wetting the floor ever more with gentle streams of water ebbing down onto the bilge. Amal was used to lying to people all the time. In fact he found it quite charming that Emmaline had made a living off of it, as problematic as some might likely think on his tastes. But when it came to truly honorable aquaintences or even friends, he did feel just a small twinge of guilt lying.

"I'm not a Satrap. I'm just a lowly thief, named Amal. The Princess is aboard this ship, but she is not a princess. She's a sorceress and my girlfriend. I'm sorry to have lied to you, but we needed passage on the El Cargador. I don't know you too well, but you're a more honest man than I'll likely be." He said, having no trouble admitting it. Being a scoundrel was just too much fun, though sometimes he did feel envious of those people with impeccable codes of honor. "Emmaline and I are leaving this ship. Can I count on you to join us?"

The portly gentleman glared at Amal with judgemental eyes, weighing him for a moment. The Arabyan kept quiet as the man just looked at him, before Sir Brenly broke the silence.

"My boy, you could be Vlad Von Carstein and I'd still leave this hellhole with you." He said.

Amal smiled broadly as the storm buffeted winds hard against the hull. He looked to the small opening and realized with the sloshes of water pouring in that it was time. Amal slowly placed the knife's strange steel along the strange Elvish manacles that held him fast, and to his amazement the medal began to erode. It was a strange feeling as some parts of the iron wore off and others held strong stubbornly for a few seconds before they too dissolved.

"Allah be merciful," He muttered as he reached for his wrists and felt along them, making sure he wasn't cut too badly. The lack of blood flow was all pins and needles, but it was better than not feeling anything at all.

"Bloody brilliant..." Sir Brenly breathed, and Amal crept his way over to the older man to help him with his shackles.

[Assistant]
Emmaline cursed herself for not having come up with some better way to time her actions with Amal, though it was hard to see what she could have done. She had remained in her prison for several hours and though the Captain hadn't visited her again, probably being too busy with his ship to sport with his captive, a guard checked in on her every so often. Each time she merely sat, glaring at them in her ersatz restraints as the storm worsened. Finally she could stand it no longer and came to her feet. Asp, still a tattoo seemed to slither down her arm, the moving ink extremely disconcerting till it settled around her wrist. She mumbled the counterspell under her breath and the restraints melted away, flowing back into the form of the elvish sword. Picking the weapon up she crept to the hatch and pushed it open, steading herself on the heaving deck as she did so. As she expected the hall beyond was clear, in weather like this she expected all hands to be aloft.

She picked a direction at random, belatedly wishing she had interrogated Asp more closely as to Amal's location. Creeping along the corridor she passed what she imagined were officers quaters and stopped in one to steal a long silken shirt to hide her nakedness. The thing wouldn't do as a disguise, or any real protection from the weather, but it offered the mental protection that clothing provided. Reaching the rear of the ship she found what must have been the officers wardroom and snagged a block of cheese from a cabinet. Hoping that Dark Elves didn't make cheese from anything particularly awful, she took a bite and found it sharp and agreeable, and a balm to her empty and now cramping stomach. The sound of wind suddenly increased and she ducked into the mess a second before a drenched elf came down a stairway, heading for her prison. She waited a moment and then stepped out behind him. The elf must have sensed the motion because he began to pivot in time to see her two handed stroke come down, the clumsy slash catching him between neck and shoulder. There was a jarring in her wrist as the razored elven blade bounced of his shoulder blade and the Elf reeled back with a gasp of pain. Emmaline delivered two more wild slashes at the crippled elf, managing to slice of an ear and gash him across the crown before she finally shove the point into his chest. Even so the elf didn't die quickly, his elegant hands scrabbling at the blade for long moments until blood gouted from his lips and he stiffened.

Without waiting to check the body she vaulted up the stairs and lifted the hatch cover every so slight. WInd and rain lashed in at her and she had a brief impression of wild rolling seas light by lightning. SHe was at the rear of the ship, below the deck where the wheel was located, if elves used such things. Along the deck she could see elves heaving at ropes and others skipping through the rigging. The second ship was visible ahead of them and off to port perhaps two hundred yards, a dark shape barely visible through the spray.