![Eddy](http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/211/e/4/skilled_sniper_by_satibalzane-d595dcw.jpg "Eddy") **Name: ** Edward ("Eddy") of Ashenos **Race:** Elf **Age:** 98 **Alignment:** Mage **Personality:** Above everything else, Eddy is loud and hot-headed. He has no patience for such things like manners or tact. And this has gotten him into trouble countless times, and yet, he continues to speak his mind loudly, no matter what. Those who can tolerate his brutal honesty find that Eddy is a rather good person. He is loyal to his true friends - after all, out there you can only trust each other. Though very few people are considered his true friends nowadays, as "friends" have left him (figuratively) burning before. Eddy knows that various strangers most likely will seek to use him, and so he will do the same, and they can expect no more loyalty than they themselves offer. **Bio:** Eddy does not know his parents. He never did. He was found in the wilds by some hunters, who lived in a remote and small village, outside of Altea's civilization - the village of Ashenos. Eddy proved to be a natural with a bow, and at the age of 16, he discovered that he was also a mage. Luckily for him, no Paladin appeared out of thin air to capture him. Nor did the villagers care much - it could be an useful tool to survive the merciless wilds when mastered. One day, a group of bandits settled in nearby. The poor village was made as a target for extortion. When the thugs came to "negotiate", Eddy simply told them to "go fuck themselves", which prompted an attack on the village. Although there were some casualties, Edward's magic and skills with the bow helped Ashenos to drive out the scum. Not willing to wait for their retribution, the hunters each parted ways and abandoned the village. In the following decades to come, Eddy experienced it all. Running from the Paladins, smuggling, caravan raiding and even some assassinations within The Undercity. Over the years he had quite a few true friends, though most of them eventually died in this dangerous line of work. He experienced quite a bit of betrayals as well, usually when it's time to share the loot. So Eddy has learned to be careful around his "teammates". And now, he's heading to another small village near the edge of Altea's civilized frontier - The Misala Village. Rumor is going around that someone is searching for a group of mages for a very specific, dangerous, and extremely well paid job. Even if turns out to be a trap or a hoax, it is a good idea to check it out. **Initial spells/techniques:** - _Flame Crash_: Eddy shoots a ball of fire skywards, leaving it floating high up in the air. At his command, it will come crashing down to the target location. - _Fireball:_ An ageless classic, Eddy has learned this one from a spell tome he got in The Undercity. While he is yet unable to use anything but the most basic form, throwing an exploding ball of fire at someone is still extremely effective. - _Trailblaze:_ Once activated, this spell will leave a trail of fire in his footsteps. Used as a means of "kiting", moving backward while attacking with fireballs and arrows, and hampering the opponents ability to chase him. Eddy can create a flame trail up to 10 meters of length, and flames last for a minute. **Skills:** - _Survivalist:_ Eddy has a bow, a trusty knife, and an endless supply of fire. As well as the knowledge to use them. Living of the land is what he has done for most of his life, and it is his second nature. - _Experienced Hunter_: Eddy has hunted some quite nasty critters, avoided others. Either way, when it comes to wild beasts, he knows nearly everything. Unless it's an creature mutated by a Scar. But he learned to avoid those. - _Herbalist:_ As an extension of his survival skills, Edward has learned a great deal about herbs, especially on how to treat various wounds and sicknesses with them. Or which ones could be used for venom or poison. If Eddy tells you not to eat those berries, you really shouldn't. - _Complete utilization:_ With a beast slain, no part of said beast should be wasted. All it takes is a knife and a know-how, and a beast's carcass can be used for far more than just meat. **Combat strategy:** Eddy, being an archer, prefers to stay at range, showering his opponents with arrows and an occasional fireball. To keep his opponents on the edge, he leaves his Flame Crash up in the sky, waiting for the opponent to take the wrong step. Eddy's favorite strategy is forcing an opponent to dodge either his arrow or his fireball only to be hit by Flame Crash immediately after. Trailblaze allows his to keep his distance from melee attackers and slow down their advance. **Unique equipment:** None. All Eddy carries is either bought in Undercity, stolen or made by himself. All of which makes their quality rather questionable. -------- ![Alicia](http://th03.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2010/228/6/f/Battlefield_by_PeterPrime.png "Alicia") **Name:** Alicia von Eternus **Race:** Human **Age:** 20 **Alignment:** Luminous Knights **Personality:** Alicia isn't the one to talk much. She has a goal, an objective, and she will accomplish it. Small talk is only a distraction. Emotions, friends are the same. She will usually reply to others trying to start conversations, but will only speak herself if necessary. She is not the one to go out of the way to help people, but will not harm anyone unless it is necessary. Under all this, she has a good heart and noble intentions, it's just that her vast majority of life was spent in relative isolation. The only people she actually had a chance to socialize with for 18 years was her Father, Master Oriano and various maids. And those people were trying to avoid being close to her. Alicia simply does not know how to handle various social situations, and feels anxious around large groups of people. And in battle, you could hardly find anyone else more focused than her. **Bio:** Since she was born, Alicia's fate was decided. She would honor her ancient lineage and become the finest Luminous Knight there could be. Since she could walk, her training has already begun. Master Oriano, one of the few people who mastered the exotic Sioretto fighting style, was eager to pass down his knowledge. To him, Alicia was a heir of sorts, one who would inherit his knowledge, and maybe even surpass him. Day by day, week by week, month by month, Alicia endured grueling physical training. She was also taught history, politics, strategy and warfare. By the time she met the minimum age required to join the Paladins, she was more than prepared for the basic training there. The two years training to be a Paladin were a huge cultural shock to her. So many people, with so many stories and lives on their own. Lives that they had some control of. Choice. They made the choice to join the paladins themselves. Nevertheless, she managed to make a few close friends. The first friends she ever had. She overcame many challenges and trials, and yet, dealing with people was and currently is the most difficult one. However, she did manage to have her own sort of fun during the training. When a combat instructor criticized her fighting style as impractical and ineffective when compared to something like sword and board, the said instructor hit the ground in roughly two seconds when trying to demonstrate the point. After that, she was in everyone's spotlight, much to Alicia's despair. She has been told that she will rise within the ranks effortlessly. She was told that she had a bright future. She was to be an example of model citizen, a model family. And yet, she feels hollow. And just after her graduation, Alicia and a few others from the ones who succeeded in graduating were off to their first mission. **Initial spells/techniques**: - _Sword of Light:_ Conjures up a sword shaped Luminosity projectile to somewhere near her body, floating mid-air and following her, ready to fire in any direction at her command. She can maintain up to 4 swords simultaneously. Her other spells are based around Swords of Light. - _Piercing Light:_ Shatters a sword of light into many small shards. While this severely diminishes their impact and is a lot less effective than just letting the sword to hit the target, it covers a wide area. Primarily used to destroy weak, lingering magic which covers a large area, or to provide a sort of dampening zone which weakens all magic within it. The shards are not enough to ignite a mage even when contacting his/her flesh, but they also mess with various defensive spells they use. - _Ring of Blades:_ Commands all active Swords of Light to surround and circle around a single target, hampering movement. Can be commanded to simultaneously shoot towards the target, making it very hard to avoid. Or they can be scattered via Piercing Light. **Skills:** - _Sioretto Style:_ An ancient martial art which uses two longswords of varying length, weight and centers of balance, which no more than a few people mastered. This unique fighting style relies on predicting your opponents moves and reactions, utilizing the opponent's and the user's momentum rather than brute force. When properly executed, to an observer it looks like a dance of swords, with the user spinning around from a foe to foe, attacks simply missing the Sioretto master. As it heavily relies on prediction, this style is rendered ineffective against opponents with unique weapon and combat styles, or if their combat style is not initially observed or known. - _Combat Focus:_ A required skill for Sioretto, Alicia is able to enter a state of trance, completely purging herself of any emotion or thought, focusing solely on the battle ahead. While in this Combat Focus, Alicia is able to predict enemy actions just from a twitch of their muscles, their facial expression and/or their initial stance. When all combat variables are known, Alicia is able to plan her moves a few seconds in advance - the use of spinning attacks allow her to build momentum and not fear being hit, since she already predicted where her opponent will strike and what the next one is going to do. Needless to say, Alicia can only maintain this focus for about a minute, after that the mental exhaustion will prevent her from doing that again for a few hours. Without the Combat Focus, Sioretto style dramatically loses effectiveness. - _Combat Analysis:_ Against an opponent with an unique fighting style, predictions are impossible without analyzing their movement patterns. Attentive analysis also allows Alicia to spot weak spots and various others exploitable flaws, while giving her the necessary info to activate Combat Focus. This also is valuable info to give to her teammates. - _Duelist Mode:_ When using Combat Focus is impossible, and by extension, Sioretto, Alicia sheathes one of her swords and assumes a fencer's stance. While she is a capable fencer, her swords were never meant for quick thrusting attacks, and as such, her combat effectiveness is greatly reduced, reducing her from an excellent fighter to a mediocre one. **Combat strategy:** Using Luminosity to deal with ranged attacks and attackers, Alicia bides her time until she's confident she has enough information to safely use Combat Focus. At her deadliest during this mode, she is able to take on multiple opponents single-handedly. Swords of Light allow her to both attack mages at range and shoot down their projectiles, while Piercing Light acts a dampening field and area denial. Ring of Blades can be used to immobilize a mage and and kill him if needed. While still able to take care of herself in Duelist Mode, Alicia needs to be on the defensive, and let her more well-rounded teammates to take the charge. **Unique equipment:** - _Izanami & Izanagi:_ The two swords Alicia wield. The finest swords custom made specifically for Alicia, which also cost her father a small fortune. Made by the finest Dwarven smiths, these weapons are unmatched, at least compared to the equipment which is given to Paladins for free. Specifically made to be viable as a focus, these swords are extremely sharp and durable. Their main flaw is that they are very specific - only truly effective when using Sioretto, they lose their superiority when used for other styles for which they are not meant for. Alicia's friends, when trying out her swords, all mentioned that they feel unwieldy and awkward to use. - _Valkirian Armor:_ Named after the mighty female warriors of myth, this armor was also custom made for Alicia. Offering a balance between protection and flexibility, this armor would still be considered light when compared to the standard armor given to the Paladins. However, Valkirian Armor provides Alicia with complete freedom of movement which plate armor could not ever give, and which would only hamper her combat abilities.