[sup][h3]Enemy Lineup  -   ☠️  [/h3][/sup][right][hider=Goldchain ][table][row][cell][table][row][cell][img]https://varg.wdfiles.com/local--files/5e-caradoc/Knight.jpg[/img]
[color=2e2c2c]___________________[/color][/cell][/row][/table][/cell][cell][b]Goldchain[/b][table][row][cell][sub]AURA
CHARISMA
GUILE
TENACITY
EFFICACY[/sub][/cell][cell][sub]C
E
E
B
B
[color=2e2c2c]_____[/color][/sub][/cell][/row][/table][table][row][cell][sub]A medium stature man wearing northern chainmail. The moment that his hood is removed, a golden chain draped around his neck emblazoned with the Western Eagle makes his affiliations plain to see. His hand extends out from behind his cloak and a sphere of condensed silver aura forms before commanding it forward, causing all metal within the area to be drawn towards him.[/sub]
[sub][color=2e2c2c]_____________________[/color][/sub][/cell][/row][/table][/cell][cell][color=2e2c2c]___________________________________________________________________[/color][/cell][/row][/table]
[/hider]

[hider= Goldtooth][table][row][cell][table][row][cell][img]https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/029/647/963/large/anna-helme-.jpg?1598226296[/img]

[color=2e2c2c]___________________[/color][/cell][/row][/table][/cell][cell][b]Goldtooth[/b][table][row][cell][sub]AURA
CHARISMA
GUILE
TENACITY
EFFICACY[/sub][/cell][cell][sub]D
E
E
C
B
[color=2e2c2c]_____[/color][/sub][/cell][/row][/table][table][row][cell][sub]A taller and heavier set man with a bald head and multiple golden teeth. He appears to be the physically strongest martial fighter of the bunch and wields a longsword a tad larger than the others and has a shortsword at the hip to be wielded alongside the longsword if things take a turn for the worse. Despite being a western knight he doesn't seem to be gifted in sorcery so he relies on the other knights to support him while taking a vanguard position at the front.[/sub]
[sub][color=2e2c2c]_____________________[/color][/sub][/cell][/row][/table][/cell][cell][color=2e2c2c]___________________________________________________________________[/color][/cell][/row][/table]
[/hider]

[hider= Goldilocks (Decapitated)][table][row][cell][table][row][cell][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/624270632946761758/1475620762554732724/image.png?ex=699e266d&is=699cd4ed&hm=591435ef28532b20cb565614a2fcb903ce78b2aec3b9d01fdd091d1675144203[/img]
[color=2e2c2c]___________________[/color][/cell][/row][/table][/cell][cell][b]Goldilocks[/b][table][row][cell][sub]AURA
CHARISMA
GUILE
TENACITY
EFFICACY[/sub][/cell][cell][sub]B
E
D
D
C
[color=2e2c2c]_____[/color][/sub][/cell][/row][/table][table][row][cell][sub]   ◉ Bloodsoaked Fenris Armor
   ◉ Western Longsword
   ○ A pouch of platinum coins
   ○ Vial of Golden Liquid[/sub]
[sub][color=2e2c2c]_____________________[/color][/sub][/cell][/row][/table][/cell][cell][color=2e2c2c]___________________________________________________________________[/color][/cell][/row][/table]
[/hider]

[hider=Silent Knight][table][row][cell][table][row][cell][img] https://i.pinimg.com/222x/78/18/6f/78186f7279943c61d23d56a6e13a221d.jpg[/img]
[color=2e2c2c]___________________[/color][/cell][/row][/table][/cell][cell][b]Silent Knight[/b][table][row][cell][sub]AURA
CHARISMA
GUILE
TENACITY
EFFICACY[/sub][/cell][cell][sub]D
E 
E
B
B
[color=2e2c2c]_____[/color][/sub][/cell][/row][/table][table][row][cell][sub]An enigma among the knights that does not speak or make any sort of noise at all. An eerie red light glows from within his helm.[/sub]
[sub][color=2e2c2c]_____________________[/color][/sub][/cell][/row][/table][/cell][cell][color=2e2c2c]___________________________________________________________________[/color][/cell][/row][/table]
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[hr]
[center][table][row][cell][h3][b][sup]Forging [color=2e2c2c].[/color] A[color=2e2c2c].[/color] Pact [color=2e2c2c].[/color] Knight[/sup][/b][/h3]
[justify][color=silver]

[color=#C9571E]”Ye’ know the benefit o’ axes compared t’ swords Nika?... swords can slash ‘nd stab, they can guard, ‘nd all of that fancy shit. But ‘f you want t’ split open someone’s armor ‘nd get to their soft bits...”[/color]

Bren Surt stood taller than probably any northmen Nika had ever seen, nearly eight feet in height with a physique that rivaled barbarians. There were rumors that Bren had some trace of giant’s blood in his lineage, but even then it was the bear symbolism that truly came through. Where the Fenris clan wore wolf pelts and upkept kennels of hounds, Surt were the ironclad backbone of the north. It was rare that you would see Bren without the rustic brown grizzly cloak and hood, though the hood only came over the man’s head when he was out on the battlefield. Standing across from the young upstart Nika, swamped in the dark furs of some animal, it would appear as if a young pup were opposite to a massive predator of the north— and if circumstances were different, Bren might’ve eventually met Nika on the battlefield in the future. 

But Nika was being honed and shaped to be an asset to the North, one that could watch over his niece Brig now and into the future. Kurt and Bren had lived in Tempestua long enough to know that peace never lasted long enough for a break between generations; he’d prepared his many sons for that reality, and with this young mageblooded youth taking on his name?... he wasn’t going to allow Nika to put Surt to shame, so the training would be just as grueling for him. Surts were known for their strength over all else, so rather than have the boy learn sneaky underhanded tactics like Brig, the mageborn boy would be building up his muscles and eating like a Surt.

They'd started laying the building blocks in earnest the year before, just a couple after the boy's family had arrived in Fenris, and progress had been slow but steady since. Compared to the native whelps his age Nika was still scrawny, but he'd put on weight and learned to swing a weapon. Had really started to tolerate the cold more and fear the Northmen less. And they’d discovered a stubborn streak of determination in the boy that rivaled those of his new countrymen. Now it was time to move into harsher regiments, though Nika himself had been kept in the dark as to what his future training would entail as he plodded along after the massive Surt.

[color=#C9571E]”Now ye’re going t’ keep slamming that axe down into that rock until y’ split it in two.”[/color] The rock that Bren spoke of would be better described as a boulder three times the size of Nika, not to mention it wasn’t just a simple stone. The boulder was flecked with small glimmers of reflective metal woven through the black and gray. 

Nika blinked at the boulder, intimidating despite just being a lump of unmoving rock, and then looked at Bren as if to check that the man was serious. There was an expectant look in the Lord Surt's eyes, the kind that emboldened and unnerved Nika in equal measure. He turned back to the stone.

[color=rosybrown]"Okay...!"[/color] he breathed, then raised the axe, which looked oversized in Nika's small hands, up over his head like he would do if he were chopping firewood. As he brought the simple iron axe down onto the boulder the ringing of metal split the quiet winter air - which meant that the stone was just as much metal as it was earth. The blow buzzed along the weapon and into Nika's arms as the axe slipped from the boulder's face. 

He stumbled backward but caught himself before he could fall over. Took a moment to breathe before raising the axe again. He brought it down harder this time, with all of the might in his little body, and the shock of the impact bit back even stronger. It jolted even his brain, and this time he did slip back and hit the snow. With his body still buzzing he scrambled back up to his feet, sneaking a glance at Lord Surt. The flush of his cheeks from the cold hid his embarrassment, he hoped. 

He tried again. And again. He swapped from overhead chops to lateral swings and back. His breathing grew heavy. His hands stung with each strike. His movements slowed. Behind the layer of clouds the sun crawled through the sky, though it was hard to tell how long Nika tried and failed and tried again for. Eventually when the blade slipped from the rock the latest time he let it hit the ground.

[color=rosybrown]"This... isn't training..."[/color] he panted, his Luxun accent yet to fade. His arms trembled from the effort, but he hadn't made much of a scratch, let alone a dent in the ore. The head of the axe was in worse shape than the boulder in front of him. He'd thought that maybe there was some trick to it, but no matter how he came at it he made no progress.

[color=rosybrown]"It's not going to make me strong, there's just... no way you can split this with a normal axe! If it was Mom–"[/color] he bit his tongue. It wasn't like their ancestry was a secret; rumors of Lord Fenris' "pet project" ran all over the area. But his mother had steered him away from talking much about it, just one among many with that advice. And Nika had been trying to learn not to jump to praising or defending what remained of his old life, even if the woman [i]could[/i] split the stone with just a touch of her hand. 

[color=rosybrown]"...you're just making fun of me. Sir."[/color]

[color=#C9571E]”MAKIN’ FUN OF YA’ HUH?..”[/color] The towering man smiled from ear to ear before giddily stomping over toward one of the nearby weapon racks. There was a sword, an axe, and what looked like a simple flanged mace. He took the iron hand axe that looked identical to the one Nika held, though it seemed a lot smaller in his hands than in the boy’s. 

Bren then crunched his way towards the same boulder of ore that Nika stood before and raised the axe overhead for a moment before swinging it down. There was no flourish nor did the patriarch of house Surt seem to show any sort of strain, but the sound of a clean crack followed the ringing of metal as the iron axe split straight into the chunk of mineral— though it seemed as if Bren intentionally stopped the boulder from splitting halfway. The axe was seemingly perfectly stuck, halfway down the ore’s center leaving it halfway split for Nika to finish.

[color=#C9571E]”There ‘ts halfway broken now, and ‘f one o’ my sons saw me doing this for ya’ they’d be giving ya’  more shit than I am.”[/color] 

Nika gaped at the display of raw strength. He'd known that Northmen were powerful, and Lord Surt one of the strongest and toughest among them, but he'd never seen such a feat before - let alone so up close! After a moment of stunned silence the boy shook his head and ran up to the boulder and the weapon lodged in it, staring up at them both.

[color=rosybrown]"You really split it...!"[/color] He said in astonishment. He couldn't reach Bren's weapon from there even with it embedded halfway down the rock. Nika spun around to face the giant of a man that had taken his family in, as he took his own axe in both hands.

[color=rosybrown]"Then your way- That's how you got so strong? And me too-"[/color] His fingers tightened around the haft. [color=rosybrown]"-I'll really be able to do it...?"[/color]

The massive northmen with ruddy auburn hair knelt down with both hands extended outward to set upon Nika’s shoulders. Bren embodied the teachings of the old Surt clan more than any other, he glowed like a torch in the darkness and his warmth would uplift even the most sullen of soldiers on the battlefield. He leaned closer to Nika before setting the skin of his forehead onto the boy’s scalp. 

[color=#C9571E]”Listen ‘ere ya’ mageblooded pup, you now have th’ fire clan’s blessing whether ye’ believe it or not. So when I say [You will do it] ‘ts not me trying ta’ convince you. I am TELLING YOU!”[/color] Bren then stood and spun the young Nika around to face the half-broken boulder once again, this time the lord of Surt patted the young boy’s back and with that touch a burning feeling would begin to stoke up in Nika’s chest.

The words alone were enough to rouse the boy, but the encouraging hand went even farther. Nika planted his feet, tensed his arms, glared at the stone in front of him and raised the axe high over his head. [color=rosybrown]"Hyaaa!"[/color] With a shout he brought the weapon's sharpened edge down onto the boulder's face, striking as high and hard as he could. 

And still he did not feel the stone give, only the harsh, painful buzz of the blow reverberating through his limbs and rattling his bones. The axe nearly slipped from his grasp, but he held on. He hardly waited for the shaking to stop before he went at it again. [color=rosybrown][i]"Hyaaaa!"[/i][/color]

Perhaps it was an impossible task. Maybe the moral of the story would be that it wasn’t the boulder that needed to be broken, but rather Nika himself instead? Or something else entirely could have been at work, with that warm feeling sputtering like a small flame in Nika’s stomach. Maybe he actually could do something? A surge of uncharacteristic strength would reinforce Nika’s muscles for just a moment as his axe came into contact with the boulder. It was just as his arms began to shake and quiver uncontrollably, beads of sweat dripping from his face as he looked from the impossible task at hand to Bren himself. This final swing felt hot in the hands, like the wood Nika gripped was about to catch flame and burn to cinders within his hands. But just as the tapered edge found the rock, a small shockwave would fire outward causing an echo throughout the courtyard that cleared snow from the earth and grass below— and beneath where the axe struck it had penetrated, the smallest cracks and ruptures could be seen forming along the outside of the ore.

[color=#C9571E]”See, there ya’ go jelly arms! A few more hits ‘nd that rock ‘s gunna be pebbles!”[/color] Bren cackled maddeningly as he watched the embers of potential flicker to life within the boy.

Nika stared at the huge hunk of ore and the little bit of damage he did to it. Bren's laughter must have been contagious, because after a few moments soft, giddy laughter of Nika's own bubbled up out of his mouth. He swiftly raised the axe over his head again but the weight of it overbalanced him as his strength gave out, and he flopped back onto the wet ground. It was much too early to feel accomplished, but it was improvement no matter how small. The boy shifted, tilting his head up to peer at Lord Surt upside down as he laid there. What months ago would have been a timid smile had transformed into a toothy, boyish grin, the same kind he'd end up keeping into his adult years.

[color=rosybrown]"Yeah!"[/color] he agreed, still partially breathless from the effort. [color=rosybrown]"I'll do it... and...!"[/color]

He paused, blinked back at the boulder and then Bren again. [color=rosybrown]"...you won't tell Jord and Jorg, right? That you did part of it? Um, sir."[/color]

[color=#C9571E]”O’no, Jorg and Jord, they’re th’ least o’ your worries!”[/color] Bren cackled out before returning the axe to its weapon rack.

The massive man sighed at Nika’s response, shaking his head with a heartfelt smile worn openly upon the man’s haggard face. A callused hand reached up to scratch through the rough scraggle of his face, humming at the question before he began to step away— leaving Nika to continue with his training with some choice parting words.

[color=#C9571E]”What was that old saying m’ grandfather used t’ tell me?.. Oh yes, it’s not the size of th’ flame, nor the brightness o’ the hearth that keeps a northman safe. It’s th’ willingness to spark that flame, Nika !”[/color] He snickered one final time before raising his hand to wave in departure, making his way up one of the land’s rolling hills to the Surt’s Keep.

Nika watched him go, flipping onto his stomach and pushing himself back up to stand with some effort. To spark a flame, huh?... He could do that. Now that the flare he'd felt before had died down he felt that his limbs were starting to feel numb from the combination of cold and exertion, but he got back into position anyway, feet planted apart and grip tight on the axe. He tried to stoke that fire again as he raised the weapon up once more.

[/color][/justify][/cell][cell][color=2e2c2c].[/color][/cell][cell][img] https://media.tenor.com/aNa6GnRbRuIAAAAM/iskandar-laugh-fate-zero.gif[/img]



[b][i]Steirenlys, Surt Training Grounds
Ten Years Ago

     - A young Nika trains with Bren Surt to help refine the young boy’s strength.[/i][/b]
[color=2e2c2c].................................................................[/color][/cell][/row][/table][/center]
[hr][center][table][row][cell][h3][b][sup]Our First Bump On The Road[/sup][/b][/h3][hr][@Yankee][@xAlter][@13org][@Theyra][@Taka][@Exit][@Andreyich][hr]
[justify][color=silver] The North has its own smell. 

Despite the mines and forges smelting iron and steel with shoveled coal, there is this freshness to the air that makes the bitter cold wind the perfect medium for carrying the putrid stench of death. It is that strange dichotomy that makes it easy to detect predators and prey alike; for even when there is plentiful snow and endless treelines along the mountainscape, there is nowhere to conceal the acrid stench of bloodshed. Like clan of Ash once described [The White], it is an open canvas able to be painted any color by the ones who roam this land. 

And the land's favorite color?.. seemed to be [color=crimson]red.[/color]

The clamor of iron and steel ringed loudly against the roar of winter winds, and swiftly did the ebb and flow of battle change tides with each spark of warfare claimed blows upon each side. The first to spill blood was the [b]The Slayer of Mages[/b]: Siegfried effortlessly cut through the defensive frontline to reach the golden haired noble's son that channeled a malignant concentration of coagulated [b]Light[/b] within his hand. Perhaps if Goldilocks had faced an enemy less suited for massacring sorcerers of the West, his opponent would have been blown away and the young mageblooded infidel would have lived to fight another day... unfortunately for him, that was not the case. What made things worse for the youngest of the Western knights, was the fact that luck had ordained that a third party individual making his way down the Eastruin had stumbled upon this encounter through fate and-fate alone. Like a sharpshooter in the distance he lined up his crossbow to fire, landing a debilitating hit onto Goldilock's head which punctured and removed the helmet, leaving his head wounded already. Disoriented, he would go on to speak in disbelief towards Siegfried before the moment of his demise.

[color=FFE08C][b]"How are you unphased by Sun Magic? It was gifted to our family by the gods! There's no w-"[/b][/color] Maybe those words were spoken through his head while it was flying through the air, or maybe the aura left in his body kept him conscious just long enough as blood sprayed from the open chasm where his head once was? Whatever the case might be, his body then tumbled lifelessly and his head fell to the earth and ice below, forever frozen with an expression of terror upon his face. Like a specter of death, Siegfried moved on to quickly aid in the battle still at hand, but a magic threat had been disposed of before they could do any real damage. 

With one threat down, three remained, and swiftly into the fray did [b]The Dancer of the Wind[/b]: Eirún move towards the other proficient mage, Goldchain. From her blade did she cut through, against, with the very nature of air itself to propel translucent edges towards the Mage Knight. These landed their mark upon the man, knocking the hand that manipulated the magnetic sphere away which caused the metallic object to fly away in a blur that crashed into a rocky mountainside to leave a small crater where it had landed. [color=beige][b]"Fucker!”[/b][/color] He shouted before slamming that wounded hand into the pommel of his sword, the brass ringed like a bell. Goldchain’s eyes glowed a vibrant golden color as his aura core roared to life and from one of his pouches six sharpened steel plates would float out before launching towards Eirún. She moved around swifter than any normal person could, but the quick scattershot of metal would catch her nonetheless— slicing through the thin armor along her ribs and across one of her legs. [color=beige][b]”Hardy, they killed your Young Lord!”[/b][/color] Goldchain spoke directly to the baldheaded man with golden teeth.

But just as those words left Goldchain’s lips, another bolt would come thrusting through the air which punctured the man’s dominant shoulder clean through. The mage knight looked at the wound for a moment, felt the burn of muscle shred, the crunch of bone broken beneath it. The mage knight smiled, gritting his teeth as he did so, before aiming his sword toward the tan skinned [b]Shadow From The South[/b]: Aslan, and flourished the blade he held as if telling Aslan that he was next on the chopping block.

Chaos intensified further as more unexpected visitors joined in the battle against the western knights. Charging in from who in the heavens knows where?.. [b]Giant-blooded Barbarian[/b]: Alessia, a woman built like a brick shithouse came into contact with Goldtooth which sent the man sliding along the earth leaving deep trails in the snow. 

[color=gold][b]”Dead?… Cristion died on his first?… O’ fuck the Countess is going to kill me.”[/b][/color] he groaned. Alessia would notice the black of Goldtooth’s eyes growing to blot out the color of his iris whilst he looks up to make eye contact with the Goliath. But before baldheaded knight would have a chance to react to Alessia, a flurry of white powder was being kicked up around him.

In the snow, concealed by powdered ice and earth; something else entirely was going on. Brig had intended on swiftly joining the skirmish going on right in view as she hid, but MORE unexpected individuals were quite literally right there beside her unable to be ignored. Now... [i]Brigitte Fenris[/i] was by no means hated by her people, far from it really, but those closest to her knew that her people skills were not the strongest. Diving from danger? Landing next to strangers? Already on high alert? If the pair didn't speak in the manner that they did, she might've attacked them in a fit of self-preservation but... they seemed to be allies. [b]The Scion of the North[/b]: Brig, listened to the pair with widened eyes and rapid hushed breaths. She was speechless up to the moment that one of them aimed their crossbow for the Silent Knight and fired. That was the moment that Brig decided to cast her fear aside and trust the nameless duo in the heat of the moment.

[color=#C3BDFF]"I am dangerous,"[/color] She whispered to the cloaked figure hiding in the snow beside her, and as a gust of wind carried a wave of loose snow over them Brig was gone as quickly as she appeared. There was no sound of crunching snow, jingle of chainmail, or silhouette to follow through the drifting veil of white falling from above. The Snowstalker moved low, crouched eerily close to the ice as she darted towards Goldtooth with her rimeglass blade in hand. Once she was a few feet away from him, what looked like a rope flew out from beneath the wolf's pelt she wore, a twin-pointed metal hook at its opposite end stuck into the earth and once pulled she launched herself towards the knight. Her rimeglass seax would come into contact with the man's plated forearm, biting into it but not having enough force to peel the reinforced alloy away. [color=#C3BDFF]"Nika!"[/color]

Brigitte's beckoning for her pact knight would however be cut short as another ally was still be engaged with Goldtooth, and remained fixated on him since the start. The battle-scarred white wolf that had gotten some space from the knight once things escalated darted around the cart before lunging back to the bald-headed knight's leg, chomping down to pierce and crunch through leather and plate, locking the man where he stood. [color=gold][b]"Fucking mutt, get off!"[/b][/color] He'd shake his leg, but the hound was intent on taking that leg one way or another. In a rage he would swipe his heavy longsword a few times fruitlessly at the wolf, missing with every strike, and in anger he'd give up to draw his swordsword from his belt with his free hand and stabbed in Alessia's direction.. only to shallowly puncture the hardened leather of her shoulderguard.

The last of the assailants was the strangely Silent Knight that didn't react all that much to the party of violence being enacted around him. Each movement stiff, nothing labored or purposeless, as if the being beneath it was unbothered by the elements. The bolt sent by the strangers hiding in the snow did land its mark and puncture the knight's helmet, but no blood nor disoriented personage beneath the helm would be noticed. Instead it remained focused on the enemy engaging with it, [b]The Mageblood Traitor[/b]: Nika swung their axe to clash with the knight's sword, the knight catching it with inhuman speed and an even stranger calmness. The helm turns to look directly at Nika, displaying a strange crimson glow through the helm's visor before spinning around with an arcing sword slash in the pact knight's direction. 

The winds picked up, as if celebrating the spilling of mage's blood in Northern lands. The warmth of the morning sun shined down brightly upon this battlefield, spotlighting the glory of violence and grandeur so that any passing by pacifist may pay witness to the changing of tides in this small ripple of the pond. These western knights may have been nobodies, fodder sent to the North on a suicide mission with scraps of information being worth more to the Mage King than their lives. But whatever the case might have been, the tithe of blood was thirsty.. and Northmen never neglect collecting old debts.

[/color][/justify][/cell][cell][color=2e2c2c].[/color][/cell][cell][img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/31/d8/62/31d86218967894ce0111dbf43e8518d0.gif[/img]

[b][i]Outside of Blackpebble / Eastruin Road
Morning

     [Sieg & Soren successfully kill Goldilocks]
     [Eirun & Aslan focus on Goldchain]
     [Brig, Alessia & Dog lock down Goldtooth]
     [The Strangers in the Snow & Nika take on the Silent Knight] [/i][/b]

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