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[OOC] Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP Page 8
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- GM VitaVitaAR Co-GM Raineh Daze Co-GM Rune_Alchemist
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6slyboy6 The More Awesomest Potato
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7 hrs ago
@VitaVitaAR Hurray!
It's getting quite late for me here, and I've had one hell of a day, but I'll be sure to whip something of a character up for you tomorrow!
Also, maybe I am just blind and didn't find it, but do you guys have a Discord link somewhere? Or is that on a need-to know basis?
It's getting quite late for me here, and I've had one hell of a day, but I'll be sure to whip something of a character up for you tomorrow!
Also, maybe I am just blind and didn't find it, but do you guys have a Discord link somewhere? Or is that on a need-to know basis?
6slyboy6 The More Awesomest Potato
Member
Seen
7 hrs ago
@VitaVitaAR
I adjusted the description of her spells and abilities to try and better reflect it's limitations as you asked, but I can modify it more if it's still too vague or you think something needs to be changed :)
I adjusted the description of her spells and abilities to try and better reflect it's limitations as you asked, but I can modify it more if it's still too vague or you think something needs to be changed :)
AGE: 20
GENDER: Female
RACE: Half-Human, Half-Demon
APPEARANCE:
Amy stands roughly 5'3" tall, and that is where all similarities end with most people around her. Her body is covered in a coarse, ghostly pale skin that is contrasted by a pair of blood-red eyes and small curved horns on top of her head. Even her hair is white, offering little in terms of colors when one looks upon her. However, such a unique look is often enough to earn the stares of most onlookers, and that is without considering the slender tail that sways gently with every step. It is immediately obvious that Amy isn't the biggest or strongest of the knights, the armor and gear most of them wear probably weighing more than herself, and she truly doesn't look much like the other Iron Roses. She doesn't wear armor or carry any swords on herself, opting instead for light clothes that are easy to move in, and which protect her from the elements and suspicious stares alike.
PERSONALITY:
A devout follower of the Church of Mayon, a lovable doofus with a lot to learn and a lover of sweet things, Amy is many things at once, but unlike her looks she's much more normal than most assume. Raised by the church from a very young age, Amy takes her duties very seriously and always aims to help others out to the best of her abilities, even if often times she falls short of what is asked of her. Still, that has never discouraged the energetic little girl from being a whirlwind of positive energy, and more often than not, talking way too much to anyone who is willing to hear her out. She's always eager to ask people about... well, just about anything, and as such she has amassed a surprising collection of trivia in her mind, most of which she'll probably never use again in her life. Probably worse, as interested as she is in all manner of things, her attention span is often far too short to stick around long enough to learn something actually valuable, and will more than happily sneak away the first chance she gets. She is also quite playful, often using her latent magical abilities to play innocent tricks upon people. Never malicious in intent and more than willing to apologize, Amy has established herself as quite the trickster over the years. She can be quite shy when she feels threatened or when someone is obviously unaffected by her otherwise energetic personality, most of the time it's caused by her self-confidence leading her to end up failing something she was obviously never going to accomplish.
At the end of the day Amy's energy is infectious, and most people find her positive and caring personality endearing, despite her chaotic behavior. She's an acquaintance to all and a friend to most, valuing the relationships she's made over the years more than anything else in life, a friendly ball of energy who wants to prove herself a useful member of the clergy, and more recently, the Iron Roses.
BRIEF BACKSTORY:
Amy doesn't know much about her past, or how she came to be in the care of the Church of Mayon, but over the years she's learned a little about her earliest years. Found in an abandoned shack after some Iron Roses noticed her crying, Amy was abandoned early in her life by her parents who she can't remember, and was taken in by the clergy and raised as one of their own. Whilst not entirely uncommon for the church to take care of orphans or street urchins, Amy's looks and abilities that began to manifest early into her life warranted special attention that saw her become a more integral part of her monastery than just some kid who received handouts. Devoting herself to prayer and study, she was nurtured into a proper cleric of the Church of Mayon, one who would embody and spread the ideals and qualities of their goddess.
Studies, prayer sessions, gardening and cleaning was how she spent most of her life, however over the past few years Amy has become more and more interested in venturing out into the wider world, wanting to explore Thaln and beyond. Furthermore, she's longed since an early age to join the Iron Roses despite her lack of combat skills, a request which was denied of her for the longest time due to various reasons.
She's older now, but no less enthusiastic, and it's becoming harder and harder for simple clergy to contain someone like Amy and force her into church duties, and as such she was recently granted permission to join the Iron Roses, as long as she was able to pass the bar for entry. Spending the last year or so learning basic skills with the blade and first aid, she eventually got into the ranks of the Roses. Still fresh in the ranks, Amy now looks forward to her next assignments and has already proven herself to be a useful, if chatty, member of the Iron Roses thanks to her abilities that can help solve conflicts without violence, or support her team in fighting.
EQUIPMENT:
GENDER: Female
RACE: Half-Human, Half-Demon
APPEARANCE:
Amy stands roughly 5'3" tall, and that is where all similarities end with most people around her. Her body is covered in a coarse, ghostly pale skin that is contrasted by a pair of blood-red eyes and small curved horns on top of her head. Even her hair is white, offering little in terms of colors when one looks upon her. However, such a unique look is often enough to earn the stares of most onlookers, and that is without considering the slender tail that sways gently with every step. It is immediately obvious that Amy isn't the biggest or strongest of the knights, the armor and gear most of them wear probably weighing more than herself, and she truly doesn't look much like the other Iron Roses. She doesn't wear armor or carry any swords on herself, opting instead for light clothes that are easy to move in, and which protect her from the elements and suspicious stares alike.
PERSONALITY:
A devout follower of the Church of Mayon, a lovable doofus with a lot to learn and a lover of sweet things, Amy is many things at once, but unlike her looks she's much more normal than most assume. Raised by the church from a very young age, Amy takes her duties very seriously and always aims to help others out to the best of her abilities, even if often times she falls short of what is asked of her. Still, that has never discouraged the energetic little girl from being a whirlwind of positive energy, and more often than not, talking way too much to anyone who is willing to hear her out. She's always eager to ask people about... well, just about anything, and as such she has amassed a surprising collection of trivia in her mind, most of which she'll probably never use again in her life. Probably worse, as interested as she is in all manner of things, her attention span is often far too short to stick around long enough to learn something actually valuable, and will more than happily sneak away the first chance she gets. She is also quite playful, often using her latent magical abilities to play innocent tricks upon people. Never malicious in intent and more than willing to apologize, Amy has established herself as quite the trickster over the years. She can be quite shy when she feels threatened or when someone is obviously unaffected by her otherwise energetic personality, most of the time it's caused by her self-confidence leading her to end up failing something she was obviously never going to accomplish.
At the end of the day Amy's energy is infectious, and most people find her positive and caring personality endearing, despite her chaotic behavior. She's an acquaintance to all and a friend to most, valuing the relationships she's made over the years more than anything else in life, a friendly ball of energy who wants to prove herself a useful member of the clergy, and more recently, the Iron Roses.
BRIEF BACKSTORY:
Amy doesn't know much about her past, or how she came to be in the care of the Church of Mayon, but over the years she's learned a little about her earliest years. Found in an abandoned shack after some Iron Roses noticed her crying, Amy was abandoned early in her life by her parents who she can't remember, and was taken in by the clergy and raised as one of their own. Whilst not entirely uncommon for the church to take care of orphans or street urchins, Amy's looks and abilities that began to manifest early into her life warranted special attention that saw her become a more integral part of her monastery than just some kid who received handouts. Devoting herself to prayer and study, she was nurtured into a proper cleric of the Church of Mayon, one who would embody and spread the ideals and qualities of their goddess.
Studies, prayer sessions, gardening and cleaning was how she spent most of her life, however over the past few years Amy has become more and more interested in venturing out into the wider world, wanting to explore Thaln and beyond. Furthermore, she's longed since an early age to join the Iron Roses despite her lack of combat skills, a request which was denied of her for the longest time due to various reasons.
She's older now, but no less enthusiastic, and it's becoming harder and harder for simple clergy to contain someone like Amy and force her into church duties, and as such she was recently granted permission to join the Iron Roses, as long as she was able to pass the bar for entry. Spending the last year or so learning basic skills with the blade and first aid, she eventually got into the ranks of the Roses. Still fresh in the ranks, Amy now looks forward to her next assignments and has already proven herself to be a useful, if chatty, member of the Iron Roses thanks to her abilities that can help solve conflicts without violence, or support her team in fighting.
EQUIPMENT:
- Travelling bag: For travelling and for being a bag you can store things in. It seems nobody can quite find the items they want inside of it, except for Amy.
- A pack of butter cookies: Amy's favorite, doesn't leave without a sack or two of them. (VERY IMPORTANT!!!)
- Flute: More than just a mere flute, though used almost exclusively as one, this piece of carved ivory is Amy's catalyst, a powerful magical tool that can help her funnel and enhance her abilities, though only at the cost of being ahrd to ignore.
- Dagger: A dagger. This one seems to have a strong imprint of Mind Magic within it's age-worn but well balanced body, but is otherwise a regular dagger.
- Teddy bear: Let's be honest, no prepared thrill seeker would ever leave home without the comfort of a fluffy and cuddly teddy bear that they can snug up to when the going gets rough. Amy is no different with her incredibly charming and nearly irresistible plushie. This particular toy has been sewed together and patched up a few times already, but has retained all it's floofiness, and remains a steadfast ally of Amy wherever she goes.
- A small pendant: A small metallic pendant that Amy keeps with herself at all times, a small trinket given to her by the church that contains a small painting of Mayon, used often by Amy whenever she prays for guidance.
SKILLS:
Amy's latent magical abilities manifest themselves in the form of Mind Magic, an illusive and often harmless school of magic that nevertheless has almost limitless uses. Amy forms an emotional link to all those around her, which helps her understand their intentions and feelings, though lacks the clarity to actually read the minds of those she connects with, and functions more like a heightened form of empathy. This bond develops over time, and the stronger the emotions between Amy and the target, the more she is able to utilize this connection to influence those around her and understand both their personality and thoughts. These are often reflected in mental imprints, permanent "markers" on people Amy knows that she can always rely upon to identify them and to affect them with her spells.
For foes, this means that Amy has a basic idea of what they want to do, along the lines of knowing if they'll more likely take a hostile action or run away, and she is able to affect them with her spells. These effects work much better if she is able to stay hidden and use someone else as a anchor, as people who are aware of her presence will much more quickly break the effects of her spells, or even become completely immune to them. That said, emotions can work both ways, and intense hostility towards a target, or from a target towards Amy, also form a negative mental imprint that can be used by her, however even though it increases the potency of her spells much like positive imprints, it takes a heavy toll on her when she uses them for her magic, only really good when trying to run away from someone who's mind is set on harming her.
For friends, over a long enough time spent together, or a strong enough mental imprint left by Amy, people she knows can act as her anchors, able to be found by her relatively easily even at long distances and form Psychic Links. Once she connects with people this way, Amy is able to get a rudimentary idea of their surroundings based on the senses they possess and be able to sense their thoughts as well as communicate with them using simple words. In such a way Amy is also able to reach out from the person used as their Anchor and look for other mental imprints around them. Maintaining such a link is a strenuous process that drains much physical and mental power, especially if she uses spells via this connection, and in a more limited way affects the other person as well. In the end, it is not nearly as effective as if Amy can physically see or sense her target on her own.
Her spells revolve mostly around altering her target's perception of reality or her emotions, and planting suggestions in their mind which the target will usually perceive as their own. Most of these effects can be countered by those with a strong will, or those aware of Amy and harboring strong hostile intentions. Below is a list of these spells grouped into major categories.
Amy's latent magical abilities manifest themselves in the form of Mind Magic, an illusive and often harmless school of magic that nevertheless has almost limitless uses. Amy forms an emotional link to all those around her, which helps her understand their intentions and feelings, though lacks the clarity to actually read the minds of those she connects with, and functions more like a heightened form of empathy. This bond develops over time, and the stronger the emotions between Amy and the target, the more she is able to utilize this connection to influence those around her and understand both their personality and thoughts. These are often reflected in mental imprints, permanent "markers" on people Amy knows that she can always rely upon to identify them and to affect them with her spells.
For foes, this means that Amy has a basic idea of what they want to do, along the lines of knowing if they'll more likely take a hostile action or run away, and she is able to affect them with her spells. These effects work much better if she is able to stay hidden and use someone else as a anchor, as people who are aware of her presence will much more quickly break the effects of her spells, or even become completely immune to them. That said, emotions can work both ways, and intense hostility towards a target, or from a target towards Amy, also form a negative mental imprint that can be used by her, however even though it increases the potency of her spells much like positive imprints, it takes a heavy toll on her when she uses them for her magic, only really good when trying to run away from someone who's mind is set on harming her.
For friends, over a long enough time spent together, or a strong enough mental imprint left by Amy, people she knows can act as her anchors, able to be found by her relatively easily even at long distances and form Psychic Links. Once she connects with people this way, Amy is able to get a rudimentary idea of their surroundings based on the senses they possess and be able to sense their thoughts as well as communicate with them using simple words. In such a way Amy is also able to reach out from the person used as their Anchor and look for other mental imprints around them. Maintaining such a link is a strenuous process that drains much physical and mental power, especially if she uses spells via this connection, and in a more limited way affects the other person as well. In the end, it is not nearly as effective as if Amy can physically see or sense her target on her own.
Her spells revolve mostly around altering her target's perception of reality or her emotions, and planting suggestions in their mind which the target will usually perceive as their own. Most of these effects can be countered by those with a strong will, or those aware of Amy and harboring strong hostile intentions. Below is a list of these spells grouped into major categories.
- Illusion: At will, Amy is able to conjure up a complex set of illusions, be it an image, sound or other sensory detail. The effect is seen, heard and felt by all that Amy was able to see when she cast the spell, and it's effects last until she dispels it or the afflicted people realize that it is an illusion. Amy can only cast a single illusion this way, as creating a new one will dispel the first. Additionally the illusion is limited to a 20x20x20 feet cube, and it cannot be perceived from more than a 300 feet away, though Amy can move the illusion as long as it is no more than 200 feet away from her.
- Sleep: Amy can put any creature she can see to sleep, inducing a coma that is not lifted until she decides to dispel the effect, the target gets hurt, or it expires by itself after hour. Once the spell ends, the target will wake up with no memories of the time they spent asleep, perceiving no passing of time or magical affect.
- Trickster's Prestidigitation: Amy can call upon the more playful, yet serious sides of her mind magic, and unleash them in a way she sees fit. Such spells are all controlling in their nature, but mostly harmless in their execution. From making someone break out in a short laughing fit or start singing at the top of their lungs, to just downright making them feel drunk, the effects of this spell are as varied as Amy's imagination is, but none of them can be used to explicitly hurt someone and the user will be very much aware that they have been controlled by a spell. These spells require more effort than Illusions to keep up, and will last as long as Amy is able to maintain concentration on the target. The spell's end on the target will end if she loses focus, the target gets hurt, or if a strong enough mental resolve can be mustered by the target. (You might be annoyed if you start dancing in the middle of the street, but if there are a dozen knights with swords also trying to kill you, it is likely you can break such magical effects.)
- Eyetrick: A creature that Amy can see, hear or mentally reach through her Psychic Link will become unaware of her presence. Practically invisible to the the afflicted target, Amy doesn't as much disappear as the target's mind is convinced to ignore her existence. A stray sound or even objects "floating" will be ignored by the target as long as they are related to Amy or her actions. Whilst hiding from the target, she has to maintain the mental link for the duration of the spell and others will have no trouble seeing and hearing her. The silver lining is that the target creature will do their best to explain to others that that they are wrong and that there is nothing where Amy is: possibly buying her precious seconds to escape from danger, or sneak away without being seen.
- Suggestion: Tapping the mind of a creature that can see or hear her, Amy can usher a single sentence that the afflicted creature will do it's best to follow. This can be an action that they should take, or an idea that they should believe in. The spell fades away once Amy dispels it, 5 minutes have passed, if the target creature has completed the action it was given, or if they have been convinced that the thought wasn't their own. Unless the latter option occurs, the target will always believe that the idea is their own, and won't suspect foul play even if they were unable to follow it. Amy won't use this spell to harm people (like telling them drink something only Amy knows is poisoned), and it cannot be used to suggest actions to a target that the target knows will result in them being hurt (like jumping off a cliff), in which case the spell immediately breaks and they will become aware of the magic. It is also the only spell that Amy is unable to use via negative mental imprints and those harboring strong animosity towards her.
- Enchanting Flute: A tool carried by Amy at all times, she can start playing enchanting melodies on her flute that allow her to bend the minds of all those who can hear it and she wishes to control. The effects of her spells cast this way are far more potent than normal and affect everyone that listens to it: playing a soothing melody can put an entire room to sleep without a memory of it happening, make a squad of trained killers erupt in a joyful dance on the spot, or even let her use Suggestion on multiple people. Easier to maintain that casting a spell without her catalyst, the drawback is the obvious fact that she has to keep playing a loud flute. Only those who heard the beginning of her music will be put under the effects of her spells, which means that if anyone else walks in on Amy whilst she is playing the flute, they won't be unaffected and will likely be able to break the effects of her magic on the targets.
Last, but not least, Amy is exceptional at being Amy <3
@VitaVitaAR I know I tried to join a while back, and my char idea did not work out. But I would like to try again if that is okay. This time as just a normal human.
Actually, on second thought. I will not be joining the rp. Nevermind.
Eviledd1984 Narn Liberator
Member
Seen
29 min ago
@VitaVitaAR
I would be interested in joining this rp. I had an idea for a rogue character that is not part of the Iron Rose Knights. But is helping them but is also on a very tight leash so he doesn't do anything to jeopardize their mission. Pretty much he would be an outsider who is helping the group. Would it be okay for me to play such a character? If not that is fine I have another idea for a pompous and narcissistic knight who is a part of the the Iron Rose Knights.
I would be interested in joining this rp. I had an idea for a rogue character that is not part of the Iron Rose Knights. But is helping them but is also on a very tight leash so he doesn't do anything to jeopardize their mission. Pretty much he would be an outsider who is helping the group. Would it be okay for me to play such a character? If not that is fine I have another idea for a pompous and narcissistic knight who is a part of the the Iron Rose Knights.
GM
VitaVitaAR King of Knights
Member
Seen
2 hrs ago
@Eviledd1984: And outsider character like that wouldn't really work at all.
Eviledd1984 Narn Liberator
Member
Seen
29 min ago
@VitaVitaAR
That's fair. What if he was apart of the court or was working with the Iron Roses as an assassin or scout?
That's fair. What if he was apart of the court or was working with the Iron Roses as an assassin or scout?
Read up on this CS. Basically as much a scoundrel as your character sounds like, but also still considered a Knight.
coGM
Raineh Daze Figure of Hourai
Member
Seen
6 hrs ago
Tyaethe Historical Relationships (again? Who knows)--First Person Edition
Elionne: The captain. Joining before she was even offered a position might have been premature, but I'm not going to regret it. Only when she gets back and officially relinquishes the position am I leaving--I've told you, Saints don't just vanish without warning, and neither the goddesses nor anything else I've tried have an answer.
Cyrus: Best friend. What sort of man looks past the vampire monster hunter when they meet and just focuses on "sad child"? I was older than him, the dolt. Always up for doing something if it seemed like a fun challenge, even when it was dumb (I'm not sure Reon ever forgave us for the statue stunt)
Edwin: What the hell happened to make him do that? He was my friend. Other people should stop focusing so much on the end, we did plenty before that--and the story of how he got his sword is too good to forget.
Parvan: If you ever got one of them without the other, the chances were they were off planning something. Parvan was the one more likely to reach out to new people first, though.
Sescille: How the hell did she manage those abs? Liked to fight everyone way more than was healthy, I'm not sure everyone really understood that she wound them up so much just to have an excuse. Probably spent more time with the smith than anybody else, just by having so many weapons.
Florian: How the hell someone that flirted so much found the time to become such a master swordsman outside of his copycat trick boggles the mind. I'm still not sure if he kept flirting with me because he couldn't stop or because he thought it was better when I was annoyed than boring. Maybe both.
I am never sorting out anyone's estate again. So many children and no marriages...
Agrahn: Berserker rages aside, I guess he was the most normal of us all. Probably the best person to defuse an argument... well, I would rather have Cyrus do it, but it's not like he couldn't get involved too.
Lilette: She always was a maternal type, which probably explains why she turned off fighting in the end. I think I got to know her better through letters after--it's a lot easier to relate to outliving everyone once you've done it.
Merilia: About as harmless as you could expect a Witch to be. Enjoys being annoying too much. NEVER ask her for help--you won't enjoy the process.
Damon Cazt: Your usual disgraceful noble bachelor. Helps out the family enough they've never completely disowned him... still annoying, though. He did apologise once for being such a nuisance I was 'stuck with the church', the prick.
Elionne: The captain. Joining before she was even offered a position might have been premature, but I'm not going to regret it. Only when she gets back and officially relinquishes the position am I leaving--I've told you, Saints don't just vanish without warning, and neither the goddesses nor anything else I've tried have an answer.
Cyrus: Best friend. What sort of man looks past the vampire monster hunter when they meet and just focuses on "sad child"? I was older than him, the dolt. Always up for doing something if it seemed like a fun challenge, even when it was dumb (I'm not sure Reon ever forgave us for the statue stunt)
Edwin: What the hell happened to make him do that? He was my friend. Other people should stop focusing so much on the end, we did plenty before that--and the story of how he got his sword is too good to forget.
Parvan: If you ever got one of them without the other, the chances were they were off planning something. Parvan was the one more likely to reach out to new people first, though.
Sescille: How the hell did she manage those abs? Liked to fight everyone way more than was healthy, I'm not sure everyone really understood that she wound them up so much just to have an excuse. Probably spent more time with the smith than anybody else, just by having so many weapons.
Florian: How the hell someone that flirted so much found the time to become such a master swordsman outside of his copycat trick boggles the mind. I'm still not sure if he kept flirting with me because he couldn't stop or because he thought it was better when I was annoyed than boring. Maybe both.
I am never sorting out anyone's estate again. So many children and no marriages...
Agrahn: Berserker rages aside, I guess he was the most normal of us all. Probably the best person to defuse an argument... well, I would rather have Cyrus do it, but it's not like he couldn't get involved too.
Lilette: She always was a maternal type, which probably explains why she turned off fighting in the end. I think I got to know her better through letters after--it's a lot easier to relate to outliving everyone once you've done it.
Merilia: About as harmless as you could expect a Witch to be. Enjoys being annoying too much. NEVER ask her for help--you won't enjoy the process.
Damon Cazt: Your usual disgraceful noble bachelor. Helps out the family enough they've never completely disowned him... still annoying, though. He did apologise once for being such a nuisance I was 'stuck with the church', the prick.
Eisenhorn Inquisitor of some Note
Member
Seen
11 hrs ago
Time to throw my hat into the ring, as it were.
- Name: Rolan Herzog
- Age: 27
- Gender: Male
- Race: Human
- Appearance:
Rolan is roughly 5'9" in height, with a lean figure that lacks almost any shreds of fat, either burned off during regular exertions during daily life, or deliberately worked off during exercise. He always keeps his hair short but otherwise unkempt, failing to obscure his dull red eyes. - Personality:
Rolan, first and foremost, is an incredibly pragmatic soul. Everything he has, does, or considers falls under the idea that it needs to have some practical, genuine purpose. Be it hunting between missions, gathering reagents for his alchemical studies, performing maintenance of his equipment, or even during times of rest, it all has a purpose behind it. He wears a pleasant, if mildly brazen, confidence as a face for those he deals with, showing the same casual demeanor that he does a lowborn beggar, and the most noble of blood. Anyone can lose everything and plummet into nothing, he knows his family is one long running story of that, so he only puts stock in what is practical and provable. Still, he keeps an even keel and tries to not let things get to him, taking it as a personal challenge to keep that confidence he wears going strong even in the face of terrible odds or downturns of fortune.
In reality, Rolan knows damn well he is fighting an uphill battle. The family legacy dogs him rather persistently, and his constant bounty hunting has made him a number of enemies in low places. He knows that someone is coming to collect on his actions sooner rather than later, but rather than fight it or try and run from it, he just keeps on living his life. No point trying to course correct when he can at least claim to enjoy his life currently, even if its more violent than he would have liked thanks to not taking kindly to bandits being problematic. Regardless, he thinks its enough to keep meeting the day with that same casual confidence that he wears as a mask, determined to not let it slip when he thinks anyone is looking. Last thing he needs is people prying into his private life, especially if they recognize who his family is. Of course, he never bothers to include his family name, even having gone so far as to say that he doesn't have one, that intent on stepping away from the many mistakes they have made. - Brief Backstory:
Rolan Herzog would describe his family legacy as "Wasted potential", and he isn't far from the mark. The only son of a lineage of disgraced nobility, his family has the infamous specter of disgrace hanging over them and dogging their every step. His great grandfather, a vocal opponent of the ruling family of Thain, and of the practices of thrusting children into leadership, referring to the Iron Roses. This came to a head in a minor revolt that left the patriarch of the family dead and his surviving heirs shamed and stripped of much of their wealth, prestige, and standing. What little the family had would be wasted on seeking revenge, and with each generation that passed would end up having less and less to work with, until they had little more than a few heirlooms that hadn't been sold off to make ends meet.
Rolan, raised with the constant reminders by his aging father of what they had once been, mostly treats this legacy as a nuisance. Nothing comes of it besides sideways glances and muttered mentions in taverns and markets, becoming more pronounced the more upscale and civilized the place he visited. As such, once his father passed, he bid farewell to his mother and left for the woods. He intended to avoid all this nonsense of reputation, family lineage, or responsibilities for a life simply living in the wild. For her part, Rolan's mother knew she would not outlast her husband by long and had concealed her failing health from him, so that her death shortly after his departure would be a shock to all, including Rolan. Rumors, of course, abounded about how the boy had abandoned her, and after the funeral rites he was quick to vanish again.
Rolan intended to just spend his days hunting and practicing what he had learned, from marksmanship with the family's last heirloom they still owned, an ornate and well kept crossbow that still had the name Rittersturz engraved along the body of the weapon, to hunting and alchemy that he picked up during his time in the woods. He would rarely return to the local village the woods bordered, bringing back excess from his hunts so that nothing went to waste. He also began, albeit unofficially, helping out around the town when he visited, using it as a chance to not completely forget social interactions and trade for things he couldn't make or find for himself. Certainly not because he had gotten bored and, even, lonely in the woods. That would be absurd. He even saw off the odd bandit or two, though this quiet life would not last forever.
Bandits would raid the village that Rolan had taken a liking to, coming back to find it had suffered a great deal of damage and injuries, though fortunately no one who had been wounded couldn't be saved. There were a few dead, and he made a decision to go out and start hunting down the bandits in question. Tracking the gang that had raided the town, rather than make an attack outright, he began hunting and hounding them, picking them off a few at a time before withdrawing into the woods again. He couldn't take them all at once, and he knew it, so he dedicated his efforts to whittling them down and not giving them enough respite to recover. He would whittle them down like this until he could taken the rest of them out before they scattered completely, and went back to report his success to the village. Hopefully now things would go back to being calm.
Of course, things were never just that simple. Rolan had found he had a knack for tracking down criminals, bandits, and other troublemakers, and his abilities were quickly recommended to surrounding villages by the grateful folk who thought they were helping. Rolan begrudgingly began carrying out a sort of bounty hunter's life, preferring to bring in problems dead, regardless of the price for them alive. Life was simpler that way, plus it would hopefully keep vengeful encounters with those he had dragged to justice out of his life. Of course he would start building a reputation that would start making him enemies in certain parts of the country, and one that would no doubt get him into serious trouble. Until then, however, he would keep working, unaware fate, or chance perhaps, was nudging him towards a chance encounter with a certain knightly order. - Equipment:
Rolan still carries his family pride and joy Rittersturz, a crossbow modified to maximize the amount of draw weight it could sustain without flying apart after repeated firings. He has a specially made wippe lever for reloading purposes, and a bolt case for his spare ammunition. He also has a variety of small tools, portable alchemical supplies and reagents, a sturdy knife that, while stated for cleaning hunted game, has shed more than its fair share of blood in combat when Rolan gets caught in close quarters. The vial he wears on his hip looks sinister, but is, in fact, a jam that he learned to make from his mother, and keeps handy for snacks. - Skills:
Rolan lacks many of the typically knightly qualities one would expect of a noble in the Iron Roses. His combat capabilities are focused on crossbow and dagger, mostly the former, proving to be a talented shot in medium ranges, though he makes up for this lack of longer range finesse with a sharpness for firing into chaotic situations safely. When pressed into melee, rather than disengaging using his dagger, he aims to get in close, under the guard and reach of larger, longer weapons, and open them up from vulnerable points in armor. Compared to a dedicated fighter, however, he mostly relies on speed and brutality for when he cant evade melee.
Learning from his mother, Rolan is a practicing alchemist and hunter, enjoying both in equal measures. In alchemy he focuses on natural reagents and mixtures, adding to the family journal the various recipes and mixtures he has discovered, from poisons and herbal remedies to mixtures that burn on contact with air and the odd modification to his bolts to carry said alchemical mixtures. He also knows his way around general wilderness survival, be it hunting, finding shelter, procuring clean water, and other necessities for living in the wilds. By extension, he is rather capable in remaining unseen when he chooses to, though he has no formal training in such, tracking game undetected gives one a knack for stealth when the need arises.
However, when it comes to classical skills like riding, Rolan has not had the time nor opportunity to practice. He can keep himself on a horse, but is unlikely to be fighting from horseback to any degree without just dismounting and fighting on foot. Needless to say he also lacks any skill or knowledge of magic, knowing that it exists but little else. He also never particularly picked up on courtly graces, and can no doubt easily get into trouble if expected to be properly diplomatic on missions dealing with other knights and nobility in formal senses.
Octo Tentacular Cephalopod
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- Name: Gertrude Jäger, the Delinquent Mage
- Age: 19
- Gender: Female
- Race: Human
- Appearance:
- Personality: Willful, arrogant, and fickle. Like a Human version of a cat, she does what she wants when she wants to do it. She’s languid and abrasive and sadistic, but she wasn’t always like that. She still longs for connections even though all of her relationships have ended badly. Though she’s incredibly knowledgeable and powerful, she is emotionally immature due to neglect, abuse, and lack of socialization. Her physical frailty has always engendered a monstrous sort of envy inside of her, which continues to grow even after becoming a top-class mage. Her biggest weakness is her desperate need for validation.
- Brief Backstory: As a descendent of Mirror Knight Florian, and as the greatest hunter in Marburg, it was a foregone conclusion that herr Gunther Jäger should have a strong son. It came as a disappointment, then, that his first-born child was a girl, and a weak one at that. Even as a baby, Gertrude was often sick, and required many visits from the local healer growing up. Gunther would just as soon have nothing to do with it, but Helga, the girl’s mother, was keen on reminding him that Gertrude was his blood.
Florian’s blood.
If Gunther paid attention to anything, it was how he was perceived, and spitting on the blood of one of the founding members of the Iron Rose Knights would tarnish the grand image of importance that he tried to affect. However, as grand as his image was, he was only a hunter, and to anyone’s knowledge Florian didn’t exactly leave him much. The need for medicines was constant and grew expensive, and as the price grew, so too did his resentment of his daughter.
When Gertrude was finally well enough to get by without a weekly visit, Gunther took her out into the woods. “You owe me a lot of money,” he said, “and you’re going to pay it back. If you can walk, you can hunt.”
He trained her however he could, and she had a surprising talent for learning things quickly, but her body just couldn’t keep up. Even drawing a bowstring was too difficult for her weak arms. Frustrated, Gunther smacked the weapon out of her hands.
“Useless.”
Though Helga treated Gertrude kindly, there really wasn’t much she could do to dissuade Gunther’s crusade. He was determined to turn a profit from his daughter. To create something he could show off, something he could be proud of. So every day, he took her out into the woods, and every day he made his disappointment known. Gertrude was pushed constantly to her limit, and had nothing to show for it. “Useless, Useless, Useless”. This is how she also began to perceive herself.
Then one day, the arrival of an Orcish warband was heralded by Helga’s mangled corpse. It was no longer safe to go out, and the villagers had to start paying tribute. Gunther was called upon to drive the band off, but he suddenly had more excuses than availability. Gertrude grieved, and wallowed in her own powerlessness. She was useless, and because she was useless, the only person that ever truly cared for her was gone.
Eventually, the village was dragged out of the depths of despair by the Iron Rose Knights. The group was cheered ecstatically when they arrived to relay news of the warband’s routing. They were celebrated. They were loved. Gunther was nowhere in sight, and all Gertrude could do was look on as Tyaethe, a girl even smaller than her, was congratulated on saving Marburg.
Something inside her broke.
If a girl that small could do it, why couldn’t she? She couldn’t blame it on being born a girl. She couldn’t blame it on her size. The only thing left was the echoing of her father’s words, blaring more true than they had ever been. There was no excuse for her weakness. She was just useless.
Gertrude didn’t understand that Tyaethe was a vampire, older and stronger than anyone in the village. She didn’t understand that Tyaethe had troubles too, that some saw her as a monster, not to be trusted. All Gertrude saw was a girl smaller than she was being lauded, and years of barely-contained vitriol boiled up. She grabbed a nearby rock, and chucked it at the knight with all of her strength.
And it fell just short.
Gertrude ran away, cursing under her breath.
When Gertrude got back home, her father was not happy to see her. He never was, but this was different. He had unmitigated hate and frustration in his eyes.
“Get out. Don’t come back unless you bring me a kill. You either die in that forest, or you bring me a damn carcass.”
Gertrude finally understood. If she couldn’t do that much, if she couldn’t kill, then she should just die. Death, or kill. That was what stood in the way of her happiness. Even her mother, if she hadn’t been so useless… death or kill. The village… everyone suffering… death or kill.
But even with her emotions running high, even with a truly monstrous envy and determination, her body had not grown any stronger. As she tried and failed to hunt, over and over, it became ever more certain that she would die in the woods. Then, she heard the sweetest voice in her ear. It said something that made her spine tingle.
“My, but you’re strong.”
The words she had always longed to hear, from anyone. It didn’t sound patronizing or sarcastic. Even with her massive victim complex, she could tell that the voice meant it. She was strong. This girl thought she was strong.
And it was a girl. Again, just about her size. But there was a cool maturity in her voice. A depth when Gertrude looked into her eyes that told of experience and complexity.
“Who are you?”
“I am a Witch.”
And somehow, Gertrude knew this to be true. She was so cute… but with an undercurrent of danger. A danger that Gertrude knew instinctively, and yet…
“You’re not scared?” the Witch asked.
“I think… all my fear went away,” Gertrude answered flatly, “but what do you mean? Saying I’m strong… but I’m so weak. I can’t do anything.”
“Your soul is strong,” the Witch answered, smiling tenderly, “one of the strongest I’ve seen.”
“But what’s a strong soul good for? Without a strong body, you-”
“A strong soul is the best of all. It means you have the potential to accomplish truly great things. It means that you could become the strongest mage of an era. Only, you have to know how to draw out its power… and none of those foolish villagers could have given you that,” the Witch replied, patting Gertrude’s head. Gertrude became strangely docile, the things boiling inside her coming to a simmer as the Witch told her all the things she wanted to hear.
Gertrude hugged her, and the Witch held her close.
“Only a few people can tell how special you are. Lucky for you, I am one of those people. And I’m looking to take on more apprentices.”
Gertrude was taken to Aleksiya’s Wandering Mansion, and given a maid uniform to represent her apprenticeship. As she grew, so too did her skill in magic. The Witch quickly discovered one of Gertrude’s greatest strengths: her incredible ability to learn by watching. If she could watch someone do a certain kind of magic, she was quickly able to understand the underlying mechanics and adapt different spells into her own lexicon. It still took practice, but her mind made her especially suited to spellcasting.
Even the advanced rule-breaking magic of soul partitioning was Gertrude’s to take, though such a magic was so unique to each person that it was no easy feat, even if she watched someone do it a hundred times. She pushed her body to the limit studying, desperately wanting to please Aleksiya. Desperately wanting to hear her words of praise, over and over again. Aleksiya, for her part, didn’t exactly dissuade Gertrude’s growing obsession.
When Aleksiya had felt Gertrude had learned enough, she gave the girl one more task.
“I want you to take the powerful magic you have learned, and kill your father.”
Gertrude was speechless.
“You tell me all the time, how awful he was. It’s taking up an unhealthy amount of space in your heart. If you kill him, you free yourself from your past. It’s shackling your soul. Do this, and your power will soon grow beyond your wildest dreams.”
“I… I can’t,” Gertrude answered. Her heart had grown hard over the years. She had ripped her soul apart so many times, she didn’t even know if she was Human any more. And yet, killing her most hated person was somehow something she could not do.
Maybe it was the only thing standing in the way of her potential.
Maybe it was the only thing keeping her from becoming a total monster. She felt that familiar ichor begin to boil inside her again.
“That’s boring. You don’t want to bore me, do you? If you do it, I’ll reward you well.”
“Anything but that. I’ll do anything else, but I don’t want to go back there. I don’t want-”
“Which is exactly why you have to do it! I’ve praised and pampered you this long, I’ve been following this drama from the start, and I’m ready to see the climax. But this? This is boring. I don’t want to see you until you do as I say. Leave, and don’t come back until you’ve shown me something fun.”
How many times can a person break?
Aleksiya’s words were just like her father’s. She was just a tool for both of them, only the Witch knew how to work her better. It started boiling over. Repressed feelings, raging hormones, buried complexes…
“Fuck you! I did everything you wanted up until now, and I haven’t earned even an ounce of your respect?”
“Doormats don’t get respect, they get my heel.”
How quickly love turns into hate.
“I did everything… I needed you! I wanted… and you can’t listen to a single request of mine? Well, screw it! I don’t need you. Everything can burn! When I come back… you’d better watch out!”
Gertrude stormed away, and Aleksiya smiled.
“This could be fun too.”
Aleksiya contacted Merilia soon after, and requested that she look out for a rogue apprentice of hers.
“If the Iron Roses had another magic expert, they’d bother you less.”
The Delinquent Mage, an abrasive woman in a maid outfit, soon began harassing students at the Mage College. Humiliating them with their own favored magic, and gloating over them. She was notable for her lack of recorded education, thus the title.
Merilia correctly guessed that this was the apprentice in question and, for a true Witch, apprehending Gertrude was like lifting an unruly child and setting them in a corner. After a short conversation in which Gertrude incessantly teased Merilia and patted her head, the Witch offered her a job, making a quiet note of Gertrude’s transgressions. Gertrude was to become a member of the Iron Rose Knights.
The stuffiness of knighthood left a sour taste in her mouth. She didn’t want to take orders from anyone else. She’d only just broken free from her former mistress. And yet, the Iron Roses would make for useful allies if she ever got the chance to turn around on Aleksiya. Gertrude determined that she would join their ranks, but retain her willful demeanor and bask in her new freedom. For Merilia, this was deemed ‘good enough’. - Equipment: Gertrude carries a broom, which also functions as a staff through which she focuses her spells. It’s been imbued with a small portion of her soul and carved with a runic enchantment that allows it to store mana. She can use this stored mana to power her own spells, or to activate another runic enchantment that allows her to use the broom to fly. By using her soul in her spell focus, she can more easily regulate mana usage and even recall excess mana from her own spells.
Gertrude also has a pendant she keeps tucked in her blouse. It’s the one thing that Florian apparently left her family, and she stole it from her father before she went into the woods. It wasn’t particularly special on its own, but Gertrude eventually put a portion of her soul into it and gave it a runic enchantment for physical reinforcement. Since she’s naturally very weak, this enchantment functionally allows her to be about as strong and durable as an average woman her age.
Gertrude has also placed a portion of her soul into a homunculus that is physically identical to her. This homunculus helps her to do research and accomplish tasks effectively twice as fast. Because it only has a small portion of her soul, its magic power is much lower. - Skills: Gertrude is an incredibly quick learner, especially when she can watch someone do the thing she wants to do. This is not just limited to magic, she’s also adept at picking up practical skills and weapon techniques. However, she finds a lot of those things either boring or unusable due to her poor physical aptitudes. Thus, her main field of study is magic, which she is quite knowledgeable in.
Gertrude also knows soul partitioning, and most of its nuances. She’s studied and practiced it extensively, and routinely experiments with its limits. She can currently partition ~35% of her own soul, and even entrap the souls of others if vulnerable.
Gertrude is an exceptional mage, though her main fields of interest are magic that can keep her alive and magic that can kill people. Generally, if it can’t help you stay alive or help you kill someone, it’s not really worth the brain space. She’s especially fond of fire and barrier magic, though her familiarity with mages of great power has also given her an appreciation of counter magic. She’s particularly adept at self-healing, self-buff, and self-restoration spells, which are powerful and mana-efficient, but can’t be used on other people. Who cares about them?
Gertrude also has an interest in homunculi creation. Her current homunculus is basically a 1:1 physical recreation of herself, including her physical flaws. She hopes to one day be good enough at homunculi creation and soul partitioning to create a much stronger body and move to it completely. She hopes that being strong will help her get over her complexes.
Gertrude is adept at runic enchantments, having engraved her broom and pendant herself. Since she likes experimenting with magic, runes and how they interact with one another was an obvious interest for her.
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