"What the hell?" the half-Nem said under her breath, left in shock for a brief moment as her eyes took in the sight, even amidst her having been occupied prior with sending a hail of arrows into the fray upon the orcs and trolls remaining in the field of battle.
The bright purple beam was reflected back, leaving a dent in a magically-generated shield and a scar of molten rock and flames in its wake as it had rebounded back towards the treeline proper, and in no small amount she could tell right away that this was no small-scale magic. This was a large spell, something that required a lot of mana to use....and had been directly aimed at the captain, a direct attempt to assassinate the knights' leader on the spot with overwhelming and absurd force for a single attack. But if she could get to where the attack had originated...hmmm....perhaps she would be able to be of some use if the enemy was still nearby, being a magic user herself of course. Not that she doubted the capabilities of the far older and more experienced Sir Indaru and his runes, of course, but even so it could be a risk.
Biting her lip, Cymbeline noted that even with Sir Tiral's support, the captain might potentially be targeted again. Potentially of course, even though they were currently winning.
Breaking into a run, the half-Nem mage-archer of the Iron Rose Knights moved over to some of the dead bodies of orcs that now lie on the ground, grabbing up a few of her arrows and putting them back in her quiver before looking over at the blind and lumbering troll head towards them. Dropping to one knee and into a solid firing position, Cymbeline wheeled her bow around towards the blinded, raging troll, before pulling out one of her sigil-marked arrows still covered in good part with orc blood. She carefully knocked and aimed the arrow at the blinded troll's throat, her breaths slowing for a moment to ensure careful aim, her arms taking account of the wind, before....
Mana ran from her into the sigil on the arrow, flaring up its power as the arrow was released. Moving through the air at great speeds, the arrow flew towards the troll's head with a sort of bloody grace, the sigil seeming to glow even more as it neared its target, the tiniest of cracks only beginning to form on the arrowhead.
Were the arrow to hit its mark, or anything for that matter, the arrowhead would explode on impact, shattering in a burst of magical energy that would usually take a chunk out of flesh from a target and send small fragments of arrowhead out as well like shrapnel. Albeit, a very limited amount of it that would likely be lodged in the troll's body.
From here Cymbeline would fire two more recovered arrows of the normal sorts both in succession at the blinded troll's left knee, seeking to incapacitate its movement somewhat if the initial arrow did not kill.
From here she would turn her attention to the one of the other four trolls still advancing towards their ridge, loosing two more arrows aimed at that troll's throat in succession as well. Were that magic user to reappear or attack again, she wanted to maintain this position to try to assist in protecting the captain...or any other nearby targets for that matter. To that end she wanted to conserve more of her mana, that one sigil arrow fired at the blinded troll being an attempt to end it fast and allow herself to focus on other targets and keep an eye on that treeline.
Elissa Lockhart
Parrying, deflecting the blows of, and cutting into orcs was a labor, albeit a necessary one in the group's current situation, Elissa felt that with many of them being mopped up the trolls were the next most important matter at hand. Beyond the one that seemed blinded, and one still advancing on the ridge, the remaining three were not seeming to make much progress. At least, at the moment. As her blade stabbed through into an orc's armpit under its raised arm, and into his chest and straight into its sinewy heart, the orc collapsed to Elissa's side in a dead, bloody heap as its blood fell off in drops from her sword once the blade was withdrawn from its corpse. Looking over after this as her eyes moved to the rest of the battlefield, she cooly took in what her plan of action would be, before blitzing off on her feet towards her next target.
Seeing her sister had moved a bit more forwards than normal, probably to pick up some of her arrows, Elissa turned her attention to where her sister was aiming at right now. As it were, this was at the lumbering troll still coming for the ridge. Internally rolling her eyes at her sister for not having sought to take aim at the thing, she adjusted her shield in her right hand and sword in her left as she moved to get behind the still-moving troll.
'Take this, you hadrid!' she shouted within her mind, not actually aloud of course, as she swung her sword at the troll's tendons on the back of its right leg whilst moving, aiming to essentially hamstring or partly-hamstring its leg to hinder movement or perhaps cause it to fall over in a hit-and-run attack.
She'd already had to replace a few swords this battle, but not enough to be in danger if she had to replace them a few more times. However, the shield she held was in at least "working" condition for deflecting blows, albeit this was a troll and not an orc.
Personally speaking, she had not blinked too much beyond a moment at the captain nearly being disintegrated by that magical purple beam, knowing that the "captain" had an actually experienced knight at her side for that. Sir Tiral, if she recalled correctly, was a well enough mage and knight to handle things there, she assumed. And indeed, he had managed to reflect the beam with seemingly some effort. But of all things, aiming for this little girl of a captain was a sad move on the enemy's part in her mind. Such desperate measures at a time like this, trying to kill a girl in the middle of battle with an overwhelming attack. Albeit, tactically it was sounder than some things.
It was not that Elissa didn't care for her comrades, as she had already been trying to take the front from the more injured knights among the group so they might be able to pull back and rest in this current battle alone, but to her personally Fanilly was not the linchpin of this operation and their forces despite being the highest ranked member here. It would not be good, nor did she wish death upon the girl-captain who was younger than her, though whilst her death would have been...well, shocking and terrible, it would not have as much of a loss for combat prowess to her as one of the major fighters like Sir Indrau or Sir Radistirin or even Sir Tiral himself would be if they died here. Without those needed people of great experience and age holding the line with the others and keeping the pressure on, the knights' forces in her mind might cave to just enough troll then even if Fanilly herself was still among them in such a situation.
But perhaps she was being cynical about things, as it were, but it was not like she hadn't thought of what potential losses of certain members would do in this battle. It sounded rather cold even by her standards, but that also was why she didn't really talk about that to anyone. Sure she'd once or twice drunkenly rambled on the matter among the members dissenting knights in the order in regards to their dislike of Fanilly being the head of the Order itself, but as it were she'd listen to the girl's orders out of respect for her rank. However, to her that was it. A rank, much like how a countess could command her servants. And until this blond girl eventually led them into a situation that her age would foul up, she would obey her superior's orders and follow her into battle.
Sure, Elissa herself was only eighteen years old, but she had worked for this spot, earned it, gained it from practice and proving her worth. Her sister had gotten to this point as well in that manner. Fanilly, on the other hand, had been handed this on a silver platter. Sure there could be the work to earn respect in such a title, and to prove she was worth the effort and value of some old tradition, but with there being enough of a dissenting party among the knight in regards to her....well, had Fanilly earned this yet? Elissa personally was not sure, but she felt this leader of the knights, in her own humble opinion, would make or potentially break their tradition for choosing a leader.
So, everyone, here are my OC ideas to be seen, critiqued, and talked about as you will, as Vita ordered! :)
I did admittedly do some edits to them to try to fix some things while putting them up here, just to be sure on my end. Still, i hope these OC's can be made acceptable and be able to join in on the fun! XD
Name: Elissa Lockhart
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Race: Half-Human, Half-Nem
Appearance: Elissa, like her twin sister Cymbeline, only stands at the maximum height of 4’11” in height, also possessing moonlight-like pale skin just like her twin. She has a pair of golden yellow eyes, as well as a curvy and leanly-muscled frame that includes the Nem trait of lovely wide hips that give her a sway when she walks and adds to her overall appeal physically. Her light red hair is trademark from her human mother’s side of the family as well.
Personality: Though a relatively cool-headed individual when in combat, outside of it Elissa tends to still be more of the “serious-type” of individual, one who tends to focus on her studies and training with some level of dedication and soberness. Albeit, on occasion pushing herself too far when she puts her mind to something. She finds it hard to unwind, but does find some solace in her enjoyment of drinking with friends, allies, brothers and sisters in arms, and family at times as well. As much as her sober personality on first glance would lead one to think she could be of the boring sort, when drunk she can get very....carefree, being a sort of “happy drunk” who might kiss someone or flirt without thinking twice, or who might dance on the table in her underwear if she has gotten herself pretty slammed. Indeed, she has become accustomed to waking up after a night of revelry somewhere back in the knights’ barracks, albeit still seems to get a bit irritated when her twin sister pokes fun at this.
She feels driven, pushed even, to perfect her skills to the best degree possible, to be the best she can be in all areas, and hard work is no stranger to her. She does this mostly in part for the sake of her family. Her mother, her grandparents, and even her sister are included in this. She seeks to learn from each victory and failure she has along the way, but even then a particularly humiliating defeat can get under her skin a bit. However, when she says she has someone’s back, when she puts her mind to something, when she seeks to help her allies and save those in need, her level of sheer determination has been compared to “a rampaging devil tearing into all that oppose it”. Of course she can be stubborn as is wont of someone of her disposition.
Brief Backstory: Elissa and Cymbeline are a pair of twins born to Countess Orina, a noblewoman of Thaln whose domain lies in the southern part of the nation close to its southern border. The family was actually the first to use their domain to bring in and accommodate the first Nem immigrants to Thaln in the very far past. But true to their family name, Orina’s father was a fanatic for the Nem, affectionan and kind but at times rather eccentric to boot. To this end, Orina once was taken by her father nearly two decades ago on a trip into the deserts of the south, on another eccentric endeavor her father was undergoing to do research on the Nem to add to his other studies tucked away in his library. But amongst moving about for research over the course of three months, Orina eventually came upon a Nem male by the name of Kiria who was hired to accompany the nobility’s convoy for the last month and a half of the trip as a guide. An honorable sort whose short stature did little to hide his valiant spirit, Orina and he fell rather in love, eventually consummating that love prior to the end of the trip after many days of conversation, flirting, and stories of their lives being shared.
As naive as this was, Orina eventually bore her two daughters by Kiria after returning home, which....her father did not actually mind. However, when some other nobles began talking behind closed doors about the illegitimate births and her father and herself, Orina began to sober up rather quickly. Though as soft and kind as she was to close family, her stalwart dedication to her father’s domain eventually left her inheriting the family land after her father had to retire from his duties due to illness. She took her brother Stefan as an advisor, also placing him next in line to take over once she was gone, assuming the political mantle with a frightening skill that left her and her father’s enemies silencing lips far more often than not.
It was in this environment that Elissa and her sister were brought into the world, and from a young age they were taught the basics of reading, writing, and other basic skills needed for those of their social status. However, their mother never seemed to talk of them about politics, rather letting them go about their business learning and flourishing in other areas and in learning about combat. In reality, this was from their mother’s desire to avoid them taking over as rulers of the domain, to avoid their illegitimate birth coming back to haunt them in such a case among the people and other nobles. Elissa, in particular, fostered a love of the magical arts that eventually worked its way into her training, taking up with a mage named Aldbert who worked for her mother’s domain. She showed a liking for the conjuration branch of magic, one which eventually combined with her training in wielding one-handed swords to become a trademark of her fighting style.
However, it was from Aldbert she gained her enjoyment of casual drinking with friends and coworkers and the like, which with her Nem heritage was not perhaps the best thing for her. As a result, her mother had Aldbert magically alter Elissa’s liver over a period of years, strengthening it to an absurd extent to prevent liver death from the drinking...and oddly allowing her body to far better handle toxins than the average person and far above a full Nem could.
Like her sister, however, she heard eventually of the deeds of the Iron Rose Knights, of their past and origins and such things as might be learned through the spread of word of mouth...and their grandfather’s books on the matter. And despite their differences, past scuffles, and other matters of the past, the twin sisters eventually sought out to become members of the knights together, which after hard work and some proving got them both accepted in a year ago at the age of 17. Though young, Elissa hopes to gain great experience in the field and beyond, to eventually work her way up to...well, becoming the leader of the group.
Though young, Elissa also hopes to gain great experience in the field and beyond, to eventually work her way up to...well, becoming the leader of the group.
While this is a goal far off and far between, she feels that such an order of knights, with such history and prestige, should not rely on such old traditions of putting some random girl in as the leader just because of the conditions of her birth. While not personally against Fanilly as a person, as a knight she feels that, eventually, this “current” leader must be ousted and an experienced knight put in as the replacement leader, in order for the knights to survive moving into the far future and maintain a united, experienced front further on. Quite ambitious a thing for her to think, as well as quite a great desire, to be frank about the matter.
Equipment:
-A sword and shield, which upon joining the order she was given for combat. She does keep these, but only uses them if she is running low on mana with her usual style of combat.
-Conjured one-handed swords and shields, via her magic.
-Light armor, this for her usually being a hardened, flexible, layered leather set of armor that protects her at its very best from arrows and small weapons like daggers with a great surety, but is only useful against protecting to an extent from slashing attacks from larger weapons such as swords and axes.
-Magical Liver Enhancement: Her magic teacher, Aldbert, magically reinforced and enhanced her liver over a period of years to make it supernaturally strong, such that Elissa’s drinking habits would not actually kill her. As a side effect, however, this enhanced liver also makes her far better at handling poisons and such toxins that get into her body, as well as causes her liver to very rapidly regenerate any damage if it sustains otherwise.
Skills:
-Conjuration Magic: Being a conjurer in regards to her magical skills, she uses this mainly to conjure weapons and shields for her use, with some limited experience in conjuring armor. She can also use this for other things like bottles of water or some basic supplies, but her primary focus and main bulk of skill is While she honestly could have become a true mage with her dedication to working at what she sets her mind to, she has instead chosen to make this magic an integral part of her combat style. Possessing a large internal source of mana, she can use many a spell in combat, but can burn out her reserves of mana and have to recharge just like any other mage if she is not careful (despite having a large internal source of it).
-Sword and Shield Combat: She has been trained in one-handed sword and shield combat, albeit with her lack of armor she uses a light, fast moving style where the shield both protects, can be used to slam into an enemy to unbalance them, and is used to deflect blows and make opening for attacks. In return, sword slashes are usually aimed at vulnerable points, or if not those then spaces in an enemy’s armor. Due to her conjuration magic she can afford to break swords and shields in combat in order to do damage or get an edge on an enemy to defeat them, but in a long-term, mana-consuming fight she has to be careful, lest the effects of combat and running too low on mana strain her too much and put her out of the fight.
-General Skills: Reading, writing, poetry, and some of these general educational things that nobility are taught are among her repertoire of skills.
Name: Cymbeline Lockhart
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Race: Half-Human, Half-Nem
Appearance: Like her twin sister Elissa, Cymbeline only stands at the maximum height of 4’11” in height, also possessing moonlight-like pale skin. However, she has her human grandfather’s chocolate brown eyes, which combined with her Nem-colored black hair are in some sense a mixture of her heritage on both sides made manifest. She further has a curvy and leanly-muscled frame that includes the Nem trait of lovely wide hips like her sister has as well. One other defining feature of her, though, is that she has a size larger bust than her sister does, a thing she at times has jokingly mocked her twin with if they got into some kind of argument.
Personality: Unlike Elissa who takes on a “serious” sort of persona, Cymbeline can be considered somewhat the opposite of this, being more of a “relaxed and chill” sort of individual. She is someone who listens to her superiors’ orders and such as is needed for a night on the average, though on certain occasions she could be a bit...willful depending on the situation. Even in serious situations she seems to try to find a reason to smile and keep upbeat regardless, though, to put on a happy face for her allies. Cymbeline is more of the type of person who would be more than happy to talk to people and hang around with friends and comrades on her off time, enjoying sweets or other hearty meals, telling stories, making terrible puns, and overall just having a good time. In any argument she on the average tries to find some bad pun or witty thing to say, though does not always do such depending on the circumstances. She can be a flirt if put around males or females she is attracted to in some manner, and has no shame in this part of herself to boot. And really, she seems to more overtly carry a more obvious sense of pride for who she is and her heritage.
She does enjoy the benefits of possessing a good deal of natural talent in her chosen areas of combat, unlike her sister who had to work for it all very hard, and this is one thing she and her sister have argued over in the past. At the same time, however, whilst she lavishes in her talent she also doesn’t reject working hard at things, and still practices and trains even if not as much as her sister does by far. Truthfully, she loves her sister and family dearly, but feels that being as rigid as her sister wants to be is not the way to go. Still, Cymbeline enjoys a notably functional relationship with her sister as a whole.
However, her beliefs on the leadership of the Iron Rose Knight since their joining them differs greatly. In contrast to her sister, she personally believes in keeping this tradition for choosing the group’s leaders, and in keeping the past close to remind them of who they are and what they are as a group. In line with this sort of thinking, she also desires to one day go into the Southern Deserts and search for who her father is, so she can meet him for the first time in her life.
Brief Backstory: The background for her and her sister’s birth is covered rather fully in her sister’s own tale. However, Cymbeline’s own path growing up took her down a different direction than her sister did in several ways. Whilst her twin sister fostered a a desire to better herself that pushed her to work hard to gains skills due to her lack of natural talent, Cymbeline was the opposite in that she was born with a natural talent for most of the things the two of them learned. From reading to writing and horse riding, Cymbeline always seemed more relaxed and chill when it came to the things she set to doing and learning from the two’s teachers due to this. In particular, though, she once heard of a sort of “traveling magic show” that came into the town near her family’s castle, hearing this information from some of the castle’s servants. Intrigued by the event, she had her mother take her to it, her sister being sick and in bed at the time, and whilst there fell in love with the idea of magic. In this way it could be said she was similar to her sister.
However, this fascination with magic did become more than just a little thing for her. Cymbeline branched out in learning more kinds of magic, and her mother even hired a formal tutor for her from a local Mage’s College her family had for generations been patrons of. This was done mainly to avoid her gaining a drinking habit like her sister gained by learning under Aldbert, though Cymbeline never really thought about it like that at first and felt rather special due to these circumstances of hers. From her tutor she expanded her magical skills, but in a manner that her tutor used the word “prodigy” to describe her to her mother whilst asking for the girl to be one day sent to the local Mage’s College proper to finish a formal magical education there one day. However, it was at times like this she found her sister sometimes leering at her from a distance, and for a time she couldn’t understand just why her sister was like that since she had her own magic teacher and all.
There was an instance even where the two sisters erupted into an all-out fight of magic and arms in the area allotted to them to practice their skills. As it were, the two had been discussing their lessons for the week and training, leading to Cymbeline herself bragging on her talents and Elissa snapping back at her about it harshly. One harsh word led to another, before the two lashed out at each other finally and the fight had begun. When castle guards got involved and their mother finally showed up in person on the scene, the immediate area had been damaged and the two girls were barely able to lift their fists to hit each other physically.
Safe to say, this event got the two in major trouble, them having to help clean stables for a solid month afterwards. However, at the same time the fight seemed to help Cymbeline get a better idea of her sister as well. Sitting there, humble in her attempts to make herself the best she could be in all areas, striving to overcome what a lack of natural talent had given Cymbeline herself. The bitterness she felt when Cymbeline had bragged about her own talents. Though it did not change who Cymbeline was completely, she very soon stopped bragging on her talents around her sister, then even around others. She took pride in her own skills and abilities, but did not try to demean her sister’s efforts as she had occasionally done in the farther past when they were even younger. It had humbled her somewhat, to be fought to a standstill by her hard-working sister in that one instance, and ever since she had put more work into her efforts despite not requiring as much as her sister would in the same areas by far.
On the side, however, she had listened to her grandfather tell stories of the Nem and their father’s race’s history since she was young. While her sister rarely partook in this, she personally enjoyed the stories, and eventually gained a serious desire to meet her Nem father one day and speak the Nem language before then. Though she could tell her sister was curious about the matter of their father too, albeit not being as interested in the Nem language and history as Cymbeline was.
Like her sister, however, she heard eventually of the deeds of the Iron Rose Knights, of their past and origins and such things as might be learned through the spread of word of mouth...and their grandfather’s books on the matter. And despite their differences, past scuffles, and other matters of the past, the twin sisters eventually sought out to become members of the knights together, which after hard work and some proving got them both accepted in a year ago at the age of 17.
Since then, Cymbeline has been working with the others, but has gained a desire to work alongside the top of the top for the order. Even if by tradition she cannot become the group’s leader, she wants to support Fanilly, a girl who she admires for taking on such a position at an age close to her own, and to try to help make the knights strong as a whole so they can help people.
Equipment:
-A strong, well-built bow
-Quiver on her back with 35 arrows in it, certain ones being inscribed with sigils on the arrowheads to have magical effects imparted on them before firing.
-Light leather armor, which not as thick as her sister’s but is enough to protect her from arrows and give her freedom of mobility as compared to heavier armors.
-A hooded leather cloak, its leather treated naturally so it would repel rainwater/water in general and protect her from the sun during long trips
Skills:
-General Skills: Reading, writing, poetry, and some of these general educational things that nobility are taught are among her repertoire of skills.
-Horse Riding: A skill gained in her general education from a young age, she can apply this in battle (when using a bow) or out of it with a level of good skill on her part.
-Archery: Figuring that she needed to have some sort of martial skill to match her sister, she began to practice Archery. This training was later intensified as she and her sister prepared in the year prior to them seeking to go join the Iron Rose Knights. She is a pretty good shot, though tends to combine this with her magic to form an offense against enemies. A long-range fighter, she is not very good in close range, but atop a horse she can become much more mobile in battle.
-Magic: She has skills in three kinds of magic, which have given her a small arsenal of magical abilities to apply in or out of combat. The first two are her most combat-oriented types of magic, at least as compare whilst the latter two that are best applied out of battle.
*Fire Magic: This form of elemental magic used via chants and words that has allowed her to conjure and manipulate fire/flames, though this fire is of course not the same as the divine fire disciples to Reon are taught to use. Though admittedly, she has had some interest in one day maybe learning how to wield the fire of Reon’s disciples, if only just to expand her capabilities with fire. Not that such a thing would ever happen.
*Sigil Magic: This general-purpose magic system that relies on singular symbols to cast spells rather than using words, nor does it an alphabet of symbols that can be used in various combinations like in Runic Magic. Things such as placing wards, generating barriers, locking doors, reinforcing the durability of something a sigil is placed on, releasing a burst of kinetic force out of the sigil in a given direction, and even things like causing the gravity within a certain area around a certain sigil to increase are notable effects of this form of magic.
Users can “inscribe” sigils to save them for later use without having to pour mana or will into them at the time, but to activate sigils at all a user has to pour mana into them at that time. In fact, an unskilled mage who is only able to pour their mana into something can use sigils, making it a “beginner’s magic” style that can be easier to master.
This magic system scales in power based on how much mana the user puts into the sigil to activate its effects, meaning that the more mana put into a sigil the stronger its effects are. So as a mage grows older and becomes more skilled at putting more mana into their sigils, the stronger their sigils will be. These sigils are able to be “inscribed” in manners such as: physically such as etching them into metal, drawing them onto the ground with a stick, poring ink or something like blood into the shape of the sigil, or even drawing them in the air with physical gestures.
This system of magic not only lacks the complex arrangements and combinations able to be used in Runic Magic, but also weapons inscribed with sigils require mana to be poured into them to actually activate the effects unlike with runes. This is one of the reasons this system of magic is held in lesser regard to its sister Runic Magic, being noted as a “simpler magic that is more costly in order to make it more powerful”.
*Alchemy: The art of brewing potions, medicines, and poisons/toxins for various uses, usually casting a spell using words to form the mixture and imbue it with the magical properties it derives from its component parts. Does not include the art of healing magic at all, but through a complex and time-intensive process over a span of many days can be used to create an “artificial life form” known as a “homunculus” given that the alchemist gathers the right supplies. Her skills in this area include being able to locate, discern the identity of, and understand the usage of herbs and similar alchemic components.
Eir admittedly was cute when drowsy, but Leanne didn't dare tell the smol girl that lest the teasing and joking attempts to call her perverted arose out of the woodwork. Heh. But all things considered, Eir knew full well what hair products she used, since they shared the same room with each other and all. Then again, she wouldn't put it past her roommate to have not payed attention to what hair products she used at all despite it having been three months of them living together in the same room already. But of course the important question of what type of pizza she would be making tonight for their gaming session would arise at some point or another, and she was personally glad to answer. She really liked pizza herself as a rule of thumb.
"Well, since we have leftover toppings in the fridge from when i made a pizza the day before yesterday, i could make us another super-sized meat lover's with stuffed crust if you want, Eir. That or load up a couple cheese ones to the ceiling. Haha!" the brown haired girl said aloud, chuckling at the thought of building up a cheese pizza that tall and large so as to touch the ceiling, but still if Eir wanted something else she felt she might have the leftover food funds to grab something in town. Albeit, making another meat lover's was more than a little appealing to herself right now, "But you can borrow my shampoo and conditioner if you want, though it's just that one Australian brand they started selling in the states a few years ago. I like it though."
Though she took the seemingly nervous couple's silent nods and responses to her greeting in stride, on a side note. Not like she expected everyone to talk...especially if they remembered what element she had. That in and of itself was not the best thing in the universe to have to deal with, mainly when people who hated her for it came out of the woodwork on average. But she wasn't going to try to dwell on that crap today, though admittedly she felt a somewhat instinctual pang of worry on occasion for when the next angry peer might come confront her about the matter...again. Not that everyone was unwelcoming, as many had been nice. It was odd, really, how such mixed perceptions of her just because of her element existed.
Going out on the town to get some lunch? It didn't sound bad to the German-born girl at all, as she had done that at times back home with a few places they had around the town she had lived in. She in particular knew a place back home that made fresh sausages and was next door to a butcher's place, so the meats that place had sold tasted insanely fresh and juicy to the tongue, rich spices dancing across her tongue whenever she'd take a bite. Ah, but hadn't ever really been old enough to order a cold one with some sausage at that, but of course the strudel and other side items were on point as well there, if her background gave her any possible right to talk on the matter. But still, she was not sure if this place had anything like that, not having really gone out on the town to eat since she had arrived here. Training, classes, and the like were among the things that had eaten up her time around her admittedly.
"Heh. Sure, i can tag along to get some lunch, roomie, if both of you are ok with it," the German girl said, unable to help but let a small grin come to her face as her new roommate so enthusiastically greeted her and invited her along in an upbeat and positive manner.
It wasn't like she couldn't sense some tension from Freya prior to being invited along, however, which to her was amusing to some extent. She appreciated the effort made to be positive and inviting, a hospitable thing that despite the other girl being new was a positive in Diana's eyes, though she was used to some others around her being a bit wary of her. Or giving her some distance after that she punched that one nobody guy in the face for trying to touch her butt. Regardless, she didn't mind it and simply shrugged the tension off, as she could go with the flow of things as it were in this case.
Homeroom had been somewhat dull to Diana's tastes, however it had gone, though it had given what little wet still clung to her from the morning swim to finally dry up in full. Walking out onto the Elemental Academy Track and Field area, she was dressed in her exercise clothes that includes a pair of good sneaker and socks, exercise pants well secured to her, and an athletic T-shirt to boot. Not everyone arrived early to this stuff, but she was another matter entirely. She enjoyed this stuff, as much as some of her classmates whined about it behind closed doors or openly otherwise, and it was a perfect continuation to her morning workout since she had already had her swim and some minor time to recover in homeroom. To her, the mind and the body were both important parts of being, well, an elementalist. Besides, she had been building up her lungs and holding her breath over time for a certain trick she was trying to perfect as well...
"Eh? You here, Mr. Manilow?" the redhead called out aloud as she began to stretch her arms whilst walking, looking about for the man as she walked onto the field, though out of the corner of her eye she spotted something hanging from the support beams of the stands, "Yo! How's the view from there?"
Upon saying that last bit, a somewhat shit-eating grain came onto her face, though it was meant in good fun if nothing else. She kinda liked how this guy pushed them to get better, and this was admittedly one of her favorite classes of the entire day to boot. Heh. She bet Mr. Manilow didn't hear that sort of stuff everyday.
Oh jeez this is awkward for me and i hope it isn't too OP or something ahhh i hope the app will be ok and fixable!
Alright! Finally done! :D
Here is my app!
Name: Elena Ravenwood
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Race: Half-Human/Half-Hundi
Appearance:
-Armor and Sword:
-Without Armor:
But imagine her as having a dog/Hundi tail that is easily seen without her armor, but is hidden completely whilst wearing her armor.
Personality: A determined sort of individual that works her hardest at what she puts her mind to, albeit at times running the risk of overworking herself on occasion, Elena can be considered a reliable sort of individual when it comes to things she sets her mind to or tasks she has been given. Being as young as she is, not an adult but not a child either, she feels like she is caught in-between a rock and a hard place with how people might consider her and treat her. However, from her mother she gained a love of hearing and reading stories and legends of old, as well as gaining the great enjoyment of cooking food and trying all different kinds of it!
Brief Backstory:
One, a long time ago, there was a family that went by the name Ravenwood. Warriors of great might, they were known to send their members to travels the lands to gets stronger, before coming home to eventually have children. However, over time tragedy and war and other mishaps of nature of mankind took the lives of the family’s members, whittling them down bit by bit until the family was a shell of its former self. Gone were the days of travel and fighting, the earning of glory, and praises given to some of them by the bards of older times!
Eventually only one member remained at the tail end of what was now a dead family of warriors. His name was Krevan Ravenwood, named for the family’s founder, the last male among his small family, the last of his line who might be sent out to travel as his ancestors did. So his father trained him as best he could, pushing him, though his son seemed to rebel in part by preferring the magical arts. In particular, the dark arts. After many years of argument and fighting amongst family members, Krevan was finally persuaded to, unlike his siblings, set off on a trip to become stronger.
On this trip he eventually ran into and fought a traveling Hundi, a female, who in a duel he beat after much effort. Soon after the two were wed, but it was this chance to settle down away from his remaining family that left Krevan leaning towards his interests in magic. Moving to a home on the very edge of a town in Thaln, he began practicing the dark arts from books he had bought along his travels. And with his wife he produced a great deal of children, some of which were turned into his acolytes over the years, some of which were used as fodder for experiments, and a few that were used with his wife to forcefully make their home look normal and put on a face for the locals in the town. But even so, rumors abounded over time.
It was into this home that Elena was born, a half-hundi and half-human child who was blessed to be more around her mother than her father. Among her many siblings, she was among those of them who held disgust for her father’s necromancy and cruel experiments always, though never spoke it for fear of retribution or being used as an experiment. Her mother too was in disgust, but weakened and kept in line by magic she had no power to protest her husband nor go against him without fear of her children’s death or worse being done to them. Her husband had become a man of great evil, and the least she could do would be to protect her children like Elena to at least given them some chance of a life. At least, those of her children who had not bene converted over by her husband to his manner of things and thinking.
Eventually, at the age of 9, Krevan’s home was burst into one morning without any warning by an armored and battle ready man, in the middle of Krevan having just finished an experiment on Elena herself. This man in question was one “Armand Jodeau”, who had come into town and burst in to kill the necromancer rumored to be living in this home.
Caught unaware, Krevan was slain by the hand of this man, and those among his children who were his acolytes were slain as well as they attempted to kill the intruder too, with the young child Elena herself attempting to help somewhat after seeing this as a chance to get free and help her mother. Krevan’s lair under the house was set on fire as well, before Elena along with her mother and surviving “sane” siblings were pulled to the side by the man who had saved them.
Though they never saw his face, he advised each of them, including their mother, before turning to Elena herself and giving her a ruffle of her hair. The man spoke to her specifically about how, with such bravery and heart at her age, she might make a fitting knight in the future, and after telling her briefly about an order of knights that he recommended she join one day (using his name scrawled onto some paper as a reference) he set off without a word as abruptly as he had arrived.
And so Elena and her family left the town, having been now seen as a plague upon them after the truth about their father was found out after the knight’s intrusion. Though a cruel thing to undergo, it seemed for the best as her mother and surviving siblings made their way to find a brother of her father, a man whom her mother had met once prior to Krevan settling down. This man, Neman Ravenwood of Goldhouse, was an accomplished knight himself, owning some land and a grand home, and nearly having the status to marry into a noble family from his deeds. Upon seeing his brother’s broken family, he took pity upon them, and right away took them into his household among his own family to be treated as such. Family. It was here that Elena found solace from the past, though her father’s last experiment was bonded to her forever as a part of her, being like unto a curse that might never be shed and that would be an eternal reminder of her family’s darker side.
Even so, she begged her uncle to train her to be a knight, and seeing the light in her eyes whilst hoping she might use such a thing to better herself than her father was, her uncle eventually agreed to train her. Day in and day out she was put through training, for eight years she worked hard to become a knight, eventually being gifted armor and a sword by her uncle after her training with him was finished.
Afterwards, Elena bid her mother and family a hearty farewell, before setting off to find the group her family’s savior had mentioned all those years ago: The Iron Rose Knights. She had never forgotten that day of being saved, of the desire put into her to be a force for good in the world in some manner, and now deciding to act on her past promptings she was going to forge her path in the world. She would make her uncle proud, she would make her mother proud, and she would prove that all her effort in preparing for this moment was not wasted.
However, as a knight, she does have mixed feelings on some matters. For one thing, the group’s leader. Whilst admirable for her to be so young and close to Elena’s own age, at the same time she feels that an experienced hand might be better for the Iron Rose Knights than a 16 year old girl. She does not hate Fannily personally or as a person, but at the same time is by this point in time in silent agreement with the dissenting party who feel such a young girl should not be the leader of a group of knights based on some old tradition like being born under a full moon.
Equipment:
-Full Body Black Armor: This set of very thick, masterfully made black armor crafted by dwarven blacksmiths was once made for a great warrior named Halfdane the Mighty. A knight of great might who served Lord Windhlem of Goldhouse alongside Elena’s uncle, he wore this armor for many moons and many years of fighting and combat under a liege before he died of a plague. More than a little durable in make, Halfdane actually had to have the armor enchanted to repair itself magically in order to maintain the actual stuff.
Upon his death, Halfdane passed the armor down to Neman Ravenwood, who in turn never used the armor, but had it resized for a pretty penny when he passed the armor down to Elena herself.
Of course, as durable as it is and as much as it was built to allow her a free range of movement, it is still heavy plate armor in the end. This means it ends up leaving the wearer moving slower than lightly armored and especially unarmored fighters, though she does retain a full range of movement due to the armor’s make. Though its added protectiveness on her body makes her a defensive bulwark, which is one reason she does not carry a shield into combat.
-Mysterious Greatsword: A thick weapon of dwarven make that came to Halfdane along with his armor, both having been gifts from his lord in the past for saving his life, it too was enchanted at the same time as the armor to magically repair itself as well. A hefty blade of great power, it can be said the thrum of magic courses within it, and supposedly Halfdane claimed that the blade could fire beams from its tip, or fire curved waves of magical energy in an attack when swung.
And indeed, this power is a real thing, the sword being able to do these things at the user’s will by tapping into the user’s own mana.
However, its thickness and great length left many foes of Halfdane calling it “that big slab of metal” as a jeer, though Halfdane came to call it that as a joke later on in life.
-“The Lich’s Core”: This device was originally a necromantic artifact acquired by her father and improved upon for many years. It was a thing created by an ancient necromancer, who had sought to transform the “mana reactor” of sentient undead into a “phylactery” he could store his soul in to become a “lich” one day. Though Elena’s father managed to get this from an unknown source after settling down in a home, he never managed to get this to function as it was supposed to. Yet, he eventually found a way to make use of it, modifying it and testing it until he came upon a manner of using it by fusing it with a living person’s heart.
In this state the phylactery would become one with the heart and transform into a “living vessel” wherein the user’s soul would be contained, whilst the container’s power would provide the user with a fountain of mana, as well as diffuse its energies into the user’s body to both strengthen it to beyond human means as well as heal it from damage. According to Elena’s father, the container would be able to restore even the user’s entire body should only the heart-vessel remain of them. Though from preliminary tests on animals of varying sizes and species, it seemed the container would stop the user’s aging after a certain length of time, though this period of time a human or other species that isn’t an animal remained unknown to him.
But to see if this thing would work in general he implanted it into Elena first, to try to test this manner of use and see if it would work, with the intent that if it worked he would then remove Elena’s heart, killing her, and fuse the container into his own heart to grant him a sort of “pseudo-immortality” by stopping aging.
Of course, if this container is destroyed, which it can be, then the user of it dies regardless, just like any human who has had their heart destroyed.
Though due to not granting immunity to poisons or preventing things like diseases, this artifact does not actually have all the boons of an actual sapient undead.
Skills:
Sword Combat- She has been trained in the skills of wielding a greatsword, though outside of using it with two hands her strength has allowed her to wield it with one hand as well. As oddly surprising as that is to some, especially her uncle at first, she was trained more and gained one-handed sword wielding skills with this type of blade as well.
Inhuman Strength- Due to the effects of the necromantic artifact fused with her heart, her physical strength is far above that of someone of her sex and age, enough to move in her armor like it was normal and skillfully wield a giant greatsword with one hand.
Fighting Style- Her fighting style contains both a strong offense and a strong defense, sometimes taking the front lines in pushing against the enemy, but at times tanking hits as well. Being in heavy armor she definitely lacks speed in her fighting style, but has the ability to parry and deflect blows as part of her style. However, her balanced offensive and defensive style does leave her able to fulfill both roles in a fight in a versatile manner.
Really, the biggest weaknesses in her fighting style are fast and swift foes, those who are far less weighed down and can run circles around her with her armor on. That, or those who use magic in a manner of countering those like her who have armor. And without her armor she is not used to fighting with her greatsword to boot.
Personality: A scholar and hard worker by nature in those things she finds interest in, Evangeline's lack of innate talent did not stop her from becoming a magus. This being said she comes off on the average looks rather lazy, yet easy to approach in a relaxed sort of manner for some reason. When not putting her work into the things she is interested in or has set her mind to, she can usually be found lazing off or slacking in some manner, whether it be sleeping, eating, drinking with friends, or the like. Easily underestimated on first impressions alone, she takes comments about her in stride and is more likely to shrug them off than the average person. Even so, she takes her work on her magecraft rather seriously, but all the same could easily becoming a drinking buddy under the right conditions that people feel like they want to talk to. It is an odd assortment of traits to some perspectives, but to her she is just..."herself", nothing more, nothing less.
Though in regards to this Holy Grail, she has some mixed feelings. On one hand, she feels her wish might be best spent on forming her own family and moving away from the parents who rejected her presence being around them a long time ago. To be able to create a situation where she could be independent and stake it out on her own even more so. Still, she also feels that perhaps the Grail could be used to do something better, to better benefit herself or others in some manner. In what manner might that be? Even she is still trying to think it over.
Skills:
-Can drink like a champion in any form of drinking competition, personal or formal, with a gut like iron and a liver that has been enhanced via magecraft by a co-worker to withstand this stuff. Takes a lot to get her drunk as well, actually.
-Is familiar with all sorts of basic household things like cooking and cleaning, the necessities to live on her own as a magus.
-Superb driver when it comes to cars, mainly from many days spent driving to get food and such. Albeit, she is a notorious speeder on or off of the highway.
Abilities:
-Familiar Creation (Worms): She is notably skilled in the realm of creating familiars, even if in many other ways she is an average magus. In particular she has a breed of worm familiars she has created through her time spent at the Clock Tower, bred to multiply incredibly fast, create mostly self-sustaining colonies she can control with a far greater ease, to have powerful jaws and dig very quickly, and finally to be able to transform what they eat into minerals of various sorts (including jewels) or just eat away things like solid rock and earthen substances to convert them into mana for the worms themselves (or to be injected back into their creator physically to restore her reserves and such). These familiars of sorts could be considered the "pinnacle" of her magecraft, which can be employed in various ways.
Simply by planting them in the ground she can create an area wherein the worms create a massive underground colony that continues to spread over time, and by accessing their senses via using Shared Perception magecraft (which she can use rather well) she can even use individual or small clusters of worms like spy cameras to spy on various places. Further, with the worms being sensitive to sensing mana and prana, she can use them to detect where enemy magi are better and better as the colony spreads underground.
She uses an array of single-action spells to direct her worms in various ways and to do things like sense the condition of the worm colonies she has planted from even miles away. From directing them to attack targets to using a single one of these small but very hardy worms to spy on others, the earth is generally not one's friend when facing her. But the independent nature of the worms to the extent it exists allows them to survive an amount of things and not require constant maintenance. Further, as they eat to generate their own nutrients and prana, the worms are far less of a drain on Evangeline herself to use.
-Elemental Magecraft (Earth): She has a level of competency in earth magecraft, using it to generally work in tandem with her familiars, to fight against enemies, or defend herself in some manner. She is no genius in this area, but is a generally skilled magus in this area who knows many spells.
-Other Magecraft: She is familiar and average in skill with the other basic things a magus should be able to do, bounded fields, locking/unlocking doors, creating basic familiars out of animals and such, using Shared Perception on familiars, and the like.
-Magic Circuits: Her magical circuits are of high quality, albeit are in rather average quantity.
Brief Backstory: Evangeline is a member of the Henderson magus family, who in the early 1800's moved to America as a break-off of another magus family that had lost so much power they were nearly nonexistent among magi. With them they took half of the family's crest as well. However, the family used what influence they gained over their first several generations of independence, greater in their fraction than in the main family they had left, to secure the remnants of the main family's assets once it finally caved in due to the death of that family's last viable heir who had possessed their remaining half of the magic crest.
Since then, the Henderson family has kept two "homes" as magi, their main one in America where they possess land over a leyline in the Southeast United States, and the grounds of the main family back in England which acts as a home for their European branch where many experiments and tests are performed in regards to their magecraft. Many family members travel using their private jets from one home to the other, usually for purposes of getting data in one place, assisting in an experiment with the staff and family members who live at the England residence, perform business transaction that have kept the family prosperous financially, and to take successful subjects back home with them for practical tests in the field.
Among this family was born Evangeline herself at the England location, to the head researcher of that facility and his wife. She did go to America from time to time to visit relatives, lived there partly even, and got very used to the traveling that this would put her through. As it were, she proved to be no prodigy as a magus, but did manage to do one great thing in her parents' eyes in regards to their work: develop her personal familiars. Though this was not enough to keep her from being sent to take classes at the Clock Tower in an attempt to better develop her overall as a magus in the future. Such was the intent of her family.
Though her basic skills as a magus rose to average and acceptable levels, though after being handed around lot a "hot potato" to the Zoology, Botany, and then finally the Mineralogy/Geology department when she went out seeking for internships. Though what she picked up from each area seemed to build on her development to a certain extent, in the end she found some form of success the lattermost area much to some surprise. By no means was she a magus of great talent in many areas, nor the best magus among her peers, but she was a magus who was notably good in regards to applying her knowledge and learning from various areas to the application of creating, developing, and employing her personal familiars.
Eventually she went off on her own, seeking to hone her magecraft individually in order to continue the development of her familiars. She was only 21 when she set out and bought a place in Midwestern America to make her workshop, but since has put considerable time into her work, whilst keeping in touch with the few she decided to keep contact with back at the Clock Tower from her many years spent there. Further, she made acquaintances in her local area among magi, doing odd work for them at times just to make some money and some connections around her. Albeit, only four years later she would find herself in another situation that would perhaps be a change to her entire life.
A female associate from one of the families she would work for at times eventually told her one morning, after they had woken up together on her couch due to a night of a celebratory drinking, about an odd "ritual" going to be held that her own family had gotten wind of. Some backwater ritual hijacked from Japan or something, a pathetic little thing that offered the chance at getting some magical cup, a "holy grail", that could grant some sort of wish. Intrigued by the prospect, Evangeline set off to gather more information on this matter, finding that it would be occurring in a little town called "Redrock" on the coast and things about summoning a servant and such. Nothing seeming too special to many, but altogether too interesting for her curious mind to let go of. Readying her things, she set out eventually to participate in this ritual, this war for a "holy grail", with the intent to fight for this prized wish herself in the end.
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