Coming over to Roxas,still hunched thanks to his height,and sitting himself on the floor so as to be more level with everyone else, Forbann spoke softly."don't take it too hard on Engelbert. He's old for a human, and good chances are that he has those responses ingrained in him. If at least half the stories about him are true, he's probably trying to look after the party in his own way"
With that said, he spoke up for everyone to hear "that said, Engelbert idea has merit. We are gonna rely on each other for the foreseeable future, so knowing what we can do is the least we should do. Let me reintroduce myself, i am Forbann Spiser,and if my height didn't give me away, i am an Oni"
Deciding a demonstration would be best for the next part, he put an hand foward,and he Shaped his gauntlet, the metal rising in a stalk and petal blossoming in his best approximation of a rose,glittering in the flames and sometime lighting itself with the sickly glow of the curse residing within it.
"I am a ferromancer,able to shape metal however i see fit.Unlike most ferromancer, i specialized in Cursed metal, and before you worry, it's harmless to anyone i don't wish harm to as long as i'm touching it
Reshaping the metal rose back into the gauntlet, he continued
"Much like Engelbard,i would do best when in the thick of it, though i'm more specialized for attrition fights than fast ones. Furthermore, i know curses and how to deal with them, even if i must admit my methods are...brutish, to say the least.
"Indeed you are, Sir Spiser, please make yourself at home." Evelyn gestured toward the encampment, taking the initiative to invite the gentle giant into the group.
"Many thanks" He nodded to the red-headed child, and fully entered the camp. Looking around,he found a stump that looked tough enough to hold his weight, and sat himself.
Just as he was about to entretain himself with his Ferrokinesis, the masked elf came back to the now very snarky-looking child.
"Do forgive my presumptuousness, but if you're worried for my well-being, please don't. I'm very much capable of taking care of myself."
To give proof to her claim, Evelyn brandished her enchanted rapier from its scabbard, then began performing deft swordplay, showing off the results of her training, her performance further augmented by her equally-enchanted dress. She then finished off with a flourish, the tip of her sword ending up being pointed toward Gray's collarbone, "And this is but a small sample of what I can do, Sir Gray."
Her skill with the blade seemed adequate enough, even if the technique themselves were far too fancy,more akin to dueling moves. What was noteworthy though, was that a child had such skills. Is she one of those fabled prodigies?
"Your skill are quite good for one so young!" He praised, Clapping his hands, the gauntlets Clinking togheter,but he soon continued, his first thought about her presence still in his mind.
"Though, if you'd humor me, why did you join the expedition? From what i gathered, the Twilight Lands are one of the most dangerous places a person can find itself in, so you must have strong reasons to adventure there" and to help cut any anxiouness that this question might bring the young Lady, and to sprone her, he revealed his own reason.
"I myself are here on a...Vacation so to speak. I never left my homeland,you see, and with all the problems brewing there, i though a change of pace was what was needed. And this job gave me both an excuse to leave and brough me to a place that,if nothing else, should be exciting to be in and were my homeland problems can't reach me."
He wondered how he did it before, while he was in the army. Marching day after day. and to top it all off, he didn’t bring anything with him in his haste to escape. So now his feet were sore, he was hungry and sleeping on the dirt was starting to become easier, which he wasn’t sure was a good thing.
As he trudged along, the sun shining above and mildly cooking him inside his armor, he saw a commotion further ahead. A cart,tilted on the side of the road,a mule beside it and a man imprecating and a woman weeping.
They were so caught up that they didn’t even notice him closing in. After the tension most Humans feel whenever they interact with him, they told him of how something scared their mule, making it freak out and tilt the cart in its panic.
While the mule was calm now, the cart was far too heavy to put upright, and now they were stuck in the middle of nowhere, the closest city was days from there on foot.
Well, Forbann couldn’t help but feel for the couple. Helping them wasn’t too much of a bother,being an Oni does come with its advantages afterall, and in their gratitude, they offered to transport him to the next city over. Forbann’s sore feet were accepted, of course.
Over the journey, Forbann learned that the couple was going to join a caravan going to Valenheim, and when he confessed he was headed there too, the couple was quick to suggest to him to take up a job as a caravan guard,at least for the length of the journey. They could even put in a good word with the Caravan master.
Guarding the caravan wasn’t that hard, as except for one weak attempt by some bandits, the journey went smoothly. The caravan master was even cordial enough to point him where he should go to get to the rendezvous point.
Talking about it, it seemed that Vesemir was a fan of the outdoors as instead of finding himself at an inn or estate, he was faced with a camp outside the city.
Letting himself in, so to speak, he noticed that he wasn’t the first to arrive.
An orc taking the chance to sleep, an elf humming and carving, a strangely stoic human, an armored figure and a masked one together, and a man with half a goblin mask was talking to an elf that dresses as a stereotypical rich person.
And in the middle of it, a red-headed noble-looking child was seemingly speaking
. "And the same sentiment goes to all of you as well, fellow adventurers." Evelyn declared to the group in general to finish her introduction.
Though he only heard the last part, he gathered that she too, was part of the expedition. He wondered why though. The twilight land was no place for children, so she must have some reason beyond her. Maybe she escaped her noble family or something? No matter
“Well met. I’m right in assuming this is the Expedition rendezvous? If so, i’m Forbann Spiser and may we help each other in the Journey Ahead”
Name: Forbann Spiser Species: Oni Age: 112 Gender: Male Mana pool type: Container
Born in Tretagon to a family of Blacksmiths, Forbann's first 30 years of life went…relatively peacefully. While being a Non-Human in Tretagon wasn’t ideal, a combination of both their family profession and living close to other Non-Humans mitigated any racism towards them, and Forbann learned about his family trade,becoming a decent smith in his own rights.
Unfortunately, being able to supply the Tretagonian military with weapons seemingly wasn’t enough to be excluded from being conscripted when they needed more recruits for another of the countless wars that they liked to wage.
And so, for forty long years, Forbann became part of the Military, and fought in the multiple wars that the Feredin’s oh so liked to wage. He never moved far in the ranks, as his Human compatriots were always chosen before him for promotions. Fortunately, either because of his combat prowess or because they didn’t want to risk the ire of a three metal tall tower of muscles, that was most of the extent of the discrimination against him. It wasn’t the life he wanted, but Forbann could be content with it.
Then the Feredins died out and everything went to shit. Peasants would barely make it to the end of the month, skirmishes between all the factions were commonplace and all-out battle a monthly occurrence at the very least.
Forbann had it better than most, for the first couple years at least. His combat prowess guaranteed him a job in a land so rich in violence, but in between the rising tension against Non-Human communities, and general paranoia against anyone non-affiliated with their own faction, amd before even a decade passed, all the job he could find were far too distasteful for him to take.
As he was trying to think of a way out of this predicament, he happened upon a windfall,in the form of a pampleth.
“Searching for able-bodied Volunteers to further magical research! DANGEROUS! Will pay well and give both food and lodging! No Magical Knowledge Required!”
Even though Forbann thought it to be sketchy, he decided to check it out, trusting that if it was a scam, he would be able to get out of it without much problems. To his surprise, instead of a scam What he found out was a Middle-aged man that called himself the “Scholar”,no other names given,a new building that he never saw before, and exactly what the pampleth said. Food,lodging,pay, and plenty of danger. After being assessed, the Scholar said he would be perfect for his experiment involving Curses,gave him a book on Ferromancy and told him to study,before promptly leaving him in his room.
Between being continuously cursed and cleansed for “experiments”(he was never given any other explanation),and trying to learn magic for the first time, the following years went by quickly, but when he finally was adept in the magical art, the experiments shifted. Instead of being a test subject for curses, he was to try and subjugate the ones in Cursed Objects. Allegedly, the Ferromancy should give him an edge in manipulating the Curse to his Will, while his continuous exposure to curses should have given him some resistance and familiarity with them.
It took years more, but the Scholar assumption seemed to be correct. He was able to mold the Cursed Object, and the curse Itself, making them his own.
Unfortunately, after that success, things started to go downhill. The experiments became more and more inhumane(and started to involve other people beside himself), the Scholar himself seemed less eccentric and more unhinged by the day. When he tried to bring up his concern to the Scholar, he turned on him. Forbann didn’t go down without a fight, but he was brought low in the end.
He knew this was fucked beyond saving when the Scholar started to monolouge at him,about how he was gonna bring progress to everyone, how his glorious revolution will lead everyone to a better path and how he’s was gonna “Show them all!”.
Instead of being killed though, he was imprisoned,something about how he was “One of his best experiments” and how “You’re gonna come around to my vision in time”.
A couple months later and some crude attempts at “Convincing” him to willingly join the Scholar, Forbann had his chance to escape,a chance he tried to prepare for as best as he could. As the facility was attacked by some unknown forces, he broke through his bonds, weakened exactly for a moment such as this, and bee-lined it for the room most of the experiment involving him happened.
Reaching it, he easily found what he searched for. Stored there were all the previous experiments he worked on. Metallic Cursed objects, each of which he fought and won against. And even after months, that didn’t stop mattering. The Metal flowed, forming around his body in a sickly glowing shell resembling armor. Extending from his hand, a length of the Cursed Metal extended, forming a gigantic Halberd, his preferred weapon,shining with that same menacing glow.
As the process finished the glow abated,only shining occasionally, and instead of a prisoner, what was left was a warrior clad in armor, a deadly weapon in hand ready to be used against any who would oppose him.
After that, escaping proved to be relatively simple. Most of the security was occupied with whatever force was attacking the place, and what was left was no match for him. Strangely enough, he never saw whoever had decided to fight the Scholar,though the fact that he escaped through a wall instead of using the main entrance might have something to do with that.
Finally free after months, Forbann had to once again decide what to do, how to best hide from the Scholar(in case his assailants wouldn’t get him), and find a way to live.
As he was trying to think of a way out of this predicament, he happened upon a windfall,once again in the form of a pampleth.
"Looking for able-bodied brave people! Only the trustworthy, fair and those who yearn for an exciting yet perilous adventure Need apply! To aid me, Vesemir Baradin, in his journey to the Ancient City of Nuria!"
It is such a shame that we have mapped the faraway lands and realms, but not our place of birth. It is such a disgrace that we record the history of all realms and place it on the highest shelf in our library, but let our own be left in the dust. It is unacceptable that we look back at our history with disdain on our faces. -Vesemir
…He really shouldn’t trust Pamphlets after what happened the last time.
…But it would be an easy way to get far away from the Scholar, and it’s a job that 's definitely within his abilities. And to be honest, after a century, he thought that he needed a little vacation from Tetragon.
The Twilight Land are supposed to be one of the most dangerous land of the world, but it can’t be that much worse than Tetragon.
…
Right?
A Ferromancer specialized in Cursed Metal, they trade the faster, unpredictable attacks of a Ferromancer to specialize in Attrition fighting. In Between debuffing their enemies, Restoring themselves and being a pain to bring down, the Curse-Bound Ferromancer is a drain tank that’s far more trouble than it’s worth.
Steel in my soul, Iron in my veins:
As an Oni, Forbann stands almost at twice the height of an average Human. His ancestry grants him greater strength and constitution, though at the expense of being somewhat slowed down. Thanks to his profession, his heightened constitution also applies to resist most Curses, Though it isn’t quite enough to fight them off completely.
Shape Metal:
While Forbann can quickly shape metal to be combat effective, if he takes his time with it he can render the process very cost-effective, and he can Shape it in more complex forms.
Ferro-Knight:
Combining his previous military training along with his ferromantic abilities, Forbann fighting style favors heavy armaments. Armor that he can shape to soften incoming blows, and weapons with enough heft to them to be used both as a deadly implement and as a catalyst for his ferromancy. It is a ponderous style, entrusting in its ability to take a hit to dish out far more damage.
Profane Impalement:
Forbann shapes the Cursed Metal, extending it at high speed towards its target. Has a maximum range of five meters and a Cooldown of one Turn.
Command:Fragmentate
Whenever Forbann wounds a target, he can choose to fragmentate the Cursed Metal currently inside of them, leaving it inside the target. Beside being shrapnel, the Cursed Metal festers, inflicting them with the Alloying Curse. This is not subtle, as each piece of cursed metal will start glowing with a sickly light not much after entering a bod..
Has no cooldown, but can be activated only when scoring a wound, and the spell strength scale based on the wound severity.
Curse-Leech
Whenever Forbann is in contact with a target(Either Physically or with Cursed Metal), he can decide to Leech the Curse from them. Beside Cleansing the target, this Revitalizes and strengthens him,scaling with how strong was the Curse. If an enemy has Cursed Metal inside of them, Then instead of getting completely Cleansed, then they will once again be inflicted with the Alloying Curse.
Curse-Leech has a Cooldown of two turns, but proc’s automatically if a target gets killed by Forbann or his Cursed Metal.
Smithing Knowledge:
Forbann past knowledge comes in handy,as Ferromancy has some overlap with smithing, and knowing about smithing technique and practices increases a Ferromancer’s ability both in depth and versatility
Curse-binding Ritual:
With a ritual,Forbann can Curse metal with the Alloying Curse, greatly strengthening it.
This process does have the side effect of making the metal highly dangerous for anyone not resistant to curses unless actively suppressed by him.
Curse-Eater:
As a Container Type, Forbann can additionally replenish his pool by absorbing curses.Eating Cursed metal grants a higher boost,but disintegrates the metal that the Curse was bound within.
Curse-Bound Armor: While Malleable, the Armor is commonly in the form of a heavy full plate suit. Sturdier than normal thanks to being Cursed, it sometimes emits a sickly glow. Greatest concentration of Cursed Metal Forbann possesses.
Curse-Bound Weapon: While Malleable, the Weapon is commonly in the form of a gigantic Halberd, thicker than standard ones to account both for his strength and that throughout a fight he’s gonna temporarily lose pieces of it.
The Alloying Curse: Forbann’s own brand of Curse, and the one all of his equipment is haunted by. Aptly named both for the method of contracting it and its symptoms, which were described(by a blacksmith) as “Having feets like lead,skin like tin, mercury as blood, and you have to carry all of them together”. In more Physical terms, a severe affliction weakens the victim, makes them more prone to wounds and tires them.
If left untreated for enough time, the victim would first become paralyzed,as each limb starts to slowly but surely become number and number until they can’t control them anymore. Then, the Curse will start to slow the organs, until they can’t keep up with the body’s needs anymore. Death follows soon after.
Any rumors that dying by the Alloying Curse transform your body in Cursed Metal are baseless and no proof of this claim has been found.
Name: Forbann Spiser Species: Oni Age: 112 Gender: Male Mana pool type: Container
Born in Tretagon to a family of Blacksmiths, Forbann's first 30 years of life went…relatively peacefully. While being a Non-Human in Tretagon wasn’t ideal, a combination of both their family profession and living close to other Non-Humans mitigated any racism towards them, and Forbann learned about his family trade,becoming a decent smith in his own rights.
Unfortunately, being able to supply the Tretagonian military with weapons seemingly wasn’t enough to be excluded from being conscripted when they needed more recruits for another of the countless wars that they liked to wage.
And so, for forty long years, Forbann became part of the Military, and fought in the multiple wars that the Feredin’s oh so liked to wage. He never moved far in the ranks, as his Human compatriots were always chosen before him for promotions. Fortunately, either because of his combat prowess or because they didn’t want to risk the ire of a three metal tall tower of muscles, that was most of the extent of the discrimination against him. It wasn’t the life he wanted, but Forbann could be content with it.
Then the Feredins died out and everything went to shit. Peasants would barely make it to the end of the month, skirmishes between all the factions were commonplace and all-out battle a monthly occurrence at the very least.
Forbann had it better than most, for the first couple years at least. His combat prowess guaranteed him a job in a land so rich in violence, but in between the rising tension against Non-Human communities, and general paranoia against anyone non-affiliated with their own faction, amd before even a decade passed, all the job he could find were far too distasteful for him to take.
As he was trying to think of a way out of this predicament, he happened upon a windfall,in the form of a pampleth.
“Searching for able-bodied Volunteers to further magical research! DANGEROUS! Will pay well and give both food and lodging! No Magical Knowledge Required!”
Even though Forbann thought it to be sketchy, he decided to check it out, trusting that if it was a scam, he would be able to get out of it without much problems. To his surprise, instead of a scam What he found out was a Middle-aged man that called himself the “Scholar”,no other names given,a new building that he never saw before, and exactly what the pampleth said. Food,lodging,pay, and plenty of danger. After being assessed, the Scholar said he would be perfect for his experiment involving Curses,gave him a book on Ferromancy and told him to study,before promptly leaving him in his room.
Between being continuously cursed and cleansed for “experiments”(he was never given any other explanation),and trying to learn magic for the first time, the following years went by quickly, but when he finally was adept in the magical art, the experiments shifted. Instead of being a test subject for curses, he was to try and subjugate the ones in Cursed Objects. Allegedly, the Ferromancy should give him an edge in manipulating the Curse to his Will, while his continuous exposure to curses should have given him some resistance and familiarity with them.
It took years more, but the Scholar assumption seemed to be correct. He was able to mold the Cursed Object, and the curse Itself, making them his own.
Unfortunately, after that success, things started to go downhill. The experiments became more and more inhumane(and started to involve other people beside himself), the Scholar himself seemed less eccentric and more unhinged by the day. When he tried to bring up his concern to the Scholar, he turned on him. Forbann didn’t go down without a fight, but he was brought low in the end.
He knew this was fucked beyond saving when the Scholar started to monolouge at him,about how he was gonna bring progress to everyone, how his glorious revolution will lead everyone to a better path and how he’s was gonna “Show them all!”.
Instead of being killed though, he was imprisoned,something about how he was “One of his best experiments” and how “You’re gonna come around to my vision in time”.
A couple months later and some crude attempts at “Convincing” him to willingly join the Scholar, Forbann had his chance to escape,a chance he tried to prepare for as best as he could. As the facility was attacked by some unknown forces, he broke through his bonds, weakened exactly for a moment such as this, and bee-lined it for the room most of the experiment involving him happened.
Reaching it, he easily found what he searched for. Stored there were all the previous experiments he worked on. Metallic Cursed objects, each of which he fought and won against. And even after months, that didn’t stop mattering. The Metal flowed, forming around his body in a sickly glowing shell resembling armor. Extending from his hand, a length of the Cursed Metal extended, forming a gigantic Halberd, his preferred weapon,shining with that same menacing glow.
As the process finished the glow abated,only shining occasionally, and instead of a prisoner, what was left was a warrior clad in armor, a deadly weapon in hand ready to be used against any who would oppose him.
After that, escaping proved to be relatively simple. Most of the security was occupied with whatever force was attacking the place, and what was left was no match for him. Strangely enough, he never saw whoever had decided to fight the Scholar,though the fact that he escaped through a wall instead of using the main entrance might have something to do with that.
Finally free after months, Forbann had to once again decide what to do, how to best hide from the Scholar(in case his assailants wouldn’t get him), and find a way to live.
As he was trying to think of a way out of this predicament, he happened upon a windfall,once again in the form of a pampleth.
Looking for able-bodied brave people! Only the trustworthy, fair and those who yearn for an exciting yet perilous adventure Need apply! To aid me, Vesemir Baradin, in his journey to the Ancient City of Nuria!
It is such a shame that we have mapped the faraway lands and realms, but not our place of birth. It is such a disgrace that we record the history of all realms and place it on the highest shelf in our library, but let our own be left in the dust. It is unacceptable that we look back at our history with disdain on our faces. -Vesemir
…He really shouldn’t trust Pamphlets after what happened the last time.
…But it would be an easy way to get far away from the Scholar, and it’s a job that 's definitely within his abilities. And to be honest, after a century, he thought that he needed a little vacation from Tetragon.
The Twilight Land are supposed to be one of the most dangerous land of the world, but it can’t be that much worse than Tetragon.
…
Right?
A Ferromancer specialized in Cursed Metal, they trade the faster, unpredictable attacks of a Ferromancer to specialize in Attrition fighting. In Between debuffing their enemies, Restoring themselves and being a pain to bring down, the Curse-Bound Ferromancer is a drain tank that’s far more trouble than it’s worth.
Steel in my soul, Iron in my veins:
As an Oni, Forbann stands almost at twice the height of an average Human. His ancestry grants him greater strength and constitution, though at the expense of being somewhat slowed down. Thanks to his profession, his heightened constitution also applies to resist most Curses, Though it isn’t quite enough to fight them off completely.
Shape Metal:
While Forbann can quickly shape metal to be combat effective, if he takes his time with it he can render the process very cost-effective, and he can Shape it in more complex forms.
Ferro-Knight:
Combining his previous military training along with his ferromantic abilities, Forbann fighting style favors heavy armaments. Armor that he can shape to soften incoming blows, and weapons with enough heft to them to be used both as a deadly implement and as a catalyst for his ferromancy. It is a ponderous style, entrusting in its ability to take a hit to dish out far more damage.
Profane Impalement:
Forbann shapes the Cursed Metal, extending it at high speed towards its target. Has a maximum range of five meters and a Cooldown of one Turn.
Command:Fragmentate
Whenever Forbann wounds a target, he can choose to fragmentate the Cursed Metal currently inside of them, leaving it inside the target. Beside being shrapnel, the Cursed Metal festers, inflicting them with the Alloying Curse. This is not subtle, as each piece of cursed metal will start glowing with a sickly light not much after entering a bod..
Has no cooldown, but can be activated only when scoring a wound, and the spell strength scale based on the wound severity.
Curse-Leech
Whenever Forbann is in contact with a target(Either Physically or with Cursed Metal), he can decide to Leech the Curse from them. Beside Cleansing the target, this Revitalizes and strengthens him,scaling with how strong was the Curse. If an enemy has Cursed Metal inside of them, Then instead of getting completely Cleansed, then they will once again be inflicted with the Alloying Curse.
Curse-Leech has a Cooldown of two turns, but proc’s automatically if a target gets killed by Forbann or his Cursed Metal.
Smithing Knowledge:
Forbann past knowledge comes in handy,as Ferromancy has some overlap with smithing, and knowing about smithing technique and practices increases a Ferromancer’s ability both in depth and versatility
Curse-binding Ritual:
With a ritual,Forbann can Curse metal with the Alloying Curse, greatly strengthening it.
This process does have the side effect of making the metal highly dangerous for anyone not resistant to curses unless actively suppressed by him.
Curse-Eater:
As a Container Type, Forbann can additionally replenish his pool by absorbing curses.Eating Cursed metal grants a higher boost,but disintegrates the metal that the Curse was bound within.
Curse-Bound Armor: While Malleable, the Armor is commonly in the form of a heavy full plate suit. Sturdier than normal thanks to being Cursed, it sometimes emits a sickly glow. Greatest concentration of Cursed Metal Forbann possesses.
Curse-Bound Weapon: While Malleable, the Weapon is commonly in the form of a gigantic Halberd, thicker than standard ones to account both for his strength and that throughout a fight he’s gonna temporarily lose pieces of it.
The Alloying Curse: Forbann’s own brand of Curse, and the one all of his equipment is haunted by. Aptly named both for the method of contracting it and its symptoms, which were described(by a blacksmith) as “Having feets like lead,skin like tin, mercury as blood, and you have to carry all of them together”. In more Physical terms, a severe affliction weakens the victim, makes them more prone to wounds and tires them.
If left untreated for enough time, the victim would first become paralyzed,as each limb starts to slowly but surely become number and number until they can’t control them anymore. Then, the Curse will start to slow the organs, until they can’t keep up with the body’s needs anymore. Death follows soon after.
Any rumors that dying by the Alloying Curse transform your body in Cursed Metal are baseless and no proof of this claim has been found.
(Adrenal Boost:One Man Army going down to Slight Superhuman)
In Between Nico defeating what might have been one of the closest things to a god on this planet, and Quingshe literally ripping off mythology, Ernesto felt…Elated. He wasn’t even involved, and yet only witnessing these events made him have an adrenaline rush that he seldom ever felt. His NA seemed to have the same thought, powering up to a level he reached only once in testing.
'Would this even be enough to be on par with them?' He mused. 'Probably not' He concluded, but that isn’t what was really important,was it?
He should definitely try to get a spar with Nico and, if he could swing it from her, make Quingshe create another mythological creature he could battle with.
“Qingshe here, requesting a headcount. What’s happened? Is everyone alive? Intact? If you’re in a position for it, we should begin the evacuations immediately,” the Snake of the Zodiac said, concern in her tone. “I would aid you, but I’m going to be busy trying to blunt this storm,” she admitted.
Fumbling with the radio, he responded “Ernesto here, just witnessed your little theatrical stunt. Everyone seems fine-ish enough. I even saw Cristina again. I’m going to help with the evac now. My power isn’t gonna last long, so i better get moving” he admitted, without any enemies or Quingshe little theatrics pumping him up, his NA was already depowering at a fast rate.
Fortunately, he should have more than enough time to help.
Closing the distance less than a second, Ernesto fist pick-up was Nil, who seemed to be shell shocked from something.The poor girl didn’t even resist or react much.
After securing her, he could move on to the actual PoWs. His current power wasn’t gonna last much time, but his speed and strength should be able to bring a great number of them to safety.
'Well,All things considered, this could have been a worse first mission.'
Appearance:As Picture, but with Heavier Armor on louder jobs
Cyberware:
Body and Head Armor Plates (More Armor than Subdermals, at the cost of always showing it off. Also, showering is a bitch and a half.)
Gorilla Arms (For when you need to rip a gonk head right off or a HMG from a Minotaur. No, the HMG in my room has nothing to do with this.)
Berserk OS (Subtlety? Inconspicuous? None of that now, we're gonna go get us our Blaze o’ Glory!)
Opti-Shield Eyes System (An Older model, it swaps the Kiroshi zoom and anti-recording functions for Anti-Dazzle and Low-Light ones.)
CyberAudio (Installed after being painfully reminded that flashbangs have a bang. Fitted with a Level Dampener so that another flashbang incident doesn't happen.) Cyberware To-get: Nasal filters so that you don’t have to deal with those pesky gasses An Half-Decent ICE so that you don't get insta-gibbed by every half-competent netrunner that's able to upload a quickhack. General body reinforcing implants(bone and lace,titanium bones etc etc.)
Equipment:
Metal Armor (Clunky, and everyone will call you a Dough-Boy, but nothing stop bullets quite as well except going full borg. And who has the money for that?)
“Casual” Wear (For when you aren’t on a Guns'a'Blazing Mission. Stylish, don’t clank everywhere,nobody will give you more than a glance for it and still armored enough to be worth wearing)
Modified Budget Arms Carnage (For when you want someone dead not only in this life, but the next one as well. Modified for Reliability after his last one broke down in the middle of a shoot-out, This Carnage would still be able to shoot even if used as a Bat against a Minotaur. No, that didn’t happen, Shut up.)
Militech Mk. 31 HMG (“Permanently Borrowed” after a particularly heated Gig, this heavy machine gun rarely sees use, as it is far too cumbersome for one-man gigs and most of the time cost too much to be worth it. But when the time comes? This beast Shines, and all in its path wish they weren’t on the wrong side of it.)
Biography: Despite the name, Nikolai was born in Night City. Unfortunately for him, stereotypes run deep in NC, and so his parents were Scavs. A happy little Incident, though they never called him that. For some reason, they brought the newborn to conception, and raised him in their Hideout. Though even that was cut short when a Solo Team swept through and cleared them out. He survived by hiding inside one of the craters holding Chrome.
And now Nikolai,at fourteen years of age, had no home and no education besides how to better club someone over the head and rip their inside out. Fortunately for him, a “Kid-Gang” decided to pick a fight with him, and after seeing his prowess decided to “Recruit” him. Nikolai didn’t complain much about this new state of affair, it wasn’t like he had anything better to do anyway.
Some years have gone by, and the Kiddie gang come to accept Nikolai as one of their own, mostly thanks to his ability to punch someone into oblivion.
But this is Night City, and nothing ever lasts. An informant leaked a treasure trove left by a fixer and before they knew it, they walked right into a trap. Professionals, Actual Solos, against some gun-totin kids. The results were obvious. The trap too in hindsight, but kids are gonks, though adults aren’t much better. Most of the gang laid dead, the few survivors scattering to the wind. Nikolai got away with an Arm lighter,and he swore off of Gangs, because people are gonks, and he should make his own stupid decisions instead of letting others do them for him.
A bad decision and a couple years later, Nikolai got himself a proper job at 20 as a Corpo Huscle. He still didn’t know how he landed the job, but the benefits of all expenses paid and free replacement cyberware for only a five year contract hooked him.
Though, to be fair, his Charge kinda gave away the reason. A gonk even by corpo standards, he was a “Daredevil” that wished to experience the dangerous side of NC, and his daughter arranged for a guard detail for him.
That meant wearing a scratchy suit,24 hour work hours and frequent “expeditions” in the Combat Zone. At least the food was good.
Obviously this being Night City, and the gonk being the gonk he is, decided that they should try something “new”, and tried to spectate one of those fight arenas that frequently crop up in the area. Unfortunately he decided the one Arena Maelstrom and Animal decided to fight over. Another Arm, half his face and a grouchy client later, his service was terminated effect immediately because and he quote “Blocked me from seeing the sights and splattered blood all over me while manhandling me!”.
His daughter saw sense thankfully, and still finalized payment for a job well done, though still not the full amount owed, probably because she’s a corpo and fucking people over is in their blood. And so Nikolai Sweared off working for a Corpo full-time ever again, because the Corpos fuck everyone, but especially those working for the Corpo.
Fortunately for him, it seemed like the fight went Viral, because after fixing himself a new Arm and getting himself a new look(Armoring up was, funnily enough, far cheaper than the reconstruction needed to fix his face), he was contacted by a certain Regina Jones. She explained that she had done some digging, and asked about his current mental condition. After ascertaining that he wasn’t going cyberpsycho and was quite calm(“Too calm about it” were her words), He got himself a new job offer. Regina was gonna pass him a few gigs, and see if he was merc material, and the only thing he needed to do beside the jobs, was to report to her any Cyberpsycho-like symptom he may experience. Seeing as Gangs and Corpos were out, and the chance of finding gainful employment was at an all-time low now with his new visage, he readily accepted.
Strangely enough, even with this being Night City, things didn’t end up as they always did for Nikolai. The gigs ended well, he got paid enough to finally get himself some decent, not-scratchy chrome and gear, his contact got passed to other fixers and he got himself the reputation of a merc that could be trusted to do the job, as long as there wasn’t too much sneaking around. Hell, He even got invited to the Afterlife on his 25th birthday. Things were looking up for once.
Then Arasaka gets wiped off the map and militech comes in, and for once, Nikolai life didn’t explode. New Blood and power blocks came to the city, but things were good. Obviously things were going to shit even more than normal, but for a merc? Now was a high time to get that Blaze o’Glory that everyone chased after. Not that Nikolai really understood why, but hey, it was something to strive forward, and the benefits of doing so were great as long as…you know, didn’t die.
Appearance:As Picture, but with Heavier Armor on louder jobs
Cyberware:
Body and Head Armor Plates (More Armor than Subdermals, at the cost of always showing it off. Also, showering is a bitch and a half.)
Gorilla Arms (For when you need to rip a gonk head right off or a HMG from a Minotaur. No, the HMG in my room has nothing to do with this.)
Berserk OS (Subtlety? Inconspicuous? None of that now, we're gonna go get us our Blaze o’ Glory!)
Pain Editor (So that you don’t cry after getting hit like the Manly man that you are!)
Opti-Shield Eyes System (An Older model, it swaps the Kiroshi zoom and anti-recording functions for Anti-Dazzle and Low-Light ones.)
Cyberware To-get: CyberAudio with Automatic Audio Dampener so that you don’t have to deal with those pesky flashbangs. Nasal filters so that you don’t have to deal with those pesky gasses An Half-Decent ICE so that you don't get insta-gibbed by every half-competent netrunner that's able to upload a quickhack.
Equipment:
Metal Armor (Clunky, and everyone will call you a Dough-Boy, but nothing stop bullets quite as well except going full borg. And who has the money for that?)
“Casual” Wear (For when you aren’t on a Guns'a'Blazing Mission. Stylish, don’t clank everywhere,nobody will give you more than a glance for it and still armored enough to be worth wearing)
Modified Budget Arms Carnage (For when you want someone dead not only in this life, but the next one as well. Modified for Reliability after his last one broke down in the middle of a shoot-out, This Carnage would still be able to shoot even if used as a Bat against a Minotaur. No, that didn’t happen, Shut up.)
Militech Mk. 31 HMG (“Permanently Borrowed” after a particularly heated Gig, this heavy machine gun rarely sees use, as it is far too cumbersome for one-man gigs and most of the time cost too much to be worth it. But when the time comes? This beast Shines, and all in its path wish they weren’t on the wrong side of it.)
Biography: Despite the name, Nikolai was born in Night City. Unfortunately for him, stereotypes run deep in NC, and so his parents were Scavs. A happy little Incident, though they never called him that. For some reason, they brought the newborn to conception, and raised him in their Hideout. Though even that was cut short when a Solo Team swept through and cleared them out. He survived by hiding inside one of the craters holding Chrome.
And now Nikolai,at fourteen years of age, had no home and no education besides how to better club someone over the head and rip their inside out. Fortunately for him, a “Kid-Gang” decided to pick a fight with him, and after seeing his prowess decided to “Recruit” him. Nikolai didn’t complain much about this new state of affair, it wasn’t like he had anything better to do anyway.
Some years have gone by, and the Kiddie gang come to accept Nikolai as one of their own, mostly thanks to his ability to punch someone into oblivion.
But this is Night City, and nothing ever lasts. An informant leaked a treasure trove left by a fixer and before they knew it, they walked right into a trap. Professionals, Actual Solos, against some gun-totin kids. The results were obvious. The trap too in hindsight, but kids are gonks, though adults aren’t much better. Most of the gang laid dead, the few survivors scattering to the wind. Nikolai got away with an Arm lighter,and he swore off of Gangs, because people are gonks, and he should make his own stupid decisions instead of letting others do them for him.
A bad decision and a couple years later, Nikolai got himself a proper job at 20 as a Corpo Huscle. He still didn’t know how he landed the job, but the benefits of all expenses paid and free replacement cyberware for only a five year contract hooked him.
Though, to be fair, his Charge kinda gave away the reason. A gonk even by corpo standards, he was a “Daredevil” that wished to experience the dangerous side of NC, and his daughter arranged for a guard detail for him.
That meant wearing a scratchy suit,24 hour work hours and frequent “expeditions” in the Combat Zone. At least the food was good.
Obviously this being Night City, and the gonk being the gonk he is, decided that they should try something “new”, and tried to spectate one of those fight arenas that frequently crop up in the area. Unfortunately he decided the one Arena Maelstrom and Animal decided to fight over. Another Arm, half his face and a grouchy client later, his service was terminated effect immediately because and he quote “Blocked me from seeing the sights and splattered blood all over me while manhandling me!”.
His daughter saw sense thankfully, and still finalized payment for a job well done, though still not the full amount owed, probably because she’s a corpo and fucking people is in their blood. And so Nikolai Sweared off working for a Corpo full-time ever again, because the Corpos fuck everyone, but especially those working for the Corpo.
Fortunately for him, it seemed like the fight went Viral, because after fixing himself a new Arm and getting himself a new look(Armoring up was, funnily enough, far cheaper than the reconstruction needed to fix his face), he was contacted by a certain Regina Jones. She explained that she had done some digging, and asked about his current mental condition. After ascertaining that he wasn’t going cyberpsycho and was quite calm(“Too calm about it” were her words), He got himself a new job offer. Regina was gonna pass him a few gigs, and see if he was merc material, and the only thing he needed to do beside the jobs, was to report to her any Cyberpsycho-like symptom he may experience. Seeing as Gangs and Corpos were out, and the chance of finding gainful employment was at an all-time low now with his new visage, he readily accepted.
Strangely enough, even with this being Night City, things didn’t end up as they always did for Nikolai. The gigs ended well, he got paid enough to finally get himself some decent, not-scratchy chrome and gear, his contact got passed to other fixers and he got himself the reputation of a merc that could be trusted to do the job, as long as there wasn’t too much sneaking around. Hell, He even got invited to the Afterlife on his 25th birthday. Things were looking up for once.
Then Arasaka gets wiped off the map and militech comes in, and for once, Nikolai life didn’t explode. New Blood and power blocks came to the city, but things were good. Obviously things were going to shit even more than normal, but for a merc? Now was a high time to get that Blaze o’Glory that everyone chased after. Not that Nikolai really understood why, but hey, it was something to strive forward, and the benefits of doing so were great as long as…you know, didn’t die.
Shaking the dizziness out of himself,Ernesto looked around, finding himself alone in the destroyed bunker. A wave of disappointment fell upon him, as he understood Huo Ren escaped him.
As his Warform fully repaired itself from Huo Ren's previous volley, he jumped, landing outside of the now useless bunker, observing the situation.
He wasn’t in the Mirage space anymore, and Huo Ren seemingly took the chance to once again put his Sun in the ai-
A distant sound, closely followed by a mountain in the distance being flattened by explosions. Surely the work of Quingshe.
‘...I wonder how it would feel to be hit with one of those’
The other members of Task Force Obsidian were all engaged in combat too, seemingly with some new Chinese Arm Masters though she couldn’t see Cristina anywhere. Probably exhausted after keeping up the Mirage Space. As regrettable as losing out on the fight, he should probably go find her and at least make sure she’s safe.
His musing was interrupted, as multiple shells and bullets hit his form, the explosion uselessly trying to break through his warform.
It seemed that Noel's curse was cut short, and some people survived it.
Though, they could have chosen a better target. Oh well, Cristina will have to wait. Not everyone can survive a tank shell afterall, and they are gonna wise up sooner than later.
And so, Ernesto moved. His feet brought him to the closest of the enemy combatant in moments, his claws backhanding the first of the fifteen soldiers this side of the Mekong.The other didn’t fare much better. Running was futile, he was too fast. Fighting wasn’t much better, as nothing they had could even hinder him. In under ten seconds, the fifteen combatants laid on the ground, dead or unconscious.
Another Tank shell exploding on him with unerring accuracy made him remember his work wasn’t done.
‘Spread the feets, bend the knees, inhale’
Ernesto jumped, the ground cracking from the force,as his body crossed the river in a matter of seconds.
Landing on one of the offending tanks,he dug his claws under the turret cap,easily tearing it away and throwing it at one of the APC’s, making it tilt sideways.
Instead of the crew he’d expected, he found the tank empty inside. Probably an Arms master power then. Means he’d have to completely trash them.
Jumping off the tank and kicking it off into the river, he continued, moving towards the tilted APC. Tearing it in half was easy enough, and even if the Noble Arm power somehow persisted, it couldn’t accomplish anything like that.
As he finished with the APC, one of the tanks rammed him, probably as a desperate way to hinder him. Flipping it, he tore through the underside, and rummaging in the insides, he quickly found one of the yet unexploded shells.
A small amount of pressure later, and the tank was a smoldering wreck. Removing his still pristine arm from it, he turned to deal with the last remaining vehicles, which stopped shooting at him for some reason.
…Was that APC trying to hide behind one of the still conscious PLA grunts? and was that tank Quaking?
…
Ernesto shook his head. Huo Ren must have hit him harder than he thought if he was seeing things like that.
'And now I'm disappointed again.' He sighted. This mission turned out to not be such a glorious an experience as he hoped.
Oh well, disappointment or not, he still had a job to do. He could already feel his power waning now that fire-boy wasn’t in the field anymore, best he started to hurry. He didn’t fancy having to swim back through the Mekong to reunite with the rest.
(A minute later)
As he once again cratered to the ground, he could feel the Warform leaving his form, returning him to his normal height.
'What was I doing before I got distracted?AH! Cristina!'
Looking around, it seemed like she was still missing, though the Forest fire and Nil being on the ground was new.
Well, not like he had any ideas on Cristina whereabout anyway, so might as well go help her and Martha and see if they knew anything about it.
“It's the third time this has happened! You’re fired!” Lyco heard the same thing for the third time in as many days.
Another restaurant that welcomed her with open arms but quickly decided to let her off. She still didn’t understand why the clients didn’t like it, all they did was condemn her “Atrocious” Cooking, but they never said why.
Oh well, she still had a couple of recommended places she could try, hopefully they’d be more amenable to her skills, or at least tell her what’s wrong with her food so that she can improve on it.
As she left, she fumbled with her phone to try and put an appointment to the next restaurant in the list, a certain “Ramen is the Best Pleasure” place, only to notice from the tail of her eye a light closing in on her. Turning fully to look at it, Lyco found herself face to face with a truck, probably the one that restock this restaurant, coming at her.
‘Uh, i wonder where the driver is’ she thought. Unfortunately, she will never get to solve that mystery, as the truck hit her at blinding speeds. Everything goes dark, and she dies.
Darkness. A feeling of drifting but nothing more. This is what Lyco encountered after her untimely death. Time had no meaning, as her consciousness floated contently upon Nothingness.
Until it was pierced by a voice. Kami, she called herself, the Goddess of life and reincarnation. She offered them another chance, in a world in danger, where they were needed.
Lyco accepted, of course. She needed help, and while this whole Nothingness thing was nice, from what she gathered it wasn’t gonna last much more anyway.
However,she couldn’t help but to ask Kami for a wish. She wanted to be able to further her cooking skills, and finally be able to create food that would delight who’d eat it.
For some reason, she felt as if Kami's smile broke from a moment. But soon after Kami said that such a thing was simple enough to accomplish, and assured Lyco that her cooking shall be loved by her new family, though she couldn’t assure the same for everyone else.
And so, Lyco was no more.
Arc 1 - Rebirth: Year 1
(Lyco POV)
Darkness
Warmth
Peace
When Lyco came to once more, she honestly thought that Kami made a mistake and sent her to something like Nirvana. She never felt something akin to this. A feeling of calm,belonging and rightness, all blended together to form something new that words simply couldn't explain properly.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. She didn't know for how long she remained in that rapturing state, but all of a sudden, it left, or more correctly, she got pushed away from it.
No matter how hard she tried, she could do nothing, and as the feeling completely left her, new sensations filled the void. Namely constriction,shortly followed by a blinding light piercing the darkness she got so accustomed to.
A deafening,unintelligible sound attacked her ears. Try as she might, her vision still wasn’t making anything out, and if anything the sound just became even worse.
Soon after, she felt “free”, for a term of the word, though even that was short-lived,as she felt herself moving, feeling constricted once again, even if far more gently this time.
Her eyes finally adjusted enough to make out the shape of gigantic people,one of which was holding her close to her chest, and her ears finally picked up something she understood.
Lyco.
Her name from her previous life and, as it seems she was actually reborn, this one too…
Everyone seemed to be in a hurry for some reason,even whoever was holding her.
Not like she will understand anytime soon, as a wave of exhaustion made her eyelids drop, and sleep took her.
When she woke up again, there was a feeling of wind rushing around her,and whoever was holding her,a male figure this time, seemed to be running.
Moving her head, even as little as she could,to check their surroundings, they seemed to be outside, and it was dark enough to probably be night. One thing kept nagging at her though,and checking around again, she understood. The figures seemed to have dwindled a lot. She wondered where they all went, or why they were outside for that matter. She thought a baby would need a crib or something similar.
It seemed that her checking around was noticed, as the figure holding her said something that she couldn’t understand, and passed her off to someone that seemed familiar. Probably the person that holded her after her birth, what she guessed would her be her mother. That idea seemed to solidify as she tried to feed her. Honestly, she could do without, she still didn’t feel hungry afterall, so maybe they’d get her something else.
Maybe those little pastes that she always sees in the markets?
A week later
(Kurare POV)
A disaster. Even with all the preparations, the planning and time, the desertion was a disaster. And all because the Hunter-nins put a new recruit to check on them, and the fucker decided to be thorough on his first day of the job, the inherent laziness to guard posts not set in yet.
And because of that, a quarter of the clan didn’t make it outside of Kiri, and another quarter didn’t reach the rendezvous point set up with the rebel forces.
And now, after such loss, they are gonna need to spread out all over the network, so as to not place too much heat over any part of it. He understood why, and he was sure his family knew too, but that didn’t stop the grumbling and protest.
Still better than to condemn their children to die as Kiri’s rabid attack dogs.
Talking about childrens, he already feared for his own. Even leaving aside the fact that she’s gonna grow up in a rebel cell of all places, Lyco didn't seem like other kids. We all feared she was a stillborn because of how quiet she was, but her eyes and breath told us otherwise.
He could only hope he and Nasuka could still care for her even without the Clan to support them, though with the difficulties they were already experiencing, the future seems grim on that front. Their little poison flower wasn’t eating as she should,and she has already resorted to stringing her along with little nightshade treats so that she would drink her milk.
‘If any Kami is watching over us, please give us the strength for my Clan to overcome this burden, and for my Daughter to grow up well’
Eight months later
(Nasuka POV)
She for once was seated on the sofa and taking a break, something that was far too rare in between caring for Lyco and being a useful rebel, when it happened. Her husband broke through the door,literally,asking if I had seen Lyco. Apparently he was watching her, but got held up for a couple minutes by someone else, and by the time he was done, Lyco was gone.
Fear gripped me, and as we continued the search, it only worsened. Nobody saw her or knew where she could have gone. Her first thought had gone to a kidnapping. Maybe Kiri found where they were and a ninja took the opportunity.
As the search bore no fruit and a proper hunting party was being formed to understand what happened, a knock on a half-broken door was heard. And lo and behold, her little poison flower was standing there, her face locked in that severe expression she always has, even as caked in dirt as she was and with her hands and mouth full of a plant she knew very well. Afterall, nightshade was her preferred poison.
After checking that everything was indeed fine, and that Lyco didn’t overdose, she once again seated herself on the sofa, a sigh leaving her and with her little poison flower directly beside her. Her daughter was still chewing on a leaf without a care in the world, as if she didn’t give them all a scare just because she wanted a treat.
And now she had to chastise Kurare for not paying attention the one time he should have.
So much for taking a break.
A year later
(Lyco POV)
After the “Incident”, as her parents put it, she was now always watched by one of them,trying to keep her distracted from going for any other “Adventures”. This, along with the greater amount of treats she was getting, made that venture truly worth it.
To be honest, her idea was just to explore around a bit, maybe see if there was something that could take her time, but instead she found a plant that looked quite similar to Belladonna, and she had the same water-mouthering reaction that her mother treats gave her.
Before she could stop herself, she was already chewing on it, and seeing as she wasn’t keeling over death,but instead a reinvigorating feeling washed over her, much like her mother treats, it must have meant it wasn’t poisonous,and so brought it back home after she noticed that she stayed far away for far more time than necessary.
Furthermore, her mother had decided to “focus my energy” in a more productive way. Namely, she now readed books to me daily, the subject seemed to mostly be a curious combination of botany, entomology and chemistry, and while it was fascinating and making learning the language easier, she had to wonder why her mother had decided these topics.
Maybe she was actually a cook at heart too and wanted her to have a leg-up from the start? Some cultures cook and eat insects, and that would explain why the little treats she always gives me are so good!
Life was good. Honestly, the only thing she could complain about was the constant moving. Was Mother a wandering cook? Or maybe Father was a trader? He does have a ton of knick-knacks laying around, and what she thought seemed like weapons. Maybe an Arms dealer?
Oh well, she’ll learn of it eventually as she becomes older. For now, it’s better to concentrate on the now, especially since Mother has noticed her thoughts wandering off and she brought out the treats box! Which kinda looks like lab equipment now that she looks at it…Was Mother preparing them at the moment? Is that the secret to their goodness? I must learn more!
Lyco is born!
The Yūdoku clan loses half its people to kirigakure hunter nins! The grudge deepens
The Yūdoku clan is dispersed in the Rebel network!
Lyco gives everyone a scare by disappearing for a bit! she also ingest deathly quantities of Nightshade and survives only because she was already a glutton for it (Thanks mom!)
Lyco started learning more of the Language and more specifically about The Yūdoku clan specialties!
Lewascan2
KITCHEN GUN
Neziul
