ERode

Windfall: A Character Driven Fantasy

If there's nothing strict about it, does it even matter where it goes then? Flip a coin or something.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Amaryllis and Alicia

_{Dredging Up The Past, Preparing For The Future}

Considering the evacuated state of the city and all, Penrose Downtown Library, once an impressive Brutalist building with five stories full of books and bustling with children, students, and professionals alike, stood empty now. Their archives, where the rarest books had been kept, were emptied out, while the paperbacks on the main floor stood untouched, gathering dust as the months went on. The building, like many public facilities, was closed now, part of the western wall sundered by some magical attack from the rioters or the riot stoppers just last night, but as far as landmarks went, it was still easy enough to spot, easy enough to set as a meet-up point.

Heels clacking against the rusted, snow-covered stairwell that formed the upper floor’s fire escape, Amaryllis walked up to the rooftop of the library, her temporary chain-prosthetic snaking around the railing. Her Sword was sheathed and her backpack, newly sewn up, hung over one shoulder. Unless Penrose’s misfortunate naming conventions screwed with her again, this should be the place...but at the same time, it would have been nice to meet in a proper Beacon facility instead.

Reaching the top, the bespectacled girl, seeing no real reason to arrive transformed, leaned against a silent air vent as she waited for Alicia to arrive.

It was interesting, seeing all of these places abandoned like this. Alicia moved past quiet stacks of books and through empties rooms almost like a ghost passing through history. One could almost imagine that mankind had gone extinct, wiped out by some virus or simply snatched off of the surface of the Earth.

But that was not why she was here. So she walked on, headed up the stairs to the roof for the arranged meeting.

Climbing the steps, Alicia soon emerged on to the roof. Like Amaryllis she was not transformed, though she lacked the backpack and the sword to go with her look. Almost by reflex her gaze drifted to the arm, before she forced it back whilst approaching the other girl. ”Hello,” she said. ”I’m glad to see you’re doing better, though I hope that wasn’t your dominant hand.”

“I’m right-handed,” Amaryllis replied, waving with her flesh-one. “Though I was wondering if Beacon’s got any healing facilities that I can, uh, take advantage of? I’m borrowing this from someone else.”

Alicia considered the request for a moment before nodding. ”We should be able to do that. I know some of our medical resources are tied up with the Cardinal, but even if we don’t have everything I can call in what we’d need from one of the other branches.” It was the least she could do, considering what Amaryllis had done.

It was too bad that she had been distracted by the sudden appearance of Eden and Mariette at the time to really see what had happened with the Monster Queen, but now she had another opportunity. Standing near the air vent, she turned to that subject. ”Still, I’m kind of surprised that you went for that option. You always seemed fairly cut and dry when it came to monsters the previous times we interacted.”

“Thanks,” Amaryllis smiled. She rummaged through her backpack, before pulling out a box of caffeine-spiked chocolates. “Here, thought you might need it considering the whole thing.”

Whether or not Alicia took the gift, the buxom girl responded to her statement with a shrug. “Horrors are horrors and monsters are monsters, but that one wasn’t a monster, was she?” The chains around the stump of her wrist rattled. “Everyone deserves a chance. Much to the chagrin of my Patron.”

An eyebrow rose at the gift, but Alicia did not hesitate to take it. ”Thank you,” she replied in turn. This would help a lot, especially if things didn’t calm down. There was a slight tremble in her hands, but lacking any sort of infinite storage space she held onto the box for now.

She couldn’t exactly argue with Amaryllis’ sentiment either. It was the sort of viewpoint that she espoused after all. ”True. It is easier said than done when that person is actively rampaging.” Still, there was no doubt that Amaryllis was aware of that fact and had been willing to pay the price. Her face fell, but for a brief moment. ”It’s hard to keep thinking that way, with everything that’s happened.”

“That’s why I remind myself that, constantly.” Until it either became banal or inviolable. “But you hold more responsibility than me, so I guess it’s harder for you, huh? How’s the rest of Beacon taking it right now?”

“Hard,” Alicia replied as she gestured around the rooftop. ”This was something that doesn’t usually happen to Beacon; the planning and the scale of it made it as much of a shock as Justine’s bombing was. Some are scared, the Ascendancy is furious, and no one knows where it’s going to end up anymore. Initially the ascendancy was going to stick around until order was restored. But now? I don’t know when they’ll go.”

“Yeah, can imagine that.” Amaryllis pulled her fingers through her bangs. “What’s the endpoint anyways though? As a matter of fact…” Her eyes narrowed then, and she turned out to look at the rest of the city. “...what’s even so valuable about Penrose, that so many of us are here?”

Alicia followed suit, turning to face the city skyline beyond as she took a step towards the edge of the rooftop. ”The endpoint probably depends on who you ask,” she observed. ”I want to make a place where people are safe and can be the best of themselves, without judging just because they had the misfortune of being corrupted or a monster. Actions, not appearance.”

A shrug followed. ”The Ascendancy wants peace and purity. Order restored and all darkness gone, however they have to do that. As for everyone else, I can’t say.”

The following comment earned a small grin in turn as she considered it. ”as for why here, sometimes I wonder if there are girls in other cities right now wondering the same thing. But I don’t think there’s one specific answer to that either. Magical energy, schemes, rivals reacting to that scheming, and the like.”

“Feel like peace is something that everyone wants,” Amaryllis mused. “But they also want to be on the winning side of ‘peace’.” She couldn’t say that, with the city as it was, she was against the Ascendancy either. Penrose couldn’t even really be considered a city anymore, not when so many residents were displaced and the ones that remained were at risk of being cut down or caught in the crossfire of magical girls and monsters alike.

If she had taken a step off the path she had chosen, perhaps Amaryllis too would have concluded that twenty years of peace in Penrose was worth slaying every magical girl in the city.

“How’s the monster queen doing, by the by? I’d have preferred she be free to go on her own way after purification, but I guess the White Coin doesn’t, like, work that way?”

Alicia found it hard to argue with Amaryllis. That was what it seemed like. Understandable, even if it did make everything complicated.

Turning to Hyun, Alicia could at least relax with the easier topic. ”She’s settling in. Still adjusting, but it hasn’t been that long,” she confirmed. ”We still have the traditional purification rituals and the like, but the Coin is imbued with a bit of our Spark, so recruitment is automatic.” A shrug followed, since there wasn’t much she could do about it. She hadn’t made the things after all.

“Mm...suppose that’ll protect the girls from just getting recorrupted by their Patrons,” Amaryllis replied. She paused, frowning as the silence dragged on awkwardly. “Guess I’ll be expecting to see her ‘round town soon enough? Or will she be transferred somewhere less...volatile?”

”Haven’t decided yet,” Alicia admitted with a nonchalant shrug. ”We’re spread pretty thin, but it would be putting her up against former comrades. That could be a good or a bad thing.”

After a moment she regarded Amaryllis out of the corner of her eye. ”Do you want to meet her? You know, deal with some of the baggage? Oh, and the arm biting thing. But that might be less important.

“Former comrades...was she with PI? Or with Cindy’s people? And…” Another pause, more contemplative this time, before Amaryllis shook her head. “Naw, there’s no baggage to deal with. So long as Beacon fixes up my hand, yeah?”

Realizing the lack of information, Alicia was quick to correct that deficit. ”With Cindy’s people,” she explained. ”Apparently she was just ‘on loan’ to the Independent for the events of the Rave. Then that song started and she went out of control.” That was how it had been explained to her anyway.

The refusal was taken with all fairness as well. ”No problem. Just figured I would offer. I suppose this is the best way to get back in the action fast. Lord knows where the city will be in a week or two, much less a month.”

“And can you even imagine a year from now?” Amaryllis laughed. “How many times would the world have narrowly avoided the end by then?”

Alicia tapped her chin in thought, acting as if it was a much more serious question than it really was. “Well, considering the previous track record we’ve had….I’d say at least ten, with a few extra plots that endanger just this city specifically.” Just thinking about it made things seem just a bit more ridiculous, didn’t it?

Doing her best not to ruminate on depressing topics all the time, her hands collapsed together as she idly shifted in place. “Well, I’ve got some plans of my own. Some direct action for a change, rather than just reacting to every threat that pops up when it’s almost too late to do anything about it.” Her eyes gleamed with determination, the inner fire stoked by her feelings and righteous anger.

“So long as you set your kill switch off until it’s truly necessary. Drone strikes in the Middle East weren’t ever good publicity.” A bit too political? Maybe. Amaryllis brushed it off. “Where was Penny that night anyhow? What’s she up to these days?”

Brushing aside the political comments for now (since Alicia had no intention of getting killhappy unless she was confident the ones she was going up against deserved it), she instead addressed Penny. ”Well, these days she’s acting as...I guess liaison would be the best word for it. She’s trying to control the people who used to be in Cindy’s group, keep them from adding to the chaos and all the fighting going on.” It was complicated, as things tended to be with her nowadays.

“Working with Cindy’s people?” Amaryllis frowned, then spoke in a more hushed tone. “Does the Ascendancy know about this? Would they approve of this?”

Glancing away, Alicia’s answer was more noncommittal than she might like. ”I was told they would talk about it soon. I guess she’s waiting for the right moment.” She couldn’t say how it would turn out though, regrettably. Who knew how it would go with how things were these days.

“Hopefully such a moment exists,” Amaryllis mused. Her fingers scraped against the links of chain around her wrist. “So why did you shoot Mariette?”

”So do I,” Alicia agreed. She didn’t want to see her friend Excommunicated, but none of them could take back what had already happened. They just had to live with the consequences, no matter how painful those might be.

Faced with that, the subject of Mariette was almost a relief. It was a familiar anger to draw upon. ”Because she needs to be stopped,” was the Seraph’s succinct answer. ”Because she needs to be held accountable for her actions.”

“I wasn’t active in Penrose back then,” Amaryllis replied, resting her elbows on her thighs. “What happened? I’ve heard of stuff like Justine and the bombing of the HQ, but…”

It took a few moments for Alicia to organize her thoughts and work out how she wanted to present this. Once she had done so, she began her explanation.

”Okay, so when Justine was active Mariette worked with her by abducting girls for Justine to use in her grand ritual. This included Janet, who would be involved in that bombing. At some point they had a falling out and Justine tried to kill Mariette. At which point Mariette contacted me.” There was a shrug before she went on. ”Which is fair. I can’t blame her for following the route of self preservation. Mariette wanted Beacon to help her stop Justine before Justine got to her first. At the time she did seem like the bigger priority, so it seemed like a sensible deal.”

Her frown deepened as she reached the main event. ”However, while the fight with Justine was going on she used the opportunity to take most of the girls she had previously acquired for Justine. Plus more items besides, though I have less proof mof that. But she gave us a list of the girls she’d taken, and none of them have returned home. That’s why there has to be justice.” Sure, her Patron may have played some part in that, but it didn’t seem like she had a problem doing what her Patron wanted. In a case like that, understanding was hard to come by.

“Abducting normal girls? Or magical girls? And wait...Mariette gave you the list of girls?”

The clarification was swift. ”Other magical girls. And yes. It was one of her bargaining chips to give us a reason to not just kill her right then and there,” Alicia explained. She still had that list, back in her office.

“And the Patrons of all those magical girls didn’t do a thing about it either, huh?” Amaryllis frowned. “Did you get any chances to meet with Mariette other than the night before, Alicia?”

”Me? No, I didn’t. Too busy running astound playing damage control on Justine’s actions for my part, and I suppose Mariette was busy with whatever it is that she got up to those days too.” Alicia was honest with her answer, mostly because she wondered if there was something that Amaryllis was getting at, or if it was mere curiosity that drove her questions now.

“Well, uh, as it turns out, I’m sorta maybe friends with Mariette? So long as you promise not to go at each other immediately, I wouldn’t mind arranging and mediating a conversation between the two of you.”

Alicia winced as Amaryllis made her dilemma clear. Yeah, she could see how that would end up being awkward. Not that she held it against her, since it had already been made clear that she didn’t know what the girl had gotten up to before they met. ”Sorry, but after that stuff I just don’t feel like I can trust her.”

Amaryllis sighed. “I think sufficient time has passed for people to change, but, I guess if you’re adamant about it, I won’t press it.” She paused, wondering how much more she could say. “Guess my advice would just be to like, not to go for the kill right off the bat? Revenge is a self-fulfilling prophecy n all. If that makes sense.”

It was hard for Alicia to say that she wouldn’t. After all, Martiette was likely to portal away at the first opportunity if given the chance. Then she would be gone and everything would be back at square one. Still, she respected Amaryllis enough to at least take heed of her words.

”I’ll keep that in mind,” she agreed , even if she wasn’t sure how it would work out. ”Oh, I’ll send you a message on Glimmr when I’ve got the hand thing worked out.” That way they wouldn’t have to worry as much about the timing of meeting again.

“I’d appreciate that,” Amaryllis nodded. “Think I’d best to head off now. I’m sure you’ll be busy trying to deal with all the factions popping up in Penrose too, eh?”

”Like you wouldn’t believe,” Alicia assured her with an exaggerated eyeroll as she stepped back towards the stairs that led down from the roof into the library. ”I’ll see you around.”

“Hopefully not just when we’re stopping the end of the world.”

Amaryllis smiled, paused, and then frowned awkwardly, before she too began to walk down the same staircase Alicia did.

Windfall: A Character Driven Fantasy

Wew, second int chek that I've checked out now that has people express interest in Discord before it's even posted. What is this shadowy deep-state shit.

Nevertheless, gonna drop interest here.

World Beyond the Lexicon

It's a consequence of Blu not being online for 6 days.

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

^{@Pyromania99@Rune_Alchemist}

Isidore gasped, his lungs heaving in air before he coughed violently, heart hammering against his rib cage. The air tasted dusty, stale, and yet, it was amazing too. Mind-numbingly sweet, in a way that he couldn’t describe. Clarity came to him with a swiftness akin to waking up, and the man scanned his surroundings. Rusted chains extending from the ceiling, black shackles extending from the walls, and a partition where iron bars once stood. It was a scene that made for-profit prisons look good. But for all the dingy disgust that filled him upon seeing the room itself, there was one brilliant boon beside him as well. A woman of surpassing beauty, platinum hair like silk drapes, framing a heart-shaped face. Her proportions were as close to hourglass as one could reach without becoming wholly uncanny, while those eyes…those eyes could drown a man on dry land.

The slight worry in her expression didn’t detract from her beauty either, nor her humongous, almost bat-like ears, and though he would be remiss to refuse a lady’s hand, it would be even less tasteful to use her as leverage to get himself off the ground. Though he was but an old man, though he was once an honorless scoundrel, he could still pick himself off the ground fine. Bracing himself for the straining of old sinew and crackling bone, Isidore pushed himself off the ground and found his movements seamless.

His eyebrows raised slightly as he looked at his hands.

Ah. The Goddess who refused his respite was kind enough, at least, to offer him a body not so broken as his previous one.

The room continued to shake, but less and less, whatever massive creature moving through this prison travelling away from them. Isidore listened, counting the seconds between each rumbling quake, before nodding to himself, apparently satisfied. A prison, but old and in disrepair. A warden of prodigious size, no doubt from taking too many bribes and pizza slices, roaming the hallways and looking from prisoners to thoughtlessly brutalize. A beauty with big ears, no weapons but what chains he could tear out from the ceiling and walls. He hadn’t expected to be back on the field like this, but, well, he hadn’t expected any afterlife beyond Satan’s lake of fire either.

“Call me Isidore,” he said, finally addressing the beauty in a tone much different from his gravelly, chainsmoker voice. It was a crisp baritone instead, so youthful it brought in mind his daughter’s first boyfriend. Fucked up, really. “Permit me to ask two questions. Were you human once? If so, did the Goddess bestow a gift upon you as well?”

He patted his breastpocket for his smokes, only to realize his outfit didn't even have pockets there. No gift for him then, but maybe this was a sign that it was time to quit.

Cacophony Concord

As Lugh approached the kappa menacingly, the turtle-manlet coiled his legs as well, beady eyes seeking an opening, a moment to counterstrike. So long as the warrior held his posture, the kappa couldn’t advance, but if the warrior missed his blow, the kappa could close in. Though both of them moved slowly, maintaining the distance between each other, it was certainly a samurai showdown.
Then Raime threw his bolts out in a loud and showy form of support for everyone else, and without the pressure of an archer keeping him in place, the kappa bolted as well, springy legs propelling it much farther than Lugh could travel. There was a fundamental difference in speed between the two, and while the ranger fumbled, trying to reload his crossbow, the kappa would break into the backline with his buddy, to wreak further havoc.

Or at least, that would have happened, if Klein hadn’t chestslammed the monster with his whole person. Taken by surprise, the kappa was knocked down alongside the beefcake, two more bolts rammed into his body. They rolled in the dirt for a couple of meters before the kappa shrieked in bestial rage. Webbed hands wrapping around Klein’s throat, the kappa’s beak-face opened up, revealing rows and rows of hooked teeth. If nothing was done immediately, Klein would literally have his face eaten by this monster.

But if Klein could get this monster into a favorable position, Lugh could finally utilize his Power Attack!

As the stick-wielding kappa broke free from Ames and rushed for Amulak, Ari’s well-placed, yet mistimed stone hurtled through the air, striking the kappa in the calf instead. He cursed her with a gurgling gasp, and before he could recover, another stone, this time from Magpie, bounced against his skull. The brawler girl bounced against his body as well, powering through the spear butt that was rammed into her gut as she pressed in further, past the 13 points of damage dealt. They were in close quarters now, and even though the kappa could clearly see magic wreath itself into Amulak’s palm, he couldn’t shake Magpie off in time.

Fine then! He was gonna fuck her up!

As the brawler battered him with her rock, the kappa twisted around as well, dropping his spear and wrapping one arm under hers, so that her rock slammed against his back, rather than against his neck or head. With the other, he slipped it below her groin, before hoisting her up!

“BRUGH BORUD LUPRIDEH! (FRONT FACELOCK SUPLEX!)”

Magpie found herself upside down all of a sudden, the green limbs of her foe bulging with brawn. Amulak’s magical blast caught the kappa before he could forcibly slam her down though, the concussive blast just enough to force the two of them apart. The kappa was blasted back towards Ames, while Magpie, spared from the fate of having her back slammed into the hard dirt, fell face-first instead, her nose squashed into the ground and her health suffering yet another 9 damage.

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Isidore

Isidore

Isidore is normal on the outside and on the inside. His organs, though he hasn’t had a chance to get an X-ray scan, seem to be where they should be. He feels his heartbeat around the center-left portion of his torso, and he breathes through one nostril at a time. He stands at 5’11, and he weighs 121 lbs, which seems about right for his stature too. Everything seems normal, and yet, there’s still something that bothers him, that causes him to scratch at smooth skin with manicured nails.

Ah, that’s it. He is now normal, on the outside and on the inside.

Goals
Isidore doesn’t want everything in the world. He just wants anything he desired. Whether that meant being good or evil, kind or cruel, it matters not. With all the advantages granted onto him by the Goddess of another world, it would be spitting on his past self if he didn't achieve more than what he once had.

Past Life

Was there ever a chance that he could have been a good person?

Yes, but then he wouldn’t have lived to see his daughter’s face.

The son of an immigrant temp worker, Isidore was born nearsighted and dyslexic, conditions misdiagnosed by the doctors his father could afford. Instead, he was treated as a truant and a problem child, given pills to manage mental disorders that didn’t exist, while his father broke his back picking fruit for half the minimum wage of the country that promised opportunities. The teachers in the underfunded school Isidore spent his formative years in were burnt-out husks doing the bare minimum to justify their position, while the classmates that weren’t inundated into the culture of violence in his neighborhood kept to themselves, acting as if they were better than the rest.

Which was why they got their lunch stolen, their textbooks trashed, and their face broken in.

Isidore didn’t want that. He joined in on the violence instead, fell in line with the delinquents and assholes who drew themselves into increasingly more criminal activities. Being half-blind was helpful; it was easier to front as a cold-hearted motherfucker when the messy details of his actions was blurred. It wasn’t as if he was strong or skilled or anything like that. He just knew that if he wanted to get something done, he couldn’t afford half-measures. Isidore threw his lot in with the gangsters of the slums, and it would be worse for him now to come clean than to further dirty himself.

It started with drug dealing. Simple work for him. Didn’t even need to look in the faces of those who grovelled for more.

Moved into enforcing next. He learned fairly quickly that throwing people into things was better on his knuckles and feet than striking them.

The boss took a shine on him, and he started working as a confidant and a bodyguard. He wasn’t so young now, and he had long stopped speaking to his father. The old man’s heart was probably broken by his actions, huh? He sent money anyways though. $2000 a month was more than enough to fulfill his filial obligations.

Murder was a big step. They couldn’t trust him with a gun, so he had a knife for his job instead. Blood, vicious work. He spent a good twenty minutes puking in the dead man’s toilet, childish thoughts of being damned to hell popping into his mind. Once he decided that he was already damned though, the next one became easier. And the next.

Life went away as easily as life went on.

He killed his boss and took over. He met a girl he fancied. He expanded operations into the affluent business sector. He had his vision fixed up. He raided and assimilated rival gangs. He married the woman of his dreams. He slotted his men into positions of power within the prefectural police force. He bought a house for his estranged father. He pulled strings and pumped in money until the slums became another portion of downtown. He had the mayor in his pockets. He funded charities all around the nation to improve the lives of impoverished children. He found and buried the mother that had never been a part of his life.

He watched his daughter be born. Watched her grow. Took measures to ensure she wouldn’t know who he was, took measures to ensure others wouldn’t know who she was.

Decided that, despite his regrets, he was still content. That this was about what he could expect out of a beginning like the one he had.

When he was diagnosed with lung cancer, Isidore spent a day with his wife and daughter, tied up all the bloody loose ends he had left, and then disappeared into the depths of the ocean.

It was a good life for a bad person. He really couldn’t ask for more.

But the Goddess provided, anyways.

Abilities
Physical Conditioning

_{Your body is naturally tough, durable, and strong. The pinnacle of human physical strength, endurance, and agility. Keep training, and surely you can surpass even stronger beings.}

Soul Flare

_{The ability to turn ones soul into a weapon itself. Needed for most basic magical feats. Channel the mana present in the air through your body to achieve great feats. Allows one to interact with supernatural things, and perceive things others may not.}

Undying Will

_{Your past life was hard. That is not something anyone can deny. Hard and stained with blood. Yet, you did not buckle. You were no saint, but nor were you a true devil. Using your blood money you never lost your path in order to help those from a similar situation as you, even if it were selfish reasons. Surely even in this life, you will face similar challenges and danger - you refuse to die before you achieve greatness. The more you are injured, the more your body responds to danger. Your skin hardens, natural armor grows across your body giving you impossibly high defense. But be warned - it does not heal you. Simply makes you harder to further injure and numbs pain. The shielding will wear off after about an hour.}

Fireblood

_{Fire and fury runs through your veins. You have gained a small affinity for fire-type magical feats, making them easier and less taxing to perform. The effect is small, but given time and practice your skill could be unparalleled.}

Fire Breath

_{Trying to be a dragon, are we? This ability, while weak, serves its purpose. Unleash a stream of fire from your nostrils and throat scorching anything in front of you. Lasts only for a moment, but would probably burn most fleshy targets well.}

Fervent Engine

<sub>Your heart is your engine. This is true for all, but for you, its truer than most. Your heart boils as does your blood. Your fire flows through your heart now, as does your veins. Stronger, able to coax more force out of your muscles. Faster, able to react and move quicker than your peers as fiery adrenaline guides you.

Remember to not overexert yourself, however. For such a powerful engine needs rest after going full force. Also grants resistance to cold, as your body burns from within. Synergizes with your fiery blood while active, making those who strike you suffer burns from coming into contact with your blood.</sub>

Mana Redirect

_{A skill allowing one to redirect magical energy tossed at them from any supernatural source. Rather than absorbing and meshing it with your own, you redirect it to some other purpose, thus weakening its effects upon you as you turn it towards something else. Generally, this will work with everything but some sources of energy would be far too strong to completely deflect, and some are easier to work with then others.}

Crimson Lightning (???)

_{You’ve absorbed some unknown power. This power is constantly burning within your body, what exactly it is you don’t know, but it no longer at least seems harmful to you and seems to self-replenish enough for you to use it. Just what is the nature of this stolen power? You can likely release it if you wish, and turn it on your foes. However, it does not travel far through the air - it seems like it travels further through physical medium.}

Pain Tolerance (Lesser)

_{A skill denoting ones remarkable ability to withstand pain of all kinds. Doesn’t confer any bonuses or otherwise increase ones defensive abilities, but it allows one to simply shrug off blows that would otherwise cripple other men and power through certain things.}

Inventory

• The (shredded) clothing on his back.
• A fur cloak.
• Seed of the Demon Plant
• Untanned boar skin.
• Leather Belt
• Knight's Shield
• Knight's Dagger
• Knight's Longsword
• Dwarf's Polearm
• Rope
• Some preserved food
  Enough for two people to last a few days.
• Roll of what seemed to be a mat of thick fur, likely for sleeping on
  Comfortable, but only one.
• A heavy looking fur/cloth blanket.
  Cozy, warm and heavy. Good for sleeping in colder climates.
• Communication horn
  Made from bone, hollow and likely used for communication.
• A small pot and a ladle
• Frozen canteen of water

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Isidore

Isidore is normal on the outside and on the inside. His organs, though he hasn’t had a chance to get an X-ray scan, seem to be where they should be. He feels his heartbeat around the center-left portion of his torso, and he breathes through one nostril at a time. He stands at 5’11, and he weighs 121 lbs, which seems about right for his stature too. Everything seems normal, and yet, there’s still something that bothers him, that causes him to scratch at smooth skin with manicured nails.

Ah, that’s it. He is now normal, on the outside and on the inside.

Goals
Isidore doesn’t want everything in the world. He just wants anything he desired. Whether that meant being good or evil, kind or cruel, it matters not. With all the advantages granted onto him by the Goddess of another world, it would be spitting on his past self if he didn't achieve more than what he once had.

Past Life

Was there ever a chance that he could have been a good person?

Yes, but then he wouldn’t have lived to see his daughter’s face.

The son of an immigrant temp worker, Isidore was born nearsighted and dyslexic, conditions misdiagnosed by the doctors his father could afford. Instead, he was treated as a truant and a problem child, given pills to manage mental disorders that didn’t exist, while his father broke his back picking fruit for half the minimum wage of the country that promised opportunities. The teachers in the underfunded school Isidore spent his formative years in were burnt-out husks doing the bare minimum to justify their position, while the classmates that weren’t inundated into the culture of violence in his neighborhood kept to themselves, acting as if they were better than the rest.

Which was why they got their lunch stolen, their textbooks trashed, and their face broken in.

Isidore didn’t want that. He joined in on the violence instead, fell in line with the delinquents and assholes who drew themselves into increasingly more criminal activities. Being half-blind was helpful; it was easier to front as a cold-hearted motherfucker when the messy details of his actions was blurred. It wasn’t as if he was strong or skilled or anything like that. He just knew that if he wanted to get something done, he couldn’t afford half-measures. Isidore threw his lot in with the gangsters of the slums, and it would be worse for him now to come clean than to further dirty himself.

It started with drug dealing. Simple work for him. Didn’t even need to look in the faces of those who grovelled for more.

Moved into enforcing next. He learned fairly quickly that throwing people into things was better on his knuckles and feet than striking them.

The boss took a shine on him, and he started working as a confidant and a bodyguard. He wasn’t so young now, and he had long stopped speaking to his father. The old man’s heart was probably broken by his actions, huh? He sent money anyways though. $2000 a month was more than enough to fulfill his filial obligations.

Murder was a big step. They couldn’t trust him with a gun, so he had a knife for his job instead. Blood, vicious work. He spent a good twenty minutes puking in the dead man’s toilet, childish thoughts of being damned to hell popping into his mind. Once he decided that he was already damned though, the next one became easier. And the next.

Life went away as easily as life went on.

He killed his boss and took over. He met a girl he fancied. He expanded operations into the affluent business sector. He had his vision fixed up. He raided and assimilated rival gangs. He married the woman of his dreams. He slotted his men into positions of power within the prefectural police force. He bought a house for his estranged father. He pulled strings and pumped in money until the slums became another portion of downtown. He had the mayor in his pockets. He funded charities all around the nation to improve the lives of impoverished children. He found and buried the mother that had never been a part of his life.

He watched his daughter be born. Watched her grow. Took measures to ensure she wouldn’t know who he was, took measures to ensure others wouldn’t know who she was.

Decided that, despite his regrets, he was still content. That this was about what he could expect out of a beginning like the one he had.

When he was diagnosed with lung cancer, Isidore spent a day with his wife and daughter, tied up all the bloody loose ends he had left, and then disappeared into the depths of the ocean.

It was a good life for a bad person. He really couldn’t ask for more.

But the Goddess provided, anyways.

Abilities
Physical Conditioning

_{Your body is naturally tough, durable, and strong. The pinnacle of human physical strength, endurance, and agility. Keep training, and surely you can surpass even stronger beings.}

Soul Flare

_{The ability to turn ones soul into a weapon itself. Needed for most basic magical feats. Channel the mana present in the air through your body to achieve great feats. Allows one to interact with supernatural things, and perceive things others may not.}

Inventory

• The clothing on his back.

Cacophony Concord

Ames was stylish and Ames was fast, but as the wood splintered in his grasp, dealing 2 points of damage as splinters drove into his palm, the warrior realized that his opponent too was just as fast, just as strong as he was. Shorter than him, the kappa rolled out of the way of the bolt-stab, twisting his body away. Using his stronger grasp on his weapon, he spun the staff out of Ames's hand, before swinging it into the back of the red-headed warrior's knee, causing him to stumble as another 10 points of damage was taken in that flurry of movement. With a grunt, the kappa turned on his heel, dashing for Amulak again.

But Ames's interception had bought the mage time. Time enough to steady himself and cast his spells.

The Epic of Beginnings - An Isekai Adventure/Civ builder

The sound of cracking class.

Untz untz down with the nobility.