Fetzen

The Five Senses

Týfurkh

---

Týfurkh found himself a bit surprised about his own explosion. It was by far not the first time he had created something of this magnitude of course, but most of the times it had been in the controlled environment of a training ground and of those few occasions of actual hostility remaining, most had taken place in some kind of more open space. This was a very confined environment with solid walls however, perfect for air pressure not to be lost until it was finally dissipated by other effects.

'Other effects', in this case that included some serious destruction among the seed's various body parts if one dared to call them such. However it also put him on the top of the seed's priority list and who knows where and in which state he'd have been now without Chres' heat construct around him. Frantically, his eyes scanned for where it would give way first and which looked like some sort of escape route. To make matters worse it also seemed the negative effects of his explosion would not last for that long at all.

Týfurkh positioned himself closer to the walls of the heat construct and waited for it to shatter with his legs already in the proper starting position for a sprint. As it collapsed he finally could, and absolutely had to, escape and make a run for the center of the room -- the pit.

It's contents only revealed themself to his eyesight again as he jumped into it, his boots crashing into the dead bodies he had previously assumed to be some sort of food for the seed. The tentacles ? Probably right behind him, at least if they could make such sharp bends backwards towards their own origin and if the seed dared to use them with such violence in such close proximity to itself. Týfurkh could not afford spending moments on things happening behind his back however for one of the hearts was in front of him. It was a crossbow shot through the gaps between the bones protecting it, a projectile coming in from less then a yard away so aiming was pretty much unnecessary.

Týfurkh did not know how the seed would react. Would that actually help slow down the tendrils and their rapid regeneration, or would they come to haunt him now that he no longer had a heat construct around him, but was standing in a pit he had to climb out again first in order to regain full mobility ?

O R I F L A M M E

'The Witchwood'! From a Yasoi's perspective, this name was a bit of an offense in itself. No tree, at any point in his life, had done anything that would have justified this kind of a designation with so much negative connotation. It were the people of this world who did malicious things, not nature itself, so the name's origin probably was some kind of evil event of very artificial cause -- or just mere superstition as so often with those humans.

What would these woods be called decades or even centuries from now, assuming Parrench victory and his own humble part in it ? 'Thunderwoods' maybe ? Or, to keep things a little more fancy, 'The sparkling forest ?'. Spark in the sense of something large and hot enough to hurt somebody and put fire to his or her property and not in the sense of a harmless piece of fireworks, of course. A nice question to ponder about halfway drunk in a tavern once things had happened here, but what if those barbarians would win this battle instead ? Then maybe the Witchwoods would just cease to exist and be consumed by the need to rebuild an entire kingdom their way. A very sobering possibility.

The sound of heavy boots trampling down the foliage below forced Otios out of his thoughts. The Yasoi would not have positioned himself here had he not expected that at least a diversionary attack would make its way through here, but what his ears picked up now was significantly more discomforting than that. Either these people couldn't march or this was a horde! The place would be crawling...

Officially, Otios would have called it 'foresight', but deep inside he knew that it was more the small bit of chill running up and down his guts that made him retreat deeper into the extensive treetop high above everyone's head. He had deemed this to be a much safer place than being on the ground, even with a horse, but that would no longer hold true once being surrounded and behind the frontline so quickly. At least Lady Talit left out those branches he was standing on when bending so many others to signal something! A bit inefficient, was it ?

Otios tightened his grip around a wire than ran down the whole length of the trunk and ended in a solid pole rammed into the ground next to it. This effectively was his fastest means to get off this hideout aside from a suicidal jump, but it also served the double purpose of connecting him to the earth those Eskandr were marching on. What kind of connection ? Those fools would not understand! If not for the lack of intelligence, then for the lack of time to think! Otios still highly preferred for it to go unnoticed in the first place, so he was not hesitant to get going once he spotted the first small band of Eskandr warriors happening to walk by relatively close to his tree.

Clank!

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Argh!

Really! Magnetism could spread like a disease within and among items of iron or mild steel -- and he was in control of the germ. While in the process of the metal parts of their armors and weapons being tethered together by an invisible force, one of the men's battle axes had been set upon a collision course with a helmet and had only found deceleration once inside the wearer's face. Another individual who had not been part initially was startled by the unexpected moves of his comrades and tried to help, but only got sucked into and attached to the crowd as well.

The crowd, that was the involuntary aggregation of Eskandr warriors who could neither escape individually nor move together anymore. It would have been enough of a challenge in calm conditions to try and coordinate a dozen feet or more, all facing into different directions, to move synchronously and in a manner suited for going into one distinct direction instead of jittering around randomly. This however wasa bunch of people rapidly descending into a state of panic and stuck in an increasingly loud environment, last but not least due to their own shouting.

Could humans not solve their conflicts this way ? Just set up one group of men glued together as tightly as possible for each side and then let them do a race along a fixed route. First group to reach the destination would win and maybe some intoxication would make this even more fun for the public ? Like... was it even realistically possible for a bunch of drunkards to topple over and fall to the ground collectively, or would there always be enough resistance from some to keep going ?

Unfortunately, it was far too late for that already, even assuming that anybody would have been willing to listen to his suggestions in the first place. So Otios had to make a decisive move himself now and hated it no matter how much he had seen it coming. Just agreeing to participate in this mess for the sake of the future of one's own kind was one thing with a big comfort zone of abstraction around it, but actually being in it now felt so much like another. Far below him, the core of the small crowd started collapsing as the ribs of the man standing in the middle caved in under the pressure enacted by his comrades.

Even more unfortunately, this actually lowered the pressure and stopped the process from just continuing on its own. So, yes, he'd have to do the rest. The Yasoi launched his attack and dropped the other wire into the crowd below. He just knew that guiding a current through metal instead of just brute forcing it through bare air was far less straining and also did not create a brilliant flash of light that would betray his position quicker than any dangling wire could.

Or was it still dangling ? Not really. The end not in Otios' hand had found its way into the Eskandr and they, in their panic, did not really seem to even notice it pressing against their clothes, their armors, their bare skin even. He pressed the two ends in his hands together and let the carnage begin. No need to incinerate anybody as that would, again, have been a waste of energy urgently needed later on. Wreaking havoc upon the control of muscles, last but not least the one pumping the blood, was enough. The Eskandr started to release their poop into their pants as their nervous systems experienced catastrophic failure one after another. What would others say when stumbling upon this part of their diversionary force some minutes later ?

Otios realized only afterwards how eerily convenient this way of killing had been. He had not been burdened with seeing anybody in the eyes as they had died for he had been in a tree far above their heads. He had also not caused a bloodshed like any regular solider was condemned to do, just some burn marks nobody would care about. There were no blood stains on himself, no sweat, no nothing that would need to be maintained and thereby be able to remind him later on about his doings. His weapon had been a pair of long wires taken away from an originally very different purpose, and the only thing wrong with them now was being a bit hot for a few minutes. And a crowd had, somehow, just made things more anonymous.

Now he should probably get off this damn tree however and relocate, right ?

Winds of Fate - A Thieves' Adventure (Semi-Tabletop)

Skarsat

---

Skarsat found himself more than just slightly baffled to see someone who at least came somewhat close to his own stature, but at the same time he was not unhappy about it. Now any kind of big guy jokes would have to be evenly distributed among at least two persons, hitting each of them with only half of their previous strength... The thought did not experience anything like longevity in his mind though for he still was in the process of handing over a dead body he would have preferred not to exist. One could not rant at a dead person for the obvious mistakes one thought they had done, but one could dishonour them by just not caring. The latter was what Skarsat felt the others were on the verge of doing right now and he didn't want to take part in that.

Yet there still was a pressing issue, pressing because the Tork lacked the trust necessary to think about it more relaxedly. It was the pouch of coin whose weight now felt uncomfortably heavy for it was only an indication of how much money would have to be distributed fairly among everyone. He needed to preserve it until the moment was right. Maybe at an upcoming dinner ? That was the only moment Skarsat expected everyone to be at the same place.

The vessel he found himself on did not hold back its potential for surprise. It was clean. Well, not perfectly clean but certainly a lot more tidy and well maintained than Skarsat would have expected for a ship whose sole purpose probably was to be employed in the misdeeds of some criminal mastermind like Vargas. Thinking about the latter... What would Vargas do once learning about the little incident at the docks ? An open shootout with the sheriff's men including some casualties and even the demolishing of a belltower probably was not what he had had in mind for their undocking procedure! The Tork man experienced an uneasy feeling going through his stomach the more he let his mind have a crack at the whole affair.

He wanted this sea journey to be over rather sooner than later. It would be easier to run away on land than it would be on sea and there were only so many cannonballs and other things they could shoot any anyone going behind them. And what if Gerranti was given the authority to do so ? It wasn't like the list of valid accusations against their little party had not grown at a frightening pace over the last few... minutes ?

Skarsat didn't even step into the small cabin presented to them once having learned that he was to sleep elsewhere. It wasn't even so much about the small size for he would have been alright with sleeping on the floor if necessary, but it was a lot about the prospect of sharing such a limited space with people like Solange whom he still held a big grudge against. And, just maybe, also about the fact that Y'Vanna was so blatantly eager to get herself drunk yet again at the earliest moment possible. Hell if only those beverages in this part of the world had tasted properly!

One deck further down one could tell that one was close to the waterline. The ship's hull -- down there it was more visible than anywhere else for there were less additional walls blocking one's view -- did not exhibit any obvious flaws of course, but there was no way of ignoring the fact that any condensing water following the flow of gravity found a dead end in the ship's bilge. The comparative vastness of space still was highly preferable to that cramped place higher up, so Skarsat happily found himself an empty corner to put down the small pile that was his equipment and lay down in the adjacent hammock.

He was not directly below the quarter shown to them but on the other side of the ship, right ? Otherwise he could only hope that the deck planks were proof against some serious influx of puke and wouldn't allow it to come dripping down. Just in case his extrapolation of what he had seen beginning up there would prove to be correct...

Nice to meet ya!

Hello and welcome to the guild!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)

The Mystery (WolfLover + Fetzen)

Valentin felt happy about having somewhat 'resolved' the growing situation. Mr. Reinhart was... quite exquisite and delicate in his way of handling whom he considered to be a stranger. Maybe he had to be because these barracks also contained most of the guard's weapons so any intrusion and potential theft there could prove disastrous for the capital's overall security, but still there would have been much friendlier ways to hinder access. He had been affected by this kind of treatment, too.

"Yes, we are to rendezvous our employer so to speak in one of the offices." The large and equally muscled man carefully guided his fingers along the lines of his finely cut beard, silently wondering about why this had to be the place of their meeting. "I'm afraid to say I don't know why it has to be here, but so it is. Maybe it's because they want us to depart immediately afterwards and supplies are easy to get here ?" It was an open question -- maybe Amara knew more than him and this would now be a real good opportunity to tell. Valentin did not have much hope though for it would not have made sense to distribute information so asymmetrically.

Turning around on his heel quickly, Valentin began to guide his steps towards one of the heavy wooden doors nearby. "Don't worry about my wait, it's not your fault! I just can't rule out that our employer is on good terms with Mr. Reinhart." He indeed had not seen their future boss himself yet so the chance of him or her having rude enough manners to make friends with others of a similar attitude was there. Even if not however: Punctuality was a virtue in terms of making a good first impression.

The inside of the stone building was much cooler than the yard outside, and also much more relaxed in other aspects for all the noise caused by marching soldiers and yelled orders was muffled and became even more so the further one went inside. "Something about second floor I've been told. Let's see..." and Valentin continued upwards, occasionally even taking two steps at once.

It was a piece of physical effort pretty much completely in vain for the second floor revealed to be a seemingly limitless array of doors running along one side of the wide corridor. Each and everyone had the same boring, anonymous appearance to it and while Valentin could see that there were actually small signs attached to the wall next to each of them, he also knew that reading all of these would consume a lot of time. "Erm... Amara ? You don't happen to know more about our precise location, do you ?" Valentin smiled shily. "Otherwise I don't see any other option but to just go through the first one and ask for help."

He could have predicted that, couldn't he ? The thought stung in his mind...

O R I F L A M M E

Weeks prior...

Event: - | Location: Anonymous location in Parrence, at the edge of a small forest

A mild cough escaped the Yasoi's body as a wisp of smoke introduced the acrid smell of burnt flesh into the man's nose. An agressive something was in the air, a gaseous aberration that would be identified as 'ozone' only some day in the future maybe, but that irritated Otios's poor eyes badly right now already. The latter also had to withstand the steady, unpredictable and sudden changes between the weak amount of light coming from a few candles and the violent, bright flashes caused by the discharges around his hand.

Drawing on parchment not by the means of ink and dye, but by means of scorching the surface layer using a spark was a quite monochromatic affair, but also a much longer lasting and robust one as Otios hoped. No messing around with colored glop, no worries about things becoming wet, no need to keep a lavish set of pencils, brushes and palettes in working order. A small copper needle was all he needed to go in an ad hoc manner -- and a lot of patience as emulating shades by burning a dense net of criss-crossed lines into the parchment required a very calm, steady hand.

There just was one slight issue... Otios'yyia'thala so far had not much reason to consider himself to be a man particularly talented in creating art. In fact, the drawing he created right now solely served the purpose of hashing out this electric method further and he was not even into the first dozen of these attempts, so even without considering the artistic value of his creation there still were a few significant issues to iron out. Yet another wisp of ugly smoke emanating from the parchment, for example. Too much current or too slow movement caused local overheating and unwanted incineration the Yasoi needed to put out immediately, so Otios pressed his palm firmly against the parchment repeatedly.

Knock. Knock.

His whole body twitched in surprise as the unmistakable sound of someone requesting entry into his humble dwelling place was to be heard. His field of view rushed towards the messy heap of items that was his basic equipment always ready to be picked up in a hurry, but he still had time to evaluate a few things before jumping into action, right ?

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Far too strong and decisive to come from a mere stranger who was in fear of bad weather and tried to ask for shelter politely, but also lacking the kind of aggression that would come from a soldier wanting to catch yet another wrongdoer. Otios reached for one of his silver staffs and moved his hand so it would hide the item in its grip from the individual standing outside once the door was open, then moved the heavy bar out of its locking position.

"Yes ?" Otios was used to stare into the void when searching for a face on eye level, but surprised that he did not have to crane his neck downwards that much. His unexpected visitor had the height of his own kind, just the opposite gender, and brought up a slight and also slightly nervous smile for him.

"Are you Otios'... Thala ?" her gentle voice asked.

"Otios'yyia'thala, but you can just call me Otios. May I ask who you are and what brings you here ?" Part of his anxiety about having been discovered by the wrong people vanished, but caution remained. She obviously was not a soldier and he had only seen a surprisingly low number of those around the area in the first place recently, but he also knew all too well that one did not need arms to do harm in this world.

"Voral'dan'bar. Lady Talit sends me. Well, not directly, but I've been tasked with contacting you in the broader sense. You don't know her probably, but I'm here to convince you that this unfamiliarity shall only be a temporary one. War is on the horizon and while the Yasoi are not the direct target it is in our own interest to make sure we won't be the next."

Otios gave his eyebrow a nudge in the upwards direction. A quite daring story to be utter nonsense, was it ? Also it did not slip past his attention that Voral was already fumbling around with what seemed to be a piece of parchment hidden beneath her travel clothes. The large wax sigil on it looked quite important, but who'd he be if he had not tried to fake one of these himself at least once ?

"The next ? On whose list ?"

"Eskandr."

Otios let go of a sigh. These humans...

---

Present

Event: Defense of Relouse | Location: Relouse Encampment, Parrence.

It had taken quite a bit more effort to convince Otios than just a short talk at the door, but the overall evidence and flanking arguments presented by Voral'dan'bar had been a bit too impressive to ignore. Just how this female had made allusions about his more serious hobbies than drawing however was a discomforting feeling. How could she have gotten to know ? So it had been with great relief when the Yasoi had seenthe huge number of soldiers, the cavalry and the many other individuals needed for waging war himself. Something very important and high level indeed had to go on when a crowd impressive enough to make even him no longer stick out of it gathered, so maybe some very serious resources and relationships had been activated to find him. It made the very fact of his discovery a bit more excusable in his own judgement

If only a similar amount of effort had gone into establishing a Yasoi-driven supply chain however then maybe he would not have had to stick with those standard issue tents of the human army! Their supporting poles and bars were a pain in his neck or on his scalp, depending on how lucky and attentive he was. Needless to add that some of the non-Yasoi men and woman had openly voiced their jokes about someone's inability to infiltrate if said somebody exhibited such great talent at involuntary collisions.

This whole, yet green field would become the stage for one colossal and no less horrid 'involuntary collision'! At least if one was with Parrench. For those opposing them it was more of a planned calamity and things did not look good in terms of espionage as long as those thousand longships had not spilled their angry cargo yet. One could not just climb aboard a moving vessel and search it thoroughly just moments before it was about to hit the shore!

So, for the moment, Otios found himself idling around at the top of a small hill together with a bunch of archers and listened to the king's speech, already fearing that the only thing he'd steal today was life itself.

O R I F L A M M E

Otios'yyia'thala

Otios'yyia'thala__ _ _ _ _

32 | M A L E | Y A S O I | T H U N D E R - B L O O D | I N F I L T R A T O R__ _ _ _ _

C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S__ _ _ _ _

At first glance, Otios looks like somebody who might live much more on the street than he might do in a proper house. His blonde, medium-length hair is a mess barely maintained well enough to keep out of his field of vision and his beard is not very friendly towards those trying to kiss him to say the least. He presents a rather grumpy facial expression by default when not actively trying to do otherwise and his amber eyes are a good addition to this for they are as much striking as their gaze is piercing. Maybe that's also because a black pupil is all the more distinguishable from all the pale skin around it.

Otios' ears are comparably mildly pointed and, combined with his hair covering them, do not provide much indication about his non-human nature. What does so a lot more however is the fact that he is no less tall than 7'3, well proportioned and outfitted with enough muscle to keep himself moving efficiently. So... a very lot, but since it also spreads out over such long limbs and such large areas it's neither blatantly visible nor does it give him that much of an excess of statically useable strength in the end. One probably just doesn't want him to step, or stumble, upon oneself however.

Otios'yyia'thala can probably best be described as the ultimate outcome of combining a Yasoi's typical, intrinsic greed for discovery and their hands-on mentality with a lot of a 'don't care' attitude he's been born with. There is no childhood in poverty, no tragic, sudden loss of a parent or any other kind of outside catastrophy, just the overruling desire to do things his way that, maybe, has fallen on very fertile soil represented by some mishaps in his upbringing. Also it is just a lot easier to roam around on somebody else's private land and country if the very definition of 'private land and country' has never existed for oneself in the first place.

Behind all that stealing, ransacking and other unlawful doings to accumulate wealth is something very different than just spending all on booze, food and other short-lived benefits however. People have learned to use fire outside the realm of magic far longer ago than any book can tell. They have managed to erect giant cities from solid materials of any kind and the dream to fly like a bird in the air instead of just levitating by means of mana is a commonly accepted thing. When it comes to thunderstorms however all people know is fear and upon seeing two small metallic rocks repelling or attracting each other without any visible connection between them superstition is never far way. Otios sees electricity and magnetism as just another domain of nature both Humans and Yasoi, for some reason that has eluded him so far, have yet utterly failed to make proper, constructive use of for everyone. Nature itself has no mana, has it ? And yet it can make all of this happen, so it must be possible to do without magic, too. Unfortunately it has dawned upon Otios that even the simplest attempt to achieve a significant breakthrough in that matter might require more elaborate facilities than he could ever afford by conventional means, let alone standing against all those saying 'no' and 'that won't work!'.

Otios'yyia'thala, albeit certainly having caused a lot of outrage, crying or regret throughout his 'career', is far more focused on his personal gain than he is on affecting others with misery. He not just sees the profit of theft, but enjoys the very act of doing it. Yet on the other hand he has not killed any of those he has taken from so far and preferred escape and second try in place of spreading serious injury. The latter has happened here and there though when cornered or just pressed too hard. In fact, upon noticing that an item obtained actually has been far more useless and boring than anticipated, Otios has actually returned some of them for the sake of having fun getting in and out twice -- and the feeling of not having caused harm without also having caused someone's, his, benefit.

When not 'busy', he can most often be seen in one of two places: the local tavern endulging himself and trying to wash away unwanted memories by means of alcohol, or seeking lonelyness or at least the presence of only his closest friends in order to enter a more meditative state, thinking about future plans and the broad, far away goals of himself. One can safely judge his freelancing lifestyle to be comparably difficult to get along with, but those who have managed to not only gain his friendship, but also take the brunt of his rather exquisite job, have always been able to count on his loyality and intelligence.

B A C K G R O U N D__ _ _ _ _

Starting in AOZ12, Otios' life has not looked like being up to a vigorous start at first. His parents had already reached an unusually high age for giving birth to a child, even by Yasoi standards, so they had also already been well past the point of having to prove themselves. Malicious gossip has it that, in hindsight, this has been the root cause for Otios' derailing: Without seeing the need for a lot of adventure for themselves, Otios' parents also didn't see the need for such a thing in their only son until they could no longer hold back his growing desires and ambitions. From that point onwards overcompensation set in and the young, utterly inexperienced and not very socialized Otios' was set up for mistaking his sudden freedom with the allowance to do just everything he wanted. A miracle it's merely been becoming a thief and not the worst, cold-blooded killer the world has ever seen!

Whether this gossip is true or just rubbish ? His parents of course oppose any such accusations, and he himself does not really care or is just way too far away to pick them up in the first place. He has moved out of the Yasoi heartland several years ago for humans have just been a target looking easier and less dangerous because, again, they're much further away from where any bad word about him might actually matter and more remote regions are statistically bound to yield more interesting results than one's neighbourhood. Another thing worth mentioning might be that there are also those people who actually approve his doings once they get to know about them. Which poor man feeling left behind and exploited by all those snobs, corrupt merchants, egoistic nobles and unworldly mayors wouldn't approve such a nonchalant reversal in the flow of wealth, especially if part of said wealth might suddenly end up in his own hands in exchange for nothing more than a small favor ? Just feeling easier with humans, though Otios has never really tried that extensively within the boundaries of his own kind to have a real comparison.

Speaking of 'get to know', he so far has been pretty successful in keeping everything on a 'need to know' basis -- and any officials certainly don't need to know. He has a clean slate though he also can't rule out the possibility that some of those he has left behind might just be too clever to tell him they already know and instead could just be waiting for the right moment to strike back. It's the hazard of his profession and if breaking out of jail should have to be added to his list, then so be it.

Why should he ever report to the king for the sake of the nation though ? The answer is simple: There's nothing so well suited to forge unlikely bonds like a common enemy -- and aside from that just how incredibly less dignifying would it be to steal from those whom even the primitives regard as primitives: those barbarians of the South! Otios accepts that he might have to put aside his current creeds for the sake of the greater good and ultimately his own, long-term future. Last but not least any considerable contribution to an overall success of Parrence would weigh heavily against any future accusations that could come up against himself, be it for things already done or still to come.

I N V E N T O R Y__ _ _ _ _

❖ Two silver staffs of medium length with steel caps on their ends. They are pretty much just bolted on tightly and easy to remove and replace with others of the same or different shape. A seemingly harmless duo of identical tools that serves the purpose of conducting current in and out of potentially super-heated things without burning one's own hands. They can be used as clubs or levers, too.
❖ A small crossbow with a rope and grappling hook.
❖ Sturdy leather armor with very little metallic components included
❖ A thick fur cloak, just in case the weather turns cold and ugly
❖ Everyday necessities such as some spare food, water and a bedroll
❖ Candles
❖ Set of lockpicks
❖ A riding horse by the name of Sakar, even though, at his size, Otios'yyia'thala looks a bit weird on such a beast. He doesn't care though as long as it's a faster getaway than he can do on his own feet

T H E G I F T__ _ _ _ _

Five wheels rating: 4

Favored school: Thunder

Blood type: Thunderchild

Otios prefers low-energy applications as long as possible and can often be seen (or rather not seen) trying to invent new methods of doing things right in the field: Can this small lock be melted away by sending too much current through it ? Or can it be sorta welded together so this door cannot be opened behind his back anymore ? Can one make these sets or armor put up for the sake of decoration rattle to cause some distraction ? Or is it true that pretty much everyone is worried about his or her steps causing noise, but pretty much noone knows that their very steel breastplate or longsword causes a small distortion in the otherwise perfectly aligned magnetic field of the world itself that can be picked up ? And it can be almost disturbingly easy to incapacitate somebody if he can just get his fingers onto said somebody's skin in the right place.

Under enough pressure or if the situation just makes it too much of a viable option however Otios can do far less subtle, too. Variable magnetism induces current into metallic things without touching them, current produces heat, heat sets fire to buildings and persons. So one can set at least some things on fire without hurling an actual, terribly big and noisy flame at them and even through barriers that don't hinder magnetic flow -- how great is that ? Or just send a damn, demonstrative thunderbolt if somebody calls him out as 'slow and boring as a snail' again!

That is as far as his inclination towards the realm of electromagnetism goes. Otios is aware of the fact that he might have some significant talent with the more dubious magical art commonly called 'Blood' as well, but neither does his general desire not to spread harm without second thought allow him to just draw such an exquisite resource from other living beings, nor has his lifestyle so far allowed him to do any extensive studies yet. So, to sum things up, he does not have any real repertoire in that respect yet, just potential. Also there is one thing he could always happily manipulate without angering his own conscience: his own body.

S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S__ _ _ _ _

❖ Maybe his most important strength is his wit
❖ Should wit not help though, he has a very high magical capacity and skill he can put to both constructive and obliterative use
❖ Stealth, not necessarily only in terms of moving himself but also with regard to aspect such as temporarily disabling or even killing persons without causing a mess
❖ His Yasoi background and physiology makes him quite good at acts of acrobatics such as climbing, jumping and using ropes or similar things. Actually much better than the uneducated onlooker might suspect at first.

W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S__ _ _ _ _

❖ A considerable portion of his repertoire more or less depends on the situation. For example said lock might just be too thickly built to heat up enough without spending absurd amounts of energy into the necessary current, or the whole building might contain too much iron to distinguish magnetic distortions caused by an actual persons's gear from those caused by irrelevant junk.
❖ Otios does know that the double-edged side of a sword is actually meant to go into your opponent's wobbly gut and not into your holding hand, but that's pretty much for it. He has never received any real training with swords, maces or whatever other melee weaponry that is so commonly around.
❖ Otios is not exactly flimsily built and a very heavy man by means of sheer height alone already, but one has to consider the fact that all of his muscle also spreads out over all of his height so he is neither particularly strong nor particularly fast.
❖ Might be a bit hard to socialize with.

C O L O U R C O D E & O T H E R__ _ _ _ _

❖ The middle name 'yyia' is the brainchild of a few of his Yasoi friends from back in his youth. They deemed the name 'Otios'thala' to be on the borderline of being a tongue twister, so they thought that the addition of something complicated might do the trick and cause people to knot their own tongues together while trying to spell it. They put their idea to the trial with sort of an inofficial 'contest' and the sheer intensity with which Otios extended name was inadvertently maimed, butchered, abused or completely missed vocally by quite a bunch of people convinced them that he had the right to bear this addition for a lifetime.
❖ The pronounciation of his name is a little ambiguous: The parts 'Otios' and 'Thala' have a pretty straightforward phonation that is no different from other words such as 'otiose' (the adjunct) or 'thallium' (the metal). For 'yyia' however there is no such thing as a real rule in the Yasoi language for it is an artificial construct primarily designed to be complicated as descripted in the previous paragraph. Most people instinctively go for something like 'Heya', just without the H and a lot of emphasis on the 'e' however.
❖ FF9900

O R I F L A M M E

I've implemented the following changes/fixes to Otios' sheet:

• Bumped down his 5W rating from 4½ to 4
• Added a small explanation about his weird name to the 'Other' section
• Added a small explanation about how to pronounce his weird name to the 'Other' section
• Added Blood as a second school he might be talented at, but he does not have any real repertoire/spell he can use there yet. Basically an open space for future character developments in the RP itself.

The Mystery (WolfLover + Fetzen)

'Mr. Reinhart', the male Amara had addressed, was quite the imposing figure himself and such was not simply because he stood a lot taller than her, but also because one could easily start a debate about which thing was actually bigger: the man's beard or his belly ? Mr. Reinhart was still a soldier formally, but it hardly took a second guess to figure out that the only weapons he still used to bear were the seemingly endless stacks of parchment in the military's administration and even then it was dubious whether he did so over any distance longer than the inside of his office. He was a man clearly past his prime, but that did not stop him from feeling, and probably being, quite important still.

"Who are you ? Did the guards at the entrace not pay attention yet another time or how does it come someone like you is here ? I've learned to tell who's a soldier and who isn't at first glance and you don't seem to belong to the first category!" were the words Mr. Reinhart was not hesitant to hurl at his guest. The sheer amount of scepticism he brought along was hard to miss as he looked down on her, inspecting her small frame up and down with his small eyes deeply embedded in their respective sockets. Mr. Reinhart's face had become adorned with many wrinkles, but he still maintained the posture of a soldier. This also was his place, and he would not let anyone in who had not been authorized!

Valentin was quite a few yards away from the uneven duo and feeling increasingly worried about the fact that the training had already begun a bunch of minutes ago, but he still could not spot anybody who could be his future companion. It took a sudden change of orders from the officer leading the column of trainees behind him that opened a gap in their ranks, finally allowing Valentin to see what was happening at the yard's outer rim again. Amara was hard to miss for she looked just so out of place here while also fitting what little information he had been given beforehand. And Valentin could immediately tell she was in trouble for he himself had already had the pleasure of first contact with Mr. Reinhart. This guy enjoyed what he did, right ?

"Mr. Reinhart!" it came out of Valentin's mouth probably a bit more loud and firmly than would have been necessary for the other man to understand him. "You can regard the presence of the person in front of you as confirmation for my explanation of being here as I am quite certain that she is, in fact, the one I've been waiting for!"

Valentin blinked with one eye towards Amara, hoping that it was a subtle enough gesture for Mr. Reinhart not to notice. "Greetings. You've been on the lookout for me, right ?"

O R I F L A M M E

Otios'yyia'thala

Otios'yyia'thala__ _ _ _ _

32 | M A L E | Y A S O I | T H U N D E R - B L O O D | I N F I L T R A T O R__ _ _ _ _

C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S__ _ _ _ _

At first glance, Otios looks like somebody who might live much more on the street than he might do in a proper house. His blonde, medium-length hair is a mess barely maintained well enough to keep out of his field of vision and his beard is not very friendly towards those trying to kiss him to say the least. He presents a rather grumpy facial expression by default when not actively trying to do otherwise and his amber eyes are a good addition to this for they are as much striking as their gaze is piercing. Maybe that's also because a black pupil is all the more distinguishable from all the pale skin around it.

Otios' ears are comparably mildly pointed and, combined with his hair covering them, do not provide much indication about his non-human nature. What does so a lot more however is the fact that he is no less tall than 7'3, well proportioned and outfitted with enough muscle to keep himself moving efficiently. So... a very lot, but since it also spreads out over such long limbs and such large areas it's neither blatantly visible nor does it give him that much of an excess of statically useable strength in the end. One probably just doesn't want him to step, or stumble, upon oneself however.

Otios'yyia'thala can probably best be described as the ultimate outcome of combining a Yasoi's typical, intrinsic greed for discovery and their hands-on mentality with a lot of a 'don't care' attitude he's been born with. There is no childhood in poverty, no tragic, sudden loss of a parent or any other kind of outside catastrophy, just the overruling desire to do things his way that, maybe, has fallen on very fertile soil represented by some mishaps in his upbringing. Also it is just a lot easier to roam around on somebody else's private land and country if the very definition of 'private land and country' has never existed for oneself in the first place.

Behind all that stealing, ransacking and other unlawful doings to accumulate wealth is something very different than just spending all on booze, food and other short-lived benefits however. People have learned to use fire outside the realm of magic far longer ago than any book can tell. They have managed to erect giant cities from solid materials of any kind and the dream to fly like a bird in the air instead of just levitating by means of mana is a commonly accepted thing. When it comes to thunderstorms however all people know is fear and upon seeing two small metallic rocks repelling or attracting each other without any visible connection between them superstition is never far way. Otios sees electricity and magnetism as just another domain of nature both Humans and Yasoi, for some reason that has eluded him so far, have yet utterly failed to make proper, constructive use of for everyone. Nature itself has no mana, has it ? And yet it can make all of this happen, so it must be possible to do without magic, too. Unfortunately it has dawned upon Otios that even the simplest attempt to achieve a significant breakthrough in that matter might require more elaborate facilities than he could ever afford by conventional means, let alone standing against all those saying 'no' and 'that won't work!'.

Otios'yyia'thala, albeit certainly having caused a lot of outrage, crying or regret throughout his 'career', is far more focused on his personal gain than he is on affecting others with misery. He not just sees the profit of theft, but enjoys the very act of doing it. Yet on the other hand he has not killed any of those he has taken from so far and preferred escape and second try in place of spreading serious injury. The latter has happened here and there though when cornered or just pressed too hard. In fact, upon noticing that an item obtained actually has been far more useless and boring than anticipated, Otios has actually returned some of them for the sake of having fun getting in and out twice -- and the feeling of not having caused harm without also having caused someone's, his, benefit.

When not 'busy', he can most often be seen in one of two places: the local tavern endulging himself and trying to wash away unwanted memories by means of alcohol, or seeking lonelyness or at least the presence of only his closest friends in order to enter a more meditative state, thinking about future plans and the broad, far away goals of himself. One can safely judge his freelancing lifestyle to be comparably difficult to get along with, but those who have managed to not only gain his friendship, but also take the brunt of his rather exquisite job, have always been able to count on his loyality and intelligence.

B A C K G R O U N D__ _ _ _ _

Starting in AOZ12, Otios' life has not looked like being up to a vigorous start at first. His parents had already reached an unusually high age for giving birth to a child, even by Yasoi standards, so they had also already been well past the point of having to prove themselves. Malicious gossip has it that, in hindsight, this has been the root cause for Otios' derailing: Without seeing the need for a lot of adventure for themselves, Otios' parents also didn't see the need for such a thing in their only son until they could no longer hold back his growing desires and ambitions. From that point onwards overcompensation set in and the young, utterly inexperienced and not very socialized Otios' was set up for mistaking his sudden freedom with the allowance to do just everything he wanted. A miracle it's merely been becoming a thief and not the worst, cold-blooded killer the world has ever seen!

Whether this gossip is true or just rubbish ? His parents of course oppose any such accusations, and he himself does not really care or is just way too far away to pick them up in the first place. He has moved out of the Yasoi heartland several years ago for humans have just been a target looking easier and less dangerous because, again, they're much further away from where any bad word about him might actually matter and more remote regions are statistically bound to yield more interesting results than one's neighbourhood. Another thing worth mentioning might be that there are also those people who actually approve his doings once they get to know about them. Which poor man feeling left behind and exploited by all those snobs, corrupt merchants, egoistic nobles and unworldly mayors wouldn't approve such a nonchalant reversal in the flow of wealth, especially if part of said wealth might suddenly end up in his own hands in exchange for nothing more than a small favor ? Just feeling easier with humans, though Otios has never really tried that extensively within the boundaries of his own kind to have a real comparison.

Speaking of 'get to know', he so far has been pretty successful in keeping everything on a 'need to know' basis -- and any officials certainly don't need to know. He has a clean slate though he also can't rule out the possibility that some of those he has left behind might just be too clever to tell him they already know and instead could just be waiting for the right moment to strike back. It's the hazard of his profession and if breaking out of jail should have to be added to his list, then so be it.

Why should he ever report to the king for the sake of the nation though ? The answer is simple: There's nothing so well suited to forge unlikely bonds like a common enemy -- and aside from that just how incredibly less dignifying would it be to steal from those whom even the primitives regard as primitives: those barbarians of the South! Otios accepts that he might have to put aside his current creeds for the sake of the greater good and ultimately his own, long-term future. Last but not least any considerable contribution to an overall success of Parrence would weigh heavily against any future accusations that could come up against himself, be it for things already done or still to come.

I N V E N T O R Y__ _ _ _ _

❖ Two silver staffs of medium length with steel caps on their ends. They are pretty much just bolted on tightly and easy to remove and replace with others of the same or different shape. A seemingly harmless duo of identical tools that serves the purpose of conducting current in and out of potentially super-heated things without burning one's own hands. They can be used as clubs or levers, too.
❖ A small crossbow with a rope and grappling hook.
❖ Sturdy leather armor with very little metallic components included
❖ A thick fur cloak, just in case the weather turns cold and ugly
❖ Everyday necessities such as some spare food, water and a bedroll
❖ Candles
❖ Set of lockpicks
❖ A riding horse by the name of Sakar, even though, at his size, Otios'yyia'thala looks a bit weird on such a beast. He doesn't care though as long as it's a faster getaway than he can do on his own feet

T H E G I F T__ _ _ _ _

Five wheels rating: 4

Favored school: Thunder

Blood type: Thunderchild

Otios prefers low-energy applications as long as possible and can often be seen (or rather not seen) trying to invent new methods of doing things right in the field: Can this small lock be melted away by sending too much current through it ? Or can it be sorta welded together so this door cannot be opened behind his back anymore ? Can one make these sets or armor put up for the sake of decoration rattle to cause some distraction ? Or is it true that pretty much everyone is worried about his or her steps causing noise, but pretty much noone knows that their very steel breastplate or longsword causes a small distortion in the otherwise perfectly aligned magnetic field of the world itself that can be picked up ? And it can be almost disturbingly easy to incapacitate somebody if he can just get his fingers onto said somebody's skin in the right place.

Under enough pressure or if the situation just makes it too much of a viable option however Otios can do far less subtle, too. Variable magnetism induces current into metallic things without touching them, current produces heat, heat sets fire to buildings and persons. So one can set at least some things on fire without hurling an actual, terribly big and noisy flame at them and even through barriers that don't hinder magnetic flow -- how great is that ? Or just send a damn, demonstrative thunderbolt if somebody calls him out as 'slow and boring as a snail' again!

That is as far as his inclination towards the realm of electromagnetism goes. Otios is aware of the fact that he might have some significant talent with the more dubious magical art commonly called 'Blood' as well, but neither does his general desire not to spread harm without second thought allow him to just draw such an exquisite resource from other living beings, nor has his lifestyle so far allowed him to do any extensive studies yet. So, to sum things up, he does not have any real repertoire in that respect yet, just potential. Also there is one thing he could always happily manipulate without angering his own conscience: his own body.

S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S__ _ _ _ _

❖ Maybe his most important strength is his wit
❖ Should wit not help though, he has a very high magical capacity and skill he can put to both constructive and obliterative use
❖ Stealth, not necessarily only in terms of moving himself but also with regard to aspect such as temporarily disabling or even killing persons without causing a mess
❖ His Yasoi background and physiology makes him quite good at acts of acrobatics such as climbing, jumping and using ropes or similar things. Actually much better than the uneducated onlooker might suspect at first.

W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S__ _ _ _ _

❖ A considerable portion of his repertoire more or less depends on the situation. For example said lock might just be too thickly built to heat up enough without spending absurd amounts of energy into the necessary current, or the whole building might contain too much iron to distinguish magnetic distortions caused by an actual persons's gear from those caused by irrelevant junk.
❖ Otios does know that the double-edged side of a sword is actually meant to go into your opponent's wobbly gut and not into your holding hand, but that's pretty much for it. He has never received any real training with swords, maces or whatever other melee weaponry that is so commonly around.
❖ Otios is not exactly flimsily built and a very heavy man by means of sheer height alone already, but one has to consider the fact that all of his muscle also spreads out over all of his height so he is neither particularly strong nor particularly fast.
❖ Might be a bit hard to socialize with.

C O L O U R C O D E & O T H E R__ _ _ _ _

❖ The middle name 'yyia' is the brainchild of a few of his Yasoi friends from back in his youth. They deemed the name 'Otios'thala' to be on the borderline of being a tongue twister, so they thought that the addition of something complicated might do the trick and cause people to knot their own tongues together while trying to spell it. They put their idea to the trial with sort of an inofficial 'contest' and the sheer intensity with which Otios extended name was inadvertently maimed, butchered, abused or completely missed vocally by quite a bunch of people convinced them that he had the right to bear this addition for a lifetime.
❖ The pronounciation of his name is a little ambiguous: The parts 'Otios' and 'Thala' have a pretty straightforward phonation that is no different from other words such as 'otiose' (the adjunct) or 'thallium' (the metal). For 'yyia' however there is no such thing as a real rule in the Yasoi language for it is an artificial construct primarily designed to be complicated as descripted in the previous paragraph. Most people instinctively go for something like 'Heya', just without the H and a lot of emphasis on the 'e' however.
❖ FF9900