Gentlemanvaultboy

Innocence Lost: Space Western Science Fantasy (Temporarily Open Again!)

“You should've asked that before you took a swig." she laughed, greatly amused by her comrade's reaction. "Because it looks like a mix of reactor coolant and spent fuel to me, no offense Orky. What did it taste like?"

@Starlance

Eldrid queasily lifted up his head and smiled. Well, he certainly wasn't going to be looking forward to when that stuff came back out now thanks to Orky's warning, but he grinned all the same. "Come now. I finally have a safety net, the privilege of being pleasantly surprised, what's the point of that if I don't exorcise it in leisurely moments like this?" He looked warily back down at the liquor. "Though maybe I should exorcise that atrophied emotion a little less strenuously in the future. It tasted like it was biting my tongue."

As the robot, Legion, came around and placed food in front of all of them and dutifully refilled his now emptied cup with something that wasn't quite as strong Eldrid watched Kelan and his...partner in fascination. Yes, partner was the right word for it. "I didn't think that was possible." he said, taking out his omni-tool and typing out some observations on the strange pair. That had the makings of main character. "Though, then again, the Ascendancy never really bothered us with how to interact with friendly aliens."

She then looked at Eldrid; her next words were, "Wait, you're Eldrid Cole?! I loved Starless Space! But wait, they said you were dead!"

@Letter Bee

Eldrid laughed scornfully. "Yes, I think they put me down to being lost in a freak mudslide." he said, not looking up from his notes. He finished Khelen and started on Orky. It wasn't every day you met a real, honest to god orc in real life. He spoke casually and dismissively, as though he were critiquing the hackneyed plot of an airport paperback instead of describing his own life. "Not really a lie. I got an invitation to a...it's been years now, god, it was called... can't remember. Some sort of young artists creative retreat sponsored by The Sunshine Foundation. A summer camp deal. A month of s'mores and workshops and mingling with other kids like you while appreciating the splendor of nature. It was supposed to inspire us to incorporate the beauty of the Earth into our work. For about two weeks that's what it was, just long enough for us to get the letters home. Then they swooped in, picked up the lot of us, and collapsed a whole mountain on the campground. As far as symbolism goes it was effectively the burial of our old lives."

Orky's backstory, however, had inspired what was perhaps a more understandable reaction. Eldrid watched him stare at Stella, or through Stella, before he calmed down. "What Stella said, don't worry about it. God knows we've all be there. This is a ship full on kindred spirits, eh Stella?" He said, trying to reinvigorate the festive mood. He picked up his cup and put it to his lips, sipping before staring at the cup in amazement. "I can still taste the liquor. Uncanny."

Meanwhile, under the table, he curled back the two fingers he had pointed directly at Orky from the moment he'd gotten that frightful look on his face.

Innocence Lost: Space Western Science Fantasy (Temporarily Open Again!)

"Eldrid Cole." Eldrid said with as deep and theatrical a bow as he could manage while sitting now at a table. "Author, dreamweaver, former soldier, journeyman wizard." He reached out and cockily took Orky up on his offer, grabbing the green and fowl smelling bottle and splashing some of the liquid into his tea. He stirred it in with his little spoon and picked it back up. "And always willing to experiment a little bit. Cheers, Orky!" He tipped the mug slightly in the Orky's direction tilted his head back and downed the mug.

That had been a bad idea. Just tasting it was like getting kicked by a mule. His eyes bulged and he made what sounded like a whimper as he started to sweat. He held the liqueur for a couple of seconds that felt like an eternity and then, after two or three attempts, swallowed.

He let out a deep breath and land forward over the table. "That's real strong." He said, his voice strained. He wondered if the moonshine the other guys had never seen fit to share with him was that strong? Ehhh, we wouldn't have drunk it anyway of course. That would have gotten him killed. "What's, uh, what's in that?"

Free For All

Crashing down to save the day like a miniature godzilla.

Innocence Lost: Space Western Science Fantasy (Temporarily Open Again!)

"I'm honestly surprised you're so out of the loop." Eldrid said, beginning to raise a cup of piping hot something-or-other to his lips. He stopped halfway, considered what he'd just said, and placed it gently back on the table. "Not to say that's a point against your intelligence.' He quickly corrected. "Far from it. I simply didn't know the Ascendancy kept quite as tight a lid on our true nature. It's really a point in their favor, if anything. As far as information control goes. God knows, I know soldiers love to gossip. And there were a few on our end that were trying to get the information out."

He shook his head sadly, then looked over to the rest of his compatriots seated at the table. "You guys remember Small Paul? The code-breaker? Scrawny kid, prematurely grey, real high pitched voice? I know he was doing it, I kept on hearing rumors he was leaving coded messages disguised as battlefield graffiti. Whatever happened to that guy?"

Free For All

Dog crouched down and primed himself to spring. He wished Vinashy would stop flying around, in only added to the chaos of the sounds and movement around him and he didn't need that.

The monster was in the walls. It could attack them from the walls. It had attacked Mikkish from the wall but he couldn't deal with that right now. He had to deal with the monster. Get the monster first and then deal with the injuries. Zanni was tearing at the walls. Mikkish was still hanging from the ceiling, near the wall. He'd seen how the creature attack from inside the wall now. Dog exhaled slowly, trying to block the noise. Once it attacked again, or once Zanni forced it out of the wall, that was when he would spring.

Once he saw it again, no matter where it was, he was going to spring at the monster, catch it in his teeth, and pull it out of the wall. Even if it meant landing on the icing over floor he would catch the monster.

Free For All

He said not to auto-hit.

Royal Rumble!

@Dezuel@Bartimaeus@Crowvette

These are your opponents:

Euphoria Reverie

I'll just give you all her powers because Euphoria tends to go full throttle.

Core Power: Rev Up
Euphoria is like a car, able to shift into higher and higher gear as the fight goes on. These gears have to be done in order and Euphoria has to be in the middle of battle to use them.

First Power: First Gear
A straight doubling of Euphoria's strength and speed.

Second Power: Second Gear
In a remarkable show of originally Euphoria turns red and her body starts giving off steam. All psychical stats double.

Third Power: Third Gear
All physical stats double again. Euphoria can now Flash Step. All her attacks gain fire damage. It seemed really hard for her to maintain. You're not sure how long she can last in this form, but not long.

Melodia Eulogy

A girl that fights in a mask. It seems like the mouth hole is specially made so she can blow her horn through it. When she blows the horn as odd fog covers the area and ghosts start to appear in the arena. These ghosts seem hardier than the kind at the apartment, and take on the appearance of ancient warriors. Not much of a physical fighter, the only time some has gotten close to her she didn't seem like she had any other powers to defend herself.

Misery Dogwood

Misery can transform into monsters. You don't know how many, but it's easy to assume three because that just seems to be how the world has been laid out. You've seen two in the tournament so far if you've been watching. One is a physical weak witch like creature capable of creating and controlling a sticky wax like substance and the other is a physically adapt bird monster capable of sonic attacks from it's three beaks.

You've seen enough to get a feel for how the three of them fight. Eulogy will hang back, summoning a legion of ghosts to defend their flag with her horn while Reverie will usually make a beeline for the opposing flag. Misery will support either one depending on the circumstances, usually Reverie until she crossed the halfway mark or until she hears three sharp toots from Eulogy's horn, at which point she turns around to assist Eulogy on defense.

Fighting Reverie is obviously a trap. Once she reaches Gear 3 no one so far has been fast enough to stop her from just taking the flag. The problem is that you have to fight her to stop her from taking the flag anyway.

Free For All

"Wait, won-" Dog started, but the ground had already started to freeze. Dog yelped and jumped up on one of the clothes racks as the ice spread across the ground. "Won't that make the ground slippery?"

Royal Rumble!

---

As they stepped out onto the field Bak's eyes were focused forward with the sort of intensity she usually only had when punishing students, her eyes fixed on a point in the far wall as if trying to stare through it.

As a matter of fact, she was staring through it thanks to her thermal vision. She could see the shape of them n the other side of the wall, blobby outlines of heat that morphed and fluctuated with their movements. She clenched her fists at the sight, one of them still hidden under the cast she'd hadn't had to take off yet thanks to the efforts of Rurik and Christine. She was happy for that. It was like she was getting to save it for this special occasion.

"They are all clustered up now." She said. "When they move I will tell you where they go." Bak wasn't fast enough to mount an effective offensive against the enemy flag, so it was advantageous for get to stay as far back as possible so she could relay enemy movement to her team. This meant that she was also the iron fortress that defended the flag if worst came to worst. That might not work this time, however. Brutus was over there, after all.

She narrowed her eyes. "Rurik, Christine, I would like very much to crush these vigilantes into the dirt."

@Hammerman@Bartimaeus@rawkhawk64@Crowvette@KillamriX88

Innocence Lost: Space Western Science Fantasy (Temporarily Open Again!)

Name: Eldrid Cole
Age: 17
Physical Description:

Important items:

-"Spellbook": An omni-tool. Most of the personal data on it is made up of observations on different spells, including cost/benefit analysis, possible improvements, what the spell might say about the user who developed it, and a personal rating of the spell. In addition it contains several descriptions of spells "in development," ideas on new spells, several unfinished fantasy novellas, and the novel Starless Space.

- Gollet Gourd: A war trophy taken from the hut of a Gill warrior. Made from the fruit of the Gollet vine native to the gill homeworld, these exceptionally hard gourds are typically hollowed out and used to transport alcohol underwater. Gollet Gourds are so hardy that they have been found in pristine shape after being lost for years at a time. This one is about the size of a large backpack, covered in inscriptions of the Gills family history, and had been enchanted with a a weak flight spell to make it easier to carry. Currently filled with water.

- Flack Jacket: As much as Eldrid dislikes ever having been a soldier this is just a practical fallout defense. Worn under his clothing.

- Coil Pistol: Same as above, a fallback weapon in the event he runs out of energy. Practices with it every day, even if he dislikes it.

- Makeup kit: A personal item. For use in looking like a proper wizard.

Short Bio: Eldrid wrote his bestseller at 12, on a dare.

The bet was simple. Eldrid had been writing for a small circle of online friends for years at that point and a discussion came up about whether "fantasy" could be accepted in this day and age. Most of them contended that wizards and interplanetary romance was too outdated in a world where aliens and magic actually existed and Eldrid strongly disagreed, arguing that the "essential essence" of such stories was timeless and universal. Things escalated until a ultimatum was given: if Eldris was so sure a book like that would be taken seriously, maybe he should write one himself.

Eldrid was back in three months with Starless Space, a moving exploration of the human spirit in the face of an unfathomable doom that was also filled to the brim with fight scenes, magic, and loving descriptions of how little the characters outfits left to the imagination. At least that was what the reviews said later, after his friends urged him to send it to a publisher.

He was taken soon after the book became a best seller. Maybe they'd read the book and thought maybe he'd have a knack for the magic. It was stupid, in his opinion very little evidence to go on in regards to kidnapping someone for a magic super-soldier program. It didn't help that they turned out to be right. He took to magic like a duck to water. Took to it a little too well. While everyone else was driven to the brink of anxious nervous breakdowns from the harsh training and cruel conditions Eldrid leaned hard into the study as a coping mechanism. He would watch other kids, trying to pick out the flaws and weaknesses of their magic, and would readily discuss the principles and mechanisms of magic with any of the adults who would give him the time of day. This quickly lead to a reputation, not entirely unearned, of being a suck up, a rat, and a collaborator that he's never managed to shake even to this day. As such he was kept at arms length by any squad that he was assigned to, which may have inspired how strictly utilitarian his magic is as he was essentially operating with little to no support through most of his "career."

As opposed to this philosophy he began dressing loudly and provocatively after they were freed by the Rau've. They say you should dress for the job you want, and now that Eldrid is free he will accept nothing less that "Universe Greatest Wizard." It is to that end that he follows along to fight the Ascendancy. After all, they were never going to hand over the research that went into them willingly. Eldrid wants to know everything about what his projected limits are, so when he flies past them it will be more satisfying.

Spell List:

- Enchantment (High): As an enchanter Eldrid can weave magic spells into mundane objects.

- Arcane Shot (High): A silvery projectile made of pure magic fired from the middle and index finger. Stronger than any bullet it can be fired either in individual shots or a single concentrated beam.

- Flight (World): Eldrid can manipulate gravity to allow himself to fly. He tries to keep it to a normal running pace, as the faster he moves the ore energy Flight uses up.

- Veil of Seas (World): Eldrid calls upon nearby water, pulling it up to form a curtain around him or another target. Maximizing the essence of water that allows it to "Erode" and "Refract," this curtain will erode sold bullets away and refract lasers fired at it around the person it is protecting. The amount of punishment it can sustain is dependent on the amount of water used to create the curtain. While Eldrid is present the curtain can be moved and even open up small holes to act as "gunports." He uses this spell instead of a more conventional magic shield because it cost less energy to manipulate something that already exists than to form something new, and water is common on the sort of habitual worlds he would be fighting.

Earth Soldiers (World): Eldrid calls upon the earth to create up to twelve human sized from the ground around him. Special attention is paid to the shaping of their hands, so that they might use the enemy's weapons. Earth Soldiers can can be either directly controlled by Eldrid or follow simple, one sentence commands. He uses this spell for much the same reason as Veil of Seas: no matter where you're fighting there's probably always going to be earth under your feet.

Gruel (Change): Eldrid can touch inorganic matter with his hand to change it into a grey, viscous, tasteless paste. This paste is edible, with all the necessary vitamins and mineral for a human to survive by just eating it for three meals a day. Yum yum...

Exceptional Skill List: N/a