Letter Bee

Re: Zero: The High Council

Ashton Andrews and Flame Brooks

Ashton smiled at Kimura, before saying, "The way I see it, you're a brave person, willing to face death as long as it's from the legitimate authorities. Quite a contrast to my boyfriend; he'd mouth off to anyone trying to take him away if given the chance - he's the type to presume himself innocent before being 'proven' guilty. And you have a point; we weren't pre-detained when that Witch Hunter..." Ashton remembered trying to explain things to Mono before being struck with sudden shock and fear, and his voice lowered to a whisper, "When that Witch Hunter ordered us all killed; we were ran through with swords shortly after your first death."

The whisper continued; hopefully no one was eavesdropping. "Kimura, I also encountered something interesting; whenever we try and tell people -the natives of this place - about being transported here by 'Talus', we're overcome by a mental block of fear. And by we, I mean me, but with the presumption that this applies to all of us 'isekai-ers'."

And with that, Ashton turned back to the confrontation between Aer and Mist, where the latter was trying to resolve things through compromise. That latter part was actually impressive, and it seemed that they'll all be going to the authorities together. Who knows, perhaps with two strong 'patrons' vouching for the party, they might not die this time.

I wish that Scandinavian woman could be here to see things improve... Ashton said as he walked beside Kimura and the others - including a now-helpful Wisp (he had mistaken his name for Mist earlier) - deeper into what seemed to be a high-class commercial district, filled with fancy stores. Ashton noticed from the unusual cleanliness and lack of open sewers (like in IRL medieval cities) that magic and/or magitech must be at work. This bore thinking about, especially if they were going to be in this city for a long time.

It was then that another sign emerged that things were improving; a wagon belonging to one 'Doctor Donovan' rolled into the district, dropping off a rich youth, a priest and Flame onto the streets.

Before anyone can stop him, Ashton leapt towards the redhead, a smile on his face as he tackle-hugged him, shouting his boyfriend's name as he did so. "Flame!" Ashton was now crying as he affectionately continued his embrace. "I'm so glad to have you back!"

"Please, not here!" Flame said awkwardly, a side he rarely revealed. "We're in public and there's a priest and well..." His voice drew into a whisper, "We're being pursued by the authorities; gotten killed once, too."

Ashton's posture turned rigid, then, as rage filled him. "It happened to us as well; don't get angry, Flame. Right now, we've got two people offering to vouch for us, and they're our best bet to not be hunted down. Even then..."

Flame interrupted him with another whisper, "It's a long shot." He then gently pushed Ashton away, before saying, "Are we going to tell the truth? About coming from... An impossible place?" Looking at Ashton, the redhead saw the truth. "Ash, you're too trusting. Our story is too improbable even for these medieval fantasy people; they won't believe it." A sigh, "But if you want to do it, I won't stop you, but I will warn you."

The other boy looked back at his boyfriend, before embracing Flame once more to whisper, "Trying to tell them about the exact moment of transportation, trying to tell them about 'Lord Talus'... There's a mental block against that. So we're going to have to do a workaround."

Flame stiffened with anger at the mention of Talus, before he said, "Ash, if we didn't have any other options right now, I'd say that's stupid; it still is in many ways." He then looked at Alistair, then Ashton as he finally stopped hugging the latter, and spoke to the former, "Alistair, meet my boyfriend, Ashton. Yes, I'm a f*g**t; sorry about that. Ashton, meet Alistair, he managed to get us out of our initial destination and back to you."

He then turned towards Father Whiskey and said, "Father Whiskey, if that's your real name, this is Ashton; I'm 'living in sin' with him. Sorry about that. Ashton, this is 'Father Whiskey' - not his true name. He's pretty chill for a priest."

Royal Rumble!

If this isn't dead can you link me to your group on Discord?

@Crazy Scion

This isn't dead, and is the link on the OOC OP not functioning?

Above the Wastes - A Mad Max style RP with airships

Above the Wastes - Sarah Steel

One of the people who stayed and watched the fight - albeit from a safe position behind a crate - was weapons manufacturer and merchant Sarah Steel, who stood up and dusted herself off once the skirmish was over. She then walked towards where the True Captain and the 'Good Samaritans' who had rushed to help the former were gathering and asked their second-in-command (Misha, was it) as politely as possible, "May I speak to your captain? I am not applying to be a crewmember, by the way, but a client; I need transportation immediately."

A few moments followed, and if she was allowed to speak further, she would continue, "My name is Sarah Steel; Weapons Manufacturer, and while I am not interested in being your crewwoman, I do want to be you and your crew's client; I am seeking transportation back to my family and business at Urbanesc."

She was addressing the female mechanic as well, just in case that Misha wasn't a subversion of the 'unintelligent dumb muscle' trope.

Upon closer inspection, Sarah could be seen holding a suitcase, a suitcase which she let down and opened, revealing not gold or cash, but rather a new type of assault rifle; one that resembled an ancient Kalashinkov - assuming that anyone in this day and age still knew it - with a coilgun barrel and power cell attached to it; the rest of the suitcase contained more power cells and tungsten bullets. "This is my company's latest product, the Nikiforov-18. Basically a blend of salvaged Pre-Fall combat technology combined with the gunsmithing techniques already developed and rediscovered by the various towns and cities of the Wasteland."

Sarah looked self-possessed and confident, but it was a clear possibility that she was hiding something, namely the fact that her money was inaccessible right now and she was offering her new gun and gun model as payment for passage. A pause as she herself considered the ramifications of lying, all the while ignoring the Cosmic Adept and his attempts at acquiring 'free converts'. She then settled for saying, "And yes, it's true that I don't currently have access to my bank account right now, but..." The woman gestured towards the crate that she had hidden behind. "That crate over there is my property, filled with weapons like the one I showed you; I was having them shipped for a sale when my transportation just disappeared."

A purse of her lips. "I blame my business rivals; my botched deal had Petrov's fingerprints all over it."

Above the Wastes - A Mad Max style RP with airships

Sarah Steel

FULL NAME: Sarah Steel

GENDER: Female.

AGE: 30

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Despite being thirty years of age, Sarah Steel's wealth allows her to afford the various treatments that allow her to look five years younger; a signal of financial privilege in these bad times. With silky-smooth skin and long, flowing hair, as well as a surprisingly strong body, Sarah is a vision of loveliness further enhanced by a sharp gaze. She moves with a confident, almost arrogant set of movements, with full knowledge that she rouses jealousy in others by doing so...

PERSONALITY: Sarah Steel lives for one thing: The survival of her family, which for now is the same as the survival of her company. A stern and forceful businesswoman, she can be ruthless if she has to, but knows when to compromise when it gets her something. As befits her profession as a weapons manufacturer, she is interested in the latest technology that can be used for small arms and light artillery, as well as any new tech that can lead to a rise in trade. For trade, to Sarah, brings money, and money brings power, power that will allow her to sustain her family...

BACKSTORY: Sarah Steel was born to a gunsmith and his merchant wife, who were well-to-do citizens of Urbanesc, one of Tolmhaven's rival cities. An unusually strong woman even when young, Sarah became the hope of her family when her parents were only able to concieve daugthers, five in all in addition to her. And so Sarah was well-educated in both the crafting, the use, and the sale of guns, along with other subjects vital to a businesswoman who aspired to the upper class. All the while, her parents lifted their business up to new heights, banding with other gunsmiths and merchants to form the Gunmakers' Guild of Urbanesc.

Then, her parents were killed in an explosives accident, leaving her with a small fortune... And five sisters that needed to be cared for. So Sarah focused her energies on expanding her parents' business and her fortune, while at the same time making sure to spend some time with her silings. She also began travelling abroad more and more, going from city to city via airship in order to arrange business deals. All the while, part of her yearns for security, security that would allow her to spend more time with her family. But alas, that seems like a pipe dream, unless some unusual opportunity comes...

DESCRIPTION: Beautiful lady weapons manufacturer/merchant who runs an expanding business. Has five sisters. Well-educated and knows how to use her own guns.

SKILLS: Sarah has been taught how to shoot, maintain, and manufacture guns, as well as the arts of barganining and commerce. She can also act like a proper lady if needed, albeit with some hardness in her manner. Basically, anything that has to do with making money and acting like an upper-class person, she is probably good at.

QUIRKS: Despite her strength and use of guns, Sarah's combat effectiveness is limited; she hasn't killed a person before. She also tends to try and throw money at everything, assuming that would get her what she wants. She also can't cook, can't maintain airships, and is bad at anything that requires manual labor except maintaining and crafting guns.

Above the Wastes - A Mad Max style RP with airships

Sarah Steel

FULL NAME: Sarah Steel

GENDER: Female.

AGE: 30

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Despite being thirty years of age, Sarah Steel's wealth allows her to afford the various treatments that allow her to look five years younger; a signal of financial privilege in these bad times. With silky-smooth skin and long, flowing hair, as well as a surprisingly strong body, Sarah is a vision of loveliness further enhanced by a sharp gaze. She moves with a confident, almost arrogant set of movements, with full knowledge that she rouses jealousy in others by doing so...

PERSONALITY: Sarah Steel lives for one thing: The survival of her family, which for now is the same as the survival of her company. A stern and forceful businesswoman, she can be ruthless if she has to, but knows when to compromise when it gets her something. As befits her profession as a weapons manufacturer, she is interested in the latest technology that can be used for small arms and light artillery, as well as any new tech that can lead to a rise in trade. For trade, to Sarah, brings money, and money brings power, power that will allow her to sustain her family...

BACKSTORY: Sarah Steel was born to a gunsmith and his merchant wife, who were well-to-do citizens of Urbanesc, one of Tolmhaven's rival cities. An unusually strong woman even when young, Sarah became the hope of her family when her parents were only able to concieve daugthers, five in all in addition to her. And so Sarah was well-educated in both the crafting, the use, and the sale of guns, along with other subjects vital to a businesswoman who aspired to the upper class. All the while, her parents lifted their business up to new heights, banding with other gunsmiths and merchants to form the Gunmakers' Guild of Urbanesc.

Then, her parents were killed in an explosives accident, leaving her with a small fortune... And five sisters that needed to be cared for. So Sarah focused her energies on expanding her parents' business and her fortune, while at the same time making sure to spend some time with her silings. She also began travelling abroad more and more, going from city to city via airship in order to arrange business deals. All the while, part of her yearns for security, security that would allow her to spend more time with her family. But alas, that seems like a pipe dream, unless some unusual opportunity comes...

DESCRIPTION: Beautiful lady weapons manufacturer/merchant who runs an expanding business. Has five sisters. Well-educated and knows how to use her own guns.

SKILLS: Sarah has been taught how to shoot, maintain, and manufacture guns, as well as the arts of barganining and commerce. She can also act like a proper lady if needed, albeit with some hardness in her manner. Basically, anything that has to do with making money and acting like an upper-class person, she is probably good at.

QUIRKS: Despite her strength and use of guns, Sarah's combat effectiveness is limited; she hasn't killed a person before. She also tends to try and throw money at everything, assuming that would get her what she wants. She also can't cook, can't maintain airships, and is bad at anything that requires manual labor except maintaining and crafting guns.

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

Added this to the OOC OP:

The Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet

The first two centuries of the Ascendancy of Man were of construction, colonization, and exploration, as the 'Spacewarpers' of the Human Fleet opened up new horizons. Over time, autonomous trading companies grew in the fringes of Human Space, pushing the frontiers of expansion. But when the Rau've and Kaisoken were finally discovered, along with their equivalent or greater power to the Ascendancy, the first President-for-Life, Corrin Herbert, began to move towards centralization, nationalizing several trading companies and forcing those left to consolidate underneath Henry Windsor, one of the leading explorers and merchants of the fringe worlds.

Together, these trading companies formed a formidable fleet, well-armed against Space Pirates (mostly Aliens and renegade Humans) and enough to endanger the Ascendancy itself if it came to war. And so Corrin Herbert was forced to make concessions: The Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet will be allowed to continue its operations, provided that it provide a large payment to the Ascendancy of Man and logistical support to its future wars. This was resented by Corrin's two successors, Elijah and Emmanuel Thoreau, but neither of them made any move to withdraw said concessions, being enmeshed with their own plans.

Even the coming of the Rau've/Kaisoken War did not endanger the Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet, as the latter paid a large payment to the Ascendancy in order to avoid giving logistical support. This was a good thing, as the Cecils had already decided that the future lay in economic cooperation with Aliens (albeit with Humans on top) instead of making war with them. So they stood by, consolidating their power on the Southern Fringe of Human Space, well away from the Kaisoken and Rau've territory. And the war ended with the Cecil Autonomous Trading Fleet more powerful than ever, with only the Ascendancy's Carrier Fleet able to contest them.

Now, the Windsors cannot avoid a collision with the upper levels of the Ascendancy; money can no longer overcome fear that the Trading Fleet, made up of Xenophiles and immensely rich and powerful, would conduct a coup. And the Windsors knew it, so they decided to conduct a coup for real, contacting disaffected elements among the fringe worlds and other dissidents only to find they had already been contacted by a new organization, Moonstrike, an organization that seemed to have access to Ascendancy tech and military hardware. And so all activity from them stopped. Was it jealousy, or were they biding their time for something else?

@Gentlemanvaultboy@Starlance@Bartimaeus@Stern Algorithm@Crowvette@KillamriX88@The Jest

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

NPC Character Sheet

Name: William Windsor

Age: 23

Physical Description:


Important items:

Ascendancy Charter of Trade - A Contract with the Ascendancy's Government, signed by the first Ascendancy President-for-Life, Corrin Herbert, giving the Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet extensive powers to trade in the Outer Territories of Human Space, including the exclusive right to trade with 'Aliens'. This was 80 years ago, when Xenophobia was still seeding itself in the Ascendancy's minds, but hasn't been nullified since, thanks to Ascendancy inattention and hefty bribes paid to the Ascendancy Congress.

Steelweave Formal Clothes - Several sets of formal clothes for diplomatic occassions, made up of thread as strong, if not stronger, than steel.

Ballistics Vest - A ballistics vest that can withstand even a small Coilgun Pistol.

Coilgun Pistol - Coilgun pistol enlaid with ivory and non-perfected electrum.

Plasma Pistol - A gun that fires superheated plasma.

Short Bio:

The Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet

The first two centuries of the Ascendancy of Man were of construction, colonization, and exploration, as the 'Spacewarpers' of the Human Fleet opened up new horizons. Over time, autonomous trading companies grew in the fringes of Human Space, pushing the frontiers of expansion. But when the Rau've and Kaisoken were finally discovered, along with their equivalent or greater power to the Ascendancy, the first President-for-Life, Corrin Herbert, began to move towards centralization, nationalizing several trading companies and forcing those left to consolidate underneath Henry Windsor, one of the leading explorers and merchants of the fringe worlds.

Together, these trading companies formed a formidable fleet, well-armed against Space Pirates (mostly Aliens and renegade Humans) and enough to endanger the Ascendancy itself if it came to war. And so Corrin Herbert was forced to make concessions: The Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet will be allowed to continue its operations, provided that it provide a large payment to the Ascendancy of Man and logistical support to its future wars. This was resented by Corrin's two successors, Elijah and Emmanuel Thoreau, but neither of them made any move to withdraw said concessions, being enmeshed with their own plans.

Even the coming of the Rau've/Kaisoken War did not endanger the Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet, as the latter paid a large payment to the Ascendancy in order to avoid giving logistical support. This was a good thing, as the Windsors had already decided that the future lay in economic cooperation with Aliens (albeit with Humans on top) instead of making war with them. So they stood by, consolidating their power on the Southern Fringe of Human Space, well away from the Kaisoken and Rau've territory. And the war ended with the Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet more powerful than ever, with only the Ascendancy's Carrier Fleet able to contest them.

Now, the Windsors cannot avoid a collision with the upper levels of the Ascendancy; money can no longer overcome fear that the Trading Fleet, made up of Xenophiles and immensely rich and powerful, would conduct a coup. And the Windsors knew it, so they decided to conduct a coup for real, contacting disaffected elements among the fringe worlds and other dissidents only to find they had already been contacted by a new organization, Moonstrike, an organization that seemed to have access to Ascendancy tech and military hardware. And so all activity from them stopped. Was it jealousy, or were they biding their time for something else?

William Windsor was born to the Windsor Family, which was descended from several Old Earth Royal Families (European, Indian, and African ones). Though well-educated, William's mother, Elizabeth Windsor, taught her child to hide the true extent of his skills from all but a few people within his inner circle; this was later revealed to be a reaction to the mysterious kidnappings of prodigy children that occured in the years before the Rau've war. It also helped that William's focus was on Politics, not on 'common genius topics' like Science or Art or Engineering. Nevertheless, there were a few close calls where he was nearly found out, but thankfully, he was lucky enough to make sure those all came to nothing.

When the war against the Rau've was lost; which was more of a year ago now, Elizabeth gave up her position as the head of the family to William, who immediately began planning Rebellion against the Ascendancy but found out that Moonstrike had been doing that first. He was then contacted by a young boy named Snow Cecil, who after [SPOILER] and [SPOILER], told him about [SPOILER].

And so he began doing, well, [SPOILER]

Exceptional Skill List (8):

Exceptional Willpowerx3
Exceptional Speech
Exceptional Politicsx3
Exceptional Trade

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

@Letter Bee I assume Legion will be staying on the ship with the Captain?

@Stern Algorithm

Yes.

Edit: Note that Natasha will be going off to fight later as well, so Legion babysits the ship.

Re: Zero: The High Council

Flame Brooks

And now the Knights from before, accompanied by a female in a Japanese Monk outfit, had entered the room, although Flame recognized that only after it was apparent that the Monster Wolf's attention had been diverted. Another monk, this time a male, then began attacking said Monster Wolf. The boy looked at Alistair, saying, "I think this might be the best time to flee; we have a straight line to the kitchen."

The young man's trust of Alistair had begun to cement itself despite the short time the two had known each other; Flame was starting to ignore 'Father Whiskey' as the latter seemed to be ignoring them. But nevertheless, Flame knew that 'Allie' (a nickname he'll never use in public) had a rivalry with the Blonde Knight with the arrogant grin, and was somewhat afraid that this might cause some new incident.

But this fear was somewhat dampened by the fact that 'Allie', for all his arrogance and blather and posturing, wasn't actually stupid; this might have mystified Flame if he had the time for, well, not trying to get away from the Monster Wolf. As it was, he was spending a few brief moments to wait for Alistair's lead, then see if 'Father Whiskey' was still following them, and make sure the Knights were not going after the three.

And once he got the sign from the blonde, Flame would run. Run as fast as he could.

Ashton Andrews

"Of course, Ms. Pacifica!" the young man said as he stepped aside to one of the remaining clear spots; hopefully the others were close by.

Ashton followed Aer's instructions, even as the adventuress seemed intent on starting a fight with Wisp. He tried to stand beside Kimura and Aaron if they were near and wait for what happened next. At the same time, he noted how 'Ms. Pacifica' spoke about a group called 'The Compass', and in a positive way, too. Were they magic-users of some sort? Nevertheless, Ashton saw how Aer seemed to be challenging Mist to a fight; part of him hoped none of the two would be seriously hurt, while another part of him wanted to see how much magic and special abilities would be used in such a battle; that ought to be useful for their next 'reset'.

For Ashton had resigned himself to dying this round. This was not an easy decision, but part of him knew he should stand with the Japanese Boy and the Chinese-American no matter what. As for the Scandinavian... Ashton suspected they'd meet her again once the timeline had reset; he didn't believe for a single minute that this was a one-time only deal - he was conversant with his over-used and over-dramatic tropes! And as life had begun to shape itself around said tropes, it was needed for him to be genre savvy.

He looked towards Kimura and Aaron, asking, "So, I introduced myself earlier; can you two do so as well?"

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

For a permanent record:

The Battle of Proxima Centauri

The Rau've/Kaisoken Alliance were lured to the Proxima System, only 4 light-years from Earth itself, and the Ascendancy immediately redeployed much of its remaining forces to crush the Nonhuman coalition once and for all. Their plan was to use the smaller ships of the Ascendancy (Cruisers and Frigates) to lure the Alliance as close to Proxima's Sun as possible. The Sun would then cut off the Alliance line of retreat as the Dreadnoughts hammer them with walls of fire.

It was a viable strategy; not inherently stupid, but the Kaisoken contingents of the combined fleet caught on to it and sent their ships to envelop the Ascendancy's flotilla from above and below, snapping like a ferocious raptor's jaws. The Carriers under Kherol were unable to do anything (or unwilling, as Kherol saw the strategy as stupid and wanted to save as much of the Ascendancy Fleet as he could from said stupidity) as the Dreadnought Fleet of the Ascendancy was well-nigh destroyed.

Nevertheless, although Kherol's non-interference was controversial, none can dispute that it was the survival of the Ascendancy's Carriers that prevented the Rau've and Kaisoken from vassalizing or annexing the Ascendancy outright, and even allowed the Humans to retain most of their territory, albeit under heavy requirements for war reparations. And it was after the Ascendancy's defeat that Emmanuel Thoreau began to build and focus more on Carriers and Carrier-based space doctrine; the days of the Dreadnought were over.

@Gentlemanvaultboy@OrkytheOrc@Starlance@Bartimaeus@Stern Algorithm@Crowvette@KillamriX88