Lewascan2

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Location: North of the crossroads, 6 km from Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

Inclining her head at Lord Thernous's prompt, Veronica straightened up, tucking her scroll case under one hand and withdrawing a leatherbound book from her bag. Flipping it open, she paged to some of the more recent entries and nodded, glancing around to check that the entire party seemed to be gathered. There was a lot to go through, and she'd prefer to only say this once.

"I realize the hour is late and most of us surely weary, so I shall try to pursue brevity as far as it doesn't compromise what's critical," she started, patting the cover of her logbook. "A more detailed hourly report is contained here, of course, for those that are interested."

Clearing her throat, she glanced at the pages of her logbook and nodded. "Our recon team was initially sent to scout out the premises of Lady Stritzel's mansion. One of our secondary goals was to plant a magical geolocator." She sent an appreciative nod to Charles and Farris. "Unfortunately, the latter did not end up succeeding, partially due to an anti-scrying barrier presently encompassing the entire Stritzel estate. The same barrier limited our investigations further, and it is almost certainly the reason why the target of this recovery mission -Cedar- has been unable to be located magically." Her expression turned graver. "I should mention also that this magical barrier shares a great similarity -if not identical function- to the one utilized by Asever in Fanghorn's devastation four months ago. Out of concern for being detected, I chose not to test its upper limits prior to now, but I'm confident in my analysis."

She flipped a page, lips pursing, as she organized her thoughts. So far, her attempts to keep things less verbose didn't seem to be working, and unfortunately, she still had much more to say. "The King's blockade was thankfully largely successful in isolating the area, so our team had very little trouble making note of any suspicious comings and goings. Of particular note, three days ago, we logged the coming and going of a wagon, guarded by Delving Usuals." She paused, glancing at the bears and then elaborating. "Which is a... I suppose general term for professional 'thugs' employed by the noble family. For context for those of you who are new here, the Delvings were involved in some instrumental capacity four months ago with the conflict that eventually devastated Fanghorn and set us on the path of political and societal unrest we are walking today. That they are involved yet again is worrisome but not as unexpected as it might be."

Shaking her head, she pulled away from that topic. "We can discuss how to handle them a bit later, but suffice to say, what you need to know to at least have a basic idea what to watch out for is that they are wealthy, control much of this nation's navy and are famed for their barrier and anti-magic spells. It's something of a callsign of theirs, and it would easily explain the powerful barrier's presence. Moving on..." She reorganized her thoughts and continued her prior thought. "So, three days ago, Delving Usuals were spotted coming and going with a wagon that emanated warding magic. That was the last time anyone left the premises of the estate. On the inverse, the last time anyone arrived was a day ago, a small convoy of two wagons and several horsemen. Which brings us to the mansion itself..."

Closing her logbook, she tucked it under one arm and unscrewed the map case that was held beneath the other, sliding out a roll of parchment which she soon unfurled. "What we have here is a-" She paused, frowning, as she considered the current near nonexistent lighting conditions and that not everyone here was as nocturnally inclined as herself. "Jazdia, if I could possibly trouble you for a light?"

The elf nodded and drew forth an arrow, which soon flared into a fresh billow of purple light. "Don't touch the arrowhead," she advised simply, to which Veronica nodded, taking the arrow shaft in one hand and using it to illuminate the map she let unfurl fully to hang freely from her other hand.

"As I was saying, this is a map we've sketched of the grounds of our target." The glowing arrowhead passed over the area, as she described each detail in turn. "The main building is a three-story manor directly facing the south, protected on all sides by a rectangular stone wall that looks nearly older than the house itself and will henceforth be referred to as the 'outer wall'. The outer wall has a number of towers, one for each of the four corners. A large river runs along the northernmost wall, which in turn is roughly 40-50 meters from the mansion. Conversely, the southernmost wall resides roughly 100 meters from the manor. The western wall resides roughly 30-40 meters from the mansion and the eastern wall closer to 50 meters."

The arrowhead traced down the far closer perimeter sketched around the mansion. "This is the 'inner wall', a clearly far newer construct. At its furthest from the compound -the southern segment, it sits roughly 25 meters away with the closer segments being as near as 10-15 meters. This provides ample space for the presently hottest threat zone to our knowledge. The greatest concentration of enemy forces -largely Delving Usuals- is here in this inner wall zone, and it remains the primary barrier to entry to the mansion. The manor also has yet another tower, a much larger one built directly atop it and situated ever so slightly more towards the eastern portion of the mansion, providing excellent sightlines in nearly every direction due to both the elevation and wide-open surrounding space, not just between the inner and outer walls but around the space outside the outer wall as well."

She paused for a moment to allow the group to digest the flow of information for a bit, a serious expression on her face. "Perhaps it goes without saying, but for a group this large, especially with the certainty that many of us are less than specialized in matters of stealth-" She shot a telling look in the direction of the more heavily armored members of the group. "-infiltrating this perimeter unseen, without things devolving into a full-on brawl, is a tall order." Loosing a short exhale, she rolled the battlefield map back up and slipped it into her map case, drawing forth a second drawing, which unrolled into what looked like an itemized floorplan of the actual building's internals. "Thankfully, it's not all doom and gloom, at least ostensibly. Once we get past the inner wall defenses, the actual premises of the manor are just about entirely abandoned, managed by a skeleton crew at best. It's almost frightening how much free reign you have once you get inside; it's the actually getting there that's the issue. Of course, I doubt any of us will be complaining about the convenience; I certainly won't."

Tapping a final section of the map, her levity drained away. "And now, we reach the crux of the mission. Our actual goal -as I'm sure you're well aware- is to rescue Cedar and assassinate the traitorous Lady Stritzel for her crimes. In all the time we have observed this estate, our team hasn't managed to catch sight of either of our targets even once... But by following the trail of goods and personnel unloaded from the convoys that came through here, we have uncovered their likely location, a final underground layer." She tapped the map again, clicking her tongue in frustration. "Unfortunately, yet again, I couldn't risk pushing deeper without compromising our presence, if not threatening both the security of our mission and our lives. So, I cannot offer a map of the complex beyond, only the knowledge of its existence and location of the entrance. By process of elimination, there is nowhere else our targets may be."

After a moment of silence, she rolled the map back up and slid it into the map case with its fellow. Screwing the lid back on, she reached over to hand the glowing arrow back to Jazdia, who took it and extinguished the lingering magic. Straightening up again, Veronica nodded definitively. "This officially concludes the main body of the recon team's report." A sheepish smile crawled across her lips, as she scratched the back of her neck. "Even summarized, it turned out longer than it sounded in my head."

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Location: North of the crossroads, 6 km from Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

Veronica's eyes widened slightly at Jazdia's words. "Diplomatic mission?" Her gaze flickered to Thernous again, as they neared the camping grounds. "No wonder..." she muttered. "If we want anything we say to have any real weight, we need someone to be the voice of the King with the authority to make promises the King will likely agree with, and I can think of few better for the role." She nodded with finality and understanding. Though a frown crossed her lips, as she whispered back, "Which means this team also just became a protection detail; if anything happens to Lord Thernous, we lose the voice we need..."

She trailed off, as they got within more comfortable earshot of the rest of the camp, leaving the thought hanging. She parted from Jazdia's side, as they approached Thernous, stopping to sketch a small bow as a nod of courtesy to the elderly lawmaker and royal advisor. "Lord Thernous, Veronica Blackwater, reporting on behalf of the recon team," she smiled in her typical close-lipped way, projecting her voice loudly enough without shouting to make sure her name was clearly hearable by those present in the immediate area. A simple and sweet way to introduce herself to the majority indirectly, without going out of her way to make a specific deal of it.

Almost immediately after saying that, she shrugged off her backpack from beneath her brown cloak and set it on the ground, fishing out a small scroll case and glancing around. She shot a glance the direction of the rest of the recon team, her gaze an open invitation to step up and aid in the presentation if they wished. After all, it was hardly like she'd done all the work herself by any means. It had been a group effort, and at least Charles, in particular, seemed like he had been eager to say his own piece.

While she waited for the rest of the team to gather around in one form or another, Veronica cast curious looks towards the newcomers and sent a small smile and nod of greeting towards Yvonne and Solomon. She restrained the urge to make with pleasantries for the time being, even if she was immensely curious as to what relation the two bears -female, judging by the sound of their voices- had to Cedar. The peppy, blonde female knight she'd spied before seemed to have managed to mysteriously whip up a hot meal without a fire; though, Veronica didn't see herself partaking on this occasion. The male -and similarly blonde- knight nearby was twinging some form of recognition in her, but she couldn't quite put a name to his face yet; his body language and the way he held himself, however, certainly gave off the impression of someone with at least a personal sense of importance and authority. Then there was the extremely blue -in the most literal sense- elf, along with a knightly woman with a rather peculiar hairstyle and a pair of twitching cat ears and tails. The latter also seemed to be familiar with the Antigone members of the recon team.

All in all? Quite the eclectic group, just on appearances.

Man, Lord Fredricus sure knows how to pick 'em.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Location: North of the crossroads, 6 km from Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

"Fate is never on my side."

Veronica clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "Well now, that just won't do." Her lips quirked, as she affected a faux boastful tone. "How could fate not be on your side with a trusty Seer like me beside you?" True to her words, she fell into step beside Jazdia, as the elf began walking towards the camp proper.

At the mention of business matters between their companies, Veronica inclined her chin in wordless understanding, smiling and nodding. "Yes, that can keep for later. I have my speculations, but I'll withhold them till I can hear the tale from the horse's mouth... as it were." She released a small chuckle, eying the approaching campsite. "I'll admit, however, to my genuine surprise that a figure as high profile as Lord Thernous would be accompanying us, especially for a mere rescue mission." Her crimson gaze was searching, not quite narrowed but certainly intent. "I take it the mission parameters have been... expanded?"

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Location: North of the crossroads, 6 km from Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

"'Just Evan' it is then," was Veronica's cheeky reply to the pale northerner, shortly before they departed. She deigned to shoot him a similarly cheeky smile, as she took off like a shot, the steeds of the Antigone members in swift pursuit.

---

The cool night breeze ruffled her hair and battered against the hood of her cloak, threatening to blow it back off her head from the speed she had to run at to keep pace with the recon team's mounts. The vampire took point as best she was able. Her darkvision and sure feet made for an excellent combination to help her lead the group through the night unharmed, choosing the most stable ground and guiding them around spots that would be troublesome in terms of space long before they could accidentally blindly stumble into them. Thankfully, nothing seemed keen to leap out at them from the darkness, and their travel went undisturbed. Their circuitous route was completed about as quickly as she had expected, even accounting for a mildly slower pace in the murk for safety's sake.

Breaking free of the western tree line, the recon team turned near about face towards the small hill Veronica had pointed out prior and the one atop it. Not long after they had done so, however, a bright purple light speared through the night, emanating from the arrow Veronica's keen vision could make out being held in the elf's hands. The elf's own glowing gaze, for its own part, was clearly aimed their way too.

Really, Jazdia? A signal like that? Do you seriously think I, of all people, need it? All you're doing is blowing our cover. Irritation aside, a part of her could appreciate the potentially more useful thoughts that could have been behind the elf's action, and the vampire chose to believe for her own peace of mind that at least one of them was the case.

Shaking away the annoyed thought, Veronica picked up her pace, paying a little more attention to the ground ahead, just in case any traps had been set by particularly -and laudably- enterprising sorts amongst her future teammates. Just to be on the safest side, she pushed her Sight in a particular direction and periodically glanced at her immediate future, as she shot a jaunty, two-fingered salute Jazdia's way.

Veronica slowed to a jog, as she reached the base of the hill and then to a swift power walk. Gloved fingers ran back through windswept ebony hair, clawing it back into a semblance of tidiness with a few quick sweeps. As she got within comfortable speaking distance, Veronica didn't hesitate to raise a single telling brow at the glowing arrow in Jazdia's hand, as if to silently convey her mild irritation, but she didn't waste her breath complaining about it.

"Jazdia Crystalspark," the pale girl drawled with an almost teasing lilt, eyes crinkling into smiles, as she rolled her shoulders, letting her hands hang loose and open, "we really need to stop meeting solely under the shadow of crisis. A girl might get ideas about your work-life balance." A rare, toothy grin spread across her lips in greeting, betraying how much her elation overrode her prior annoyance. Briefly, fangs glimmered under the purple light of Jazdia's magic, before Veronica's lips pulled closed once more, long before anyone else was positioned to spot them.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Location: Near the crossroads, 6 km from Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

The sun had already set by the time Veronica dared clamber up into the thick boughs of a tall tree, nimble and dexterous limbs executing practiced movements, as she scaled the natural expanse. The faintest glimmer of dying sunlight was still fading on the horizon, as her eyes scanned the lands from above, carefully keeping herself pressed against the tree's trunk so as to minimize her profile and avoid any searching eyes.

Her gaze was aimed East, of course, watching the crossroads from afar, the last glimmers of sunlight to her back and warded off by the watery sensation of her protective magic. It took a while, time spent patiently waiting while the sun set, before crimson eyes narrowed at the distant sight of people taking the main road, approaching from the East towards the crossroads. She thought she spotted a few recognizable faces at the front of the group, but it was a bit too early to tell at this distance and lighting.

According to the plan of Lord Fredricus, the roads leading here would be blocked by divisions of the border garrison and the area thoroughly scoured for enemies beforehand. If all had gone well, enemy activity in the area -at least for now- should be completely absent, leaving only those arranged for by the King to enter freely, a secure place to conjoin the two halves of the King's team of agents. In that case, it was a safe assumption to make that the people approaching were, indeed, those they had arranged to meet with. Of course, the chances they weren't were low...

...but never zero.

The land was shrouded in night by now, the dim light of twilight illuminating all under the gaze of the moon and stars. The small group of travelers had arrived at the crossroads and then moved off the main road a small ways north to a largely flat, cleared out area with only a small, bare hill as any sort of incline of note. From her position, Veronica could see the distant orange flare of some kind of fire being lit, the one holding it making for the hill and placed themself in the wide open.

Risky... but it certainly made the group less likely to be slinking ne'er-do-wells. Never hurt to be certain, however.

Finally secure in her safety with the lack of sunlight, Veronica allowed the watery sensation of her protective magic to fall away, as she closed her eyes and cast a different spell altogether, casting her Sight into the distance. Moments later, Veronica was peering down atop the gathered group of people... some a bit odder than others. Not that she had a lot of room to talk, but still. She spotted three distinctly familiar faces amongst the crowd, which was definitely another point in their favor, along with a new elf, another yokai, two blonde knights -one man and woman- and...

Was that two bears wearing-?

Veronica pinched the bridge of her nose, quelling a growing headache. This was getting out of hand; now there were two of them? Oh, don't get her wrong, she liked Cedar well enough, but let none ever claim he was the most worldly of sorts. The term "bull in a china shop" came to mind, both physically and socially. Inconspicuous? What was that? Could you eat it?

Shaking her physical head, Veronica's Sight refocused on the last member of the group, and her eyes nearly bugged out.

Lord Thernous is here? In person?!

Well, unless the enemy was using some sort of illusory measure and had access to some really confidential information... Having the King's uncle out in this situation was almost absolute proof of their good intentions in and of itself. While she couldn't absolutely write off the chance of Lord Thernous being a traitor, the idea was so unthinkable that she only considered it on the grounds of a matter of course. A shinobi prepared for any threat, no matter how unlikely; habitual paranoia was basically part of her job description. She would have vastly preferred being given some sort of passphrase or having a solid link between the teams that could have been present and dispelled any potential suspicions before they could even form, but as she apparently wasn't afforded that -in her opinion, standard procedure- luxury, she would just have to make do.

Veronica cast her Sight towards the one on the hill, Jazdia, and nodded to herself. The vampire let her spell fade away and quickly clambered down the tree to where the other three members of her team of four were waiting thereabouts. The group had steered off the main path for a while to hunker down out of sight in the trees, observing the designated meeting spot from afar. The two members of Antigone were tending to their horses, the only two the group had bothered with for the sake of speed and subtlety. There had been the consideration of using the summoned wargs of their fourth member exclusively, but if something happened to him, the last thing they needed to be was stranded.

Veronica straightened out her clothes and gave a small smile. "They're here," she stated simply. "Several recognizable faces, amongst which are Lord Thernous Est Eluin, himself. It would be exceedingly difficult to get more well vetted than that." She glanced around their near area with habitual wariness, brief flickers of her eyes searching for potential observers. "Are we ready to move again?"

One of the Antigone members -Charles- loosed a low chuff of exasperation, rolling his eyes, as he mounted his horse, clicking his tongue and giving its side a pat. "I've been ready for hours, but someone-" He shot the vampire a mild gimlet eye. "-just had to go the extra mile for no reason at all." He grunted, as he received an elbow from the other Antigone member, Farris, who had sidled up to him, already mounted on his own horse.

"Liven up a bit," Farris grinned. "Being careful never hurt anyone, especially not when it's something this important."

Charles sniffed. "Some people should have a little more faith in the King."

"Blind faith is a fool's errand," Veronica drawled out, shaking her head. "But let us not concern ourselves with petty quibbles while our mission is at hand." Charles scowled at the vampire's authoritative tone, but a sharp look from Farris apparently stilled his tongue... for the time being at least.

Still, for all the group's inner dynamics hadn't necessarily been the most harmonious thing in the world even from the get-go, their skillsets were nonetheless complimentary. Outside a couple verbal tussles, when it was actually time to knuckle down and get their jobs done, they were each exemplary in their roles, certainly enough so that Veronica had no complaints of actual worth she might feel compelled to voice.

While the attempt to plant a magical geolocator hadn't ended up successful, they had still come away with relatively important intelligence. In particular, three days ago, bound for Stritzel's mansion, there had been a wagon guarded by Delving's Usuals, who -indeed- also seemed to be the primary security for the compound. That time, three days ago, was also the last time anyone had been seen leaving the area either. The presence of Delving's men did not bode well for the noble family's future prospects, especially not after their actions four months ago; another infraction of even slightly similar magnitude could very well be the straw the broke the camel's back.

That aside, however, the actual compound was practically entirely deserted, an ominous sign. The last time anyone had been seen entering was a day ago, a small convoy of two carriages with several horsemen, and all of them had disappeared into what the recon team had eventually deduced was an underground level. Unfortunately, actually scouting out that level at this point was too risky. While Veronica could easily evade anything that the magical ward might offer and was an extremely skilled infiltrator in her own right, she still couldn't turn invisible. Trying to enter a bottlenecked entrance to an underground layer unnoticed wasn't feasible; there was simply no result that didn't end with the recon team's presence compromised, and there was no way the vampire was giving up the element of surprise until they had a lot more people in their corner in the case things went sideways.

Speaking of the magical barrier, Veronica wasn't entirely sure of its full capabilities, only that it at least repelled scrying. She had been extremely careful in her initial probes with her Sight, aiming around the compound rather than directly at it. Even then, she felt a certain measure of repulsion, and she was confident that trying to force her Sight inside was only going to fail, get her detected or both. If the barrier did anything beyond that, she simply couldn't be certain, but there was no sense in taking risks. The Delvings specialized in anti-magic and barriers; it was practically their magical callsign, and this reeked of their work. Though, the barrier felt similar to Asever's work back in Fanghorn.

There had been no sign of either of their targets, Cedar or Stritzel, and with the upper levels confirmed empty by Veronica's personal infiltration with her own anti-magic active the whole while, it was a safe bet to assume they were both tucked away somewhere underground, the latter doing who knew what to the former.
  
Veronica turned to the quietest member of their quartet, raising a single brow at the pale, silver-eyed man, who was largely swaddled in thick clothes that spoke of a life of harsh, northern living in the cold. Admittedly, for all that they'd spent a fairly extended amount of time together so far, she hadn't formed much of an opinion on the young(?) man with ghostly-white hair. Baron Evan Mikkelsen was a quiet sort without much force of presence, and while he was certainly competent at what he did, there were little things that cropped up every now and again, holes in his capabilities that raised eyebrows. Still, she hadn't found him a nuisance so far, and she was increasingly optimistic that would stay the case.

"Apologies for the delay, Baron Mikkelsen; my thanks for indulging my unreasonable instincts." She shot a nod his way and towards the mounted Antigone members. "If you could indulge me again, however, I'd like for us to circle around a bit further and approach from the North. I want the first person to spot us to be Lady Crystalspark, and the small hill should conceal us from the rest of the group until we are in speaking distance with her. We weren't given any clear signal to assert our allegiances, so I'd like to hopefully avoid the potential of anyone doing anything... impulsive."

Farris shrugged, nonplussed. "Fine by me, lady."

Charles just clicked his tongue dismissively but didn't assert a better suggestion.

Veronica glanced at Evan, gaze inquisitive. The Antigone members were ready, and as usual, she would travel on foot, her own sprinting speed plenty sufficient to keep pace with the horses of their mounted teammates, especially across forest terrain in the dark, where they couldn't afford to drive their steeds at full tilt without risking injury. They hadn't set up to wait all that far away, so once they got moving, even with a circuitous route to meet Jazdia from the North, they would easily cross the distance in around five to ten minutes at worst.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Location: Blackwater Estate, North-East Kindeance. - 1 week prior

---

Space Saver to not break the current narrative flow

The dull yellow-orange of candlelight illuminated the study, occupied by a single individual. The woman, clad in velvety crimson and black, sat at one of three large desks, hers the only of those that was presently anything but spotless, stacks of paper spread out before her gaze, depicting a variety of concerns that required her direct attention. Finances, proposals and entreaties from too often people she knew too little about to address confidently and swiftly lower her workload. Some of these matters would be handled by proxies with her seal, but too many others would require her personal attention. And while she didn't need to sleep, most everyone else she knew did, and there were only so many hours under daylight to handle things.

Speaking of...

The familiar, distantly uncomfortable tingling across her skin told the vampire that her hours of nightly solitude were near to an end. Even with many feet of stone between her and the sun, she simply had an instinctive sense for its presence that made her skin itch and crawl, something that never failed to elicit a small kernel of irritation in her, despite having grown used to it over the years.

Still, the minor irritation was largely drowned out by the mixture of relief she felt at no longer being isolated. Humans weren't meant to be alone, and despite no longer being human, she found herself craving companionship at times. It was difficult sometimes to have no-one she could truly hold nothing back with, but she was used to it by now. At least when she was on missions, the isolation didn't twinge as much, her colder self taking the reins and appreciating the efficiency and discretion solo work often allowed.

Right now, however, she was dealing with a somewhat concerning issue.

Her fingers glided over parchment, plucking a single page from her desk, as her crimson eyes intently scoured its surface, as if willing the results to change. Yet, regardless of her irrationally wishful thinking, no such miracle manifested upon the finance report on profits for the Ruby Dream. Or, more specifically, those they were receiving from the Angel's Share. The Ruby Dream vineyard and wine business was doing well locally, growth at a steady and generally profitable uptick. However, the Angel's Share, their first partnership, had been buying less and less over the past few months since they'd made a deal.

"Is it not selling well?" Veronica murmured, brow scrunching in confusion. She hadn't received any letters informing her of such, which she would have at least expected as a matter of course. If her wine wasn't doing well, then it was at least her concern as the supplier to be informed so she could put more effort into bettering her product. Whatever else might be said about the vampire, she took pride in her work, no matter what it was, and nothing worth doing was worth doing at less than your best. Yet, by this point, there were basically no purchases coming from that direction at all.

Frowning, Veronica reached for fresh parchment and her ink well. She'd been all too busy these past few months managing her (now officially) new estate and surrounding lands, so she hadn't had time to concern herself overmuch with matters outside them. But it seemed it was about high time she penned a letter from a concerned business partner for answers. Perhaps, she might make a trip personally, despite the distance. While they'd not exactly gotten off on the most cordial note when they first met, Jazdia was nice enough outside the mission, and Veronica certainly respected her as a combatant and able commander in her own right. If her past elven comrade was in some sort of actual trouble, then she'd come to her aid. Simple as that.

Dipping a quill in the ink, Veronica dabbed off the extra on the lip of the ink well and-

A knock on the office door interrupted the beginnings of the narrative she had been workshopping mentally before she could commit it to paper.

Pursing her lips, Veronica set the quill back in the ink well and straightened her posture. "Enter."

The portal admitted a familiar face, one of the maids that tended the estate. Veronica smiled and met her eyes, not taking offense when the young woman's own gaze habitually ducked away a bit. It was something similar to many that remained in these halls, people the vampire's former master had similarly kidnapped and done terrible things to. Except, unlike Veronica, they had the misfortune of being far more "expendable"... and easily broken. Cleaning up after Lord Blackwater's messes was still an ongoing process. In the beginning, Veronica had made clear her intent to free them, to release them from service if they were even slightly dissatisfied with their treatment, but it still amazed her how many had decided to stay.

In hindsight, that was because, like her, many had nowhere left to go. Her Sire had destroyed many families over the decades in the pursuit of his whims and taken the remains -mostly pretty women- into his possession to toy with as he pleased. Yet, even when Veronica offered to grant them a rich severance pay to help them rebuild their lives elsewhere... still, some stayed. In truth, Veronica didn't really understand that. It seemed like the opposite of what she should expect, and yet... maybe it had something to do with the same reason she, herself, chose to resettle in this castle. Despite everything horrible that had happened here, there was something that drew her back to it, a connection she still couldn't sever. Maybe the remnants of her Sire's staff felt the same way...

"You have a visitor, my Lady," the maid -Constance- said. For the umpteenth time, Veronica resisted the urge to smack down the formal tone of address. It was technically actually valid these days.

"Oh? Who?" Idly reorganizing her desk a bit, Veronica tidied her workspace up enough to feel comfortable leaving it behind for a while.

"They say they carry a letter from the Crown... Your eyes only." Veronica's eyes widened, as she stood and swiftly left the room and left Constance behind, shooting her a nod of thanks.

Candlelit halls, clad in ostentatious -and in Veronica's opinion, unnecessary- finery and displays, came and went without consideration. If it weren't for the candlelight, the castle would have been plunged into darkness, despite the time of day; all this was a result of the conspicuous lack of windows, a design choice that was frankly a bit suffocating and only made great sense if one accounted for the fact that it was a vampire's domicile. Veronica made an effort not to run to her destination, but her pace was certainly brisk enough to ward off any of the sparse staff from approaching her with additional matters. Eventually, she reached the entrance of the reception room and paused outside it briefly to tidy her slightly mussed hair and clothes.

A well-dressed young man in what was presumably royal garb greeted her, his demeanor as courtly as she would have expected. In one hand, he held a letter, which was immediately held her way. "Lady Veronica Blackwater?" He paused, his eyes briefly flickering across her form, before resting on her slitted, crimson gaze. "You really are as young as they say..." His tone didn't imply insult, so Veronica elected to treat it as harmless as it was, allowing a mild smile to cross her pale lips. "I have a letter for you."

Veronica received the letter with a nod, eyeing the wax seal critically and not finding anything out of sorts to her practiced senses, either by sight or smell. "Thank you, Sir." She gestured towards the door, smiling more kindly. "Please, avail yourself of our hospitality for a while before you leave. I realize we are a bit out of the way, so the kitchens will be glad to prepare you something for the return journey. If you have a steed, let us feed and water them. If you are weary from travel, a guest room can be readied as well." The messenger looked like he wanted to wave her off, but she smirked. "Please, I insist. No guest of mine shall leave hungry."

At that, she reopened the door and called for a few of her more enthusiastic maids, who bustled off with the increasingly flustered royal messenger sandwiched between them, as they talked his ear off. Shaking her head, Veronica's growing smile of amusement sobered, as she settled on one of the guest room's plush chairs and broke the seal of the letter, her expression growing increasingly grim the more she read. Briefly, her thoughts trailed back to the matter of Jazdia's Angel's Share and the increasing civil unrest she was hearing tales of.

Coincidence? Suddenly, she had her doubts.

"Four months..." The murmured words slipped past her lips tiredly. For all their efforts, four months of rapidly degrading peace was all they'd managed to buy. They'd pushed back the hand of the clock... or maybe paused it, but it was still ticking nonetheless.

A sigh escaped her, shoulders slumping, before she shook her head and stood, folding the letter back up and heading back to her office, a rather different collection of messages now in mind to be penned, alongside the one to the Angel’s Share management. The reward for good work was more work, as they say, so it seemed she'd best be making preparations for her lands to operate smoothly in her potentially extended absence.

It took the better part of the day before she was confident all was in order, but by the time night fell, the vampire was sprinting down the main road alone, cloak billowing behind her and eyes on the horizon, her destination the Capital.

An Isekai Upon This Land of Accursed Tropes - a Naruto Mass-Isekai RP

Right-O. I mean, J could just be a civilian that seems unusually talented at things that would make a good shinobi. He would then join the academy in Kumogakure to build up his skills and gather intel on things. As for his family situation; I'll save that for when the scene starts. I'd rather fill out stuff about J as they happen.

@WanderingDragon

That's fine by me. Sure.

An Isekai Upon This Land of Accursed Tropes - a Naruto Mass-Isekai RP

@Lewascan2

Right. In that case, how would a civilian become a Shinobi? Or, am I overthinking that part?

@WanderingDragon

Overthinking it probably. Especially at this stage. Your backstory shouldn’t go further than the immediate circumstances of the PC’s birth and what kind of family situation they’ve been born into. Civilians usually have no trouble at least trying to become shinobi. Success is another matter altogether, but anyone can apply for the Academy.

An Isekai Upon This Land of Accursed Tropes - a Naruto Mass-Isekai RP

Okay, necessary edits have been made. All that's left is the final green light

@WanderingDragon

I'm assuming that without the elaboration on his new life circumstances, he's basically a civilian born? If not, make sure to clarify with a final edit what his new life starting line is like. After that?
Approved!
Drop him over in the CS tab.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Veronica Blackwater

Name: Veronica Blackwater
Species: Human Vampire Lord
Age: 25 (appears 18)
Gender: Female
Height: 5'8"
Appearance: Veronica appears as a pale young woman, not to a porcelain degree, but more like she could use a bit more sun. Her long black hair falls in mostly straight waves down to her mid-back. Her irises are a bloody crimson hue, with her pupils narrowed to reptilian slits. Her frame rides a balance between curvaceous and athletic, lined beneath supple skin with wiry, compact muscles that tend not to be apparent without a physical inspection. Though she often wears a smile, it is rarely an open-mouthed one, largely to avoid broadcasting her fanged incisors. She tends to smell mostly scentless, as the combination of scentless soaps and an undead body that doesn't decompose leaves her presence mostly muted to mundane means. Her garb is fairly eccentric, all blacks and velvety sanguine reds with a subtle butterfly motif. Actual metal armor is applied sparingly and primarily to her joints, almost as an afterthought, to the point of giving the false impression it's only for decoration. By the metrics of society, her garb is rather immodest, the design and accents often drawing the eye to exposed skin or tight enough to be somehow more provocative than outright absence. When she needs to be more subtle (and as a common measure of sunlight protection), she wears a fairly innocuous, brown traveler's cloak.

Full Body

Bio

Born far from the Capital in a place within Kindeance that could best be described as "that idyllic village with some farmer", Veronica was an average human daughter to a peasant hunter... aside from a slight hiccup. Born under a good omen, she was blessed with an innate magical gift for "reading fate", a Seer who might one day have been found and trained to be the mystical advisor of this or that hero, guiding them on the path to a glorious destiny. However, as fate would have it, a True Vampire, one Lord Blackwater, who had long-since set down roots after hailing from a land outside Kindeance, unfortunately heard tell of her and sought to turn her as a subordinate to use her gift for himself. The girl, otherwise defenseless aside from her capacity to see her near future, was captured and a year thereafter turned into a similar creature of darkness, lesser and mystically bound by her hated "master's" bond as her Sire.

Over the two years since her abduction, she was trained in the arts of ninjutsu and magic. she had no choice but to be honed into a weapon and tool for her "master", made an unwilling killer and her magic refined further for the sake of making her a more useful tool for foreseeing misfortune and spying upon the Vampire Lord's enemies... when she wasn't used to murder them outright. Unfortunately for him, training her resulted in the resentful little vampire awakening a second aspect of her gift, one that allowed her to avoid the destiny that she could prior only despair at. Through this, she was able to slip the master bond of her Sire and catch him unawares. Caught off guard, the Vampire Lord was torn limb from limb, and in drinking his blood, Veronica fully became a Vampire Lord like her Sire and shattered whatever might have remained of their bond.

Come the morning, her tormenter's remains were reduced to ashes by the sun, and Veronica once more breathed the sweet air of freedom... Though it was tainted by the bitterness of her new "condition" as a Vampire Lord -if a young one, and she was unsure what to do with herself. Despite bloodied hands and a darkened spirit, she hadn't been under her Sire's yoke long enough to taint her morality irrevocably. She was still herself, and she had no intention of being the monster the next hero would slay.

With that determination made, for the safety of innocent lives, she reluctantly made a home in her Sire's former lair and left primarily only to get sustenance, once more taking up a hunter job of her human family in order to have an at least legitimate supply of blood to drink. In such a way, delivering "pre-drained" cadavers to local butchers of nearby towns and villages, she made a simple living on simple coin... along with whatever her Sire's coffers contained. Her "condition" was one she mostly tried to conceal, but in the end, the King had his ways. Long story short, a year after regaining her freedom, at age 20, she was found out, but the fact that she had stayed a "productive member of society" and wasn't going around murdering people unprovoked and generally being a megalomaniac stayed the hands of potential hunting parties. The fact that it was eventually discovered that she had slain the Vampire Lord before her added another element of potential trustworthiness to her, and so, she was approached as a potential agent of the King to be given a chance to truly prove her loyalty and good will to the kingdom.

As such, for the next half decade, Veronica would find herself occasionally acting on behalf of "favors" from the Crown, working as an espionage agent, Seer, and sometimes soldier and scout for the Guard. Collaborations with Matilda, the Head of the Guard, weren't common, but they weren't uncommon either. Over the course of 5 years, the two developed a basic working relationship. They may not necessarily trust each other, but they don't specifically mistrust each-other either. And Veronica would be inclined to trust her back to the orc warrior.

Over the years, Veronica came to be less resentful of her "condition", and with the tentative faith afforded to her by the kingdom, she has come to redevelop a sense of confidence and acceptance. Nowadays, her "condition" is just another part of life... one she expects will be very long, so she has chosen not to wallow in self-pity and depression. Her once concealing garb has been exchanged for borderline proud eccentricity. While she does not explicitly advertise her "condition", she is no longer shamed by or afraid of it. She is a Vampire in the King's Court, who has earned her place through good will, and she'll not let any tell her otherwise.

Four months ago, due to the seriousness of the kingdom's crisis and the desperation involved, Veronica would find herself requisitioned as an investigator, using her divinations to aid in tracking the Prince's kidnappers with the Guard while the main black ops team was off performing their own tasks. It is because her typical place of residence is a quite a fair distance from the Capitol that she was unable to be reached in time to join up with the main team initially. Regardless, she would eventually conclude her own investigation and move to join the primary team, going on to help locate the Prince's likely locations with her scrying magic.

In the aftermath of a successful retrieval mission and the averting of a national crisis, Veronica used the generous reward given to her by the King (along with a supplement of some of the riches left in her former Master's coffers) to officially purchase the castle and land she had been technically squatting on all that time, only not challenged on it presumably out of good will or concerns about angering the presently friendly vampire. Now that her Sire's former domain was hers in truth, with her i's dotted and t's finally crossed legally and socially, Veronica set about taking steps to making her new lands hospitable, making plans for a vineyard and wine enterprise. Contracting Cedar, the druidic bear of her past team, she was able to have her business functional inside weeks, rather than the months it could have taken, and made overtures to Jazdia Crystalspark about selling her new wares at the elf's restaurant, the Angel's Share.

Four months later, however, she was hearing tell of misfortune that had suddenly befallen Jazdia's business, something that her profit margins from that direction had already warned of. She hadn't wanted to believe it, but the numbers didn't lie. And until the most recent summons from the Crown, she had largely remained in her new lands, doing her best to stabilize and prepare her new holdings, as word of political tensions and cries for war drifted in from Rascade. As soon as she could arrange for her absence to be done without, Veronica departed for the Capital, determined to do her part to once more hopefully maintain peace in Kindeance.

Skillset

Talants:
Ninjutsu: She has been harshly trained in this collection of fundamental survivalist and espionage techniques, among which are: methods of gathering information and techniques of non-detection, avoidance and misdirection, along with disguise, escape and concealment. She's no stranger to picking locks or disabling traps either. This is the root of her shinobi teachings, one in which she has attained mastery status or near enough to it. Heavy focus. While medicine and archery are also parts of these techniques, she favors them lesser.
Medicine: Her capacity for medical techniques tends towards "field surgery" and making sure injuries aren't immediately lethal. Setting bones. Popping dislocated joints back in. Applying splints, stitches, bandages and salves. She knows where to stab to kill fastest, so she has a pretty good idea how to be more careful when treating certain afflictions. She's not a biology guru or proper doctor; that's for certain. She's just got a good head for improvisation.
Archery: She's a decent shot, but she prefers unaware or otherwise stationary targets. She compensates with her magic to predict her targets' movements for more difficult shots.
Taijutsu: For those times she is trapped in prolonged CQC, she's adequate in the art of unarmed -or lightly armed- combat. Unarmed combat isn't her favorite, but she's not going to get steamrolled. Prefers to disengage and arm herself.
Shurikenjutsu: She is excellent in the art of handling small, bladed weapons, both in CQC and as throwing weapons. This is her preferred fighting style. Fighting fair is for chumps.
Sojutsu/Bojutsu: The art of wielding polearms. Particularly, Veronica favors the spear and scythe. Novice but unconventional. Her most inexperienced but also intuitive martial art and her "passion project". Technically, she's got the basics down pat, but her focus was never open combat under her Sire. That is something she became more familiar with working with the Royal Guard. In other words, she's mostly self-taught, so she tends to fight unconventionally in this art.
Lip Reading: In the course of spying and assassination, she has developed the capacity to roughly read speech from afar.
Parkour: Her vampiric strength makes her an able and acrobatic navigator of unconventional terrain, very useful for infiltration.
Hunter: Her family trade, she is a respectable hand at tracking, trapping and skinning prey, along with camping in the wilds.
Peasant Roots: Knowledgeable in the basics of various "womanly" tasks like cleaning, cooking and sewing.
Rulership: While she had some basic experience in matters of leading under her Sire's tutelage prior, it's only after officially acquiring legal land and hiring people to tend to it that she's put her theoretical knowledge into practice, giving her a greater air of confidence and command when needs must. Once living long in the shadows, she can now project proper authority and charisma.

Racial Traits

True Vampire/Vampire Lord:
Darkvision: Even in pitch black, she can perceive the world in shades of grey. Though even this eyesight cuts off into murk past a certain point. Her long-range vision is otherwise very keen under proper lighting.
Inhuman Physicality: Undeath has removed the normal limits on human musculature, giving her the capacity for peak human levels of physical feats. However, her muscles will still tear from exerting themselves to their fullest capacity, requiring she only do so in bursts and wait a brief while for them to heal. As long as she doesn't push too hard, she can still operate at normal human levels during the wait. While her body isn't exactly any more durable than a human's, she doesn't feel pain as more than an irritant, and most wounds are not lethal, only disabling.
Healing Factor: Her wounds regenerate quickly. Not enough to be all that useful in battle, but outside battle, an hour's rest will mend most wounds, and a night's rest can restore her body entirely, even the loss of her head. Due to the constant nature of the regeneration, she is unable to reattach fully severed body parts. Her regeneration either starts with her mostly intact head or her body if the former is unavailable. Large-scale regeneration rapidly accelerates her bloodthirst's progression.
Undeath: She is unaffected by poison, disease, exhaustion or age.
Thirst: She doesn't need to eat, sleep or breathe, though she still requires some blood to sate her thirst. While as an undead, she technically doesn't need sustenance, much of her vampiric strengths will become less prominent with prolonged abstinence. In addition, much as any hungry creature, she is prone to increasingly large spurts of irritation and bloodlust until sated. She can subsist off animal blood, but sentient blood is far more fulfilling. She can also consume mundane foods, but they give her no nutrition.
Predator: Her presence is generally disliked by creatures without sentience, wildlife naturally perceiving her as a predator, so she is generally unable to handle mundane animals (especially of the "prey" variety) without them going into fight of flight mode, regardless of her intent. They will tolerate her presence enough that she could ride in a cart pulled by horses, but riding horseback would take a beast with nerves of steel, like a veteran warhorse.
Unreflected: She has no reflection, whether it be a mirror, body of water or any other surface.
Sunlight Vulnerability: Though more resistant than a lesser vampire, sunlight is still her bane, burning badly but not lethally unless she remains in prolonged contact. Chop her to pieces and leave her exposed to daylight, and the sun will do the rest in about an hour.
Holy Vulnerability: Certain "holy" or otherwise "sanctified" magics have the capacity to be a special bother to her as an undead.
Averted Weaknesses: As a Vampire Lord, she no longer suffers from some of the weaknesses a typical lesser vampire exhibits. Running water no longer hinders her, and she doesn't need to be invited to cross a threshold of a residence. Wooden stakes are as any other weapon, even if getting stabbed in the heart would still be pretty annoying, for the splinters if nothing else.
Siring: Vampire "reproduction" is fairly simple. While their undead bodies preclude them from being fertile, they can convert other living beings to more of their kind with a transfusion of their blood to a creature that has been drained dry of their own. The recipient will rise a day later as a lesser vampire fledgling, mystically subordinate to their Sire and unable to disobey direct commands. A fledgling that is granted the opportunity to consume a notable quantity of their Sire's blood again will be freed of the bond and become a True Vampire, otherwise known as a Vampire Lord, but only if their Sire was a Vampire Lord themselves. Lesser Vampires can create fledglings, but if the Sire does not become a True Vampire, their fledgling will be left precluded from being able to become a Vampire Lord as well for as long as that state persists.

Spells

Born a Seer when she was human, Veronica's magic revolves around divination, the capacity to view the past, present and future in order to gather information.

Sight of the Fated: Shows her the near future up to five seconds. Allows her to "simulate" her immediate future possibilities without committing to them until she finds one she likes. (eg. she can plan to leap through a window, and she will witness what would occur if she did/who or what is on the other side) She particularly favors using this with her archery. However, the present is always moving at least a little, and she can only make scry attempts so fast. She only has so much time in a given moment to make "guesses" and act on one before the "baseline" of her visions changes. And then she has to put up with the result. If she's facing an aware and skilled opponent, this can be particularly troublesome, especially if she has to waste time using her predictions to avoid attacks on herself rather than returning the favor.

Avert the Destined: Allows her to slip out of "phase" with the interference of the natural course of "destiny". When she enters this state, she becomes imperceptible and intangible to forces of direct mystical origin, shedding any hostile afflictions that currently linger upon her, like curses or bindings. A magical explosion and its immediate integral collateral (shockwave, small debris and such) would wash over her harmlessly, but a thrown steel beam would still ruin her day if not dodged. Divination can't see or target her. She treats magical shields and wards like they don't exist, and the barriers won't even register the intrusion. On the inverse, this separation with the mystical means she cannot affect the world with her other magic in turn until she reverts this state. This spell covers more obscure mystical phenomenon, including the "purifying" effect of the sun's rays on vampires, allowing her to be a "daywalker". (eg. this is what slipped her from her Sire's leash)

The Gift Known as the Present: Allows her to scry distant places and events that are occurring immediately in the now. The further she wants to reach and the more senses she wants to use at the targeted location at once, the more intensive the effort required, so she usually only uses sight and sound. Can be used either for short range strategic glimpses in combat, or ritualistically for spying on distant events. She can target specific individuals, but only if she knows what they look like or otherwise has some manner of catalyst related to them. She can scry any location she has seen personally, as visualization is important to the spell. Though, notably, she can expand the number of "starting points" available to her by panning her vision around a targeted location, her scrying gaze sufficient for the purposes of "marking" new places and people as "seen".

What Has Come Before: Through focused, meditative delving, allows her to wind back the clock of her vision and perceive past events that occurred in a radius of roughly 30 feet from her position. She can wind the clock forward as well, accelerating the "replay" to skip less interesting/relevant material. She can maintain this spell on the move and track events of the past up to the present as fast as she can manage to physically keep up with them. That said, she can only peer back as far as three days, so haste in reaching the "scene of the crime" is still a priority to ensure trails do not go cold.

Equipment

General:
Medium-Sized Brown Backpack: Compact and simple to don and doff.
Change of clothes: Includes favored garb, a brown cloak, and practical full-body coverage wear for sun protection/stealth.
Mundane Rations: Dry foods like jerky, dried fruit and nuts. (Sometimes used to help conceal her "condition".)
Blood Rations: Several thick waterskins with blood of varying types in them (usually animal). A sip every meal period is typically enough to keep her topped off at peak performance.
Scentless Soap: A standard cleanliness measure ground into her to aid non-detection. Applied whenever bathing.
Coin Pouch: A padded, sectioned pouch, made to silence the jingle of coin.

Armament:
Light Armor: Primarily leather over vitals, but some metal on forearms, elbows, knees, lower shins, upper sternum & shoulders.
Sharpened Sai Daggers: Typically a defensive weapon, when weaponized, they make an excellent tool for liberating a victim of their eye sockets' contents, along with scrambling the brain behind them. Veronica uses them like deadly nails, punching precise holes in her foes' vitals.
Throwing Knives: Not particularly deadly unless aimed well, they still make decent distractions if aimed for the face or neck. Passable for melee combat in a pinch. Far more threatening if coated with poison.
Seijaku/Silence - Composite Recurve Shortbow: A bow type useful for firing while mobile. (stored in a leather waterproof case)
Quiver: 30 arrow capacity. (30/30) Strapped to small of her back. Barbed & non-barbed arrows.
Chigetsu/Blood Moon - War Scythe: Bathed in the blood of many lives over the decades, a strange, crimson polearm once belonging to her Sire. One end is mounted with a spearhead and the other with a scythe-head that is bladed on both edges, oriented oddly like a farming tool, rather than a typical war scythe. Normally, this weapon would be rather impractical, but it comes into its own wielded by a vampire's physicality. The scythe has the magical property to shrink down to the size of a sickle for discreet transport or return to normal (takes 5 seconds in either direction). The enchanted weapon's longevity is the result of the property of blood absorption, slowly but surely repairing itself with any sanguine essence that lingers upon its surface.

Miscellaneous/Tools:
Tinderbox: Contains flint, fire steel, and dry cloth soaked in oil.
Infiltration Kit: Includes a small file, lock picks, a small mirror mounted on a metal handle, a set of narrow-bladed scissors and pliers.
Kaginawa/Grappling Hook & Rope: A sturdy, steel hook and a compact bundle of thin but very sturdy and long rope.
Weapon Maintenance Kit: Includes a whetstone, rags, specialized oils, and spare bowstrings.
Medic Kit: Contains bandages, gauze pads, splints, basic salves, alcohol, needles, thread, syrettes, scalpels, whiskey & biting stick.
Pocket Watch: A well-maintained silver-cased device that once belonged to her Sire, it has been quite useful for tracking the sun.
Compass: In good condition. Points north.
Leatherbound Logbook: A coded log of information gathered during investigations. Pencils included.
Maps: A small, leather-bound book. The contents are of a variety of maps of the kingdoms, particularly Kindeance. Also a variety of far more quality, larger maps kept rolled up separately. All maps are kept within a rubber-lined, waterproof case, for preservation.

Assets

Blackwater Castle: Located near the mountain range to the west of the eastern pass leading to Tretagor, this large, imposing mansion is made of an outward layer of stone and carries a serious gothic aesthetic, as one might perhaps expect to be culturally appropriate to a place once -and now currently- owned by a Vampire Lord. The surrounding lands are presently inhabited by a smattering of peasants and enterprising individuals, who have either been hired or given leave to settle on the land. Ownership of these lands provide her, amongst other things: her Sire's coffers and mysterious vaults that she hasn't dug through much, basic manpower and a boost to her reputation and social/legal standing.

Ruby Dreams: A business Veronica has recently started up, built around the vineyards she has had grown on her land. The produce of the orchards (primarily grapes) is used for both regular fruit products and wine making. The business's first market contact was the Angel's Share; though, they have slowly spread their wares into the immediate surrounding lands, partially out of necessity, due to the recent spate of poor business the Angel's Share has received. Provides a (currently small) steady source of income, as they are turning a profit.

Other: Blackwater is not her birth name. As a peasant, she had no family name. Rather, Blackwater is a "title" bestowed upon her by her vampiric Sire, a demonstration that she was to be molded like clay into his tool and "family". With his demise and her recent purchase, she now remains the sole inheritor of Blackwater's assets and has taken up the name in truth.