Lugubrious

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

As an update, here's what I've got for my own sheet. Still some work left to do on the Persona and Shadow sections, but this can serve as another template for how it can be done. The Persona I have planned is Melee-Nuclear.

Contract - Barney Rynsburger

Human

Name: Barney Rynsburger
Age: 24
Arcana: the Chariot
Appearance: At 6’2” and 240 lbs, Barney’s a broad-shouldered, stocky man particularly notable for a head of trimmed russet curls and a well-kept ducktail beard that’s a lot redder than his hair. All this plus the intentful cast of his brow and the slight hook of his broad nose would make him look formidable and maybe even intimidating if not for a pair of big, watery dull blue eyes whose roundness suggest a permanent state of slight surprise. He doesn’t stoop or slouch, but he still seems to take up less space than his frame would imply.

On any given day this time of year, he can be found in a two-toned harrington tartan jacket, with white sleeves and trim on a red coat with that characteristic plaid pattern on the inside. Beneath that he wears a comfortable cotton crewneck sweater, white, with a pair of rectangular reading glasses hanging from the neck. A pair of dark brown, low wale corduroys plus black sneakers complete the outfit. He doesn’t really accessorize but sometimes wears a tartan beanie.

Personality: Its easy, and not necessarily wrong, to look at Barney Rynsburger and see a pretty ordinary guy. He’s pleasant with a quietly cheery outlook, considerate, and good at casual conversation even if not the most outgoing. Although he avoids conflict and is not very assertive he isn’t lacking in self-esteem, instead giving off the impression of someone who’s got himself together, a pal who can be counted on to lend a hand when needed.

Most notable is his sense of duty. Barney is a principled fellow, possessed of a potent personal and work ethic, who does his best to be seen as strong and dependable. Although never one to boast, he’s secretly happy that people sometimes call him ‘responsible’ or ‘selfless’. Not a man of half-measures, he holds himself to a high standard and takes his commitments and responsibilities seriously. He’s stubborn, both in a way that allows him to persevere through hardship and in a way that sometimes makes it hard to deal with changes. He’s not an impulsive decision-maker and prefers time to think things through and choose the path that’s best for everyone, which is partly why its tough to convince him to change tact once he’s gotten started. His sense of duty extends to the bigger picture, too. He puts too much of himself into his work, his choices, and the level of help he provides to others, making him sensitive to criticism and easily crestfallen. Neither a genius nor naturally talented, he’s gotten where he is through hard work, which sometimes leads him to quietly looks down on those who put no effort into their lives, or to get frustrated by people who get results easily. Since he sees himself as a considerate and logical thinker, he can get defensive if questioned, but rather than get into confrontations he prefers to withdraw and mind his own business.

Of course, he’s mostly aware of his own shortcomings, and doesn’t actually hold himself in that high regard. In fact, most of his sense of worth comes from what he can do for others. He’s certainly not one to give vent to his pains and conflicts, believing that people might see him as weak and unreliable. As such, the image of an earnest, modest hard worker holds firm, even if he’s seemed much more tired, anxious, and sunken for a long time now.

Bio: The son of a Dutch father and Texan mother in Barclay, Barney learned two things from a tender age. One was that his family was poor, not disastrously so, but enough that things were always shaky and in question. The other was the value of hard work. His parents had tough lives of their own, and after doing their best for a long time they wanted to make sure that their children would have better lives than they. It was a challenging, unkind world, but the good life ( and all the comfort, wealth, and companionship it entailed) could be earned through one’s blood, sweat, and tears--that was what Cassie, Leanne, and Barney came to believe. They were taught to put others’ needs first, be responsible and capable, and to do what they were told. Even if hardship weighed down upon them, the pressure would forge them into diamonds in the rough, and one day everything they desired would be theirs.

That meant going to college, but by the time the siblings got out of high school at the age of eighteen, there wasn’t anywhere near enough money to put the three of them through school. To make matters worse, their struggling parents were in contention; eighteen had been the agreed-on age at which they’d turn their children loose, but while Barney’s dad saw the state of things and wanted to keep trying to help their children, however hard that might be, his mom had been dying to be relieved of the burden and told him they couldn’t. In the end the two split up, with the divorce turning messy, and suddenly it was everyone for themselves.

The siblings entered the workforce to gain experience and money, and quickly found out just how heavy the weight of the world could be. Finding work was hard enough, but when one entry-level job proved itself insufficient, and all three were forced to seek extra employment just to figure out living situations. They kept in contact as they struggled for two years to make ends meet, without a lot of time for socialization or recreation. Eventually, Cassie found a way out in the form of a well-to-do young man looking for love, and after angrily pushing away her siblings for their disapproval, she quickly married. Another year of working and saving passed before Leanne abruptly seemed to drop off the face of the earth, after which Barney got calls from his parents within the span of a week. His mom was in debt and badly needed his help, which Barney could scarcely decline. His dad, meanwhile, had started up a new business that was sure hit, and asked him for a little investment. Hesitant but knowing the right thing to do to save his family, Barney shelved his plans of finally going to college for now and helped out as much as he could.

Some time later, Barney learned through his mom something that happened to Cassie. She’d been hospitalized, supposedly by falling down some stairs, although everyone involved had their own ideas about what happened. Her oddly nonchalant husband said that he couldn’t foot the medical bills, and with nobody else able to pick up the slack, Barney lent his aid.

At this point he was twenty-four, and though his life wasn't in a good place, he realized he would probably never have a chance at college if he didn’t go now. In fact, he reasoned that it might help him out, serving as a sort of escape from his previous situation that might encourage the others to try and get money elsewhere, guilty as that line of thinking made him feel. Going into debt was a desperate move, and it didn’t pay off. When the school year began, the twenty-four-year-old freshman realized all too soon that nothing had changed. He still needed to work, he still needed to send his relatives money, and now he had even more on his plate. He had no time. He wasn’t getting anywhere near enough sleep. Thanksgiving break was the first time he felt as if he could even breathe, but those scant few days passed quickly, and as he’s poised to return to school the lungful of air he received makes the sense of impending doom that much worse.

Scars: Barney is being crushed under the weight of responsibility as he struggles to earn the money so many people need from him, but at the end of the day, they’re still family. It would be a death blow to his moral code and reputation to turn his back on them--he would be heartless, selfish, alone and unacceptable. Scum. Time is running down with his principles and wellbeing on the line, begging the question which, if either, will give first.

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Good question. I was thinking that all Personas would be able to use physical and gun 'skills' inherently based on what weapons they come with. Naturally Personas with a physical or projectile specialty would be stronger in those regards and have access to attack skills with special effects. Meanwhile, every Personas with an elemental specialty would start with the basic spell of their line. I will go ahead and include a skill list in the Personas section.

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Oh, no, I just realized I have a concept I could (and want to) use for this. Guess this means some research, since I'm familiar with Persona only insofar that I've watched P5 (streams) a while back.

@SilverPaw

I'm happy to hear it! Please feel free to fire away with any questions, I'd be more than happy to lend a hand. Doing so could also potentially help me improve/better explain things in the OP, which would be good for everyone.

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Great work, Potemking! You've pulled together a pretty compelling dude, and I'll anticipate his story unfolding when the RP gets started. That means the Star arcana is officially off the cards, so to speak.

I'll be putting together my own sheet in short order. No arcana decided yet, but the other pieces are all falling into place thanks to a bit of inspiration from the Persona. I wonder for most people if they start with the Persona and let the story of the chosen legend spiral out into a modern-day character, or make the PC first and then find a suitable identity for the Persona?

Anyway, in the meantime I'd be happy to chat or throw around ideas with anyone even tangentially interested. There could be a hundred people checking this out, but if everyone waits for everyone else to post first, we'll never know, right?

World of Light

Team Mao

Location: Al Mamoon Northeast - Rocket Inc.
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Mao’s @Potemking, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Laharl’s @Dark Cloud, Joker, Mona, Fox, Necronomicon, Braum

One demon child down, one to go. Axe at the ready and what magic remained in his reserves primed, the Dragonborn rounded on Mao to engage him in mortal combat, but found himself assaulted by picture frames instead. He turned his axe to block his head from the unfamiliar projectiles, lest a lucky corner gouge an eye or chip a tooth, and watched out for whatever else his foe had coming. When Mao took to the air the warrior expected another jump and nearly launched a preemptive attack, but somehow the demon boasted enough alacrity to run along the nearby wall itself in order to gain height. An outstretched hand reached for him. Did he mean to disarm the Dragonborn? The well-traveled Nord narrowed his eyes. This foe was both nimble and strong, but no matter his tactics, the Dragonborn could leverage the tools at his disposal to come out on top. The reach of his longer arm plus his axe meant he could intercept Mao long before those stubby fingers could seize hold of anything. In the end it was a matter of timing--of experience. The Dragonborn imagined a mangy wolf lunging at him, jaws outstretched, and swung.

Then a series of loud bangs that he recognized by now as the report of a gun sounded out from somewhere behind him. Before the Dragonborn could so much as process the thought that he was about to get shot, let alone do anything about it, his knees just about exploded. A jolt of pure agony shocked his system, paralyzing him, and the next second Mao connected his grab. The demon grappled the Dragonborn to the ground with an impact he scarcely felt and a crash he scarcely heard, then stomped down on his helmet. The blunt force carried right through the forged iron and into his body, breaking his nose in a spurt of blood and stunning him.

Any normal man would have been concussed and down for the count, but the one who devoured the power of dragons was a man of steel. He possessed enough mental acuity to switch to and call upon the power of Conjuration, and from a sudden gout of magical fire above where he’d fallen the Dragonborn summoned a flame atronach. Other than that, however, he couldn't do much. Not without some help. He maneuvered his right arm to place the axehead between his own head and Jesse, a desperate attempt to stave off a killing shot, and with his other hand reached into his pouch to retrieve the magic bone he’d been given.

---

Though wary without their medic, Fox and Joker took to their heels nonetheless to rush to Ciella’s aid. They even managed to get a few steps before Jinx gave a croaking laugh of derision. “What, you’re gonna leave me here? Seriously? You know I’m just gonna plug ya the second I get my hands on Pow-Pow?”

The Thieves slowed to a stop and shared a look. “...Right,” Joker mumbled, having not thought things through much more than his friend did. The crackle of shattering ice brought their attention back to the conflict in the conference room, and Joker made another snap decision. “You go ahead, but watch out for friendly fire. Even if she’s not our enemy, she’s not exactly our friend, either.”

Fox glanced back at Jinx. “What about her?”

“She’s coming with me.”

As his ally nodded in understanding and ran off, Joker returned to the fallen gunslinger. She glared at him over a vicious smile. “Oh yeah? Just try somethin’ funny! But be careful, ‘cause I bite!”

The leader of the Phantom Thieves brought out his new pistol and leveled it at her head, staring down the barrel. Jinx stared back in a cold sweat, her teeth gritted. There wasn’t anything else quite like looking at someone in this way--staring death in the face, all pretense thrown aside. It brought out one’s true essence. It did for Shadows at least; Joker never so much as touched a gun in the real world, and hoped never would. But as the eyes of his captive had turned a lambent yellow as they bored into him. Negotiations could begin.

“Lend me your power.”

Jinx was taken aback. “H-huh? What was that? I’m kinda pissed right now, ya know. What’s that ya want?” She scoffed. “You understand me, right? Ya just waltz into our territory, actin’ like you belong here...who the hell d’you think you are!?”

Joker shrugged. “I’m me.”

“Shut up, smartass!” his captive fumed. “That just makes me wanna shoot you in your stupid smug face. Maybe that’s ‘cause it’s what I’d say.” The anarchist groaned and laid her head down on the ground, face scrunched up from the pain of her wounds. “Ugh...I’m gonna be killed no matter what, right? So tell me something first.” When the young man threatening her said nothing, she continued. “What kinda impression did I leave ya with?”

Tilting his head ever-so-slightly, Joker replied, “An unforgettable spark of chaos.”

The Loose Cannon grinned. “Hee hee...at least I’ll be remembered fondly, huh? Finally, someone who gets it. Hey…” Her eyebrows rose as she blinked. A blue mist surrounded her, lifting her off the ground. “I remember. I was born from the human heart. My name is Jinx. As long as you know rules are made to be broken, we’re on the same team, ‘kay!” In a swell of azure flames she disappeared into Joker’s mask. Without a word he turned and sprinted through the wreckage of the office building’s ground floor to where Fox had joined Ciella’s scrap with Amara.

He arrived at the same time as Midna, who’d taken a brief detour on her own before heading over to render her assistance. They found Fox taking cover by the door, his outfit notably damp as he watched a number of giant water arrows bouncing off the walls within. “Water blast, the moment I set foot inside,” Fox explained, pausing as one water arrow shot out through the doorway and burst inside a lovingly-decorated cubicle, sending sodden papercraft everywhere.

“That’s our cue,” Joker said, and with his dagger in hand he dashed inside. Before them lay a conference room to which the women fighting inside had laid total waste. Every scrap of furniture had been reduced to kindling and waterlogged, while chunks of ice lay everywhere. Ciella herself sported a number of fresh wounds, with her dress in particular scored by bullet holes, but despite that she seemed not much worse for wear. Joker figured she must be a lot tougher than she looked.

Amara, meanwhile, wasn’t faring that well, and the arrival of reinforcements didn’t help. She spotted them immediately and went for cover, yelling, “Damn it! Fight me one-on-one, you cowards!” Her Siren power flew forth, conjuring a fist of blue energy that rose from the ground beneath the interlopers. “Be still!” The Thieves leaped aside as it closed, catching Midna if she wasn’t quick enough.

Their rabbit-eared ally didn’t look much happier to see them. “She’s mine!” Ciella snarled. “Don’t you dare interfere!” From her longbow she unleashed a charged shot to wash away Amara’s icy cover.

Joker shrugged. “Whatever you say.” He fell back, with Fox along with him, ready to strike if necessary. That just left Midna to decide whether to accede to the fighters’ shared request or take action herself.

Big Band

Level 3 Big Band (20/30)
Location: Al Mamoon Northwest - Obelisk Temple
Primrose’s @Yankee
Word Count: 377

The incoming skeletons really had no idea what they were in for. Before the bony warriors even closed to melee range Primrose called forth her magic, welling up a frothing pool of black magic from the surface of the bridge itself to blow the less speedy skeletons apart in a geyser of darkness.

As the enemy’s backline fell to pieces Band took it upon himself to put his best foot forward. “AAHHAAY!” He burst onto the scene with a full-force Brass Knuckles, reducing the first bone rabble to its constituent components before it could even take a swing. Its friend lashed out with both swords at once but connected with nothing but air as Band backdashed. The bridge shook ever so slightly as he landed, which the detective took note of, but it hardly stopped him from launching a counterattack. “Hot socks!” He stepped into a crouch with Sharp Note, popping an oboe from his mechanical calf to poke his foe, then with a call of “Get hot!” sank down with a sound-blasting Bass Drop to pull the skeleton closer for a crushing Low Rank to end it. “Few!”

Another bone swordsman came up with a jumping attack that Band blocked, then punished with a throw. “Hey, listen here!” He extended halves of a bell from his torso, one from either side, to clamp together around both the jumper and its closest friend. As he did he pivoted around to face Primrose, then rang the bell to hammer the skeletons with its rings before he released them for her to finish off while he faced the rest. Toward the rest of the lightweights he charged with another Brass Knuckles, prompting them to block, only for him to perform an Emergency Break, stop short, and strike low with two Glissando trombones. From there an Overblow tuba blast sent them sailing.

Not counting those served up to the dancer, that just left the skeletons that pulled themselves together. As they clattered and snapped back into place (more or less) and rallied around a single four-armed bone warrior, Band shook his head and took a step back. “No time to clown around. Gimme a sec ‘fore I waste these things.” He deployed a set of bagpipes and began to play.

Fox

Location: Al Mamoon Northwest - Obelisk Temple
Fox’s @Dawnrider, Azwel

Against the odds Fox managed to dance through the danger, narrowly evading the myriad blades of both Es and Azwel in one daring display of alacrity. He escaped the mayhem with a special shot prepared, and as both other combatants reset to neutral with fresh wounds dealt by the other he faced Es with his blaster at the ready.

He pulled the trigger, speeding the Friend Heart the girl’s way, but as it made contact and fizzled into nothingness he quickly realized Es wasn’t worn down quite enough yet to be restored. The fight continued as Azwel ran in and Es unleashed a crest wave that traveled through the air as a projectile, a flying sword blade in its own right. Azwel leaped over, summoning his twin swords as he took to the air. Es spun about with a flourish, creating a large crest ring around her that began to pulse, and just before Azwel fell atop her she burst upward with a splendid sword uppercut that left behind a spiral of crest blades.

The sorcerer, however, had not tried to attack, but jumped ready to block instead. Evidently he’d already learned a thing or two about jumping in willy-nilly, and as Es launched herself into the air he readied his axe for a grand punish. He struck once low as she landed and corkscrewed forward, his blade revolving around to strike overhead. Then the girl’s ring activated, expanding from a ring into a spiked crest snowflake that skewered Azwel on one of its points. He then suffered an upswing into heavy chop, and as he rolled to his feet she came in to apply pressure.

Es did not anticipate a slow axe swing to her legs that swept her off the feet. With a grin Azwel summoned and threw his swords, one after another, from different angles to lift his foe higher into the air. At the height of her arc he leaped upward, almost to the ceiling, snagger her over his shoulders in a command grab and fell upon his floating shield in a sitting position. A crack sounded out, and as Azwel flung Es off she went in Fox’s direction. She swung as she came flying in, but it was clear nonetheless that Azwel meant for his ally to take his turn.

Ms Fortune

Level 4 Nadia (72/40)
Location: The Maw - the Depths
Blazermate's @Archmage MC, Bowser's @DracoLunaris, Ace Cadet's @Yankee, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Frog's @Dark Cloud, Mirage’s @Potemking, Link’s @Gentlemanvaultboy
Word Count: 554

The plan had been made. Everyone was in place. All that remained was to actually do it. Nadia knew that she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous, but considering that she got to hang out in safety up by the ceiling while Link risked life and limb as bait, she had it pretty good. Suddenly, but not surprisingly, the little hero started making noise. Nadia’s grip tightened on her arm of the bolt cutters as the racket echoed through the Depths, both over and through its gloomy waters. A moment later the mutated Moreau made his entrance, rising to the surface with a hideous, wet-sounding roar. He plowed through the water like a mammoth shark, close to the surface, his long body gyrating in a corkscrew pattern to push him forward. Link fled back into the adjunct room as Moreau drew close. The monster’s flapping jaw-sections locked tight to form a single, solid mass, and with all his weight behind it the dread fish drove his head into the metal platform.

If the sound of Moreau hitting the water before was loud, the sound of his collision with the scaffold tower was downright thunderous. Along with the splash, which sent a wall of water across the platform and into the door Link jumped through, came the wrenching creak of buckled metal. The thin metal pipes that formed the stair tower’s supports broke without much coercion, but even the topmost platform itself bent and crumpled under the sheer mass of frenzied fish. At least with Link out of the way, there was ultimately no need to worry--unless your name was Moreau.

“Now!” Nadia yowled, perhaps needlessly, and together she and the trusty Cadet squeezed shut their bolt cutters. The final chain snapped cleanly away, allowing its former burden to drop like a sack of bricks straight for the garden of eyeballs that sprouted from the monster’s back.

The falling metal made contact with a thick, meaty thwack, and the effect was instantaneous. A guttural bellow shook the Depths as Moreau thrashed, a swath of the eye-like growths burst and bleeding all matter of unspeakable substances. Even better, a giant nail soared in from the direction of the Command Center and sunk right up to its head in eye meat, scoring some extra damage! Nadia loved to see it. “Didn’t like that one, huh? Feelin’ a little fishually impaired?” As the freakshow pulled itself away from the damaged scaffolding and plunged back underwater it became clear that the kids weren’t lucky enough to put it down on one drop, but dealing a blow like that was reason enough to celebrate. Nadia turned to the Cadet with a fang-toothed grin and extended a fist for a quick bump.

As she re-assessed the situation, however, it looked like repeat performances would be difficult. Even without the damage to the scaffolding and the platform atop it, which looked just about ready to fall apart and sink at the drop of a hat, the little team would need another conveniently-positioned bridge to drop. And right now, no more contrivances seemed forthcoming. “Looks like we can’t just rinse and repeat,” she observed. “Now what? Back to distractions?” Her bright eyes turned to survey the depths, but they turned up nothing. Wherever her friends were, she hoped they were okay.

---

Down in the depths, Mirage did not waste time fretting about the phantom corpse in the water, but instead renewed his diagonal journey with heightened alertness. Aside from the occasional bit of structure or machinery impeding his progress, no other issues confronted him as the BULL continued its descent. The vortex motor it utilized turned out to be a quality piece of tech, even if not quite up to the standards of the Legend’s own world, and it propelled the Universal Helper steadily onward. With stressful time passing slowly, the bottom floor of the factory crept up before Mirage knew it, and his light fell upon the door to the room whose water-eroded sign barely identified it as Flow Control, just where Peach said it would be.

As the BULL drew near, however, a beam of light originating from somewhere behind it moved frantically across the wall in front of him, and for a very brief moment he could see a dark shape housed within. It was humanoid, feminine, with a head of hair so long and swirled that they obscured a good chunk of the silhouette. It was a familiar shape, and one made much, much worse by the fact that it was moving. If Mirage put two and two together, he could realize what the cast light and shadow meant: that Junior’s submarine was both behind the BULL, and making contact with a potential enemy. Going forward meant reaching Flow Control and fulfilling the missing; going back meant potentially saving Junior’s skin, if the clunky Universal Helper could do anything about it in the first place.

Behind him, Junior attempted to take matters into his own hands, with the help of his Pokemon partner. The abrupt blotting out of the submarine’s searchlight did for a moment seem to convince the long-haired girl it had another chance to get closer, but with that darkness came a flurry of pain. Dark talons suddenly scratched at the soft white skin of her torso and face with a vengeful fury, with no source the wraith either saw or understood. Rather than attempt to fight back she fled at full speed, darting away into the darkness. With all the clutter around it was all too easy to lose track of her again, which left the daring duo right back where they started. Any moment now their attacker would come again, and maybe this time they wouldn’t flush her out fast enough.

While this unfolded, the Mockingbird was having troubles of his own. A light-sensitive horror blocked his path, but rather than let the gel-infused angler meander on by, the Mockingbird went on the offensive. It seized a piece of pipe and thrust it into the creature, but the water resistance and the less-than-ideal sharpness of his blindly-chosen weapon bogged him down. Its pipe pierced the horror’s twisted flesh, but no more, and the thing reacted. The eyes of the human face grafted into its eyes snapped open wide, followed shortly by the disfigured fish’s mouth as it lunged for the Mockingbird’s head. Instinctively it threw up an arm to protect its head, and when the nightmare jaws closed the angler took a chunk of forearm with it. Then it beat its tail, pushed past, and was gone. Shock flooded the Mockingbird’s mind, not from pain, but dissonance. Its copied mind needed to rectify its human visualization with its missing part and ruptured diving suit, and it needed to do it now, or go mad from the whiplash.

Cold Monastery

Location: Frozen Highlands - Alpine Skyline
Linkle’s @Gentlemanvaultboy

After laying eyes on Skadi, Albedo quickly became convinced that the problem before him was far beyond his abilities to solve. His domain was matter and science, researchable, quantifiable. Regular people were hard enough to come to grips with, but a being who didn’t operate on human terms even before she became confused? No chance. Once he reached the edge of the strewn-about drawings that blanketed the lion’s share of the floor here, he’d gone no closer, as if an invisible wall existed around Skadi through which neither could reach the other. Her appearance and behavior, so utterly alien and bizarre, made it seem to him that nobody could penetrate the barrier, but in retrospect he should have expected Linkle to try anyway. And somehow, against all odds, she had succeeded.

Never would he have thought to do what the Skullgirl did and try to reach her on her own terms, through the act creation. Her approach left him bewildered, and even ashamed. Creationwas something he could do. Through the power of alchemy he could achieve things that amounted to fantasy for the average person. But for all his power, he didn’t even think to use it in such a way. As Linkle seemed to connect with Skadi, and began speaking to her, Albedo looked down at the floor, his face blank. Isolation stems not from a lack of ability, but a lack of perspective. If this Skadi could connect with people but he could not, she was far more human than he.

As Linkle questioned her, Skadi scrunched up her face and tried to remember. The general airheaded look that clung to her slunk away as her new friend’s descriptions ran through her mind, disturbing the ground beneath which heinous things were buried. “Red-haired man...lots of tattoos,” she repeated, tapping her head with a marker. “Whore...son.” A few moments passed by quietly. Then her eyes jerked to face straight ahead, widened ever so slightly. A pained look crossed her face. “Ah...agh!” She clutched her head with both hands, jostling her multicolored pigtails. “No! Much hurt! Don’t wanna talk about it. Don’t wanna think about it!” The goddess twisted herself away from Linkle’s ice sculpture, as if the sight of it now invoked an awful memory, and buried her face in the sublime mass of her dog’s body. Looking sad, the creature nuzzled her.

The kerfuffle brought Albedo out of his stagnation. Clearly, whatever the Stranger did to her made her reluctant to even consider what happened. That made sense; anything that led to such a drastic personality change had to be heavy. The alchemist couldn’t say he understood the human heart very well, but if gods like Skadi were essentially human, he could apply what he knew. History said that the Archons of his world behaved rather like humans did after all, plying their powers in petty squabbles and bloody wars for dominion. This beaten-down goddess needed a change of perspective. He stepped forward. “What about revenge?”

Skadi opened her eyes, looking at him with bafflement. “Huh?”

Albedo crossed his arms. “The person who hurt you is an evil man, but worse than that, he is a bully. Capricious and cruel, without any care for picking on those weaker than himself. It is past time he got what is coming to him, and it is our mission to do so.” As he paused to draw breath, the eyes of Father Guerra fell on him with their brows raised. The priest knew that the Monastery’s guests opposed the Stranger, but to hear a declaration like this was something different. “You want this man destroyed as well, yes? You have the power to make that happen by telling us everything you know about him. That means you can take your revenge.”

In quiet Skadi mulled over the alchemist’s words, looking somewhere between hurt and alarmed. “Revenge.” As she lowered her hands her brows fell, casting her eyes in anger. She still knew the meaning of the word. “Yes. He ought to hurt, too. Make me feel a little better if that man were dead. Such blood. Very corpse.” She balled her fist.

Relieved that his words seemed to be reaching her, for more reasons than one, Albedo took another step forward. He half-expected her to question his and Linkle’s ability to actually accomplish this feat, but maybe she didn’t think about it that far. “Then tell us about what happened.”

“Maybe it’ll make you feel better if you let it out,” Linkle suggested. “You know, get it off your chest.”

Another couple moments passed before Skadi took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll...I’ll try.” As she sat up her dog scooted up beside her for support, and after laying down against the creature’s belly the goddess began. “He came one day. Asking about gods. But he didn’t care about most of them. Only...Norse.” She said the word slowly, as if its touch numbed her tongue. “That me. I mean, I’m Norse. I said yes, and he...confronted me, very anger. He asked if I knew some names. I said yes. He asked if I knew him. Said no. Then he asked one more name I know, and where...where she is. I asked why. He said...so he could kill her. For...what she did to him.” She shivered. “Such rage in them eyes. Made me shivery. Afraid for my daughter. I said no, I won’t tell him where she is. Then…” Skadi fell silent. Her gaze fell, and one hand went up involuntarily to her face. Then she cradled herself.

It wasn’t hard for Albedo to imagine what happened next. He exchanged glances with Linkle. “I am sorry,” he offered, knowing what people ought to say in that situation. “But we can make him pay for it. Every inch. Just...if you can tell us, what is your daughter’s name?”

Skadi looked up at him like a cornered animal, wary. “D-daughter? What do you...what do you want with her? Are you with...” As she shrunk back her eyes unfocused, and a smile crept across her face. “I don’t have one, silly! All I have is doge! C’mere, boy!” She turned to tousle his ears.

Albedo sighed. Perhaps his line of thinking had been wrong from the start, after all. Or maybe he just pushed too hard at the end, trying to get a little concrete information. “Unfortunate.” Hopefully Skadi hadn’t totally closed herself off.

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Good to see you both. Excited to see what's in store!

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

There are almost eight billion people on this planet, but though one sky hangs over them all, the world each person lives in is not the same. Each person’s world is small, but infinitely complex. It is built up by one’s nature, upbringing, principles, beliefs, and by those who give it joy and meaning. On the other hand, so too is it built by one’s needs, fears, responsibilities, scars, mistakes, and by those who, through malice or inaction, work to tear it down. Every action sends tremors through countless worlds, some so strong that it is all many can do to merely survive. How then could anyone, alone in their own small world, understand someone else’s? See their value? Know their true face? And who would be willing to fight to keep your one world alive, except you?

But you are not alone. Never have been. Fear and pain may weigh you down, and you may suffer under the unfairness of life, but despite everything you’re still human. Even at rock bottom you can still climb back up. Within you is the power to change--to fight, maybe not for the world, but for your one world.

Things cannot continue as they are. If you understand what needs to be done, then call my name.

Foreward

My goal is to make not just a Persona RP, but an excellent one, rallying together earnest writers to craft something special. The story’s central themes are suppression (suffering, confinement, the inability to act) versus liberation, the endowment of the freedom to enact one’s will and pursue one’s world.

To that end, everyone will play as characters whose are suffering to some degree, people whose lives are no longer their own. Not good or bad people, just people, trying (and maybe failing) to make the best of things. But things aren’t good. This could be due to poverty, illness, bad relationships, punishment, victimization, overworking, guilt, unbearable responsibility, you name it. Society has driven you into the prison of your mind, and the boiling point is not too far awy.

But there is hope. On a fateful day, the skyfall incident occurs. A handful of people find themselves thrust into the surreal, distorted world of the collective consciousness: the Metaverse. There they must confront the Shadows that are their suppressed inner selves, or perish. Those who are able to accept themselves and realize that things must change will gain a Persona--a mask with which they can face hardship and accomplish great things.

From there begins the campaign. These Soldiers of Fortune, freed from their shackles and armed with the power to change things, can then fight through the trenches of the human psyche to topple the depotism of the Warlords and restore the freedom of the masses.

This RP will take place in Barclay, Texas, in the United States. It is a sprawling metropolis near the Gulf of Mexico, a regional melting pot filled with just about everything humanity has to offer. The PCs must be 18 minimum, and will coalesce at the Barclay Waterfront University, although they can be employees or people there by chance. It is November 29th, and Thanksgiving Break just ended.

The Other Self

I am thou...Thou art I

Personas are spiritual manifestations of one’s personality, awakened by one’s resolution in the face of hardship. Awakenings can take two forms depending on what one encounters in the Metaverse, either their own Shadow or that of a tormentor.

If driven to the edge by a sufficient catalyst, be it danger or overwhelming emotion, in the face of a tormentor, a person might become wracked by pain and hear a voice from within. It will question their intentions, testing them. If they can withstand the pain and face the truth, accepting themselves and resolving to take control of their lives, the voice will seal the contract, and their Shadow will become a Persona.

If a person encounters his or her own Shadow, it will confront them and try to assert itself, eventually vying for control. If the people cannot face and accept the ugliness within themselves, the Shadow will go berserk and transform into a monstrosity that must be defeated and accepted before it becomes a Persona.

The collective hearts of humanity, known also as the sea of souls, houses the whole of civilization’s archetypal stories. Personas take the form of people, monsters, and in general beings from mythology, folklore, tradition, legend, and famous literary works. For this RP, I have a couple notes:

• The chosen Persona should have an obvious relation to the story of your character
• Your Persona will also have one of the Major Arcana of the tarot deck
• If you choose a literary character, it should be one of both age and cultural significance
• Your character’s Persona can’t start out as a god/goddess
• Persona evolution is an option later on down the line
• We won’t be going into stats, but your Persona will get attributes: a Specialty, an Element (against which it’ll also have a resistance), and a Weakness to allocate as you please that will affect performance
• Since Personas are a mask to face hardship, Persona users will change outfit while in the Metaverse after awakening

Personas are pretty necessary for fighting Personas are incorporeal and cannot carry the user or items or be ridden on, although they can attack physically. Using them tires you out. Awakening to one will exhaust you soon after the awakening. In this setting, your Persona can speak with you to give information, support, or just companionship.

All Personas can attack with physical or gun skills proved they have the weapons to do so, although ones with a melee or ranged specialty will enjoy stronger and more special attack skills. Essentially, your choice of both Specialty and Element affect what skills and magic your Persona both starts with and can gain. Skills hurt the user when performed, and spells cost mana; if your Persona is more physical or magical, you'll have more health or magic to work with. With most spell progression, you'll learn a spell followed by its wide-area version before the next strongest spell

Skill List

Element

• Fire: Agi -> Maragi -> Agilao -> Maragion -> Agidyne -> Maragidyne -> Inferno -> Blazing Hell
• Ice: Bufu -> Mabufu -> Bufula -> Mabufula -> Bufudyne -> Mabufudyne -> Diamond Dust -> Ice Age
• Elec: Zio -> Mazio -> Zionga -> Mazionga -> Ziodyne -> Maziodyne -> Thunder Reign -> Wild Thunder
• Wind: Garu -> Magaru -> Garula -> Magarula -> Garudyne -> Magarudyne -> Panta Rhei -> Vacuum Wave
• Nuclear: Frei -> Mafrei -> Freila -> Mafreila -> Freidyne -> Mafreidyne -> Atomic Flare -> Cosmic Flare
• Psychokinesis: Psi -> Mapsi -> Psio -> Mapsio -> Psiodyne -> Mapsiodyne -> Psycho Force -> Psycho Blast
• Bless: Kouha -> Makouha -> Kouga -> Makouga -> Kougaon -> Makougaon -> Shining Arrow -> Divine Judgement
• Curse: Eiha -> Maeiha -> Eiga -> Maeiga -> Eigaon -> Maeigaon -> Abyssal Rend -> Demonic Decree

Specialty

• Melee & Ranged: You have more health, and choose two modifers you can apply to your attack skills for added effects. Choices are Dormin (Sleep), Terror (Fear), Memory (Forget), Flash (Dizzy), Abysmal (Despair), Marin (Brainwash), Skull (Confuse), Taunt (Rage), Life (Lifedrain), Spirit (Spiritdrain), and Lucky (Critical)
• Magic: You have more spirit, and your spells can either inflict an ailment or deal extra damage to those inflicted by them, called a Tech. Fire inflicts Burn. Ice inflicts Freeze. Elec inflicts Shock. Wind Techs with Burn, Dizzy, and Sleep. Nuclear Techs with Burn, Shock, and Freeze. Psy Techs with Confuse, Fear, Despair, Rage, and Brainwash
• Support: Healing (Dia), cure (Amrita), and revival (Recarm) skills. Dia -> Amrita -> Media -> Recarm -> Diarama -> Meamrita -> Diarahan -> Samarecarm
• Protection: Spells of your own element heal you, gain Enduring Soul (avoid one fatal blow per fight) and defensive skills. Rakukaja (defense up) -> Fortify (increase ailment resistance) -> Wall (shield against one element) -> Dekaja (null enemy buffs) -> Marakukaja (party defense up) -> Makarakarn + Tetrakarn (spell and attack counters)

To Whom it May Concern

So, the elephant in the room. Most Persona RPs die before anything Persona actually happens, maybe because like some of the games, they take a bit to get going. However, I’m confident that should we get enough people who actually want to write to get off the ground, that won’t happen. If people wanted to write by themselves they wouldn’t need an RP to do it; the point of a GM is to take the players on an adventure. Here’s the plan.

How this works

• The general plan for posting is at least once a week. It’s not necessarily a requirement, but if you miss a couple weeks we’re probably going to be in contact. If anything happens that would stop you from posting for a time, just let me know and we’re right as rain. Communication is key
• If you can’t see yourself posting at least once a week (bar extenuating circumstances) for the foreseeable future (multiple years even) don’t apply. This is less of an OC show and tell and more of a commitment
• I’m not going to make the people who do want to play, write, and tell their stories wait on people who don’t post. When I post my weekly update, world progress will happen. Time will move forward even if some characters stand still. If your character is in a dangerous situation and doesn’t act, they may take damage or otherwise suffer for it. Not much, generally, but it’s still not a good idea to leave your character hanging
• ’He who desires but acts not breeds pestilence’ - ultimately, being in an RP means posting. Whether or not you give reassurances if your intention to post, if you can’t post with reasonable consistency, we’ll need to face reality sooner or later
• You have some creative freedom to make and influence the stuff around you. For instance, if you were to walk into a classroom, you could describe the students around you, their names and appearances and what they’re doing, maybe even make up some prior experiences or encounters your character remembers. You can describe portions of the world, be it a favorite coffee shop of your character’s out in the city somewhere, or an area of distortion in the Metaverse. Controlling notable enemies isn’t allowed without permission, but you can have some fun with fodder. Above all, just ask. I’m always glad to answer any questions about if or how you can do this or that
• If you’re going to put your character’s dialog in a color, please make it readable on the guild’s background
• I’m open to talking about most anything anytime. If it seems like I got something wrong or could do something better, or if it seems like I forgot something, please don’t hesitate to let me know

For the character sheet, something I think would be fun would be to keep our characters’ Personas hidden until they awaken IC. So, you’ll complete the entire sheet and PM the final version to me for approval, but when you post it in the Characters tab you’ll leave out the Metaverse section until your awakening, at which point you can edit it back in. Plan around which awakening you want as well, based on whether your character’s core conflict is more internal or external. Stuff is first come first served and will on be 'yours' when your character is accepted

Of course, you’re welcome to put your WIPs in the OOC and discuss Personas, attributes, and Arcana.

Contract

Humanity

Name:
Age: (18 minimum)
Arcana: (Find one thematically appropriate for your character. Discuss with others to avoid overlap)
Appearance: (Images in a hider alright. Accompanying text appreciated)
Personality:
Bio: (No need for every tiny detail. Include important events that made your character who he or she is now, and your character’s recent past leading up to the current (not good) situation)
Scars: (A summary of the source of your characters trauma/suffering, which will be the core conflict that plays into your awakening)

Shadow

(If your character’s conflict is more internal than external, their Awakening will involve facing their own Shadow, so keep this section. Otherwise, remove this section)

Appearance: (A Shadow’s appearance reflects its distortions. They clothe themselves in security and power, however that may manifest. When driven berserk by the person’s refused acceptance, Shadows transform monstrously, so include that appearance here, too)
Personality: (The Shadow is the dark parts of the psyche, the thoughts and feelings that people keep hidden from everyone, even themselves. Their traits are often exaggerated)
Territory: (The distortion of a powerful Shadow can warp the Metaverse in their vicinity. This domain is tailored to suit the Shadow’s aesthetic, which you can describe here)

Metaverse

Persona Identity:
Persona Appearance:
Specialty: (Melee, Ranged, Magic, Support, Protection)
Element: (Physical, Projectile, Fire, Ice, Elec, Wind, Nuclear, Psy, Bless, Curse)
Weakness:

Callsign: (The name under which your character will operate as a Soldier of Fortune)
Metaverse Appearance: (The new outfit is a manifestation of your character’s will to fight, so it is essentially battle attire. Minor appearance changes can accompany the outfit if you like. No mask required, but you will get a tailor-made Dog Tag listing your callsign and Persona)
Melee Weapon:
Ranged Weapon:

World of Light

Team Mao

Location: Al Mamoon Northeast - Rocket Inc.
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Mao’s @Potemking, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Laharl’s @Dark Cloud, Joker, Mona, Fox, Necronomicon, Braum

The echo of the Dragonborn’s shout took a moment to die down, but when the dust settled Braum and his shield still stood tall. Despite these people being his opponents, the Dragonborn couldn’t help give a nod of respect as he prepared himself for what promised to be a riotous melee fight. Sure enough Mao and Laharl leaped out from behind the shield to rush him down, and the Dragonborn met them with magics cycling through one hand and a magnific green-bladed war axe in the other.

Before Mao reached him he switched to Alteration magic to cast Stoneflesh, increasing his defense to make up for Marakunda, then back to Destruction magic to start things off with a blast of Chain Lightning. Undeterred, Mao dashed in and landed a good cut to his left arm, then pivoted to aim for his right. The Dragonborn did not let the pain distract him, but deflected Mao’s sword with his axe. He tried for a counterattack but the blockstun left the blow too slow to land, and as Mao moved to the left Laharl jumped in from the right, a blazing fist extended. A momentary panic galvanized the Dragonborn to action, but the skill of an adept guided his axe blade as he swung upward at Laharl’s incoming knuckles. A fiery explosion blossomed at the point of impact, pushing the demon off course and the Dragonborn a step closer to the corner.

He realized his situation immediately, and no doubt the more tactically minded Mao would too. Rather than wait for the demons to attack him at once again, the Dragonborn took the fight to the enemy. With a battlecry he charged forward, kicking the fallen barrel of a decimated water cooler at Mao for a momentary distraction, and lashed out at Laharl where he landed. Since he swung from the right and the kid had the wall to the left, he naturally dashed back to avoid blocking the blade with his exposed skin, but a momentary lack of situational awareness drove him straight into a computer desk in front of a still-intact cubicle divider. The Dragonborn’s next attack came before Laharl could get his bearings and forced him to block the axe with his bare forearms, cutting nearly to the bone as the force bent his upper body backward over the desk.

Without a moment’s delay the warrior kicked the desk itself to knock it over, not to further harm Laharl but to knock him down long enough to deal with Mao, who the Dragonborn now turned to face.

---

Clutching his electricity-burned arm and gritting his teeth, Shadow sped backward out of immediate attack range. Elemental magic, swords, teleportation, time magic, summons...was there anything this bug didn’t have? And that irremissible flying saucer, so difficult to target and so easy to lose track of, insisted on making Sectonia even stronger thanks to intermittent buffs, heals, and magic restores. None so potent as to turn the tide, but annoying as hell nonetheless. “Damn insect,” Shadow growled. He disappeared, and a moment later appeared above her, a packed trash can as big as he was held over his head. “Squash already!”

He hurled the trash can down like a fast ball, his strength giving it a lot more speed than gravity would be itself. Still, it was far from unmanageable for Sectonia; a small dodge would be enough to avoid it, or she could just strike it down before it reached her. Whether destroyed early or allowed to fly past her, however, the can soon revealed a devilish secret. With a final muffled beep the grenade planted inside by Shadow went off in a foul-smelling burst of flaming debris and metal shrapnel. A maelstrom of fire and garbage filled the air in a wide area, making it extremely tough to see anything

Wielding a light machine gun retrieved from inside the office, Shadow entered the trash storm. The minute he spotted Sectonia, visible through the mayhem thanks to her large size, he started unloading. He fired on the move, constantly circling and moving up or down as thirty rounds of punishment hurtled the big bug’s way one after another.

Fortunately for the insect queen, she had help that didn’t need eyes to see where in the chaos Shadow was lurking. “Locking on to his bio signature!” Necronomicon announced after about five seconds of being shot at, floating behind Sectonia to use her as a shield. She began to create holographic objective markers at Shadow’s approximate position every second or so, each one a red exclamation point in a black diamond. “I’m pinging him as fast as I can. Mess ‘em up!”

---

Return fire was something Fuse expected from the normal-looking woman with the weird pistol, not from that helmet-wearing elf lady. The Legend ducked as he continued to run, knowing that even if Midna was a total amateur when it came to firearms, all it would take was one well-placed shot to put him down for the count. Rather than chance returning fire with his pistol, he kept his head down and made for a better position. Once she ran out of bullets and the guns fell from her recoil-deadened hands he’d teach her a thing or two about gun etiquette.

A moment later he reached his second stash, sliding like a baseball player to home plate. On the desk lay his favorite Prowler, the endearingly funny-shaped SMG just begging to be fired. “Oh yeah, come to papa,” he muttered, but just as he reached for it it suddenly fell through the desk and vanished. “...What!?” he exclaimed, baffled beyond words. He nearly stood up to look over the desk to search for it, only to realize he might get his head taken off for such impulsiveness. “Tsk,” he clicked his tongue as he looked over toward his final stash, where his last hidden weapon, a long-range, high-power light machine gun lay shining in the light. “Guess its time to break out the big guns.”

Instead, Shadow warped in, grabbed the gun, and disappeared again. It happened so fast that Fuse blinked and missed it, leaving him stunned. “What the hell is this!?”

In reply, he received an explosion. Quadruple rockets breezed straight through his cover as though it wasn’t there and detonated against the floor. His world disappeared in a cacophony of noise, force, and bright blue light in a blast that put Jinx’s to shame. When the explosion faded a moment later, a fresh sheet of ice covered everything in the vicinity. Everything that remained, at least.

For the moment, that included Fuse. He was gravely wounded and chilled to the bone, but a combination of body armor, distance from the blast’s epicenter, and sheer fortitude saved him. As unpleasant as getting simultaneously blown up and frozen was, he got the feeling he should be grateful that the cold was numbing the pain. He cracked open one eye to see Midna and Jesse, who was not bleeding out of the floor but instead right as rain, on their way to finish the job. Damn. Though I got the redhead. Maybe they thought he was dead already? That couldn’t be good. But at least they wouldn’t be expecting one final trick.

With the only hand that worked Fuse pulled a fragment of magic bone from his pocket. He remembered the boss handing them out and the instructions she gave. Use in case of dire emergency. Well, this fit the bill. As his enemies approached Fuse squeezed the brittle bone until it broke, hoping for a full heal or superpowers. Instead he disappeared in a burst of magic and was gone without a trace.

---

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Jinx sang. She stalked between what was left of the rows of bullet-riddled cubicles, climbing over debris cast far and wide by Ciella, Shadow, and the Dragonborn’s destruction. Her rocket launcher dangled behind her on its harness. Every couple meters she summoned a Flame Chomper, a snare grenade with biting mechanical teeth, and tossed it down. “You’re starting to bore me. C’mon, my Flame Chompers wanna play! I have the best intentions…”

With a final flourish of magic from Zorro the last of Joker’s wounds closed up. Mona nodded. “There, all healed. That was a nasty surprise, alright. Sure hope Necronomicon’s doing okay up here.” Brief snippets of hushed radio chatter confirmed that the Persona was operational wherever Shadow took her, at least. Carefully Mona peered out from behind the fallen vending machine where he and Joker hid. “That just leaves this psycho. Any bright ideas, Joker?”

The Leader of the Phantom Thieves pondered the situation. “We can’t just swarm her,” he whispered. “She said ‘flame’ chompers, and I saw some kind of beefy stun gun on her. That means she has both your weaknesses.” As the others winced he considered his own arsenal. “Leena should be resistant to Gun attacks, but chances are I’d still be outgunned. I can try hitting her with a status. Ghul should do the trick.”

“Whatever we’re doing, we must do it fast,” Fox warned in an urgent murmur from his position in a ‘tent’ of cubical wreckage. He peered through a crack at Jinx. “She’s still placing bombs. We’ll have a hard time fighting if our eyes are on the ground.”

Joker understood. “Status it is then. I’ll fear, you freeze. Mona, stick to your slingshot and stay mobile. Let’s do this.”

As one the Phantom Thieves sprung from cover, splitting up in three different directions. Jinx’s eyes lit up as she spotted them running across the cubicle walls. “There you are! See, I told ya all along. No need to be scared--or alive!” She cackled as minigun bullets ripped forth, but not so fast that the Thieves could stay one step ahead, for the most part at least. Jinx quickly taught them to not be predictable by shooting where they were going to be, drawing blood from both boys in quick succession. Mona attacked first, charging his slingshot as he jumped around. When he let loose eight shots flew at once that slowly curved through the air to find their mark. Jinx didn’t flinch, unbothered by the minor damage, and laughed as she chased him with a storm of gunfire.

Noise to her left made her turn, and with uncanny speed she unholstered and fired her Zapper. The stun bolt narrowly missed Fox’s head as he veered sideways, and as Jinx unloaded the artist’s blade began its colorful dance. In his hands his rainbow-edged katana moved even faster than her yellow gunshots, and it painted a pretty picture in the air as it sliced through each and every one.

“Ugh, stay still! I’m trying to shoot you!” Annoyed, Jinx switched to her rocket launcher, Fishbones.

Fox finished the barrage of slashes with a flourish as his Persona appeared behind him. “Goemon, strike!”

A meteor of ice fell upon Jinx as her rocket blew Fox back, but though Goemon’s magic dealt a chunk of damage, it did not freeze her. The sounds of a Flame Chomper snapping shut and an accompanying yelp drew her attention to a freshly-caught Mona. She grinned and aimed her stun gun at him. “Zap!”

“Ghul!” came the yell from behind her, and Jinx spun on a dime to shock Joker instead. Rather than a masked teenager, however, she found a hideous creature mid-lunge, its desiccated skin peeled back from the mutated bone of its talons and nightmarish face. Jinx stood firm and fired, only for the shot of lightning to pass straight through the Persona and a few feet to the left of Joker. The thief reached out his hand. “Evil Touch!”

As the gaunt horror’s claws fell upon her, Jinx felt fear well up within her heart, a terror that she’d never known. Hands of freezing cold clutched at her spine and deadened her nerves. With her braids flapping behind her she turned tail to run, but Fox stood in her path. As his sword flashed from its sheath, Joker and Ghul attacked from behind. In a few seconds their double-bladed assault left Jinx on the floor, bleeding from a dozen wounds, her hair and bandoliers in pieces, and thanks to the slice to her hamstring she wouldn’t be moving any time soon, either. Breathing heavily, Joker clamped down on a bullet wound with his free hand. “Good thing they aren’t any stronger than the average Metaverse bullets.”

“Is that it?” Fox sounded surprised. “I was expecting this to take a lot longer.”

Joker thought about the fight and came to a realization. “Well, she wasn’t a boss or anything. Just about our level. High damage, low defense and mobility. She needed more help from her team than they gave her.” He noticed her hand close around something that had fallen on the ground behind her. It wasn’t a weapon, but as he looked closer Joker noticed the bone glowing with some sort of magical fire. His eyes widened. “Hang on, she’s got!”

“Yoink!” Freed from his bonds and greedy for treasure as ever, Mona hurtled by and slid the bone right out of Jinx’s grasp. He came to a stop and held up the macabre item for examination. “What’ve we got here? Your ace in the hole?” The anarchist growled into the carpet and said nothing. Mona expected as much. “Guess I’ll just...whoa!” As he looked for a way to use it, the bone turned to dust, and magic appeared around him. With a final cry of alarm he disappeared.

“Mona? Mona!” Joker put a hand to his mask. “What happened? Where are you!”

A tense moment of silence passed before the cat’s voice reached him in answer. “I’m fine, I’m fine! I’m back in the hospital! That stupid bone warped me here somehow!”

Fox sighed in relief. “I’m glad to hear you’re alright. But, hurry back.” His eyes landed on the fight unfolding in the conference chamber between Ciella and Amara. “We’ve got a lot more work to do.”

“Yeah, I’m coming. Don’t get yourselves hurt before I get there!”

A loud crash drew Joker’s attention to the Grimleal Lieutenant as well. From his perspective it appeared as though she’d summoned meteors of ice in the room, just as Fox did in his. He heard her cry, “Floor of Despair!” and a moment later a hard wall of water swept through the conference room and dealt Amara a heavy blow. Another followed on its heels, this one from the opposite direction, but the Siren evaded it by getting behind one of the ice chunks. She began moving between cover quickly, filling Ciella with lead as the rabbit lady tried to chase her down. Joker nodded, and the two Thieves moved out.

Tora and Poppi

Level 9 Tora (29/90) Level 8 Poppi (99/80)
Location: Al Mamoon Northwest - Obelisk Temple
Yoshitune's @Rockin Strings, Tora and Poppi, Kan-Ra, Panther, Skull
Word Count: 1222

The lull in the battle lasted only a moment, and the Witch Doctor started round two off with a bang. In a swirl of vomit-green necromantic devilry she brought forth a fetid zombie stuffed with volatile magic. It charged, gurgling violently as it flailed limp arms, and together Tora and Poppi stepped up to the challenge. Sword and shield side by side, two halves of a whole warrior, they readied themselves and waited patiently as the undead drew near. To their left, Dante sliced through Kan-Ra’s bandages and started swinging, forcing Kan-Ra on the defensive. Close quarters combat was clearly not the sorcerer’s forte. “Assist me!”

“Jump on Tora signal!” Tora told him. The Zombie Charger gave a wet, strangled cry and threw itself at him. “Now!”

Poppi Alpha swung her claymore in a sideways chop over Tora’s head, but his tuft of hair went unharmed by the flat of her blade. It smacked the zombie out of the air and sent it flying to the left as it swelled up to explode, and as Kan-Ra launched himself over it, the undead blew up right in Dante’s face. With a cry as disgusted as it was pained, the demon killer stumbled backward, allowing Kan-Ra to seize the opportunity. While still airborne he coughed up a swarm of cursed locusts that chased Dante down and struck multiple times. He landed in a burst of sand, creating another trap, and as Dante lashed out with a weapon transformed into a silver scythe an arm of sand pushed up from below Kan-Ra. The scythe blade cleaved harmlessly through the arm while Kan-Ra soared over and came down in a diving turn to start a new combo. Sand kick chained into bandage whirlwind into a summoned scorpion sting, but rather than deal with the slowing curse Dante just whipped out the Rebellion and shot forward in a Stinger of his own. His blade pierced Kan-Ra’s chest and carried him clear to the other side of the hall before sinking into the sandstone, but still the sorcerer grinned at him. Dante’s lip curled. “Why don’t you curl up and die already, asshole?!”

Bandages encircled his arms as Kan-Ra sneered. “I have evaded death since the time of the Babylonian empires of old, you mere, foul-mouthed upstart! The magic and experience of thousands of years is alive within me. The likes of you could never quash it.” He raised his arms above his head and crossed them, activating some sort of power. His rotting skin turned to sand, and with ease he simply pushed himself off Dante’s blade. “Your soul will be mine!”

At the same time Tora and Poppi contended with the Witch Doctor. With the better swordsman out of the picture Poppi could change back to her more offensive QT Pi mode, so Tora protected his partner from screeching firebats while she transformed again. Blade extended, he spun like top using the Speedy Sword art to swat the bats from the air like flies. He got dizzy fast and came to a stop in time to see another explosive zombie headed toward him, followed by a horde of spiders and toads. With a sharp inhale he brought the Variable Saber into position and unleashed a Swooshing Slash to catapult himself off the ground, the hapless undead along for the ride. In midair he twisted to deliver an upside-down horizontal swipe, cutting his foe in half before it could detonate. “Meheh, yes!” Tora celebrated as he fell, pumping his free wing.

The next moment he landed in Poppi QT Pi’s arms. She smiled down at him. “Good hit, masterpon! Not too dizzy, Poppi hope?”

“Not at all!” Tora boasted, putting on his tough guy act. “Tora ready for more!”

Poppi grinned and lifted him up, holding him like a bowling ball. “In that case, Poppi not need say ready-set-go!”

“What!? Meeh!”

Before he could protest further she launched him with all the strength she could muster and sent him rolling down the corridor at a breakneck pace. He bowled straight through the toads and spiders, knocking aside those he didn’t crush, until he struck the Witch Doctor right in the shins. She toppled with a cry and fell atop him in a heap. “Mehmehmeh!?” Tora gave a muffled squeak in surprise, pinned beneath her like an exercise ball. “H-hold on, magic lady, Tora not complain, but Poppi get wrong idea if see-!”

“Masterpon!” he heard from the direction he came, prompting him to start wiggling. “Get out of there RIGHT NOW!” Poppi jumped into the air and boosted forward, rocketing down the hall. As she came she prepared a mighty flying kick, which Tora could not entirely assume wasn’t meant for him, and with a last ditch effort the Nopon pushed off with his wings to throw the Witch Doctor into Poppi’s way. She took a direct hit right to the belly and flopped away, every bit of air driven from her lungs.

Tora jumped up to see Poppi standing with her hands on her hips. “Total defeat! Great job, Poppi!” he congratulated. Before she could say anything he pointed behind her. “Look look, Kan-Ra need help! Let’s go!”

He snatched the Variable Saber and ran off toward the other fight. Despite Kan-Ra’s boasts Dante was figuring out his tricks one by one and getting the better of him with his more varied arsenal, and once the sorcerer’s Instinct ran out he found himself with no room to breathe. Tora joined the battle with a Steady Beam that blasted Dante’s legs out from under him, then passed the sword to Poppi calling, “All power to weapons systems!”

Poppi caught the saber and blasted her thrusters. “Poppi laying down law!” She dropped onto the Demon Killer with an electric overhead slash into a flip kick to pop him up. The Variable Saber morphed into shotgun form, and with Tora cheering her on, the artificial blade hammered him with two near point-blank shots.

“Gah!” Dante snarled as he tumbled away. He immediately tried to stand again, only to fall to one knee. “You little shits! They’re gonna have to scrape you off the pave--huh?” He looked down to see a yellow magic circle forming beneath him. “Oh come on, dammit, I’ve got this! Just gimme half a sec to regener-”

In a flash of magic he was gone. Tora turned to see the same thing happen to the Witch Doctor. He crossed his wings, looking pleased with himself. “Got ‘em both! Meanypon talked big, but no match for Tora and friends!”

Kan-Ra stared at where the circle had been. “I doubt that will be the last we see of them. I suspect that they were forcibly withdrawn. If we are fortunate, they will not be fully healed next time.”

The Nopon shrugged. “Meh. Tora heal out of fight anyway, so fair fair. Next time we wallop even better! Let’s find way down.”

Poppi stopped him. “Hold on, Tora covered in frog and spider muck. Poppi switch to water core to wash off.”

Not content to wait, Kan-Ra stood up from where he’d been examining Red and headed down the hall. “Do not waste much time. Every moment spent might be an ally’s last, yes?” He spoke the truth, and before long a cleaned-up Tora and Poppi hurried after him.

Big Band

Level 3 Big Band (19/30)
Location: Al Mamoon Northwest - Obelisk Temple
Primrose’s @Yankee
Word Count: 773

In supportive silence Big Band watched his dance partner contemplate the ridiculous gauntlet of axes and spikes before them. When she worked up the courage he accepted the personal effects she shed while doing his best to stop his gaze from roaming. He heard her resolution and nodded. “You got this, girl. If anythin’ goes wrong, I’ll jump in right after ya. We’re in this together.” After that, it was go time, and Primrose stepped forward to strut her stuff.

She slipped past the first axe and paused. If the first step was a doozy, the first axe had to be a whole different beast. After that, however, she proceeded with speed and grace. Primrose ran like the wind between the blades, making it look easy, and any doubt Band might have harbored about her reaching the other side drained away. “You’re killin’ it, girl! Keep it up!”

Scarcely had the encouragement left his lips, however, before disaster struck. The final axe of the bunch clipped her, grazed her really, its fleeting touch no more cruel than a goodbye kiss. But it was enough. Without even a cry of pain Primrose parted ways with the bridge and embarked into the open air. “PRIMROSE!” Band bellowed, the force of his amplified cry shaking the room itself. He tensed his servos to jump, but before he could cast himself into the abyss after her, he realized a little something. She wasn’t falling. The dancer hung in the air, buoyed up by the magic of the scarf wound around her neck. Band let out a heavy sigh into his mouthpiece, which released a couple of off-key notes of relief from his instruments. “Mercy, mercy, mercy. If that ain’t a miracle I don’t know what is.”

Though maybe even more surprised than he was, Primrose managed to figure out what was going on. She didn’t need Band’s detective skills to realize that the scarf’s pattern was receding quickly, and made her way back to solid ground before gravity could reclaim her. Understandably she took a moment to compose herself. It wasn’t long before she sussed out a switch of some kind as pressed it. After a series of mechanical clanks and locks, every trap in the joint made itself scarce. Band wasted no time cruising straight down the bridge, through the former ring of spikes, and ahead of where Primrose waited. He returned her things, then doffed his hat. “My thanks.”

Ahead lay another staircase, and Band led the way down. “This must be the third floor,” he observed, and sure enough, when he listened closely he could hear the faint echoes of heavy combat somewhere nearby. Before he or Primrose could pay much attention to that, however, another delightful spectacle awaited them.

This time, the room opened up into a cavern of mammoth proportions. Light streamed down through an array of holes far above, possibly another grate in the city streets, to illuminate the vast space. At a certain distance from the surface the natural stone of the earth gave way to immense walls of masonry, pillars and arches and bricks all of stone. How much effort it took to make this, or why anyone would in the first place, Band couldn’t fathom. A much longer and wider bridge than the last spanned the whole space, seemingly sunken in the middle, but as Band went over to the edge he realized that along with greater safety came more danger. He gave a long whistle as he stared down, down, down. “Don’t look now. ‘Cause I hear this sorta thing looks back.”

He stepped away from the edge to look around, kicking at the corner of his trench coat that got a little too close to one of the piles of candles that seemed to be everywhere. It didn’t take the genius to notice the platform a short drop away from the bridge, about halfway down and to the right side. The sounds of fighting issued from there. “That’s gotta be it.” More noise turned his attention back to the bridge. To his displeasure he saw a gaggle of skeletons headed his way, both normal and fun-sized. They waltzed on up with all sorts of weapons, barring the way forward. Even without Primrose’s invaluable help, though, he would have felt pretty confident. “Hmph! Tough crowd, huh?” He deployed two giant fists and pounded his brass knuckles together. “But not as tough as us! Care to dance?” With standard enemies like these, he didn’t think it necessary for Primrose to stay back and stick to support. She could get a few licks in of her own.

Ms Fortune

Level 4 Nadia (71/40)
Location: The Maw - the Depths
Blazermate's @Archmage MC, Bowser's @DracoLunaris, Ace Cadet's @Yankee, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Frog's @Dark Cloud, Mirage’s @Potemking
Word Count: 819

Although Nadia wasn’t about to admit it her heart had nearly leaped out of her chest when the transformed Moreau jumped for her. Even with all the desensitization built up after the butchery of her family and the casual self-dismemberment she employed while fighting, the primal fear of something horrible jumping at her never went away. Still, she needed to put on a brave face as she went about the business of distracting that monster. She might not be able to stop other people worrying, but she could keep them from worrying about her. Every day of her early childhood as a stray had been a battle for survival against starvation, the elements, and anyone who might look at a lost, raggedy kitten and see an opportunity. She couldn’t fight back then, but fear and hunger -her constant, faithful companions- spurred her on where they slowed others down. They could do so again today. She could get through this.

Plus, she had the ever-dependable Ace Cadet, and even Blazermate came up to lend a hand. The damage to her flight systems meant she could only fly in short bursts, which meant she had to be content with monitoring Moreau rather than helping directly, but the feral appreciated any companionship up here. With her allies’ help Nadia proceeded with her strategy. After one more chain-suspended section of catwalk went hurtling down toward the water, the trio reached the long bridge Nadia crossed earlier, the one with the missing grates in the middle. Enough grates still lay in place on either side to present an opportunity, and the strength of a couple four-year-olds proved enough to lift the grates from their housings and slide them out, no hazardous chain-cutting required. With every object that splashed into the water the monster fish made his presence known, bellowing awfully as he surfaced to take another shot at the kids disturbing his domain. Each time he came a little close for comfort but short of the mark, though once one of his tentacles actually brushed Nadia’s tail. She jumped, then in a feat of childish disrespect that felt very appropriate to the situation at hand stuck out her tongue to blow a raspberry at the horror. “Yeah, keep tryin’, freakshow! This cat ain’t gonna be fish food!”

Two grates into the bridge Nadia heard a whistle from afar, and looked down toward the submerged scaffolding by the Depths’ entrance to see Link standing alone, makeshift weapons in hand. His expression was serious, so despite how cute it was seeing a little kid so ready for war with a tennis racket and back scratcher, Nadia craned her cat ears to hear him over the noise of Moreau sloshing through the water. So, he wanted to try dropping some heavy metal, huh? The idea of attacking the monster directly never really occurred to Nadia, given the sheer luck it would take with her strategy. But if someone could guarantee the abomination’s position? That could work! By the looks of it Ace thought the same thing, which meant they were in agreement. “Yeah, let’s do it!” Nadia called back, getting ready to move.

After making it once she knew the path that lay before them was dangerous, but by no means impossible. “Okay, we’ve just gotta get back to where we started,” she then said aloud, as much for herself as her partner in crime. “I’ll show ya how I crossed this bridge in the first place. After that it’s easy thanks to my...fan.” Her little face scrunched up as she remembered who she entrusted it to. “Rats. Guess my way’s no good. Well, at least BJ’s got it for an emergency.” Once again she pictured the young Koopa using it like a propeller to get to safety, totally oblivious to the issues of using the device underwater.

Instead her mental power went to wondering how long it would take her and Ace to get through the aerial maze again. They needed to be dropping stuff at all times to keep the heat off Junior and the other divers. Her thought processes paused as Moreau breached once again, hurling himself in her general direction even though she and Ace hadn’t sent any more distractions. “Hopefully he’s mad enough at us he won’t notice the others while we’re movin’,” she remarked, a little more nervously than she would have liked. She did not expect Ace to take her hand, his touch full of warmth and reassurance. “Huh?” But there was no time for questions. He led her across an alternative route through the labyrinth, one that put them right where they needed to be. Ace positioned the cutters, and with renewed vigor Nadia seized the other side. “Ready!”

It came down to Link. He needed to get the monster’s attention from ground level without getting snapped up by those wretched jaws. “You got this, little hero!” she called down.

---

One by one the divers in the Command Center took the plunge, with the intrepid Bowser Junior leading the way. Although the resolute Mockingbird intended to follow the BULL down, it took long enough for Bella to maneuver the Universal Helper up, over, and down into the central pit that the diving suit had more than enough time to jump in itself. A few moments later the BULL splashed down behind it, and at Mirage’s direction its vortex motor kicked into gear to propel it through the water with respectable speed.

As the machine disappeared into the deep, with the eyes of all those who remained upon it, Bella took a deep breath and let herself down from the comm station’s chair. She didn’t know what to make of the goop-filled suit that called itself Duerage, but whatever it was, it represented one of three chances to access the controls that would get everyone out of this godforsaken place. But she knew they weren't equal. The Universal Helper was just remote-controlled metal, totally disposable and an ideal tool for the job. Whether human or not the Mockingbird couldn’t be killed like Junior and his faithful Mimikyu could. Being honest with herself, Bella was terrified for the two. “Good luck down there, guys,” she told them, hoping that the prayers of the Seekers would reach those brave few who faced the Depths.

Down below, the divers were greeted by oppressive darkness. Making any progress at all demanded that the onboard lights of all three crafts be switched on, especially for the Mockingbird if it were to have any idea of what lay beneath it as it drifted straight to the bottom. Once on, their lights shone through water mostly devoid of murkiness or organic contamination, revealing a flooded factory frozen in time. Rusty machines and structures provided a lot of clutter to carefully navigate around, but no sealife appeared to challenge them. From off to the left there issued intermittent grunts and bellows that reverberated through the deep, and the traces of movement in that direction suggested the presence of a single large creature near the surface--the hideous fish-monstrosity currently occupied by the efforts of Nadia and the Cadet. So long as the divers didn’t give off too much noise -or foolishly shine their lights Moreau’s way- they could focus on the descent. The plan was working.

Mirage saw something first. As he worked the BULL’s roving lights, scoping out the machinery and other obstacles he needed to guide the robot past, he happened to land his light on a corpse-white body afloat in the water, motionless except for the slow swirl of her incredibly long, pitch-black hair. Most eerily, though the body’s head pointed directly at him, she had no face whatsoever. Just a blank, featureless stretch of pale skin. When he continued his descent he kept his light on the body as long as he could, then moved it to make sure the BULL could navigate around a couple pipes. When he sent the light back up to check on the corpse, it was gone.

A few moments later, the light of Junior’s sub revealed an unrotted, raven-haired body in the water. This one floated close to the side of a large, cylindrical structure, sprawled as if swimming, but neither its limbs nor its disquietingly faceless head made a movement of any sort. A moment after Junior relocated the light, however, a sudden spike in anxiety directed him to move it back, just in case. It had been gone for just a moment, but when the beacon fell on the cadaver again, it wasn’t where it had been. It was closer. Much closer. Just a few meters away. And its hand was reaching out toward the glass.

The Mockingbird alighted softly on the factory’s bottom floor. Cluttered with tools, materials, structure gel growths, and products rendered inscrutable by their water damage and various states of completion, it offered tricky but workable terrain to an entrepreneuring diving suit. A right turn put the Mockingbird on course for the flow controls that lay somewhere on the flooded factory’s wall opposite the door the Seekers entered through. Were there nothing in its way the suit could mosey on over and beat the others to it by a long shot, but that didn’t appear to be the case. Through the gloom ahead the Mockingbird could see a pale pink glow that slid through the water, a lone light in the darkness. Behind it followed something unnatural, pulled along as if by a carrot on a stick, yet as it became aware of the diving suit’s headlamp it was drawn like a moth toward the stronger source of light.

Cold Monastery

Location: Frozen Highlands - Alpine Skyline
Linkle’s @Gentlemanvaultboy

With both Monastery visitors at something of a loss, a few seconds passed in silence before Skadi changed gears again and started lavishing her dog with attention, stroking his his, cupping his ears, and squeezing his cheeks. Still bewildered, Albedo could only look on and wildly speculate until Linkle took action. As she lowered herself and her hair changed color, he backed up to give her room to work her magic, curious what she intended to do with her ice. As she beckoned and molded her freezing power, giving it definition bit by bit, his weren’t the only eyes on her. Skadi herself seemed excited, bobbing back and forth with her eyes fixed on the wintry enchantment being built before her. It didn’t take long for her to recognize what Linkle was making, and her eyes sparkled with delight when they beheld the finished sculpture.

After giving her dog a final pat the vacant goddess scooted forward toward the Skullgirl’s offering. “Sooo kawaii!” she sang, a big smile on her face. She laid her hand on the glacious Shiba Inu’s head as if to pet it, only for her eyes to widen in surprise and fascination. “Such...cold…”

A cool mist issued from the point of contact. For a moment, Skadi was still, her breathing soft. A living, breathing, material goddess knelt before Linkle, just a handful of inches away, on the other side of her sculpture. She was close enough that the girl could see her eyes, and for a moment it looked as though a light glowed within, crisp and clear as a cloudless winter sky. From here she could also make out faint lines straight above and curved around the bottom of her right eye, like face paint. Had those always been there? Just as with her eyes, it was nearly impossible to tell, so dim were these traces. Unable to feel the cold, Linkle didn’t think to look down until Albedo whispered her name. “Linkle…” He directed her gaze down to the ice dog, the sight of which prompted an unexpected realization. At Skadi’s touch, it had grown larger, bolstered by fresh ice, the source of which could only be the goddess herself. This strange woman who looked so totally out of place in the Frozen Highlands retained some trace of winter inside her.

World of Light

@Dark Cloud it occurs to me I may not have mentioned this before, but there's a stipulation in this RP called prompt failure that applies to characters in actively dangerous situations. IC time is always moving forward after all, and since world progress for the people who post can't wait on those who might not, characters who don't act between two updates will not act IC, essentially failing a quick-time event. This prompt failure often leads to characters taking damage or getting into bad situations.

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

Mae's good mood carried her all the way back to the guttered remains of Infactorium, with the procession of Maneaters behind her sharing the general cheer for the most part. Though in the end their shared mission had been a minor assignment that necessitated neither a lot of skill or hard work, they relished a job well done, particularly one outside the rather limited wheelhouse of cooking; chance for the monstrous chefs to be anything other than food generators did not come every day. Besides, the task came directly from Faetalis herself, which made its completion both important and gratifying by default.

Of course, Mae's crew not alone in their trek. Gammaton accompanied the staff of the Gorging Trough on their way back, the captive Szilard kept close at hand, but their attention mostly centered on the scarecrow of a woman slung over Mae's shoulder. Rib, the unofficial second-in-command of the bunch with the sous chef Head otherwise occupied, took it upon herself to attend to Riny as she followed her boss back to base. "I'm sure this whole ordeal has been terribly confusing," the stolid chef was saying. "It might be best to put that whole thing behind you, as best you can. Luckily it looks like you didn't suffer a breakdown and go insane or anything. That's good, since otherwise you wouldn't be good for much. As it stands, you're going to be a guest at our restaurant, the fabulous Gorging Trough!"

Mae gave a guttural chuckle as she continued to stomp forward. "That's if Lady Faetalis ain't got other plans for ya. Couldn't keep ya if she did. Our place's seen better days, but I think ya gotta make do. Now that ya seen behind the curtain, we can't exactly letcha run away."

"Certainly," Rib nodded, her face serious. "Now that we have a captive, we have a duty to protect the knowledge of our guild's existence, and we cannot fail."

As she spoke Roast sauntered up beside her, her eyes bright as ever. "Dude, isn't this exciting? First we rout our enemies, and now we've got a freakin' captive!" She pounded one fist into the palm of her other hand. "We're finally living up to the guild's reputation!"

Behind the two, Tender ran her fingers through her hair anxiously. "Um...excuse me? If we're...you know, actually working on behalf of the guild, shouldn't we be more...well, monstrous? Cruel?" Pitch-black eyes with white sclera peered through her veil of hair at Riny. "Like at the camp."

Mae scratched at her chins thoughtfully with her free hand. "Huh...well, ya gotta point. But at the end o' the day, that's just actin', not the way we are. Not the way Lord Sugi made us. Maybe he thought we'd never go out 'n in'eract with enemies." She shrugged, causing Riny to flop up and down. "Maybe we oughta take lessons or somethin'. Whatcha think, human?"

Although incredibly overwhelmed by just about everything she'd heard and witnessed tonight, especially after the 'attack' ended, the huntress got a chance to settle down a little during the journey up the mountain. Being held captive by a group of heteromorphs working together was about as bad as it could get for an adventurer, but these monsters seemed oddly personable, earnest even. Though nightmarish in form they acted strangely normal, human even. The gears in Riny's head spun quickly. Maybe she could turn this to her advantage. If she could remain under the charge of these bizarre chefs and not anyone more nightmarish, she might be able to survive long enough to escape. Just try and get on their good sides, without seeming too obvious, she thought. Really starting to wish I spent more time with people now, rather than alone in the wilderness. Riny took a deep breath. "W-well. This wasn't really what I expected. At all. But, since you asked what I think, uh, I think you're just fine the way you are. It makes you unique." Her voice got more confident as an idea came to mind. "Plus, this Lord Sugi of yours must have made you this way for a reason. So, this is how he wanted you to be." She did her best to look reassuring. "Yourselves!"

"Hmm!" Mae rumbled. "That's a darn good way to look at it! No way a Supreme Bein' woulda just made us like this for no reason!" She gave a guttural laugh. "You ain't half bad, human. See, girls? We're already gettin' use from a fresh perspective!"

A couple minutes later the group arrived back at the Gorging Trough, where Head awaited them with his usual professional patience. As she approached Mae noticed the clipboard in his hand. "Enjoy yourselves?" her sous-chef deadpanned, eyes flickering over what he could see of Riny. "Ah, I see we have company. I'm afraid I do not have a room prepared at the moment--or a room at all, for that matter. On the other hand, I do have a report drafted that concerns Gammaton's menagerie and your proposed ranching efforts. After consulting the bestiary we have an idea of what creatures can provide meat, eggs, and so forth, as well as how we can house them. I must warn you that both the resource and labor demand is rather steep given the creatures' exotic nature."

Mae groaned. "Ugh, what else is new. Well, we ain't got a restaurant 'til we got supplies. Guess we'll focus on ranchin' for now 'n leave the Trough as it is, much as it hurts."

Head gave a solemn nod. "My apologies for heaping more on your plate, ma'am, but we must also consider conventional ingredients, especially while the kitchen isn't operational. Vegetables, wheat for flour, eggs, standard meats. We would need allocate our personnel to hunting, gathering, and farming. Or, since it seems there are humans around here, it may be possible to establish a front for trading with them, so we can get supplies that way. Of course, everything would need the approval of Lady Faetalis."

If Mae had temples she would have been rubbing them, but she settled for rubbing at the base of her neck instead. "Oof...stuck up the creek without a paddle, huh. Our people don't got the skills for any o' that crap. We'd be startin' from scratch. I gotta lot to think about. Anyway, thanks, Head. Great work as usual."

"Merely doing my duty, ma'am," Head allowed himself a thin smile as he bowed.

Mae pulled Riny from her shoulder and set her down right in the middle of the crowd of Maneaters, then plopped down by her cookfire. "Guh. Rib, mind findin' the boss and givin' a report? Tell 'er we drove the humans off no sweat but got two captives. I bet Gammaton's already got ate, but we wanna get this one's help." Her focus shifted to Riny as the headless horror began to pull from her meager ingredient pile and start work on a stew. "We can chat while I'm cookin'. What's your name, first off?"

Though stiff with apprehension, Riny realized she was supposed to take a seat, and sat opposite Mae by the fire. The remaining Maneaters followed suit, taking a chance to rest. "...Riny. Riny Verloren."

"Well, hello then, Riny." A hunk of salted beef splashed into the pubbling pot, followed by spices and minced carrots. "I know we prolly got off on the wrong foot, but I think this could be the start o' somethin' beautiful for both of us. As long as you're helpful, I bet the boss won't mind me treatin' ya like a guest. Hell, do right by the Guild 'n we could send ya off a whole lot better 'n ya came in. It all starts with a li'l give 'n take." In record time she finished her recipe. Mae filled a bowl full her steaming, tantalizingly aromatic stew and offered to the huntress. "Right now, I'm interested in knowin' the lay of the land. Towns an' farms an' such, anyone we might be able to trade with. Ya might be thinkin' I just wanna stomp over 'n kill 'em all, but I ain't some bloodthirsty warlord, Riny. I'm a chef, and I know the value o' renewable resources. Wanna spill the beans?"

Riny gulped, her eyes shifting between Mae and the Maneaters all around her. Mannerisms and human forms aside, these were all still monsters against whom the hunters and militia of the average village would stand no chance. Slaughter and destruction surely awaited any who fell afoul of them--herself included. As it stood, however, Riny felt no excess of love for her fellow man. She had neither friends nor family, just a lonesome existence spent sustaining herself day to day. People saw no value in her other than as a wife and mother, and ever since she forsook that path, pretty much nobody cared about her. She wasn't about to die for them. Gingerly the huntress reached out and took the bowl in hand. "Yeah. I'll tell you everything I know."