MiddleEarthRoze

Into The Dark: Mercenaries (Heroes of Fame and Fortune)

First post done, and happy to be here! Hope everyone enjoys my smol angry woman.

@POOHEAD189
_{pst. dragon treasure horde ftw. can we call it Smaug? XD}

Into The Dark: Mercenaries (Heroes of Fame and Fortune)

Thanks to those bastard highwaymen, Lis was very late in her arrival to Starkvale. The borderlands themselves had been hard enough to traverse, but with the competition taking part in Starkvale, the roads and wilds were crawling with foes. Many were bandits or goblins, riled by the sudden onslaught of supposed do-gooders and treasure hunters; some escaping, others revelling in the bloodshed about to occur over the next week or so. As for Lis, she had been somewhat luckier than most; only running into a handful of whelps with badly dulled swords, demanding her coinpurse... and other unmentionable things that could be taken from a woman. Despite her short stature and young features, Ninlisus Jadan was not someone to be underestimated, especially on the road. While it would have been easy enough to injure the fools and slip away into the shadows - she had fled from far more nefarious creatures than village idiots, after all - the thought of them convening on another innocent traveller was too much to bare. Not all women were as she was; indeed, not all men were either. The highwaymen had to be dealt with.

And so, she was late.

There was a bittersweet feeling as she arrived at the gates of the bustling city; there was a grim satisfaction in ending the lives of those men, even relieving them of certain appendages after their threats of rape before cutting their throats. But alas, she had missed the competition; and with the competition ended, many of the mercenary groups had left... along with potential job prospects. All that was left for the young half-dwarf to do was to enter the city, and hope to find some coin there. Killing for money was a lucrative and booming business, after all; there'd be some noble in the city looking for someone like her. Hopefully.

Approaching the gates, the guards stood there looked down at her, lips curling up in amusement at the sight of the petite lady. Their sneers faded quickly after gauging the woman before them properly; from her dark scowl to the weapons she carried; her scraped knuckles to the blood-stained bandage wrapped around her forearm.

"Open the gates. I'm looking for work." Lis' tone was brusque, arms folded in a business-like manner. The guards shared a hesitant look with one another before turning back to the short woman. Like so many others Lis had encountered in her life, she could tell they were trying to work out what she was; a tall Dwarf, or a tiny human?

"Uh...for the mercenary guild?" One asked uncertainly. Lis' eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the guard's choice of words - so the competition had been more than just some coin and fame. They did actually get a guild... but if this made getting a job easier or more difficult, Lis was unsure of that at the moment.

"Of course - what else would I be here for? To dance and entertain your jumped-up nobles?" Snapping in response, her eyes glinted - daring the guards to make a joke. The one she was staring down (And it was quite a feat to stare down a man nearly 2 feet taller than oneself) was now visibly sweating, and he shouted the order to open the gates. Stuttering slightly, he stated that an escort would be necessary in some attempt to gain control of the situation; she simply strode ahead and ignored him, only allowing to be overtaken when realising she did not know the way. That was one thing an escort was good for, after all. Sprawling cities like this one were far too easy to get lost in. One wrong direction and you could easily find yourself stuck in a blocked-off alleyway... and then you find yourselves killing more idiots who think they've snared an easy catch.

As Lis walked in silence beside the marching soldier, she pulled at the tattered bandage around her forearm, lips pursing in annoyance as she tightened the cloth. One of the highwaymen had landed a lucky blow; a glancing catch of her arm by his sword. The blade had been dulled and rusty beyond anything vaguely useful, but it had still left a sizeable - yet shallow - cut where her bracers did not cover her flesh. Thankfully her coat sleeve had been rolled up. Lis had no time, money or patience to have the battered leather coat repaired. Glancing back up at the street as the guard came to a stop beside a sizeable manor, he motioned towards the door and began marching rather quickly back to the city gates. Lis sometimes forgot just how effective a dark glare from herself could be. And speaking of glares...

As Lis approached the rich oak doors, a well-dressed man left the guild; he had the very familiar look on his face that noblemen often had when dealing with peasants - nose stuck high up in the air, a fruity expression of lingering disgust as he walked down the street. He glanced at Lis, and the pair shot daggers at each other simply on principle. Lis didn't like jumped up rich people - and this jumped up rich person obviously didn't like half-dwarves. Or maybe just tatty looking people. Or was it women? Lis didn't know, or particularly care; now ignoring the man, she opened the door to the guild and stepped inside, looking around. Her scowling expression eased up into a more neutral one (Which still looked somewhat annoyed, unless you know her very well.). The guildhall was indeed a pleasant looking place. Calmer and cleaner than she had expected, barring a door nearly smashed to pieces.

Ahead of her stood four men at a table, all having glanced her way at her arrival. Three humans, and a gnome with some rather striking hair. Two of the men looked battle-hardened, but the third looked far too young, uninjured and handsome to be a mercenary. Still, Lis tended to avoid assumptions and ignore first-impressions, especially in regards to potential new employers. Time and talking would be the judge of everyone in the room.

"I understand you gentleman are taking on new recruits? If that's the case, I'm interested. If not, I have a guard to severely injure for wasting my time." She began, walking towards the table and stopping a respectable few feet away from the men. "I have plenty of experience taking orders from outfits like this, and been in more merc groups than I can count. However, you're the first I've found to have their own guild hall." Lis' deadpan expression gave way to a vaguely impressed one as her brown eyes once again regarded the room. It was certainly much better than the camping sites and battered ruins she was used to staying in with merc outfits.

Into The Dark: Mercenaries (Heroes of Fame and Fortune)

Ninlisus Jadan

Username:
MiddleEarthRoze


Character Name:
Ninlisus “Lis” Jadan


Race/Species:
Half-Human, Half-Dwarven


Gender:
Female


Age:
54


Career/Class:
Rogue/Duelist/Soap-Maker/Dark-Slayer


Weapons:

• 2 High-tensile, lightweight steel blades, rather narrow and meant for swift flurries of duel-wielding attacks.
• Several small knives and daggers hidden about her body.
• Spare steel sword; this one broader and heavier than the others.

Physical Description:
When most cast their eyes upon Lis, they would assume she were a diminutive human woman, or a rather tall dwarven-maid. The truth is both; born of a most uncommon and inappropriate union between the 2 races, Lis has characteristics of both. For one, she has retained the excellent night-time vision of the Dwarves, this particular natural skill saving her life more than once on dangerous nights. As for other Dwarven talents, she believes she can see the imperfections stone and gems, but isn't entirely sure about that. Whenever she attempts to examine a rock she concentrates hard, and when perfectly sure all she can see are dust motes and dirt, Lis casts the rock aside, blushing at her own silliness for even attempting it. She does hate her rosy cheeks, even moreso when they brighten maddeningly when embarrassed or caught unawares - but to any other's eye, it lends a softness to her angular face. Such features include high, prominent cheekbones and angular eyebrows, more often than not raised in some form of light disdain for her fellow's antics. Her brows sit above quite charming brown eyes, so light they give off a golden hue. While it is rare these days to see a genuine smile on her face, when such a thing it occurs, it brings her features to life. Eyes crinkle in the corners and dance with warmth; her gentle nose scrunches up, and dimples are joined by laugh lines long since unused. However, there isn't much these days that amuses Lis so much.

When looking at her body, one can see again the influence of man's blood - standing taller than the average dwarf at a height of 5'0", she has retained the stamina of Dwarves while having longer and slimmer limbs than her underground kin. Lis' figure too, is less stocky than that of a dwarf, with a more defined waist and slender shoulders. The skin covering her body keeps tanned complexion, born of her father's Praelian roots - it is littered with pale scars, most being minor and small. The only scar that has ever really bothered Lis is a particularly deep one across her back; stretching from her right shoulder to left hip, the scar tissue is knotted and ugly, and while well-healed, is far more noticeable than the other's marring her skin. However, this major one remains mostly covered, either by clothing or her sweeping, waist-length hair. As for Lis' hair, is has the slightest of waves to it, and a black so dark it has tinges of blue hidden within; it can usually be seen tied up, with some strands plaited together and pinned back. While not considering herself to be a vain woman, Lis does like to look after her hair. Being a soap-maker has it's advantages - her hair is usually well washed and silken, smelling of sweet aromas such as roses or lavender.


Armor:

• Lightweight leather pauldrons
• Lightweight leather corset; lined with thin, but strong, plates of metal for extra protection.
• Lightweight leather greaves
• Lightweight leather bracers

Equipment/Other

• Leather boots
• Teal cotton undershirt
• Leather overcoat, hood attached
• Leather gloves; fingerless.
• Teal sash for coat; for aesthetics
• Several lockpicks
• Waterskin
• Bottle of whiskey
• Bottle of soap
• Smoked salmon, wrapped in cheesecloth
• Hardtack
• Some medical supplies; bandages, ointment, etc.
• A meagre amount of gold

Mental Description/Personality:
Unless done sarcastically, it should be noted that Lis doesn’t laugh as much as she used to. She was a far brighter woman prior to the shitstorm that occurred in her life a couple of years back, but these days’ smiles are few and far between. At first, bitter would be a good word to describe her, but she doesn’t complain enough to be considered that. While certainly retaining a cynical take on life in general, complaining is different to her than "stating the obvious". Of course, such cynicism is rarely looked upon favourably by others, especially in bad situations - while Lis is quite comfortable speaking out loud about probable imminent death at the hands of a horde or Lizardmen or something, it doesn't particularly bring ease to other's hearts. But when it comes to pointless complaining, Lis has a very easy philosophy to take on it - move on and deal with the problem. Lost your job? Get over it and find a new one. Feeling ill? How is complaining going to make you better? By the EverGod, find a healer. Somebody murdered your family and severely injured you? Get better, bide your time, don’t let it eat away at you, and when you find the bastard, rip his stomach out and force him to chew on it as you castrate him.

Of course, sometimes it’s hard for her to follow her own advice. Because certain events in her life have changed her, despite her preferences. Lis drinks more than is healthy (For a human, at least - another benefit of her Dwarven mother), has a resting face that makes her look severely pissed off 90% of the time, and is often too quick to deliver a sarky remark where a more sympathetic one would have a better impact. Despite all this, if one were to truly know her, she would show more empathy. Even in her everyday life, one can see this – her almost angry defence of the oppressed, the protection of the weak, and the avoidance of doing anything involving hurting the innocent. Because behind all her anger and sarcasm is sadness, and while it surfaces in fairly productive ways when killing people, it weighs heavy on her heart.


Goals:
Well, her real goal is to actually find a goal. A purpose, a reason to live properly again. Whether she finds this in a cause, a friend or a lover, she's not sure yet. But since what happened, Lis needs something substantial to fill the harsh, cynical void resting in her heart.


Background/History:

• Obviously, Lis was born of two different species; her Mother – Maehi - a Dwarf; and her Father a nobleman of Praetorian descent; Karlos Lehner. The Lehner family was a rich and prestigious one in it's area, consisting of 4 children, and their mother and father. Maehi began working as a governess for the children – taking over from the job that had once belonged to her Aunt, who had died of old age. She taught 3 of the children how to read and write; the fourth being far too young. The mother had recently given birth to the newborn and was permanently tired from the ordeal, she was plagued by migraines and rarely left her room. Karlos began to grow tired of his wife's absence, and so his sights turned to the young, pretty thing teaching his children.
• Maehi was not particularly old, and rather naive; she fully believed the master of the house's sweet nothings and gifts. He was an attractive man, both in looks and speech. They would meet in the dead of night, away from the family and the other servants to enjoy one another's bodies. However, things turned sour when Maehi discovered the fruits of their labours. She was pregnant.
• Wanting to keep his infidelity a secret, Karlos gave Maehi money on the promise that she would leave with her unborn child before anyone knew of it's existence. She was reluctant to go, only leaving when he lied that he would continue meeting up with her and sending money. A few payments got her through her pregnancy, paying for food and rent on the outskirts of the city, but after a while, they stopped coming. When showing up at the house once again, this time with her daughter now in her arms, Karlos threatened to have her killed, and her babe thrown from a cliff. Realising her mistake, and that no more aid would come from her lover, Maehi fled Praetior by the sea, finding a job on a merchant ship that would offer enough pay as cook and cleaner to keep herself and her daughter fed and warm. And this is where Lis' story begins.
• Life on the ship was fine – great, even. Growing up with the ocean meant it didn't take long for Lis to get her sea legs; in fact, her first trip on land was very difficult for her, considering she'd never been on ground so solid before. Even when the seas were calm and without a whisper of wind in the air, you could still feel the tide throbbing about underneath the ship. The stillness of earth was disconcerting to her at first, but in time, she grew to enjoy her trips on land. Lis' mother still met up with Dwarves of her clan whenever possible, passing along stories and whatever coin she could. There was also the issue surrounding Lis' father – Maehi had never heard of a Dwarf and a Man successfully mating before – usually it was the Humans and Elves getting children out of such unions. However, her clan knew nothing of the sort, and just suggested to accept things as they came; by the rate of Lis' ageing so far, it seemed she would not have the lifespan of a common Dwarf – this worried her mother, but there was nothing to be done about it. Additionally, while her lack of Dwarven skill in terms of rocks and metals were undeveloped at that point, Lis has no interest in working in mines anyway. She enjoyed the air and the sunshine far too much to wish it goodbye for a life underground. Living on the waves made her happy; even moreso shortly after her 15th birthday.
• Following the death of their old Quartermaster by way of consumption (thankfully nobody else on board had been infected), a new one named Jasper was picked up as they docked at a port in Andred; with him, his teenage son, Holden. 16 years old, unusually tall and strong for his age, and a welcome member to the ship; Particularly for Lis, for it seemed to be love at first sight. Not only did she finally have someone of her own age to talk to, but Holden seemed equally as besotted with her and she was with him. It took no time for the two to develop their relationship; much to the ire of Lis' mother, she spent too much time shirking her duties to flirt in the crow's nest with Holden. Still, she couldn't be too angry – there had been a point where Maehi had worried as to whether her daughter would find love at all. There weren't many great candidates on the old merchant's ship, after all. Everything seemed to be going right, and as years passed, Holden was soon asking for Lis' hand in marriage, still working aboard the merchant ship where they had first met. But as fate would have it, the two would never be wed.
• At the age of 18, roughly 30 miles from the coast of Bania, the merchant ship carrying Lis and her family found itself in the midst of a terrible storm. The waves had become wild and gray, thunder rumbling so loud you could feel the vibrations in your boots. Winds whipped the sails back and forth, and the sailors scrambled about the soaking wet decks to try and tame the ship in an ocean that had gone mad. Lifelines attached to the mast were all that were keeping the sailors on board the ship. But despite their best efforts, the ship became overwhelmed. Lis had scrambled to the galley to find her mother when lightning struck the mast; crackling with flames that not even the heavy rain could put out, the great wooden construct splintered and fell, crushing men and blocking the door to the galley. To this day, she doesn't know if her mother was in there; she doesn't know if she was even alive to see the gigantic wave wash over the ship and tip it, belly up into the water. All Lis could do was frantically hack at her lifeline as she was pulled down beneath the water with the mass of wood and metal; to see Holden just out of arm's reach; bobbing motionless beside her. She tried so hard. But she couldn't save him. She couldn't save anyone.
• Lis doesn't remember how she got back to shore; but when she woke up on that cold shore, the sky above was blue and clear. Nothing on the horizon showed any evidence of the horrific tempest that night; nor any sign of her ship. Lis had lost everything, and that day, a void seemed to settle in her heart. There was no hope, no light, no love left in her heart – but even in that state of terrible grief, she knew she needed help. Here she was, washed up on the shore of one of the most dangerous and monster-ridden countries in the continent; all alone, weaponless, and getting weaker by the second. Something had to be done.
• When the group happened upon Lis, she was nearly dizzy with dehydration; armed with just a crude, sharpened stick, this new group of people took pity on her and nursed her back to health. When fully conscious, Lis was able to tell them of her harrowing experience; in return, they told her theirs. They were all hunters; mercenaries pledged to kill any vampire or werewolf they found – each member had lost someone to those beasts, and this was their way of exacting revenge. Their leader saw a strength in Lis – being the only survivor of a bad shipwreck showed she was a fighter. He offered for her to stay and fight with them in Bania – and with nowhere else to go, Lis accepted.
• In the next 10 or so years, Lis journeyed across Bania with the monster hunters. From them she was taught how to properly wield a weapon, nothing like the pretend fights with wooden sticks she had once had on the deck of her ship. Stealth seemed to be a forte for the young half-Dwarf, and the hunters used that to their advantage – using her as a spy to stake out potential Vampiric residences, or Werewolves in hiding among humans. Whenever spying in these places, she hid out in the open as a soap vendor; a skill she had learned from her mother years and years ago, it was one task she still found some enjoyment in. They always smelled very nice, after all. Still, despite her extensive spying, it never brought forth anything worthwhile. The Vampires were not stupid; the rare and only times they managed to find one was because it had been newly turned and abandoned, leaving a trail of corpses in an obvious path behind it. Despite the vampire's infancy, it was still difficult to slay; in Lis' mind, it wasn't worth it, from the amount of work put in to rewards yielded. Most of the time, their group found themselves undertaking contracts to kill common road bandits or highwaymen for unprotected villages.
• Although learning much from the group and spending a lot of time in the monster hunting business, Lis began craving more. Bania was becoming too claustrophobic, and the daily toil of yet more vampire hunting - and no vampires - was beginning to bore her. She did not have the same thirst for vengeance as the others to keep her going on a day to day basis, and the lack of actual vampires being found to kill was infuriating to her. So, giving her best to the group, she departed, heading out of the country in the hopes she could find something worthwhile to do. In the meantime, mercenary work would do to keep her coin flowing – she'd become rather good at killing things, and it would be a shame to let that skill go to waste.

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - Crimson Skies

@MacabreFox

That's alrighty, we haven't moved forward since Christmas. Hope you feel better soon! I recommend lots of alcohol.

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - Crimson Skies

Hello hello everyone! Many thanks to those still pumping out posts - I myself am in the midst of a collab with @Leos Klien and @MacabreFox, but naturally that went a bit slow over the Christmas holidays. Depending on everyone's schedules it should be wrapped up soon, and we'll all be able to hightail it into the Oblivion Gate. I'd say everybody easily has at least a week to post for their character's - if they haven't already - before we move it along.

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - Crimson Skies

@Rokkuhoshi

I don't know how many more times I have to say this to people; this is an apply only roleplay, and it states very clearly in the rules not to post anything in the character tab unless approved by GMs. Delete your wip and put it in here when it's finished - and if you seriously haven't read the rules or the OOC, I highly recommend you do so before continuing. I doubt you'd submit something worthwhile otherwise.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

@Dervish

I'd rather celebrate Xmas on the pagan date than the J-Man's real birthday in September or something. Too depressing: "Merry Christmas! Here's a notepad, go back to school you shit."

Also: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - Crimson Skies

@MacabreFox

Link for GDocs is here! :)

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

@Leidenschaft

Jorwen's response is up next, last I checked. :)

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - Crimson Skies

"Oh, I can't promise anything. But an attempt is better than staying in here and burning to death!" the Imperial said, bubbly as could be. Was she not afraid at all?

@POOHEAD189

Naenya said this, not the Imperial - apologies if I didn't write it clearly enough! Great post though. :D