Rtron

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Part one of Vestec catching up with the rest of Divinus

Sometime before Vestec and Logos had their heart to heart

Fires sprang up around the world as Logos' children systematically eradicated any semblance of Jvan's own children in the world. Villages were wiped out, wandering groups annihilated in hellish fire. Vestec giggled as he darted from massacre to massacre, delighted by the potential of Logos' new additions to the world. They would cause such chaos, such discord! "My, my. Logos created little copies of himself, all emotionless and murderous!" He clapped his hands as yet another Hain village was annihilated in fire, the Realta's darting away to find more impurities. "This is all fine and dandy, but he's going to take them away eventually. Can't let them just leave Galbar, can we?" Vestec darted down to earth, grabbing 10 of the Realta as they were busy burning down various villages. H

Locking them in a cage of Chaos energy, Vestec examined them. Still emotionless, they attempted to break through the cage that surrounded them, with no success. "Well, lets see what you have to think for yourselves, shall we?" They gave no response, simply continuing to fire at their cage with a stubbornness Vestec had to admire. "He certainly made you stubborn, didn't he? Lets see if you have talents elsewhere, shall we?" Vestec giggled as he forced his essence upon the Realta, corrupting them.

On the surface, there wasn't any change. The Realta merely stopped moving for several minutes, staring blankly ahead of themselves. Vestec released the cage around them and they floated there, still staring. "Oh dear. Have I broken you?" He poked one of them in the shoulder, attempting to get a reaction. The Realta jerked back, then stared at him. "Who....who are you" It blinked in surprise, as if having never expected to hear it's own voice before.

"Me? I'm Vestec, God of Chaos. A far more interesting question is who are you?"

The Realta blinked for a moment. "I'm...I don't know." The other Realta, now gather themselves, murmured in agreement. They were looking around in quiet amazement, as if seeing the world for the first time. "Well, I don't know, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Vestec clapped his hands together. "Welcome to Galbar!" He began gesturing expansively, talking as he did so. "Over there is the desert! Home to Vetros and horse people! There is where the Pack-Minds live, along with some undead overlord! There is the Rovaick, and over there are where all the Ogres live!" The Realta stared in confusion at him as he continued to talk and gesture across the world. Vestec eventually stopped and looked at them, tsking. "There really aren't enough of you for this. Here. Lets fix that." Vestec forced more power into the Realata, making them replicate themselves by the dozen. Soon enough, there were a hundred of them, floating in the sky. "Go, explore the world! Just don't be surprised when people act angry at you." With that, he left them to their devices, disappearing in a flash of multicolored light.

The Awakened Realta looked at each other uncertainly for a moment, before tentatively flying in all different ways in varying group sizes.

summary

This is way before Logos sends the Realta to Nice Valley.

-Vestec grabs ten Realta, corrupts them into 'Awakened' and making them have actual personalities beyond 'silent killing machines'

-After trying to idly chat with them, Vestec leaves them. They all go their various ways, in different groups and numbers.

Mass Effect: Borealis

Serena is going to get Dex for that.

Mass Effect: Borealis

Serena idly hummed to herself as she made her way through the LOKI network, smiling as she heard Tanya’s message. “Don’t worry, I’ll have you erased from their records in a jiff. It’ll be like we were never here. Well, you were never chatting to the LOKI. I’m pretty sure we’re still gonna appear on their cameras...you get the point.” She quickly located the robot that had taken Tanya’s lie and began searching through its data banks. That would be her trail to follow all the way to the end, deleting every bit of evidence that Tanya had ever even spoken to the robot.

As she was shifting through, looking for Tanya, her commlink beeped on a private channel. Switching to it, she gave a half distracted, “Hello?”

Dex sat crossed legged at her makeshift terminal, listening to the radio chatter herself. Working through a firewall, carefully guiding the security VI’s into circles. A little bored she decided to bother Serena, “This is Dex contacting Serena on our secret private channel, so.”

She paused dumping garbage data on another VI. “How about that Firu?”

Serena didn’t even so much as blink, engrossed in carefully deleting Tanya’s presence from the LOKI network. Finally in what was entirely her element, Serena was focused and missed and subtle hints and teasing. Distractedly and disinterestedly, she replied. “She’s fine. Knows how to stitch most of us back together and keep us alive in spite of the most horrid of wounds, and seems to know her way around a fight. And she likes cooking. Solid asset to the team.”

She gave a small victory chuckle as she fully deleted Tanya from the LOKI’s memory banks, editing the time frame she just deleted.

Pulling a wire from the fuse box and plugging it into her makeshift terminal with a disappointed grunt, “Is that all? Or did you not happen to notice her other solid ass-sets.”

A new set of code ran across her screen, furiously tapping across the holographic keys to tie it down. “Disappointing me here Serena.”

Some of Dex’s implications slipped through Serena’s concentration, and she felt herself begin to color. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She hoped her voice sounded confident and not at all like she was lying. Her face scrunched in annoyance as she came across a firewall, tapping away at the omni-tool on her arm to get past it.

“Hey, I’m doing just fine thank you very much. The LOKI will obey my commands and Tanya won’t be in their systems for much longer.”

Dex’s talons paused across the keyboard then took a moment, humming her amusement. Serena couldn’t lie even over an e-mail let alone an audio channel. “Oh, okay. Then you wouldn’t be able to tell me about what brand of pants Firu wears? Starts with a J or what spice she cooks all the human meals with. I think she said it was…” Dex waited her mandibles pulling up in a toothy turian smile. “Sriracha?”

Against her will, the two names Dex was hinting at popped into Serena’s mind in an instant. She resisted cursing, not wanting to give the turian the pleasure, and scowled at the omni-tool as she slipped past the firewall and moved closer to the central data of the LOKI network.

“No, I wouldn’t. I don’t think she wears jeans though? Not from the brief glimpses I’ve gotten. Looks like AdoniStyles if I had to guess. As for spices, for one, Sriracha is a sauce, for two I think she uses Saffron? Not that well versed in spiceology, but I’ve heard her mention that name once or twice.”

Her head quietly hit the table she was sitting at. Smooth. Way to prove you have no idea what either of those things were.

“Brief glimpses you say? Sauce from spice? I think you do have an idea of some of Firu’s assets, my virginal friend. After your drunken dancing with her I thought you’d have figured out a few more things, and if it wasn’t for the LOKI in front of you right now you’d be spilling all your weirdly observant notes about her to me right now.” Dex said rather bluntly.

“Can’t fool me.”

She connected the sabotaged LOKI’s to her backlog, flagging them for notifications. “Nice work on the mechs by the way.”

“I-it’s not weird.” Serena replied, defensive and embarrassed. She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks. “You’re just as observant as I am! Granted, you typically do it while doing whatever spy stuff you do, but my point stands!” She muttered something about a ‘damn rhythmless turian’ and ‘can fool you in chess’ as she quickly finished up deleting Tanya from the records of the LOKI network.

“Thanks, I should have more soon, provided someone doesn’t keeping trying to convince herself of this ridiculous notion I have a crush on Firu.” She replied, with even more defensiveness in her tone than before.

“No convincing needed, already believe you have a big crush on her. It’s obvious to just about everyone else, save Firu herself. Granted she doesn’t know you yet but will given a little more time. Anyway I’m going to finish up here and I’ll ‘see’ you guys at the cafe.” Dex laughed closing the private channel, taking a little satisfaction of getting the last word in.

Serena sputtered incoherently, blushing bright red, as Dex closed the channel. She waited a few moments, gathering herself. When she felt she could speak in a steady tone, giving no indication that Dex had gotten to her, she opened the main comm channel again. “Don’t worry Tanya, you’re already erased. It’s like you never even existed. I’ve got a fair amount of LOKI under my control, working on the others. If the shit hits the fan, we’ll have the advantage.”

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

STILL HERE. WORKING ON VESTEC AND ROVAICK POSTS.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Althalus

Althalus' eyebrows raised at the sight of the man in the middle of the room, a weary despair settling into his bones. He merely shrugged at Helena's question, waiting for their new visitor to unleash some fresh inferno on them. Althalus sighed as the doors slammed shut behind them, with a distinct note of finality. As the man spoke, something about the heart of the Nox, he wasn't really paying attention, Althalus replied. "Is this the part where you tell us you're going to kill us." It was less of a question and more of an automatic sarcastic response. As the man declared that he couldn't tolerate insects, Althalus rolled his eyes. "It is, oh goody. What are you going to do? Teleport around the room? Shoot dark shadows from you-" What ever tired mocking he had left was suddenly silenced as the loud screeching noise filled his hearing, making him instinctively curse and cover his ears. The only reason he didn't fall to his knees was because an immobile assassin was a dead assassin. He wanted to be prepared for whatever the masked bastard threw at them.

Still. Hard to be prepared for your own shadow turning into a pile of tentacles with mouth.

"Oh! Summon tentacle monsters from our shadows. That's...different." He darted backwards as his own shadow thing (Uth, he thought he heard Daren or whatever his name was say) lashed out at him. He stumbled, having crashed into Helena in the process. "Sorry, trying not to di-Hey! I'm solid again!" He grinned, looking over at Helena. "Pass me some of my knives would you? You do still have them right?"

Aramir, Sansar

Aramir hated the heat. She hated it almost more than she hated the people they were forced to play nice with. It constantly beat down on her, making her sweat out what felt like twice her own body weight. She had wanted to stay inside, maybe drink some more water before some madman tried to kill them. But her companions had wanted to go outside on the ramp, and she wasn't about to stay behind alone in the palace and make small talk with their guide. So here she was, standing in the heat, almost wishing she was sitting down with this new 'King' of Yarosmere.

She supposed that the desert had some form of beauty to it, if you could stand the heat, but right now she hated it with every fiber of her being. What I'd give just to be amongst the endless snow storms for just one more minute...why did I let Myrn talk me into going to this hellish place? She sighed wistfully, before looking up in minor alarm at one of the guards. He was aiming his crossbow at a group, too far out to be identified, and seemed to be on the verge of firing.

"Wouldn't it be better to wait till we see who it is before shooting them?" It was more of a general question to the group, rather than the guard. She didn't expect him to acknowledge her, much less listen.

The Search for Elvarren

Heeeere.

Knighthood (Closed)

Lugen

Name: Lugen Sult.

Alias/Nickname: Anvil

"Call me Anvil. Lugen reminds me of my old life. New life, new me right?"

Rank: Knight (Lugen has absolutely no desire to climb the ranks, despite how long he's been with the tower)

Appearance:

In armor

face

He stands at 5 foot 10 inches.

Age: 80

Race: Cambion

Personality: Crude, crass, and loud, Lugen doesn't have a filter. He curses, makes lewd remarks, and snickers at his own inappropriate humor. He always has a smirk or a grin on his face, as if he knows a joke you don't, even when his body is healing from horrific wounds. This doesn't change when it comes to missions, or anything that most people would expect him to be professional about.

Lugen is cheerful to everyone, even those who aren't to him. No reason for him to be an asshole, even if they are.

Biography/history: Lugen's first memory is of pain. Just enough to be agonizing, but not make him incapable of moving. It's always been that way, and it always will be that way till the day he dies. When he was younger, his mother would soothe him whispering sweet nothings about how he was destined for greatness. As a Demon of Unvaris, she would know. He was destined for great things, things that would shake the corners of the world.

Or so she kept telling him at least.

It soothed him, and made the pain seem less, made it seem like it had a point. His mother was all he had in those early years. His father had never been around. Lugen didn't know whether or not he had ran off or never been a willing participant to begin with. Regardless, he wasn't around and no one else was either. All he had was his mother. She took care of him, and they kept largely to themselves in a city Lugen doesn't even remember anymore. They kept like this till Lugen was 12 years old. Then his mother declared that they were heading to a new city, that she had business to take care of there. So they packed up and left the home, ending up in Veilhome.

Once they had been set up in the city for a week, she told Lugen that she had some business to take care of and that she would be back before nightfall. On the 5th day Lugen went to look for her. On the seventh he was hopelessly lost, but still searching. He stopped counting after the twelfth, and stopped looking soonn after. He was only 12 and lost in a city that wasn't going to be kind to him. He managed to scrape by for four more years, when something that was both a blessing and a curse happened. He was grabbed by two strange men and dragged to what would become his home for the next 64 years. The Pit.

It was an underground fighting arena, where two unfortunate souls were thrown in and told to fight to the death. The winner got to live to fight another day. The loser was thrown into a garbage heap and disposed of. Those who didn't want to fight were killed, either by their opponents or the ones who had dragged them into the arena. So Lugen fought. He didn't want to die, and that desire to live far outweighed his reluctance to kill other people. Lugen had three advantages over all the rest of his competitors. He could heal from his wounds,any pain they could inflict on him was practically nothing to the pain that he lived with his entire life, and if they pushed him to far he could go berserk and finish them. As Lugen fought, he began to pick up a few things. If you didn't react to pain, or reacted the opposite of how they expect you to, it unnerved enemies.

So Lugen laughed. He chuckled. He sang. He did everything to show his opponents that they weren't hurting him. They weren't even coming close to hurting him. He became a legend in The Pit, a great draw of crowds. The screamed and howled, placing their bets and cheering as he killed yet another poor soul, chanting his name as he went back into his cell. That was his life for decades. Get up, kill someone, go back to the cell, stitch up those wounds he didn't want to have his healing factor waste energy on or that would take to long with the healing factor alone, repeat. It seemed like he was doomed to be down there forever, cursed by his mother's blood, till he finally fell to an opponent. Fortunately for him, whoever owned the Pit kidnapped the one person.

What they thought had been another homeless beggar was really the drunken son of a local merchant lord, lost on one of his many binges. He didn't last long in The Pit. The merchant lord found out where his son had been taken, and killed, and then contacted the Tower. He wanted the Pit destroyed, and everyone who had something to do with it killed. The Tower was all to happy to oblige. They sent a squad to the location given, and they cleaned house.

Fortunately for Lugen, they did it just as he ended his last fight. One moment he was walking back into his cell, the next he was looking around in confusion as gunfire and explosions rocked the thing that had been his home for several decades. It was being attacked by these 'Knights of the Tower' as he heard someone scream out. For a moment, he was paralyzed by surprise. Then he took his opportunity and scrambled out of the hell hole. He started running and didn't look back. Freedom at long last was his, and he wasn't going to go back into that life.

It took Lugen exactly three days to figure out that if you do something for sixty plus years, it becomes the only thing you're good at. He wasn't good at anything other than taking hits and hitting people in return. He needed a mercenary group to work for, someone that would actually pay him to do what he'd been doing his entire life. A group that wasn't filled with complete bastards. He recalled the group that had destroyed the Pit and, after some asking around, found out where they were located. Within a day, he was heading towards Angel's landing.

It didn't take much effort to get into the Tower. He simply informed them that he could take almost anything they threw at him and get back up from it, especially if they gave him training and equipment to increase that toughness. After a few demonstrations, he was allowed in.

That was ten years ago, and since then Lugen has had absolutely no desire to climb the ranks. He knows what he's good at and what he isn't. He's good at punching things and keeping enemy off of his teammates, and not much else. He's not good at giving commands and being in charge. Leave that to some other poor bastard.

Reason for recruitment: He wanted to get paid for what he did best.

Strength of Will: Greater

Magic: Lugen's magic is fueled by his pain. The more pain Lugen feels, the more magic he can cast. The stronger the pain, the stronger the spells. Too strong of pain, however, results in him going into a berserk rage.

Lugen is skilled in two types of magic, and has a spell or two in a couple others.

Abjuration

Shield Creation- Lugen can raise a magical shield wall at a max of 36 feet high, 30 feet long or create a small curved shield dome in front of him as small as six feet high and five feet across.

Shield Dome- Lugen can create a magical dome that is at it's highest 10 feet and 6 feet wide.

Body Shield- Lugen can cover his body in a shield of magical energy, increasing his already impressive durability.

Impenetrable Shield- Lugen surrounds someone in a shield of energy that is nigh invincible. The downside is that it immobilizes whoever he casts it on. Used primarily to protect injured or downed allies.

Healing factor- Lugen has a natural healing factor, allowing him to recover from serious injures fast enough to get back in the fight. What should take months takes minutes. This is done in the most agonizing fashion, of course.

Pain Transference- Lugen can take on the pain be it (emotional, physical, or psychological) another is feeling, freeing them of it for a time.

Wound Transference- Lugen is extremely reluctant to use this spell, as it necessitates that whoever he casts it on shares in the agony he feels every waking moment, but he can take on the wounds someone else has. It leaves them completely healed, and him with their previous wounds.

Conjuration

Spirits of Protection- Lugen summon up to three spirits that can cover his allies with energy shields.

Elementals- Lugen can summon a minor elemental of any of the elements. These elementals are of the humanoid variety, though of very low power and highly annoying to most people. They like Lugen because he puts up with them, and he often bribes them with things they like so that they'll help. He exclusively uses them for utilities such as scouting, lighting a fire on a wet day, illuminating a pitch black room, etc etc.

Spirit of Empowerment- Lugen can summon a spirit that converts his pain into energy and power for his allies.

Watchful Eyes- Lugen can create three creatures (without any weapons). They're primarily for companionship and screaming very loudly and terrifyingly if someone not pre-approved by Lugen or his group (Like a fellow knight or paladin, for example) approaches the campsite. They have a 360 degree 'sensing aura' thus making it almost impossible to sneak up on them without magical aid.

Spirit of Transferance- Lugen can summon a spirit that can transfer his physical attributes to an ally, at the cost of leaving him with that lessened trait. He can make an ally stronger, faster, tougher, better eyesight, etc etc, but leave himself weaker, slower, more easily damaged, or with worse eyesight.

Pain Constructs- When Lugen is driven berserk by pain, he can use all the agony he has to create weapons, extra limbs, armor, whatever he needs to destroy whomever happens to be his current target.

Illusion

Aggro Channeling- A passive spell Lugen activates whenever entering combat, all of Lugen's enemies find themselves with an insistent and strong desire to focus their attacks on him and no one else.

Force

Pain Rage- When Lugen reaches the extremely high limit of pain he can take (almost exclusively reached in severe combat situations where he has already been 'killed' several times), he goes into a berserk rage. In this rage, his speed, strength, and reflexes triple. His body simply can't keep up with this, however, his bones break and shatter, his muscles rip and tear, and his body generally breaks down at an alarming rate, even as he throws himself heedlessly at the enemy. His nanomachines and natural healing factor keep him from dying every time this happens, but not by much. He can only keep the rage up for two minutes at most, then he collapses and slowly recovers, barely able to walk.

God relations: Lugen, when he bothers to think about it, is confused on exactly who he should worship. On the one hand, his mother is a Demon of Unvaris. So his powers come directly from it. However, he hates his mother (which, he supposes, is another thing that connects him to Unvaris) and laughs a lot and enjoys life (mostly to spite the pain he deals with) which is a tenant of Seyardil. But since it's only to spite pain, is it really truly following it? He doesn't know, and prefers not to think about his connections to Gods.

Tech: In addition to his cybernetic arm and eye, Lugen has a few other interesting toys.

B.E.S.S- Lugen's gun, BESS (an abbreviation of Lugen's title for it; Big Explosive Shit Shooter), is a heavy ordinance weapon. It has two firing modes. A mode for firing armor piercing explosive .50 caliber rounds, fully automatic, for when Lugen needs to shoot things without blowing himself up. A mode for firing RPGs, for every other occasion.

P.A.M- Lugen's AI. The Predictive Aiming Module is connected both to Lugen's robotic eye and his nanomachines. She (for Lugen insisted upon having a female orientated AI), controls and dictates where his nanomachines go and gives him predictions on where enemy attacks are going to land so he can adapt accordingly, enabling him to react faster in battle. She can also have the Nanomachines forcible freeze his body in place, should he start to turn on allies while in a berserk rage.

Nanomachines- Lugen's body is filled nanomachines that are intimately connected to his physiology. Their only purpose is to keep him in the fight longer and get him back on his feet faster. This, coupled with his natural healing factor, is what makes him so hard to put down. With his Nanomachines, Lugen can recover from wounds that would kill most other mortals. They can even reattach severed limbs, though regrowing a new one is beyond them (as evidenced by his robotic arm). All of their healing is done in the most agonizing fashion, of course. PAM can flood them to the surface of his skin, hardening and making it extremely difficult to pierce his skin or armor. This, unfortunately, stops all healing on his body while active, as the flesh simply refuses to be moved back into place.

Penance Armor- Lugen's Armor. It is of the highest quality, able to resist a huge variety of attacks, both magical and technological, with ease. It is sealed against outside threats (such as poisonous gas, radiation, EMP, etc etc) and is connected to Lugen's Nanomachines, allowing them to repair it when damage does get done to it. It is also connected to his nervous system, meaning Lugen feels pain whenever it gets hit or damaged.

Doubling his physical attributes (speed, strength, reflexes, etc etc), it has 3 inch spiked knuckles that Lugen can use to their full vicious potential. On it's right wrist it has a harpoon that can shoot up to 300 yards. On it's left wrist it has a very similar set up, the only difference being instead of a spike on the end of the harpoon it has a claw that tightly grasps whatever it comes in contact with.

Possessions/items/property: Lugen owns an arena on the outskirts of Angel's Landing. The product of ten years worth of missions funds and hard work, he uses it as a legitimate version of The Pit. Volunteer fighters go in and get a portion of the proceeds from the betting. There are healers on standby, and one simple rule of no killing. It's become quite popular in the slums as a way to make quick cash (either by fighting or betting) and have a sporting even to watch your favorite fighters go toe to toe. Lugen diverts part of the proceeds to Kirane's animal clinic, a place he visits often.

Aside from that, Lugen lives at the tower and keeps most of his items on him.

Skills:

Tank: Lugen's entire combat strategy and skills revolve around getting the enemy's attention, and then shrugging off or getting back up from any and all attacks thrown at him. He can take almost any damage and get back up, laughing.

Nanomachines, son: Lugen, when necessary, can control and direct the nanomachines in his body, even if they leave his body, albeit far less effectively than his AI.

Defensive Mage: Lugen is skilled at defending both himself and his allies, keeping himself and them alive in the face of horrendous damage.

Brawler: Lugen has been in hundreds of fist fights, but calling him skilled would be a stretch. He simply keeps going until either his enemy or he can't keep going.

Battlefield Medic: After decades of patching himself up, Lugen is skilled at fixing injures that occur over the course of a battle. Just don't expect him to do any surgery beyond 'dig the bullet or blade tip out', 'reset the bone', and 'amputate the limb'.

Misc:

Lugen is followed by a bowling ball sized animal he has named 'Scruffy'. Scruffy started following him a couple years ago, despite Lugen's best attempts to shoo him away or at least keep him locked at home with the other animals, and has been his stalwart travelling companion ever since. Lugen suspects he has magical abilities, as Scruffy is never seen by any enemies or hurt by any combat or dangerous situation he's in, always reappearing when they've stopped for the night and imperiously taking place in Lugen's lap.

Limitations

The Best offense is a good defense- Lugen is incredibly tough to put down and keep down. His healing factor, coupled with his nanomachines, make him get up in seconds from things that should have killed him. That being said, he's severely lacking in offensive capabilities. He can shoot BESS and punch things, but unless he purposefully damages himself as much as possible (thus activating his berserk rage), he's not going to be taking out stronger opponents. He's good at taking hits, not dishing them out.

Fueled by Pain- Lugen's magic comes from his pain. If you get the sufficiently large amount of chemicals or magic into him to numb him completely you take away his magic entirely. Even if you don't get the right amount, you still weaken his magic considerably if you lessen his capacity to feel pain.

Miriam

Name: Miriam Lanthan

Alias/Nickname: Domina, Miri, Firefly.

"True power is the only way to protect yourself and what you care about. And I will seize it by any means necessary."

Appearance: This is her and her armor. She stands at 7ft 3in with red eyes. Her hair is normally kept in a bun when she's on mission. Her skin is only a shade darker than white, the light grey tone often getting her confused for merely a very tall human. Her elemental mark of fire is at the base of her throat.

Age: 100

Race: Shaitan Djinni

Rank: Knight Captain

Personality: Depending on how nice of a person you talk to, descriptions of Miriam range from 'Proud and confident' too 'Arrogant bitch.' Radiating confidence and proud in her ways, Miriam's steely disposition and unshakably calm demeanor often causes her fellow Knights and subordinates to rankle. She doesn't care if you respect her or her faith, but you will respect her rank and her ability. Her demeanor doesn't change while on mission, keeping her focus going until the end. It has been noted several times that she goes to great lengths to protect and help those in her squad, one noted instance throwing herself in front of a man who had, earlier in the mission, declared that 'she was a stygian whore who he'd rather see dead than as his commanding officer'

When asked why she would risk herself for such a man, her reply was simply 'It is a commander's duty to do her best to ensure all under her command get back alive and healthy.' Outside of what she deems as the duty of command, she rarely if ever socializes with others. Some deem this as yet more evidence that she finds herself better than the rest of them, while others think she's merely protecting those who might be her friends from negative repercussions that follow her. Miriam herself hasn't said anything about it.

Miriam is a creature of ritual. During certain events and at the beginning and end of the day she prays to Overack. At the end of the day (be it when they finally camp or when she finally goes to bed at night) she brushes her hair and hums her mother's song softly to herself. Before battle she'll recite one of her father's poems to herself. So on so forth.

Biography/history: Miriam was born in Westhaven to a Shaitan Djinni and a human mother. Her father made magical artifacts, selling them to the highest bidder, while her mother taught defense and combat classes to anyone who was willing to learn. They made no secret of her mother's worship of Overack, and their help and volunteering with the community overshadowed the negative connotations associated with that.

For sixteen years she lived a happy life with her family, learning her father's craft and her mother's skills. Her father crafted rings that had fire glowing in them, earrings that shone with inner light, necklaces that had water flowing through them, so on so forth. On her 10th birthday he made a hairbrush for her, glowing and swirling with inner fire. Her mother would brush through her hair with it, humming a soft soothing song. Her mother gave her her first dagger when she was 12, beginning to teach her the ways of combat. When she was 16 her father gave her the sword she carries to this day.

That lasted until the Stygian Blades launched an attack on Westhaven when she was 16 years old, leaving nearly a hundred civilians dead and dozens of military personnel. People were angry, confused, and scared. They needed to lash out, strike back at their enemies. Miriam's family offered the perfect opportunity for that. The mob that stormed their house numbered in the hundreds, demanding that they offer themselves for justice. Miriam was terrified, on the verge of paralyzing fear, when her mother knelt in front of her and smiled reassuringly. She put a ring into her hand and closed her fingers around it. "Overack protects the strong. You must be strong Firefly." Tears streaming down her face, Miriam nodded, and watched as her mother walked out to faced the angry mob.

For the first time since she had known her mother, Miriam saw her use her power as a Cleric of Overack. "Stop." Her voice boomed across the crowd, silencing them all and freezing them in place. Her power seemed to radiate through the city. Miriam and her father nearly stopped themselves. Her mother surveyed the angry crowd, cold power seeming to practically ooze off of her. She opened her mouth to command them once more, perhaps to go home quietly, when the bullet caught her in the head. Miriam screamed as her mother fell to the floor, dead, and the mob charged the house. A wall of flames blocked entrance as her father sealed the entrance to their homes. He turned and gave her a pained smile, putting her dagger and hairbrush into her hands. "Run Miriam. Run long and run fast. I love you my dancing Firefly."

Miriam ran as her father turned to face the crowd, flames erupting off of him as he burned the crowd by the dozens. By the time he fell, the charred corpses packed the street and fires raged through their neighborhood. She didn't know how long she ran, or how far but she eventually stopped, out of breath and terrified, pressing her back against the wall. It was then that she first prayed to Overack, whispering to him for power and guidance. She would never be weak again, not while he was by he side, not if he gave her a chance.

Overack answered her prayers, having the Stygian Blades find her and imbuing her ring with power. She was taken to the Westhaven Cell and inducted into the Blades. From that point on she trained. She devoted her entire being, her entire will, to gaining power, to never being weak enough that she couldn't save her loved ones again. She moved from city to city, helping the Blades as well as she could. As her powers and skills increased, she rose through the ranks quickly, earning a commanding position. She operated exclusively against military in Galendar, detesting the terrorist actions that the Blades would take. She started making plans to seize control of the Blades, gathering like minded individuals.

It was around this time that she started weakening the Blades from within. Missions would go disastrously wrong, resulting in the death of Blades. High ranking members would be assassinated, seemingly in accident or on mission. But the rate was at a far faster than they were capable of. Miriam suspected another group was operating within the Blades. They couldn't find any evidence, but none of their members died, so she left it be.

After a few years she was approached by Adela Laska. Laska had another faction, perhaps the very faction that had been operating years earlier, and would help Miriam. All she requested in return was that they split control of Stygian Blades together. Miriam agreed, and they began working together towards the goal of reforming the Blades into a better organization. It worked for a while, until Adela was executed by her own squad.

The attack was sudden and swift, far to swift and sure to have been anything other than betrayal. She was expecting it to happen at any moment, and planned for it. If they were willing to kill Adela, they would be more than willing to kill It was on a mission through Angel's Fall through the slums when they tried to kill her. Most of her squad attempted to empty their clips into her, while the few left loyal attempted to defend her. Miriam managed to escape as her loyal men died, hiding in the slums of Angel's Fall. While the Blades began looking for her to eliminate her, she seized control of several of the local street gangs. Either through force of arm or her magic, she amassed a small army to counter her former allies.

When they came to root her out, she was ready. The Blades moved in, only to find Miriam and her gangs dug in. What should have been a simple assassination was turned into a drawn out bloodbath. The slum was turned into a warzone. The city guards attempted to restore order, only to find themselves beat back by either the gangs or the Blades. Eventually the Tower Knights were called in to restore order, lead by no other than Christian Highfell himself. The Knights, with help of Miriam's gang, eliminated the Blades. By the end of it, Miriam was left with no followers and brought before Christian himself. She requested to be let into the Tower, explaining what had happened to her. When asked why they should let her, her reply was simple.

"If I could hold off the Blades with just a small host of street thugs, imagine what I could do with trained Knights of the Tower."

Allowed to join the Tower, she rapidly climbed the ranks to her position, even when Highfell disappeared. The new Mistress of Stars, it was whispered, used Miriam to solidify her control and helped her rise through the ranks. These were only rumors, however, with no proof to back them up.

Reason for recruitment: Power.

Strength of Will: Greater

Magic:

Illusion

Bend the Knee- Miriam forces her will upon another, weaker individual, making them obey her. She strictly avoids doing this on her fellow knights and other allies as, strangely enough, people tend to avoid you and refuse to work under you if you're given to forcing them to obey.

Demoralize- Miriam's presence begins to frighten the enemy, making them less and less willing to keep fighting.

Rally- Miriam marshal's her allies, restoring energy, banishing any temporary negative effects (curses, illusions, fear spells, etc) in a 10 foot radius.

Conjuration

Banner- Miriam conjures and plants a banner in the ground, claiming 30 feet as her's and her allies'. In it, she and her allies are 2x faster and stronger, while her enemies are slowed and weakened.

Avatar- Miriam conjures a projection of herself, allowing her to, if necessary, survey the battle from afar while still aiding her allies.

Necromancy

Raise the Fallen- Miriam can heal the wounds of foes who have recently fallen in battle, just before their souls pass on, binding them to her will and making them fight for her.

Divination

Bird's Eye View- Miriam can scan the surrounding area from a bird's eye view, gaining a lay of the land.

Force

Elemental traits- Miriam can take on the traits of various elements. Earth to make her skin hard as stone and increase her strength, at the cost of slowing her down. Air to increase her speed and agility, at the cost of making her far lighter. Water to increase her flexibility and reflexes.

Fire elementalist- With her Fire Mark, Miriam can generate and manipulate fire.

Ring of Dominion- The ring her mother gave her, black steel with the symbol of Overack in the center, this is the source of her powers except for her fire magic.

God relations: Miriam is deeply devoted to Overack and his ideals, worshiping him regularly and proudly wearing symbols of her faith, despite all the negative reactions it gains her.

Tech:

Blade Armor- Armor made for her when she was in the Stygian Blades, this armor doubles her speed and strength, augments her her fire magic (through the gem in her chest), and has shield flowing over it that protects her unarmored head and hands. It can take a decent amount of damage, but not enough to survive a protracted fight.

Flame Sword- A magical blade that channels Miriam's fire magic through the precious gem on it, and can cut through most metals. It is one of her most prized positions.

Possessions/items/property:

Small house- A small one bedroom house, just off the edge of Tower properties. It is layered in magical alarms and protections, in case the blades come after her again.

Hair Brush- Her hair brush that her father made her, glowing with trapped fire. She takes it with her wherever she goes. It is layered in magical protections as well, to prevent it from being broken.

Skills:

Combatant- Miriam is a skilled combatant, especially swordplay, knowing people respect physical power before they respect anything else.

Intelligent- Miriam is very intelligent, able to remember most of what she sees and hears and make plans on the fly.

Athletic- Especially in combination with her elemental abilities, Miriam is an extremely athletic individual, be it at straight running or a perilous chase through a crowded city.

Commander- Miriam is skilled at commanding squads and dealing with everything that comes along with it.

Disciplined- Miriam has nearly complete control over herself, with almost nothing shaking her calm demeanor.

Misc: Miriam is skilled at painting, the patience required appealing to her.

Knighthood (Closed)

Whoooops.

Made a mistake.

Knighthood (Closed)

Lugen

Name: Lugen Sult.

Alias/Nickname: Anvil

"Call me Anvil. Lugen reminds me of my old life. New life, new me right?"

Rank: Knight (Lugen has absolutely no desire to climb the ranks, despite how long he's been with the tower)

Appearance:

In armor

face

He stands at 5 foot 10 inches.

Age: 80

Race: Cambion

Personality: Crude, crass, and loud, Lugen doesn't have a filter. He curses, makes lewd remarks, and snickers at his own inappropriate humor. He always has a smirk or a grin on his face, as if he knows a joke you don't, even when his body is healing from horrific wounds. This doesn't change when it comes to missions, or anything that most people would expect him to be professional about.

Lugen is cheerful to everyone, even those who aren't to him. No reason for him to be an asshole, even if they are.

Biography/history: Lugen's first memory is of pain. Just enough to be agonizing, but not make him incapable of moving. It's always been that way, and it always will be that way till the day he dies. When he was younger, his mother would soothe him whispering sweet nothings about how he was destined for greatness. As a Demon of Unvaris, she would know. He was destined for great things, things that would shake the corners of the world.

Or so she kept telling him at least.

It soothed him, and made the pain seem less, made it seem like it had a point. His mother was all he had in those early years. His father had never been around. Lugen didn't know whether or not he had ran off or never been a willing participant to begin with. Regardless, he wasn't around and no one else was either. All he had was his mother. She took care of him, and they kept largely to themselves in a city Lugen doesn't even remember anymore. They kept like this till Lugen was 12 years old. Then his mother declared that they were heading to a new city, that she had business to take care of there. So they packed up and left the home, ending up in Veilhome.

Once they had been set up in the city for a week, she told Lugen that she had some business to take care of and that she would be back before nightfall. On the 5th day Lugen went to look for her. On the seventh he was hopelessly lost, but still searching. He stopped counting after the twelfth, and stopped looking soonn after. He was only 12 and lost in a city that wasn't going to be kind to him. He managed to scrape by for four more years, when something that was both a blessing and a curse happened. He was grabbed by two strange men and dragged to what would become his home for the next 64 years. The Pit.

It was an underground fighting arena, where two unfortunate souls were thrown in and told to fight to the death. The winner got to live to fight another day. The loser was thrown into a garbage heap and disposed of. Those who didn't want to fight were killed, either by their opponents or the ones who had dragged them into the arena. So Lugen fought. He didn't want to die, and that desire to live far outweighed his reluctance to kill other people. Lugen had three advantages over all the rest of his competitors. He could heal from his wounds,any pain they could inflict on him was practically nothing to the pain that he lived with his entire life, and if they pushed him to far he could go berserk and finish them. As Lugen fought, he began to pick up a few things. If you didn't react to pain, or reacted the opposite of how they expect you to, it unnerved enemies.

So Lugen laughed. He chuckled. He sang. He did everything to show his opponents that they weren't hurting him. They weren't even coming close to hurting him. He became a legend in The Pit, a great draw of crowds. The screamed and howled, placing their bets and cheering as he killed yet another poor soul, chanting his name as he went back into his cell. That was his life for decades. Get up, kill someone, go back to the cell, stitch up those wounds he didn't want to have his healing factor waste energy on or that would take to long with the healing factor alone, repeat. It seemed like he was doomed to be down there forever, cursed by his mother's blood, till he finally fell to an opponent. Fortunately for him, whoever owned the Pit kidnapped the one person.

What they thought had been another homeless beggar was really the drunken son of a local merchant lord, lost on one of his many binges. He didn't last long in The Pit. The merchant lord found out where his son had been taken, and killed, and then contacted the Tower. He wanted the Pit destroyed, and everyone who had something to do with it killed. The Tower was all to happy to oblige. They sent a squad to the location given, and they cleaned house.

Fortunately for Lugen, they did it just as he ended his last fight. One moment he was walking back into his cell, the next he was looking around in confusion as gunfire and explosions rocked the thing that had been his home for several decades. It was being attacked by these 'Knights of the Tower' as he heard someone scream out. For a moment, he was paralyzed by surprise. Then he took his opportunity and scrambled out of the hell hole. He started running and didn't look back. Freedom at long last was his, and he wasn't going to go back into that life.

It took Lugen exactly three days to figure out that if you do something for sixty plus years, it becomes the only thing you're good at. He wasn't good at anything other than taking hits and hitting people in return. He needed a mercenary group to work for, someone that would actually pay him to do what he'd been doing his entire life. A group that wasn't filled with complete bastards. He recalled the group that had destroyed the Pit and, after some asking around, found out where they were located. Within a day, he was heading towards Angel's landing.

It didn't take much effort to get into the Tower. He simply informed them that he could take almost anything they threw at him and get back up from it, especially if they gave him training and equipment to increase that toughness. After a few demonstrations, he was allowed in.

That was ten years ago, and since then Lugen has had absolutely no desire to climb the ranks. He knows what he's good at and what he isn't. He's good at punching things and keeping enemy off of his teammates, and not much else. He's not good at giving commands and being in charge. Leave that to some other poor bastard.

Reason for recruitment: He wanted to get paid for what he did best.

Strength of Will: Greater

Magic: Lugen's magic is fueled by his pain. The more pain Lugen feels, the more magic he can cast. The stronger the pain, the stronger the spells. Too strong of pain, however, results in him going into a berserk rage.

Lugen is skilled in two types of magic, and has a spell or two in a couple others.

Abjuration

Shield Creation- Lugen can raise a magical shield wall at a max of 36 feet high, 30 feet long or create a small curved shield dome in front of him as small as six feet high and five feet across.

Shield Dome- Lugen can create a magical dome that is at it's highest 10 feet and 6 feet wide.

Body Shield- Lugen can cover his body in a shield of magical energy, increasing his already impressive durability.

Impenetrable Shield- Lugen surrounds someone in a shield of energy that is nigh invincible. The downside is that it immobilizes whoever he casts it on. Used primarily to protect injured or downed allies.

Healing factor- Lugen has a natural healing factor, allowing him to recover from serious injures fast enough to get back in the fight. What should take months takes minutes. This is done in the most agonizing fashion, of course.

Pain Transference- Lugen can take on the pain be it (emotional, physical, or psychological) another is feeling, freeing them of it for a time.

Wound Transference- Lugen is extremely reluctant to use this spell, as it necessitates that whoever he casts it on shares in the agony he feels every waking moment, but he can take on the wounds someone else has. It leaves them completely healed, and him with their previous wounds.

Conjuration

Spirits of Protection- Lugen summon up to three spirits that can cover his allies with energy shields.

Elementals- Lugen can summon a minor elemental of any of the elements. These elementals are of the humanoid variety, though of very low power and highly annoying to most people. They like Lugen because he puts up with them, and he often bribes them with things they like so that they'll help. He exclusively uses them for utilities such as scouting, lighting a fire on a wet day, illuminating a pitch black room, etc etc.

Spirit of Empowerment- Lugen can summon a spirit that converts his pain into energy and power for his allies.

Watchful Eyes- Lugen can create three creatures (without any weapons). They're primarily for companionship and screaming very loudly and terrifyingly if someone not pre-approved by Lugen or his group (Like a fellow knight or paladin, for example) approaches the campsite. They have a 360 degree 'sensing aura' thus making it almost impossible to sneak up on them without magical aid.

Spirit of Transferance- Lugen can summon a spirit that can transfer his physical attributes to an ally, at the cost of leaving him with that lessened trait. He can make an ally stronger, faster, tougher, better eyesight, etc etc, but leave himself weaker, slower, more easily damaged, or with worse eyesight.

Pain Constructs- When Lugen is driven berserk by pain, he can use all the agony he has to create weapons, extra limbs, armor, whatever he needs to destroy whomever happens to be his current target.

Illusion

Aggro Channeling- A passive spell Lugen activates whenever entering combat, all of Lugen's enemies find themselves with an insistent and strong desire to focus their attacks on him and no one else.

Force

Pain Rage- When Lugen reaches the extremely high limit of pain he can take (almost exclusively reached in severe combat situations where he has already been 'killed' several times), he goes into a berserk rage. In this rage, his speed, strength, and reflexes triple. His body simply can't keep up with this, however, his bones break and shatter, his muscles rip and tear, and his body generally breaks down at an alarming rate, even as he throws himself heedlessly at the enemy. His nanomachines and natural healing factor keep him from dying every time this happens, but not by much. He can only keep the rage up for two minutes at most, then he collapses and slowly recovers, barely able to walk.

God relations: Lugen, when he bothers to think about it, is confused on exactly who he should worship. On the one hand, his mother is a Demon of Unvaris. So his powers come directly from it. However, he hates his mother (which, he supposes, is another thing that connects him to Unvaris) and laughs a lot and enjoys life (mostly to spite the pain he deals with) which is a tenant of Seyardil. But since it's only to spite pain, is it really truly following it? He doesn't know, and prefers not to think about his connections to Gods.

Tech: In addition to his cybernetic arm and eye, Lugen has a few other interesting toys.

B.E.S.S- Lugen's gun, BESS (an abbreviation of Lugen's title for it; Big Explosive Shit Shooter), is a heavy ordinance weapon. It has two firing modes. A mode for firing armor piercing explosive .50 caliber rounds, fully automatic, for when Lugen needs to shoot things without blowing himself up. A mode for firing RPGs, for every other occasion.

P.A.M- Lugen's AI. The Predictive Aiming Module is connected both to Lugen's robotic eye and his nanomachines. She (for Lugen insisted upon having a female orientated AI), controls and dictates where his nanomachines go and gives him predictions on where enemy attacks are going to land so he can adapt accordingly, enabling him to react faster in battle. She can also have the Nanomachines forcible freeze his body in place, should he start to turn on allies while in a berserk rage.

Nanomachines- Lugen's body is filled nanomachines that are intimately connected to his physiology. Their only purpose is to keep him in the fight longer and get him back on his feet faster. This, coupled with his natural healing factor, is what makes him so hard to put down. With his Nanomachines, Lugen can recover from wounds that would kill most other mortals. They can even reattach severed limbs, though regrowing a new one is beyond them (as evidenced by his robotic arm). All of their healing is done in the most agonizing fashion, of course. PAM can flood them to the surface of his skin, hardening and making it extremely difficult to pierce his skin or armor. This, unfortunately, stops all healing on his body while active, as the flesh simply refuses to be moved back into place.

Penance Armor- Lugen's Armor. It is of the highest quality, able to resist a huge variety of attacks, both magical and technological, with ease. It is sealed against outside threats (such as poisonous gas, radiation, EMP, etc etc) and is connected to Lugen's Nanomachines, allowing them to repair it when damage does get done to it. It is also connected to his nervous system, meaning Lugen feels pain whenever it gets hit or damaged.

Doubling his physical attributes (speed, strength, reflexes, etc etc), it has 3 inch spiked knuckles that Lugen can use to their full vicious potential. On it's right wrist it has a harpoon that can shoot up to 300 yards. On it's left wrist it has a very similar set up, the only difference being instead of a spike on the end of the harpoon it has a claw that tightly grasps whatever it comes in contact with.

Possessions/items/property: Lugen owns an arena on the outskirts of Angel's Landing. The product of ten years worth of missions funds and hard work, he uses it as a legitimate version of The Pit. Volunteer fighters go in and get a portion of the proceeds from the betting. There are healers on standby, and one simple rule of no killing. It's become quite popular in the slums as a way to make quick cash (either by fighting or betting) and have a sporting even to watch your favorite fighters go toe to toe. Lugen diverts part of the proceeds to Kirane's animal clinic, a place he visits often.

Aside from that, Lugen lives at the tower and keeps most of his items on him.

Skills:

Tank: Lugen's entire combat strategy and skills revolve around getting the enemy's attention, and then shrugging off or getting back up from any and all attacks thrown at him. He can take almost any damage and get back up, laughing.

Nanomachines, son: Lugen, when necessary, can control and direct the nanomachines in his body, even if they leave his body, albeit far less effectively than his AI.

Defensive Mage: Lugen is skilled at defending both himself and his allies, keeping himself and them alive in the face of horrendous damage.

Brawler: Lugen has been in hundreds of fist fights, but calling him skilled would be a stretch. He simply keeps going until either his enemy or he can't keep going.

Battlefield Medic: After decades of patching himself up, Lugen is skilled at fixing injures that occur over the course of a battle. Just don't expect him to do any surgery beyond 'dig the bullet or blade tip out', 'reset the bone', and 'amputate the limb'.

Misc:

Lugen is followed by a bowling ball sized animal he has named 'Scruffy'. Scruffy started following him a couple years ago, despite Lugen's best attempts to shoo him away or at least keep him locked at home with the other animals, and has been his stalwart travelling companion ever since. Lugen suspects he has magical abilities, as Scruffy is never seen by any enemies or hurt by any combat or dangerous situation he's in, always reappearing when they've stopped for the night and imperiously taking place in Lugen's lap.

Limitations

The Best offense is a good defense- Lugen is incredibly tough to put down and keep down. His healing factor, coupled with his nanomachines, make him get up in seconds from things that should have killed him. That being said, he's severely lacking in offensive capabilities. He can shoot BESS and punch things, but unless he purposefully damages himself as much as possible (thus activating his berserk rage), he's not going to be taking out stronger opponents. He's good at taking hits, not dishing them out.

Fueled by Pain- Lugen's magic comes from his pain. If you get the sufficiently large amount of chemicals or magic into him to numb him completely you take away his magic entirely. Even if you don't get the right amount, you still weaken his magic considerably if you lessen his capacity to feel pain.

Miriam

Name: Miriam Lanthan

Alias/Nickname: Domina, Miri, Firefly.

"True power is the only way to protect yourself and what you care about. And I will seize it by any means necessary."

Appearance: This is her and her armor. She stands at 7ft 3in with red eyes. Her hair is normally kept in a bun when she's on mission. Her skin is only a shade darker than white, the light grey tone often getting her confused for merely a very tall human. Her elemental mark of fire is at the base of her throat.

Age: 100

Race: Shaitan Djinni

Rank: Knight Captain

Personality: Depending on how nice of a person you talk to, descriptions of Miriam range from 'Proud and confident' too 'Arrogant bitch.' Radiating confidence and proud in her ways, Miriam's steely disposition and unshakably calm demeanor often causes her fellow Knights and subordinates to rankle. She doesn't care if you respect her or her faith, but you will respect her rank and her ability. Her demeanor doesn't change while on mission, keeping her focus going until the end. It has been noted several times that she goes to great lengths to protect and help those in her squad, one noted instance throwing herself in front of a man who had, earlier in the mission, declared that 'she was a stygian whore who he'd rather see dead than as his commanding officer'

When asked why she would risk herself for such a man, her reply was simply 'It is a commander's duty to do her best to ensure all under her command get back alive and healthy.' Outside of what she deems as the duty of command, she rarely if ever socializes with others. Some deem this as yet more evidence that she finds herself better than the rest of them, while others think she's merely protecting those who might be her friends from negative repercussions that follow her. Miriam herself hasn't said anything about it.

Miriam is a creature of ritual. During certain events and at the beginning and end of the day she prays to Overack. At the end of the day (be it when they finally camp or when she finally goes to bed at night) she brushes her hair and hums her mother's song softly to herself. Before battle she'll recite one of her father's poems to herself. So on so forth.

Biography/history: Miriam was born in Westhaven to a Shaitan Djinni and a human mother. Her father made magical artifacts, selling them to the highest bidder, while her mother taught defense and combat classes to anyone who was willing to learn. They made no secret of her mother's worship of Overack, and their help and volunteering with the community overshadowed the negative connotations associated with that.

For sixteen years she lived a happy life with her family, learning her father's craft and her mother's skills. Her father crafted rings that had fire glowing in them, earrings that shone with inner light, necklaces that had water flowing through them, so on so forth. On her 10th birthday he made a hairbrush for her, glowing and swirling with inner fire. Her mother would brush through her hair with it, humming a soft soothing song. Her mother gave her her first dagger when she was 12, beginning to teach her the ways of combat. When she was 16 her father gave her the sword she carries to this day.

That lasted until the Stygian Blades launched an attack on Westhaven when she was 16 years old, leaving nearly a hundred civilians dead and dozens of military personnel. People were angry, confused, and scared. They needed to lash out, strike back at their enemies. Miriam's family offered the perfect opportunity for that. The mob that stormed their house numbered in the hundreds, demanding that they offer themselves for justice. Miriam was terrified, on the verge of paralyzing fear, when her mother knelt in front of her and smiled reassuringly. She put a ring into her hand and closed her fingers around it. "Overack protects the strong. You must be strong Firefly." Tears streaming down her face, Miriam nodded, and watched as her mother walked out to faced the angry mob.

For the first time since she had known her mother, Miriam saw her use her power as a Cleric of Overack. "Stop." Her voice boomed across the crowd, silencing them all and freezing them in place. Her power seemed to radiate through the city. Miriam and her father nearly stopped themselves. Her mother surveyed the angry crowd, cold power seeming to practically ooze off of her. She opened her mouth to command them once more, perhaps to go home quietly, when the bullet caught her in the head. Miriam screamed as her mother fell to the floor, dead, and the mob charged the house. A wall of flames blocked entrance as her father sealed the entrance to their homes. He turned and gave her a pained smile, putting her dagger and hairbrush into her hands. "Run Miriam. Run long and run fast. I love you my dancing Firefly."

Miriam ran as her father turned to face the crowd, flames erupting off of him as he burned the crowd by the dozens. By the time he fell, the charred corpses packed the street and fires raged through their neighborhood. She didn't know how long she ran, or how far but she eventually stopped, out of breath and terrified, pressing her back against the wall. It was then that she first prayed to Overack, whispering to him for power and guidance. She would never be weak again, not while he was by he side, not if he gave her a chance.

Overack answered her prayers, having the Stygian Blades find her and imbuing her ring with power. She was taken to the Westhaven Cell and inducted into the Blades. From that point on she trained. She devoted her entire being, her entire will, to gaining power, to never being weak enough that she couldn't save her loved ones again. She moved from city to city, helping the Blades as well as she could. As her powers and skills increased, she rose through the ranks quickly, earning a commanding position. She operated exclusively against military in Galendar, detesting the terrorist actions that the Blades would take. She started making plans to seize control of the Blades, gathering like minded individuals.

It was around this time that she started weakening the Blades from within. Missions would go disastrously wrong, resulting in the death of Blades. High ranking members would be assassinated, seemingly in accident or on mission. But the rate was at a far faster than they were capable of. Miriam suspected another group was operating within the Blades. They couldn't find any evidence, but none of their members died, so she left it be.

After a few years she was approached by Adela Laska. Laska had another faction, perhaps the very faction that had been operating years earlier, and would help Miriam. All she requested in return was that they split control of Stygian Blades together. Miriam agreed, and they began working together towards the goal of reforming the Blades into a better organization. It worked for a while, until Adela was executed by her own squad.

The attack was sudden and swift, far to swift and sure to have been anything other than betrayal. She was expecting it to happen at any moment, and planned for it. If they were willing to kill Adela, they would be more than willing to kill It was on a mission through Angel's Fall through the slums when they tried to kill her. Most of her squad attempted to empty their clips into her, while the few left loyal attempted to defend her. Miriam managed to escape as her loyal men died, hiding in the slums of Angel's Fall. While the Blades began looking for her to eliminate her, she seized control of several of the local street gangs. Either through force of arm or her magic, she amassed a small army to counter her former allies.

When they came to root her out, she was ready. The Blades moved in, only to find Miriam and her gangs dug in. What should have been a simple assassination was turned into a drawn out bloodbath. The slum was turned into a warzone. The city guards attempted to restore order, only to find themselves beat back by either the gangs or the Blades. Eventually the Tower Knights were called in to restore order, lead by no other than Christian Highfell himself. The Knights, with help of Miriam's gang, eliminated the Blades. By the end of it, Miriam was left with no followers and brought before Christian himself. She requested to be let into the Tower, explaining what had happened to her. When asked why they should let her, her reply was simple.

"If I could hold off the Blades with just a small host of street thugs, imagine what I could do with trained Knights of the Tower."

Allowed to join the Tower, she rapidly climbed the ranks to her position, even when Highfell disappeared. The new Mistress of Stars, it was whispered, used Miriam to solidify her control and helped her rise through the ranks. These were only rumors, however, with no proof to back them up.

Reason for recruitment: Power.

Strength of Will: Greater

Magic:

Illusion

Bend the Knee- Miriam forces her will upon another, weaker individual, making them obey her. She strictly avoids doing this on her fellow knights and other allies as, strangely enough, people tend to avoid you and refuse to work under you if you're given to forcing them to obey.

Demoralize- Miriam's presence begins to frighten the enemy, making them less and less willing to keep fighting.

Rally- Miriam marshal's her allies, restoring energy, banishing any temporary negative effects (curses, illusions, fear spells, etc) in a 10 foot radius.

Conjuration

Banner- Miriam conjures and plants a banner in the ground, claiming 30 feet as her's and her allies'. In it, she and her allies are 2x faster and stronger, while her enemies are slowed and weakened.

Avatar- Miriam conjures a projection of herself, allowing her to, if necessary, survey the battle from afar while still aiding her allies.

Necromancy

Summon the Fallen- Miriam can raise up to six slain foes to fight for her once more as spectral warriors.

Divination

Bird's Eye View- Miriam can scan the surrounding area from a bird's eye view, gaining a lay of the land.

Force

Elemental traits- Miriam can take on the traits of various elements. Earth to make her skin hard as stone and increase her strength, at the cost of slowing her down. Air to increase her speed and agility, at the cost of making her far lighter. Water to increase her flexibility and reflexes.

Fire elementalist- With her Fire Mark, Miriam can generate and manipulate fire.

Ring of Dominion- The ring her mother gave her, black steel with the symbol of Overack in the center, this is the source of her powers except for her fire magic.

God relations: Miriam is deeply devoted to Overack and his ideals, worshiping him regularly and proudly wearing symbols of her faith, despite all the negative reactions it gains her.

Tech:

Blade Armor- Armor made for her when she was in the Stygian Blades, this armor doubles her speed and strength, augments her her fire magic (through the gem in her chest), and has shield flowing over it that protects her unarmored head and hands. It can take a decent amount of damage, but not enough to survive a protracted fight.

Flame Sword- A magical blade that channels Miriam's fire magic through the precious gem on it, and can cut through most metals. It is one of her most prized positions.

Possessions/items/property:

Small house- A small one bedroom house, just off the edge of Tower properties. It is layered in magical alarms and protections, in case the blades come after her again.

Hair Brush- Her hair brush that her father made her, glowing with trapped fire. She takes it with her wherever she goes. It is layered in magical protections as well, to prevent it from being broken.

Skills:

Combatant- Miriam is a skilled combatant, especially swordplay, knowing people respect physical power before they respect anything else.

Intelligent- Miriam is very intelligent, able to remember most of what she sees and hears and make plans on the fly.

Athletic- Especially in combination with her elemental abilities, Miriam is an extremely athletic individual, be it at straight running or a perilous chase through a crowded city.

Commander- Miriam is skilled at commanding squads and dealing with everything that comes along with it.

Disciplined- Miriam has nearly complete control over herself, with almost nothing shaking her calm demeanor.

Misc: Miriam is skilled at painting, the patience required appealing to her.

Two characters finally ready.

The Search for Elvarren

Pup

Pup had been busy yesterday. Going with Jay and Luci to the river, grabbing her hatchet on the way out, she had wandered the edge of wood looking at branches. Finding one that was acceptable, she sat with her back against a tree and began carving and shaping the branch, humming as she did so. As Luci began to clean the rabbits he had slain, Pup commandeered the skins left behind. She left him to the actual cooking and use of the meat, piling the skins next to her as she continued to work on the branch. She stayed behind as the other two left, concentrating on finishing her branch. It was an hour before she returned to the cabin, still humming lightly to herself and carrying more carved pieces of wood.

She dropped two pairs of rabbit skin mittens and a rabbit skin hat on the rickety table. "They're not very durable, but they'll help keep those of us who weren't prepared warmer. I'll see about making more actual clothes for this weather once we get something bigger killed. Like a deer or bear." With that, she walked over to the fireplace, and quickly started a fire. With that settled, she sat down and began humming again, working intently upon her pile of wood.

Hours passed with Pup not moving from her position next to the fire, humming and carving away. Occasionally she would mutter to herself, a curse or something to remember later, then lapse back into silence. She passed time like this late into the night, finishing the longbow and beginning to work on the rest of her wood. Fafnir perched on the mantle above the fire place, until sometime in the middle of the night, she looked up at the noises outside the cabin. "Fafnir, dear, could you go check that out? I'd rather not be ambushed by anyone tonight." The dragon trilled an affirmative, flying outside of the door. In a few minutes, he returned, trilling in alarm. "Whoa, whoa Fafnir slow down. What do you mean an unconscious bear? Right outside our cabin? We can't just leave it there."

Pup put aside what she had been working on, and stepped outside, following Fafnir to the darkness. What she saw made her freeze in place. The bear had gotten up and was wandering groggily around. "You said it was asleep Fafnir." She hissed under her breath, not daring to move. Relax. The real threat is gone. This thing isn't coherent enough to hurt you. What does that mean? Answer me! P didn't say anything more.

Fortunately for Pup, the bear had wandered off while she was angrily asking P to elaborate herself. Shaken, and thoroughly hoping that she was able to get a good night's sleep before it all hit the fan, she went back inside and laid against her backpack. Her project wasn't done, but that didn't matter. She needed sleep.

Dawn, when Kaesar leads in the new comers

Pup looked up from her project, she was busy putting the finishing touches on the wooden crossbow, and smiled at the newcomers. "Welcome!" She looked over the girl and frowned. "We're going to have to get you warmer clothes. Sit down by the fire if you're cold, I keep it going all day. If you have any questions pertaining to the voices in your head, your strange powers, or why you're being pursued by creepy men in the Grey Suits, no one here knows. Not even Dusk, and he brought us here. Hell, we're all practically strangers. Well, except for Dusk and Aries. I gather that they've known each other far longer than the rest of us have." She turned her attention to the cabin at large, gesturing to the unstrung longbow in the corner. "Does anyone happen to know how to shoot a longbow accurately? I made one last night, but the last time I touched one was ten years ago and it'll take me a while to get good with it. It's got about a 40lb draw weight if you're curious."