Shisa

Blood, Riches and Glory: Ghosts of Iron Coast

"Then let us sally forth," announced Serpica, patting Al on the back and pointing him in the direction he should go, "over yonder!"

The tiny Lamia felt like a real adventurer, now. A real adventurer on a real adventure, to get her trash back from that girl that took all the best spots. With Serpica's directions, they were able to make their way quickly through the city to the area Serpica had essentially been muscled out of. Her eyes narrowed, and she looked around a bit before spotting the girl along with a group. A group? That wasn't good.

"Her," Serpica hissed, leading Al towards Pyria. The two appeared as if ghosts from the gloom: a tall man with a sword as big as a person slung across his back, and a tiny Lamia in an over-sized long coat attached to his shoulder, leading a single dingy horse-driven cart along the roadway. As the two approached, Serpica attempted to dramatically fling the coat to the ground to reveal her identity to her rival. The coat was quite heavy, however, and Serpica was no longer clinging to Al. Thus, she fell to the side squeaking fearfully as the coat dropped to the floor, and she hung on Al's arm upside-down by the tail.

Quickly, Serpica's hands shot to the hem of her burlap dress to protect her modesty, and she shivered violently in the cold. Quickly, she used her powerful tail to right herself and she clung to Al's arm once again. Serpica smiled smugly, having revealed her full form. Her ratty burlap dress still had the word 'POTATOES' on it from when it was a sack for potatoes.

"You," she hissed, pointing at Pyria, "you stole all the good garbage! Well, I have a big brother now! You'd better apologize!"

Serpica's eyes darted between the orphan girl and the two new women she was surrounded by.

"N-no matter how many new big sisters you have! We're adventurers now, so we're the toughest in the whole town!"

Blood, Riches and Glory: Ghosts of Iron Coast

Serpica sighed as the warm coat draped over her small form and warded her against the biting cold. Her snakelike eyes drooped, and she considered taking a nap right there on Al's arm. For a minute her breathing grew softer, and she hissed pleasantly, her forked tongue quickly darting outside her lips.

"Thisss isss nissse," she murmured, drifting off. But no, wait! Serpica was a busy girl! There was no time for naps!

The Lamia's eyes shot open suddenly, filled with determination.

"Before we go, I need to settle some business," the girl informed Al seriously, "for the past couple of weeks, another girl has been horning in on my turf."

Serpica's eyes narrowed, and she glared at a distant enemy.

"She's been taking all the good garbage for herself, and leaving me to scavenge scraps elsewhere. She's about my age, so I didn't know if I could beat her. With you to back me up, though, we can give her a good scolding!"

Serpica patted Al on the back and laughed haughtily.

"I'll direct you! We'll find her, and teach her not to go taking other people's trash without permission!"

Blood, Riches and Glory: Ghosts of Iron Coast

In a seedy, filthy alleyway in Actium, the shivering little Serpica removed a few loose bricks from one of the walls, thereby revealing a small crevice. Her small hands reached into the darkness one last time, and she retrieved her few meager possessions. Not quality goods, to be certain, but each and every last piece of garbage inside that wall meant everything to the small Lamia.

Her broken rocking horse, Black Thunder, was already inside Al's cart. Serpica still wasn't certain why the man would allow her to come with him. She didn't even know why he would accept her in the first place. But that didn't matter. What mattered is that for the first time, after talking and sharing an excellent soup made of boot leather, Serpica felt wanted. Not just tolerated, but wanted.

Serpica removed a stale crust of bread. Only recently had she acquired it, but it was the least fungal crust she had ever laid eyes on. She turned back to Al, smiling, and said, "We can share it later! Let's have it with the left over soup."

She returned to the hole, and removed her most precious treasure. It was the shiniest, smoothest pebble she had ever found in her ten years roaming the city. Just holding it and rolling it around in her tiny hands made her feel more at ease. She clasped the treasure close before reaching back in and pulling out a deck of cards. Over the years, Serpica had been picking up spare cards, and she almost had a full set. To her, each and every card was a memory. Next, she pulled out a tiny sock. Perhaps her luckiest find, this sock was just the right size to cover the very tip of her tail snugly. She didn't really know if this made her any warmer or not, but it certainly felt like it did. Lastly, she grabbed Anna, a small square of burlap filled with tiny rocks. This was her favorite doll, and the third member of their adventuring group.

Serpica slithered over to the man, still trembling from the cold, and placed each precious object into the cart adjacent to him. She then grabbed onto his arm, and coiled her tail around it.

"It's cold," she murmured, hugging the man's arm tight. She had no idea until today that Humans were quite so warm.

Or maybe it was just Al.

Blood, Riches and Glory: Ghosts of Iron Coast

@Frengo Alright, you do make fair points, but as you've invited me to state my case, I believe I'll do so.

Okay, I got a little problem with Serpica. See, it looks like she and her friend fancey themselves a shot at claiming that prize money; however, given that she has no combat skills makes the whole thing seem a little odd. I mean, Iron Coast is crawling to the brim with monsters, and she wants to travel across a dead landscape to put down a powerful Wraith? Is she suicidal?

@Frengo

Combat skills? Perhaps not, but being a street urchin all her life has given her an excellent mind for geography and the flow of cities. It's established that Al has no sense of direction, and as the two are a duo, her presence is important in this regard. Not to mention, the man has little money. Being adept as scavenging in an urban environment for free food and shelter is a skill that can't be accurately quantified, but whose importance should not be understated.

As for her reasons, we'll have to go into the mind of a terrified, abused little street rat. Nobody loves you, you don't consistently have food or shelter, and what little money you manage to scrounge together is more often than not stolen by people stronger than you. You have nothing to lose but your meaningless life, and you have everything to gain. You can make a difference and save the empire, earn real money for once in your life, sleep in a real bed with real food, and perhaps even earn the affection of the populace. You can give your life meaning for once. If you want impetus, then there it is.

She seems better suited to a comedy or a drama, where as this RP is grounded in the idea that at some point the "heroes" will need to kill stuff. Maybe take her back to the drawing board and give that girl some teeth?

@Frengo

If need be, Serpica can strangle someone with her tail. Perhaps not the best tool against the undead, but it is something. For the most part, however, she'll be relying on Al to do most of the work while she stays in back. She wouldn't know how to use a weapon to start, but over the course of the campaign she could probably learn to use a crossbow at least.

Also, how common are these snake people? They seem a little on the ghoulish side of things, so it would be nice to know if they're common throughout the Empire, or if people look at them as a disgusting minority.

@Frengo

They are somewhat ghoulish, and I think that they would absolutely be an uncommon race. I'm certain that she's faced prejudice for it before, but I believe in the overall goodness of Humanity. She's been kicked around plenty, but she's also been helped begrudgingly by those with an ounce of pity. Or piety, perhaps.

But let it be known that I am a kind GM. If you wish to keep her as she is, then now's your chance to state your case and I'll take it under further consideration. Preferably though, she wants to be able to have a realistic prospect of surviving more than 24 hours outside the walls of Campus Magnus!

@Frengo

In closing, I doubt she could last even a couple of hours outside a city by herself with the roving undead, but together with a strong adventurer who is ostensibly able to make these travels just on his own, her chances increase exponentially. As long as she stays near, of course.

Beyond the Boundary

Not to be outdone by Al and Noah, Haruka also picked out a few random books to bring to the table. A confused expression crawled over the girl's face as Al mentioned her guts, and she touched her belly tentatively.

"I did not know they could do such things as tell me where to finding the treasures and informations," she said, her eyes widening.

Then the man started patting her head for some reason, and her tail wagged furiously.

"This petting happens much to me. I am not knowing why, but it is fun!"

Turning back to Noah, she began answering the boy's questions as a good senior should.

"Ah, yes, master was killed by a westerner," she answered, nodding, "with a blade of blackest obsidian."

Haruka reached into a pouch and retrieved a small black chip.

"It is like puzzle, yes? But prize is revenge murder," she said, smiling as that other girl from dinner entered the room. A relation of Lord Chris, maybe. She enthusiastically raised her hand after Emilia finished speaking.

"I am Haruka from dinner," she chirped, "we seek for books with valuable treasures and obsidian blades if you have them maybe!"

She waved the chip at Emilia.

Blood, Riches and Glory: Ghosts of Iron Coast

Name: Serpica

Age: 10

Gender: Female

Race: Lamia

Race Overview: A creature with a human upper half but a snakelike lower half below the waist. Lamia have strong jaws that they can unhinge, a forked tongue, slit pupils, and sharp fangs. Their tails are very strong.

Titles: That Tiny Lamia Hobo on Third

Appearance: Serpica is a small Lamia girl with tan skin and long black hair pulled up into twintails with wire she found (Thereby giving her three tails total). She wears a dress made out of a burlap sack over her body (The pinnacle of street fashion), and has slitted amber eyes. Her thick tail is a black, scaled affair with an off-white bottom like many snakes. Her fangs tend to stick out over her lower lip, and she is quite filthy most of the time.

Weapons: None.

Steed: Black Thunder (A broken wooden rocking horse)

Abilities: Is a Lamia.

Talents:
Serpica knows all the best dumpsters, especially for food.
She is very cute, despite filth.
She can put away a surprisingly large amount of food.
Iron stomach from eating garbage.
Very good at solo card games.

Magic: None

Backstory: Serpica grew up as a homeless orphan in Actium. She never knew her parents, and relied on herself and the kindness of strangers to make it through life. She survived however she could day to day, digging clothes and food out of the trash, and entertained herself with broken toys and stray animals. Then, one day, a fellow hobo took her in and made her into an honorary adventurer. Her life was about to change.

Starting Location: Actium

Beyond the Boundary

Just as planned, Haruka ended up following Noah as he went out the door. The library was surprisingly easy to find and, when they had made their turn into it, Haruka blurted out, "Turning here," and then grinned. Now for certain Noah and Al would think that she knew all along where it is, like a real senior.

Haruka's eyes widened and her tail wagged back and forth furiously as she looked around at the multitude of books. Haruka did not particularly like books, but it was still the most she had ever seen in one place, and was thus quite impressive. She was certain that the wealth of knowledge contained within this library would help many people. Haruka as well, if she found something good.

Haruka stared with a look of appraisal at a random book case to seem impressive as Noah addressed the two.

"No, I have not coming to the far north in search of lost temples before," answered Haruka, her ears drooping slightly, "I am much new to this thing. I have being busy with the adventures looking for revenge murder until now."

Beyond the Boundary

Haruka smiled and waved at Lexine as she left. She seemed nice, so maybe Haruka would ask her about stuff if she was perplexed, which she often was. Lexine seemed like a senior to Haruka, like almost everyone except for Noah, so she was certain that she could rely on the girl. For now, however, Haruka was enjoying being older than someone on an adventuring team.

"Yes, yes," Haruka replied, "I can show you my fighting. It is not so much secret, but it takes much devotion! I have been doing The Fist Through Which the Sun Breaks for my nineteen years of life with the best teacher in the entire world, and only recently have I learned most of the techniques. I have not even been mastering half of them! You do not need to be giving me food, but you can. Please. I would like many meats."

Haruka nodded sagely. It was tough training, and Haruka was even a natural trained by the best! She still had much to do, but if this boy wanted to learn from her, it was her duty as his senior. And also she liked meat foods. She smiled when Noah mentioned that they may find more like her on their journey, and Haruka's tail began fluttering back and forth quickly.

"I also am hoping to find more Haruka peoples! OK, me and Al will to the library with you to find the treasure books for to find treasures with which to buy informations and swords and foods and thats."

Haruka jumped up from her seat energetically, and headed towards the door before turning back and heading towards the door again. She had no idea where the library was because she kind of spaced out a little as she was walking to dinner. She turned back again, and would continue doing so until someone who looked like they knew where they were going went ahead of her. It would be embarrassing, after all, to ask someone directions when she was supposed to be a reliable senior.

Beyond the Boundary

Haruka listened attentively at the introductions of the others. Haruka liked strawberries and fighting things, so she bet she would get along well with Al. Not many others gave much more than their names, which was a shame because Haruka wanted to know more about her new traveling companions. The young one, however, seemed talkative enough. Haruka smiled wide, and her tail began wagging vigorously as the child showed an interest in her. Finally, a cohort that was younger than she was! All her life everyone was always her senior, especially the monks, but this time Haruka was the big one! She would surely deposit much of her senior knowledge onto this boy, and he would learn well from her.

"Hello, Noah! Yes, The Fist Through Which the Sun Breaks is name of a martial art I do," replied Haruka excitedly, "It sounds much nicer in my normal speaking, but still it makes the body much strong! Is very complicated to explain, but I can do much exciting things."

Haruka had to ponder a bit on the second question, but seemed to give up a couple of seconds in and reply.

"Yes, yes, I have always been this way! I have not met others who have the ears and the tail, but the monks tell me I may be a good omen. A child of the sun goddess, that was sent to them for faith! I am not so much special, I think, but I am glad! Monks are very nice peoples!"

Then, with the widest, most self-aggrandizing grin the dog girl could muster up, she added, "You seem good, so if you are in trouble, you can ask me advices! I am your senior, so please relying on me! Much wise I am being."

Haruka proudly stuffed more meat into her mouth.

Beyond the Boundary

Haruka continued shoveling food into her awaiting maw with the vim and vigor of a starving puppy, because that is basically what she was. She kept her ears open for lord Chris's informations, but it seemed like nothing she could not handle. Wild animals were easy, and nomadic cannibals didn't sound too tough. A giant, as the younger, more female Chris pointed out, might be a fun fight though.

Then, one of the others introduced themselves, which made Haruka remember her rudeness. She had forgotten to introduce herself to everybody! She quickly raised her hand and announced to all present.

"Yes, please forgiving my rudeness! I am Haruka Taiyo, and I come from far east on high mountain! I am here to get informations to trade for informations about the man who killed my master, so I can track him down and murder him. I like the color yellow, and am student of The Fist Through Which the Sun Breaks. I will spend time before the leaving to train, maybe. It is good to meet you, Sage, and I look forward to working with everyone!"

Haruka bowed politely to all present, and extended her hand to Sage as westerners do when meeting someone.