SillyGoy

World of Chaos - Fantasy Crossover Invasion RP

The Greater Japanese Empire

Origin:
An extremely successful game of Hearts of Iron III. This is the world by November 29, 1947.

And here it is by March 24, 1949.

Faction Type:
Empire

Leader:
Major General Kozuki Yoshio

Civilian Population: 514

Faction Rank:

Color:
Red

Assigned GM:

Starting Area:


Faction Introduction:

The Rising Sun

When the Japanese Empire geared for total war against the Allies in 1939, everyone, even herself, expected only moderate success. Though guarded by only colonial infantry, there was no doubting the impregnability of the fortresses of the East Indies nor the ferocity and skill of the cooperating British, French and Dutch navies. China, after the encirclement of most of her professional army near Menjiang and the surrender of the People's Republic, had mostly been child's play after that - an avenue with which to test new and experimental mobility-oriented doctrines and tactics. Japanese generals did not expect to perform the grand encirclements that saw tens or even hundreds of thousands of the enemy trapped and helpless at once; facing Perfidious Albion's notoriously tough soldiers in the jungle was different from surrounding demoralized Chinese conscripts. So when Japan declared war upon the Allies in June of 1940 and announced her alignment with Germany, she braced herself for painfully slow, grinding warfare across South East Asia. But instead, she slapped the world across the face and rendered it - and also herself - absolutely stunned:

She conquered Australia by 1942.

Then took Outer Manchuria and East Siberia from the Soviet Union in 1943.

Then annexed India in 1944.

Then drove up through Persia, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, even Palestine in 1945, before taking the Suez Canal and landing an army directly into Rome to liberate Italy from British occupation in 1946. Mussolini laughed as he was returned to power. Photos of German, Italian and Japanese troops shaking hands in Florence were on the front page of every newspaper in the world. What a time to be alive.

Japanese soldiers, the rank-and-file, did not contemplate overmuch the ridiculous successes that held so much of the international audience in awe and disbelief. Veterans and recruits alike contentedly said it was because of His Divine Majesty's deeply enlightened rule and left it at that. Those of higher rank and better perception of the strategic image shook their heads, however. There were so many lucky breaks along the path of this glorious conquest, like when the Australians underestimated the presence of the Imperial Navy and attempted to land 50,000 troops to retake New Guinea, only for those poor souls to drown as the air groups of six carriers bombed and torpedoed their transports and escorting vessels, halving their entire homeland defense force and utterly crushing their whole surface fleet. Or when the Soviets clearly had enough firepower to break out of the Vladivostok pocket, but didn't, simply out of doubt. They instead waited patiently for an attack that never came, allowing the Japanese to reinforce, before surrendering on the verge of starvation.

While intellectuals might ponder about the alternate histories of such close-cut scenarios where the defeated simply did slightly better and won, Japan no longer had to rely on fickle luck to assert or expand her dominance. For the year is now 1947, and with her industry completely mobilized for war and for so long, she almost rivals the output of her returning trading partner, the United States. The new American president, Truman, had reworked the foreign policy of the dysfunctional Roosevelt administration and restored the commerce and friendliness with Japan that had been lost in that regrettable embargo. Supercharged by American steel and oil, the dockyards at Sasebo, Kure and Tokyo can now work on five carrier hulls at once while Mitsubishi's new factories churn out A8 Fubuki aircraft and Chi-Ri medium tanks by the dozens every day for the Empire's scattered but still undeniably mighty military.

The Allies are on the verge of collapse. Britain lost 250,000 men in Italy and 350,000 in Spain, unable to evacuate them in the style of Operation Dynamo due to Japanese battle fleets patrolling the Mediterranean. Churchill's popularity wanes but he is desperate to reclaim their once glorious empire. Meanwhile, in the east, Stalin fights on four fronts. While the Red Army may have pushed back the Germans all the way to Poland, the Japanese invasion via the Caucasus and Central Asia were nasty surprises that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. Forced to divert divisions from the Western Front to these two new theaters, the Red Army at Hitler's doorstep falters and is slowly being pushed back again by a tired but determined Wehrmacht. The end of an era is nigh. The Axis victory is inevitable, absolute, and breathtakingly near.

Gateway in Egypt

The Japanese invasion of Egypt was a quick, albeit strange one. It had taken only a week and met only comparatively light resistance, specifically a veteran infantry division. Japanese intelligence and high command never questioned the far-off placement of so prestigious a unit as the 19th Mountain and brushed it off as mere British incompetence until their captured officers began to talk. And what they said was very, very interesting. Intriguing enough to pull back the 27th "Kyoku" Infantry Division from its redeployment to the Caucasus.

Interrogation had become an art form for Japanese intel divisions. Gone were the truncheons and the bamboo stakes that went under prisoners' fingernails until they howled out unit movements and troop compositions. Instead, there was food and plenty of hospitality designed to guilt the weary enemy into leaking information, and the method was very, very effective. It wasn't long until the British began talking of a secret weapons facility in the Upper Nile and the Japanese sent agents to investigate. When this was confirmed, a team of specialists was sent to secure the area. Turned out that they weren't needed, however. The facility's meager garrison and craven scientists put their hands up as soon as the commandos made themselves known.

Unlike the other major powers of the war, Japan never enamored itself with superweapons. Nuclear research was slow, and jet engines, even in 1947, were still in the prototype stage. After RADAR, it was thought that there was little else to invent and that energy should be redirected to refining existing technology. As such, the Japanese infantryman boasted the latest assault rifle, and the armored crewman sported the fastest, heaviest and the most deadly tank. Officer's manuals were thick and comprehensive, and watching an offensive on the operational level was like seeing a ballet. However, Japanese pilots and their A8's, much to their frustration, could only fight defensively against Gloster Meteors while outperforming Me 262's swooped in for the kill. And in the sea, the Royal Navy's acoustic torpedoes were making merry hell on Japanese merchant shipping and even the destroyer escorts sent to counter them.

These facts encouraged Japan to hasten their secret nuclear and jet engine research projects, but what they saw in that underground bunker complex in upper Egypt rocked their military's scientific community and forced them to rethink their conservative philosophies. British scientists, having no personal interest in the war other than government funding and actually possessed of right-wing beliefs, spoke freely of their work. There, in the deepest layer, in a massive cavern that could double as the perfect secret staging area, was a shimmering portal. Octagonal in construction, 5 meters across and the same length high, the structure was claimed to lead to another world. The commandos' CO scoffed, until he ordered a handful of British personnel escorted by some of his men into the supposed "wormhole," as one egghead called it. When he reported back to high command, an immediate spate of new Japanese personnel flooded into the complex within the month. Doctors, researchers, scientists and their families - construction workers to expand the place and even soldiers of the 27th "Kyoku" Infantry Division. With the facility's staff expanded or otherwise replaced, their task is now to understand the science, replicate the engineering, and to explore the alternate reality to determine its readiness for colonization.

Faction Features:

The Greater Japanese Empire is currently on an exploratory - but heavily armed - stance regarding Worluk. Filtering through the portal will be scientists, botanists, cartographers and other such researchers guarded by crack infantry. They are currently in the process of fortifying the gate's entrance on both sides, and 1/3 of the 27th Infantry Division is planned to be permanently based in Worluk's side of the gate.

The Empire's armed forces have all the features of a startlingly well-equipped and technologically advanced military in the immediate post-World War II era, except for two vital things: one, conscription was abolished in 1936 and since then all men in uniform have been volunteers, not draftees; two, training standards never dropped as Japan entered the war because army size was never an issue with the defeat of the Chinese. These lead to better morale and discipline overall.

The Axis are winning the war. The current date is November 29, 1947. Britain will surrender by June 22, 1948. The Soviet Union will surrender by March 24, 1949, ending the Second World War. Japan never performed an attack on Pearl Harbor and so the United States has been and will continue to be peaceful throughout the bloody conflict. As fronts are taken away, the Empire will send more troops to safeguard and expand Project Chrysanthemum and the alternate reality it leads to.

Project Chrysanthemum is currently building a larger portal on the surface and laying down tracks to link the facility to Egypt's rail network. When these infrastructure improvements are complete, the Empire will be able to field an entire army into Worluk. They should be finished within eight months.

Military:

Members of the 12th Infantry Regiment during Operation Downfall in China, October 21, 1939

27th "Kyoku" Infantry Division:
As of now, His Divine Majesty has allocated only the 27th Infantry Division for the protection of Project Chrysanthemum and the exploration of the alternate reality. European Operations High Command will send more units as necessary. The 27th Infantry is a veteran division with participation in the Chinese, Javanese, Australian, Indian, Persian, Middle Eastern and Italian Liberation campaigns. Composed of the 11th, 12th and 29th Infantry Regiments, and supplemented by the 1st Motorized Support Brigade, the division numbers 10,000 men in total.

The Division is only semi-motorized. Its vehicles are used primarily for transporting supplies and equipment rather than troops.

Due to the subterranean location of the portal, the Division is having difficulty transporting supplies and heavier equipment into Worluk. As such, the first combat units to cross over can be considered as light infantry, operating without equipment heavier than Type 11 Grenade Dischargers or Type 6 HMG's.

27th "Kyoku" Infantry Division Inventory:

25,520x Assorted Infantry Grenades
10,812x Type 6 Assault Rifle
2,504x Type 5 Service Pistol
2,248x Type 6 Machine Gun, Light Variant
1,636x 75mm Type 5 Rocket-Propelled Anti-Tank Projector
868x Type 6 Machine Gun, Heavy Variant
798x Type 11 "Knee Mortar" Grenade Discharger
596x 81mm Type 99 Mortar
66x 4cm Type 7 AA Gun
54x 150mm Type 97 Infantry Mortar
55x 88mm Type 99 AA/AT Gun
16x 15cm Type 96 Howitzer

350x Trucks
800x Bicycles

This Chaotic World - Crossover Invasion RPG

Knock, knock. Who's- BANZAI!

The Greater Japanese Empire

Origin:
An extremely successful game of Hearts of Iron III. This is the world by November 29, 1947.

Faction Type:
Empire

Leader:
Major General Kozuki Yoshio

Faction Rank:

Color:
Red

Assigned GM:

Starting Area:


Faction Introduction:

The Rising Sun

When the Japanese Empire geared for total war against the Allies in 1939, everyone, even herself, expected only moderate success. Though guarded by only colonial infantry, there was no doubting the impregnability of the fortresses of the East Indies nor the ferocity and skill of the cooperating British, French and Dutch navies. China, after the encirclement of most of her professional army near Menjiang and the surrender of the People's Republic, had mostly been child's play after that - an avenue with which to test new and experimental mobility-oriented doctrines and tactics. Japanese generals did not expect to perform the grand encirclements that saw tens or even hundreds of thousands of the enemy trapped and helpless at once; facing Perfidious Albion's notoriously tough soldiers in the jungle was different from surrounding demoralized Chinese conscripts. So when Japan declared war upon the Allies in June of 1940 and announced her alignment with Germany, she braced herself for painfully slow, grinding warfare across South East Asia. But instead, she slapped the world across the face and rendered it - and also herself - absolutely stunned:

She conquered Australia by 1942.

Then took Outer Manchuria and East Siberia from the Soviet Union in 1943.

Then annexed India in 1944.

Then drove up through Persia, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, even Palestine in 1945, before taking the Suez Canal and landing an army directly into Rome to liberate Italy from British occupation in 1946. Mussolini laughed as he was returned to power. Photos of German, Italian and Japanese troops shaking hands in Florence were on the front page of every newspaper in the world. What a time to be alive.

Japanese soldiers, the rank-and-file, did not contemplate overmuch the ridiculous successes that held so much of the international audience in awe and disbelief. Veterans and recruits alike contentedly said it was because of His Divine Majesty's deeply enlightened rule and left it at that. Those of higher rank and better perception of the strategic image shook their heads, however. There were so many lucky breaks along the path of this glorious conquest, like when the Australians underestimated the presence of the Imperial Navy and attempted to land 50,000 troops to retake New Guinea, only for those poor souls to drown as the air groups of six carriers bombed and torpedoed their transports and escorting vessels, halving their entire homeland defense force and utterly crushing their whole surface fleet. Or when the Soviets clearly had enough firepower to break out of the Vladivostok pocket, but didn't, simply out of doubt. They instead waited patiently for an attack that never came, allowing the Japanese to reinforce, before surrendering on the verge of starvation.

While intellectuals might ponder about the alternate histories of such close-cut scenarios where the defeated simply did slightly better and won, Japan no longer had to rely on fickle luck to assert or expand her dominance. For the year is now 1947, and with her industry completely mobilized for war and for so long, she almost rivals the output of her returning trading partner, the United States. The new American president, Truman, had reworked the foreign policy of the dysfunctional Roosevelt administration and restored the commerce and friendliness with Japan that had been lost in that regrettable embargo. Supercharged by American steel and oil, the dockyards at Sasebo, Kure and Tokyo can now work on five carrier hulls at once while Mitsubishi's new factories churn out A8 Fubuki aircraft and Chi-Ri medium tanks by the dozens every day for the Empire's scattered but still undeniably mighty military.

The Allies are on the verge of collapse. Britain lost 250,000 men in Italy and 350,000 in Spain, unable to evacuate them in the style of Operation Dynamo due to Japanese battle fleets patrolling the Mediterranean. Churchill's popularity wanes but he is desperate to reclaim their once glorious empire. Meanwhile, in the east, Stalin fights on four fronts. While the Red Army may have pushed back the Germans all the way to Poland, the Japanese invasion via the Caucasus and Central Asia were nasty surprises that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. Forced to divert divisions from the Western Front to these two new theaters, the Red Army at Hitler's doorstep falters and is slowly being pushed back again by a tired but determined Wehrmacht. The end of an era is nigh. The Axis victory is inevitable, absolute, and breathtakingly near.

Gateway in Egypt

The Japanese invasion of Egypt was a quick, albeit strange one. It had taken only a week and met only comparatively light resistance, specifically a veteran infantry division. Japanese intelligence and high command never questioned the far-off placement of so prestigious a unit as the 19th Mountain and brushed it off as mere British incompetence until their captured officers began to talk. And what they said was very, very interesting. Intriguing enough to pull back the 27th "Kyoku" Infantry Division from its redeployment to the Caucasus.

Interrogation had become an art form for Japanese intel divisions. Gone were the truncheons and the bamboo stakes that went under prisoners' fingernails until they howled out unit movements and troop compositions. Instead, there was food and plenty of hospitality designed to guilt the weary enemy into leaking information, and the method was very, very effective. It wasn't long until the British began talking of a secret weapons facility in the Upper Nile and the Japanese sent agents to investigate. When this was confirmed, a team of specialists was sent to secure the area. Turned out that they weren't needed, however. The facility's meager garrison and craven scientists put their hands up as soon as the commandos made themselves known.

Unlike the other major powers of the war, Japan never enamored itself with superweapons. Nuclear research was slow, and jet engines, even in 1947, were still in the prototype stage. After RADAR, it was thought that there was little else to invent and that energy should be redirected to refining existing technology. As such, the Japanese infantryman boasted the latest assault rifle, and the armored crewman sported the fastest, heaviest and the most deadly tank. Officer's manuals were thick and comprehensive, and watching an offensive on the operational level was like seeing a ballet. However, Japanese pilots and their A8's, much to their frustration, could only fight defensively against Gloster Meteors while outperforming Me 262's swooped in for the kill. And in the sea, the Royal Navy's acoustic torpedoes were making merry hell on Japanese merchant shipping and even the destroyer escorts sent to counter them.

These facts encouraged Japan to hasten their secret nuclear and jet engine research projects, but what they saw in that underground bunker complex in upper Egypt rocked the Japanese military's scientific community and forced them to rethink their conservative philosophies. British scientists, having no personal interest in the war other than government funding and actually possessed of right-wing beliefs, spoke freely of their work. There, in the deepest layer, in a massive cavern that could double as the perfect secret staging area, was a shimmering portal. Octagonal in construction, with the gateway 5 meters across and the same length high, it was claimed that it lead to another world. The commandos' CO scoffed, until he ordered a handful of British personnel escorted by some of his men into the supposed "wormhole," as one egghead called it. When he reported back to high command, an immediate spate of new Japanese personnel flooded into the complex within the month. Doctors, researchers, scientists and their families - construction workers to expand the place and even soldiers of the 27th "Kyoku" Infantry Division. With the facility's staff expanded or replaced, task is now to understand the science, replicate the engineering, and explore the alternate reality to determine its readiness for colonization.

Faction Features:

The Greater Japanese Empire is currently on an exploratory - but heavily armed - stance regarding Worluk. Filtering through the portal will be scientists, botanists, cartographers and other such researchers guarded by elite infantry. They are currently in the process of fortifying the gate's entrance on both sides, and 1/3 of the 27th Infantry Division is planned to be permanently based in Worluk's side of the gate.

Military:

Members of the 12th Infantry Regiment during Operation Downfall in China, October 21, 1939

27th "Kyoku" Infantry Division:
As of now, His Divine Majesty has allocated only the 27th Infantry Division for the protection of Project Chrysanthemum and the exploration of the alternate reality. European Operations High Command will send more units as necessary. The 27th Infantry is a veteran division with participation in the Chinese, Javanese, Australian, Indian, Persian, Middle Eastern and Italian Liberation campaigns. Composed of the 11th, 12th and 29th infantry regiments, and supplemented by the 1st Motorized Support Brigade, the division numbers 10,000 men in total.

The Division is only semi-motorized. Its vehicles are used primarily for transporting supplies and equipment rather than troops.

Due to the small size of the portal, the Division is having difficulty transporting supplies and heavier equipment into Worluk. As such, the first combat units to cross over can be considered as "light infantry," operating without equipment heavier than Type 11 Grenade Dischargers or Type 6 HMG's.

27th "Kyoku" Infantry Division Inventory:

25,520x Assorted Infantry Grenades
10,812x Type 6 Assault Rifle
2,504x Type 5 Service Pistol
2,248x Type 6 Machine Gun, Light Variant
1,636x 75mm Type 5 Rocket-propelled Anti-Tank Projector
868x Type 6 Machine Gun, Heavy Variant
798x Type 11 "Knee Mortar" Grenade Discharger
596x 81mm Type 99 Mortar
66x 4cm Type 7 AA Gun
54x 150mm Type 97 Infantry Mortar
34x 88mm Type 99 AA/AT Gun
16x 15cm Type 96 Howitzer

340x Trucks
800x Bicycles

This Chaotic World - Crossover Invasion RPG

This is absolutely interesting. Hold on while I get my faction up.

Combat-centered High-Fantasy w/Modern elements Stat-Supplemented Roleplay

I'm really interested in playing this, but I don't think I can commit to co-GMing.

Blood in Their Wake (First application, first serve!)

Well.

Will YOU Survive? - a different kind of zombie apocalypse RP

This is a very interesting concept. Count me in!

Blood in Their Wake (First application, first serve!)

Here's my character, boss.

Esca

Name: Esca

Aliases: None

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Physical Appearance:

Esca is a lean man of short brown hair, dark brown eyes, fair skin and average musculature. His face, triangular in shape and with mildly gaunt cheeks, would be much more square if it weren't for his starvation during his enslavement, and it would seem that his body weight has not yet recovered from that ordeal. Scars feature prominently all over his thin body, from lash marks on his back to red rings around his wrists and ankles, which he does best to hide, donning always long trousers and long-sleeved shirts. Standing at 5'9" and weighing 74 kilograms, this Havish Legionnaire would be considered as painfully average were it not for his incredible willpower that only a former slave of the Dark Elves could have.

Esca wears poorly-crafted chainmail (hundreds of rings instead of thousands) into battle, underneath of which is a well-padded, long-sleeved gambeson. His iron helm is framed by cloth aventails dyed red as the rest of his clothing. A kite shield obscures his lower left arm and a sheathed arming sword hangs serenely from his belt. Boots of cracked hide wrap comfortably around his feet and calves. His legs are covered by trousers of spun cotton.

Wealth Class: Lower

Weaknesses, Drawbacks and Limitations:

• Esca is reserved and would rather keep to himself, making the development of camaraderie difficult

Skills and Talents:

• Warrior Bondsman: During his tenure as a slave, Esca did not just perform domestic duties, but military ones as well. He's fought back numerous slave revolts as the Dark Elves' authority in the city of Lune deteriorated, before joining one himself as the Havish approached.
• Unbreakable: His flesh may be sundered, but Esca's mind cannot. After what the Dark Elves put him through, he has a measuring stick long enough that most horrors, when compared to its scales, are found wanting.
• Sure-footed: Navigating labyrithine dungeons of Lune has given Esca an unparaelleled sense of direction and place. It is almost impossible for him to get lost.

Psychological Profile:

Of all the races in the world, none of them draw Esca's ire as much as the Dark Elves. It was them who raided his village, slaughtered his family, and put a collar around his neck. They pressed him into servitude and acted upon their twisted, infamous debaucheries on his adolescent body. Only by good behavior was he able to escape castration and experimentation by their alchemists. With seemingly no way to escape this fate, the coming of the Havish shone a light upon Esca's dark world, and he jumped at the chance to murder his captors in the closing stages of the siege of Lune, when the attackers had surmounted the walls and opened the gates. It is no surprise then that he bears a deep hatred for Dark Elves and their cousins of lighter heart and complexion.

Spending his adolescence in chains, Esca has learned to be tough and independent - and his emotions stymied. While he can empathize with fellow humans well, especially those who have experienced slavery, he has a hard time sympathizing with the plights of other races.

In battle, Esca is ruthless and merciless, and his skewered moral compass does not hold him above rape and looting. In more peaceful times, he is reserved and a little taciturn. There is little question of his efficacy as a torturer if he ever assigned the post.

History/Bio:

Esca was born and spent most of his childhood in the village of Mudain, as a son to Lowa and Dultan, and as a brother to Tyril and Anna. Brought into the world during tumultuous times, it was only a matter of time till war would come along his doorstep, and it visited his humble village in the form of a Dark Elven raiding party when he was nine years old. They were looking for slaves, and though Mudain's warriors fought back valiantly, there was only so much that iron and arrows could do to defend against moonsilver and magic. Mudain fell, and the harvest as terrible: all of Esca's immediate family aside from Anna were killed in the chaos. The two children joined the caravan as fresh slaves with collars around their necks, but the wagons split along the highway, with Anna going one way and Esca another. He would never see his sister again.

Esca was then brought into the city-state of Lune. The Elven raiders were independent of the city and made their living hunting for slaves and going around the region selling to any who had the coin. Lune was an especially profitable spot due to the high turnover rate of the enslaved, and Esca was bought for a measly half-silver. And so, he was thrown into the dungeons.

Life as a slave was tough, but guidance from those lucky enough to last for years substituted for that of his deceased parents. Esca learned to be tough and perfect in his duties, for any minor mistake learned a whip-lash or worse. And so he suffered, crying out against fate but lacking the tools to defeat it. He cleaned the palace grounds, attended to minor nobles, and served as a footstool on one occasion. At age 14, he was considered fit enough to serve as a cockslave, but was unattractive by Elven standards. To this day, Esca is thankful that he never had to perform such tasks.

He was a slave until 21. The formation of the Havish Empire was a loud one, and for years there was talk amongst the slaves of the nation that would come and liberate them from the oppressive Dark Elves. On the eve of his 21st birthday - although Esca had long since forgotten the day he was born - trumpets and drums sounded in the distance, thousands upon thousands of men surrounded the high walls, and the siege of Lune began.

It lasted for five months. As food stores began to dwindle, no bread was given to him and his fellow slaves at all. Mood soured greatly, and the Elves sufficiently weakened at this point, Esca was among those who stormed the battlements and opened the Gate of Moon's Tidings to allow the Havish Legions in. Chucked a sword at by a Legionnaire, Esca also helped to storm the Palace of Infinite Pleasures, and saw himself the summary executions of the hated Warlock Council. Esca has kept the sword since.

Free of bondage then, Esca, along with many other slaves, immediately hounded a sergeant into accepting them into the Legions. After an afternoon of trying to find the General in charge, he received his patches, and relished in the fact that he was no longer Esca the Slave, but Esca the Legionnaire.

Relationships:

• Lowa (deceased): mother
• Uldan (deceased): father
• Tyril (deceased): brother
• Anna (enslaved, wherabouts unknown): sister

Other:

With nothing but dungeons to look at for many years, Esca loves exploring the outdoors, to the point where he might go missing for a few minutes, but he always manages to get himself back.

Hey @Kryosky, Faust and Esca's backstories are really similar. Think they might know each other?

Fantasy rp reboot

This seems interesting. I'll join it.

Blood in Their Wake (First application, first serve!)

Are you guys still accepting? I'd like to join.

Path of the Hunter [SillyGoy & Damiann47]

"Hold," Albert said, raising a cautionary hand. Meanwhile, he examined the approaching stranger with scrutinizing eyes. "By the looks of your garb, it doesn't seem like you're one of the villagers over there, but whatever your business here, stranger, you best not linger. There's a beast here that means to kill, and I'd rather not have it catch your scent."

Her scent. Monster hunters, being a unique caste and culture on their own, had developed magical and alchemical methods to alter the human body that it could function beyond the limits of the norm. The cat school may have placed emphasis on eyesight and hearing, but by no means were the other senses ignored. His nose was keen indeed, and sharp enough to differentiate the myriad smells that wafted in the air with varying vividness. The stranger's scent, it picked out shortly, and Albert found that she smelled distantly of autumn trees and the watery blooms alongside a lake. The flavor was mysterious and cryptic to his olfactory receptors, but then again, everything else about her screamed 'foreign,' from her loose-fitting garments to the polearm strapped across her back. Could it be that the girl came from Fuso?