SillyGoy — Roleplayer Guild

@AtomicNut

Fourteen, she said. So it seemed as if his estimation wasn't off the mark. It didn't serve to alleviate Harold's ongoing confusion however, so his reply was a curt and resigned "Okay."

He looked left and right, sweeping his gaze across the entire room and silently judging his squadmates-to-be while thinking of a reply to offer to the Sigma's offhand question. They all looked confused or anxious or both, though Harold was no exemption. The crying girl, Elora, as she introduced herself, looked as if she really had no place here. Serah, too, but for another reason. But then again, he reasoned, this was no conventional military unit. This was a batch that dealt in experimental weaponry. Harold wasn't sure whether to be worried or to be honored.

But hey - it's not like he didn't ask for this.

His gaze returned to Sigma's petite form. Her silver hair really caught the eye. She'd be beautiful, thought Harold, if she aged just a bit more. "You were asking why I'm not broken?" he finally asked, regaining his composure from the shock of seeing children. "I saw you eyeing this medal I have here on my chest. Yes, I've fought the Cruxi before. If you're talking about combat fatigue, I'll tell you," he smiled, and then shrugged. "That I don't know. Some men break and some men don't and I suppose some people just don't have the right stuff for fighting."

Harold stepped up, raising his voice to finally introduce himself. "Alright guys, I am Cadet Harold Buell. I graduated as a starfighter pilot from Bastion Alexandria and also participated in its defense some months ago. After that battle, I was promoted to Lieutenant and awarded a Knight's Cross, but due to this and that regarding the Framewerks, I'm back to my trainee rank - Cadet. Yeah, I know - the bullshit Command pulls at times; I'm surprised I even got to keep the medal. Anyway, I pilot the Rostosov. I think it's in this base. It's a heavy mech with big guns and heavy armor."

Then he added, "I've also been in the hospital for a time so I don't know jack about how it works yet. If they're looking for officers among our group - then hell, I spent two years as one and turned a batch of a hundred boys into thirty men worthy of fighting the Aliens as a starfighter instructor. Most of them died, but they died in glory and took at least two Cruxi bastards for each one of them."

It was turning into a speech. He raised his voice just a bit higher. Damn it, he thought - he wasn't good at speeches, but none of his mates-to-be had any combat experience. He felt an obligation to guide them.

"Let me tell you all something about this upcoming battle - the lady and the scientist did not mention that we were supposed to fight each other - correct me if I'm wrong. Since our Frames are all really diverse weapons systems, I don't think it would make sense either for pilots to fight each other. I'm thinking - that our mechs are complementary, that as a group they form an effective battle force, but individually they are weak. Now, I've lead men before, and I've fought before, and I've seen the same thing - really specific units that are useless on their own, but when combined with other specialist weapons systems, make a potent fighting formation. You don't tell a Bomber Squadron to attack a Fighter Squadron because those two types of craft have specific roles in the battlefield. Asking us to fight each other would be exactly as telling Bombers to engage Fighters - pointless."

"So in the case that we're going to be fighting with as opposed to against each other, I'll be able to help you guys. I specialize in piloting but I think I picked up a couple of things from the Marines about surface warfare before I got blown up and my arm got ugly." He rolled back his left sleeve to reveal the scars. "If the opposite happens and we do have to shoot at each other, well - I can't do anything about that. God help us all in that case."

Elina Ruvina, Blood Witch of the Crescent Moon

With skin as pale and delicate as porcelain, silver hair like tresses fashioned from raw moonlight, and eyes as red as blood, Elina could be mistaken for an earthbound spirit, especially as she is fond of long dresses, gothic clothing, and walks in the forest at nighttime. Of middling height for a woman, with serene, almost haunting, ghostly features, she exudes a mysterious aura. Yet she is not unapproachable, as she is ready to smile to anyone - even if she does draw power from death and removed, still-beating hearts. She is lean and thin, though not overly so, and her body's features are small and petite. Strangers may easily mistake her age to be younger than she actually is, much to her dismay.

Solitude, peace and a good book - these three are her foremost likes, and such hobbies do her well as a witch. However, lonesomeness is getting to her, and after her first, spectacular failure of a romance, she longs for another one...

Age: 21
History:

Born to the powerful Reyna Ruvina as a fraternal twin to her sister Vespa, she, from the start, was blessed with magical powers from a long bloodline of witches. Raised in a castle where the servants and household knights were undead and the surrounding environs were black-barked forests, her upbringing was truly luxurious and aristocratic. Pampered but not spoiled by her mother who wished to see only perfection from her children, she developed a quiet resolve to meet her mother's expectations. Homeschooled alongside Vespa, she studied well. But as she aged and the time came, the key to unlock the gate to her powers proved too much for her.

You see, her family is afflicted with a powerful curse. After an ancestor was defeated by a powerful rival, a seal was placed upon her womb that made it so that her descendants could not practice magic. The next few generations after that were magically barren as a result, but a long time has passed and the curse, though still formidable, was now rusted by Time's unstoppable mechanism. In order to unlock her occult potential, a Ruvina needed to do only one simple thing: to kill, and to use her victim's life energy to overpower that of the curse.

A handsome steed or a rare white stag would have sufficed. But mother, oh perfectionist mother, demanded a human life. So she sent the two to a relative who lived among the common folk in a noble's estate and ordered them to gather the sacrifice by any means necessary, and to convince them to return to Ruvina Castle by the next Blood Moon, at which they would be sacrificed. Elina and Vespa were beautiful women of fine breeding, so they attracted the attention of many men. But Elina caught the eye of a Hunter.

Fenros was his name. He was big, scarred in a few places, and rather rough all throughout, but he was kind. His smile was warm and genuine. And whereas others looked at her with lust, his eyes always showed an affection that was surely more genuine. He also killed witches, but he didn't know anything about Elina. So it pained the girl to lie to him time and time again, especially since he was so likable. Their conversations were always bright, and for the first time, Elina truly connected with someone.

But she had to kill him. And she could not take it. They were about to kiss. It was in a beautiful spring night. They stood on a jetty that overlooked a lake whose waters sparkled beautifully under the light of the moon and the stars. Those celestial bodies were witnesses to their love - but also, Elina thought, to Fenros' eventual murder. Guilt shot like lightning throughout her system. Tears began to flow down her cheeks - their lips never met. Elina ran and ran, as fast and as far as her legs could take her. The Blood Moon was just a quarter of a day away and time was running short. Fenros chased her, but could not catch up as she commandeered a horse from her relative's stables and returned to Ruvina Castle.

Elina and Vespa already knew the Ritual by heart so their mother, Reyna, did not see any need to supervise them on this most auspicious day. She returned to the Castle empty handed, and went to the altar deep into the Black Forest blushing and ashamed. Her sister, Vespa, simply could not comprehend her change of heart - Elina was so enthusiastic before they went. In the end, however, she forgave her, and their sisterly love was such that they even shared the same sacrifice: Vespa had somehow gotten the second son of a powerful Baron. Both sisters held the knife's handle together and they drove it into the sleeping man's heart the moment the bells tolled midnight.

As the moon turned red, power surged inside the two sisters, starting from their stomachs and spreading towards their arms and legs, fingers and toes. It was not, however, the overwhelming tidal wave of raptuous pleasure that their mother had promised, for the life energy of the man was split evenly between the two. Still, they were delighted when they cast their first spells, and contracted their first familiars via covenants of blood. They were witches now. But mother was not happy.

She waited in the castle's throne room, leg over the other in an arrogant pose upon the throne like a true royal. Her smile was full of pride, both for herself and for her daughters. Yet she frowned soon, as they told her of what had happened. Reyna then stood up and lashed out, snuffing away every lit candle with the sheer force of her presence. She called them failures, she called them mistakes, and even less than animals. Her ire terrified her daughters, and when she threatened to kill them, they held hands and... simply disappeared. Where to, she did not know, and to this day, she regrets the event.

The two sisters wandered for a time. Just a few months. Eventually, they came upon the Bloodrose Coven who welcomed them with open arms. Glad to have finally found a place to belong, free from Reyna who was more of an overbearing taskmaster than a loving mother, the two are among the most enthusiastic of its members.

Type of Man:

A kind and loving person whose firm embrace, sweet whispers, and powerful passion would keep her warm, comforted and happy in a thunderstorm.

Special Powers:

Blood Magic: A type of dark art that revolves around the aspects of mortality: life, death, blood and sex. Elina is able to use the life forces of sacrificed creatures to grant her boons of almost limitless scope, from temporarily increased physical strength to even outright teleportation. She is also able to draw power from the recently dead, although to a much lesser extent, and to manipulate blood like a hydromancer would water, but not as well: the primary agency of Blood Magic has always been sacrifice; and her greater powers pivot entirely around what and who she kills.

To some extent, she is able to draw power from sexual energy as well. So the efficacy of her spells may also hinge upon who she beds.

Her path of magic grants her a unique affinity to predatory creatures: wolves, snakes, lions and other such large carnivores do not think of her as prey or a threat, but a friend.

Family Members:

Father - An unknown cockslave of good bloodstock
Mother - Reyna Ruvina
Sister - Vespa Ruvina
The za Donnima Family - Magically weak relatives who live among the common folk

Pets/Familiars:

Luna - A common female cat whose fur is completely white. She has been contracted by Elina to be her familiar. She, however, was not given any magical boons, and as opposed to being an agent or tool, she is instead Elina's constant companion.

Vespa Ruvina, Blood Witch of the Full Moon

With tresses as black as night and irises the color of sapphires, Vespa stands with some contrast to her fraternal twin, Elina. The differences don't end there, however. She is a proud, ambitious and driven young woman bent on mastering the secrets of the arcane, although her frame is just as light and as petite as her sister's. A brave girl who is unafraid to speak her mind and rather brusque in demeanor, she is nonetheless possessed of a stout heart - to some degree, as she surely not above human sacrifice to feed her developing powers. Vespa is bright and cheerful, and can be expected to greet one with a smile. Raised as proper lady in an aristocratic house, however, she is no stranger to etiquette, and were she to meet a man worthy enough to take her hand in a dance, he could bring out her softer, slower side: a different face, one that blushes often, smiles shyly, and looks away with embarrassed eyes.

Age: 21

History:

Born alongside her fraternal twin, Elina, to Reyna Ruvina under the auspices that she came out first, her louder newborn cry would never be lost as she grew up and it developed into her bright and brave personality that has been with her since early childhood. Raised in a castle where the servants and household knights were undead, her aristocratic upbringing instilled in her a strong duty to her family and the notion of continual self-improvement. As Vespa grew up and her mother began to expect only the best things from her, the pubescent girl rose to the challenge with a confident grin and a sparkle in her eyes.

So she was more enthusiastic than her sister when the time came to remove the Ruvina Curse and unleash her magical powers. However, the fact that the curse even existed in the first place disgusted Vespa to her very core. She could barely fathom the idea that her ancestor, whose forever shamed name was then long forgotten, was actually so weak to have lost to a rival witch and caused the affliction, which hindered the expression of magical potential, to infect the noble Ruvina bloodline. The Gods' graces were with her family, however, and after several generations the seal had weakened enough that current members of the House of Ruvina could cancel it with an appropriately bountiful blood sacrifice.

Any creature of magnificence would have sufficed, say, a lion, a bear or a pegasus. But Mother wanted only the best of things for and from her children, and so demanded that the key to unlock the gates to their potential be a creature that could similarly attain unlimited greatness: another human being.

To facilitate this task, she and her sister Elina were sent to live in the manor of some distant relatives who dwelled among non-magical, common folk. The sisters were to catch a sacrifice by any means necessary, and as they were more or less confident about their looks, they decided seduction to be the best avenue of approach. Vespa personally hated the whole affair even though it was an important task, for though she mingled with nobles, their auras were frail and weak. Only their egos were strong. She had never been gregarious, living in a mostly empty castle, and so had social difficulties at first. There was also the issue of young men who wanted her so obviously that it made her cringe. The most annoying was a man named Marcus, son of Gaius, the Baron of Aurelius Castle.

He was the noble's second son, which meant that he was nothing, as only the firstborn inherited the lands and the estates and the titles. Blonde of hair and blue of eye, prone to boasting and spouting banter, he flirted with her as if it were a bad play. There was kneeling, roses, and even public declarations of his love which embarrassed her to no end. He'd serenade her from below her window, and would always say that he'd be back tomorrow as she always ignored him. This lasted for weeks, and the whole time she thought of him a fool. Until the day he gave up in the middle of a song and walked away, head held low. Vespa couldn't believe it, but she actually felt horrible. Almost immediately, she rushed down to meet him, which made him smile. For some reason, it made her smile too, and he teased her for it. So she slapped him. But in the end, they developed a conversation - and once the two got to know each other, so did a friendship.

That friendship turned into a romance rather quickly, at the height of a religious holiday where the folk celebrated in a large, festive carnival. Vespa and Marcus drank, sang, and made merry for the whole of the day. And in the night, as the town became sleepy, they sat upon a hill to rest and look at the stars above. The young woman soon came to realize the good traits of the man whom she'd had so much fun with - he was arrogant, sure; but he was sincere, bold and determined to get his way. Under the light of the moon, they held hands. But that wasn't enough for youthful hearts. They kissed.

And then he took her to his bedroom. The moment the door clicked shut, the lock was put in place, and their tongues were intertwined. He held her by her hips, his grip so consciously present to her mind, while she had thrown her arms over his shoulders to wrap around his neck. Buttons and straps were undone as they slowly took off each others' clothes. And soon they were bare, save for their underwear. Her body shone like the finest silver under the moonlight. Marcus told Vespa that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid his eyes on, and she blushed the deepest crimson.

He had guided her to the bed when it hit her. What was she doing? Why was she in-love? Wasn't this man, who hovered before her, who was trailing warm kisses down her stomach, supposed to be but a mere tool in securing her future? And wasn't she supposed to be back at the Castle by now? A crisis developed within her, and she asked for him to stop. Marcus asked what was wrong. Her reply was a clever one: she said that she wouldn't sleep with him until they married. So he clasped his hands around hers and asked her to marry him now.

With her heart being frozen by a suddenly overwhelming sense of duty, she told her that, as a fellow noble and the firstborn of her parents, the final say came to her mother. So they comandeered a carriage and headed straight for Ruvina Castle, which was just a few hours away. Reyna detected their presence the moment they stepped foot upon the outer castle grounds, and came to the front gates with a wide grin.

Marcus bowed. Reyna simply pointed at him. And then he fell to the ground, unconscious. Vespa bowed her thanks as her mother's familiar, a great black wolf named Dracul, began to carry the unconscious Marcus to an unholy altar deep within the Black Forest. A beast of blood, it had no patience for tasks that saw no killing, and so briskly returned to the Castle upon depositing the body there. A short while later, Elina also arrived, although empty handed. It turned out that the shyer girl did not have the guts to kill the man whom she had seduced - a waste, too, as that man was a Hunter. She could not help but lash out at the waste of such great magical potential, but in the end, she calmed down.

Vespa could not bear to see her sister so helpless, so she offered to share Marcus' life energy with her. Taking the handle of the knife together, they drove it deep into the witless noble's heart just as the bells tolled midnight.

Afterwards, the rendevous with their mother was as violent as expected. Reyna could simply not tolerate such a failure. Vespa and Elina were supposed to be the ones to carry the torch of House Ruvina when she inevitably expired. That night, she expected greatness, but got only half-baked rejects. For the first time, the Matriarch of Ruvina found her daughters to be wanting and utterly disgusting. She threatened to kill them, and that was her mistake - in the heat of the moment, they held hands and disappeared. Where to, she did not know. And so she lost her daughters, and began to weep.

Vespa and Elia wandered for several months. Eventually, they came upon the Coven of the Bloodrose, who took them in with open arms. Finally having found a place to belong, away from the shame of having failed their family, the two are among the most enthusiastic of their members.

Type of Man:

A strong and driven person able to match her own ambition. Someone who is worthy enough to climb to the peaks of the tallest mountains with her, and look fondly at what they have accomplished together.

Special Powers:

Blood Magic: A type of dark art that revolves around the aspects of mortality: life, death, blood and sex. Vespa is able to use the life forces of sacrificed creatures to grant her various, almost limitless boons, from temporarily increased physical strength to even outright teleportation. She is also able to draw power from the recently dead, although to a much lesser extent, and to manipulate blood like a hydromancer would water, but not as well: the primary agency of Blood Magic has always been sacrifice; and her greater powers pivot entirely around what and who she kills.

To some extent, she is able to draw power from sexual energy as well. So the efficacy of her spells may also hinge upon who she beds.

Her path of magic grants her a unique affinity to predatory creatures: wolves, snakes, lions and other such large carnivores do not think of her as prey or a threat, but a friend.

Family Members:

Father - An unknown cockslave of good bloodstock
Mother - Reyna Ruvina
Sister - Vespa Ruvina
The za Donnima Family - Magically weak relatives who live among the common folk

Pets/Familiars:

None.

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