Smike

Extracriminal: ..something something.. [NOT Searching]

Hey @Bartimaeus can we get the code for the app

Extracriminal: ..something something.. [NOT Searching]

Depending on how shit goes I’ll be starting my app tonight.

Smike's Sheets

My Hider

Name: Ki'Tlex, Queen Anne's Revenge and Kottle.

Age: Ki'Tlex is 4,647 years old going by the standard calendar, Queen Anne is a comparatively juvenile 16 while Kottle is an infant at 14.

Physical Description:
Ki'Tlex and Kottle are fairly standard examples of their species. Ki stands at seven feet and six inches and has the lean, muscular build common to their kind. They have a total of six limbs although their second pair of arms tends to remain folded behind their back and thus hard to notice under loose robes they wear. While Ki's skin is naturally a pale red they decorate their face with triangles of yellow powder.

Kottle's skin is a dusty gray in tone, the dull color accented by the same yellow triangles their adoptive guardian wears. As opposed to the light desert clothing Ki wears Kottle is usually swaddled tightly in fabric and carried in a basket on their guardian's back.

Queen Anne's Revenge is the odd one out in their 'family'. Her chassis resembles a massive human warrior in armor, coming in at exactly twelve feet tall with optical sensors designed to glow red for intimidation purposes. Parts of her body have been constructed of perfect electrum to allow for spell casting but most of her is simply hardened alloys designed to withstands extreme temperatures, the void of space and of course extended combat.

Much of her torso is hollow so that Ki and even Kottle if necessary can sit inside, protecting them from harm or allowing the whole group to spend time outside the safety of a ship provided there is an oxygen supply handy.
-------------------------

Important items:

My Hider

Binoculars: Up to x75 zoom and the ability to switch between standard, night and thermal vision. Ki'Tlex uses them to scout locations and mark targets for Queen Anne to take out with a shotgun blast.
Cutter: A plasma cutter for slicing into ships, cells, vaults and anywhere else that holds valuables. Small enough for Ki to manage it on her own while Queen Anne can operate it with a single hand.
Void Suit: Allows Ki'Tlex to be outside the ship without having to hunker down inside Queen Anne. Usually used for making repairs.
Custom Omni-Tool: Lots of parts stripped from stolen decks and formed into a compact but powerful device. Used for reprogramming systems as well as mundane communication and surfing.
Tools: Everything one could need for getting pieces of tech to work. From wrenches to wire strippers to power regulators, all store neatly in a big metal box.

Weapons:

Ki'Tlex

Avalon C9 Plasma Pistols: Four of them, one for each hand. Fires agitated energy blasts that clock in at temperatures higher than most stars.
"Longwalk": A coilgun that Ki pulled out of Kel sands and fixed up. Capable of killing from a mile out when the conditions are right.
Kel'ta Axes: The monomolecular edged hand ax plays an important role in the Kel'ta culture. Used for chopping firewood, preparing game, finding purchase while climbing and of course self-defense.

Queen Anne

S12 "Super" Shotgun: The standard S11 shotgun upscaled from twelve gauge to two, constructed from spaceship grade materials and oversized to be wielded by a twelve foot tall mech. While perfectly capable of firing "standard" half-pound shells of slug or buckshot it was designed with specialty ammunition in mind. Incendiary and plasma shells can clear hallways with ease while explosive rounds turn the S12 into an effective mortar.

"Legbiter" pattern Bayonet: A three foot vibrosword strapped to the end of a giant shotgun.

Kottle

Being Adorable: It's a baby.

Spell List:

Spells

-Close Circuit (Mind Magic): Queen Anne locks down her and Ki'Tlex's minds so that they form a perfect mental loop. The strengthened bond then boosts her reflexes to an even higher point. The downsides of this spell are that it can only be cast when the pair is in close proximity to one another and that Ki's body becomes entirely unresponsive as her brain is dedicated to serving as additional processing power for Queen Anne. This spell has a disorientating effect on the organic component and extended periods of use can cause intense dizziness and nausea upon waking up

-Error Code (Mind Magic): Queen Anne focuses on a target and blasts their mental defenses with a stream of information. Hitting the victims brain with condensed junk data can cause them to suffer vertigo, burst blood vessels or even suffer a stroke if they are particularly susceptible.

-Firewall (Mind Magic): A two-stage spell that lays dormant. Upon an attempted intrusion through Mind Magic or mundane hacking Queen Anne automatically locks all information behind advanced infohazards. Attempting to push through these locks the intruder into a sustained version of the Error Code spell. The second stage simply identifies the source of the intrusion so that it can be dealt with. Due to the nature of their mental link this spell activated when Ki'Tlex is targeted as well.

-Hover (World Magic): Grants the robot the ability to move in three dimensions irrespective of its weight. Extremely useful when operating in the void.

-Magnetize (World Magic): Not technically an accurate name. Queen Anne simply forms an adhesive contact between a portion of her body (usually her boots) and a surface that can hold her weight (such as a space vessel). This allows her to focus on a task without having to watch her footing.

Ward (High Magic): Queen Anne wards herself from danger, forming a shield that deflects spells and attacks. This is a limited use ability in that using it takes a toll on her. The more damage the shield soaks up the more energy is drained from her system. Overuse can see Anne automatically shut down until some time is given for her to recharge.

Character Traits:

Ki'Tlex

-Longview: Ki has lived longer than the vast majority of people can imagine. They look at things through a much wider lens than shorter lives races can and so often see "long-term" issues as being minor bumps in the road at most.
-Raider: Sure they have a rifle but Ki is a equipped with claws that were designed to dig into stone, natural speed and endurance for running down prey and four limbs that can bend metal bars. Close-quarters combat is her forte, mixing natural abilities with millennia of experience with her axes, pistols and bare hands.
-Mechanically Minded: If it was working once they can probably make it work again. Ki is a talented mechanic and programmer, repairing and refitting equipment ranging from coffee makers to battle-ready mechs and starships.
-Scavenger: There is nothing wrong with eating the dead of other intelligent species in their eyes. Ki is carnivorous and meat can be hard to come by in space.
Linked: Shared with Queen Anne. The synchronization of their minds allows Ki'Tlex and Queen Anne to see and hear from each other's perspectives and communicate with each other telepathically. This also means that they share bodies. If both parties consent they can trade off who controls the machine and who pilots the living organism.

Queen Anne's Revenge

-Childlike Wonder: A side effect of the modifications to her AI after being stolen by the crew of the Razor's Edge. Queen Anne just wants to explore the universe around her and ask the many different squishy fleshlings all sorts of questions! Sometimes she has to shoot, smash or stab them instead but that's just life.
-Devoted: The bond she has with Ki makes Queen Anne a dedicated protector. She loves her pilot even if they're a little taciturn and does what they tell her without fail.
-Advanced Intelligence: Capable of processing information in an instant and reacting to situations faster than humans can.
Linked: Shared with Ki'Tlex. The synchronization of their minds allows Ki'Tlex and Queen Anne to see and hear from each other's perspectives and communicate with each other telepathically. This also means that they share bodies. If both parties consent they can trade off who controls the machine and who pilots the living organism.

Kottle

-Helpless: Kottle is totally dependent on their guardian for everything. Washing up, keeping warm and moving from one place to another with any semblance of speed is all facilitated by Ki. Even the food Kottle eats is regurgitated from Ki's stomach.
-Screamer: Hungry? Scream. Tired? Scream. Just want to let people know that you're still alive? Scream. Kel'ta infants communicate in only one way and it can become very annoying very quickly.

-------------------------

Short Bio: Ki'Tlex does not speak about their previous lives. They happened, there had great triumphs and devastating losses, but they are no longer relevant in any way. Their current existence began roughly two hundred years ago, before the Galactic Bazaar was even finished. A livelihood based on scavenging from the ruins of the Forebears and making what they found functional again. Vehicles, weapons, mechanical curiosities and medical equipment, anything that could be traded for luxuries or access to one of the all important oases, all of it passed through their hands at one point or another.

One of the minority of Kel'ta who lived alone Ki was always at risk. Plenty of predators lived in the dunes or high up on the crags from the standard bandit to the ferocious Sand Stalker. Any wasteland wanderer had to become adept at avoiding threats but eventually the inevitable happened. Ki was ambushed in her camp by raiders who made use of their namesake. The defenses they had set up were enough to drive them off but by the end of the engagement Ki'Tlex had been badly injured. Far from any of the clans and without adequate medicine Ki'Tlex accepted the fact that they would be permanently dead in a few days time and resolved to pass on peacefully.

But it was not to be. On the third day delirium had begun to set in, the betrayal by their senses causing Ki to believe that the craft they saw landing in the distance to be merely a hallucination. Instead it was a damaged pirate vessel called the Razor's Edge whose crew needed a place to rest and repair. A Kel'ta couple was among the outlaws and had suggested their planet of origin as a safe place to recuperate. It was they who rescued Ki and pressed them into service.

Their mechanical skill was put to work immediately, the damaged engines hammered back into functionality. Having proved useful they were simply made part of the crew. When not struggling to keep the miserable rust bucket flying they took part in raids, their natural speed a valuable assets in boarding actions. For a while they simply dashed in while laying down fire with whatever weapons her four hands could hold.

The years passed and the crew took on new members to replace those that died or retired. The couple was friendly enough that Ki spent much of her free time with them, enjoying the chance to communicate in their native. All the while the Razor made a mess in the void of space, attacking anyone that had anything of value. Pirates came and went, a child was born which brought the number of Kel'ta up to four and the crew kept on the move.

It was during a raid on an Ascendancy armory ship that Ki met Queen Anne. Instead of a few rifles to sell on the black market the Razor's Edge pulled out Unit C-104, a prototype mech designed for operations in extreme environments or the void of space. Ki'Tlex took an interest in the bot and worked on making it more suited to piracy before daring to turn it on. This took quite a while. The highly aggressive personality matrix had to be reversed so that it would be friendly upon waking up and imprint to whoever synced with it not to mention the killcodes and contingencies that had to be carefully subverted or simply deleted.

The gamble paid off. Named "Queen Anne's Revenge" by a human crewmate she ended up syncing with the one responsible for waking her up. Adjusting to the body sharing took time but was manageable, Ki chafing as their independence was intruded upon but simply bearing it because the benefits were obvious. Queen Anne was not just strong and smart but magically capable as well thanks to the Kaisoken dust-infused emitter she was equipped with.

It was another decade and a half before the Razor was nearly put out of commission. An ill-advised fight with an Ascendancy vessel saw the loss of more than half the Razor's crew and little in the way of spoils to pick from the wreckage of their enemy. Too damaged to perform jumps the Razor's Edge limped through realspace in search of safe harbor. The surviving member of the Kel'ta couple was mortally wounded and passed their child off to Ki to take care of.

Unable to refuse due to the life debt they owed Ki took Queen Anne and their new charge and left the diminished band. Raising a child they neither wanted nor really cared for was a difficult prospect but one honor demanded they fulfill. Luckily there was no shortage of work for a pirate-tech genius. When there were no computers to repair there was the ships they were installed in, the immeasurable vastness of space wide open for the plundering.

Moonstrike's ideological goals meant nothing but their methods were familiar. The Ascendancy is a rich target and piracy cloaked in self-righteousness is still piracy.

Innocence Lost - A Science Fantasy RP [v.03]

<Snipped quote by Smike>

Yes, it is.

@Letter Bee

Cool. Seeing as I'm still floating around the discord server might pop in to see about setting up a character

Innocence Lost - A Science Fantasy RP [v.03]

Out of curiosity, is this still open?

Smike's Sheets

Lilith

Full Name:
Lilith Kelton

Age:
17

ID Number:
FR-1693-LK


Nationality:
American

Appearance:
FR-1693-LK's physical traits directly correlates to the abnormal abilities that brought them to the attention of the facility. The general body shape and tertiary attributes match those of the supposed deity Baphomet. Their head is that of a goat complete with shaggy, jet black hair and a pair of thick ram-style horns sprouting from their head. These will grow to the point of being unmanageable without tending to so custodial staff or FR-1693-DK themselves need to routinely clip and sand them down. Their eyes are solid gold, lacking any pupils and should thus be unable to filter light, rendering them blind. Despite this their vision is 20/20.

Their physical build is grossly outside the bounds of humanity in a number of categories. Standing at exactly 8 feet tall (closer to 8.5 when counting the horns) their body weighs a total of 2,437 pounds, or roughly the weight of an adult bull. Most of this weight seems to be muscle and bone. Despite the fact that there is no known mammalian hermaphroditic species FR-1693-LK has functional male and female sexual characteristics, both primary and secondary. FR-1693-LK also possess a pair of black feathered wings similar to those seen on classical depictions of angels, albeit much larger so as to carry their weight.

A pentagram formed from a red, quartz-like substance is embedded in FR-1693-DK's brow while their left arm bears the Latin word COAGULA (join together) and their right SOLVE (separate) inscribed in what appears to be red ink. More black fur covers the bottom half of their legs and in place of feet they have cloven hooves.

Background:
FR-1693-DK otherwise known as "Lilith" was born to Jason and Irma Kelton, a pair of schoolteachers in Houston, Texas. By all accounts they were a fairly average child, showing no great aptitude or intelligence but not exhibiting any traits common in developmental or learning disabilities. They were smaller than the average juvenile their age but not to the point that it was a medical concern. Lilith made friends easily and did well enough in school save for the odd failed math test.

When they were 11 the family uprooted and moved out onto a West Texas ranch purchased on a whim where Lilith would be homeschooled for the remainder of their time outside the Facility. Removed from their friends and lacking much to do for entertainment they turned towards the occult of a childish rebellion. Their parents saw this as a harmless quirk, a phase that would soon pass and allowed them to explore their interests as they saw fit. By their own description Lilith more or less abandoned any hopes of gaining power through study of the supposedly arcane by this point, determining that famous texts purported to teach real magic and the summoning of devils were all hoaxes or simply mistaken. Still, the interest in the aesthetic of such things never left them.

For reasons still undiscovered Lilith went through a very sudden and very painful transformation from an average human girl to what they are now, shocking them and their parents and forcing drastic changes in lifestyle to be made. Family could no longer visit out of fear that they would get Lilith taken away to be experimented on, a section of the barn had to be hastily retrofit to serve as a bedroom. Eating was apparently especially difficult to get used to, the nature of their new size and digestive system forcing them to eat from a trough with the family livestock.

Lilith was discovered when a hitchhiker stopped at the ranch looking for a place to spend the night, fleeing at the sight of the "demon" and making a frantic report to county police. Facility agents caught wind of the incident and arrived at the scene after local law enforcement had moved in. The sight of Lilith had caused the officers to panic and open fire and Lilith had in turn lashed out. The ensuing fight cost the lives of three officers and both Jason and Irma Kelton but Lilith was apprehended and brought to Facility B.

Powers:
Physicality: The nature of their transformation has endowed Lilith with abilities corresponding to their new body. Them being as large as they are they are far stronger than a human could be and much more durable. Their thick muscle mass and hardened bone is capable of bending steel bars and shrugging off small arms fire (to an extent) while the wings are functional for a cruising speed of 22 miles per hour.

Energy Manipulation: FR-1693-LK can cast what appears to be magic spells complete with strange sigils appearing on their body and discordant whispers in the air. The resulting lightning bolts, fireballs and spikes of ice are actually manifestations of FR-1693-LK's limited control over energy. The ability to affect multiple types of energy comes with the trade over that control being fairly limited: they select a target and launch an attack. As for the symbols and noises generated, brain scans show that LK has an amount of unconscious control over them. Because LK believes that's what the process should look like, that's what the process looks like. LK thinks they're casting spells and thus their abilities manifest as spells.

This suggests that their transformation into the guise of Baphomet was based on an inner want or desire that they accidentally manifested. Moreover, early simulations show while what they have a limited range of "magical" abilities at the moment it's likely that if they were to figure that it's quite literally all in the mind they would have vastly improved their control over their power, to the point where they could in theory imprint their wishes onto other people in the form of mind control. But this is highly unlikely to occur until they have reached a certain threshold of emotional maturity. Until then they are limited to simply lashing out with bursts of energy.

Privileges:
-Barbell weighing 200 pounds with weights ranging from 45 to 1000 pounds
-CD player with selection of audio books
-Cat and food/water for it along with basic tower and toys
-Lava lamp
-Racquet ball

Researcher Notes:
FR-1693-DK's salt lick is NOT a privilege. It is a requirement for their wellbeing, same as the food and water troughs. They require roughly 0.005 of their wait in salt each day, about 1.2 pounds of the stuff. Standard table salt will not do, any standard livestock salt block will work.
-Researcher A. Cooper

On the topic of using holy water/crucifixes/anointing oils etc. in case of attempted escape, don't bother. The entity known as Baphomet is entirely fictional within the context of mainstream organized religion and even if it wasn't, DK is not Baphomet. Testing shows that whatever process changed them into what they are now did give them an allergy to any of the standard pop-culture methods of dealing with demons.
-Researcher A. Cooper

As a reminder for future researchers, LK is a teenager despite what they look like. Most if not all of the logged incidents are bouts of sulkiness or acting out for attention, not dramatic attempts at violating the sanctity of the Facility. Unless you send in a Security team guns blazing they're not going to hurt anyone
-Researcher M. Kovács

Smike's Sheets

My Hider

---

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2012, the year of flame. The geopolitical chess matches and realpolitik that took center stage during the era of the Iron Curtain gave way to the explosive violence of the Second World War. North Korea's leader, Tae Jeong-Mun, emboldened by pride and made desperate by China's move away from their alliance made a drastic decision. Tokyo was nuked in a first strike that precipitated a three year ground war, dug in North Korean forces pushed back from the DMZ to the border with China by NATO troops along with soldiers from partnered nations. When the war ended Korea had been reunified and was beginning the process of rebuilding.

Japan would attempt to do the same. Now having suffered three nuclear attacks in its history the nation soldiered on as best it could. Nearly half of Tokyo had been rendered uninhabitable or outright destroyed by the attack. The cleanup process was fueled by an economic boom as the cybernetics industry went from catering only to elites looking for the ultimate accessory to providing models for a range of budgets. Construction crews equipped with strength-enhancing limb braces built massive glass spires to house the hordes of salarymen and executives attracted to the city like pigs to a trough. Foreign talent in finance, cybernetics and all branches of industry came to get in on the ground floor, followed by masses of people willing to serve as the labor needed for growth in return for better opportunities than they had back home. Ground zero of the second Japanese economic miracle was NeoTokyo, a neon-drenched city of dreams representing the hopes of a nation and the world.

But with every batch of entrepreneurs taking advantage of a changing situation comes those seeking to profit in less legal but perhaps equally as moral ways. In 2011 National Diet was debating the introduction a number of laws aimed at curtailing the Yakuza by cracking down on their business partners and freezing some of their assets. The question of whether or not this was an effective strategy would go unanswered when war broke out. With the public eye squarely drawn away from their crimes the families were able to sink their claws in deeper into society, making payoffs to the right politicians so that the right companies got the contracts for the rebuilding of Tokyo. Foreign gangs became more prominent as well, groups as diverse as the Russian mob to the 14k and Sun Yee On triads encroaching on the edges of Yakuza territory.

As NeoTokyo became the city of the future with all its slick nightlife and seedy dealings Japan slid back into the twin traps of jingoism and xenophobia. The "Korean attack" of 2012 and the influx of outsiders saw a dramatic rise in right-wing nationalism and the striking of Article 9 from the Japanese Constitution. With the No War clause removed the Japan Self-Defense Forces begin to build up their strength following the lead of the newly formed Jinrai. Formed as an elite wing in charge of special operations and espionage the Jinrai was composed of men and women dedicated to extending Japan's reach through any means possible. Its growth was rapid and by 2025 it was the guiding light for the entirety of the JSDF.

All that power came with dreams of forging a new identity for Japan. One where instead of sitting on the sidelines until war came to its shores it would flex its muscles on the global stage take part in the constant power struggles. The Jinrai threw its hat into the ring in an attempt to gain control of the government through the political process, taking part in an extremely contentious election wracked by infighting on the right, left and center. There were allegations of corruption, political violence, known gangsters seen in meetings with members of election committees. When the dust cleared the new Prime Minister was the Moderate Party championed Konno Mashai, elected less by virtue of merit than the other main parties simply being split by inter-party squabbles.

What resulted was a time of bitter political strife. The Jinrai attempted to keep forging ahead but quickly came into conflict with the Mashai government, Jinrai-aligned councilors and representatives engaging in harsh back-and-forth debates with their Moderate counterparts. Meanwhile citizens were made disenfranchised by the rapidly growth gap between themselves and the wealthy not to mention the flood of drugs and human trafficking brought by the rising Yakuza clans and those of their foreign rivals who were attempting to gain a foothold. Some of these people formed supposed "self-defense societies", cells of vigilantes armed with weapons supplied by the booming black market and often with having military or police experience. Political groups, terrorist organizations, agitators from outside governments and fringe religious movements sprouted up and took to violence to achieve their goals, fighting amongst themselves and getting civilians caught in the crossfire.

The situation came to a head in 2030 when the Jinrai attempted a coup, striking at the Prime Minister's residence in an attempt to behead the snake while nationalist-aligned forces of the JSDF attacked those loyal to the government. The first strike came close to succeeding but was fought off in the end, the Jinrai melting into the shadows to continue the civil war in the dark. Faced with an enemy consisting of highly driven specialists Prime Minister Mashai ordered the creation of a special force to investigate and eliminate all threats to Japan's sovereignty, be they internal or external.

The National Security Force, better known as the NSF, served as an active service replacement for the largely advisory National Police Agency, deploying agents in cities across Japan with the majority stationed in NeoTokyo. But there was a problem. With most of JDSF's special forces and intelligence services having defected to the Jinrai along with many police and regular army personnel Japan's defense forces were suffering from a lack of highly qualified agents. Attempting to wage war on the Jinrai as well as the entirety of the Yakuza while trying to suppress each and every gang and cult that popped up would see the NSF lose by way of being pulled in a thousand different directions.

The Prime Minister felt that some groups could be reasoned with, even convinced to cooperate with the government in order to further their own aims. Groups like the Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest of the Yakuza families and the one more concerned with retuning to the old way of doing things than attempting to ride the Jinrai's lightning, or the multinational Deft Defense corporation with its literal corporate warriors and a vested interest in keeping its Japanese branch in good standing. Intelligence operatives from other countries who remembered the outcome of a far-right aligned Japan could be called in as well, some there simply off the books and others technically gone rogue. Mashai called in favors owed from all walks of corporate, civilian, military and criminal life and sat down with the movers and shakers of Japan and beyond to forge a deal with a multitude of devils.

The end result was that while the NSF's agents would serve in the public eye as defenders of the Constitution, brave officers detaining those who would attempt to violate the law by day, it would also engage in operations too sensitive and distasteful to ever reach the public eye. Assassination, illegal operations in foreign jurisdictions, routine violation of civil rights and the rule of law, all of these would be undertaken by a wing known as the Special Service that answered directly to the Prime Minister, Mashai's own personnel Jinrai of sorts.

It is now 2032, two years since the Jinrai's attempted coup. The NSF and the Jinrai are locked in stalemate while the dozens of minor groups of interest go about their business. There is talk in the Diet of removing the four year term limit so that the current government can man the helm until the conflict is over and the Special Service takes part in missions backed by Yakuza ground intel, foreign supplied SIGNINT and funded by corporate blood money. Its ranks include decorated officers of the JDSF and NeoTokyo police, gangland assassins and street samurai with matching records of violence and silence, hotshot deckers that could be enticed or threatened into switching their sights from bank mainframes to enemy communications networks and steely eyed agents that served in a dozen corporate wars. Time will tell if this unholy alliance will be enough to save a nation at risk of being consumed by this brave new world.

---

Howdy folks, and welcome to NeoTokyo Revive! This is a reboot/reimagining of an RP that [LetMeDoStuff] was running a while ago based off the NeoTokyo mod for Half-Life 2 and is open to previous players and newcomers alike. Any knowledge of the mod or the previous iteration of the RP is totally unnecessary as this version will have some major changes in story and setting.

First and foremost, this RP is set in the early days of the cyberpunk era. Advanced cybernetics and rudimentary AI are fairly common but not totally ubiquitous, megacorporations have yet to totally displace governmental law and society isn't quite at the point of implosion. Technology is like what was envisioned in the early 80s and 90s, advanced yet clunky and cumbersome. The only people accessing the Net on the go are those with the money to buy expensive portable cyberdecks or the know-how to make their own.

Bleeding Earth, Soaring Dragons: Heaven Awaits

Hathor Of The Salt

Name: Hathor Of The Salt

Age: 20

Element: Water

Profession: Traveling fortune teller and monk from the Sect of the Flowing Sea

Appearance:

Hathor

Background: Hathor was oprhaned at an early age and thus brought into the care of a sect of monks. The Sect of the Flowing Sea saw the ocean as the ultimate expression of birth and rebirth, the movement of its waves bringing nourishment to the people but also threatened death and destruction. To them that balance between life and death was emblematic of all existence and their order. All living things would pass eventually but the Sect believed that they should attempt to assist fellow man so as to make life better.

As soon as she reached adulthood and passed the trials Hathor set out to follow their way with no more than a staff to defend herself with and a bowl for donations, seeking those who required assistance.

Inventory:
-Alms Bowl
-Simple robes
-Set of oracle bones, dice and cards
-Wooden staff for walking and defense
Other: Hathor is a trained martial artist but has yet to test herself against anything more than drunken wastrels or local thugs. Whether she can stand up to greater threats has yet to be seen.

Bleeding Earth, Soaring Dragons: Heaven Awaits

Hathor Of The Salt

Name: Hathor Of The Salt

Age: 20

Element: Water

Profession: Traveling fortune teller and monk from the Sect of the Flowing Sea

Appearance:

Hathor

Background: Hathor was oprhaned at an early age and thus brought into the care of a sect of monks. The Sect of the Flowing Sea saw the ocean as the ultimate expression of birth and rebirth, the movement of its waves bringing nourishment to the people but also threatened death and destruction. To them that balance between life and death was emblematic of all existence and their order. All living things would pass eventually but the Sect believed that they should attempt to assist fellow man so as to make life better.

As soon as she reached adulthood and passed the trials Hathor set out to follow their way with no more than a staff to defend herself with and a bowl for donations, seeking those who required assistance.

Inventory:
-Alms Bowl
-Simple robes
-Set of oracle bones, dice and cards
-Wooden staff for walking and defense
Other: Hathor is a trained martial artist but has yet to test herself against anything more than drunken wastrels or local thugs. Whether she can stand up to greater threats has yet to be seen.

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard [Pt. 2 - Open] ~

The boss man's remarks had been directed at the other Darcsen, the way he addressed the room no doubt just a smokescreen to put up the veneer of impartiality. The only person at risk of trouble for the moment was the psychopath gunner. But still, Victoria couldn't help but feel just a bit singled out. No looting, no depravity, no generally acting the part of some battlefield ghoul picking over the dead. Those were the things Victoria was best at! Telling her not to be a scumbag was like telling a member of the officer class to not be a total jackass, or an artilleryman to not be a complete coward. It simply went against the natural order of her being.

Or was she just upset because she knew he was right? Maybe it was both, or neither. Victoria was just grateful that someone else had decided to run their mouth and thus drew attention away from her. Hell, the pompous lecture even distracted her from Michael's dogshit puns so the situation really wasn't that bad. At least until Mehetabel decided to explode into a rant of her own.

She stayed silent while the damaged young woman gave her sob story, the torched village and the whole war is hell thing that Victoria actually bought into herself but found rather petulant when expressed this way. Still, her storming out in a huff when they were supposed to be on a mission in a little while was probably not a good sign and Victoria would rather be in the presence of another nutjob than some high horse NCO. At least she could understand the fucked up thoughts in Mehet's head.

"I'll talk to her now."

The runt could play therapist after the mission if he felt like it, Victoria would get out ahead of the problem. Snatching the abandoned pint that had just been served the Oceanic strolled right out the door, whistling sharply to grab the gunner's attention.

"Torturing the enemy is one thing but leaving behind a perfectly good drink? Now that's a crime."


The conversation had shifted from troubling to annoying in the space of a few sentences. Most of the team either voiced their affirmations or just kept their mouths shut, either answer being totally acceptable to Alex under the circumstances. But the private with no regard for life and an appetite for violence wasn't content with simply being a brute. She attempted to defend herself as if she was in the right, a voice of reason speaking against the crushing ignorance of the machine. A display fit for a religious martyr of some sort perhaps, not what was essentially a child throwing a temper tantrum.

And she was right. Alex didn't know her story nor did he care. Whatever some Imperials had done to her and her family he would not let her vent her rage onto another bunch as if they were all interchangeable. The sergeant gripped his cigar tighter and held out a hand in front of Valkur's face, his massive dog having stepped forward with a growl at the sign of aggression towards the master. There was no need for any of that, not immediately anyway. Alex doubted she would see reason but hopefully she would at least reign herself in.

The outburst had taken his attention off everything else to the point that he didn't even notice the newcomer or hear his name and rank until a few moments after.

Alexandre?!

It couldn't be. The man he had ridden with at the beginning of the war had been a Lieutenant, a member of a noble house. Moreover, he was dead! Cut down by machine guns with most the regiment, a proponent of the old ways slaughtered by the new. But then who was this imposter wearing his face? The match was too perfect for it to simply be some lookalike. Maybe a bastard sibling, one from a secretive tryst? But then why was the man staring back with the same shocked expression? There was only one option, one too world-shattering to be true.

Michael was not dumbstruck like they were and thus made his way over, introducing himself before either of them could pick their jaws off the floor. Shaken from his stupor Alex stubbed his cigar out on the table and cleared his throat for attention. "I'm sure that Private Blanc is doing just fine. In fact he and I have some business to discuss. Daunte, if you'd please make sure that Furst, Roe and Morvan are squared away? I don't want to wait any longer than is necessary after the others get back."

They could go and do jumping jacks in the latrine for all he cared, he just needed to get back in control. A quick order to buy himself a moment, to fix his carefully composed demeanor after a violent shock. Private Blanc if you'd take a seat."

@Conscripts @AdmrlStalfos19 @Nimbus